Musical Improv Meets Actual Play

One Shot has been around making entertaining actual play featuring unique games and eclectic guests for over 12 years, with me, Dillin Apelyan approaching my two-year anniversary taking the helm as host from the show's creator, James D'Amato.

In that time, I've tried to explore as many kinds of experiences that actual play can facilitate, playing uniquely tactical RPGs like DAWN, story games that border on LARP, like The Time We Have and Can You Host, games that play like poetry, like The Wildfire Trilogy and Hinterlight, and the spectrum between and beyond.

But the latest series is far and away the biggest swing I've taken - a musical improv actual play. To pull this off, I flew to Seattle, WA, to meet with the folks at RPG Major, a musical improv actual play running the Genesys system. We played a brilliant new game from Caro Asercion & Possum Creek Games, Last Train to Bremen, a game that fittingly surrounds the adventure of a band that struck a deal with the devil for their success, scrambling as he finally comes to collect.

If you're already sold and want to skip past my meandering to hear the story we told, you can already find Parts 1 and 2 on the One Shot feed here.

"I think this is easily the most ambitious and brilliant things we have ever aired. It's also a perfect way to honor the game being featured."

—James D'Amato, One Shot Network

There was one major hiccup in making this musical AP. I don't know how to do musical improv. In fact, I don't think I've heard two scarier words put right next to each other before. But RPG Major came to my rescue. In the days leading up to our recording, Helix and Camilla ran me through a musical improv workshop in a small black box theater in Seattle, showing me the basics and sharing their infectious love of this niche art form with me. That way, when I showed up two days later to record - I was still terrified. But, the crew had inspired me enough with their overwhelming love and joy for this art form that I couldn't help but be excited anyway.

Recording this Actual Play was unlike any other I've done. A 4-hour game translated to a roughly 7-hour day, with frequent breaks for tea and vocal rest and so much water. Non-verbal communication was also much more prevalent in this session vs. other Actual Plays I have made. During songs, no one at the table is ever left truly on their own. Other players signal to each other, hand signs to help decide when to add layers, harmonies, crescendos, etc to the verse as the current singer is improvising. And notably, there was a difference in the air even when we weren't singing, facilitated by Noah Samuels, as he improvised acoustic accompaniment even during our traditional roleplay scenes. All of this created such a uniquely synergistic sensation in the room.

Afterward, we decompressed and spoke about how we wished others could experience this. Helix brainstormed ideas to get those unfamiliar to musical improv to try something similar.

I tend to play RPGs as characters you could describe as a bit of a sweetie. Coming into Bremen, which asks you to create beef with other PCs from the moment of character creation and empowers other players to help define exactly what kind of jerk you are going to play, spun that on its head. Finding reasons to snipe at and backstab former friends and then singing about it felt like living a Fleetwood Mac dream. I know not everyone will be able to add music to their games, but if it sounds appealing, you could pick a song that fits the vibe of the scene you just played out, pull up a youtube karaoke track and go to town. 

—Helix, RPG Major
Mule, Last Train to Bremen

A big personal win for me came right at the end of this adventure. Over that long recording day, I observed how each of these talented improvisers conducted each other from across the table. For the first time in my tenure on One Shot, I was the least experienced person in the room, following their lead and expertise through the music. Until the very last song - our big finale (which you will hear when the finale airs on January 5, 2025). During that song, I actually did it. I pitched my ideas and non-verbally communicated them to my tablemates as we constructed the song in real time. More than just getting through it, I genuinely love how it came out in the end - feeling like a spiritual theme song for Caro's amazing game.

While I really got to take a big swing, the folks at RPG Major also got to step into some different shoes as well. Their usual show is, as Helix describes, essentially the opposite of what Last Train to Bremen inspires. Their show brings a Scooby Doo-esque vibe, following young detectives full of heart. In Last Train to Bremen, the crew, Lauren Drake as Cat, Helix as Mule, Camilla Franklin as Hound, and me, Cockrel, had the opportunity to play toxic, jaded wretches. The game, in perfect theme, uses Liar's Dice as the central mechanic, fostering distrust and accusatory competition between us.

I'm also pretty chuffed to report that the reception of this has been so warm already. Feedback from listeners inspired us to release the album to Bandcamp and streaming services so that people who enjoyed the One Shot can have the music to revisit, and so that the band we created - Broadside - feels even more real.

All this to say that making art is an adventure, and Actual Play is no exception. I'm thrilled that after so many years making art in this format, I can experience something so wholly different and outside my comfort zone, I can discover new niche corners of the hobby that are vibrant and passionate, I can learn to love something new. My experience telling the story of Broadside with RPG Major has made me excited to learn what unknown experiences Actual Play and One Show have yet to show me.

One Shot introduced me to a broad world of RPGs at a time when the furthest I'd ventured from D&D was into Pathfinder, and getting to play on the show after listening for years was such a treat. Getting to combine that with something that's brought as much joy into my life as improvised music? Highlight of my dang year.

—Helix

I hope you check out our musical One Shot. I hope you play your own toxicly codependent artists in Last Train to Bremen. I hope you say yes to trying something that scares you.