Every season of Tabletop, I feature a roleplaying game. I’ve done this, because my not-so-secret wish all along was to do a spinoff show that was a season-long RPG adventure with persistent characters.
We’ve done Fiasco and Dragon Age, and this season, we’re playing DREAD.
I. Freaking. Love. This. Game.
We have a great group of players: Molly Lewis, Ivan van Norman, and Laura Bailey (who I cast in Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana).
This was intended to be a single episode, but I liked it so much, and I am so incredibly proud of the story we told and the way we told it, I decided to make this a two-part episode.
Here’s part one:
I really hope you like this as much as I do, and I hope you’ll be happy to know that we aren’t doing a gag reel next week; we’re going to do part two, so you don’t have to wait.
If you’d like to learn more about DREAD, or get your own copy, you can find out more at their website. SPOILER WARNING: We played an adapted version of the Beneath A Full Moon setting. If you read that part, it’ll probably wreck some of the drama and suspense for you.
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I had no idea this existed. I’ll check this out for sure. Thanks for sharing!
A the beginning of the episode, Wil mentions that the book is hard to find. However, just want to let folks know that you can order physical copies from Indie Press Revolution and from the Impossible Dream Web Site. So don’t despair. Unless you’re playing the game and are in character.
Props on getting the astronomy right! (The full moon is always opposite the sun in the sky, and so many people/things get this wrong…)
Is Syfy channel renewing The Wil Wheaton Project anytime soon?
Wil’s said a number of times that SyFy simply wasn’t interested in promoting the show then used the show’s lack of promotion as a reason against renewal. So that and just a general “Wil and SyFy just don’t agree on much creatively” make that unlikely. Which is a shame, because I freaking loved the show, especially “How Will They Bite It?”
But that’s show business, I suppose.
“You still have your darkvision…”
The freshman is an orc???
That was a great episode and i can’t wait for the second part.
It also makes me want to see you GMing in Titansgrave.
Did anyone else watch that and not touch anything the entire time?
I’m glad you’re doing the second part next week
I love this show and this episode looks great!
Don’t ever stop making TableTop.
Ever!
Ok, that’s not realistic but try your best.
I was thrilled when I learned (earlier this week) that you were doing Dread on Tabletop because I am running it tomorrow for my weekly RPG group. We are juuuust starting to branch out from Pathfinder and, like you, I am super excited to focus on the story (rather than what stats a character has). Thanks for the PERFECT primer for my group tomorrow! Incidentally, I had the players fill out questionaires for Beneath a Full Moon, but am happy to switch up. Care to throw a backup session idea/theme my way? We would be sure to hoist our frosty mugs in your honor tomorrow!
RPG isnt my bag but I totally am thrilled that you are getting to do this for yourself and for the other gamers that are fans of RPG. I love tabletop and ITTDay because it goes across the spectrum of physical gaming and is there for all of us and our passions. You go Will!!
So….. I do have a burning question. Last year at ITTD2014 crowd funding was announced about season 3. Whats up with season 4? Can we get our wallets out again and show our love or do you have a new cool thought for the next gen4 Tabletop episodes?
Piece and Board games,
Dave
I’m not going to crowdfund Tabletop again, because we’ve done that, and I think it’s time for us to get out of the way and let someone else’s awesome idea get crowdfunded. We have other ways to fund another season, though, and we’re starting to have meetings to explore them.
Thanks for your reply Wil. I appreciate your depth of character. You talked a little at Gencon about that thought and I wondered. I truly believe that many people would not resist crowd funding to follow their own sense of what they believe to be right. I am glad that something so important to board gaming as Tabletop is in such excellent stewardship. The gods imparted it to the right person and meant for you to follow your instincts.
I would just would like to say that IMHO the future of funding and paying for content is going to be able to be more and more direct channeled.
So…. please remember that what you do has high value to all of us and your talents are more than worthy of funding. I for one would be glad to pony up a little along with I bet many others to see content from you unfettered from corporate restraints or big business dysfunction. (can I say The Wil Wheaton Show?)
Piece
Oh man you’re opening line has me banging my head and saying “Tunnels and Trolls.” Otherwise, very cool!
The knot on my forehead aside, this is pretty cool. And now I’m hooked and want to watch the next step in the story. …you bastard!
That was fucking awesome.
Damn it, Wheaton. You had to make this a two parter? I want to find out what happens, and none of this delayed gratification nonsense. Tell me now!
That’s an intriguing mechanic, using those generic-wooden-block-stacking-game* blocks. I can see how worrying about the wobbly tower and the fact that it will inevitably eventually fall would add to the sense of, well, dread.
*I wonder what you’d call a GENeric block stacking GAme? Something like “GEN-GA”, perhaps?
Hey, Wil – Thanks for introducing us to Dread. I bought the pdf from DriveThruRPG.com, and it looks like great fun! Wondering if you could make available to us the completed character questionnaires you all generated for this story. You think you could post those somewhere, even as flat text? It’d be useful to see how you set up everything, after we finish watching part two!
I think we need a behind-the-scenes blog about this episode, now that its aired. I’d love to know about some of the background that didn’t actually come up in game play, or the possible roads-not-followed. Like: What would have happened to Pete Daguide if they’d left his pendant on him. Or why exactly did Laura’s characters have some weird connection to the lycanthropes?