Actual Play Podcast - Tumblr Posts
A game that encodes non-visual, non-televisual forms of storytelling and imagery into its format and play style? We truly love to see it.
I'm sorry, I know his real super name is The Mutant but he's already Mister Body Horror Man to me forever
CONTENT WARNINGS: discussions of body horror
After their newsworthy attempt to stop The Vampyre from wreaking havoc on East Haven, our new team of heroes tests out the waters of East Haven heroics with a little firefighting in the docks. In ISSUE #01: FIRE DRILL, THE MUTANT follows a suspicious figure, and SILVER SPIRIT discovers just how fireproof he is—or isn’t!
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/unexploredcast Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/unexploredcast Art by Ben Prevas Music by Andrew: https://andrewperricone.bandcamp.com/
One thing I'm really enjoying about Unreal is having other players put words in my character's mouth. It's not something I've experienced positively in many other games. It's partly that the game explicitly says everyone's an unreliable narrator - so if I don't like or agree with something someone else attributes to Malcolm, I'm free to just decide they're lying or inaccurate. But having that safety net there makes me so comfortable with others reporting my character's words and actions that I haven't needed it yet.
Jake is all of us right now
Did Jake deserve his forfeit for refusing to team up with Malcolm on a task? Or is Jake the only voice of reason left in a Big Brother house that's coming apart at the seams? Would you be Team Jake (hiding in the diary room, not interacting) or Team Malcolm (tapping on walls, getting weirdly intense about powerful shower heads)?
I managed to improv a version of this in (I think) Vigil: Tourist Trap, but this is the thought-through version.
I strongly dislike fantasy settings where magic is a thing certain people have or can use and certain people can't (and I'm not only talking about the Dowager Transphobe's setting here). This take draws from old English folkloric magic, which was more about just ... learning the right names to say and rituals to perform to get an effect you want.
What you need to remember about magic
is that it's not a force or a resource - it's an act.
It's not something you can have. It's not something you can use.
It's something you perform.
Listen to Vigil
The Unexplored Places is an actual play podcast that understands all the important reasons why we make characters for RPGs:
to make them fight
to make them kiss
to put them through hell
and perhaps MOST importantly:
to dress them up in lots of different outfits like paper dolls
Hearing news of a break-in and theft at the Museum of the Modern Superhero, our heroes are joined by a brand new teammate to do a little breaking of their own as they try to figure out what was taken and why. In ISSUE #03: BREAK IN, RUSALKA makes a splashing entrance, SILVER SPIRIT finds the missing piece, and THE MUTANT takes a wild swing.
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/unexploredcast Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/unexploredcast Art by Ben Prevas Music by Andrew: https://andrewperricone.bandcamp.com/
Surely when you have Bone Shaping everything looks like a BONE
Hey Skyjacks crew, I've lost track - are we in a Gable Gets Some arc now or no? Or has the pattern been broken at this point?
Incoming from Merely Roleplayers! Omicron ate our episode buffer, but we've grown it back from the stubble and now we're back to regular releasing from 16 August.
Next up from Merely Roleplayers
16 August:
Vigil: Quarry
A Monster of the Week mystery in 4 acts
Hoofbeats echo off Sherrydown's cobbled streets as Cam, Brier, Melody and Renko race full tilt into their bloodiest adventure yet.
Contains blood, bloody violence, and a character experiencing fallout from childhood trauma.
11 October:
Monumental Exit
A Fiasco in 3 acts
After 67 years, Bilbo Biltong's ready to quit the band. But who out there could possibly step into his worn old shoes?
Contains hard drug use, lewd and morbid imagery, and a funeral scene
22 November:
Vigil: All Aboard
A Monster of the Week mystery in a number of acts to be confirmed, probably 5
A way long shut is open again, promising to carry away all souls stuck in Sherrydown. Will Jess, Calistarius, Gwynned and Harper make it to the end of the line?
And don't forget:
The Feed
A slow burn comic horror powered by Black Armada's Unreal system
Seven housemates enter the Big Brother house. They're signing up to be watched 24/7 - but can they even trust the evidence of their own eyes?
Check our pinned post or visit merelyroleplayers.com to catch all these productions and hundreds of past episodes!
This episode: tense, emotionally charged standoff
Also this episode: BIG SPLOOSH 💦
Vigil: Quarry, Act 2
In which the hounds of the Hunt are revealed; the Hunt keeps recruiting; and Brier makes a mess of Melodies.
Prefer your podcasts audio only? Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com
COMPERE: Matt Boothman
STARRING:
Christopher Starkey as Cameron Jarvis, the Wronged
Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed
Strat as Brier, the Monstrous
Vikki as Renko, the Flake
ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands
MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst
SOUND DESIGN BY: Helen Stratton
EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman
Did we just discover our setting's origin of the bogeyman...?
Ghouls (Vigil Backstage)
We create some more lore about ghouls, especially the specific one Cameron is bent on destroying.
Prefer your podcasts audio only? Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com
COMPERE: Matt Boothman
STARRING:
Christopher Starkey as Cameron Jarvis, the Wronged
Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed
Strat as Brier, the Monstrous
Vikki as Renko, the Flake
ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands
MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst
SOUND DESIGN BY: Helen Stratton
EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman
BRIER: I thought a problem shared was a problem halved.
PAUSE.
MELODY: You did not think that.
...is one of my favourite exchanges we've ever improvised.
Vigil: Quarry, Act 3
In which Brier plays both sides; the pull of blood works both ways; and things come to a head at Sherrydown Library.
Prefer your podcasts audio only? Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com
COMPERE: Matt Boothman
STARRING:
Christopher Starkey as Cameron Jarvis, the Wronged
Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed
Strat as Brier, the Monstrous
Vikki as Renko, the Flake
ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands
MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst
SOUND DESIGN BY: Helen Stratton
EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman
Featuring everything you never knew you wanted to know about
the origins of the podcast
that bit in Ariadne where everyone accused Alex of stealing four imaginary mugs of Bovril from an NPC
Replay: Ariadne (Backstage)
Let’s go back to where this all started - with the slow-burn spookiness of Ariadne.
Prefer your podcasts audio only? Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com
COMPERE: Josh Yard
WITH: Matt Boothman
MUSIC BY: Matt Boothman
EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Josh Yard and Matt Boothman
Finale finale finale!
Not that it's over...
Vigil: Quarry, Act 4
In which the Hunt is at bay; a hound bites its master; and a mentor has nothing more to teach.
Prefer your podcasts audio only? Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com
COMPERE: Matt Boothman
STARRING:
Christopher Starkey as Cameron Jarvis, the Wronged
Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed
Strat as Brier, the Monstrous
Vikki as Renko, the Flake
ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands
MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst
SOUND DESIGN BY: Helen Stratton
EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman
If you're the type who likes to watch for hints, listen out for the bits of this episode about other realms - they will pay off in the next Vigil production (which I'm editing right now!)
Disbanding (Vigil Backstage)
We look back at Vigil: Quarry. Did we truly stop the danger or just put it off until later?
Prefer your podcasts audio only? Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com
COMPERE: Matt Boothman
STARRING:
Christopher Starkey as Cameron Jarvis, the Wronged
Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed
Strat as Brier, the Monstrous
Vikki as Renko, the Flake
ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands
MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst
SOUND DESIGN BY: Helen Stratton
EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman
I've been looking forward to letting this one loose! It's a ton of silly fun. No need to have listened to anything else @merelyroleplayers has ever done, this is a clean jumping-on point for a daft three-episode story about geriatric prog rockers, one of whom may or may not be an avatar of Death.
Monumental Exit, Act 1
After 67 years, Bilbo Biltong’s quitting the band. Somewhere out there is a star worthy of stepping into his well worn shoes - but where?
Prefer your podcasts audio only? Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com
STARRING:
Josh Yard as Bilbo Biltong
Natalie Winter as Sue Sherpa
Alexander Pankhurst as Mike Sherpa
Matt Boothman as Gregg Nevin
ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Fiasco Classic by Jason Morningstar
MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst
EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman
Do you normally skip our Backstage episodes? Don't skip this one. Trust me.
Jam session (Monumental Exit Backstage)
The cast of Monumental Exit jam on the Fiasco playset ‘When the Music Stopped’ until they find their characters.
Prefer your podcasts audio only? Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com
STARRING:
Josh Yard as Bilbo Biltong
Natalie Winter as Sue Sherpa
Alexander Pankhurst as Mike Sherpa
Matt Boothman as Gregg Nevin
ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Fiasco Classic by Jason Morningstar
MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst
EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman
It is an absolutely genius feature of Fiasco that just when you've played enough scenes for your character to claw their way out of the muck they start in, just when your character maybe gets a glimpse of something like resolution, the game has you generate a load more complications - one of which is usually "something precious is on fire"
With all the pieces in place for the final act, the cast finds out some new complications that are sure to upset the board.
Prefer your podcasts audio only? Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com
STARRING:
Josh Yard as Bilbo Biltong
Natalie Winter as Sue Sherpa
Alexander Pankhurst as Mike Sherpa
Matt Boothman as Gregg Nevin
ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Fiasco Classic by Jason Morningstar
MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst
EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman
I think it was very restrained of us not to bring up the murder until act 2
Bit of terminology clash here - we call our episodes acts, and Fiasco calls everything before the tilt act 1 and everything after it act 2. So Monumental Exit Acts 1 and 2 are act 1 of the game, and Act 3 is act 2 of the game. I had to leave a couple of bits in the edit where I'm like "here we are, im act 2!" but it's in Act 3 😬
Monumental Exit, Act 2
Everything’s ready for Bilbo’s swansong at the Beanstalk, but one roadie’s vendetta against the venue owner threatens to stain his perfect farewell.
Prefer your podcasts audio only? Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com
STARRING:
Josh Yard as Bilbo Biltong
Natalie Winter as Sue Sherpa
Alexander Pankhurst as Mike Sherpa
Matt Boothman as Gregg Nevin
ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Fiasco Classic by Jason Morningstar
MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst
EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman
And now it finally becomes clear why I put all that fire in the episode art 🔥🗡🐯
Monumental Exit, Act 3
A geriatric crowd fills the Beanstalk Show Club for a gig that’s sure to go down in rock’n’roll history.
Prefer your podcasts audio only? Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com
STARRING:
Josh Yard as Bilbo Biltong
Natalie Winter as Sue Sherpa
Alexander Pankhurst as Mike Sherpa
Matt Boothman as Gregg Nevin
ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Fiasco Classic by Jason Morningstar
MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst
EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman
Catching up on @realmspod's original London Grind series in anticipation of the new one with Shamini Bundell starting soon!
If I'd caught this when it first went up, I wouldn't have been able to make this comparison, but I'm enjoying 'Three Card' Monty's Nana Barker as a direct contrast to @worldsbeyondnumberpod's Grandma Wren: both old witchy nanas accompanied by birds who are arseholes, but in extremely different ways (Nana turned a street corner drug pusher into a raven, something she does regularly as a combination punishment-for-wrongdoing and favour to the Tower of London)