Pathfinder actual play where every action counts
Third Action is a Pathfinder actual play hosted by Jason, whose intros greet the same three players under a fresh mock insult. The play mixes detailed tactical combat, from ballista reloads to reflex saves, with loose table talk about Easter squishy toys and failed stealth checks.
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Third Action is a Pathfinder actual play built around a steady table: host Jason and three returning players, with Char, Will and Adam among them. The intros set the tone before a die is rolled. The players are introduced as the same three marks, layabouts or saboteurs, each given a spot on screen from bottom left to bottom right. Some episodes hand the greeting to Karzug, a self-described menacing host who calls the players impudent whelps or buffling buffoons, forgets what one character is and declares the player insignificant. The excerpts show two separate parties. In one, Char plays Regan Belladonna, a catfolk wizard, and Will plays Mayhem, a human vigilante fighter, with Felix Milos, a human bard, completing the group. In the other, Char plays Asher Ford, a human ranger, Will plays a halfling druid and Adam plays a human champion. The fights are detailed and cheerfully mechanical. One action can send a troop of bone slayers into a barrage at a target within 200 feet, and the enemies roll reflex saves. Stone giant troops spend their turns rotating and reloading a ballista. A lightning bolt is lined up to cut through three enemies, one of them a storm giant that is immune to the damage. Temporary hit points get sorted out on the character sheet, and the table stops to hunt for the hazards page when a rule needs checking. None of it stays straight-faced for long. A crit-failed stealth check earns Felix a 'you're so loud' from the table. A man rants to an empty street while throwing his cookware, and someone suggests catching a flying pot to wear as a helmet. A mob of ten or fifteen men sends the party ducking through alleys and back streets. The chat around the game is just as loose: Jason back from Australia and New Zealand, a player's Easter squishy toy kept for stress during battle, a passing thought about doing a Game Changer voice. The sign-offs keep up the mock grandeur, right down to hoping everyone had a lovely time getting disintegrated. Episode titles follow a tidy pattern, among them 'The Moon Maidens', 'The Tall Knife', 'The Enthralled', 'The Mirage' and 'The Apprentice'. What a listener gets is a table that takes a crunchy system seriously enough to count every action, and not seriously at all when the dice turn against it.
Made for: Suits a listener who likes actual play with the rules left audible, including action counts, saves and mid-fight rulebook checks, and who enjoys a table that teases itself between turns.
What sets it apart: The roll-call intros, which rebrand the same three players as layabouts, saboteurs or impudent whelps, give the show a running comic identity. The play keeps Pathfinder's turn-by-turn mechanics in the foreground instead of smoothing them away.
We're a Pathfinder Second Edition actual-play podcast going through Paizo's classic adventure paths, converted over to the new edition!Season 1 - Rise of the Runelords (complete!)Season 2 - Curse of the Crimson Throne (ongoing)
A presidential pet fact becomes "Bill the gnoll," and you have found your table.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A bone-slayer tactics debate sends the party north toward Akram, the Truthspeakers, and the House of the Moon.
Third Action makes the party's northward travel feel like a tactical argument with real comic bite. The bone slayers become the center of a lively debate: command a barrage, scatter them, or picture Regan turning one into undead after everything goes wrong.
Old Corvosa turns stealth checks, cookware, and an alleyway noise into lively tabletop chaos.
Third Action returns to Old Corvosa in search of sword master Vencarlo Orsini, then lets the mission slide into an undignified escape built from thrown cookware, shaky stealth, and a strange alleyway noise.
A tactical council becomes a citywide crisis when smoke and fire suggest the assault may be starting early.
A fortress has changed hands, allies are ready to move, and the adventurers are left weighing how fast an assault can really begin. The council circles through disguised travel in Shalaria, the hard retreat facing injured and malnourished forces, and the risk that Glorifex could…
A glowing door makes party trust, shaky directions, and morning crafting feel quietly dangerous.
The episode draws its charge from the uneasy calm after a nightmare maze. The adventurers have escaped, but the glowing door waiting ahead immediately turns relief into a test of judgment.
A fragile alliance, undead hypotheticals, and table-side chaos steer the party's next move.
The episode turns a finished challenge into an uneasy alliance as Assistant Steps apologizes and the Boneslayers agree to follow Regan Belladonna into combat.
Dice, divine mysteries, and the trouble with good intentions.
Third Action’s “Mists of Mwangi, Part 2” follows Jason, Bryce, Will, and Adam’s Pathfinder initiates as they investigate cursed artifacts at the Blackross Museum.
Third Action’s “The Backup” resumes a Pathfinder battle at Shalaria’s gate, where Jason’s players face Glorifex, an ancient blue dragon described as resurrected, alongside rune, stone, and cloud giants.
Third Action’s “The Odd” begins with Jason recapping the party’s Roper fight before Asher Ford, Greshie Ironroot, and Gun Show meet four massive spider-like creatures outside their mountain camp.
Third Action's "The Enthralled" resumes with Karzug's adventurers exploring a golden hallway atop Mahar Masif after his spellcasting projection disappears.
Third Action’s “The Mirage” resumes a battle at Shalaria, a giant stronghold on the northwestern cliffs of Zin Shalast, after the party breaches its outer walls and awakens Glorifex.
Third Action's "The Golem" follows Jason, Char, Will, and Adam's Pathfinder party as it prepares to reach Zin Shalast's summit through Karzug's defenses and an oxygen-starved death zone.
Third Action: The Sensitive follows Jason, Char, Will, and Adam as Asher, Greshy, and Gun investigate Karzook’s tower after a wall of force and pig-like demons attack them.
Third Action's "The Wall" centers on Jason's War Council planning how to breach Shalaria after taking Krak Naratha.
Third Action follows Jason, Char, Will, and Adam’s Pathfinder party as they approach the Pinnacle of Avarice to destroy a time-travel device linked to Karzug’s army.
Third Action's "The Apprentice" opens with Karzu's projection appearing behind a golden door as Asher Ford, Grushy Ironroot, Gunshow, and Viorian prepare for combat.
Third Action’s “The Loose Ends” follows Jason, Char, Will, and Alex as their player characters deal with the aftermath of Gadrian Lamb’s defeat and the rescued orphans.
Third Action follows Jason, Char, Will, and Alex's adventuring party as they investigate the missing Vencarlo Orsini and the artist Salvatore Scream in Old Corvosa.
["Third Action's \"The Runelord\" centers on Karzug's hidden demiplane, the rune well, and the party's final pre-fight preparation.", "Jason, Char, Will, and Adam spend the episode as Asher Ford, Greshi Ironroot, and Gun while they trade rune transfers, upgrade Mender into a true staff of healing, and argue over whether to rush Karzug or sleep first.", "Euruze, a planetar of Erastil, flies through the night, removes drained and doomed conditions with restoration, and helps the table reason through Karzug's plane, the rune well, and the risk of a one-way trip.", "The session ends with the quill naming a blue dragon and giants, a hidden teleportation circle behind another golden door, and Greshi casting spell immunity on Asher and himself before the glowing doors open."]
Jason opens after a trip to Australia and New Zealand, then jokes about a sweet old lady asking for an assassination before the table turns back to Third Action's Red Mantis thread.
Third Action's "The Moon Maidens" opens with Jason back from Australia/New Zealand, joking about a sweet old lady who asked the table to commit an assassination.
Third Action's "The Tall Knife" follows Jason's party through Old Corvosa as they track Vencarlo Orsini, Salvatore Scream, and the emperor.