Hey folks!
I wanted to talk about a couple of podcasts I found recently that I'm really enjoying. One of these is focused on #ttrpg content, so for any fellow Tabletop Gamers who enjoy D&D or other pen-and-paper RPGs, it'll be worth keeping an eye on. The others are all narrative fiction, leaning heavily into mystery and horror.
This is a really neat ongoing podcast that was described to me as being a "found footage style podcast in the vein of early Magnus Archives or Archive 81". Which, for those unfamiliar with those titles means our primary character point of view is from a single researcher-type person making audio logs about some kind of mysterious and somewhat horrific stuff going on. In Observable Radio our host is a radio tower operator, initially intrigued by some anomalous radio signals he picked up. That quickly evolves into a deeper mystery as he begins to realize things like the fact that he can't remember sleeping, or the last time he was outside.
As of right now, this show has 9 episodes, with more in the pipeline. It's an active project funded entirely through Patreon and KoFi donations and has phenomenal production quality. I absolutely love weird-science horror podcasts, and this isn't the first time I've talked about audio fiction like these. The Magnus Archives, Archive 81, TANIS, Rabbits, The Black Tapes, and Alice Isn't Dead are just a few of the other audio-drama fictions I've listened to and absolutely loved over the years.
Observable Radio has all the weird worldbuilding, strange science, and downright dystopian horror concepts that keep me tuning in and binging series, and if any of that sounds remotely like something you might like... I definitely encourage you to search it up on your favourite podcast app or click the link I left above to go to their website. It is a great show so far and I'm really excited to see what they come out with as this progresses.
This one is from my buddies at The Crumbling Keep, and features James talking about some cool tips for running the game as well as just talking about design philosophies and what makes good games good games.
The first episode was released yesterday, and talks about how every game is, at the heart, a mystery.
I fully subscribe to that idea - with almost any tabletop game, it's mystery that drives the characters to act. The 'What If' question dangles like a Sword of Damocles and drives the players to explore and keep going more than any other thing in my experience. This is particularly relevant at the beginning of games but stands true throughout an entire campaign.
You might take a diversion to go down the path of righteous vengeance... but unless that's your last session, you'll find yourself stepping back onto the road of mystery. The question of what happens next is what drives most campaigns. Who, what, where, when, and why? The "Five W's" we learned back in grade-school apply directly to any good campaign, and any good game. Give away too much of the mystery, and you'll find that the enthusiasm to keep going pretty quickly tapers off.
Once again, this is a brand new podcast that I really enjoyed. The sound quality is great, and James' insights into running tabletop games are always fantastic. I've read enough of his daily emails and chatted with him enough on social media/discord to know that this is just the beginning of what he has to offer listeners. I have no idea what is on the roadmap for topics, but I can 100% guarantee that it's going to be interesting, valuable, and well-delivered.
