stories shaped by dice – a tabletop RPG actual-play podcast with emphasis on storytelling – listen to us play or read the serialized narrative
Narrative write-up of the events from a role-playing game
Tric handles the after dinner clean-up. “Here’s a bump on a log, rather than a stick in the mud,” he tells the nearby nest of mudcrawlers as he tosses skewered leftovers down near them. The creatures ooze over the eel remains and keep going. All that is left in their wake are the bones. “Hunh. … Read more
After Heppa has seen to Tomos’s and Henrick’s injuries, everyone gathers at the campsite Tric has established. Following the dinner of crunchy eel, Heppa checks with Knots about whether he needs any stitches or bandaging. Zlek did land some hits on him, after all. The mercenary is not overly-concerned about his injuries, but he agrees … Read more
Tric’s search for nagas takes him farther downstream, and he dodges a few clumps of slung mud along the way himself. Though he does not find any survivors of the fight, his efforts are not in vain. In an area of shallow mud and low reeds, he comes across the naga’s encampment. There are no … Read more
We reach our destination the next evening. Even from a distance, we can see the miasma fog settled over the little valley. As it drifts, we can sometimes make out the roof of the small hut containing the network node. Way, way off in the distance one of Morgan’s domes lights up the darkening sky, … Read more
I can hear Cleve and Cor, though I can’t see them yet. I stay back, giving them space for their private conversation. “Hey, hey!” Corazon calls after Cleve. When she’s caught up to him, she asks, “You all right?” “I’m fine,” Cleve replies, his words short and swift. Corazon reads the unhappiness in his clipped … Read more
It’s a two-day trip to reach the network node, and the first one is a long one. Cleve gets us moving before the suns are up, wanting us to be burning oxygen when the air is clearest. But if we rest mid-morning, we risk miasma drifting in when none of us are alert. So we … Read more
“I think that went about as well as it could,” Heppa tells her cousin after the fight is over. “Particularly for us,” Tric agrees. Everyone on the raft saw the great job he and Heppa did against the initial naga force. There will be stories told about them, he is sure. “What about the nagas … Read more
Heppa rushes forward, closing some distance with the ferry. She has never magically healed someone from so far away, but Henrick will not be able to take many more hits like the ones Zlek just dealt, so she has to make the attempt. As she enters the reeds, the mud clings at her boots, slowing … Read more
“It’s not like moons here pop in and out of the sky—I assume. Someone here has to know at least for the next week,” Cleve says as we leave Takuto’s bedside. We go to the main scientist around here, Dr. Citali, even though astronomy and meteorology are not her specialties. I start by asking her … Read more
I catch Roze one day when they’re not busy. “Hey, Roze, you have access to the datalinks from the ship. Can you look up Sylvia Stanton for me? That was the dead body in our module.” “You want to pull up information? Yeah, sure, that’s an easy thing.” They roll their chair over to a … Read more
///Before Cleve can head back out into the strange wilderness of this new planet, he needs a working rifle. Roze sits with him in Data Haven’s basic machine shop as he wipes and brushes and scrubs. They advise him to keep the gun coated, and he asks for recommendations on miasma-resistant oil. He’s worried about … Read more
Data Haven makes a snug home, but my closet with a cot isn’t that much less spacious than what I had to call my own back in LA. And although there are concerns about how much food is left, the 3D printer can turn out a wide variety of smaller items. Someone had the foresight … Read more
Tric and Heppa take cover in the thin stand of scraggly trees that are set a bit back from the river bank. Because they know where to look, they can see the pair of nagas from earlier. They are still amid the reeds growing in the marshy edge a little bit north of where the … Read more
When Heppa and Tric get back to the site of the destroyed bridge, they confer with Rhodri, Henrick, and some of the more experienced guards on how to deal with the current situation. The caravan manager approves the counter-ambush to ensure that no further risk comes to the civilians or the cargo from this source. … Read more
The shower is fabulous, and it is nice to be able to shave with a larger mirror mounted on a wall. I spend a fair amount of time looking at myself in that mirror, particularly my eyes. They’re nice eyes, I think, an uncommon pale gray. I stare at them, switching my focus from one … Read more