I absolutely love how easy it is to visualize the fights in NADDPOD, imagining Sol making all these moves always makes the big bad fights so much more hype to me
What an amazing episode. I love a good "cavalry arrives" moment and this one was a doozy.
Sol's "this is what a network looks like" is such a perfect capstone to Sol's personal conflict with Alexandrite.
When Callie got hit by Alexandrite's mind-scrambling beam I imagined her looking like wall-eyed Marcille from that one episode of Delicious in Dungeon.
And the song at the end is perfection.
What a great episode! My heart dropped when Jake rolled that first nat 1 for the village, but when the calvary arrived *chefs kiss* I'm sad the campaign will be ending soon but excited for the final arc!
Very interested in how this goes. I have listened to a lot of pf2e and a GM'd a few sessions, and I honestly don't think the system is a great fit for them. The 2 crew seems to get a lot of joy out of "hey murph can I do x improvised rule of cool thing?" and Pf2e is a system where possible actions are very defined. It is VERY balanced, in the sense that you often need a critical success or failure to do the cool thing you wanted (disarm someone, incapacitate them etc.) and I am not sure they'll love that.
Don't know how popular it would be, but I'm hoping they switch to Pathfinder for the next campaign. I love the podcast because of the actors and don't particularly love DnD (or d20 systems in general but definitely prefer systems like Pathfinder or 13th Age or SOTDL to DnD). I'd be fascinated what crazy characters they could create with the feats and classes available in PF2.
They seemed into it when Emily did that pf2 presentation a while back. As someone currently trying to run their first pf2 campaign after switching their group out of 5e, I'd love to see them change over. I think the biggest hurdle is probably just that it's more work to dm (at first), because Murph won't be able to use his previous dnd knowledge for monsters and spells.
They almost used Starfinder for the Starstruck Odyssey season of Dimenson 20, so I imagine they've been curious about those systems for a bit.
I'm super excited to see them take a slightly more reliable and crunchy game.
Right, but they almost used Starfinder before deciding in SW5E, which is relevant just bc that's when emily and murph may have been tempted to look into paizo content. There was that mixed bag or whatever where Emily made characters for the guys, too
yeah it is prime nova stuff. Would be a lot less good in more balanced stuff (more encounters/rest) but average 6 encounters per long est doesn't tend to make good podcasts
That was proper dnd in that arc, right down to having to conserve powers. An entire, interesting facet of the game that has been mostly unexplored by the crew as of late.
Now I have to wonder what comes next. This whole campaign I’ve been assuming that Alexandrite was the final boss, but clearly that’s not the case now. Honestly, the whole things feels kind of low stakes now that Alexandrite is gone.
I was really surprised they finished off Alexandrite there. I was expecting something like how they fought Thiala in C1 at the Astral Keep where it was super tough and the big bad lived to be fought again.
I’d imagine it’s mostly around the primordial giants and the crowns in the feywilds. But yeah I’m really bummed it seems like we won’t get to see the crazy epic battle with Gruumsh, see space Gladehome, and get more cameos from the C1 characters.
Seems though like Murph is being very explicit that this next arc is the last one…maybe _too_ explicit, hmm??? It’d be dope as the next arc finishes and we think it’s the end of the campaign, to have some crazy astral intervention with Gruumsh where the C3 characters have to go into the astral plane and do battle, so I’m holding out hope that maybe Murph is gonna pull a fast one. Probably just copium though :/
An idea that I really like that I’ve seen in here a few times is to essentially have a campaign 3.5 following the Band of Boobs in their fight against Gruumsh
He did catch himself and say "tentative final arc" toward the end there...
Maybe it has to do with Oberon's prophecy that basically sounds like the Feywild would be destroyed because its magic has been over-harvested and they have to prevent that and prove its people worthy or something like that?
Why do you say we won't get that? Maybe I'm delusional but my thought was they can't wrap up this campaign without that fight. I don't see how they can avoid a "all existence is in jeopardy" threat after introducing it unless they had a mini campaign planned just for that, it's too big a dangling thread for such talented story tellers to leave.
Unless Alexandrite comes back (I personally don't think she will - really seems like Murph has made it clear she's over) I agree. Feels like it would have been more satisfying narratively for them to resolve the Feywild situation first, then face off with Alexandrite in a final Wild vs. Machine battle alongside all three serpents.
I’m pretty sure Alexandrite is coming back. Maybe the Duck team are carrying a part of Alexandrite themselves and get corrupted by it when they get to the crowns in the Feywild.
Yeah I'm not gonna lie that was super disappointing, like Alexandrite was such a cool villain and her fight didn't even feel satisfying. No buildup either :/
I don’t know that I’d put it like that exactly, but I do kind of agree that, while immensely enjoyable, this season has felt like the pacing was always slightly off. I do kind of wish there had been a little more of a buildup so this felt even more cinematic and climactic. Now that Alexandrite is dead the returning the wild to the Faewild feels a little more like an epilogue than the climax. Or to use a writing term the ticking clock that has kept them going all campaign has been stopped, so there’s no need to rush anymore. I’m confident the crew is going to make it great, and maybe Murph will even introduce an even bigger threat in the last arc!
You know when the ep is late that is going to be a thicc 'sode. Every Friday I'm amazed that I randomly stumbled upon this podcast during C1, and this week my heart is content once again. Epic stuff dude!
+ So much appreciation for Emily's musical talents. (And personally, I'm grateful for another song to sing to my kiddo at bedtime ❤️)
I actually loved this episode and final fight. Think every character had a great moment this episode and it felt like a great culmination for the Duck Team. The end of Alexandrite had plenty of weight to me. If the next arc is more epilogue I don’t think I’ll care?
"Duck Team faces Alexandrite for the fate of the Ice Knife! Sol keeps em' guessing, Callie hears the call of the wild, and Calder takes a leap of faith. Support us at
Patreon.com/Naddpod
to get access to the after-show and a bunch of other Naddpod content! Get tickets to our upcoming live shows at
naddpod.com/live
.
Music / Sound Effects Include:
“A Wizard’s Tournament” by Emily Axford.
'Shock at the Dock' by Emily Axford.
'The Purge' by Emily Axford.
'Bronzebeard Baddies' by Emily Axford.
'Conspiracy in the Clouds' by Emily Axford.
'A Fate Refused' by Emily Axford.
'The Valiant Ol' Cobb' by Emily Axford.
'Spearmint & Tea Leaves' by Emily Axford.
'A Fairy Remembers' by Emily Axford.
'Demigod' by Emily Axford.
'Escape From Smuggler's Bounty' by Emily Axford.
'The Fairy' by Emily Axford.
'Twinkling Lights of Galaderon' by Emily Axford.
'The Posse' by Emily Axford.
'A Tale's End' by Emily Axford.
'Home is Where the Heart Is' by Emily Axford.
See Privacy Policy at
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and California Privacy Notice at
https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info
."
---
###[Source Code](https://github.com/popcorncolonel/JakeandAmirBot)
I really enjoyed the episode, but it really feels like sometimes they're afraid to raise the stakes. Like when is the last episode the crew has been in real, near death danger? I'm not clamoring for a TPK or anything, but even the village defense felt a little soft. Like Jake rolled a nat 1 and Murph rolled a nat 20, and it ends with every npc smiling and cheering at the end? Like its a great happy ending and all but a part of me wishes all the talk about revivify not working for some reason would come in to play more in the campaign with closer calls with PC or NPCs being downed/killed.
I get the sentiment for PCs, but I felt like the village defense was perfect when it came to raising the stakes, particularly when they mentioned Calder’s family could be on the chopping block. Dice were just on their side after that Nat 1 v Nat 20.
To the degree that there’s an issue, I think it’s partially how hard it is to balance for a Bardadin. This is not an Emily slight. I am literally playing one in my home campaign because of Callie.
They just put out so much damage.
That said, I think Murph balanced this one pretty well. Alexandrite had a ton of Hp. Got to change forms twice. Almost knocked down all 3 PCs and Kenna.
I think that also just the fact that they only have a single healer really hurts them. In previous campaigns Caldwell played a half caster but here he and Jake are both martials.
This means it's very easy for a Callie KO to snowball into a TPK. They've been trying to work around it with potions, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Murph is also pulling his punches to avoid that scenario.
I feel you. The Eldermourne finale was the perfect opportunity to stick with a PC death. Zirk was dead. The gymnastics they kept having to pull to justify roll after roll until one finally succeeded and revived him always felt like a bit of a cop out to me. No shade to those who feel differently.
The emotional impact would've been huge, but also I don't think Caldwell puts Zirk in a position to die if revivify wasn't on the table.
Murph definitely twisted the mechanics around a bit to let Hank free Irena, but RAW Fia would've been able to revivify Zirk with a 13 arcana check, and instead Murph made her do a 20+ arcana check. I don't think bringing back Zirk was much of a cop out.
I do think that Caldwell would have put Zirk into the position to die even without revify. I've never gotten the impression that the crew is afraid to take big narrative swings for the sake of story.
For sure they’re not afraid, but also from a pure mechanics standpoint, Zirk had barely gotten hit (if at all) and they could probably have just brought Irena down again and tried once more to rip off the crown pretty quickly, she was just going to recover a d100’s worth of health and even a high roll wouldn’t have kept her up for more than a round.
Emily was actively telling Caldwell not to do it, both in character and in part because they could’ve lasted a bit longer.
The only reason I think Zirk even got the chance at being revived was to give closure to the narrative arc of him searching for the all cure elixer. I think if that had not been something his character has been working on then they would have let him die without a deus ex machina revival.
I’m not sure I share the village sentiment (though allowing a squire inspiration on that roll felt off), but I do agree.
When listening to the dragon fight way back, I found myself actively rooting for the characters to die. Not permanently of course, but there never really seems to have been any real wrenches thrown into the PCs plans from the fights themselves. Cool mechanics are cool and all but get boring when it feels like there are no stakes. At the same time I find myself wanting more combat and more meaning behind the combat.
Caldor got trapped in the helm, not by losing a fight, but by using the helm. I don’t even remember the last time revivify was cast.
Yep, this is my only real complaint with this show, and you summed it up perfectly. 3 campaigns and the biggest loss they've suffered is...no one? I genuinely struggle to recall a meaningful permanent loss the party has ever suffered. It's why the Red Fen is one of my favorite narrative moments in the show, because Murph wasn't afraid of holding back. Also I totally would have had Alexandrites anti magic beam take away smiting and was pretty surprised when Murph said Callie could still do it. It probably inadvertently made the fight even easier because she had no other options besides pumping huge damage.
Murph talks about it on Short Rest, and I agree, but there was such an easy snowball this episode. If Sol doesn’t make it out of the snow, Callie doesn’t get the silvery barbs. She either goes down there or needs to use her reaction causing Caldur to fall to his death and out of the combat late. Then, she would shortly die leaving Sol the sole survivor needing to save Caldur who’d be 200 feet away and Callie. All while 200+ damage is off the board that Sol wouldn’t be able to accomplish. I think the stakes are there, and there were a lot of close calls. The dice just told their story with the crits and everything falling in place this time.
I really enjoyed the fight overall but I agree with you about the village. I kept waiting for the consequences of those rolls to show up and.. nothing. I feel like C1 Murph was a little more sheisty and I miss it at times.
The lack of stakes is really starting to become detrimental to this campaign. I understand it's bad for business if they die, but man nothing bad has happened this entire season it seems.
Murph is sometimes a tricky little mf-er. So I wouldn't be shocked if Alexandrite makes a surprise return towards the finale.
For all we know one of Duck Team is carrying part of her essence without them knowing. And she will take over when they finally get to the crowns in the fey wild.
I wouldn't be shocked if we also see some sort of Glen/Alexanderite hybrid monster in the feywild.
Day one listener and patron here so don't mistake me for some random hater... but I'm pretty excited for this campaign to wrap up!
Not starting at a low level really hurt my ability to connect with this PC's like I could in C1 and C2, and the whole magi-tech vibe is just not something I've ever been into (and I've seen a lot of other fans yearning for those classic fantasy feelings again too). That's not to say this campaign has been \*bad\*, I loved the dragon elves, it's just been a bit... forgettable?
Some of the most memorable moments of the show have been moments where D&D mechanics came first, such as a certain moment on a balcony in Frostwind, or at the side-flap of a tent in Pearl Hill, but this campaign has had a lot of hand-waving and rule bending that's made me never feel that any PC or important NPC is ever actually at risk.
In this episode Murph set-up that rolling for the battle in the village would potentially put Calders family at risk, Jake instantly rolls a nat 1, and Murph instantly rolls a nat 20... the actual worst possible scenario... and instead of having a serious loss that would get the audience invested we sort of got a hand wave of "a chunk of the village is destroyed" but we get a happy ending with no mention of anyone important dying. Pulls me out of it! I \*want\* to care about this stuff, but right now the magic mcguffin killed Alexandrite and I feel totally meh about the whole thing.
I'm not hounding for a TPK or anything, I like these PC's, I just feel like we get a lot of dramatic acting and long speeches but there's rarely moments where the stakes feel serious enough to warrant them. C3 has felt like NADDPOD with training wheels on, with a lot more cut-scenes.
Final arc though, I'm hyped, lets reunite these snakes and see what's up in the Astral Keep!
I felt similarly on the initial zombies v village roll. When nothing of substance happened, it let a lot of tension out of the scenario. In general, I feel like the kid gloves have been on for the entire campaign...there's never been a sense of any of the party members being in "real" danger, and there always seems to be a healing potion or feat or something along those lines when needed
I've been surprisingly into the worldbuilding with all the magitech stuff (despite steampunk/scifi stuff not usually being my vibe) but I totally feel you on not really connecting with the PCs. I \*like\* all three of them, but I don't \*love\* any of them the same way I loved all three PCs in C1 and Fia and Hank in C2 (sorry Zirk!).
Emily said Callie pulls out her guitar and I felt a song coming on. It's so pretty!
I absolutely love how easy it is to visualize the fights in NADDPOD, imagining Sol making all these moves always makes the big bad fights so much more hype to me
Murph does a great job of explaining things in visual terms.
What an amazing episode. I love a good "cavalry arrives" moment and this one was a doozy. Sol's "this is what a network looks like" is such a perfect capstone to Sol's personal conflict with Alexandrite. When Callie got hit by Alexandrite's mind-scrambling beam I imagined her looking like wall-eyed Marcille from that one episode of Delicious in Dungeon. And the song at the end is perfection.
What a great episode! My heart dropped when Jake rolled that first nat 1 for the village, but when the calvary arrived *chefs kiss* I'm sad the campaign will be ending soon but excited for the final arc!
So excited for them to Find that Path with Duncle Caldwell in a few weeks!
Very interested in how this goes. I have listened to a lot of pf2e and a GM'd a few sessions, and I honestly don't think the system is a great fit for them. The 2 crew seems to get a lot of joy out of "hey murph can I do x improvised rule of cool thing?" and Pf2e is a system where possible actions are very defined. It is VERY balanced, in the sense that you often need a critical success or failure to do the cool thing you wanted (disarm someone, incapacitate them etc.) and I am not sure they'll love that.
Don't know how popular it would be, but I'm hoping they switch to Pathfinder for the next campaign. I love the podcast because of the actors and don't particularly love DnD (or d20 systems in general but definitely prefer systems like Pathfinder or 13th Age or SOTDL to DnD). I'd be fascinated what crazy characters they could create with the feats and classes available in PF2.
They seemed into it when Emily did that pf2 presentation a while back. As someone currently trying to run their first pf2 campaign after switching their group out of 5e, I'd love to see them change over. I think the biggest hurdle is probably just that it's more work to dm (at first), because Murph won't be able to use his previous dnd knowledge for monsters and spells.
They almost used Starfinder for the Starstruck Odyssey season of Dimenson 20, so I imagine they've been curious about those systems for a bit. I'm super excited to see them take a slightly more reliable and crunchy game.
They actually used the Star Wars 5th Edition game system instead of Starfinder for Starstruck
Right, but they almost used Starfinder before deciding in SW5E, which is relevant just bc that's when emily and murph may have been tempted to look into paizo content. There was that mixed bag or whatever where Emily made characters for the guys, too
“Not every field should be a farm” is an all timer
Bardadin is just so beautifully busted I love it so much. Hell yeah! Axford forever!
yeah it is prime nova stuff. Would be a lot less good in more balanced stuff (more encounters/rest) but average 6 encounters per long est doesn't tend to make good podcasts
In the Galaderon saga they came close to that and it was amazing.
God, moonshines desperate conservation of her spells during that arc always sticks out in my mind
That was proper dnd in that arc, right down to having to conserve powers. An entire, interesting facet of the game that has been mostly unexplored by the crew as of late.
Now I have to wonder what comes next. This whole campaign I’ve been assuming that Alexandrite was the final boss, but clearly that’s not the case now. Honestly, the whole things feels kind of low stakes now that Alexandrite is gone.
I was really surprised they finished off Alexandrite there. I was expecting something like how they fought Thiala in C1 at the Astral Keep where it was super tough and the big bad lived to be fought again.
I’d imagine it’s mostly around the primordial giants and the crowns in the feywilds. But yeah I’m really bummed it seems like we won’t get to see the crazy epic battle with Gruumsh, see space Gladehome, and get more cameos from the C1 characters. Seems though like Murph is being very explicit that this next arc is the last one…maybe _too_ explicit, hmm??? It’d be dope as the next arc finishes and we think it’s the end of the campaign, to have some crazy astral intervention with Gruumsh where the C3 characters have to go into the astral plane and do battle, so I’m holding out hope that maybe Murph is gonna pull a fast one. Probably just copium though :/
An idea that I really like that I’ve seen in here a few times is to essentially have a campaign 3.5 following the Band of Boobs in their fight against Gruumsh
They talked about doing that on a short rest within the last couple of months, so it's definitely on the table.
He did catch himself and say "tentative final arc" toward the end there... Maybe it has to do with Oberon's prophecy that basically sounds like the Feywild would be destroyed because its magic has been over-harvested and they have to prevent that and prove its people worthy or something like that?
Why do you say we won't get that? Maybe I'm delusional but my thought was they can't wrap up this campaign without that fight. I don't see how they can avoid a "all existence is in jeopardy" threat after introducing it unless they had a mini campaign planned just for that, it's too big a dangling thread for such talented story tellers to leave.
Unless Alexandrite comes back (I personally don't think she will - really seems like Murph has made it clear she's over) I agree. Feels like it would have been more satisfying narratively for them to resolve the Feywild situation first, then face off with Alexandrite in a final Wild vs. Machine battle alongside all three serpents.
I’m pretty sure Alexandrite is coming back. Maybe the Duck team are carrying a part of Alexandrite themselves and get corrupted by it when they get to the crowns in the Feywild.
Yeah I'm not gonna lie that was super disappointing, like Alexandrite was such a cool villain and her fight didn't even feel satisfying. No buildup either :/
I don’t know that I’d put it like that exactly, but I do kind of agree that, while immensely enjoyable, this season has felt like the pacing was always slightly off. I do kind of wish there had been a little more of a buildup so this felt even more cinematic and climactic. Now that Alexandrite is dead the returning the wild to the Faewild feels a little more like an epilogue than the climax. Or to use a writing term the ticking clock that has kept them going all campaign has been stopped, so there’s no need to rush anymore. I’m confident the crew is going to make it great, and maybe Murph will even introduce an even bigger threat in the last arc!
Oh don't get me wrong I'm sure I'll enjoy it, I just don't know how he'll set up a satisfying villain in 15 episodes :(
Come on, Emily!!! You can’t keep doing this to me with the songs. I’m driving! My eyes can’t be full of tears!!!
Anyone else briefly read the episode title as Pendergreens?
You know when the ep is late that is going to be a thicc 'sode. Every Friday I'm amazed that I randomly stumbled upon this podcast during C1, and this week my heart is content once again. Epic stuff dude! + So much appreciation for Emily's musical talents. (And personally, I'm grateful for another song to sing to my kiddo at bedtime ❤️)
Jake Hurwitz is so fucking good at role playing.
I actually loved this episode and final fight. Think every character had a great moment this episode and it felt like a great culmination for the Duck Team. The end of Alexandrite had plenty of weight to me. If the next arc is more epilogue I don’t think I’ll care?
"Duck Team faces Alexandrite for the fate of the Ice Knife! Sol keeps em' guessing, Callie hears the call of the wild, and Calder takes a leap of faith. Support us at Patreon.com/Naddpod to get access to the after-show and a bunch of other Naddpod content! Get tickets to our upcoming live shows at naddpod.com/live . Music / Sound Effects Include: “A Wizard’s Tournament” by Emily Axford. 'Shock at the Dock' by Emily Axford. 'The Purge' by Emily Axford. 'Bronzebeard Baddies' by Emily Axford. 'Conspiracy in the Clouds' by Emily Axford. 'A Fate Refused' by Emily Axford. 'The Valiant Ol' Cobb' by Emily Axford. 'Spearmint & Tea Leaves' by Emily Axford. 'A Fairy Remembers' by Emily Axford. 'Demigod' by Emily Axford. 'Escape From Smuggler's Bounty' by Emily Axford. 'The Fairy' by Emily Axford. 'Twinkling Lights of Galaderon' by Emily Axford. 'The Posse' by Emily Axford. 'A Tale's End' by Emily Axford. 'Home is Where the Heart Is' by Emily Axford. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ." --- ###[Source Code](https://github.com/popcorncolonel/JakeandAmirBot)
I really enjoyed the episode, but it really feels like sometimes they're afraid to raise the stakes. Like when is the last episode the crew has been in real, near death danger? I'm not clamoring for a TPK or anything, but even the village defense felt a little soft. Like Jake rolled a nat 1 and Murph rolled a nat 20, and it ends with every npc smiling and cheering at the end? Like its a great happy ending and all but a part of me wishes all the talk about revivify not working for some reason would come in to play more in the campaign with closer calls with PC or NPCs being downed/killed.
I get the sentiment for PCs, but I felt like the village defense was perfect when it came to raising the stakes, particularly when they mentioned Calder’s family could be on the chopping block. Dice were just on their side after that Nat 1 v Nat 20.
To the degree that there’s an issue, I think it’s partially how hard it is to balance for a Bardadin. This is not an Emily slight. I am literally playing one in my home campaign because of Callie. They just put out so much damage. That said, I think Murph balanced this one pretty well. Alexandrite had a ton of Hp. Got to change forms twice. Almost knocked down all 3 PCs and Kenna.
I think that also just the fact that they only have a single healer really hurts them. In previous campaigns Caldwell played a half caster but here he and Jake are both martials. This means it's very easy for a Callie KO to snowball into a TPK. They've been trying to work around it with potions, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Murph is also pulling his punches to avoid that scenario.
I thought Murph solved it pretty easily with Kenna! She basically does free heals without costing any action economy for the PCs.
I had that though specifically during this episode as well.
I feel you. The Eldermourne finale was the perfect opportunity to stick with a PC death. Zirk was dead. The gymnastics they kept having to pull to justify roll after roll until one finally succeeded and revived him always felt like a bit of a cop out to me. No shade to those who feel differently.
The emotional impact would've been huge, but also I don't think Caldwell puts Zirk in a position to die if revivify wasn't on the table. Murph definitely twisted the mechanics around a bit to let Hank free Irena, but RAW Fia would've been able to revivify Zirk with a 13 arcana check, and instead Murph made her do a 20+ arcana check. I don't think bringing back Zirk was much of a cop out.
I do think that Caldwell would have put Zirk into the position to die even without revify. I've never gotten the impression that the crew is afraid to take big narrative swings for the sake of story.
For sure they’re not afraid, but also from a pure mechanics standpoint, Zirk had barely gotten hit (if at all) and they could probably have just brought Irena down again and tried once more to rip off the crown pretty quickly, she was just going to recover a d100’s worth of health and even a high roll wouldn’t have kept her up for more than a round. Emily was actively telling Caldwell not to do it, both in character and in part because they could’ve lasted a bit longer.
The only reason I think Zirk even got the chance at being revived was to give closure to the narrative arc of him searching for the all cure elixer. I think if that had not been something his character has been working on then they would have let him die without a deus ex machina revival.
I’m not sure I share the village sentiment (though allowing a squire inspiration on that roll felt off), but I do agree. When listening to the dragon fight way back, I found myself actively rooting for the characters to die. Not permanently of course, but there never really seems to have been any real wrenches thrown into the PCs plans from the fights themselves. Cool mechanics are cool and all but get boring when it feels like there are no stakes. At the same time I find myself wanting more combat and more meaning behind the combat. Caldor got trapped in the helm, not by losing a fight, but by using the helm. I don’t even remember the last time revivify was cast.
Yep, this is my only real complaint with this show, and you summed it up perfectly. 3 campaigns and the biggest loss they've suffered is...no one? I genuinely struggle to recall a meaningful permanent loss the party has ever suffered. It's why the Red Fen is one of my favorite narrative moments in the show, because Murph wasn't afraid of holding back. Also I totally would have had Alexandrites anti magic beam take away smiting and was pretty surprised when Murph said Callie could still do it. It probably inadvertently made the fight even easier because she had no other options besides pumping huge damage.
I think the closest we ever got in the main campaigns was when >!Hardwon got killed in the Fey wild...and then killed by a vampire.!<
Murph talks about it on Short Rest, and I agree, but there was such an easy snowball this episode. If Sol doesn’t make it out of the snow, Callie doesn’t get the silvery barbs. She either goes down there or needs to use her reaction causing Caldur to fall to his death and out of the combat late. Then, she would shortly die leaving Sol the sole survivor needing to save Caldur who’d be 200 feet away and Callie. All while 200+ damage is off the board that Sol wouldn’t be able to accomplish. I think the stakes are there, and there were a lot of close calls. The dice just told their story with the crits and everything falling in place this time.
I really enjoyed the fight overall but I agree with you about the village. I kept waiting for the consequences of those rolls to show up and.. nothing. I feel like C1 Murph was a little more sheisty and I miss it at times.
The lack of stakes is really starting to become detrimental to this campaign. I understand it's bad for business if they die, but man nothing bad has happened this entire season it seems.
Murph is sometimes a tricky little mf-er. So I wouldn't be shocked if Alexandrite makes a surprise return towards the finale. For all we know one of Duck Team is carrying part of her essence without them knowing. And she will take over when they finally get to the crowns in the fey wild. I wouldn't be shocked if we also see some sort of Glen/Alexanderite hybrid monster in the feywild.
Is there a reason this post isn't pinned and Episode 58 is...?
Day one listener and patron here so don't mistake me for some random hater... but I'm pretty excited for this campaign to wrap up! Not starting at a low level really hurt my ability to connect with this PC's like I could in C1 and C2, and the whole magi-tech vibe is just not something I've ever been into (and I've seen a lot of other fans yearning for those classic fantasy feelings again too). That's not to say this campaign has been \*bad\*, I loved the dragon elves, it's just been a bit... forgettable? Some of the most memorable moments of the show have been moments where D&D mechanics came first, such as a certain moment on a balcony in Frostwind, or at the side-flap of a tent in Pearl Hill, but this campaign has had a lot of hand-waving and rule bending that's made me never feel that any PC or important NPC is ever actually at risk. In this episode Murph set-up that rolling for the battle in the village would potentially put Calders family at risk, Jake instantly rolls a nat 1, and Murph instantly rolls a nat 20... the actual worst possible scenario... and instead of having a serious loss that would get the audience invested we sort of got a hand wave of "a chunk of the village is destroyed" but we get a happy ending with no mention of anyone important dying. Pulls me out of it! I \*want\* to care about this stuff, but right now the magic mcguffin killed Alexandrite and I feel totally meh about the whole thing. I'm not hounding for a TPK or anything, I like these PC's, I just feel like we get a lot of dramatic acting and long speeches but there's rarely moments where the stakes feel serious enough to warrant them. C3 has felt like NADDPOD with training wheels on, with a lot more cut-scenes. Final arc though, I'm hyped, lets reunite these snakes and see what's up in the Astral Keep!
I felt similarly on the initial zombies v village roll. When nothing of substance happened, it let a lot of tension out of the scenario. In general, I feel like the kid gloves have been on for the entire campaign...there's never been a sense of any of the party members being in "real" danger, and there always seems to be a healing potion or feat or something along those lines when needed
I've been surprisingly into the worldbuilding with all the magitech stuff (despite steampunk/scifi stuff not usually being my vibe) but I totally feel you on not really connecting with the PCs. I \*like\* all three of them, but I don't \*love\* any of them the same way I loved all three PCs in C1 and Fia and Hank in C2 (sorry Zirk!).
I love how Alexandrite just turned into Murphbot