Killing a god and finding a friend at the end of the world

BlackwaterDND’s Godkiller: Oblivion is an intimate audio actual play about two Godkillers who find themselves at the center of an apocalyptic prophecy. Facilitated and edited by Em Carlson, Oblivion uses Connie Chang’s duet game Godkiller to explore the obligations we have to our world, each other, and ourselves when pitted against enemies that seem insurmountably powerful. 

The show’s setting is the Cradle, a fantasy world where the gods walk among the living, receiving power from their devotees and dispensing magic to followers they deem worthy. As mortals begin to source power by other means, the gods begin to dwindle and die, and discover that murdering each other brings “power and magic and pleasure.” Mortals live within a handful of city states ruled by the remaining deities, and struggle for resources as their world dies around them.

Godkiller: Oblivion follows Inanis, a traveling collector (Jannes Wessels; BlackwaterDND) and Plenus (Christian Navarro; Critical Role, 13 Reasons Why) a member of a secret order dedicated to finding the two souls who will bring and end to this world and usher in the next. 

"I wanted to show that everything is fallible. I wanted to show that there is beauty in things ending and the beauty in things falling apart."

Immersively sound designed, Oblivion is an example of intentional, original actual play storytelling. The first two games of the series are mirrors of one another, as Oblivion replicates the same story beats for these two men who are complementary parts of a single Godkiller. Their player choices differentiate the sessions, and their consequences highlight something unique about tabletop games and AP as a medium: even with the same fundamental structure, if creative agency and collaboration are prioritized, no two stories will ever be the same.

The eleven-episode series was a winner of the 2024 CROWN Grant from Queen’s Court Games, and was nominated at a number of festivals on the Audio Fiction World Cup circuit, winning Best Ensemble Cast at the LA Webfest. They are currently in production for a second season, which will be a prequel set 50 years before the events of season one. It already has an ominous tagline: “They're not the Godkiller, but that doesn't mean they're not going to try.”

Rascal sat down with the cast of Godkiller: Oblivion to discuss agency in actual play, trust and intimacy at the table, and returning balance to an uneven power dynamic—both in games and in the real world. 

This interview has been edited for clarity, length, and flow.