Godsfall is a highly edited actual play
Dungeons & Dragons podcast following a group of 5th edition players in a custom world known as Godsfall. The season-style podcast is currently on season 4, and the tagline was changed from "Swords & Superheroes" to "Divine and Conquer."
This podcast contains these tropes:
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: The great ent Steelbeard gifts the party forest-themed magic clothing items.
- Ani Morphism: The primary weapon Torrvic Wildtongue gains as the Godling of Beasts. Also used by his pet "Oinkers", a sentient Pig who also can shapeshift into other animals... except it's always pink.
- Arrow Catch: How the party first observes Aramil's divinity as the Godling of Speed.
- The Godling of Sport, Tiago Reese, pulls this off when the Godlings return to Ani. He has some bad luck, though.
- Apocalypse How: The Godswar created a Class 1; most of the planet fell into chaos, but in the century following the war, several countries have readjusted to a world without magic. There are still magic objects, but they're either maligned or hidden, save those used by the Emperor Jakub Kladivo, and built into the city of Ani.
- Battle Couple: Pera and Xion are becoming a version of this. During the Godswar, from what we know, Zevan and Mordukai also fought alongside each other as one.
- Badass Normal: Branick, when summoned to the battlefield in the Union.
- Beware the Nice Ones: A good rule for most of the protagonists—while most of them are good-aligned and in general good-natured and nice people, that doesn't mean you want to be on the bad side of people who are literally reborn gods, as several people have learned.
- Born Lucky: Rina Falaval realizes she's the reborn Godling of Luck.
- Bottomless Magazines: Rina & Aramil have quivers that magically generate arrows (Including Trick Arrow s) upon request, although they seem to be common for Ironwood Guardians to be equipped with. However, no other characters seem to run out of ammo for anything, including siege engines.
- Combat Clairvoyance: shown by Tiago Reese, Aramil, and Rina, as the godlings of Sport, Speed, and Luck, respectively.
- Compelling Voice: Cyril Avantis has this as the Godling of Order.
- Phryane has a similar version of this, as she is able to influence the emotions of those around her.
- Deity of Human Origin: Zevan, God of Man, was the millionth person born in the city of Ani and was a god due to the amassed belief of humans in their own race. Technically, the godlings and Haldir Loran also count as this.
- Didn't Think This Through: Dorro Knott certainly moves the plot along with this... frequently.
- Differently Powered Individual: The Godlings. While there are other magic-users such as Haldir Loran and the high-up antimagic extremists, they're very rare. The magic-like abilities of the godlings are referred to as "Divinities".
- Don't Go in the Woods: Many people say this about the Ironwood which is full of wild elves who will apparently kill any outsiders who stray from the path.
- Dream Land: Caitlin can create these as the Godling of Dreams. She eventually learns to create a dream-state Deadly Training Area for the party.
- Emotional Powers: How many of the Godlings first encounter their powers - Phryane uses hers when pissed off at Pera, the rest of the party sees the fire in Pera's eyes when he's stressed, Dorro first teleports when he's running from guards and collides with Torrvic.
- Emotion Bomb: Phyane's powerset as the Godling of Emotion.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Queen Sirena. While she isn't a godling, she does wield some of the magic items from her grandfather, the God King Jakub Kladivo, who got them from the gods.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Essentially Haldir's backstory. While he was always a skilled mage, he was forbidden from using his powers against his older brother—who would physically abuse him and get away with it. It got to the point that their grandmother was sure his brother would one day kill him. And then she taught Haldir untraceable warlock magic, and his brother made the mistake of invading his personal space and threatening him in an area with no witnesses.
- God King: Played with, as Jakub Kladivo is an Empowered Badass Normal wielding magical artifacts made by the gods, after the gods have all been blotted out.
- Heal It With Fire: Averted, as Pera Rivers is a manifestation of the Godling of the Sun, and can use his fire powers to actually heal the party members in addition to normal fire-based powers.
- Hearing Voices: How Haldir Loran's telepathic-ish "sending" ability manifests - He meditates with a candle, and can speak to his contacts throughout the world, twice a day. Also loosely averted, as it only works on command, and only for 25 words both directions.
- Here There Were Dragons: In this setting, all of the gods killed each other in an hour long "Godswar," leading to a disconnect from magic in most of its forms. It is explicitly stated that magical beings, like pixies and dragons, were greatly weakened or went extinct.
- Hidden Elf Village: The elves of the Ironwood live in one of these.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: The sole target for Tiago Reese, the Godling of Sport, is other godlings.
- Infinite Supplies: Mostly averted, save the Bottomless Magazines and a couple magic bottles. Supply runs are common plot hooks, the capital city of Ani is struggling while under siege. Lampshaded in episode 57, when the party arrives in the desert and Aram asks "How much water do you all have on you?", and they reply "Inifinite"
. - In-Series Nickname: Cyril Avantis is constantly referred to as "Goldilocks Grabbyhands". Dorro Knott's reactionary screaming "Lafleur!" to Baron Lafleur also becomes his Catchphrase.
- Instant Armor: Xion's "mage armor" manifests as this.
- Instant Costume Change: Phryane's gift from Steelbeard is a magical leaf cloak that becomes whatever type of clothing she desires.
- In-Universe Game Clock: When in the Union's Wargame, the team tries a preemptive catapult strike a half hour before dawn... and the shot stops midair, falls to the ground, and displays a large 'X' and a countdown timer to dawn.
- Invisibil Ity: Cyril Avantis also has this, for some reason.
- Kick the Dog: Haldir Loran beats up his defenseless servant because he can.
- Life of the Party: Dorro Knott, at Turtlefest.
- Living Shadow: When Caitlyn, godling of Dreams, channels a nightmare towards a target. It gets bloody.
- Living Statue: The various Golems in Ani disguised as statues to the old gods. Also, Haldir Loran's pair of Golden Lions.
- Lovable Coward: Pera begins the series as this.
- Love Epiphany: Averted, as Phryane's divinity constantly alters people's emotions towards her. Heavily averted when Branick is brought to the Union, and has an Oh, Crap! realization.
- Luck Manipulation Mechanic: Rina Falaval's manifestations of the Godling of Luck shows in this way. While Godsfall is a D20 game, she rolls a 24-sided die for additional "crit" chance for any check. She also can channel fate thrice a day. In the game, this manifests as rolling twice, and choosing the one she wants - typically this is good luck for her, or bad luck for her enemies.
- The Magic Comes Back: The crux of the beginning of the narrative. We're first introduced to it in the form of Godlings, including the party... however Aram has stated Haldir Loran isn't a godling, but something else entirely
- Making a Splash: Ceto, God of the Sea, had this ability, and it persists in an artifact in Ani called the Tear of Ceto, which supplies the entire city with fresh water that has healing properties, but also allowed the God-King to threaten to sink enemy ships should they attack the city.
- Million to One Chance: The Godling of Luck's ability. This is both good and bad - if she rolls a natural 1, it is the very definition of a Critical Failure.
- Mind over Matter: Xion Praeten's abilities as the Godling of Force usually manifests in a myriad of telekinetic ways.
- Necro Mancer: The party has a vision of a Deathhammer Orc who can raise sentient dead. They think that she is Godling of Death.
- Never Split the Party: Averted, over and over again. They've gone up to three active groups. It is an episode title, though. Aram, the gamemaster, lampshades this in episode 57, saying "Please, please split up into four groups. That's a great idea. Just kill me."
- Nightmare Sequence: Pera, Xion, Torrvic, and Dorro get sucked into one when they get too close to Catelyn when she was having a bad dream.
- No Biological Sex: Elves reproduce by asking magic trees for an heir. As such, they lack genitals and other sex characteristics. They are, however, not a One-Gender Race, and have gender presentations similar to humans.
- Our Mages Are Different: Initially, there don't seem to be any mages or magic-users in the Godsfall universe, save the Emperor. However, since the setting is based in a Dungeons and Dragons universe, the out-of-character speech refers to the characters with things like classes in the game, that don't have any impact on the world they are in. On a game level, Pera is a Cleric, Haldir is a Warlock, Torrvic is a Paladin, Dorro is a Rogue, and so on... but listening to the podcast, that isn't evident.
- Perpetual Storm: The Worldstorm that is surrounding the area was created by Zavan, the God of Man, who put it up to protect the mortals from the Gods' War, and to contain the last remaining God, Chaos, who is imprisoned in the storm.
- Physical God: The schtick of the series - each of the main characters, both protagonists and antagonists, are godlings, reborn manifestations of the gods of lore.
- Playing with Fire: Pera River's whole schtick as the fledgling Godling of the Sun.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: the entire city of Ani seems to be powered, at least in part, by the god Ceto. The "Tear of Ceto" isn't an artifact at all - it's actually god himself is stuck in a ghoulish Prometheus-esque scenario, chained to a rock while giant squids eat his dead body and his soul is trapped there, begging to be freed.
- Psychic Static: When Phrayne tries to read Haldir Loran, she gets this feeling that he... isn't there.
- Roof Hopping: Rina uses this to get away from Tiago Reese
- Shapeshifter Weapon: Lord Haldir Loran can adjust his physical stats, temporarily boosting his strength, dexterity, et cetera.
- Simple, yet Opulent: How Phrayne Tinueth describes her introductory dress at the ball
- Spanner in the Works: Dorro manages to be this for the party's stated goal of staying under the radar, especially at Turtlefest where he publically declares that they are godlings (to the dismay or horror of the rest of the characters).
- Speaks Fluent Animal : Torrvic Wildtongue's secondary ability as the Godling of Beasts, shown as a telepathic empathy.
- Speed Blitz: Aramil, Rina's cousin, is the Godling of Speed, and can fight faster than the eye can see. In the time one person can draw and fire a bow, Aramil does it three times. He's so fast, he'll occasionally smash arrows by nocking them too fast.
- Spirit World: Whenever the party enters the Astral Realm, suffuse with purple divine energy. Often caused by some MacGuffin, such as the Eye of Saw or the God King's ring.
- Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Haldir Loran can also manifest weapons of any type, albeit temporarily. Also doubles as a Morph Weapon, as he can reshape it into whatever form he wants in mid fight.
- Tailor-Made Prison: The godlings find out that the Union was supposed to be created as a testing for potential demigods, when actually it was designed as a trap by the Chaos god, siphoning divine energy from the other Gods... which was then altered by Zavan at the last minute into the prison, keeping her Sealed Evil in a Can, as she was the sole survivor of the God's War.
- Teleportation Spam: How Dorro Knott's abilities eventually manifest as the Godling of Travel.
- Trick Arrow: The Ironwood elves carry three colors of flare arrows and those with a sleep-inducing poison.
