Media The Eternal Hunger is here: Premiere episode of Bad Heroes' third arc now out on podcast apps

[Lian Xia Rose]

Catch up on a bingeworthy fantasy actual play podcast about queens, curses and four bad heroes in over their heads

In the year 106 RF, the once-bustling port city of Desa mysteriously dropped off the map, its thousands of inhabitants never heard from again. Rumored to have fallen to a curse known as the Eternal Hunger, the city’s ruins and its deadly secrets are the focal point for arc three of Bad Heroes, which recently premiered.

Bad Heroes is a fantasy actual play podcast about a group of unlikely heroes forced to embark on curse-hunting missions by the villainous queen of a realm bound to Hell. Launched in 2019, the campaign uses Pathfinder 1E rules and is set in an original, homebrew world described by audio critic Rashika Rao as “full to the brim with all manner of colorful creatures.”

The show follows the misadventures of:

• Gydeon Greyfrost, an aristocratic elven sorceress who loves books more than people,
• Tonreir Ceni, a stoic half-elf druid trying to heal from his past,
• Ira Clawstrike, an exiled catfolk bard on a quest for redemption, and
• Rihva Ashren, a barbarian from the Shadow Plane haunted by a sinister debt,

as they try to bluff, reason, charm, intimidate and fight their way out of increasingly dangerous predicaments while surviving their own bad choices. Plot-driven and tightly edited, its 60-plus episodes are packed with comedy, intrigue and memorable characters that fans have fallen in love with over the years.

Arc three, The Eternal Hunger, comes on the heels of the show's second interlude, The Scattered Pawns, which featured deep dives into the heroes’ personal histories and set world events in motion that will have major consequences for the rest of the campaign.

Bad Heroes is GMed by Drea Silvertooth, a queer writer and performer known for their love of hopeful, enchanting and sometimes terrifying stories, and co-produced by editor and sound designer Lian Xia Rose.

Where and how to start listening

Bad Heroes is available on Apple, Spotify, Overcast and all other major podcast apps.

For new listeners wondering about the best place to start, there are a few ways to jump in. Starting at Episode 1 is recommended for those who want to experience the entire story, from bad jokes to foreshadowing of what's to come.

While the show's audio quality is decent from the beginning, it starts to dramatically improve midway through the first arc, The Forgotten Court. Those who prefer consistently good audio can get started with a recap version of Episode 16 that gives a rundown of events leading up to the climax of arc one and continue onward from there.

Listeners who want to skip ahead to the second arc, The Wild Hunt, can tune in to a 40-minute audio recap of Episodes 1-25 that summarizes the show’s prologue, first arc, and first interlude.

An episode guide, written recaps and content warnings are available at badheroescast.com.