I’m extremely picky when it comes to Actual Play podcasts. Podcasts that manage to turn their game into more akin to a radio drama is by far the ones I prefer. My favorites are the ones from another Swedish group called Red Moon Roleplaying, as well the excellent guys and gals over at Encounter Roleplay.
Most other Actual Plays don’t catch my interest due to lack of quality in sound, DM, players or the over-reliance on rules and dice.
I have completed Season 1 of this AP as well as the one-shots of Kult and Tales from the Loop, and I can overall recommend this podcast to everyone who enjoys APs, either for purposes of learning the game or for those that prefer APs that are more radio drama. The podcasts strength is the very talented actors, who portrays four wonderful and different characters. The pod really shines in the episodes where role interaction is at the forefront. All players and DM have a very good grasp of the English language, and the DM manages to convey atmosphere and descriptions fluidly using a vast vocabulary.
While Forbidden Lands is their main focus, I feel both the TftL and Kult podcasts are a notch or two better than FL. Forbidden Lands is a more rules-/dice-heavy system than, let’s say Kult. Travelling requires a lot of rules and dice rolling, and this can feel a bit off-putting if you’re going for the radio drama feel. I get that these are the rules, but for creating content for a podcast, you could edit out the most tedious rolls or try to cut back on the more unneccesary ones. Even if the rules tells you to roll on a chart when an NPC guard is broken, for the purposes of a podcast, you could simply say that the guard is dead. The DM talking about the NPCs rolls (“he gets one success”, “now I will roll for Scout”, etc.) is also something I am not a fan of. It breaks the flow of the story with that much technical rules talk. Having the players watch as the DM rolls a combat between two NPCs was also bad. Simply describe the outcome.
Games where the GM don’t roll dice (such as Kult) are perhaps the best engines for creating a perfect podcast, but IMHO these are small details that can easily (for me) enhance my listening experience and increase my rating to 5.
While my review might have come off as harsh in the end, it’s still a very solid podcast.
