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Nyota Kingdoms: An Afrofuturist Mythic Psychological Thriller AP

You are called to the Crossroads to audition to be one of 6 cast members for The Adventures of Nyota Kingdoms, an Actual Play TTRPG Series applying to be funded by Project Blacklight. DEADLINE APRIL 17th 2026

A piece of a story that must be told is trapped in your throat.

The story is both familiar and not. Comfortable and dangerous. Fantastical and true. And the people, all of us,  scattered across the land, imperfectly huddled in serpentine lines or far-flung, isolated corners, are hungry for this story. We can feel it. The story is becoming. 

There are central pieces of this story that live in the bodies of 6 people. You may be one of them. Take a breath. What do you notice when you think about holding an important story in your body? Was there a particular feeling? Longing? Excitement? An ache or warmth in your belly? A curious pull or desire to be connected? 

This might be your pathway and your chance to connect your central piece of the story to the other parts of the story and the people who hold them. The road ahead is uncertain. But one thing we can trust is that once each of the parts of this story are united, whether you are speaking it or listening to it, this story will live in your body long after the dice stop rolling. 

A lil peek

6 people find each other at a fork in the road. They each claim that Esu, an honoured, cunning Trickster god of the Crossroads, tasked them to find Esu’s missing brother. Come to find out, Esu's brother is Death. The only way forward is through.

What is Project Blacklight?

BlackwaterDnD is a Vancouver-based actual play production company whose tagline is "roll dice and play nice, north of the 49th." Their brand promise is simple and serious: stories with heart, that will have you laughing one minute and reaching for your tissues the next.

Project Blacklight is their AP development grant, launched on their sixth anniversary in the space and described as the project they are most proud of. One team will be selected to develop an eight-part podcast actual play series. 

Ok, but what does that really mean tho? Well, for one, the team that gets through will receive a minimum of $3,000 in funding, full production infrastructure including editing, sound design, and original music, dramaturgy and story development support, hosting and marketing on the BlackwaterDnD platform, and submission to the Audio Fiction World Cup 2027.

The judging panel is majority BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+. They are explicitly seeking diverse casts and innovative use of tabletop systems. International submissions are accepted.

If Nyota Kingdoms is selected, our story reaches an international stage with professional production behind every word we speak. The people who need to hear this story, and more like it, will hear it in our authentic voices.

That is why we are applying. That is why we need you.

About Nyota Kingdoms

Nyota Kingdoms is an Afrofuturist, mythic psychological thriller tabletop roleplaying game rooted in West African and Black Diasporic cosmology and decolonial storytelling. This storytelling and framework were built by Black, queer, neurodivergent, femme and nonbinary creatives and writers, with game mechanics and other structural support from Black men. 

This intentional team makeup is in response to traditional TTRPG settings, where our Blackness is a shade of skin rather than a set of traditions and experiences. We arrive, at best, as a transient tourist at the table, if we are invited at all. 

Black folks will never be tourists at this table we built. We invite our players to be co-owners and collaborators. Pull up to this table with your sanctioned side dish and your whole Black experience. We have exactly what you've been hungry for in the TTRPG AP space. It is our mission to provide all the right fixings to keep you nourished here. The hot sauce is on the table. Come, find you a seat. 

Nyota Kingdoms was built on seven foundational principles: [1] Creation as community, [2] Liberation over perfection, [3] Embodiment over ego, [4] Myth as mirror, [5] Play as prayer, [6] Accountability as care, and [7] Ancestry as innovation. We are a Black, queer, neurodivergent-led creative space made to center an audience that reflects our lived experiences, while welcoming all others who lack those experiences to enter as a learning witness.

Our game does not use race and class to define your character. It uses lineage, background, faction, and occupation. The players, and the characters they create, grow through Mind, Body, and Spirit, three pillars that treat your inner life as seriously as your combat roll.

We play in the Theatre of the Mind. No maps required. Just presence, voice, and imagination.

This is a Historic Moment

Actual play as a genre has reinvigorated and reimagined storytelling for many people in recent years. It has also, like most of fantasy and sci-fi, centred a very particular kind of player in a world that has not made meaningful place settings for diversity. Nyota Kingdoms is part of a movement that is intentionally changing that by building something undeniable.

But what if I am new to everything? 

It is not our REQUIREMENT that you have played a TTRPG before. You also do not need a resume full of theatre or other acting credits. To help distribute this story, you will need an authentic voice, a willingness to go somewhere real, and a curiosity about who you become when the story asks something of you and who you will be at the end of the journey. 

Come get your life as we search for Death.

Application

PART ONE: REMEMBER

Who are you and where do you come from?

1. What is Your Name and Pronouns?

2. Where are you based? City and country.

3. How do you identify? Select all that apply. (This question is asked in the spirit of our values. Nyota is a Black, queer, neurodivergent-led space, and our cast should primarily reflect the communities this story is for.)

3. How do you identify? Select all that apply. (This question is asked in the spirit of our values. Nyota is a Black, queer, neurodivergent-led space, and our cast should primarily reflect the communities this story is for.)

My identity was not listed, I prefer...

Age (we are looking for a wide range of players)

4. What is your relationship to tabletop roleplaying games?

4. What is your relationship to tabletop roleplaying games?

5. Tell us about creative work you've done in the past. This can be anything: theatre, writing, podcasting, community facilitation, improv, music, teaching, or content creation. If it involved using your voice, your body, or your imagination to make something with other people, we want to hear about it.

6. Share any links where we can find your work. Social media, a website, a portfolio, a single video, anything you want us to see

Email

Phone Number

PART TWO: RESONATE

What you believe and why you're here.

7. Why does an actual play TTRPG feel like the right format for you? What drew you to this specific kind of storytelling?

8. Why does it matter to you that Black, Queer, Trans, Disabled, and Neurodivergent people have a spotlight in this genre, specifically? Take up space here. Tell us what you actually think.

9. What does Afrofuturism and/or Black Storytelling mean to you? It doesn't have to be a complex, academic answer. For example: Tell us what this kind of storytelling feels like to you? What about it excites you? What does it remind you of? What makes you want more of it?

10. What do you want to see in Black and queer-led gaming spaces that you haven't seen yet and are longing for?

11. Nyota Kingdoms created healing, joy, mental health, and emotional safety as part of its design. How do you take care of yourself and your team after emotionally heavy creative work?

12. What are the qualities, perspectives, or personality traits you will bring to this project?

PART THREE: RADIATE

Let us hear you.

This is not a prepared audition monologue. It is an invitation to play.

You have just arrived in a city where the gods have mostly all fallen completely silent, the birds of the night eerily sing their boundaries, and the stars are moving backwards. You are here to respond to Esu, the god of crossroads, who sent you on an urgent mission to find someone precious to him "before the sky forgets its name."

Take a moment to think, but not too much. Feel into it. Who are you in this moment? Where are you standing? What does the air smell like?

Using the SpeakPipe link below, record (up to 90 seconds) of yourself incorporating 2 to 5 of the Hot Seat questions in the voice of your character who has just arrived. You will not be held to this person. We are not auditioning a finished character; we are listening for your instincts, your range, and the particular music of how you improvise. Come as you are, have fun, and let the story find you.

Hot Seat Questions (choose only 2 to 5 of these short prompts to create a one-sided conversation or audible thought bubble as your character).

Introduce yourself as your character.

Introduce yourself as your character.

https://www.speakpipe.com/NyotaKingdoms

A new window will pop up. Please make sure you type your name and email address so we can contact you, then return to this form.

14. Do you want to receive updates about Nyota Kingdoms as the project develops, even if you are not selected as a cast member?

14. Do you want to receive updates about Nyota Kingdoms as the project develops, even if you are not selected as a cast member?

15. If you are not selected as a cast member this season, are you interested in supporting the project in other ways? Select any that feel true.

Support or work as a...
15. If you are not selected as a cast member this season, are you interested in supporting the project in other ways? Select any that feel true.

16. Is there anything else you want us to know? Anything the form didn't make room for?

Thank you for being here. Nyota Kingdoms is built on the belief that play is sacred, and that the right people find each other when the story calls.

We will be in touch, 

The Nyota Kingdoms Team