Fandom name: Oathsworn Media type: Actual Play TTRPG Podcast Length: Currently 52 episodes each averaging like an hour (ongoing weekly podcast; it'll keep getting longer)
Where can it be found? Anywhere you get podcasts! Transcripts are linked in every episode description. info carrd
What is it/what is it about?
The gods are silent. The Chosen have been broken. The armies of the realm lie in ruin.
The Consonant Legion is all that remains.
A band of mercenaries, thrown together by circumstance and desperate to survive, are on the run across the continent of Tzel Sh’el. Ahead of them lies the far-off capital of Novara, where a last defense can be mustered.
At their heels are the forces of the Never: people transformed into dark, haunting creatures by the infernal power of the Voice of the Dead God. A vast assembly of armies, intent on crushing the Consonant Legion.
So goes the official description.
Oathsworn is an actual play podcast running (mostly) Band of Blades, a game about running from the encroaching armies of darkness which threaten to consume the world. It is about hard choices, communities under threat, and defiant attempts to save everyone you can.
It is also explicitly influenced by Judaism, has a lot to say about what "grimdark" means, and includes a lot of explicitly queer and trans characters (though very little on-screen romance, since everyone's a bit busy with survival).
If you like Weird Horror (the sky is a dead god, for starters!), watching the apocalypse occur, and listening to a very good roleplayers communally create a group of soldiers and politicians who don't always get along, this is a fantastic podcast.
What do you love about it?
I love how the players share ownership of their characters. I love how the game explores weird magic and religion. I love the sense of community desperately fighting against the encroaching apocalypse. I love watching characters care about each other despite themselves, make hard choices, and support people and actions they wish they didn't need to support simply because any other option is worse.
I love the core cast's slow expansion. I love the relationships between characters. I love the interplay between the commanders/staff and the soldiers/specialists. I love how thoughtful all the players are about what various characters would be like. I love that the players are having a great time and get to joke around, and that their characters are also looking for joy and connection in tough times.
I love watching the world expand and learning more about it. I love the mysteries. I love the intentionality of the world and how much care the players put into making it.
It's just a really good example of what actual play as a medium can be.
(Also, I love the music that plays during dramatic moments, and how mostly it doesn't play under speech but instead is given time to breathe and be a rest.)
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
I will be honest: This is a fandom where I'll be happy with pretty much anything, because there aren't any fics for it yet. I'm absolutely nominating Worldbuilding, and throwing that wide open as an invitation for anything and everything. Other characters I'm likely to nominate are Waloot (a Legion rookie who died but came back changed in a way unlike anyone has ever seen before), Dorado the Adamant (a communist leader of the Legion), and Nikolaj (a member of a group obsessed with prophecy coerced into becoming part of the Legion). But between now and nomination ending I may change my mind about what exactly I'm going to nominate! (I did request this podcast for Fic in a Box, though, so you can see some requests in this letter to get some vibes for what/who I might request!)
Where should people start? At the start! It's sort of hard to begin anywhere else, though I suppose you could skip the worldbulding episodes (eps -1 and 0) if you want to get to the main cast of characters right away.
Do you have any content warnings? War, violent death, body horror, drug use, alcohol use, dismemberment, magical suicide bombers... Each episode has a list of content warnings relevant to that episode. If you're generally okay with media about war, you should be fine with this; they try not to go into great detail about gory specifics, because they're more concerned with themes and emotional reactions.
Oathsworn (Actual Play Podcast)
Media type: Actual Play TTRPG Podcast
Length: Currently 52 episodes each averaging like an hour (ongoing weekly podcast; it'll keep getting longer)
Where can it be found?
Anywhere you get podcasts! Transcripts are linked in every episode description.
info carrd
What is it/what is it about?
The gods are silent.
The Chosen have been broken.
The armies of the realm lie in ruin.
The Consonant Legion is all that remains.
A band of mercenaries, thrown together by circumstance and desperate to survive, are on the run across the continent of Tzel Sh’el. Ahead of them lies the far-off capital of Novara, where a last defense can be mustered.
At their heels are the forces of the Never: people transformed into dark, haunting creatures by the infernal power of the Voice of the Dead God. A vast assembly of armies, intent on crushing the Consonant Legion.
So goes the official description.
Oathsworn is an actual play podcast running (mostly) Band of Blades, a game about running from the encroaching armies of darkness which threaten to consume the world. It is about hard choices, communities under threat, and defiant attempts to save everyone you can.
It is also explicitly influenced by Judaism, has a lot to say about what "grimdark" means, and includes a lot of explicitly queer and trans characters (though very little on-screen romance, since everyone's a bit busy with survival).
If you like Weird Horror (the sky is a dead god, for starters!), watching the apocalypse occur, and listening to a very good roleplayers communally create a group of soldiers and politicians who don't always get along, this is a fantastic podcast.
What do you love about it?
I love how the players share ownership of their characters. I love how the game explores weird magic and religion. I love the sense of community desperately fighting against the encroaching apocalypse. I love watching characters care about each other despite themselves, make hard choices, and support people and actions they wish they didn't need to support simply because any other option is worse.
I love the core cast's slow expansion. I love the relationships between characters. I love the interplay between the commanders/staff and the soldiers/specialists. I love how thoughtful all the players are about what various characters would be like. I love that the players are having a great time and get to joke around, and that their characters are also looking for joy and connection in tough times.
I love watching the world expand and learning more about it. I love the mysteries. I love the intentionality of the world and how much care the players put into making it.
It's just a really good example of what actual play as a medium can be.
(Also, I love the music that plays during dramatic moments, and how mostly it doesn't play under speech but instead is given time to breathe and be a rest.)
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
I will be honest: This is a fandom where I'll be happy with pretty much anything, because there aren't any fics for it yet. I'm absolutely nominating Worldbuilding, and throwing that wide open as an invitation for anything and everything. Other characters I'm likely to nominate are Waloot (a Legion rookie who died but came back changed in a way unlike anyone has ever seen before), Dorado the Adamant (a communist leader of the Legion), and Nikolaj (a member of a group obsessed with prophecy coerced into becoming part of the Legion). But between now and nomination ending I may change my mind about what exactly I'm going to nominate! (I did request this podcast for Fic in a Box, though, so you can see some requests in this letter to get some vibes for what/who I might request!)
Where should people start?
At the start! It's sort of hard to begin anywhere else, though I suppose you could skip the worldbulding episodes (eps -1 and 0) if you want to get to the main cast of characters right away.
Do you have any content warnings?
War, violent death, body horror, drug use, alcohol use, dismemberment, magical suicide bombers... Each episode has a list of content warnings relevant to that episode. If you're generally okay with media about war, you should be fine with this; they try not to go into great detail about gory specifics, because they're more concerned with themes and emotional reactions.