#let me interview brennan!!!

[applebees4prez]

i really wish we got to see more behind the scenes of dimension 20. i want to see every character sheet before vs. after the every season. i want the dm notes. i want to watch the session zero, maybe release it after the end of the season as extra content. i want to see the one-on-ones between the dm and players. @dimension20official do you hear me?

[opinions-about-tiaras]

Thoughts on Dropouts two big game shows and their host:

I get that both Game Changer and Make Some Noise aren't anywhere near as free-form improvisational as they appear. Sam Reich is playing a character in almost the same way Stephen Colbert used to. They edit the episodes, they cut things and move things around, and so on. It isn't straight-up reality show fake, most of the materiel actually is improvised on the spot. The bits aren't rehearsed.

But like... I would bet a lot of money that Sam did not actually trap three people in an escape room; the cameras almost certainly stopped after the intro was shot and they were all asked to give consent to the scenario, for example. You know? For insurance reasons if nothing else.

Having said all that, I've been rolling something around in my head for a couple-three years now... either as part of his genuine managerial and aesthetic preferences, or as part of the bit they're doing, Sam Reich REALLY seems to absolutely hate it, like REALLY hate it, when people get creative with his tasks and prompts, when they deviate from what he is expecting of them.

Which is really weird for what's supposed to be balls-to-the-wall improv comedy.

If he gives people a deliberately free-form task or prompt, he's fine with weird, out-there responses to that. "Sam Says: Go!" and Ally Beardsley is "You tell me to go? Cool, I'm flying to New York City like right now, tonight." But if any of the contestants try and get creative outside the bounds he sets, he shuts that right down.

A number of Make Some Noise contestants have, for example, tried to get clever by violating the spirit of the prompts they're given in order to either adhere to the letter of the prompts in a clever way, or re-interpret them to flip the bit on its head.

Brennan Lee Mulligan is asked to re-create sound effects for a movie clip using old-fashioned foley gear, and instead improvises a disaster sequence that actually does match what's going on on the screen. Vic Michaelis is asked to re-create the sound a musical instrument makes as closely as possible, and instead of trying to do it with their voice, they badger the musician brought in to demonstrate to play it again. That sort of thing.

Those people never, ever win the point when doing this.

Same deal on Game Changer. "Bring me a duck!" Instead of building a pile of boxes to retrieve the pile of rubber ducks that are way up high, the contestants draw a bunch of ducks for Sam and present them to him. They've fulfilled the task as requested! ... and he rips up the ducks and goes "no points for anyone."

Ally Beardsley responds to the prompt "Who can make the loudest noise on a gong?" by answering the question correctly: Brennan Lee Mulligan can. Nope! Shut down hard.

It was the Season 7 premiere of Game Changer that really crystallized this for me, honestly. Vic Michaelis completes the task "Take this standee of Sam Reich to the most remote location you can" by assembling over four hundred TV remote controls and surrounding the standee with them. This is clever, funny, fulfilled the task as presented, and they put in genuine effort to do it, all things you want from a Game Changer task... and Vic loses a point for doing it.

They colored outside the lines and must be penalized for it.

In fact, Reich referred to Vic's responses in a Polygon interview as "irrelevant to what I asked for," which is absolutely not the case for many of them. Sure, burglarizing his home is absolutely not finding the coolest free item on Craigslist. Everything else, though? Nah. Maybe Vic doesn't win the point, but they shouldn't be losing them either.

It's not a big deal, but it's so weird. Like, is he doing this out of a sense of fairness, "I can't give you a point for going way off the reservation when everyone else obeyed not just the letter but the spirit of what was asked." Is it "if I let these guys go any more crazy than they already go this is gonna cross the line from 'hilarious farce' to 'just plain farcical.'"

Or maybe I'm overthinking it, seeing something that isn't there. That's a possibility to.

[hockeyspiral23]

... in rereading bits of FW while editing ttios, the amount of unhinged theories I am now coming up with are RIDICULOUS.

(Onyx Storm spoilers - a virtual fucking novel - below the cut)(has been edited since first posted)

In no particular order ...

Barlowe knowing accurate things about the feathertails at Threshing - like that the breed abhors violence and won't fight - and going to kill it. Now, given that we know that Panchek was working on the inside, do we believe that he is where Jack got his info? That, given the apparent super sneaky venin living in the walls (... money is still good on daddy Aetos there too), they knew to try and kill the feathertail once it was known to exist because of the wards somehow? Venin long game of taking down Basgiath's wards so they can't restore them since no seventh breed?

Xaden always telling Violet she'll be the death of him. Well, she has been ... the death of his soul, at least. Also given all the god talk, there's completely going to be some literal bargain with Malek to save him (if he gets saved). I'm guessing that Malek might be the other god to which she could dedicate herself. Though, with Xaden saying "it's always you" to Violet since she's in the middle of shit all the time, that could be an unfortunate side effect of her partial dedication to Dunne.

Which, leading up to that last little point, with that ending, how the fuck is the next book going to be a romantasy with the main couple separated? Unless we're really going to get an Imrrick story (if, of course, Garrick isn't the new brother).

In the very first class of Dragonkind, Kaori says you'd be ash if you ever tried to get close to the Vale and Violet mentions some girl with a rebellion relic pulling down her sleeve. Interesting tidbit, but we ignore it, right? But then, in Onyx Storm, Brennan LITERALLY MENTIONS taking Xaden to sit by dragon eggs in what is presumably Aretia's response to the Vale. So what, do dragons let relic riders near them? Does Brennan get the same courtesy afforded to him due to the rune on his hand? (which, don't get me started on that mystery we still need a fucking answer for ...)

Another reason why I think Xaden saved Sgaeyl? Because if Sgaeyl dies, so does Tairn and then so does Violet. In IF, Tairn says that Sgaeyl would be emotionally inconvenienced if the shadow wielder died, but doesn’t directly answer Violet when she asks him if she’s just an emotional inconvenience to him. So killing Xaden? Might not kill Violet, but the other way around was pretty drummed into us, as was the interdependence of mated dragons’ lives.

Xaden's "there's nowhere in existence you could go that I wouldn't find you" line is COMPLETELY going to come into play now with the Onyx Storm ending. Mostly because, given the GMA interview RY did today, she said she fought with her editors to get the ending she wanted which to me, means ending on Violet's POV as opposed to Xaden's POV like the previous two books. What do we get in Violet's POV? A note from the man saying don't look for him. We also learn from RY at the release party she attended that that specific line is still her favorite (either line completely or just of Xaden's) from the series. Violet may not look for him, but you don't think that Xaden's going to still be able to find her?

She'll probably still be able to contact him though, and probably through her dreams (that dream-walking signet is a foresighted signet for her not because she needed to know what her NON-DREAMING DRAGON WAS DREAMING ABOUT JEEBUS, but because she'll need to contact Xaden still and dreams are going to be the way she does it. If, of course, venin sleep. Which ... do they?

Or due to the compass. We might be getting a PotC thing there with that ... which ... I don't know how I feel about that.

Harkening back two points ... if he's ever on a battlefield, I believe that he still won't harm Violet solely because of the ch.48 epigraph about an entire village being decimated by venin except for one house because the venin doing the decimating was the dude's wife. (which, speaking of Xaden's love declaration in this book, he's totally gonna become a Maven or something, isn't he?)

While I'm here ... I think Bodhi might be the new brother. Mostly because I think he turned to work on the venin from the inside, to use his signet-countering signet on the venin themselves. Also because in the Imogen chapter, she also watches blue fire from a wyvern "roll down Cuir's neck, extinguishing to smoke before they reach him." She makes it sound due to the angle, but what if it's because Bodhi was able to counter the fire at that point? Also, Cuir is pretty badly injured at this point, so it's plausible. And even though Bodhi might have the good reasoning for turning, it could also make sense why he's puking after, upset at his decision. And Garrick might just be missing since he had to walk during that missing 12 hours and didn't have the energy to walk back yet.

Liam's ice wielding ... like the fuck? Does this mean that Sloane is going to develop a second signet too? Or that she won't because there was only one other dragon rider descendant in her family and that dragon is dead because they bonded Liam, and she only said the stuff in IF because Thoirt was explaining secret shit to her?

The dragons are going to end up being a big bad somehow. You don't have the line from the Fables about demonizing dragons and then learning that they draw from the source themselves - plus all the talk from the venin and the Isles and even the damn Irids as well as tidbits in quite a few of the epigraphs - without realizing some shit is going to down with them. (Also, need I also continually say that this series is the Empyrean series - so many of our questions are going to be solved due to the fucking dragons).

But also, do the gryphons then also draw the same way the dragons do? But the magic balance is better there because they also die with their bonded flier?

There's a theory on the RQ Discord server that gemstones are going to come into play and I agree with that, if only also because of the seemingly random throwaway line about Poromish gemstones during the Parapet info dump. Plus during the triumvirate dinner, one of them brought a piece of jade - a gemstone - onto the table when it looked like negotiations were going well and put it back into her lap when things went to shit again. Not to mention the citrine necklace, the ruby one Cat was given on Zehyllna, the onyx and amethyst and other mentions of random gems throughout the series ...

I'm also going to guess particularly with emeralds, since the venin want a specific thing as well - ch.50 dream - "You will bring what I want ... or she dies. I'm through waiting, and I will not allow her to win such a prize." If you harken back to ch.6, Xaden extracts a promise from Violet - "Swear you'll sound the alarm if I go too far, that you'll keep it safe, even if it's from me." I don't believe it's Tyrrendor, since Tyrrendor is always referred to as a she. Her ring has an emerald that she thinks is from the Blade of Aretia and the emerald-hilted Sword of Tyrrendor keeps appearing in Xaden's dreams. Are the weapons a matched set? Plus the sword almost comes into play in negotiations with the Deverelli. There's SOMETHING with those two weapons somehow. Plus Xaden's keeping the Blade of Aretia in his gift from Zihnal ...

Speaking of RY and things she's said recently ... someone we love will die in book four. This ... is obvious. Given the Rhiannon and Imogen chapters - and the fact (I think) that she'd like to write their stories eventually - I think those two are safe. We've had Ridoc scares the last two books - the arrows in IF and the kitchen jump-scare in OS - so I hope it's not him, but RY also really adores Ridoc so ... she might. BUT ALSO, it could mean metaphorical death given the whole new mystery venin brother of Xaden's (less likely, but hey).

Going back to things from FW/IF that I'm surprised haven't come more into light ... General Daramor and the original army from the Barrens. I'm a little surprised Violet hasn't tried looking for non-censored texts about that from Tecarus's library.

Speaking of Tecarus ... do we think he's secretly working with the venin as well? Mighty suspicious that the most indefensible palace known to man and its city are like the one non-drained area in like the entirety of fucking Poromiel ...

Some of the things that seemed random are coming to light and I don't know if it's that she's retconning as some have pointed out or if her plotting of the whole series truly is *that* detailed and her editors have just done her no favors when it's come to pacing and worldbuilding. Or she's done herself no favors with it given when she wants the info dumps for all of us.

Not theory related, but worth commenting on since I'm here ranting ... the ship names? I jokingly poked fun at that in viayn so to see it in actual text? I just don't know. Also, I know everyone's getting Drake/Mira out of this, but there's also potential Mira/Syrena too since Mira white-knuckles her pack when Aetos informs Cat she's closer in line to the throne and they're all wondering if it's Syrena who's dead.

Regardless of it all ... the one thing I think we can ALL agree on in book four? Better have some Broccoli. And I'm convinced Ridoc also helped Drake come up with that name.

[utilitycaster]

Do you think part of the D20 journalistic bias comes from D20 being edited? It gives the appearance of much more effortless play and lets them control the pacing in a way unedited play like CR simply can't do. They get to (potentially) hide a lot of stuff people would jump on as flaws while CR has no choice but to let it all play out. I greatly prefer CR's approach, despite it biting them in the ass a bit through no fault of their own.

Answering these both together to group cause and my opinions, and I do want to note this is specifically about journalism/press coverage, not their respective fandoms even though there's obviously some overlap.

I think there's a couple things, but I do want to note this was actually prompted by Daggerheart, not Critical Role. The response from several prominent voices in the Actual Play journalism community, whom I will not name here but whom I do not respect intellectually, really was, within hours of the open beta (which as far as I know they didn't have early access to - more on that later) "um it could be better, I don't like xyz and also it's sooooooo important to have criticism" and again, it is important to have criticism, but also you act like D20 has never had a mediocre moment and that Kollok is brilliant, so.

This...got away from me a bit. I'd say I'm sorry but actually I adore writing thousands of words about actual play and it will happen again but I'm putting the detailed answer below a cut. The short answer is I think a lot of Actual Play journalists actually sort of fell into their jobs through being vaguely involved in nerd spaces and aren't actually equipped to talk intelligently about TTRPGs and actual play as a medium that should, at its best, be a perfect fusion of narrative and mechanics. So instead they're distracted by flashy edits and bright lights and cool noises and some abstract concept of "novelty" and write only about that. Also Critical Role is the 700 lb gorilla in the AP space (though not, actually, the TTRPG space) and doesn't give them early access and that's meaaaaaan. Indeed, for all I think a lot of their coverage of D20 and Worlds Beyond Number is obsessively fawning, I also think it's extremely surface level, frequently factually wrong, and fails to get at what's truly excellent about those shows either.

I think, honestly, the biggest one is that I don't actually think a lot of Actual Play journalists watch series in full. I was looking for Polygon coverage of Fantasy High Junior Year and they have one glowing article but it's more about Fantasy High as setting and institution and D20 "changing the game" (also more on this later) to the point of outright contradicting the pull quotes they used from interviewing Brennan Lee Mulligan (also more on this later). So I started looking through their coverage and actually, quite a number of their write-ups are based on only one episode, or half a season. Clearly, they haven't read the full open beta (nor have I, but I think their complaints about the character build process belie a profound misunderstanding of what TTRPGs are, also more on this later). So editing is certainly part of it because it's really easy to see cool special effects and sound design within one episode and shit out a hacky article about it, whereas actually getting to the substance - character relationships, cohesive narrative, storytelling - requires work that I do not think they're doing. And on the one hand I do kind of get it, because yeah, if journalism is your livelihood then you perhaps do not have the time to watch 4 hours of D&D a week for 2-3 years if you're only going to get one article every six months out of it. But I don't think the answer is "focus intently on Microsoft Powerpoint-esque scene transition tricks while ignoring that nothing occurring at the table is actually fun to watch." For more on this, see this post.

The second, which is very relevant to Daggerheart but also is actually a big gap in D20 and WBN coverage in my opinion, and which I put in the tags, is that I actually don't think a lot of journalists have a solid understanding of TTRPGs nor of most genres. And I think Critical Role has a particularly good understanding of both these things, actually, if one skewed towards collaborative storytelling that is not rules-light. I think one really big example is that one person within the space is mad at the Daggerheart questions for the character archetypes because what if your character doesn't fit these. I think this is dumb as shit. I actually think that a common criticism of D&D - that you can't play ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING - is not valid, or rather, it's a valid opinion to hold but if you want to play a character who doesn't fit into the available archetypes perhaps you need to find another game. We all inherently understand that Blades in the Dark characters will be members of a criminal organization in a relatively low-magic setting, correct? That you can't show up to BitD and play a lawful good wizard prince because that's not the story being told? Or like, how in Honey Heist, you are a bear and you are trying to get honey, and you cannot play a human child investigating the old abandoned house at the edge of town, but there's a cool game called Kids on Bikes that will let you do that? Great! Why is this suddenly so hard to understand in the realm of heroic fantasy, that you will fit into specific archetypes? Why do people's brains, if they have them to begin with, vanish suddenly? I know I just did a big old rant that included this within it but genuinely I think a lot of people are deeply ignorant of heroic fantasy, or don't like it, and either is fine, but then they get mad at the heroic fantasy game for having heroic fantasy archetypes when the answer is "maybe this will never make you happy because it's not for you." (Frankly, I think this is also why they love D20, because it doesn't really do straight-up heroic fantasy, and that's fine, but they do keep acting like doing a Game of Thrones pastiche is equivalent to the invention of the wheel.) Like...I remember in the Midst Q&A that Xen said they tend to not like playing typical D&D classes, but their solution was to, you know, create Midst instead of sitting around going "actually, because D&D doesn't support cyberpunk narrative and the character archetypes within very well it is an utter failure." (I could go on forever about how actually TTRPGs are not a showcase for your already extant OCs to prance around but that's a totally separate post).

Mechanics and story are inherently intertwined, is what I'm trying to get at (sorry I'm really tired and have a lot to do but I'm passionate about this answer, it will be rambly, she says like 3 pages in) and I really don't think most actual play journalists get this. At all. And I do think that CR, and Daggerheart, and the people working for it, and especially Spenser Starke, Rowan Hall, Matt Mercer, and Travis Willingham, get this more than almost anyone else in the field. I also think Brennan Lee Mulligan and Aabria Iyengar get this, and the thing is, for all the praise showered upon them, much of which I think is deserved and most of what I think is undeserved is not because they are lacking but because the person writing about them is an idiot crediting them for things they (Brennan and Aabria) would never claim to have invented, their mechanical prowess is rarely if ever written about well. Fantasy High Junior Year's downtime mechanics actually fill in a famous gap in D&D, namely, downtime, and provide an excellent marriage of story and mechanics in my opinion, and I haven't really seen any discussion, because that would require watching the part of the TTRPG show where they play the TTRPG, and knowing the vague word on the street about D&D criticism that isn't just "*nods sagely* capitalism is the BBEG."

And finally: related a bit to the edit but Critical Role used to not be able to provide any early access to press, because it was literally a live show, and I suspect they never broke the habit, and I think that is for the best. As discussed a lot of D20 coverage actually feels like they watched the press screener and then never returned to the show. And I do not know the politics about them, but given that several of these publications (notably Polygon, but some others) have been shitting on Critical Role for several years, and just generally given the way CR's leadership vs. how D20's leadership respond to fandom pressure, I suspect Critical Role does not give these journalists a ton of early or increased, if any. Honestly, why should you, if you're getting interviewed in Variety? And I think the journalists are mad, because they think they're special and should get treated as such.

I do want to wrap something up, and I want to thank @captainofthetidesbreath for talking a little about this in game design/ttrpgs and giving me the idea, but in story, you should be challenging your audience, expanding their horizons, and being new and interesting. In the actual playing of TTRPGs, especially a new one, it is vital to be inclusive and easy to understand and patient and provide points of reference. I really feel like many Actual Play journalists and some TTRPG ones as well have this equation flipped and are looking for challenging concepts that most people will never be able to get a group to be willing to play, and bells and whistles in production, but leave story as an afterthought. Critical Role designs games to actually be played and to be used specifically to tell good stories, and puts story before production, and I think that undercuts those journalists' whole deal.

[rosemarysage]

Hello everybody! I’m trying to compile all the information we got about Onyx storm so it's easier to find. So below I have written everything Rebecca has said at recent events that I think could be relevant to OS or the next books. I left out the stuff I didn’t think was relevant like the T.V. show and personal questions about Rebecca. The links are at the bottom. The first two are from an audio recording. Many thanks to Tumblr user Skyfallscotland for posting the audio. I haven’t been able to find recordings for the Perth show and some of the other dates from these so if you have any information from them please let me know and I can update the post. I intend to add the older interviews later but I wanted to get this one up because we got lots of juicy details from the panels.

Fourth wing and iron flame spoilers

Sydney panel 6/22/24 Saturday

She has deviated from the Synopsis she made for the series

She knows what the last scene of the series will be

We will see more of the world in OS and the following books. The map is representative of what Violet knows so it will expand as Violet learns more.

Jack Barlowe is around and serves a purpose. He likely won’t be a main character. Rebecca likes bad characters to have a reason for doing bad things. Jack has always wanted power.

The interviewer asked her not to do a redemption arc for Jack and Rebecca said “Noted”

Dain represents the love you thought you wanted when you were younger

When Dain says, “If you had just told me none of this would have happened” in the interrogation chamber he’s not just talking about the interrogation but also Liam’s death and everything else.

Violet is completely disconnected from her magic in the interrogation chamber. She can’t reach out to her dragons or Xaden. Rebecca said that Violet's mind summoned Liam because he was her protector.

The interrogation scene ending with Dain and Xaden was the driving point of the writing process. There is a scene in OS that elicits similar emotions and Rebecca said we aren’t going to like it

Q&A

Jack likely won’t have a romantic relationship. He’s also probably not “the real enemies to lovers arc”

Garrick's signet is in book three

A rider doesn’t necessarily have the same traits as their dragon's color, sometimes they have the opposite and need their dragon to counter them. Brennan is a tactician and needs unpredictably and Imogen is a wild card. The dragon rider bond is kind of like a marriage.

Her editor got her to add Andarna. She is there to balance Tairns' massive power.

Someone asked if we would hear more about the first six and Andarna and she said “Maybe” is a funny voice

Violet’s dad is not Malek.

Sgaeyl is pissed at Xaden and is not speaking to him at the moment. She also mentioned the bond between them.

Someone accidentally asked if Xaden dated the prince instead of Violet. After they figured that out she said, “I think you should read the third book”

Sydney panel 6/24/24 Monday

She deviated from the plan for OS concerning a character's death.

Jack is an example of the hunger for power and what happens when you aren’t selected for the power you think you deserve

She expected us to figure out the second signet. Her editor asked her if it needed another line to make it clear and she said no they would get it.

The Taylor songs that describe OS are Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me and So It Goes.

Someone asked,” Have you considered doing a prequel on the first six or how the empyrean came about or will this be revealed in further books?” and she skipped it

Melbourne 6/25/24

The interviewer asked, “Do we already have a reference to Onyx that will reveal the title's meaning to us” Rebecca passed

The interviewer asked if we would get another POV from Xaden or anyone else and Rebecca said that she has established a record of showing a little bit of what Xaden is thinking.

She that we have already learned Violet's second signet

The interview asked if Garrick would realize Imogen is into him and Rebecca asked what makes us think he doesn’t know

When asked if we would learn more about Father Sorrengails research about feathertails she said “Maybe” again in a funny voice

Onyx Storm is very Rep coded. She listened to So it Goes a lot while writing OS.

In the interrogation scene, she is cut off from her magic so her mind “pulls” someone who protected her

The interviewer asked if Xaden and Sgaeyl were still bonded and she said, “Next time on fourth wing”

She was asked if Xaden and Violet are endgame and she passed and then said “I write romances”

Her favorite thing about Violet in OS is that she has one goal and she doesn’t care what stands in her way.

Seattle March

Sgaeyl is pissed and not speaking to Xaden

Xaden won’t get more POVs until he quits keeping secrets. His problems with Sgaeyl will be explored externally. The interviewer said that Xaden keeps secrets about things other an Aretia and Rebecca said, “Naturally”. Violet is way better at keeping secrets in OS. She’s in her reputation era.

A lot of things were set up in Fourth Wing that didn’t come into effect in Iron Flame that will in the upcoming books.

We should expect about the same amount of Xaden’s POVs in future books, namely end chapters and bonus chapters.

Rebecca said, “There is a correlation between less and less dragons bonding  and more and more dragons saying what we are doing is wrong”

We will learn Violet’s father's name and more about him.

Xaden’s mom’s story will come up in later books.

The other three quadrants can drop out or change quadrants. Only the riders don’t allow this.

Miscellaneous

Rebecca said in an Instagram comment that she wrote a line referencing Xaden and the boys moving Violet’s armoire in OS.

Links

Sydney

https://www.tumblr.com/skyfallscotland/754271162361577472/it-took-me-far-too-long-to-realise-i-could-just

Melbourne 6/25

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8FrFupBTVgY&pp=ygUOcmViZWNjYSB5YXJyb3M%3D

Seattle March

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v0yTEZBtpVQ&t=6s&pp=ygUOcmViZWNjYSB5YXJyb3M%3D

[nejjdiart]

The Empyrean 4 Theory

ONYX STORM SPOILERS AHEAD

This is just a thought that came to mind like 2 minutes ago, but i needed to share it. I know lots of people have been theorizing that Violet might be pregnant in the next book, and Rebecca has implicitly said in a few interviews that she won't be due to the war and how unsafe it is. Yet she has said that one of the first three songs in the playlist for book 4 is 'But Daddy I Love Him' by Taylor Swift. In this song we're told how Taylor forms part of some type of forbidden relationship, one that's not accepted by anyone close to her, so during it she makes them believe that she's pregnant with this man's child in an attempt for them to have no other choice but to accept her relationship. So it ocurred to me that while Violet during the next book won't be pregnant, that she might fake a pregnancy so it leaves the Navarrian goverment with no option but to accept her as Tyrrendor's ruler. Now that Xden is venin no one will accept Violet as ruling duchess because there is no heir or possibility of one, Bhodi has disappeared and is rumored to have turned too. So with the promise of an heir they won't take the title away from Xaden's family line, there IS an heir they won't have to go through the problem of assigning another noble family to take the over the province.

So I'm now pretty sure that we'll have Violet faking a pregnancyfor the next book. She has Brennan on her side (even though we're all a little sus about him) , he's consideres a healer, if he confirms it thre won't be no denying it. And she can take the excuse thet she's the gratest weapon against venin and that the war needs her on the battlefield as to why Tairn doesn't oppose to letting her fly. everyone knows that dragon has made lots of exceptions for Violet, what's one more?

This is just my theory, i could be terribly wrong. Though I'm pretty convinced. I would love to hear what everyone thoughts are of it ❤️

[cait-p]

Calling all D&D and Dimension 20 fans!

For a university project, I’m diving deep into Fantasy High and its role in tabletop RPG storytelling. I’m looking for articles, interviews, and other sources that explore:

Key themes & messages– What ideas and philosophies shape Fantasy High?

Game techniques & materials – How do dice, miniatures, and improvisation bring the world to life?

Contextual influences – How do history, culture, and society influence the setting and story?

If you know of any great interviews with Brennan Lee Mulligan(or other cast members), behind-the-scenes insights, or articles breaking down Fantasy High’s storytelling and mechanics, let me know or DM me! Any help is hugely appreciated!

[v1olent-l1ttle-th1ng]

Weekly Empyrean/Onyx Storm Theories Week 6: Zihnal’s Gifts

The first time I read Onyx Storm, I was like ok these gifts have to mean something, like RY would never do something that random. Then RY confirmed in an interview that each gift, did in fact, have a purpose.

So let’s dive into them:

-Violet’s compass. I feel like this one is pretty obvious, and I know a ton of people agree. The compass is “broken” and “doesn’t point anywhere near north” because it’s gonna come into play when she’s trying to find Xaden. There are SO MANY references about direction throughout Onyx Storm. It’s mentioned all the time that ‘so and so is heading East’, ‘we’re travelling north’ and “every bone in my body says to fly south”. I feel like these little hints all just foreshadow into how important the compass is going to be in finding Xaden in book 4. Plus, when Xaden walks out into the hall with Lewellen after arguing with Calldyr, Violet says, “his gaze jumps to mine like a compass pulled north.” That’s pretty compelling evidence if I do say so myself.

-Xaden’s empty box. I think this signifies him losing his soul. The box is empty just like his soul is. It’s also not lost on me that Violet comments, “the glass box from Zehyllna is on his nightstand, and the emerald-hilted Blade of Aretia is resting within. It’s missing a single stone near the top”. This is obviously the blade the gem came from in Violet’s wedding ring (I have whole theory about how I think Violet’s emerald wedding ring contains the last part of Xaden’s soul, but that’s a theory for another time). It’s like the box is holding that last little part of his soul that’s still him.

-Garrick’s rusty bucket. I’m not one 100% sure on this one but I think this could be more foreshadowing that Garrick is the one who turns. He’s given “a rusted steel bucket”, which could coincide with the whole ‘not feeling like he is enough’ theme that Rebecca told us to pay attention to.

-Mira’s wine. To me, this is foreshadowing for the almost death Mira suffers from Theophanie. The red wine represents Mira’s spilt blood when Theophanie slits her throat.

-Ridoc’s kisses. This might be slightly controversial, but even after RY’s admission of how much she enjoys writing Ridoc, what a fun time she had writing him in Onyx Storm and how she’s excited for his future development, I still don’t think he’s safe. I mean she killed off Liam because he was a ‘perfect character’ so just because she loves Ridoc and is excited to expand him, I still think he’s one of the ones who is going to die. This being said, I think the kisses he gets represents ‘the kiss of death’ further foreshadowing him dying. At this point, other than Violet, Xaden, or any of their dragons, I think Ridoc’s death is the one that would get me the most.

-Dain’s slap. I, again, have seen similar thoughts elsewhere, but I think Dain’s slap gave him more power. Sloane says “someone like you shouldn’t have this much power” to him when she’s siphoning his power to Brennan to mend Mira, and I think he got it from Zihnal. I also think his new power is going to be instrumental in helping Violet recover the memories that Imogen erased.

-Aaric’s fractured hand mirror. We learn at the very end of Onyx Storm that Aaric is a precog. I think the mirror definitely foreshadows this. Mirrors are used all the time to depict desires, future wishes, etc, so I think it definitely applies to that. The fact that it’s broken however, is questionable. Typically, a broken mirror is associated with bad luck. Aaric mentions that “I will fight in this war, most likely die” when they’re on Hedotis. I think by this point we’re fairly certain he’s already manifested his signet. So, I think he’s outrightly telling us he’ll die. And the broken mirror is another way to foreshadow that.

-Cat’s ruby necklace. According to one of the epigraphs in Onyx Storm, fliers are given a gem when they graduate. It states that “it should always be worn close to the heart, but if you have not mastered your control, it will only amplify your downfall.” It’s what they go get from Anca, what King Courtlyn of Deverelli requests they bring him, the Amelian Citrine gem of one of the first fliers. I’m not sure what this means exactly, but I do think it has to do with Cat and the amount of power she holds in Poromiel. There are also several other instances throughout all 3 books where certain people are mentioned to have rubies. Violet wins a dagger “with a pretty ruby in the hilt” in one of her first challenges in Fourth Wing. The Duchess of Morraine is said to wear “a giant ruby” AND Theophanie is described to have a “ruby hilted sword” as well. Again, not totally sure how they all tie together, but I do NOT think it’s coincidental.

-Maren’s 2 tunics. We know that Maren has twin brothers, so the fact that she gets 2 tunics makes me think it symbolizes her being a protector over her brothers. Perhaps Zinhal gifted her with luck, that if her brothers wear the tunics he will watch over them for her while she is away.

-Broccoli (Drake’s gift). I’m fairly certain Broccoli was thrown in there as a little bit of a relief character, but I also think he forges the bond between Mira and Drake.

-Trager’s death. While I felt bad for Cat, Trager wasn’t a super important character, or one we were all that emotionally attached to. To me, Trager had to die so that the squad would fly to the tiny island and find Andarna’s kind. It was a sacrifice for the greater good.

Anyways, those are more of my thoughts!

[velvetvexations]

i would suck bleem off and ask for seconds. That said, he has a very deeply flawed understanding of religion based on being raised by hippies. I would love to argue with him for hours about his misunderstandings of religion and his bad faith and how he treats all religion like xtianity. I think there is some unfortunate implications in implying that the religious themes in d20 sucked because of Ally and not because Brennan and Ally both have some shit views on religion born out of emotional reactions. There's some misogynistic feeling to saying it's actually Ally's fault and Brennan was just going along with it. You do have a deep hero worship of him that I think is getting in the way of critically engaging with his views on religion, and that's why that anon is baiting you about BLeeM and religion, and it's not great that your response was to throw a queer person under the bus.

I edited it so it sounds a little less accusatory. What I meant was that the understanding he built how Helio was depicted around Ally is that it makes it much more understandable, because they have a specific irl history with Christianity that informs a lot of who they are and I don't begrudge them for that. I still noted that it was totally Brennan's input to have Bucky converting presented as something to hope for instead of setting him up to eventually evolve into a "good" Christian, but we'll probably see how that goes when we get to Senior Year in awhile.

I think Brennan's biggest problem in this area is a symptom of his praxis. He's okay with presenting Christianity in an always evil context in ways he'd never touch with other religions because he's a White American, and even if one was to point out religions like Islam or even Buddhism* are basically the same it still wouldn't be within his place to criticize them the same way. Which is fair enough, but it is a bit frustrating nonetheless. He could do more to acknowledge that there are queers who don't have Ally/Kristen's trajectory and stay in the church, or at least A church, or otherwise continue having some personal relationship to the religion in which they were raised. It's well and good to say Christianity oppresses non-Christians, but what about the queers still within? It has "let the red states burn, they voted for it" energy.

It also reminds me of his four and a half hour interview I've listened to three times now where he mentions someone calling him a slur for Irish people, and despite the fact that he was so very clearly uncomfortable with it he still tripped over himself to assure everyone he wasn't saying it was like, racism or anything. Like, Brennan, please, my guy, you were seriously disturbed, this hurt you in that moment, you were the victim of bigotry, you do not need the "haha no but I know I'm White" disclaimer. Please let yourself feel bigotried against.

*read Zen at War please it's so good

[three-headed-monster]

brandt/luke: a primer

i'm gonna be super honest, there's nothing that's prompting this. it's quite literally self-indulgent for me to archive their interactions before i forget them all!

so hello ! welcome ! if you're here, i presume you're clicking because you're like 'what the fuck is this, luke hughes and who now?' and yeah that would be me too if i didn't know the background information

but it exists!!! and it has spiralled far beyond my wildest dreams and become an actual Thing that i would consider one of the ships i ride the HARDEST for!!!!!! that i have somehow convinced my closest friends to also ride for, which is the biggest accomplishment for a ship, as we all know

here's who the ship consists of:

luke hughes!

(sorry he looks cursed but this is not a post about how attractive he is)

he was the 4th overall pick in the 2021 draft or smth, no big deal, just comes from an extremely talented hockey family and plays with his brother in new jersey now. used to play at the university of michigan, which unfortunately is an important setting for many, many rarepair ships. don't know if there are really any fun facts about him but he used to model for american eagle and got made fun of for that

anyways here's the second person in the ship, brandt clarke !

(did i choose a significantly better looking photo of him for this than with luke? yes, absolutely, because it's important that you think he's attractive)

8th overall pick to the la kings, former don mills flyer with shane wright and brennan othmann, former barrie colts captain, friends with jack quinn, etc etc. you may actually know him from that time he tried to jump the glass and fight a fan in the stands, i think that video went p viral on hockey twitter. the most important thing you know though is that he has more attitude and swagger in his pinky finger than the majority of people have in their whole BODY

so let's venture back to 2022, and how this all started, with a conversation between me and @fifthovertime about the greater toronto area and its hockey connections

toronto, as many might know, is considered a hockey hotbed, due to its abundance of minor hockey teams. it's where a lot of nhl players come from, and where a lot of players call home and return to in the summers.

luke, prior to moving to michigan with his parents and brothers so quinn could play with the ntdp, used to live in toronto while his dad worked for the leafs. at this time, there were a lot of other young budding stars in the area, brandt clarke included. he'd moved down from ottawa to play on a minor midget team in toronto, the don mills flyers, which was rival minor hockey team to luke's. however, since the toronto hockey scene was so tight (and because brandt's older brother was playing with luke's on the same team), they would periodically see each other and play pond hockey together. as kids do.

don't believe me? hear it from brandt himself. timestamp from about 2:55 of the video to about 3:55.

this is what i like to call interaction #1. of course, it's really just brandt retelling a story, but it's the first time i heard about any sort of friendship between the hughes brothers and the clarkes. very wholesome, you can tell brandt really has a hero complex for luke and jack, it's frankly adorable.

and if you go back, you can even see that brandt was a really supportive friend! he commented on luke’s commitment post to umich and luke liked the comment, at the time

but they’re not friends. no, i’d call them far from that. because slowly....you can start to see that hatred is building........because brandt starts to know he's good enough to go fourth overall. and he would love to go to a team with his brother on it.....but there's another brother standing in the way of that.

he doesn't speak about luke in particular in this interview, but he definitely talks about njd as if he doesn't think it's a realistic option for him

at this point then, the narrative is pretty clear. it was once a friendship, that slipped away from both of them because of distance, and although brandt once had reverence for it, he’s soured on the idea. he wishes he could be good enough to play with his brother too. he hates that luke hughes is good enough at hockey to do it. luke to him is less so an extension of his brothers, but an obstacle for brandt to overcome, an obstacle that stands in the way of everything he wants.

but so far it’s been pretty one sided…right? it’s all kind of just been brandt’s feelings toward luke, right?

behold, the glorious moment that lives entirely rent free in my mind, every. single. day.

i soooo wish i had the video for this (screw tsn for wiping their archives so often) BUT TRUST WHEN I WATCHED IT FOR THE FIRST TIME I AUDIBLY GASPED.

he said it with so much fucking snark, and an EYE ROLL. the inflappable luke hughes, who has seemingly never let an opponent get in the way of him and his friends having fun and kicking ass at the same time, is bothered by a dig from brandt clarke. that didn't even mention him directly! that was more about techniques of the game than it was about the usa players! "he can say what he wants", but he didn't even say anything about YOU

genuinely, i will thank mark masters for bringing this up with luke forever, he's so valid for that, he knew we needed this narrative.

what's even better is that THE NEXT DAY during the semi-final? guess who scores the game-winning goal. and guess who just happens to be flopping like a fish on the ice during it, trying to prevent it from going in.

and thus brandt/luke is born! as taylor describes it as, it is bitch ass cunt (luke) for cunt ass bitch (brandt). they are each other's equals and opposites. they're both cocky and sure of themselves and can give it as good as it gets, and what they like about each other is what happens when that is stripped away. they are undoubtedly MY favourite luke hughes narrative, and the only one i feel truly captures his narrative essence, away from his brothers. sure, others are cute and i can see where people are coming from, but nothing gets luke as much as this gets luke.

this is luke, unfiltered, and it's only brandt that can bring it out of him.

[parsnip-problems]

I just know that if ever got to meet or interview Brennan Lee Mulligan sadly I would throw in so many references and hints to Strong Female Protagonist but never outright say “when are you gonna finish it” cause I would stay on point but he would know he would know FOR EXAMPLE:

��Brennan I gotta say what I love about your stories they have a lot strong characters with a lot of good stories that always have perfect endings and like a lot of strong women characters too who end up being main characters. I really gotta commend you on all these strong female protagonist that have really good endings”

I KNOW ITS STUPID BUT LET ME HAVE THIS

[fillingthescrapbook]

Let's Talk About: Fantasy High Junior Year and Stress Tested

Brennan Lee Mulligan is an evil son of a genius.

I have been waiting for this episode forever--like, a whole week--and it did not disappoint. Starting with a return to assembly. Confirming the conspiracy that the Rat Grinders were setting them up.

Side note: I really do think the Rat Grinders are working for something or someone who is (or who are) also meddling with Interim Emergency Back-Up Principal Grix.

The mandatory drug testing at school that IMMEDIATELY netted the kid who called out Aguefort Academy becoming a police state in freshman year was a deliberate choice that I feel like Brennan, knowing how easily distracted his Intrepid Heroes can be, planted for the viewers to pick up on. And unleashing this after a "speech" from Agent Clark that ended with an extra distracting "until doppelgangers burn your nest!"? Yeah, I smell Brennanigans.

Quick break: I just want to say that Murph plays Riz's paranoia so well. Ally's quick moves to shenanigans is on another level. And Zac immediately taking a stress token for Gorgug feels extremely correct. That said, I feel like there should be a mechanic where Gorgug gets stressed so much that he channels the tokens into a rage that impresses Porter.

Also: the rolling graphics on the left side of the screen, for the tracks that our intrepid heroes are rolling for, look so cool. The stress levels on the right look great too, but they are stressing me out.

Now; I am really liking Yolanda Badgood, the cleric professor. I am not liking, however, the fact that Brennan is making her so likeable. And so friendly. And so helpful. Because I am now fearing for her life.

Emily's bits about Fig not knowing where to go rings differently for me, having seen the pre-season interview where she admitted that she wanted to play a new character. That she wanted to keep the happy ending Fig already got in Sophomore Year. I have to confess: I also actually really like this new aimless track for Fig, and it's showing in Emily's gameplay how she is also realizing new things about her character as Brennan showers her with more choices to make.

The one bad thing about the downtime episode, in my opinion, is that the time we spend with each character feels so little. Especially with how much time is passing in game time. I wanted to see more of Adaine's relationship with her sister, and maybe see a friendship blossom with Oishyn. But Siobhan is, rightfully, concerned about Adaine's finances so she has to prioritize her job and her academics. I needed Gorgug and Riz to get more updates about Frosty Fair before it happened--but, obviously, the had personal stuff they needed to deal with first…and Frosty Fair is already happening next episode--

Honestly: Brennan did a wonderful job with the down times for everyone. And every member of the Intrepid Heroes utilized their down time well.

I just wanted more because I'm very greedy and I love these characters to bits.

Speaking of bits:

With two Nat20s in a row, I would say that Gorgug really is the greatest wizard of our time.

"Get your best pair of Badidas and we'll see what that body does" is an s-tier Brennan-liner.

Riz using the celestial spy stuff he got from his dad is AMAZING.

And Brennan is enjoying handing out the stress tokens too much. Zacky even points it out.

Can't wait for next week!

[blazingstar24]

Vespin’s fuck up in the ascension ritual makes so much sense after learning more about how malconvokers work. Because a lot of that subclass is about tricking devils and demons to doing your bidding and a lot of that comes with hiding who you are. Because if word gets out that wizard mcwizard is the famed devil tricker, mr mcwizard’s business is cooked. A lot of what Vespin would have been doing at the height of the Age of Arcanum wouldn’t be known. Especially the way malconvokers are perceived.

Like look at Laerryn or Patia for comparison. Both are on equal levels of wealth and status as Vespin when it comes to the mageocracy. Except kind of not. Laerryn’s work as the Architect Arcane is known. She’s a celebrated wizard in her time. People know that she’s the one keeping that city flying. Patia is the Keeper of Scrolls, she’s the one with all the knowledge of Avalir. Their achievements are known in their time. But Vespin? All we know about him even before his big fuckup is that he was some archmage.

But it’s the Age of Arcanum bitches. Everyone and their mother is some crazy fucking mage. You gotta do something big to be known. And it’s not like Vespin wasn’t high up in the mageocracy. In fact he knew more about Avalir than the people running that city. But that’s the thing isn’t it. A lot of Vespin’s work deals in secrets and devil deals that would not be making it on the front page of wizard news. He has to work in the shadows per his subclass.

And it’s almost ironic because Vespin’s not evil aligned. He can’t be per his subclass rules. But hubris isn’t a trait of evil. It’s something everyone can have. Malconvokers are meant to be trying to bring more good by tricking the bad. The idea is get rid of evil in a more tricksy way than a paladin just smiting a devil. So him being so adamant in taking down a Betrayer is just him being a malconvoker on a higher level. But this is more than tricking some greater demon. This is taking down a god. A Betrayer no less.

The way Brennan plays Asmodeus is that in his own word’s “he’s not out here flim flamming you”. Asmodeus’ greatest strength is in his manipulation. And honestly I think Vespin could have killed him. If not for the hubris. And Asmodeus sees through him. What did he promise him? In this confrontation, any lesser god or lesser manipulator would have said the usual shit of “wait I’ll give you power or immortality or some other bs”. But Asmodeus isn’t a fool. He sees Vespin coming for the kill shot and says okay, let’s make a deal. Because he knows that despite this being the stake that malconvoker’s theses rely on, what Vespin really wants is to be known. For his work of banishing evil to come out from the shadow and side eyeing. And he traps him.

Because for all intents and purposes, Vespin had the kill shot. But he faltered when Asmodeus hit him with the okay kill me, but no one’s going to know you or why you did it. Because by the rules of the RQ’s ritual, your mortal life is struck from history. And it is simple hubris. Like it’s not that hard to understand. But it’s also this idea of oh you spent your whole life working to get rid of evil, to balance the scales, and it’s not as glamorous as being the Architect Arcane or the Keeper of Scrolls. And people think you’re a heretic and he’s living in Vasselheim so yeah his ass had to be doing his wizard business in secret. And yes Vespin was high enough in status to possibly get past the scrutiny but he’s probably not summoning fiends in the middle of Vasselheim on the regular.

Yet, there’s the growing mageocracy. Everyone is trying to one up each other. Everyone is showing off. And it eats at you that you’re a talented mage but your work won’t be spotlight like that. Sure you get interviewed and sure you’re in all the circles. But there’s this idea of being above all of that. (And he’s really not) So when there’s this chance of finally getting your work known and doing the ultimate mic drop of a malconvoker’s career, yeah Vespin is going to fall for the hubris that he thought he was above.

And this isn’t saying he was like a good guy and then oopsie doopsies he fucked up once. But there’s something so interesting about the basis of his hubris and reasons behind the choice he makes that dooms him and Exandria.

[jennegatron]

this is a tiny essay in response to something I saw on twitter but have seen many times many places and I just need a place to dump it to help me process my feelings.

There are a handful of arguments I see a lot about d20 from people who are not process freaks about how the show would be better if it was made differently. My argument is never that they're wrong, it's that the show is made the way it's made because of a bunch of complicated processes that go into making a show like D20.

The one I see the most is that the shooting schedule for the intrepid heroes is too compressed. That with more time to process and breathe between episodes, the characters and relationships would be deeper and they point to sophomore year as an example of this.

Let's talk history:

Why was sophomore year aired live? Twitch helped pay for it to air live (including twitch subs as another revenue stream) as dropout was actively running out of money to operate the way college humor had. During sophomore year is when everyone at CH got laid off! This was an exploration of an alternate revenue stream that they did not pursue further. I don't think they've really commented publicly on why they didn't do it again but I have my suspicions (tech difficulties, problematic scheduling (Emily and Murph missed episodes to tour for naddpod), performers needing to self censor for swears, the battle sets & editing being an important differentiator for d20 as a product being gone).

Alright so what if they just filmed once a week? Well every person at that table works on other projects, including people who are in writers rooms that have to be booked around and are busy recording their own shows. Every single d20 interview you will ever encounter shares that scheduling is the hardest part of making the show. It's part of why there's only one IH season per year. Now let's say everyone can commit to Saturdays to film. Are you going to ask those 7 people to give up every Saturday for 20 weeks to film? No traveling, no weddings, every Saturday for 20 consequetive weeks. Every Saturday for 4-5 months is going to be spent filming d20 episodes. Unacceptable for most people. Simply not feasible. Even every Saturday for 10 weeks assuming two shoots a day is a lot!

I also see a lot of laments of the death of the zoom adventuring parties and I understand but I also think covid gave people an unrealistic expectation for what is feasible under normal circumstances. You can see in the zoom APs that after a while people just stop showing up to them. Murph and Emily just skip like 4 of the ACOC APs and like half of the Unsleeping City season 2 APs. They were busy with other shit! Naddpod takes a lot of time and effort! TV production was shut down so Siobhan and Lou and Zac didn't have anything else to do and could show up, but now? They barely have time to shoot a single IH season!

Also! Rick Perry doesn't live in LA. He travels down when they're doing production but the rest of the time he lives with his family in the pacific northwest! You want all of the production people to give up every Saturday for shooting? Like it's not just those 7 people who are working that schedule. They have all the production support people who also have to work that schedule. Shooting 20 episodes over 5 weekends starts to sound more reasonable! Plus you can fit more seasons in a year so that there aren't month long gaps where people cancel their subscriptions because there's no new d20 coming out!

I get the arguments, I really do. But dimension 20's design & cast are fundamentally incompatible with that slower burn in making the show. That's what podcasts are for. Murph and Emily and Lou and Brennan get to do that on naddpod and wbn and d20 just isn't the place it can happen.

None of this is important or will change anyone's mind but I think the process part of the show is a fascinating part of the show and the restrictions and solutions that come from it shape what the show is. I think people fall in love with the version of a thing that only lives in their head and get disappointed when that thing doesn't exist because it can't exist for very real reasons.

[crepuscular-girlthing]

Rewatching sophomore year, there's a moment in Spring Break! I Believe in You! Part 1 where Kristen revivifies herself using her own pinky bone, and Brennan says the tip of her pinky finger glows with starlight forever after. That's never acknowledged again.

I might be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure Kristen still has the staff of doubt in Junior Year. She didn't use it once in the Night Yorb fight. And Siobhan didn't once use the bonus action divination spell + dodge action from the Sword of Sight in that fight either.

Fig's birthday being christmas is based on a bit where Emily misremembered that the infaithable bass was a christmas present, said that in character to Gorthilax, then ran with it.

Brennan said it in the BTS interview: it's hard to remember all the pre-established canon. "I can't just make something up, I actually answered that 4 years ago. What did I say?"

The Quangle is almost certainly a plot-point. But it's also a de-facto explanation for all the biggest fuckups Brennan and the crew might make forgetting years of established continuity. It can be both.

AND it won't be able to explain player or GM mistakes like forgetting items, spells, abilities, relationships, lore, characters, etc. They're all friends playing a game, with various levels of obsessiveness about the details of it. Some (Ally) are pretty much just there for the vibes. I think the crew would much prefer an audience who can go with the vibes and let the show do what it's gonna do. This isn't an epic fantasy series written by one person over years where they rewrite and edit each book before publishing, making sure to reference their notes so everything is properly foreshadowed and paid off and stays consistent.

For nerds like me who WANT it to be consistent, who relish all those little details and get upset when the crew forget about them, we can write fanfic to indulge in those things. But the crew wanna keep the ball rolling uphill. They're improvisers, and they're going with the flow. Continuity is most important in improv when it hightens the bit, and when it doesn't, it usually gets dropped.

[honourablejester]

Watching that Brennan Lee Mulligan interview for WIRED, and he was asked what was his favourite 5e spell.

Not sure I agree that all the best spells are 3rd level, by the way. A lot of my favourite utility spells come at 2nd level (Misty Step, Invisibility, Knock, Spider Climb, Pass Without Trace, Vortex Warp, Lesser Restoration, and then fun damage spells like Spike Growth and Phantasmal Force). When I’m picking spells, 2nd level is where I most often feel like I don’t have enough room for all my choices.

Anyway. I’m thinking what my favourite 5e spells are. Because it’s more than one.

Kneejerk first choice: Crown of Stars. Prettiest spell in the game.

Kneejerk second choice: Sickening Radiance. I like radiant damage? And it’s just nicely evil. You irradiate an area. That’s what this spell does. I love it.

I will also give points to Phantasmal Force, because again, it’s just evil. Especially when you have subtle spell, and you make some poor bastard freak the fuck out in public for reasons no one else can see.

In terms of spells I’ve actually used in play, though. I’ve only played at low levels, third level spells was as high as I’ve ever gotten. But spells that I had the most fun moments with …

Thunderwave. If you’re low level and you’ve gotten yourself pinned, Thunderwave is very satisfying. I bounced an enemy paladin off the back wall of a ship once. He’d been very smug and it was very satisfying. I also threw a guy off a stalactite once too, not entirely on purpose, which was hilarious. Also great for chokepoints! Tempest cleric, medium armour, shield, Shield of Faith, stand fast long enough to lure everybody in, then drop a max-damage Thunderwave and leg it. Works a treat!

(Those were two different characters, by the way. Cornered in the ships hold by a paladin was my clockwork soul sorcerer, stalactite and chokepoints were my tempest cleric).

Sleep. Again, if you’re low level and you’re being swarmed, Sleep is a girl’s best friend. If you are, for a random example, being zerg rushed by a bunch of spiders, you have exactly one spell slot to your name, about twelve hit points, and one guy down that you’re trying to protect, knocking out a full two thirds of them with that last spell slot is an excellent feeling.

On the subject of spiders, in terms of exploration, Spider Climb feels like it was the single most useful spell I ever took. Yes, Misty Step is great for single gaps, but a single spell slot that gives you an hour of just being able to walk up walls and upside-down across ceilings is so handy. It’s also really funny if a battle happens and you’re hanging upside-down on the ceiling sniping people with ranged cantrips. (Less funny if you lose concentration while doing so, mind you. Well. At the time. It’s hilarious later).

Cherry tapping an undead enemy with Toll the Dead also feels pretty great. ‘The bell tolls, bitch! Get back in that grave!’

On reflection, I think I just enjoy AOE spells and spells that let me get into really fun and interesting positions to launch them from? Heh.