Some Place to Be Starts its Second Season by Switching Systems

Tabletop role-playing game characters are shaped by the game they are created in. Playbooks, classes, etc., if there are any, give them a selection of options that are special to them, things they can do, traits or stats to describe them. The world they inhabit is shaped by the mechanics of the system they move in. What happens when these characters move from one set of rules into another? This is the question the actual play podcast Some Place to Be is focused on exploring.

In Season One, characters were created in the social drama detective game We Used to Be Friends by Jonathan Lavallee (Firestorm Ink). Together in the introductory episode, the cast of Some Place to Be build a sleepy seaside New England college town full of gossip and secrets. Instead of a utilizing the more traditional game master-player divide, the cast members work together in a especially collaborative mode with players taking turns inhabiting nonplayer characters guided by a facilitator.

Season Two takes this formula and iterates on it by turning the college students and dropout player characters of the first season and turning them into young ambitious members of a faerie court. Switching from a game using the "Powered by the Apocalypse" framework to the "No Dice No Masters" game Butterfly Court by Misha Grifka Wander. The player characters are still dealing with gossip and secrets of course, just now with heighted stakes.

About the Show

Some Place to Be is an actual play podcast dedicated to exploring how mechanics inform character and celebrating games by indie designers. Our story follows a group of young adults living in a small town full of mysteries to solve. They'll end up stumbling into something that transforms their reality into something different over and over again while only the main characters seem to notice. With each evolution of the town, we switch to a new game system and explore how this changes our characters. Featuring an all queer cast of rotating GMs.

About Season 1

In a small college, everyone knows everyone. In a small college in a small town, this is even worse. When an anonymous third party starts sharing everyone's secrets, even a sleepy college town like Puddingstone has its share of mysteries to solve.

About Season 2

In the shelter of an otherworldy mangrove forest—turned bustling fae city, a flamboyant group of nobles squabble for status. The Queen is in need of a match, a folk hero thief has been stirring up trouble, and a dark prophecy foretells of a coming meteor shower.
Waking up in a realm both familiar and unfamiliar, our characters are faced with balancing noble duties against the vivid memories of life in a small college town. Even here, secrets aren't kept for long. Some things never change.

About the Cast

Avis Nam is played by Josephine. You can find Josephine on twitter at @scarydogfriend and you can find her producing on Nameless Domain and BadHouseRPG. Maeve Monroe is played by Siobhan. You can find Siobhan on twitter at @spellboundmage, on cohost @Siobhan, and you can watch her video game streams on twitch.tv/runawaysorcery. Victoria Castelli is played by Cassidy, who also edits the show and website. You can find Cassidy on twitter at @madlobotanist and on cohost at @Lobotanist. Angel Perez is played by Rem, you can find her on Bluesky, Tumblr, and itch.io, all under the username remspeedwagon, as well as at remspeedwagon.carrd.co. Linus Sentra is played by Nada or Amir. You can find them at Trans_father on twitter and transfather on bluesky. El Alvarez is played by Ribby. You can find Ribby on twitter at @ribbysauce. Faiz Wirata is played by Indi, who also does music for the show. You can find Indi on twitter at @citizen_mask.

Season 2 Butterfly Court Act 0 releases on June 13th, 2024. In the meantime, Season 1 We Used to Be Friends is available in podcatchers everywhere.