Zombies are nothing new to fantasy tabletop roleplay games, but it’s rare to see a fantasy setting so devastated by a zombie outbreak. Bitten. The program uses the campaign slot. dagger heart Created by Jonny aka TalkingXP (he/him), the showrunner and storyteller of the series. Viewers can expect a complete, unedited playthrough of the game, with fun banter and standout moments that don’t overshadow the story. Watching it feels like a group of friends sitting around a table and telling stories together. Bitten star player Daniel (he/him), Kujo (he/him), kelly (she/her), grassland (she/they), and mere (she/her). I talked to Johnny About his next season, which will premiere on June 9th YouTube.
Panda: How would you describe this show to someone hearing about it for the first time? Bitten?
Johnny:If you like The Last of Us, This is something like that, but in a fantasy setting. That’s what I’m telling you. Dramatic, funny, and sad. It’s like a road trip zombie apocalypse story. If I were to get anyone involved, I would say that the political party they are in now is looking for a cure 20 years after the beginning of this apocalypse, and they are getting pretty close. There are tremendous barriers between where they are and how they can get treatment.
Panda: It seems like a unique attempt at combining zombies and fantasy.
Johnny: There aren’t that many media outlets that actually do that. outside game of thrones Although similar to the White Walkers in that they are a corrupting force, the White Walkers have a lot of intelligence that we don’t often see in our stories. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t inspired by that. Actually, I was thinking of doing this in D&D before. dagger heart It came out around the time I was thinking of starting this campaign. Learn how the system works and how flexible it is. This is exactly what is needed. I really like the fantasy genre in general, so why not add zombies to it and see what happens?
Panda: do you say Bitten Does it cover similar themes to other apocalyptic media?
Johnny: The first episode is really shocking, there’s a lot of loss that everyone goes through, and I think that sets the tone for the rest of the campaign. To know how much everyone has lost in this apocalypse, and how much can be gained with a glimmer of hope afterward. This whole story is very focused on that loneliness and loss, but also on the flicker of flame in the darkness. You have a small chance for hope and dramatic change, and they all catch it and chase it right away. That was the end of season one. They discovered the therapeutic potential and are now pursuing it.
Panda: you said dagger heart It’s very attractive, but what about this setting? Did you encounter any challenges?
Johnny: I was planning on doing this in D&D, but one thing I always had a problem with was how to make the bite mechanic work. In D&D, we have a constitution aside from things like armor class, but there’s no way to express being bitten and disoriented. Daggerheart has a nice armor system as you can reduce the number of health points you mark based on the best armor for zombie bites. You can mark your armor as much as you like. So if you have 5 slots and need to remove 2 of them, the next slot will only have 3 and so on until you run out of armor. This perfectly sums up how dangerous bites are and how important it is to wear armor and prevent bites.
was playing dagger heart During the beta, I really liked the hope and fear mechanic and how it changes the outcome of a roll. The story always changes with each roll. Even if it means everything is going well, you will eventually reach a stage where success comes at a price. When I say, “Yeah, I’m going to go through fear for this,” I can bring absolute fear into the players. It’s so fun to have a really important moment in the story and say, “Okay, let’s turn this up to 11. Let’s see how bad it really is.”
Panda: As we approach Season 3, what are your plans for doing the following? Bitten Split into multiple seasons?
Johnny: I originally pitched this as, “Hey, do you want to start with 10 episodes?” dagger heart Since my birthday is coming up, I’m planning to do 10 episodes. Of course, players create these great stories, but we have to dig deeper into them. We’re almost halfway through our 10-session plan for Season 3. The story I had in my head was about some journey encounters, getting to this place, moving on to the next one, and ending up at the end. It’s fine right away, and the move takes about a day per session, and a week in game time.
This cast creates such good tension and story between each other that it couldn’t be rushed. I wasn’t going to stop and say, “Let’s finish this most heartfelt moment. Let’s honor it and move on.” I create the world, but they tell the story. They show the gravity of the conflict unfolding before our eyes. I’m never going to rush them into anything because the money is there. It was very good and more than I expected. I give myself some leeway and let the story unfold naturally.
Bitten Season 3 will premiere on YouTube on June 9th at 5pm PT.
Image provided by: TalkingXP
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