Line #41 Podcast/RustyQuillGaming


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rustyquillgaming.jpg]]
2	->''"He's a monster and a psychopath... but we respect his craft!"''
3	-->-- ''The party, regularly, about DM Alex''
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5
6	Rusty Quill Gaming is a serial Podcast series produced by Creator/RustyQuill 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.
7
8	The cast has included:
9	* Alexander J Newall as the [[GameMaster Dungeon Master]].
10	* Ben Meredith as [[TheLeader Zolf Smith]], dwarven cleric of Poseidon and [[{{Determinator}} Grizzop drik acht Amsterdam]], goblin paladin of Artemis.
11	* Bryn Monroe as [[BlackMage Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan]], halfling sorcerer.
12	* Helen Gould as [[AllLovingHero Azubuike "Azu"]], orc paladin of Aphrodite.
13	* James Ross as [[UpperClassTwit Sir Bertrand "Bertie" [=McGuffingham=]]], human fighter.
14	* Lydia Nicholas as [[DeviousDaggers Sasha Rackett]], human rogue and [[spoiler: [[ForScience Celiquillithon "Cel" Sidebottom]], half-elf alchemist]].
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16	The series also features a vast array of supporting characters and guest players.
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18	See also ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives'' and ''Podcast/StellarFirma'', two other podcasts made by Rusty Quill. Also see ''Podcast/TheStoragePapers'' and ''Podcast/OldGodsOfAppalachia'', two unrelated podcasts that were made part of the Rusty Quill Network.
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20	'''Beware of unmarked spoilers up to the end of season 3.'''
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22
23	----
24	!!''Rusty Quill Gaming'' contains examples of:
25	* AbandonedHospital: The main section of the [[spoiler: Shoin Institute is an abandoned school and sanitorium.]]
26	* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The party spends a lot of time in the sewers, which, while not huge, have plenty of room for them to walk around. Lampshaded when Alex mentions how the sewer they're in is strangely well maintained and that it's probably a waste of effort.
27	* AdorableEvilMinions: [[spoiler:Shoin's kobolds, at least at first, particularly given the sound effects; it's later revealed that they've undergone atrocities.]]
28	* AerithAndBob: While many of the party have names common in real life such as Sasha, Bertie, and Hamid, others, such as Celiquillithon and Grizzop, are much more fantastical.
29	* AlchemyIsMagic: Portrayed as such with [[spoiler: Cel and Shoin.]]
30	* AllDeathsFinal: Resurrection magic exists, but is banned by Meritocratic law, making it out of reach of the player characters; if characters die, they can't come back. [[spoiler:This rule gets broken late in season 4, where it's revealed that the northern druids have an alternate method of resurrection that they use to bring back the victims of the airship crash. Alex implies beforehand that this may have been done because Wilde, a plot-critical NPC, was one of said victims.]]
31	* AllThereInTheManual: There is a wealth of bonus content about the main show in the metacasts and on the Patreon page.
32	* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Averted. Traditionally evil races in ''Franchise/DungeonsAndDragons'' such as orcs, goblins, and even chromatic dragons are fully integrated into Meritocratic society, and their stereotyping as evil is the propaganda of [[EvilEmpire the Roman empire]], now long-discredited.
33	** This is played with during the Shoin Institute. Kobolds, another traditionally AlwaysChaoticEvil race, are first encountered there, and act like unintelligent evil minions. The players' Knowledge checks give conflicting information on if kobolds really are intelligent in this setting. [[spoiler:This leads to Hamid fireballing a huge group of them without a thought... only to later discover that, just like every other race in the setting, they ''are'' intelligent and only appeared otherwise due to the effects of a MindControl drug. WhatTheHellHero ensues.]]
34	%% AmoralAttorney: Harkness, Harkness, Darkness, & Sphinx.
35	* AncientGrome: The Cult of Mars refers to their deity by the Roman name despite every other deity of the setting being referred to by their Greek name and everything related to the evil Roman civilization being considered taboo. Alex claims this is entirely deliberate.
36	* AncientTomb: Hannibal's tomb, which Bertie, Ed, and Tjelvar discover in Bertie's sidequest, as well as the tomb underneath the Meritocratic offices in Cairo.
37	* AnyoneCanDie: Alex is not shy about killing off both player and non-player characters.
38	* ArcVillain: Mr Ceiling for the Paris arc, Franz Kafka for the Prague arc.
39	* AtTheOperaTonight: The LOLOMG attend a performance of Don Giovanni at the Prague Opera House.
40	* BackForTheFinale: Several minor characters from early in the story, such as [[spoiler:Grag]] and [[spoiler:Augusta]], return for the final arc as the party returns to WhereItAllBegan.
41	* BackFromTheDead:
42	** As is standard in Pathfinder, resurrection magic exists, though it is banned by Meritocratic law and thus exceedingly hard to access.
43	** 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 Sassraa -- but Meerk refuses to return, as he's happy in the afterlife he finds himself in.]]
44	* BadassCrew: The Rangers/LOLOMG, as is typical for a Pathfinder party.
45	* BagOfHolding: The party has half a dozen.
46	* BaitAndSwitch: Right at the climax of Sasha's undead arc, as Eren Fairhands is about to use the Heart of Aphrodite to heal her from her affliction in a ritual that hasn't been used in living memory, Sasha is subjected to a baleful teleport and appears on a mountain, overlooking a sunset. It's no wonder that Sasha assumes she's in the afterlife — until she sees Brutor, now an [[AnthropomorphicTransformation awakened dog]], inheriting Bertie's sword. Sasha, the players, and most of the audience had forgotten Sasha's offhand request to [[UnexpectedSuccessor see the moment in which Bertie's dog got his sword]], but Alex had not.
47	* 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.
48	* BarefootCaptives: [[spoiler: The kobolds enslaved by Shoin; they have bare claws in the Institute, but later, when freed, appear wearing boots.]]
49	* BeneathTheEarth: Other London is below London; it used to be the one and only London, but got buried in a flood and built over. Currently a more lived in version of the Paris Catacombs.
50	* BigFancyHouse: The al-Tahan residence.
51	* BiggerOnTheInside: Many buildings in Prague's university are like this, with Newton's office being the most impressive example.
52	* BitingTheHandHumor: The players do this regularly to Alex:
53	-->'''[[spoiler:Zolf]]:''' Is he telling us riddles? Is he trying to run some sort of game?
54	-->'''Azu:''' Can you imagine that? Someone trying to run a game?
55	-->'''[[spoiler:Zolf]]:''' Yeah, is he trying to be the master of this dungeon? Honestly, what kind of idiot would spend all of their time doing that? Ugh!
56	* BlackComedy: Comes up fairly regularly, particularly in relation to the horrible things that have happened to the party:
57	-->'''Alex:''' The Living Garments are something that I think you’ll take a bit of a shine to. It doesn’t just magically change into any garment the user wants. What it does is it basically reads the user and what the user’s needs are and adjusts itself accordingly.
58	-->'''Lydia:''' Oh my word, but Sasha’s needs are deep and complex. Does it provide a stable family? Sight of the open sky before she’s fifteen?
59	* BlatantLies:
60	** In episode 2, after a fight in which Sasha stabbed a man:
61	-->'''Zolf:''' We should get you a, uh, do you just have knives?
62	-->'''Sasha:''' I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have any knives.
63	** After Hamid casts Invisibility on himself multiple times to avoid Gideon, and denies knowing him.
64	* BodyHorror: Episode 44 contains a much-needed warning for this.
65	* BoobyTrap: The Shoin Institute is filled with these. Reading his diary reveals that [[spoiler:he was inspired by in-universe SwordAndSorcery novels]], making it an incredibly meta nod to traditional D&D dungeons.
66	* BossDissonance: Unintentionally ends up as an extreme instance of Hard Levels, Easy Bosses. The player characters consistently breeze past even the most difficult combat encounters, but are laid low by routine traps and environmental hazards. Even by the end of the first season it becomes a RunningGag to the players.
67	-->'''Alex:''' ''[After the party trashes a boss that was way above their level]'' This could not have gone worse for me. I put so much work in. I was worried. I was legitimately worried here. Carry on! That's ''fine.''\
68	'''Lydia:''' No, you know what's gonna happen is, this is gonna go really well for us, and then on the way out, we're gonna trip over a squirrel.\
69	'''Ben:''' And we all just shatter like glass.
70	* BottleEpisode:
71	** 62-3, in which the party travel by airship.
72	** 129, in which Azu and Hamid are kept in quarantine for a week.
73	** 153-4, in which [[spoiler: the entire party (along with Barnes and Carter) is once again quarantined and get a chance to talk.]]
74	** 163-173 are an entire bottle ''arc'' as the party once again travels by airship.
75	* BreakingBadNewsGently:
76	** Sasha and Grizzop try to do this to Hamid when telling him about Aziza's death.
77	** At the start of season 4, Einstein does this to Azu and Hamid as he tries to explain [[spoiler:how long they've been gone from the material plane and what's happened since]].
78	* BreakingTheFellowship: In 125. [[spoiler: Because of complications during their Planar Shift, half the party ends up in Ancient Rome, and half back in modern Rome.]]
79	* BreatherEpisode: Episode 63. After a good deal of emotional and physical turmoil in Paris, the gang gets into various romance author-related shenanigans while on a skyship.
80	* TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler:Zolf]] returns in season 4 after [[spoiler:leaving the party]] halfway through season 2. This conveniently happens soon after [[spoiler:Grizzop, Zolf's replacement character]] dies in the season 3 finale.
81	* CallBack: The "Desiccated Corporal" in Damascus, calling back to the "Soggy Admiral" (and related establishments) in Dover.
82	* 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 Yerlik]].
83	* CaptainObvious: Whenever someone (usually Bertie) lands a poor roll on any observation check, Alex will often tell him simply that he's in a room, which Bertie, in character, repeats aloud.
84	* ChaseScene: the series has several, including the party tackling a Pseudo-Byron in the streets of London and being chased by La Gourmande's forces in Paris.
85	* ChekhovsGun:
86	** [[spoiler: The kraken-like thing in the English Channel]] briefly appears in an early episode, and is revealed in season 4 to be [[spoiler:part of the mechanism causing storms all over the world]].
87	** 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 Yerlik, 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.]]
88	* ContinuityNod: At the beginning of season 1, when the party visits the British Museum and learns that Bertie cannot pay his family's debt to them, the curator suggests that they might "just skimp on Mr. Carter’s expedition." Two seasons later, the party meets Carter, who has turned to crime because his research funding has been cut.
89	* CurbStompBattle: Against the squizard at Aziza's wake; it doesn't manage to get a single hit out before being pummelled by the party for 82 damage.
90	* DamselInDistress: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. While Bertie tries to claim that Sasha is one of these in the context of his ongoing legal disputes, Sasha is anything but.
91	* DiseaseBleach: Characters who undergo spiritual trauma gain white hair. This includes [[spoiler:Zolf]] after his crisis of faith, as well as [[spoiler:people who have died and been resurrected]].
92	* DisproportionateRetribution: Bertie's response to slander? Brutal death, of course.
93	* DistantFinale: [[spoiler: Sasha]] gets one of these at the end of the Ancient Rome sidequest, showing their life twenty years after [[spoiler:the fall of Rome]].
94	* 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 completely ficticious propaganda spread by [[EvilEmpire the Roman empire]]. This maps eerily well onto how European empires used racist propaganda to dehumanize the peoples of Africa in RealLife.
95	* DungeonPunk: In one Q&A, Alex specifically references this trope page as inspiration for the world of Erasing the Line.
96	* DrivingQuestion: Who has the plans for the simulacrum and what are they doing with them?
97	* DungeonCrawling: As to be expected for a Pathfinder Actual-Play podcast, this series has several, including clearing monster plants at Kew Gardens, working through perilous traps to an underground secret factory in Damascus, fighting through the hellish landscape of Rome, and most recently, [[spoiler: investigating the puzzle- and monster-filled Shoin Institute.]]
98	* DysfunctionJunction: At the beginning of the series, the cleric is grieving his brother and seeking to drown wrongdoers in the name of his god, the rogue didn't see the sun before she was 15 and cut off her own finger to escape her crime-boss uncle, the sorcerer has been all but disowned by his parents after his school pranks resulted in the deaths of several people, and the fighter is incapable of caring about anyone besides himself. It only gets worse from there.
99	* EndlessDaytime: In Rome.
100	* EnemyMine:
101	** 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]].
102	** After [[FromBadToWorse things get even worse from there]] and the party finds themselves [[spoiler:back in Other London, at the likely source of the infection]], they are forced to ally with none other than [[spoiler:the Cult of Hades, as with the Harlequins destroyed they are the only organized resistance against the infection remaining]].
103	* EverybodyHatesHades: An in-universe example; the Cult of Hades is portrayed as uniformly evil but [[spoiler: Sasha and Grizzop's time in Ancient Rome suggest that this might not be the whole story.]]
104	* EveryScarHasAStory: Because of Alex's homebrew rules about characters gaining scars when they're reduced to 0hp.
105	* ExactWords: In the Roman Rogues sidequest, [[spoiler:Sasha]] deliberately discourages following her exact words.
106	-->'''[[spoiler:Sasha]]:''' What have I told you guys about following instructions to the letter being a route to evil?
107	* ExplainingTheSoap: The audience often gets glimpses of Zolf explaining the plot of his favourite romance novels.
108	* FantasticRacism: Significantly downplayed compared to most ''Franchise/DungeonsAndDragons'' settings, with many races (including traditionally AlwaysChaoticEvil ones) peacefully coexisting in Meritocratic society. Some issues still crop up, however:
109	** Bertie has a thing against gnomes, likely a generalization from his bad experiences with the gnome lawyers of Harkness, Harkness, Darkness & Sphinx. He also assumes Zolf's mercenary company will be fighting orcs, though this may have been EarlyInstallmentWeirdness from before the setting's OurOrcsAreDifferent was established.
110	** Grizzop, as a goblin, regularly experiences a significant amount of prejudice due to his race.
111	** The EvilEmpire of Rome displayed major racism and propaganda against non-human races as evidenced by [[spoiler:the reactions to Grizzop in the Ancient Rome sidequest]]. In the present day, these beliefs are rejected by Meritocratic society.
112	** The Cult of Mars, seen briefly at the end of season 2, seem to share Rome's prejudices against non-human races, but it's not known why this is.
113	** [[spoiler:The Cult of Hades]] continues Rome's human supremacy philosophy into the modern day, and this motivated their [[spoiler:attempts to overthrow the diverse and dragon-ruled Meritocratic society]]. Curiously, they are willing to work with "squizzards", strange Cthullhoid extraplanar beings.
114	* FantasticSlurs: Bertie apparently has some of these for gnomes, though we never hear them.
115	* 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 appear to make up most of eastern Asia. Additionally, season 4 reveals that druids of all races make up the culture of [[spoiler:Siberia and the polar regions]].
116	* FeedItWithFire: A certain type of mold encountered in the tunnels below Kew Gardens apparently gets energy from heat, drastically cooling the air around it. Fire makes it grow very, very quickly.
117	* FighterMageThief: Well, Fighter Mage Thief Cleric (Sir Bertrand, Hamid, Sasha, and Zolf, respectively), but close enough.
118	* FloatingContinent: The entire University of Prague is in the sky above the city of Prague.
119	* FollowThatCar: Hamid pulls one of these while chasing Pseudo-Byron.
120	* FormulaBreakingEpisode: 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.
121	* 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.
122	* FromBadToWorse: The party travels from Paris, in which they've inadvertently started a war, to Prague, where a necromancer is raising the city's dead in preparation for an evil ritual.
123	* FunWithAcronyms: The London & Other London Outstanding Mercenary Group, or L.O.L.O.M.G.
124	* GenderEqualEnsemble: During the Cairo and Damascus arc, the party is half female (Azu and Sasha) and half male (Grizzop and Hamid).
125	* GenreSavvy: Hamid correctly predicts that Kafka will attack at the opera, because that's the sort of thing villains do when they want to make a scene.
126	* GilliganCut: Aboard Earhart's airship, Hamid and Zolf are arguing about the literary value of Harrison Campbell's romance novels – and cut to Hamid angrily reading one of his books with a disgusted look on his face.
127	* GoshDangItToHeck: In order to avoid the "explicit" tag on iTunes, Alex maintains a strict no-swearing policy, meaning that "heck" and "frick" appear a fair bit.
128	-->'''Bertie:''' You've got legs made of fiddlesticking water! What the sugar is up with that! What the sugaring fiddlestick!
129	* GoodCopBadCop: Episode 17 is named "Good Cop, Bad Cop, Stabby Cop and Bertie" as the party plays this.
130	* GoodNewsBadNews: When Zolf is telling Sasha that she has a degenerative magical disease:
131	-->'''Zolf:''' Right, so I’ve got good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?
132	-->'''Sasha:''' I don’t really believe in good news.
133	* GratuitousLaboratoryFlasks: There are several in the Shoin Insitute; in fact, Shoin gifts one each to the party.
134	* GreyAndGrayMorality: The Meritocrats and the Separatists. Both have been known to seek extreme methods to hold or take power, both contain a variety of members ranging from sympathetic to simply power-seeking.
135	* GutPunch: The series starts out with the level of peril associated with many actual-play TTRPG podcasts — the party encounters perilous combat frequently, but rarely above their level; while the characters have standard D&D [[DarkAndTroubledPast tragic backstories]], they're not unusually horrific; and the series is full of [[SceneryPorn lush descriptions of a fantasy world]]. Then, while exploring the Parisian catacombs, the party finds themselves lost and blindly facing a monster that they cannot beat, with Zolf having [[AnArmAndALeg lost his second leg]] and Hamid's hand crushed; the party falls one by one to their presumed deaths. [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore After this point]], the party encounters one horrible revelation after another, resulting in almost all the party's loved ones being put in peril, the entire world's systems collapsing into mass rioting, and [[spoiler: several of the party members dying]].
136	** A particularly notable specific example is the kobolds in the Shoin Institute. The party assumes they are unintelligent EvilMinions, and so Hamid fireballs and kills a massive crowd of them. [[spoiler:The end of the arc reveals that kobolds ''are'' intelligent and were only helping Shoin because they were under the effects of MindControl -- so Hamid actually murdered dozens of innocent victims.]]
137	** Thanks to Hamid's ''Detect Thoughts'', we get to hear what [[spoiler:Barret]] thinks of Cel, [[spoiler:Sasha]]'s replacement character: "[[spoiler:God, it's Sasha with a spine.]]" You can hear the entire group recoil as Alex says it.
138	* HauntedHouse: The party encounters one of these in Prague.
139	* HeroicSacrifice:
140	** In the season 3 finale, [[spoiler:when the ''Planar Shift'' spell to escape from Hades is botched, Eldarion sacrifices herself to ensure the surviving characters make it out]].
141	** In the Ancient Rome sidequest, [[spoiler:Grizzop]] uses ''Paladin's Sacrifice'' to save [[spoiler:Sasha]] from a fatal blow by taking the hit themselves. While they survive that attack, they then proceed to perform an all-out attack against the enemy commander, knowing they will take attacks of opportunity from the entire enemy squadron. They succeed in killing the commander, but get reduced to giblets in the process.
142	--->'''[[spoiler:Sasha]]:''' [[spoiler:Grizzop]] took a spear meant for me, and then a whole lot more.
143	* HilariousOuttakes: At the end of nearly every episode.
144	* 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. Some of them get fantasy {{Race Lift}}s as well; Earhart, for instance, is a gnome.
145	* HiveMind: the [[spoiler: blue veins]] appears to be this.
146	* HopeSpot: The team wins a BossBattle with Mr Ceiling, are celebrated as heroes, and everything seems to be going well — only to realize that it was AllJustADream and they're still just about to face Mr Ceiling.
147	* HurricaneOfPuns: Many, many times.
148	** Hamid and Bertie, when visiting the temple of Poseidon, much to Zolf's dismay:
149	-->'''Zolf:''' I will remind you that this is my religion, actually, as funny as that might be. So, cut it out, ok?
150	-->'''Hamid:''' I’ll stop carping on about it.
151	-->'''Bertie:''' We don’t want to make you feel out of plaice.
152	-->'''Hamid:''' I think he’s haddock up to here with us.
153	-->'''Bertie:''' What a load of codswallop we’re spitting!
154	** Out of character in episode 75, in which James jokes that he is sponsored by Megabowl, leading to a flurry of bowling puns from the players that results in Alex punishing them mechanically.
155	** Sasha and Wilde get one in 111 while waiting for Grizzop and Hamid to return from exploring, despite [[CannotTellAJoke Sasha's demonstrated difficulty with puns.]]
156	-->'''Wilde:''' Well, you know, studying metal takes an iron will.
157	-->'''Sasha:''' Yeah, it does, uhhh, like… I mean, that’s a good copper, ey? Copper, yeah. Coppered out there. Right. Wonder when the others are gonna be back.
158	-->'''Wilde:''' Maybe you should steel yourself.
159	-->'''Sasha:''' Yeah! Uhhh, there’s um… you know, ironing. We could do some ironing while they’re there.
160	* IHaveYourWife: The party all has some of their closest friends and family kidnapped and kept in Rome during the last arc of season 3. [[spoiler:They successfully rescue all the hostages, but during their escape, they botch a Gate spell and lose Eldarion, Sasha, and Grizzop.]]
161	* InherentlyFunnyWords: "Pump hole."
162	* InstrumentalThemeTune: Each episode opens and closes with the peppy, orchestral theme song.
163	* 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 has a silent staring contest.
164	* ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: The [[spoiler: Shoin Institute.]]
165	* IslandBase: the [[spoiler: Shoin Institute.]]
166	* JigsawPuzzlePlot: Alex very, very gradually reveals information about the overarching plot, to the point that one of the main antagonists, the Cult of Hades, is not mentioned by name until season three.
167	* JustAStupidAccent: Deliberately [[AvertedTrope averted]] by Alex; when non-player characters speak in other languages, Alex uses his normal accent.
168	* LamePunReaction: A regular reaction to Wilde's puns.
169	* TheLawFirmOfPunPunAndWordplay: Harkness, Harkness, Darkness, and Sphinx.
170	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: A common occurrence.
171	-->'''Hamid:''' There are other dragons apart from the Meritocrats.
172	-->'''Grizzop:''' Are there? I don’t actually know. Let’s petition this random sweeping man!
173	-->'''Sasha:''' Sweeping man, what know thee?
174	-->'''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?
175	-->'''Grizzop:''' Thank you, sweeping man!
176	** The Shoin Institute is rife with this, as Shoin is himself a self-styled DungeonMaster who grew up with a love of sword & sorcery adventure novels. Many sections parody traditional ''Franchise/DungeonsAndDragons'' traps, puzzles, and obstacles, with Shoin being a LargeHam throughout. See BitingTheHandHumor, above, for a specific example.
177	* LensmanArmsRace: The Meritocrats and the Separatists appear to be engaging in one of these, with both seeking to build the Simulacrum first.
178	* LetsSplitUpGang: The party splits up fairly regularly, sometimes to Alex's chagrin.
179	* LighthousePoint: The upper part of [[spoiler: the Shoin Institute.]]
180	* {{Lockdown}}: After the [[spoiler: quarantine cage]] is breached in 155, the entire inn is placed in lockdown.
181	** Also, for a bit of a bit of meta-tropage, these episodes all aired during the actual Covid-19 lockdown in the UK.
182	* LockedInARoom: Occurs every time [[spoiler: the party is quarantined for a week.]]
183	* LOL69: Episode 69? Nice.
184	* LotusEaterMachine: Mr Ceiling's simulation.
185	* MagiTek: The steampunk world includes lightning elemental powered trains and cars.
186	* TheMainCharactersDoEverything:
187	** [[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.
188	** Further subverted in season 4, in which [[spoiler: Curie tells Azu and Hamid that their investigations into the simulacrum are only one of many avenues of investigation into stopping the infection.]]
189	* MacGuffin: Alex explicitly refers to the ring Barret gave Hamid as such.
190	* MistakenForAfterlife: When Sasha is transported to Brutor's knighting while being cured, she initially assumes that she's died and gone to an afterlife.
191	* MistakenForRomance: Grizzop and Sasha decide that Hamid and Gideon must be exes, given how they're avoiding each other.
192	* MoodWhiplash: Whenever the party is split, expect these as Alex switches back and forth between its members. A notable example: repeated smash cuts between Hamid and his sister Saira discussing the death of their sister Aziza and the rest of the party getting incredibly drunk on orcish moonshine in the same building.
193	* {{Mooks}}: Also known as "lads and blokes"; the party fights swarms of these outside of the Temple of Aphrodite in Cairo.
194	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: By taking down Mr Ceiling, the party destroys the world economy and brings war and chaos to the streets of Paris and other major cities.
195	* NobodyHereButUsStatues: Bertie successfully poses as a statue while in Other London.
196	* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: After episode 125. [[spoiler: Half the party is missing and for the others, 18 months have gone by and they're now in the middle of apocalypse where no one can be trusted.]]
197	* NotUsedToFreedom: [[spoiler: The kobolds]], after being freed, follow Hamid and expect him to be a tyrant.
198	* OrderedApology: In the Roman Rogues sidequest, [[spoiler: Sasha]] repeatedly demands this of her kids.
199	-->'''[[spoiler:Sasha:]]''' I’m not gonna let you go on a quest if you don’t say you respect your brother.
200	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: In this case, they hold power over most of the world.
201	* OurGargoylesRock: The gargoyles on La Triomphe are sentient and can even be called down to protect Paris in times of emergency; Sasha makes friends with the gargoyles in several different cities.
202	* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: Goblins are fully sapient in this universe, with all the variety of personality and intelligence as any other race. They are characterized by being extremely good at crafting and engineering due to their high dexterity and small size; this has led to them being highly desired workers, but that in turn leads to some economic tensions as goblins want to start their own buisness instead of working under others.
203	* PhlebotinumInducedStupidity: [[spoiler: The drugs Shoin forces on the kobolds.]]
204	* OurOrcsAreDifferent: Orcs are also fully sapient, with many who are skilled craftsmen in various professions.
205	* ThePlague: The [[spoiler: "blue veins" disease]] that appears following the TimeSkip after season 3. It spreads through an unknown mechanism, and appears to create a malicious HiveMind out of those affected. [[spoiler:Not even the Meritocrats are immune, and the resulting chaos leads to the collapse of Meritocratic society.]] It is implied that this has something to do with [[spoiler:the simulacra]].
206	* PowerNullifier: The meeting room in La Triomphe, which is warded against scrying and which prevents any magic from being cast within it.
207	** Additionally, Wilde makes use of an anti-magic room and later anti-magic shackles, which nullify his power, but also prevent his enemies from cursing him.
208	* ProngsOfPoseidon: Those of the Cult of Poseidon use these.
209	* PunBasedTitle: Occurs frequently. Examples include "Tank but No Tanks" for 58, which features an illusionary tank; "Hedge Your Bets" and "The Root of the Problem" for 23 and 24 respectively, which both involve fighting plants; and "Water Way to Go" for 31, in which the party encounters various water-based perils.
210	* RaceAgainstTheClock: Sasha is told that she's completely (un)dead and actively deteriorating, and has approximately a month and a half before she turns into something else.
211	* RageAgainstTheHeavens: While the Hellenic gods exist in this world, certain dragons known as the Meritocrats are the ones who hold the most power over everything. Not everyone is happy or okay with this.
212	* RaysFromHeaven: Apollo delivers these to Edward Keystone during Bertie's side quest.
213	* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
214	** The recording studio was contaminated by asbestos...[[InsistentTerminology goblins]], causing a brief hiatus while the cast and crew found another venue.
215	** James Ross decided to go on a parental break to care for his new child just as the Prague arc came to its climax, leading to the death of his character, Bertie.
216	* ReligionOfEvil: The Cult of Hades, although [[spoiler: the Ancient Rome sidequest implies that the situation is more complicated that that.]]
217	* LaResistance: The Harlequins are a secret resistance group opposed to the Meritocrats. However, [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters their portrayal is significantly more grey than most]], with the heroes completely rejecting their initial proposal of cooperation. [[spoiler:Once the Meritocrats are overtaken by TheVirus in season 4, they replace them as the world's dominant power structure, and the heroes are forced to cooperate with them by necessity.]]
218	%% RevolutionariesWhoDontDoAnything: The People's Front of Damascus.
219	* RoaringRampageOfRescue: The party attempts one of these in Rome after having their loved ones stolen.
220	* SamaritanSyndrome: Zolf discusses this in a conversation after their battle at Kew Gardens:
221	-->'''Zolf:''' If you get caught up on the what-ifs — here’s a what-if for you. What if at Edison’s party, we’d have identified — because we were security there — we’d have identified the assassins? All those people that died? You’re responsible for that, because what if [...] What if you’d worked it out? What if we’d acted sooner? What if we’d stopped them? What if. You can’t get caught up on the what-ifs. Cause you don’t know.
222	* SceneryPorn: Alex has put a lot of thought into his homebrew setting, and gives extremely detailed and beautiful descriptions of major cities such as Paris and Prague.
223	* SchmuckBait: Despite being repeatedly told that opening your eyes during a Gate spell is a bad idea, [[spoiler:Grizzop]] and [[spoiler:Sasha]] just can't help themselves when they use one to travel in the season 3 finale. This forces them to make an additional saving throw which they then fail, [[spoiler:causing them to be separated from the main party and thrown into the far past]].
224	* ScienceFantasy: The show combines both standard high fantasy elements, such as elves, dwarves, and dragons, with elements of scifi such as automatons and [[spoiler: TimeTravel.]]
225	* SecretUndergroundPassage: This show has several, including the secret tunnels to Mr Ceiling's lab, the pipe passageway underneath the factory in Damascus, and [[spoiler: Shoin's underwater and underground tunnel.]]
226	* SexualEuphemism: When going to a one night stand with Wilde, James asks whether Bertie should roll an "Intimate Knowledge Nobility" or "Ride" check.
227	* ShipSinking:
228	** 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.
229	** After having several heated arguments with [[spoiler:Zolf]] in season 4, Hamid acknowledges that he probably won't ever become close friends with [[spoiler:Zolf]] like he has with the rest of the party, which puts [[spoiler:Zolf]]/Hamid shipping in pretty dire straits.
230	* SinisterSurveillance: According to Barrett, the Cult of Hades has the power to continually scry on the party; the Cult later proves this to them.
231	* SitcomArchNemesis: Bertie and furniture.
232	* SlaveLiberation:
233	** In the Ancient Rome sidequest, we learn that [[spoiler:the dragons that later became the Meritocrats were once enslaved by Rome and forced to defend it, but broke free and destroyed the city.]]
234	** Later, the [[spoiler: kobolds in Shoin's lair free themselves following the party's destruction of Shoin.]]
235	* SlaveMooks: The [[spoiler: kobolds in the Shoin Institute.]]
236	* SomethingThatBeginsWithBoring: While walking across Newton's study, Grizzop and Sasha play I Spy.
237	* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Though Hamid is extremely upset by [[spoiler:Bertie]]'s death, the rest of the party makes it clear there was no love lost between them. [[spoiler:Zolf]] outright describes [[spoiler:Bertie]] as "[[BrutalHonesty The one I'm not sad is dead,]]" and even Hamid later acknowledges that [[spoiler:Bertie]] was a pretty bad person.
238	* SpeculativeFiction: Given, as it's AlternateHistory.
239	* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler: Sasha's letter]] establishes one of these.
240	* StaircaseTumble: Gideon falls down the stairs from Einstein's office after noticing Hamid trying to hide from him.
241	* {{Steampunk}}: Starts out in 19th century steampunk London.
242	* 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]].
243	* SwitchingPOV: Anytime the party is split, though extended divergences are rare.
244	** Towards the end of season 1 there is a 5 episode special featuring Bertie's adventures up the Alps.
245	** At the end of season 3, we get 4 episodes focused on [[spoiler: Sasha and Grizzop's adventures in Ancient Rome.]]
246	* TacticalWithdrawal: The party is forced to retreat from La Gourmande's forces in Paris to avoid the Meritocrats' attack on Eiffel's Folly.
247	* {{Technophobia}}: The Serpentine gang bombs the simulacrum auction because they hate robots, since they caused the flooding in London.
248	* TeleportationSickness: During planar shifts, which Eldarion uses as teleportation to Rome.
249	* TheyreCalledPersonalIssuesForAReason: Most of the party conspicuously try to hide parts of their backstories, with limited success:
250	-->'''Hamid:''' I just feel like, I mean — we’ve met Sasha’s maybe slightly evil family, Zolf has this weird ring that he doesn’t want to talk about —
251	-->'''Zolf:''' — Yeah, a lot of people have ‘weird rings’, Hamid!
252	-->'''Hamid:''' — Bertie has these mysterious employers. I should probably just tell you right now: I got kicked out of university! Because then it won’t be a surprise when it somehow comes along very soon. Maybe.
253	-->'''Zolf:''' What were you kicked out… for?
254	-->'''Hamid:''' [[HypocriticalHumor I don’t want to talk about it.]]
255	* TimeSkip: After the events of the season 3 finale, [[spoiler:the botched Gate spell displaces the party in time, causing them to come back 18 months after they left.]] The party quickly learn that things have gone FromBadToWorse while they were away: [[spoiler:Most people, including the Meritocrats, have been infected with ThePlague, causing a total collapse of Meritocratic society and potentially the start of a world war.]]
256	* TotemPoleTrench: Several gnomes in a trenchcoat attack the party in Paris.
257	* TraumaCongaLine: Alex's general modus operandi. Hamid in particular just can't seem to catch a break.
258	* TwoLinesNoWaiting: Whenever the party is split up, Alex will cut back and forth between them, sometimes with hilarious contrasts between their activities.
259	* UndergroundCity: Other London.
260	* UnderwaterBase: The lowest level of [[spoiler: the Shoin Institute.]]
261	* TheVirus: The [[spoiler: blue veins]] appears to be this.
262	* VoicesAreNotMental: Discussed among the players before the FreakyFridayFlip arc. The players decide they want to alter their character voices to match the bodies they're in, leading to some fun impressions such as deep-voiced Azu suddenly having a squeaky [[spoiler:kobold]] voice.
263	* VolcanoLair: The Shoin Institute is founded on one of these.
264	* WhamEpisode:
265	** 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.
266	** 126: A BittersweetEnding to season 3, BreakingTheFellowship and establishing a shocking new normal where NothingIsTheSameAnymore: [[spoiler:The hostages are safe, but Sasha and Grizzop are trapped in Ancient Rome. Back in the real world, a year and a half has passed since the party entered the Gate, and in the intervening time, Meritocratic lands have fallen to a terrifying disease that seems to turn people into a malicious HiveMind.]]
267	** 174: [[spoiler:The airship crashes in the middle of the Northern Wastes, killing two of the kobolds, Carter, and ''Wilde''.]]
268	** 180: The ChekhovsGun of [[spoiler:the metal seed]] ''finally'' goes off, resulting in the first major lead on both the blue veins and the simulacrum the party has gotten all season. This one even shocks the ''players''.
269	--->'''Sumutnyerl''': This is the garden where [[spoiler:one can follow the path from life to death and back]].\
270	'''Alex''': ...And I think I'm gonna end the episode there!\
271	'''Helen''': Ohhhh my god.\
272	'''Bryn''': We're all just sitting here open-mouthed, like, "''What?''"
273	** 192: Things go FromBadToWorse, ''again'': [[spoiler:Cairo has fallen, Curie is dead, and the Harlequins are dissolved]]. Several long-standing mysteries relating to the plot's inciting events are cleared up: [[spoiler:The Cult of Hades commissioned Tesla to make the simulacrum, which is also the source of the blue veins; Tesla, in turn, was responsible for the assassination of Edison that kicked off the plot.]] Having failed to control [[spoiler:the blue veins]], [[spoiler:the Cult of Hades]] is now trying to destroy it, making them and the party [[EnemyMine unlikely allies]].
274	* WhereItAllBegan: The first and final arcs both take place in London, [[spoiler:with the party returning to the heart of the infection to see how the city has changed in the wake of the simulacrum's flowering]]. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, the players even decide that they emerge in the very same alley where the party met each other in the first episode.
275	* WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: When the party spends almost an entire episode talking to a crow, Alex makes this joke.
276	-->'''Alex, making crow noises:''' People choose to listen to this podcast for pleasure!
277	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility:
278	** Hamid gives this speech to his little brothers when he discovers they are also sorcerers.
279	** More seriously, [[spoiler: Skraak repeatedly reminds Hamid of this when kobolds begin following him.]]
280	-->[[spoiler:'''Skraak:''']] Being in charge doesn’t mean life gets easier because you have more people to help you, it just means that life gets harder because you’ve got more people you need to help.
281	* WriteBackToTheFuture: After [[spoiler: Sasha]] is thrown far into the past in [[spoiler:the season 3 finale]], they manage to pass down a letter to be delivered to the party in the present day, [[spoiler:informing them of Grizzop's HeroicSacrifice and assuring them that she herself has managed to live a long and fulfilling life]].
282	* WrongGenreSavvy: Bryn mentions this when Grizzop is interrogating the Damascus Harlequins for information.
283	-->'''Grizzop:''' Is there maybe a better Harlequin base below this one? Look, I don’t know what kind of amateur operation you’re running here, but I assume, cause I was told somebody that can get me to Rome is beneath this pub, that you’re probably sitting on top of a proper Harlequin base and you’re maybe, like, the first test? You know like if you go into a dungeon and you find, like, a skeleton? You’re the skeleton and I want to get to the actual monsters.
284	-->'''Bryn:''' He’s genre-savvy in completely the wrong way!
285	* YearInsideHourOutside: Newton's office: the party is inside for several days, but when they return, it's only been an hour.
286	* YouSoundFamiliar: Typical to an actual play series; when a player character dies or leaves, their player creates a new character — with the notable exception of James Ross, who left the show for paternity leave.
287	* YearOutsideHourInside: Inside the failed Gate spell in Rome: [[spoiler: the party spends very little time within the spell, but when they get back, a year and a half has passed.]]
288

Context Podcast / RustyQuillGaming