RPG Storytime - Gangbusters

The next series on the RPG Storytime podcast is Gangbusters.  This is a game from the early days of the 1980s which reflects the Roaring '20s.  Characters are typically gangsters or detectives dealing with the law from either one side or the other.  This series follows a private detective and his friend, a reporter.

I hope to one day use these characters in a book series.

Here is the first of the Gangbusters adventures, but there are a lot more, including more that are still coming out.

https://rpgstorytime.buzzsprout.com/1015516/4003847-gangbusters-mad-dog-johnny-drake

RPG Storytime - The Podcast

I've been enjoying making RPG Storytime so much that I want to make it portable for people to listen to it.  That means doing it as a podcast so people can listen to it in cars on their way to work, and in the office...

Of course, that sort of changed during the time of Covid, when everyone ended up staying at home.  But I was told people still listen to podcasts at home, so I launched the channel anyway.

RPG Storytime takes the stories that were generated in role playing games and turns them into narrated stories, much like audio books or radio dramas.  The podcast can't use images and has fewer sound effects than the Youtube version, but it provides a sort of atmosphere through its radio feel.

You can find the channel and all the episodes here: https://rpgstorytime.buzzsprout.com/

I hope you enjoy it, and happy gaming everybody!

RPG Storytime - Star Wars

One of my favorite projects to work on is RPG Storytime.  It's where I take stories generated out of role playing games and turn them into narrated videos with music, sound effects, illustrations, and miniatures.

The latest campaign is an epic sized Star Wars one where we follow all the characters within a pair of sectors.  We use all the Star Wars games made by FFG that involve miniatures.

The webisodes that came out at the end of last year are from my favorite part of this story.  In it, a woman named Ellor Sundown is hunting the man who experimented on her, an unnatural Force wielder named Rixar Traln.

The beginning of the story is below:

 

The Art of Turning RPG Games into Videos

Earlier this year I started a channel called RPG Storytime which shows videos I've made that tell the stories that came out of RPG games.  Rather than live streaming us playing the game, like most channels do, I take the story that was generated from the game sessions, and I write a script for it.  I narrate it like an audiobook, put in sound effects and music, and I set up shots of miniatures on tiny sets which illustrates what's happening.

This creates a fast-paced story that continues from video to video.  Viewers follow it like it's a TV series, and get invested in the characters.  In order to get it to that point, though, there are some important things I have to remember.  First and foremost, I need to follow the rules of storytelling rather than the rules of the game itself.  There are a lot of rules and details in a game that would bog down a story.  These should only be brought up when they're relevant to the story, or when there's an amazing roll.  It becomes important to highlight this aspect when something seems way out of the ordinary, and happened only because of an unexpected roll of the dice.

What's also very important is developing the characters as characters, not as classes.  Rather than a character being a third level rogue, they are a moderately experienced map maker, or someone seeking out artifacts.  Give them some trait that people would want to read in a book or see in a character in a movie.

Most importantly, the series needs to stay focused on the story and character arcs.  Individual fights mean nothing if they're not part of a story that's leading to something.  This is something to keep in mind when game mastering, but it is far more important when you're reciting the story to the audience.

All that being said, I have found that it is good to tape the players playing at least for a little while, or to set them up as though they're playing later on, because it's good to integrate these moments into the videos.  Viewers seem to like seeing the players make the decisions.  To that end, I also tape the players giving testimonials that can be intercut with the story so viewers can get a sense of their thinking and decision making processes.

Ultimately, regardless of how successful the videos are, I'm proud of them and really enjoy having these records of the stories which have come out of our RPG sessions.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTOn2WMkuvRskZ2SN1YBplQ