#dnd episode too good though

[yourcomputerr]

late season 5/early season 6 vld making me so mad rn they made so many bad decisions but i thing the worst was making half the show have 6 episodes a season

[nemesisvariant]

Holy shit Mr white I think i just experienced ego death

[codecicle]

The QSMP is looking for smaller English-speaking streamers, so I figured I'd take the time to introduce qsmpblr to none other than Eric "Condi" Condifiction!!

// this will contain (very minor) spoilers for jrwi riptide, apotheosis, bitb, some prime defenders, and the SCU //

Condi is an English-speaking Canadian who's a part of Just Roll With It (JRWI), the absurdly powerful dnd podcast he runs with his friends Bizly, Grizzly, and Slimecicle!! He plays several characters across their multiple campaigns, along with DM'ing his own campaign of Apotheosis. He plays/played Jay Ferin for Riptide, Rolan Deep for Blood in the Bayou, Sylnan Vengolor for Fated, Flynn Gustwind for Convergence, and Vyncent Sol for Prime Defenders. (plus something im probably forgetting whoops anyway)

He is insanely talented at rp and improv, with some of the more infamous and my favorite examples being episodes 53, 100, and 101 in JRWI: Riptide. The way he plays Jay Ferin is emotionally devastating and incredible, and she's genuinely brought me to tears multiple times. Though he plays his absolute heart out with every character he makes, she's just a neat example of his range and talent. Looking at the differences between Jay, the Navy's daughter, and someone like Rolan Deep, a lawyer returning to his hometown of Galloway to experience The Horrors™ is just wild man. Not to even mention everything he does with Vyncent and his multiple different characters inside him; along with everything he made for his own campaign of Apotheosis.

Something something charlie slimecicle calls him "God Gamer Condifiction." He's really good at video games dude I have no way to talk about this he just is its really scary honestly. On one of his more recent streams he went live playing Only Up! and he beat it in one go without any major setbacks, fast enough to refund the game and get all the money he spent on it back. Just for context.

He also has a background in minecraft roleplay specifically!! He was part of the SCU (Slimecicle Cinematic Universe) where he roleplayed several different characters. God!Condi and 100Days!Condi being the more defined ones. Everything he did in the SCU was nearly pure unscripted improv and incredibly impressive, and I highly recommend you go through and watch it!! (I go into detail on how to get into it on this post)

He doesn't just have background in the roleplay aspects of minecraft though, he was also briefly on SMPEarth and is skilled at regular minecraft too. He mainly strives at the roleplay aspects, but again the whole God Gamer Condifiction thing so ^_^

^ Here's a good example of his regular PVE skills in this video where his chat tortures him through a crowd control mod as he tries to build a cottage core lesbian house

^ Along with a link to of one of my all time favorite videos of his, which I think shows his humor and style of jokes off in a cool way :]

Overall I just really need my dnd guy to be in my favorite minecraft server so he can make so many SCU references with Charlie Slimecicle, then emotionally devastate us through the roleplay aspect. I really hope he manages to get in so everyone gets a taste of his amazing roleplay and gaming (i guess thats how im phrasing it) abilities :DD

Condifiction 👍

[dramaticallytotal]

TDWT Headcanons Pt. 8

Idea Post Part One Last Part

• Chris did provide jackets for everyone in the Yukon. Just because he didn't want to be sued again and he knew Courtney was itching to do so. Definitely not for his anemic kid- anemic assistant.

• Chris and Chef also provided board and card games for the kids for downtime or in between shoots as they know bored kids and dangerous kids. Plus, Izzy makes up most of that danger if bored, which means they have to include Monopoly since that is her favorite game.

• Noah's not allowed to play blackjack since he can count cards.

• Clue is a popular game to play amongst the kids, and because there are so many of them, they tend to team up. Noah and Izzy aren't allowed to team up anymore. Neither are Heather and Leshawna.

• Alejandro doesn't want to admit that he loves game days because it was something he never got to do in his family, but he really loves it. He's was only allowed to play chess, checkers, go, and the like. (He gets really excited to know Noah, Heather, and Cody play go they also play chess along with Courtney).

• Hide and Seek is another popular game they all play, and though Courtney and Heather like to pretend they're too mature for it, they end up the most competitive on finding people and hiding. Izzy, Noah, Leshawna, and Cody are almost always the last ones to be found. Alejandro loves the game but also has a hard time with it because José used to pretend they were playing hide and seek and then just leave Alejandro hiding for hours.

• Harold has hosted DnD campaigns for some of the cast between Action and World Tour. The common players are Noah, Cody, Owen, Leshawna, Heather, Beth, Lindsay, and Trent.

• Lindsay carries emergency lip gloss and chapstick with her at all times. Not just for herself! For everyone. No one knows where she hides them all. She even assigned specific scents/flavors to people. Everyone found this out in Yukon when she screamed about chapped lips.

• Even though she is pretending to not know who Tyler is, she makes sure to give him his favorite chapstick: Cake Batter.

• The kids are constantly quoting vines, and it leaves Chris and Chef really confused and done.

• Example:

Cody, seeing a road work ahead sign when they are staying at a hotel: "Road work ahead?"

All the contestants' heads popped up from their seats of the bus they rented.

Chef driving looks at Chris who looks baffled: "Uh yeah."

Chris: "Have you guys seriously never seen those signs before? It means-"

All the contestants in perfect unison: "Uh, yeah. I sure hope it does."

Chris and Chef looking at the contestants then at each other: -_-

• The contestants are allowed to change up their outfits in episodes as long as they consist of the pieces of clothing they were wearing when they got introduced. So, for example, Noah can take off any of his shirts as long as he's wearing at least one that everyone knows is part of his signature outfit. Izzy sometimes uses her skirt wrap as a shawl. Lindsay has convertible boots where she can switch out the height of her heel/different style of heel.

• Gwen makes sure to get a postcard everywhere they stop to give to her Nana after the show is over.

• Ezekiel has a room in the crew part of the ship, but there's a camera pointed at the cargo hold door with a motion sensor alarm for him to know if someone goes in. It's so he can sneak down and make some noise to freak someone out and to sell the whole "feral" plot.

• Tyler, despite being basically supernaturally clumsy, is actually a really good cheer leader. In fact, he is on his school's cheer team.

• In the London challenge, Noah was the one to distract the corgis....well more like they distracted him and everyone watching is baffled when Noah pulls out a bag of dog treats that should not have fit in his utility belt. The corgis fell in love with him, and instead of Owen putting them in a sack, they followed Noah out like ducklings.

• Owen, being more of a little shit when Duncan starts being buddy buddy with him, convinces the punk that if they want to stay on Alejandro's good side to call him Al. Later in the confessional, Owen just smiled maniacally and cackled.

• When Noah was eliminated, he did fall into the lake like in canon kind of. Each time a contestant jumps out, there is almost always a body of water, a landing pad, or something to help break their fall with or without a parachute. They always make it seem like they fell from higher up if it's a stunt with no parachute. So, thankfully, Noah hit the mat, but he hit the side and promptly slipped off into the eel infested lake.

• Luckily, he wasn't fully submerged and quickly got but not before he was attacked by one eel. It leaped out of the water and hit his leg. It was more of a graze, really, considering he was actively getting out of the lake. It wasn't terrible, but he still had to go to the hospital

• The kids also hella quote SpongeBob.

• First class does have a TV. But there are so many parental locks on that thing.

• Heather is getting really sick and tired of Alejandro's big obvious crush on Noah. She's trying her best to keep him focused on getting...ew...aleheather to happen for the cameras. She wants her promised bonus for it. But she also wants her friend back. So she wants this whole thing to be a speed run because it's breaking her that Noah won't even look at her anymore. She knows why, god she knows, but she hates it.

• If you have a deal with Chris or the network, you are not allowed to reveal it under any circumstances during the duration of the show with the penalty of doing so being immediate disqualification and a penalty fee.

• Which is why she can't tell Noah about her deal, but the distance between them hurts. It started when he confessed to Heather that he may have had a small, very small crush on Alejandro. Then, she had been told the producers wanted the flirting between her and Alejandro more present in the next episode. She did it, but she saw how betrayed Noah looked at her.

• Next thing she knew, he was eliminated.

• Gwen started to hide her sketchbook because she started drawing Trent a lot more like when they were dating, and she's afraid someone will see it and start to think they'd start throwing challenges again for something as simple as her still liking her ex.

• The fake "pregnancy" scandal Blaineley announced about Tyler was actually him trying on the 9-month baby belly they have for health class to see if he could bend down and sit down with as much ease as his buddies thought. (His parents sued Celebrity Manhunt for spreading false and demeaning information about him).

• And someone did die after cooking a recipe from DJ and his Momma's show, "Momma's Heaping Healthy," but it wasn't because of the calories, carbs, or cholesterol, or anything like that. It was because the person who made it didn't substitute an ingredient that someone from their family was allergic to, and the person ate the food at a family reunion. The person who served it tried to blame DJ and his Momma's recipe, but that didn't hold up, so he tried to sue them for not including substitute options. It's a very messy situation since some saw what was going on and decided to sue the mother & son duo for their excessive weight gain. Then, more people jumped on the smoking train and started claiming their food was the cause of multiple problems.

• DJ and his Momma used a lot of money to pay lawyers. They're not homeless, just a little low on funds at the moment. DJ wants to win to get them back the money they spent on lawyers but to also open a restaurant with his mom instead of the show. With a restaurant, they would have more insurance with bogus claims like the ones they were dealing with.

• Owen's ad for the Bellybuster 5000 was a satire commercial he did for a comedy show.

• The only true things Blainley reported were the raccoon adoption between Courtney and Duncan, Heather's weight gain, and the subsequent back and forth she and Gwen went through, and the Total Drama Brothers' split.

• It was because of the lies and the angry parents suing her and Celebrity Manhunt about them, plus the treatment of the interns was real, and they sued too. Also it was aired on live TV... Everyone saw it, and a lot of people were appalled. This is some of the reasons she was fired from Celebrity Manhunt.

• Leshawna didn't actually knock a tooth out of Heather, but they did fight in Germany, which resulted in them getting into each other's faces and Leshawna slapping Heather hard. She hadn't meant to do it so hard, but Chris took her aside and said the majority of the viewers missed her and Heather fighting, and he would pay her a large sum to amp up any fight they had. They had had small spats here and there because of Alejandro, but the one in Germany was the worst because Heather brought up something she had told her in confidence, which resulted in the slap.

• Alejandro is so whipped. He practically melts when he's the chosen cuddle buddy for the night. He secretly wishes that he was the only cuddle buddy, I mean, it makes sense! They fit so well together, and plus he runs hot and Noah is always cold, and they help regulate each other.

• Noah gave up trying not to cuddle with anyone once Izzy let it out that he's already been filmed cuddling almost everyone. He wasn't happy at all, but he knew it would keep happening, so he made a list of those he is okay cuddling.

• Him adding Alejandro is purely strategic shut up.

Next Part

[dice-sociation]

AP Review: Reckless Attack - Main Campaign

Listen Here: https://www.recklessattack.com/episodes/

Quick info:

Audio Quality: High Quality and Edited, Effects, Music. Vibes: Lord of the Rings, Ghibli, Never Ending Story, Avatar the Last Airbender, Frogs Extras: Discord and Patreon rewards. System: 5e DnD Average Episode time: 1 hour Uploads 1 Episode per week. Campaign/ Show Length: Long Term Campaign Platforms: Podcast, Audio Only. Accessibility: Content Warnings Language available: English Diversity: AAPI/BIPOC Number of Episodes Review is based on: 100 (This is my first review so I decided to start with a Podcast I’m already caught up on) ** If you want the TLDR, scroll to the bottom of the post **

Why Reckless Attack?

I honestly believe that part of the draw of listening to people play a TTRPG is not just the story telling but an assurance that adults can somehow actually and consistently come together, in person, to pull off a full long term game. Reckless Attack is one such podcast. They are a small indie podcast with excellent audio quality and editing. 

But, why should you listen to another high fantasy podcast? Well, have you ever wanted to see what a post-apocalyptic High Fantasy world would look like? The deeper you delve into Reckless Attack, the deeper the lore gets, and we have barely scratched the surface a hundred episodes in. You’ll join the players as they explore a world recovering from an apocalyptic event, ripe with magic and unstable artifacts, an undead army, and frogs.

Starting The Pod

Right out the gate, the listeners are greeted by a Lord of the Rings style opening monologue, giving relevant history and context to the kind of place the characters live in. I personally get the feeling a lot of the world was established in a previous game or between the DM and players prior to the start of this campaign. If, as a listener, it feels like you're missing something, don't worry; you'll get a lot more context down the road, especially once the players make it to the city of Agmar (Episode 15). The first 15 episodes are a nice slow build up. 

Conveniently, the first recap episode covers Episode 1-14! (Though I really enjoyed the first 14 episodes, I know not everyone has the amount of listening time I have). If you are so inclined to start from the first episode, you'll get nicely eased into the characters and their relationships with one another before a lot of the bigger world building really starts to soar.

(My one caveat is that I listen to this podcast at 1.3-1.4 speed since the players and Nathan speak with a good amount of pauses, and that can be a little too slow for me.)

About the Team

Nathan, the DM for the main campaign, paints some amazing pictures of his homebrew world. He has a real talent for creating larger than life NPCs and Big Baddies for his players to interact with. They all have clear motivations, flaws, and personalities that truly rounds out the overall story. When it comes to plot, Nathan kept me on my toes with plot twists that would literally snap me out of whatever multitasking I was doing. And I must recognize how often Nathan opens the floor for the players to build parts of the story and describe longer stretches of downtime. Those moments are like the equivalent of cinematic montages to represent the passing of time.

The players, Sophie, Steve, David, and Jonathan, deliver wonderful descriptions and leave plenty of space for each other to speak, balanced with just the right amount of crosstalk. Each character has a very unique voice which is helpful for listeners (especially because David and Jonathan are twins and have similar voices).

Sophie plays Valeska Carter, the Human * Cleric. "Valeska is a young woman in search of answers. Like, compulsively."* I quickly fell in love with Val, an exhausted nerd who can never have enough notes and organization. If you're the kind of person who is always rescuing animals, you will love her too. 

Steve plays Selv Asterlin, the Dragonborn Monk. "Selv’s years at his town’s icy mountain monastery has trained not just his body, but also his mind and emotions. The large dragonborn seeks to be a peacemaker in conflicts, exuding strength, calm and serenity while straying away from violence and lethal force when possible."* But don't be fooled, Selv is often one for the occasional good prank, and I always appreciate Steve's references even when the rest of the group don't understand them. (I got you Steve) 

David plays Kascorin "Kass" Brightmane, the Dwarven Warlock. "Tomorrow (Kass leaves) this city for the Golden Tree adventuring guild, and in leaving this city, (He leaves his) friends, (his) family, and (his) comfortable life behind."* Kass is very grounded, serious, and focused, until he runs into tasty dried meats. Kass has all the charm of a warlock and the grit of a soldier. 

Jonathan plays Checkers, the Gung Druid, with his trusty pals Mango and Junior. "Joining the Golden Tree adventuring guild on a dare, Checkers and his frog pal Mango are here to prove that it’s better to find your own path than to follow someone else’s. After all, where’s the fun in looking before you leap?"* Checkers is a lot like the characters I personally play. Someone who doesn't stand around for too much planning and prefers to "leap" into action. In my very humble opinion, every group needs an instigator. 

I have also come to really admire the level of trust and respect the group has for one another. They handle both wonderful whimsical beats as well as solemn moments with great care (Episode 108 was magnificent.)

*Quoted from the official Reckless Attack website. You can find this and more at their website www.recklessattack.com. (Be aware, reading the available character sheets may contain spoilers)

About the World

Ryxia is built on a world where long ago, the Gods walked among mortals, but one day they left. As if in consequence, magic in this world seems to ebb and flow, and monsters roam the wilds. Until, the "second of Ryxia’s twin suns disappeared from the sky, the Ultragiants appeared, and the Pentarchy’s great capital city of Narhasur was turned into a smoldering crater." *

You can think of the Ultra Giants as the Titans of this world, being elemental and colossal. These Ultra Giants terrorized mortals until one day, the mortals managed to kill one " wielding their city’s Object of Focus… The object was destroyed, as was much of the army. But strangely, within days, the Ultragiants no longer stalked Ryxia."*

As the mortals re-emerged, they started to rebuild despite the incredible amount of monsters who now roam the lands. 

*Quoted from the official Reckless Attack website. You can find this and more at their website www.recklessattack.com. (Be aware, reading the available character sheets may contain spoilers)

Extras

Aside from the main campaign Nathan has his own series called Reckless A-Talk. This series Nathan or others on the team interview incredible people from all over the TTRPG space. Nathan's style of interviewing is mostly allowing his guest to speak more than he does, followed by the wonderful lightning round questions. I highly recommend listening to these (as a little treat) if you are interested in learning other perspectives and other aspects of the industry. 

Bonus one shots are another part of Reckless Attack, allowing the players to take the reigns.  They serve as fun filler for when you just can't wait for the next episode to drop. 

And if that's still not enough content for you, you can always subscribe to their Patreon for even more content, including the very relaxed Reckless A-Snack.

TLDR

High Fantasy world rebuilding the world after mortals were nearly wiped out.

Listeners will get a good feel of the world within the first 14 episodes. (IMO, the pacing starts to pick up after Episode 14)

Here are "Tale Til Now," recap episodes for those who want to catch up faster. (Episodes 1-14, 14-42, 42-66, 67-84)

Non Player Characters are larger than life, with clear motives and personalities.

The Dungeon Master and Players share a lot of world building and you can feel the love and trust they have for each other.

Recommended listening at 1.3x-1.5x speed if you are one of those people (you know who you are).

Find more details about the world and characters at www.recklessattack.com.

Lots of extra content for those who just need more, including; interviews, one-shots run by the players, and patreon bonus content. https://www.patreon.com/recklessattack/home

Do you have ideas or suggestions? Please feel free to comment!

Special thanks to Artax of Who's Taking Watch for helping with editing!

No Context Spoilers:

[sage-lights]

This is so random, but hearing Shayne talk about Sword AF in the Smosh After Dark Q&A gave me a sense of closure. I'd already accepted that they weren't gonna do a season 3, but to hear him sort of confirm what I was thinking happened (that it was a lot work and time and too little return on investment, despite the fact that they loved doing it), I feel ready to leave the charred remains of my beloved piece of media buried in the ground.

I think BAF Legacy was able to have a proper send-off because the story was already written by somebody else and it had a definite ending with an already expected finite number of episodes, whereas Sword AF didn't really have an end in sight so the series fizzling out was sort of inevitable. I'm sad about it, but at the end of the day, I still get to see Shayne, Chanse, Damien, Amanda, and Angela work together and as fans we get to experience how BAF Legacy and Sword AF shifted all 5 of their relationships to one another to a cozier, sweeter space y'know? (I'm thinking specifically of Shayne and Angela becoming one of my favorite duos ever through Sword AF)

Like, BAF Legacy is where I first saw that Amanda and Shayne really clicked and it's what made me so excited when I saw that they were hosting Smosh Mouth together! To this day, the 5 of them- all together, give or take other cast members- is my personal favorite lineup. I loved the series so much so I WANT there to be something more dramatic and final (?) to its end than it just not being a sustainable series to produce, but sometimes that's all there is.

I am not ready to watch Smosh vs. Zombies yet, but I've seen what people say online, and I already know that Amanda and Courtney have a queer-coded codependent friendship thing going on and I will absolutely eat it up I love Courtmanda and I ADORE wlw pining. COURTMANDA WLW PINING? I won!! Sorry that was such a long message!!!! TLDR: I loved Sword AF but it's gone and that's okay. I ship courtmanda.

hi anon! thank you for coming to my inbox and chatting 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ (under the cut are my thoughts because it gets LONG)

i said a lot of my own thoughts in the tags of this reblog, but i think that beyond saf taking a lot of effort without a lot of return, i don't think enough people were really batting for it. i know amanda's talked about loving it, angela and chanse play dnd in their own time, shayne always wanted to get into dnd, and damien is obviously the one with the most passion as the dm. but when push comes to shove, i think the cast rather put their time into things like bit city because it's closer to that kind of true improv that they love.

characters i think also contributed to the longevity of shows. baf legacy let them change character every episode, but saf leaves them "stuck" in the same character for seasons on end. reoccurring characters at smosh are never as serious as the saf characters and maybe the cast just didn't vibe with it as much?

you should def give smosh vs zombies a watch when you come around to it. though i love long ttrpg series, it seems like a good middle ground between fans of ttrpg and what smosh likes to do. and yes, the courtmanda/gracevannah goes HARD!!! i adore them!!!!

if you poke around my blog, you see i started to post a lot about d20 and dropout recently. that's honestly just me filling the void that saf left behind and it's working! hoping that one day a smosh cast member will end up in the dome! that would make my little ttrpg heart soooooo happy!

[alcalystrasz]

Here's the list of all my theories about Stranger Things 5 (not in order):

-Robin dies -> either to sacrifice herself (for Vickie or Steve) or she gets killed by Vecna.

-Max dies -> she doesn't wake up of her coma (episode 6 or 7, preferably after Robin's death).

=> After everyone starts to lose hope, they all get the courage to read her letters and they get determined to avenge her and the other deaths (even from previous seasons, such as Barbara for Nancy).

-Jonathan dies -> by saving Nancy or Will.

=> causes an emotional damage to Will, losing his big brother, the only one who knew about who he was.

-Mike and Eleven break up because Mike wants them to be just friends.

-Mike finally tells Will he's in love with him (episode 6 or 7, preferably after Max's death).

-Mike and Will go in the Upside Down (no reason in my mind right now, except it could be to find something).

=> They find Eddie alive (not dead because or the following reason: it's impossible to get killed in the Upside Down if you're not killed by Vecna himself -> Barb was killed by Vecna in the Upside Down since we see her in the pool she died, trapped like Chrissy, Vecna's mother etc. This could explain why Vecna didn't die when Nancy, Steve and Robin tried in S4). ((This theory is the least possible one in my mind, just so you know)) => he really dies though in the end.

Then, mostly everyone becomes a target of Vecna. Here's the list and the causes (why are they a target) and the characters that saves them (in order):

-Dustin is a target -> cause: Eddie's death, as he feels guilt for letting him go back in the Upside Down without him -> Steve or Lucas saves him because of their strong friendship.

-Lucas is a target -> cause: He feels guilt for not saving Max before Vecna takes her -> Max (if she doesn't die) or Erica saves him.

*Robin dies at this moment before the others gets targeted*

-Steve is a target -> cause: He feels guilt because he couldn't save Robin from the hands of Vecna -> Nancy saves him.

-Nancy is a target -> cause: She feels guilt because of Barbara and Steve being a target, but mostly of Barb -> Jonathan saves her by dying = she feels a second guilt and Steve feels guilt too.

*Jonathan dies at this moment*

-Will is a target -> cause: Vecna shows him his old memories (with his mom, Jonathan, Mike and the Party), but mostly bad memories to show him how his life is miserable. He asks Will to join him but refuses -> The music "Should I Stay or Should I Go" gets a door to open (just like Max when "Running up That Hill" started), and Mike's voice gets Will to escape Vecna's lair. He crushes his left eye before escaping (foreshadowing from Eddie during the DnD campaign in S4).

-Mike is a target (endgame, mostly end of episode 7 or beginning of episode 8) -> El saves him by fighting with Vecna but she still doesn't kill him. She gets hurt because he got stronger.

Now, the most crazy theory:

-Everyone finds a plan: Time travel.

=> They think, if the time in the Upside Down stopped the day Will got into the U.D, maybe he's the key of the U.D. Why? Maybe Vecna gave him this "power" because they're alike (sensitive, lonely, and good drawer). So they think if Will goes back inside, they can come back to the day he got kidnapped by Vecna and kill him when he was less strong.

And the Endgame theories (so episode 8 or end of episode 7):

-The Party finally gets back together and are going to be the leaders of the last episode.

-Eleven saves Hawkins by killing Vecna.

=> Parallel with the first season: Eleven gets Vecna on the wall, being ready to kill him but before that, she turns her head to Mike or the Party and says "Goodbye" one last time just like in the final of season 1. She then kills Vecna inside of the U.D creating a sort of supernova (because she erases him like the Demogorgon in s1, but since she did that outside of the U.D and she teleported them in it, and this time she's inside, this world can't support it and it makes a sort of supernova). This causes the U.D to get closed forever and Eleven dies, closing the possibility of interacting with the U.D from the real world.

That's it!! Tell me what you guys think about this, it's the main theories in big lines, some things a more precise obviously.

[superineffable]

let me yap for a bit. i'm tired but have thoughts so i'm gonna let it out here.

i've been a member of dropout for only 5 months so far (been a fan longer but decided to buy a membership as a birthday gift to myself 💙 best gift ever) and i knew i wanted to get into d20 because i keep seeing out of context clips for it and i find them so funny even though i've never had any interest in dnd or any ttrpg content. so i started watching fantasy high because it was the first released season for d20 and because junior year was being posted/teased at the time. my thoughts were that by the time i finish the two seasons of fantasy high i could get to junior high in time for the finale. unfortunately, i did not expect to have my attention span challenged 💀

i loveee the characters (gorgug is so beloved to me) and i love the stories and the quests but sometimes the lore takes a serious turn for way too long than i can pay attention for and i zone out, so i'll be honest, there are parts of the story that i only piece together by context clues. but i enjoyed s1! and i'm still at s2. it's a bit harder to get through because there aren't any of the props or editing they had back then and it's a full livestream so i'm taking longer than i expected to get through the episodes. but i'm liking the story (though there are still some moments where i don't pay attention haha)

anyway! that really ruined my plan to watch junior high around the same time everyone else was watching it. prior to realizing junior year was ongoing, my plan was to watch the d20 shows in order of release, but, evidently, that isn't possible! i cannot pay attention despite wanting to 😭

i decided i'll finish fantasy high on my own time, put all the other d20 shows on hold because i cannot handle them together (i promise you, i don't think i fully understand the mechanics of the game yet). then watch one of the following once im done with junior year: dungeons and drag queen (cause i saw that clip of twyla and her thinking she's invisible), mentopolis (first d20 ep i watched when it was one free ep + i liked that clip of alex's character selling newspaper to a pretty aggressive man), starstruck odyssey (cause it sounds so cool), or a crown of candy (probably my first choice of the list, genuinely what i think would be my favorite based from clips i've seen of d20)

so tell me why d20 decided to do an action based story during a time in my life when i'm binging through action movies for no reason other than i felt like watching actions movies?! i had gone through the realization i didn't enjoy action movies as much if there's no comedy in it, so they really made sure to make an action comedy themed d20 show for me to enjoy (though i know brennan made it for izzy which makes this 100000x better). when i saw the trailer i kinda lost my mind, which was so weird because i genuinely haven't kept up with d20 shows except when i figured out which one was best to watch. then i made the decision to watch the first ep when it came out and i laughed so much 😭 it was the first d20 ep where i was genuinely devastated i finished an episode because it hit me that there isn't a next one until the next week. and then i was again devastated because it was only going to run for a couple of episodes 😭😭

but i am soooo obsessed with nsbu! paula is my everything and izzy plays her so wonderfully i am laughing as much as all the players when i'm listening to the show which is not good since i listen at work 😃 there's still very tiny moments where i get lost but i get swept up in the action again and it's soooo fcking cool and funny and i love all the characters so much oh my god im so happy there's another episode soon sjfhwknskks this really ruined my plans to watch everything in order, but i cannot hate it. i love this show so much.

i'm still watching sophomore year in between! almost donee !!! because i'm watching ally playing on nsbu & sophomore year at the same time, i really get the comments that are amused about the irony of ally being the one to keep the table on track. (actually wanted to watch d20 shows in order of release because i liked seeing someone's growth in learning a skill and wanted to see ally slowly get better at playing, but this is real good too.)

ok this went on too long i am Exhausted now. i really just wanted to say how much i love nsbu and that it's given me a whole new appreciation for d20 & other ttrpg (even though i think they mentioned they've done something different mechanics-wise)! if there's anyone who also wants to enjoy this veryyy long shows but get lost in the deep lore or the serious moments sometimes pls give nsbu a try because this is one of the most fun things i've watched in a while 💛

edit: also very cute i'm watching d20 live and they keep saying "when you're here, you're family" and i keep hearing nsbu saying "la familia" in my head

[ankh-morporkianpostalworker]

The Rise of Dimension 20: The Changing Face of Roleplay

I remember when I first heard about Dimension 20 in 2019. I had subscribed to Dropout to watch Um, Actually and I saw D20 being pushed on the platform. I sat down and watched the first episode, then the second. In two days I had finished the first season.

I had never seen anything like it. I had tried NADDPOD and CR and bounced off both (I'd eventually fall head over heels for the former, and gain a solid respect for the latter), but I fell in love with the Bad Kids, the Intrepid Heroes, the world of Elmville, and the style of Brennan Lee Mulligan.

Later, I would learn that the first season of Fantasy High was seen by most in the community as a sort of novelty, the last death-rattle of a dying company. It was cool and new, sure, but it was also a flash in the pan.

Escape From the Bloodkeep proved the naysayers wrong. It proved that Brennan was as much the source of the fun as the Intrepid Heroes, and it showed us something that set him apart from the pack - Brennan was constantly pushing himself to be better. Out of the starting gate, he proved a technical proficiency on par with Matt Mercer, the reigning king, but for Brennan, that wasn't enough. He wasn't facing off with Matt, he was facing off with himself, and he needed to be better.

The Unsleeping City continued this trend. It was another setting the DND actual play community wasn't used to - the real world. The characters were fresh, new, more nuanced than the children they played in Fantasy High. They were up to the challenge, with the same drive as Brennan. Brennan and Ally redefined how the Wild Magic Sorcerer was played, Lou Wilson brought an abandoned Unearthed Arcana to the forefront, and the pair played, perhaps, their best roles to date.

Tiny Heist showed that Brennan could bend 5e to be something it wasn't meant to be - a heist simulator.

Then came A Crown of Candy. Some hold this season to be Brennan's magnum opus and the best performances the Intrepid Heroes have ever given. The combat was quick, dirty, tactical, the characters textured and nuanced. Our heroes had to get out of impossible situations, both in roleplay and combat. Death was a very real possibility. And this season was what sealed Brennan as a real rival for Matt, and was when "I only have Dropout for D20" stopped being a joke and started being a reality. Brennan had hit his stride.

The sidequests and seasons two from this point don't really prove my point, but they're good. Brennan didn't do a couple of them, though.

Then we get to Starstruck. Set in a world his mother had created, it obviously meant a lot to Brennan, and so he strived to outdo everything he'd done up to this point. It was funnier, more moving, the combat more tactical than anything he'd done before. He included space combat, and the cast once again rose to the occasion, portraying those cast out and cast aside by the corporatocracy that was the Starstruck universe, forming a touching bond. It was as if he had peaked.

And then came Neverafter, and with that, Brennan became king. It was horrific, scary, brutal. Combat wasn't fun or interesting, it was intense and nail-biting. The party dropped in their first combat encounter. Children were brutally murdered. They were up against eldritch horrors in perverse retellings of fairy tales. The humor was there, sure, but it was twisted, dark, more about relieving stress than being funny. And again, the cast excelled.

And all because Brennan wasn't trying to outdo Matt or Griffin or Brian, but himself. Each season, he wanted to be better than he had ever been before, pushing his technical abilities, his storytelling abilities, to the max. And the world of actual play shows improved as well. Matt stepped up his game, as did the other big dogs. Brennan redefined the game.

Or I could just be a massive fanboy who's reading way too far into things. Either/or.

[bloodyshadow1]

I'm nervous for the next rounds of combat and the episode preview didn't help. They've had one (not even) round of combat, 5 different opponent types. And I'm worried they're going to run out of resources, especially the 3 multiclassers.

Fabian has already used his actions surge, 2 level 3 spells, and 2 of his 4 superiority die. Fabian doesn't really use his spells, basically being a bard who is a paladin, so he's doing a lot of damage with his attacks, but it's the first round. Edit: I completely forgot that Fabian had to roll a dx of spell slots to lose on top of everything so who knows how many spell slots he has

Fig's used one 5th level spell, and a 4th for her steed and a 3rd for spirit guardians and a miscellaneous level for Armor of Ayda. though she's 3 levels higher with her primary casting and all of her classes give her spells even if there aren't nearly as many, so she has more spells to burn than fabian or gorgug. It can get draining if she starts to use spells for smites too though. I would guess Armor of Ayda was cast with a 4th or 5th since it would be the most useful, but I don't remember if Emily confirmed the level she used so as far as I know it could be 1st.

As an artificer, Gorgug doesn't have a lot of spells, he should have 4 1st levels and 3 2nd as a level 7 artificier, we know he has at least 2 non concentration spells on him and I don't know if anything else. He currently has warding bond and jump so he's used one of each spell level. He's still a barbarian with 13 levels of hp behind him though so he's still a great tank and we don't know what else his new subclass can do so there's a lot to unpack with him.

As for the other 3, Kristen and Adaine are full casters so they have a lot of spells to burn and it's smart of them to get off higher level concentration spells before combat so they can cast stuff each round and they both have access to very powerful level 7 spells that I dont' recall them casting anything super high yet. Still, as pure casters they don't have the utility and fancy stuff that their compatriots have.

Riz does worry me, he is an arcane trickster so he has spells, not a lot but he will always have sneak attack. That being said, haste is a beneficial spell, but personally I've never seen the draw since I think the stunned turn is never worth it. They're in a battle where they should last as long as possible, if he loses concentration he loses a round, if the battle takes longer than 10 turns he loses a round, it's a two edged sword that has a good chance of coming back to bite him with all these monsters.

No judgement to them, they have to play how they're going to play and honestly 5e dnd is not really made for long combats (especially how Brennan plays) so I don't think they're going to have that many rounds to survive anyway.

[persistentplums]

i love love your venture bros posts. youre really attentive to the vibes

a character dynamic i think was underexplored but had potential was billy and gary. what do you make of it?

Omg thank you so so much!! I’m really glad you think so! my post are mostly me spitballing hoping I’m getting the vibes right!

I actually made a post about this here! I should tag my posts tbh but I always got more thoughts I just think that post is a better summary of my thoughts. But here’s some more it’s VERY long:

They agree on most things except for the core idea of their livelihood. Which is wild because out of many characters I think Billy and Gary get along VERY well. They speak the same language and love the “game”. (I call it a game but the entire cape business) I don’t think they agree though on everything outside of nerd stuff.

I have this thought in my head maybe it’s a scale or a graph or something but it’s basically Believers, Nonbelievers, middlemen when it comes to this hero stuff and Gary and Billy are definitely Believers. But I think after Gary whole journey as a henchman, now a second/arch himself I think the idea of what makes something “Heroic” very firm in scale for him vs Billy who’s still sorta new at the whole thing but flexible.

I hope this makes sense but despite appearances Gary is rigid and Billy is flexible. I think while the morpho arc was sick (def loved the entire plot unfolding) Gary definitely had a hard time being on a grey area. He is either a hero (Sphinx!) or an arch. He feels haunted by killing all his fellow arches. He’s loyal af but doesn’t like the middle ground (his relationship with shelia, being a hit man, even 21 death you can say)

Billy is “flexible” in that sense that good is no small or big act. I’m forgetting the episode but the one where they fight Cloud over the ball, Monstroso surgery, especially Pete White as a person. Billy like superman genuinely would do good, it’s an oath it doesn’t matter to who he would. That comic run where Lex Luther is dying and gets superman to help him find a cure is VERY Billy. To Billy he is so firm to that one thing (two technically, hippocratic oath?whatever ykwim) it makes him apply it to literally everyone regardless of where he is. While Gary is very set on the us vs them side, that’s why he made such a good henchman leader.

I think when they interact it’s that trope of people in a mineshaft on their carts having a great time then an abrupt turn separating them, then they meet up again. Which I think deeply defines both characters despite being incredibly similar.

If I was summoned to a universe where I was told by Doc and Jackson that I could write a VB season but only when Billy and Gary interact aside from writing a Bromance for the ages that would get avid 21/24 fans mad at me (I think Gary and Billy would become like really REALLY into each other big “oh wow how come we never hanged out before?” “Idk!” Vibes) i would like to write them fighting a little because I think their small disagreements would be very telling about who they are as characters because they are the most genuine fan part of either side.

Gary is for every person who LOVES a hater ass villain (I cheered when green goblin killed aunt May in NWH I think Gary would, but still have issues with NWH ik I did anyways!) and Billy is for someone who LOVES a good wins no matter what (voltron, power rangers, he-man etc)

To me it’s not how Billy and Gary agree that’s interesting (big 2 nerds just in a mind meld moment, they’re also too similar ik why they were written to NEVER interact now, too alike) it’s when they don’t that is fun and I think it would happen the most at their dnd nights and when they watch shows together. Which pisses off everyone else (Malcom, shelia, white) bc they can’t hear anything as an argument is happening.

Also Billy wins most of the trivia stuff they do because he’s a bit older than Gary, this is Billy rodeo. I think Gary having someone as a friend who gets him is good for him honestly, he’s a third? Sorta? To his bosses/not boss anymore and I think he needs friends that he can really nerd out with.

Other fun things they do:

Hang out at each other places so often others remember the dates they see each other due to arching schedules

Follow each other blogs/have a podcast (movies, tv, and shows of influence throughout the ages guest star Pete white is on for music. Malcom calls in also surprisingly about music) either in podcast format or blog format doesn’t matter which but they work on it together

Have a show they follow together/watch together

Try to get Dean and Hank into stuff not intentionally their energy is infectious

ESPN announcers when on the field (when it’s not about them they’re doing commentary on the arch/protag tactics or at least commentary about Rusty and Malcom)

Wave/greet each other when they aren’t “on” in an arch or enjoy it too much when they’re “on”

Small acts of arching did happen between them. Cloud felt cheated on, Pete got freaked out, Billy and Gary settled on being friends instead. Malcolm thought it was Billy flirting with Gary, (confused but that’s his boy! Who wouldn’t flirt with Gary!) and Rusty thought Billy was going through a rough patch with White again but this time he really lost Billy (Awkward 1on1 where Rusty talks about cherishing and appreciating people while White gets so freaked out he runs to Billy)

They had a vibe, I feel like they would’ve hooked up or something once maybe bc I’m gay but I want to believe that. But in general they got a vibe together!

That’s all I got for now, if you read all this again thank you for your ask and I’m gonna tag all my VB thoughts once I think of a good tag!

[majoringinsarcasm]

What I love the most about episode two of rwby beyond is that, DnD episode one actually, is the way people in world keep Oscar at the forefront. In stark contrast to the fallout of volume 6 where Qrow and Jaune are upset at Ozpin and take it out on Oscar (and then Jaune is immediately upset when Oscar is missing and ever since then has been shown to care deeply about him), everyone is showing great care for him. They can’t ignore the merge as is evident in both Oscar’s section of the epilogue as well as well as Ren’s message (You two), but how Neptune and Sun kept correcting each other and then Jaune making the distinction that it’s Ozpin who has the fairy tale connections.

Oscar struggles greatly with his sense of identity and now he’s gotten to the point where he sounds like Oz even when the man isn’t taking over for them. But the reminder that Oscar is his own person. That he’s not just another soul in the blob. The way his friends are keeping him alive even when he’s not in front of them. FRESH off of Ruby’s own identity crisis. Jaune saying he wishes he could forget his time as the rusted knight and is only now able to look back on the good times and feel positively about Alex and Lewis. The Sense of Self in this show as well as How Others See You. It’s lovely to see people treating Oscar as his own person during this time when he doesn’t know who he is. And even though he’s trying to comfort Jaune in this scene I think seeing someone older than him who’s also struggling, who feels out of place but is trying to include him, is good for him too.

[ramabear]

Can you tell us more about DnD, Obscurial Harry, or the love potion soulmate au?

Because I think those are wonderful ideas.

wip folder ask game!

im gonna tell you about all three because i can. this answer is gonna get a little long.

DnD Harry came about because I was, once again, musing about the spell chain lightning. And I was thinking of situations Harry could have used it in, if he'd known about it. The general outline is that, during the summer after first year, Harry overhears some kids talking about spells and thinks they might also be wizards. He very quickly figures out he's wrong, but they kind of envelope him into their group, teaching him to play and feeding him snacks.

In the actual DnD game he plays a rogue to help round out the party, but he learns "wizard spells" from one of the other players, including chain lightning. It's a sort of gray!Harry AU too, because he starts to think of morality wrt DnD aligments and doesn't really think he needs to fit the Chosen One mold, even subconsciously. here's some excerpts:

Jimmy stood up and on the grid board in the center of the table, he put down four figures along with four horses. Then he put down three winged creatures facing them. “Harpies!” Adam hissed. “Ah Jimmy, not in front of the kid!” “If he hasn’t seen a pair of tits yet then bully for him,” Jimmy said as he put down the last figure. “Besides, harpy tits are good for growing boys,” he winked at Harry and then gestured for him to come closer as he sat down. Nervously, Harry scooted over. He peeked behind the board and saw, to his surprise, just a handful of papers, a notebook and a bunch of dice. So. Many. Dice. “Do you want to play, kid?” Jimmy asked. “Me?” He nodded. “Yeah, you. Want to be a harpy?” “Uh. What do I do?” “Well, harpies like to kill and eat people,” Jimmy said. He reached down beneath the table, pulled out a book and flipped to a page. Then he put it in front of Harry and said, “Here’s their stats. Down here are their attacks. I’ll let you be the black haired Harpy, okay?” He put aside some dice. “You’ll roll these when you attack.” “Hey! Don’t turn him into a mini-DM!” Adam argued. “He’s one of us!” “Well, until he’s got a character sheet, he’s one of mine,” Jimmy said. “You got this, kid?” Harry scrunched up his face. “My name is Harry.” Jimmy grinned, ruffled his hair, and then said, “Yeah, you got this. Now everyone, roll initiative.”

Obscural-Horcrux Harry is a fun one, fun in that it starts with murder and continues to be pretty grim for Harry, though he's young enough that he doesn't quite get it for a while.

The outline i have currently is that he gets put through the muggle child services at first, long enough to settle with a family and start to bond with them, only for someone to step in and remove him from that family and adjust their memories. He doesn't take this well.

i haven't outlined exactly the point he comes across Voldemort, but the jist is that eventually he does, probably at a very low point and/or in the midst of one of his "episodes" and at this point while some people know he's a danger, no one knows how to calm him down, if they even can.

here's an excerpt from that one:

Harry woke up in a starchy bed with pale blue blankets and in a room with pale blue walls. There was a mask on his face that was connected to a tube and a machine that beeped nearby. He moved his arm sluggishly and noticed there was another tube connected to his arm with some tape and that tube was connected to a clear bag on a stand. After a while, a woman poked her head in and then, seeing him awake, she stepped in to talk to him. “Hello,” she said softly, almost in a whisper, “My name is Melinda.” Sluggishly, Harry blinked at her. “H’lo,” he mumbled. His voice sounded strange through the mask, rough and terrible. “I’m the nurse looking after you right now,” Melinda said, “You’re in the hospital.” Harry was surprised. He’d never seen a doctor before no matter how hurt he’d been. How badly must he have been hurt for the Dursleys to bring him here? Some of that surprise must have shown on his face, because Melinda asked, “What do you remember last?” “It was hot,” Harry said. He’d been in his cupboard. He’d been in there for his third day in a row, locked in after his morning of chores because the Dursleys didn’t want him running around outside in the summer afternoon and ruin Dudley’s birthday week. He’d made breakfast and been shoved in to the dark room. It had been hot and stuffy, utterly terrible. He could barely breathe and he was covered in sweat. He’d thought he was going to die in there. He thought that the Dursleys would just keep the door locked and have him rot away. No one would ever know what happened to him. He’d never be buried or anything. His bones would become part of the house, part of the room that was his sanctuary and his nightmare. “Anything else?” Melinda prompted. Harry blinked slowly. “I thought I was gonna die.” An odd expression crossed her face, one of pity, one of sympathy. “You almost did,” she said.

and finally, Revised Love Potion Soulmate AU. that one, as you can probably tell from the title, has gone through several iterations. I had a same age love potion au, but after tinkering with it for a while, it just didn't keep my fancy. and so i kept the age difference and made Tom the minister instead. it's a fun one, with some time jumps at the start showing the moments Tom hears about Harry from the first point they meet (well, see each other in person, they don't 'meet' properly for a while), and the rumors surrounding Harry.

because of Tom's background, he made Amortentia illegal to brew--and not really a spoiler, but Harry (sorted Slytherin and disliked generally by his fellow Slytherins) gets framed for making it in his seventh year and expelled. there's a bunch of other background stuff (implications of harry being born under the effects of a love potion, lily shows up later, etc etc) but as i was working on the outline, it took a funny turn.

See, after Tom realizes that Harry's his soulmate, he discovers there's a whole subculture of muggleborn wizards who just,,, live in the muggle world under their own set of wards to keep them from being noticed. and a lot of the changes that Tom thought he was making in order to keep something like this from happening kind of broke down as they were passed down the chain of the Ministry. when he realizes that they need more aggressive reform, he also realizes he's gotten rather...soft in his approach to change. there's a lack of respect from his people. a lack of fear.

so while it's a love potion au, and a soulmate au, it's also a Lord Voldemort Returns Au. here's an excerpt of their meeting (Tom's just been hit by a car, for context)

He came to on his back, cold concrete beneath him, someone’s warm hands holding his head and neck. He gasped, startled, shocked, panicked. He could taste blood in his mouth and he wheezed with each breath. His chest was in excruciating pain. Vision swimming, Tom looked up and tried to focus. He saw a face above him, saw pink lips moving, dark hair dusted with snow and the most brilliant green eyes in the world. Some other part of his body—his leg, his side, his back?—began to throb unbearably and his vision blurred back into formless darkness. Tom woke again when his body shrieked with pain and he was lifted up briefly. His neck was immobilized with some sort of brace and his body bound with a few straps and covered. He made a confused, garbled sound, attempting to ask what had happened, where was he, what was going on? Green eyes ducked down into his vision again. The face they were attached to became clear. It was a handsome man with an intense, serious expression. A warm hand squeezed his and the man said, “You’re going to be okay. We’re taking you to the hospital and they’ll have a look at you, sir. Can you stay with me? Just blink twice if you can.” Tom blinked twice. The man gave him a blinding smile, “Great job. Incredible."

thank you for playing the wip folder ask game! i now have to rush to get ready for work lol

[virginmiri99]

Ok. I have a lot to say about this. I think it's been abundantly clear they have been struggling to keep the company afloat, but I also think its a double edged sword bv they bit off more than they could chew in the first place. I've had this opinion for a while but it really cemented since the beginning of Ghost Files. I enjoyed what Watcher was at the beginning, I think they put in good work with Puppet History and it still continues to be their standout show and had a fair amount of "low-budget" shows that filled out the edges like are you scared, too many spirits, top 5 beat down, even their dnd campaign. But as soon as Ghost Files started I began to notice a trend of... idk... bleeding money? Ghost Files was so high budget that I was bored. I get that Ryan wanted to breathe new life into a ghost hunting series but what made bfu so good wasn't the ghost evidence... it was his and Shane's friendship. That's why I liked all their small shows near the start of Watcher--it felt like friends. I think they just continued to go bigger and bigger with more things and more random interns and more shows that it just got to be too much which... led us here. I hate to say I haven't watched their videos in forever, and that ghost files bored me so bad I couldn't even finish some episodes... but thats what happened. I get them moving exclusively to patreon. We all need money. But I wish instead of that, they just focused their energy into their CLEARLY popular series. Puppet History was beyond good--their only series that I didn't mind random guests every episode, in fact it was made better by the random guests--mystery files had potential but came at a bad time, ghost files should've been way lower budgeted and focused on modern house calls TBH! I'm sick of old prisons!!!! And get rid of the fan evidence! Stupid! Also IDGAF about fancy gadgets! All you need is three things and let your humor carry the rest of it. Beyond the "big" series they could have their low budget ones like are you scared, too many spirits, top 5 beat down (the show that I hate random guests for), playing videos games idk man, and like one more or something who knows. But with what they dove headfirst into it doesnt shock me they fell into this hole.... I just wished they realized no one cares about the highest of high budget video series... they care about the dynamic between ryan and shane. Im sick of random ass people in their videos wheres steven lim do a video with steven lim why is he banished to do you taxes. wtf put him in top 5 beat down instead of these random ass random people. the drew gooden one was good though I dont mind actual famous funny people being guests.

anyway those are my thoughts. TLDR they bit off more than they could chew, loss sight of what made them so enthralling, and now are washed up youtubers... saddening

[pbear]

I was thinking of finally making one of these without a D20 show, but I wanted to see it fight Critical Role. Opinions on each below the cut. There may be spoilers for any of them, especially since most of these are shows where I'm watching the newest season.

Sasaki and Miyano: Put this one on hold, not because it’s bad but if you are familiar with some of the other entries in this poll, I think you can understand. Very cute and they use the shoujo filter a lot.

The Legend of Vox Machina: I knew Percy wouldn’t stay dead (since he appears in a later campaign), but that didn’t make it hurt any less. Good stuff in the most recent season. I honestly thought they were bringing the show to a close with everyone heading separate ways, but there was foreshadowing so I guess there's more (I haven't seen the actually DnD campaign so I don't know where things end). Most of the characters got some development except Grog, and I think Pike could have gotten more. (Grog got quite a bit in the second season so I think it evens out at least)

Blue Lock: Hahaha this is a very underwhelming second season and that is due to the animation. I’m no expert in animation but once it was pointed out, I couldn’t ignore it. (Watching the Haikyuu movie also made me remember good animation). The CG was already pretty bad and now it's just yikes.

Heaven Official's Blessing: In comparison to the previous entry, this is so pretty. Watching the English dub because I wanted to see Howard Wang as Xie Lian. Nothing too eventful has happened yet, but I like it a lot.

Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy: I knew this was an intense campaign going in and it really is. The stakes are set up very early and only get higher and higher. I'm currently at the fight in the cathedral and I know it ends badly already but I'm still scared of what's going to happen.

Arcane: WOO NEW ARCANE SEASON. As of posting this, only the first three episodes are out, but it's wild. Animation is fire as always. So many interesting things have been set up. Jinx's activities in the Underworld. Vi being forced to choose whether to side with Piltover or Zaun. Viktor with the Hexcore seemingly inside him. Jayce, Ekko, and Heimerdinger learning more about the Arcane. Ambessa settling in Piltover's affairs. And Caitlyn!!! I honestly think she's the most interesting with how her mother's death has affected her. I'm so excited to see the rest of it.

Outer Banks: I watch this show because my sister's into it and yet I'm ahead of her in terms of watching it. I don't know how necessary a season 4 was, but it's not been too bad so far. I hate Rafe though. And JJ's been making some decisions that annoyed me even though he is my favorite.

[the-backspin-alchemist]

where are you at in worlds beyond number?

After today’s commute, I am at the very beginning of Episode 11 and things are *T E N S E*

Love the show, though. I’m currently bouncing back and forth between this and Murder She Rolled, and they’re both very different actual-plays in terms of setting and style and vibe, but in both instances the players and DMs bring the whole thing alive in a very fun and engaging way where it’s both sitting at the table while these people all have a ton of fun playing DND, and also a very immersive story that you get attached to very quickly.

Sorry I’ve been flipped into Gush About Stuff I’m Listening To Mode, I’m gonna ramble and gush about these podcasts for a bit now.

Alan Seawright in MSR is great at bouncing off of everyone at the table and flipping the switch between being the action hero in a serious way and an action hero in a comedic way, and basically everyone else at the table has picked up on that seemingly from the beginning, and it’s great. If you like…dark comedy and eldritch horror, it’s very fun.

Now.

Worlds Beyond Number is four heavyweight DND champions (both in actual-play settings and in terms of DND advice and design and generally being people present in the culture).

First off. @quiddie is a genius. Because she did something I now desperately want to try in the future, which is create inter-party tension by creating Suvi as a character that is intensely devoted to both her friends/adoptive family, but also to this place that she has now been raised and shaped by for the majority of her formative years that is set in opposition to what sort of ways Ame and Eursulon come from.

Second off, Erika Ishii as Ame is amazing, and a very fun way of playing…what I think is a Druid with some tweaks? It’s such a fun way of approaching what feels like the same class set but from a direction I absolutely would never have thought of and it’s amazing, I wanna try it now in a future game if I get the chance. Also Erika’s great, they’re amazing at interacting with everyone and keeping the lighthearted stuff lighthearted but also being able to drop into drama when needed (as has happened in the last few episodes quick specifically).

Lou Wilson as Eursulon is the sleeper hit of the show. For sure. And I am astounded by how well Lou managed to make it happen naturally. Because early on the episodes focus more on Suvi and Ame finding each other and going to find him with a quest focused on Ame and a lot of tension from Suvi’s background coming into play and being utilized to get things rolling, and then…Port Talon happens. And you realize he’s not been playing this dude that’s seemingly hit rock bottom and is ashamed of being taken advantage of as the new guy in town one too many times despite trying to live up to this *impossible* ideal, and he pulls out all these great character moments that build right to where I’m at where he’s been shamed by this great spirit for what he wanted to be and leaving his old world behind, and having finally clawed back what he could to reach what they set out to do he has to make a *choice* now, and he’s clearly struggling with what that choice is in the face of his friends’ lives being in danger and his old ideals coming back to give him pause about what he’s been doing and just…*gods* he’s possibly going to be my favorite at this rate? He’s playing a very similar character arc to what I wanted Jace to have when I played him in the campaign I played in with @charlezarrd, only…*way* more, and it’s amazing.

Also BLeeM’gan is an insanely good GM, this probably doesn’t need saying given his reputation, but it bears mentioning anyways. He’s crafted an insanely deep world that’s immersive and feels alive in a way that is…not easily describable.

And also him as the Fox is the best. The Fox is my other favorite character. He’s so good.

(Also Will Gallows might be my new favorite criminal mastermind, TBQH)

Anyways yeah Worlds Beyond Number is great! The only reason I’m not fully caught up up yet is because Murder She Rolled is also great!

(TBQH I would love to see Alan Seawright and the e rest do the MSR crew get thrown at the WBN crew, because I think it would be total chaos in the best way)