Lost Odyssey: Godfall is a momentous episode of tabletop RPG actual play. Airing on April 11, the charity adventure reunites Dungeons and Dragons megastars Matt Mercer and Felicia Day, along with the esteemed Deborah Ann Woll, Reggie Watts, and Brandon Routh. Beadle & Grimm’s Bill Rehor is in the Game Master’s seat, crafting a high-stakes story that’s interwoven with the major events of recent Pathfinder lore.
While chatting with Godfall’s cast and producers, we noticed that the word “important” was thrown around often. It’s a fair description. Whether you’re passionate about deep storytelling, converting D&D players to new systems, seeing actual play stars reunite, or simply raising money for good causes, there are plenty of reasons to care about what goes down in Godfall.
“Our story takes place at the inciting event of War of Immortals”, Bill Rehor tells Wargamer, “the very first moment when the citizens of Golarion look up in the sky and see a God being murdered”. If you’re not familiar, Rehor is talking about an explosive new storyline in the world of Pathfinder. The god Gorum has died, and his divine essence has fallen on the land as bloody rain.
Fallen pieces of Gorum and his gear have hit the ground, and one such artifact has been discovered by Godfall’s adventurers. Rehor describes them as “five very normal individuals, soldiers at a remote outpost outside of Absalom who are completely foreign to adventures or grand heroism, but who are thrust into this world-changing event when a piece of Gorum’s armor falls from the sky and lands at their feet”.
‘Normal’ might be a bit of a misnomer. A preview video for the actual play shows Deborah Ann Woll using a very creative voice for her plant character, Audrey. Rehor says this was the first surprise of the adventure. “She’s a genius, and I should expect nothing less, but she always surprises me with her creativity.”
Critical Role’s Matt Mercer describes his character Ghentros as “a well-meaning, maybe somewhat reckless little fella with a need to prove himself”. Joining them are Bronwyn, a universe-hopping character that Reggie Watts has played in many previous Lost Odyssey shows, Sylph (Felicia Day), and Palanon (Brandon Routh).
“I can assure you, we are a team with immaculate negotiating skills”, Mercer tells Wargamer. “Especially when the stakes are high…can you tell I’m being facetious?”
From that brief preview, we see a slight Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-style edge of wit and chaos. Rehor had a fair amount of creative control over the adventure as its GM, but he assures us he was regularly surprised by his players. Despite the surprises and silliness, Rehor commends his co-stars for their professionalism. “The producers did a wonderful job of giving us a very diverse cast that brought different things”, he says.
“We have three people in Felicia, Matt, and Deborah who are almost synonymous with roleplaying games as entertainment, and they know the very subtle differences between playing at your living room table and playing as a performer for an audience. They made all of that very effortless and very natural.”
“Reggie is a personification of joy and willingness to go along with freaking anything you throw at him, which is lovely”, Rehor adds. “Brandon is a very experienced and talented actor, and he really approached it from an actor’s point of view, reacting to every moment in a very human way. Some really beautiful moments came out of that.”
The preview also shows part of the show that was filmed for virtual reality. While the full adventure will be released in a more traditional 2D viewing format, this snippet allows viewers to watch as if they were sitting at the table. Co-director and executive producer Rob Miller tells Wargamer that “It’s almost more challenging to do both at the same time – we also had to hide the 2D cameras” while filming in VR.
“That’s fun, though”, co-director and executive producer Douglisio DiMuccio adds. “That’s like Disneyland stuff – you’re housing a camera in a treasure chest or a helmet.” Miller explains that he and DiMuccio aim for every Lost Odysseys adventure to feature “some new element that has typically never been done before”. Previous shows have featured choreographed fight scenes and high-profile guest stars like Luke Gygax, Jack Black, and the cast of Stranger Things.
One thing many of the Lost Odyssey adventures have in common is their dedication to fundraising. Godfall, like many previous Lost Odysseys, is raising money for the gaming charity Extra Life for Kids, which fundraises for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Various tabletop gaming sponsors have provided rewards that can be earned by donors, either by making a ‘first come, first serve’ donation or by making a small donation to be entered into a lottery. Douglisio DiMuccio tells Wargamer that 100% of Godfall’s proceeds will go to Extra Life.
“We’ve always put some sort of charitable focus with our shows”, he adds. “That was reflective of something we saw in the tabletop gaming world.” “It sounds cliched, but the tabletop space is full of people that want to use the attention they garner to give something back.”
“I have long appreciated everything that the Extra Life program has done, and have collaborated with them in the past”, Matt Mercer tells Wargamer. “A great endeavor through a great experience is something worth doing.”
Bill Rehor adds that fundraising is “extremely important to everybody at the table”. “It’s a big part of the reason we all joined up, and I hope it does them good.”
Beyond its star-studded cast, fundraising goals, and experiments with tech, Godfall is still a tabletop RPG adventure – a shared storytelling exercise – at its core. Rehor sees something profound in the narrative that he created with Godfall’s cast and crew.
“For me, in terms of creating the story, it was really important for me that these be low-level characters, normal people who are thrust into a global event”, he says. “Without getting into particulars, we have all had this experience in the last several years. The connection is not lost on me.”
“How will we react in these moments, and which of us will become slaves to our fear? Which of us will hold onto our humanity and moral values and try to see beyond ourselves and address the global good? It’s a really important story to be telling right now, and this War of Immortals storyline gave us an opportunity to hopefully explore that.”
Lost Odyssey: Godfall will be released through tabletop entertainment group Geek & Sundry. For more on tabletop RPGs, here’s all you need to know about DnD classes and DnD races. Or, if you’d like to read more about Bill Rehor’s work, check out this interview he did with his buddy Matthew Lillard about the show Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill!
To chat about all things tabletop come join our shiny new Wargamer Discord community, and if you want to discuss this exact story, then here’s the thread.
Source: Wargamer
