Merely Roleplayers

As Mick, Percy and Graham engage in a bloody battle with the playtime monster, Renko makes a surprising discovery in the school staffroom.

Programme notes

This episode contains bloody violence, including gun violence, and detailed tentacular imagery.

Watch Jack and the Beanstalk, a semi-improvised panto created for streaming and incorporating roleplaying game elements, at 20:00 UTC on 11 & 12 December at twitch.tv/rollflipstream

The town of Sherrydown is twinned with Whispering Pines, the not-so-ordinary summer camp for those hazy days and chilled summer nights. Campers laughing, fireflies glowing, campfires crackling long into the night, and a gaunt, cruel monstrosity forever hiding just out of sight, always asking, “What do you do next?” You can find out more about Whispering Pines and meet some of its eccentric camp counselors in the Sleepaway one-shot on What Am I Rolling? : a twice monthly RPG one-shot podcast.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Renko: A DoOm agent assigned to Sherrydown, furloughed since the office closed.

Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron: A Victorian monster hunter and half-sister of Ada Lovelace. Percy tried to time travel from 1852 to 1666 to stop the summoning of an apocalyptic demon, but something went wrong, and she landed in present-day Sherrydown instead.

Mick: Sherrydown’s favourite builder and bricklayer. His life has been getting weirder since he dug too deep and hit a leyline.

Graham: The demon equivalent of an accountant, summoned to Earth in error and now trying to make the best of it. He is destined to bring about the Apocalypse.

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:

Ellie Pitkin as Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron, the Exile

Alexander Pankhurst as Graham, the Summoned

Vikki as Renko, the Flake

Dave as Mick, the Mundane

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

SFX INCLUDES: rain and final thunder clap by reinsamba; wind, realistic, A by Jonathan Shaw; zombie bite 1 by Seth Talley; Long Note Two by Kevin McLeod; fire embers large campfire by Dynamicell; warm flesh in a mechanical meat grinder by newlocknew; and may include others covered by the Creative Commons 0 attribution licence

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Meet Renko: DoOm operative, investigative genius, Flake. Renko is no stranger to mystery - it comes with the territory after all. But has she bitten off more than she can chew in the sleepy and seemingly-friendly town of Sherrydown?

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

Programme notes

Our promo this episode is for The Unexplored Places. Jump straight into Tango Sector, or go back and enjoy their first story: Deliverance, Ohio, told using Monster of the Week.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Renko: A DoOm agent assigned to Sherrydown, furloughed since the office closed.

Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron: A Victorian monster hunter and half-sister of Ada Lovelace. Percy tried to time travel from 1852 to 1666 to stop the summoning of an apocalyptic demon, but something went wrong, and she landed in present-day Sherrydown instead.

Mick: Sherrydown’s favourite builder and bricklayer. His life has been getting weirder since he dug too deep and hit a leyline.

Graham: The demon equivalent of an accountant, summoned to Earth in error and now trying to make the best of it. He is destined to bring about the Apocalypse.

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:

Ellie Pitkin as Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron, the Exile

Alexander Pankhurst as Graham, the Summoned

Vikki as Renko, the Flake

Dave as Mick, the Mundane

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

Chaos ensues when Percy and Graham, left to their own devices at the school, attempt an experiment to manifest the playtime monster.

Programme notes

This episode contains violence, including blood and injury detail.

Vote for the final, ultimate winners of the Audio Verse Awards 2020

Leave Merely Roleplayers a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser

The town of Sherrydown is twinned with Whispering Pines, the not-so-ordinary summer camp for those hazy days and chilled summer nights. Campers laughing, fireflies glowing, campfires crackling long into the night, and a gaunt, cruel monstrosity forever hiding just out of sight, always asking, “What do you do next?” You can find out more about Whispering Pines and meet some of its eccentric camp counselors in the Sleepaway one-shot on What Am I Rolling? : a twice monthly RPG one-shot podcast.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Renko: A DoOm agent assigned to Sherrydown, furloughed since the office closed.

Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron: A Victorian monster hunter and half-sister of Ada Lovelace. Percy tried to time travel from 1852 to 1666 to stop the summoning of an apocalyptic demon, but something went wrong, and she landed in present-day Sherrydown instead.

Mick: Sherrydown’s favourite builder and bricklayer. His life has been getting weirder since he dug too deep and hit a leyline.

Graham: The demon equivalent of an accountant, summoned to Earth in error and now trying to make the best of it. He is destined to bring about the Apocalypse.

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:

Ellie Pitkin as Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron, the Exile

Alexander Pankhurst as Graham, the Summoned

Vikki as Renko, the Flake

Dave as Mick, the Mundane

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

SFX INCLUDES: rain and final thunder clap by reinsamba; boiling water, large, A by Jonathan Shaw; eel splashing 2 by mystiscool; dragon roar by veroma; sword slice by Black Snow Productions; fire embers large campfire by Dynamicell; zombie bite 1 by Seth Talley; broken egg squelch by d.n.audio.uk; and may include others covered by the Creative Commons 0 attribution licence

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Meet Percy: time traveller, illegitimate daughter of Lord Byron, Exile. What strange forces have brought Percy to the small, sleepy town of Sherrydown and why does the year 1666 send a shiver down her spine?

Join Ellie as she fills in Percy’s character sheet with help from compère Matt and fellow players Chris S and Strat.

Programme notes

Our promo this episode is for Modified Roll, our fellow members of the UK Tabletop RPG Podcasters community.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Renko: A DoOm agent assigned to Sherrydown, furloughed since the office closed.

Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron: A Victorian monster hunter and half-sister of Ada Lovelace. Percy tried to time travel from 1852 to 1666 to stop the summoning of an apocalyptic demon, but something went wrong, and she landed in present-day Sherrydown instead.

Mick: Sherrydown’s favourite builder and bricklayer. His life has been getting weirder since he dug too deep and hit a leyline.

Graham: The demon equivalent of an accountant, summoned to Earth in error and now trying to make the best of it. He is destined to bring about the Apocalypse.

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:

Ellie Pitkin as Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron, the Exile

Alexander Pankhurst as Graham, the Summoned

Vikki as Renko, the Flake

Dave as Mick, the Mundane

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

After a surprising revelation from Mick’s niece, Pippa, the hunters head to the primary school to conduct their investigation.

Programme notes

This episode contains dried blood and scarred arms.

The Ragged Scratch Podcast, hosted and produced by our sound designer Natalie Winter, returns for season 3 on 19 November. Add it to your podcast app for 12 new work-in-progress audio dramas and interviews with the creators.

Compère Matt’s monthly email newsletter usually includes some backstage Merely Roleplayers bits and pieces, along with updates about game things and theatre things he’s working on. The next one goes out on 13 November - sign up now so you won’t miss it.

The town of Sherrydown is twinned with Whispering Pines, the not-so-ordinary summer camp for those hazy days and chilled summer nights. Campers laughing, fireflies glowing, campfires crackling long into the night, and a gaunt, cruel monstrosity forever hiding just out of sight, always asking, “What do you do next?” You can find out more about Whispering Pines and meet some of its eccentric camp counselors in the upcoming Sleepaway Oneshot on What Am I Rolling? : a twice monthly RPG one-shot podcast.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Renko: A DoOm agent assigned to Sherrydown, furloughed since the office closed.

Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron: A Victorian monster hunter and half-sister of Ada Lovelace. Percy tried to time travel from 1852 to 1666 to stop the summoning of an apocalyptic demon, but something went wrong, and she landed in present-day Sherrydown instead.

Mick: Sherrydown’s favourite builder and bricklayer. His life has been getting weirder since he dug too deep and hit a leyline.

Graham: The demon equivalent of an accountant, summoned to Earth in error and now trying to make the best of it. He is destined to bring about the Apocalypse.

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:

Ellie Pitkin as Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron, the Exile

Alexander Pankhurst as Graham, the Summoned

Vikki as Renko, the Flake

Dave as Mick, the Mundane

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

SFX INCLUDES: rain and final thunder clap by reinsamba; night rain on car by Relax Sleep ASMR; Ford Transit boulevard by LG; van on gravel by Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama; Medusa by Kevin MacLeod; Long Note Two by Kevin MacLeod; electric short-circuit 50Hz by Sergenious; shutting van sliding door by Alastair Cameron; dragon roar by veroma; boiling water, large, A by Jonathan Shaw; eel splashing 2 by mystiscool; and may include others covered by the Creative Commons 0 attribution licence

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Compère Matt and the cast of Vigil: Playtime introduce their characters and come up with their connections to one another - and to the town of Sherrydown itself.

Programme notes

This episode's promo contains strong language.

Our promo this episode is for Infinite Deer. Their new season started on 19 October, so this is a great time to jump aboard.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Renko: A DoOm agent assigned to Sherrydown, furloughed since the office closed.

Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron: A Victorian monster hunter and half-sister of Ada Lovelace. Percy tried to time travel from 1852 to 1666 to stop the summoning of an apocalyptic demon, but something went wrong, and she landed in present-day Sherrydown instead.

Mick: Sherrydown’s favourite builder and bricklayer. His life has been getting weirder since he dug too deep and hit a leyline.

Graham: The demon equivalent of an accountant, summoned to Earth in error and now trying to make the best of it. He is destined to bring about the Apocalypse.

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:

Ellie Pitkin as Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron, the Exile

Alexander Pankhurst as Graham, the Summoned

Vikki as Renko, the Flake

Dave as Mick, the Mundane

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

The arrival of an unexpected traveller and a bloody disappearance at the local primary school spell trouble for the residents of the sleepy town of Sherrydown.

Programme notes

This episode contains implied offstage child endangerment.

Vote for Merely Roleplayers in the Audio Verse Awards before 31 October. We’re currently through to the penultimate round of the awards. Voters choose their top ten podcasts in each award category, to narrow each category down to ten finalists for the final round. The form might take 10-15 minutes to complete, so we super appreciate anyone who takes the time! You can find us under Improvised Production.

The town of Sherrydown is twinned with Whispering Pines, the not-so-ordinary summer camp for those hazy days and chilled summer nights. Campers laughing, fireflies glowing, campfires crackling long into the night, and a gaunt, cruel monstrosity forever hiding just out of sight, always asking, “What do you do next?” You can find out more about Whispering Pines and meet some of its eccentric camp counselors in the upcoming Sleepaway Oneshot on What Am I Rolling?: a twice monthly RPG one-shot podcast.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Renko: A DoOm agent assigned to Sherrydown, furloughed since the office closed.

Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron: A Victorian monster hunter and half-sister of Ada Lovelace. Percy tried to time travel from 1852 to 1666 to stop the summoning of an apocalyptic demon, but something went wrong, and she landed in present-day Sherrydown instead.

Mick: Sherrydown’s favourite builder and bricklayer. His life has been getting weirder since he dug too deep and hit a leyline.

Graham: The demon equivalent of an accountant, summoned to Earth in error and now trying to make the best of it. He is destined to bring about the Apocalypse.

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:

Ellie Pitkin as Persephone ‘Percy’ Byron, the Exile

Alexander Pankhurst as Graham, the Summoned

Vikki as Renko, the Flake

Dave as Mick, the Mundane

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

SFX INCLUDES: rain and final thunder clap by reinsamba; night rain on car by Relax Sleep ASMR; Ford Transit boulevard by LG; van on gravel by Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama; stop engine by Henrique Moreira; lightning crash by NoiseNoir; pistols/handguns manipulated and toyed with by IlDucci; interior - small moden office atmosphere by BBC Acropolis; mechanical keyboard typing by GeorgeHopkins; subdued classroom atmosphere with children reading (rec. London) by BBC Acropolis; electric school bell - 1980 (3C9, reprocessed) by BBC Acropolis; and various others covered by the Creative Commons 0 attribution licence

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Twitter @MerelyRoleplay

On Facebook at Merely Roleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Now playing in the Merely Roleplayers Main House: Vigil.

Sherrydown, Brackshire: a picturesque English market town with a failing high street, a struggling council, and a no doubt rich history that no one remembers. The Department of Omissions did its job keeping Sherrydown's wards strong and its fae community appeased. But the Department hasn't fared well under austerity. Now Sherrydown has to fend for itself. Power to the people...?

The story is told using the roleplaying game Monster of the Week by Michael Sands, published by Evil Hat.

Stay tuned for Act One of Vigil next week, just in time for Hallowe’en!

Vigil theme by Alex Pankhurst

Originally published by International Podcast Month and shared with permission. Every September, International Podcast Month releases an all-new podcast episode every day. Find all the September 2020 episodes at internationalpodcastmonth.com.

——-

Content Warning

Violence

The Game

Beam Saber is a game about the pilots of powerful machines in a war that dominates every facet of life. They are trying to do their time and part and get out physically and mentally intact. The organizations that perpetuate The War through all of known space are too incomprehensibly huge to take down. There is no ‘winning’ The War, there is only surviving it. Hopefully, you can make things a bit better before you move on.

No one Faction controls Earth. While it has little strategic value, essentially a backwater planet, the symbolic value for morale is unimaginable. The actual home of humanity. Every faction wants it, but none of them are willing to cede other territory to gain control of it. The result is the current standoff. Every Faction has a space elevator, but there’s still one left unclaimed. It belongs the Independents. Lately travelers between Fort Jovanol and Journey City have been experiencing raids by an unnamed squad. Our intel points to a Jovangellian Squad called The Raccoons. The Empire denies any knowledge of their activity, but they have taken no action to secure the territory. Recon has tracked them to an old armory. The Warning Shots, a group of emissaries under the charge of an old soldier named Chip Canticle, have been given the task to convince the Raccoons to stop their raiding of caravans.

The Players

Christine of Unexplored Places – Antiquity Hardt

Joshua of Tabletop Comics – Sarge

Matt of Merely Roleplayers – Parris Eltree

The GM

Robin of Tabletop Buffoonery

IPM

Find transcripts on our website: internationalpodcastmonth.com/transcripts

Follow us on Twitter: @podmonth

Support us:

Via Ko-Fi

Via Paypal.me

The IPM theme was composed by Benny James

Coming soon to the Merely Roleplayers Main House: Vigil.

Sherrydown, Brackshire: a picturesque English market town with a failing high street, a struggling council, and a no doubt rich history that no one remembers. The Department of Omissions did its job keeping Sherrydown's wards strong and its fae community appeased. But the Department hasn't fared well under austerity. Now Sherrydown has to fend for itself. Power to the people...?

The story is told using the roleplaying game Monster of the Week by Michael Sands, published by Evil Hat.

Stay tuned for Act One of Vigil in Hallowe'en week 2020.

Vigil theme by Alex Pankhurst
Pub ambience by Erdie