Thistledown Actual Play
…from our table to your ears!
TAP Episode 14 – Neutral Grounds – Dresden Files RPG
27 months ago
A murder at a coffee shop leads the characters on a search for a missing friend…
From LarryCon 4 comes a session of the Dresden Files RPG. Specifically, Neutral Grounds, a free published adventure from the Dresden Files RPG website. This game is in two parts, the second to follow next week
WARNING: This podcast contains explicit language.
Links…
danosongs.com (our theme music provider)
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TAP Episode 13 – Fear the Con 4 – The Dance in the Blood
41 year ago
The audio from Fear the Con 4 continues with “The Dance in the Blood” by Graham Walmsley for
Pelgrane Press’ Trail of Cthulhu.
This game was loads of fun to run. It’s excellently written by Mr. Walmsley and captures the feeling of a “purist” Lovecraftian story. Running the adventure in a crowded conventional hall full of enthusiastic gamers can prove to be a bit problematic. Setting the mood is difficult when you are nearly shouting just to be heard.
Regardless, I think it turned out well, and I think we all had fun. I’ve scrubbed the audio as best i could in an attempt to reduce the background noise. I believe it’s listenable, although
the audio quality is not the best if you are used to hearing games recorded in a non-convention setting.
Please leave a comment, and let us know what you think…
Links
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TAP Episode 12 – Fear the Con 4 – In the Grip of the Netherking
31 year ago
by ThistledownJohn
in AP Audio
We’re back! We may have pod-faded for a bit, but Thistledown Actual Play is back up and running!
We had a great time at Fear the Con 4 last month and we’ve got a pile of actual play audio to bring to you. First off, we’d like to send out a big, “thank you” to the folks at Fear the Boot. Once again, they’ve succeeded in producing an excellent gaming convention.
Our first offering is a game that I ran entitled, “In the Grip of the Netherking”. This superhero adventure was created using the HERO System 6th edition rules for Champions. This venerable game is hard to beat when it comes to comic book action and it’s been my favorite for the genre since the early 1980s.
The players for this game consisted of some old friends and some newer ones. Representing this humble podcast was Dan Storz. From Funnybooks with Aron and Paulie was the trio of Aron Head, Wayne Cole (also of Fear the Boot fame), and Andrew Webb. We were also joined by Nathan Worthington, a fine fellow who made the trip to the con from Oklahoma.
So here it is…In the Grip of the Netherking!
CAVEAT – The audio was recorded in a convention atmosphere. I’ve done the best that I could to eliminate the background noise, nevertheless, it may prove distracting.
Links
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TAP Episode 11 – The Dresden Files RPG Part 3
11 year ago
Welcome to Episod
e 11!
We are continuing our foray into the Dresden Files RPG, specifically with character creation. In this episode, we work our way through the five phases of character backstory and highlight the collaborative nature of the process.
This is a long episode. We spent a significant amount of time on this part, considering that there are currently seven players in our group. We decided that we wouldn’t present the actual buying of skills and stunts, as this was very much a bookkeeping affair. FATE’s system for how to buy skills has a few unique features, but in general, if you’ve used a point-buy system before, you’d be familiar.
The Characters…
Dante Osei – A WereGorilla Journalist (played by Tony)
Louis “Blats” Gorblatsky – A relic-wielding demon-slayer (played by Scott)
Gabriel Calrine – A White Court vampire and club owner (played by Nathan)
Shawn Gillam – An skeptical police detective (played by Andrew)
Antoine DuBois – A White Council wizard of Haitian ancestry (played by Dan)
Rick O’Shelley – A changeling learner of Fae Magic (played by Gregg)
Grace Elliott – A ghost whispering former TV show host (played by Sarah)
DFRPG Links
Other Podcasts featuring DFRPG
Great Actual Play Audio
A Note About Audio Quality – We are still working with the audio quality. I’ve made some changes that should help on episode 12.
**POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!**
It’s possible that we may mention some of the events that happen in any and/or all of the Dresden novels. Be warned. As you would expect, the bones of this game are wrapped with things that happen all throughout the Dresdenverse, so if that concerns you, come back to the podcast after you’ve caught up.
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TAP Episode 10 – The Dresden Files RPG Part 2
21 year ago
Welcome to Episode 10 of the Thistledown Actual Play Podcast! We’ll be continuing city creation for our Dresden Files RPG campaign. Specifically, this show will feature the portions of that process known as, “Locations” and “Faces”
SPOILERS! It’s possible that somewhere in the conversation, we may inadvertently mention events that happen in the Dresden Files novels. If spoilers are a concern to you, consider this your chance to save yourself!
A Note About Audio Quality – We had some trouble with extraneous ambient noise in this episode. We had to deal with fans, a loud air-conditioning system, and crickets! Despite our best attempts at cleaning things up, you’ll still be able to hear some of this in the background.
DFRPG Links
Other Podcasts featuring DFRPG
Great Actual Play Audio
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TAP Episode 9 – The Dresden Files RPG Part 1
21 year ago
Hello! We’re back from a hiatus and we’re ready to deliver some actual play audio! We’re playing The Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions, and I’ve got to say that we’re very excited about this game. Thanks to everybody at Evil Hat that put this one together. It’s deserving of all the praise that has been thrown it’s way.
Part 1 focuses on City Creation, which for us means putting together St. Louis as a Dresdenverse location. You’ll be hearing the first two parts of the process, namely, “Themes and Threats” and “Balance of Power.”
Once you’ve listened, send me an email or visit our forums. We’d like to know what you think. We’ll read your comments on the next show.
SPOILER WARNING! We may make comments on any and all of the Dresden Files novels, all the way up through “Changes”.
Thanks for listening!
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Stars and Stones! It’s The Dresden Files RPG
11 year ago
We’ve had a bit of a dry spell here at the podcast…but we’re about to come roaring back with The Dresden Files RPG. Our first session will be this Saturday, where we’ll take a stab at city and character creation. We’ll be creating St. Louis in the Dresdenverse. The city has tons of folklore and weird history that we think should be fertile ground for all sorts of supernatural goodness. A few of the character types that we been discussing are…
- An antique dealer who is in possession of an ancient relic – a crucifix inhabited by the soul of a Saint. The Saint warns him of impending incursions by things from outside the normal world.
- An reporter who is actually a were-gorilla. That’s right, a were-gorilla. That should prove interesting, to say the least.
- A mortal cop. No, not Ms. Murphy, but an unconventional rebel who is a devout dis-believer in the supernatural. He has a rude awakening on the way!
- A White Court vampire who also is a club-owner.
- And of course…a Wizard of the White Council. We haven’t quite wrapped up the details on this guy yet…except to say that he is a “reluctant” practitioner of the arts.
Stay tuned, I’m hoping to have the first episode up early next week…
TAP Episode 8 – An Extreme Minority – Game Over!
01 year ago
We say goodbye to An Extreme Minority with a “Game Over!” episode. We’ll be talking about the game, good points, bad points, etc. Look for one of these after each project that we wrap up.
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Gen Con 2010 – Day Three Recap
01 year ago
Gen Con kept rolling along today. Already on day three, and the sad end of the convention is coming into sight. Where did the time go? Highlights…
- Breakfast – Omelets, bacon, sausage, coffee, etc. I think I’ve gained at least five pounds.
- Desolation – I got to play a new RPG called, Desolation from Greymalkin Designs. It’s a post-apocalyptic fantasy game built around the Ubiquity engine from Exile
Game Studio. The idea is that your characters lived in a familiar fantasy world that suffered some sort of catastrophe. You survived in a world torn apart. Mad Max meets Tolkien. I generally enjoyed the experience and I tend to view Ubiquity in a favorable light. It works well for Hollow Earth Expedition. One nice thing about gaming at Gen Con is that you sometimes play in a game that is ran by the person who designed it. This game was exactly that. The GM was Matt Somers, the chap that envisioned and wrote the setting. - Elf Park – I ran across an “Elf Park” sign. Who knew that the Elves had their own park here in
Indianapolis? Why are they so special? I bet the Dwarves are really hacked off!
- Shopping – I did a marathon run in the Exhibitor Hall. To say it was crowded wouldn’t quite cover it. Walking was hampered. There were many bumps and stops and jostles, but I hung in. I picked up a few more dice, but not much else.
- The Auction – Gen Con has a huge auction of games and gaming products. Also, there is a Consignment Store where items can
be purchased directly without going through the bidding process. I dug through stacks and boxes, looking for ancient treasure. Lots of items caught my eye, but the only thing that I walked out with was a copy of Different Worlds #10 from Oct/Nov 1980 (Ironic, since that is the exact time that I began gaming.) I was a Different Worlds fan from the beginning, mainly because it always contanied some Runequest or Call of Cthulhu content in additional to the D&D stuff. - The Game that Wasn’t – As usually happens at least once, I attended a game where the GM didn’t show. We gave him ten minutes, then bolted. I tried to find a 1st Ed. AD&D game, for which I had been given a tip earlier, but I could find it. Perhaps I need a Ranger…
More tomorrow as Gen Con 2010 closes!
Gen Con 2010 – Day Two Recap
01 year ago
Day Two! We’re all settled in…everyone is in the convention flow. We are attacking this con with verve! The plan shifts to less drinking – more gaming. Here’s the Day Two highlights…
- Stonesky Delve (Expeditious Retreat Press)Part Two – The first edition AD&D action continued with a few conspicuous absences. Two players dropped out, but i think it was all to the good. Yesterday, we had to join two tables together to allow for all the players. It was
hard to hear, and darn-near impossible to see the map from the other table. For part two we were down to one table, and the game ran much more smoothly. This was a tournament game and sadly, we did not win. Regardless, I had tons of fun and met some new folks. Thanks to Brett and Curtis for some fine role-playing comeraderie. - I had nachos in the middle of the Exhibitor Hall for lunch. I expected them to take a physical toll on me later, (and those around me!) thankfully, my digestive system took it in stride, handling them quite well.
- More shopping – Today, I picked up some D&D minis for which I had to battle. I dug through the bins, fighting off various competitors who tried to reach through me to grab a handful. My persistence paid off, and I have more baddies to grace my battlemat. Other booty…some Fading Suns books (cheap), two Godzilla t-shirts (Rockin!), dice from Chessex, and more dice form Exile Game Studios of the Ubiquity variety.
- Dinner at P.F. Chang’s – Too much money not enough Chinese food, ’nuff said.
- More gaming – I played Call of Cthulhu again under the same GM from the night before. This time, we played Nazis on a mission for the Reich. It was fun regardless of all the cheesy German accents around the table (including mine!)
- Back to the room for sleep, recharging of phones, computers, and gamer brains!
See you all tomorrow for the new recap…