I’m utterly fascinated by UVG so I was stoked to see this starting. They don’t skip the setup either which is great for such a unique campaign.
Neat to see Dungeon World’s Sage LaTorra in action too 
I’m very new to RPG podcasts/streams btw.
Actual Play of "Ultraviolet Grasslands"
10 Likes
From a “mechanical” viewpoint: the sheer scale of the journey (I haven’t added up the weeks but it’s months easily), the variety of reasons for the journey other than loot, and the business/financial aspect that ties to your survival so closely
Style wise: the evocative art and description make you feel like you’re really inside a BOC or Edgar Winter album cover (maybe Priestess), the cultures feel bizarre but consistent, failure is an option
5 Likes
I definitely dig the epic scale Luka is covering. And I am always down for this kind of psychedelic fantasy stuff.
5 Likes
Hey thanks for finding and sharing my actual play! We play in 2 hours from this post in case anyone wants to see more!
The setting just is pure inspiration fuel. I think my group in particular has less interest in the debt running and trade empires and more existential “what are we doing here? Where even IS here? When?” “what is this world like?” And I’m interested in trying to bring that to life. The UVG is one of the coolest supplements I’ve ever read. So much I made a 100+ song playlist for it.
15 Likes
Sweet, didn’t realize that was tonight 
1 Like
Were you going to share that playlist you just teased? 
@EricVulgaris I need to mention that during the first episode no one seemed phased by your description of the raw “cat coffee” which, as an owner of multiple cats, sounded an awful lot like the contents of a litter box 
2 Likes
That is exactly what Cat Coffee is made from. 
Anyways the second episode is live if you or anyone cares! This game is so damn weird and funny and only gonna get weirder.
Expect new faces to join the caravan as others dip off for a few. This game is really good for troupe style play.
6 Likes
Just wanted to say, I discovered this playthrough yesterday and I was SO STOKED when I saw a new ep dropped right away! This world is so weird, wild, and wonderful. It really scratches that post-post-apocalyptic, psychedelic Heavy Metal-esque itch I felt for the longest.
I’m really enjoying it, thank ya’ll so much for sharing.
9 Likes
Thanks for sharing that great playlist, I’ve been listening to it all day. I make long playlists for the games I run( in an attempt to make myself less nervous) and you captured such a complete setting with the music.
2 Likes
thanks a lot! very kind to hear. I’ve put a lot of heart into that playlist.
We had our third session last night and it felt like the perfect little example of the weirdness of the UVG. It’s like the perfect little postmodern picaresque.
We had two guests make up PCs before we played and I must say that when it comes to running this game, I’m most excited about how PCs fit into this weird and wild world. Our two guests had amazing character ideas that just begged “what would it be like to be this weird in this weird world?” and we played to find that out for one of them.
Something I’m entertaining is that sooner than later I’ll have to do some sort of faction turn stuff as the party’s antics influence the poltics of the grasslands!
The hardest part of this game, moreso than any game I’ve ever ran, is how much it cries out for fanart.
6 Likes
I have the patreon PDF, but haven’t had time to read much longer than maybe the Grass Colossus. Waiting patiently for that sweet physical book! (There is still 3 hours to back the kickstarter and also get some trippy, funky dice!)
@EricVulgaris would you tell us a bit about how and how much you prep? Do you just read up on the next destination and wing it? Do you elaborate on possible hooks and locations? I love your performance and persona for the porcelain princes!
2 Likes
I should probably record myself prepping this game.
So here’s what I always do first: I ask my players what their plans are. So like at the end of second session I asked the party “hey so we’re moving on down the trail right? to the porcelain throne ?” and they agreed. I told them we’d have a few guest stars since sage has work atm and if we’re cool with them tagging along for the minute.
So I reviewed that area, encounters, and npcs, before making characters with my other two guests this past week. That’s when I knew where the session was probably gonna go.
See-- Laurens character needing a Body for Mother was like super interesting and the “still beating heart” from the thief supplies from the black hack made us go “oh no that’s Mother’s heart! Rad!”
Also as guest characters I gave them a little more stuff if they wanted, contacts, etc. Since they can be short lived for now.
Reviewing the throne area let me see the pleasure estate a few days away made lights go off. Porceliean prince’s need something from there in exchange for a “body”. Yeah.
So I told her "hey so you are gonna go with the group south cuz you have a contact with the princes. You have an in with one of them when it’s normally like impossible. Which one do you wanna know? (gives list). They’ll have a job for you and the party.
So my prep basically was reading over cool bits of the porcelain throne and then that pleasure place for like 15 minutes beforehand. The horses and everything was all improvised and based on the encounter tables for the region. I automated those rolls in Roll20 to make it easier for me to do that.
Everything else was pretty much on the spot.
I have a lot of experience running sorta impromptu sandbox/hexcrawls (I ran fever swamp for a long time relying heavily on automation of tables like this).
5 Likes
Someone in my group snagged the high-tier version of the kickstarter and I bit the bullet and sprung for the hardcover book, I’m really looking forward for a palate-cleansing trek into the druggy weirdness of this setting after we finish Ravenloft.
1 Like
Yes!! 
Having players which fires your brain cells with ideas is a god send. Some of my best sessions were games where player contributions spun into something big and weird.
2 Likes
Sounds like every session of an indie game I play. Especially PbtA games.
2 Likes
My mileage has varied very with pbta (mostly Dungeon World and freebooters). It really depends on the players. The GM included of course. I attribute this to both personality type and table culture.
But that is perhaps a discussion for another thread?