Campaign 1: King's Crossing

***King's Crossing*** is an American grim fantasy stream and YouTube series by Rath. The series features a large ensemble cast as survivors of a war torn continent trying to make a name for themselves. With the collapse of ancient civilizations, these adventurers must confront other people who have formed groups and communities with their own sets of laws and morals, sometimes leading to open, hostile conflict between them.

Mr Pickles played the lead character Grunkle alongside Fred, who portrayed Torvekek. Other long-standing cast members playing leading roles following the launch of the series have included Shifty Games as Wylfer Belelor, Toughnuts as Gnimwirt, and Adaece as Adarag. *King's Crossing* is produced by Rath Daddy Studios in the state of Kentucky, with all filming taking place in the community Discord and using Roll20 for game management before moving to Foundry VTT.

The series premiered on April 5th, 2023. It is broadcast on Twitch, Kick, and YouTube internationally. The series has yet to be reviewed by critics. It has yet to be nominated for any awards.

RDS has expanded the series into other media by introducing the Immortal Realm, the overarching universe the series is in, allowing for multiple campaigns across space and time.

## Series Overview

*King's Crossing* takes place after the fall of some ancient world spanning civilization. The adventurers, referred to as "heroes", roam the land disorganized; interacting with the factions of the realm loosely. Although it initially seems that only humanoids can become heroes, it is revealed early in the series that multiple races and creatures can become heroes. The mutation is activated by various and unpredictable means, and the way to kill a hero is varies just as widely.

The series centers on former legionnaire berserker Grunkle, who waits in Arwin's Rest, seeking help in excavating the treasure rumored to lie beneath the ruins. While getting a new start in a new land, he becomes a member of a group of adventurers from the Freelands region as they attempt to sustain and protect the town of Arwin's Rest, not only against attacks by blights but by other groups, willing to do what's necessary to accomplish their goals.

### Season 1 (2023)

Main article: King's Crossing - Season One

This season introduces notable characters Grunkle (Mr Pickles), Torvekek (Fred), Wylfer Belelor (Shifty Games), Gnimwirt (Toughnuts), and Adarag (Adaece) who arrive in the town of Arwin's Rest, in a dark and dismal world filled with stalking swamp creatures, dubbed "blights". After befriending some locals, the parties set out to secure the town and save it from oncoming devastation.

#### Episodes

As of September, 2022, 21 episodes of *King's Crossing* have aired.

* Season 1
* Season 2
* Season 3

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

## Cast and Characters

The list below contains those that have been credited within the series' title sequence. Recurring and guest stars are listed on the individual season pages.

## Production

### Development

Sometime in March, 2023, RDS officially announced that it had ordered a pilot mini series for a possible full length campaign, with Rath acting as executive producer and writing and directing. The pilot began filming in on Twitch in March, 2023 after RDS had officially ordered a ten-episode first act. The series' remaining episodes began filming In June, 2023. Rath has not yet reported that *King's Crossing* has been picked up for a second season.

### Writing

The YouTube series follows Rath's framework writing style mixed with actors personal submissions both on and off camera. This is also influenced by viewer feedback and suggestions.

### Casting

*King's Crossing* has featured a rotating ensemble cast. In most cases, because of the nature of the show, departure of actors from the show are determined by scheduling conflicts, with characters either killed off or written off the show as necessary to continue the story. Cast members generally share ahead of time if they are not able to attend a session of filming. For example, Shifty Games, who plays Wylfer Belelor since the sixth episode throughout the remainder of the season, knew of his character's coma like state in episode twelve due to being unable to make it the day of filming.

Some actors have left the show under their own terms due to other commitments or changes, with the writings adopting the plot around these changes:

* Toughnuts played the series' protagonist Gnimwirt since the third episode. Toughnuts announced his plan to leave the show at the start of the third act in the first season, finding that his work and personal life were taking up a lot of time and needed to be prioritized. Toughnuts completed ten episodes in the season detailing Gnimwirt's storyline within the series.

### Music

Rath used copyright free mood music to help paint the picture he intended to tell in the moment. With a lack of funding, composing skill, or contacts to work with, he used what he could at the time.

#### Soundtracks

There are teases throughout the season that there will be a soundtrack released featuring Torvekek and possibly others, but as of now none have been released.

### Filming

*King's Crossing* is predominantly filmed on Twitch, Kick, and YouTube.

The first season was released on YouTube exclusively.

## Reception

### Critical Reception

The first season of *King's Crossing* have been well reviewed. On YouTube, the series has an average score of 100%.

For the first season, 100% of 41 YouTube critics gave it a positive review.

### Comments About Diversity

Some critics have commented on the lack of diversity of the series. Rath has discussed the increasing diversity of the show. He has described how he regrets the lack of diversity in the early issues and explained how they would have been "vastly more diverse" if he had more actors to work with.

### Ratings

During its first season, *King's Crossing* attracted over 500 viewers.

### Awards and Nominations

*King's Crossing* has not been nominated for anything as of yet.