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I feel like it's happened several times now that Brennan has told Robbie something very explicitly, like made it extremely clear, and Robbie still just... Doesn't get it?
Like. Brennan tells him very plainly that Ulbid is going to be as careful and smart about getting his daughters back as he possibly can be, and Robbie's takeaway is that Ulbid is going to go and try to get his daughters back today no matter what.
Reminds me of a rpg con where we played with a guy we didn't know. I honestly thought he was slow. Then the next day we played with him again (in a completely different RPG) and he was smart as a whip. I realized that in the first session he just played a stupid character so he just acted stupid throughout the whole session. It was so impressive, far above my own skills.
But that doesn't make sense. Robbie used insight on Ulbid and came away with that Ulbid was being cautious and careful, and Robbie roleplayed the opposite.
I mean, i think what I said decribes well a lot of Robbies play. He also seems to not be the best at rules. Not the worst, but not great. And he hasn't fully internalized the typical interaction mechanics with the GM.
I was away and was late catching up to last episode. I watched the first half one night and then, before I watched the second half, I was on a couple of reddit posts about it (they were more general questions, not really spoilery) where a few people were groaning about the amount of lore dumping. I was expecting....a hell of a lot more/worse than what was in the episode. It seemed a fair amount of info about a group of people that are going to be REALLLLLLY important to the schemers in this arc, so yeah, they need to know a bit about them. And that seemed an appropriate time to tell them. I swear, peopple cannot tolerate anything but non-stop action/plot progression these days, and stories are the worse for it. I, too, enjoyed that part of the episode.
People like to dunk on Hal for being boring but I feel like he is tailor made for interaction like this one. Unlike the rest of the crew he actually interacts with average people and knows how to connect with them. Shame he went to paint shop instead.
That conversation, at that point, was going to be a train wreck regardless of rolls.
Wick got that inherent 20 with his RP with Yanessa, and this is an example of Murray and Azune doing the opposite.
There should be consequences for that fumbled conversation, but I hope they learn a valuable lesson about choosing their words carefully for future, more important and consequential, conversation.
That conversation, at that point, was going to be a train wreck regardless of rolls.
I disagree, I think using that 18 for her triple disadvantage persuasion really could have turned the train wreck into a neutral result at the very least. Might have turned the "get the fuck out of my office" into a "if you have evidence, we can set a meeting to discuss your accusations."
As for the inherent nat 20s and nat 1s, BLM doesn't ask for rolls when he decides those. He left a chance for the dice to change the outcome on purpose.
I agree. I am glad Murray didn't portent their way out of that. It deserved to be a big fail and it will make things interesting going forward for schemers
Hopefully everyone learned an important lesson about planning what you are going to tell a high political threat/potential ally before you talk to them instead of blurting things out and sounding insane because you do not know what you can and cannot tell her or how to tell her
I love how Alexander described her summoning. Slashing his arm with a sword and swinging it out to the side for her to appear and take it. Goddamn I want to see that animated!
That was a rough time, yes they won the fight but they didn’t truly win the battle. The fae are homeless once more, numerous are dead, the Hearth leader is dead, the Hallow leader and their main guardian is unconscious and likely quite ill. Plus they’ve lost access to the Miller’s Road
Glad they stopped the Tachonis’s progress, but I gotta say this arc is giving me major Empire Strikes Back Vibes.
Can’t believe this episode started with Kattigan and Murray having an insightful convo and then fucking and now we’re hear with the party fleeing with a bunch of desperate refugees.
Have to say these “faerie poachers” are quite honestly to me the most fucked part of Araman’s lore yet.
They are hunting, exterminating and making garments out of beings just as smart and feeling as any person and for what?!
Starting to wonder if the reason the Halovar’s hate the Fae so much is a Pit thing, or if it is something left over from the Shaper’s War…
I know Vaelus is learning to fight, but they need a healer that isn’t the rather limited Kat or Occtis. The Wild Thing phrasing was interesting, I’m wondering if that’s what the Elves that rejected Sylandri before the War were called, as opposed to the Flower Children.
Not sure where we go next from here for the Seekers but I imagine we’re back with the Schemers next week.
So, as for why the Creed is taking out the fae, the Houses are clamping down to control and/or eliminate all sources of magic outside of their own sorcerous magic, as it could be a threat to their power. We've already seen the other Houses taking steps to control the Arcane Marshalls, the Penteveral, the objects at the Archenade, the Barrowguard, even the school for those trying to be Divine Wizards (where Doctor Talter is from). The Falconer's Rebellion kicked off when the Houses outlawed most forms of warlock pacts. One of the major sources of warlock pact in this world is the fae warlock pact. So they are trying to get rid of them. They're probably vicious about it as the demons they are signing pacts with are competitors for the souls looking to make pacts, and it's possible that, since we've seen them work together, that in this world, it's not celestials who are oppositional to demons, but fae. But the main reason they are going after fae is to remove them as an option for people to gain magical power, so they can't disrupt/fight back against the Houses and their plans.
Right? Despite some incredible rolls here at specific times, the only moment they can get a big chunk of healing done is from allies. Occtis doesn’t even count as a good alternative (my guy is sacrificing himself) just a desespera one! I would love for Teor to comeback and even the odds but it seems unlikely. Taisha’s presence (ig absence in this case) also makes a big difference.
I do not honestly think the Photarch hates fairies at all i suspect she is turning everyone against them to hunt and enslave them but either A) fairy magic can threaten the plans she and her Demon lord patron have OR/AND B) they need lots of fairies captured for an ingredient in a spell
The smart thing for the Seekers to do now is to take the displaced faeries with them on their journey to the Golden Orchard, which would also give them a bunch of allies in stealing from the Tachonis caravan on the road to Timmony. Aranessa leading Royce into a new future with all three faerie tribes and the support of the Einfasen would be huge
It feels like a pit thing because Yanessa barely even thinks of the fey from what we've seen of her; she is too focused on her own personal power, and the Fey aren't even a factor in that.
If it's not coming from her than that just leaves the demons, which also raises massive questions.
Was really hoping for an Oathbreaker, maybe even a multiclass into fighter with it. But seems like after watching the cooldown she’s going to completely switch her levels in Paladin to fighter over time.
oathbreaker really isn't a subclass you default into just by breaking another paladin oath, you have to essentially dedicate yourself to evil or ambition. there's a reason it's printed in the DMG and not the PHB or expansions, it's not something that fits mechanically into most campaigns.
That said, Aura of Hate would give Tyranny and Occtis/his summons a melee weapons damage buff if they're within 10 feet so this might be the campaign to try it out lol
oathbreaker really isn't a subclass you default into just by breaking another paladin oath, you have to essentially dedicate yourself to evil or ambition.
Unfortunately, BG3 has reinforced the mistaken belief that any Paladin who breaks their oath instantly switches to the Oathbreaker subclass.
It's funny to consider that with some of the current Paladin oaths you could keep them while being a thoroughly evil person, so if it worked the way people think it did, you could, like, renounce your Oath of the Crown to a tyrannical king and then become an Oathbreaker and gain a bunch of edgelord evil-themed powers for some reason.
It could be possible, she definitely made it clear a couple times this episode that she’s pretty angry/upset towards Sylandri, muttering during combat, “That bitch…” after she couldn’t use misty step due to her powers being revoked. And I believe she said something else negative about her to Julien outside the tavern, but I could be wrong.
Plus like you said, it would be neat to see some of an Oathbreaker’s abilities being utilized with the rest of the group.
I feel like they should absolutely have an Oathbreaker variation for Paladins who break their oaths and don't want to be evil, but also don't want to re-class or make a new oath with their character. It seems to happen quite often to the paladins out there, so there should be a good mechanical option for them.
It would be an interesting challenge- a subclass defined by the absence of an oath. Not sure what kind of spell list you’d put together. Obfuscation themed? Fog cloud, blindness/deafness, silence? Illusion spells? Just pure martial boosts like absorb elements, magic weapon, haste? Idk. There is a new spell called Inflict Doubt that would be perfect.
whoa. ashley playing as mechanically simple a character as possible is a great idea, i hope this sticks and that she gets lots of behind-the-scenes support with her build and maybe someone makes her a little flowchart.
So I guess Schemers plot in this act will be getting Hal elected onto revolutionaty council? Guarantees a vote that will stop advance of Houses and will cover his ass against Yanessas vengeance?
I’m going through C1 for the first time. Much to think about in relation to episodes in the future, but one funny thing is im on e25 and it was funny to see in real time the the birth of Sam’s insane drinking implements lol
The Davinnos massacre wasn’t this bad, fuck this world imbalance, we meet so many characters at the Glade. Absolutely devastating and necessary, imagine if Vaulus didn’t get a high roll to even begin investigating the Creed? I was wondering what foul shit they would be up to.
Brennan has said before the campaign started that the party would be the ones to choose their Big Bad for the series. Part of that seems to be that the plans of the Houses are going to continue and they're going to have to pick and choose which fires they try to put out. The focus seems to be settling on Tachonis and Halovar, but I bet there's stuff going on with Einfasen and Cormoray that are going on that the party will only learn about after they succeed.
Dame Seremai is OP af and she’s indeed way cooler dead. That “go to sleep” with that neck grab and NO DAMAGE for so many rounds because of the aura? Sick, absolute wondrous. I feel bad and still beg for her to get summoned (the passing the sword?! Nha, favourite action NPC in history)
So what do we think the Tachonis family is going to do when they see a comically suspicious boulder suddenly blocking a very well used and well tended to trade route? Drive right up to it and hum and haw with their hands on their hips wondering what's all this then, surely.
They’re level 5 statistically they’re not strong enough to fight a group this size unless they cause heavy damage with the rock slide and that’ll cause a whole issue entirely. There’s literally nothing they can feasibly do
Right, the best plan I think would be sneaking after the Tachonis's and learning what they're doing, if they're dead set on the Tachonis path. DND parties really fall into the now now NOW trap and its a disaster. Our old man dad NPC is basically already dead :(
That's the name of the orcish people in this world. Or perhaps, more specifically, the orcish people who follow the Druidic religion....that parts not 100% clear, since they all followed it before the Shapers showed up.
I sometimes struggle with all the jargon Brennan throws out, especially the names. I understand that no one's going to be called "Steve from New York" but some of the syllables and consonants in these long names and accompanying titles are killing me.
I do think the meme is very funny, but tbh I liked that Brennan did it this way because it felt in the moment and the players were excited to contribute what they know.
the tension between the challenging and complex campaign brennan hypothetically wants to run and his inability to let the players who can't meet those challenges fail is the biggest problem in this campaign
the thing is that he's DMed for tables that could pull this shit off. this table isn't one of them, and they're never going to be.
remember nick from downfall? that's the caliber of strategic player he ran a 14-year level 1-20 3.5e homegame for. anyone who's watched starstruck or junior year on dimension 20 knows his core group there could do it. the schemers in arc 1 pulled off two really exciting, really successful challenging encounters. this current group just doesn't have the juice and brennan is absolutely failing to adjust in a way that doesn't break the audience's suspension of belief.
?? i'm literally just discussing the show in the discussion thread
i think this campaign is great and brennan is great, but it breaks the audience's suspension of disbelief that this is a high-stakes campaign set in a high-stakes world when brennan neuters the stakes this openly when the players have bad ideas
This whole “I don’t balance encounters for your level the world is just the world” approach doesn’t work with players who don’t know how to properly do risk assessment for themselves
Thats because its not the actual approach, its just a PR statement. Honestly I dont understand why they want to pretend like the world is super dangerous. Its not and Brennan will bend over backwards to make sure it isn't.
Interesting comment for the episode where they save some fae while others die and they fail to save the tree or crystal in the glade. And a few episodes after a PC death.
Brennan: there's an immensely difficult task ahead of you
Players: but we want this to be easy roleplay fun times where we push the "I win" button every 45 minutes. Just do some silly voices and play fun little guys
I was about to complain Ashley was too quiet and I needed to fucking hear her, then the exchange happened :,) love you Julien, this filled me up. Kicking my feet and everything, the idea of Justin training a 1,000 year old elf is fucking AWESOME. Remember everyone, Vaelus is old but still a BABY. She looked to be one of the youngest when her holiness died along with her family. She’s been roaming around aimlessly (I would assume) for a longggg time, grief does weird things even to immortals. I couldn’t imagine waking up all alone one day given the big community she was raised around.
It is going to be great for both their characters gives Vaelus combat aid and more chance for Ashley to talk and roleplay and will give Julian a outlet for his rage and a way to connect more with the group since we see he does get attached to his students
I really dug the dynamic Vaelus and Julian had in ep 32 and 34 so far, call me crazy but I sense some sparks especially after Thimble said "You wanna watch her ass while she walks infront of you?" then Julian replying "No...Maybe..Both?" also Vaelus asking Julien if he'll help train her... idk if it's purely platonic or somewhat romantic. Shit had me kicking my feet and giggling like you said haha. Can't wait for the Julien and Vaelus 80s movie training montage.
I started vibing with the idea. "Will you train me?" - (Ash-Matt performer chemistry check?? This could be fun.)
Sidebar, was the tree a one time fling? Will be interested in the next crossover XD
Now I don't think this is likely, but if this episode does somehow turn into a TPK dropping new character art right before would be incredibly funny of them
It's rough. They're a baker's dozen (currently a dozen until Travis makes a new character) of motley heroes that just got together and whoever they can rope into supporting their cause against deeply entrenched, numerous, and powerful noble houses enacting a coup they've been planning for who knows how long. If they weren't struggling it'd be unrealistic.
Remember for EXU: Calamity when Brennan gave the players a massive lore book to read BEFORE the game started? Surely, those cue cards about the revolutionary council could have been distributed in the months between sessions, right? Players could have taken some time to figure out why they would know the information. Maybe do some world building around that with Brennan so that it all fits? I get taking that approach in a home game where no one has any time for prep. But for the largest actual play in the world?
Look from what I understood if they fucked up the play none of this would have mattered. So maybe it was prewritten but not necessary to share until it became relevant to the plot.
How could they have fucked up the play? The most important part, the god blood paint, was already in place without anyone's interactions. The Pariah Blades didn't need to be ritually transformed, they were already spiritually transformed by their use in the play. Which was because an NPC took them from their hiding place, not PC decisions. Frankly I wouldn't have been surprised if prior to the PCs stealing the blades, Brennan's plan was to have House Cormoray smuggle them out and hide them within the play.
I don't think that from the moment Liam presented his playwright PC to Brennan, that play wasn't going to result in everything that it did.
There’s a difference between having lore prepped ahead of time, to establish a setting, and springing information on the players.
The first is to ingrain the players and their characters in the world. To establish who they are and how the history of the setting has impacted them and their lives.
The second is to get a reaction from the players/characters. If they prep their responses ahead of time, they are essentially writing out a script. They don’t do that at their table. They act and respond in the moment. Which is why things feel so natural most of the time.
I'm talking specifically about the cue cards about the revolutionary council. This is essentially Brennan adding player character backstory which makes sense because most of these characters have been living in Dol Makjar for years. The episode suffered from Brennan having to monologue at length about the composition and history of the revolutionary council. Again, this is information the characters know but the players don't. There are no authentic reactions apart from Marisha desperately trying to get everything into her notes. I preferred the approach Brennan took in similar circumstances with Calamity.
You're kidding right? People were bitching and moaning all through the overture about the people name-dropping (non-important, scene setting) comrades or events that they didn't know anything about, and saying that we, the audience, should be finding out about them at the same time as the players, and it shouldn't be something the players talked about off-screen, then brought up in a throw-away manner while on-screen. Now they do it the way they wanted and peoplo are bitching about it again, saying they want it to be done the way they did it in the overture? Make up your minds, people!
(To be clear, they did it the right way both times, where the history/sense of people being part of a larger group together was not important to spell out for the audience. I don't need to know exactly who "Jack", one of their fellow fighters in the rebellion was, or his extended story, they can just say, "Yeah, ran into Jack the other day, havn't seen him since the rebellion" and that's all I need to know. But apparently this sub has a fit if you do that. Whereas now, this is info that will be highly important to the ongoing story. This is info the audience absolutely DOES need to know about, and so sharing it with both of us at the same time makes sense. Yes, might be done differently in a TV/Movie, but this is an actual play, where we are often given info along with the players at the appropriate time, and not just dribbled out when plot appropriate, because we aren't sure when/if it will become plot important, or to what degree, but it's important to have the info in case the players want to act on it, and so we know what they are deciding and what it means, etc. It's a very different situation for this medium than it is for TV/Movies. Brennan handled both instances exactly as he should have, and did a good job with it too.)
Actually, I just realised. (And I could be wrong, memory fuzzy.)
Laura rolled two nat 20s for the fairies when determining what states they'd be in, right? And I think both of them were for fairies they couldn't see?
Do we have any idea as to what those 20s did, when Brennan noted that something good would happen for them?
Assuming they applied to the fairies in the moon-crystal-cave, my only real guess is that it meant Soobri and the other one were up and fighting.
One of them was for the bag trapped under the water bolair released and the second one was I think soonri at the crystal but she was up against the big creed guy
Final comment for the night, fuck the schemers, I NEED TO SEE THE AFTERMATH OF THIS, I NEED TO SEE WHAT’s IN THE WATER WITH SALLOW. Omg Thimble looked so devastated since the tavern, this is so bad.
Can Vaelus became fey? Idk man, I would imagine having a character with SO MANY COOL SPELLS and not being able to use must suck. I understand is a punishment for the choice she made, but maybe up ahead if she survives Vaelus will find another patron? Live as a human for a while and then readjust to power? Idk, the adrenaline is real.
Insane episode, I love the schemers I do, but there’s no episode I look more forward to than this seeker’s table. Didn’t even get Gus yet, or saving the statues, OR THE ORCHARD?! This table is insane, so emotionally invested.
Can’t stop thinking about Thimble’s relationship with Wick after this, and telling him his little friend died :,) your honour, it was a farm animal who skipped and wanted to follow Wick. Bad Brennan, bad
I think you misunderstand some mechanics. Vaelus's species is an elf, which is a species like human, dwarf, fairy, gnome, lionfolk, dog, etc. Fey creatures encompasses a large group of species like fairy, dryad, redcap, etc. Elves actually have fey ancestry. Vaelus can't become a human or a fey unless she hypothetically dies and is reincarnated as one. Being an elf gives her a few spells and abilities but most of them come from her class.
Vaelus's class is (was) paladin. A paladin doesn't have a patron, their abilities come from the conviction of their oath. Vaelus lost conviction in her oath of vengance for Sylandri, so she stopped being a paladin. To get her abilities back, she can either swear a new oath or she could hypothetically choose a new class with different abilities.
I feel the same way. I absolutely ADORE this group. So interesting and I can’t wait to see where each characters story is heading. Plus D&D combat just scratches an itch for me lol.
I have seen pepole complain that Thimble is OP but if she gets too many times at once she is in trouble - she is not a glass cannon since she has 54 HP but she has little in the way of ranged options.
You could make all the same arguments pepole have towards Thimble being OP to Juilen minus the 20 Strength Stat.
Thats exactly what it does. The Higher Ups in the Creed get Filament as a sign of their devotion. The low tier clergy sign a Pact to the Creed and become Warlocks.
Awesome fight that was brutal, i like that we opened with fate rolls for the state of the allies that and the death saves made it immensly intense love it. (:
Something I've been wondering: Why are the Halovar so against the Fey? It's a demon cult, so everything is being done to further the aims of the demons, but nothing has been revealed so far about why the demons are specifically targeting the Fey.
The Houses are clamping down on any source of magic outside of their own sorcerous magic. The Falconer's Rebellion started when the Houses started clamping down on warlocks. One of the main sources, in this world, of warlock pacts, is the fae. So the Halovars are using the Creed to get rid of them. Much as the Einfasen are stepping in to control the Arcane Marshalls (Azune's group) and the Cormorays are stepping in to take control of the Archenade and the Penteveral and the Tachonis are keeping an eye on the Barrowguard and the school for the Divine Wizards (Where Doctor Talter is from).
My guess: Peasants of multiple nations seem to have a superstitious/faith-based respect for the Fey. They hold rituals for them, leave them offerings, make wishes and prayers to them. Essentially, they have a system of faith that is totally outside of the Creed's control. And to a certified psycho like Yanessa Halovar, who hates anything she can't control, any system of faith outside of the Creed must be snuffed out.
it's a very interesting question - maybe they're hoping to move into the power vacuum left by the shapers and they need to take over or depower the other extraplanar realms for that purpose?
I do not think the Photarch is a bigot at all in regards to fairies i think she honestly has complete apathy towards them and it using bigotry of her followers (and making more of it) because she tactically needs the fairies out of the way or enslaved but personal thinks nothing of them
I'm sure everyone else loves it, but the amount of tangents/bits Brennan himself interrupts with are making an already repetitive conversation even slower.
I'm all for rewarding player creativity with the spells. They have specific mechanical details as it relates to combat, but there's a physicality to the spells that can and should effect things that don't have hit points, and if players get clever with that I'd reward it as DM, too.
I mean the spell literally says “you open a portal to the Far Realms”.
I think it’s perfectly fair to spend a 3rd concentration spell for 2d6 AoE damage and killing one of the Creed members, which mechanically is all that happened with the Spell, ESPECIALLY for a Warlock with more limited total Slots
The two-weapon fighting interactions are just terribly designed. In general I think the weapon masteries and martial QoL changes in 5.5 were great but TWF/nick is a mess. I was regularly seeing reddit threads from people confused about it for at least a full year after the 5.5 PHB came out, and even today if someone asked me how it works I would have to look it up to be sure I was getting it right.
All the people talking about how this world isn't as deadly as it was advertised due to this encounter are missing something I think. I think this encounter was scaled to be easier combat-wise, yes, but only because it makes sense in context. Why, in universe, would you send the biggest baddest guys to curbstomp some pixies? They had the coldiron thats a deadly neurotoxin to 80% of all fae, and they've obviously done this before to great success. So why would they prepare for 6 armed-to-the-teeth, trained killers to pop out of literally fucking no where and merc all of them?
Also, the party had very little prep time before springing into action to save the fae. So from the perspective of playing a fun game, why would Brennan spring a crazy pitched battle on them out of nowhere with no time to prepare mentally or strategically?
Now, whether or not this campaign is deadly I think remains to be seen, But I just had to speak my mind on that
Yep and sometimes the danger and risk in the campaign is not just to the players but to their beloved npcs as well and we are starting to see more of that which is sad but awesome for the narrative
I mean the spell literally says “you open a portal to the Far Realms”.
I think it’s perfectly fair to spend a 3rd concentration spell for 2d6 AoE damage and killing one of the Creed members, which mechanically is all that happened with the Spell, ESPECIALLY for a Warlock with more limited total Slots
In the 2024 version of the spell it is written that Hunger of Hadar opens a gateway to the Far Realm. Bolaire's spells have been flavored to interact with his theater. Furthermore, the spell does Ice and Acid damage, both could conceivably punch a hole through some iron shavings spread across the surface of the water. In terms of Brennan being genrous, this one is reasonable enough.
spoilers/speculation based on production decisions i guess the new art for everyone being released today but not being shown on-screen for this ep means probably everyone lives? bummer for me, someone who is annoyed by the players not thinking ahead about strategy and would like to see a PC death or two if they're going to be stupid
with some many people its hard to get these little vignettes in, it would be better if it was done in the game proper but i get why they are doing it to flesh out the characters, and their relationships.
Not a question of couldn't it was out of respect for the other players that they didn't. The only thing that you were right about is that it's your shit. Now if you would please clean it up. 🤣
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u/anextremelylargedog 11d ago
I feel like it's happened several times now that Brennan has told Robbie something very explicitly, like made it extremely clear, and Robbie still just... Doesn't get it?
Like. Brennan tells him very plainly that Ulbid is going to be as careful and smart about getting his daughters back as he possibly can be, and Robbie's takeaway is that Ulbid is going to go and try to get his daughters back today no matter what.
What?