Merely Roleplayers

Act Five of Five: Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Can Mayor’s unspecified scandal derail historic property deal?

Coming next on 22 July – Post-credits scene (Vigil Backstage)

Programme notes

This production contains fantasy violence, gunfire, and references to child abduction.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Melody Bantham: 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.

Harper: A US exchange student trying to sever her ties to the Shadow realm she sometimes enters through revolving doors.

Gwynned, the Shieldmaiden: A former shieldmaiden of the triple goddess Morrigan, exiled to live as a duck for the crime of saving a mortal man from her mistress’ cruel whim, now freed from her curse and elevated to a third of the godhead herself.

Brier: A mischievous shapeshifting púca, the fae guardian of Sherrydown’s Rosebrier Forest.

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. Recently lifted.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Helen Stratton as Melody Bantham, the Constructed

Marta Da Silva as Harper, the Searcher

Natalie Winter as Gwynned, the Divine

Strat as Brier, the Monstrous

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Matt Boothman

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Tumblr @merelyroleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Act Four of Five: What happens when you mix ancient Albion’s divine magic with the gray psyche of the urban USA? Not a riddle: we’re about to find out.

Coming next on 15 July – Vigil: Shadowfall, Act 5

Programme notes

This production contains fantasy violence, gunfire, and references to child abduction.

Matt played Coiled Spæce with Maddy Searle on A Game Of One’s Own.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Melody Bantham: 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.

Harper: A US exchange student trying to sever her ties to the Shadow realm she sometimes enters through revolving doors.

Gwynned, the Shieldmaiden: A former shieldmaiden of the triple goddess Morrigan, exiled to live as a duck for the crime of saving a mortal man from her mistress’ cruel whim, now freed from her curse and elevated to a third of the godhead herself.

Brier: A mischievous shapeshifting púca, the fae guardian of Sherrydown’s Rosebrier Forest.

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. Recently lifted.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Helen Stratton as Melody Bantham, the Constructed

Marta Da Silva as Harper, the Searcher

Natalie Winter as Gwynned, the Divine

Strat as Brier, the Monstrous

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Matt Boothman

SFX AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC INCLUDES: Pigeons taking off by Glaneur de sons on freesound.org (CC BY 4.0); and may include others made available to use without attribution.

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Tumblr @merelyroleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Act Three of Five: The library is a gateway to knowledge and, since they installed the revolving door, to dark places too.

Coming next on 1 July – Vigil: Shadowfall, Act 4

Programme notes

This production contains fantasy violence, gunfire, and references to child abduction.

Matt’s Mum interviews him about Merely Roleplayers in the next edition of Professional Relations, the Foggy Outline newsletter, dropping into inboxes on Friday 27 June.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Melody Bantham: 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.

Harper: A US exchange student trying to sever her ties to the Shadow realm she sometimes enters through revolving doors.

Gwynned, the Shieldmaiden: A former shieldmaiden of the triple goddess Morrigan, exiled to live as a duck for the crime of saving a mortal man from her mistress’ cruel whim, now freed from her curse and elevated to a third of the godhead herself.

Brier: A mischievous shapeshifting púca, the fae guardian of Sherrydown’s Rosebrier Forest.

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. Recently lifted.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Helen Stratton as Melody Bantham, the Constructed

Marta Da Silva as Harper, the Searcher

Natalie Winter as Gwynned, the Divine

Strat as Brier, the Monstrous

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Matt Boothman

SFX AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC INCLUDES: Pigeons taking off by Glaneur de sons on freesound.org (CC BY 4.0); and may include others made available to use without attribution.

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Tumblr @merelyroleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Act Two of Five: In the deepest darkest basement, the former Mayor has a lead that could go all the way to the top.

Coming next on 17 June – Vigil: Shadowfall, Act 3

Programme notes

This production contains fantasy violence, gunfire, and references to child abduction.

In chapter 3 of Camera Obscura, Matt’s actual play of Outliers by Samantha Leigh, the RAs do battle with a dæmon-haunted server.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Melody Bantham: 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.

Harper: A US exchange student trying to sever her ties to the Shadow realm she sometimes enters through revolving doors.

Gwynned, the Shieldmaiden: A former shieldmaiden of the triple goddess Morrigan, exiled to live as a duck for the crime of saving a mortal man from her mistress’ cruel whim, now freed from her curse and elevated to a third of the godhead herself.

Brier: A mischievous shapeshifting púca, the fae guardian of Sherrydown’s Rosebrier Forest.

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. Recently lifted.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Helen Stratton as Melody Bantham, the Constructed

Marta Da Silva as Harper, the Searcher

Natalie Winter as Gwynned, the Divine

Strat as Brier, the Monstrous

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Matt Boothman

SFX AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC INCLUDES: Pigeons taking off by Glaneur de sons on freesound.org (CC BY 4.0); and may include others made available to use without attribution.

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Tumblr @merelyroleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

The Shadowfall cast check the status of their characters’ relationships, and check Matt’s fit for clues.

Coming next on 3 June – Vigil: Shadowfall, Act 2

Programme notes

This production contains fantasy violence, gunfire, and references to child abduction.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Melody Bantham: 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.

Harper: A US exchange student trying to sever her ties to the Shadow realm she sometimes enters through revolving doors.

Gwynned, the Shieldmaiden: A former shieldmaiden of the triple goddess Morrigan, exiled to live as a duck for the crime of saving a mortal man from her mistress’ cruel whim, now freed from her curse and elevated to a third of the godhead herself.

Brier: A mischievous shapeshifting púca, the fae guardian of Sherrydown’s Rosebrier Forest.

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. Recently lifted.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Helen Stratton as Melody Bantham, the Constructed

Marta Da Silva as Harper, the Searcher

Natalie Winter as Gwynned, the Divine

Strat as Brier, the Monstrous

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Matt Boothman

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Tumblr @merelyroleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Act One of Five: If you don’t cast a shadow, are you really there? Not a riddle: we’re about to find out.

Coming next on 27 May – Other selves (Vigil Backstage)

Programme notes

This production contains fantasy violence, gunfire, and references to child abduction.

Find Matt at UK Games Expo, 30 May–1 June at the NEC in Birmingham. He’s running some roleplaying game sessions you can sign up to join.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Melody Bantham: 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.

Harper: A US exchange student trying to sever her ties to the Shadow realm she sometimes enters through revolving doors.

Gwynned, the Shieldmaiden: A former shieldmaiden of the triple goddess Morrigan, exiled to live as a duck for the crime of saving a mortal man from her mistress’ cruel whim, now freed from her curse and elevated to a third of the godhead herself.

Brier: A mischievous shapeshifting púca, the fae guardian of Sherrydown’s Rosebrier Forest.

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. Recently lifted.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Helen Stratton as Melody Bantham, the Constructed

Marta Da Silva as Harper, the Searcher

Natalie Winter as Gwynned, the Divine

Strat as Brier, the Monstrous

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Matt Boothman

SFX AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC INCLUDES: Pigeons taking off by Glaneur de sons on freesound.org (CC BY 4.0); and may include others made available to use without attribution.

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Tumblr @merelyroleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

The cast of Vigil: Ill Wind talk about the parts of the story that came out in the wash, and the parts that might stink up the Main House for a while to come.

Coming next on 20 May – Vigil: Shadowfall, Act 1

Programme notes

This production contains fantasy violence, retching sounds, toxic friendship, and betrayal.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

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

Gwynned, the Shieldmaiden: A former shieldmaiden of the triple goddess Morrigan, exiled to live as a duck for the crime of saving a mortal man from her mistress’ cruel whim, now freed from her curse and elevated to a third of the godhead herself.

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.

Peggy Tailor: The prodigal daughter of a local family that dabbles in fey frolicking and organised crime, back in town to lay low after a grift gone horribly wrong.

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.

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. Recently lifted.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Vikki as Renko, the Flake

Natalie Winter as Gwynned, the Divine

Alexander Pankhurst as Graham, the Summoned

Ellie Pitkin as Peggy Tailor, the Crooked

with Ellen Gould as Jess Butterworth

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Matt Boothman

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Tumblr @merelyroleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Act Five of Five: To save Sherrydown from its own waste, someone’s going to have to get their hands dirty.

Coming next on 29 April – Lingering effects (Vigil Backstage)

Programme notes

This production contains fantasy violence, retching sounds, toxic friendship, and betrayal.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

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

Gwynned, the Shieldmaiden: A former shieldmaiden of the triple goddess Morrigan, exiled to live as a duck for the crime of saving a mortal man from her mistress’ cruel whim, now freed from her curse and elevated to a third of the godhead herself.

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.

Peggy Tailor: The prodigal daughter of a local family that dabbles in fey frolicking and organised crime, back in town to lay low after a grift gone horribly wrong.

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.

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. Recently lifted.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Vikki as Renko, the Flake

Natalie Winter as Gwynned, the Divine

Alexander Pankhurst as Graham, the Summoned

Ellie Pitkin as Peggy Tailor, the Crooked

with Ellen Gould as Jess Butterworth

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Matt Boothman

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Tumblr @merelyroleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Act Four of Five: Did the Tailors cause all this? Yes. Can they fix it? Also yes. But maybe they’re not the only ones.

Coming next on 22 April – Vigil: Ill Wind, Act 5

Programme notes

This production contains fantasy violence, retching sounds, toxic friendship, and betrayal.

Want to reduce waste so it can’t come blobbing through town, dissolving everything in sight? Matt’s Dad is organising a clothes swap to reduce clothing waste in the Settle, North Yorkshire area, for Action on Climate Climate Emergency.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

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

Gwynned, the Shieldmaiden: A former shieldmaiden of the triple goddess Morrigan, exiled to live as a duck for the crime of saving a mortal man from her mistress’ cruel whim, now freed from her curse and elevated to a third of the godhead herself.

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.

Peggy Tailor: The prodigal daughter of a local family that dabbles in fey frolicking and organised crime, back in town to lay low after a grift gone horribly wrong.

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.

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. Recently lifted.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Vikki as Renko, the Flake

Natalie Winter as Gwynned, the Divine

Alexander Pankhurst as Graham, the Summoned

Ellie Pitkin as Peggy Tailor, the Crooked

with Ellen Gould as Jess Butterworth

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Matt Boothman

SFX AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC INCLUDES: Pigeons taking off by Glaneur de sons on freesound.org (CC BY 4.0); and may include others made available to use without attribution.

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Tumblr @merelyroleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com

Act Three of Five: An old friend invites Peggy to get drunk. Gwynned holds her nose and flies to the rescue.

Coming next on 8 April – Vigil: Ill Wind, Act 4

Programme notes

This production contains fantasy violence, retching sounds, toxic friendship, and betrayal.

Camera Obscura is Matt’s new actual play of Outliers, a single-player roleplaying game of weird science by Samantha Leigh. Read a new chapter every month at foggyoutline.com/serials

Dramatis personae and other definitions

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

Gwynned, the Shieldmaiden: A former shieldmaiden of the triple goddess Morrigan, exiled to live as a duck for the crime of saving a mortal man from her mistress’ cruel whim, now freed from her curse and elevated to a third of the godhead herself.

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.

Peggy Tailor: The prodigal daughter of a local family that dabbles in fey frolicking and organised crime, back in town to lay low after a grift gone horribly wrong.

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.

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. Recently lifted.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Vikki as Renko, the Flake

Natalie Winter as Gwynned, the Divine

Alexander Pankhurst as Graham, the Summoned

Ellie Pitkin as Peggy Tailor, the Crooked

with Ellen Gould as Jess Butterworth

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

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Matt Boothman

SFX AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC INCLUDES: atmos small pub 10 people by v_hazard on freesound.org; and may include others made available to use without attribution.

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

Find us

On Instagram @MerelyRoleplayers

On Tumblr @merelyroleplayers

www.MerelyRoleplayers.com