The Glass Cannon Network, makers of the superb Glass Cannon Podcast actual play podcast of Pathfinder’s Giant Slayer Adventure Path, are set to start their highly anticipated Ruins of Azlant podcast, Raiders of the Lost Continent — this coming Friday!
The Ruins of Azlant is another superb adventure path written by the talented folks at Paizo.
Thousands of years ago, a barrage of meteors called forth from the vastness of space by humanity’s greatest enemies rained down on Golarion, cutting short the remarkable human empire of Azlant while plunging the world into an era of darkness. Since then, the shattered continent of Azlant has lured intrepid explorers to its broken shores, but few have the mettle to survive in the remains of this dangerous and mysterious land. Now, a hopeful expedition has established a colony on one of the nearest islands across the sea, but danger has struck the fledgling settlement. An ancient enemy was accidentally released from its prison and has resumed its millennium-old machinations to punish the hubris of humanity once again. Can the adventurers survive in a faraway land and track down this enigmatic being before its sinister plans can come to fruition?
Ruins of Azlant has an Indiana Jones exploration flavor– starting with the characters trying to establish a colony in remote lands. Much of the Ruins of Azlant campaign is water based, both above and below. As someone who loves the ocean, feeling compelled to live near it, boat on it, and scuba dive within it, an adventure focused in and around the ocean is so engaging, and reminiscent of the highly entertaining water focused Beyond the Pool of Stars Pathfinder Tales novel by Howard Andrew Jones.
Exclusive for Glass Cannon Podcast Patreon subscribers of the $5 level on up, this new podcast, Raiders of the Lost Continent, gamemastered by Skid Maher is scheduled to air weekly for at least the next five weeks, and then they’ll determine further release dates after that. Rest assured, you’ll be getting many more sessions though as The Glass Cannon Network is dedicated to bringing us entertaining and consistent content– starting in June of 2015 they’ve put out a Giant Slayer episode every week for well over two years!
If you’re a listener of the Glass Cannon Podcast (GCP), you’re likely as excited as me to get a second podcast from these guys. If you have not heard an episode yet, what are you thinking– they are amazing! The GCP is so good it has changed how I gamemaster as well as how I play. I’ve introduced my GM and he’s listening to it as well, and he has gone deep, listening to over a hundred episodes of the podcast over the past couple weeks, and, inspired by the GCP, he’s talking about all the ideas he has now for our Carrion Crown game — I have a bad feeling about this! In addition to the GCP inspired story elements we’re delving into with Carrion Crown, at least he’s decided to introduce “bottle caps” along with the chance to hit your friends when shooting ranged into melee!
What makes the show so good?
The show is just an entertaining blast to listen to — and they’re telling a damn good story while also modeling the best gaming I’ve experienced anywhere. They’re clearly having fun, while telling this many-layered fantasy story. There’s some antics, but the story is serious and often painfully dark. Troy, the GM of GCP clearly puts in a ton of work to be able to expertly tell the story in Paizo’s Giant Slayer adventure path while including the backstories and personal aspects of each character– interweaving the adventure path story and plot with the group’s home-grown story as well. Each player is contributing in-depth to this story both in their work at and away from the gaming table. Their characters are at risk of death, or worse, at all times in this game, and there are so many twists and turns, that every cliff hanger episode leaves us on the edge of our seats.
Not only are they telling a superb story, but when the GCP guys do something, they do it with high technical quality. The audio on the podcast is superb. They have a definite advantage over some other podcasts as they are all in the same room when they record, and they’re not recording live– this translates to the players not talking over each other, and a clear and balanced recording. They integrate mood-enhancing music and sound effects using Syrinscape, and have used some of their monthly Patreon subscription funds to lease a studio they call “The Attic” and purchase quality sound equipment. While the GCP is an audio-only podcast, they have been shooting more video of late, and the production quality on that is also excellent. Check out their first Raiders of the Lost Continent character intro video to see what I mean.
Character introductions leading up to Friday’s release
In a character introduction video released on Monday, Skid interviewed Joe about his occultist-class character who aspires to be a god. On Tuesday we were introduced to Grant’s net-wielding, gladiator-esque character. We’ll get the last two character introductions today and Thursday, catch them not he Glass Cannon blog. These videos are open to all, but on Friday, as announced in Monday’s Facebook livestream, if you want to hear the first episode of Raiders of the Lost Continent as they tackle Ruins of Azlant, you’ll have to be a Patreon subscriber at the $5 level or higher. At higher levels of patronage you’ll get the chance to submit custom crit or fumble role results for use on the show, or receive special “bottle caps” from the Glass Cannon Podcast. Unlike Giant Slayer which is available on iTunes, their website, and other podcast sources, The Raiders of the Lost Continent podcast is available only on Patreon along with their other special content such as Pathfinder Society Disorganized Play episodes, and deleted scenes.
Patreon, why Patreon?
Just what are they doing with the over $15,000 a month they’re pulling in from Patreon? The GCP tells us that none of it is going into their pockets. The Patreon funds are going directly into making better and more content. They’ve used the funds to secure their studio, “The Attic,” where they’ve set up their play-space dedicated to recording their games– no more cramped apartments and wasted time setting up and tearing down. Monthly rent on a space in New York has got to be a chunk of change. They’ve also put the money into better audio equipment for better sound– already top notch. While improving sound quality even more, this is also likely making their editing process more efficient, giving them more time for more great content.
Speaking of content, the Giant Slayer podcast is more than worth the $5 a month I’m contributing. To get a second podcast with the Ruins of Azlant storyline is just icing on the cake. More like a whole other cake on my cake. To add gluttony to my already awesome pod-cast cake, we’re still in line to get a third podcast from the GCP. In the near future we’ll be getting an actual play podcast of the Dead Suns Starfinder Adventure Path. While I already listen to a couple Dead Suns podcasts, I’m excited to get another take, and excited to get another hour of GCP storytelling every week.
In the Facebook live stream from Monday, Troy detailed everything they’ve been doing for us in the past week– this week they recorded some of the upcoming Starfinder Dead Suns Podcast, recorded some Giant Slayer (new episode waiting or me! Yay!), recorded some Raiders of the Lost Continent, and another Cannon Fodder episode. Cannon Fodder is a podcast where historically they recapped some of the events of the past week’s episode as well as talked about general gaming topics. With two more shows coming out, they’ve changed Cannon Fodder to a monthly show released the last Thursday of each month. They’ll discuss all their shows, and continue to offer gaming discussions and responding to our questions sent in via listener mail
Time to go listen
Go watch the Ruins of Azlant character introductions on the Patreon page. If you like what you see, make sure you’re throwing in the latte a month rate of $5 to get the first episode of Raiders of the Lost Continent when it releases. Until then, catch up on the Giant Slayer Glass Cannon Podcast. This is free on their website, on iTunes, and other podcast sources.
Want to meet the GCP team? They’re putting together another GCP Live, where they play in front of an audience, Saturday April 14th in New York City, and they’ve been known to show up at various GCP Nation fan-meetups.
Last, if The Glass Cannon has inspired to play and you want a chance to win a free dice bag, check out my dice bag giveaway post!
