#091 The Crushing Depths Episode 50 – Season 1 Epilogue

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week our d20 Modern game, The Crushing Depths, comes to its season 1 close with an epilogue. We briefly reflect on the season of play and talk about various issues related to the campaign. This game analysis was done right after finishing during the last session we played; we do not have the benefit of years of hindsight on our reflections. We’ll be back after the first of the new year with more gaming. We hope you enjoy!

#090 The Crushing Depths Episode 49 – The Price We Pay

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we have reached the game-play finale of season one. I won’t give too much away; just listen. Next week we will hear a shorter episode (this one is a bit longer) from the same session as an epilogue to this season of The Crushing Depths, in which the GM, Paul, and players, Matt, Steve, and TJ, discuss the season and their thoughts about the future of this Modern campaign. We hope you enjoy!

#089 The Crushing Depths Episode 48 – We’re On a Boat

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we’re counting down to the end. This is the second-to-last episode and it features a skill challenge the characters engage in to find Sal’s daughter without giving everything away to a possessed Vanessa. We hope you enjoy!

#088 The Crushing Depths Episode 47 – The Ritual is Begun

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, our first season begins to wrap up. Our heroes come out of the Boleskine manor into a world changed during their absence. Always remember to check your voicemail. You might have a message about the end of the world.

#087 The Crushing Depths Episode 46 – Divinity for Dummies

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, when someone asks you if you’d like to be a god, you say yes! Our heroes finally reach the bottom of the rabbit hole that is Boleskine Manor. Off with their heads!

#086 The Crushing Depths Episode 45 – Waylink Complete

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, having just had their heads thoroughly warped by the upper floor of Boleskine Manor, our heroes eventually descend to the depths of the manor in search of an exit and the lost piece of Gungnir.

#085 The Crushing Depths Episode 44 – Involuntary Pinging

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we start a new session with a level-up. TJ makes some inexplicable choices. Then our heroes continue their trippy adventure through Boleskine Manor. What treasure and depravity awaits?

#084 The Crushing Depths Episode 43 – What?

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, the players have come to realize that they are seemingly trapped inside the bizarre Boleskine Manor. Now not only are they searching for any clues which may help them in their conflict, but also for the way out. Hopefully they find it before Sal is reduced to a gibbering idiot. Oh wait, too late.

#083 The Crushing Depths Episode 42 – Illusory Jello

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, our players decide on a course of action and get a little aid from the Balor-folk, through Elias Bowman. Nothing like help from friends in low places.

#082 The Crushing Depths Episode 41 – Artisanal Scarecrow

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we see the depressing aftermath of the battle between the heroes and some ilithids. Having lost Courtney, the heroes struggle with what to do for their next step. Thankfully, Lydia provides some much needed good news.

#081 The Crushing Depths Episode 40 – Mouthpiece of the Gods

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, it’s a flashback to our very first session using roll20! LTM Gaming absolutely endorses Roll20 as a great platform for online gaming, and they don’t pay us anything. Our group is scattered geographically, and roll20 allows us to play with a virtual tabletop in a way we never had before. The previous episode left us hanging as Sal prepared to meet with the ulitharid, Choronzon, and Vanessa and Russ looked on. Now we see the first season of The Crushing Depths campaign begin to spiral downward to its inevitable end.

#080 The Crushing Depths Episode 39 – Crunchy Filled With Teeth

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, it’s a race to save Sal’s family from the dangers of alcohol and dementia! I look forward to that moment when you learn what the episode title is all about. We hope you enjoy.

#079 The Crushing Depths Episode 38 – Tale of Woe

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we start to learn more about the other side of the conflict our heroes are embroiled in. Also, first hand knowledge of Sal’s techniques on how to win friends and influence people. We hope you enjoy.

#078 The Crushing Depths Episode 37 – Dad-a-chum?

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, the party fights some lobstrosities. Our resident gunslinger, Russ, is hoping to make it out with all of his fingers intact. We hope you enjoy.

#077 The Crushing Depths Episode 36 – Wish List

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we continue with a bit of a meta- cast to the game. The aftermath of the raven encounter and our players giving a bit of information about their character wish list. Then their exploration of Watkins Glen continues. We hope you enjoy.

#076 The Crushing Depths Episode 35 – Corn! Corn!

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, the party encounters some ravens. To put it mildly. We hope you enjoy!

#075 The Crushing Depths Episode 34 – Steve’s Campaign

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, the party continues its exploration of the walled city of Watkins Glen. Most notably, their exploration has been a bit curtailed at the moment by a bear-sized, three-eyed toad…thing. We hope you enjoy.

#074 The Crushing Depths Episode 33 – Montour Falls

Whoops, sorry for the late episode! Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, a visit to Montour Falls for collecting information on the walled town of Watkins Glen. We hope you enjoy!

#073 The Crushing Depths Episode 32 – Booty Traps

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, our heroes try to wrap their puny minds around what has been transpiring. Also, they attempt to set some booty traps. We hope you enjoy!

#072 The Crushing Depths Episode 31 – Redecorating

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, the conclusion to the battle of the Giangaleazzo farm. We hope you enjoy!

#071 The Crushing Depths Episode 30 – My Petunias!

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, it’s the start of a new session! That generally, and in this case, means that the players will give a recap of the previous entire session. We also get to learn exactly what the players chose for their recent level up. We also get to see a bit more of Enzo and Carmela in action. We hope you enjoy!

#070 The Crushing Depths Episode 29 – Visions

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we see many hints of things to come. The party sees visions and clues pointing to their future and tries to get a handle on what to do next. We hope you enjoy!

#069 The Crushing Depths Episode 28 – Lockdown

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we pick up, yet again, right after TJ has rolled a one. How can one person have so much bad luck?  Never go to the casino with TJ. In any event, Courtney is currently trying to convince the party that they need to get out of the Order’s underground facility as fast as they can, before the facility goes on lockdown.

#068 The Crushing Depths Episode 27 – The Flayed Man

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we return to our regularly scheduled campaign. All the players are present and we move back Steve playing Vanessa, Matt playing Russ, and TJ playing as Sal. The players do a recap to start this episode, so that will get you back up to speed on where we left off before the prequel story. We hope you enjoy!

#067 The Crushing Depths Episode 26 – Pourquoi Story

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we have reached the conclusion of our prequel adventure with Sal’s parents, Enzo (played by Steve) and Carmela (played by TJ). Will they find the cause of these mysterious attackers? Will they safely rescue Marilyn and her son? No, no they won’t. But we’ll have fun finding out what’s behind it all anyway! We hope you enjoy.

#066 The Crushing Depths Episode 25 – Origins

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we continue in the second act of our prequel series. If you haven’t listened to episode 65, go back and listen to that before starting here. TJ is playing as Carmela, and Steve is playing as Enzo. Enzo and Carmela are the parents of Sal, TJ’s normal character. This series is set during a massive blizzard which took place in 2026. Enzo and Carmela have arrived in Black Rock, PA, and are trying to find shelter for the night. We hope you enjoy!

#065 The Crushing Depths Episode 24 – Bad Day at Black Rock

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, Matt is absent! Oh nooooo! Whatever will we do? The answer is, of course, that we soldier on without him. This episode and the next two are all part of a session which served as a kind of prequel to the game. It was very similar to the session I ran with the players staying in Sal’s family house during a blizzard, which we recapped during the first episodes of this season of The Crushing Depths. In this episode we get to join Enzo and Carmela, Sal’s parents, and see what they were doing, elsewhere, during that same blizzard of ’26. We hope you enjoy!

#064 The Crushing Depths Episode 23 – Are You Pointing At Me?

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, the exciting conclusion to the car chase! Our heroes, minus Russ, are in a hummer traveling back to the city with Xallitharid and his “experiments.” Russ trails them on his crotch-rocket, and is witness to the aftermath as they are rammed by a large black truck at high speed. What can Sal possibly do to make the situation worse? We hope you enjoy!

#063 The Crushing Depths Episode 22 – In His Head

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, our heroes continue their debate about the next course of action after realizing they may have been deceived by their tenuous allies, the ilithid-kin. We hope you enjoy!

#062 The Crushing Depths Episode 21 – We’re Best Friends

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, the heroes have triumphed over an animated tree, weird tentacle cat things, and have found Xallitharid. Who is weird. Also, surprise! Russ is now sushi. We’ll see how our heroes react. This is the first of three episodes from the same session where the players (and Paul, badly) tried to insert references to ’90s pop culture into the game. It frequently led us off track, but we had fun doing it, and that’s what gaming is all about, right? Are you not entertained? We hope you enjoy.

#061 The Crushing Depths Episode 20 – Little One, Awake

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, our heroes have successfully overcome the first obstacle in front of them: assassin vines. TJ can be especially proud that he didn’t die this time. What else will they encounter as they cautiously move in to find Xallitharid? Abject horror, no doubt! We hope you enjoy.

#060 The Crushing Depths Episode 19 – Don’t Taze Me, Bro!

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, the players are just being dropped on Montauk to begin their search for the rogue ilithid, Xallitharid. Asked to choose, TJ cannot keep his mind blank, and so their destruction takes the form of a modified skill challenge, the beast that they most fear. We hope you enjoy!

#059 The Crushing Depths Episode 18 – Where the Sidewalk Ends

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, Paul does an extended recap of the story so far, and the players must give updated descriptions of their characters. The players also get some loot from their ilithid allies, and begin the journey to Montauk to find the rogue ilithid, Xallitharid.

#058 The Crushing Depths Episode 17 – Jablonski’s Theorem

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, Van tries to convince the heroes to do a job for the ilithid community. They are on their way to saving the world! Or something like that.

#057 The Crushing Depths Episode 16 – We’re Kind of Responsible

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, our heroes have a bit of a palaver to figure out where they stand before they again meet with Van to discuss what he wants from Sal. We hope you enjoy!

#056 The Crushing Depths Episode 15 – Crawling in the Muck

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, Sal has a long discussion with his new friend, Van! Many things are danced around and avoided. Firm commitments are soundly avoided. We hope you enjoy!

#055 The Crushing Depths Episode 14 – The Role of a Lifetime

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, the heroes try to make sense of their new digs. Terrible deja vu, body snatching, and of course finding a sandwich.

#054 The Crushing Depths Episode 13 – Illusion Is The Ultimate Weapon

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, the heroes struggle to recover after a taxing battle. Vanessa works to save Russ and Sal and still rescue both Lydia and the injured Eric before the helicopters arrive. Also, skill challenge!

#053 The Crushing Depths Episode 12 – Cashiers to Women’s

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we will hear the exciting conclusion to the battle between our heroes and the beholder-kin team up of a gauth and weakened overseer tree.

#052 The Crushing Depths Episode 11 – Underfeeler

After handily winning the skill challenge, and then easily dispatching Dell, the players are feeling pretty good about themselves. That is, until they start engaging with the gauth and overseer in the next room.

#051 The Crushing Depths Episode 10 – Bras Are Hard

In this episode of The Crushing Depths, the party devises a plan to explore the rest of the facility they have discovered on North Brother Island.

#050 The Crushing Depths Episode 9 – Lies and Chicanery

Their progress having been completely stalled by a simple locked door, the party is back in action and solves the problem the only way they know how: violence!

#049 The Crushing Depths Episode 8 – Sponsored By

Time for some earth-shattering realizations. What do you when you finish your quest, and nothing ends the way it is supposed to?

The product placements finally dry up a little after this episode, but we did have fun with it. We hope you found it at least somewhat amusing.

#048 The Crushing Depths Episode 7 – Consume Mass Quantities

Our unwilling adventurers get pulled over by… a squid? The party starts a nose-dive into the world of the weird this episode. I’m not sure they ever recover from this moment. Enjoy!

#047 The Crushing Depths Episode 6 – Old Man Steve

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern campaign, the party cools down from their encounter at the garage and the ensuing Matt-induced Zombie/Blues Brothers mayhem and decides on their next move. As always when the party is trying to figure out what to do next, it is a painful process, but not without its laughs. Enjoy.

#046 The Crushing Depths Episode 5 – Even Zombies Get the Blues

Thanks for listening to the LTM Gaming Podcast! This week on The Crushing Depths, our real-play d20 Modern game, we get a reiteration of Matt’s brilliant diversionary tactic. After the explanation, the characters put the plan into action and try their hand at a little subterfuge.

#045 The Crushing Depths Episode 4 – Segue To Nowhere

In this episode, we will start with a few minutes of reminder of the conversation which causes Lydia to join up with our intrepid heroes. Vanessa does some important research based on something she has found. There are links below which lead to some of the details we reference in game but which do not translate very well to the audio. Be warned, they will spoil some things if you link before listening. We’ll also hear the first iteration of Matt’s brilliant plan to avoid detection in the next phase of their quest to find Leo.

Enjoy!

 

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Rosy Cross

Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley wearing his fantastic hat. This was the picture heading the Wikipedia article when we were playing.

#044 The Crushing Depths Episode 3 – Whistle While You Walk

I bet you thought we forgot about posting this week’s episode. If you thought that, you’d be right. It’s the holidays here, and we apologize for being late this week. But never fear! There is still a new episode of the LTM Gaming Podcast. The third episode of The Crushing Depths has our heroes leveling up after their encounter in the Blockhouse of Central Park. Of course, the fictional version in our game was a bit different from that Wikipedia article. They also have an important conversation with Lydia, the woman they previously saved who is currently staying in Vanessa’s apartment.

We hope you enjoy!

#043 The Crushing Depths Episode 2 – For All You Viewers Listening

Week two of The Crushing Depths is an extended recap of the six sessions we had prior to starting recording. The players, with Paul’s help, detail the events of the previous sessions. Kidnappings, Agents, Ninja Hobos (not really), Vampires, Explosions, Gunfights, and more!

#042 The Crushing Depths Episode 1 – Who’s my character again?

This week kicks off a new season of LTM Gaming! Join us as we reach back in to our memories to try and set the stage for the d20 Modern campaign run by Paul, The Crushing Depths. This campaign actually started before Entropy Rising, but we didn’t start recording until session 7 for us. These first two episodes will be our attempt to reintroduce the campaign and characters, as well as detail the events of the missing recordings.

This episode in particular you hear the introduction Paul gave the players before starting, detailing the history of this alternate future world. Then you meet the characters:

Matt plays a Fast hero named Russet Barrow.
Steve plays a Smart hero named Vanessa Fairaday.
TJ plays a Strong hero named Salvestro Giangaleazzo.
In addition to running the game, Paul plays a Fast hero named Leonid Rybkin. Sort of. You’ll see.

Hope you enjoy!