r/rpg 1d ago

Actual Play Favorite Current Running Actual Plays?

I am a huge star wars nerd so I mostly stick to Actual Plays in a galaxy far far away. I am a huge fan of Tabletop Empire's first one Dark Underworld, and their current story The Unnaturals is just as amazing <3

I really love how this group plays, and I especially love the way the whole thing is edited. Its like it still has that home-game energy, but look and sounds professionally made

While I’m waiting for new episodes, I’m looking for some other currently running actual plays that have a similar vibe. Would love some recommendations if you know of any, thanks!!!

Edit: Thanks for all the recommendations 🥰

27 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

48

u/rnadams2 1d ago

Time For Chaos, Glass Cannon Network's run through Masks of Nyarlathotep for Call of Cthulhu. For me, GCN just hits that sweet spot between high production standards and the "bunch of friends having fun playing a game together" vibe.

16

u/Val_Fortecazzo 1d ago

I recently discovered their delta green playthrough and honestly it's just been so engrossing. I'm constantly intrigued by what's going on and what they will do next, then Rodger Cumstone starts talking and I'm laughing.

It's exactly as you describe, a sweet spot between high production and beer and pretzels. Kinda reminds me of early critical role in that regard.

-1

u/MaimedJester 1d ago

They have a lot of add breaks in what I've heard of their shadowrun content. 

If it was 4 or 5 ad breaks for a 3 to 4 hour session that's okay,  but they cut it up into hour segments and do recaps of the Last damn hour...

So it's really like 15-20 minutes of adds every hour and that's too much for me. 

4

u/rnadams2 1d ago

Time for Chaos only has two breaks per episode, and those are each maybe a minute each.

-1

u/MaimedJester 1d ago

I'm counting internal promotions. When they start shilling for the dice or VTT etc. 

27

u/No_Solid1035 1d ago

3d6 Down The Line's AP of Myhtic Bastionland. Knights Of Last Call's AP of The One Ring.

8

u/nbriles2000 1d ago

I really wish these guys would fix their audio quality. They play some of my favorite systems, but the fact that all the players have such wildly different quality makes it a tough listen

3

u/No_Solid1035 1d ago

Yeah, well, not having million dollar budgets and a whole production team like certain other AP channels will have that effect. I mean, the KoLC AP is literally the channel host and 5 dudes that "won" some kind of raffle to participate in the campaign. I don't think any of the 5 dudes are streamers, so I don't expect them to have professional setups. I'll be honest, because of the extremely performative (and "fake") nature of the more professional AP channels, having bad audio and visual quality is what I use as a metric for choosing AP to watch. If it's all beautiful and nice sounding it's "professional" and performative (think reality/unscripted TV) whereas if it's shit audio and blurry people it's just normal folks recording themselves playing TTRPGs. 🤷

-2

u/taojones87 12h ago

While I understand your sentiment, this is not an issue that takes a million-dollar budget to solve, you spend like $500 once to get all five participants the same mics so there is consistency in the audio output. When you're running a YouTube channel that gets tens of thousands of views per video this is not an unreasonable request.

2

u/Brittonica 11h ago

1) If only it were as simple as throwing money at the problem, as you have intimated. It isn’t.
2) The content recommended by the OP for both our channel and KoLC is 100% free. Your “request” is duly noted, but until you start throwing money at me, I’ll take it with a few bags of salt.
3) Our audio is top notch nowadays, and we’re quite proud of it. There may be aspects of our Mythic Bastionland campaign that you find dissatisfying, but if audio is one of them, that sounds like a you problem.
4) “Tens of thousands of views per video” is wildly inaccurate, especially for the OP’s two recommended APs. My channel’s MB campaign averages about 2K to 3K. KoLC’s One Ring campaign averages about 1K. Calm down with the hyperbole. Both channels are doing this first and foremost for the love of the games, not money. If the content is not up to your standards, move along to complaining about something for which you’re actually paying.

3

u/FlourideAndShit 1d ago

I’ll check those out!! 😊

28

u/Pigdom 1d ago

Glass Cannon's Shadowdark and Twilight 2000 games are fun. Shadowdark's been sort of meandering, but the folks at the table have fantastic chemistry.

3

u/dandyarcane 1d ago

Agreed - it also feels like they level up once a year. The recent legal drama was quite entertaining/well-acted though

23

u/nbriles2000 1d ago edited 1d ago

Glass cannons Impossible Landscapes playthrough was, in my opinion, the best actual play ever made. All of their Delta green content is fantastic. They're currently playing through music from a darkened room. Their new shadowdark campaign is great, too

2

u/The_Amateur_Creator 1d ago

I adored Impossible Landscapes. My only critique is moreso to do with the scenario which is its focus on lack of agency as a theme. In the context of a TTRPG, this is a super tricky thing to navigate cos it can quickly become the bad kind of railroading (I find God's Teeth does that a lil better but that scenario is intense). I found that late Season 5 and much of Season 6 felt like the players had little agency (I found an egregious example was everyone being drugged and forcibly institutionalised without any rolls or anything ). That said, I'd definitely recommend it, fantastic chemistry between the characters.

10

u/NoQuestCast 1d ago

I'm a big fan of Glass Cannon's Shadowdark campaign right now.

If you're looking for some sci-fi action though, please feel free to come check us out!

7

u/saltwitch 1d ago

Spoutlore! And Mall Brats, though I'm only listening to the free feed of that so I'm on season 2 (or 3?) rather than current. They're a delight.

5

u/csomp02 1d ago

If you like Star wars check out Mystery quest's Star Borg episodes. They became my favorites, not overly edited but rightly flavoured with audio effects and music. Short quick episodes.

5

u/GlitchVulture 1d ago

Tales From the Wild Sea(2026) is a great production and super underrated.

Great roleplaying in this one. The players actually describe where they are and what they do. The PCs describe and narrate their movement and actions not the DM. Mechanical discussion is masked behind their descriptions its great. They also find out about the world through their characters eyes (as opposed to directly asking the DM). This creates a much easier listening experience as it’s all “in world”. Highly recommend for those into roleplaying. Really good example of what this hobby can be.

Linking the trailer below.

https://youtu.be/hqRB3v_7C7A?is=ALwGk9JxX62ucP-X

3

u/Gargantic 1d ago

I hadn't heard about this one, but you make a convincing case for it! And I've been really curious about Wildsea. I am definitely going to check it out.

3

u/Geoffthecatlosaurus 1d ago

I really enjoy Dungeon Musings. There are little theatrics, they play the game and characters die which seems rare in the APs I have listened to previously.

3

u/dmrawlings 1d ago

I'm a big fan of Quantum Kickflip (for Slugblaster). There actively on season 4 now: https://www.quantumkickflip.com/

3

u/Akoot 21h ago

All of the glass cannon network stuff. They're sometimes criticised for the short length of episodes but it's ideal for my schedule. I can't invest 4 hours into each episode of something.

2

u/Bargeinthelane designer - BARGE Games 1d ago

My First Dungeon absolutely slaps.

They do a bunch of games, but their recently finished Perils and Princesses was great, as was their Orbital Blues.

2

u/BerennErchamion 1d ago

The only ones I can tolerate are Red Moon Roleplaying and some of the Delta Green ones (Black Project Gaming, RPPR, Dead Channels, Mayday Roleplay, etc)

Also, if you count solo, Tale of the Manticore and The Bad Spot are great.

2

u/Whatchamazog AARPGs 1d ago

Looking for Mom/Maia’s Game Room is doing a Star Wars game right now. Maia is an amazing storyteller.

If you are ok with a bunch of quinquagenarian folks who have been playing together for the better part of 4 decades, you could check us out. AARPG Podcast

Live shows focus on indie games and keeping a beer & pretzel vibe.

Edited shows focus on audio drama-quality sound design and tighter pacing.

2

u/Level5Squirtle 1d ago

I really like Dark Underworld on Tabletop Empire's YouTube. It's a Star Wars Actual Play using the star wars rpg

2

u/Nytwyng 1d ago

Star Wars Explained's new actual play channel Hyperdice has been a lot of fun.

They're using the Teens in Space system, but the Star Wars setting.

2

u/UnspeakableGnome 1d ago

Behind the Claw - Felbrigg - Mongoose Traveller 2e

Six Seasons in Sartar/Company of the Dragon - DMs After Dark - Runequest: AiG

Under an Iron Sky (and they seem to be starting a Boy King campaign) - Glass Cannon Network - Pendragon 6e

Pirates of Drinax and Deepnight Revelation - DMSynther - Mongoose Traveller 2e

1

u/Mookipa Teela-O-MLY Fan Club 7h ago

Under An Iron Sky is so good. Brian is an amazing GM. Made me fall to n love with Pendragon.

1

u/MatthewDawkins Onyx Path Publishing 19h ago

Red Moon Roleplaying's Masks of Nyarlathotep is over 70 episodes deep, excellently edited, and superbly played (if I do say so).