The Esoteric Order of Roleplayers

The ladies of the 588th get their baptism of fire as war rages all around them. Blood is shed, planes are shot down, passions are inflamed, and many a double-entendre is dropped. Our natural-born Soviet airwomen this session include: Jade Des Renae Dave S.

The Vampire Duet campaign kicks off in earnest as Aaron comes to grips with his new condition and gets his first taste of the depths and intricacies of Kindred society and politics. The campaign wiki can be found here.

In this, the first of the Esoteric Order's semi-regular "Duet" series, David L. and Desiree sit down for a game of Vampire: the Masquerade. Follow the Prelude of poor, doomed Aaron Evans, aspiring actor and soon-to-be bloodsucker, as he gives up the life of a Kansas farmboy for the bright lights of the big city. The campaign wiki can be found here.

We kick off our group's "winter phase" of one-shots and mini-campaigns with Jason Morningstar's Night Witches. This Powered by the Apocalypse game follows the lives of the brave women who flew in the Red Army Air Force's 588th Night Bomber Regiment during World War II. There is no set Game Master (that duty can rotate between or even during sessions), but for this introductory scenario, the usual suspect took the GM's helm. Our other natural-born Soviet airwomen this session include: Jade Jen Renae Dave S.

The Order reconvenes to discuss its thoughts and impressions regarding their run of the Great Pendragon Campaign: lessons learned, roads not taken, favorite moments and characters, and so on. As mentioned in the recording, further listener questions are more than welcome! Please leave them in the comment section. Featuring: Des Jade Dave S. Jen Renae The campaign's wiki can be found here.

The thrilling conclusion of the Trail of Cthulhu scenario "The Big Hoodoo". Can Phil Dick, Ginny Heinlein, and Tony Boucher unravel the mystery of the Psychohistory Institute and the machinations of its shadowy leader? Featuring: Des (Virginia "Ginny" Heinlein) David L. (Phillip K. Dick) Renae (Tony Boucher)

It's that time of year again - time to return to some horror gaming, courtesy this session of "The Big Hoodoo" for Trail of Cthulhu. The Order take on the personae of real-life folks active in the science-fiction scene of the 1950s, investigating the death of rocket scientist, occultist, and sci-fi fan Jack Parsons in June of 1952. Featuring: Des (Virginia "Ginny" Heinlein) David L. (Phillip K. Dick) Dave S. (Robert Heinlein) Renae (Tony Boucher)

It's all come down to this. Featuring: Des Jade Dave S. Jen Renae The campaign's wiki can be found here.

In this, the penultimate session of the campaign, events quickly spiral out of control at a drunken Pentecost feast, setting in motion Fortune's wheel in a tragic trajectory. Blood is spilled, thunder rolls, and great knights fall one after the other. How will the player-knights side in the factional disputes? Who among them will survive? Featuring: Des Dave S. Jen Renae The campaign's wiki can be found here.

A brief overnight at Marshfield Manor turns out to be much more than the knights bargained for. But what further dark secrets wait to be discovered as the mystery unfolds? Featuring: Des Jen Renae The campaign's wiki can be found here.

It's a good old-fashioned quest this year! Rumors of Count Cynrain living mad and naked in the Perilous Forest draw our heroes north, but beyond the Castle of Gloom and the Bower of Thorns lie much stranger mysteries indeed. Featuring: Des Jen Renae The campaign's wiki can be found here.

This two-year session sees the return of Sigebryht, lots of Orkney shenanigans, and some very bloody tournaments indeed. Oh, and a manticore and some furries. Featuring: Jade Jen Renae The campaign's wiki can be found here.

Long-held debts, most incurred by previous generations, come back to roost as life and vitality return to the land. Once more unto the Other Side dear friends, once more... And, as promised, a couple shots of the current table setup, including the blown-up Battle Zones diagram used in this session: Featuring: Dave S. Jen Des Renae And...Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

A two-fer this session, with Part One comprising an all-lady adventure on the home front of the Grail Quest, and Part Two picking up with the usual gang, still under the thrall of the Black Hermit... Featuring: Dave S. Des Renae And...Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

“By God, my fellows,” says the king, “We have seen marvels this day, but I reckon that we will see more.” Featuring: Jade Dave S. Des Renae Jen And...Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

We kick off this session with the brief return of an old favorite before bringing in the usual suspects at the Pentecost feast. Magical swords, amnesiac knights, and tough decisions all figure this year as the Wastelands continue to exert their fell grip on the land. Featuring: Jade Dave S. Des Renae Jen And...Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

An eventful Winter Phase gives way to various plots and plans as to how best to help the ailing king and kingdom. But will seeking help from the Other Side lead to solutions, or only madness? (A technical note: our audio recording experiments and upgrades continue, and this episode marks the premiere of binaural sound! Tremble before the positional, multi-channel recording!) Featuring: Dave S. Des Jen The campaign's wiki can be found here.

We get caught up with Sir Leander, along with what happened during the "missing years" that the rest of the knights skipped during their jaunt to the Other Side. Then, with everyone back on the same page in 551, the group visits a stone house and discover its explosive secret. Meanwhile, King Arthur loses a son and...gains a son? Featuring: Jade Des Jen The campaign's wiki can be found here.

This session, run at an undisclosed location at Gen Con 2015, was put on at the request of friends of the Order; it is set in the continuity of the GPC, albeit with randomly-generated characters, during the "missing time" experienced in the main narrative of the campaign, as established in the last session. Certain key campaign events occur during this year for the elucidation of the listener... Note: Some sake, port, and/or brandy may or may not have been consumed over the course of the session, but I think everyone involved made their CON rolls. Judge for yourselves! Featuring Dave S. Susan Randy Cael

King Arthur is once again heading to the Other Side--but will this venture be as deadly as his adventure at the Castle of Bones? Featuring: Dave S. Jade Renae Jen The campaign's wiki can be found here.

The knights ride out for glory on the "tournament circuit," joining like-minded fellows as they criss-cross Britain with lance in hand. How well will their season fare? Featuring: Dave S. Jade Renae Jen The campaign's wiki can be found here.

Sir Leander continues his quest to defeat his cousin in the race to claim the prize of the Circle of Gold, and, later, the PCs encounter a strange knight and a hard rock tournament. Featuring: Dave S. Des Jen The campaign's wiki can be found here.

The Esoteric Order has a new HQ! To celebrate (and because we were down two of the three players from last week's Pendragon session), an impromptu Call of Cthulhu one-shot was held to consecrate the new game room. (Sorry this one's a little late, folks--still without Internet access at the new place, so I'm obliged to upload the audio from work. Shhhh...don't tell my boss!) Featuring: Jen Cecilia David S. Brendan Jade

A family feud sparks a challenge for a quest...but will the winner find only dole and sorrow awaiting at the end of the adventure? Featuring: Dave S. Des Renae And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

A helmed knight, a deadly tournament, mud raining from the sky, and a blood-filled bowl all feature this year. Who will survive? Featuring: Dave S. Jade Des Renae And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

Yr humble GM is (finally) back in the pink, and Leander, Daig, and Perry are back on the trail of the missing king - joined this time by a couple friends, one old and one new. (Special thanks to Jessie Frye for her casting cameo as Annowre.) Featuring: Dave S. Jade Des Renae Jen And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

Strange animals, broken oaths, missing persons, faerie maidens, and the possibility of mutual lip-licking. What more could you ask for in a Pendragon session? Featuring: Dave S. Des Jen And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

We were down two players this week but soldiered on...and ended up with one of the most bizarre sessions not only of this campaign, but, well, ever. Buckle up for the twists and turns! In spite of the action-packed session, we still finished early thanks to the lack of a Winter Phase this year, so there's a bonus character creation session at the end for those of you who enjoy listening to such things. Featuring: Jade Jen And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

The GPC is on hold this week due to Mother's Day festivities. This special "Los Angeles chapter" incarnation of the Esoteric Order of Roleplayers, recorded about a month ago, is a Call of Cthulhu (7e) adventure run for Tim and Alex, your humble Keeper's oldest friends and gaming companions, on the eve of Alex's wedding weekend. Will the auspicious circumstances of our reunion augur well for the PCs? (Apologies if the volume level is a little dodgy; I was obliged to record directly off my iPhone, precariously perched on a Coke can.) Featuring: Tim Alex

An all-ladies adventure sees the return of a dastardly villain, while Camelot sees the return of a famous knight and his strange adversary. Featuring: Des Jade Jen And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

Picking where we left off last week to complete the year 537, our heroes each find a reason to head north this year, where many surprises await. Featuring: Des Dave S. Jade Jen And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

It's a quite continental adventure spanning two years this session, as knights and ladies alike depart for France and adjoining regions to wage war and debate romance. And what's the deal with that Count of Ascalon, anyway? Featuring: Des Dave S. Jade Jen And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

In addition to the eponymous Basket Knight, this year also sees a double wedding, love potions, enchanted drinking horns, and five ladies by a fountain. I'm amazed we got through it all in a regular session's time! Featuring: Des Dave S. Jade Jen And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

With your regularly-scheduled GM and his lovely wife on the road this weekend to attend a friend's Easter wedding, we once again resort to assembling a melange of the Crit This!/Esoteric Order crews and return to the world of Scrolls and Swords! Featuring: Jade Brendan Scott Aidan Cecilia

Our heroes agree to help out the Earl of Salisbury by clearing out the woods outside Vagon Castle. What could possibly go wrong? Featuring: Des Dave S. Jade Jen And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

Sir Leander continues his quest to help Lady Cealwina win back her true love. Meanwhile, a new bandit knight appears, and everyone's talking about the Peningues Tournament... Featuring: Des Dave S. Jade And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

Great events transpire at the Pentecost tournament this year...and at another tournament far across the Channel. [Apologies for the technical glitch at the start of the recording; not sure what happened there...] And by popular demand, our group now has an Instagram! Head on over to Esoteric Order Eats to see what we're serving up every week. This week, it's mixed nuts, olives, and bacon-wrapped apricots. Featuring: Des Dave S. Jade Jen And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

An unexpected royal visitor brings his court to Camelot for a visit, but there's plenty of drama already playing out for the intrepid player-knights. The Age of Romance and Adventure has well and truly begun! Featuring: Dave S. Jade Jen And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

A trio of fresh characters embarks as part of an expedition to the Fens of Anglia to rid the realm of a pernicious evil. But first, a wedding! Featuring: Des Jade Jen And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

“You may have conquered the upper world, Arthur, but the Underworld lies outside your realms. If you will not leave by your own will, then I will make you leave by force!” Featuring: Des Jade Dave S. Jen Scott And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

What happens when you dig up the head of a dead god? The PCs (and the rest of Arthur's subjects) get to find out this year... Featuring: Des Jade Dave S. Jen And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

We've got a smaller-than-usual crew this week, but that doesn't stop the dramatic moments from coming thick and fast. Fiends both real and metaphorical are battled, some with success, others with tragic failure... Featuring: Des Jade And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

We actually pick up at the end of 526 and the little matter of the Battle of Saussy. After that trifle is dealt with, we continue to follow Arthur's campaign trail as he wages war against the Roman Empire in his bid to be recognized as Emperor. Featuring: Des Jade Dave S. And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

The assembled armies of Britain cross the Channel and undertake a grand war against the Romans. “The Glory of Britain stands to gain mightily on this day. May God bless every one of us, and the just effort that we are making to maintain the order of the world.” Featuring: Des Jen Jade Dave S. And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

The Earl of Salisbury has fallen under a curse! What can possibly awaken him from his slumber? Also, some Romans come by for a visit. Featuring: Des Jen Jade Dave S. And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

This year's Pentecost feast and tournament prove most eventful for our intrepid heroes...and for one hero-in-the-making. Then...tragedy strikes for a popular knight of Salisbury while on the hunt for the Troit Boar. Featuring: Jen Jade Dave S. And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

'Tis the season for unexpected travel plans and unexpected colds, and a combination of both scuttled our scheduled Pendragon session this week. But fear not! We shall return next week, come hell or high water (or stuffy noses). This week, instead, we'd like to share a recent session from our sister AP feed, Crit This!. It's David Schimpff's other regular group, and if you enjoy the Esoteric Order's shenanigans, do go give them a look - there's a fair amount of incestuous back-and-forthing between the players. Case in point, our selection from the Crit This! archives is a recent session Dave ran for EoRP regular Jade and Crit This! regulars Russell and Scott, and is the one-page fantasy RPG Scrolls and Swords, based off of onesevendesign's Lasers and Feelings RPG. Dave sends along the warning that the session was heavily influenced by Adventure Time and features a candy break in the middle... Featuring: Jade Scott Russell

There's an old holiday tradition, not oft practiced in these debased times, of telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve. Now it's a few days after that date, but - as the Esoteric Order takes this weekend off for the winter holidays (and to roll their skill checks and make their aging rolls) - we wanted to present you, the listener, with a treat in the vein of that august Christmas Eve activity. Esoteric Order members David S. and Scott co-host a biweekly midnight radio show at our local college radio station, and every once in a while they turn their microphones over to doing a real-time live-play of an RPG scenario. This past Thanksgiving Eve, they invited some friends of the Order to join them in a play-through of "Crack'd and Crook'd Manse", a scenario the Order has tackled once before. So please enjoy this holiday treat; the usual Great Pendragon Campaign posts will resume next week. Featuring: David S. Joseph Russell Stephen With Scott White as the Keeper of Arcane Lore.

Merlin's back! Or his he? A search for the old wizard leads our heroes down many unexpected paths. Featuring: Renae Jen Jade Dave S. And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.

The Order of Dragonslayers is again on the trail of a foul wyrm, this one dwelling far to the north near the village of Lambton. But are they prepared to pay the price to defeat it? Featuring: Renae Jen Jade Dave S. And…Edie the Dog The campaign's wiki can be found here.