These days, vampires seem to be everywhere, even deep in their New York City burrows. game master monday‘s new series “Rat City by Night”. This is the same group we interviewed for Cast Away, which is an actual Survivor-esque play. Rat City is an advanced rat society plagued by corruption and bloodsucking. Podcast features Grant Nordin (he/him) as the game master, jenna dagger (she/they), Gina Susanna (she/her), Supriya “Zoop” Agrawal (she/her), and Frederick Powers (he/him) appears as the main cast. Abby Yazzie (she/her) and kendrick smith (Any/All) tells parallel stories that converge on the main cast in the finale. I had the chance to listen to a preview of the first episode and was transported to a world as devastating as Don Bluth’s film The Secret of NIMH. I’m on the edge of my seat wanting to know more. If you like dark stories with intelligent animals, add this series to your list.
The first episode will be released on May 4, 2026, with new episodes every Monday until June 8. I sat with Rosalie MullicanThe miniseries dramaturg talks about her approach.
Rosalie Mullican
applied peer pressure [Grant];he didn’t want to use it Vampire: The Masquerade For this. Grant is particularly prone to running light mechanics systems. game master monday. Originally, when he was first conceptualizing this series, he came to me and said, “What would be more effective for this concept? Painting the city red or painting it red?” Vampire: The Masquerade?I think Paint the Town Red would work better. ” And I said, “Actually, clearly; Vampire: The Masquerade It’s built to do what you want it to do. ”
sierra “panda“
which part of Vampire: The Masquerade Does it fit the bill?
Rosie
This was in July, before he had decided on the theme for the series. He was looking for something with a perspective that could be translated into animal instincts. in paint the town redthe urge to drink blood is an emotional and social need, not a physical one. and Vampire: The Masqueradeyou have an inner beast fighting against humanity, or as we rename it, that instinct to cling to gratitude. I said to him, “I don’t want your brother to break it.” I think the starvation mechanism particularly fits that requirement.
panda
Before you started your role as a dramaturg, what impressions did you have about the role and how does it apply to actual theater?
Rosie
I didn’t really conceptualize it. I don’t come from a theater or film background. My impression is that it’s some sort of guardian of lore, viz. [Game Master] Keep the world intact. It also involves figuring out how to achieve the goal of what theme you want in the story and guiding the story from that backend.
panda
Now that you have experience in the role, how would you explain it to someone new?
Rosie
my strengths [tabletop roleplay game] Players have always strived to connect game systems and story as closely as possible. I always want to explore what game systems are made to do, rather than ignore them for the sake of the story. And a lot of what we ended up doing with Rhapsody by Night was along those lines. I helped with the worldbuilding and asked Grant guiding questions about how we wanted this to go, where we wanted it to go, and how we were going to get there. A big part of my contribution was helping the game work so that the players and Grant as GM didn’t have to. There was a moment during the recording where a player asked a question and Grant looked at me into the camera. So I could take the pressure off him. I’ve also been heavily involved in how players build their characters. Basically, I presented them with a series of options that Grant was OK with and that I handpicked. Removed many character creation options. rat city at night not typical Vampire: The Masquerade World, because they’re rats. There was a mechanical option for character creation, but we didn’t want that because it didn’t make sense for the world we were playing in or the story we wanted to tell. In the early episodes, they don’t have the Predator style, as they start the series as brand new baby vampires. We dismantled the system and put everything back together a la carte. We removed clans, Predator styles, and some discipline options. It was so many things. It seems that he has a power called “squirm” that allows him to slip through narrow spaces. Rats can already do that. You don’t need vampire powers to do that.
panda
What kind of research and resources did you seek out during your preparation?
Rosie
My research is mainly Vampire: The Masquerade We looked through the core rulebook and decided which mechanics we wanted to focus on. Grant made even more preparations, including rethinking the story Mrs. Frisbee and the NIMH mice and watching rescuers and great mouse detective; those touchstones. For me, I’m almost ready to teach the system. We’ve covered some of the tasks typically assigned to producers, such as table safety seats.
panda
How would you describe your role to someone who asks you for advice before, during, or after production?
Rosie
Pre-production makes sure everyone is on the same page. Set your goals for what kind of story you want to tell and what themes you want your story to focus on. To some extent, it serves as a lore keeper to ensure the coherence of the world. There were times when I had to speak up and say, “Hey, no, we’ve proven that bugs can’t talk. Bugs are like your pet dog or cat. You’re a mouse. Bugs are your dog or cat.” I know others don’t do this, but I ignore the GM’s rules and focus on the narration, allowing me to act both as a player at the table and as a performer of the story. I think it was episode 6 when Grant said, “I finally get it. I get why everyone loves it.” Vampire: The Masquerade” This really helped him free up that part of his brain and allow him to focus on NPCs and how the city works.
panda
Is there any post-production work for this type of role?
Rosie
It’s different now. for game master monday Specifically, we always run a major episode at the beginning of the miniseries where the rules of the system are explained to the inworld audience. In Hell’s Whale, the omniscient narrator sometimes just speaks to the audience and explains things, such as when Grant becomes a captain and explains that he lives in the seas of Hell to hunt the Hell Whale. This is part of the post-production work. Sit down and discuss the mechanics you want your audience to know beforehand. It opens up a world where you might take notes while recording things that might look cool in editing.
panda
I’ve had that thought too. It is also possible to track characters and moments that may move out of the recording order.
Rosie
Yes, we do a little bit of that. There are four player characters, as well as the characters Abby and Kendo, who I affectionately refer to as the “mouse detectives.” They are not police, but act as investigators. Episodes 1 to 5 were recorded together with the player characters. Then we sat down and we sat down with Abby and Kendo and recorded the Mouse Detective portion of every episode. Then we got everyone together for episode six.
panda
You know, I love that. Doing so will give you a broader story.
Rosie
That’s exactly why it worked so well. The player character had very tunnel vision about his own life. We were able to use Abby and Kendo’s characters to widen the scope and see the bigger picture of what’s going on in Rat City.
panda
Was there a point where the different perspectives happening at the same time made it a bit difficult?
Rosie
yes. There was one particular NPC that both groups encountered and we had to consider whether this could potentially spark a larger conspiracy. In the end, I had to take about 15-20 minutes between recording segments to make sure this was working and meshing well. We had to make sure they didn’t interact directly until the very end when everyone was together for the finals.
panda
Is there anything else people should be excited about? rat city at night?
Rosie
I’ve never seen anyone really give up. world of darkness play with clan Vampire: The Masquerade In a completely different world. I know it’s been done because certainly someone else has done it, but I’ve never seen AP do it specifically. I’m so excited to be able to do that here. Grant and I talked a little bit about wanting to see other people tell Rat City stories, or maybe even go to Cat City. Our players keep asking, “How can I make more money?” It’s incredibly flattering. All GMs and AP creators will understand how meaningful it is for players to want to continue.
game master monday is a podcast that features a myriad of different tabletop role-playing games every Monday. Get your podcasts from anywhere.
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