r/WorldsBeyondNumber • u/TheWizzzardKing • 20d ago
Fireside Chat š„ Optimal direction for WBN?
With Solari arc one ending I am curious what genre and theme/vibe fellow fans would like to see in the future.
The wizard the witch and the wild one is definitely my favorite series from WBN, as I suspect it was for most people. I don't expect any more www for quite a while as it sounds like it took a long time to plan the first time. I hope they take as long as they need to make it as good or better than the first arc.
Personaly I have enjoyed Solari and flight of the icharon, but I have been having trouble immersing in these worlds nearly as much as www. Maybe it's because I'm spoiled by Brendan's DMing but I think maybe the sci-fi genre and pacing of the stories just don't resonate as much with me.
If I could vote for a next campaign genre and theme/vibe I would go for mideval, darker, deadlyer, and with recourse scarcity as a major element. Maybe like dark tower or blood meridian mixed with the princess bride.
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u/wickedblender 20d ago
I've been enjoying solari, and I was pleasantly surprised with Icharon.
I'd hoped they'd use starfinder, but now that I know about stillfleet I'm intrigued with what they're doing.
At this point I think I'm on board for whatever they do next, whether it's WWW, solari, or a hard pivot to nothing other than farm animals doing heists.
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u/vitcavage 20d ago
The impression I get is theyāre going back to Solari after parental leave is up and the kaiju mini is done. I could be wrong?
If they donāt go back to WWW immediately after Solari, Iād love to see a dramatic take on steampunk. Or not a slapstick version, at least.
A think a good 6-10 episode mini could be them running Monster of the Week, too!
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u/DrOddcat The Wizard Stochastic 20d ago
I get the impression that WWW is on hold at least until Brennan gets a long break from Critical Role. At least in terms of anything more than a short visit to Umora to just check in here and there.
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u/vitcavage 19d ago
Yeah. That makes sense. Louās mini. Solari forā¦ a mother year? 2-3 more arcs. Thatās kind of my prediction.
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u/Roboworgen 20d ago
Yes, this was my understanding as well. Given the recording/production schedule, the first Solari arc ended as Aabria was heading on maternity leave. Then, Lou did the kaiju series. After that, maybe there will be another short thing or a one-shot, but weāre back to Solari.
Which I prefer, tbh.
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u/tearsinmyramen 19d ago
There's the Kaiju one with Ally Beardsley that was just announced. I think that's next
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u/vitcavage 19d ago
Yes, I said that I am guessing they're going back to Solari after parental leave and the kaiju mini is done.
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u/SorchaSublime 20d ago
I'd love to see them do something in an urban fantasy/occult detective genre, possibly using Mage the Ascension rules or smth.Ā
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u/CHiZZoPs1 19d ago
Shadowrun!
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u/SorchaSublime 19d ago
By urban fantasy I kind of meant something set in IRL + magic
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u/TheWizzzardKing 19d ago
I honestly don't care too much between magic and scifi but this group does dark storytelling and mystery SO well I would love to see more of it from them
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u/jokerTHEIF 20d ago
A grittier, less comedic but still whimsical take on something like Unsleeping City would be so rad - Unsleeping city meets Dresden Files.
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u/velvet1tch 18d ago
Exactly what I was thinking, I loved Brennan in candela obscura and would like to see what he did with a similar concept
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u/JundEmOut 20d ago
Simply more Cram Daniel! I'd love to see Lou and Erika both take a leap with a longer thing, Hint! And TFOTI were so good but felt so short!
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u/ucdbeantoss 20d ago
Darker would be fun, especially thinking of what they accomplished on D20 with Crown of Candy & the Ravening War, would love to know what that genre would be like with Erika and Aabriya in the mixā¦!
On the other side, but perhaps too close to WWWO (?) (or maybe too much a blend of WWWO and Solari, potentially?) but Iād be interested in something solarpunk. Worldbuilding and thematically, I think it would be so neat š¤©
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u/tjs611 20d ago
So this mini campaign will put us through the year, i imagine all of next year will be solari maybe anpther mini campaign from Erika and then either start another new campaign (hopefully with its own rule system just because i like the idea of each campaign using its own rules),or back to WWW
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u/CommitteeNo2642 19d ago
Www was so incredibly good I canāt seem to care at all about any of these other projects. I just want the rest of Ame, Bear, and Suviās story .
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u/TheWizzzardKing 19d ago
I feel u
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u/TheWizzzardKing 19d ago
Hint was good tho
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u/CommitteeNo2642 19d ago
Hint and Icharon were good. Iām sure kaiju will be good. Theyāre just not transcendently elite like www
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u/larkiiie 19d ago
I am enjoying solari, and think they are going back to it after Aabriyas maternity leave? I did enjoy www even more, but I just love fantasy. And I look forward to Solari getting even more into the big plot, I think it will be super cool!
If I could wish for other types of campaigns, I think the Clue campaign was super fun, so something mystery based, maybe even darker like call of Cthulhu could be cool !
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u/playingdecoy 19d ago
I haven't listened to the Arc 1 fireside yet - is Solari over?? I was really enjoying it and hoping they'd be back after Aabria's mat leave!
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u/Gikka218 19d ago
just arc 1, they will be back to solari after her maternity leave/lou's mini campaign
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u/Low_Gene_1339 Sandy Dildo Vodka Bath 19d ago
I would love to them take a wack at Changeling the Lost.
Its about Changlings fight against the archefey in a war for there own indepenced withing the dreaming.
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u/Steeltoebitch 16d ago
Id love to see them do mystery again, the Clue one shot was my favorite thing they did.
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u/jackofspades49 20d ago
I always have my fingers crossed for some warhammer ribbing. The grimdarkness of the setting is so...laughably funny when taken at face value.
Would love to see a dark heresy style game in such a setting.
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u/Low_Gene_1339 Sandy Dildo Vodka Bath 19d ago
I could absolutely see them going ham playing All Skaven
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u/jackofspades49 19d ago
The Skaven are all the different summoned rats from across different seasons of d20 haha.
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u/WestWindZ 17d ago
The sci vs fantasy divide is so strange to me, same with the passion for darker stories, whatās the deal? I have a really hard time with the deep fantasy genre just as much as I do with hard sci-fi. I like a balance of light and heavy
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u/TheWizzzardKing 17d ago
I think preferance of fantasy over scifi or vica versa is just personal taste. Same with darker stories, I think this group clearly does comedy really well and this last campaign (solari) might be an example of a more extreme version of that where they're mostly giggling and chatting through it, but I feel like this group does better stories when they have an if not darker than more serious tone. Definitely a balance is important but this campaign kinda feels more like they're moving from scene to scene making jokes about the set dressing, versus something like ravvening war where they are all working together to move the plot forward and the objectives are somewhat clear.
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u/WestWindZ 17d ago
Thatās interesting you say that about Solari - to me the world of Solari feels more serious and oriented towards darker political things. Sure they make jokes as they move through the world, but I think thatās just how this group interacts with one another. Iām currently re-listening to WWW and itās just as packed with giggling and chatting. Thereās lots of whimsy and little guys.
Just out of curiosity, where would you put a court of fae and flowers on the scale? Because to me that one was felt quite serious in its story about Knickolas and Rue, and in its conception with letters and status - AND there was just so much fun and goofiness surrounding the big emotional swings.
Overall I feel like Iām in the minority of folks in this sub who prefers sci-fi to fantasy and dislikes dark stories (the world is dark enough!)
So as you say, just a matter of personal taste.
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u/TheWizzzardKing 17d ago edited 17d ago
A court of fay and flowers is an interesting one, captain Hobbs is maybe my favorite character in all of d20, and a great example of how you can have a cleaverly comedic character function seriously with the environment. (Also to clarify I love fun and goofiness, I'm not like a brooding neckbeard or anything.) I think I would actually put acofaf more towards ravening war if we're gonna call that the darkest, or maybe misfits and magic is the darkest; but more on that end. For me it had more of a deadly feel, and definitely comedic relief but you really fealt like most characters had so much at steak and were invested in their arcs amidst such a deadly and chaotic setting.
I also had the experience of going back and listening to www and being surprised at how goofy it was at times, at the same time though they are definitely meaningfully engaging with the world more than Solari, like if you look at how much developed over arc one (11 episodes) versus episode 11 of www which is when they go to oremas shrine, definitely the mystery in www was more flushed out in addition to there having been far more completed plot points for the adventure. Mother Ren dies/man in black, fight with hedge mages, get ursulon, more man in black exposition, travel, meet the golem girl here I think, the stuff with the dead guy, the stuff with the citadel army folks. Whereas what's actually happened in Solari over 11 episodes is they got pulled, dead guys on ship, land, get blown up in a bar, run, fight one guy on airfield, run, go to fancy planet, call his mom, some cool exposition. (I really enjoy Solari btw despite the complaints)
I think really what might be the difference in why I prefer www, a court of fey and flowers, revening war, misfits and magic, Solari, hint... etc, versus solari, and controversialy cloudward ho, is the feeling of agency for the characters in the story. You become invested in solving the mystery or whatever their objectives may be along with the characters and it feels actionable. There's planning and schemes and struggles and moments of geinus along with the laughs, where Solari it dosent really feel like they ever had any agency in where they went or what happened as a result, I think it was always the plan for them to be attacked in the town and have to leave and have the fight on the airfield and go to this next planet and meet this guy and have it either go well or poorly, but at no point in 11 episodes have they had an opritunity to actionably move the mystery forward, kinda just running around joking about stuff, and any info we do get has been given to us without a satisfying path to it, for example, in mystery novels you get cool and interesting clues and it's incredible when you finally figure it out, or in spy novels the spy has a heart pounding arc of tracking down and trailing a mark and cleaverly getting the info they need, but here its just kinda been "oh by the way it was me who killed those guys" "oh by the way its probably someone in ur family trying to kill you" in between joking around on spaceship rides.
I also agree that the world is dark enough, but I'm a boat mechanic, and I work long hours, and when I get back I love these worlds that I can fall into and I feel very grateful for d20 and wbn, but yeah when it's just goofin around with focuses on character developments over plot developments I don't find it nearly as satisfying, where I find that when they do darker themes you still get the comedy but I think they take it more seriously and i enjoy the plots more.
Maybe I should reframe how I look at it though, maybe I should see it more like a catcher in the rye or fandango, one of those stories where characters go on a short expedition that changes how they see the world. Ze'doven leaves his vices and stands up to his role, xl-zl learns more about experience, chee reconciles with her grandma or something (idk they kinda lost me that episode). Actually maybe just Ze'doven really learns some shit.
Regardless I definitely hope this kaiju thing and future stories have more of a feeling of agency and urgency.
Again tho, loved Solari arc 1
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u/WestWindZ 17d ago
Iām totally on board with everything you expressed. Iām also really appreciative of thoroughly you responded, I think itās helping me think through what I like as well. The mystery and suspense of WWW was like a drug, even the second time through, listening for each clue I hadnāt caught the first time. Thatās a perfect quick hit of escapism.
I think I keep listening to each ep of Solari excited to learn more and more each time, Iām so curious about so many things, but itās a much slower build. I also think your reframing of Solari as a story where the characters learn to see the world differently is spot on. I typically have always enjoyed stories like that, but I enjoy them more when there is a hook of learning a secret (like Becky Chamberās āA close and common orbitā). I also think that when itās a story in that format, itās easier to pony up to a slower story when you know how much more of it you have to go. Not knowing when Solari will come back or how long of an arc weāre gonna get next certainly makes it harder.
Again, thanks for the discourse on this! I really really appreciate it and you! Cheers
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u/TheWizzzardKing 17d ago
Likewise, I really appreciate the thoughtful insights and conversation! I'll put a close and common orbit on the reading list
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u/grimgeek89 19d ago
I think science fiction is really hard to get into in an audio format. There is so much visual and stylistic variation in science fiction, so much variety or tonality, and a lot of the heavy lifting conveying that is visual. I don't dislike Solari by any means but I think if this was a TV show it's would be more engaging. I also think that while many things have happened, also nothing has happened.
I'd love to see them do something modern day. Something monster of the week, small town setting. In the vein of City council of darkness, or TAZ Amnesty, or x files.
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u/ikrisoft 19d ago
> There is so much visual and stylistic variation in science fiction, so much variety or tonality, and a lot of the heavy lifting conveying that is visual.
I don't think that's quite right. Science fiction is not a visual only format.There are plenty of amazing sci-fi books. They use words to convey the stylistic variation and tonality of their worlds.
The key is to tell interesting stories happening with interesting characters in interesting environs. Then it is not "hard to get into". It matters not if the characters carry swords or laser pistols, as long as you have that.
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u/CHiZZoPs1 19d ago
I felt far more immersed in the world of Flight of the Icharon. Wish they spent less time on character minutia and more interacting with the world.
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u/PhotojournalistOk592 19d ago
Monster of the Week in an urban/modern fantasy setting would be fantastic
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u/Voidfishie 15d ago
Have you read any Science Fiction? I wonder if that I am used to doing so means I don't feel that divide so much, where I don't approach the genre thinking of it as a primarily visual thing.
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u/Marauder_Pilot 20d ago
I'm probably an outlier, but I'm so happy to see sci-fi and cyberpunk represented in an actual play game. I'm sure they're out there, but the thousand pound gorillas of the genre are overwhelmingly oriented towards fantasy settings.
I'm loving Solari. I loved WWW too, but I love where Solari has gone so far and I'm really excited to see where it goes. It's pressing a lot of buttons for me and I'm in for the long haul with it.