foldedfrequencies

On Location at Howloween (Part 3) and a Midseason Update [S3F4]

In this week’s Flashlight, we’re back on location one last time at the Howloween furry convention in Vancouver! This season, we’re getting out into the community and asking people about their PCs and their campaigns. We hear about banishing political figures from the timeline, a party with multiple competing cultists, and becoming the first vampires to climb Mount Everest.

Also this week, Jake and Reilly chat about the season so far and what’s coming next for Campaign Spotlight. Along the way, we talk about the difference between GM-only players and PC-only players, and Jake pleads with Reilly to run a campaign someday.

Thanks to Zero, Delcan, Miranda, Masq, and Cylixeen for taking the time to chat with us! Howloween was an incredible experience that really made us realize how much fun we’d have wandering around with a mic asking people about their characters and campaigns. We’ll be doing a lot more of this in the future.

Also, here’s the PC playlist that Masq mentions in the episode. As of posting, it’s over 24 hours long.

If you like the music on the show, go check out more of Reilly’s music.

Follow us wherever you get your podcasts, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. You can also get episodes right from the source at our RSS feed. If you enjoy Campaign Spotlight, consider subscribing to our Patreon. For more on the show, including links to all our social media, visit our website.

High-level Campaigns with Rob [S3E4]

In this week’s episode, we chat with Rob about order and chaos, recruiting a potato peeler, and running an epic high-level campaign. Rob shares a very controversial take on combat that Jake’s still not sure about. Spoiler warnings for Mass Effect in this one.

In our discussion of worldbuilding, we mention our very first interview with Mike. We also mention the Genesys system a couple times. Rob introduced Jake to the system many years ago, and we tried it out on the podcast way back in Season 1. (Incidentally, that’s also the Flashlight where Reilly introduces Monocles McGillicudy.) Rob also references the D&D 3rd Edition book Weapons of Legacy, which is extremely fun for a high-level campaign. He recommends a few helpful resources:

WorldAnvil for keeping track of worldbuilding details
Syrinscape for soundscapes during the game
RPG Campfire cards for helping build out the PCs and their bonds

This week’s unhinged intro comes from Cameron! Thanks Cameron for helping our show earn its explicit rating.

If you like the music on the show, go check out more of Reilly’s music.

On Location at Howloween (Part 2) [S3F3]

In this week’s Flashlight, we’re back on location at the Howloween furry convention in Vancouver! This season, we’re getting out into the community and asking people about their PCs and their campaigns. We hear about elfaboos, being dumb in a productive way, and a LARP character that actually steals things. Because we’re at a furry convention, one of us is wearing a very clanky bell, and you can hear it throughout the recording. The host who’s wearing a very clanky bell would like to apologize to the host who edits the audio for that poor satrorial decision.

Thanks to Shakaar, Ono, Evelyn, Jed, and Shane for taking the time to chat with us! (And if you talked to us at Howloween but you’re not featured in this week’s episode or last week’s episode, stay tuned for the next Flashlight.)

Shakaar mentions Legacies LARP in this episode. Later this season, we’re going to be talking with one of the people who writes plot for Legacies.

If you like the music on the show, go check out more of Reilly’s music.

Special Guest Stars with Mike [S3E3]

This week, we chat with Mike about killing your PCs’ beloved animal companions, treating your players to cool hats with powers, and bringing in guest players for very special episodes. Mike refers quite a few times to our interview with Sam way back in Season 1. Also, spoiler alert for How I Met Your Mother.

Sam also recommends the podcast Dungeoncast, which is sadly shutting down.

This week’s PC intro comes from Marquis, who’s also one of the guest stars Mike mentions. Marquis also plays in Sam’s campaign from Season 1, and played in Prim’s campaign from Season 1, and has played in one of Jake’s campaigns too. You should go check out all of Marquis’s projects.

If you like the music on the show, go check out more of Reilly’s music.

On Location at Howloween (Part 1) [S3F2]

In this week’s Flashlight, we’re on location at the Howloween furry convention in Vancouver! This season, we’re getting out into the community and asking people about their PCs and their campaigns. We hear about hat enthusiasts, revenge at all costs, and giving up the reins of your PC to your DM.

Thanks to Joey, Sean, Kaesu, Shadowsmyst, Fir, Robin, and Kaji for taking the time to chat with us! (And if you talked to us at Howloween but you’re not featured in this week’s episode, stay tuned for the next Flashlight.) You can listen to Kaesu’s music on Spotify, you can see Shadowsmyst’s whole webcomic on their website, and you can see some of Sean’s PC art right here:

Kaji mentions Legacies LARP at the very end of the episode. Later this season, we’re going to be talking with one of the people who writes plot for Legacies.

Here’s the portrayal of us recording the show we commissioned from Shesta of Critter Cove:

And here’s a picture of the sign we were waving around at the con to get people’s attention. Jake, who has no graphic design experience or aesthetic sensibilities, designed this:

If you like the music on the show, go check out more of Reilly’s music.

TTRPG Publishing with David [S3E2]

This week, we chat with David about saving the whales, publishing your own game systems, and making a city feel corrupt, classy and discreet. David has built some very cool systems, and our conversation covers rules lawyering, game balance, and what it means for a table to tell a story together. For the first time in a long time, we don’t spoil any media and we also don’t ruin our changes at any sponsorships.

This episode is heavy on references to other games! First and foremost, you should go check out David’s Itch page where you can find Blood and Velvet and other game systems. David cites the following systems as inspiration:

Noirlandia
Follow
Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands (which we discussed with Prim last season)
Epyllion

We also discuss a few worldbuilding systems:

Kingdom
Dialect
For the Queen
Microscope (which Jake and Reilly played way back in Season 1)
The Quiet Year

David also recommends Fallen London, Darkest Dungeon, Black Jack Justice, and Friends at the Table – especially the Partisan arc.

Finally, if you’re interested in learning how to code in Python, here’s a decent place to get started.

These week’s intro comes from Seattle Dungeon Master Bryan Erickson! Thanks for the fun intro.

David composed and recorded the theme music for this week’s monologue. As always, Reilly wrote the main theme for the podcast. If you like the music on the show, go check out more of Reilly’s music.

On Location at Oppegaard Meadery [S3F1]

In the very first Flashlight of Season 3, we’re on location at Oppegaard Meadery in Seattle! This season, we’re getting out into the community and asking people about their PCs and their campaigns. This was a fun episode – not just because people had interesting things to say about TTRPGs, but also because the space was ludicrously cozy and the mead was delicious. Thanks to everyone who took the time to chat with us! Here’s a picture we took while we were recording:

A clarifying note: we emailed Oppegaard Meadery management asking permission to record at their D&D night, and they were incredibly friendly and helpful, but this episode isn’t sponsored. Jake has been buying their mead since before we even knew they had a D&D night at the meadery. If we start advertising on the show, we’ll clearly delineate the advertisement and keep it separate from the rest of the episode.

Another clarifying note: Jake refers to the peasants in Warcraft II saying “zug zug”. It’s actually the orcish peons that say this. We sincerely regret this error.

We discuss the Fate of the Norns game system in this episode.

If you like the music on the show, go check out more of Reilly’s music.

Actual Play with Austin [S3E1]

In the very first episode of Season 3, we chat with Austin about literal truckloads of cryptocurrrency, designing high-level enemies, and the importance of in-game downtime. Austin is an accomplished game designer and brings a ton of helpful advice to the conversation. Unfortunately, we do tank our prospects for a Tesla sponsorship.

A heads up that this episode swerves into a discussion of imperialist military violence in TTRPG campaigns and its parallels in the real world.

Go check out the Beam Saber system, which Austin designed. (To hear more about this system, go listen to last season’s interview with Erika. Erika also provided the incredible and intense intro for this episode!) Talking about the Rush Wars supplement made us want to rewatch the Fast and Furious series. Austin also tells us about the CalazCon actual play. It’s a huge ambitious actual play project, and we’re excited to listen to the whole thing! While you’re at it, go check out Austin’s itch.io page.

Austin also mentions two podcasts:

Blowback which is about US military adventurism
The Great Gundam Project, which covers all of Gundam in production order

If you like the music on the show, go check out more of Reilly’s music.

Flashlight: Season 2 finale! [S2F8]

In this finale Flashlight of Season 2, Jake is embarrasingly earnest, Reilly gives the listeners a lot of homework, and the sword makes a second ominous appearance. We plug our Patreon, repeatedly give different numbers for the PC intro hotline (it’s 724 320 2020), and talk about our plans for Season 3. This is honestly an extremely silly conversation. We’ve had so much fun getting to make this podcast and we’re sincerely grateful to our guests so far and we’re really excited to share another season of interviews with you.

If you like the music on the show, go check out more of Reilly’s music.

Blending the Fantastic and Mundane with Lew [S2E8]

In this week’s episode, we chat with Lew about unsustainable character voices, mixing ABBA with Norse mythology, and the importance of buying in to the fantasy. Very minor spoiler alert for 500 Days of Summer. We do joke about Ikea being our sponsor, but they’re not, and this episode probably guarantees that they never will be.

In this episode Lew mentions the Wayward Children series as well as the SCP Foundation.

Lew also shared with us a ton of very cool pictures of the maps and minis from this campaign. Here’s a map of the Värld:

And here’s a diagram of its theology:

Here are the wraparound couch snakes Lew mentioned in the episode:

And, finally, here’s Lew’s next boss, “a gigantic Crayfish that will be at the bottom of a bathtub ocean”:

This week’s PC intro comes from Kyros, whom you may remember from this conversation last season about Curse of Strahd. Thanks Kyros!

If you like the music on the show, go check out more of Reilly’s music.