If you're like me and love to paint or do other hobbies in your spare time, you'll probably be looking for something really cool to sit down and listen to as at times, films take too much concentration or you're fed up with your usual selection of music. So what are you going to do? Well what I like to do is cruise around checking out podcasts that can be playing in the background that entertains and helps you chill especially whilst you spend your time on your hobby.
So finding one by Logan Jenkins (not only a member of the Very Random Encounters Podcast available on all your favourite podcast enabled devices, but also a TTRPG Independent creator here) was a chance to join in with a group who were fun to listen to but also randomise things during play. Grabbing our opporunity with both hands, we were lucky enough to get to interview Logan and here's what he had to say to our questions....
Logan Jenkins: My co-hosts! Right from the first episode, we have all continuously “dared” each other to go further, commit harder, and just really play in the space. We all trust each other completely with games, so we’re all comfortable offering up suggestions for character development and building upon the choices we make.
TP: What would you say is the best selling point of your Podcast and what has people coming back for more?
LJ: So our selling point, or “gimmick” is that we randomize as much as possible. All our characters, villains, plots, etc, as much as we can, are randomized. While that sounds like it might just be chaos and nonsense, what keeps people coming back for more is that we take that random seed and pour our whole hearts into bringing the world and the characters to life in compelling, heartfelt stories.
TP: Why the TTRPG space?
LJ: I’ve been into TTRPGs since I knew they were a thing. Honestly, before I knew. I was drawing maps and having my friends roam through them in class when I was 8. It’s some of the most creatively fulfilling and rewarding things I’ve ever done.
TP: What is your favourite individual podcast that you've worked on and why?
LJ: This is a bit vaguely worded… but I’m going to take it as “what’s my favorite season of our show” and that would have to be Root. It’s the TTRPG based on the popular board game. When I played the original game, my imagination took off, because I could imagine so many adventures in that world. Adorable woodland critters in a kind of brutal war? It’s an amazing juxtaposition. I also really dig bluegrass music and I was able to play around a lot with the soundscape. Very proud of that season!
TP: With some podcasts being a little behind the actual play of the game what can you tell us about what you're up to now?
LJ: We’re only a few weeks ahead of our releases currently. We’re just a bit deeper into the season. In our current season, we’re playing Ryuutama. The season is a love letter to SNES RPGs, and also a meditation on what happens after we die… so it’s a big swing haha. As the GM of this season, I can tell you that we’re going to get much weirder with each episode.
TP: Who do you think would love to play your TTRPG's and why?
LJ: I think both of my games (I’m Sure You’re All Wondering Why I’ve Gathered You Here This Evening, and Imaginary Friend Fight) could be enjoyed by most anyone! They’re pretty approachable TTRPGs if only because they’re both short. You can finish either in an evening. If you’ve ever watched Taskmaster, I recommend Imaginary Friend Fight, and if you love Clue the Movie, or And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, you’ll dig “I’m Sure…”
TP: Where do you see your TTRPG podcast taking you in 5 years?
LJ: I hope we can get enough Patreon funding to hire at least one of us to work on the show full time. We’ve done 1 live show with another on the horizon (come see us at Dragon Con!)
TP: If you were given the time and opportunity to develop something unique, what would it be and why?
LJ: I want to do a longer sourcebook for the TTRPG I’ve been working on in my head (and over several Google Docs) for more than a decade. I made the world public with the VRE season “Hella Team” but there’s still a ton of work to do on the book before it’s ready.
TP: Who do you admire in the podcast community and why?
LJ: Podcasts are the modern garage band. It’s a place to be creative and expressive without constraints. That’s especially true for the more indie podcasts like ours. We aren’t beholden to advertisers because we don’t have any. We can do whatever we want, and that lets us tell stories that feature characters that love like us. We pride ourselves on having a ton of queer representation across every season. We want to be the people we needed when we were kids and we want to tell stories that we needed to hear as kids.
TP: What got you into TTRPG's in the first place?
LJ: Like I said earlier, I’ve always been a storyteller, and I was interested in collaborative storytelling with my friends even before I had heard of any games. So as soon as I heard what D&D actually was: a structured playground for exactly what I wanted to do, it was life changing. That’s no exaggeration.
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