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C2 Ep. 192 Eberron Reviewed 33
457 Plays9 months ago
We take a look back on the past arc and answer your questions.
This episode is brought to you by the generous donations of our amazing Show Sponsors: Laura Pickrahn, Darrin Katzska, Irene Viorritto, Ryan Royce, Darrell DeLaney, Charles Compton, Deviouspoptart, Nastasia Raulerson, David Scrams, Elizabeth Clark, Rebekah Gowman, deviouspoptart, Eðvarð Arnór Sigurðsson, Michael Clark, Jerry Theuns, Mark Stanley, and Shelby Johnson.
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Transcript
Playful Intro and Episode Overview
00:00:09
Speaker
D20 radio, your game is roll.
00:00:47
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Eberron Reviewed. I guess you should be doing this intro, shouldn't you? Even though I'm kind of hosting it, you're the guest. Yeah, you already beefed it. Welcome to Eberron Renewed, an actual play game where we game, but not today because today we reviewed.
00:01:04
Speaker
Anyway, I'm Jeff.
Retrospective on Previous Sessions
00:01:06
Speaker
And I'm Eric. Look, if by some chance this is someone's first episode, they should turn it off. So I think we're doing things right. Hi, buddy. Hey, man. How you doing? Good. So we are going to do Eberron review today. It's just Eric and I. And Eric is actually kind of taking the lead on this one. We asked weeks and weeks ago for questions for Jeff. And then Jeff got tired and didn't want to record an episode. And so Eric graciously allowed us to skip that review that week. So we are back.
00:01:34
Speaker
to do it, but also talk about the last eight episodes, right Eric? That's what you just told me? Eric's also gonna take the lead on that because he makes the things up and I've forgotten most of it.
00:01:45
Speaker
as of right now. So take it away, boss. Take your
Narrative Tensions and Character Dynamics
00:01:48
Speaker
minds back to eight weeks ago. It's the start of the new year. So, yeah, we kick things off with kind of the wake of the boat trip where, you know, everybody is recovering from moving the four sails. So Aeris is scarred up pretty bad. But the main impetus of kind of the six episode arc that we had
00:02:11
Speaker
was you all really trying to shore things up to deal with Vigo slash Aaron. It was a lot of dread hold and like clan stuff. Yeah, we got some tunnel vision. I think part of it was just we like that. I mean, obviously that's the most pressing. Yeah thing. But yeah, we very much like all right, how do we need Aaron out because we need to continue this. Yeah. Momentum that we've got.
00:02:35
Speaker
So speaking just from a high level about the nature of that arc, you all talked to Tarvel a couple times about, hey, is Erin going to be cool with us just dumping Viggo into the the Dreadhold to take her place? And you met with Koldor to kind of get a sense of
00:02:52
Speaker
his feelings about trying to break somebody out of the Dreadhold and Koldor was oddly chill about it and in fact had a plan if you all want to use it to dump a changeling that would make themselves appear as Aaron in perpetuity into the Dreadhold and
00:03:08
Speaker
Eris. I do want to say, we talk often about player knowledge versus character knowledge and desires and things like that. If you want a really good example of that, Hobb blindly believes that Tarble knows what Aaron is thinking. Because Hobb's never been in a relationship. He's like, well, they're married, so obviously he can speak for her. Jeff is not convinced that Tarble has any idea how Aaron will feel about any of this play.
00:03:34
Speaker
and is terrified. But I'm playing to the best of my ability. And you all also met, well, Alastair showed up at Raynard's apartment to break news about Calvair's death, and Trevor beefed the deception role, and so Alastair figured out that Raynard already knew about it, but not necessarily that Raynard killed Calvair.
Trust and Alliances
00:03:58
Speaker
But then you all went to Alastair to ask
00:04:02
Speaker
House Fiarlan to bag and tag Viggo. And in exchange for four sets of the teleportation pucks that Eris has developed, they will do that for you is where we're at with. Which feels like a steal. Yeah.
00:04:19
Speaker
Very much, at least from Hobbes, I have no idea what goes into making those things. Friends and family discount, all that. Right. Yeah, it seems like a steal. It still feels like the wrong move, but... Why does it feel like the wrong move? I don't know why.
00:04:35
Speaker
we were so quick to trust them just because Raynard's dad is gone. They are still a bad, he wasn't even in charge of the whole murderous enterprise. He was just a part of it. And we're like, we can trust them now. Not that we ever didn't necessarily trust Alistair, but.
00:04:52
Speaker
come on yeah you all have a there was an implicit chillness around elvenor who is the head of the murderous enterprise that was surprising to me like everybody was very chill when she started like asking and digging and talking with you all i mean you all weren't like yeah we'll tell you our life story but it was very
00:05:14
Speaker
It feels like it's extremely important when dealing with like the literal head of one of the houses to vibe match.
Political Maneuvering Against Alira
00:05:23
Speaker
And if she was being super chill and asking questions, we were going to chilli answer her question. Satan's a little different, cause it's not a dragon marked house, but in realms of power, similar thing. And it was like, if he's in a good mood, we're going to be a good mood. If he's being serious, we're going to be serious. Yeah. Yeah. Alastair agrees basically on your all's timeline. Like whenever you say go,
00:05:43
Speaker
Uh, within reason they're not going to be on retainer for you all, but they will, they will go grab Vigo. And, but probably my favorite bit of this initial six episode arc was the gathering of.
00:05:56
Speaker
The quote unquote family is very Godfather ask of getting the different subgroups of the clan together that you all felt like you could sit at a table with and agreeing to terms essentially trying to feel all of them out to see will you support us.
00:06:14
Speaker
trying to topple Alira's reign. Right. You know this thing you've worked so hard to do. We want to really shake it. Yeah. Okay. So remind me, who wasn't there? So the head of the goal was not there. Hutch showed up at about halfway through and then the new black lamps were not there.
00:06:36
Speaker
That's the one. Because I remember Hutch was basically like, hey, when this comes to bloodshed, try not to kill too many of my friends. That would be great because they're going to be against you because that's what they do. Yeah. Which I am surprised how many people were on board or or even not outright against. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's it's a you all you all walked into a room with very
00:07:05
Speaker
I don't want to say they're all very ambitious, but a lot of them are ambitious people and presented an opportunity to create a vacuum. So, you know, they're like, yeah, that's that sounds great. Sure. Right. Here are our terms to agree to that. And they all acted. Nobody in that room did not act in their self-interest, like right to to a person except for poor Dell. God bless him. Old Dell hob. Right.
00:07:35
Speaker
But everyone else, yeah, just spoke to their own personal interests. And we're like, if you as spokespeople of Aaron agree to this, then sure, we will support you because these are things that we have wanted for some time. And it either Alira has not asked them what they wanted or Alira has denied them what they wanted. But either way, they see this as a better opportunity for now. So, yeah, we should think about that. I don't know how I didn't think about
00:08:04
Speaker
someone who we know will be candid with us, just like, so how are meetings with Alira going? How is she treating the day like we didn't even consider? We got over our skis is what we did. We thought that we had way more goodwill with a lot more people than we had goodwill with. And it hasn't completely bitten us in the back yet.
00:08:23
Speaker
Yeah, but but when it does, I will not be surprised. Yeah, I mean, well, like Lady, obviously Grum, Grum has respect and goodwill for you all. We didn't get to explore that relationship, but it's something that predates the campaign of like Grum was your all's handler slash boss within the clan. Lady Briar, you all saved some of her people from the attack. You all did some goodwill. The the Ravens is the interesting one with
00:08:52
Speaker
Lisa, I think is her name, and Dell, the gambling ring, because, you know, her shifters were being attacked. But that was that was something that you all were tasked by the clan to deal with. It wasn't a.
00:09:07
Speaker
Nobody in the clan asked you to save Lady Briar's people. And so I think if you're ranking them, Lady Briar has a lot more positive feelings than Alyssa. Alyssa, I think at this point, and it'd be understandable like you all are a tool to be used. Yeah, Alyssa's ready to cut Delloose and
00:09:29
Speaker
rise in her own ranks and just kind of this was like leaving Dell to die. Yes, that was I mean, you know, in in not so many words, but and you also found out some of the backstory of like right around the start of the campaign.
00:09:42
Speaker
Lissa's dad died, who was the head of the Ravens and she stepped up into that position. But there's still some question about her versus Dell in terms of who would be the better leader of the Ravens. And so there's still a kind of a political uneasiness within their little subgroup. So, so yeah, it's, it's an interesting, interesting situation that you all have created for yourselves and for Lissa and for Dell.
00:10:07
Speaker
But yeah, I just I really enjoyed you all kind of getting to sit with all of these different NPCs and kind of talk through larger plans moving forward, which was fun.
A Garden Party and New Characters
00:10:18
Speaker
Yeah, every once in a while we do the RPG equivalent of a clip show where we just bring all everybody back around to chat for a minute. And you also created Harlan LeBeouf, the bartender at Savia's. I feel like we've definitely had a bartender before. You have. I can't remember. He certainly wasn't Harlan LeBeouf.
00:10:37
Speaker
Yeah, but they were she was attached to someone else who came poking around house. There was there was a waitress who yes, there was a waitress who had to go back to house the Ronnie. Yeah, I do remember that. Yeah. Hostess or something. Yeah. So so yeah.
00:10:53
Speaker
Lots of fun NPC interactions, but not as many as the next two episodes to round out our eight episode recap, which is basically an extended Eberron reduced where we attended a garden party. So Aeris made the things for Alistair. I don't think they've been delivered yet. But then, yeah, Aeris tried to go have a chill breakfast at Soaring Spirits, not realizing the party had already started.
00:11:16
Speaker
How much of this was getting a rise out of Philip as Aeris? This is ruining all of his play. Trevor picked up that ball. I was just blocking for Trevor running that ball in because, yeah, Raynard was very into it.
00:11:32
Speaker
Well, you know, it's this funny thing where, you know, I can't even tell you what episode number it was where I innocuously mentioned that somebody was working on a garden courtyard in high walls, like all of Telling Eris, and they're going to have an opening. Please be available. But it was a while back.
00:11:51
Speaker
And just every time it got mentioned, I kind of realized, like, in my brain, I thought that could be a fun epilogue thing if the timing works out. But then it built up to a point where it was like, this should be a thing we explore when we just need to have a little bit of downtime after some heaviness. Because you brought, I mean, you brought in Dorgoth, like, yeah, unprompted. Now it was also during, was that, no, no, no, no, that was different when we were all trying to be sneaky and
00:12:19
Speaker
That was that was during yeah, Catherine's on his parents party. Never mind. Yeah, no. Yeah, Dorgoth. I kind of realized I wanted to have somebody that was working on the garden and I thought having.
00:12:30
Speaker
It was right around the same time that we were dealing with the Doshure stuff. And so I wanted to have kind of an antithetical hobgoblin to the Doshure. I thought that having a hobgoblin gardener who used to be a member of the Dargul mindset and way of life that Eris
00:12:51
Speaker
grew up in, and then it's kind of a mirroring of Eris, where Eris grew up in Kyre and then was forced to take on this other culture's state of mind and state of being, whereas Dorgoth was raised in this mindset and the state of being and chose to leave it to go to Eris's old culture.
00:13:11
Speaker
And so I thought that would be an interesting kind of mirroring of both Eris and the Dachshur. And I mean, Eris obviously did not make it hidden that she thinks the Durgos way of thinking is stupid. But yeah, that was a fun character to introduce to be the one kind of constructing this garden to remember the Chiron way of life. Yeah, no, that was, yeah. Sorry, both my monitors just went off. I guess I've been,
00:13:40
Speaker
idle for long enough. And I thought my computer was shutting down and I was like, no. Well, I'm glad that's not the case. Yeah. So yeah. Sorry. The little waveform things at the bottom are gone. It's still something though. I have waveforms. I see them on my end. If that you can see my waveforms. Yep. Okay. Then I'm going to choose to accept that it's everything's fine.
00:14:00
Speaker
So yeah, so the garden party. You all went to Soaring Spirits. Everybody was already partying. Excited to see the fixer there. Raynard brought balloons and a cake. And what's the what's the owner slash server's name? Soaring Spirits. Jarlen. Jarlen.
00:14:17
Speaker
Yerlin has just a little comment every time he pops by. He can't just hand over the stuff. Well, you guys sure aren't being weird today. Like, yeah, dog, we're having a conversation you're not part of. It's just you're always, you all are always very tense when he approaches. That is certainly true.
00:14:36
Speaker
But yeah, there was some conversations going on. Raynard's starting to give Eris crap for leading Alastair on and making it seem like Eris would be opening to working with the house long-term. Raynard was out of pocket for a while. And it genuinely took me a minute to realize he was just doing that because he had a crush on Elvran. And was like, we need to be cooler about the houses because I like a boy there. And it took a while for me to figure out what was going on. I was like, what are you?
00:15:03
Speaker
Trevor, what are you doing? This radical character shift out of nowhere. Like, I'm not surprised he forgot how he played his character, but to go that far afield. Yeah. And an additional thing that I forgot to mention is we've started seeing the presence of a serial killer in Sharn that is making Milo's life very difficult in relation to Verla. Yes, because he is a fire killer. And I understand that this is me not playing in the space.
00:15:33
Speaker
But the idea that anyone who could use fire as an offensive weapon and wanted to do some killing could be at fault here. And I understand that Milo would be a good person to rule out as a suspect. Yeah.
00:15:46
Speaker
But why is Milo still so, it's like, obviously they were doing it to frame me. Like, nah, dog, fire's good for killing. Yeah. Well, it's also, you know, the first one was Okan, who is a member of House Thirani, and for legal precedent and the capacity of the Sharn legal system to convict aside.
00:16:05
Speaker
Verla knows that Milo had something to do with Ignacio Dithrani's death. Of course, Verla is not wrong to rule. Again, like I said, if Verla gymnastics a way for us to be involved in every murder in the city, she's not wrong until proven so. Yeah. So I get it. And then the next victim being Herban Primafit, who she also was present for you all committing a heist against this person.
00:16:30
Speaker
And so all of the victims having an attachment to your group speaks to you. Yeah, but what's a little heist between friends? I take stuff from your house all the time. But yeah, the first death was Ocon. And then the next one was Herban Primafit. And through Milo's copying, verless sketch of the crime scene. Clutch move.
00:16:52
Speaker
Yeah. Great move. There might be an accomplice involved. No, not might be. There is an accomplice involved because you all were able to roll and detect that there were two people involved in killing her body. It was two people. There was fire. There was rent, flesh, as though by claws, right?
Murder Mysteries and Intrigue
00:17:09
Speaker
Yeah. And then there were boot prints wandering away. Yeah, forging the stone. Yeah.
00:17:15
Speaker
yeah main takeaways yeah so ace and somebody why ace what are you talking about he's currently driving a bicycle from hell i assume that warms up the soles of your feet a bit to scorch the pillars shameful yeah in my head it is a bicycle because pop has the motorcycle one of those big wheel ones
00:17:34
Speaker
But yeah, I'm enjoying you all. I enjoyed the first murder happening, and Milo bring it to the group and be like, bah, probably fine. And then the next one happened, and you finally fill up going, maybe we should think about this. I feel like this is just going to keep happening. Eric's going to make this one of those things that bites us in the butt eventually. I just think you need three for a pattern. Well, OK. Stay tuned, everyone. So kill somebody else, Eric. Gladly.
00:18:03
Speaker
I don't know. You're a mullet. You're literally someone you're not happy about, though. I don't know. You all aren't particularly happy about Herban dying, but... I... I think everyone in the story is expendable. That's what makes this... That's what makes it so exciting. That's fair. It's like that first season of Game of Thrones. It's like, oh, they'll kill anybody. Yeah.
00:18:20
Speaker
That's fair. And that's kind of where we left things off is you all at the garden party. We found out that Hutch and Durgoth know each other from way back in Cairn days. Yeah. We thought there was going to be a scrap for a second. Yeah. That was a fun little build. And then Hob showed that he is the strongest boy at the garden party. Well, the strongest sapient boy.
00:18:41
Speaker
from flipping what's the golems name he has not done the the feat of strength yet so okay or did egret do it no he did it and he sent the belt well there was no rolling philip said egret sent the bell into the orbit and i got upset because he can't even take joy in it
00:18:59
Speaker
That's not fair. But yeah, it opens dealing with the aftermath of not like of his hand being cut off. Milo obviously is missing an eye, which took Sigil aback, running into Sigil at the garden party. So it was a fun little, hey, here are all the people attached to Kyre that have been in the game so far coming together. So yeah, we should catch up with Sigil. I don't know if Sigil just fully off in his own life now, like has Sigil.
00:19:26
Speaker
Sigil is chillin' with their Warforged buddies and, you know, just... It's a social club, you know, just hangin' out, makin' plans. No, I mean, obviously you all did a solid by helping them with the Chiron-like Eldritch engine stuff, but it's not done yet. They're working on stuff, but yeah, so... Oh, and you all also went and met with House Tarkannon. Almost forgot about that. And Thora, who... The Assassins, who work with...
00:19:54
Speaker
the the clan nearly forgot which was not a very joyous conversation for me because i'm role playing a character that philip role plays in kyber shards and does a much better job of role playing than i do so that was an interesting you were great thank you you're way better than philip's ever been i'm sure okay so listen to these who knows let's get some questions first off is let me see if we got any the q and a tier we do not philip
00:20:23
Speaker
has the first set of questions in fact. Okay pull them up. Philip asks what does a quote unquote happy ending look like for Hobb at this point? In terms of if like an immediate happy ending like when this is resolved is probably just going to be I mean the happy ending is everyone survives and Hobb just kind of goes off with follows one of them you know he's he's happy being a part of
00:20:48
Speaker
Eris or Reynard or I mean obviously Eris and Hob are closer than Reynard and Hob or Milo and Hob but that's because Milo and Reynard had lives when they met Hob and Eris didn't. Now all of our lives are each other so it feels Hob will have a difficult time separating from this but I think Nosy needs to. Fair enough. So ultimately I think Hob wants to be I don't know why this is the the comparison that popped into my head but I think
00:21:15
Speaker
Hobb's ideal life would be Thanos' life at the beginning of Endgame. Just on a little farm. Farben, completely solitary, feeding himself, clothing himself, and chilling. Make that happen. That's how
Creative Character Design and Humor
00:21:32
Speaker
Hobb wants to retire, dude. Kill the rest of the player characters, get Hobb's happy ending.
00:21:36
Speaker
They're all down the hill. Yeah. Hobb has become the villain. They are down the hill coming to kill Hobb. Philip has a question for me. Which is my favorite algorithmically created name from the campaign so far? It's a toss up for me between Norse and Millhatch and Psalm and Callaway. Those are the two of my little name creation algorithm that I like. Norse and Millhatch just has a really good ring to it, but Psalm and Callaway also I really like.
00:22:00
Speaker
Yeah, when you first said Norse and Millhedged, we all kind of went, okay, that's a good name. What about you? Do you have a favorite NPC? I'm trying to remember the first one that clued me in to your algorithm. I can't remember what it was though.
00:22:18
Speaker
It may have been Axrian Al-Swa, and I still like that one quite a bit. Yeah. I do like Axrian Al-Swa. Yeah. That may be the one that clued me in. I can't remember though. I can't. Yeah. But when I figured it out, I was like, fun. And then trying to guess what you would name the others. I never got one right. But I like Axrian Al-Swa quite a bit. Thank you.
00:22:37
Speaker
Okay. Philip has a question for the both of us of the rogues gallery. Eric has created who is your favorite? So obviously beyond name and just of the rogues gallery of villains, which, which do you like? I really liked TARDIS of the titers slash the giant lizard man, just cause obviously after the first encounter with.
00:22:59
Speaker
the lizard form there was a lot of baggage surrounding that villain with what happened to Kat's brother and it was just such an imposing force that anytime you all came across something that seemed animalistic in nature there was a question of is it this this person that is on her radar. It's Callaway. I love that character. He
00:23:21
Speaker
I like the guy the i mean it's not fair to bring up wilson fisk but like that's the type of character the guy that's just so insurmountably powerful and smart and connected and can also just crush your school.
00:23:37
Speaker
Yeah. Like he's got the money, he's got the resources, he's got the people. And if all of that fails, he can just brawl. Yes. And how do you beat that guy? And that is just, and also he knows how do you beat me? That's what I mean. I've been watching The Great about Catherine the Great. And we're just, we're just like maybe four episodes into this point where Peter is both insufferable and
00:24:04
Speaker
insurmountable. Yeah. And he's such a good character because of that. Yeah. Also just unbelievably watch. Watch The Great. It's a great show. Yeah. It's a great show. Loved it.
00:24:11
Speaker
It's it's foul. Be prepared for that. It's about the excesses of the Russian monarchy. So season one was one of me and Miley's lockdown benches. We sat down over the course of a day and watched the whole first season of that. So that was nice. Yeah, I do like Solomon Callaway a lot. And he's a very fun. He's a very fun character to roleplay because I feel like the rest of the rogues gallery, even Norse and Milhach, to a certain extent, just like what you're saying in a conversation, you always have the option to just
00:24:40
Speaker
punch to just break out into a fight. But you all are even aware, have the wherewithal enough to know like we could try to punch this guy, but we don't know what will happen. Truly don't know what he can do. Yeah. Because the other thing is like if it was within his ability, he would crush Milo's skull in the first move.
Villain Complexity
00:25:01
Speaker
And then we would be like, yeah, everybody's got a plan to get punched in the mouth. Like all of a sudden we're not attacking. We're trying to save Milo. Yeah.
00:25:07
Speaker
And we're done. Well, and he's the type of villain that keeps his cards close to his chest. Like, you don't... For him to show what he's capable of means that he has lost a level of control that he's uncomfortable with. Like, he never wants to be able to display what he's capable of. And, yeah. You know, I did like about Akshay and Al-Sawa. One thing I liked about him is he's the first... Well, not maybe not the first.
00:25:32
Speaker
but the most blatant character we've come in contact with in, I think, either campaign, where it's like, I am not unreasonable. If anything, I'm wildly opportunistic. Just give me something better than these wings that have made my life easier, and I'll go for it. Whatever, guys, fine, sure. I just liked that. It was like, yes, I will diffuse this how you want me to, as long as it's beneficial for me. OK, Becca has a question for us. What's our favorite smell, i.e. candle slash incense?
00:26:00
Speaker
I have a, an actual answer, which is I really like sandalwood, like those candles that have a sandalwood component. I really enjoy for a while. I had a candle that was bonfire in my office and I was burning it one day. And then I got really panicked and started checking my computer to see what was smoking because I could smell fire. And then realized maybe this isn't the best candle to have around my electronics. So yeah, I'm the same. I like the.
00:26:26
Speaker
leather, sandalwood, palisanto, any of those kind of herbaceous. I was a really big fan of tobacco, like candles, yeah. I had a student, so I had a student, one student that I had for three years, because her first year was 2019, 2020, and wanted to come back and do the full program. So regardless, the first Christmas that she got me a present, she got me this little soy-based candle. And I, being a person who likes to affirm my students, was like, I,
00:26:53
Speaker
Really like that candle smell that smells great I burned the whole thing it's already gone so she thought mr. Forsey loves candles and the next year I got like like legit like a dozen of these huge they were like man candles like amazing tobacco and sandalwood and all this stuff and I I Think I thought a couple around here somewhere, but I burned them constantly
00:27:12
Speaker
I love all of those spice and leather smells. Now air freshener, clean linen or vanilla all the way, but a candle, I want that smokiness.
00:27:32
Speaker
But he understands that it is not a good reason to be a whiny baby. And so he's just kind of busy for a couple of days. He tries to avoid people. Yeah. But yeah, no, he's not pleasant when he has a cold, but he's also not. He doesn't take it out on anybody else. He's just a fussy little baby. Yeah. Sorry. I did skip a question. Laura would like to know what's our favorite of Becca's random questions that Becca has asked thus far. I think I know yours. I think I can answer yours.
00:27:59
Speaker
Favorite house plant. Favorite house plant. Yeah, that's because you and Philip talked for a half an hour about your favorite house plants. And it was a nightmare to edit. I love I do love talking about my plants. But more than that, anytime the first thing I thought about is any of the food ones I can talk about. Yeah. All day long. Becca asked a while back about our favorite mythological creature. And I really enjoyed that. That was a fun one to think through. What's important is we love the Becca off topic questions never stop. Yes.
00:28:25
Speaker
Liz also would like to know, would Hob ever have thought Milo would go off by himself to take someone out? Because we kind of left that part out of that. Milo found out Vigo was released from prison when Milo was on his way to go do something about Vigo. Yes, which was what? No, Milo. No, Hob would have never assumed that Milo would do that. I think that now that my Hob knows Milo has. I think Hob because he is that Hob is not emotionally unintelligent. He's not.
00:28:55
Speaker
the most open eyed person though. So he's going back and thinking about Milo the last few weeks and going, okay, actually this, he has been going, he's a bit unraveling. Yeah. So he's, he wasn't surprised. He wasn't knocking him over with a feather surprise when he heard about it, but he would have never assumed that. Absolutely not. Not in a million years. Eris. Yes. In fact, he's surprised. Eris hasn't gone rogue more often. Yeah, that's fair.
00:29:21
Speaker
Reynard, who knows? You can't be surprised by Reynard. Reynard also went off by himself to go take someone out and it worked out incredibly well. Yeah. Importantly, Reynard did not take off to do that. Yes, fair. It fell into his lap. Kevin has a few questions for you, Jeff.
00:29:40
Speaker
Jeff, are you going to give in to your natural inclinations and play an intentionally faced character for campaign three? Since you end up doing a lot of the talking anyway, might as well have a character that mechanically supports that. No, I am playing a bard in our home game. And it's the first time I've played anybody where I can actually say things confidently knowing my charisma score will back up what I'm saying. And it's been kind of fun.
00:30:05
Speaker
but I just don't wanna build that character for the podcast. I wanna be a stupid magician, and if I end up having to do most of the talking, that's fine, because all of us are equipped to do that. No, I will probably not, now I may build a charisma build that just has some, catches some strays in social stuff, because I'm gonna play a magic user that charisma might be helpful, but I just don't see myself building
00:30:35
Speaker
that character, at least not for this time. I want to play a magic user. I've never played a magic user. I like being occasionally. I like being the face of the party. I like the damage control. I like being the damage control guy when Eris and Milo and Reynard pop off and do dumb stuff. And I'm like, okay, hang on. Let's... Yeah. Can I talk to you for a minute over there? Like I enjoy being that guy. It's fun. Yeah. But I don't know that I ever want to be the guy. I don't want to be Chris Pine in the movie.
00:31:00
Speaker
who throws the doors open and sachets in and begins to enrapture people with his silver tug. Yeah.
00:31:08
Speaker
Yeah, and I think it's one of those things where our dynamic on the podcast and the dynamic of the players present doesn't necessitate somebody that is comfortable doing the talking because you all are comfortable talking as your characters. I think there are a lot of tables and games out there where a lot of the players aren't comfortable role playing for whatever reason.
D&D Game Dynamics: Home vs. Podcast
00:31:29
Speaker
And so it's nice to have somebody that has that confidence and builds a character that mechanically can get the players out of sticky situations.
00:31:36
Speaker
But which I think your role in our home game that is beneficial to have because you pay with a bunch of chaos goblins that love to just antagonize not not the NPCs, the dungeon master. So you guys would not believe how grown up I am during our home game. I am the order. I am the salve. I am the gentle wave. And my wife is the meanest D&D player you will ever meet. She is so mean to me.
00:32:06
Speaker
My Thea's never seen a puddle she can't throw a bomb into to see what happens. It's amazing. Okay, Kevin has another question. How has it been playing the most socially aware member of the crew of Misfits? Is it weird being the most moral center? I don't know that I would say I am the most socially aware in the sense of... I don't want to use the word, it almost came out of my head.
00:32:29
Speaker
societal awareness. I think Eris actually has a much better handle on what life is actually like for most people in sharn. I am the most socially graceful person in the group. Which if that if that's if that's if that's what you're asking, I think I think that's what yeah, yeah, is like the social situation situational awareness and social settings. Yes, I have an I have an EQ that is higher than the rest of the group. It's fun.
00:32:55
Speaker
Go ahead. I want to ask you though, was that your, and I think I know the answer, was that your intention with Hobb or was it something born out of necessity because one of the players had to do that to prevent every NPC from just hating you all? I think Hobb was always going to be low key. I always, originally he was going to be much more silent. I think I've said that a thousand times. Generally low key, which includes not making it more waves than they need to.
00:33:24
Speaker
I think I always had it in my mind that I was going to try to come behind and straighten things, but it was going to be way more grunt and look mean and don't cross us. As our group turned less from a bunch of bully brawlers to a bunch of inept
00:33:44
Speaker
ding dongs. We're not inept. We're not inept, but we are ding dongs. It became less about being the guy saying, don't retaliate. And the guy saying, please just chill. We don't mean it. Yeah. Well, it's interesting dynamic because you have like, I think there are certain roles that
00:34:18
Speaker
aloof as Reynard or Milo in social situations, it would be very difficult for you all to get anything done diplomatically in a campaign. It would become very difficult to navigate the social stratosphere of Sharn, especially the stakes with which you all sometimes find yourselves in talking to NPCs. So that's an interesting dynamic that's kind of emerged.
00:34:25
Speaker
players can get forced into.
00:34:43
Speaker
perhaps a necessity. I do like, and I know this is, it is not a visual medium. And I, I mean, I certainly am not picturing things all the time when we're playing. I can't imagine listeners are when they're listening. But I do like the idea that anytime somebody meets these four people for the first time, and they walk into a room, they assume that's the big guy who is just there to protect or whatever. And when I end up being the voice of reason at the end, I like the deck. Yeah. I like to assume that among, among new people, that would be,
00:35:13
Speaker
a boon. Yeah. You know, people who don't know us yet to be thrown off by Harris pulling a gun out and the big guy go, OK, hang on. Yeah. So yeah. No, I like that. So it's a fun. It was a fun dichotomy when it started. And now it's just who he is. And I can't imagine I can't extricate that from him. I can't imagine him being anything other than the negotiator. Yeah, fair. Kevin asked, do you see Hobb joining the demon hunting group in any reality?
00:35:39
Speaker
I can't imagine a way that he does. He didn't buy in hard enough to that stuff. And he doesn't not believe it, but they were true believers. And he's not there. I think, honestly, I think that that would be one of those things that he would have gone with them then if he was going to go. Because it was pressing to them. So he would have gotten whipped up in that fervor with them and didn't.
00:36:04
Speaker
I
Character Motivations and Future Paths
00:36:05
Speaker
could see him going and helping them occasionally, or if they're nearby and he hears from them, I could see him going to be a part of that because he does get itchy to get in a fight. Yeah. And this is, you know, we have never had our campaign venture into this part of Eberron, so there's no reason why you would have a strong knowledge of this. But this particular group, I mean, it is like.
00:36:25
Speaker
It's kind of the nice watching Game of Thrones where you don't leave it. Like once you've joined it, like you, you venture into the demon waste to go kill demons until you die kind of thing. It's time for you to, to be done. And I, I'm even in fact, kind of taking a little bit of liberties by having them venture away from the demon wastes, but that's a inclination as a demon in this world. And Kevin Keith Baker agrees. So deal with it anyway.
00:36:50
Speaker
Kevin also asked, how frustrated does Hobb get trying to protect the liabilities, dot, dot, dot, I mean, the rest of the crew. The only time Hobb gets frustrated is when he explicitly says, here's what you did that got us in trouble, and then they do it again. Yeah, it doesn't happen a lot. Milo is the worst offender. Yeah, that's, that's the only time Hobb, Hobb wants to be like, well, now you're on your own.
00:37:11
Speaker
You, I made it very clear that this was a problem and you problem. So now you can handle the problem. Yeah. But I don't think he ever, he might, he might, he might one day be like, oh no, if it's a small stakes thing, like, no, you're just going to get your butt kicked. Yeah. You know, an important part of gentle parroting that Hob knows is they have to deal with the consequences that you've established. So, you know, sometimes you got to take your licking, man. I just, sorry. Kevin also, and I think this is a good question for every person on the podcast. How many abilities do you forget about in a session?
00:37:42
Speaker
Just to cross over to me as a player, I have been playing a Hexblade Warlock in Kyber Shards for a couple years now. I, two sessions ago, remembered Hexblade's Curse, which is a central function of that character that you get at first level. And I just had not used it at all and finally remembered, oh, that's an important thing I should be using.
00:38:03
Speaker
all the time so there are a lot that I that I don't. I mean I mean I have a talent tree in front of me when we're playing so that helps a lot it's not like when it was trying to remember various items in yeah we had that that's a nightmare for me yeah but having that talent tree in front of me really helps
00:38:24
Speaker
Now a lot of times, like I have some talents that I love, but they're so situational, like leaping attack rules, but it really has to be the right time. Whereas Loom, I'm constantly saying like, hey, can you guys please do something charming so that if it succeeds, we can add some advantage to this or whatever. Now what I do, what I am very bad about is anything that Phillip has made for me,
00:38:47
Speaker
because what he does is takes a picture of what it does in his notebook and sends me that picture and then I promptly forget to do anything with it. There have been sessions where I've been sitting across from Philip scrolling through our text messages trying to find like, okay, how many range bands does this thing move people? To try to find that picture. And that's on me, I should write it down. So the stuff that Aeris has made for Hob, I'm sure there are things that I've never used since she made them for me. I'm sure of it. But as far as the talents and abilities,
00:39:15
Speaker
It's a lot easier with the, oh goodness, what is the RPG sessions, character sheets that we have makes it a lot easier to keep track of those. Yeah, for sure. What I'd love to know is how Trevor keeps forgetting to spend XP on ability. Yeah, Trevor is in D&D terms, I think playing a level five character in a level 15 campaign and thriving, honestly. And that's always Trevor's response when you give him crap is like, I am happy with what Raynard is capable of doing. Like, I do not feel like I am being diminished in any way.
00:39:44
Speaker
What pizza would Hob order? What's Hob's pizza order? You know, there's an asceticism that makes me think cheese, but there's a familiarity that makes me think barbecue chicken, but it's definitely one of the two.
00:39:59
Speaker
Yeah. I think that, I think that Hob is not, Hob has his order. He's not a picky eater. Hob probably says, get what you want. Yeah. And I will eat what shows up. So, but if he's up, if he's up, if someone asks him what kind of pieces you want, he's like, I don't know, just cheese is whatever. It's fine. Gus has a question for me. Eric, what's your favorite way of using the Dalq here in Eberron campaigns and which Dalq here is your favorite?
00:40:22
Speaker
I don't think I need to say which delcure is my favorite is Bela Shira because you never forget your first. Bela Shira was the first delcure I used and is consistently my favorite. I don't even remember where I read this. I want to say it was Keith Baker making an allusion to them being used in this way, but it might have been some other source.
00:40:41
Speaker
I love using delkir to break the fourth wall. I really like delkir knowing the player's character sheets and like knowing exactly what their abilities are and operating outside of the realm of the game. And I like talking to the player's characters in a way that is also that also alludes to meta knowledge of
00:41:03
Speaker
the game and so to go back to campaign one this is a little bit of spoiler stuff so i'm going to talk in a really deep voice and skip ahead use your skip ahead button if i'm still talking like this i'm still talking in spoiler territory so in campaign one when bellashira first showed up randy was still playing therodak as a character
00:41:26
Speaker
and I had Belashira talking to the player characters look at Theradak and say, but I don't see you playing a big role in this story because I as the DM already knew that Randy was sick of playing Theradak and wanted Theradak to move on from the game.
00:41:43
Speaker
And so I added that little dig in there to allude to what was going to happen to Theradak. Anyway, so that's how I really like using Delkir in the game is breaking the fourth wall a little bit and having a metatextual knowledge of the game.
00:41:59
Speaker
How do you like Dalkyr, Jeff? I just can't get over what you just did with your voice for some reason. No, the Dalkyr are awful and I hate them. They have not made an appearance in anything I've ever played except for our games for the podcast. That is all of them that I know. Yeah. So basically, I just know Bela Sheer and I know that he's a punk.
00:42:19
Speaker
It's going to say more words, but you don't believe them. I do like the way that you do the deck. I do like the way that you play Bellish here. I like that. I mean, it's almost like Callaway. It's just like, what am I going to do? Yeah. You know, say what you want and do what you want, because. Yeah. And that's the thing. Like, I know that in D&D fifth edition and I think D&D fourth edition, third edition, there were monster cards for the deck here.
00:42:44
Speaker
which I understand the need to provide those, but I disagree with them and I typically
00:42:53
Speaker
they those are not representative of the delkir there in my games because in my brain the instant you give something a monster card the instant you give something stats the players can kill it and delkir should be more of a force of nature than an enemy that can be overcome through swords and spells and so sure you could punch belashira in the mouth that that is going to go poorly for you in like
00:43:21
Speaker
Defeating Adelkir should be an entire storyline within a campaign, potentially multiple storylines within a campaign that is not resolved via an initiative border in my brain. And so that is just a warning to all of my players. Do not just try to attack Adelkir because, oh, no, it'd be like running up and punching a mountain like, OK, yeah, I think I could do it, though. You hit nothing happens like you've punched the mountain. So, so yeah.
00:43:49
Speaker
I hear you, but I think I could take out a dog here. I mean, you're more than welcome to try. I think it's very telling that nobody made any attempt to help Milo when Bella Sherry showed up like it was just like, well, that's happening. So I
Campaign Conclusion and Narrative Priorities
00:44:01
Speaker
was busy. Yeah, fair. Ophelia would like to know what callbacks, old plot lines or previous NPCs would you like to see before the campaign wraps up? And my answer is good God, none of them. This campaign has gone on for so long. Let the past stay in the past.
00:44:17
Speaker
hey bud quit using triumphs to bring new bad guys in and the campaign might wrap up you are a victim of your own making sir i know i'm a victim of sam stewart's making but no i i i like a lot of the previous npc's and stuff like that that we have existed but i i have personally come to terms because i for a long time
00:44:38
Speaker
I had plans for a lot of callbacks and like resolving a lot of the untold stories that happened in the campaign. And I eventually hit a point where I was like, you know what? A lot of this stuff is going to be epilogue fodder and that's OK. Like we don't need to wrap everything up. We can just continue moving forward. But I would love to know your answer, Jeff, on.
00:44:57
Speaker
Well, you know, it's tricky since you're the DM. I don't want it feels like this to say these things feels to to manipulate them. What is it to observe it is to change it? Yeah, but I need Kath and sauna resolution. Before this is over, even if it's just in the epilogue, even if the resolution is they never talk again, I just need closure. I guess closure has been resolution.
00:45:19
Speaker
they don't need resolution for me, but I need some sort to hear how it is. I need I mean, obviously, like the big plot points. But I think as far as the smaller plot points, old NPCs, old plotlines. Have we heard from the young? I almost said young girl, but I don't think that's right. The young woman and her mom that lived in Highwall that
00:45:42
Speaker
during the murder investigation stuff. Heiress has ran into the mob. Into the mob, right. I think soaring spirits are somewhere like that, like early days of living in Highwall when Heiress is making things better. But no, haven't really heard much from them. That's my biggest one, and I know they're hardly old NPCs or small NPCs, but I need cap and sauna resolution. I would not hate to find out what's been going on in the cogs with Sigil.
00:46:10
Speaker
And i was gonna say one more but i can't remember their name so it feels a little disingenuous to say that i care about them but my buddy my recruiting buddy from narn he showed up yes he was he was in the last arc still the man is not advanced he's still standing at the docks recruiting like a
00:46:29
Speaker
I mean, real bad, bad minotaur. Yeah, he is a quote unquote monstrous individual in a house that does not celebrate those types of people. So, you know, I think maybe he's hit his ceiling, but maybe not. Who knows? Yeah, he could always stab Boomerush in his sleep. See what happens. Yeah, I didn't like that guy.
00:46:48
Speaker
You were not meant to, so great job to both of us for me putting down and you picking it up. 10 points to Eric, to Scripador. There have been some NPCs I've introduced that I thought you all would not hate, and boy howdy, you have hated them. It's hard to not follow Philip's lead on that stuff, and Philip is playing a malcontent. It's hard not to, because it flusters you and
00:47:13
Speaker
And Eris dislikes people so humorously for such stupid reasons that it's hard not to be like, yeah, that guy does suck. You're right, Eris. And so I apologize for that. And he's just a very normal, well-adjusted people going, what is happening? Now, I stand behind hating that one
00:47:30
Speaker
I keep almost saying so many things you're gonna need to believe. Maybe not believe, just would be unwise to call him an incel weirdo. But the guy with the books, the library guy, it was the weirdest dude. He is a socially awkward person who loves books and somebody walked into his home and started being weird about his books. And so he's like, what is happening? Why are you here right now? I will say an important part of how I took that guy was I did not realize they were in his home for a while. I thought they were in a library.
00:47:58
Speaker
He was just so awkward, and it was just so sitting at the table during that conversation was like I was having a tripping experience. It was just like, what is happening? Anyway, so him, he's another NPC I'd like to see come back. He's the big bad, so congratulations. We'll come back in force.
00:48:19
Speaker
I feel old plot lines is one of those things where we have to kill our darlings in these campaigns. I'm sure every campaign's that way. But there's so many threads that we don't chase that we just have to be like, well, that's never gonna happen.
00:48:33
Speaker
to the point that I've put so many of them out of my mind. Campaign one more so than campaign two for sure. Well, a lot of them also from my perspective are like despair fodder. Like I have a few old plot lines slash NPCs that are waiting in the wings for like an opportune despair where it's like, okay, this person returns. Remember them?
00:48:56
Speaker
deal with it. No one wants to see the Ram back. Liars. Notice how no one said Ram. Not me, not you, not Ophelia who asked the question, none of the listeners. The Ram is meme-ified at this point in the campaign, so they have to consistently come back, especially now that the lizard is dead.
00:49:14
Speaker
got to have one big thing that can knock down a wall at a moment's notice, which is just good DMing advice. So have your shop wrecker ready to go. Yep. All right. Well, that is all of the questions that we got for the past eight episodes as of February. So thank you all for sticking with us while waiting for these questions to be answered.
00:49:34
Speaker
There's been a fun arc. We are actually going to be off next week. So just a heads up on that front. I just from a scheduling standpoint, weren't, weren't able to get together in time, but enjoy a break from our madness. And, you know, just, you've earned it. Have some quiet time and maybe read a book or something. Who knows? Just do God, no, don't read a book, find another podcast and binge it. So you're caught up. And then you can have that one concurrent with all the other ones you listen to. That's.
00:50:01
Speaker
That's what we're supposed to do, right? That's what I do. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, thank you all so much for listening. If you want to be part of the conversation surrounding these episodes, you can head over to our Discord link to which you find on all of our socials, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, while you can. And if you want to financially support the shows, you can do so over at patreon.com slash geekpantheon, or head over to geekpantheon.com and buy some merch.
00:50:24
Speaker
There's also a YouTube channel, youtube.com, Slice of Deep Pantheon, that I do TTRPG related videos on. And I think that's all of the plugging. So thank you all so much for listening. I've been your game master, Eric. Jeff! And we'll see you next time.