Character creation precedes the start of the scenario proper...
It is July, 1939, and a covert mission to occupied Bohemia brings together a startling variety of characters to investigate the mystery of Karlstein Castle and make contact with the resistance group known as the "Three Kings".
The campaign wiki can be found here.
Featuring:
Des
Jen
Renae
Dave S.
And...Edie the Dog
Off to a great start. Had a great time driving back from exams and listening to you guys. Hardly had a thought about that one tricky question I'm not sure I answered correctly.
ReplyDeleteI love that your episodes are long, but still I was left craving more. I had two other rpg podcast episodes today and they were 30-40 minutes each. That's like getting to nibble at a tasty spread. Yours are solid servings, but I have a big appetite. Thank goodness you have a large archive. I'm going to go download the Pendragon Campaign again.
Oh and where's Jade? I've missed her.
Yeah, I don't quite get those short episodes either. I understand "discussion" podcasts trying to limit themselves to a half-hour or hour, but to me the point of an actual-play is to capture the experience of being at the table (or at least in the same room) in more-or-less real time. But I know there are folks who see A-Ps as something else entirely. So it goes.
DeleteJade's hoping she'll be back the session after next. Her life just got insanely busy over the last couple months and she basically had to set aside all her extracurricular activities until things returned to a semblance of normalcy. But we've stayed in touch, and she's already got a character concept, so she'll be good to go!
I don't even really like a discussion or interview podcast that's too short. I mean, do you really have anything worth discussing if it's 30 minutes minus intro, sponsors and other fluff? You can't really dig into a thing in that time. It's just going to be a few statements and opinions without much of where it's coming from and why.
DeleteI used to be big into Joe Rogan a few years ago. Before it got weirdly hostile. I felt it was a good honest discussion on variety of topics with interesting people and mostly the episodes were about 3 hours long, but sometimes they'd go much longer. Now that's a discussion.
I stopped regularly listening to this one rpg podcast because their intro routine takes nearly 15 minutes and the end has 10-20 minutes of bloopers our of a 45-60 minutes show. So there's about 20-25 minutes of content each week. No! I'm not wasting my time on that shit. Just makes me mad. When I have a bunch episodes ready I'll go through them and skipping all that junk.
I actually agree--I like a good, meaty two- or three-hour podcast. I often find myself wishing Ken & Robin would allow themselves to ramble a bit on certain topics, for example.
DeleteBut I know there are a lot of folks who want to listen to a full episode (or at least a segment) during the course of a single commute or what-have-you.
But yeah, excessive intro routines and blooper reels? No thank you. Never a good idea.
My opinion on this has shifted because at my old job I used to have long, uninterrupted stretches where I could put on this podcast in the background and subconsciously (or consciously depending on how engaged I felt that day) listen to it. Now I'm broken up by meetings and don't have the unbroken hours needed to take it all in regularly. Especially on Mondays! I'm not even first commenter anymore!
DeleteI don't mind intros or bloopers if they're not excessive (as in this case they are), but I only tolerate them from shows that very helpfully give minute marks so that if I just want to dive right in, I can skip ahead to where I know what I came to listen to starts. That's a nice touch that alleviates a lot of annoyance on my part.
"Decide what foreign country you're able to blend in with"… and nobody said "R'lyeh!"
ReplyDeleteGood fun, and if you guys want braindumps on occult WWII (I have a campaign that's been running nearly ten years and it turns into a bit of a research fest at times) feel free to give me a shout.
I was just thinking about your occult WWII campaign thanks to listening to the latest "Improvised Radio Theatre"--I'd very much enjoy setting up a correspondence. In particular, I'm musing about the good Professor's high Enochian skill and how best to pull that in...
DeleteDrop me a line at: dlarkins78 at gmail.
"Penalties [for social stigma] may range from limited free time available to a penalty of 1d4 x 10 or more to certain communications skills...."
ReplyDeleteOr, you know, getting sent to a death camp. I guess that could count as limited free time available.
Also, that was some unfortunate parachuting. Definitely a good time to apply little damage, but I'm not sure I could resist putting on Blood on the Risers.
And a third thing, I guess. While I can't blame you for going allies, German tank crew seems like a good horror scenario. I think your average late war German tank broke down more often than the Mystery Machine.
Heh, I remember playing Battlefield 1942 at a LANParty. One of the maps spawns you in mid-air, about to do an airborne assault on an island. Heard from the other side of the room: "Does anyone know which key opens the parachute? … oh, never mind."
Delete"Or, you know, getting sent to a death camp. I guess that could count as limited free time available."
DeleteSERIOUSLY. To be fair, the text I was reading was from Cthulhu by Gaslight, and it was all downhill from there until the 1940s. Dr. Fountain best be watching his back, American citizenship or no...
"German tank crew seems like a good horror scenario. I think your average late war German tank broke down more often than the Mystery Machine."
Tank crews in general would make for a perfect framework. I recall reading (I believe in a book about the final months of the war) of a Soviet T-34 disappearing, crew and all, in the forests of East Prussia. No one ever found the tank or the men. I always thought that would make a fun horror or time-travel scenario.
There's a lot of room for non-NSDAP-member German horror, but it's not something I'd base a campaign off of (at least not with this group of worthies).
*I love you guys* I totally felt little chest pangs when I heard all your voices. <3 See you at the table soon!!
ReplyDelete