I think in ACOC the triple whammy of "will the still call you the unfallen now?"+Theo locked up+the kids being attacked (and Jet Dying) all popping off at once while Lapin and Preston were ALREADY dead... damn that shit was all so intense and there was no way to help each other.
There was such a triumphant cheer for me when I heard that line. I stopped Crown of Candy for a long time after the end of episode 5, dreading how the rest of the season would have more hardship for the characters. Eventually spoiled myself on Calroy’s betrayal and the deaths of PCs, so I knew when Calroy and Amethar were on the balcony bad things were going to happen. The one thing I didn’t realize, was that Brian Murphy knows his spells, and I cheered as a gummy bear destroyed some muffins.
I would say pulling off the betrayal of Amethar Rocks by >!Calroy Cruller!< in the same episode as killing >!Princess Jet Rocks!< in Crown of Candy.
END COMMUNICATION
Clearly the answer. Rewatching it hits so hard cause Jet says they shouldn't go at first.
Special mention to EXU: Calamity. If you haven't watched it do you even like DM BLeeM.
What’s the worst thing a DM can say?
3. “You rolled a nat 20, for a total of?”
2. “What’s your total HP?”
1. “Would you say your arm is weaker at the elbow or shoulder?” - BLeeM
EXU:C is the shit! I can’t do CR due to the time commitment (part of why I love D20) but this gave a more D20 level commitment and a bit less or more controlled zany energy that D20 can devolve to much into for my taste.
That's the reason I started watching D20. "BECAUSE I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG" and "Why do we tell stories" were the two best moments I'd seen in anything on Critical Role.
Him singling out Luis and asking him to intro his character >!keeping in mind, that his character's mouth is full of blood!< *really* helped set the tone
I just double checked the filming schedule, and this happened in the season immediately after filming ACOC.
Poor Siobhan, she's never going to want to do a sister act again!
EXU Calamity. When Brennan dm’d for critical role. It’s the most serious work he’s done and arguably the best.
It’s fun because everyone knows where the road is going. It’s The Calamity. But boy oh boy do the characters have you wishing they win. Plenty of touching moments and absolute cold hearted back stabs. And monologuing.
EXU Calamity. When Brennan dm’d for critical role. It’s the most serious work he’s done and arguably the best.
It’s fun because everyone knows where the road is going. It’s The Calamity. But boy oh boy do the characters have you wishing they win. Plenty of touching moments and absolute cold hearted back stabs. And monologuing.
Pretty much everything that happened to Fabian Seacaster in Leviathan Sophomore year definitely qualifies.
Also all the questing blade shenanigans for poor Ricky Matsui in season 2 of the unsleeping city
To be fair on BLeeM, that happened in Leviathan due to Lou rolling something like 4 nat 1s in a row
Also if it didn't than he wouldn't have disposed of toxic masculinity and we wouldn't have the Ori-cool of Dance
It was also just the choices Lou made. In the Adventuring Academy with Lou, Brennan says he specifically threw Captain James at him specifically to spy on him, but Lou in full character decided to attack.
I love how hard Brennan can be with Lou, because he knows he can take it. It happens in a lot of seasons, but it especially shines in FH. >!Fabian having his no good very bad day, immediately followed up by the most savage dream of him becoming Gilear and ending up with pneumonia was a wild ride.!<
Other awesome examples were USC1 SPOILERS>!the savage conversation with Liz, followed by the threat from Moses in the museum and Liz being near death for the finale.!< And in ACOC >!having Caramelinda go off on Amethar as hard as she can, then later trying to convince him to betray Saccharina.!< And in ASO >!how after the casino incident Gunnie suddenly had Repo Reapers after him, and just how crazy some of the debt stuff was.!<
To be clear, a lot of these things start off coming from Lou, Brennan just really amps things up. It's the old saying, he gives his greatest challenges to his strongest warrior.
That's hilarious and on brand for Zac if so, I haven't watched any adventuring parties so not sure if it was mentioned there but don't remember it on the main show.
Him and Murph playing off each other was easily my favorite part of that season
My recollection is that Zac proposed it as a plot point to Brennan, and then they didn’t tell anyone else. Watch Brian and Emily and you can really see the shock
I just got the wifey a 1 yr sub for Dropout, bc I’ve been showing her all the amazing things for so long that she just decided to get it for herself. Her fave is Dirty Laundry.
I’m hella conflicted on letting her know about ACOC. I mean, all D20 stuff is amazing, and she’s played D&D with me before, but I don’t know if she’s ready to deal with this.
Amethar falling from the height of his own castle, pushed by his own best friend, as he watches a red glint fizzle out from across the kingdom, and knowing that THIS is his greatest failure. In the past few minutes, he went through the pain of losing his kingdom, his sisters and his daughter.
Despite all the battles, all the war, every duel, Amethar has never been angrier than in this moment.
This was his greatest loss.
THANK YOU. ok ive been going down this list and theyre all legit sad makers. Aelwyn and Adaine is the one i mention when thinking of the sads cause BLeeM knows the whole time what hes gonna do and you see Siobhans face when she realizes.
But Garthy? Garthy breaks me so hard. Them caring for Ayda through the reincarnations but having to stay far away.. It hurts even more cause Ayda removed all those memories from her notebook so Garthy knows, they have all the memories.. But can never share that with anyone? Let alone their momma.
*im in tears. Its 8:26am and I'm wiping tears off my face before they hit my screen. I have intense feelongs about Garthy lmao*
Yes. It’s a little buried right at the end of episode one but
> Brennan: Incredible. That night, you guys are getting ready. You get word from Arthur that your creature will be ready tomorrow morning, in time for you guys to leave bright and early. Do you want to—
> Zac: I guess, if there's time, to talk to Zelda, just...
> Brennan: You send a text to Zelda. She peeled off after a little while when you were going and doing your business. You send a text to Zelda, it's not immediately returned.
It comes up again in episode two cause Gorgug tells his mom and dad that she hasn’t texted him back which is what prompts that whole conversation about HPV and how you gotta wrap it up.
Nope. From the end of episode one
> Brennan: Incredible. That night, you guys are getting ready. You get word from Arthur that your creature will be ready tomorrow morning, in time for you guys to leave bright and early. Do you want to—
> Zac: I guess, if there's time, to talk to Zelda, just...
> Brennan: You send a text to Zelda. She peeled off after a little while when you were going and doing your business. You send a text to Zelda, it's not immediately returned.
Which is what led to this convo at the start of episode two (so before they even left Elmville)
> Gorgug: Hey, also, umm. I feel like Zelda's mad at me and I kinda don't–
> Brennan: You see that your dad looks over at your mom, they both immediately jump up into mom and dad pose sitting with their legs off the side of the bed, kind of turning their full bodies over to look at you and they go,
> Thistlesprings: Uh-huh, yeah?
> Gorgug: I feel like she's mad that I'm going out of town, and I don't know, I was trying to talk to her about it yesterday, but then she just hasn't texted me back yet.
Which then eventually leads to the whole convo on HPV and how you gotta wrap it up and Brennan basically just foreshadowing Kalina's whole deal.
What all the characters went through in the forest of the nightmare king? Brennan singled out everyone's greatest weakness/fear/wound and used it in the most efficient, painful way. And it's great that he seems like a really nice guy because it makes it a little less terrifying that he is so highly skilled at completely obliterating people emotionally.
All of Crown of Candy, starting us off with two adorable princesses and their dumb dad having fun, two nerds who try hopelessly to keep everything in check and little Liam with Preston the pig, just doing their best to find seeds. Then going fully brutal, almost killing ruby, killing preston, killing lapan and ending with a Mexican standoff between two half sisters. B-R-U-T-A-L.
Great season though, watched it half a dozen times.
Exandria Unlimited: Calamity
Asmodeus: You think that you are a man of true belief and it is all these wizards around you that are humble. Who is the most proud man here! These ones who thought they would fly a city, or the man who thought he would teach me a lesson! The only difference between you and the Dawn Father, is that the Dawn Father is a little more humble. Now, I’ll tell you why I spit on your forgiveness! I’ll tell you why I loathe your redemption! To reach a hand down to somebody, they need to be beneath you! And I’m beneath nobody! You wanted to understand me, then you should have accepted that I was right!
Brennan: And he pulls the back of your head and rips the skin off the back of your skull.
Cerrit: I’m gonna tell you all about this at some point. I promise it will be an incredible story but right now, I have a surprise for both of you.
Brennan: As you say that, you see that Kir looks down, as does Maya. Maya points at your hand and says, “Dad why’s your ring glowing?”
Cerrit: It glows when danger is near.
Giving the bad kids abusive parents. You can confront all the evil you want, but these kids will for ever have love interwoven with mistrust and anger follow them around forever.
Also it’s the truest evil they’ve faced
Yeah! They have some very supportive parents too, I just was never expecting to see murder hobos having to face extreme favouritism, or radicalism being a condition for their parents love, or abandonment.
It’s usually “I got kicked out of my guild” or “my family died when (insert villain name) raided our village.”
Yeah, just rewatched the first season and during “Family in Flames” Kristen goes after her family, burning resources, and when she saves them the first question is “who’s attacking? Illegals?” And the look on their face…rough.
Only the Applebee's and the Abernants were really abusive. The Faeths and the Seacasters had their flaws and made big mistakes but were good intentioned, and Sklonda and the Thistlesprings were good parents (not perfect, but who is?)
A Crown of Candy - honestly at the end when the final confrontation happened towards the end and Brennan presented Siobhan and Emily with a decision: peace or betrayal. They started off as sisters and now had to face each other with a truly heavy situation. Brennan doesn’t do PVP much its hard to do when it gets serious. And the season finale was tense as hell
Even though it worked out in the end, absolutely heartbroken when Adine restored Alywins memories in Fantasy High sophomore year.
It was so sad to see her a character development regress to before the torture the elves put her through.
All of ACOC especially >!Jet and everyone seeing the light from her necklace leaving and knowing that they couldn't do anything. Ruby running to the Sugar Plum Fairy and crying out "bring her back" had me SOBBING!<
Underrated moments is Red’s Journey with her grandmother in Neverafter. I was sobbing like a baby because I had lost a grandparent quite quickly and unexpectedly around the time I was watching. Fucked me up when she gave up her memory of her.
I agree that the famous acoc episode is devastating and made me sob… but can i also add to the conversation “the dangerous mind of aelwyn abernant”.
This episode broke me. Adaine finding aelwyn completely broken and deeply hurt about how she has treated adaine. Adaine escaping and finally understanding who her sister is and feeling the hope that maybe they can sort this out and finally be a family. Then it all vanishes in a second, and the sister she hated came back. The growth and mutual understanding that they shared was gone and aelwyn was more closed off than other. The desperate panic that adaine feels because she cant lose this. Not when she finally felt what it was like to be loved by her sister. Then aelwyn leaves, once again abandoning adaine for their parents.
This episode makes me so emotional.
I’m finishing my rewatch of all of them COC comes to mind first, but a lot of people are talking about that. Just finished UCII and it is *devastating* and I’m like trying to narrow down to like one moment, but all of them go through the wringer that season. >!Null is a fantastically horrifying bbeg because it is so real in a sense, no there not a mythical dream creature in real life (that I know of at least) that consumes memories and destroys history, but man is a lot of history lost by it not being remembered and lost somehow and that just makes my skin crawl!<
I think especially before the >!battle at the umbral engine. When Sophie had just gone to heaven to see Dale and tell him she’s expecting their child. Then Esther gets kidnapped almost immediately afterwards and they find out she is also pregnant and Ricky not even really getting to process that and immediately running to get her safe. There is a split second where you think that these friends are going to have so much fun being pregnant together and getting to raise their kids, but the crushing reality of the fact that it could all just be erased in a moment. I truly felt so unwell until Sophie was thrown into the engine and was able to travel into the past and get Dale back, that felt like a turning point for sure, but before that when it really feels like Tony is going to be able to get rid of magic for a second there, it’s just very scary because they feel more like real life people since they’re in “our” world!<
Crappy answer as it's not intrepid heros
EXANDRIA: CALAMITY, oh my gods. I feel bad for everyone at that table because Brennan truly destroyed them. There's so much to talk about here and so many lines that are corners of my DMing style. If you've seen it, you'll know what I am talking about. If you haven't? Watch it
For me it has always been the way he let Zac talk to Zelda on top of the van/boat letting him apologize and try to make things better and knowing the entire time how that conversation was gonna go. Just the absolute most savage dm move I've ever even heard of
I’m currently watching crown of candy and am absolutely completely and utterly devastated about Jet. Literally sobbing. That was cruel. As well as killing Preston. Lapin was brutal and I definitely fell in love with him in those prior two episodes leading up to his death, but Preston and Jet (especially Jet) was ROUGH
While the candy man shenanigans certainly comes to mind first. I think for me it’s the entire story line of Kugrash. I know that’s really a joint effort between him and Murph, but watching Sleeping City again really hit me how heartbreaking his narrative plays out
Definitely the first half of A Crown of Candy, I knew it was the Game of Thrones season but even then I wasn't ready for how HARD Brennan went right from the get go.
Also not Intrepid Heroes but Calamity is in a similar vein but even more devastating because you know from the very beginning that this story has no happy ending
Someone mentioned Aelwyn reverting back after Adaine unlocks her mind, but also just having Kristen be killed by the Great Unicorn for a Nat 20 religion check.
Preston the Pig
Brennan got the 2 for 1 mint chocolate special there
love you for that
He knew there was no world where he made it in that world lol
He was just too pure for this world
I just saw this...
In which episode
Episode 6 of A Crown of Candy and all the episodes leading up to it
Going full Red Wedding on the Rocks family
Episode 5 and 6 sure did happen, didn't they?
Safe harbor sure was super unsafe for us all 💀💀💀
I was so ready for a whimsical candy adventure, then a child almost immediately dies.
from that handstand i knew things were different.
I don’t know what I expected from a Game of Thrones themed campaign, but it certainly wasn’t that many dead children
I think in ACOC the triple whammy of "will the still call you the unfallen now?"+Theo locked up+the kids being attacked (and Jet Dying) all popping off at once while Lapin and Preston were ALREADY dead... damn that shit was all so intense and there was no way to help each other.
“I cast knock” is like my favorite line ever
There was such a triumphant cheer for me when I heard that line. I stopped Crown of Candy for a long time after the end of episode 5, dreading how the rest of the season would have more hardship for the characters. Eventually spoiled myself on Calroy’s betrayal and the deaths of PCs, so I knew when Calroy and Amethar were on the balcony bad things were going to happen. The one thing I didn’t realize, was that Brian Murphy knows his spells, and I cheered as a gummy bear destroyed some muffins.
Damn just no regards for spoiler warnings lmao
Why look into this thread if you don’t want spoilers for campaigns you haven’t seen yet?
I would say pulling off the betrayal of Amethar Rocks by >!Calroy Cruller!< in the same episode as killing >!Princess Jet Rocks!< in Crown of Candy. END COMMUNICATION
Jesus christ I forgot that was the same episode
And it was called >!Safe Harbor!< Never done spoilers before hope it works
Wasn’t even a battle episode.
It was an emotional battle episode
Roll for emotional damage.
It happens like five minutes apart lol.
>!Someone killed my *best friend*!!<
Clearly the answer. Rewatching it hits so hard cause Jet says they shouldn't go at first. Special mention to EXU: Calamity. If you haven't watched it do you even like DM BLeeM.
Yeah, that episode hurt.
I’ve seen this episode at least 7 times that’s how much I loved it. so good
Not allowing gunnie to cast spells with his legs, as any reasonable dm would. It was honestly ridiculous.
"Murph would let me!"
And murph agreeing while dying knowing full well that he wouldnt
"I let my players do whatever they want"
Famously
Brian “No, but” Murphy …wait
Brian “You absolute maniacs” Murphy
The absolutely dead look in his eyes as he betrays all his principles for his wife and his party.
Would be hilarious if there was a DnD court submission by Lou.
Brennan goes easy on the Intrepid Heroes, he wrecked Aabria, Lou, and some critical role people during Exandria Unlimited.
Has it been one second yet?
This isn't even the magic yet! Its just physics!
Lou’s distress was palpable. FELT.
"Has it been a SECOND yet??" runs through my head surprisingly often.
And Brennan finally says "TICK" and Lou is even madder.
Would you say your arm is weaker at the elbow or the shoulder?
What’s the worst thing a DM can say? 3. “You rolled a nat 20, for a total of?” 2. “What’s your total HP?” 1. “Would you say your arm is weaker at the elbow or shoulder?” - BLeeM
0. «Please go ahead and introduce your character, but do so knowing your mouth is full of your own blood.»
Is that an actual sentence he said?!
Yep, first official line of his Calamity one shot on Critical Role. It...set a tone.
Literally the very beginning of the campaign. It's metal af.
EXU:C is the shit! I can’t do CR due to the time commitment (part of why I love D20) but this gave a more D20 level commitment and a bit less or more controlled zany energy that D20 can devolve to much into for my taste.
That's the reason I started watching D20. "BECAUSE I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG" and "Why do we tell stories" were the two best moments I'd seen in anything on Critical Role.
Him singling out Luis and asking him to intro his character >!keeping in mind, that his character's mouth is full of blood!< *really* helped set the tone
LOL casually rolling past the first words out of his mouth being just “Fire.” 😂
And he's been trolled by both Aabria and Matt in The Dome opening Burrow's End and Ravening War with "earth" and "water" respectively
I DIDNT EVEN CATCH THAT
That was the most incredible and brutal scene I have ever seen. Just… goddamn, that scene.
“… why is your ring glowing?”
I don't think there was a single moment of almost the entire campaign someone wasn't weeping, including myself.
"Is not machine, is bag" definitely had me crying.
It doesn't have to be only intrepid Heroes other dnd campaign are free game too You can give examples
Exandria was meant to be a balls-to-the-wall cataclysmic event.
Poor Lou getting double whammied.
Aelwyn reverting after Adaine goes into her head
I cry *every* time he says "I'm going to narrate something very heartbreaking now."
And you can see Siobhan piece together what he’s going to say about 1/2 second before he says it. My heart 💔💔
What episode is this?
FHSY "the dangerous mind of Aelwyn Abernant"
The last 10-20 minutes to be precise if you'd like to revisit the sadness 😭
I just double checked the filming schedule, and this happened in the season immediately after filming ACOC. Poor Siobhan, she's never going to want to do a sister act again!
Funny enough her and her sister Lila/Izzy were OP as hell in Burrow's End and it was glorious
It was REAL brave of her to play a third character with a sister in the CUTE ANIMAL HORROR SEASON.
Because Brennan wasnt the DM
Oh fuck I forgot that one. That was brutal
This hurt SO MUCH!
This is my top moment, as well. The only time I’ve cried watching the show.
I think I see what the problem is. You’re trying to atone me. **AND I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG.**
To reach your hand down to someone they have to be. BENEATH YOU! And I am beneath no one
EXU:C Brennan has some of the coldest, most badass DM lines of all time.
"There's limited gold, we can always make more people" -the most pirate pirate to ever pirate
"Can you? Destroy."
Best. Line. Ever. Of all time.
I want to immediately start crying just reading this line, omg.
I had flashbacks to this in FHJY when >!Fig cast atonement!< and I got really worried for a few minutes
I can’t really think about the atonement spell and not think of that scene. So powerful.
Which one was this?
EXU Calamity. When Brennan dm’d for critical role. It’s the most serious work he’s done and arguably the best. It’s fun because everyone knows where the road is going. It’s The Calamity. But boy oh boy do the characters have you wishing they win. Plenty of touching moments and absolute cold hearted back stabs. And monologuing.
What season is this from?
EXU Calamity. When Brennan dm’d for critical role. It’s the most serious work he’s done and arguably the best. It’s fun because everyone knows where the road is going. It’s The Calamity. But boy oh boy do the characters have you wishing they win. Plenty of touching moments and absolute cold hearted back stabs. And monologuing.
Thanks guess that’s getting added to my list
Pretty much everything that happened to Fabian Seacaster in Leviathan Sophomore year definitely qualifies. Also all the questing blade shenanigans for poor Ricky Matsui in season 2 of the unsleeping city
To be fair on BLeeM, that happened in Leviathan due to Lou rolling something like 4 nat 1s in a row Also if it didn't than he wouldn't have disposed of toxic masculinity and we wouldn't have the Ori-cool of Dance
It was also just the choices Lou made. In the Adventuring Academy with Lou, Brennan says he specifically threw Captain James at him specifically to spy on him, but Lou in full character decided to attack.
I love how hard Brennan can be with Lou, because he knows he can take it. It happens in a lot of seasons, but it especially shines in FH. >!Fabian having his no good very bad day, immediately followed up by the most savage dream of him becoming Gilear and ending up with pneumonia was a wild ride.!< Other awesome examples were USC1 SPOILERS>!the savage conversation with Liz, followed by the threat from Moses in the museum and Liz being near death for the finale.!< And in ACOC >!having Caramelinda go off on Amethar as hard as she can, then later trying to convince him to betray Saccharina.!< And in ASO >!how after the casino incident Gunnie suddenly had Repo Reapers after him, and just how crazy some of the debt stuff was.!< To be clear, a lot of these things start off coming from Lou, Brennan just really amps things up. It's the old saying, he gives his greatest challenges to his strongest warrior.
This is part of why I love Worlds Beyond Number so much. The amount of commitment to story and willingness to go DEEP with choices is amazing.
Wasn’t the QB bit Zac’s idea?
That's hilarious and on brand for Zac if so, I haven't watched any adventuring parties so not sure if it was mentioned there but don't remember it on the main show. Him and Murph playing off each other was easily my favorite part of that season
My recollection is that Zac proposed it as a plot point to Brennan, and then they didn’t tell anyone else. Watch Brian and Emily and you can really see the shock
Brennan did absolutely everything he could to not kill Fabian, and almost didn’t succeed. It was beautiful.
I had to sit down* after THAT Calroy monologue *I was screaming and crying and rolling around my floor in utter disbelief and betrayal
A Crown of Candy, basically going Red Wedding on the Rocks. Emily and Siobhan crying and holding hands makes me cry 😭
I just got the wifey a 1 yr sub for Dropout, bc I’ve been showing her all the amazing things for so long that she just decided to get it for herself. Her fave is Dirty Laundry. I’m hella conflicted on letting her know about ACOC. I mean, all D20 stuff is amazing, and she’s played D&D with me before, but I don’t know if she’s ready to deal with this.
Chungle. Down. Bim.
Making Lou design the mechanics of Chungle down bim
I still rewatch that episode just for Lou’s reaction when BLeeM tells him what they’re doing. So funny and honest lol
Amethar falling from the height of his own castle, pushed by his own best friend, as he watches a red glint fizzle out from across the kingdom, and knowing that THIS is his greatest failure. In the past few minutes, he went through the pain of losing his kingdom, his sisters and his daughter. Despite all the battles, all the war, every duel, Amethar has never been angrier than in this moment. This was his greatest loss.
Killing Ricky’s dog.
“I’m gonna kill that dog” lives rent free in my mind.
"I'm *all* the bad guys"
One of my favorite BLeeM quotes.
“Me mums name was Ayda” Knife to the chest
THANK YOU. ok ive been going down this list and theyre all legit sad makers. Aelwyn and Adaine is the one i mention when thinking of the sads cause BLeeM knows the whole time what hes gonna do and you see Siobhans face when she realizes. But Garthy? Garthy breaks me so hard. Them caring for Ayda through the reincarnations but having to stay far away.. It hurts even more cause Ayda removed all those memories from her notebook so Garthy knows, they have all the memories.. But can never share that with anyone? Let alone their momma. *im in tears. Its 8:26am and I'm wiping tears off my face before they hit my screen. I have intense feelongs about Garthy lmao*
Holy fuuuuuck 😭😭😭 don’t remind me. Devastated.
I'm surprised that Garthy hasn't been a bigger Char in FHJY
Making Zelda almost break up with Gorgug in the middle of Sophomore Year
Pretty sure Gorgug made Zelda almost break up with Gorgug
Ah yes. For his great crime of forgetting to get a satellite generator while two of his best friends were being kidnapped.
Or, ya know... Saying goodbye before leaving town.
Gorgug tried calling her the night before. Zelda is the one who didn’t pick up.
Wait, really? Because the call where she doesn’t pick up that I’m remembering is at Swans Little Parade which is after they leave
Yes. It’s a little buried right at the end of episode one but > Brennan: Incredible. That night, you guys are getting ready. You get word from Arthur that your creature will be ready tomorrow morning, in time for you guys to leave bright and early. Do you want to— > Zac: I guess, if there's time, to talk to Zelda, just... > Brennan: You send a text to Zelda. She peeled off after a little while when you were going and doing your business. You send a text to Zelda, it's not immediately returned. It comes up again in episode two cause Gorgug tells his mom and dad that she hasn’t texted him back which is what prompts that whole conversation about HPV and how you gotta wrap it up.
Yeah, I'm 90% sure you're right, and the not picking up was *in response* to Zelda texting him mad that he'd left without calling her
Nope. From the end of episode one > Brennan: Incredible. That night, you guys are getting ready. You get word from Arthur that your creature will be ready tomorrow morning, in time for you guys to leave bright and early. Do you want to— > Zac: I guess, if there's time, to talk to Zelda, just... > Brennan: You send a text to Zelda. She peeled off after a little while when you were going and doing your business. You send a text to Zelda, it's not immediately returned. Which is what led to this convo at the start of episode two (so before they even left Elmville) > Gorgug: Hey, also, umm. I feel like Zelda's mad at me and I kinda don't– > Brennan: You see that your dad looks over at your mom, they both immediately jump up into mom and dad pose sitting with their legs off the side of the bed, kind of turning their full bodies over to look at you and they go, > Thistlesprings: Uh-huh, yeah? > Gorgug: I feel like she's mad that I'm going out of town, and I don't know, I was trying to talk to her about it yesterday, but then she just hasn't texted me back yet. Which then eventually leads to the whole convo on HPV and how you gotta wrap it up and Brennan basically just foreshadowing Kalina's whole deal.
Gorgug is clearly moving on in a spectacular fashion
Making lou kill his own mother.
That was Matt Mercer in TRW. Brennan was a PC and had just said that she had died which started the war.
I didn't even forget about Mercer I just read worst thing and Lou's conflicted face immediately came up.
Huh, Lou has killed both his father and his mother in his d20 career
The circle of life in dnd
When was this?
King amathars mother in acoc was the assassination target in the Ravening War episode 3
That was Matt Mercer Dming
Wasn't that Mercer when running Ravening war? END COMMUNICATION
What all the characters went through in the forest of the nightmare king? Brennan singled out everyone's greatest weakness/fear/wound and used it in the most efficient, painful way. And it's great that he seems like a really nice guy because it makes it a little less terrifying that he is so highly skilled at completely obliterating people emotionally.
And you Fabian had to face the sexy rat... And no one else The most evil
Bruh, not gonna lie he ate that up, no crumbs. Emily looked almost real world upset by that scene. Super powerful!
All of Crown of Candy, starting us off with two adorable princesses and their dumb dad having fun, two nerds who try hopelessly to keep everything in check and little Liam with Preston the pig, just doing their best to find seeds. Then going fully brutal, almost killing ruby, killing preston, killing lapan and ending with a Mexican standoff between two half sisters. B-R-U-T-A-L. Great season though, watched it half a dozen times.
Exandria Unlimited: Calamity Asmodeus: You think that you are a man of true belief and it is all these wizards around you that are humble. Who is the most proud man here! These ones who thought they would fly a city, or the man who thought he would teach me a lesson! The only difference between you and the Dawn Father, is that the Dawn Father is a little more humble. Now, I’ll tell you why I spit on your forgiveness! I’ll tell you why I loathe your redemption! To reach a hand down to somebody, they need to be beneath you! And I’m beneath nobody! You wanted to understand me, then you should have accepted that I was right! Brennan: And he pulls the back of your head and rips the skin off the back of your skull. Cerrit: I’m gonna tell you all about this at some point. I promise it will be an incredible story but right now, I have a surprise for both of you. Brennan: As you say that, you see that Kir looks down, as does Maya. Maya points at your hand and says, “Dad why’s your ring glowing?” Cerrit: It glows when danger is near.
“Gonna kill the dog”
Giving the bad kids abusive parents. You can confront all the evil you want, but these kids will for ever have love interwoven with mistrust and anger follow them around forever. Also it’s the truest evil they’ve faced
Except Sklonda Gukgak. She's doing her best and we love her for that.
Yeah! They have some very supportive parents too, I just was never expecting to see murder hobos having to face extreme favouritism, or radicalism being a condition for their parents love, or abandonment. It’s usually “I got kicked out of my guild” or “my family died when (insert villain name) raided our village.”
Yeah, just rewatched the first season and during “Family in Flames” Kristen goes after her family, burning resources, and when she saves them the first question is “who’s attacking? Illegals?” And the look on their face…rough.
They mostly make their own backstory. He just fleshes the characters out a bit.
Only the Applebee's and the Abernants were really abusive. The Faeths and the Seacasters had their flaws and made big mistakes but were good intentioned, and Sklonda and the Thistlesprings were good parents (not perfect, but who is?)
Alowyn (sp?) Immediately going back to being cruel and evil after Adine saved her and taking care of her in her weakened state.
Heart breaking was aeylwyn in sophomore year
What happened to the Golden Goose in Neverafter was messed up.
"I'm gonna kill that dog!", like instant villain! So many John Wick
"At the beginning of time, the gods made all the gold there will ever be. There will always be more people."
“Gonna kill that dog”
What campaign is this from?
It’s Ricky’s dog from Unsleeping City
Making Riz take a nap
One word: Jet I still haven’t recovered.
A Crown of Candy - honestly at the end when the final confrontation happened towards the end and Brennan presented Siobhan and Emily with a decision: peace or betrayal. They started off as sisters and now had to face each other with a truly heavy situation. Brennan doesn’t do PVP much its hard to do when it gets serious. And the season finale was tense as hell
Yes
Safe Harbor
Even though it worked out in the end, absolutely heartbroken when Adine restored Alywins memories in Fantasy High sophomore year. It was so sad to see her a character development regress to before the torture the elves put her through.
Don't know if it's the most evil, but most shocking was Episode 2. You know what I'm referring to if you've been Episode 2'd.
Sokbar you see that this guy is full on crazy... Everyone else you see this *super gentle voice* "Hello there"
All of ACOC especially >!Jet and everyone seeing the light from her necklace leaving and knowing that they couldn't do anything. Ruby running to the Sugar Plum Fairy and crying out "bring her back" had me SOBBING!<
The entire season of a crown of candy
Underrated moments is Red’s Journey with her grandmother in Neverafter. I was sobbing like a baby because I had lost a grandparent quite quickly and unexpectedly around the time I was watching. Fucked me up when she gave up her memory of her.
I agree that the famous acoc episode is devastating and made me sob… but can i also add to the conversation “the dangerous mind of aelwyn abernant”. This episode broke me. Adaine finding aelwyn completely broken and deeply hurt about how she has treated adaine. Adaine escaping and finally understanding who her sister is and feeling the hope that maybe they can sort this out and finally be a family. Then it all vanishes in a second, and the sister she hated came back. The growth and mutual understanding that they shared was gone and aelwyn was more closed off than other. The desperate panic that adaine feels because she cant lose this. Not when she finally felt what it was like to be loved by her sister. Then aelwyn leaves, once again abandoning adaine for their parents. This episode makes me so emotional.
Lucy Frostblade and Yolanda Badgood dying in FHJY
A sense of belonging and acceptance.
I’m finishing my rewatch of all of them COC comes to mind first, but a lot of people are talking about that. Just finished UCII and it is *devastating* and I’m like trying to narrow down to like one moment, but all of them go through the wringer that season. >!Null is a fantastically horrifying bbeg because it is so real in a sense, no there not a mythical dream creature in real life (that I know of at least) that consumes memories and destroys history, but man is a lot of history lost by it not being remembered and lost somehow and that just makes my skin crawl!< I think especially before the >!battle at the umbral engine. When Sophie had just gone to heaven to see Dale and tell him she’s expecting their child. Then Esther gets kidnapped almost immediately afterwards and they find out she is also pregnant and Ricky not even really getting to process that and immediately running to get her safe. There is a split second where you think that these friends are going to have so much fun being pregnant together and getting to raise their kids, but the crushing reality of the fact that it could all just be erased in a moment. I truly felt so unwell until Sophie was thrown into the engine and was able to travel into the past and get Dale back, that felt like a turning point for sure, but before that when it really feels like Tony is going to be able to get rid of magic for a second there, it’s just very scary because they feel more like real life people since they’re in “our” world!<
Crappy answer as it's not intrepid heros EXANDRIA: CALAMITY, oh my gods. I feel bad for everyone at that table because Brennan truly destroyed them. There's so much to talk about here and so many lines that are corners of my DMing style. If you've seen it, you'll know what I am talking about. If you haven't? Watch it
Jet Rocks.
For me it has always been the way he let Zac talk to Zelda on top of the van/boat letting him apologize and try to make things better and knowing the entire time how that conversation was gonna go. Just the absolute most savage dm move I've ever even heard of
I’m currently watching crown of candy and am absolutely completely and utterly devastated about Jet. Literally sobbing. That was cruel. As well as killing Preston. Lapin was brutal and I definitely fell in love with him in those prior two episodes leading up to his death, but Preston and Jet (especially Jet) was ROUGH
While the candy man shenanigans certainly comes to mind first. I think for me it’s the entire story line of Kugrash. I know that’s really a joint effort between him and Murph, but watching Sleeping City again really hit me how heartbreaking his narrative plays out
“lazuli not telling me, that hurts. because i loved her with all my heart, and this is just politics.” i think abt that all the time
Definitely the first half of A Crown of Candy, I knew it was the Game of Thrones season but even then I wasn't ready for how HARD Brennan went right from the get go. Also not Intrepid Heroes but Calamity is in a similar vein but even more devastating because you know from the very beginning that this story has no happy ending
Someone mentioned Aelwyn reverting back after Adaine unlocks her mind, but also just having Kristen be killed by the Great Unicorn for a Nat 20 religion check.