An interactive look into this world here!
This is a story all about how a bunch of people in a fantasy RPG got their lives turned to hell. You play people documenting all of it in an in-universe newsletter!
RPG Squad is intended to be a reconstruction of the video game parody story that’s been done straight/deconstructed/parodied with works such as 8-Bit Theater, The Order of the Stick, Goblins, Erfworld, and RPG World. Instead of lampshading, deconstructing or simply parodying the standard fantasy-RPG-styles, I intend to play the story straight, stupid cliches and all, acknowledging they exist, but exploring why we not only constantly remember them, but why we like them so much, from the storylines to the game mechanics.
Just a quickie, the Squad itself is basically a system in Gaia that’s a combination of the League of Legends and the UN. A politically neutral organization that hires “champions” from around the world to be used in controlled battles to settle international disputes in place of all-out warfare, which has just gotten past its first year in place, with nearly 100 champions from all over Gaia as representatives.
The series is set up as a radio news show in-universe from a location in the world called Capital City, the show being the Capital City Press (pretty straightforward haha). The world of Gaia is a fantasy world that likes to overlap a bit of futuristic technology, and while there is some conflict in terms of ideologies, it’s relatively stable (see above link for a more in-depth explanation, although feel free to ask me if it’s too overwhelming), and they have a magic-techno-stand-in for the internet called the Maginet, which the series is broadcast over.
I've been considering doing work on developing stories for this world in various methods for a few years, but have lacked the proper resources to do so in other various methods, like webcomics which take can take way too long to draw and write, or even an actual game itself, which takes WAAAY too long to draw, write, program, playtest, debug, etc. However, with the slow rebirth of the radio drama in form of storytelling podcasts over the last few years, I feel this is the best way to venture into the world of Gaia right now, as there are lots of creative possibilities (though if this actually goes somewhere, other ventures are definitely NOT out of the question!).
The show covers events of the world at its own pace (real-time would just be insane), generally giving stories and establishing the lore of Gaia in a diegetic manner, with news reports, interviews with the characters and spoken articles/editorials.
But as for who I’m looking for, I’m simply looking for the main personnel of the radio show. Just about 4 recurring crew members at this point is all I need in order to have a lot of personality to the world and not just be some generic grimdark dreck.
Also looking for some one-shot characters to play specific champions. These people aren’t recurring characters, which should be very good for those with busy schedules or communication issues. The immediate champions in need are also below alongside general profile (mildly elaborated in the above link again). I may be updating them or sending out another casting call for other champs in the future, so keep an eye open if you're interested. :)
If you’re interested in any of these roles, contact me.
Thanks for your interest! :]
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Rudimentary Guidelines while recording audition lines:
-Make sure your recording isn’t just audible/discernible, but clear. Background noise will affect my consideration of your audition; if your mic is decent-quality but there is still some hum, just fiddle around with noise removal if you can help it. :)
-Volume should be loud and audible (but seriously, NO CLIPPING THAT’S REALLY REALLY BAD). Slap a compressor if need be.
-Seriously, don’t just blaze through in one take. Take your time; consider your audition to be something I’d consider legitimately putting in the final project, so no dry reads.
-If I decide to cast you, contact my email (above) within a week at most to send full scripts, specs, additional contact info etc.
Apologies for the redirect: I'm copy-pasting this on all different sites I've posted this CC on which have inconsistent ways of informing all the participants. But just a side note, I also regularly post things on the Deviantart, so bookmark it or just keep it in memory if it serves the need.
Was this function around before I left? Haha. Well anyways, I'm in Los Angeles for a bit of a family emergency that's sorted itself out, and I should be back home by the new year, so I can announce my picks (unless somebody pulls a blinder in which case congratulations!).
But for right now, I'm so very pleased with what I have right now, to say the least! Lots of choices for the different roles (especially for Jarrod, o_o), and I'd like to thank everybody who submitted auditions/will submit in the next few days if you exist. I want to get this project going somewhere this year, so thank you for getting it rolling! (T_T)b
-Nine
zomg i can destroy stuff rofl
-He's an experiment by the main evil bad guy in captivity, the Necro. While imprisoned, he attempted to create the Devourer from scratch instead of reanimating the dead, to pass as a human proxy to do his bidding outside his prison. It didn't quite work out.
-The Devourer takes on the form of a bratty child, with the mentality to boot. He has the ability to create black holes, but he's too immature and overenergetic to actually use it for anything purposeful. Doesn't really matter; he got imprisoned as well and can't use them, but that's worth putting out there.
-Need someone who can voice an annoying-as-heck child from hell, but in an overly-excited, overly-talkative way. As much as a screechy voice would be a bit more realistic, it wouldn't be a great listen, so no shrieking. A TOUCH shrill, but nothing more.
"Hey, guess what? Your face! Hahahahaha *trailing off* heeheehee... eh."
"Hey. Oh, miss. Oh miss. Miss. Miss. Miss. Miss. HEY LADY!"
"You're boring me! Hey, check this out *and then make mouthing noises a kid would make like he's driving a toy spaceship in the air and sucking it into a black hole*"
Capital City Press' City Reporter!
-Reports on typical “if it bleeds it leads” activity; usually like domestic attacks, criminal activity, any typical story people that hate news think all the news are, basically.
-Stern, usually deadpan and kinda jerkish at points, but has a weird fixation towards violent stories (I imagine her casually listening to her own reports of a mass murderer at night whilst sipping tea), and does inject sympathy at certain points for other characters.
-Gone through a lot of disturbing stuff in her life, and at this point isn’t really fazed by the insanity going around her anymore.
-Looking for someone able to be stern and somewhat mean, but quirkily endearing at the same time through her weird mannerisms and interests.
"The Capital City Police force have continued searching for a suspect responsible for a string of murders all involving magic-users within the city."
"All murders have been confirmed to be used by custom-made crossbow bolts made of the Bane mineral, which has several adverse effects on magic-users."
"In less interesting news, the price of Bane is on the rise!"
Anchors Away!
-One of Gaia's most feared seadogs, Pirate basically owns the entire sea west to Gaia with less of a crew and more of a private army spanning several ships under an iron fist. She also carries an anchor as a weapon because.
-When not pilfering trade ships unfortunately close to her, she's either fighting the other oceanic superpower, the Viking, or searching for treasure, because pirates, amirite?
-Looking for someone able to portray a lot of bravado and swagger (haha) in her voice, but also capable of being SLIGHTLY gentler around a news group. Also, can naturally speak like it's always Talk Like a Pirate Day. ARRRR
"There's two ways to die on me ship, boys! Being shot by me, and being shot by improper gun maintenance!"
"Whether you live or die is based on how much iron you have on ya, whether it be bullets or nerves, heheh."
"Most people say there won't be any treasure out there. Most people don't own an entire sea."
01101000 01101001
-A robot! Surprisingly common in Gaia, but this electrical plant worker is special for having gained sapience after being struck by a bolt of lightning. Funny how lightning does anything it wants, huh?
-A little naive, having just gained free thought, but otherwise kind. Fascinated by the concept of humanity, and is somewhat depressed he can't be truly human, but is constantly looking for a way to fix that.
-This is a little tricky; looking for someone who can pull off a slight robotic monotone, but not what you'd normally think. It's not pure, dry robo-speak you're immediately thinking of, it's more of a monotone trying not to be monotone, able to insert a LITTLE bit of inflection in his speech.
-Robot's voice will be processed with robo-effects, but I'd appreciate that you audition with your dry, unaltered voice. If you can process it yourself, great! But that's not what I'm looking for right now; I'm looking for someone who can get the general baseline first. :)
"HAVE YOU EVER BEEN STRUCK BY LIGHTNING BEFORE. IT’S LIKE HAVING MILLIONS OF NEEDLES ASSAULTING YOUR BRAIN FROM EVERY ANGLE ATTEMPTING TO TELL IT TO DO EVERYTHING AT ONCE."
"I WANT TO BE ABLE TO INTERACT WITH THE TOWNSPEOPLE AND FOLD BEDSHEETS AND DISAPPOINT SIGNIFICANT OTHERS AND EAT TACOS."
"I LIKE THINKING ON MY OWN, BUT DOES THAT MAKE ME ANY MORE OF A HUMAN THAN THE AUTOMATIC COIN-OPERATED SHOE SHINER DOWN THE STREET."
I Know Yangchen.
-Grew up in a monastery from childhood, raised by his adoptive sensei after his village burned down. A devout practitioner in "Yangchen," an old fighting style his master has attempted to preserve due to its value towards Gaian history, using his skills to keep the past alive.
-Sort of a generic kung-fu anime protagonist. Hot-blooded, of average intelligence, looking to pick up a fight, kinda cocky. Despite this, he really cares about other people, and genuinely respects his sensei's legacy, and often likes to interact with others. Before starting up a street fight.
-Basically a slightly toned down aforementioned hot-blooded anime protagonist. He's able to show energy and slight arrogance, but can be welcoming; someone you'd still like to be friends with.
"No, seriously, hand-to-hand combat is great! Come here, I'll show ya!"
"Monk-sensei once told me "Man is just an animal trying to figure out how to kill time through his days." I have no idea what that means, but I like it!"
"Life is simply one's journey. ...through... uh... life. Yeaah..."
Coming in Hot!!!
-Brash and arrogant as getout but has a significant history with another champ called the Cryo. Will be explored in her section, but it's left her very guilty and slightly humbled. Not that she'd admit it.
-On the exterior, she's very showoffy, lots of bravado on her skills as a mecha pilot, very hotblooded in general, but it's pretty evident it's a sham. When talking about Cryo, she becomes very calm and almost sullen. Don't try pointing that out to her, though.
-Looking for someone able to portray a "tsundere"-ish style voice; someone able to fluctuate between hot-blooded haughtiness and softspoken contemplation in multiple instances.
"I'm the greatest pilot in the north, you should be happy I'm even looking at you, letalone talk to you!"
"She's my best friend... and I let something horrible happen to her. I won't allow that ever again."
"You either cut that out of the article or I harm you, you hear me? Thaaaanks."
Intern Assistant to Ciel Mercury!
-Young intern often travelling with Ciel above as both tech operator and comedic foil. Often gets offhand speaking lines in passing during some of her stories.
-Seems to be the only one in the whole newsletter that realizes “wait a second. THIS JOB IS CRAZY. HOW ARE WE STILL ALIVE.” Basically the “cloudcuckoolander’s minder”/straight man to help establish a reality check.
-Likes his job and is friends with Ciel (probably not romantic, though), but has no backbone. But in an endearing way.
-Someone who’s able to play someone kinda… wimpy, but kindhearted and charming in his slightly questioned optimism.
"Don’t worry, I’ve got your back, Ciel! That said, this is a really dangerous location!"
"Uh… sir, you’re putting your finger on the trigger right near my head, sir."
"Interviewing evil lords of darkness for the news. I completely expected this!"
Capital City Press' Business Reporter!
-Reports on normally very dry business-economic related news, but is offset by his deadpan snarkiness. I imagine he’s kinda like a Tony-Stark-type sarcastic who just cracks wise at everything regardless of safety hazards and bends around any rules to do so.
-Often gets sidetracked and editorializes. Annoys the crap out of his superiors.
-Lived in relative ease through most of his life, so no tragic backstories or anything to infer. Just mild comic relief in summation.
-Looking for someone with quick-talking charm and charm-misma and is able to pull off dry humor without it seeming really forced. Just a pleasant feel is a major point, btw
"Officials from the Silicon District factory 20D have announced a recall of their automatic bullets dispensaries upon realizing the concept was a really, really bad idea."
"Security around the Lock District has announced their ban on importing baked goods after several recent escape attempts involving baked goods."
"Citizen of Capital City reported his house was set ablaze after he left setting his oven to 40 minutes instead of 4 minutes. …nope, can’t keep a straight face with that one."
Capital City Press' News Correspondent! (Pronounced "see-ell" btw)
-Goes to location and reports first-hand, and often gets the most direct interactions with RPG Squad members through interviews.
-ADORES her job, despite how dangerous it is sometimes (I have a script where she manages to have a full interview with the Devourer, an evil bratty child that plays with a black hole.) Often doesn’t recognize how borderline insane she is.
-Mysterious backstory she doesn’t feel comfortable disclosing. May/may not relate to her lack of self-preservation.
-Looking for someone able to play a perky, enthusiastic Pollyanna with some emotional depth. May/may not be explored very deeply, but being capable to transition between emotions well gains you lots of bonus points; but should bring a generally pleasant vibe as a basis.
"I’m on the scene just off the shore of the Daxia Port, joined here today by the feared force of the seas, to the RPG Squad, Pirate! How are you doing, ma'am?"
"Back to the subject on hand, what recent goals have you had for your crew as of late? (short pause) That we can legally disclose, I mean."
"Once again, this is Ciel Mercury, and on behalf of Capital City Press, we bid thee farewell."
In Perfect Harmony
-One of the most popular musicians in all of Gaia, the Muse is a harpist who plays sold-out concerts all around the world, but has been experimenting with using music to interact with magic, upon discovering she can combine the two to do interesting stuff. Has recently been going on tour with Siren and Drummer.
-She rarely likes giving out interviews, or really interacting with people in general, and can be really, really timid, but has a big heart and respects everyone she meets. She oddly opens up a lot to people she is already familiar with, however, such as Siren and Drummer.
-Someone able to play a softspoken, but warm and inviting character that's able to open up when specifically interacting with friends.
"So, um, our self-titled Free to Play album will be released soon so uh... keep an eye out for that, everyone."
"Oh, thank you, you're too kind... *nervous laughter*"
"There has to be a word for a music mage... uh... mugician? Ugh, that's really bad, actually..."
