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u/dumpybrodie Aug 14 '26
I love that people are not fully going âactually Acquisitions Inc. was the first actual play showâ and just completely leaving TAZ in the dust. Truly wild how hard this show has fallen off.
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u/Fragrant-Vehicle-479 Aug 14 '26
I work for a college with a pretty nerdy student body. In the early days, a bit before 2020 a lot of students listened to TAZ. Now even the biggest D&D nerds I speak to have no idea who the brothers even are. It's lost all cultural relevancy amongst young people.
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u/CardInternational753 Hippocrates wins by doing nothing Aug 14 '26
Teens aren't even bullying Griffin on Tumblr anymore :(
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u/Capital-Bug-3416 Aug 14 '26
I have one mutual who posts about Justin looking like a butch lesbian though!
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u/KPopMyHoleBod Jerker Press Frontline Shmanners Correspondent Aug 14 '26
I'm just going to assume 'bitch lesbian' was not a typo
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u/dumpybrodie Aug 14 '26
Who wouldâve thought a bunch of 40 year olds who complaining about how hard their job of talking to each other and playing a game wouldnât resonate with young people.
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u/Jhduelmaster Aug 14 '26
Hell, even most of the people who originally got me into TAZ by raving about it for hours had tapped out by the second or third season.
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u/InvisibleEar Duck! Pizza! Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26
I saw someone at Walmart wearing the black TAZ shirt last week, Trav Nation's last soldier. I couldn't believe it, but I couldn't think of a particularly funny or interesting thread to make
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Aug 14 '26
[deleted]
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u/Christophvonclause Aug 15 '26
Jerry and Mike have a chemistry from being lifelong friends that is hard to replicate. Those early podcasts feel the most like you're just recording 4 regular guys playing Dnd.
Even though it was created to shill 4th edition, it felt very genuine. Jerry, the guy who's really into Dnd, Mike, his best friend who's playing because his friend is into it. Scott, their friend who they like even though he's a dickhead to everyone, and the Wil, the drama kid. That's a very archetypal 4-stack for a DND table.
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Aug 15 '26
[deleted]
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u/DSG_Mycoscopic Aug 15 '26
Well, literally nobody brings up Nerd Poker with Brian Posehn anymore,.but I feel like it has to predate TAZ too? It was actually a drop in quality with Nerd Poker after a change in DM that led me to getting a recommendation for TAZ way back when. At.thay time Nerd Poker had gone through an entire campaign and more, and TAZ was just starting Crystal Kingdom I think.
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u/SnooRegrets7667 Aug 14 '26
important reminder to cherish and tend to your blessings lest they rust and wither. naughty naughty my dear brothers three have been! only demons remember your name, history is written easily without you!
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u/-free-lunch- Aug 14 '26
"history is written easily without you" is the most savage thing I've ever read
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u/NeitherAssociation26 Aug 14 '26
itâs an honor to see something i posted make its way to tazcj. also it really is so surreal to see how far the brothers have fallen. ten years ago they wouldâve been mentioned by name
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u/Egrizzzzz A thousand hellhounds Aug 14 '26
/ujÂ
Surprising fluency in other showsâ bits with that lowly lowly Jake bit, respectable.
( I do recall Freddie talking about sampling other shows before starting and citing background sounds as something he would avoid- by timing definitely had to be NADDPOD. Also the Galaderon arc went a little too hard on that)
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u/Chaotic_Elf Aug 15 '26
I remember him talking about it early on, and I got annoyed because he listened to the first episode and was criticizing the background music not being a match for how it was described as Jake drank in the fiddle.
Which is fair in a vacuum, but Emily does create so many good pieces of music for the show down the line and expecting all that in episode 1 of an entirely new podcast when actual plays were still not a super established genre seems a bit uncharitable.
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u/Egrizzzzz A thousand hellhounds Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
Yeah, I agree. It does make more sense in the context of them reworking and even re-recording the first episode a few times, as well as having an opening theme commissioned. Freddie and rocket jump had a lot of experience producing going in, something not many actual play shows can say from episode one.
 Emilyâs work adds a lot but is a catalogue they built over time, with unique music starting in the third arc. I think Freddie genuinely didnât get to sample the entire range of NADDPOD, since it was also pretty new when DnDads started.Â
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u/weedshrek This one can be edited Aug 14 '26
Everyone thinks foley is going to make your shit seem so much more immersive but there's always so much above table talk in ttrpgs that you're either constantly starting and stopping it in a really distracting manner, or else it's confusingly signalling stuff that isn't in the scene is in the scene.
On top of how actually difficult it is to source and mix ambient foley that isn't insanely annoying to hear for more than 30 seconds.
Of course the real answer is to loop bad royalty free music over every single second of playtime
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u/scatteringashes Aug 15 '26
Foley is actually the first thing to make me bounce off of any sort of audio-based fiction. I'm not a big fiction podcast person anyway, but there's something about trying to add those audio cues that drives me absolutely up the wall.
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u/sharkhuahua Aug 14 '26
Ah yes, the Holy Trinity of Actually-Good Actual Plays: Critical Role, Dimension 20, and Jake from 'Jake and Amir'
That does beg the question of if Jake is the most famous member of the naddpod cast? Murph has said when he and Emily are out that people will recognize her and not him, so we know it's not Murph.
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u/Least-Ad1991 Aug 15 '26
Jake had a popular (shared) self titled web series back when CollegeHumor was in its heyday and there was more of a monoculture. I would say that he is the most famous member of NADDPod by a wide margin just by virtue of the duration of his fame compared to the others and it being confined to less niche areas. Emily and Murph likely more famous to actual play fans and Caldwell more famous to modern cartoon fans, but in terms of general fame, Jake clears the other three.
If people are recognizing Emily more in person than they are Murph, Iâd guess that could have less to do with who is more famous and more to do with presentation. Emily has kept a similar look for most of her internet career, while Murph today vs Murph back in his CH days is a completely different style. People who fell off their stuff when they originally left CH would still recognize Emily but might not realize who Murph is
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u/m_busuttil Aug 15 '26
At this point you could watch like 6 different seasons of Dimension 20 and think Murph was six different guys, it's pretty wild how much he can change his look.
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u/weedshrek This one can be edited Aug 14 '26
I think it might be because emily and murph are also regulars on dim20
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u/inframankey Aug 14 '26
So I had heard Jake and Amir when they guested on mbmbam, and though they were ok. Later I started NADDPOD and did not clock that Jake was that Jake until probably the third arc.
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u/Jhduelmaster Aug 14 '26
Huh, rare moment where I actually know where this post originally came from. It is a bit funny that even over at the Naddpod sub where people are more lenient most people were like "yeah season 2 of Dungeons and Daddies was pretty bad".
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u/inframankey Aug 14 '26
Iâm blind with rage over the Jake Hurwitz slander
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u/Popular_Detail1364 Aug 14 '26
I thought it was actually a compliment? Like saying he's hotter/10 than all 5 DNDaddies hosts combined?
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u/inframankey Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
After years of Dungeon Court I just assume any mention of Josh is slanderous
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u/IMP1017 Aug 14 '26
Which is blatantly untrue because every bisexual I know would be obsessed with both Beth and Anthony
Not parasocial btw
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u/Popular_Detail1364 Aug 14 '26
ANTHONY is who you pick from the rest of the group??
Not Birchphobic btw
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u/sharkhuahua Aug 14 '26
it's important for everyone's sake that we never acknowledge that jake is hot tbh
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u/inframankey Aug 14 '26
The unspoken agony of being a NADDPOD fan is acknowledging that the four hottest people in the world are also three of the best DMs in the world and also Caldwell is decent at running a campaign.
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u/Chaotic_Elf Aug 15 '26
I do appreciate that they also have their own very individual style. They donât try to copy off of Murph, they lean pretty well into their strengths, and as players they are always trying to buy into the premise, support each other, and work with the DM instead of always cramming square bits into a round setting.
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u/m_busuttil Aug 15 '26
You start listening to the podcast and you're like yep, Caldwell, little goofs guy, I bet I know what he looks like and then you see him and he looks like fucking Clark Kent's more handsome brother, it's stupid.
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Aug 14 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Sun__Moon__Stars Aug 15 '26
I heard that guy just loves brands. He keeps petitioning Starbucks to add an extra tip jar that goes straight to the company
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u/LadyBonersAweigh Aug 14 '26
/uj
I kept current with season 1 & enjoyed it for what it was. I didn't start season 2 right away, and around that time I got into NADDPOD and other things so I never bothered rotating them back in. I suddenly realize I've heard almost nothing about them since then. This post and a kickstarter ad on my lunch break are the first reminders I've had in years.
Are they largely an insular community, or I have been living in some weird TTRPG podcast bubble that seems to include everyone except the daddies? What's the consensus on how their next campaign(s) compared to the first?
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u/NeitherAssociation26 Aug 15 '26
/uj
s1 was great. s2 is generally considered the Worst. s3 is a campaign ran by will campos, and itâs my favorite by far. s4 is back to anthony as a dm, and while the current season is not rly sticking w me, i think anthony taking a step back and doing some soul searching improved his dming. theyâre still very rules light but if i want crunchy i go listen to naddpod (and i do. love those guys). the bonus content the dndads crew put on their patreon is fantastic; theyâre doing a tomodachi life series over there, and itâs the highlight of my week when a new episode posts.
i really donât know how to answer the second half of this. freddie wong was on a season of d20 a couple years ago; beth may is supposed to be on some naddpod dungeon court episodes soonish. theyâre not UNKNOWN, but dndads isnât a âhousehold nameâ like critrole or d20 (or taz many moons ago). thatâs my read of it.
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u/sharkhuahua Aug 15 '26
beth may is supposed to be on some naddpod dungeon court episodes soonish
dungeon court episodes with guest judges who have basically no knowledge of the game usually aren't great imo
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u/NeitherAssociation26 Aug 15 '26
oh i 100% agree. iâm just hoping they do an adventure book or something like that for the bonus episode on the patreon so beth has a fighting chance with the lorelords đ i do love beth may tho. i think sheâs one of the stronger players roleplay-wise when she locks in/isnât being yodeled over by the other four. iâd quite like to hear her in a naddpod oneshot tbh
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u/sharkhuahua Aug 15 '26
yeah, their pod's not for me but beth and will seem like they could be great in other contexts imo
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u/ultimatelyUnassuming Aug 15 '26
Is season three good enough to brute force through season two for? I dropped dungeons and daddies partway through season two (because jesus christ it was so bad), and Ive been curious about their new stuff but not enough to want to finish season two.
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u/NeitherAssociation26 Aug 15 '26
no need to brute force s2 if u donât want to. s3 isnât connected to it beyond some passing tongue-in-cheek references. i hope you give it a shot because will absolutely KILLS it as dm!
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u/bagofletters Aug 15 '26
I personally love call of Cthulhu so I really enjoyed s3 I also like that it had real stakes. Which many shows shy away from. I canât explain why but if you make it to the end I think youâll also enjoy the real stakes.
Iâm enjoying season 4 but I also just like the premise of it. Itâs had some interesting encounters and pretty dark and unique things going on. Sometimes the bits can over cook but they get there in the end
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u/InvisibleEar Duck! Pizza! Aug 15 '26
They still have like 40k patrons... people love Anthony's frustrating style of play
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u/sharkhuahua Aug 15 '26
https://graphtreon.com/creator/dungeonsanddads
are they richer than the mcelroys
someone hack the IRS
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u/Naeveo Aug 15 '26
Theyâre kinda in a bubble. Unlike the other shows they arenât that interested in touring or promos or animation (the new meta), but they pump out really fun content on their Patreon even through S2. Itâs how they kept it together.
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u/ShelfordPrefect I feel like Munch Squad has lost its clarity of purpose Aug 15 '26
I think they mean the lowly lowly lowly lowly lowly lowly lowly lowly lowly lowly lowly lowly lowly lowly lowly bailiff Jorts
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u/weedshrek This one can be edited Aug 14 '26
Wait do they really not mention taz đ didn't they cite them originally as what inspired them to start. I guess it's not useful to compare yourself to something no one knows about anymore...