Over a decade since the original release of the 2014 Player’s Handbook, and one of the largest resurgences of interest in Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop roleplaying games, actual play podcasts and streams are at an all-time high. Despite a highly saturated marketplace for this type of content, Tales Unrolled has managed to discover a unique approach to actual play.
Featuring Critical Role alumni Luis Carazo and Christian Navarro (with Carazo serving as Game Master), as well as TTRPG veterans Oscar Montoya, Mayanna Berrin, and new-to-the-form player Camila Victoriano, Tales Unrolled brings fans of actual play to the fantastical town of Alma, a campaign setting rich with Latin American culture and heroes ready to have their stories told.
The Tale Begins
After sharing the first episode with me ahead of the series premiere on April 29th, I sat down with cast members Luis Carazo, Christian Navarro, Camila Victoriano, and Lore Keeper Jack Cummins to discuss Alma, the conception of Tales Unrolled, and all things actual play.
“The big mission is to work with Latino creators from all gamuts of creativity,” Victoriano tells me about conceiving Tales Unrolled alongside Navarro through Sonoro Media. “I’ve always been a nerd, but much of fantasy is Eurocentric. No one’s really done what we’re doing in this space.”
Victoriano and Navarro met through their other work at Sonoro Media, which produces Tales Unrolled. Victoriano serves as Sonoro’s Chief Content Officer, and co-conceived the project with Navarro, citing a need for more Latin American representation in the TTRPG actual play space.“If you’re a Latino player,” she says, “you get that extra joy of seeing ‘an elf that looks like me.’”
When broached with the idea of bringing an actual play series to Sonoro, Navarro suggested Carazo as Game Master and brought on his creative partner Jack Cummins to serve as Lore Keeper for Alma and Tales Unrolled at large.
Shaping The Campaign
“Right before lockdown, Christian and I started playing D&D together,” explains Cummins, who has helped support Carazo in shaping Alma and the world of Tales Unrolled. “My background is in theatrical production, so facilitating the work of artists is something I’m very familiar with.”
“It was deliberate to bring in Latin American folklore. We are part of a lineage of storytelling people.”
The theatrical roots of Cummins and much of the cast of Tales Unrolled are apparent in their colorful and vibrant set, as well as in their roleplay with one another. This theatrical and artistic background also shines through Carazo’s GM style, which is highly spiritual and evocative, drawing not only on his cultural roots but also on his family’s proclivity for storytelling.
“In my family, there is a kind of mysticism embedded in how we share stories. It’s full of hints of magic,” Carazo beams as he explains the connection between Alma and the rich world of Latin American mythology. “It was deliberate to bring in Latin American folklore. We are part of a lineage of storytelling people.”
That lineage is interwoven into everything within Tales Unrolled. Carazo burns Palo Santo before every game, including their session zero, and describes the games as a form of sacred storytelling full of ritual and spirituality. That sense of ritual is evident in the series’ first episode, in which the party prepares for ‘The Gift,’ an ancient ceremony between the town of Alma and a river spirit.
Intrepid Heroes
Feeling that importance and deep love for their cultures is more important now than ever, the cast tells me, given that, more often than not, Latin American performers are still portrayed negatively in entertainment.
“Categorically, we are often represented by negative stereotypes,” Carazo says. “In my career, I’ve played a lot of bad guys. This is a chance to step into a role and be heroic.”
Heroic, yes, but deeply grounded and relatable too. Based on the introductions I’ve gotten to see in episode one of Tales Unrolled, this loveable cast of characters runs the near-impossible gauntlet of feeling charming, easy to identify with, and bursting with complexity. The chemistry between the cast is no small factor in this as well.
“There’s a really cool connection happening; it feels unique,” Victoriano smiles.
Carazo and Navarro are equally effusive when it comes to Victoriano’s role at the table as a first-time player. “The great art happens when it’s coming from somewhere inside,” Navarro explains. “For someone who’s never played, for [Camilla] to be able to locate that immediately is a marvelous boon.”
“There’s value in having a first-time player who’s not an actor,” Carazo tells me. “This is storytelling that’s meant for everybody. There’s a seat at the table for everybody.”
Why We Need Tales Unrolled
Beyond just its rich and intriguing world and endearing cast of characters, what Tales Unrolled offers its audience is its singular perspective on why actual play and tabletop roleplaying are currently enjoying their all-time peaks.
“Society is generally divided, and this game is a coming together that is undeniable,” Navarro explains. “You have to sit in a room together and find common ground.”
“There’s not much difference between sitting around a campfire, or sitting around a D&D table.”
“What this form of storytelling provides is something incredibly unique,” Carazo adds.“We’re not necessarily beholden to people who demand we stay cookie-cutter.”
Generally speaking, there’s a far-flung consensus that audiences have shorter attention spans and can’t or won’t engage with content as long as actual play. Not so, Victoriano explains: “There are 2-3 hour podcasts that people will sit and listen to in its entirety. As long as the content is of high quality […] people will watch hours and hours of this.”
Cummins offers an incredibly resonant theory about the popularity of Dungeons & Dragons and roleplaying games. “There’s something to the oral tradition […] there’s not much difference between sitting around a campfire, or sitting around a D&D table.”
That sense of oral tradition exudes from this team. Based on their first episode and the creative team’s vision of storytelling, it’s clear that Tales Unrolled has something special to offer the TTRPG actual play space. When asked about what we can expect from the rest of the series, the cast coyly implies that the first episode is only a small taste of the rollercoaster ride that’s to come. Between the chemistry of the cast, the enthusiasm of the creative team, and the unique world that Carazo has created, it’s clear that we’re in for a fantastic journey.
Tales Unrolled premieres on April 29th as an audio-only podcast and as a video series on YouTube.
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