What is the state-of-the-art when it comes to Actual Plays on YouTube? If you are reading this blog you are likely familiar with my tastes, and your own will be aligned, but for the avoidance of doubt I am looking for OSR-adjacent, or OSR-sympathetic, content with the emphasis on sandbox play. I am by no means limited in my interests to D&D. (I will merrily watch MERP, Cyberpunk 2020, RuneQuest, or any other RPG likely to appeal to the average old fart.)
I have tried to watch Critical Role, and failed entirely to appreciate whatever virtues it has. It is not for me. I also long ago (11 years ago!) watched something involving Will Wheaton, my verdict upon which was:
I would probably rather be flogged than be involved in that session, and yet at the same time I can't summon up the necessary bile to say I disliked watching it.
I would like something rather better than that. Fly, my pretties! I will watch and review whatever is recommended.
I mostly watch (well, listen to) sessions in Polish, and those are Warhammer Fantasy (channels: BaniakBaniaka and BitewnyBiurokrata https://www.youtube.com/@YuriPRIMErpg), Kamienne Cesarstwo (a system based on the first Polish RPG: Kryształy Czasu) streamed by https://www.youtube.com/@TawernaRPG and couple of others. There is not much Polish D&D channels I watch, because most of them focus on 5e in a way that just not interest me (focusing on railoaded story with cheezy "character development", often focusing on characters that are weird and not enough fantasy-like for my tastes).
ReplyDeleteAs for English channels, I watched 3d6 Down the Line's Aarden Vul, various campaigns by Neal Pass "Koibu" Erickson (https://www.youtube.com/@Koibu0 most recently Voyages of Dusk and Dawn) and there are some other channels I stumbled upon (though I cannot recall names now).
As for the "entertainy" channels (those that are much more content oriented) I listen to Legends of Avantris (5e mostly, but what can I say, the funny shorts hooked me up), and World of Io (same).
I will concede this is not perfectly on point (podcast and not YouTube), but Tale of the Manticore is the doing some fascinating actual play stuff. It's b/x specific, the solo-play element eliminates the irritating theatre-kid vamping that creeps into a lot of APs, and he understands the principles of audio production beyond the amateur level.
ReplyDeleteTale of the Manticore is also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9_NKJYPKjINZAOvKqsoAaQ
DeleteI also came here to recommend Tale of the Manticore, specifically because it takes itself more seriously and there's no out-of-character goofing off that ruins almost all other actual plays for me.
DeleteMystery Quest!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/@mystery_quest
Tom the GM hosts a rotating cast of his friends in usually short one-shot length adventures across a variety of smaller game systems and genres.
Production quality of the fancy YouTube trpg lets plays without any of the interminable pretense and boredom!
I usually prefer podcasts for that, but many of them are also on YouTube as audio-only and I did find this 12-episode (so far - unclear if it's really over or not) series scratched my itch for some Mech Hack nicely.
ReplyDeleteBring Down the Sky by Albert the Llama Enterprises
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt-B9Ngip6lELudLCGYU9--oZxqLY5Fit
Split into four 3-session missions, and definitely not a sandbox, but the game system is derived from the Black Hack, which gives it some OSR cred while branching off in into fairly generic "military mecha scifi" settings.
Sadly, I've yet to find a really good actual play for it's younger cousin Aether Nexus, which is a more anime-fantasy mecha game in the same general vein as Aura Battler Dunbine or Escaflowne with avery loosely defined setting that has quite a lot of potential for worldbuilding and more of a sandbox approach IMO, even if it isn't being particularly well-employed for that. It's alos quite a mechanical evolution of Mecha Hack, making it a hack of a hack of a hack, and what's not to love about that.
Perhaps one of your other readers can suggest a good AP for that one that I've missed. Will keep an eye on the comments to see what comes up. A good Painted Wastelands AP has also eluded me to date, so that's another to watch for.
I don't watch a lot but the two I like are:
ReplyDelete- 3d6 down the line is very osr and really looks like a normal group of people playing. It is dryer than other podcasts but I find it charming. They play long campaigns
- mystery quest might be one of my favorite channels and podcast in general. It is more produced and the players have professional vocal range. They play short campaigns of mostly rules light games but there's quite a bit of osr adjacent in there (mork Borg, mausritter, mothership)
3d6 Down the Line, Arden Vul campaign, for the best OSR actual play I've seen. The GM and players are rather nice, guys in their 40s and 50s having a good time and trying to do their take on old-school play, with player mapmaking included. Great group chemistry. Whole campaign was 115 x ~2 hrs. episodes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBpiTLm_k2g&list=PLtBYin1uOBmC3hZUtpmGicUDngaSg8mdc They also divided the campaign into six delves (each has its own YT playlist), so watching/listening the first delve gives you a good sense of the campaign and a sense of completion if that's more than enough for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL0rYJw-Q9M&list=PLtBYin1uOBmCs1hSQQqxesYPbod7Y5Cfq The episodes are available on Spotify too, but the YT version is best if you want to see the group drawing a map. There also short after session "detox" videos (different videos) where they discuss how things went. Hope it helps.
ReplyDelete3d6 Down the Line Arden Vul.
ReplyDeleteI'll add my vote for Mystery Quest and 3d6DownTheLine, they both capture the feel of an actual session well. Also really good are the Apocalypse Players (COC) and Hell Or High Rollers, (5e) though both of them skew more towards theatrical improv (and arent really the right system). I like to add them because they're just really well produced and their players have ridiculous good chemistry.
ReplyDeleteThis might be a weird one, yet I have the dice stormers actual play of Cyberpunk: Cybergeneration if you are interested. It is just three people and pretty bare bones so one may enjoy that feeling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6c0zbB_g1I&t=150s
ReplyDeleteI recently got a hold of Cybergeneration this year and I am surprised that it never flew off. Granted, maybe it was because it was marketed towards hardened Cyberpunk 2020 vets in the 90's, who thought that playing teenagers was lame. Perhaps it was that it came out, ironically, too early, because it feels like that generation that grew up on Digimon, Static Shock, Avatar: the Last Airbender, and the whole YA craze would have eaten Cybergeneration up.
Another theory I heard was that Cybergeneration was an experiment that R. Talsorian Games dropped to push the Bubblegum Crisis rpg. My theory on that, if that's true, is you can just fill the book with stills from the anime rather than actually paying artists, something that they've done recently with the Cyberpunk Edgerunners Kit.
I know that I have gone on a tangent about Cybergeneration. I was trying not to yet here I am now. Since I am on the subject, what are your thoughts on Cybergeneration, Noisms? Did you have any thoughts about it during the 90's?
Just to be clear, it's not that I am a pursuer of any of the YA that I have mentioned, it's more that I am surrounded by people who were/are into that (I have found that I have a passionate dislike of Avatar: The Last Airbender and the type of geeks it has created. It was one of the things that inspired my version of Yoon-Suin by trying to make my Yoon-Suin the opposite of that kid's show). On Cybergeneration, I find the simplified rules of Cyberpunk 2020 interesting and the idea of playing Akira-esque psychics in Night City to be cool idea (though I am glad that they are/were an add on side thing, not a deeply integrated part), the core rulebook seems to be a mish-bash of ideas that are game-able yet don't quite fit together.
I have to agree, Cybergeneration feels very much like it was roughly a generation ahead of its time. The apparent target audience just wasn't there yet, but once the literary/cinematic YA boom took off it would have found a following. Maybe not quite so much today - not only is there a lot of competition now, modern tastes in game design make it seem relatively complex compared to (say) the FATE or PBtA engines.
DeleteSorry for being late to this, but I am thinking you might enjoy the actual play vids on gothridge manor (Tim Shorts) YouTube channel. It's been a while since I tuned in (I am trying to cut back on my screen time). Tim Shorts is an old school guy who publishes some osr material and occasionally runs online games for his old school friends. The vids are humorous and interesting (at least I have found them so). Cheers!
ReplyDeleteFor an unpretentious, figuring it out as they go game, try mythic mountains on YouTube they have a swords and wizardry playlist… it is absolutely not optimized for viewing pleasure… often dull to watch but the players are into it… it tastes like D&D
ReplyDelete