Speculate

This episode carries content warnings for war trauma, death in combat, trauma flashbacks, alcohol.

Ring helps a neighbor before trying to catch up with a sprinting Crossroads. Skelly investigates Crossroads’ apartment for clues after the Bluecoats’ attack.

“The Case of the Cindered Seal” is a joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel, playing Blades in the Dark by John Harper. Brandon O’Brien (@therisingtithes) GMs for the crew of Valerie Valdes (@valerievaldes), Iori Kusano (@iorikusano), Jeoi Gawain Lin (@thisismydasein), and our own Michael R. Underwood (@mikerunderwood). Featuring a unique “Fugitives” crew sheet created by Brandon! (Available at https://therisingtithes.itch.io/)

If you like what you hear, please tune in soon for more actual play content, and please spread the word about the show! Become a subscriber to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/speculate to get even more content (including special episodes, access to behind-the-scenes videos like GM streams and session zero recordings, plus other bonus episodes!).This episode was edited by the amazing Rudy Basso (find him at https://twitter.com/RudyBasso). As always, thanks for listening!

Continuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs a new crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery, ratcheting up the tension (and the role-playing!) with every passing second. If you like what you hear, please tune in soon for Part Four of the adventure, and please spread the word about the show…and support our Patreon to get even more content (including special episodes, access to behind the scenes videos, and more!). This episode was edited by the amazing Rudy Basso–find him at https://twitter.com/RudyBasso , and thanks as always for listening!

Continuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs a new crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery–about themselves and others–using the Blades in the Dark system. If you like what you hear, please tune in next week for Part Three of the adventure, and please spread the word about the show…and support our Patreon to get even more content (including special episodes, access to behind the scenes videos, and more!).

This episode was edited by the amazing Rudy Basso–find him at https://twitter.com/RudyBasso , and thanks as always for listening!

Beginning a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we again return to the city of Duskwall as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs a new crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin through a funeral–and a mystery–using the Blades in the Dark system. If you like what you hear, please tune in next week for Part Two of the adventure, and please spread the word about the show…and support our Patreon to get even more content (including special episodes, access to behind the scenes videos, and more!).

This episode was edited by the amazing Rudy Basso–find him at https://twitter.com/RudyBasso , and thanks as always for listening!

In this episode recorded live at the Farpoint Convention in Baltimore, Greg and Mike continue their conversation about the state of TTRPGs, looking at indie games, distribution methods, game jams, zine quests, and more. If you like what you hear, make sure to tune in soon for more actual play episodes and discussions of story, narrative, and games, and please spread the word about the show…and support our Patreon to get even more content (including special episodes, access to behind the scenes videos, and more!). This episode was edited by the amazing Rudy Basso–find him at https://twitter.com/RudyBasso , and thanks as always for listening!

In this episode recorded live at the Farpoint Convention in Baltimore, Greg and Mike chat a bit about personal projects and the state of Speculate before moving into a conversation about the changing landscape of tabletop role-playing and how the stories they tell (and the people who are now being encouraged to tell them) are deepening and shifting over time. We always enjoy getting a chance to chat in person, and we hope you enjoyed it just as much as we did! If so, make sure to tune in next week for the second half of this conversation, and please spread the word about the show… and support our Patreon to get even more content (including special episodes, access to behind the scenes videos, and more!). This episode was edited by the amazing Rudy Basso–find him at https://twitter.com/RudyBasso , and thanks as always for listening!

Concluding a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we once again return to the land of Star Wars via Scum and Villainy. GM Mike Underwood brings four new players (though two of them have appeared on Speculate or on Twitch before)–Joseph Brassey, Joyce Chng, Valerie Valdes, and Alex White–and their characters into a desperate escort mission, where a small group of officers and secret allies must escort the last Republic senators to safety if the new Republic is to have any chance of survival. This was a lot of fun, and we hope you enjoyed listening to the adventure as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you! If you did enjoy it, make sure to tune in soon for more actual play episodes and discussions of story, narrative, and games, and please spread the word about the show…and support our Patreon to get even more content (including special episodes, access to behind the scenes videos, and more!). This episode was edited by the amazing Rudy Basso–find him at https://twitter.com/RudyBasso , and thanks as always for listening

Continuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we once again return to the land of Star Wars via Scum and Villainy. GM Mike Underwood brings four new players (though two of them have appeared on Speculate or on Twitch before)–Joseph Brassey, Joyce Chng, Valerie Valdes, and Alex White–and their characters into a desperate escort mission, where a small group of officers and secret allies must escort the last Republic senators to safety if the new Republic is to have any chance of survival. If you like what you hear, please tune in next week for Part Three of the adventure, and please spread the word about the show…and support our Patreon to get even more content (including special episodes, access to behind the scenes videos, and more!). This episode was edited by the amazing Rudy Basso–find him at https://twitter.com/RudyBasso , and thanks as always for listening!

Beginning a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we once again return to the land of Star Wars via Scum and Villainy. GM Mike Underwood brings four new players (though two of them have appeared on Speculate or on Twitch before)–Joseph Brassey, Joyce Chng, Valerie Valdes, and Alex White–and their characters into a desperate escort mission, where a small group of officers and secret allies must escort the last Republic senators to safety if the new Republic is to have any chance of survival. If you like what you hear, please tune in next week for Part Two of the adventure, and please spread the word about the show…and support our Patreon to get even more content (including special episodes, access to behind the scenes videos, and more!). This episode was edited by the amazing Rudy Basso–find him at https://twitter.com/RudyBasso , and thanks as always for listening!

In a special episode of Speculate 2.0, Mike and Greg chat about taking an existing world from fantasy or science fiction and combining it with a pre-existing system, as Mike recently did in a previous set of episodes combining Scum and Villainy and Star Wars, looking at how game mechanics can and should support good narrative, how to keep the world from overwhelming the system or vice versa, and how to make the resulting experience feel as if it’s truly part of the world rather than just window dressing. If you like what you hear, please tune in soon as we begin a new set of episodes in the actual play space, and please spread the word about the show…and support our Patreon to get even more content (including special episodes, access to behind the scenes videos, and more!). This episode was edited by the amazing Rudy Basso–find him at https://twitter.com/RudyBasso , and thanks as always for listening!