Welcome to Side Character Quest, a one-on-one actual play podcast set in a world where cicadas sing, rivers flow, magic thrums through the air, and all of it’s surrounded by a single massive Wall as ancient as history itself.

Instead of diving straight into a new adventure, you are going to get to hear our game master Ty and our guest player Andrea do a "Session 0", where they discuss the game they'll be playing and then create Andrea's character, who will star in the upcoming adventure!

Andrea Tsurumi (they/them) is an author, illustrator, cartoonist, and TTRPG enthusiast. They've written and/or illustrated several children's books, including ACCIDENT! (which was selected as an NPR Great Read) and CRAB CAKE (which won the Vermont Red Clover Book Award). The book they illustrated most recently is POP! Goes the Nursery Rhyme, which was written by Betsy Bird. Say hi to Andrea on Blue Sky at @atsurumi.bsky.social or on Instagram at @atsurumi.

Want to learn more about Ty, the host (and GM and producer and editor and...) of SCQ?

Have questions for us, or just want to say hi?

Mentioned During the Show

POP! Goes the Nursery Rhyme , a children's book illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi and written by Betsy Bird.
Embarassed Ferret , a children's book illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi and written by Lisa Frenkel Riddiough.
Andrea's Comics, Zines, and Other Illustrations .
Blades in the Dark , a TTRPG about a crew of daring scoundrels in a haunted, industrial-fantasy city.
Murderous Ghosts , a no-prep two-player horror game.
Brindlewood Bay , a tabletop roleplaying game that combines Murder, She Wrote with H.P. Lovecraft.
Lasers & Feelings , a quick-play sci-fi roleplaying game.
Sword & Sorcery , a quick-play fantasy adventure game based on Lasers & Feelings.
That Clue game I mentioned? It's ready for playtesting, but I haven't figured out the best place to host it yet. If you want to copy, shoot me a message!

Additional Credits

Thanks to Autumn for providing the artwork for Side Character Quest!

Thanks to Briar for lending a voice to our credits! To hear more, check out one of Briar's own side character quests as Deirdre, a monster hunting cleric!

Proud member of the Scavengers Network. Say hi on the Scavengers Network Discord Server!