The Glass Cannon Network started as a Pathfinder actual-play podcast starring five über-nerds making their way through the Pathfinder Adventure Path Giantslayer in a campaign that spans from the Holds of Belkzen to the Mindspin Mountains and beyond. Dramedy abounds as the Player Characters are pitted against the impending giant invasion, and the players against a sadistic Game Master with a dark and dirty sense of humor. All the shows on the network are notable departures from other prominent entries in the actual-play genre in their emphasis of, and adherence to, the mantra of Anyone Can Die.
The network now includes several shows, including a Starfinder podcast called Androids and Aliens that features additional cast members.
Troy Lavallee is the Game Master for the main show and Androids and Aliens, and plays in Raiders of the Lost Continent and Echo Quest Super Dungeon. The others include:
-Grant Berger: Barron Redheart Ashpeake, Orfas Norkim, and Adrial Ashpeake on GCP, Meisyun Vanya and Quallo Misatro on Androids and Aliens;
-Joe O'Brien: Lorc Irontusk, Sir Willimet Keswick, Four Bears, and Dalgrath Deathbringer on GCP, Dax on Androids and Aliens, and is the Game Master of Echo Quest Super Dungeon;
-Matthew Capodicasa: Gormleith Kall, Della Narn, Fairasa al Sayed, and Metra Narn on GCP, Krezka on Androids and Aliens;
-Skid Maher: Gelabrous Finn, Nestor Coyne, Pembroke the Potent, and Jimmer Hardy on GCP, Dr. Friss on Androids and Aliens, and is the Game Master of Raiders of the Lost Continent.
-Elli Dilorenzo: Mac Donovan and Pigi on Androids and Aliens;
-Sydney Amanuel: Callum on Androids and Aliens.
'The Glass Cannon Network' contains examples of:
- The Ace: Barron specifically, Grant more generally. Whether or not he's cheating somehow is occasionally mentioned.
- Ax-Crazy: Razzmatazz, played completely for laughs.
- Anyone Can Die: Gormleith, Lorc (twice!), Della, Mac, Four Bears, Pembroke, Fairasa, Meisyun... and that's just PCs!
- Be Careful What You Wish For: On Androids and Aliens, the players successfully browbeat Troy into letting them attend an Eoxian Halloween party that Troy had jokingly mentioned in passing, assuming it would be an amusing farce (Matthew later mentions having Monster Mash cued up). Instead, they were treated to an entire episode of
Nightmare Fuel. In their defense, Eox had largely been Played for Laughs up to that point, leading to significant justified Mood Whiplash. - Blood Knight: Orfas.
- Bloody Hilarious: the violent death of Razzmatazz is played completely, and successfully, for laughs.
- Blood Magic: Della uses infernal healing commonly, and eventually attempts to steal a spell from a deceased enemy spellcaster by drinking a pint of his blood.
- Pembroke isn't above infernal healing either, though he uses it much more sparingly.
- Body Horror: there's a fair bit in Giantslayer... special mention to the death and reanimation of Orfas. Brandyr as well, once he incorporates parts of Della's corpse into his own body.
- Breakout Character: Tom Exposition and Razzmatazz, both of whom now have downloadable sound sets on Syrinscape.
- The Bus Came Back: Nestor returns in GCP 243 The Return of the Queen, prisoner in a giant camp. he helps the party escape and returns Barron's long-lost gun Della, with some upgrades.
- Butt-Monkey: Umlo in universe. On Androids and Aliens, Pigi.
- Around the table its Joe, who has a reputation for critical fumbles at climactic moments.
- Because of this, on Androids and Aliens, Dax—he's an alleged "ace pilot" who is often outflown by opponents and is even occasionally benched in favor of the ship's doctor, who, hilariously enough, appears to be a superior pilot.
- On Androids and Aliens, Elli has quickly become Troy's favorite punching bag.
- Around the table its Joe, who has a reputation for critical fumbles at climactic moments.
- The Chessmaster: Brandyr, as his influence continues to be revealed.
- The Chosen One: subverted. Fairasa came from Osiria on a quest to find the chosen one, only to find that the chosen one in question was murdered as a teenager by Lorc. Later played straighter when it turns out that the true chosen one is a version of Gelabrous.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Occassionally, but Androids and Aliens 80: Slow Drama from the Drain gets a special mention for epic expletive chains from Elli, Joe, and Skid.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Beary Connick Jr. and Beary Connick Senior.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: eventually, Nestor murders Umlo, steals some loot, and leaves the group.
- Fan Boy: Pembroke to Dalgrath, to the consternation of the other players/characters.
- Heroic Sacrifice: from Androids and Aliens, Mac, who dies with Unfinished Business.
- I Call It "Vera": several: Barron has Lawbringer and Della, Nestor has Ol' Jolter, and Jimmer has Terminus Est.
- Insufferable Genius: Young Pembroke.
- From Androids and Aliens, Allbiens 21:2.
- Jack of All Trades: Umlo ends up multiclassed as a figher/rogue/barbarian/cleric, much to Troy's irritation.
- "You are making a mockery of this game."
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Della slides further and further down a dark path and eventually is ruled evil aligned by Troy. She dies before achieving any redemption, which she didn't seem to think she needed anyway.
- Kick the Dog: Umlo is killed in battle and resurrected by Brandyr, only to be killed again later that night by Nestor. Troy later revealed that the resurrection spell was merely a false life spell anyway.
- Also the death of Beary Connick Jr..
- Also a quote from Troy, the episode after the death of Four Bears: [discussion of IKEA ends] Speaking of things that are poorly made and break way too fast...
- Although everyone got in on it, special mention to Troy for his behavior towards Elli during the death of Tumsey and its aftermath.
- Killer Game Master: Troy has his moments, including pointedly noting he's turning power attack back on even when he knows this could result in a player character's death.
- Legacy Character: Done in reverse, with Matthew currently playing Metra Narn, Della's mother.
- Played straight on Androids and Aliens, where Elli's new character is Mac's daughter.
- Line-of-Sight Name: Figimon is an abbreviation for how the moments-ago-generic character appeared on the map.
- Nausea Fuel: Originally Quallo's schtick before Character Development.
- Never My Fault: Wil refuses to take any responsibility for his fall from grace, blaming Della for her use of infernal magic instead of acknowledging his role in the situation.
- Off with His Head!: A near miss with Lorc, during the first encounter with Ingrahild.
- One-Scene Wonder: Troy excels at these, including JJ the tree, Mama Fats, the beetle spies, Barry Broadfinger, Mary Beardchin.
- Put on a Bus: Gelabrous is hit with a feeblemind spell and taken out of the action. Wil and Nestor also leave the party without dying.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: Dax, per standard Starfinder rules.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Matthew and Grant around the table.
- Sixth Ranger: Sydney arrives in Androids and Aliens 96 Daughter's Ship Down, with a new character named Callum.
- Stable Time Loop: Lorc is helping create one after being reincarnated as Silvermane, including setting up the Vault of Thorns.
- Swallowed Whole: multiple incidents, including Gelabrous and Della.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Joe, as Four Bears, decides to make a stealth check and fails spectacularly:
- Skid, out of character: Umm, would you like an invisibility spell or something?
- Joe: I think it's a little late for that, Skid.
- Troy, devilishly: Oh, it is.
- Token Evil Teammate: Nestor Coyne. Eventually Della fits this too, though the situation is more ambiguous.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Della, after the incapacitation of Gelabrous and the influence of Nestor.
- Unusual Euphemism: HUMMUS AND CHIPS!!
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Troy and Joe around the table; Troy specifically goes out of his way to antagonize him.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Four Bears, who dies shortly after his introduction.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: defied by Barron, who summarily executes Skreed when he tries to escape.
