FRIENDS AT THE TABLE
fan info
Official Links
Community Resources
Transcripts
Episode Transcripts
transcriptsatthetable.com (Google Sheets)
Twitter @transcript_fatt
Community-created transcripts, complete for most main season episodes. This project is officially sponsored and transcription work is paid by the cast.Search at the Table
Super useful tool for searching across all transcripts for a season at once. Created by @bryanbakedbean and maintained/updated by @sapphiclinguine.Music Transcripts
Some sheet music transcriptions have been created for the FatT soundtrack. Find them in the table below.
| Song | Transcriber | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn Not Winter | Unknown | Musescore |
| Marielda | @somebypaths | Google Drive |
| Marielda Suite | @lesbianrain | Musescore |
| High Sun Day | @capricioustube | Musescore |
| I Have Seen the Stars | Unknown | Musescore |
| Sermon of Sister Rust (tabs) | Jack de Quidt | |
| Under the Boughs | @somebypaths | Google Drive |
| TANAGER. PERFECT. TOUCHPAPER. | @somebypaths | Google Drive |
Free Bluff City
Bluff City Season 1
Season 1 of Bluff City, the $5+ tier campaign, has been made available on Patreon for free.Check the end of the description on the first episode for a download of all the Bluff City S1 episodes as a ZIP file!Bluff City s1 is also available on their Youtube! Playlist
Wikis & References
fattwiki
An independently hosted, unified wiki for all seasons of Friends at the Table.
Friends at the Table: All Games Played
A spreadsheet of all the games played on the show and related information, including one-shots and Live at the Table. Compiled by @hellavarawr.FatT Playlists Compilations
A spreadsheet of Austin's playlists for each season, the cast's character playlists, and fan-made playlists. Compiled by @joeytheprince.
Fanzines
The FatT community has organized several charity zines with print and digital runs. While not currently available as of November 2020, the Tablefriends made all the zines available for purchase as PDFs as part of a fundraising event in June 2020 and may do so again in the future.
COUNTER/Weight: A Fanzine (2016)
Zine for FatT season 2: COUNTER/Weight. Organized by @quinnHPM.
City of Light (2017) @MarieldaZine
Zine for the mini-season Marielda.
It's A Garden (2019) @tm_zine
Zine for FatT season 4, Twilight Mirage.
Who's That Big Man? (2020) @fattpinupzine
Zine of pin-up style art for characters from all seasons of FatT.
Press
INTERVIEW: The Best Mecha Anime of 2020 is a Podcast by Adam Wescott at Crunchyroll
An interview with Austin and the other Tablefriends about the anime and other influences that shaped PARTIZAN.The Power of Imagined Worlds: An interview with Austin Walker by Felan Parker at First Person Scholar (2016)
Other
@reference_table
Fan-run Twitter cataloguing media references on the show.@fatt_quotes
Hourly quotes Twitter bot.Twilight Mirage Name Generator by @ZachariahusTwilight Mirage Excerpt Generator by @shannonkao
A generator for Twilight Mirage excerpt-style names, drawing from a poetry database.
ROT13
ROT13 (rotate 13) is a simple cipher that is often used online to hide spoilers where other spoiler-hiding methods are not available. Since FatT fandom is based largely on Twitter, fans use it to tweet about new episodes. Jbj V pna'g oryvrir gur punenpgref qvq fbzrguvat fhcre pbby naq qenzngvp va guvf rcvfbqr!!rot13.com
Bare bones website that will convert text to and from ROT13.Veilfire ROT13 Decoder (Google Play) Android app that displays ROT13 for any copied text in a pop-up when turned on.
Listening Guide
"Friends at the Table is an actual play podcast about critical worldbuilding, smart characterization, and fun interaction between good friends."
Quick Start
☀️If you like fantasy, start with Marielda, a fast-paced mini-season about an eccentric group of criminals out to steal knowledge from the god-king who rules over them, in a world thrown into chaos by the conflict between gods.To start with the players systematically building out the world using map-drawing game The Quiet Year, start with Marielda 01: The City of Light pt.1. To get straight into the character introductions and action with Blades in the Dark, start with Marielda 03: The Crosstown Job.⏲️ If you like sci-fi, start with COUNTER/Weight, a season in the style of cyberpunk and mecha anime. An exiled prince, a psychic hacker, a former pop star, and a parking robot take on odd jobs together and find themselves wrapped up in struggles with robot gods, political machinations, and rampant capitalism that could ruin the galaxy forever.Start with Episode 01: I Would Like a Bribe. You can go back for the worldbuilding discussion in episode 00 later.
✨ If you want a short game as a taste test, then try Fall of Magic, a 3-episode pastoral fantasy game where magic is fading away. A town crier, a golem, a bush dog, and a swineherd set off on a journey with a mysterious Magus. The first episode is titled Live at the Table - Fall of Magic Pt 1.🍂 If you really want to start at the beginning, then try Autumn in Hieron. The first season of Hieron is a high fantasy game about a group of chosen people from very different walks of life who are sent out to investigate a threat to their hometown, and wind up caught indelibly in the machinations of the gods.Episode 00 is the worldbuilding episode, if you really want to start with the very first episode, but I don't recommend it as a start point. Episode 01: We Have Not Yet Begun To Be Pompous is a better start point, or episode 05: What's a Good Name for a Ship? if the poor audio quality in the first arc winds up being a problem for you.
Spot art by @dancynrew
Detailed Guide
What is Friends at the Table?
If you're interested in Friends at the Table, you're probably familiar with the concept of an actual-play podcast. It's a format where players record their tabletop RPG sessions in a way that keeps the audience privy to the game mechanics and player decision-making. You may be familiar with Critical Role, The Adventure Zone, or Dimension 20. FatT belongs to that same genre, but with a focus on featuring indie tabletop games and emphasizing a critical political lens. The show also features many thoughtful, dramatic, and fun queer storylines by a majority queer cast.Since the show began in 2014, FatT has released over 400 episodes between their public feed and Patreon content.The various seasons and shows that are part of Friends at the Table are as follows:
| S1 | Autumn in Hieron (2014-2015) |
| S2 | COUNTER/Weight (2015-2016) |
| • | Marielda (2016) |
| S3 | Winter in Hieron (2016-2017) |
| S4 | Twilight Mirage (2017-2018) |
| S5 | Spring in Hieron (2018-2019) |
| • | Road to PARTIZAN (2019) |
| S6 | PARTIZAN (2019-2021) |
| S7 | Sangfielle (2021-2022) |
| • | Road to PALISADE (2022) |
| S8 | PALISADE (2023) |
| Patreon | Bluff City s1, s2, s3 |
| • | Live at the Table and other one-shots, split between the Patreon and public feed) |
| Patreon | Clapcast (outtakes) |
| Patreon | Gathering Information (behind the scenes conversations with the cast) |
| Patreon | Tips at the Table (show for advice and Q&A) retired |
| Patreon | Drawing Maps (behind the scenes for Austin's GM prep) retired |
The main seasons are often grouped together based on their setting.
- Hieron refers to Autumn in Hieron, Marielda, Winter in Hieron, and Spring in Hieron, which all tell an interconnected story.
- The Divine Universe refers to COUNTER/Weight, Twilight Mirage, and PARTIZAN and PALISADE, which all take place in the same universe but separated by huge amounts of time, so those seasons are considered largely stand-alone.
- Sangfielle takes place in a new, stand-alone universe.
Here are all the possible starting points I recommend:
Autumn in Hieron
28 episodes
Dungeon World
| 🍂 | Start here if you want to start at the beginning of the show! |
| 🍂 | A post-post-apocalyptic deconstruction of the high fantasy genre |
| 🍂 | The beginning of a multi-season story about unraveling the mysteries of old gods and ancient apocalypses, balanced with the importance of day-to-day community politics |
| 🍂 | Beautiful too-human gods, singing swords, and romantic stabbing |
| 🍂 | Recommended start at Episode 01, or Episode 05 if the poor audio in the first adventure is difficult to listen to |
| 🍂 | Also okay to start with Episode 00 for people who must start from the first episode, but this can be a dry worldbuilding episode if you aren't already invested |
| 🍂 | Starting with Episode 05, the episodes alternate between the two parties (Boat Party and Ice Party). You can listen to all the Boat Party episodes first and then Ice Party, or vice-versa if you feel like you want to stick to one party at a time. |
| 🌥️ | Be warned: Audio quality isn't great throughout the season |
Marielda
14 episodes
The Quiet Year & Blades in the Dark
| ☀️ | Start here for an industrial fantasy setting and my personal pick for best starting point |
| ☀️ | A prequel to Hieron, featuring a tight-knit group of feisty criminals rebelling against a god who suppresses knowledge and controls their city with an iron fist |
| ☀️ | The shortest and fastest-paced season at 14 episodes |
| ☀️ | High-stakes heists going very wrong very spectacularly |
| ☀️ | Has some of the show's most iconic music - check out the theme song here! |
| ☀️ | Heavily features hot gay gods and their world-ruining personal drama |
| ☀️ | Start with Episode 01 for an excellent worldbuilding game played with The Quiet Year, or Episode 03 to get straight into the action with Blades in the Dark |
COUNTER/Weight
44 episodes
Mechnoir & The Sprawl
| ⏲️ | Start here for a well-paced sci-fi season in the style of cyberpunk and giant mecha anime |
| ⏲️ | A ragtag group of criminals consisting of an exiled prince, a psychic hacker, a former pop star, and a parking robot take on odd jobs together and find themselves wrapped up in a struggle that could ruin the whole galaxy |
| ⏲️ | The best found family content the show has to offer |
| ⏲️ | Devastatingly cool robot gods |
| ⏲️ | Start with Episode 01 for the first mission, come back for the worldbuilding in Episode 00 later |
| ⏲️ | Between missions there are worldbuilding episodes playing through broader faction movements. I think these episodes have some of the season's best scenes, but you can skip them if you find them too dry |
| ⏰ | Be warned: while there is an effort to feature non-binary characters and pronouns in the main cast and NPCs, they mess it up a lot in this season. This improves drastically in later seasons. |
PARTIZAN
47 episodes
Beam Saber
| 🔴 | Start here if you like space politics and/or you're interested in listening to the current season, PALISADE |
| 🔴 | In the highly stratified society of the galactic empire called the Divine Principality, prisoners, nobles, and mercenaries are all struggling to build something together despite their dramatically different views and walks of life. That thing might just be revolution. Will they succeed? |
| 🔴 | Exists in the same universe as COUNTER/Weight and Twilight Mirage, but stands on its own |
| 🔴 | The sharpest politics the show has to offer |
| 🔴 | Start with Episode 01 for the first mission, come back for the worldbuilding in Episode 00 later |
| 🔴 | Road to PARTIZAN is a series of one-shot games played to help flesh out the history and worldbuilding of PARTIZAN leading up to the beginning of the season. Check them out if you wind up loving PARTIZAN! |
| 🔴 | PALISADE is a direct sequel to PARTIZAN featuring many of the same characters |
Sangfielle
56 episodes
Heart: The City Beneath
| 🚂 | Start here if you want to listen to a full, recent, and stand-alone season |
| 🚂 | The desert plains of Sangfielle are home to living trains, old gods, strange phenomena, and the living dead. The Blackwick Group is a team of problem solvers who will brave any danger for the right price. |
| 🚂 | A fantasy horror season in a new setting. |
| 🚂 | Start with Episode 01 for the first mission, come back for the worldbuilding in Episode 00 later |
Bluff City s1
19 episodes
Many games played
| 🃏 | Start here if you want shorter interconnected games in an eccentric modern setting! |
| 🃏 | Mafiosos, superheroes, supernatural investigators, interdimensional travelers, literal aliens, and a lot of absurdly ordinary people come together to create a treacherous and colorful version of Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| 🃏 | Consists of several short games with loose continuity, which along with fast paced comedy and a modern setting makes it a good possible starting point |
| 🃏 | Start with Episode 01: A Bowling Alley, A Boxer, and A Bird Pt. 1, which was also released into the main podcast feed, and find the rest of Season 1 for free on Patreon |
| ♠️ | Be warned: the second season is on Patreon only at the $5+ tier |
This is too intimidating and I want something really short to start with
| ❓ | Start here: some recommendations for one-shots/short games if starting a whole season is too intimidating |
| ✨ | Starting with Live at the Table - Fall of Magic Pt 1, Fall of Magic is a 3 episode series set in a pastoral fantasy world where magic is fading away. A town crier, a golem, a bush dog, and a swineherd set off on a journey with a mysterious Magus. Features a compact, emotionally touching storyline with great roleplay. |
| 🏈 | Sports Are Just Numerology is a short episode made to go with Friends at the Table's Blaseball sponsorship. A star athlete and a sports robot reflect on their history and careers together. While it takes place in the PARTIZAN universe, it's a standalone episode. |
While these are the starting points I recommend, and I personally started with COUNTER/Weight when I started listening (Marielda wasn't out yet!), plenty of fans of FatT have started with other seasons and successfully gotten into the show. You might want to listen to the seasons with direct continuity in the order that they came out, but do whatever feels right to you!
More Tablefriends
Cast
Austin Walker @austin_walker
Ali Acampora @ali_west
Art Martinez-Tebbel @atebbel
Andrew "Dre" Swan @swandre3000
Keith Carberry @keithjcarberry
Jack de Quidt @notquitereal
Janine Hawkins @bleatingheart
Sylvi Bullet @sylvibullet
Nick Scratch (retired) @drevilbones
Other Active Tablefriends Projects
Run Button (Youtube)
Keith and his cousin Kylie's Let's Play channel.A More Civilized Age
A podcast about Star Wars spinoffs, starting with the Clone Wars animated series. Austin and Ali are joined by two other hosts, Rob Zacny and Natalie Watson.Jack and Kat's Livestreams (Twitch)
Video game livestreams by friend of the show @katbamkapow, frequently co-hosted with Jack de Quidt. Check out their Nancy Drew games and Sims 4 "simento mori" streams!
YoutubeShelved by Genre
A podcast about reading works of genre fiction, starting with Gene Wolfe's Shadow of the Torturer. Austin hosts with Michael and Cameron from Ranged Touch.
Other Stuff
Streamfriends (Youtube)
The old Let's Play channel from which Friends at the Table was born.Waypoint Radio
The no longer active VICE Games/Waypoint podcast about video games industry news and critical games discussion. Hosted by Austin 2016-2021.Let's Play Arctic Alive (Youtube)
Keith, Ali, and Jack play a very glitchy survival game for Run Button. Beloved fandom meme content.Emojidrome
Sylvia's completed podcast about emoji aesthetics.One Song Only
Austin, Ali, and Art's short-lived Kanye West song bracket podcast. Rest in peace.How Are You Today
Keith's short lived comedy podcast featuring most of the rest of the FatT cast.Ali's Marielda Sims Stream (Youtube)
A one-part livestream of Ali's Marielda Sims 4 house, feat. Gita Jackson and Maelgwyn's heart-print boxers.Janine's Sims 3 Stream (Youtube)
Janine and Ali's 77-part Sims 3 livestream, featuring guest appearances from other members of the FatT cast.Jack's Livestreams (Youtube)
Archives of Jack's video game livestreams. Check out the Bioshock and Hitman streams in particular!Watching Us Play: Postures and Platforms of Live Streaming
Austin's graduate paper on the culture of livestreaming. Published in the journal Surveillance & Society (2014) and available to read with open access.
Guest Appearances
Mass Effect N7 Day 2020 (Twitch)
Austin GMed a hack of Blades in the Dark called Omniblades in the Dark, created by Bioware employees, for Bioware's official Mass Effect celebration! Ali, the two voice actors of Commander Shepard, and two Bioware devs joined him as players. Game starts at the 1 hour mark on the video.Six Feats Under: Ehdrigohr
Austin, Ali, and Keith guested on a game of Ehdrigohr for long-running TTRPG podcast Six Feats Under in 2015.
☀️** If you like fantasy**, start with Marielda, a fast-paced mini-season about an eccentric group of criminals out to steal knowledge from the god-king who rules over them, in a world thrown into chaos by the conflict between gods.To start with the players systematically building out the world using map-drawing game The Quiet Year, start with Marielda 01: The City of Light pt.1. To get straight into the character introductions and action with Blades in the Dark, start with Marielda 03: The Crosstown Job.⏲️ If you like sci-fi, start with COUNTER/Weight, a season in the style of cyberpunk and mecha anime. An exiled prince, a psychic hacker, a former pop star, and a parking robot take on odd jobs together and find themselves wrapped up in struggles with robot gods, political machinations, and rampant capitalism that could ruin the galaxy forever.Start with Episode 01: I Would Like a Bribe. You can go back for the worldbuilding discussion in episode 00 later.🍂 If you really want to start at the beginning, then try Autumn in Hieron. The first season of Hieron is a high fantasy game about a group of chosen people from very different walks of life who are sent out to investigate a threat to their hometown, and wind up caught indelibly in the machinations of the gods.Episode 00 is the worldbuilding episode, if you really want to start with the very first episode, but I don't recommend it as a start point. Episode 01: We Have Not Yet Begun To Be Pompous is a better start point, or episode 05: What's a Good Name for a Ship? if the poor audio quality in the first arc winds up being a problem for you.✨ If you want a short game as a taste test, then try Fall of Magic, a 3-episode pastoral fantasy game where magic is fading away. A town crier, a golem, a bush dog, and a swineherd set off on a journey with a mysterious Magus. The first episode is titled Live at the Table - Fall of Magic Pt 1.
