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[Visceir]

throwing someone under the bus was a wrong phrase to use on my part. but i still think it's an unfair assertion to make, that giantbomb acted as sony's mouthpiece, whether serious or jokingly.

To be fair it can be a bit surprising that a story like that would break on giantbomb (after Klepek left) as they aren't exactly known for breaking news like this.

Guess I should add the disclaimer that I haven't really been following any of this stuff as none of it really interests me and Dark Souls III has been eating up most of my attention.

 

[UmbraeCruxis]

throwing someone under the bus was a wrong phrase to use on my part. but i still think it's an unfair assertion to make, that giantbomb acted as sony's mouthpiece, whether serious or jokingly.

I guess so? I never got the impression they meant them acting as Sony's mouthpiece as a bad thing (I didn't at least).


Also, anyone know if Ben is going to try and stream his no death run for Dark souls today? I really loved the first one and he seemed like he wasn't sure if he was going to keep going or not last week.

 

[sora87]

Damn, that buckle in Ben's stream last night, another one of his that probably won't make it on the easy allies plays channel :/ the audio is soooo low too

 

[Brian_FETO]

I'd totally believe the Giant Bomb thing being a controlled leak, simply because of their relationship with a lot of those guys. I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with it either, it's not like they're advertising. They're getting the information and (presumably) telling the truth to ease people's fears. Otherwise you have months of speculation/fearing for the worst, affecting console sales as the rumors gain traction

On topic: Podcast this week was real good. The "Insomniac Intern" bit had me dying

Tabletop was the best episode yet as well. I initially wasn't totally on board with the characters (besides Kyle's) but they're starting to get into their roles and establish their relationships beyond what they had on paper beforehand. Ian's character was (as he said) an edgelord and Huber seemed a bit unsure of how to approach Law (uncomfortable not being Hogger?). Now that they're gaining powers and figuring out their roles in the group it's a nice balance (with the goofiness of Kyle and Brad)

 

[UrbanRats]

I thought brads was pitch perfect opening with the PlayStation nation

Yup, and i liked that he was generally a positive counterbalance, in a generally pretty pessimistic episode.
One thing though, and probably it's just a wrong impression, but he gets cut off by the other Allies.
Ian and Brandon have strong personalities, and like to talk a lot (not a critique, i actually like that) and sometimes when you have more reserved people on, like Brad, or Elyse back when she was on GT, they end up getting "eaten" up a bit, so to speak.
Though i think Kyle managed that well enough, in general.

 

[Tankard]

I think you guys are underrating Ian's pitch, so for that, just look under your chairs...

 

[laserlaser]

someone tweet this to Bosman pls. I just rewatched that ep. yesterday, still so good
http://store.steampowered.com/app/453100

 

[Grayfox341]

Most of them seemed super hesitant to proceed forward in this episode which slowed things down a bit. One could argue it's partially because whenever they do try to do something they end up almost dead

Spoiler

taking 8 dmg from a trap or a wizard somehow managing to burn himself alive.

Should have let them get full rest and then proceed with enough hp for them to be able to make some mistakes without being almost dead again.

I sometimes feel like the DM who can never win. If they don't check for traps they'll trigger traps, regardless of what their HP is. If they use fire in a forest, bad things will happen. If you sleep in a hideout with a bunch of enemies without someone keeping watch, you'll run into trouble. Maybe it's not a good idea to shove grain into a wound. I'm not thinking of ways to punish them before the session or anything like that, just responding to their actions as they occur.

 

[Hasney]

Maybe it's not a good idea to shove grain into a wound.

WHAT?! The hell have I been doing with all my life then?!

Seriously though, that's what I was saying in reply to some of that earlier as well. It was Yogalas first significant action so suddenly fire doesn't burn trees?

I think so far it's toed the middle ground quite well of punishing mistakes and letting their characters quirks be entertaining, more so than Adventures which was very lenient and needed to be since it was their first time playing. I don't want any of their characters to die, but it might just take that to make them work to stay alive a bit harder.

 

[Grayfox341]

Best thing imo when players start to "learn the game" is that DM is free to design and use much more devious dungeons and characters/monsters without it neccessarily resulting in a total wipe or feeling like he is trying to fuck the players.

Ian has the right idea in using deception before the encounter starts even tho nothing took the bait yet.

People think I dislike Ian for some reason, but as you said he has great ideas and great situational awareness. Even though his ideas don't always work, he approaches problems with a certain level of caution and often saves the group as a result.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

I sometimes feel like the DM who can never win. If they don't check for traps they'll trigger traps, regardless of what their HP is. If they use fire in a forest, bad things will happen. If you sleep in a hideout with a bunch of enemies without someone keeping watch, you'll run into trouble. Maybe it's not a good idea to shove grain into a wound. I'm not thinking of ways to punish them before the session or anything like that, just responding to their actions as they occur.

Lol! When you sum it all up like that it a hilarious comedy of errors.

 

[Roberto Larcos]

People think I dislike Ian for some reason, but as you said he has great ideas and great situational awareness. Even though his ideas don't always work, he approaches problems with a certain level of caution and often saves the group as a result.

It's awesome seeing them getting better at the game in real time.

And another +1 for absolutely loving the series so far. You've even got me going back to watch TTA, which I never watched during its run. How long do you expect each game to last, by the way (if that's not too spoilery)?

 

[Visceir]

I sometimes feel like the DM who can never win. If they don't check for traps they'll trigger traps, regardless of what their HP is. If they use fire in a forest, bad things will happen. If you sleep in a hideout with a bunch of enemies without someone keeping watch, you'll run into trouble. Maybe it's not a good idea to shove grain into a wound. I'm not thinking of ways to punish them before the session or anything like that, just responding to their actions as they occur.

I enjoy the show as is, I think it's important to clarify that first. The following is more just nitpicking.

I think it'd be fine if you, asa DM, didn't adhere to the numbers you rolled 100%. If you rolled a 6 and a 6 would kill a character, leaving them burning alive then just say you rolled a 5 and have them escaping the flames with 1 hp as they'd have to strip their robes that caught fire. Would have saved you the trouble of coming up with some magical fire properties in the upcoming episodes, too.

Understandably it must be hard to improvise and come up with the best steps to take right there on the spot.

Oh and not all forest have to neccessarely be highly flammable!

 

[kami_sama]

People think I dislike Ian for some reason, but as you said he has great ideas and great situational awareness. Even though his ideas don't always work, he approaches problems with a certain level of caution and often saves the group as a result.

I loved how he talked to the enemies mind in the third episode.
Also, I want to say TTE is great. Never had ocurred me that watching other people play DnD could be as hilarious and awesome. Keep it up!

 

[Grayfox341]

It's awesome seeing them getting better at the game in real time.

And another +1 for absolutely loving the series so far. You've even got me going back to watch TTA, which I never watched during its run. How long do you expect each game to last, by the way (if that's not too spoilery)?

Ha, that's actually a really good question. The way the story is designed right now, the group could kind of go indefinitely (provided they don't die). It's probably not a great idea to leave things open ended forever, but it will work for the immediate future.

I guess it also depends on what the group is feeling. If they love their characters and want to keep pushing ahead, I'll keep coming up with new material. If they're getting bored and want to start fresh, we'll wrap things up.

Something that I never got to do in TTA was resolve personal story arcs in a wholly sufficient way. At some point, I'd like to get to the bottom of Law's story and have him find the man that framed him. Maybe it would be cool if Brad DID eventually become the world's greatest thief. In my opinion, the best gift you can give a player is rewarding them for building up their characters. It's what I tried to do with Miko and Bowser in TTA.

 

[UrbanRats]

Just out of curiosity, if one of the characters dies (for good) they'd have to roll another character? If that's the case, i'm fine with Ben enforcing penalties as he's doing.

I like the idea of permadeath.

 

[Grayfox341]

I enjoy the show as is, I think it's important to clarify that first. The following is more just nitpicking.

I think it'd be fine if you, asa DM, didn't adhere to the numbers you rolled 100%. If you rolled a 6 and a 6 would kill a character, leaving them burning alive then just say you rolled a 5 and have them escaping the flames with 1 hp as they'd have to strip their robes that caught fire. Would have saved you the trouble of coming up with some magical fire properties in the upcoming episodes, too.

Understandably it must be hard to improvise and come up with the best steps to take right there on the spot.

Oh and not all forest have to neccessarely be highly flammable!

These are all really good points. People in this thread are much easier to talk to than people on YouTube.

One thing you did bring up that already happens is flubbing rolls. If things have been going exceptionally poorly for the group, I'll show them mercy without saying anything. I try to do it sparingly. I'd say it happens once every other episode.

Something I'd like to do just once is have a sort of commentary track over an episode. I'd tell people where rolls were flubbed, what I'd originally planned and secret things the group missed.

Just out of curiosity, if one of the characters dies (for good) they'd have to roll another character? If that's the case, i'm fine with Ben enforcing penalties as he's doing.

I like the idea of permadeath.

Yeah, they'd reroll another character. In a way, it's kind of exciting since they're all so good at RP I'd love to see what else they come up with.

 

[Pie and Beans]

It's what I tried to do with Miko and Bowser in TTA.

Miko: A Tale Of Torn Assholes.

Don't any of the fan sass get to you, Ben-kun. Someone has to play dad in the group every now and then to move things along and you crazy goofballs all have your way of working together clearly.

 

[Hasney]

Miko: A Tale Of Torn Assholes.

My sphincter! You fools!

 

[ConfusedGamer]

Yeah, they'd reroll another character. In a way, it's kind of exciting since they're all so good at RP I'd love to see what else they come up with.

No one died yet? way too spoil the next 4 episode's lol.

 

[Grayfox341]

No one died yet? way too spoil the next 4 episode's lol.

Don't mistake me, it's possible you will see a rerolled character VERY soon.

 

[ConfusedGamer]

Don't mistake me, it's possible you will see a rerolled character VERY soon.

Wow! Now I am wondering who can die? my bet is the first character that will die will be Law.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

It might be that people have a different approach to death in tabletop games but personally the thing why DM should be "harsh but fair" is that death isn't end of the world or the adventure unless DM deems it so. Usually you just reroll a character and continue. You can even continue to play de facto same character with same stats ect. with just a different name and personality if you like your class. In fact getting too attached to one character brings up issues of it's own.

That is not to say that I don't think DM can't throw a bone to the players, it really depends on the situation. Let's say that the players have a really good plan but somehow a roll fucks it up. If somehow it would be plausible to get a bit leeaway then by all means to encourage smart play and using tactics. A single roll fuckin everything up is something you can look the other way if it makes sense.

Now in case of multiple critical failures and monsters rolling crits ect. where there is no way around it but some bullshit Deus Ex Machina, I'd say you die. Blame the dice and carry on, better luck next time. Rules can be bent a bit but there needs to be some line in the sand. Othervise nothing matters.

And thirdly, if for example you are in a cave with a sleeping dragon with a level 4 character and you go poke it with a stick, you die. No way around it. If you roleplay your character to a certain death outside of combat you should die. Not saying that should always be avoided, for example using yourself as a sacrifice to save the rest of the group can be a really epic and fun moment.

Long story short, death is a thing that should exist but it's also something you don't need to be too afraid about. Adventure always continues.

 

[Brian_FETO]

Ben, I love the idea of a commentary track for Tabletop

Even if it isn't the full episode, like you highlight notable moments to elaborate on what could've happened/key decisions that either screwed up your plans or cost them. Would also be a good "Patron bonus"

(I'd be down for a full episode commentary as well, if you can fill the hour then go for it)

 

[wiibomb]

I don't know... I kinda want TTE to be kind of Dark Souls inspired in the sense of real risks..

don't know anything about D&D, but something that makes a character regret his/her decisions beyond just the simple point of death could be very interesting, for example the death of a good NPC, the lose of a real important item or a long extending condition (like losing an spell). those kind of things of ever lasting conditions make the steaks go higher.

But what I really want to see is the implementation of "Lore on the fly." I mean... the grain got really important, make it somehow important, in ether way, make it a holy grail or make it a death sentence, even if it isn't until 20 episodes in, doesn't matter, I love when surprises like that happens.

Of course I'm talking in a viewer stand point, so I have no idea really of the D&D stuff, just forget it if I'm saying stupid things.

 

[LycanXIII]

Something I'd like to do just once is have a sort of commentary track over an episode. I'd tell people where rolls were flubbed, what I'd originally planned and secret things the group missed.

Could you possibly do a half hour special, behind the scenes sort of thing, at the end of each session you record going over things like this? You could go back and edit in the scenes you were talking about. It'd be cool for the audience to get your opinion on how they're doing in their journey and see the things they missed without them getting insight on it and possibly changing the way they play without experiencing it themselves.

 

[Brian_FETO]

I don't know... I kinda want TTE to be kind of Dark Souls inspired in the sense of real risks..

don't know anything about D&D, but something that makes a character regret his/her decisions beyond just the simple point of death could be very interesting, for example the death of a good NPC, the lose of a real important item or a long extending condition (like losing an spell). those kind of things of ever lasting conditions make the steaks go higher.

But what I really want to see is the implementation of "Lore on the fly." I mean... the grain got really important, make it somehow important, in ether way, make it a holy grail or make it a death sentence, even if it isn't until 20 episodes in, doesn't matter, I love when surprises like that happens.

Of course I'm talking in a viewer stand point, so I have no idea really of the D&D stuff, just forget it if I'm saying stupid things.

Those things are all still there, and drastic consequences do still happen. They're also doing this for entertainment, so if the vibe is getting killed (or just isn't making for good TV) he'll cut them some slack

The majority of this campaign so far (as was the case in the previous one) consists of a string of poorly thought out decisions with moments of brilliance. That's what makes it fun to watch, and fun for them to stumble through.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

I was 100% certain Lars had hidden something important in his bag of grain :lol.

 

[UrbanRats]

Something I'd like to do just once is have a sort of commentary track over an episode. I'd tell people where rolls were flubbed, what I'd originally planned and secret things the group missed.

Love this idea.

 

[RiverKwai]

Wow! Now I am wondering who can die? my bet is the first character that will die will be Law.

Don't mistake me, it's possible you will see a rerolled character VERY soon.

At some point, I'd like to get to the bottom of Law's story and have him find the man that framed him. Maybe it would be cool if Brad DID eventually become the world's greatest thief. In my opinion, the best gift you can give a player is rewarding them for building up their characters. It's what I tried to do with Miko and Bowser in TTA.

Given that Ben just talked about his hopes for two of the characters futures, my bet is RIP Yogalla. Probably by one of his own spells.

But Ben could be intentionally throwing us a red herring to chase, he might be that sneaky. Who knows?

 

[mishakoz]

These are all really good points. People in this thread are much easier to talk to than people on YouTube.

One thing you did bring up that already happens is flubbing rolls. If things have been going exceptionally poorly for the group, I'll show them mercy without saying anything. I try to do it sparingly. I'd say it happens once every other episode.

Something I'd like to do just once is have a sort of commentary track over an episode. I'd tell people where rolls were flubbed, what I'd originally planned and secret things the group missed.



Yeah, they'd reroll another character. In a way, it's kind of exciting since they're all so good at RP I'd love to see what else they come up with.

I love the idea of a commentary track. In a way I wish you could work in a post-mortem of Tabletop adventures, I'm watching now for the first time and I'm curious at some of the ideas you had and some story arcs that never completed.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

Knowing a new character can be rerolled makes the punishments seem much more fair and deserved in many cases. "This changes everything"

 

[Visceir]

Given that Ben just talked about his hopes for two of the characters futures, my bet is RIP Yogalla. Probably by one of his own spells.

Clearly Grease is too OP and is going to be Yogalla's undoing, too much power for him handle!

And yeah, commentary track as a patreon exclusive sounds like a great idea.

 

[kami_sama]

Clearly Grease is too OP and is going to be Yogalla's undoing, too much power for him handle!

And yeah, commentary track as a patreon exclusive sounds like a great idea.

My god. Grease was sooo clever lol
And it worked beautifully. The kobolds never expected it lol

Well, he's demonstrated proficiency (but not control) with both grease and fire. It's only a matter of time before he tries to combine both and things go horribly sideways.

OMG FIRE EVERYWHERE

 

[RiverKwai]

Clearly Grease is too OP and is going to be Yogalla's undoing, too much power for him handle!

Well, he's demonstrated proficiency (but not control) with both grease and fire. It's only a matter of time before he tries to combine both and things go horribly sideways.

 

[Tankard]

Oh, almost went through the day without remembering it.
Congrats EZA on its 1 month anniversary!

 

[Lexad]

I sometimes feel like the DM who can never win. If they don't check for traps they'll trigger traps, regardless of what their HP is. If they use fire in a forest, bad things will happen. If you sleep in a hideout with a bunch of enemies without someone keeping watch, you'll run into trouble. Maybe it's not a good idea to shove grain into a wound. I'm not thinking of ways to punish them before the session or anything like that, just responding to their actions as they occur.

Dont feel too bad. My dm in my first ever encounter had me set a field on fire trying to kill some spiders (not spervince)

 

[LycanXIII]

Huber Syndrome 2 up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFVJO4yu6Zo

It's about

Spoiler

Dying Light!

 

[Maligna]

Huber Syndrome 2 up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFVJO4yu6Zo

It's about

Spoiler

Dying Light!

It's really a shame he couldn't keep the name Huber Hype. That alliteration...

 

[Brian_FETO]

So Huber Syndrome isn't about storytelling/narrative then? That was the impression I got from the previous episode (unless he meant just that episode)

Cool episode regardless. Hype lives on

 

[Hasney]

So Huber Syndrome isn't about storytelling/narrative then? That was the impression I got from the previous episode (unless he meant just that episode)

Cool episode regardless. Hype lives on

Yeah, that was just the focus of that episode around QB. From the RE6 stream, it sounds like he filmed a bunch in one go and they're good to go up for a few weeks now.

 

[vvise]

Something I'd like to do just once is have a sort of commentary track over an episode. I'd tell people where rolls were flubbed, what I'd originally planned and secret things the group missed.

This I think is an awesome idea. Does YouTube support files with multiple audio tracks? Could be cool to toggle back and forth.

Great work with the game so far though. I laughed out loud when you rolled super high on the spike trap, and it's cool to see Brad slowly getting into his character. I enjoyed the groups dedication to the grain but it feels needlessly foolish

 

[Napalm_Frank]

 

[shield]

It's really a shame he couldn't keep the name Huber Hype. That alliteration...

could've called it Hitting Huberty

 

[LycanXIII]

Catching up on the TTA episodes that were just uploaded to GT Archives channel. What was the "Pervince Roll" for spells?

 

[dickroach]

Catching up on the TTA episodes that were just uploaded to GT Archives channel. What was the "Pervince Roll" for spells?

I think 1-10 the spell missed; 11-20 the spell's effect was doubled

 

[LycanXIII]

Guess there's another Red Dead stream tonight? Twitch chat keeps mentioning it.

 

[tok9]

Ya there is in 20 mins.

 

[Tankard]

Guess there's another Red Dead stream tonight? Twitch chat keeps mentioning it.

Yes, Brandon said he was streaming Red Dead again this thursday on the group stream. Also said his expectation is stream it 3 weeks per month, didn't guarantee it.

 

[RiverKwai]

I don't see a RDR stream happening. Did it buckle, or is Brandon still trying to find his hat?