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Tavern Watch Podcast

Blizzard Watch

Tavern Watch is devoted to tabletop roleplaying games news, discussion, and group play sessions brought to you by the people behind the Blizzard Watch and Lore Watch podcasts.

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Episodes 22

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#3
Wednesday · 1 hr 14 min
Tavern Watch Plays Fallout, episode 3: Deals with dinosaurs (or just big chickens)
Some days in the Wasteland, you accidentally stumble into a robot-operated dinosaur cloning facility, and then you have to make an ethical judgment on what to do with the lives of intelligent (and very polite) cloned dinosaurs and deathclaws. But being a resident of the Wasteland means being adaptable, so we'll probably figure it out. So join us for the final episode of our actual play of the Fallout TTRPG! GM Matt Rossi is leading our oddball crew of adventurers, so it's really no surprise that we've wound up here. These are our players: Liz Harper as Nellie, a Miss Nannie who's long-since moved from babysitting to robot repair... though being able to wrangle toddlers is a widely applicable skill for adventuring. Rob Flanagan as Fidget, a scavenger who's making the most of life in the Wasteland, but he's gotten a bit lost on his way back home to West Virginia. Eric O'Dea as Hack, a super mutant who's the backbone of this party... and the only one who's fought a Deathclaw before. Possibly for fun. This is the third of a three-part actual play series of Fallout, a 2d20 game from Modipheus that does a good job of replicating the feel of the video game version. Listen to the first episode here, the second episode here, and look for new episodes of Tavern Watch every Monday! If enjoy this actual play, you can pick up your own copy of Fallout from Modipheus or check out the free quickstart for a preview of the rules. The music in this episode is "In Your Arms" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#2
September 7 · 54 min
Tavern Watch Plays Fallout, episode 2: Conversations with Deathclaws (and more moral quandaries)
It turns out being kidnapped by talking Deathclaws really isn't that bad, as long as you don't mind the moral quandaries that come along with them... and I'm not sure anyone in our party is actually came prepared for moral quandaries, but we're going to do our best. Join us as GM Matt Rossi escorts us across the wasteland in this actual play of the Fallout TTRPG! Here's our misfit crew for this adventure, and not a philosopher among them: Liz Harper as Nellie, a Miss Nannie who's long-since moved from babysitting to robot repair... though being able to wrangle toddlers is a widely applicable skill for adventuring. Rob Flanagan as Fidget, a scavenger who's making the most of life in the Wasteland, but he's gotten a bit lost on his way back home to West Virginia. Eric O'Dea as Hack, a super mutant who's the backbone of this party... and the only one who's fought a Deathclaw before. Possibly for fun. This is the second of a three-part actual play series of Fallout, a 2d20 game from Modipheus that does a good job of replicating the feel of the video game version. Listen to the first episode here, and look for new episodes every Monday! If enjoy this actual play, you can pick up your own copy of Fallout from Modipheus or check out the free quickstart for a preview of the rules. The music in this episode is "In Your Arms" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#1
August 31 · 1 hr
Tavern Watch Plays Fallout, episode 1: Your train (to adventure) is waiting
Welcome to the wasteland, where our plucky party of adventurers is on a high-speed (relatively) train to the star-studded town of New Vegas. If they ever make it out of the Gary Wasteland, of course, because GM Matt Rossi is here to disrupt our day (with adventure). So if you'll come this way, your train is waiting... Here's our misfit crew for this adventure: Liz Harper as Nellie, a Miss Nannie who's long-since moved from babysitting to robot repair... though being able to wrangle toddlers is a widely applicable skill for adventuring. Rob Flanagan as Fidget, a scavenger who's making the most of life in the Wasteland, but he's gotten a bit lost on his way back home to West Virginia. Eric O'Dea as Hack, a super mutant who's the backbone of this party... and the only one who's fought a Deathclaw before. Possibly for fun. This is the first of a three-part actual play series of Fallout, a 2d20 game from Modipheus that does a good job of replicating the feel of the video game version. Watch for new episodes every Monday! If enjoy this actual play, you can pick up your own copy of Fallout from Modipheus or check out the free quickstart for a preview of the rules. The music in this episode is "In Your Arms" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#3
August 24 · 1 hr 18 min
Tavern Watch Plays Kids on Bikes, Episode 3: Time to pay the piper
Those kids from Tavern Watch are finishing up our run of the Kids on Bikes TTRPG, and pretty much everything is hitting the fan all at once. The town of New Novemberwood, and one of its founding patriarchs -- the famously-lucky Mr. Pineapple -- have had it too good for too long, and after a few unexpected spikes of good luck for a lucky few, it's time for the other shoe to drop. Repeatedly. Be careful what you wish for. Our GM Joe Perez brings this story of kids in over their heads to a close today. Those kids, of course, are: Liz Harper as Rhiandrea "Ree" Rains, an independent young Scout and local bookstore employee who doesn't like being told what to do by her parents -- or their ideas of how to run her life Trish, aka AwkwardishPanda, as Ginny Jacobson, an extremely precious girl and fish out of water who got advanced to her junior year six years early Matt Rossi as Jacob Jacobson, who's kind of a weird kid, but he looks out for his little sister and maybe believes in magic Phil Ulrich as Randall Fletcher, who could really be something if he applied himself, but he doesn't see why it's worth trying so hard all the time, man This is the finale of a three-part actual play series (the first part is here, and the second part is here!) of Kids on Bikes, a rules-light and very accessible system for achieving the kind of feel you'd expect from media like The Goonies, Stand By Me, or E.T. -- any of those kind of 80s and 90s coming-of-age media where maybe something supernatural happens. Watch for new episodes every Monday! If you think this game is rad, you can pick up your own copy from Hunters Entertainment or Renegade Game Studios. The music in this episode is "Hiding Your Reality" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#2
August 17 · 1 hr 6 min
Tavern Watch Plays Kids on Bikes, Episode 2: A trip down memory lane
Tavern Watch is back with another episode of Kids on Bikes, catching up with the kids of New Novemberwood as -- despite all the weird stuff happening to them lately, mostly related to astonishing feats of good luck -- they remember that they have a homework assignment due Monday. What starts as an ordinary trip to the retirement home to chat with residents about town history leads to tales that seem suspiciously connected to the present day... tales of derring-do, bad and good luck. (A-woohoo!) Our friendly GM and stellar voice actor for this one is Joe Perez, and the Pineapple Honors class consists of: Liz Harper as Rhiandrea "Ree" Rains, an independent young Scout and local bookstore employee who doesn't like being told what to do by her parents -- or their ideas of how to run her life Trish, aka AwkwardishPanda, as Ginny Jacobson, an extremely precious girl and fish out of water who got advanced to her junior year six years early Matt Rossi as Jacob Jacobson, who's kind of a weird kid, but he looks out for his little sister and maybe believes in magic Phil Ulrich as Randall Fletcher, who could really be something if he applied himself, but he doesn't see why it's worth trying so hard all the time, man This is the second of a three-part actual play series (the first part is here!) of Kids on Bikes, a rules-light and very accessible system for achieving the kind of feel you'd expect from media like The Goonies, Stand By Me, or E.T. -- any of those kind of 80s and 90s coming-of-age media where maybe something supernatural happens. Watch for new episodes every Monday! If you think this game is rad, you can pick up your own copy from Hunters Entertainment or Renegade Game Studios. The music in this episode is "Hiding Your Reality" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#1
August 10 · 1 hr 4 min
Tavern Watch Plays Kids on Bikes, Episode 1: Welcome to New Novemberwood
It's just another day in the sleepy little town of New Novemberwood, just a regular old day like any other. But this is Tavern Watch playing Kids on Bikes, so you know it can't be just any old day. For the students of Pineapple Honors, it sure seems ordinary -- right up until some outrageous (and unlikely) drama breaks out during lunch. Is luck taking a turn for some of their fellow students, or is something else afoot here? Your guide to the mysteries is Joe Perez, and the titular kids on bikes are: Liz Harper as Rhiandrea "Ree" Rains, an independent young Scout and local bookstore employee who doesn't like being told what to do by her parents -- or their ideas of how to run her life Trish, aka AwkwardishPanda, as Ginny Jacobson, an extremely precious girl and fish out of water who got advanced to her junior year six years early Matt Rossi as Jacob Jacobson, who's kind of a weird kid, but he looks out for his little sister and maybe believes in magic Phil Ulrich as Randall Fletcher, who could really be something if he applied himself, but he doesn't see why it's worth trying so hard all the time, man This is the first of a three-part actual play series of Kids on Bikes, a rules-light and very accessible system for achieving the kind of feel you'd expect from media like The Goonies, Stand By Me, or E.T. -- any of those kind of 80s and 90s coming-of-age media where maybe something supernatural happens. Watch for new episodes every Monday! If you think this game is rad, you can pick up your own copy from Hunters Entertainment or Renegade Game Studios. The music in this episode is "Hiding Your Reality" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#36
August 3 · 1 hr 46 min
The Gen Con 2026 announcement roundup!
In this special Gen Con edition of the Tavern Watch Podcast, we're looking at a mountain of new product announcements for our favorite games, some coming soon and others stretched out over the next few years, but all of them exciting. Mostly. Wizards of the Coast rented out out a whole theater for its big reveal, with a bunch of new upcoming releases for D&D -- including, yes, that World of Warcraft crossover that turned out to be real, one of their two announced "Universes Beyond" products (yes, D&D is now getting the Magic: the Gathering treatment). The D&D team also had plenty to say about their own internal projects, but a lot of them appeared to be backward-looking -- rather than something new and innovative, we're returning to old settings like Greyhawk and Dark Sun. There are also improvements to D&D Beyond in the works, including a new "LFG" feature in partnership with StartPlaying; anything that gets more players to tabletop games, we're here for. We also discuss whether Wizards and Hasbro, as corporate stewards of D&D, can actually do a satisfying job reviving what we like about Dark Sun, or if it's just going to be a nonstop blood-guts-and-gore fest like the teaser trailer led us to believe (content warnings for extreme gore and violence on that link). But we may be more excited about the non-D&D stuff, where a whole lot of new ideas are brewing. We discuss Daggerheart and its three-year roadmap, Paizo dipping its toes into horror with an entirely new game system in 13 Omens, the upcoming sixth edition of Vampire: The Masquerade (now in alpha playtesting!), and the open license for the upcoming Cypher System 2E. And of course, what would a Gen Con show be without discussing the ENNIE Awards? Be prepared to grip your wallets in fear when Joe tells you what the price for The Crooked Moon's Ultimate Edition, which won the Gold ENNIE for Product of the Year, actually costs. It makes the thirty pound, $300 Invisible Sun Black Cube look quaint. Music from this episode is “Midnight Tale” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#35
July 27 · 1 hr 16 min
Do you like your TTRPGs crunchy or streamlined?
This week on the Tavern Watch Podcast, we wander very naturally into one of the most age-old discussions among tabletop players and GMs alike: do you have a preference for crunchy systems or streamlined ones? Do you get giddy at the idea of Shadowrun's forty pages of equipment and entirely separate game-within-a-game for Technomancers? Is D&Dabout as heavyweight a game as you like to get, or is even that too much and you'd rather have something like Kids on Bikes? Opinions on this always vary wildly, and it's a fun discussion to have every so often -- especially because sometimes playing games will either reinforce or flip an opinion. On the news front, beloved Seattle-area cryptid Jimothy has stats in D&D now, Paizo reaches a new agreement with Archives of Nethys (great news given the incredible service the Archives offer the community), Daggerheart is testing a Summoner class as part of the new Blood domain (shared with Critical Role favorite the Blood Hunter), and Matt's perennial favorite Godzilla is coming to the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game later this year. Will we see the storyline return where Reed Richards shrinks Godzilla and sends her back in time? Were you at all surprised to learn that that was a Reed Richards plan? Of course you weren't. The crowdfunding roundup this time includes Dungeons and Daddies (not a BDSM sourcebook), cozy Hobbit murder-mystery solving game Merryshire Detective Club, and the beginning of developer logs on the Masks 2E Kickstarter ahead of its eventual launch, starting with: why a new edition of Masks? Music from this episode is “Midnight Tale” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#3
July 20 · 1 hr 8 min
Tavern Watch Plays Legend in the Mist, Episode 3: Welcome to the real party
In the final episode of our Legend in the Mist actual play, the Inkwell Club has managed to calm down the frenzied (and cursed) Spring Renewal Festival, only to see that several townsfolk are still caught in the thrall of something sinister and being led down the narrow switchback paths to the bottom of Skunk Glen Ravine. What awaits them there, other than a pile of the village's cast-offs? Will they get to the bottom without losing their possessions, their fellow villagers, or their lives? And if it's true that one person's trash is another person's treasure, does that mean Skunk Glen Ravine is full of treasure if you're the right kind of person? Only one way to find out -- down we go. Narrator Phil Ulrich is starting to draw the curtain on this mystery; the Inkwells, as always, are played by: Joe Perez as Daisuke, a studious capybara-person from the local hot spring with a secret talent for water magic Trish Olson (AwkwardishPanda) as Meadow, a traveling diviner who sees omens and portents in the stars Kameron (Tetsemi) as Tom, a young and slightly-cursed runaway lad who tends to dive in head-first without thinking Matt Rossi as Sorena, a former bear cub polymorphed into a blacksmith's apprentice, torn between two worlds Liz Harper as Selby, the somewhat overworked town alchemist (and her loyal beast of a hound dog, Ollie) This is the finale of a three-part series of Legend in the Mist -- the first episode is here, the second episode is here, and you can watch every Monday for new episodes of whatever we do next! This isn't our first time playing the rustic fantasy game from Son of Oak, however; you can check out our prior adventures here with a different trio of villagers. If you think this game sounds fun, you should be able to pick up your own copy from Son of Oak in the very near future! The music in this episode is by Phat Phrog Studios -- "Mana Malt," from the Bard's Rest collection. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#2
July 13 · 1 hr
Tavern Watch Plays Legend in the Mist, Episode 2: You have two wolves inside of you
Our Legend in the Mist actual play continues! Our party, the Inkwell Club, has helped solve a number of weird problems and disputes leading up to the Spring Renewal Festival in the little burg of Ravenhome. Surely all the problems are out of the way, right? Surely it's not an issue that folks are smiling a little too wide, yelling a little too loud, and dancing a little too closely to the edge of Skunk Glen Ravine -- and all before anyone's had a chance to tap into the wine? It's time for our hometown problem-solvers to solve another problem, while not succumbing to the allure of the Festival themselves. Narrator Phil Ulrich guides the story, while the Inkwells are: Joe Perez as Daisuke, a studious capybara-person from the local hot spring with a secret talent for water magic Trish Olson (AwkwardishPanda) as Meadow, a traveling diviner who sees omens and portents in the stars Kameron (Tetsemi) as Tom, a young and slightly-cursed runaway lad who tends to dive in head-first without thinking Matt Rossi as Sorena, a former bear cub polymorphed into a blacksmith's apprentice, torn between two worlds Liz Harper as Selby, the somewhat overworked town alchemist (and her loyal beast of a hound dog, Ollie) This is the second in a three-part series of Legend in the Mist -- the first episode is here, and you should watch for new episodes every Monday! This isn't our first time playing the rustic fantasy game from Son of Oak, however; you can check out our prior adventures here with a different trio of villagers. If you think this game sounds fun, you should be able to pick up your own copy from Son of Oak in the very near future! The music in this episode is by Phat Phrog Studios -- "Mana Malt," from the Bard's Rest collection. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#1
July 6 · 50 min
Tavern Watch Plays Legend in the Mist, episode 1: Festival prep pandemonium!
The Legend in the Mist TTRPG has finally released, and Tavern Watch is here to dip our toes back into the world of rustic fantasy adventure! It's time for the Spring Renewal Festival in the little town of Ravenhoem, kicking off the warmer part of the year by tossing out the old and welcoming in the new, but everywhere you look it just seems like things are going awry: there's a commotion blocking the bridge into town, the baker's got a fruit-related conundrum, and the old lady on the edge of town is having a wasp problem. What are the local book club/trouble investigators, the Inkwell Club, to do? Why, pitch in and help of course! Surely there's nothing more sinister going on here, right? Your narrator for this adventure is Phil Ulrich, and Ravenhome's resident nosy problemselves and lore chasers are: Joe Perez as Daisuke, a studious capybara-person from the local hot spring with a secret talent for water magic Trish Olson (AwkwardishPanda) as Meadow, a traveling diviner who sees omens and portents in the stars Kameron (Tetsemi) as Tom, a young and slightly-cursed runaway lad who tends to dive in head-first without thinking Matt Rossi as Sorena, a former bear cub polymorphed into a blacksmith's apprentice, torn between two worlds Liz Harper as Selby, the somewhat overworked town alchemist (and her loyal beast of a hound dog, Ollie) This is the first in a three-part series of Legend in the Mist -- watch for new episodes every Monday! This isn't our first time playing the rustic fantasy game from Son of Oak, however; you can check out our prior adventures here with a different trio of villagers. If you think this game sounds fun, you should be able to pick up your own copy of Son of Oakin the very near future! The music in this episode is by Phat Phrog Studios -- "Mana Malt," from the Bard's Rest collection. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#34
June 29 · 1 hr 15 min
Bad players get sent to the Water Temple
This week on the Tavern Watch Podcast, we discuss one of the favorite pastimes of tabletop GMs: stealing borrowing very liberally from our favorite movies, books, and even other games for our own tabletop games. Matt has put players into an episode of Star Trek before, and Phil borrows heavily from everything (including perennial Blizzard Watch Discord favorite Vampire Survivors), but if Joe sends you to the Water Temple from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, you are a naughty player and should reconsider the life choices that brought you there. Hope you packed your iron boots. In other news, there was a ton of D&D news to cover -- from the return (finally!) of reference cards and an unexpected crossover with Vampire: The Masquerade, to revised "evil" subclasses and news that Renegade seems to be abandoning their Essence20 system to port some of their biggest licensed games directly to 5.5e. Plus, we talk a little bit about Paizo's unfortunate restructuring in the face of the Diamond Comics distribution debacle. Music from this episode is “Midnight Tale” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#3
June 22 · 1 hr 17 min
Tavern Watch Plays Planet Mercenary, episode 3: Goose lizard or cobra chicken? We're fighting it either way.
After finally catching up with the lost pet they were sent to chase, our mercenary crew only has only one problem: they're under attack by goose lizards (or possibly cobra chickens). Well, maybe two problems, because also their ship is grounded. But it's probably fine. It's gonna be fine, right? This week on Tavern Watch Plays, we're doing an actual play of Planet Mercenary, a comic space opera based off of the Schlock Mercenary webcomics (but you don't need to be familiar with the comics to understand the game). Joan Albright is leading this game, with a colorful cast of team players who are doing a great job of coping with being stranded on an alien world for the entertainment of reality TV fans around the galaxy. Here are our mercenaries this week: Trish (AwkwardishPanda) as Raven Crawford, captain of the Jackdaws mercenary company, and who is possibly regretting some of her hiring decisions during this mission. Christian as Brother Ron, the ship's chaplain, who offers the wisdom and comfort of the Star to help guide the crew in their journeys. He also carries a suspicious number of grenades, but that's probably just the wisdom of the Star at work. Liz as Eleanor Goodbite, an awakened polar bear but also the ship's doctor. (She also carries a suspicious number of grenades, because sometimes offense is the best defense.) Kameron (Tetsemi) as Helena Seonwu, the Jackdaws' legal counsel, who is here to read all of the annoying fine print in the contracts — and make sure everybody gets paid. Matt as Hudson James, an awakened wolverine who is also the ship's engineer. Ostensibly that means he's here to fix things, but he's also a wicked shot with the plasma rifle he carries. This is the final episode in a three-part actual play of Planet Mercenary (listen to the first episode here and the second episode here), with new episodes every Monday! If you enjoy the game, you can pick up a copy of Planet Mercenary from the Schlock Mercenary store or DriveThruRPG. Music for this episode is "Galactic Echoes" from ineedmusic.co. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#2
June 15 · 1 hr 8 min
Tavern Watch Plays Planet Mercenary, episode 2: Accidental reality show stars
With their ship missing and a cheerful reality TV show host narrating their every move, our mercenary crew's simple mission — retrieve a lost pet — has gotten a lot more complicated. We probably should have expected that when someone hired an entire mercenary company to find one lost pet. This week on Tavern Watch Plays, we're doing an actual play of Planet Mercenary, a comic space opera based off of the Schlock Mercenary webcomics (but you don't need to be familiar with the comics to understand the game). Joan Albright is leading this game, with a colorful cast of team players who are doing a great job of coping with being stranded on an alien world. (And they still have a pet to rescue.) Here are our mercenaries this week: Trish (AwkwardishPanda) as Raven Crawford, captain of the Jackdaws mercenary company, and who is possibly regretting some of her hiring decisions during this mission. Christian as Brother Ron, the ship's chaplain, who offers the wisdom and comfort of the Star to help guide the crew in their journeys. He also carries a suspicious number of grenades, but that's probably just the wisdom of the Star at work. Liz as Eleanor Goodbite, an awakened polar bear but also the ship's doctor. (She also carries a suspicious number of grenades, because sometimes offense is the best defense.) Kameron (Tetsemi) as Helena Seonwu, the Jackdaws' legal counsel, who is here to read all of the annoying fine print in the contracts — and make sure everybody gets paid. Matt as Hudson James, an awakened wolverine who is also the ship's engineer. Ostensibly that means he's here to fix things, but he's also a wicked shot with the plasma rifle he carries. This is the second episode in a three-part actual play of Planet Mercenary (listen to the first episode here), with new episodes every Monday! If you enjoy the game, you can pick up a copy of Planet Mercenary from the Schlock Mercenary store or DriveThruRPG. Music for this episode is "Galactic Echoes" from ineedmusic.co. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#1
June 9 · 1 hr 10 min
Tavern Watch Plays Planet Mercenary, episode 1: Welcome to the space kitten rescue squad
Our crew of mercenaries has an unusual mission: to rescue some kind of space kitten, whose owner is very concerned for its wellbeing. But its owner's brother will pay us to not bring it home, so it's probably a troublesome space kitten. (But it's just as likely to be completely average kitten.) At least we're pretty sure it's a kitten. Our client didn't give us many details, but it's got to be kitten-adjacent, right? This week on Tavern Watch Plays, we're doing an actual play of Planet Mercenary, a comic space opera based off of the Schlock Mercenary webcomics (but you don't need to be familiar with the comics to understand the game). Joan Albright is leading this game, with a colorful cast of team players who are sure to be able to handle rescuing a single animal from an alien planet. Here are our players: Trish (AwkwardishPanda) as Raven Crawford, captain of the Jackdaws mercenary company and is possibly regretting some of her hiring decisions during this mission. Christian as Brother Ron, the ship's chaplain, who offers the wisdom and comfort of the Star to help guide the crew in their journeys. He also carries a suspicious number of grenades, but that's probably just the wisdom of the Star at work. Liz as Eleanor Goodbite, an awakened polar bear but also the ship's doctor. (She also carries a suspicious number of grenades, because sometimes offense is the best defense.) Kameron (Tetsemi) as Helena Seonwu, the Jackdaws' legal counsel, who is here to read all of the annoying fine print in the contracts — and make sure everybody gets paid. Matt as Hudson James, an awakened wolverine who is also the ship's engineer. Ostensibly that means he's here to fix things, but he's also a wicked shot with the plasma rifle he carries. This is the first in a three-part actual play of Planet Mercenary, and you can tune in every Monday for another new episode. If you enjoy the game, you can pick up a copy of Planet Mercenary from the Schlock Mercenary store or DriveThruRPG. Music for this episode is "Galactic Echoes" from ineedmusic.co. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#33
June 1 · 1 hr 8 min
TTRPG travel guides and sentient marbles
This week on the Tavern Watch Podcast, we discuss some exciting news for fans of all things that go bump in the night: a new Vampire: the Masquerade project was teased for GenCon 2026, including a commitment to "human-created" art, as opposed to AI slop. Elsewhere, several of the new and returning Darklords from D&D's upcoming Ravenloft book were revealed, including an all-out stat block for Cthulhu, Darklord of Innsmouth -- does this mean all of Massachusetts is in the Domains of Dread? We also discuss a sorely lacking element of today's tabletop RPG landscape, deeply in-depth city or area guides that don't also feel the need to be an adventure module in and of themselves, and discuss graceful retirements of intellectual property and the community as stewards, in the case of Modiphius ceasing development on Achtung! Cthulhu and turning it over to the community (along with a big bundle of official art for use in your products). Also, are the marbles in Jelle's Marble League sentient? Are they actually capable of making decisions? You make the call. (No, I don't know what this has to do with tabletop either.) Music from this episode is “Midnight Tale” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#32
May 25 · 1 hr 18 min
Daggerheart's anniversary, Paizo's newest game, and D&D's (canceled) video game ambitions
In this week's Tavern Watch Podcast, we're discussing Daggerheart, the much-hyped TTRPG from Darrington Press and Critical Role which is celebrating its first anniversary. One year in, our biggest complaint is that the game still doesn't do anything radically new to break typical TTRPG paradigms, but it packs a lot of mechanics (and tools for GMs) in a flexible system that's relatively easy for players to pick up — and for third party creators to build on. Daggerheart is still going strong, with the Hope & Fear expansion due out in August, as well as a new Age of Umbra actual play series coming in July, and several free adventures (the first is available now). We also talk about Paizo's upcoming game 13 Omens, a d6-based horror game from the creators of Pathfinder and Starfinder; our hopes for the upcoming Justice League TTRPG; and the untitled D&D video game from Giant Skull that Hasbro has canceled (as well as what that means for the company's other video game projects). And, of course, we had to talk about the latest from Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks as he describes Dungeons & Dragons as a "live service" franchise and D&D Beyond adds weekly content drops for subscribers. We'll see how that goes. Music from this episode is “Midnight Tale” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#3
May 11 · 1 hr 2 min
Tavern Watch Plays See You Space Cowboy, episode 3: The crashout of the crypto empire
In Tavern Watch's finale of our three-part run of See You Space Cowboy, our tenacious bounty hunters have tracked the NFTHound and his remaining cronies to an unmarked warehouse, full of cheaply-paid goons and a bunch of impressionable youth that the villain is trying to sway to the side of his sleazy world of electronic currency and extremely expensive digital pictures of ugly apes. Will our heroes win the day, or will we discover that in the end, there must alwaysbe a Crypto King? You can probably guess how this'll go. Joe Perez as GM keeps the action rolling and never lets up for our team of bounty hunters: Trish Olson as Kit Brooksfield, who's all brains, a little cool, and maybe some kind of hacker (but for all the right reasons!) Chris Chesno as Colt Sterling, a hard-smoking professional chaos gremlin who maybe looks like Temu Vicious Joan Albright as Veronia Graves, a former housewife whose bad run-in with the law now has her on a mission Liz Harper as Jen, who is definitely not the crew's kleptomaniac Phil Ulrich as Luke Navarro, a brick wall of a man who's ostensibly the ship's captain but mostly the team dad This is the third in a three-part actual play series of See You Space Cowboy; the first part is here, and the second one is here! You can also pick up a copy of See You Space Cowboy yourself on Tidal Wave Games' itch.io page; it's only five American dollars to bring all this fun to your own table! The intro and outro songs for this episode are both by Phat Phrog Studios; the intro is "Mech Imperium," while the outro is "The Pain Unwritten." If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#2
May 4 · 1 hr 4 min
Tavern Watch Plays See You Space Cowboy, episode 2: Hot dog pratfalls and Cybertruck demolition
Hot on the trail of some scumbag NFT and crypto traders (aka their latest bounty targets), the Tavern Watch team lays an ambush for their bounty in this week's episode of See You Space Cowboy on our TTRPG actual play podcast. What follows is one of the most chaotic fight sequences we've ever had; shots are fired, a few people get knitting needled, there's a mishap with a hot dog, and it all ends with Jen riding on top of the same Cybertruck she's demolishing -- and that's not even including following these chumps back to their home base. Joe Perez as our GM somehow manages to direct all this chaos in a cohesive direction; meanwhile, the rest of us doing our best to cause trouble are: Trish Olson as Kit Brooksfield, who's all brains, a little cool, and maybe some kind of hacker (but for all the right reasons!) Chris Chesno as Colt Sterling, a hard-smoking, hard-bitten hot dog and gunplay enthusiast Joan Albright as Veronia Graves, a former housewife whose bad run-in with the law now has her on a mission Liz Harper as Jen, who is definitely not the crew's kleptomaniac Phil Ulrich as Luke Navarro, a brick wall of a man who's ostensibly the ship's captain but mostly the team dad This is the second in a three-part actual play series of See You Space Cowboy; the first part is here, and new episodes come out every Monday! You can also pick up a copy of See You Space Cowboy yourself on Tidal Wave Games' itch.io page; it's only five American dollars to bring all this fun to your own table! The intro and outro songs for this episode are both by Phat Phrog Studios; the intro is "Mech Imperium," while the outro is "The Pain Unwritten." If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#1
April 27 · 57 min
Tavern Watch Plays See You Space Cowboy, episode 1: Wanted for possession of cryptocurrency
It's time for a brand new game on Tavern Watch, called See You Space Cowboy; this one takes place in a solar system that looks a lot like famous anime Cowboy Bebop's but with the serial numbers... well, not even filed off, just kinda smudged a little bit. If you're willing to get your hands dirty, talk to people who always know something for a cost, and hunt down some of the most notorious criminals this side of Ganymede, bounty hunting is definitely one way to make that big payday (and/or just pay the bills) However, in the universe of See You Space Cowboy, there's only one crime that rewards hunters for bringing in their prey dead rather than alive: possession of cryptocurrency and NFTs. So of course this ne'er-do-well is our target (and it doesn't hurt that he's a litterbug, either). The band leader for these shenanigans is the enthusiastic and creative Joe Perez, and our motley crew of hunters is played by: Trish Olson as Kit Brooksfield, who's all brains, a little cool, and maybe some kind of hacker (but for all the right reasons!) Chris Chesno as Colt Sterling, a hard-smoking, hard-bitten hot dog and gunplay enthusiast Joan Albright as Veronia Graves, a former housewife whose bad run-in with the law now has her on a mission Liz Harper as Jin, who is definitely not the crew's kleptomaniac Phil Ulrich as Luke Navarro, a brick wall of a man who's ostensibly the ship's captain but mostly the team dad This is the first in a three-part actual play series of See You Space Cowboy; watch for new episodes to come out every Monday! You can also pick up a copy of See You Space Cowboy yourself on Tidal Wave Games' itch.io page; it's only five American dollars to bring all this fun to your own table! The intro and outro songs for this episode are both by Phat Phrog Studios; the intro is "Mech Imperium," while the outro is "The Pain Unwritten." If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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