VINES TRIED TO EAT MY DICK (The MacElroys Play D&D)

Spoiler: 67

"What if, we, put it, somewhere, else."

 

Spoiler: 67

so is the man wreathed in flames thing about John? Also, I'm hoping the third option is to just put Lucretia's barrier around the hunger.

 

Spoiler: 67, theory, shitposting

against all expectations, kravitz brings gundren rockseeker back from the dead because he has the answers

 

Spoiler: Ep 67

LUUUUUUUP
I love her, and I love Taako, and I love all of them

 

Spoiler: I JUST REALIZED (ep67)

So it seems pretty clear that John contacted Merle using Parley. Which is to say, he initiated it. He's putting himself at Merle's mercy. What the fuck happened to him?

 

Spoiler: 67, Hunger speculation

I am sincerely hoping for some one-winged angel shenanigans here. This room that John constructed (or Merle did? it's unclear who did what when they started the parley) representing the Hunger consuming its creator would be fun. I think he's gotten even more corrupted by it than he was initially, but I'm really curious to see if he has any self-awareness of that.

 

Spoiler: 67

LUP!

I think she might be going to resurrect Phandalen. Her speciality is evocation, but she's a knowledgeable enough necromancer to have become a lich, her relic was the Phoenixfire gauntlet, and back on the robot plane she had that long speech about how burning the world to weaken the hunger was not under any circumstances acceptable.

 

Episode 68 has arrived, while it is late it is two hours long and full of goodness.

 

Spoiler: I did a bunch of drawings for ep 68 and still am after finishing to COPE

Settled on a lup design FINALLY IN THIS MOMENT

 

WHAT A GOOD FUCKING EPISODE, IM GOING TO LOSE MY ABSOLUTE MIND THIS IS THE BEST, AAA

 

Spoiler: more ep 68 doodles

did a better version of the first because yes?? yes.

 

Spoiler: 68

They used the Voidfish song by Rachel Rose Mitchell, of Homestuck fame! (Temporal Shenanigans, CR1M1N4L, CR1M1N4L, etc).

 

Spoiler: 68

I'm fucking crying ahhhhh
Honestly, I was expecting to have Feelings about this episode but the main thing that really, really got to me was the scene with Magnus and the bear.
Strength is asking for help. Strength is knowing your limits and trusting people to be there for you. Thank you so much, Griffin.

 

Spoiler: 68

The music was fucking beautiful.

I loved the Parley scene -- all those eyes watching, John (basically a cracked shell full of darkness at this point) and Merle making strained small talk as they desperately tried to communicate through the game of chess.

Loved Magnus's instant forgiveness of Lucretia vs. Taako's wary reluctance. Perfect encapsulation of their different relationships to her and the different things they lost and gained.

I'm SO PLEASED that tacos are finally plot-relevant.

And of course I'm a sucker for an entire ensemble cast from every arc joining forces for a climactic confrontation.

Spoiler: not negative so much as ambivalent

I'm a little bothered that player decision-making has taken a backseat to Griffin narrating what's happening to them for 50% of the airtime. There was a certain way he clearly wanted each scene to go (though less so with Merle? I feel like there was something Clint could have done there that he didn't) and it was a matter of Travis, Justin, and Clint trying to figure out what that was -- even more so than in the Stolen Century arc.
It's a beautiful and moving finale, but part of what I listened to TAZ for was the shenanigans they pulled that hurled the plot in new directions that nobody could predict. TAZ is still a great story, but it's no longer a campaign I'd want to play in.

I think someone said The Adventure Zone was a car that learned how to fly. I'm not begrudging anyone who loves watching it spread its wings, but I kind of miss that goofy-ass road trip.

 

Spoiler: 68

im only a few minutes in but oh my god, taako's voice when he talks to lup, he's so happy to talk to her and you can hear it and it's just so cute

 

Spoiler: 68

Oh no John Hunger
Johnny boy

 

Spoiler: 68

Things that wrecked me:
- Hurley and Sloane! It took 30~ episodes but goddamned if Griffin didn't unbury those lesbians. And they saved MAVIS. I was no more good.
- The fact that Taako actually showed Kravitz his face in kind of a "fuck you if you don't like me (but srsly please still like me)" moment of vulnerability and honesty. And then he follows it up, when Kravitz says of course he still likes him, with that joke about "cool, because your face is a skull half the time, dude." IDK. I enjoy that Taako is honest with him while giving him endless shit and the way the relationship seemed to have developed off-screen into something fond but low drama even in high drama situations.
- I also love Kravitz's tired resignation when he says "you know we're going to have to talk about your sister being a lich," because he already knows that conversation is going to end with him covering for them with the Raven Queen. "Lich? What lich? No, no, no lich here! Absolutely zero liches... oh, right. That lich. Well, that lich is not a threat, ma'am, because... reasons?"
- That Justin was like "nope, fuck it, I am kissing this dude", the implication that he told Merle and Magnus about Kravitz at some point, and the fact that Merle was like "I like that guy!" about the guy who TOOK OFF HIS ARM.
- Merle's everything. He tried to save JOHN, man. He didn't have the physical strength, his magic isn't working, the Hunger was going to kill him next, and Merle still tried to save John. And then the whole thing with Pan just... I've been invested in the plotline with Merle losing his faith in Pan, and I would've also been happy with a storyline where Merle rejected his upbringing and said "fuck it" to being Pan's cleric (I still want to know where Cliff was going with that comment about "who said I was going to pray to Pan?" before the Stolen Century arc) but I did love the way things played out with his honest conversation with Pan, Pan's apology, and the revelation that this Pan isn't even the one who Merle grew up worshipping. I love that Merle is still pretty bent about it and gave Pan crap but is still Pan's cleric, wobbly faith and snark and all. And that callback on Zone of Truth!
- AVI, holy fuck. What a boss.
- Travis going "but the voidfish are going to be fine, right? RIGHT?" And then Magnus asking Carey and Killian if they saw voidfish drift this way like a dude whose dogs slipped leash in the park.
- There are probably a billion things I missed but it was a long, dense episode so whatever. I'm not ready for the campaign to be over, man. It seems like it's building to a great ending, but I am not prepared.

 

What a great episode you guys! I'm just. I teared up like half a dozen times?

 

Spoiler: ep 68

Especially great with how hard John was basically hinting "Hey, kill me, specifically, and this will all be solved, c'mon, hurry, you can do it easy here, c'mon." I don't know if that got through to Clint, but it certainly never occurred to Merle.

That said, gotta agree with @The Frood Abides on the overall story right now. It's a neat story and I'm glad there's some resolution, but the Adventure Zone has always been at least a little railroady and this is by far its railroadiest. It seems like they're all having fun, but I hope the rest of the Finale has more chances for the party to contribute to the conversation directly.

 

the railroady nature of TAZ has never bothered me, probably because i've played (and DM'd!) in many of the Pathfinder adventure paths. those are pre-written adventures, with the story and everything all laid out in advance; the players are there to carry the story out, rather than actually steer it themselves. i mean even the most railroady adventure path will have choices the characters can make, but ultimately the story is pre-determined. this can be really restrictive to some people, especially if you're used to a more "sandbox" style gameplay where the DM puts down a setting in front of the players and says "what do you YOU want to do with my toys?" but they're just different styles of play.

and tbh i don't think a more open-world sandboxy game would even work for a podcast. they can be the most rewarding to play in, but for others listening, they're less... narratively satisfying, i guess? a sandbox game isn't going to have a solid beginning, middle, end, with a climax and a denouement and all the beats we expect out of a story.