[Actual Play Podcast] Sugar Fuelled Gamers present Curse of the Crimson Throne

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For those out there who enjoy Actual Play audio podcasts, we, the Sugar Fuelled Gamers, have been recording our Curse of the Crimson Throne sessions, and these are now available to download as MP3 files from Google Drive. Enjoy!

Link to Audio Downloads

This thread is for new updates, your feedback and discussion (please feel free to post your comments), and general information. This podcast, unsurprisingly, contains massive ***Spoilers*** for the entire Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign. Our previous AP Podcasts of Paizo products include a solo player Kingmaker campaign, and the first book of Serpent's Skull as a mini-campaign.

The city of Korvosa. Largest in Varisia, greatest of the Chelaxian colonies. Her past rulers have never sat easily upon the Crimson throne. But now a spark of change burns through our city. For good, or for ill? Let us see what is written in the cards…

My name is Zellara Zindane. I am a Harrow reader from West Dock. I am also dead. This is not my story, nor even the story of the heroes who would rise to defend our city in the days to come.

Rather, it is the story of Korvosa.

An Adventure Path set in a sprawling urban city, filled with lies, politics, the quest for power, revenge, and a band of heroes facing the many dangers that threaten to topple Korvosa.

Starring:

• Helen as ‘Jac’ Jaclyn Lewis, Gnome Arcane Trickster
• Miriam as ‘Flora’ Florence Seren, Human Cleric of Desna
• Susan as Mordel Mandravius / Silvyr Rose, Half-Elf Bard
• Yerin as ‘Lucy’ Lucyindriel Wintrish, Human Wild Sorceress
• Adam as Garrin Silversmith, Dwarven Paladin of Sarenrae
• Jared as the GM

System: This is a Paizo Adventure Path written for, and run in, Dungeons and Dragons 3.5.

Special Thanks To:

• Paizo, for an excellent Adventure Path, and the Paizo forums for several variations to improve it further.
• Intro music "Illusions and Smoke" by Derek Fiechter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0yUBkFDEG0 used with permission under Creative Commons License.

Frequency of sessions: Varies, but usually once every two weeks or so.
Length of sessions: 2.5 - 3 hours.

Episode Synopses
For those of you who like episode synopses, here they are (spoiler tagged for those who prefer to listen blind!)

Spoiler:

Episode 1 – (Prologue, Part 1) In which we meet Gaedran Lamm, the Black Lamb of Korvosa, and the scars his life has left upon the city.

Episode 2 – (Prologue, Part 2) In which certain citizens of Korvosa unite to tackle a fire, and receive a mysterious invitation.

Episode 3 – In which our heroes are introduced to the art of Harrow by the mysterious Zellara Zindane, and begin their pursuit of Gaedran Lamm.

Episode 4 – Our heroes raid the old fishery and tackle Gaedran’s goons. Are they in time to come face to face with their tormentor?

Episode 5 – In which our heroes deal with a shock, and the city of Korvosa deals with a bigger shock.

Episode 6 – In which our heroes face the riots, sewer monsters, superheroes, and the horrors of Varisian orange juice.

Episode 7 – in which our heroes meet more faces of Korvosa, from the pervy Pilts Lamm to Queen Illeosa herself.

Episode 8 – in which our heroes discover Zellara’s secret, are recruited as Reservists, meet the exhausted Field Marshall Cressidia Kroft, and confront the World’s Dumbest Guards.

Episode 9 – in which our heroes raid All the Worlds’ Meat. Is there a conspiracy to be uncovered, or are they simply depriving the poor of free food?

Episode 10 – in which our heroes attempt to uncover the Arkona conspiracy, find out the fate of tyrants in Korvosa, and Majenko officially joins the party be demonstrating his psy-cho-logi-cal capacities.

Episode 11– in which our heroes meet with Vencarlo Orsini, master swordsman, and seek an audience with the King of Spiders to help bring down Gaedran Lamm.

Episode 12– in which our heroes find the Arkona dagger holds unrevealed secrets, a strike is made at Queen Illeosa, and our heroes’ presence is demanded at the Church of Asmodeus.

Episode 13 – in which Garrin discovers the fate of his old apprentice, Silvyr comes face to face with his parents, and the raid of Lamm’s operations begins.

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Episodes 14 - 17 uploaded.

Spoiler:

Episode 14 – in which our heroes attempt to shut down Gaedran Lamm’s shudder production facility amidst hallucinations and other surprises.

Episode 15 – in which Queen Illeosa has the lunch that launched a thousand ships, and our heroes go grave robbing.

Episode 16 – in which our heroes consider which of the lesser evils should be Seneschal of the city.

Episode 17 – in which our heroes chase down rumours and racers across rooftops. Have they uncovered the truth behind King Eodred’s death?

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Episodes 18 and 19 uploaded.

Spoiler:

Episode 18– in which our heroes uncover the truth of Eodred’s death, and some truths closer to home.

Episode 19 – in which our heroes get to know each other better, Lucy’s secrets are bought to light, and Garrin experiences a crisis of faith.

[Here4daFreeSwag]

Good to have some free CoCT actual-play podcastin' stuff out there. ;)

[Yakman]

Here4daFreeSwag wrote:

Good to have some free CoCT actual-play podcastin' stuff out there. ;)

Natural 11 podcast is also running Curse.

https://podtail.com/fi/podcast/natural-11/

website in finnish for some reason...

[Inspectre]

So, I'm not sure if congratulations are in order here, but this has been the first podcast I ever listened to and thus it is singularly responsible for getting me into the world of listening to gaming podcasts! So bravo for that!

Of course, I may be a *little* biased here, considering that some of these modifications from the forums are very familiar looking to me. ;) I certainly can't take credit for all of them, but I'm 99% sure that Shudder, at least, is a definite contribution from me. (And maybe Kroft chugging Lesser Restorations like Red Bulls *snicker snort*)

That being said, I really like a lot of your own personal modifications - judging from all of your previous podcasts you seem to be an old hand at this DMing thing and it shows in the quality - both the production and the game itself. So bravo again for that - I stopped by for the mention of Shudder, and stayed because I am very much enthralled by the story and what's going to happen next.

I want MORE!

I'll write up my thoughts upon listening to some of the currently posted episodes at some point, but I'm not sure if this thread is safe from the prying eyes of your players Reverse, so I will try to limit my discussion to things that have already happened, rather than gushing about my excitement over what is lying in wait over the next hill. But if you ever need a sounding board for ideas, or just a little devil on your shoulder, send me a private message. I'd be only too happy to help!

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You're taken your first step into a larger world...

Yes, this (and Kingmaker) (and Serpent's Skull) have all borrowed extensively from the Paizo forums. One of the first pieces of GMing prep I do is sit down and read extensively through the forums for any given AP. Thousands of people tend to generate better ideas than just a single adventure path author, and since I'm usually coming to these APs years after publication I've got a ton to cherry pick through.

Particularly, Inspectre, I've robbed your thread blind of several ideas. Anyone who wants to can go have a nosy at Inspectre's Curse Journal, but I won't be confirming here specifically what if anything I've borrowed.

At this stage, Inspectre, you might see signs of:

Inspectre's plot alterations:

Shudder, the confrontation in the Shudder den, the Grau/Kroft/Sabrina/Vencarlo relationship (which I loved to bits, and has pretty radically re-written the various characters in my Korvosa), various aspects of Gaedran's relationships with people, what Glorio Arkona is doing in the city... but with adaptions and changes a-many along the way, so it'll still keep you guessing - although PM me if you want more specific info on those.

Thank for listening and the feedback, always great to know what people think of it.

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We've moved!

The Sugar Fuelled Gamers are now hosted on a proper website, www.RPGMP3.com, which will allow us to offer prettier interfaces, RSS feeds, and many other helpful download-y features.

Paizo's forum editing rules prevent me from changing the OP link, so please update your bookmarks to follow us along to:

(New) Link to Audio Downloads

We'll be leaving the first few downloads of this in the Google Drive, but new episodes will be released via RPGMP3 - and I'll continue to update this thread with new episode links.

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Episodes 20 through 22 are now uploaded.

Episode 20

Synopsis:

In which our heroes attempt to prevent a war with the Shoanti, and track down their old enemy Rolth Lamm.

Episode 21

Synopsis:

in which we have a good old-fashioned dungeon crawl and Rolth Lamm wants our heroes' bodies in all the worst ways.

Episode 22

Synopsis:

in which Cabbagehead misses his “daddy”, more of Gaekhen’s body is added to the inventory screen, and our heroes face down a fierce fleshy foe.

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Episode 23 now uploaded.

Episode 23

Synopsis:

Episode 23 – in which a competition is had to see who can contract the most diseases, and a public execution brings chaos to the city. The conclusion of Edge of Anarchy

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Episodes 24 and 25 are now uploaded.

Episode 24

Synopsis:

Episode 24 – in which our heroes take a much needed rest. Garrin attempts to bring Lucy to the light while Lucy tries to make a Paladin fall, Gaekhen is farewelled, and We Must Do Research!

Episode 25

Synopsis:

Episode 25 – in which Garrin thinks he’s uncovered Blackjack’s identity, and all is peaceful in Korvosa… until the party find a little girl on death’s door. The beginning of Book 2: Seven Days to the Grave.

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Episodes 26 and 27 are now uploaded.

Episode 26

Synopsis:

In which Zellara feels the call of the cards, and shows our heroes the future. Dark days lie ahead for Korvosa. Gods, guide us.

Episode 27

Synopsis:

In which IS-NO-BLINKSY, IS-NO-FUN.

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Episodes 28 and 29 are now uploaded.

Episode 28

Synopsis:

Episode 28 – in which the conspiracy of Racker’s Alley is revealed. Our heroes have a stake-out.

Episode 29

Synopsis:

Episode 29 – in which the Korvosa-Quah are formed, Garrin has a sinister visitor, and Jac discovers what really went down between Sabrina Merrin and Cressidia Kroft.

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Episodes 30 and 31 are now uploaded. We contend that episode 31 may well be a top contender for the best Musical Play Within An Actual Play Podcast Based On A Paizo Adventure Path session ever prize.

(If you know another, point me to it!)

Episode 30

Synopsis:

Episode 30 – in which Silvyr shares his secrets slowly, and Korvosa must be defended – by putting on a show? Make one wrong move and everyone will know…

Episode 31

Synopsis:

Episode 31 – in which the Sugar Fuelled Gamers bring you our Very Special Musical Episode, as Queen Illeosa tries to show that Korvosa’s plague problem is a minor issue through a sterling production of the Passion of Saint Alika.

The Passion of Saint Alika stars:-

Helen as Jac playing the upper half of Martin, Varisian Swindler

Susan as Silvyr playing Verric, Penniless-But-Handsome Cheliaxian Nobleman

Yerin as Lucy playing Kyria, Wife of Commander Waylon Endrin

Adam as Garrin playing the legs of Martin

Jared as Nakota (playing the Handsome-But-Shirtless Piero), Queen Illeosa (playing Saint Alika), Verrick Vancaskerkin (playing Commander Waylon Endrin), and a cast of dozens.

Extra Credits: – To the players for providing their own singing and songwriting!- To Derek and Brandon Fiechter for the instrumentals for Alika’s ‘The Decision’, from their orchestral piece ‘Fire Elemental’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z051Hoow0vo

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Episodes 32 and 33 are now uploaded.

Episode 32

Synopsis:

In which Lucy’s scenes are edited -seamlessly- into the DVD extras, Silvyr and Tanith play games, and Vencarlo Orsini learns why he lost his hand.

Episode 33

Synopsis:

In which Silvyr comes clean with Lucy, Dad gets mad, the fallout is bloody, and plot hooks abound.

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Episodes 34 and 35 are now uploaded.

Episode 34

Synopsis:

In which Korvosa faces a Shoanti invasion and a simple grifter. In the end, which of the two is the bigger threat?

Episode 35

Synopsis:

In which our heroes attempt to penetrate Vendra Logarri’s security, and face off against Korvosa’s Most Dangerous Man.

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Episode 36 now uploaded.

Episode 36

Synopsis:

In which we hit the books, Lucy and Sabrina hit Awkward Level 11, and Queen Illeosa makes a momentous decision.

[Caryl Yantis]

I just started to listen to the podcast. I want to keep listening but I just can't get over the audio quality. One microphone in the middle of a table doesn't make for very good audio. There are several times when I can't understand what people are saying because they are whispering or not speaking towards the microphone.

I have to turn my phone and headphones up to almost max just to hear what some people are saying. Then there is a burst of laughter and it nearly blows out my eardrums. It wouldn't take much to get a microphone for everyone and make audio much better. Just listen to just about any other podcast and you will find that almost all use multiple mic setups.

Just my 2 cents.

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Alas, that's the best setup we can afford - but also the first complaint we've received on it. Is anyone else having any issues (or not)?

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Episode 37 is now uploaded.

Episode 37

Synopsis:

Rats! Why did it have to be rats?

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Episode 38 is now uploaded.

Episode 38

Synopsis:

In which our heroes receive valuable information from an underground source, and briefly change genres to plan Shadowrun-level-complex-plan to go to a party at Carowyn Manor.

[Pyritefoolsgold]

I'm only up to episode 5 so far, after having binged your kingmaker series in a couple of weeks. Miriam and Yerin have fairly soft voices, and it's very often hard to make out what they're saying.

Also, I find myself intrigued by the set of house rules you seem to be using. I'm especially tempted to steal knowledge: civilization and streetwise.

Loved your version of Gadrick Lamm.

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Back after a break for Christmas and New Years.

Episodes 39 through 44 are now uploaded.

Episode 39

Synopsis:

In which the guests may be dead, but the party sure isn’t. It’s fun and games time at Carowyn Manor.

Episode 40

Synopsis:

In which the fate of Lucy’s mother is revealed, and a midnight visitor pays call again.

Episode 41

Synopsis:

In which getting out of hospital proves far harder than getting in.

Episode 42

Synopsis:

In which our heroes investigate the wreck at the bottom of the Jeggare River and realise how deep the plot goes..

Episode 43

Synopsis:

In which our heroes suffer up to four different attributes worth of damage at a time.

Episode 44

Synopsis:

In which a grand melee occurs in the secret Urgathoan temple.

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Episodes 45 and 46 are now uploaded.

Episode 45

Synopsis:

In which our heroes come face to face with Rakmoska Arkminos.

Episode 46

Synopsis:

In which Silvyr attempts a cunning ploy, and our heroes inch closer to Gaedran Lamm.

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Episodes 47 and 48 are now uploaded.

Episode 47

Synopsis:

In which our heroes discover just how many feats Gaedran Lamm dedicated to beating up small children.

Episode 48

Synopsis:

In which our heroes throw down with the Black Lamm of Korvosa. There’s just one problem… evil cheats!

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Episodes 49 and 50 are now uploaded.

Episode 49

Synopsis:

In which our heroes finally catch a breath after dealing with the plague, and get out what’s on their minds. Naturally, relationship drama ensues.

Episode 50

Synopsis:

In which we duck in and out of inventory hell, and will Silvyr and Lucy be able to stop all the fussin’ and the feudin’?

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Episodes 51 through 54 are now uploaded.

Episode 51

Synopsis:

In which we need a training montage, and Marcus Endrin takes his Officially Mandated Holiday.

Episode 52

Synopsis:

In which it’s tournament time. Let the Blade of Korvosa tournament begin! (and end).

Episode 53

Synopsis:

In which Zellara sees the future to come of Old Korvosa, and what our heroes will face next. Jac receives a mysterious letter.

Episode 54

Synopsis:

In which our heroes get out of the frying pan of politics and into the fire of the Red Mantis Assassins.

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Episodes 55 through 57 are now uploaded.

Episode 55

Synopsis:

In which we meet the weird inhabitants of old Korvosa, and a million bad BDSM jokes are had.

Episode 56

Synopsis:

In which our heroes see what’s become of Eel’s End, and meet the Emperor of Old Korvosa himself.

Episode 57

Synopsis:

In which our heroes hurl innocent pigs into the maws of wolverines, abuse prisoners, and jiggle their breasts for the amusement of a manic. It’s time for a rousing game of Blood Pig in Old Korvosa!