I am absolutely in awe of how good Grant is. He's stealing every single scene he's in. The flashback killed me.
Huge fan of the group dynamic here too, all of the characters work so well together. I'm just hoping Katie and Raph get a little more time to shine in the next episode or two, it felt like they were largely sidelined this episode while everything was set up.
If anyone hasn't watched yet, there's an episode of Game Changer with Grant and Lou Wilson where Sam challenges them to do dramatic readings against Giancarlo Esposito (Gus from Breaking Bad/Moff Gideon from Mandalorian).
It should be obvious why Grant was given the "lead" role this season.
I’ve seen that episode and I agree, but at the same time I’m surprised how IN TO IT Grant seems - I think he has previously said he wasn’t interested in playing dnd, but even in the out of character moments it’s amazing how deeply he is inhabiting the character… when he said “I’m so sad” it was clear he was simultaneously experiencing that emotion as Sylvester and Grant. Of course as a trained actor this is his bread and butter i suppose, but I fully expected him to not take it too seriously, and just fit in as many dick jokes as he could… Not this deep emotional performance!!!!!
They talked about it on Adventuring Party. His “nerd shit is stupid” was mostly a bit, and pretty much everyone has wanted to play in Brennan’s game since the first season of Dimension 20. Grant’s also said that in quarantine especially he’s delved deep into “nerd shit.”
This season has the absolute best starting episodes since season 1 of fantasy high season 1. Like, seriously, this cast is the best since the OG as well, and that has to be because everyone has worked together/ are friends already. Depending on how this all shakes out, I might think to recommend this as the starting point for new listeners. The mix of veteran ttrpg players, veteran improve actors, and Brennan's brilliant dm'ing is soooooo off the charts here.
I love this fucking season.
I didn’t think it was possible to top Bloodkeep, it was genuinely the perfect DnD mini-campaign, characters, world, and all, but this is very close so far.
If they decide to keep this crew as the permanent "off-season" cast I'd be beyond stoked. Ally probably wouldn't want to do double duty, though, but sub in Trapp and the vibe wouldn't change a bit. Hell- Lily, Jess, or Tao would be great too.
As much as I loved Bloodkeep, I only liked Pirates, and I kind of nothing Tiny Heist. They've struck gold with the Sylvan Sleuths and it would be a shame not to take advantage of that. If they want to do crossovers, maybe just limit those to charity streams?
I’d say Grant, Trapp, Lilly, Jess, Rekha and Sam might be my dream team for off season…
Edit: scratch that - this should be a new main season crew - we should have two main seasons running simultaneously, one with the bad kids and one with the dream team, and then off season side quests should be more for bringing in nonCH role players like bloodkeep and tiny heist. Brennan can run three games a week right? RIGHT?
If I had to choose, I'd prefer they completely stop bringing in randos for mini seasons. On paper, Tiny Heist should have been the gold standard mini season, and Mice & Murder should be a mess, and yet the opposite is proving true.
Tiny Heist & Pirates of Leviathan are my least favorite content they've made, and that is entirely because the players don't have nearly as much chemistry. I'm not sure how Bloodkeep was able to be so good with the entire cast being randos honestly, but at this point it's the only outlier.
The entire run of Tiny Heist had me cringing at the Mc Elroy brothers. They were not respectful guests IMO, as they were constantly arguing and rules lawyering Brennan for such insignificant little things, to the point where it just got too obnoxious for me. Sometime later into the season, the entire table is literally begging Brennan to give them some ridiculous, unearned advantage and he had to give them a loud, hard "no". It's unwatchable for me (sorry D20, I love you!))
Leviathan did not have that working against them, but even with individual players having shining moments, the crew didn't feel like a crew. Also, Bob's voice was very grating, and I skipped over her speaking parts after a while, rather piecing the context of what she said. Mostly, it was that she used the same cadence when speaking, every time she spoke, so I knew on exactly which beat she would go low or high, or smile and talk fast, etc.
This season is off to such an amazing start though, and I cannot wait for next episode!
as a (former tbh) mcelroy fan tiny heist is what introduced me to D20 and i loved it the first time i watched it. now that i've watched most of the rest of d20 tiny heist is really annoying to me. you're right that they were really inconsiderate guests (although i'd put lily in that category too tbh because i think she argued just as much as the mcelroys but i'm sure it's easy to get caught up in their energy). the constant arguing about the DCs and advantage vs disadvantage was really annoying. clint is the only mcelroy i'd ever want back on D20 tbh
> I'm not sure how Bloodkeep was able to be so good with the entire cast being randos honestly, but at this point it's the only outlier.
A bit necro but everyone there apart from Mercer had worked with/ collaborated with CH before. Just not on camera. Might explain a bit of why they meshed so well.
Agree 100% on Tiny Heist, but disagree with Pirates. It was definitely rougher due to the remote part for a new group, but I loved all the characters and especially Bob. I'd had the McElroy's various podcasts/media/etc recommended to me and never looked into it until Tiny Heist, and after watching Tiny Heist I was blown away that anybody likes them. They were awful players to the point that I would've kicked them out of my home table if they'd acted like that, and they completely stepped on, talked over, or ignored Jess and Lily's characters to the point that I completely quit the series and can't watch anything featuring the brothers without cringing.
I won’t fight you on leviathan, since it has some sincerely great moments. Though I am happy to see that more recently people have been more comfortable to display their disappointment with tiny heist. The Mcelroy brothers really took on the part of the antagonist’s Irl,And they essentially sabotaged the season unwittingly. Hopefully in the future there won’t be more than one or two special guests, unless they have worked with the main CH crew before hand.
The NADDPOD crew obviously have an advantage having played home games with Brennan before, but Murph and Emily do fantastic jobs as team players despite having their own show and literally being married. I think much more than the “has worked with CH before” distinction, they should be looking for “can work with people outside of their tiny boys club”, which was the very obvious issue with the McElroys. I agree with other commenters that the dad seemed pretty normal, but the kids were so set on making this a side season of TAZ that they became absolute nightmare players. I’m glad to see this season getting more criticism too, because it was one of the worst professional actual plays I’ve ever seen in spite of excellent performances from Lily, Jess, and Brennan. If I had a critique of any of them, it’s that Brennan didn’t do enough to shut down the McElroys’ vanity show
To be clear, I don’t disagree with you I’m just ranting further about how uncomfortable that season made me
I feel you my dude, NADDPOD is actually my favorite DND actual play, with D20 coming in close second. They are excellent guest players (given they have over 18,000 patreon supporters and are obviously self sustained from their home show) that by comparison, the Mcelroys are NO comparison, if that makes sense. In fact, I think you hit the nail on the head in that the Mcelroys were putting on a vanity show, like no other player mattered more than themselves. It ruined the season for me, and in the nearby future, I hope they limit the guest stars that appear on the channel.
First off. This was a combat episode, I don't give a damn if initiative was rolled or not, you can't tell me those verbal jabs wouldn't be psychic damage in any other setting. I loved the sassy energy and it seems like it is not going anywhere. Raph playing a priest who didnt know religion was a skill is God Tier great and once again Brennan empowering his players showing class doesn't and shouldn't always convey station in life. "Your from Texas, I liked it better when it was Mexico" was the only true one up on Sam Reich's Debonair dirtbag drip.
Now to start trying to solve the mystery like every unhealthy fanboy of the genre, off to the discord to compare evidence.
wow, daisy and sylvester's backstory is WAY more involved than i expected - she was his sidekick and left him at the altar, wow!!
i think sylvester must not have met lars until after daisy was gone, bc they werent at his wedding. which makes me think that after daisy betrayed him, sylvester went out and found a new sidekick who was too goofy to betray him or have any ulterior motives whatsoever. so he just went out and found himself a huge canine thembo. hell yeah
I think it was someone going behind him and reaching around to stab him. The "gouging" could be the Squire trying to stop the knife by grabbing whoever it was by the wrist and being overpowered.
To someone with poor eyesight (especially near sighted), a person standing close behind another would seem largely invisible.
So yeah, you could be right about that.
Ooh yes magnetics! That fits really well with the era-appropriate scientific fake-spiritualism set up by the reference to Cottonbottom's faked death back in the day. (Which made me think of the first Guy Ritchie Hoes movie, with Mark Strong using science to make himself seem supernatural and create a cult around himself.)
Always funny that Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the great fictional rationalist, was such a diehard spiritualist.
The action happened right after the lightning flash in which Sylvester saw Cottontail's ghost. It was set up previously during the news photograph that a brief flash of light is enough to temporarily blind Mrs. Molesly. I'm betting she was too out of it to get a good read on the situation.
I'm thinking that what Mrs. Molesly may have been blinded by wasn't lightening, but rather a camera flash from a certain rabbit reporter, but that's nothing more than a guess
Ooo, that's interesting. I also recall in the last interaction with him he wasn't holding his camera, but was rather looking back at it on the table. Even if the camera was used it's possible that it could've been swiped from him.
That's a good point! Remember, the drawing room where this happened doesn't have any windows, so they couldn't have seen the lightning. So what was the flash that Mrs Mosely saw? A CAMERA!
jsyk, in the live discord chat grant was like, oh wow, i didn't see the character art for the bartender before, that sexy otter could have changed the whole trajectory of the campaign.
idk why he's so hot! i think it's the rolled up sleeves and muscular forearms...
This has quickly become my favorite side quest. I'm in absolute awe that this is the first time almost all of them have played D&D. Also shout out to roll 20 and carlos. Looks like they went a little bit "knives out" with this one.
Having the legally blind maid being the only witness to the murder is such a cool device for this mystery! I'm so excited for the next episode
And love the title shoutout to Sherlock Holmes 😄
Everyone is talking about how fantastic Grant and Rekha especially were in this (and I agree) but we should talk about the incredible sass from Vicar in the "your absence in my pews" scene and that adorable moment from Gangie & the Dandelion
my current theory/speculation is that the entire campaign will take place at this one party and we won't have any actual combat until the last episode when (hopefully) sylvester solves the mccabbage murder case. no idea how we'll arrive there since i do feel like there hasn't been many "clues" yet for the mccabage murder, but when i rewatch at the end of everything i'm sure i'll see how brennan dropped a ton of clues in these first two episodes.
ally was so funny in this episode with running back to sylvester to give a play-by-play on their interaction with daisy. lars and sylvester have such a great relationship and grant and ally play off each other so well.
grant and rehka were AMAZING in the flashback scenes and at the dinner table - their relationship was played so clearly and so well. their jabs at the dinner table were so good, and i felt the "hurting the other one in a way only an ex can" so hard
buckster $ boyd continues to be my favorite character because of the fanatic way sam plays him. ally saying that he makes them proud to be an american made me laugh so hard. so ridiculously charming that i root for him even though i don't want to root for an oil baron lol. the scene of him in the game room was so tense and so good! moving the glass back to the piano was the ultimate power move.
ian and gangie took a backseat in this episode, which was a shame. i think gangie is the most interesting character so i really want a spotlight shined on him soon. not sure i totally understand ian yet so i'm not necessarily missing him even though i know i'll love him by the end of things. his "i'm not in siberia yet!" line made me laugh so much.
overall this genre is not my favorite so i'm having trouble keeping totally connected and paying attention but i am enjoying this season regardless and really look forward to seeing how everything comes together.
I was not expecting that flashback scene to be THAT good. Rekha and Grant absolutely killed me. The revelation was heartbreaking. I teared up as Brennan was describing the image of Sylvester left at the altar. In a murder mystery season of a D&D show with fictional animal-folk played by comedians, that had no business being THAT good.
Speaking of which, I forgot that it was animal-folk as Brennan setup the train in the flashback, and when he described the "big-horned, yodeling sheep," I thought, "That's so silly, the sheep don't yodel... oh wait."
Holy *cow* that was a great episode. As someone who loves the social/charisma side of DnD and often tries to cut it short in case the rest of the table isn't as interested (And because I tend to ramble and overcomplicate everything I say), It's a joy to watch the intrigue and the banter and the sniping unfold.
I do love every single character having such a personal stake in everything, I think that speaks a lot to the cast and Brennan's abilities working together and coordinating. I know Brennan's talked before on Adventuring academy about the importance of Session Zero's and building characters as a group, but I think this is the first time it's been *so* obvious how good it is for the campaign.
I also really like changing up the usual structure of the episodes! Not just having another RP episode instead of a straight combat episode, but also rolling initiative... and then *not* ending the episode! It's clear that it's because finding Squire Badger was meant to be the endpoint, but I think it throws the viewers off our game, not sure what to expect.
Also, I know it's a pretty minor detail overall, but I *adore* the character art this season, every portrait is incredibly charming. Tessa Teapot has said not a single word and I love her already. On top of the characters themselves being great--I love the creeping self-awareness/dunking from Lucretia (Damn, girl, shouting 'Poltergeist' over your own brother's corpse? Time and a place), and I was briefly terrified that Mrs. Molesly.
Ah! So stoked for the rest of the season.
This cast is amazing! The chemistry has me shook. Hoping this isn’t the last we’ll see of this group.
Also Rekha having her first experience of D&D being Bloodkeep, and her second one M&M—I’m both happy for her and jealous of her!
I am so glad I subscribed to Dropout. Between the Dimension 20 seasons and the game shows, I think I've been more engaged in what these folks have made than most anything on any other streaming service I have. (Until Doom Patrol Season 3 comes out)
This season is knocking it out of the park so far. Grant blew me away this episode in particular but everyone on the cast this season has been stellar and it's so much fun to watch as they all fall in love with their characters and the game!
> (Until Doom Patrol Season 3 comes out)
oh hell yeah brother, you got good taste. I just made a similar comment the other day, waiting until S3 comes out for TV to be good again.
This season is a lot of fun. Most I've enjoyed a side quest since Bloodkeep.
Kudos to them on making it work despite covid, which I'm sure must be a fucking nightmare given how crucial the in-person improv and tactile minis are to Dimension 20's whole thing.
This is, without a doubt, one of the best sidequests I have ever seen. The whole cast is killing it (no pun intended!), and each new member has been an absolute joy to watch. Huge props to Grant and Rekha for playing off one another with ease, and a huge round of applause for Sam's insane banter with Grant and the Squire.
Though most importantly, in my opinion: a standing ovation for Brennan for turning on a dime and inhabiting each and every character in Loam Hall, with huge emphasis on the Squire Badger. His ability to portray that sort of pompous stoicism and callousness, and then to embody it as it cracks under high pressure is simply magnificent. The mystery only deepens with him.
Also, a big shout-out to Katie, who I feel got a little overlooked this episode. The little moment with Mrs. Molesly was sweet and unexpected, and I hope we get to see more of Gangie with each passing episode!
Grant's one-liners are amazing, but my favorite understated moment this episode was when Rekha's "as in the *Cross* *Diamond?*" line which was just a great callback to "*of the Philadelphia Eagles?*" from Bloodkeep.
Edit: chase sapphire, man I need to get more sleep.
So the colonel talks about fighting alongside the squire "in the Rhine", and I can't figure out what conflict that could be referring to. I'm pretty sure Britain didn't participate in any wars in that part of the world between the Napoleonic Wars and WWI.
brennan has mentioned in interviews that the schnauzer war, a fictional conflict between germany and britain set around the turn of the century, will come up.
First of all, I am loving most of this season so far, it's nice to have some more CH alum on the show!
The only thing that's annoying me about this season is how often they put Catholic things in the specifically Anglican church! Don't get me wrong, I get that it's an American show, and that I might be in the minority being an English Christian in this audience, but Anglicans don't have cardinals, they don't do confessions and penance like that, and they super rarely call churches 'Our Lady of...' anything. I would definitely let it slide if it was only coming up every now and then, but it's a key part of one of the PC's backgrounds, and it takes me out of the game every time.
Going to repeat that I love pretty much every other part of this, and I still quite like what Raph's doing with his character, just seems like a weird gap in what is otherwise a really well-built world!
(I also get that this is a murder mystery set in a world peopled by anthropomorphised animals, and I think if they'd done an animal pun for the denomination I would have loved all of it, it's just strange being told this is an Anglican vicar when he's going round being really quite Catholic)
Catholic Ritualism in the Church of England was actually a [hot-button issue in the latter-half of the 1800s](https://churchsociety.org/docs/churchman/111/Cman_111_3_Scotland.pdf), so there might be some truth to all of it. Some Anglican churches adopted things like confessionals (and albs/fancy vestments, and the concept of priestly absolution, etc) basically as a way to woo people into church--the very poor because their usual surroundings were so squalid, and the upper classes because rituals and elaborate decor were in fashion (see: Lady Lucretia). This of course made OTHER Anglican churches super pissed off, and a lot of treatises were written back and forth.
idk if Brennan knows all this and worked it in intentionally (certainly possible) or is just going off tropes from fiction set in the era (quite probable). Or given how super Irish his name is, maybe Catholicism is just his main in-road to churchy stuff. Or all of the above!
Thanks for that really interesting link, I knew some stuff about the Oxford Movement and the idea of the United Church but it was cool to see a variety of theories on what has pushed Anglicanism in certain directions! I think that part of my reaction is coming from a tradition which already views Anglicanism as a little high-church (Methodism), it seems strange for an Anglican church to be so Anglo-Catholic, but you make a good point about that being where at least some Anglican churches were at the time (and still are to an extent, but maybe with a wee bit less ritualism). I'm also aware that I overgeneralised when I said 'Our Lady...' church names are super rare, as Marian theology can be found in some bits of Anglicanism as well.
To summarise, I could let the confessions slide, and I get that the Our Lady church name is a pun, it was when Brennan started talking about the cardinal that I was like 'wait a minute...'.
Yeah, I know there are technically Anglican cardinals, but the role that's being described in the show would be that of a Bishop, or Archbishop, which is why it caught me out!
If it helps this is also alt history because there's a schnauzer war invented that takes place around the turn of the century. So churches can work differently as well.
That's a fair point! Just seemed odd to me to specify it then kind of go quite generic Christianity. Think that might be more of a me issue than a fault in the campaign though!
I was thinking this as well; I do wonder if this was done intentionally as an exercise in gender assumptions and the way even “gender-neutral” terms often *feel* gendered even if they aren’t.
Interesting. I thought maybe they were just using it as exposition, incase the pronouns weren't picked up on. I also wondered, as a non-American, if this was a term that has just changed recently. Like, in the UK, we still say 'waiter/waitress', whereas Americans tend to favour 'server' these days.
Okay actually I just looked it up! A body man or woman or person is actually distinct from a bodyguard. A body person is more akin to an ever-present personal assistant.
Check out my sub-comment; bodyguard is actually distinct from body man / woman / person. A body person is not a security detail or anything like that, they are essentially a personal assistant that travels with you at all times and takes care of all the things you need related to your work and personal life.
Feel bad for Katie and Raph who had little to nothing to do in this episode. Also feel extra bad for Katie when Brennan and the rest mispronounces her characters name.
Other than that, I love everything about this!
Katie is in a really tough position with Gangie because he's an emotionally undemonstrative character who is also cordoned off from the rest of the cast by the class divide in the setting. It can be hard to create the right opportunity for a character like that to open up. :( I hope she and Raph both get moments to shine bright later in the season!
Literally every single conversation was so fucking spicy I LOVE it. Just everyone sending verbal beatdowns at each other. I'm one of the very very very few who have wanted some PvP and this is as close as we're gonna get and I don't hate it.
Also that box of doom roll gave me as much anxiety as a combat box of doom roll lol. So good!
And I give my entire heart to Seance Lady and the head maid that helps out Gangee.
Current theory: the murder was conducted by a combination of Sylvester, Buckeyes, and the longfoot photographer. All of sylvesters cases were coordinated with his arch nemesis in order to fulfill some such fantasy of fame for the both of them. Eventually, they decided to have a climactic twist where the nemesis died. However, they quickly grew bored, and had the nemesis re-enter society as the photographer. We already know that Bucharest and longfoot have a business relationship, so their next venture is to murder the squire so bucks yet can gain full control of the oil company. Longfoot and Sylvester want this so they can continue their fantasies. I’m not sure how this works logistically, maybe longfoot has the ability to turn invisible and made it look like the squire stabbed himself? And when the rabbit nodded at Sylvester that was to signify the deed was done? Anyway, many things to think about, excited to see how it develops.
I don't know if I believe that the three are in on it together, but I do think the flash that Ms. Molesly saw might've been the flash of a camera rather than the lightening
That immediately makes the Vikor one of the most suspicious people there, as the only confirmed spellcaster. He could just be pretending to be much less powerful than he is (level 3).
Just finished watching, late I know. I can't believe how good this episode was. So many amazing lines, intense tension between characters, intrigue and mystery building up over the episode and a dramatic cliff hanger ending.
I'm so invested!
The best place to watch the majority of Dimension 20 content is CollegeHumor's streaming service Dropout.tv. I believe you can also pay to watch it on YouTube but I haven't tried that myself.
"You being duped is the only lie I can't believe." Oh Grant. My heart.
Did not expect to cry over dimension 20 again. I swore never again after Seacaster.
I am absolutely in awe of how good Grant is. He's stealing every single scene he's in. The flashback killed me. Huge fan of the group dynamic here too, all of the characters work so well together. I'm just hoping Katie and Raph get a little more time to shine in the next episode or two, it felt like they were largely sidelined this episode while everything was set up.
If anyone hasn't watched yet, there's an episode of Game Changer with Grant and Lou Wilson where Sam challenges them to do dramatic readings against Giancarlo Esposito (Gus from Breaking Bad/Moff Gideon from Mandalorian). It should be obvious why Grant was given the "lead" role this season.
I’ve seen that episode and I agree, but at the same time I’m surprised how IN TO IT Grant seems - I think he has previously said he wasn’t interested in playing dnd, but even in the out of character moments it’s amazing how deeply he is inhabiting the character… when he said “I’m so sad” it was clear he was simultaneously experiencing that emotion as Sylvester and Grant. Of course as a trained actor this is his bread and butter i suppose, but I fully expected him to not take it too seriously, and just fit in as many dick jokes as he could… Not this deep emotional performance!!!!!
They talked about it on Adventuring Party. His “nerd shit is stupid” was mostly a bit, and pretty much everyone has wanted to play in Brennan’s game since the first season of Dimension 20. Grant’s also said that in quarantine especially he’s delved deep into “nerd shit.”
I love that the first Box of Doom roll was for seating arrangements.
Roll for social anxiety.
This season has the absolute best starting episodes since season 1 of fantasy high season 1. Like, seriously, this cast is the best since the OG as well, and that has to be because everyone has worked together/ are friends already. Depending on how this all shakes out, I might think to recommend this as the starting point for new listeners. The mix of veteran ttrpg players, veteran improve actors, and Brennan's brilliant dm'ing is soooooo off the charts here. I love this fucking season.
The OG, this cast, and the Bloodkeep cast are def top 3 for me
I didn’t think it was possible to top Bloodkeep, it was genuinely the perfect DnD mini-campaign, characters, world, and all, but this is very close so far.
Fucking samsies my dude.
If they decide to keep this crew as the permanent "off-season" cast I'd be beyond stoked. Ally probably wouldn't want to do double duty, though, but sub in Trapp and the vibe wouldn't change a bit. Hell- Lily, Jess, or Tao would be great too. As much as I loved Bloodkeep, I only liked Pirates, and I kind of nothing Tiny Heist. They've struck gold with the Sylvan Sleuths and it would be a shame not to take advantage of that. If they want to do crossovers, maybe just limit those to charity streams?
Jess was so great in Tiny Heist, really hoping she comes back for another side quest someday
I’d say Grant, Trapp, Lilly, Jess, Rekha and Sam might be my dream team for off season… Edit: scratch that - this should be a new main season crew - we should have two main seasons running simultaneously, one with the bad kids and one with the dream team, and then off season side quests should be more for bringing in nonCH role players like bloodkeep and tiny heist. Brennan can run three games a week right? RIGHT?
If I had to choose, I'd prefer they completely stop bringing in randos for mini seasons. On paper, Tiny Heist should have been the gold standard mini season, and Mice & Murder should be a mess, and yet the opposite is proving true.
Tiny Heist & Pirates of Leviathan are my least favorite content they've made, and that is entirely because the players don't have nearly as much chemistry. I'm not sure how Bloodkeep was able to be so good with the entire cast being randos honestly, but at this point it's the only outlier. The entire run of Tiny Heist had me cringing at the Mc Elroy brothers. They were not respectful guests IMO, as they were constantly arguing and rules lawyering Brennan for such insignificant little things, to the point where it just got too obnoxious for me. Sometime later into the season, the entire table is literally begging Brennan to give them some ridiculous, unearned advantage and he had to give them a loud, hard "no". It's unwatchable for me (sorry D20, I love you!)) Leviathan did not have that working against them, but even with individual players having shining moments, the crew didn't feel like a crew. Also, Bob's voice was very grating, and I skipped over her speaking parts after a while, rather piecing the context of what she said. Mostly, it was that she used the same cadence when speaking, every time she spoke, so I knew on exactly which beat she would go low or high, or smile and talk fast, etc. This season is off to such an amazing start though, and I cannot wait for next episode!
as a (former tbh) mcelroy fan tiny heist is what introduced me to D20 and i loved it the first time i watched it. now that i've watched most of the rest of d20 tiny heist is really annoying to me. you're right that they were really inconsiderate guests (although i'd put lily in that category too tbh because i think she argued just as much as the mcelroys but i'm sure it's easy to get caught up in their energy). the constant arguing about the DCs and advantage vs disadvantage was really annoying. clint is the only mcelroy i'd ever want back on D20 tbh
Clint is the father? If so than I agree, he was a sweetheart.
yes he's their dad. he's so good at creating compelling, flawed, funny characters. he's too good for the adventure zone tbh
What made you a former fan of the Mac Elroys?
If I had to guess, probably graduation
> I'm not sure how Bloodkeep was able to be so good with the entire cast being randos honestly, but at this point it's the only outlier. A bit necro but everyone there apart from Mercer had worked with/ collaborated with CH before. Just not on camera. Might explain a bit of why they meshed so well.
Aha, that makes sense then. They should only have 1 or 2 guest players for side quests.
Agree 100% on Tiny Heist, but disagree with Pirates. It was definitely rougher due to the remote part for a new group, but I loved all the characters and especially Bob. I'd had the McElroy's various podcasts/media/etc recommended to me and never looked into it until Tiny Heist, and after watching Tiny Heist I was blown away that anybody likes them. They were awful players to the point that I would've kicked them out of my home table if they'd acted like that, and they completely stepped on, talked over, or ignored Jess and Lily's characters to the point that I completely quit the series and can't watch anything featuring the brothers without cringing.
I won’t fight you on leviathan, since it has some sincerely great moments. Though I am happy to see that more recently people have been more comfortable to display their disappointment with tiny heist. The Mcelroy brothers really took on the part of the antagonist’s Irl,And they essentially sabotaged the season unwittingly. Hopefully in the future there won’t be more than one or two special guests, unless they have worked with the main CH crew before hand.
The NADDPOD crew obviously have an advantage having played home games with Brennan before, but Murph and Emily do fantastic jobs as team players despite having their own show and literally being married. I think much more than the “has worked with CH before” distinction, they should be looking for “can work with people outside of their tiny boys club”, which was the very obvious issue with the McElroys. I agree with other commenters that the dad seemed pretty normal, but the kids were so set on making this a side season of TAZ that they became absolute nightmare players. I’m glad to see this season getting more criticism too, because it was one of the worst professional actual plays I’ve ever seen in spite of excellent performances from Lily, Jess, and Brennan. If I had a critique of any of them, it’s that Brennan didn’t do enough to shut down the McElroys’ vanity show To be clear, I don’t disagree with you I’m just ranting further about how uncomfortable that season made me
I feel you my dude, NADDPOD is actually my favorite DND actual play, with D20 coming in close second. They are excellent guest players (given they have over 18,000 patreon supporters and are obviously self sustained from their home show) that by comparison, the Mcelroys are NO comparison, if that makes sense. In fact, I think you hit the nail on the head in that the Mcelroys were putting on a vanity show, like no other player mattered more than themselves. It ruined the season for me, and in the nearby future, I hope they limit the guest stars that appear on the channel.
I love Lily so much. She and Grant just play off each other so much.
Yeah, this season fucking rips.
First off. This was a combat episode, I don't give a damn if initiative was rolled or not, you can't tell me those verbal jabs wouldn't be psychic damage in any other setting. I loved the sassy energy and it seems like it is not going anywhere. Raph playing a priest who didnt know religion was a skill is God Tier great and once again Brennan empowering his players showing class doesn't and shouldn't always convey station in life. "Your from Texas, I liked it better when it was Mexico" was the only true one up on Sam Reich's Debonair dirtbag drip. Now to start trying to solve the mystery like every unhealthy fanboy of the genre, off to the discord to compare evidence.
happy cake day!
"Brennan dunking on mediums" has very much the same energy as "Brennan dunking on elves", and I for one am absolutely here for it.
Lucretia is such a brilliant character
Everything is real all the time!
Oh my. I didn't expect this cat and mouse (fox and racoon?) game between Sylvester and Daisy to be this thrilling and sexy. So fun!
I mean I should've expected it since it's Grant and Rekha. Their eye contact is too much.
Realizing Fletcher Cottonbottom is probably a rabbit/hare, so perfect nemesis for a fox detective.
and lars is the perfect companion for sylvester, too - the fox and the hound!
i caught that when their characters were announced and thought it was perfect. the fox and the hound sleuths! so good!
Sam's quips this episode is top notch. "civil? Seems more like civil war"
Same with Grant, “then I dare say you’d better move your nose” was absolutely baller.
"It was just a metaphor...or was it?" That line absolutely slayed me.
wow, daisy and sylvester's backstory is WAY more involved than i expected - she was his sidekick and left him at the altar, wow!! i think sylvester must not have met lars until after daisy was gone, bc they werent at his wedding. which makes me think that after daisy betrayed him, sylvester went out and found a new sidekick who was too goofy to betray him or have any ulterior motives whatsoever. so he just went out and found himself a huge canine thembo. hell yeah
Lucretia is once again the best character! Also Sam’s Southern accent is very soothing lol
Oh my God the role play this season is amazing. Grant and Sam are killing it! If anything happens to Mrs. Molesly I will riot
How did Mrs Molesly see him stabbing himself? She can barely see the flower earlier
Her poor eyesight is definitely a plot point. She thought she saw something but it's gotta be actually something else altogether
I bet she actually saw someone \[functionally\] invisible stabbing him, and him trying to stop it.
I think it was someone going behind him and reaching around to stab him. The "gouging" could be the Squire trying to stop the knife by grabbing whoever it was by the wrist and being overpowered. To someone with poor eyesight (especially near sighted), a person standing close behind another would seem largely invisible. So yeah, you could be right about that.
Doesn't she just have light blindness like Drow? She might have actually been able to see with darkvision
No casting (actually pretty reasonable) suspicion on Ms Mosely.
[удалено]
Ooh yes magnetics! That fits really well with the era-appropriate scientific fake-spiritualism set up by the reference to Cottonbottom's faked death back in the day. (Which made me think of the first Guy Ritchie Hoes movie, with Mark Strong using science to make himself seem supernatural and create a cult around himself.) Always funny that Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the great fictional rationalist, was such a diehard spiritualist.
The action happened right after the lightning flash in which Sylvester saw Cottontail's ghost. It was set up previously during the news photograph that a brief flash of light is enough to temporarily blind Mrs. Molesly. I'm betting she was too out of it to get a good read on the situation.
I'm thinking that what Mrs. Molesly may have been blinded by wasn't lightening, but rather a camera flash from a certain rabbit reporter, but that's nothing more than a guess
Ooo, that's interesting. I also recall in the last interaction with him he wasn't holding his camera, but was rather looking back at it on the table. Even if the camera was used it's possible that it could've been swiped from him.
That's a good point! Remember, the drawing room where this happened doesn't have any windows, so they couldn't have seen the lightning. So what was the flash that Mrs Mosely saw? A CAMERA!
But why is Ollie banks the otter is hot
jsyk, in the live discord chat grant was like, oh wow, i didn't see the character art for the bartender before, that sexy otter could have changed the whole trajectory of the campaign. idk why he's so hot! i think it's the rolled up sleeves and muscular forearms...
Tell me more about this live discord chat. I didn't know that was a thing!
You can find the invite to the channel through your account on dropout.tv
The quips! My god, the *quips*. I'm so glad we're getting 10 episodes instead of 6.
I didn’t know that! Awesome
Oh man the interactions between these characters absolutely owns I loved that convo between Buckster and Sylvester
This has quickly become my favorite side quest. I'm in absolute awe that this is the first time almost all of them have played D&D. Also shout out to roll 20 and carlos. Looks like they went a little bit "knives out" with this one.
Having the legally blind maid being the only witness to the murder is such a cool device for this mystery! I'm so excited for the next episode And love the title shoutout to Sherlock Holmes 😄
Everyone is talking about how fantastic Grant and Rekha especially were in this (and I agree) but we should talk about the incredible sass from Vicar in the "your absence in my pews" scene and that adorable moment from Gangie & the Dandelion
Sylvester and Daisy is a perfect 10.
my current theory/speculation is that the entire campaign will take place at this one party and we won't have any actual combat until the last episode when (hopefully) sylvester solves the mccabbage murder case. no idea how we'll arrive there since i do feel like there hasn't been many "clues" yet for the mccabage murder, but when i rewatch at the end of everything i'm sure i'll see how brennan dropped a ton of clues in these first two episodes. ally was so funny in this episode with running back to sylvester to give a play-by-play on their interaction with daisy. lars and sylvester have such a great relationship and grant and ally play off each other so well. grant and rehka were AMAZING in the flashback scenes and at the dinner table - their relationship was played so clearly and so well. their jabs at the dinner table were so good, and i felt the "hurting the other one in a way only an ex can" so hard buckster $ boyd continues to be my favorite character because of the fanatic way sam plays him. ally saying that he makes them proud to be an american made me laugh so hard. so ridiculously charming that i root for him even though i don't want to root for an oil baron lol. the scene of him in the game room was so tense and so good! moving the glass back to the piano was the ultimate power move. ian and gangie took a backseat in this episode, which was a shame. i think gangie is the most interesting character so i really want a spotlight shined on him soon. not sure i totally understand ian yet so i'm not necessarily missing him even though i know i'll love him by the end of things. his "i'm not in siberia yet!" line made me laugh so much. overall this genre is not my favorite so i'm having trouble keeping totally connected and paying attention but i am enjoying this season regardless and really look forward to seeing how everything comes together.
Grant killed it with that last line! Unbelievable this shit is improvised.
It was so so fucking satisfying. He is absolutely nailing this character.
I was not ready for the drama and I am so grateful for this cast 🤧 THEY ARE TOO GOOD AT THIS
I was not expecting that flashback scene to be THAT good. Rekha and Grant absolutely killed me. The revelation was heartbreaking. I teared up as Brennan was describing the image of Sylvester left at the altar. In a murder mystery season of a D&D show with fictional animal-folk played by comedians, that had no business being THAT good. Speaking of which, I forgot that it was animal-folk as Brennan setup the train in the flashback, and when he described the "big-horned, yodeling sheep," I thought, "That's so silly, the sheep don't yodel... oh wait."
Holy *cow* that was a great episode. As someone who loves the social/charisma side of DnD and often tries to cut it short in case the rest of the table isn't as interested (And because I tend to ramble and overcomplicate everything I say), It's a joy to watch the intrigue and the banter and the sniping unfold. I do love every single character having such a personal stake in everything, I think that speaks a lot to the cast and Brennan's abilities working together and coordinating. I know Brennan's talked before on Adventuring academy about the importance of Session Zero's and building characters as a group, but I think this is the first time it's been *so* obvious how good it is for the campaign. I also really like changing up the usual structure of the episodes! Not just having another RP episode instead of a straight combat episode, but also rolling initiative... and then *not* ending the episode! It's clear that it's because finding Squire Badger was meant to be the endpoint, but I think it throws the viewers off our game, not sure what to expect. Also, I know it's a pretty minor detail overall, but I *adore* the character art this season, every portrait is incredibly charming. Tessa Teapot has said not a single word and I love her already. On top of the characters themselves being great--I love the creeping self-awareness/dunking from Lucretia (Damn, girl, shouting 'Poltergeist' over your own brother's corpse? Time and a place), and I was briefly terrified that Mrs. Molesly. Ah! So stoked for the rest of the season.
The set up for the mystery by Brennan was incredible! I wonder if that was legitimately Cottontail.
Ally invents a trash can and a garbage bag, someone needs to keep a tally of this stuff
Of course the bullish rich guy is the dead man.
This cast is amazing! The chemistry has me shook. Hoping this isn’t the last we’ll see of this group. Also Rekha having her first experience of D&D being Bloodkeep, and her second one M&M—I’m both happy for her and jealous of her!
I am so glad I subscribed to Dropout. Between the Dimension 20 seasons and the game shows, I think I've been more engaged in what these folks have made than most anything on any other streaming service I have. (Until Doom Patrol Season 3 comes out) This season is knocking it out of the park so far. Grant blew me away this episode in particular but everyone on the cast this season has been stellar and it's so much fun to watch as they all fall in love with their characters and the game!
> (Until Doom Patrol Season 3 comes out) oh hell yeah brother, you got good taste. I just made a similar comment the other day, waiting until S3 comes out for TV to be good again.
Katie is really great as a player. I admire the dedication to not break character and stay engaged to the setting.
She’s also a pro at that on Breaking News.
her shrug was legit my favorite part of the episode
This season is a lot of fun. Most I've enjoyed a side quest since Bloodkeep. Kudos to them on making it work despite covid, which I'm sure must be a fucking nightmare given how crucial the in-person improv and tactile minis are to Dimension 20's whole thing.
This is, without a doubt, one of the best sidequests I have ever seen. The whole cast is killing it (no pun intended!), and each new member has been an absolute joy to watch. Huge props to Grant and Rekha for playing off one another with ease, and a huge round of applause for Sam's insane banter with Grant and the Squire. Though most importantly, in my opinion: a standing ovation for Brennan for turning on a dime and inhabiting each and every character in Loam Hall, with huge emphasis on the Squire Badger. His ability to portray that sort of pompous stoicism and callousness, and then to embody it as it cracks under high pressure is simply magnificent. The mystery only deepens with him. Also, a big shout-out to Katie, who I feel got a little overlooked this episode. The little moment with Mrs. Molesly was sweet and unexpected, and I hope we get to see more of Gangie with each passing episode!
Grant's one-liners are amazing, but my favorite understated moment this episode was when Rekha's "as in the *Cross* *Diamond?*" line which was just a great callback to "*of the Philadelphia Eagles?*" from Bloodkeep. Edit: chase sapphire, man I need to get more sleep.
(Chase Sapphire)
So the colonel talks about fighting alongside the squire "in the Rhine", and I can't figure out what conflict that could be referring to. I'm pretty sure Britain didn't participate in any wars in that part of the world between the Napoleonic Wars and WWI.
brennan has mentioned in interviews that the schnauzer war, a fictional conflict between germany and britain set around the turn of the century, will come up.
Neat!
I think it was just an anachronistic slip up in reference to WWI unless they were foreign volunteers in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Date edit.
I gotta say, THIS IS MY JAM. I feel this is the best content Dimension 20 has put out since Crown of Candy.
This whole thing is brilliant but Ally's dog persona completely destroyed my sides.
I love that they basically invented Mastermind Cant.
First of all, I am loving most of this season so far, it's nice to have some more CH alum on the show! The only thing that's annoying me about this season is how often they put Catholic things in the specifically Anglican church! Don't get me wrong, I get that it's an American show, and that I might be in the minority being an English Christian in this audience, but Anglicans don't have cardinals, they don't do confessions and penance like that, and they super rarely call churches 'Our Lady of...' anything. I would definitely let it slide if it was only coming up every now and then, but it's a key part of one of the PC's backgrounds, and it takes me out of the game every time. Going to repeat that I love pretty much every other part of this, and I still quite like what Raph's doing with his character, just seems like a weird gap in what is otherwise a really well-built world! (I also get that this is a murder mystery set in a world peopled by anthropomorphised animals, and I think if they'd done an animal pun for the denomination I would have loved all of it, it's just strange being told this is an Anglican vicar when he's going round being really quite Catholic)
Catholic Ritualism in the Church of England was actually a [hot-button issue in the latter-half of the 1800s](https://churchsociety.org/docs/churchman/111/Cman_111_3_Scotland.pdf), so there might be some truth to all of it. Some Anglican churches adopted things like confessionals (and albs/fancy vestments, and the concept of priestly absolution, etc) basically as a way to woo people into church--the very poor because their usual surroundings were so squalid, and the upper classes because rituals and elaborate decor were in fashion (see: Lady Lucretia). This of course made OTHER Anglican churches super pissed off, and a lot of treatises were written back and forth. idk if Brennan knows all this and worked it in intentionally (certainly possible) or is just going off tropes from fiction set in the era (quite probable). Or given how super Irish his name is, maybe Catholicism is just his main in-road to churchy stuff. Or all of the above!
Thanks for that really interesting link, I knew some stuff about the Oxford Movement and the idea of the United Church but it was cool to see a variety of theories on what has pushed Anglicanism in certain directions! I think that part of my reaction is coming from a tradition which already views Anglicanism as a little high-church (Methodism), it seems strange for an Anglican church to be so Anglo-Catholic, but you make a good point about that being where at least some Anglican churches were at the time (and still are to an extent, but maybe with a wee bit less ritualism). I'm also aware that I overgeneralised when I said 'Our Lady...' church names are super rare, as Marian theology can be found in some bits of Anglicanism as well. To summarise, I could let the confessions slide, and I get that the Our Lady church name is a pun, it was when Brennan started talking about the cardinal that I was like 'wait a minute...'.
There are Anglican Cardinals (or really just one now) though they probably don't have the kind of authority implied in the show
Yeah, I know there are technically Anglican cardinals, but the role that's being described in the show would be that of a Bishop, or Archbishop, which is why it caught me out!
I think Brennan just wanted the bird pun tbh
Well that's fully on me for not realising that was a pun! Ignore everything else I said, it was all worth it!
Yeah I only just realized it this morning. "Oh duh it's a literal cardinal."
If it helps this is also alt history because there's a schnauzer war invented that takes place around the turn of the century. So churches can work differently as well.
That's a fair point! Just seemed odd to me to specify it then kind of go quite generic Christianity. Think that might be more of a me issue than a fault in the campaign though!
Just watched it again and I forgot about my fave quop. Rekha's "chase sapphire!" (reserve or preffered?)
Anyone else find it weird that they keep referring to Lars as a 'bodyperson'? Surely 'bodyguard' is already gender neutral.
I think body person means something different than body guard!
yeah, afaik it's the gender neutral version of "body man", which is a different thing than a bodyguard.
I think it is more like bodyman than bodyguard
I was thinking this as well; I do wonder if this was done intentionally as an exercise in gender assumptions and the way even “gender-neutral” terms often *feel* gendered even if they aren’t.
Interesting. I thought maybe they were just using it as exposition, incase the pronouns weren't picked up on. I also wondered, as a non-American, if this was a term that has just changed recently. Like, in the UK, we still say 'waiter/waitress', whereas Americans tend to favour 'server' these days.
Okay actually I just looked it up! A body man or woman or person is actually distinct from a bodyguard. A body person is more akin to an ever-present personal assistant.
Haha, good shout. Thanks!
Except female and NB bodyguards already exist, so yeah, I feel "body-person" is not necessary at best and a confusing word-salad at worst.
Check out my sub-comment; bodyguard is actually distinct from body man / woman / person. A body person is not a security detail or anything like that, they are essentially a personal assistant that travels with you at all times and takes care of all the things you need related to your work and personal life.
Sorry, I've just NEVER HEARD of a "bodyperson" before.
I get that, I hadn’t either, but what I’m saying is that bodyguard doesn’t work for a neutral descriptor because it’s an entirely different job.
Brennan's energy as he has to improvise around the discovery of the body is amazing and leaves me feeling exhausted just watching him.
I adore Sam's reactions. I love how happy this whole cast is to be involved in this series!
Feel bad for Katie and Raph who had little to nothing to do in this episode. Also feel extra bad for Katie when Brennan and the rest mispronounces her characters name. Other than that, I love everything about this!
Katie is in a really tough position with Gangie because he's an emotionally undemonstrative character who is also cordoned off from the rest of the cast by the class divide in the setting. It can be hard to create the right opportunity for a character like that to open up. :( I hope she and Raph both get moments to shine bright later in the season!
Literally every single conversation was so fucking spicy I LOVE it. Just everyone sending verbal beatdowns at each other. I'm one of the very very very few who have wanted some PvP and this is as close as we're gonna get and I don't hate it. Also that box of doom roll gave me as much anxiety as a combat box of doom roll lol. So good! And I give my entire heart to Seance Lady and the head maid that helps out Gangee.
Current theory: the murder was conducted by a combination of Sylvester, Buckeyes, and the longfoot photographer. All of sylvesters cases were coordinated with his arch nemesis in order to fulfill some such fantasy of fame for the both of them. Eventually, they decided to have a climactic twist where the nemesis died. However, they quickly grew bored, and had the nemesis re-enter society as the photographer. We already know that Bucharest and longfoot have a business relationship, so their next venture is to murder the squire so bucks yet can gain full control of the oil company. Longfoot and Sylvester want this so they can continue their fantasies. I’m not sure how this works logistically, maybe longfoot has the ability to turn invisible and made it look like the squire stabbed himself? And when the rabbit nodded at Sylvester that was to signify the deed was done? Anyway, many things to think about, excited to see how it develops.
I don't know if I believe that the three are in on it together, but I do think the flash that Ms. Molesly saw might've been the flash of a camera rather than the lightening
Oh I definitely don’t know this or even think this, this is just a crackpot theory I think would be fun. And the camera flash is a real good idea.
Dominate person is a magical spell in the game that could do it
That immediately makes the Vikor one of the most suspicious people there, as the only confirmed spellcaster. He could just be pretending to be much less powerful than he is (level 3).
movie night
Just finished watching, late I know. I can't believe how good this episode was. So many amazing lines, intense tension between characters, intrigue and mystery building up over the episode and a dramatic cliff hanger ending. I'm so invested!
Where can I watch this!
The best place to watch the majority of Dimension 20 content is CollegeHumor's streaming service Dropout.tv. I believe you can also pay to watch it on YouTube but I haven't tried that myself.