A Friendly Orbit

It’s 2025 baby! Welcome to the age of the Multiverse. From superhero movies to Magic the Gathering, to Ceres’ favorite narrative podcasts, everything is a multiverse now and gosh darn it we’re here to stop it. And by stop it we mean analyze the pro and cons of multiverses for an hour while pitching different stories that do multiverses the way we like it. You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www.youtube.com/@a...

Are we capable of running D&D campaigns where the fate of the world doesn’t hang in the balance? Is it a thing? Can personal motivations and small moments save the day? How? Wouldn't that be interesting? Why would you want that? Let’s find out! You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling frisky you can send us a message at ⁠ afriendlyorbit@gmail.com ⁠. Speci...

In the latest episode of Watch or Botch: Join us as we watch the first 90 minutes of a TV show and decide wether or not to watch the rest of it. This week we're boldly headed where no man..wait it's 'no one' now! Its' the future's future baby, with Star Trek the Next Generation and the future is...outdated. You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling frisky yo...

Does Theia think Firbolgs are unnecessary? Can you play a Simiah without making a Planet of the Apes reference? Are you a Dwarf, Elf, Orc, Infernis kind of party or are you the Ribbit, Simiah, Galapa, Katari party? Join us in the Workshop today for our breakdown of all 18 playable Daggerheart ancestries, plus the extra one...that is also the coolest? You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.youtube.com/@afr...

Fantasy has changed a lot. This week, Ceres and Theia rifle through the lost virtues and the important advancements of the last 50-odd years of TTRPG storytelling in an attempt to curate the best of both worlds. You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling frisky you can send us a message at ⁠ afriendlyorbit@gmail.com ⁠. Special thanks to Paul van Laar for creati...

Today we explore Daggerheart unique Domain system, an inspired design principle that produces some inspired character classes. Inspired by D&D that is. Oh well, at least we have the Seraph. You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling frisky you can send us a message at ⁠ ⁠⁠afriendlyorbit@gmail.com⁠⁠ ⁠. Special thanks to Paul van Laar for creating our tit...

Welcome Heroes, to Theia's Workshop! This is the first of a new series focused around the tabletop RPG game Daggerheart by Darrington Press. Today I'm joined by Ceres to discuss the basics of the awesome core mechanics that define this game and why you should play it! You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling frisky you can send us a message at ⁠ ⁠afriendlyo...

What makes art good? What even is art? What function does it serve? Well if we're lucky, we might answer one of those in this episode. Join Ceres, Theia and Proteus as we consider what we love about art, how we interact with it and how we pass judgement on it. This is a particularly subjective episode, so feel free to let us know your experiences with art in the comments! You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠w...

Welcome to the jungle kid. Original stories can't survive in its crowded corporate gloom. But don't worry, Thea and Ceres got three rules to help you adapt your pre-existing story into a whole new medium. You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling frisky you can send us a message at ⁠ afriendlyorbit@gmail.com ⁠. Special thanks to Paul van Laar for creating our...

Steel is the victim of sloth - the sullen implement with which glory is etched. Err, I mean - It's the second installment of our campaign recap show! This week on Secrets of Heart & Steel, we talk about the harrowing expedition our heroes took into the depths of the ruins below Vorthunum. Check out the art we made for our campaign ⁠here⁠ ! Check out the Harkonnen Arena theme, which will give y...

The scholars say that a few months ago, we started a sick-ass D&D campaign. Now we mortals recap all the cool shit we did. Join us as DM Ceres asks Theia, Neriad and Copernicus about their perspectives on the story so far, and adds some tidbits of his own. This episode we introduce our heroes and the places they hail from. Checkout the art we made for our campaign here ! You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠...

Riddle me this - can you spot an impostor when you see one? Can you tell apart your Sky High's from your Snowflames? How about your Mini Banes and your Neo Jokers? Theia has looked up a whole roster of obscure DC characters and cooked up his own zany creations to match. Now Ceres, Polaris and Ganymede need to try to guess which is which. How many can you get? Like this? You may like the guessing g...

Watch or Botch is back! Join us as we watch the first 90 minutes of a TV show and decide wether or not to watch the rest of it. This week we're headed 1000 years in the future and 25 years to the past - it's time to review the legendary Futurama! You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling frisky you can send us a message at ⁠ afriendlyorbit@gmail.com ⁠. Special...

Do you ever feel like you're not making a difference? Do you ever feel trapped by the whims of fate? No this is not a scammy infomercial, but boy do I have a tale of woe for you. Today we bravely venture into the tomb or r/rpghorrostories, and give our two cents on a DM who squanders the best players in the worst way. You can read the original story here ! You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www.youtube.com/@...

Ah! Run! Ceres is in control of the remote and he’s making us do a series on television that might actually be good! The theme? Old Sci-Fi. How old? Not that old. Well it depends on who you ask. Anyway this week it’s Firefly. Join us as we (re)-discover an old gem of a TV show and use our shiny new patent pending Watch or BotchTM framework to rate it. It’s a great time. You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www...

Wherein the lava-squid-crows come home to roost. This is the finale on our series on Kingdom! Kingdom is a game designed to inspire collaborative worldbuilding about a community and their choices. This week the citizens of Cinderhollow decide who they want to be. You can check out our progress on our Kingdom here ⁠ . Also, If you don’t know anything about Megafauna World - check out ⁠⁠⁠the series...

We return to the wild, and the wild returns to us. This is part 3 in our four part series on Kingdom, a game designed to inspire collaborative worldbuilding about a community and their choices. This week Cinderhollow faces a crossroads with dire consequences. You can check out our progress on our Kingdom here . Also, If you don’t know anything about Megafauna World - check out ⁠⁠the series where w...

Who lives in our Kingdom? This is part 2 in our four part series on Kingdom, a game designed to inspire collaborative worldbuilding about a community and their choices. This week we flesh out the factions and characters of Cinderhollow, our outpost of civilization in the wilderness of Megafauna World. You can check out our progress on our Kingdom here . Also, If you don’t know anything about Megaf...

Worldbuilding is back! Theia found out that Ben Robbins (the guy who made Microscope ) made another game called Kingdom - and the rest was history. Join us for part 1 of our four part series, as we come up with a frontier settlement in Megafauna World and decide just how many deaths to bake into the premise.  You can check out our Kingdom on this google sheet. If you don’t know anything about Mega...

Winning is fun, and so is a power fantasy - but when does the desire to win become problematic for your table? This week, acclaimed D&D gold medalists Theia & Ceres sit down to discuss how they’d beat D&D, why they think it’s actually pretty easy, and the many reasons it’s more trouble than it’s worth. You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling fris...

The finale is here! In this third installment of “Head Up Your Ass with Theia” we look at Francis Ford Coppola’s new disasterpiece Megalopolis - a film with a vision as grand as its box office losses and a message as foggy as the inside of its director’s trailer. Enjoy! You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling frisky you can send us a message at ⁠ afriendlyor...

There’s nothing like cracking a game open, drinking all the game juice and picking through the cogs and wires to figure out how it works. That’s what Ceres thinks anyway, and this week he shares his three favorite tips on game design with Theia that he’s learned over the last year. You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling frisky you can send us a message at ⁠...

Eyy it’s the conclusion! For now… Probably. We like this world we’ll probably be back soon. Anyway we played microscope and we worshipped megafauna. You know the drill. You can find the final timeline of Megafauna world here ! And you can learn more about Microscope here . You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling frisky you can send us a message at ⁠ afriendl...

It’s Microscopin' time! And we Microscoped all over the place. Get ready for ancient empires, the death of the F.E.W.P. and the more giant monster gods than you can shake a stick at. Stay tuned for part 3 next week! You can find the final timeline of Megafauna world here ! And you can learn more about Microscope here . You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling...

Theia & Ceres use a fun little game to focus in on some good ol’ fashioned collaborative worldbuilding - and end up making Godzilla-World together. Stay tuned for part 2 next week! You can find the final timeline of Megafauna world here ! And you can learn more about Microscope here . You can find us at ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠www.youtube.com/@afriendlyorbit⁠⁠⁠⁠ . If you're feeling frisky you can send us a messa...