History Podcast / RustyQuillGaming

* Lydia Nicholas as [[KnifeNut Sasha Rackett]], human rogue and [[spoiler: [[ForScience Celiquillithon "Cel" Sidebottom]], half-elf alchemist]].

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The series has a number of non-canon episodes where the cast and crew play one-shot campaigns from other Tabletop games and metacasts discussing the mechanics and behind the scenes elements that go into organizing the Erasing the Line campaign.

Rusty Quill Gaming is a serial Podcast series produced by [[Podcast/TheMagnusArchives Rusty Quill]] where a group of comedians, performers, actors and special guests play a bespoke [[TabletopRPG Table Top Role Playing Game]]. Using the open-sourced Pathfinder system the game takes place in an AlternateHistory version of Victorian-era London where magic, dragons and {{steampunk}} automatons roam a FantasyKitchenSink world intersected with [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Historical Domain Characters]] from the era.

See also Podcast/TheMagnusArchives, Podcast/TheStoragePapers, and Podcast/StellarFirma, three other podcasts made by Rusty Quill.

* ShipSinking: After some ShipTease between Zolf and Wilde in season 4, Ben declared that he wasn't comfortable roleplaying a romance with a HistoricalDomainCharacter, so their relationship will not become romantic.

See also Podcast/TheMagnusArchives and Podcast/StellarFirma, two other podcasts made by Rusty Quill.

** The EvilEmpire of Rome displayed major racism and propaganda against non-human races [[spoiler:as evidenced by the reactions to Grizzop in the Ancient Rome sidequest]]. In the present day, these beliefs are rejected by Meritocratic society.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Orcs, a fantasy race traditionally the focal point of UnfortunateImplications due to commonly being portrayed with similarities to African races, are native to Africa in this setting, and the stereotype of them as AlwaysChaoticEvil is propaganda from [[EvilEmpire the Roman empire]]. This maps eerily well onto how European empires used racist propaganda to dehumanize the peoples of Africa in RealLife.

** Bertie has a thing against gnomes, likely a generalization from his bad experiences with the gnome lawyers of Harkness, Harkness, Darkness & Sphinx.

* FreakyFridayFlip: In the [[spoiler:airship journey]] arc of season 4, the party ''and'' several NPCs get their souls shuffled into different bodies due to passing through an aurora of wild magic. Most of the characters actually take it remarkably well, making it more of a light breather episode than anything else, and they are able to reverse the effect by flying through another aurora a few episodes later.

** In season 4, [[spoiler:the Ursine druids of the Northern Wastes]] are revealed to have their own method of resurrection that uses the high levels of wild magic native to their region to bypass the need for material components, though it also requires journeying into the afterlife to convince the lost soul to return -- no {{Unwanted Revival}}s here. This also appears to [[CameBackStrong give resurectees a spiritual link of some sort]]. [[spoiler:The party uses this to resurrect three of the victims of the airship crash -- Wilde, Carter, and Sasra -- but Mirk refuses to return, as he's happy in the afterlife he finds himself in.]]

* CameBackStrong: Minor compared to most examples of the trope, but [[spoiler:the Ursine druids' resurrection ritual]] gives resurectees a spiritual connection with one another, as well as a stronger connection to [[spoiler:the Garden of Yerlick]].

** The metal seed found with Tesla's notebooks in the prologue is very clearly one, but it takes a ''very'' long time before we learn what it is: [[spoiler:It is a seed from the Garden of Yerlick, a holy site in the Northern Wastes, and is the secret ingredient that allows the simulacrum to act autonomously. It is also connected to the blue veins, as they are in turn a corruption of the Garden of Yerlick.]]

** After [[spoiler: the apocalypse]], former meritocratic agents such as Wilde and Saira al Tahan make unlikely alliances with the Harlequins to try to reverse [[spoiler: the infection]].

* MacGuffin: Alex explicitly refers to the ring Barrett gave Hamid as such.

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: The kraken-like thing in the English Channel briefly appears in an early episode, and is revealed in s4 to be part of the mechanism causing storms all over the world.]]

* DistantFinale: [[spoiler: Sasha gets one of these at the end of the Ancient Rome sidequest, showing her life twenty years after the fall of Rome.]]

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Inverted; the setting is an AlternateHistory Earth with familiar settings populated ''by'' fantasy cultures. Humans appear to be the predominant species in Meritocratic lands (Europe and northern Africa), while orcs are native to Africa, elves are native to the Americas, and gnomes are prominent in eastern Asia. Additionally, season 4 reveals that druids of all races make up the culture of [[spoiler:Siberia and the polar regions]].

* GenderEqualEnsemble: During the Cairo and Damascus arc, the party is half female (Azu and Sasha) and half male (Grizzop and Hamid.)

* GratuitousLaboratoryFlasks: There are several in the [[spoiler: Shoin Insitute; in fact, Shoin gifts one each to the party.]]

** 126: [[spoiler: The hostages are safe, but a year and a half has passed in the real world, and Sasha and Grizzop are trapped in Ancient Rome.]]

* BarBrawl: Bertie starts (and ends) one of theses in Prague, when trying to find somewhere to stay, and Grizzop and Azu accidentally start one of these in Cairo while looking for Sasha.
* BadassCrew: The Rangers/LOLOMG, as is typical for a Pathfinder party.

* WhamEpisode: 45: The party learns about Mr Ceiling and suddenly, many of the mysteries they've encountered in Paris come into focus — as do several huge moral decisions.
** 126: [[spoiler: The hostages are safe, but a year and a half has passed in the real world Sasha and Grizzop are trapped in Ancient Rome.]]

* EnemyMine: After [[spoiler: the apocalypse]], former meritocratic agents such as Wilde and Saira al Tahan make unlikely alliances with the Harlequins to try to reverse [[spoiler: the infection.]]

** In the season 3 finale, [[spoiler:when the Gate spell to escape from Hades is botched, Eldarion sacrifices herself to ensure the surviving characters make it out]].

* Bryn Monroe as [[RedMage Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan]], halfling sorcerer.

* SlaveLiberation: [[spoiler: In the Ancient Rome sidequest, we learn that the dragons that later became the meritocrats were once enslaved by Rome and forced to defend it, but broke free and destroyed the city.]]

* SupernaturalTeam: While the party initially starts out with only two casters, by season four, the party consists of [[spoiler: four magic users: a paladin, a sorcerer, an alchemist, and a cleric.]]
* SwitchingPOV: The 5 episode special featuring Bertie's adventures up the Alps, [[spoiler: as well as Sasha and Grizzop's adventure in Ancient Rome.]]

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility: Hamid gives this speech to his little brothers when he discovers they are also sorcerers.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The recording Studio was contaminated by Asbestos...[[InsistentTerminology Goblins]], causing a brief hiatus while the cast and crew found another venue.

* LaResistance: The Harlequins, against the Meritocrats.

** 129, in which [[spoiler: Azu and Hamid are kept in quarantine for a week.]]

* BreakingBadNewsGently: Sasha and Grizzop try to do this to Hamid when telling him about Aziza's death.
** Later, [[spoiler: Einstein does this to Azu and Hamid as he tries to explain how long they've been gone from the material plane and what's happened since.]]

* IHaveYourWife: The party all has some of their closest friends kidnapped and kept in Rome.

* InterrogationMontage: After being arrested by the Cult of Mars, Alex cuts between the interrogations of the different party members, in which Hamid yells through tears about his innocence, Grizzop laughs at the guard threatening him, and Sasha refuses to say anything.

* BoobyTrap: [[spoiler: The Shoin Institute is filled with these.]]

* GhostCity: Rome.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: All over the place! We've met people like Lord Byron, Thomas Edison, and Amelia Earhart in passing, and Fan Favorite [=NPCs=] Oscar Wilde and Albert Einstein are working with the main group.
* HiveMind: the [[spoiler: blue veins]] appears to be this.

-->'''Alex, in a heavy fake accent:''' Well, thing is, is that I only answer questions based on the results of dice rolls. It’s a way to pass the time. With that in mind, can I get a knowledge history from everyone that has it?
-->'''Grizzop:''' Thank you, sweeping man!

* {{Lockdown}}: After the [[spoiler: quarantine cage is breached in 155, the entire inn is placed in lockdown.]]
** Also, for a bit of a bit of meta-tropage, these episodes all aired during [[spoiler: the actual Covid-19 lockdown]] in the UK.

* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], particularly at the end of the Paris arc. Hamid wants to stay and save Paris from La Gourmande, but Wilde ushers them out of the city, telling them it's already been taken care of.

* NotUsedToFreedom: [[spoiler: The kobolds, after being freed, follow Hamid and expect him to be a tyrant.]]

* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: Goblins are fully sapient in this universe, with all the variety of personality and intelligence as any other race.

* ThePlague: the [[spoiler: blue veins.]]

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The recording Studio was contaminated by Asbestos...[[InsistentTerminology Goblins]] causing a brief hiatus while the cast and crew found another venue.

* RevolutionariesWhoDontDoAnything: The People's Front of Damascus.

-->'''Hamid:''' I don’t want to talk about it.

** 126: [[spoiler: The hostages are safe, but a year and a half has passed in the real world Sasha and Grizzop are trapped in Ancient Rome]]
* WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: When the party spends almost an entire episode talking to a crow, Alex makes this job.

* WriteBackToTheFuture: [[spoiler: Sasha does this.]]
* WrongGenreSavvy: Bryn mentions this when Grizzop is interrogating the Damascus Harlequins for information..