Binge-watching Titansgrave: Wil Wheaton's new live RPG show

I've just watched all three new episodes of Wil's new show, which features performers and writers playing an exhilarating RPG campaign with Wil as DM, set in a lavishly illustrated techno-primitive society.

Back in the 1980s, there was a legendary D&D game in Austin, with Bruce Sterling as dungeon master, where regular players included Steve Jackson and designers from his studio, Mike "Godwin's Law" Godwin, and many of Austin's sf/f writers. I've always wished that I could have watched that one.

Titansgrave, while different, is no less exciting. Between the expert storytelling and role-playing, the art (which is ably supplemented by fan-art from the show's viewers), and the audio-editing and foley effects, it's completely captivating.

While Titansgrave is something of a masterclass in participating in and running an RPG, the show assumes no knowledge of RPGs or games in general. There's a huge trove of background videos, as well. The cast includes Vlogbrothers' Hank Green, Big Hero 6's Yuri Lowenthal, Attack of the Show's Alison Haislip, and Laura Bailey from Avengers Assemble.

The campaign is the first ever staged in AGE, an RPG system from Seattle's Green Ronin Publishing.