[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 2 of this interview, you can read PART 1 HERE.
For ease of reading, I have included Brent’s initial preamble from Part 1 before picking up again with the interview itself. -dc]
About a month ago I wrote about three channels that had entered my steady watch rotation. Of course I never stop looking for shows and channels to watch. Truth be told, I usually find other good projects by branching off to see what the casts of shows I’m already watching are doing elsewhere. Queen’s Court Games and His Last Hope is no exception, as it involves two cast members from a show I followed on Roll Together.
A brief aside. I hate horror movies. Unless a horror movie has a sci-fi or fantasy angle to it (Event Horizon, Pan’s Labyrinth) I cannot stand most of them. So it surprises the heck out of me that I really enjoy playing and running horror themed TTRPGs. It may very well be that having agency in the story is what makes it enjoyable for me. But whatever the reason, I will watch a horror Actual Play all day before I will even glance at a horror movie.
Enter His Last Hope. This three-part actual play from Queen’s Court Games features the Kult: Divinity Lost RPG, and each pre-recorded episode is released via Twitch on Thursday at 7pm EST/5pm MST. The GM and cast is stellar, working together to weave an intricate tale of the lingering effects of encountering horror early in life. I was lucky enough to ask the cast some questions about their work, TTRPGs, and what we can expect when the finale airs this Thursday.
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B: For those who haven’t watched His Last Hope yet, can you tell me a bit about each of your characters? Aaron, perhaps you can talk a bit about what these characters are up against, in a non-spoilery way?
Aaron: Oh, that’s super easy. At its core, His Last Hope isn’t about cultists or demons or dimensions of pure evil that lurk just outside our reality. You can say the scenario is about a group of childhood misfits who witness a brutal crime, and are called back two decades later to deal with the consequences, but all of that is set dressing. His Last Hope is actually about the friendships we have as children, the friendships we have as adults, and how those things differ. The only monsters the players have to face are themselves, their own impatience and vice, their failures of empathy, and the ennui of drifting apart from people you used to know.
Okay. There are cultists and demons and a dimension of pure evil. But the central question of His Last Hope isn’t whether or not the characters can defeat those forces. It’s whether they can forgive one another, whether they still care for and support one another despite all the traumas they endure together. Or, small spoiler, inflict upon one another.
Vee: Ohh, what can I say about Gabrielle. In some ways, I relate to her a lot. A strong, energetic kid with a bit of an attitude and a love of counterculture who embraced being weird because that’s where she felt like she was truly herself. After “the incident” she blames herself for not being able to help, and for a long while afterwards she accepts that as her new reality – that she’s just not strong enough. This continues for the next twenty years, with her attributing her inability to escape from the things that were dragging her down to her complete lack of emotional fortitude and still lives with all the guilt and shame that comes with that.
But y’know what, you can’t be too weak to get away from things if you don’t stick around long enough to have things to get away from. So that’s what she’s done since, and what she’s doing now. And meeting up with the Angels again will leave her very conflicted, for a whole host of reasons.
Zoe: Michael was a bit of a challenge for me for several reasons, but it was a challenge I welcomed. He’s a man in his early thirties, built like a brick house, and has more anger issues than he can rightfully deal with. Given the events of his childhood and his attitude when he was younger; this anger, this need to crush down weakness may not be wholly unwarranted. There’s also a deep sadness in him, something not unheard of by the rest of the Angels, but he seems to be the one that is most insistent on fighting that sadness. Not wallowing, or avoiding, but bashing down that inch of his being until nothing is left but the rage.
Krissy: Looking at the answers the other’s gave, it’s interesting to see them call their characters a challenge or a change of pace because they all did such a fantastic job of bringing them to life. But MY character, Harlow, was a change of pace in the type of characters I play, but definitely had some reminiscent vibes of struggles I’d had in my late teens/early twenties. Harlow (and her friends, of course) has seen some absolute SHIT that no child should ever have to face. Everyone in that group found their own ways to cope. Harlow kind of felt abandoned by them after everything, found herself spiraling, and her ways of coping are incredibly self destructive. So now that her friends are back she’s battling with how she feels. She wants very desperately to not have to face life alone, but she also partially blames these people for the state she’s in now. So they all have to figure out how to…and frankly if they want to…regain the bond they once had with one another and how to have empathy for the struggles each other have faced. With some struggles, that’s more challenging than others.
PJ: Ralph was a departure for me, and that’s why I wanted to play them. I tend to play or get asked to play the tanks, the soldiers, the himbos and I loooove doing that, but it’s nice to step away and try something different. I saw Ralph as the embodiment of trauma that creates those trolls, those dark cultures on the internet. We’ve all been forced to dig trenches in the digital pathways and we’ve been seeing more and more of what that’s like and what can be born in them. To play someone weak, emotionally shut off, smart but not wise, socially crude and awkward and a little vindictive was a good 180. I will admit it was a challenge to play Ralph because it’s easy for me to fall back on old habits and my own voice and Ralph is certainly not that. Ralph is at his core, a broken person who has no strength, no power, no agency and shuts themself away behind their computer for protection, for power, and when everyone becomes data and details, when morality is what you can get away with more than what you should do….you can be a good person, but you are now mired in bad acts. So they’re human, they’re broken and scared, and they mean well. But…
B: How did you handle character backgrounds? Did you figure out the childhood connections first and then build forward? Or was it a blend of building the child and the adult together?
Aaron: Kult: Divinity Lost relies heavily on the relationships between characters to drive its drama. Part of that is to keep players on the same page, with a common goal that moves them towards a specific story arc. To that end, pre-written scenarios always come with a tightly-wound ball of pre-generated characters, and there’s not a ton of room for personalization.
In the case of His Last Hope, the characters come with a specific archetype they need to fill, a specific dark secret they need to manifest, and a specific set of traumas that reflect past events. You can change the names or genders or physical descriptions, but certain core story details are locked in place because removing them would break some of the later narrative moments.
You could let the players come up with their own characters, but the GM would still have to take a pretty heavy-handed approach to twisting them up together so the narrative clicks. Thankfully, this group is flexible and supremely talented, so they could fill the pre-generated characters with life despite the narrative restrictions.
Vee: When Aaron asked if I wanted to play this scenario and showed me the pregens I didn’t even give anybody else a chance to pick (or, really, even see the list) before I called dibs on Gabrielle. I specifically remember saying, “Oh, I want to play Gabrielle, I have the perfect black lipstick for it.” So even though the backstories and dark secrets were already picked, we got to choose four character connections (one for each PC and then one for Thomas, the NPC) and were told to keep them a secret from the other players and let it come out organically in gameplay. We had to choose who our bestie was, who we had many conflicts with, who we were intimidated by, and who we were attracted to. It has been a blast watching those come up as we’ve continued to play!
Fun aside, Aaron had mentioned to Krissy and I that none of us had matching connections (which turned out to be a sneaky lie to mess with us!) so it really threw us for a loop when we started roleplaying one way to find certain connections lining up.
Zoe: Oh no, this is where the magic falls away! Basically Aaron had given us each the basic description of the characters. My choice came between Michael and Ralph but given that I play a tech nerd (albeit a very different one) in another game I naturally wanted something new and gravitated towards Michael. After that I got a more in depth description of our muscle bound anti-hero and from there the question was positited; who amongst the Angels was your best friend, your love interest, etc. I based this off of childhood Michael’s affections primarily but those feelings did move into adulthood. Somewhat. I also had very good reasons for each of my choices.
Krissy: With this scenario specifically we were given a choice of pre-gen characters to choose from. I chose the character of Ursula, but opted to change her name. She already had her backstory and secrets written in so I just had to add some flavor to her personality. Aaron then gave us four relationship prompts to choose from for the other characters but told us not to discuss our choices with one another. So of course that resulted in some…interesting dynamics.
PJ: Ooooh now we’re talking about sausage being made. RIP THE CURTAIN! Ok so, *looks over shoulder* heres the deets. Aaron gave us some information about the different characters, basic stuff to fill the space, archetypal, but it was meant to be only a beginning to ensure that we would have very different starting points for our character creation. Michael was a big buff fighter boy, and I felt at the time that I play big fighty guys that rush head first into the problem, big hero types. I play someone like that in a way on another project. So I wanted to try the nerdy tech dev. From there we secretly decided our connections to the other characters, which was fascinating to play with when we have these informed roleplay choices with others that we can’t outright say. We created the personalities loosely off of the prompts and then made them our own as we continued. We each had a dark secret too that I can’t wait to see how those all play out!
B: At the risk of a slight spoiler, you had a chance to visit and play your characters as children. How did that feel in the moment and how did it affect playing the adult version of your character?
Vee: I thought it was a blast, to be honest. Gabrielle’s strength as an adult comes from keeping everybody at arm’s length, but her strength as a kid comes from being a badass in the eyes of her friends. I really wanted to show that she was genuinely strong and brave (and a little hotheaded) as a kid because it gave me the chance to show how she’s changed since then, and as we’ve gone through the scenario and seen the things that have torn her down it’s been really neat to play with those experiences and how all of that has changed her.
Zoe: I can’t remember where I made this cheeky aside but I said “Yay. Now I get to play Michael when he still had a sense of wonderment and joy.” Younger Michael truly was a darling to play, in his mind he was everything he had ever aspired to be; he would protect his friends through any troubles or misfortunes. Older Michael still has those same values but it is buried under layers and layers of this false persona he’s built up. As for affecting how older Michael was played? Not really. I had a pretty good sense of who he was. Young Michael was just a treat, that little bit of icing on top. Though if the two versions of him could meet I think it would do the older version some good. Remind him of his values and where he came from.
Krissy: I think that was the most intimidating part for me. I don’t really remember much of my own childhood so trying to remember what kind of emotional maturity I had at like…12…was a struggle for me. I personally think my character comes off younger but that works I suppose. The adult character is supposed to have mental struggles that I TRIED to hint at growing inside Harlow as a kid, without making it too loud or blatant. I’m unsure of how well I succeeded but we all do our best.
PJ: Oh its the beginning of a Super Villain, for sure. Really though, it was a Boomerang. Boomerang Building I think is a genius way to create something. Going back and forth with what they are, what they will become and how both inform the other. I had a loose idea too about Ralph, the big bullet points but getting to connect the dots in action made total sense.
B: For a scenario as intense as His Last Hope, and in fact for a game like Kult: Divinity Lost, safety tools must play an important part. What safety tools do you have in place, and what sort of before and after care goes on for each recording session?
Aaron: So, I’ll tackle this in two parts. With regard to safety tools, the most important tool in our arsenal is mutual trust. The players trust me to be honest with them about sensitive or intense topics, respect their boundaries, and keep a finger on the pulse of the table when the really rough stuff crops up. When it comes to horror gaming, I tell players the goal is to be “comfortably uncomfortable.” We want to go right up to someone’s limits, but not a single step further.
In addition, we use three specific tools for every game. First, there are the nine “core” safety rolls from [Monte Cook Games’] Consent in Gaming by Sean K. Reynolds and Shanna Germain. The whole book is an excellent resource for people looking for a place to start on safe, respectful gaming, but the first chapter lays out some great first principles.
Second, we make a content warning checklist part of every session zero. You can find plenty of free, public examples on the Internet, but we’ve built something more specific and granular for internal use at Queen’s Court Games. For a given list of thirty-ish potentially triggering topics we ask how comfortable a player would be if this content appeared in the game, if their character witnessed this content, if their character was subjected to this content, or if their character personally acted out this content. If anyone in the game says, “I don’t want to see X in the game,” we don’t put X in the game. The other questions let me fine-tune the scenario, shift things around so no one has to face something that makes them feel unsafe, but can still participate up to their level of comfort.
Third, once we’re in the game we use Script Change by Brie Sheldon. Every player has five cards, like the buttons on a DVD player. Pause a scene that’s getting too intense, stop a scene that’s crossed a line, fast-forward a scene when you want to fade to black. Players can invoke a card verbally, hold it up on camera if we’re streaming, or display it using our virtual tabletop.
With regard to pre- and post-game care, we start every session with a mental check-in. How are you feeling today? Are you in a place where you can take on the things we’ll be talking about? There’s a lot of pressure in the actual play world to always be hitting scheduling metrics and release dates: we don’t do that here. There is no “The show must go on!” I’d rather go a month without releasing anything than force a player to risk their mental health. If anyone is feeling even the slightest bit unprepared, we call off the game and that’s it. No judgment. No questions.
After the game, we revisit that check-in and address any specific safety-issues that came up, double-check that we’re all still on the right side of everyone’s lines. We also make a point to go around the table, pointing out all the ways people were absolute rock star role players. Everyone picks something every other player did that they thought was awesome, and we just fill the room with as much positive energy as possible.
Vee: Aaron has said everything that I would touch on myself, so I’ll take this time to reiterate that this game is only as successful as it is because I fully trust the people at the table, and these tools that we’ve put in place at QCG are a big part of that. The check-ins we perform before the game begins and the ones we’re constantly doing in our side chat are super important as we get into heavier topics. I also believe that our post-game wind down where we all check in with one-another and then shift to something lighthearted once everybody’s gotten everything off their chest has been invaluable to getting back to a good headspace after such difficult content.
There are a couple scenes in the game that passed the broad content warning checklist but, because they were going to be directly affecting us (Gabrielle has a couple of them) Aaron messaged us privately to talk about them. He felt they pushed the envelope a bit farther than we may have been comfortable with and didn’t want us to be blindsided by something we weren’t prepared to roleplay through. For something like KULT, this level of care is absolutely, 100% necessary.
PJ: Aaron and the rest of the players do a great job checking in, making sure we’re all feeling ok with the themes and events. We always extend support for awesome roleplay everyone does. Our tools to protect ourselves if we need to are always present and able to be used so it creates this energy that if we cannot or want to handle something it’s always safe. It’s been one of the most positive spaces because of this.
Zoe: We do actually take quite good care of each other which is really nice. There are check-ins before and after the session. Sometimes there are mid-session check-ins as well. As for tools at our disposal there are some cards that we flash if we want a scene to stop or move along. I think we all realize that we are there for one another and can firmly dissociate between the characters and their actors so anything said in character is not taken out of it. But, like cool bros, we still like to make that clear to one another after the session has ended.
Krissy: I think the most important part about playing games like this is making sure you TRUST the people you’re playing with. I would not feel safe handling some of these topics if I were at a table with complete strangers. Granted I wasn’t OVERLY familiar with PJ or Zoe but I knew and trusted Aaron and Vee, and got to know Zoe and PJ quickly enough and they’re amazing. So that trust in each other is the most important thing to me personally. But the group made sure to implement a strong core of safety features. We were given content warnings about the scenario before we even started, and reminded about them repeatedly, Aaron reached out to several of us individually about certain topics our characters might face to get an idea of boundaries we might have. We have the stop/pause/fast forward/rewind safety tool in Roll 20 that we spent a good chunk of zero going over and making sure we all knew how to use, a pre and post session mental health check in is often done, and then those of us who CAN usually stick around on call and just wind down together, which is nice after some intensity.
B: At the time of this interview, sessions one and two have aired, with session three coming up this Thursday. Without giving too much away, what do you think your best outcome could be?
Aaron: I think I’m going to have to keep my cards held close on this one. “Best” is very, very subjective, and I don’t want to say anything that would have the players second-guessing themselves.
Vee: You said it yourself on Twitter, Brent – we all get puppies or kitties! In all seriousness though, I want Gabrielle to learn that some things were always going to be out of her control and that, even though it’s hard, she can’t take responsibility for other people’s actions. I want her to forgive herself.
PJ: Best Outcome. Ralph becomes a god. Omnipotent and weird. It’s the worst outcome you gotta prepare for!
Zoe: Best outcome? I guess if Michael came to terms with what has happened and he works towards bettering himself. It also wouldn’t hurt for him to understand that there are people that care about him, and are there for him. But also… running around in a warped dimension beating up evil things ala Doomguy would also be a great outcome for him. Or just having his truck magically repaired.
Krissy: Having never played this game and being unsure of where it’s leading, it’s really hard to say what outcomes are even possible, but I think the friend group somehow reconciling their trauma and coming back together would be a good one.
B: Moving back to TTRPGs in general, what games are currently catching your eye? What do you plan to play or run soon that has you excited?
Aaron: I’m also in the process of digesting Blades in the Dark, in preparation for an ensemble-cast campaign. I like the idea of a narrative-driven heist game – Red Markets is like this, and I’m a huge fan. The fact that it’s thematically dark puts it right in my wheelhouse, and hey, it’s literally dark as well! Bonus! No details at this point, but if any of your readers have good house rules or setting hacks, please send them my way! I’m a serial tinkerer GM.
Vee: So Aaron is currently talking pretty much nonstop about Blades in the Dark and as somebody who definitely bought the book a year ago because it sounded amazing but has never read it and also has a deep love of Dishonored I feel like it’s right up my alley! If I’m being honest, I just show up and play whatever people invite me to. Between my day job and all the art/design work I do for QCG I don’t have a ton of time to look for shiny new things – I let Aaron do that for me!
PJ: Oh man, so many. Too many. I’ve been streaming a lot of PF2e and would love to play in a long form campaign of it. Any of the newer Cthulu games are also right up my alley. I want to play them all, Blades in the Dark, VtM 5e, Deadlands, Starfinder, more PBTA systems.
Zoe: I hesitate so hard to dive into this because it’s a whole can of worms for me. I am looking forward to the Transformers TRPG the most. It’s not even out yet, I have no idea how the system is going to be, but I am waiting anxiously for this thing to actually ship out to me so I can get that new book smell and really dive into running a Transformers game. I have so many ideas.
Krissy: Last year I backed a 2 person RPG call Follow Me Down on kickstarter and I am VERY excited for when it finally releases. I am a big Mythology nerd at heart. I also have a lot of love for Call of Cthulhu, and I’ve played some of it but would love to try more. Also space horror like Mothership or Alien? PLEASE.
B: Any upcoming projects you’re working on that you can talk about? What will we see next?
Aaron: Well, if you like Kult, good news! I’ll be running Downfall, another pre-written scenario from the Screams and Whispers source-book, and then an original work based on the psychological pitfalls of the “influencer” lifestyle. Those should be out in May and June, respectively.
Vee: Currently, I’m working on a character for a streamed Vampire: The Masquerade chronicle and a Kenku Swashbuckler for Tales of the Astral Sea, which is a streamed Spelljammer campaign that I swear Josh has been working on since before the Spelljammer 5e announcement. Both of these will be coming to our Twitch channel Soon™.
PJ: There are some surprises on the horizon, nothing I can get into yet but keep your ears open…
Zoe: Ooooo. I don’t want to really reveal too much but I am working on a couple of projects that I am wholeheartedly excited for. Let’s just say I get to dress up as a bard and we’re not talking about the Dungeons and Dragons variety. Though they are uncannily related.
Krissy: I can’t say too much but for those of you who like my Necromancy bard Octavia, lets just say it’s looking like you might be seeing more of her this fall. Also, I’m working on something interesting with my friends Amber and Allie…I’m kind of known for reading a lot of fantasy smut and being loud about my opinions on it, so the 3 of us are working on a book club podcast to “review” some of the filth we read. We’re planning that out pretty heavily so hopefully it’s coming soon. Also I’m HOPING *stares pointedly at Aaron* you will see me in more Kult stuff with Queens Court Games. I also have some fun stuff coming out with Kerri Smith on her Youtube channel in the next couple of months.
B: Thanks again for taking the time to talk with me! Where can folks find you and your work?
Aaron: No, sir, thank you! You’ve been an absolute delight. And you, too, dear reader who made it all the way to the end of this interview! We’re on Twitter, @QueensCourtRPG, and you can find our live games on Twitch and YouTube at Queens Court Games. We also publish The All Night Society, a Vampire: The Masquerade chronicle – find that on your favorite podcast app. Oh! And One Shots and Other Mischief, also a podcast, for all your single-serving adventure needs.
If you check out our work and like what we do, consider subscribing to us on Patreon. Our patrons get access to bonus art, exclusive games, and an invitation to play in private games with our cast and GMs.
As for me, I’m @aaroninwords on Twitter. Follow me if you like getting snapshots of interesting rules and mechanics from my favorite games, or want to read someone quietly lamenting being a writer.
Vee: Thank you so much for the questions, Brent, this has been great! @QueensCourtRPG is our main social media account, though we’re on Facebook/Instagram/YouTube/Twitch/Patreon as @QueensCourtGames, but Aaron’s said all of that already.
You can hear me voicing the lovely Tremere with an endearing vocal fry, Ivy LaRoux, in The All Night Society, our Vampire: the Masquerade podcast. And if you’re looking to keep up with me, personally, on Twitter either because you want to see the art I make in my spare time or a lot of VtM-related posts (read: memes), I’m @VeeIsForVampire. Because, well… I’m Vee. And I love vampires.
PJ: Thank you so much! It’s an honor to be interviewed! And I hope those reading this interview enjoyed it. You can find me in some awesome role play projects here on Queens Court Games. You can also find my channel, Nat20Productions (Twitter: Nat20Productions, IG: Nat20Productions) all over the internet! You can watch our 2 live shows a week; Wayward Arcadium, a college for adventurers show Monday, and Edge of Legend an epic fantasy adventure on Wednesday 8-11pm PST on: Twitch.tv/nat20productionsofficial and youtube/Nat20Prods for the VOD’s of all our shows and events.You can find ME all over the internet as pj.megaw (or without the dot on twitter) and we can just chat about silly things, ttrpgs, whatever. I’m also on Wes_IRL dnd show called Yeet4Initiative on Friday nights at 6pm PST on twitch as well. Hope to see ya around there!
Zoe: I’ll be honest I was so excited when I heard that we were getting an interview, beside myself even, so thank you for taking the time to get in contact and hear us out. You can hear my voice in The All Night Society as the loveable Nosferatu; Schmendrick. As well there are several One Shots and Other Mischief productions that I’m acting in coming up through Queens Court Games media.
In addition to what Aaron has mentioned about @QueensCourtRPG you can find me on twitter as @Zoetrooper. Don’t be shy and feel free to swing by any time.
Krissy: No, thank you! This was a delight! The best place to keep in touch with me is over on twitter @KrissyInColor , this is also my tiktok and my twitch. Although when it comes to twitch I’m on other people’s channels more often than my own, like Bards & Brews (where you can find me on Wednesdays for Sins of the Mother, the second sunday of every month for Far Horizons, and soon every other Friday for Cracked Foundations). My face sometimes pops up on the Queens Court Games, TheSpaceJamber, and the Roll Together channels as well. Soon you’ll see me on Kerri Smith’s youtube. Basically I am popping up in a lot of places and the best place to keep track of where to see me and when is on my twitter. Thanks so much again!
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At the time of this interview the first two parts of His Last Hope have aired and you can catch up on those over at Queen’s Court Games on YouTube. Then you’ll be all set to watch the finale this Thursday at 7pm EST on Twitch. Trust me, this is one show you don’t want to miss!
Thanks again to the cast for talking with me and answering my questions. If you know of an Actual Play I should watch and/or talk to, please reach out here or on Twitter (@DorklordCanada or @TheRatHoleDOTca). Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to pop some popcorn and find my comfiest hugging blanket before Thursday. Later!
You can find Queen’s Court Games online at queenscourt.games or on Facebook at facebook.com/QueensCourtGames.
You can learn more about Helmgast’s Kult: Divinity Lost online at kultdivinitylost.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/kultdivinitylost.
