Making Improvements Over Time (Progress on My RPG-Inspired Audio Stories)

Back in February I started doing something a little different in terms of producing content. I've been a lifelong enjoyer of audio dramas and audio books, so I wanted to toss my hat into that arena while still staying firmly within my pond as an RPG writer. Not wanting to get too ambitious right out of the gate, I thought I'd turn the intro fiction in several of my recent RPG releases into audio dramas that might get folks interested in the products they came from!

As with anything else, you never start off being the best. But looking back on what I've learned the past few months, I can definitely see the difference.

Well, hear it. You know what I mean!

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Theater of The Mind

The first piece that I dramatized way back in February came from the supplement 100 Resources and Rumors to Find on SchreckNet. Though it didn't have an official title in the supplement, I tend to think of it as Missed Connections, as we have a Nosferatu attempting to arrange a rendezvous with a contact via the network. While the result wasn't bad (I don't think) it does have a rawness to it, and it comes across a little flat.

Still, not bad for all that.

Over the past few months I've made 8 such audios, taken from both my Cities of Sundara series, as well as other World of Darkness supplements like 100 Hobs to Meet in The Hedge, 100 Mourning Cant Dialects, Phrases, and Meanings, and most recently 100 Gateways Into (And Out Of) The Hedge. While I did acquire a new mic since I made the first video, I also started figuring out editing tricks, returning to old places where I used to get foley sounds, and watching tutorials from other creators on how they make their audios more unique and engaging.

And this is where I'm at now.

While this isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I'm trying to improve one thing per video. Whether that's finally figuring out normalization settings (which is what I did with this piece), fine-tuning voice editing effects, trying out new tricks on creating monster voices (I have something planned for that when I do the story from Hoardreach), or even using a totally different recording program so viewers don't have to deal with that ugly and distracting watermark, I'm sticking with my one-thing-per-video rule.

I have half a dozen more of these to put together going forward, and they're going to be from both older supplements, and upcoming ones. If this is something you'd like to see more of, the head over to the Azukail Games YouTube channel, watch more, and subscribe while you're there! It takes 1k subscribers and 4k hours of watched content in the past year (which is 11.5 hours per day, for those who like numbers), so we're going to need all the help we can get if we're going to pull that off!

Lastly, if you have any particular stories you'd like to see me tell in this audio format, or if you'd like to see me do longer videos with more involved tales (I have kicked around the possibility of doing an audio rendition for Devil's Night, as an example), leave a comment below and let me hear your thoughts!

And for anyone else running a podcast, making videos, etc., I highly recommend Tabletop Audio! If you haven't checked them out yet, and you're working on a small to nonexistent budget, you really need to give them a look.

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That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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