Tony Spengler / March 30, 2023
All the time I meet and talk with wonderful people in the TTRPG community. Creators and fans alike, everyone has always been so supportive of each other. We rise together, and benefit from the comradery. Another shining example of amazing people has been the folks behind Dice of Thunder actual play podcast. They are my first full-time Pathfinder AP I’ve interviewed, and I was excited to get into it with their DM, Scott Hoffman.
Origin: Tacoma and Thurston County WA, and Southern California.
Names/Handles: Scott and Brittany Hoffman, Jordan, Gregg, and Du’vall.
TTRPG Gaming Experience: My personal TTRPG experience goes all the way back to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons back in 1994. I converted to 3rd Edition, and then 3.5. Then in 2008 fully switched over when Pathfinder launched. I've been playing Pathfinder ever since. I've also enjoyed playing Starfinder. I also dabbled with Ninjas and Superspies and GURPS back in the 90s. The other players at my table are all TTRPG newcomers with the exception of four or five sessions from Gregg and Brittany.
Age: I am the oldest at 43, Jordan is the youngest at 34.
Q) I haven’t gotten a chance to listen to your podcast, but it's on my list! Could you give an elevator pitch for your podcast for our readers to know what you’re about?
A) We are a Pathfinder 2nd Edition Actual Play podcast featuring the Outlaws of Alkenstar Adventure Path. Our show is geared toward all ages and backgrounds. Also we aim to provide a good show for listeners of all TTRPG skill levels. Our goal is for the listener to feel like they are sitting in the room with us.
Q) Do you have an episode that you would suggest to get a good taste of your podcast?
A) There are a couple that stand out. Episode 5: Came In Like A Wrecking Ball is the first episode where the crazy humor of our group is shown. Episode 9 is also a must-listen because it contains the origin of the group's name.
Q) What are your favorite races, archetypes and/or classes?
A) Right now I'm really into Kobolds and the Sorcerer class. However, Rage of the Elements is on its way and Kineticist was my favorite 1e class.
Q) Are you all experienced in other ttrpgs? If so, which?
A) Starfinder is the other TTRPG I have the most experience with. I've also dabbled in D&D5e, but would be considered a novice.
Q) How long have you all been working together on this AP?
A) Our first episode went live on 10/09/2022. I started working on building the podcast in January of 2022.
Q) Behind the scenes, what kind of equipment and/or software do you use for recording?
A) We are currently using a Behringer XEYNX 2442 to collect the sound. We have a compression microphone for all players. We also have a Behringer headphone splitter so everyone can have their own volume. I also use a Maonocaster with a separate mic as a back up and to mix voices and sound. For editing I use Hindenberg PRO. Software we use Syrinscape, HeroLab, and Roll20 for all their parts. Our studio is fully digital other than the dice, so there are no physical maps or pawns. Very soon we're upgrading to a Livetrak-L12 so I can collect everyone's voice and the background music on separate channels. The sound quality is our most important technical goal.
Q) What inspired you to start up a podcast?
A) The primary goal was to share Pathfinder in the way that my friends and I play it. Also I took a lot of inspiration from other groups out there that are podcasting. It's such an easy world to break into and it's such a creative outlet I knew we would have fun. Our big hope is that everyone else has fun along with us.
Q) Have you stuck to the adventure path you are playing in, or have you modified it to your liking?
A) We've stuck to the adventure path. We've added some story elements for character building. However, the AP only goes to level 10. I've been planting a few seeds for story ideas that would go from 10-20. It's also possible that we just stop at 10 and lick up a new story. We haven't really decided yet.
Q) What level is the party at currently?
A) The party is currently level 3 after 26 episodes. They are nearing another level in two or three episodes.
Q) Lots left to do still, then! So tell us about the scene. Where does this Adventure Path take place?
A) The adventure path is called "Outlaws of Alkenstar" and largely takes place in the City of Alkenstar located in the Mana Wastes. Alkenstar is a steampunk meets Wild West themed town. There are a lot of clockwork mechanisms and industrial developments because magic is not reliable in the Mana Wastes. These are canonical locations in the world of Golarion. The backdrop of the story is a developing arms race between the nation of Nex to the North and Geb to the South. A scientist from Alkenstar has developed a powerful explosive and all the interested parties are using whatever means necessary to get their hands on him. The party has fallen into the middle of the conflict because they were given the task of retrieving the scientist.
Q) Are the Mana Wastes similar to something like a wild magic desert?
A) They are described as the DMZ between Nex and Geb. De-Magic Zone.
Nex is a nation of magic as part of the culture. All the people from there are heavily magically inclined. Geb is a nation of undead. The leader is the ghost of an ancient necromancer. Most of the population is undead or seeking a way to become undead. The two nations have been at war for 5000 years give or take. The Mana Wastes are what happens when ancient wizards battle it out with ancient lich for millenia.
Paizo recently released two books called "Guns and Gears" and "The Impossible Lands" which I use to keep our canon straight.
Q) I saw that Paizo has been using an online system similar to DndBeyond, do you guys use that at all?
A) Ahhh that would be Pathfinder Infinite. We have not used it yet. One of my goals as a GM had been to stick with officially licensed Paizo content for two main reasons. The first is to keep my story straight. I am a massive fan of Paizo. I believe in their game development team and the balance they have crafted. I also believe the rules of Pathfinder provide a lot of safety for the players and the GM to avoid any toxic or unfair situations. The second reason is as a fan service. If we have listeners like me who enjoy the rules and want to fact-check us then I encourage them to do so. Since all the officially licensed material is available online it adds a layer of fan interaction that I appreciate. We've already had to retcon a couple of things our listeners have pointed out. All that said I have thoroughly explored Pathfinder Infinite especially at some of the work creators have done around alternate ancestries and monster ancestries.
If we decide to homebrew past level 10 with our group instead of starting a new story, then I'll end up publishing the back half of the story on Pathfinder Infinite.
Q) Back to the setting, is the City of Alkenstar massive?
A) Well I think it's pretty big for a fantasy campaign setting. The population is 53,600 according to the official lore. Comparatively, the largest city, Absalom, has a population of 306,900. Alkenstar is also spread out. It covers about 2 square miles. That would be very large for a "Wild West" town. When I hear wild west I think Red Dead Redemption, not a bustling city.
We're in Washington State, the capitol of Olympia has a population of 55,000.
I try to give it the feeling of being cramped with lots of places to hide from watchful eyes.
Q) With it being cramped and Wild West-esk, I assume there's not many multi-story building yea?
A) That's right. Typically only one to two stories. There are some large factory buildings which are around 6 stories. Everything in the city was previously something else too. As the needs of the city change, the buildings tend to adapt as much as the people. The main capitol complex is an old ammunition factory which was built as a reinforced building in case of industrial accidents and now serves as a fortress.
Q) So how does the player party look? Are they a rag-tag lot, an actual cohesive team, or are they a barrel of monkeys?
A) Haha! Yes to all.
They are a cohesive and rag-tag barrel of monkeys.
All four players are new to TTRPGs. I believe Brittany had the most experience at around 5 sessions. They really want to work together and endeavor to do so as they all learn a new game system.
As time progresses they are starting to focus on more group tactics. Pathfinder 2nd Edition has a lot of resiliency for low level players. There never is a point where you "settle in" to a new character.
Q) What does the party consist of, race and class wise?
A) Little primer before answering: All of our characters use the dual-class rules from the Gamemastery Guide. This allows two full classes instead of typical multi-classing. When I was interviewing everyone prior to starting the campaign none of them were happy with only one class for options, so we opened it up a bit.
Lutin, an undine sprite druid/sorcerer.
Kainros, an aasimar shisk magus/oracle.
Balnor, an automaton gunslinger/investigator.
Dar'Nyru, a catfolk rogue/psychic.
We have a lot more character art on our website in the artwork section.
Oh I nearly forgot, the sprite has a jaguar animal companion named Kal'El.
Q) That artwork is amazing, who was the artist? One of ya'll?
A) We commissioned a character artist. Oliibomb is their name. Our logo work was done by my daughter. We were lucky to find Oliibomb from an Instagram artist hunt. I love their style. It matches the aesthetic for the characters we were all looking for. All our artwork save for one alternative logo design is paid commission work. We even set up an art contract with my kiddo to produce the logo.
Q) Are there table rules that you use that stand out, or do you stay true to RaW?
A) We gratefully use RaW. We do have a couple of small table rules for fun.
1. Any spell with a verbal component must be spoken out loud. The first person to cast the spell locks in the power word for that spell forever, so if another player or enemy casts the same spell, they have to use the pre-established PW.
2. The “Rule of Wakanda". This one is based on the scene in Infinity War where T'challa says, "...and get this man a shield!" Oftentimes the AP will include weapons or armor as treasure drops that don't fit the party make-up. The “Rule of Wakanda" allows the player to choose the type of weapon or upgrade they feel fits their character. If no one is interested, then I just give them the equivalent in gold.
Q) Have you had guest appearances on your AP?
A) We have not. I'm also not entirely sure how to work that into the story yet, but that's the fun of being a GM. I had a guest appearance on Big Campaign Stories. I'm a fan of their show and they're also in the Seattle area so we connected on social and I did a fun turn with them.
Q) Time to wrap it up, any parting thoughts for our readers?
A) Yes. First of all thank you very much for taking the time to interview/review us. I was unaware of how passionate and committed the TTRPG community is before starting up the podcast. It is a pleasure to be a part of such a wonderful family. All Flex, No Dex is a podcast for podcasters, so to that group I would say thank you again for being so supportive of indie podcast creators. Also, never stop growing your craft. Continue looking for ways to sharpen your presentation so there are no obstacles in the way of telling your great story.
Thank you!
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