Norfolk Wizard Game is a Mage: The Ascension Actual Play podcast made by Ogre Poppenang; creators of Hunter: The Parenting.
The story is set in the same universe as Hunter, only this time in Norfolk, Virginia. While a family of monster hunters struggle against the machinations of the secret vampire society in East Anglia, four initially disconnected Virginians discover they have a unique gift...
Our main cast is as follows:
- HulkyKrow as Bill Morgan, a blue-collar woodworker who spends most of his free time chasing aliens and other cryptids while running a micropublication.
- Odoroshi as Sibyl Inswood, a Starving Artist and self-proclaimed "goth gremlin" desperately trying to make her way into the Norfolk art scene.
- Earndil as Samson Tuttle, an aspiring basketball star at Old Dominion University who dabbles in rituals to get an edge on the court.
- Fredrik Knudsen as Parker Knickerbocker, a young archeologist trapped managing a dusty antique store and taking care of his old, infirm parents.
- And SpeakerD as the Storyteller.
The series begins with four "awakenings", one for each character, detailing how they each came to realize the power they now wield, and then goes into the series proper. An audiolog format is planned to be animated for Ogre Poppenang's Youtube channel.
Norfolk Wizard Game contains examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: At the very beginning of Parker's Awakening:SpeakerD: "Peter..."Fredrik: "Oh, it's actually 'Parker'"*Beat*SpeakerD: ...RAAAAGH!!!Fredrik: Hahaha!
- Arbitrary Skepticism: When Sibyl tries to explain that she was attacked by a vampire to Bill, Bill reacts with confusion, believing that the Chupacabra is real, but the idea of the undead being a bridge too far. She almost immediately calls him out on it.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Sibyl desperately tries to attract someone, anyone, to attend her art exhibit. In the end, she manages to attract one visitor: a vampire.
- Believer Fakes Evidence: Bill Morgan and his friends in the Hidden Gazette are searching the Great Dismal Swamp for an impression in the mud that Delmond photographed earlier. In the course of searching, Bill finds a plastic mold that appears to be a perfect match for the pattern in the photo. After some grilling, Delmond confesses to having made the impression himself to give the Gazette a good (or at least plausible) story.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Samson's pregame ritual (as in an actual magical ritual, not just a habit) is all-but directly compared to performance enhancing drugs, including the part where it gets less effective the more he uses it.
- Nutritional Nightmare: Predictably, when Bill makes a stop at O'Tolley's, the stuff being served to him is nothing short of a nightmare of excess, including a beer with ranch dressing smeared onto the bottle, which he's more than willing to jump on.
- Revealing Cover-Up: After taking Bill's testimony, Doctor Liddie, an agent of the Technocratic Union, claims that Bill's friend, Glenn, died when he hit a live wire. In the middle of a national wildlife preserve. Bill doesn't even pretend to buy it for a second.
- True Art Is Incomprehensible: Parodied. Sibyl's installation has trouble getting any attention against...a bowl of Salsa Verde, which enraptures just about everybody in the entire exhibit hall.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Discussed by Sibyl and her Avatar after it saves her from being Embraced.Sibyl's Avatar: "I could send you back. You could live forever."Sibyl: "...I dunno if that's how I wanna live forever."
