Brave RPG Podcaster won’t let the Rules get in the way of the Story

Chase Hampton, host of Dungeons & Dragons actual play podcast Drinks & Drunks, bravely announced that he would not let rules get in the way of the story. “We understand that when people are looking for an actual play podcast, they’re looking for a well-crafted three-act structure. Rules like grappling, spell preparation, or rolling dice have their place I guess, but if they start to impede the story, we’re going to give them the boot.”

Hampton says that in the past, D&D’s rules have come dangerously close to affecting the narrative. “That’s the whole reason I had to take this stand,” he said, steely eyes held high. “Our last campaign, I accidentally admitted that an ogre had rolled a crit. That took Jameson’s ranger down into the single digits of HP. I’ll admit, I was worried that there was almost a meaningful choice for the players to make that I hadn’t personally crafted. Thankfully, I was able to give the ogre a heart attack to keep the movie… I mean, the game moving forward.”

Even as we basked in the glow of his courage, we did have to ask Hampton if he had thought about using a more story-focused system if D&D was chafing against the group’s playstyle. “Yes, actually,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “We’re going to use Fate for our next campaign. But our listeners don’t have to worry, I won’t be fundamentally be changing anything about how we play. Rules like Fate Points allowing players to declare story details. What if they declare the wrong thing? Or what if they concede a fight early, when I had planned on having my favorite NPC swoop in to save them? No, this actual play needs a firm hand at the rudder to steer us through these treacherous waters.” We left him then to start the first episode, where his players eagerly awaited to play to find out what Hampton had planned.