#the unsleeping city episode 9

[18catsreading]

Pete: if you're gonna fuck with me publicly, at least make it original

Kingston: Picasso is art, this is bullshit!

Ricky: this building is not up to code!!

Brennan: Kingston's approval in this moment fully heals your broken heart.

[heytherecentaurs]

Rewatching The Unsleeping City: Chapter 2 and in episode 9: "Fight at the Museum", Brennan goads Emily into using her reaction and then has the villains attack her. And she's so genuinely excited about him tricking her into using her reaction, she says, "Oh! You had me use my reaction so I can't use shield! That's really good stuff, and you deserve to hit me."

I love her enthusiasm. D&D is a game. And when you're such an amazing player, you gotta respect when another great gets you. Like, "YES! That was such a smart move!" One master acknowledging another.

[thisisnotthenerd]

ok it's time for some level updates from the latest episode:

fig faeth:

initial level: lore bard 8, hexblade warlock 2

current level: lore bard 9, hexblade warlock 2

gorgug thistlespring:

initial level: berserker barbarian 7, alchemist artificer 3

current level: berserker barbarian 6, alchemist artificer 5

adaine abernant:

initial level: divination wizard 10

current level: divination wizard 11

fabian seacaster:

initial level: battlemaster fighter 6, swords bard 4

current level: battlemaster fighter 6, swords bard 5

kristen applebees:

initial level: twilight cleric 11

current level: twilight cleric 11

riz gukgak:

initial level: arcane trickster rogue 11

current level: arcane trickster rogue 11

not too many big changes, except for gorgug, who's shifted focus to artificer classes, with an alchemy subclass. on the barbarian side, he loses feral instinct, which grants advantage on initiative, but doesn't lose his rages or any of his current subclass features. on the artificer side he gets 2nd level spells, alchemist's supplies proficiency, and buffs in the form of experimental elixirs.

most of these choices are indicative of what the party has been doing in their classes and the fact that they just had a big battle at the mall. we've seen some discussion of fig not wanting to be a bard, of kristen having to do the leg work of being a cleric, so there may be other major changes.

by my calculations, they got enough XP in the mall fight to be just at the cusp of leveling up. literally 5 XP away for each of them, so i'd say they probably get enough from regular class activities to push them over the edge.

other mechanics-wise; this season doesn't seem like it's going to be quite like freshman year in terms of how the bad kids leveled up; they have more to do in school, as well as specific social responsibilities that prevent them from just going around town and popping off. battles are likely to be much more complicated, instead of pure hit point sinks. not that they were in the first place, but they're dealing with a lot more. they also have a lot more downtime, much like in the unsleeping city chapter ii, but they are making a bunch more rolls for what they're doing with that downtime in order to simulate the stress of the scenario.

so, i think it's going to be a major progression season, but they're only going from level 10 to ~level 13-14. they may do something like tucii and go from 10-12. we've already seen the night yorb battle and synod battle; we have yet to see the thistlespring tree (folk festival), the ship (probably fabian's house, as referenced by the cloud engine thing), or the graveyard (cravencroft, just outside of mordred manor).

i have a feeling that the stress tokens are going to be like an elevated version of what brennan did with the red tokens from neverafter; the more stress they take on from letting things slip, the harder it is for them to be emotionally stable and contain the rage of existence in junior year. maybe something that can be used to inflict disadvantage on wisdom checks for the rage stars?

anyway, that's all for this update!

[remidyal]

Favorite D20 Villains

Just for some positivity on this, and because it's been a minute since I did a tier or ranking list, have my ten favorite Dimension 20 villains! I'm not going to include anyone from Junior Year since it's still running, and I'm going to go ahead and mention that I'm not including Ragh or Aelwyn who could both easily make this list otherwise because they've spent as much or more time on the Intrepid Hero's side as they did villains.

Obviously, there are potential spoilers in this list, so proceed at your own risk! I'm putting a read more link here just to save people who haven't seen a lot of seasons.

10. Galfast Hamhead, Escape from the Bloodkeep.

Okay I know this one is cheating because the party are the villains and Galfast is, like, the one actually good figure on the opposing side, but I'm still counting her. Just an absolute tour de force in the parts of the series she appears in, and gets away even though she technically loses to the party.

9. Natalia Cicero Connie Lee Carter Bajar, A Starstruck Odessey

She's not the most threatening villain in ASO, but there are really three fronts where villains can work for me: They can be hammy and fun, they can be actually threatening and scary, and they can be someone I desperately would love to see get taken down. Natalia scores all her points in the first and last of these categories; she's not scary, but her entire concept is just so stupid that it makes me laugh every time.

Bonus points for being the target of what I think is the best joke in ASO - high praise - the "My fiancee doesn't really do art" - "I agree" by Ally.

8. Robert Moses, The Unsleeping City.

I believe the only actual person to ever be a main villain in Dimension 20. Genuinely a monster of American history; I was familiar with him prior to watching The Unsleeping City but I would wager that I was in a fairly slim minority. There's some problems with the presentation here and the details of it - I am guessing they would have just made him a powerful vampire if this season was more recent, for one - but I can't say I wouldn't want Robert Moses' plan thwarted. Probably the closest we'll ever come to actually having a campaign fight Ronald Reagan directly.

7. The Stepmother, Never After

Never After for me has a structural problem in that there are too many ideas stuffed into too short a season, and so quite a lot of it feels extremely half-baked. The Stepmother isn't immune to this, but she's also an actual imposing figure for much of the series that feels like a true threat to the party even after they prove that a TPK isn't enough to stop them. The scene where Ylfa looks before they head to the Lines Between is maybe the best Never After has to offer, for me.

6. Madame Loathing, Mentopolis

Honestly, this feels like a more full version of the Stepmother in many ways even though there are only six episode. This is probably because she's not competing with like five other factions in her villainy. The moment where she turns is great, and there's something very satisfying about landing a twist where the villain was someone so obvious that they were dismissed by many as too obviously evil to actually be the main evil.

5. The First Stoats, Burrow's End

Here I'm referring to the four that remained at Last Bast; I think the series in some ways peaked with fighting them, though certainly there were some highlights still to come. I don't think Aabria necessarily meant for this fight to go down at the time and place that it did, but genuinely creepy designs with a creamy layer of fascism on top.

4. Tony Simos, Unsleeping City 2

Remember those three categories? Tony here scores real, real big in the "I wanna see him die" category. He's not the worst person on this list (that's honestly probably Robert Moses), but he's the one I most wanted to see get crushed, and ultimately was in an extremely satisfying way. TUC2's villain duo was overall incredible - we'll revisit that in a moment - but I cheered more when Tony dropped than any other villain D20's ever had.

It is what it could be, asshole.

3. Calroy Cruller, A Crown of Candy

Do you know what I've always hated about you, Amethar?

There's a lot of people who would have this guy at the top of their lists, and I really don't blame them; the main thing holding him back for me is that he really doesn't do very much after that crowning monologue until he goes out like a chump at the end of the steamroll that is ACoC's last battle. (Those of you calling JY's last fight easy should rewatch that one). It is, admittedly, the most satisfying of any of the villain deaths of that finale, especially with Liam's baffling last second resurrection of broccoli pope and captain carrot. Scores very well on all three fronts, and honestly if Amethar had actually died there or if he'd just been front and center at the end then he'd maybe be number two for me.

2. Null, Unsleeping City 2

A dip into real eldritch horror, and does it better than Never After in part because it stands out more against the backdrop of New York. Null scores great on the threatening front; a monstrosity of apathy and depression and lack of connection is a hell of a villain. The world where Pete doesn't roll that crazy banishment check and vanishes partway through the season would have maybe robbed us of some of the insight into this, so I'm glad we got the one that we did.

Kalina, Fantasy High Sophomore Year

This was never going to be anyone else. Kalina's getting points on all three fronts, but conceptually is just an incredible concept for a villain, feels like a real threat throughout the season until the moment they dispel her, and you can feel the amount the players both want to take her down and are in fact worried about her throughout the season. Because of her nature she's able to show up repeatedly without a fight without that not really making sense, which is kind of hard to pull off - most of the villains on this list aren't met much after their villainy is revealed. We'll see if she's back at the end of Junior Year and what kind of state Cass ends up in, but either way we'll always have spring break.

[d20-eotd]

🎉 Happy 6th Birthday Dimension 20! 🎉

It's been six years since the first episode of Fantasy High was released on Dropout. Over half a decade, and what a time it's been.

Some fun facts for you to peruse:

We're up to 23 seasons and 254 episodes, as of 9/26/2024. By December, we'll have hit 264.

8 of those seasons, and 157 episodes (including oneshots) have been with the main cast.

We've had 49 different cast members on to play, and 5 different game masters. Not all have been in the Dimensional Dome, but it's still fun to see!

We now have 4 worlds with multiple sequel/spinoff seasons: Spyre, The Unsleeping City, Calorum, and Gowpenny.

We’re up to 18 seasons of Adventuring Party, beginning A Crown of Candy and continuing to the current season

Comment your favorite Dimension 20 moment below!

[pinkestpurple]

Thats it! You people have stood in my way long enough, I'm going to clown college!!

(I have started 911)

I couldn't wait to see if Eddie was gay, i have started the show in friday, i think and I already finish season 1 so this were my thoughts while watching.

1x01

I didn't know this Abby was the protagonist, i though it was Hen.

Wait tommy? Buck boyfriend tommy??

Ah, Buck es trolo Y trola (i can't translate this comment, learn spanish)

Pls tell me there's not a baby in the wall

THERES A BABY IN THE SEWER, what you i get myself into??

These people are way too dramatic to be first responders

The cop is homophobic? When was this show created?

Buck doesn't know Connan the Barbarian?? We get it you are the young one! (I said as if I'm not younger than buck)

"...self-diagnosed" jdjdjsj okay thats hilarious

2x01

Buck saying that he join the fire department for the "hero shit" remind me of Mr. March, I miss Ricky and the unsleeping city

Abby reminds me of a real person that i know, i have so much empathy for her, my grandma had Alzehimers tho and is so hard to take care a person like that

The dogs are being super friendly!! They are such good actors!!

Buck is super Dean coded, i see it now

Buck don't fuck the therapist, please

Buck I'm watching this with my dad PLEASE

Buck don't fuck with the dead man sister

This is so instance for the finale of episode two

3x01

They let me with the cliffhanger of the cop kid and know wheres a bouncing house hanging from a cliff

Ep 3 and there's someone in a coma already?? How they are going to fill 8 seasons

4x01

They eat at somepoint?? They always get emergencies when they are about to eat

What a good episode

The concept of buck and abby is so good! They are clearly not meant to last but i love the concept of a an 911 operator and the first firefighter that saw her as a hero

7x01

"Can you shut up about the moon?" Jsjsjs thats funny

Thats a lie, you weren't in south america buck, bc if you were you could just say the name of the country

Okay, so i like the concept of abby and buck, in practice... not that much

8 or 9 idk x01

Athena going out just one night after she divorce her husband and already has a guy buying drinks?? Thats game

10x01

Okay we are back to the bizarre, are we seeing the pov of his soul??

Okay, no, i was wrong, is not as bizarre, but 3 times man? That a lot.

Okay so, i really like the show, can't wait to meet Eddie. Kind of sad to see Abby leave, i liked her character.

I didn't like somethings, but the principal one is Carla, i am not an expert in racist stereotypes but why is a mammy character in a 2018 show!?

Is a shame bc i really like the actress, i wish she could stay but she didn't do anything outside of abby

We will be watching season 2

[verosvault]

My Dimension20 Checklist

1. Fantasy High S1 (including live shows) ✓

2. Escape from the Bloodkeep ✓

3. The Unsleeping City S1 ✓

4. Fantasy High S2 (including live shows) ✓

5. Tiny Heist ✓

6. A Crown of Candy ✓

7. Pirates of Leviathan ✓

8. The Unsleeping City S2 ✓

9. Mice & Murder ✓

10. Misfits and Magic (I'm gonna watch the holiday special and live show after I watch "The Seven" 😆)

11. The Seven (currently watching)

12. Shriek Week

13. A Starstruck Odyssey

14. Coffin Run

15. A Court of Fey & Flowers

16. Neverafter ✓

17. The Ravening War ✓

18. Dungeons & Drag Queens (I've only watched episode 1 so far)

19. Mentopolis ✓

20. Burrow's End ✓

[thepringlesofblood]

Dimension 20 Campaigns Rated By The Amount Of Mice/Rats

(chronological order)

disclaimer: I have not seen Shriek Week, Dungeons and Drag Queens, or The Unsleeping City s2.

for all of these except the last, I command + F’d through their transcripts on the wiki for the terms “rat” “rats” “mice” “mouse” and “rodent” to find the relevant data.

the reason I didn’t do TUC s2 is a. from watching the first season I can intuit a similar level of mouse/rat content in this setting, if slightly lessened rat action due to the lack of a rat PC, and b. laziness. consider all of TUC under the same umbrella

i don’t know what’s wrong with me either.

Fantasy High - 7.5/10. the introduction of Sexy Rat into the d20 canon is iconic. we also have the rat that the sexy rat was created for - Edgar, Zayn Darkshadow’s cute lil plot-relevant pet rat. Not much mice/rat content outside of this, but a beautiful beginning.

Escape from Bloodkeep [update: I watched this while waiting for the fhjy finale, it’s fucking spectacular] - 1/10. aside from Erika Ishii occasionally saying “aw, rats,” there’s only one minor instance of rat action, this quote from Master Ipskix in ep 1 - “We're training little ants and beetles to carry little swords and sharp things, and crawl in, and you know when you get a rat to eat through someone's stomach and come to the other side, we're trying to cover the rats in spikes.” There is a nice moment of Sokhbarr and Leiland collaborating on rat enrichment, but overall the main “creepy” animals this season were spiders (fair) and J’er’em’ih

The Unsleeping City - 10000/10. rats every episode. rat PC. rat NPCs. MULTIPLE combat eps with not only rat swarms but a rat KING. impeccable. kugrash my belovéd. true rat positivity. rights for rats. the height of rat content in dimension 20.

Tiny Heist - 6/10. Solid rodent presence in the form of Tony Manchego, a mouse supporting NPC who is basically Boomer’s main coworker. Several other mice/rats also appear as Felix Flick henchmen (henchpeople?). Not a main focus, but decent background presence. I don’t recall any good/cool rats/mice though, they’re all goons of some kind.

A Crown of Candy - 0.5/10. in ep3 Brennan uses the phrase “Everyone thinks we're rats.” to explain political negotiations w the dairy isles. you know it’s rough when the only mention of rats is its use as a pejorative. the 0.5 is for the incredibly gratuitous cheese content. No actual mice, but that counts for something in my book. also Lapin is a bunny, which is another kind of rodent. This is the only possible framework in which ACOC could be described as “disappointing"

Dimension 20 Live aka Fantasy High: Sophomore Year - 6/10. The thrilling return of Sexy Rat. Sadly this is the only significant mouse/rat content this season, but what a banger!

Pirates of Leviathan - 9/10. Another excellent rat-person PC. Jack Brakkow is revolutionary. we love a grimy king. not much else in terms of mouse/rat content though, and Jack’s rattiness isn’t discussed as much as kugrash’s is. there is a character deadass named “Cheese” though.

Mice and Murder - 9.5/10 it’s in the title. No PCs though, surprisingly, which is the main reason this isn’t 10/10. they went more for diversity in animals with this one and tbh it works really well, but also means that despite the title, it’s really Fox and Racoon and Javelina and Weasel and Owl and Doberman Pinscher and Murder. The mice/rats they do have are dope though. Both of the McCabbages are vibrant and interesting, and of course Rosalind Crumb showing her ass is iconic. Thomas Gilfoyle is classic suspicious butler, Carolyn Dickory and Edwina Thimble wind up being extremely important, Molly Milton and Millie Molton are peak Brennan weird naming convention as well as a lesbian power couple, and there’s a variety of other Loam Hall staff that are mice (and they all have wild names like Tessa Teapot and Alfred Honeyhatch). I know that moles aren’t mice/rats, but shoutout to Mrs. Molesly, a real one start to finish.

Misfits and Magic - 7/10. this probably shouldn’t be as high as it is, but I am incapable of not ranking mismag as high as possible, it is what got me into dimension 20 and I LOVE it. K’s amazing cinderella scene at the end is one of the highlights of the series, and they also use mice/rats as surveillance sometimes. Theodore is a chipmunk, not a mouse/rat, but still points for other prominent rodentia. the K fucked-up-disney-princess stuff only has mice/rats a few times, but it’s just so iconic.

The Seven - 0/10. Absolutely zero mouse/rat content. Rip. They went hard on horse girl content (respect), so it makes sense that there was less room for mice/rats. again, the only measurement by which this series could be considered a disappointment, I fuckin love the seven.

Shriek Week - 0.5/10. A “rat man” is mentioned briefly as a one-off gag.  Exhilarating. occasionally, the clicking of a computer mouse is inserted as a sound effect.

A Starstruck Odyssey - 2/10. in Ep. 12, there is discussion of “skiff rats” and rat poison that makes your head explode. This is a very important memory from Skipper’s past, but the emphasis is on the rat poison, and on the consequences of the mass poisoning, not really on the rats themselves. in Ep. 11, when describing a room Brennan says “The walls piled high…with bright blue animatronic mouse heads with the eyes torn out” however this is the only mention of them in the episode. There is one mention to the concept of a computer mouse (Ep. 10), and on several occasions, the sound of a computer mouse clicking can be heard as a sound effect.

Coffin Run - 5/10. in the finale, rat swarms try to eat Dracula. A thrilling moment. other than that, in Ep. 1 we have the quote, “This letter then goes across the ocean in a rat-infested ship”, and in Ep. 5 wetzel accidentally eats some rat poison. highlighted quote: “If we connect all the rats together, can we get a rat king?”

A Court of Fey and Flowers - 0.25/10. in Ep. 4 Mickey Mouse is mentioned, in the context of Hob’s state of dress - “You're either a Donald Duck or a Mickey Mouse” - Oscar Montoya. It’s 0.25 because fuck disney. bit of a missed opportunity, mice can typically fall into the “cute woodland creatures that live in/around fairies” category, and there were so many mentions of trash this season, I was really hoping we’d get some rat action. lacking that, I was hoping a salt goblin would be described as being the size of a mouse, but no such luck. rip. Again, the only disappointing aspect of this campaign, ruehob aka battlemaster of ceremonies is one of the only happy positive romances I’ve seen with a nonbinary person and as an enby myself, the idea that a brennan lee mulligan character could find someone like me attractive is. very validating.

Neverafter - ?/10. it’s not done yet (post written 12/28/22), but things are looking promising so far! we’ve had several mouse swarms, and a whole miniature town of mouse NPCs, plus many descriptions of pib eating mice. if a similar level of mouse/rat content continues, I project a 7.5/10 at the very least

UPDATE: final rating for Neverafter - 8/10. nothing ever managed to match the chaotic rodent energy of earlier episodes, but still a very solid showing. Rosamund’s swarm is a fairly consistent source of rats/mice, though she more often calls upon her “little birds,” and Pib continues to eat mice on occasion. We did have several later season mouse appearances; Aesop has the famous lion and the mouse, and the Land of Beasts is mentioned as being full of mice (among other animals). The Mouse King (from the Nutcracker) appears on the list of the Council of Kings (after being described briefly in Herr Drosselmeyer’s memories in one of the very first episodes). The song “Three Blind Mice” is mentioned several times, with Ylfa saying it is her “favorite story”. Tom Thumb mentions that he “hang(s) around with a lot of mice.” We learn that Pib turned an ogre into a mouse in his backstory. Other prominent rodentia do appear, most notably Pib’s fellow trickster, the Rabbit. Overall, a lot of excellent mouse content early on, with a handful of smaller appearances in the mid to late season.

UPDATE: The Ravening War - 0/10 Not a mouse or rat to be seen, not even a mention. and unlike ACOC, there are no other prominent rodentia to save them. Lady Amangeaux is described as “Jessica Rabbit as a mango” but given than not even Jessica Rabbit is a rabbit, I do not count this. considering the amount of times rot and mold are mentioned, I was hoping a rat might skitter away from a pile of garbage at some point. no such luck. the only point that I would even consider as related to mice/rats would be the amount of cheese content, as we have both a cheese person PC (in this house we love Colin Provolone) and a semi-prominent cheese person antagonist. however, I would say this averages out to considerably less cheese content than ACOC, which has several cheese person NPCs, including lesbian icon Annabelle Cheddar, Manta Ray Jack, Sir Morris Brie, and prominent antagonist Stilton Curdeau, plus a whole battle with ships made of cheese, plus a whole battle with cheese people (though dressed as meat people) as primary antagonists. thus, I cannot in good conscience award TRW any points for that when it made up only a portion of ACOC’s 0.5 of a point. I greatly enjoyed TRW, but not for mice/rat reasons.

UPDATE: Dungeons & Drag Queens, Mentopolis, and the promising beginnings of Burrow’s End

DNDQ - 0/10. No mention of mice or rats. honorable mention to Alvin, a chipmunk who I would call a semi-prominent rodent. I only watched half of the 1st ep* but my usual command + F of the transcripts yielded no results.

*no shade to the queens, this season just didn’t work for me specifically, I have a thing where when I know the rules to something watching people learn them/not know them is like. chalkboard screech. it’s the autism I think. so as much as I love the queens & their characters I just couldn’t watch the actual show. 

Mentopolis - 0/10 understandable as canonically the only animal in Mentopolis is Justin. in absence of any mouse/rat characters, I was hoping for perhaps a mouse/rat fact from The Fix, but i really can’t complain about the myriad of animal facts in this season in good conscience. they were many and varied and I am very grateful. still no mice/rats though. Birds, snakes, and their “prey” are discussed, which mice can certainly be. For example, the heat pits on a python’s lips that Ronnie mentions can be used to detect warm-blooded animals like mice, rats, and other small rodents. But as no rodent is directly mentioned it will not be counted. perhaps next time a reptile eating a mouse will be mentioned, or one of my fave rodent factoids, “a mouse’s heartbeat is so fast that to the human ear it just sounds like buzzing,” will be included.

Burrow’s End - ?/10 I have high hopes but did you know that stoats are actually not rodents??? neither are badgers, otters, wolverines, or pine martens. rodents are all vegetarian - they’re (obvs) in the order Rodentia, so they can’t be in the order Carnivora. so far we have strong chipmunk presence (that’s 3 campaigns with important chipmunks!), and a variety of “woodland animals”, so I remain optimistic.

UPDATE: final score for Burrow’s End - 1.5/10. frankly appalling lack of mice & rats given the setting. occasionally (as in 2-3 times in the series) a mouse or rat will be mentioned in passing, but the only rodents the gang actually interact with are rabbits and chipmunks. I’m guessing that’s probably bc stoats are specifically known for hunting rabbits, so mice/rats would be too small of a prey animal for them? plus the watership down allusions. and then of course we have the horrifying chipmunk/bear battle. credit for the few rat mentions and rodent presence in general, but this isn’t the rodent post, it’s the mice and rats post.

Fantasy High: Junior Year - ?/10 I am terrified. there’s a set of antagonists called the Rat Grinders. well, at least we know there will be rats! Zayn also reappears and with him a mention of Edgar the rat, a fantastic character. potentially...could there even be mention of the original, iconic, sexy rat? we shall see!

UPDATE (5/29/24): final score for FHJY - 8.99/10 fucking spectacular. not only do we get multiple mentions and a partial reappearance of the OG icon, Sexy Rat, but we get the Rat-ettes, the Rat Grinders, Rat World, and as hoped for, the return of Edgar, the originator of this whole proud Dimension 20 tradition of plot-relevant rats! He even gets a ghostly little miniature in the “Baron’s Game” battle! Fabian is also gifted (and makes frequent use of) the Pipes of the Sewers, an item which summons rats. The combo of this item and Fig’s Mask of Animal Friendship leads to several instances of rat-summoning both in and out of in combat, the likes of which have not been seen in years. One of the most unhinged and transcendent moments of the season, the Rat-ettes showing hole, led to the uncovering of the ancient name Ankarna, kicking off both a fucking excellent mid-season finale as well the central plot of the rest of the season. The rat swarm minis in The Last Stand & Ragenarok pt 1 truly brought me back to the glory days of The Unsleeping City. The only thing keeping this season from a 9/10 is lack of mouse/rat PCs or major NPCS, which all of our 9/10+ seasons have had thus far. Much as I adore Edgar, I would categorize him as a supporting NPC this season rather than a major one. The Rat Grinders definitely add to this season’s score, but as none of them are actually rats, I can’t count them as rat NPCs. Easily the height of Fantasy High rat content, and that’s saying something. We’ve been in a bit of a drought lately, but FHJY truly delivered.

I would like to give credit to a post I read many years ago that I realize may have given me inspiration to make whatever this is: harry potter rated by mentions of swans.

don’t ask

[kriosv]

Revisiting Unsleeping City again, and I realize I'm so late to this but

Season 1 episode 9

Misty: Is there a person or being named "Nothing" who will hurt us?

Nod: You're very cautious. No, nobody will hurt you.

Misty: will Nobody hurt us?

Nod: IDK

Season 2:

Null hurts them

[stone-stars]

9

9. a ship that isn't your OTP but that you enjoy ooh! i don't think i have A single otp, but i will say that i don't ship moonshine/alanis (i'm mostly neutral on it) but have seen some stuff for it that is kind of fun lol. there's a whole bunch of d20 ships that also fit this category for me, including a lot of unsleeping city shipping. like a few months ago i would've said duck team polycule but the recent episodes....... are compelling...................

send me a number from this list

[18catsreading]

Kugrach telling Wally that he's his father is giving me life!

Rat Jesus, you may be my biological father but the man who raised me is my real dad.

[nerdsandthelike]

tag 9 people you’d like to know better. I was tagged by @when-did-this-become-difficult, who I think knows me fairly well. But friendship is constantly learning, etc.

last song: I have listened to nothing but instrumental study music and the Beetlejuice the Musical soundtrack for like 3 weeks. So the last song I listened to was almost certainly something like "Creepy Old Guy" (which is, to be fair, a banger)

currently reading: so I just finished TJ Klune's The House on the Cerulean Sea, which was fluffy and delightful and featured a middle aged social worker investigating a house that can only be described as "what if the dad from The Umbrella Academy was a Good Parent?" I have just started A Half Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys, which got recommended to me and I don't remember what the recommender said. But apparently it's a first contact novel, which I do love.

currently watching: I have been purposefully not letting myself watch things because I need to finish my dissertation before I get obsessed with something new. So I've been doing things that are purposefully low investment. I've seen a bit of Cunk on Earth, a lot of youtube videos, and the last thing that I actually WATCHED was Dimension 20: The Unsleeping City, which was just as hilarious and beautiful and devastating as D20 always is. I guess I'm also technically 2 episodes into First Kill on Netflix with a friend, but we haven't done that in like a month.

current obsession: Mostly my dissertation because I won't let myself do anything else. But I am trying to stop Beetlejuice from moving into my headspace and taking over. Which is honestly kind of appropriate...

tagging: @icannotreadcursive, @hotcocoaandstripedsweaters, @lynnestra44, @v-as-in-victor, @inklingdancer and anyone else who wants to play!

[thisisnotthenerd]

back at it again with thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats.

this time we're talking runtime. this is referenced directly from dropout--i manually entered each episode into the spreadsheet, no shortcuts. why. times are recorded as hours:minutes:seconds. anyway:

overall runtime stats:

total runtime for all seasons of dimension 20 (at the moment, including oneshots and the episodes of Burrow's End that are currently out): 462:43:30. That’s the equivalent of 19 days, 6 hours, 43 minutes, and 30 seconds. Almost 3 weeks.

average runtime per episode: 2:10:21. around 2 hours per ep.

longest season by time: fantasy high sophomore year, with 52:13:31

shortest season: shriek week, with 7:49:30

season with the highest average: fantasy high sophomore year, with 2:36:41. this one is skewed by the long finale episodes, and the fact that this season was livestreamed rather than pre-recorded, as most d20 seasons are. this stat doesn't include oneshots, as those tend to be longer in order to contain a full narrative. the stats are listed though.

season with the lowest average: fantasy high freshman year, with 1:39:43. as the first season, fhfy tends toward shorter episodes overall--combat episodes usually ran shorter than non combat episodes.

longest episode: Spring Break! I Believe In You! (Part 2) from Fantasy High Sophomore Year, with 5:06:42. by far the longest episode of dimension 20. truly an unbelievable finale.

shortest episode: Brawl at the Black Pit from Fantasy High Freshman Year, at just 1:07:53. like i said, combat ran short during fhfy.

total number of episodes (as of 10/17/23): 219. this will change tomorrow, i know. i'll update when the season is over so i'm not neurotically changing this

total number of battle/encounter episodes: 106. again, this will be updated at the end of the season. quick note about battle episodes: this category includes all of the episodes with a designated battlesets, whether that was physical, on roll20, or on talespire. for theater of the mind, i narrowed it down to specific episodes that had designed encounters, and not just spur of the moment encounters, unless those spur of the moment encounters were significant enough to take up an episode. key example: fabian's no good very bad day in leviathan.

i marked whether you could finish watching a season in one day, with no breaks for each one of the seasons: this doesn't mean could you do it in 24 hours, it means you could do it without losing sleep. in the waking hours.

d20 season runtime data

fantasy high freshman year:

total runtime: 28:15:12

average runtime per episode: 1:39:43 seconds

number of episodes: 17

number of battle/encounter episodes: 9

longest episode: episode 12: the sisterly showdown (1:57:11)

shortest episode: episode 6: brawl at the black pit (1:07:53)

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ❌

escape from the bloodkeep:

total runtime: 14:02:07

average runtime per episode: 2:20:21

number of episodes: 6

number of battle/encounter episodes: 3

longest episode: episode 6: the tomb of ultimate evil (2:57:59)

shortest episode: episode 5: bloodlines and lifelines (1:56:44)

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ✅

the unsleeping city:

total runtime: 34:11:27

average runtime per episode: 2:00:40

number of episodes: 17

number of battle/encounter episodes: 9

longest episode: episode 14: showdown at the stock exchange (2:35:07)

shortest episode: episode 2: mutant santa melee (1:28:12)

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ❌

tiny heist:

total runtime: 12:27:12

average runtime per episode: 2:04:32

number of episodes: 6

number of battle/encounter episodes: 4

longest episode: episode 1: big little crimes (2:11:12)

shortest episode: episode 5: fighting with fire (1:55:38)

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ✅

fantasy high sophomore year:

total runtime: 52:13:31

average runtime per episode: 2:36:41

number of episodes: 20

number of battle/encounter episodes: 8

longest episode: episode 20: spring break! i believe in you! (part 2), with 5:06:42

shortest episode: episode 7: the friendship section, with 2:08:50. even the short episodes in fhsy are over 2 hours.

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ❌❌ (double because you couldn't do it in two days)

fantasy high oneshots:

total runtime: 8:11:31

average runtime per episode: 2:02:53

number of episodes: 4

number of battle/encounter episodes: 4 (they're oneshots)

longest episode: Boys' Night! (Roll20Con) with 2:45:17

shortest episode: Fantasy High LIVE at RTX Austin with 1:26:53

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ✅

a crown of candy:

total runtime: 36:18:00

average runtime per episode: 2:08:07

number of episodes: 17

number of battle/encounter episodes: 9

longest episode: episode 11: at the mountains of sweetness, with 2:30:34

shortest episode: episode 10: blood & bread, with 1:36:59. this came down to emily not coming in as saccharina in this episode.

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ❌

pirates of leviathan:

total runtime: 13:02:06

average runtime per episode: 2:10:21

number of episodes: 6

number of battle/encounter episodes: 3

longest episode: episode 4: i'm worth this, with 2:25:55

shortest episode: episode 5: scramble to the ramble, with 1:52:21

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ✅

the unsleeping city chapter 2:

total runtime: 42:35:35

average runtime per episode: 2:21:59

number of episodes: 18

number of battle/encounter episodes: 10

longest episode: episode 6: collaborators, with 2:46:31

shortest episode: episode 2: heaven and hell on earth, with 1:40:52

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ❌

mice & murder:

total runtime: 20:46:20

average runtime per episode: 2:04:38

number of episodes: 10

number of battle/encounter episodes: 4

longest episode: episode 10: unfinished business, with 2:46:06

shortest episode: episode 8: outfoxed, with 1:22:43

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ❌

misfits & magic:

total runtime: 9:45:13

average runtime per episode: 2:26:18

number of episodes: 4

number of battle/encounter episodes: 2

longest episode: episode 4: we're the heroes, with 2:54:57

shortest episode: episode 3: family on six, with 2:08:58

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ✅

misfits & magic oneshots:

total runtime: 5:19:32

average runtime per episode: 2:39:46

number of episodes: 2

number of battle/encounter episodes: 2

longest episode: misfits & magic holiday special, with 3:14:57

shortest episode: misfits & magic live at gencon 2022, with 2:04:35

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ✅

the seven:

total runtime: 23:55:12

average runtime per episode: 2:23:31

number of episodes: 10

number of battle/encounter episodes: 6

longest episode: episode 6: belles of the baronies, with 2:58:43

shortest episode: episode 7: bloppelganger blitz, with 1:28:09

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ❌

shriek week:

total runtime: 7:49:30

average runtime per episode: 1:57:23

number of episodes: 4

number of battle/encounter episodes: 0

longest episode: episode 3: parents' weekend, with 2:10:15

shortest episode: episode 4: van helsing's party, with 1:39:33

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ✅

a starstruck odyssey:

total runtime: 39:54:33

average runtime per episode: 2:13:02

number of episodes: 18

number of battle/encounter episodes: 10

longest episode: episode 18: the luckless, the abandoned and the forsaked (part 2), with 3:08:38

shortest episode: episode 17: the luckless, the abandoned and the forsaked (part 1), with 1:23:40

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ❌

coffin run:

total runtime: 10:19:38

average runtime per episode: 1:43:16

number of episodes: 6

number of battle/encounter episodes: 3

longest episode: episode 2: attacks on the tracks, with 2:05:18

shortest episode: episode 1: down for the count, with 1:10:21

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ✅

a court of fey and flowers:

total runtime: 20:27:10

average runtime per episode: 2:02:43

number of episodes: 10

number of battle/encounter episodes: 4

longest episode: episode 3: duel on the southern lawn, with 2:32:06

shortest episode: episode 10: you will never know a lonely day again, with 1:14:24

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ❌

neverafter:

total runtime: 42:25:08

average runtime per episode: 2:07:15

number of episodes: 20

number of battle/encounter episodes: 9

longest episode: episode 20: the ending of all things (part 2), with 2:38:33

shortest episode: episode 6: the curdled web, with 1:39:05

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ❌

the ravening war:

total runtime: 14:59:17

average runtime per episode: 2:29:53

number of episodes: 6

number of battle/encounter episodes: 4

longest episode: episode 5: the seventh kingdom, with 2:39:27

shortest episode: episode 3: yonder where the fruit do be lyin', with 2:19:26. matt mercer likes himself a long episode

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ✅

dungeons & drag queens:

total runtime: 9:31:03

average runtime per episode: 2:22:46

number of episodes: 4

number of battle/encounter episodes: 2

longest episode: episode 3: the time has come, with 2:42:23

shortest episode: episode 1: queens on a quest, with 2:03:47

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ✅

mentopolis:

total runtime: 12:31:14

average runtime per episode: 2:05:12

number of episodes: 6

number of battle/encounter episodes: 3

longest episode: episode 5: emergency powers, with 2:31:00

shortest episode: episode 3: f for freezer, with 1:53:48

could you watch it in a day, doing nothing else: ✅

burrow's end:

the season isn't done yet, so the spreadsheet will be updated weekly as episodes come out, and this post will be updated when all of the data is present.

and that's all for this edition of thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats! this one was a long one. as always, the spreadsheet is open to perusal.

[lovecolibri]

We all been knew that himbo firefighters are my jam and I figured I would have a 9-1-1 crossover moment with Unsleeping City at some point but I didn't think it would be in the first episode with someone calling Ricky a golden retriever!

[willowcrowned]

willow hi!!! please rank the d20 campaigns you've watched from most to least liked <33 it's for science

1) A Crown of Candy - funnily enough, though acoc commits one of my cardinal sins of storytelling (forcing a resolution in the final episode without creating the context necessary for it to have true emotional depth), I absolutely ADORE acoc and cannot stop thinking about it. For me I think it boils down to the way the fatality allows them to move into deeper and more complex character relationships and arcs in a way that a series where nobody dies doesn’t let them do. Ruby mourning Jet, Caramelinda post-episode 9 and Amethar, and Amethar and Saccharina are so chewy and interesting for me, and of course I think episode nine is just a BRILLIANT piece of storytelling

2) Neverafter (tentatively) - one of the big factors for me in how much I like a campaign is how they manage to end it. since we’re still waiting on that, it could go either way. that said, I think this is one of the funniest seasons I’ve seen yet, and I think that’s due in large part to the fact that they’re able to riff off of well-known fairytales (jokes are built on context!). I think the darker tone of the show has also given Brennan to play with realism in NPCs in a way he hasn’t been able to before—specifically, I’m thinking of the theological divides between the fairies and the princesses. The fact that Brennan has very deliberately set up the princesses as rescuers and heroes by having the princesses themselves convey that to the characters, and then went—hey, why don’t we ask why someone would set themself up as a hero in an unwinnable fight to begin with? Is SO fun for me.

3) Fantasy High (season 2) - I think what season 1 lacks in scope and thoughtful, interesting character arcs, season 2 completely makes up for. Adaine in particular is a high point of the season of me (though Riz is easily a close second), but I also really enjoy the way the widened cast of side characters grounds the worldbuilding (that would already be fun on its own) in a way that deepens the realism of the story without sacrificing tone. also, Ayda, Garthy O’Brien, and Kalina are just GENIUS characters

4) Fantasy High (Season 1) - the first d20 campaign I ever watched. SO fun, I totally loved it, but looking back on it having watched their other campaigns, it’s clear they were still trying to figure out how their actual play show would work here. In later seasons they start playing not just with genre but with the narrative and mechanics in interesting ways that make season one of FH a little less exciting.

5) The Unsleeping City (Season 1) - this is a campaign for people who are wild about New York. I am not wild about New York. Kugrash was my high point. Slutty old woman Siobhan comes in at a close second. Everything else was fine, I guess. Just not my cup of tea (technically I still have part 2 of the finale to go, but it’s slow going. I don’t like the battle episodes at the best of times. this is not one of them)

6) A Court of Fey and Flowers - for a show that was billed as regency and social intrigue it sure was neither of those things, which for me (as a regency and social intrigue fanatic) was. IMMENSELY irritating. that coupled with the fact that time-limited player-directed stories do not lend themselves well to coherent, cohesive, and consistent narratives (my favorite kind of narrative) puts it at the bottom of my list, though the Emily/Lou duo and whatever the fuck Brennan was doing with Hob did nearly redeem it

[d20-eotd]

Dimension 20 Episode of the Day: 9/24

Today's Episode is: The Unsleeping City, Episode 12, Broadway Brawl

Original Release Date: 9/24/2019

The Quick Synopsis: Queen Titania and her host of Seelie fairies crash the opening night performance of Midsummer Nights, but the show must go on, lest Misty be left to die, at the end of her reincarnations.

Quotes:

The Conclusion of The Intrepid Heroes lambasting Brennan through a damage roll from Titania:

Somebody call Wizards of the Coast! This is not—

It's not tabletop, if he drops the dice, we won't take damage!

What weird homebrew bullshit is this, you fuck? Fuckin' Reddit's gonna eat your ass about this, you know that?

Yeah, you're gonna love it.

Your whole ass, cheeks and all.

Your whole fuckin' ass, you little bitch!

We're all gonna eat your ass, Brennan!

We’re gonna eat your ass, Brennan!

You're never gonna shit again, you fuck!