Dawnsbury Days is a 2D turn-based tactics game with CRPG elements that's based on the rules of PF2E, the second edition of a powerful tabletop OGL ruleset. It is the follow-up video game to Quest for the Golden Candelabra, which I released in May 2023. Quest for the Golden Candelabra is a free, 40-minute video game that currently has a 99% rating on Steam out of 200 reviews, largely driven by the fact that it's the first published video game built on top of this ruleset. Dawnsbury Days builds on top of Quest for the Golden Candelabra, adding an additional 15 levels, character customization, modding support and a lot more content. You can learn on my website or on the game's Discord server.
About this casting call: The game consists of 20 encounters (levels) arranged in a story-driven campaign, where each encounter begins and ends with a voice acted cutscene in the style of visual novels. Here I'm looking for voice actors to play characters in these cutscenes. There are four main characters with a large number of lines. Of these, Anna and Tok'dar are already cast, but I'm looking for actors for Scarlet and Saffi. Then there is a large number of supporting characters, some with fewer lines and some with more lines.
Budget: All roles pay $1 per line, often rounded up.
Timeline: I hope for all voice recording to be completed by early December 2023.
Atmosphere: Dawnsbury Days is a light-hearted good-versus-evil adventure where a group of young heroes prove their skill in their first adventures. The game attempts to emulate the feel of a tabletop roleplaying game, where characters use slightly exaggerated voices as the gamemaster must use a different voice tint for each character. In any case, most characters speak confidently, perhaps even theatrically, and in a strong voice.
What to expect: I may ask you for a call-back still before the deadline, and I would prefer to communicate via Discord though I'm open to other channels as well. After you're cast, I would send you the full script of the game with your lines highlighted, and I would like you to read each line three lines, with reading and emotions appropriate to the scene or special directions in the script. If you have a major role (especially Scarlet, Saffi and Morning Dewdrop), you would send your lines by parts so I can correct any issues before you record everything. Finally, I'll be happy to communicate and/or negotiate so please don't be afraid of asking any questions at any time.
EDIT (November 3rd): The deadline has now passed. Thank you all for auditioning, I will now go through the auditions. Please do not submit any more auditions after the deadline, I will dismiss them without listening to them.
I apologize for the delay in assigning the roles to voice actors. It is a lot of submissions and I have been dealing with health issues these last two weeks.
I now expect to assign the roles only in December, which will postpone the time for recording as well to December/January.
Thank you all for auditioning. There has been an overwhelming number of auditions for each role, and I'm very grateful for them and happy that Dawnsbury Days will have very talented voice actors for all roles.
I will now go through the auditions to cast each role, and announce all selections here on casting call club when it's done.
However, because there is already such an overwhelming number of auditions, I will not consider any auditions received after the deadline: If you haven't already submitted an audition, it is now too late. I will dismiss any new auditions without listening to them. Thank you for your understanding.
Scarlet is a main character. She is a young adult.
Scarlet is quiet, introverted, analytical and perceptive. She speaks little and tersely but everything she says matters. She is focused in combat and communicates efficiently. In downtime, she allows herself to relax a little and her demeanor softens somewhat. Her voice is often level, and emotions are hinted at rather than expressed outright. She avoids conflict.
Despite being somewhat detached, Scarlet as a character should remain cute and likeable.
Scope: 113 lines, avg 11 words per line
[focused/standard/analytical] Two kobold warriors, untrained, poorly equipped. My assessment: Trivial threat.
[focused/standard] Area secured. Nightfall is imminent.
[unsure/shy] Um. If nobody else wants to, I volunteer to carry the artifact.
Saffi is a main character. He is a child or a teen.
He is inexperienced, excitable, childlike, but courageous and with a thirst for adventure. Saffi often speaks in a strong voice and shows a lot of emotion in his voice, and he expresses various emotions through the story.
Despite the fact that he is a child, he speaks in a somewhat more adult fashion that one would expect. Think Ash Ketchum from the Pokémon anime, for example. Like the rest of the main characters, he is competent, and should be cute and likeable.
Saffi's voice can be feminine, as long as one could reasonably interpret it as male: A voice that's kinda on the border that you can't quite tell whether it's male or female would work quite well.
Scope: 82 lines, avg 11 words per line
[joyfully] W-We won, Scarlet! We won!!
[slightly anxious] A... a legendary mage? But I haven't even learned "dispel magic" yet! W-What can we do?!
[despondent] We killed the shaman. We saved Forest Canopy. Then why do I feel like we failed?
Morning Dewdrop is a female leshy — an elemental spirit of a water lily. She is the primary ally of the main characters through chapter 2, which deals with the fact that Morning Dewdrop's sister has been killed by an evil shaman, and with Morning Dewdrop's quest to retrieve her body so that she can be resurrected.
Morning Dewdrop is emotional, having just experienced the loss of her close companion. She is afraid, stumbling over her words, shocked, desperate. Despite being an elemental spirit, her voice doesn't necessarily be colored in any monster-like fashion, a standard human female voice would do, though you can attempt a slight coloring.
Scope: 37 lines, avg 12 words per line
[panicked] Oh no, oh no, the fire, the fire! P-Please make them go away!
[hopeful] You said you have an adventuring party! W-Will you help me? I... I must get Forest Canopy back!
[desperate] But! We must still recover her body at least. I'll find a druid to resurrect her! I'll even sell the Daybreak to pay for the ritual!
Roderick is a human male, and an adult or middle-aged mentor of the main characters, a retired adventure who gives them their first quest and then assists them from time to time within the city.
Roderick also speaks a lot during the tutorial, where he gives instructions to Anna, and by extension the player, on how to play the game.
Scope: 30 lines, avg 18 words per line
You found a chest. You can open the chest by left-clicking it, or by clicking the Open action and then clicking the chest.
[formal] Dawnsbury Four, your quest is to find and retrieve the Golden Candelabra, an ancient artifact that protected our town for generations!
[in medias res dialogue] ...and if you encounter any undead, remember they are weak to positive energy--
The game has a number of male orc characters, some with smaller roles and some with greater roles. If you audition here, you could voice just one or multiple orc characters. Each audition line comes from a different character.
Orcs as a whole are speaking clearly and almost theatrically as if they were performing for an audience in addition to addressing whoever they're talking to. Some of them have a 'lawful evil' voice where you can senses that they are the foe.
Scope: Varies, from 2 lines to 12 lines per character; avg 10-15 words per line; you would be paid $5-$30 depending on the number of your lines, $1 per line.
[warrior][after hitting his own minion with a weapon] Shut your mouth, insolent creature. Next time, I will strike with the pointy end.
[shaman][evil] Welcome, "Dawnsbury Four". The imp has told me you would come.
[warlord][evil smirk, happy] Hahahaha! Your teleport succeeded, imp! I see the so-called heroes.
The game has a number of male kobold characters, all with a small role. If you audition here, you would voice multiple characters, or possibly even all of them, depending on your range.
Kobolds are weak, pathetic warriors who often can't speak with proper grammar. They're self-aggrandizing and speak as though they were mighty creatures, which contrasts with the fact that they're actually very weak in combat. They're dumb, evil and ineffectual enough that they are adorable, and serve as comic relief.
Scope: 10-20 lines, avg 11 words per lines, budget is $10-$20.
--Why we listen to him? He not even kobold.
Bah! So you saw our ambush! No matter! We will defeat you and then I will become the new Battle Leader!
Gaah!! We not listen to stupid orc! We fight!
As the narrator, you would read the opening narration of each chapter as well as the closing cinematic.
The narrator speaks seriously, with weight, and in a measured tone, though they don't waste the player's time. You can use the Neverwinter Nights prelude as inspiration, but closer to something at 1.25x speed.
Scope: 5 narrations, avg 173 words per narration, for a total of 865 words. The budget is $30.
[opening sentence of a narration] Our Point of Light. Plane floating through the endless Void, bearing a blossoming civilization.
The Kingdom mobilized and we assembled great armies for the first time since ages to hold the line against these outsiders. We have been only partly successful.
[closing sentence of a narration] The citizens of Dawnsbury are afraid and time has come for heroes take up the burden of responsibility and save this beautiful town from the sinister clouds gathering over it.
Fire mephits are weak male elemental monsters who want to destroy things with fire. Maybe they speak in a scratchy or otherwise monster-like voice, but everything they say should still be fully understandable.
Fire mephits also serve as the collective memory of the world, and as such speak out a riddle or a cryptic phrase when they die. You may incorporate dying sounds in the death screech lines.
If you audition for this role, you would voice act all the fire mephits in the game.
Scope: 8 lines, avg 8 words per line.
Burn the lily! Burn the lily!
[cryptic death screech] A demon from the stars in a mountain of fire.
[cryptic death screech] A thousand and five hundred stars. A thousand and five hundred lives.
The merfolk are civilians who live in the underwater city Dawnsbury-under-the-Sea and ask the main characters for assistance during the underwater section of the game.
There are also two "dark merfolk" who engage in combat and are enemies.
Scope: 5-15 lines, depending on how many merfolk you voice, budget is $1 per line.
And you saved our children. Thank you so much, heroes!
Yes, of course! You are welcome in Dawnsbury-under-the-Sea! You can rest with us.
We know a secret underwater fumarole that will get you into the volcano undetected!
You play two female merfolk children or teens who go into an abandoned building on a dare, until they're scared away by a monster.
Scope: 2 characters, 6 lines total, avg 12 words per line
[child 1] We're almost there, Ikka. The border house.
[child 2] We're not supposed to be here. This is way outside the city core.
[child 1] Just a few more strides, Ikka. We'll just take some old relic from the house as proof we got this far!
"Forest Canopy" is a specter — a ghost formed from the energy of the deceased Forest Canopy, who still retains her memories. The specter is the final boss of chapter 2. Forest Canopy is evil and single-mindedly wants to 'pass on', and do whatever is needed to do that. Eventually, the heroes manage to cast a healing spell on her, getting her back alive.
I will likely edit your voice with reverb effects afterwards to give it the feel of an insubstantial creature.
Scope: 8 lines, avg 10 words per line
You have killed my murderer, adventurers, and for that I am grateful.
[threatening] Mortal ties still bind me. My sister. We will pass on together.
[when enveloped by a healing spell] What?... I... [turning from evil to good, mellowing out] A warmth... Love...?
The tiefling commando leader is the commander of an evil strike group and the final boss of chapter 3. Tieflings are half-human, half-devils, but this can have no bearing on your evil. You don't need to color it any way.
The tiefling commando leader is confident.
Scope: 9 lines, avg 17 words per line
[taunt, then commanding] Return to your homes, "heroes". Enjoy your last few hours of existence. Strike group, to me! We're 'porting out.
[taunt] Hahahaha! You are powerless. You have a fancy name and you got a few wins, but in the end you are nothing but children.
[when her teleportation attempt fails because of a hex] No matter. We will get the Key to the starborn one way or another.
The Final Dusk is the ultimate boss and primary antagonist of Dawnsbury Days, though he only appears in the final encounter. He is a demon from the stars, confident, cocky and well aware of his superiority, but also cold and calculating. He begins incredulous about how the heroes have managed to get this far and ends furious about his impending demise.
Scope: 10 lines, avg 14 words per line
[dismissive] So you are the so-called Dawnsbury Four. Pathetic.
Afraid? I have lived for a hundred years, traveled across the Void, and conquered entire planes. You have stumbled upon a string of lucky victories. I am not afraid.
[seething] No more speeches. Die. Die.
The dark poet is an aquatic demon who speaks exclusively in poetry.
There are three dark poets in the game. If you're cast, you will play all of them. They have about the same voice though if you can manage slight variations on it so that it's apparent it's a different creature, I would appreciate it.
Dark poets are evil, threatening and self-confident, and even when they say something funny, they speak matter-of-factly with a straight face.
Scope: 10 lines, avg 15 words per line
[poetry, taunting] Ha! You think you can face my might? / Indeed, draw your weapons, I'm itching to fight.
[poetry, theatrical] No! My blood seeps into the ocean! / Quick! Somebody hand me a healing potion! (dies)
[poetry, smirking] Well, then, you have already lived for too long. / Let us put you in Heaven where you belong.
The demon pest is a small flying demon. He's smart, but subservient and always serves a nearby evil commander.
Think "imp" or "small devil" for inspiration. His voice is evil, but if you can also put across the feeling of it coming from a 1-foot-tall creature, that would be best.
Scope: The demon pest only has three lines, they're the ones in the audition.
[speaks the name of a spell in a strong voice] Dimension Door!
Arcane feedback... I don't understand.
What the-- I don't understand--
The Avatar of the Heart of Fire is an ancient fire elemental. She speaks in a dispassionate voice.
However, when the heroes destroy her at the end of her encounter, she is reborn as a tiny new fire elemental, a small spark, during which her voice utterly changes to something super excited and youthful.
Scope: 6 lines as the ancient dispassionate elemental, 2 lines as the youthful reborn spark
[dispassionate] You've come to kill me. You will not succeed.
[amused] Heal me? Perhaps that was possible years ago. But now the corruption has gone too deep. A black fire burns within me.
[after rebirth, youthful and excited] Ha ha ha ha! Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
The orc ranger is the single female orc in the game, and only has a single line, which she utters after an unexpected arcane feedback deals damage to her and the other members of her evil adventuring party.
Scope: The single line in the audition.
Yeow! What was that?
There are four lines for four different monsters in this role.
One is for a demon of destruction. The others are for summoned monsters who don't speak English.
Scope: The 4 lines in the audition.
[wrecker demon][emphasis on your face] Graaah!!! I will tear apart your face!
[summoned archon][line 1, ceremonial greeting] Ayuu! Er elu erelah! [summoned celestial dragon][line 2, excited greeting] Shyuuuu! Saya ashii!
[summoned good monster][taunt] Ar-eru-araya. Ore ono.
