Raised by Wolves’ Abubakar Salim goes all in with tabletop role-play

Raised by Wolves’ Abubakar Salim goes all in with tabletop role-play

After wrapping up a long day on location in South Africa while filming HBO’s second season of Raised by wolves, Abubakar Salim, who plays the role of Father in the series, was invited by the rest of the cast for a night on the town. But he had other plans – attending his weekly tabletop role-playing session. Vampire: The Masquerade broadcast live online.
Initially, his castmates were a little confused by his real-life gaming hobby, which is streaming full tabletop role-playing games online in sessions that can last three or four hours at a time. . But soon, the other actors working on Raised by wolves became engrossed in his double life spent pretending with his friends.
“They really cared about it,” Salim told Polygon in an interview earlier this month. “They wanted to get into it, and I think there was this feeling of [discovery]. We had the space to kind of go ahead and dive into it.
Now Salim is taking his talent for tabletop role-playing games in a different direction. Instead of a blood-sucking ghoul, he takes on the mantle of a powerful and violent enforcer named Valkos, an unholy weapon covered in ritual scars and tattoos, and not usually someone to mess with. He is part of the cast of haunted towna new series based on John Harper Blades in the dark and aired on The Glass Cannon Network.
For Salim, he does not play games on Twitch to promote himself. Instead, he’s here because he likes it.
Key art for Blades in the dark.Image: John Harper
“I would be silly to miss this,” Salim said. “It’s this purest form of storytelling, and the purest form of stepping into a world and getting lost in a world. And I think it’s so funny, especially when I’m used to to be on a set where you have all the costumes and everything, and you have a script. […] There’s something about being in what feels like the passenger seat, but also with a steering wheel in front of you. […] As a human being, it keeps you alive.
Live game programs have been growing in popularity since 2014, around the same time Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition launched. The most popular example of the format is Critical Role, a troupe created by a group of professional voice actors. The years-long real-life game program recently spawned an anime series on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service, and a second season has already been ordered.
The Glass Cannon Network started around the same time as Critical Role, primarily as a real-life Pathfinder gaming podcast. Now, network CEO Troy Lavallee tells Polygon that he makes over $1 million every year on Patreon. What was originally just one program with one group of players turned into several different programs. He says eight new live-action shows will launch in 2022 alone, complemented by 18 tour dates for live performances in front of paying audiences.
Play in haunted town alongside Salim are fellow actors Josephine McAdam and Ross Bryant. Game Master (GM) Jared Logan only recently joined The Glass Cannon Network, bringing his expertise and regular players from his own Stream of Blood. This acquisition has helped strengthen The Glass Cannon Network’s talent pool. He recently launched another real game called Inherit the sanda series that explores Modiphius Dune: Adventures in the Imperium based on the original novels by Frank Herbert. But it’s not just about getting a critical mass of talented players. Lavalle says it’s about finding the right chemistry, one that clicks with what can be a volatile audience.

“I’ve seen guest celebrities on streams that have about 40 people watching,” Lavallee said. “How are there not more people watching?” I look at their Twitter and like they’re tweeting about it, it’s just that people are either into it or they’re not. And I think that has a lot to do with whether or not the celebrity likes the game, because you can have any Joe Schmo celebrity play. If they are not in the game, returns will be limited.
“It’s about finding the right mix of personalities and continuing to create a ton of content, but [also] making sure the casts are fun and diverse.
For GM Logan, it’s also about the system being played. There’s more to the role-playing hobby than swords and sorcery. Blades in the darkfor example, mix Peaky Blinders-flight style serialized with the occult. It also relies heavily on improvisation, allowing players to actively invent the story as they go and create a found family of characters bound by like-minded desires. This process is built into the rules of the game itself.
“In Blades in the dark, you not only create your character with your character sheet, you create your gang,” Logan said. “So the book makes it clear that the main character of the show, of the campaign, is your gang.”
With an even bigger cast baked into the fictional universe itself, Logan said it’s a great opportunity to swap new players over time. Salim, for his part, is not worried about an upcoming rotation. Instead, he’s excited about the next opportunity to play.
“On Raised by wolves I always know what scene we are doing,” Salim said. “With this, I have no idea what will happen. It’s one of those things where you go all out because you want to, because it appeals to you.
“You must be awake,” he continued. “It’s terrifying, but I think that’s what makes it so exciting.”
haunted town airs weekly at 8 p.m. ET on Tic. Find the complete archives of the show on Youtube.

Blades in the dark

$21

Pricing taken at time of publication.

$21
to Amazon

$20
to DriveThruRPG

#Raised #Wolves #Abubakar #Salim #tabletop #roleplay

Raised by Wolves’ Abubakar Salim goes all in with tabletop role-play

After wrapping up a long day on location in South Africa while filming HBO’s second season of Raised by wolves, Abubakar Salim, who plays the role of Father in the series, was invited by the rest of the cast for a night on the town. But he had other plans – attending his weekly tabletop role-playing session. Vampire: The Masquerade broadcast live online.
Initially, his castmates were a little confused by his real-life gaming hobby, which is streaming full tabletop role-playing games online in sessions that can last three or four hours at a time. . But soon, the other actors working on Raised by wolves became engrossed in his double life spent pretending with his friends.
“They really cared about it,” Salim told Polygon in an interview earlier this month. “They wanted to get into it, and I think there was this feeling of [discovery]. We had the space to kind of go ahead and dive into it.
Now Salim is taking his talent for tabletop role-playing games in a different direction. Instead of a blood-sucking ghoul, he takes on the mantle of a powerful and violent enforcer named Valkos, an unholy weapon covered in ritual scars and tattoos, and not usually someone to mess with. He is part of the cast of haunted towna new series based on John Harper Blades in the dark and aired on The Glass Cannon Network.
For Salim, he does not play games on Twitch to promote himself. Instead, he’s here because he likes it.
Key art for Blades in the dark.Image: John Harper
“I would be silly to miss this,” Salim said. “It’s this purest form of storytelling, and the purest form of stepping into a world and getting lost in a world. And I think it’s so funny, especially when I’m used to to be on a set where you have all the costumes and everything, and you have a script. […] There’s something about being in what feels like the passenger seat, but also with a steering wheel in front of you. […] As a human being, it keeps you alive.
Live game programs have been growing in popularity since 2014, around the same time Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition launched. The most popular example of the format is Critical Role, a troupe created by a group of professional voice actors. The years-long real-life game program recently spawned an anime series on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service, and a second season has already been ordered.
The Glass Cannon Network started around the same time as Critical Role, primarily as a real-life Pathfinder gaming podcast. Now, network CEO Troy Lavallee tells Polygon that he makes over $1 million every year on Patreon. What was originally just one program with one group of players turned into several different programs. He says eight new live-action shows will launch in 2022 alone, complemented by 18 tour dates for live performances in front of paying audiences.
Play in haunted town alongside Salim are fellow actors Josephine McAdam and Ross Bryant. Game Master (GM) Jared Logan only recently joined The Glass Cannon Network, bringing his expertise and regular players from his own Stream of Blood. This acquisition has helped strengthen The Glass Cannon Network’s talent pool. He recently launched another real game called Inherit the sanda series that explores Modiphius Dune: Adventures in the Imperium based on the original novels by Frank Herbert. But it’s not just about getting a critical mass of talented players. Lavalle says it’s about finding the right chemistry, one that clicks with what can be a volatile audience.

“I’ve seen guest celebrities on streams that have about 40 people watching,” Lavallee said. “How are there not more people watching?” I look at their Twitter and like they’re tweeting about it, it’s just that people are either into it or they’re not. And I think that has a lot to do with whether or not the celebrity likes the game, because you can have any Joe Schmo celebrity play. If they are not in the game, returns will be limited.
“It’s about finding the right mix of personalities and continuing to create a ton of content, but [also] making sure the casts are fun and diverse.
For GM Logan, it’s also about the system being played. There’s more to the role-playing hobby than swords and sorcery. Blades in the darkfor example, mix Peaky Blinders-flight style serialized with the occult. It also relies heavily on improvisation, allowing players to actively invent the story as they go and create a found family of characters bound by like-minded desires. This process is built into the rules of the game itself.
“In Blades in the dark, you not only create your character with your character sheet, you create your gang,” Logan said. “So the book makes it clear that the main character of the show, of the campaign, is your gang.”
With an even bigger cast baked into the fictional universe itself, Logan said it’s a great opportunity to swap new players over time. Salim, for his part, is not worried about an upcoming rotation. Instead, he’s excited about the next opportunity to play.
“On Raised by wolves I always know what scene we are doing,” Salim said. “With this, I have no idea what will happen. It’s one of those things where you go all out because you want to, because it appeals to you.
“You must be awake,” he continued. “It’s terrifying, but I think that’s what makes it so exciting.”
haunted town airs weekly at 8 p.m. ET on Tic. Find the complete archives of the show on Youtube.

Blades in the dark

$21

Pricing taken at time of publication.

$21
to Amazon

$20
to DriveThruRPG

#Raised #Wolves #Abubakar #Salim #tabletop #roleplay