State of USP

Untold Stories Project Code of Conduct

 

This Code of Conduct is for all cast, crew, supporting elements and audience members of the Untold Stories Project. We expect every member, regardless of role, to follow and uphold this Code. Failure to do so will result in a conversation being opened and action taken based upon the severity and frequency of the infraction. We also will not tolerate any form of retaliation that may be attempted if an infraction is brought to our attention.

1. Support Each Other
   We’re committed to supporting and uplifting each other, creating a community that is based around table-top role playing games (TTRPGs) and the individuals that make the community what it is.
   1. Equal Opportunity
      We believe that there should be no discrimination in who can be a member of the Untold Stories Project community, or that such factors should limit their growth here. This includes race, color, religion, nationality and origin, ancestry, mental or physical disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, medical condition, pregnancy status, veterancy status, or any other characteristic prohibited by law.
   2. Harassment, Bullying, and Discrimination
      The Untold Stories Project stands firmly against any form of discrimination, harassment or bullying. Whether it be verbal, physical or visual, it’s not something we ever consider to be acceptable by any member of our community and will be handled immediately upon notification of its occurrence.
   3. Safe Space
      We strive to build a positive and uplifting environment for all members of the Untold Stories Project, one that is safe for people of any background to participate in and feel included. That also includes making members aware of content we create that is potentially sensitive in nature, so that people can be warned of things that may be triggering to them.
2. Being Respectful & Aware
   The Untold Stories Project is built upon supporting and uplifting each other, which is further cemented by being respectful and aware of individuals presence in the community and their impact on others.
   1. Respecting Others
      While we’ve already spoken about our commitment to zero tolerance of discrimination, we also believe that respecting one another is how positive relationships are built and fostered in our community. As such, we expect all members to be respectful to other members, with additional grace given to those who are part of our acting cast and crew as they work on creating content and facilitating engaging shows. We all are experiencing our own struggles in life and compassion goes a long way.
   2. Awareness
      The Untold Stories Project also engages in active awareness, allowing members to be able to understand and react to situations quickly and effectively. This helps members in all facets of our community be able to help guide and improve on our storytelling and content creation. Awareness additionally helps maintain the safe space we strive for by recognizing scenarios and events that may prohibit our ability to fulfill that aspiration for members of our community.
   3. Presence
      The Untold Stories Project strives to create collaborative story experiences through TTRPGs in many formats. It is imperative that our team members respect the story and their peer’s hard work by being present and engaged for games. Minimize additional distractions and windows when streaming. When possible there is to be no eating on stream. We ask that performers please stream or record from a safe and quiet location whenever possible.
3. Creating Quality Content
   In addition to furnishing and maintaining a community, some members may wish to create content, which is something the Untold Stories Project is passionate about. We always want to fuel the creativity that exists in the world of TTRPGs.
   1. Types of Content
      The Untold Stories Project has multiple forms of content that it creates for listeners and viewers to consume. We desire to produce these in multiple formats for those with disabilities to enjoy to the fullest, and is something we expect of the creators of our community to be able to facilitate.
   2. Inclusivity
      Our stances on bullying, harassment and discrimination are the same ones we stand by when it comes to content creation, and as such do not allow any of our members who wish to create content to ‘gatekeep’ members who wish to join them. Jokes about health conditions, disabilities, and discrimination are strictly prohibited.
   3. Content Rating
      The Untold Stories Project, in an effort to appeal to as many audience members as possible strives to stay within the bonds of a PG-13 rating, unless specifically noted in a content warning. Our usual programming should refrain from explicit sexual content or persistent realistic/extreme violence. Performers are encouraged to curb explicit language. The Untold Stories Project provides the X-Card tool as an ever-present resource for performer safety.
   4. Collaborative Storytelling
      Above all else, the Untold Stories Project aspires to tell collaborative stories. All of our performers are here in service of a wider narrative. Our games are not about one-upmanship and are not a competition to see who can be the funniest or most scandalous. It is important not to step on another’s storyteller’s moment and to share the spotlight.

USP 2022 Year End Review

Hello heroes!

I hope this message finds you well wherever you may be out there in the world. Somehow another year has already come and gone and we’ve accomplished so much. I am so proud of our team’s hard work and triumphs this year and I am eternally grateful to all of you who tune in each week, join our games at conventions, and support us in so many other ways.

2022 has been a growth year for us here at USP as we’ve added more members to our core team and expanded into physical gaming events. I just want to highlight some of the accomplishments that I’m most proud of from the last year. I’ll present them below in no particular order:

• The expansion of our shared Earth-Prime Universe! We wrapped up the first seasons of our NetherWar and City of Destiny games and added the Guardians of Haven and GemStars to the mix, bringing our total games in one shared continuity to four. We’ve had multiple successful crossover events throughout the year and I can say we have some exciting plans on the horizon for our heroes of the Freedomverse. We’ll be increasing our collection of USPEPTTU campaigns with some returning hero teams and some new shows, but we’ll save that for another post
• Origins, Gen Con, and PGX 2022! Holy cow we had our first physical convention appearances, where we ran over twenty events for mostly sold-out tables. I even got to lead a panel about superhero RPGs at PGX as an industry guest, which was a first for me and a wonderful experience. It was so amazing getting to game with some of you in person as well as spreading awareness about our channel and our mission here at USP. We will be back to these conventions in a big way this year and we would love to see you all there! (Psst we’ll be running a 25 person mega event for Mutants & Masterminds at Origins this year that you’re not going to want to miss. Hades is going to be there and everything!)
• Game Systems Galore! We showcased a BUNCH of new systems on the channel this year. Part of our mission has always been to shine a light on RPGs that don’t get the love and attention that they deserve and I think we really showed up for that this year. We featured Low Life, Lancer, Power Rangers, Alien the RPG, Honey Heist, Deadlands, Cthulhu Awakens, Marvel Multiverse RPG, Modern AGE, along with our tried and true Mutants & Masterminds. We also had a bunch of new GMs on to share their stories and I look forward to continuing this trend in 2023.
• Trevor Project Fundraiser! This is my favorite accomplishment of the year! Our team banded together for a weekend long stream during which we raised $500 for The Trevor Project. We played so many games, hosted interviews with several industry professionals, and really banded together to do something truly good in the real world. This truly felt like a culmination of everything we wanted to accomplish when we set out to found the Untold Stories Project. We have always believed that gaming is for everyone and that it is a place where people should be free and safe to express themselves honestly and the compassion all of our donors shared truly blows my mind. Thank you to everyone who made that possible!
• USP Patreon! The last thing I’ll mention in this list of accomplishments is the founding of our USP Patreon! We wanted to create this as a way to connect with the people who support us most and as a way to thank them with exclusive content. We’re still navigating exactly what that looks like, but we intend to increase our presence there in 2023. We are cooking up lots of fun surprises for the people who support us there and we would love to see you there!

As for the first quarter of 2023, I am happy to report that we are going to be continuing strong. I’ll go ahead and break down what will be happening on our weekly programs over the next couple of months:

• Mondays: We will be finishing the Silenced Night holiday special for the first few weeks in January, then we will be taking a month off. I’m going to explain why in a separate blog post in the next couple of weeks, but I feel like I need to recharge and have some time to write what is coming next. And what is coming next is…Freedom League Dark Season 1 (or NetherWar Season 2, we’re still working on the title.) Our Monday night heroes will be returning to the familiar shoes of Centuria, Resonant, Bowman, Mortis, and… maaaybe Overdrive. I don’t know he seemed pretty retired when we last left our overpowered speedster. All I can say is Kevin will be there for sure. Our heroes will be delving into the dangers of the multiverse to heal the damage caused by Una and stop their former ally, Eldrich, from causing pandemonium in the DC, Marvel, Titan City, and various dimensions of Earth-Prime. This is going to be a long series and will feature a lot of guest stars and a litany of changes to my current GM style. I’m excited to see how it all shakes out.
• Tuesdays: GemStars will be continuing in the Tuesday night slot, and I know Wiccy has some killer things in store for her players that are going to tie the GemStars even further into the main story arc of our shared continuity.
• YouTube: One of the things I want to accomplish during my month off of GMing is filming some more short-form RPG advice videos, some Story Forge videos, and generally dipping my toes into slightly more snack-sized content for our channel. Please let me know if there’s anything in particular you’d like to see me tackle as a subject!

Thank you again to everyone who has supported us this year and to the entire USP team for continually pushing us onward and upward. You all work so hard to make this nerdy corner of the internet everything that it can be. I am so impressed with your creativity, passion, and talent, and I am glad I get to bask in the light of your efforts. 2022 was an amazing year and I cannot wait to see what we accomplish in 2023!

USP Holiday One-Shots

Well, it’s that time of year again, and no, I don’t mean the annual thawing out of Mariah Carey for 60 to 75 days of All I Want for Christmas on repeat on all store radios. No, it is time for the annual USP Holiday One-Shot season! Every year we try to run a few new game systems that we don’t usually do on the channel (not that we won’t run a Holiday M&M if the mood suits us), and this year is no exception. We have 8 amazing games on the schedule for this year, with one already in the books from last night. Here’s the schedule so you can plan out your Wednesday evenings to join us!

• 11/2 – Low Life, with special guest GM Tom of Matinee Adventures
• 11/9 – Lancer finale with Calvin
• 11/16 – “Jurassic Park” utilizing the Aliens RPG setting with special guest GM Carl of Matinee Adventures
• 11/30 – M&M Holiday Spectacular with Alex
• 12/7 – Essence20 Power Rangers, titled “It’s A Kind of (Christmas) Magic” with Andy (that’s me!)
• 12/14 – Crash Pandas, titled “Crash Santa” with Wiccy
• 12/21 – Modified Honey Heist, titled “God Bless Us, Every One!” with Brandon
• 12/28 – Star Trek with Kevin

Admin’s Note: If you want to get a look at the PC character sheets for any of these games, a reminder that they are available at our Patreon page at the Sidekick or higher level.

Hey guys! We’re happy to announce the upcoming Untold Stories Project Patreon Page! It’ll be launching on October 1st, and we’re super excited about it.

Why A Patreon?

Because we’re poor. Ok, that’s not the real truth, but what is the truth is that running a streaming network costs money, and one of the things that is keeping us from being able to upgrade equipment, bring in more guests, get more custom artwork, etc. is a lack of funds. We make some money from our Twitch streams and our merchandise store, but we think that there are those of you out there who would be happy to support us financially and this seemed like the best way to do it.

What Benefits Are Available to Me?

Quite a lot, hopefully! We’re planning to offer a lot of Patreon-exclusive content, starting with access to a Patreon-only channel on our Discord, character sheets for original characters from our games, the ability to add NPCs to our games, free and reduced merchandise, private AMAs with our cast and crew, and invitations to games with the USP crew.

When Does it Start?

Our Patreon page will officially be available starting on October 1, 2022. At launch, Patreon supporters will have access to a preview of our upcoming October Limited Series games. Within a few days, those who are supporting at the Sidekick or Higher Tier will have access to the character sheets for the PCs of those Spoktober Limited Series games (with the exception of our Call of Cthulhu game, which is a pre-published module with its own pre-generated characters).

That said, if you follow the link below, you can access the Patreon page today.

Where Do I Go?

The Untold Stories Project Patreon page is located at https://www.patreon.com/UntoldStoriesProject

USP Con Appearances Fall 2022

Hello heroes! I hope everyone is having a great day out there in gamer land! I just wanted to check in to let you all know that USP GMs are going to be appearing at a couple of conventions coming up in October just in case you want to come out and play in some of our games or just say hi!

I (Alex) will be starting us up with my industry guest appearance at the Pittsburgh Gaming Expo from October 1st-2nd at the Monroeville Convention Center. I will be running two Mutants & Masterminds games. One on Saturday October 1st at 11am EST and one on Sunday October 2nd at 1pm EST.

I’ll also be leading my first ever panel at this convention! I’ll be talking about Writing and Running Superhero RPGs on the main stage Sunday at 11am. There’s also tons of fun cosplay, video games, and other tabletop games being run! I’m beyond excited that the PGX team has invited me to participate and I can’t wait to let you all know how it went! Event sign up hasn’t gone live yet for this convention, keep an eye out on their website for badge and event registration. https://www.pghretrogaming.com/

The following weekend Andy and I will be heading up to Ypsilanti, Michigan for U-Con! This is one of my favorite cozy conventions of the year. Andy and I are both running games throughout the weekend including:

Andy:

The Shepherd’s Burden

• When: Friday 2pm EST
• Synopsis: You’ve tried to reinvent yourself over the course of your high school career, but is the Senior class trip your last chance? And if so, what happens if you don’t like who you become?
• System: Things From the Flood

Young Justice: Trauma Drive

• When: Saturday 9am EST
• Synopsis: Dealing with the aftermath of the Reach’s assault on Earth, the Team gets back together to investigate a set of odd occurrences happening in Central City. But how will they deal with what they find?
• System: Mutants & Masterminds

Alex:

Gotham City Misfits

• When: Friday 9am EST
• Synopsis: Killer Moth is getting together a crew to kidnap Bruce Wayne. Should be easy money…
• System: Mutants & Masterminds

Titan City Chronicles: Spectacular Beasts

• When: Friday 2pm EST
• Synopsis: Magical zookeeper Avery Montgomery has lost a group of mythical monsters en route to the Titan City zoo. It’s up to our local heroes to rescue them before someone gets hurt.
• System: Mutants & Masterminds

I actually left a decent amount of playtime in my schedule for U-Con so if you’ve ever wanted to be on that side of the table with me this is a prime opportunity! Feel free to send me a message on Discord and I’ll be happy to share my play schedule. I also as always recommend any games run by our friends at Matinee Adventures!

This is the U-Con website if you want to sign-up: https://www.ucon-gaming.org/

These two conventions are only the beginning of the exciting stuff we have planned for you through the end of the year. I’ll check back in next week with another post to talk about our end of the year one-shots!

USP Origins Events!

Hello heroes! Origins event registration is quickly approaching and our GMs are deep in final preparation for their events. We are so excited for the chance to play with all of you. To help you find us, I have compiled this rough schedule of our events so you can find the Untold Stories Project’s Games when registration goes live this Saturday, May 21st! I’ve laid our schedule out chronologically and have included event descriptions/GM as well. I’d also like to take a moment and recommend any of the events being run by Matinee Adventures. That is the group that Alex and Andy usually GM for at Origins and they are all truly skilled GMs. Some of them are alumni of our channel, including Laura who ran our East Texas University series and Paul who has been a wonderful Daedalus for us. You can’t go wrong with any of Matinee’s games!

Wednesday

12:00 p.m.

Crash Pandas: Trashtown Blitz

• Synopsis: Players are a group of street racing racoons out for glory by working together to drive a car and win a street race in this game of cartoon hi-jinks and ridiculous shenanigans!
• System: Crash Pandas
• GM: Wiccy

1:00 p.m.

The Shepherd’s Burden

• Synopsis: You’ve tried to reinvent yourself over the course of your high school career, but is the Senior class trip your last chance? And if so, what happens if you don’t like who you become?
• System: Things From the Flood
• GM: Andy

6:00 p.m.

Pop Kartz

• Synopsis: Funko Pop Ridez battle it out in a Mario Kart style race through Pop! Town.
• System: Custom (based on Gaslands)
• GM: Wiccy

Rocketeer Corp: Valley of the Red Gates

• Synopsis: The Rocketeer Corps stands ready to lend their aid in defending the world from the Axis. Allied Intelligence has sent the Corp to Southwest Poland to investigate reports of the Thule Society having taken up residence in the area.
• System: Hollow Earth Expedition
• GM: Andy

7:00 p.m.

Gotham City Misfits

• Synopsis: Killer Moth has brought together the ultimate crew of Gotham villains to pull off the heist of the century…
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Alex

Thursday

8:00 a.m.

Before the Magic Kingdom

• Synopsis: The heroes of Disney films (in the bodies of ordinary teenagers) must travel back to before the park opened to ensure that the Magic of Disney survives until the present.
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Aaron

10:00 a.m.

Crash Pandas: Trashtown Blitz

• Synopsis: Players are a group of street racing racoons out for glory by working together to drive a car and win a street race in this game of cartoon hi-jinks and ridiculous shenanigans!
• System: Crash Pandas
• GM: Wiccy

1:00 p.m.

Gundam Raid

• Synopsis: Raid season is in full effect in the Gundam MMO. You and your coalition plan to win the whole thing, but something seems off with this year’s event format. A game inspired by the Gundam Breaker video game and the Build Divers anime.
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Andy

2:00 p.m.

Freedom League: All in the Family

• Synopsis: All isn’t as it seems when Zeus requests the Freedom League’s assistance in foiling his brother’s latest scheme to take over Earth-Prime.
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Alex

6:00 p.m.

Hero High: Whatever Happened to the Alterni-teens?

• Synopsis: Freshly graduated from Claremont Academy, the AlterniTeens have gone missing. Now the new class must find their predecessors.
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Aaron

7:00 p.m.

The Mummy: The Mumkey Returns

• Synopsis: Rick O’Connell and crew are called to help when mummified animals run amok at Al Azhar University in Cairo.
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Alex

Friday

8:00 a.m.

Before the Magic Kingdom

• Synopsis: The heroes of Disney films (in the bodies of ordinary teenagers) must travel back to before the park opened to ensure that the Magic of Disney survives until the present.
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Aaron

10:00 a.m.

Pop Kartz

• Synopsis: Funko Pop Ridez battle it out in a Mario Kart style race through Pop! Town.
• System: Custom (based on Gaslands)
• GM: Wiccy

1:00 p.m.

Mega Man (X): Fractured Future

• Synopsis: Future and past collide when disaster strikes, threatening to destroy the entire timeline. Can the heroes of two eras rewrite the course of history before the changes become permanent?
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Andy

2:00 p.m.

Titan City Chronicles: Blood Run

• Synopsis: Vampires are roaring through 1920s Titan City, and it’s up to a ragtag band of heroes to stop them.
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Alex

6:00 p.m.

Hero High: Whatever Happened to the Alterni-teens?

• Synopsis: Freshly graduated from Claremont Academy, the AlterniTeens have gone missing. Now the new class must find their predecessors.
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Aaron

7:00 p.m.

The Siege of Starhaven

• Synopsis: Eyes from across the galaxy are focused on Starhaven, eager to make use of its citizens, its ancient Preserver technology, and its close proximity to Earth. It is a city in need of heroes…
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Alex

Saturday

9:00 a.m.

Crash Pandas: Trashtown Blitz

• Synopsis: Players are a group of street racing racoons out for glory by working together to drive a car and win a street race in this game of cartoon hi-jinks and ridiculous shenanigans!
• System: Crash Pandas
• GM: Wiccy

2:00 p.m.

Guardians of the Galaxy: The Thoocury Smew

• Synopsis: The Collector hires the Guardians to recover a priceless bird statue from the wreck of a Kree warship.
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Alex

7:00 p.m.

Star Wars: The Most Dangerous Game

• Synopsis: Emperor Palpatine has put out a call across the Outer Rim for bounty hunters willing to hunt down a dangerous Jedi in hiding.
• System: Mutants & Masterminds
• GM: Alex

Sunday

10:00 a.m.

Pop Kartz

• Synopsis: Funko Pop Ridez battle it out in a Mario Kart style race through Pop! Town.
• System: Custom (based on Gaslands)
• GM: Wiccy

Welcome to Starhaven!

Hello heroes! Thank you for stopping by today! I wanted to take a few moments to tell you all what is next for our NetherWar cast now that the finale is over. We’re taking these amazing players and putting them in spaaaaaace.

That’s right, we are going to Starhaven, the titular setting in Green Ronin Publishing’s upcoming sourcebook. Instead of focusing on magical heroes, as we did for NetherWar, our new PCs are going to be refugees from the stars looking to find a new home in a hostile wilderness.

We’ll be introducing them to you over the next few weeks, but each of them is incredibly interesting. I can’t wait for you all to see the art we ordered from the amazing Savanna Sheer. See this link to commission some of her work for yourself!

We will be discussing the show—something we’re calling Guardians of Haven — for an hour on March 21st at 7pm EST and then we premier on March 28th. I will go ahead and break down a little bit of what superhero shenanigans we have in store this time. As I said, our heroes are aliens who have recently arrived in Starhaven.

Starhaven is set in a Preserver ruin on Jupiter’s moon Europa. It is a frontier town and melting pot with clashing cultures, natural dangers around every corner, and the eyes of the galaxy upon it. Our heroes will have the genuine ability to influence the future of this settlement. I am the tiniest bit nervous that this will be the first series in the USP Earth-Prime universe that is completely custom written by me. It’s so exciting and we do have a bunch of interesting antagonists lined up to face our heroes, including the dread Captain Kraken found in Rogues Gallery.

Some of my writing influences through this piece are Guardians of the Galaxy, Red Dead Redemption, Firefly, Mass Effect, Land of the Lost, Gangs of New York, Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans by Gary Krist, and Star Wars. I want to showcase a melting pot, powder keg, with a lot of political maneuvering, and that criminal element mixed with the natural wonder of exploring this ancient ruin. I do intend to be nicer to my players than I was in NetherWar.

The show will not be as long as NetherWar, but will still be a lengthy season with the option to do more if there is interest. We do have a special guest in the works for one of our Guardians of Haven story arcs, but I won’t spoil that fun just yet.

Keep an eye out here over the next couple of weeks as I let the players introduce their characters. Thank you for coming on this journey with us! See you space cowboy…

A Year of NetherWar

Hello heroes! I hope you’re having a fabulous day out there in blogspace. Thank you for tuning in for a bit of a nostalgic one this week. As I’m sure you noticed, we wrapped up our NetherWar game after 53 adventures, 3 recaps, and more spent Hero Points than you can shake a stick at. We laughed, we cried, we faced so many Overdrive variants. At the time I’m writing this, we’re a week away from the finale and I am just a wet ball of emotions trying to put the pride and joy I feel about this game. I wanted to take some time to write it out so I can really express how spectacular this experience has been to me. I’m sure I won’t be nearly this articulate when I’m blubbering on stream next Monday.

Gratitude is the primary emotion I associate with this experience. I’m incredibly grateful for the experience I’ve had running this game. Being the Gamemaster for this amazing series with this phenomenal cast is one of the highlights of my gaming career. I am so fortunate to have players that trusted me to guide this experience and were willing to go along with my shenanigans. The story, which started as 6 pre-written modules, truly became our epic superhero tale. It ballooned into 12 story arcs consisting of expanded/modified versions of the core adventures, a modified version of the Astonishing Adventure Into the Idiot Box, and individual story arcs centered around several of our protagonists. I’m still working on the final write ups for each story arc, but it’s truly astonishing what we managed to pull off here.

I want to extend a special thanks to the primary cast. Andy for knowing me well enough to keep me grounded and on task, encouraging exceptional roleplaying from his fellow cast members, and for embodying the role of team leader so well. Kevin for bringing his deep knowledge of Mutants & Masterminds, being flexible as I kept pulling him into different versions of his own character, and for breaking his no Zoom at home rule for our game. Jonesy for giving me so much rich material to work with, bringing truly vile villains into the story for me to embody, and for being the quiet heart of the group. Also shout out to Jonesy and Kevin for bringing their Heroes Incorporated characters back for a wild ride. Kat for jumping in “for just a couple of weeks” at a moment’s notice, for taking an iconic character and making her own amazing version, and for always being willing to dive into scenes with both hands and a full heart. Calvin for your constant innovation and creativity with a character who could have been easily overshadowed by the magical heroes around him, your investment into the story, both with emotional reactions, thorough note taking, and by giving me plenty of material to work with (cough, cough thank you for Sophie cough, cough), and for always being a positive presence in our group.

Finally, I want to extend so many thanks to you, the audience. It really means a lot seeing your engagement in chat, knowing you’re there to root our heroes on, celebrate their wins, and mourn their losses. I appreciate all of you so much, we do this streaming experience for you, because I truly believe we have great storytellers with valuable stories to tell. Thank you for your comments, your subscriptions, your shares, and just for being there. It means more than I can say.

This is the end of a chapter in our USP Earth-Prime Tabletop Universe, and I want to celebrate that. We have so many exciting things in store for you, but I am going to miss NetherWar once it’s gone. That’s enough from me for now. Thank you for indulging me this time and I can’t wait to see you again in our next stream.

USP End of Year Check In 2021

Holy cow everyone, I can’t believe it’s already the end of 2021. This year has been a heck of a ride here at USP, and I just wanted to take some time as we go into 2022 to talk about some of our highlights from the past year and to let you all know a little bit about our exciting plans in the new year.

USP is almost two years old at this point and those two years have been some of the most uncertain times in recent memory. It has been energizing building this community, providing a welcome respite from everything going on. I have loved our games, our conversations, and I appreciate all of you who have stopped by to say hello in stream, dropped a comment on one of our YouTube videos, or just read our blog posts here on the site. Thank you everyone from the bottom of our hearts, we couldn’t do all this without you.

So, here’s a few things we accomplished that I’m particularly proud of in 2021:

• Founding this website and blog. It has been wonderful having this space to function as a launch pad for all of our content. We’ve featured works from talented writers and artists on the blog, and we’ve kept a fairly consistent upload schedule. Love to see it!
• Origins 2021. This was our first convention appearance in person, with Andy, Aaron, and myself all running games where we got to interact with people directly. It was amazing getting the chance to introduce new folks to our platform and playtest something that I’ll talk about a little later in the wild. I’m immensely proud of everyone who put in the work to represent us in the physical world, and can’t wait to see what we can do at Origins 2022 and other conventions next year.
• Founding the Earth-Prime Tabletop Universe. This year saw us focusing on Mutants & Masterminds, but more specifically with Green Ronin’s flagship setting of Earth-Prime. I started us in February with Netherwar and we are on track to play through at least February or March of 2022 with this epic story. On top of Netherwar, we added City of Destiny, our playthrough of the Emerald City Knights campaign, but the kicker is, both games exist in the same world at the same time. We’ve even had a massive crossover episode with 10 PCs at once, GMed masterfully by Aaron. Crystal Fraiser and Steve Kenson even came on as guest stars in a couple of episodes, and we became an affiliate with Green Ronin. And I can assure you the EPTU is only beginning.
• Highlighting Other RPGs. Even with our M&M showcase, we found time to shine a light on a number of other lesser known RPGs this year. Fallout Wasteland Warfare, Werewolf the Apocalypse, Monster of the Week, and the Blue Rose Adventurer’s Guide all got series on the channel. We had one shots as well for Call of Cthulhu, D&D, 7th Sea, Alien: Colonial Marines, Things From the Flood, and Crash Pandas.
• Becoming an LLC. We officially became an LLC in the state of Ohio, making us kind of legitimate. I just think that’s neat!

It’s been an awesome year, but next year is going to be even better. Just to announce a couple of exciting things we have planned in 2022:

• Publishing TTRPG Content. Starting with our first adventure module: The Lost Library for Mutants & Masterminds, we are going to be creating material for you to use at your home tables. We’re looking into adventures, NPCs, locations, option rules, all sorts of things for all sorts of systems. Keep an eye here on the site as that information becomes available.
• Monthly One-Shots. We’re going to be doing monthly one-shots on top of our November/December Holiday series so we can show-off even more systems throughout the year. We’ll be starting with finishing some “one-shots” I ran earlier in 2021, since I have the tendency to write more than I need. Surprise. But starting in March we’ll be doing brand new content, including a Lancer stream run by Calvin! If you have suggestions for systems we should look into, please post them in the comments below, or let us know in Twitch chat!
• EPTU Expanded. Netherwar Season 1 is coming to an end early in 2022, but that crew will be taking on another EPTU series after Netherwar comes to a pause. I won’t spoil exactly what corner of Earth-Prime we’re going to, but just know it’s going to be pretty Stellar.

That’s just a few of the exciting updates we have to look forward to in 2022. As always, thank you so much for your support as our community has grown and found its footing. All of us here at USP greatly appreciate it. Please have a Happy New Year and play something fun for us!