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State of the Untold Stories Project 2023

Hello heroes! It’s nearing the end of the year, which means it’s time for my annual reflection on everything we’ve accomplished as a group. 2023 was a massive year for USP and I am so proud of the growth we’ve undergone. I feel like we are in a position now to really make 2024 a great year for the network and that couldn’t have happened without our dedicated viewers, our talented players, and our passionate Gamemasters. I am always proud and grateful for the community we’ve built here and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for all of us.

I personally have spent a lot of time this year growing and healing as an individual. I’ve taken strides to control my health, my mind, and my self-esteem, which has led to a number of improvements for myself and the network. I’ll talk about this some more in our New Year’s Resolution blog post in a few weeks, but look out for an increase in the quality and frequency of our uploads from Twitch, to Youtube, to the podcasts, this blog, and our Patreon!

We fulfilled a lot of our goals this year. Here are some of 2023’s highlights:

  • The Untold Stories Project Earth-Prime Tabletop Universe continued to grow. Our GemStars crossed over into the Prime universe and Leifandi is now a second moon for Earth-Prime—I’m going to have to remember to comment on that as Anson next time we get together. We started a new podcast in the form of Heroes of Tomorrow showcasing a class of teen heroes at the Claremont Academy. The Freedom League Dark returned and delved into the Multiverse of the Master Mage and we found out that ARCADE might be trying to stop Something in the Dark… This brings our total shows in the connected universe to six! (NetherWar/Freedom League Dark, City of Destiny, Guardians of Haven, GemStars, Heroes of Tomorrow, and Something in the Dark) We have a few more ideas for a few miniseries in 2024 and even better crossovers. We’re even adding some new players into the mix for an upcoming Freedom League game called Ghost in the Machine that will feature everyone’s favorite Sophie!
  • Conventions! I specifically want to call out Origins 2023 for being a watershed moment for us as a company. We had a ton of GMs running events this year, exposing us to more and more players. On top of that we had our massive multi-table Hades Invasion! I am so proud of the work we put in for that crossover and even now I’m hearing that it was the highlight of the con for a lot of people. We already have plans to bring that back for Origins 2024 so keep a lookout here for more information as it comes. We also made appearances at Gen Con, the Pittsburgh Gaming Expo, and U-Con as well. We have some new GMs joining the roster for our Origins excursion and we’ll be meeting some of our friends in person for the first time ever next year. If you’re a fan of the network you do not want to miss Origins next year.
  • National Novel Writing Month! We put together a team for NaNoWriMo this year and that was a ton of fun. We even had one person go all the way and finish their manuscript in the month of November—congratulations Aunt Puppy! But those of us who didn’t make the 50,000 words still got a lot out of the attempt. We had write-ins together, we got to share writing advice, and we got to spread our creative wings in an arena that we don’t usually get to spend a lot of time in. I’m excited to do this again next year.
  • Holiday One Shots! We continued our tradition of the holiday “one-shots” with a bunch of great offerings from Cthulhu Awakens, Street Fighter the Storytelling Game, Lancer, Mutants & Masterminds, Power Rangers, and Star Trek Adventures. Some of them even finished in one episode instead of being dragged out into special mini arcs. I think we’ll probably plan to have each of these take up two weeks for next year, just to be on the safe side. This is one of my favorite things that we do because it gives us the chance to shine a light on RPGs that don’t get nearly as much attention as they should and encourages some of our players to take on the role of Gamemaster!
  • Patreon Actual Play! This is recent, but we had our first Patreon Actual Play, where members of our Patreon got to play in a Legends of Tomorrow scenario run by me. It was a ton of fun and I already have plans for more of those in the new year. I want to be able to provide a fun reward like that for the people who support us most.

I would say that the Untold Stories Project is in a great position after 2023 to leap into the new year with renewed energy and excitement. We have a few amazing projects in the pipeline that I can’t wait to share with you, but until then I just want to say thank you from myself and everyone here at USP. This network exists thanks to the energy and love of a lot of people and I am always amazed that you dedicate your time, creativity, energy, and support to us. Thank you for everything and we’ll see you in the new year!