In the early days of the actual play era, Geek & Sundry was one of the first places to nuture the upstart media format. It was the first home of Critical Role and played out several other shows such as the Star Trek adventure Shield of Tomorrow and the beginner friendly Starter Kit. Sagas of Sundry offered a look at many different games in a limited series style.
A new show under that name is coming to a revitalized Geek & Sundry. Sagas of Sundry: Goblin Mode takes players on a fantasy adventure from an unusual perspective. Instead of heroes entering the dungeon to slay an evil mastermind, the characters are minions who just lost their master to a group of heroes and are now wondering what to do with their lives.
“The minions themselves are what I call video game code,” said Amy Vorpahl, the Dungeon Master of Goblin Mode. “Their jobs are to walk back and forth on a timer. This was always going to be a story about agency. These people had all been plugged in. But now all the plugs have been removed. What do they do with that? It’s really cool to have protagonists in that way.”
The skeletons and goblins are played by Danielle Radford (Dimension 20, Honest Trailers), Dan Casey (Nerdist, Geek & Sundry), and Jason Nguyen (Westbrook Media, Legendary). They walk the line between being relatable protagonists and trying to break free of their lives as dungeon guards, killers or worse. There are also some special guests lined up for later episodes that will challenge the main characters.
“You’ve got to get really clear about what you consider evil and good.” said Vorpahl. “There are some toxic traits, microaggressions or manipulations that are equally as evil as mass murder. I had to do away with alignment. This goblin is evil? Who knows. Ask them morality questions instead of alignment questions.”
Campaigns centered around villainous characters can be tricky even for experienced Game Masters to pull off. The key is connecting with the characters and giving them problems just like heroes. Bad guys have wants, desires and needs of their own.
“Find out what they care about,” said Vorpahl. “They’ll always be the protagonists going after what they care about. As it turns out, our characters in Goblin Mode loved their evil overlord very much. Worshipped him. Thought he was amazing. This was devastating to them. It’s an interesting journey. They loved him and trusted him. They wanted the best for him. And now it’s time to find out what happened to him.”
With a name like Goblin Mode, it’s not surprising the players messed with Vorpahl’s big plans. The show is a great example of the three different stories that D&D tells at the same time. There’s the one that the Dungeon Master wants, there’s the one the players want and there’s the one that actually happens at the table.
“They changed their motivations in devastating ways for me and my preperation during the show,” said Vorpahl. “There were some overaching things that remained intact with duct tape and some Elmer’s Glue. There’s a semblance of structure but beyond the beginning and the end I had some geography that had some fun setpieces to explore. It was pretty fluid.”
Sagas of Sundry: Goblin Mode premieres September 9th. It will be available in both podcast and Video On Demand formats.
