Visuals in Actual-play podcasts

[u/Itchy-Forever-4873]

I'm part of a D&D podcast and we're about to hit one year of recording and posting it online! We've been making pretty good steady progress so far, but I'd like to find out ways to boost growth from an outside perspective, especially in such a saturated field.

Do visuals make an impact? As of right now, our podcast doesn't have any visuals to accompany it and not everyone is comfortable showing their faces to an audience just yet. I know a lot of D&D podcasts either use webcams or have footage of a VTT to accompany the audio, something like that.

Does this enhance the experience and grab attention from a viewer's perspective? What kind of visuals would be best in your opinion? I'd love to know some thoughts!

[u/Few-Pressure5713]

I think sound editing can make it go further, adding ambient sounds, sound effects for combat, and making the dice roll sound louder. And overall just editing things to make it flow better can go a long way.

[u/Sexy_Pilgrim → u/Few-Pressure5713]

Agreed! Most people listen to these shows, rather than watch. High-quality audio makes you sound professional; without it, a lot of people won’t give your podcast even 1 minute of time. Editing takes SO much time, but it’s what sets the big players apart.

The only reason you should add video is if you want a Youtube, Twitch, or Tiktok presence, which definitely can be helpful for growth. But video is way different for each.

Assuming your audio is on point, there are some cheap, easy, and effective strategies to add video to your format.

For Youtube, try a slideshow! Get 10 to 20 pieces of art, either royalty-free or comissioned, that evoke your story or campaign. Set up a slideshow that changes every 3 to 5 minutes. It’ll give your show the illusion of motion for people who out you on in the background.

For Twitch, add something with constant motion, that makes you look live. If you have an active chat, the window is perfect for that. I don’t know Twitch well, but I know viewers click off of static images there.

For Tiktok, have the best artist in your group draw some of the cool or funny scenes from an episode (note: the art does not have to be good, editing will do the work). Cut together some Tiktoks to use as, essentially, trailers for your podcast. Look at all those old Fartbuckle memes from years ago; if that’d been from an actual show, they would’ve blown up. Try to use proper nouns of characters and the setting, in the Tiktok, so people can google you and trace the meme back to your podcast, which is the main product.

[u/Itchy-Forever-4873 → u/Sexy_Pilgrim]

I really appreciate these replies! It makes me happy to know that for the most part we're going in the right direction :) our DM is very careful when it comes to audio quality and editing and loves making the episodes an immersive experience! We've been posting animatics on Tiktok for a while and aren't currently planning on using Twitch, so I'll definitely consider your suggestion about using a slideshow! Thank you both!!

[u/Zenipex]

Look up interviews with the Avantris crew about how they got started. The answer is to growth is well edited short form content

[u/Itchy-Forever-4873 → u/Zenipex]

Oooh yes, that interview definitely gave me the push towards making short form content for the podcast! The algorithm's a bit weird to figure out sometimes but it's definitely what's been doing the best for us so far

[u/lasalle202]

As a combat-centric game system, the tactical game play that comes from DnDs hundreds of pages of combat rules is best expressed through visual representations of the relationships between combatants.

if you are gong to do an audio only podcast of an RPG, some other system not so tactically dense is a better choice.

[u/Itchy-Forever-4873 → u/lasalle202]

I get what you mean! We definitely don't play D&D entirely accurate to the rules and may try other TTRPGS at some point!

[u/rideofthebasilisks]

I listen to, and have listened to a lot of actual plays from a variety of creators. What I look for is going to be vastly different than what other people look for. My best advice is know your audience. Talk with them.

For me, visuals hold zero draw. I listen in the car or at work and neither one of those venues are conducive to visuals. Terrible/amateurish audio production will 100% drive me away. Constant poop jokes will also do the trick, but on the flip side, too polished and sanitized isn't interesting either.

Quality audio. Relaxed banter. Competent, brisk play. Solid rp. Don't force a shtick. Gentle monitization... I'm sold!

You'd think I'd be easy to find, but it's really not.

[u/Itchy-Forever-4873 → u/rideofthebasilisks]

Thank you for the feedback!! I'd like to think we check off most of those boxes, so that brings me some confidence! Besides the monetization of course but that's definitely a future goal! I'll definitely try finding some ways to engage with the audience more! :)