Spire Director's Commentary

Grant Howitt sits down with Mina McJanda, the creator of Voidheart Symphony to talk about the revised edition. It's game design, it's politics, it's rebellion. Sign up now to Stand Up and Fight, and get your own copy of this revolutionary game here: rrdgames.com/voidheart-fireside or search for Voidheart Symphony on Backerkit. Follow Guest Mina McJanda here: bsky.app/profile/minahoneybat.bsky.social Follow Host Grant Howitt here: bsky.app/profile/gshowitt.bsky.social See other extraordinary RRD games here: rowanrookanddecard.com - Theme: "Sinfonia Number 5" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

What a beautiful wedding, I hope there's no trouble in paradise... find out in the FINAL EPISODE! If you would like to play HEART or the DAGGER setting used here, go to rrdgames.com GM: Kieron Gillen Cast: Grant Howitt, Nathan Blades, Ed Spence, Naomi Clarke Production: Naomi Clarke with Editing by Maddy Searle and Oliver Moore Theme: Nick Siepmann with additional music by Cai Pritchard Extra Music Below. Extra music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Tracks used: "I Got a Stick Arr Bryan Teoh", "Decay", "Lightless Dawn", "Brain Dance"and "Ready Aim Fire" 'Machinery of the Stars', 'Skyscraper Samba', 'Winter Waltz', 'Into The Unknown', 'Simplicity', 'What We Don't Say' , 'Ascension', 'Hiraeth', 'Ambush', 'Decoherence', 'A Dragon's Lullaby', ‘Undertow’, and 'Love Conquers' By Scott Buckley Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License www.scottbuckley.com.au CW: Body Horror, Gore, Violence, Unrea

The light at the end of the tunnel is in sight, but first our scoundrels slide through an interdimensional-non-euclidean-time-rip. Inside; Velvet makes a killing in a ritual gone wrong, Heike and Soil get a brief glimpse of the future or the past, and Castor gets a tummy ache :( If you would like to play HEART or the DAGGER setting used here, go to rrdgames.com GM: Kieron Gillen Cast: Grant Howitt, Nathan Blades, Ed Spence, Naomi Clarke Production: Naomi Clarke with Editing by Maddy Searle and Oliver Moore Theme: Nick Siepmann with additional music by Cai Pritchard Extra Music Below. Extra music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Tracks used: "Orion 300XB", "Destiny Day", "Future Gladiator", "Nonstop", "Steel Rods", "SCP-x2x (Unseen Presence)", "The Hive", "Spacial Winds" and "Twisting " 'Borealis', 'Cassini', 'Clear Skies', 'Beyond These Walls', 'Pursuit', 'Light in Dark Places', 'I Walk With Ghosts', 'There

Have a Beautiful Incywincymoonmas listeners!

Children are the future. Unfortunately in this episode, Heike and Soil decide against having one, Castor ruins a birthday party, Velvet kills one to help another, and Kieron spends most of the episode trying to get us to put one in the fire. Oh and the reality-bending-train-dragon is there. (no corporeal children were harmed in the making of this episode) If you would like to play HEART or the DAGGER setting used here, go to rrdgames.com GM: Kieron Gillen Cast: Grant Howitt, Nathan Blades, Ed Spence, Naomi Clarke Production: Naomi Clarke with Editing by Maddy Searle and Oliver Moore Theme: Nick Siepmann with additional music by Cai Pritchard Extra Music Below. Extra music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Tracks used: "SCP-x2x (Unseen Presence)", "Guess Who", "River of Io", "Tenebrous Brothers Carnival - Mermaid", "Samba Isobel", "Magic Escape Room", "Stay the Course" , "Burn The World Waltz" and "G***y Sho

The ultimate plot hole. Castors is one, Velvet has one in the chest, Soil has one in his mind and Heike has one in her heart. That's a whole lotta episode! If you would like to play HEART or the DAGGER setting used here, go to rrdgames.com GM: Kieron Gillen Cast: Grant Howitt, Nathan Blades, Ed Spence, Naomi Clarke Production: Naomi Clarke with Editing by Maddy Searle and Oliver Moore Theme: Nick Siepmann with additional music by Cai Pritchard Extra Music Below. Extra music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Tracks used: "Parisian" "Song of the Volga Boatmen" "Tenebrous Brothers Carnival - Prelude” and “Arcane" 'Effervescence’, 'Reparateur', ‘Contagion', 'An Unexpected Party', 'Bring Me The Sky', 'Golden Hour', 'Petrichor', 'Terminus', 'Rites of Passage', 'Icarus', 'Escape Velocity', 'Catalyst' and 'Hour Of The Witch' By Scott Buckley Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License www.scottbuckley

Uh oh spaghetti-o. Things do NOT go well. If you would like to play HEART or the DAGGER setting used here, go to rrdgames.com GM: Kieron Gillen Cast: Grant Howitt, Nathan Blades, Ed Spence, Naomi Clarke Production: Naomi Clarke with Editing by Maddy Searle and Oliver Moore Theme: Nick Siepmann with additional music by Cai Pritchard Extra Music Below. Extra music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Tracks used: "Rising Tide (faster)", "Ropocolypse 2", "Controlled Chaos" and "Virtutes Instrumenti" 'Goliath', 'The Fury', 'The Great Sea', 'Twilight Echo', 'Cirrus', 'Within Our Nature' and 'At The End Of All Things' By Scott Buckley Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License www.scottbuckley.com.au CW: Body Horror, Gore, Violence, Unreality, Drugs/Alcohol, Hallucinations, Occult.

Down in the shunt yard, the degenerates get creative. To entice an Aortic Leviathan (train dragon) is no simple task. Castor gets honoured in the spire, Soil sees more dead wife and Velvet tries to explain what the sun feels like while Heike is mostly just bees. If you would like to play HEART or the DAGGER setting used here, go to rrdgames.com GM: Kieron Gillen Cast: Grant Howitt, Nathan Blades, Ed Spence, Naomi Clarke Production: Naomi Clarke with Editing by Maddy Searle and Oliver Moore Theme: Nick Siepmann with additional music by Cai Pritchard Extra Music Below. Extra music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Tracks used: "Parisian" "Song of the Volga Boatmen" "Tenebrous Brothers Carnival - Prelude” and “Arcane" 'Effervescence’, 'Reparateur', ‘Contagion', 'An Unexpected Party', 'Bring Me The Sky', 'Golden Hour', 'Petrichor', 'Terminus', 'Rites of Passage', 'Icarus', 'Escape Velocity', 'Catalyst' an

It's all a family affair in this Velvet focused episode. Our miscreants the worst birthday party, two corpses and some hard home truths. Except for Castor. Castor discovers some drugs. A LOT of drugs. If you would like to play HEART or the DAGGER setting used here, go to rrdgames.com GM: Kieron Gillen Cast: Grant Howitt, Nathan Blades, Ed Spence, Naomi Clarke Production: Naomi Clarke with Editing by Maddy Searle and Oliver Moore Theme: Nick Siepmann with additional music by Cai Pritchard Extra Music Below. 'Balefire', 'Theory of Machines', 'The Spirit', 'Contagion', 'Pariah', 'Anna's Theme', 'Moonlight', 'Castles in the Sky', 'The Vision', and 'Tears In Rain' Scott Buckley Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License www.scottbuckley.com.au Extra music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Tracks used:"Double Drift", "Hot Pursuit", "Just As Soon", "Dances and Dames", "Thinking Music", "Exit

Our team of vagabonds makes preparations to leave the God of Corpses and head toward the Aortic Leviathan. As Soil says a fond farewell to his new friend, Velvet and Heike have a disagreement about their respective wedding looks, and Castor gets a bit of work done. If you would like to play HEART or the DAGGER setting used here, go to rrdgames.com GM: Kieron Gillen Cast: Grant Howitt, Nathan Blades, Ed Spence, Naomi Clarke Production: Naomi Clarke with Editing by Maddy Searle and Oliver Moore Theme: Nick Siepmann with additional music by Cai Pritchard Extra Music Below. 'Signal to Noise','Golden Hour', 'Decoherence', 'Yellow', 'At The End Of All Things', 'Legacy', 'Neon', 'The Climb' 'Cobalt', and 'Electric Dreams' Scott Buckley Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License www.scottbuckley.com.au Extra music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Tracks used:"In a Heartbeat""Egmont Overtur

You are cordially invited to a wedding of concepts inumerable and inexplicable. Follow a handless bride, an obliging witch, a partying grifter and a dead man walking, down into the corpulent depths. Will you survive the journey? Will you survive the nuptials? Hard to know, after all... the Heart wants what the Heart wants. If you would like to play HEART or the DAGGER setting used here, go to rrdgames.com GM: Kieron Gillen Cast: Grant Howitt, Nathan Blades, Ed Spence, Naomi Clarke Theme: Nick Siepmann with additional music by Cai Pritchard Extra Music Below. 'Life In Motion', ‘Shadows and Dust’ and ‘Machina’ by Scott Buckley Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License www.scottbuckley.com.au Extra music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Tracks used: "Sunday Dub","Deadly Roulette", "Porch Blues", "Limit 70", "Andreas Theme", "On the Cool Side","Firmament" "Killing Time", "Vulcan", "Bra

Our delvers squelch onto (and into) the God of Corpses. Expect cultists, commotion and a very large colon. Heike deals with an in-law, Soil makes a dim-witted friend and Castor and Velvet have a Heart to Heart. If you would like to play HEART or the DAGGER setting used here, go to rrdgames.com GM: Kieron Gillen Cast: Grant Howitt, Nathan Blades, Ed Spence, Naomi Clarke Theme: Nick Siepmann with additional music by Cai Pritchard Extra Music and Content Warnings Below. 'Incantation','The Long Dark', 'Permafrost', 'Soul Searcher', 'Path Through The Mountains', 'Resonance' and 'A Dragon's Lullaby' by Scott Buckley Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License www.scottbuckley.com.au Extra music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Tracks used:"Dub Eastern", "Feral Angel Waltz", “Just As Soon" and "Firmament" CW: Body Horror, Gore, Violence, Unreality, Drugs/Alcohol, Hallucinations, Occult.

Catch the behind the scenes and get right into the heart of Heart character creation. If you would like to play HEART or the DAGGER setting used here, go to rrdgames.com GM: Kieron Gillen Cast: Grant Howitt, Nathan Blades, Ed Spence, Naomi Clarke Theme: Nick Siepmann with additional music by Cai Pritchard Content Warnings Below. CW: Body Horror, Gore, Violence, Unreality, Drugs/Alcohol, Hallucinations, Occult.

In this, our final standard episode of the Heart Directors' Commentary, we tackle the second half of the Adversaries chapter - from the Gnoll Incursion Team to the Legendaries - as well as blundering through the appendices. Intro/Outro Music: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3742-fearless-first License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

We spent an absolute age making the adversaries in Heart - dangerous, pathetic, frantic creatures who are just doing their best to survive and maybe that means they kill and eat you. Learn about their design and where we got the ideas from (Greek mythology mainly) as we do the first half of the Adversaries chapter, all the way from Angels to Ghosts. Intro/Outro Music: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3742-fearless-first License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Our longest episode yet deals with the world of the City Beneath - all the way from Derelictus down to the Heart Itself, and then beyond to the Eight Heavens. Interstitial music from Tabletop Audio. Intro/Outro Music: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3742-fearless-first License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Just a short one this time - we take a look at delving and exploration in Heart, endorse correct mapping practices, and explain how we couldn't (and didn't!) write any delves in the book. Intro/Outro Music: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3742-fearless-first License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, we go into the rules at length - difficulty, fallout, and equipment - talking about our evolution from Spire, the challenges in writing the right tragedies to befall your players, and how decent equipment is basically a win button for the game that we forgot to tell anyone about. Interstitial music from Tabletop Audio. Intro/Outro Music: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3742-fearless-first License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Witches are jam-packed with barely-controlled magic channeled through a magical blood disease that they picked up from scrubbing around in meat tunnels and grimy tooth chandeliers. We love 'em - and we struggled to make them work. Learn about the difficulties inherent in not killing your darlings in this, the final Class episode before we move on to the rest of the book. Music: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3742-fearless-first License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Vermissian Knight was the first class we wrote for Heart, and it's undergone a lot of changes since then. If you're interested in how to develop your own train-armoured spelunkers, listen along! Music: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3742-fearless-first License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/