Podcast Spotlight: Welcome to Hole + Misfortunate 4

Welcome to TTRPG Insider!

We’re the go-to source for exclusive interviews, analysis, and writing on the TTRPG industry, from Dungeons and Dragons to independent RPGs and everything in between.

If you want to know more, check us out here! If you like what you’re reading, make sure you subscribe.

This issue takes a different approach this week, offering a closer look at two TTRPG podcasts that are converting their Actual Play content into audio drama formats, albeit in very different ways. There’s WELCOME TO HOLE, an audio drama adapted from a group’s Monster of the Week game. Then there’s UNBALANCED ENCOUNTERS, whose first arc of their second season (titled MISFORTUNATE 4) is really stepping up their game.

TTRPGs and audio dramas often play out hand in hand. The same can be said of Welcome to Hole, a new TTRPG-inspired audio drama podcast that premiered its first episode this week.

The show, which one of the co-creators described as “Buffy meets Tremors,” is a short comedic podcast about a “ragtag team (which consists of a vampire hunter trained at the Vatican; a government man in black; a trucker with a penchant for conspiracies, and an eight year old girl with superpowers) trying to save their small town from monsters and magic - with mixed results.”

The show came about after the five performers (Kate O, Sean Toole, Brendan Way, Duncan Thompson and Natalie Haven) met through a London-based improv group and began to play TTRPGs like Monster of the Week, the X-Files/Buffy style PBTA game created by Evil Hat Productions.

“Our GM [Kate O] surprised us with a pilot script based on that campaign’s first game,” Brendan Way told TTRPG Insider. “She suggested we create the podcast and, as we’re improvisers, we agreed with an unequivocal Yes And.” The podcast is a scripted comedy inspired by the original campaign, adapted into 40-minute episodes with the performers voicing nearly all the characters in the show.

“The ‘theatre of the mind’ aspect of tabletop games makes audio dramas a natural fit for us,” Way noted. “With well-chosen words, immersive sound design, and a chilling voice, you can conjure a dragon that’s more terrifying (and significantly cheaper) than its CGI equivalent. We also wanted the opportunity to play multiple characters, something that’s easier to get away with on a podcast.”

The podcast has been in the works for a long time. While the original campaign that inspired Welcome to Hole came about in 2021, the script was revealed in 2023 and the show was recorded in 2024. It has been in various stages of editing since then. The first episode was released on October 29, 2025.

That sort of long-term work was a significant change for the crew, according to Way. The “sheer scale” of the project surprised him. But he hopes that Welcome to Hole will “provide some much-needed escapism, a brief respite from uncertainty and dread.”

The podcast is currently available on Spotify, or on their website.

Whether you’re a designer, content creator or just the biggest fan at your table, TTRPG Insider delivers in-depth reporting, original interviews and regular roundups of the news that you will not find anywhere else. Let us help you become the best designer, player or dungeon master at your table.

Unbalanced Encounters Steps Up Its Production With The Misfortunate 4

 A hoard owned by a long-deceased drake has been discovered on an island, and adventurers find themselves drawn to it in the same way that prospectors were drawn to the West in the 19th century. However, that also means that people must provide support to others, such as housing or resources. So a mini-economy has been built around this island, and it is there that the four adventurers (played by Craig Pate, Emily Greymoore, Caustic Phoenix, and Cinderblocksally) step into their roles, led by gamemaster and showrunner Patrick Perini.

The Misfortunate 4 “explores themes of family, class, and legacy through the lens of twangy humor, heart, and southern horror,” according to a press release. “Characters drive the action, discovering their own naiveté in the face of an adventuring economy built to grind them into dust. Dragons, drugs, and adventure capitalists loom large, ready to drag them down into the mud.”

Unbalanced Encounters emerged in 2022 when Perini, Greymoore, and other performers collaborated to launch a podcast featuring fellow TTRPG enthusiasts from TikTok. The original season was heavily inspired by Princess Mononoke and followed a traditional play style and a longer season arc. The show was nominated in several webfests and the CRIT Awards for the crew’s performances.

 Misfortunate 4, in contrast, adopts a more edited, hands-on storytelling approach that may feel very different from what most players experience at their table. It’s a show that has many hands on the product, including several volunteers who work behind the scenes to track lore, compose music, and even ensure the players feel safe during recording sessions.

While the show emphasizes its improvisational approach while playing Kobold Press’ Tales of the Valiant, Perini discussed how much planning they did before even sitting in front of a microphone and recording the season.

“We did a tremendous amount of work to determine who our characters were, what their relationships are, and if there are going to be plot points in their character growth,” Perini told TTRPG Insider. That includes planning arcs, composing music, preparing fictional news broadcasts, and editing 3-to 4-hour sessions down into shorter episodes with the hope of creating something unique.

The show aims to introduce the world through a new cast with each arc and explore that same world through fresh lenses in the days to come. Perini intends to split his DMing with Pate in the coming days and hopes to use other game systems to explore different parts of the world in the future.

The Misfortunate 4 is scheduled to have 12 episodes and will release every other week.

You can check out Unbalanced Encounter’s newest episode on Spotify, their website or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Thanks again to Perini and Way for chatting with us.

What are your thoughts? Send any scoops, tips or press releases to [email protected].