Walking the line
Walking the line.
Since conception I have known that New Dawn has the potential to be somewhat of a ‘marmite’ creation. As a fusion between actual play with table discussion and roles removed, and tight editing and fully scripted audio drama inserts it is very much a fusion.
The die hard actual play listener I knew could think… ‘where are the roles, where is the banter and the feeling of being at the table with friends’, and the audio drama listener could well think ‘what are these talking sections where people describe what they are doing’.
It was a risk I was willing to take, and I wanted to create something different. Podcasting is a medium where you don’t have a network to please, formats and rules, a demographic to fit into or die before you get to record anything yet alone have it aired. Your ‘show’ doesn’t have to hit a listenership or bring in a set amount of revenue to survive long term.
In my podcast listening I listen to both types of podcasts, the complete at the table experience and full audio dramas, and some podcasts that sit somewhere in between in the use of the odd guest voice or sfx and music introduced under the actual play. I enjoy them equally. New Dawn was however in my mind to push the boundary further. A lot further.
I love both playing tabletop role playing systems and writing. There is a hundred-thousand-word book sat on a drive. It will never be published although I did a few years back start to record it as a podcast. It’s an idea and possibility that still haunts me.
I love ttrpgs for many reasons, but the main reason is collaborative storytelling. I don’t run pre-written scenarios – I create my own. I may use inspiration from a scenario but that is as far as it goes. It’s my head and my world and I want to inhabit my own story. However, I don’t want to inhabit that story on my own and hence the actual play / audio drama crossover. I have been asked recently why I didn’t simply write an audio drama and that is one reason why. The other is slightly more practical in that I don’t think I would have had so many folks eager to join in. I could of course have gone the route of casting parts and there are sites where thousands of folks are there willing to voice parts for experience and no pay. I wanted ‘friends’ involved and I also didn’t want a ‘lone’ experience.
The real joy of playing a ttrpg scenario for me is how the players mould and change that story. They bring elements to it that I would never have conceived if I was simply writing a book. The challenge of adapting to those interactions is a real joy for me and I love watching the story evolve.
In recording the first six episodes of New Dawn there have been many of those moments when I have seen the players bring in essentially new story lines or flip side have totally missed ‘the point’ and have changed the way the story evolves. I have constants under the story, the ‘world turns’, there are counter plots that presently they have no idea of, and these evolve as they inhabit the world and through their choices and they change the course of events. Many of these counterplots are fully scripted audio drama segments that the cast do not get to hear until the episode is released. This is fun for me and adds another level. It is also a well-used TV and Radio element – providing the viewer or listener with scenes and information the main characters do not have and so you shout at your TV ‘no, no, you need to…’
New Dawn will continue to walk the line. I want the players to help craft the story; I want their spur of the moment reactions which can provide real gold in storytelling. I want to create that immersive soundscape from the helicopter flight to the busy street or tense crime scene. I want to keep it tight. Yes, there are many great moments at any table where the banter would be just as entertaining as the story but that won’t be included here. I also want to keep making those new friendships that New Dawn is bringing into my life and world.
You could call me belligerent or foolish but it’s my concept and I am staying true to that concept and I think that New Dawn has it’s place among the actual play and the audio drama podcasts that are out there. Podcasting is a great medium, a great playground to be in. I started podcasting in 2001 when it was pretty much an empty playground and whatever we created then was new and pioneering. The playground in 2025 is pretty packed, however the methods of listening to those podcasts and the number of listeners has also expanded along with what those listeners may want to hear.
