Beautiful in its Simplicity: Thornvale

In the time that I have been reviewing actual plays, most of the programs I have reviewed have been either Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder. I have been trying to branch out to other systems. Monster of the Week had caught my eye as a system, so I tried the Thornvale podcast. I was pleasantly surprised!

Thornvale takes place on an island off the coast of the Florida Everglades. This is an alternate universe that is partially based on the Deep Hollow series, which was written by the podcast's GM, or Keeper of Monsters and Mysteries, Susannah. It follows the story of 3 monster hunters as they deal with unusual happenings within the environs of the island.

The characters are based on archetypes. Those archetypes are the professional, the initiate, and the flake. The character with the professional archetype is Agent Whiskey, or Bjorn Olafsson, an agent of the government agency H.U.N.T.E.R. and a Dragon Knight, which is a special heritage from Susannah's book series. The character with the initiate archetype is Sammie, a tattoo artist that is a member of a secret sect trying to protect the world from bad magic and magical creatures. The character with the flake archetype is Henry, a teen Dragon Knight conspiracy theorist who gets into monster hunting while spending the summer with his uncle.

In the first three arcs of the podcast, they have faced three different monsters, dealt with their respective groups, and met many interesting people. Henry has grown from the brooding teen to someone who cares genuinely for others. Secret Agent Bjorn has had a chance to show off his goofy side, trying to cheer frightened children with funny faces. Sammie has an invincible foot and has clocked three kills so far.

Of the NPCS the characters have met, my favorite has to be Oliver Alan Evans, a Josh Gates type monster hunter who gets in the way of the heroes multiple times during one of their investigations. He annoys the heck out of Bjorn and Henry, but Sammie kind of likes him.

If you're interested in Monsters, unique worlds, and the beautiful simplicity of a 2d6 game system, check out Thornvale on your podcast player of choice and @thornvalecast on "X"