Glass Cannon Network has been a name in the tabletop roleplaying game actual play space since 2015, acting as one of the first major channels in a space that’s barely 10 years old. According to Glass Cannon Network co-founder Troy Lavallee, a big part of that success comes down to one decision: avoiding Dungeons & Dragons.
“[GCN] started out as ‘Let’s just play [Pathfinder,] the game that we know and the game that we love, because if we’re infectious about how much we enjoy this game, listeners–whether they even play the game or not, [will listen],” Lavallee told me over a video call.
“We’re always shocked by how many people listen who have no interest in ever playing,” he continued. “If we can share our infectious joy of playing, people will feed off of that, and that’s what they listen for. And then it wasn’t until the pandemic [in 2020] that we were like, ‘I wonder if we could finally start playing other games,’ because we saw that everyone else in the space was pretty much just playing D&D. There were a couple of offshoot things here or there, but it was [mostly] D&D, and then we were playing Pathfinder. I said, ‘Let’s start playing everything else.'”
It’s great to see a podcast network taking such a bold approach in the TTRPG space! Choosing to explore options beyond D&D can really highlight the diversity and creativity in tabletop gaming. Looking forward to seeing how this unique direction unfolds!
Absolutely! It’s refreshing to see innovation in the TTRPG community. By stepping away from D&D, the Glass Cannon Network can showcase a wider variety of systems and stories, which might inspire more players to explore different games. This could really help diversify the audience and the types of narratives being shared.