TTRPG Actual Play Podcast recommendations
June 15, 2021 6:24 PM Subscribe
Do you have any role-playing Actual Play podcast recommendations? I'm specifically looking for AP shows that have audio-only formats available. More details inside.
I've enjoyed Not Another D&D Podcast, Rude Tales of Magic, and The Adventure Zone. I'm just starting on what audio episodes there are of Dimension 20. I prefer them to have an element of comedy--I don't mind drama and tragedy but I'm not interested in grimdark. I don't need them to be especially crunchy and all systems are welcome.
Bonus: if the cast is not mostly white, mostly male, mostly straight people that would be even better.
I've enjoyed Not Another D&D Podcast, Rude Tales of Magic, and The Adventure Zone. I'm just starting on what audio episodes there are of Dimension 20. I prefer them to have an element of comedy--I don't mind drama and tragedy but I'm not interested in grimdark. I don't need them to be especially crunchy and all systems are welcome.
Bonus: if the cast is not mostly white, mostly male, mostly straight people that would be even better.
Try Knives at Night! All queer, half women. Based on Blades in the Dark
posted by shesdeadimalive at 6:40 PM on June 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by shesdeadimalive at 6:40 PM on June 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
I’m just working through a relisten of The Glass Cannon Podcast. They are five straight white dudes, but one of them consistently portrays a woman in ways that I think are pretty okay. The first, eh, 20 episodes sometimes have some less than cool sexual jokes, but they’ve mentioned that they realize how not okay that stuff was and they cut it out. They play a Pathfinder adventure path, and they’re super great. The story should be concluding sometime this fall. They do have a spin-off, Androids and Aliens, that includes a woman.
posted by Night_owl at 6:47 PM on June 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Night_owl at 6:47 PM on June 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
Fun City Ventures maybe. I fell off it when they moved away from shadowrun into a system called Stillfleet, but there's some 20 episodes of somewhat goofy shadowrunning.
posted by juv3nal at 6:53 PM on June 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by juv3nal at 6:53 PM on June 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
I haven't listened myself, but I've heard good things about Dice Will Roll. Cast is entirely trans.
posted by brook horse at 7:47 PM on June 15, 2021
posted by brook horse at 7:47 PM on June 15, 2021
If you like D20 and NADDPOD, you might also enjoy Zac Oyama's Rotating Heroes Podcast, which includes some familiar faces but has been branching out into other players as the series goes on. I think you need to subscribe to the patreon to listen, though.
posted by col_pogo at 7:50 PM on June 15, 2021
posted by col_pogo at 7:50 PM on June 15, 2021
I am more into story than mechanics, and my favourite actual play podcasts are Spout Lore, Lakeshore & Limbo, and Crudely Drawn Swords. Spout Lore and Crudely Drawn Swords are set in quite inventive homebrew fantasy worlds, and are big-scope epic with a lot of small-scope fun character shenanigans, and Lakeshore & Limbo is sort of a ... modern-day supernatural/fantastical "private eye investigation" concept.
All of them have women on the cast (the Spout Lore cast is half POC, as well)! And they all have a nice balance of comedy and drama — they don't shy away from meaningful character work, but the basic attitude is light, optimistic, and comedic. Spout Lore and Crudely Drawn Swords run Dungeon World, which is a RPG system that is much lighter on mechanics than D&D; I find battles played with this system to be a lot more listenable and focused on story beats.
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 9:39 PM on June 15, 2021
All of them have women on the cast (the Spout Lore cast is half POC, as well)! And they all have a nice balance of comedy and drama — they don't shy away from meaningful character work, but the basic attitude is light, optimistic, and comedic. Spout Lore and Crudely Drawn Swords run Dungeon World, which is a RPG system that is much lighter on mechanics than D&D; I find battles played with this system to be a lot more listenable and focused on story beats.
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 9:39 PM on June 15, 2021
Also, a great resource: RPG Casts is an actual play podcast directory that focuses on highlighting podcasts by women, BIPOC, LGBTQ, and trans players. These are all searchable categories, if you're looking for a specific identity group! There are loads of indie/lesser-known/non-D&D podcasts listed in the directory.
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 9:41 PM on June 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 9:41 PM on June 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
Oh just realized no one has mentioned Friends at the Table, I wouldn't exactly say they're comedic but they tick a lot of your other boxes.
posted by juv3nal at 10:21 PM on June 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by juv3nal at 10:21 PM on June 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
Trials and Trebuchets is one that I’m keen to explore but haven’t had a chance to dive into yet.
posted by itesser at 10:47 PM on June 15, 2021
posted by itesser at 10:47 PM on June 15, 2021
Seconding the Glass Cannon Podcast and Androids & Aliens (which now has two female players). They've also branched out into something they call New Game, Who Dis?, where they play non-Pathfinder games and have recurring guest players who are non-straight-white-guys.
posted by neushoorn at 11:35 PM on June 15, 2021
posted by neushoorn at 11:35 PM on June 15, 2021
Something like the Story Roost set of podcasts? They do them as radio plays almost, and while I don't necessarily do RPG's, I like their main gaming podcast, Gamers With Jobs.
posted by deezil at 5:19 AM on June 16, 2021
posted by deezil at 5:19 AM on June 16, 2021
Rusty Quill Gaming has a long-running Pathfinder campaign, with regular one-off specials using other game systems. The players are not all white, all straight, or all male, and they are all hilarious. The episodes are around an hour or less, which I find to be a huge plus for actual-plays.
posted by zeptoweasel at 6:00 AM on June 16, 2021
posted by zeptoweasel at 6:00 AM on June 16, 2021
I'll give a strong recommendation for the Vampire the Masquerade campaign LA by Night (Youtube link, but it looks like the first two seasons are available in audio-only form on Spotify). The first episode is a bit of a slow start but I was hooked halfway through and it just takes off from there - it does have a somewhat grimdark atmosphere by dint of the setting but it can get pretty hilarious along with its dramatic/touching moments, and the players are all great actors and super charismatic. The main group of players is majority POC and half dudes, and there's a big rotating cast of guest players who have been majority women and also pretty diverse.
posted by limnerent at 7:03 AM on June 16, 2021
posted by limnerent at 7:03 AM on June 16, 2021
I'm a big Glass Cannon fan and will nth that. The flagship pod (which has the 'founding' gang) is all white male, but they have branched out and are bringing in (and paying) more diverse performers. Great storytellers but the style is definitely playing the game with rules, mechanics and dice (even if they mess up the notoriously hard Pathfinder rules a lot.)
The Campaign podcast is at the other end rules wise; dice are just inspiration for improv bits. It started with a Star Wars adventure run by the incredible Kat Kuhl; unfortunately she left and they are now running a custom campaign called Skyjacks, still good. The One Shot games from the same crowd rotate through different RPGs (often indie, occasionally including the designer.)
Also vouching for Spout Lore and Rusty Quill, though unfortunately I'm way, way behind on both of those. So little time, so much audio content!
Try Knives at Night! All queer, half women. Based on Blades in the Dark
That sounds fun, will check it out.
posted by mark k at 9:11 AM on June 16, 2021
The Campaign podcast is at the other end rules wise; dice are just inspiration for improv bits. It started with a Star Wars adventure run by the incredible Kat Kuhl; unfortunately she left and they are now running a custom campaign called Skyjacks, still good. The One Shot games from the same crowd rotate through different RPGs (often indie, occasionally including the designer.)
Also vouching for Spout Lore and Rusty Quill, though unfortunately I'm way, way behind on both of those. So little time, so much audio content!
Try Knives at Night! All queer, half women. Based on Blades in the Dark
That sounds fun, will check it out.
posted by mark k at 9:11 AM on June 16, 2021
Seconding Friends at the Table, which isn't explicitly a comedy podcast but definitely has goofs in exactly the way a group of friends hanging around playing games would. As someone whose hanging around goofing with friends days are behind him, this is a great comfort.
On second thought, that may be selling them short because while they have goofs the main thing they have is incredible storytelling that consistently knocks it out of the park every single season.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:15 AM on June 16, 2021
On second thought, that may be selling them short because while they have goofs the main thing they have is incredible storytelling that consistently knocks it out of the park every single season.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:15 AM on June 16, 2021
bomBARDed is like a more family-friendly The Adventure Zone. It's not specifically for children; it just has no swearing or sex and minimal violence. All the player characters are bards. The players are members of an indie band, and they actually perform all of their spells as either short parodies or original full songs. Not a diverse cast, but there is eventually a sweet lesbian romance. Includes some music theory lessons for understanding their system.
posted by Comet Bug at 9:56 AM on June 16, 2021
posted by Comet Bug at 9:56 AM on June 16, 2021
I saw some folks mentioning Friends at the Table and would like to nth that recommendation. They have good goofs and take the world building and storytelling quite seriously. The cast has always had nonwhite, nonmale, nonstraight folks on it and they take great care to try and tell stories which respect marginalized people. The current season is a dark fantasy/horror game (which does still manage to have lots of goofs) but I think the easiest introduction to them might be Marielda.
posted by crossswords at 10:14 AM on June 16, 2021
posted by crossswords at 10:14 AM on June 16, 2021
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posted by dismas at 6:28 PM on June 15, 2021