Essential NPCs

I love the variety of systems, stories, and characters that Essential NPCs brings. It's got a great rotating cast who is always a lot of fun, and always has fresh ideas!

These guys have a great base of rotating cast members and each arc feels like the perfect exploration of a system. They do a great job of giving you a sense of game their playing. This is one of my favorites every week.

I'm so happy every week when this podcast pops up in my feed. And they really do put out an hourlong episode every week! The GMs are knowledgable, the players are fun and usually very good actors, and Words With The GM and PostGame Chatter segments are great ways to learn about all the games they play. Thanks guys!

I hunted around after TAZ Balance, and I settled on Essential NPCs so hard I became a Patreon supporter. Story comes first here — everyone embodies their character and looks for ways to support the narrative, and if they talk a lot about dice rolls and mechanics during play that seems to be mostly edited out to limit distraction. However, next episode the pre-game chatter dives behind the scenes to explore how and why the GM made the scenes work. Addie is so super as GM that I’ve been working through only her series, but I’ll give the other guys a chance soon! I also keep getting charmed by new players as they join the table — apparently Chicago gaming stores must be full of voice actors who do improv comedy. Thanks for sharing this delightful podcast!