Merely Roleplayers

Meet Jess: shift worker, tarot reader, Spooky. Jess has always known she’s bigger than Sherrydown - and her new spirit guide is ready to help her prove it.

Join Ellen as she fills in Jess’ character sheet with help from compère Matt and fellow hunters Dave and Josh.

Programme notes

This production contains mild body horror, fantasy violence - including gun violence - and abusive relationship dynamics.

Our promo this episode is for The D20 Future Show, where Richard and his team play the RPG D20 Future (based on D20 Modern) and are ... well, sometimes they are idiots.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Jess Butterworth: a twenty-something shift worker, Sherrydown born and bred. While working the tarot tent at Amazement Park, she was approached by Kit, a being claiming to be her spirit guide.

Melody: the owner of Melodies, the cosy cafe and vinyl shop on Market Street. Melody is an ageless patchwork person animated by music, who fled her creator ages ago and has owned a music shop on this spot ever since.

Calistarius Softbinding: a local horror writer with a cult following, who sponsored the construction of a whole new wing of Sherrydown’s library. Calistarius Softbinding is a nom de plume.

Ed Kincaid: a once promising, now disgraced MI5 agent assigned to investigate the more … esoteric threats reported to the national security hotline.

Department of Omissions (DO, DoOm): The UK government department tasked with preventing harm to citizens from supernatural phenomena. Severely defunded under Tory austerity policies and currently prioritising major urban population centres.

Sherrydown, Brackshire: A historic English market town. One of the first towns to lose its DoOm office.

Omission effect: The rejection of certain beings and phenomena by long-term memory. Can be suppressed by concentration, mnemonic techniques, hypnosis, trauma, or the light of the full moon.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Ellen Gould as Jess Butterworth, the Spooky

Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed

Chris Buxey as Calistarius Softbinding, the Expert

Chris MacLennan as Ed Kincaid, the Professional

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Following the food truck ordeal, the team reconvenes to formulate their next move (and leave Amazement Park some damning reviews). A trap is set, but an unseen somebody has a different plan.

Programme notes

This production contains mild body horror, fantasy violence - including gun violence - and abusive relationship dynamics.

Natalie Winter (Gwynned in Vigil: Cold Snap) was on Talk Together, an interview show on the Roll Together network. Check out the interview on Twitch or Youtube.

Sherrydown is twinned with Waterdeep, city of splendours, home of the Great Game, the Neverember Enigma! Sherrydown Town Council unfortunately does not recommend that townsfolk take part in the Great Game themselves. As a safe alternative, why not support our town’s favourite contestants, the Waterdeep Mallrats? Cheer them on every Monday at 19:00 UTC+1 on twitch.tv/sabotagetheDM.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Jess Butterworth: a twenty-something shift worker, Sherrydown born and bred. While working the tarot tent at Amazement Park, she was approached by Kit, a being claiming to be her spirit guide.

Melody: the owner of Melodies, the cosy cafe and vinyl shop on Market Street. Melody is an ageless patchwork person animated by music, who fled her creator ages ago and has owned a music shop on this spot ever since.

Calistarius Softbinding: a local horror writer with a cult following, who sponsored the construction of a whole new wing of Sherrydown’s library. Calistarius Softbinding is a nom de plume.

Ed Kincaid: a once promising, now disgraced MI5 agent assigned to investigate the more … esoteric threats reported to the national security hotline.

Department of Omissions (DO, DoOm): The UK government department tasked with preventing harm to citizens from supernatural phenomena. Severely defunded under Tory austerity policies and currently prioritising major urban population centres.

Sherrydown, Brackshire: A historic English market town. One of the first towns to lose its DoOm office.

Omission effect: The rejection of certain beings and phenomena by long-term memory. Can be suppressed by concentration, mnemonic techniques, hypnosis, trauma, or the light of the full moon.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Ellen Gould as Jess Butterworth, the Spooky

Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed

Chris Buxey as Calistarius Softbinding, the Expert

Chris MacLennan as Ed Kincaid, the Professional

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

SFX AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC INCLUDES: Alexis by Luca Fraula; Wizardtorium by Kevin MacLeod; and may include others made available to use without attribution.

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Meet Kincaid: sceptic, agent, Professional. A disgraced special agent kicked down to a bullshit basement detail, he just wants an easy life, but how long can his scepticism hold out?

Join Chris as he fills in Kincaid’s character sheet with help from compere Matt and fellow hunters Nat and Alex.

Programme notes

This production contains mild body horror, fantasy violence - including gun violence - and abusive relationship dynamics.

Our promo this episode is for The Space Jam Continuum. Now that Space Jam: A New Legacy has a release date and a trailer, Chris and Cal are up against the clock to fashion a cohesive cinematic universe out of Looney Tunes, which was never meant to be one.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Jess Butterworth: a twenty-something shift worker, Sherrydown born and bred. While working the tarot tent at Amazement Park, she was approached by Kit, a being claiming to be her spirit guide.

Melody: the owner of Melodies, the cosy cafe and vinyl shop on Market Street. Melody is an ageless patchwork person animated by music, who fled her creator ages ago and has owned a music shop on this spot ever since.

Calistarius Softbinding: a local horror writer with a cult following, who sponsored the construction of a whole new wing of Sherrydown’s library. Calistarius Softbinding is a nom de plume.

Ed Kincaid: a once promising, now disgraced MI5 agent assigned to investigate the more … esoteric threats reported to the national security hotline.

Department of Omissions (DO, DoOm): The UK government department tasked with preventing harm to citizens from supernatural phenomena. Severely defunded under Tory austerity policies and currently prioritising major urban population centres.

Sherrydown, Brackshire: A historic English market town. One of the first towns to lose its DoOm office.

Omission effect: The rejection of certain beings and phenomena by long-term memory. Can be suppressed by concentration, mnemonic techniques, hypnosis, trauma, or the light of the full moon.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Ellen Gould as Jess Butterworth, the Spooky

Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed

Chris Buxey as Calistarius Softbinding, the Expert

Chris MacLennan as Ed Kincaid, the Professional

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Gunshots echo through Amazement Park as the hunters force Jess’s thief to show its true face. But this is just a rehearsal for the true battle to come...

Programme notes

This production contains mild body horror, fantasy violence - including gun violence - and abusive relationship dynamics.

Tickets are now on sale for Trouble at Sea: A Miss McSkimming Mystery, on Saturday 3 July in the Big Top in King George’s Park, Wandsworth.

Sherrydown is twinned with Waterdeep, city of splendours, home of the Great Game, the Neverember Enigma! Sherrydown Town Council unfortunately does not recommend that townsfolk take part in the Great Game themselves. As a safe alternative, why not support our town’s favourite contestants, the Waterdeep Mallrats? Cheer them on every Monday at 19:00 UTC+1 on twitch.tv/sabotagetheDM.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Jess Butterworth: a twenty-something shift worker, Sherrydown born and bred. While working the tarot tent at Amazement Park, she was approached by Kit, a being claiming to be her spirit guide.

Melody: the owner of Melodies, the cosy cafe and vinyl shop on Market Street. Melody is an ageless patchwork person animated by music, who fled her creator ages ago and has owned a music shop on this spot ever since.

Calistarius Softbinding: a local horror writer with a cult following, who sponsored the construction of a whole new wing of Sherrydown’s library. Calistarius Softbinding is a nom de plume.

Ed Kincaid: a once promising, now disgraced MI5 agent assigned to investigate the more … esoteric threats reported to the national security hotline.

Department of Omissions (DO, DoOm): The UK government department tasked with preventing harm to citizens from supernatural phenomena. Severely defunded under Tory austerity policies and currently prioritising major urban population centres.

Sherrydown, Brackshire: A historic English market town. One of the first towns to lose its DoOm office.

Omission effect: The rejection of certain beings and phenomena by long-term memory. Can be suppressed by concentration, mnemonic techniques, hypnosis, trauma, or the light of the full moon.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Ellen Gould as Jess Butterworth, the Spooky

Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed

Chris Buxey as Calistarius Softbinding, the Expert

Chris MacLennan as Ed Kincaid, the Professional

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

SFX AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC INCLUDES: Sings In The Fields by Rafael Krux; Darkest Child and Cool Rock by Kevin MacLeod; Ford Transit boulevard by LG; and may include others made available to use without attribution.

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Meet Melody: hipster, ambivert, 200 year-old construct. Having escaped her creator, this well-meaning café owner has a tendency to come apart at the seams. 

Join Helen as she fills in Melody's character sheet with help from compère Matt and fellow hunters Vikki and Chris.

Programme notes

This production contains mild body horror, fantasy violence - including gun violence - and abusive relationship dynamics.

Our promo this episode is for A Rendezvous with Destiny, an actual play podcast of Onyx Path's Scion, set in a fictionalised Washington, DC.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Jess Butterworth: a twenty-something shift worker, Sherrydown born and bred. While working the tarot tent at Amazement Park, she was approached by Kit, a being claiming to be her spirit guide.

Melody: the owner of Melodies, the cosy cafe and vinyl shop on Market Street. Melody is an ageless patchwork person animated by music, who fled her creator ages ago and has owned a music shop on this spot ever since.

Calistarius Softbinding: a local horror writer with a cult following, who sponsored the construction of a whole new wing of Sherrydown’s library. Calistarius Softbinding is a nom de plume.

Ed Kincaid: a once promising, now disgraced MI5 agent assigned to investigate the more … esoteric threats reported to the national security hotline.

Department of Omissions (DO, DoOm): The UK government department tasked with preventing harm to citizens from supernatural phenomena. Severely defunded under Tory austerity policies and currently prioritising major urban population centres.

Sherrydown, Brackshire: A historic English market town. One of the first towns to lose its DoOm office.

Omission effect: The rejection of certain beings and phenomena by long-term memory. Can be suppressed by concentration, mnemonic techniques, hypnosis, trauma, or the light of the full moon.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Ellen Gould as Jess Butterworth, the Spooky

Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed

Chris Buxey as Calistarius Softbinding, the Expert

Chris MacLennan as Ed Kincaid, the Professional

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Pulling the thread on the identity theft mystery leads our hunters to the fabulous Sherrydown Amazement Park. What horrors await them there and, possibly more importantly, why isn't it open at the weekend?

Programme notes

This production contains mild body horror, fantasy violence - including gun violence - and abusive relationship dynamics.

Tickets are now on sale for Trouble at Sea: A Miss McSkimming Mystery, on Saturday 3 July in the Big Top in King George’s Park, Wandsworth.

Wandsworth residents can apply for a free writing workshop on Monday 28 June, also in the Big Top.

Replay the Rebel Roleplayers Roundtable (featuring Ellie Pitkin and Alexander Pankhurst) and Dead Of Night (featuring Alexander Pankhurst and Natalie Winter) from Sabotage the DM’s 7 Days of Sabotage event.

Sherrydown is twinned with Waterdeep, city of splendours, home of the Great Game, the Neverember Enigma! Sherrydown Town Council unfortunately does not recommend that townsfolk take part in the Great Game themselves. As a safe alternative, why not support our town’s favourite contestants, the Waterdeep Mallrats? Cheer them on every Monday at 19:00 UTC+1 on twitch.tv/sabotagetheDM.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Jess Butterworth: a twenty-something shift worker, Sherrydown born and bred. While working the tarot tent at Amazement Park, she was approached by Kit, a being claiming to be her spirit guide.

Melody: the owner of Melodies, the cosy cafe and vinyl shop on Market Street. Melody is an ageless patchwork person animated by music, who fled her creator ages ago and has owned a music shop on this spot ever since.

Calistarius Softbinding: a local horror writer with a cult following, who sponsored the construction of a whole new wing of Sherrydown’s library. Calistarius Softbinding is a nom de plume.

Ed Kincaid: a once promising, now disgraced MI5 agent assigned to investigate the more … esoteric threats reported to the national security hotline.

Department of Omissions (DO, DoOm): The UK government department tasked with preventing harm to citizens from supernatural phenomena. Severely defunded under Tory austerity policies and currently prioritising major urban population centres.

Sherrydown, Brackshire: A historic English market town. One of the first towns to lose its DoOm office.

Omission effect: The rejection of certain beings and phenomena by long-term memory. Can be suppressed by concentration, mnemonic techniques, hypnosis, trauma, or the light of the full moon.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Ellen Gould as Jess Butterworth, the Spooky

Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed

Chris Buxey as Calistarius Softbinding, the Expert

Chris MacLennan as Ed Kincaid, the Professional

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

SFX AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC INCLUDES: Wizardtorium by Kevin MacLeod; and may include others made available to use without attribution.

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Matt meets our new band of hunters as they explore their connections to one another, and to the pride of Brackshire - the picturesque Sherrydown.

Programme notes

This production contains mild body horror, fantasy violence - including gun violence - and abusive relationship dynamics.

Our promo this episode is for What Am I Rolling?, a twice-monthly roleplaying game one-shot podcast, hosted by gamemaster, Fiona. Every month, Fiona takes a brand new group of players and runs them through a one-shot adventure, testing out a different RPG style or system.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Jess Butterworth: a twenty-something shift worker, Sherrydown born and bred. While working the tarot tent at Amazement Park, she was approached by Kit, a being claiming to be her spirit guide.

Melody: the owner of Melodies, the cosy cafe and vinyl shop on Market Street. Melody is an ageless patchwork person animated by music, who fled her creator ages ago and has owned a music shop on this spot ever since.

Calistarius Softbinding: a local horror writer with a cult following, who sponsored the construction of a whole new wing of Sherrydown’s library. Calistarius Softbinding is a nom de plume.

Ed Kincaid: a once promising, now disgraced MI5 agent assigned to investigate the more … esoteric threats reported to the national security hotline.

Department of Omissions (DO, DoOm): The UK government department tasked with preventing harm to citizens from supernatural phenomena. Severely defunded under Tory austerity policies and currently prioritising major urban population centres.

Sherrydown, Brackshire: A historic English market town. One of the first towns to lose its DoOm office.

Omission effect: The rejection of certain beings and phenomena by long-term memory. Can be suppressed by concentration, mnemonic techniques, hypnosis, trauma, or the light of the full moon.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Ellen Gould as Jess Butterworth, the Spooky

Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed

Chris Buxey as Calistarius Softbinding, the Expert

Chris MacLennan as Ed Kincaid, the Professional

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

When the residents of idyllic Sherrydown fall foul to a series of strange anomalies with their personal data, an unlikely team of concerned citizens assembles to investigate.

Programme notes

This production contains mild body horror, fantasy violence - including gun violence - and abusive relationship dynamics.

If you enjoyed Vigil: Cold Snap, our previous Main House production, you should pick up The Sherrydown Enquirer 2: Cold Snap, a Monster of the Week mystery scenario and Sherrydown lore zine. It contains Cold Snap, a mystery for use with the roleplaying game Monster of the Week by Michael Sands, for the roleplayers among you; and some juicy history and information about the Sherrydown setting, for fans of Vigil. Buy The Sherrydown Enquirer 2: Cold Snap on itch.io.

Sherrydown is twinned with Waterdeep, city of splendours, home of the Great Game, the Neverember Enigma! Sherrydown Town Council unfortunately does not recommend that townsfolk take part in the Great Game themselves. As a safe alternative, why not support our town’s favourite contestants, the Waterdeep Mallrats? Cheer them on every Monday at 19:00 UTC+1 on twitch.tv/sabotagetheDM.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Jess Butterworth: a twenty-something shift worker, Sherrydown born and bred. While working the tarot tent at Amazement Park, she was approached by Kit, a being claiming to be her spirit guide.

Melody: the owner of Melodies, the cosy cafe and vinyl shop on Market Street. Melody is an ageless patchwork person animated by music, who fled her creator ages ago and has owned a music shop on this spot ever since.

Calistarius Softbinding: a local horror writer with a cult following, who sponsored the construction of a whole new wing of Sherrydown’s library. Calistarius Softbinding is a nom de plume.

Ed Kincaid: a once promising, now disgraced MI5 agent assigned to investigate the more … esoteric threats reported to the national security hotline.

Department of Omissions (DO, DoOm): The UK government department tasked with preventing harm to citizens from supernatural phenomena. Severely defunded under Tory austerity policies and currently prioritising major urban population centres.

Sherrydown, Brackshire: A historic English market town. One of the first towns to lose its DoOm office.

Omission effect: The rejection of certain beings and phenomena by long-term memory. Can be suppressed by concentration, mnemonic techniques, hypnosis, trauma, or the light of the full moon.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Ellen Gould as Jess Butterworth, the Spooky

Helen Stratton as Melody, the Constructed

Chris Buxey as Calistarius Softbinding, the Expert

Chris MacLennan as Ed Kincaid, the Professional

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

SFX AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC INCLUDES: Go! by Brian Holtz; Velocity by Lilo Sound; Wizardtorium and Backbay Lounge by Kevin MacLeod; and may include others made available to use without attribution.

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

After an intense in-character debrief, it’s time for a much more relaxed and friendly out-of-character debrief.

Programme notes

This production contains reported violence.

Our promo this episode is for The Space Jam Continuum. Now that Space Jam: A New Legacy has a release date and a trailer, Chris and Cal are up against the clock to fashion a cohesive cinematic universe out of Looney Tunes, which was never meant to be one.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Ellie Pitkin as Agent Pigeon

Vikki as Agent Anvil

Strat as Agent Tanktop

Helen Stratton as Agent Banks

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Mission: Accomplished!, designed by Jeff Stormer

MUSIC BY: Matt Boothman and Alexander Pankhurst

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

The debriefing call is running long and nerves are starting to fray. Who will take credit for sinking the Consultancy, and who will be scapegoated for the Service’s leaks?

Programme notes

This production contains reported violence.

You can catch some of the Merely Roleplayers cast on Twitch this week, as part of seven straight days of streams to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Sabotage the DM:

Friday 21 May, 6-8pm UTC+1: Ellie Pitkin (Agent Pigeon, Persephone Byron) and Alexander Pankhurst (Soft Skull, Graham) are taking part in the Rebel Roleplayers Roundtable

Sunday 23 May, 6-11pm UTC+1: Alex and Natalie Winter (Gwynned, Souper-Man) are appearing in an actual play of Dead of Night

Tune in, and see the full schedule for the week, at twitch.tv/sabotagetheDM

Our promo this episode is for The Space Jam Continuum. Now that Space Jam: A New Legacy has a release date and a trailer, Chris and Cal are up against the clock to fashion a cohesive cinematic universe out of Looney Tunes, which was never meant to be one.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Ellie Pitkin as Agent Pigeon

Vikki as Agent Anvil

Strat as Agent Tanktop

Helen Stratton as Agent Banks

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Mission: Accomplished!, designed by Jeff Stormer

MUSIC BY: Matt Boothman and Alexander Pankhurst

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com