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TAZ Balance: TTAZZ Balance 2

Written 16 Jul 2025, shortly after relistening, having listened to the entire Balance arc some time ago.

The McElroy brothers comment that somehow, Clint’s character voices always come out sleazy.

They take questions sent in, but Griffin will be unable to say much in various ways to avoid spoilers. Travis had to go through the questions to pick out what they can answer, and he says there were about twenty that were just “what happens next?”

Question: What’s the production for an episode? They record a few days before release, it’s about an hour and quarter, hour and a half, and usually the night before, Griffin cuts out bits such as breaks to check rules etc, record the ad break, and pull up clips for the “last time” intro. Music recording times can vary wildly, from half an hour to days. Cutting it all together can take a while – he insists on using Audacity, but he’s got good at using it. Clint clarifies the editing is only ever to clean up, never to change the story, and Griffin’s very careful to not give away the story.

Question: When in the campaign did Griffin have the whole idea laid out and start dropping hints? He had it all laid out by the end of Gerblins. They did the goblin encounter pretty much as written in the Lost Mines adventure, barring having tea with Klarg (having read the adventure, I’d say that that bit wasn’t really diverging from the book so much as resolving the encounter unconventionally), but then they skipped the whole middle of the book to jump to Wave Echo Cave. But by Ep3, Griffin had realized he didn’t want to play the book. Justin asks if Griffin had originally planned to hop from pre-written to pre-written, but Griffin just hadn’t had a plan at all. It had started as just a bit of filler. And Griffin says it really suffered for that lack of preparation, because they said things early on that he had to work around later. He didn’t start dropping hints in earnest until Crystal Kingdom with the Cosmoscope and the Red Robe. Clint says that, as he was adapting Gerblins for the graphic novel, he did notice a lot that tied in, with the dead Red Robe. Griffin says that was an exception, really, and that he’d been trying to build up rather than drop it all at once.

Question: If Merle came from another dimension, how come he’s related to Gundren Rockseeker? The answer will come in a few episodes’ time, but it’s a pretty terrible answer. Griffin just had to work around the already-established family after he decided to make them dimension-travelers.

Question: How did the popularity of the show affect their relating to the story and characters? Justin wasn’t really taking Taako seriously at first, but then he started taking ownership of him, and as the show grew popular, he felt like he’s sharing ownership with the audience, which he’s found he really likes. Griffin struggled with that aspect for a while, feeling like leaving space for fan interpretation of designs and such was just fan service, but that’s a benefit of the audio-only medium. He wants to maintain good representation, but he’s just letting the audience go for it. Travis comments that he doesn’t envision Magnus at all; he “sees” through Magnus’ eyes. Travis also stopped reading the Reddit, because the suggestions on that were starting to bleed through, and he also got rather taken aback one time he saw a commenter complain that something he’d done “wasn’t what Magnus would do”. It seemed that while Travis gave Magnus character growth, there were audience members who seemed to think he should always remain static and one-note. Griffin thinks it really took off when they expanded their characters beyond “wizard, fighter, cleric”. Clint reckons a turning moment was Taako’s “abraca-fuck you”, which I think was the…third? Second? From last episode of Gerblins.

Question: How much does Justin enjoy blindsiding Griffin with new spells? Not at all, he’s just playing the story and he doesn’t want to disrupt the story.

Question: Were there moments they messed up Griffin’s story? He’s constantly balancing giving control to the players versus keeping it to himself. There’s episodes where he has to take more control, mostly the Lunar Interludes – although even in those ones, the players still have a level of control; in Reunion Tour, Griffin wasn’t expecting Magnus to not get back in his body straight away, for instance. Travis notes the game is collaborative, they have to work with each other, so the players have to say what’s important to them, but also, if the DM’s made a story for them to explore, why would they mess with that? Justin brought up that last Lunar Interlude, Taako and Merle didn’t quite have the motivation to go against the Bureau, so they had to ask Griffin to help with that, which is part of why he had Angus step in. One of the toughest things for Clint is when he has to have Merle not know something Clint learned from the other characters. Griffin notes that there’s two ways of playing: they’ve been using player-reacts-to-narrative, but they could be doing narrative-reacts-to-player. But Griffin doesn’t know how to construct a story like that. But a big moment Griffin hadn’t anticipated was when Taako and Merle saved Magnus’ soul from death in Wonderland – he had to dump a load of stuff he’d had planned in the Astral Plane. The episode where the Chalice tempted them to change their pasts, Griffin had two episodes’ worth of saving Magnus from the Chalice, but he turned down the offer. There were other encounters that also were discarded because of what the players did. He’s tailored the big picture to the characters.

They talk a little about the Max Fun Drive, including bonus adventure Adventure Zone Knights.

Question for Clint: Why does Merle not like Angus? Clint played Merle as very insecure of his place in the team, so he felt threatened by anyone else hanging out with the team, because he feels rather useless.

Question for Griffin: Favourite and least favourite NPC to voice? Favourite is Angus, and least is anyone with a really deep voice.

Question for Justin: Have Taako and Kravitz been on any more dates that haven’t been on the show? He wants to leave it up to the audience’s imaginations, but they did enjoy the date and each other’s company. Griffin adds that Kravitz would have been around again if they hadn’t succeeded in pulling Magnus back, but that pullback was much cooler than what he had planned, but there will be more Kravitz. Justin clarifies that he doesn’t have a problem with roleplaying a gay date, but he finds it extremely uncomfortable to do it with his brother. They don’t have a problem with shipping the Bois with whoever, but Travis is firm that Magnus only has one love – and that his goldfish is fine, always.

Question for Travis: Does he still have Magnus’ original backstory written down, and can we hear some of it? Yes, but he wrote it ages ago and the way the character shaped itself, it’s almost a different character. He also comments that people criticise him for the “dead wife”, but their mother passed away when he was 21, and that was one of the most impactful things in his life, and his wife is also a great inspiration to be a better person. So to Travis, those two are drives to be a hero. Griffin comments on people accusing him of “fridging”, he’s been trying to avoid tropes and accidentally fell into “bury your gays”, which he didn’t even know was a trope until after Hurley and Sloane. He also brings up Lup: he had the idea for Taako to have a twin sister Lup. And he keeps getting asked if Lup is short for Chalupa. Taako was chosen out of irreverent silliness, not making a Latinx character named after the food. Griffin followed the same convention and did indeed choose Chalupa – but he has seen how things are interpreted, and how many people headcanon Taako as Latinx, and he felt rather uncomfortable with it all, so he decided to just make it so Lup’s name is Lup, just Lup.

Question for Clint: Has adapting TAZ into a graphic novel made him feel different about TAZ? It’s given him a deeper appreciation for Griffin’s storytelling and challenged him to up his game with the roleplaying. He thinks that they didn’t have fully-fleshed characters until the second or even third arc. There were a lot of jokes, but not the heart until a bit later. Justin thinks they didn’t realise they could do that for a bit.

Question: What’s everyone’s favourite musical piece Griffin made? Travis loved the themes for Petals to the Metal, and the themes for Adventure Zone Knights. Justin liked the Crystal Kingdom songs. Clint liked the music used when Magnus’ soul was saved. Griffin notes that people thought he’d been sampling Bastion in Eleventh Hour.

Question: Might they play female or gender non-conforming characters in future campaigns? Justin has already played a woman in Knights. Griffin says he’s not scared of it. They decide they will, but not as a stunt, but because it’s what’s right for the character and the story.

Question: Does Magnus in his new body remember Kalen, the governor responsible for Julia’s death, given it was sacrificed to Wonderland and the other Wonderland sacrifices like his missing finger were returned? Griffin explains that memories resided in his spirit. The remembering things as a spirit, and not remembering others, was because of the Voidfish and Voidfishling. Also, Griffin likes the idea of Merle and Taako hunting a guy they’ve never heard of. They consider doing a live show to do that (I don’t remember if they have, though. Sad if so.)

Question: Why was Garfield growing a new body for Magnus? Griffin won’t tell. Travis says that someone approached him at a show and theorised about that happening. They keep having people turning up briefly and then becoming important.

They also want to talk about what the show is doing next. They’re going to do a sort of bonus arc, The Stolen Century, diving into the past to answer most of the questions and then they’ll be ready for the finale, which will probably be more than one episode. Then they’re going to do something new. If they tried to drag it out too long, it would just get bad, so they want to tie it off, neat and entire. So they’re going to try some things out, do some little arcs, trying different DMs and different systems. Then when they figure it out, they’ll do another longer story, although not as long as Balance (I’ll be honest, I’d kinda like campaigns as long as Balance). Clint chips in to remind them Tres Horny Bois will continue in different forms. There’ll be the graphic novels, and the Bois will be doing the live I do kishows. Then they discuss using a more rules-light system like Powered By The Apocalypse, because they’re brushing over a load of DnD rules anyway. Clint has an idea for a superhero story based on a premise he sold years ago that never came to anything. (This became Commitment.) Travis is looking at an Old West story. (This became Dust.) Griffin is thinking of something inspired by Persona and Buffy about an unsuccessful West Virginia ski resort town that keeps getting attack by monsters, and also a beebop cowboy Battlestar Galactica post-apocalyptic space opera. (The first became Amnesty, and the second might be Hootenanny, which came out as a handful of specials.) Justin has an idea where they’re all Sherlock Holmes competing to find the best clues, and one of them is a vampire (he was joking, but Griffin really want to play that). (They did do it, eventually, but it’s bonus content.) So the show will continue, it’ll be a bit finding-their-feet, but the audience can chip in with opinions – it won’t be up to a vote, but they’d like to hear feedback. Griffin is really excited for something new.

I don’t think I have a lot to add to this one. There was one problem with Taako’s perceived ethnicity, which Griffin talked about, that I don’t think they addressed on the podcast. When artwork for the graphic novel was revealed (before printing, as I understand), there were…mixed reviews to Taako being coloured as a Caucasian as opposed to a Latinx. They solved the problem by going back to the description of Moon Elves in the Players Handbook, which describes them as having alabaster skin tinged with blue, and made him pale blue.

I like Q+As, because I like learning more about these things are made. I do kinda despair that people insisted on sending in questions asking what happens next, though, that’s dumb. Just let ‘em tell the story.

TAZ Balance Episode 59: Lunar Interlude V: Reunion Tour Part 2

The Adventure Zone Masterpost

TAZ Balance Episode 60: The Stolen Century Chapter 1

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TAZ Balance Episode 59: Lunar Interlude V: Reunion Tour Part 2

Written 15 Jul 2025, shortly after relistening, having listened to the entire Balance arc some time ago.

Merle and Taako leave the abandoned Fantasy CostCo and head for the Director’s quarters. They decide to bluff their way through. They find the Director looking into the destruction chamber, and Davenport and the two guards accompanying him, and Angus also watching the chamber. The Director greets them, expressing sympathy and regret over Magnus’ death. Taako casts Detect Thoughts, and finds that she is genuinely happy to see they survived and grieving Magnus didn’t, but she’s also anxious and worried about something else. Merle asks if he and Taako can have a moment to mourn in the Director’s office, and she agrees easily, letting them go on while she finishes up. Taako consults Barry in the pocket spa, but he doesn’t know what they’re looking for. But the coin tells them they’ll need to get past the heavy door into her inner sanctum, but that’ll be the point of no return. Taako casts Detect Magic, but only finds magic on the portrait they already knew about. He opens the pocket spa again, and asks Barry why they should trust him over the Bureau. He doesn’t know, he doesn’t think he’s evil, but he knows he trusts them.

Magnus the mannequin walks out of the Fantasy CostCo with his old axe and shield, and his Tarantula Bracelet and Bureau of Balance bracer. There’s no-one about to challenge him as he goes to the Voidfish’s chambers. There’s no guard on the door, and Magnus realises it’s Midsummer, but there’s no festival this year, just everyone given the day off. He sneaks into the Voidfish chamber where Johann is playing the harp; the Voidfish starts singing when it sees Magnus. Magnus activates the Tarantula Bracelet and climbs the wall, then drops on Johann and knocks him out.

Taako speculates that now they’ve found the Relics, they’re out of a job, so they might as well see what they can get. Merle agrees, and they go through the door. There’s a hallway, and a heavy vault door. The coin speaks up, and tells them about a complicated orb puzzle, except the puzzle isn’t there, just the corridor. Taako rolls a Nat 1 on a Perception check, and then Merle rolls 4, so they don’t see anything. They start walking down the corridor, and sink into the floor like it’s quicksand, getting pulled under, and there’s scorpions crawling down the walls. Merle pulls out the Vroom Broom, but it bursts into flames, turning into a bouquet of dead flowers. Taako suspects this isn’t real, that there’s an illusion, but as he’s pulled into the darkness all alone, he sees through the illusion and comes to himself lying on the floor, but Merle is still writhing, complaining about the broom. Taako uses the Telepathic Band to snap Merle out of it. Now aware of their true surroundings again, they hear a ticking, and they see an alarm clock sounding an alarm, but there’s a dome of silence over it. They turn around, and Angus MacDonald is in the doorway, pointing a wand and demanding they tell him what they know.

Magnus climbs into the Voidfish’s tank. He asks what the Voidfish knows that he doesn’t, and the Voidfish sends another vision of being in the crystal cave with a load of other voidfish. He sees himself, Magnus, in a red uniform. He seems to be talking to the Voidfish, and there’s others in red, most of them robes, with patches on the left breast. Then they’re all running to a silver ship, and the Voidfish is with them. Magnus asks for confirmation that he is indeed a Red Robe, and the Voidfish shows him scenes of himself looking after the Voidfish in a tank, always wearing red, as he works out how to care for it. Magnus asks if it knows what’s going on with the Relics, but it doesn’t know, so Magnus asks if it can help the Voidfish get its kid back. The Voidfish reacts, grabbing him and screaming at him. Magnus gets a vision of the Voidfish nursing an egg in that very room, the egg hatching and a tiny Voidfishling swimming out – then the door opens, the Director walks in, and then she’s carrying it out in a small container, leaving the Voidfish alone. The Voidfish releases Magnus, but the screaming woke Johann. Johann is shouting at Magnus, then something throws him back. Magnus sees him surrounded by humanoid figures, some bulky, some robotic, some shadowy, some just people, all of them made of darkness. Magnus knows, the Hunger is here, the seven of them managed to evade it this long but now it’s here and it’s going to be the end of everything.

(It is the Max Fun Drive, and they McElroys talk about what you can get for donations, including access to bonus content.)

Justin speculates that the orb puzzle was Barry’s illusion, but Griffin explains that it’s just that they changed the security system after Robbie/Pringles was caught. Angus casts Zone of Truth; Merle and Taako resist, but Barry pops his head out, confessing he’s not meant to be there. Taako introduces Barry. Angus continues to demand to know what’s going on. Merle admits the Zone isn’t affecting them, so Taako just tells the truth that they think the Bureau might be bad, and the full story about what happened to Magnus. Merle casts Zone of Truth on Taako, who submits to it and confirms that what he said is true, because he trusts Angus. Angus admits that he loves the Bureau, that he loves the Director for giving him his job, but the spheres are being switched in the destruction chamber – he placed a chalk mark on the sphere, and it was gone when it came out. He wants in on the investigation.

They advance on the door. There’s a keypad to open it, and Angus can’t figure it out. Clint tries to use Nitpicker, but it can’t do anything with a keypad. While it chews Clint out, Taako uses Hole Thrower to make an opening.

Magnus is in trouble. The figures are heading for the door to the Voidfish’s tank. Magnus can just about see Johann breathing, but he’s in a bad way. Magnus promises the Voidfish he’ll get its kid back, checks it can survive without the water, then swims to the top, climbs out, and smashes the tank beneath. Nat 20. The glass shatters, the tank losing its shape and dropping Magnus, as a tidal wave sweeps away a bunch of the Hunger. The surviving Hunger attack him, and he takes down a few more before he’s cut down, the mannequin falling next to Johann.

Magnus finds himself on the Astral Plane. He can see a portal pulling him to his body, and also Johann’s spirit above his body. Johann asks Magnus to not let them erase him, before Magnus is pulled away.

The others are now in the Director’s private quarters. There’s a striking resemblance to Barry’s cave hideout. There’s also stacks of journals, and empty journals waiting to be filled. Merle sees a hovering holy symbol above a disc, and he feels a force projecting out – the field that lich-Barry had mentioned was keeping him away from the Bureau. The symbol represents the whole pantheon of gods. There’s also a map of the world for tracking Relics, and a small tank with a light shining within, but they can’t quite look at it, a bell suspended above it. The coin clicks on, and it says they should have had time to drink, and he explains…something, but it’s all static. As the static sounds, the lights in the tank pulse and the bell chimes. Taako drinks some water from the tank and passes it to Merle and Angus. Barry takes his own flask-ful.

They can see there’s a baby Voidfishling in the tank – Angus finds it adorable. Barry looks like someone hit him on the head. Taako and Merle feel like something’s coming at their brains. Barry warns them not to try to remember too fast, and asks Merle to take out the symbol. Merle casts Divination and asks Pan how to deactivate the holy symbol, but not only does Pan not answer, but he can’t even seem to cast the spell, he’s disconnected from Pan completely and there’s nothing left. He takes a chance and grabs the symbol; the disc shatters, destroying the anti-lich field, and Merle has a +2 holy symbol, which would be useful if there were any divine sources to connect to. By this point the guards have arrived, and Barry recommends they surrender, take it slow, because they’re going to start remembering soon.

Magnus chokes out a mouthful of fluid from the pod, as he wakes up in the Fantasy CostCo. He can see he’s got all ten fingers, he’s not an extra ten years older, and he remembers nearly everything, about his quest for the Relics, his life with Julia, his time with lich-Barry, what their current goal is, except he can’t remember the memory-visions. He also can’t remember the Hunger. He takes a bunch of damage as he’s stabbed in the shoulder, but he can’t see what did it. He’s assaulted by unseen assailants. He grabs and smashes the sapphire, calling the Flaming Poisoning Raging Sword of Doom. He’s nude but holding a sword designed by an eight-year-old, which he swings in a big arc. He takes another slice, then ignites the sword and becomes a tornado of destruction, and he can feel his enemies falling. When it’s still again, he dresses, grabs his gear, and leaves, swinging wildly to cut his way out. On the quad, it’s not good. Bureau employees are attacking randomly, spells shot off blindly. No-one can see what’s going on. Magnus spots Carey and Killian and NO.3ll3; NO.3ll3 seems to be able to see the attackers, but the others can’t. Killian takes a hit, and Carey uses her electric breath weapon in fury. Then Carey sees Magnus, alive. She runs at Magnus and punches him in the face. He suggests she leave her questions for later, because they need to get to the Director and find out what’s going on. She gives him a big hug, and guesses he ignored her lessons and took a big hit.

Taako, Merle, Barry and Angus are brought to the Director. Barry charges at the Director, but Davenport stepped in, and he was pulled away. The Director is kneeling on the dias, surrounded by a magical barrier, a lead sphere next in front of her. There’s a chalk mark on the sphere. She appears to channelling power from the sphere into her staff – the Relic she made when they came to this world, a thought that shocks Merla and Taako. She asks if they inoculated themselves, Merle says they did, and she says it’s too much, it’ll kill them. Barry’s coping better, and Taako can hear him casting the spell Command, to drink. He pleads with Lucretia that she’s already got the Relics, just help them remember. She explains.

There were seven of them. They came from another reality. They were part of the Institute of Planar Research and Exploration, sent to explore beyond on an impossible ship. They found themselves chased by a destructive force beyond comprehension. When they arrived on Faerun, they made the Relics to try to hide the light they contained from the Hunger, but it was a mistake, they damned the world by creating the Relics. She hadn’t wanted to make the Relics, but she was over-ruled, so she decided to take matters into her own hands. She fed a record of their mission to the Voidfish and made them, made the world forget. She thought to collect the Relics, but she nearly failed in Wonderland, nearly died and took the truth with her. So she made an organisation of checks and balances and distrust of magical artefacts, but the Reclaimers were always enthralled by the Relics. The only people immune would be the creators. The Voidfish gave her a solution, a child, so they could be inoculated against the mother while the Voidfishling kept the rest from them. So she ensured their employment with Gundren to bring them to first Relic, and spun a tale of evil wizards to motivate them – and they did so well. But now, with all the Relics, she can build a barrier to keep the Hunger at bay, where they’ll all be safe…except Lup. She apologies deeply to Taako, and Taako remembers Lup; how could he forget? All those lonely years of childhood, but with his sister by his side. And Lucretia counts them off; herself, Barry, Lup, Merle, Taako, Magnus, and their captain, who’s life was the mission, so all he had left after the redaction was his name. She gestures to her side, and a tray drops. Davenport is holding Barry’s flask, wiping drops of ichor from his lips. He asks, Lucretia, what have you done?

The door bursts open, and the Regulators burst in with Magnus back in the flesh, revealing the awful scene outside. Lucretia gasps in happiness at seeing Magnus alive, but then it turns to horror. They can see the shadowy figures, the Hunger, and the massive tendrils worming out of the sky, striking the ground and forming pillars, as the Hunger’s armies march out. It’s the end of the world, again.

Griffin explains that there’s going to be another The “The Adventure Zone” Zone next, answering questions, and the next “proper” episode will start filling in some gaps. Then they get back to explaining the Max Fun Drive.

In Lucretia’s office, the portrait now has seven people in red uniforms. An Elf who looks a lot like Taako with her arm around Barry, Taako smiling, Merle with his sleeves rolled up next to Davenport, Magnus waving, and Lucretia holding her journals. A moment of peace in a harrowing journey. It’s time to remember this moment, and all the others. Time to reclaim the Stolen Century.

Griffin’s a dramatic fella, isn’t he? It had me on tenterhooks, building up and up. There’s definitely a lot of Barry and Angus driving things, but Magnus’ bit is less…less guided. And Taako and Merle are still moving their parts, it’s not all Griffin moving NPCs around. But there are also extended periods of narration again. As I said in last episode, this kind of technique works in an actual-play show, not so much in a home game. But, this is also a point where Griffin’s turning things on their heads. There’s been breadcrumbs laid almost entirely throughout, from about halfway through Here Be Gerblins at least, and I have definitely enjoyed seeing these breadcrumbs now I’m relistening. Of course not all the answers are revealed yet, but it’s getting there.

I think this might be the first time the Flaming Poisoning Raging Sword of Doom was used, and it’s really earning its price – or at least all the shenanigans to claim it and keep hold of it. Also, Carey’s electric breath weapon, really nice deployment. And NO.3ll3 being able to see the Hunger – remember, undead are immune to Voidfish redaction, which is why Barry keeps having problems remembering, and Magnus lost the memory-visions in his new body, which was built from blood inoculated against the Voidfish but not the Voidfishling. (The McElroys don’t call it that, but it’s easier for me.)

I think Davenport was the biggest surprise for me when I first listened. Although it does get explained more later. Lucretia as a benevolent string-pulling mastermind was certainly an interesting choice, because how often is the master manipulator someone who still thinks of you as their dearest friend?

We’ll have to see what comes of Lucretia’s meddling.

TAZ Balance Episode 58: Lunar Interlude V: Reunion Tour Part 1

The Adventure Zone Masterpost

TTAZZ: Balance 2

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TAZ Balance Episode 58: Lunar Interlude V: Reunion Tour Part 1

Written 14 Jul 2025, shortly after relistening, having listened to the entire Balance arc some time ago.

A decade ago, a wheat field outside Phandelin. Barry’s body falls out of the sky, dying on impact. A red apparition leaves the body, collects some blood from the body and leaves. A few months later, he’s at an auction looking Grand Relics, maybe even Lup’s, but instead he finds some pods to regrow a body in only a few months. Given his previous methods of revivification are no longer accessible, he buys them. But he feels a chill wind; she’s found him again, he’s stayed a lich too long. He camps out in crypt. In a new body, she won’t find him. He comes out, setting up his cave and his workshop. He’s lonely, missing his friends, but he knows they won’t recognise him. He needs to find Lup, so they can find the ship that brought them here. He recons around the mountains, looking for where Lup vanished, but he can’t remember he’s a lich. He falls, and dies, and has to start again. His living form never remembers, but obeys. Then, Gundren Rockseeker hires him for his expedition to Wave Echo Cave – the kind of place Lup would have hidden the Gauntlet. Then Phandelin is circle of black glass, and the sphere with Tres Horny Bois is speeding away through the sky to the Bureau. The lich form rises, but he was so close, but where was Lup? He can’t do it alone, he needs his friends. Even if they don’t recognise him, even if she vilifies him, he trusts them.

A naked Barry Bluejeans stands in front of them. He doesn’t know who they are. Merle passes him his clothes, and Taako introduces them. They try to explain, but he doesn’t really understand, until Magnus tells him there’s a coin that should explain. The coin speaks in Barry’s voice, telling him about himself. It also tells him there’s a lost love in his heart, and the Barry-recording says he can explain it. The recording addresses the Bois, telling them their brains will try to remember things, but they should try not to, because he’s had to play a part to avoid raising suspicions. There’s a map of the Bureau with directions to Lucretia’s Vault; Barry had to possess a member in order to get that. The coin instructs the Bois to take human Barry with them, keeping him safe, as they break in to fill the gaps.

The Bois step away from Barry, and Magnus explains a few things. He shows the picture from June, showing himself as a Red Robe. He also mentions remembering things, knowing Barry before, being somewhere with two suns, but Taako and Merle hear bursts of static. There’s so much more going on. Taako theorises there’s a second Voidfish. Magnus agrees, because of the “egg babe” notes of the Voidfish’s song. He also confesses breaking in to see Robbie/Pringles and learning he’d had his mind taken over to break into the Director’s vault. And also he kidnapped two guards who were inadvertently killed when the sphere was destroyed by the chimera. So the Bureau might not be happy with Magnus. Merle asks why bother sneaking? They have the Bell, they’re meant to return, so why not just walk in? The coin chimes from across the room, noting Magnus will need disguised, and to not be touched. Taako decides he now trusts absolutely no-one.

Barry has finished dressing and gathering supplies and the map. He feels the urge to trust them. Taako says he’s willing to go along with it despite his lack of trust. The coin tells them to step outside and summon a ride from the Bureau, and that while he’d usually have human-Barry leave blood in the tank, this is their last chance. Merle is not happy, but also willing to go along with it. They plan the disguise. Taako says they can just say Magnus is dead. Magnus suggests he and Barry can travel in the pocket spa. Merle suggests the mannequin is something Magnus carved and Taako Animated to carry the bell. So Barry can go in the spa. Before they leave, Taako examines the tank, and find it makes a body from a biological sample, but it’s more a corpse than a clone. They also look at the map and how the vault comes off from the destruction chamber and Director’s office.

Outside, it looks stormy, but still. Taako notices every thing seems greyer and wilting, like the life is being drained out of the world. As they wait for their ride, Magnus recommends they find an explanation for the destroyed Stones of Farspeech, and warns them he probably can’t speak when pretending to be a regular animated mannequin. Taako pulls out his Telepathic Band so he can keep in contact with Magnus, but he hears another voice and his heart swells. He doesn’t know who it is or where the voice is from, it’s faint and far away, but it tells him to “trust Barry, love Barry”, but as it acknowledges Taako, the Voidfish static sounds. It’s a woman, important to Taako, but he can’t remember who they are. They head up to the Bureau’s Moonbase.

In the ad break, Griffin explains that it will be some time before the finale.

The astral plane, a few hours ago. There are no lights beneath the lake, no sounds of spirits moving, just the storm above. Everything is still and quiet, until a hand punches through the surface of the lake. Kravitz climbs out and onto the island the Eternal Stockade is built on. He takes on his reaper form as arms form from the slime and fly at him, and he slices them with his scythe. He barricades himself in the Stockade. He’s seen so many things, but the world ink-black and frozen is new to him, and if all the planes are like this, he’s got a lot of work. He tries to cut a portal into the living world, but it doesn’t work. He attempts to commune with the Raven Queen, but she doesn’t answer. He’s trapped, and alone.

On the way to the hanger, the recording from Barry advises them to hand over the Relic if it is asked for, but to not let the Director see human-Barry. They land, and Avi is astonished to see them. He says they thought the team had all died. Taako tells Avi Magnus did die. At Avi’s shout, Killian and Carey and NO.3ll3 and Davenport rush in. Carey is particularly distraught about Magnus’ death, and Taako and Merle tell a half-true story about how it happened. He also explains that the Stones of Farspeech were rendered inoperable by the Wonderland magic, and Merle said they had to give them up. As the Regulator team prepare to leave, Davenport steps forward with a sphere to destroy the Relic. Taako also claims he’s claimed the mannequin to study it further. Killian is suspicious, and Merle says they were just using him to safely transport the bell, and now they’re fond of it. This convinces the Regulators, and they leave. Magnus clunks over to put the Bell in the sphere. Taako asks Davenport if he could witness the destruction more closely, but Davenport refuses. The sphere with the Bell is wheeled out of the hanger, leaving the Bois with Avi, who’s really grieving Magnus. They share a drink before moving on.

The Moonbase is rather close to the storm, so most people are inside. The Bois follow Barry’s map, passing the Fantasy CostCo. As they pass, the doors open but the jingle doesn’t play. It looks ransacked. Taako and Magnus want to investigate. It isn’t broken, but there’s nothing on the shelves and there’s sealed crates and packed bags. Garfield is leaving. When he sees them, he says they’re closed. He’s leaving because of the apocalypse, and also he doesn’t think he can continue after Taako best him in mercantile wits. Magnus tells Taako he needs the blood he’d traded to Garfield some time ago. Hearing they need Magnus’ blood, Garfield’s willing to do one last trade. Taako gives Garfield an autographed poster from his cooking show, and Garfield finds it a paltry trade, restoring his confidence in his own trading abilities. Taako uses a sixth level spell slot to cast Drawmij’s Instant Summons and summon the Flaming Poisoning Raging Sword of Doom (this is nuts; that spell needs a 1000gp sapphire, but they ignore that). Taako offers to trade the sword for the blood. Garfield agrees, and Taako hands over the sword. Garfield tosses a ring of keys, telling them to find it in the backroom, before swirling and vanishing with his goods. Taako opens the office at the back and finds a desk with an accounting book, freezers and other storage, and empty safe, and a long table with a few items; a battle axe, a shield with some blood (some of which was scraped off), a deck of cheating cards, and beakers and a centrifuge. And next to the table, a pod, with Magnus’ body.

(Back in the auction, Garfield was sitting next to Barry, bidding on the pods.)

Magnus immediately wants back into his body, but Taako and Merle warn him hell lose all his memories – and Merle reminds him they already told everyone Magnus is dead. Magnus protests that he can’t feel, or fight, or protect, or do anything that’s him. Merle suggests putting the pod in the pocket spa, taking it with him. Taako suggests that if Magnus comes back with no memories, Taako might just tell him he’s his assistant. Magnus decides he can treat the mannequin as an extra life. He tells the others to head on to the Director’s office, to await his cue and he’ll raise a ruckus. They can leave him the map and a note, because he’s so restricted by the mannequin form. Taako pulls out a sapphire and writes the note telling him to trust the voices in his head, and let the first words he says be “Flaming Poisoning Raging Sword of Doom” PS smash the sapphire and put some clothes on. (Oh right, so he didn’t summon the sword earlier, just charge the spell.) As Taako and Merle leave, Magnus lays out all his armour and gear. Then he picks up the old battle axe and shield, and heads for the Voidfish’s chamber.

The Moonbase. Magnus laying his things out, mind riddled by memories he cannot explain. Merle and Taako leaving the store and heading for the dome where the Director prepares to destroy the Relic. Angus watching intently. Carey inconsolable at the death of her best friend, with her girlfriend and robot best friend trying to comfort her. Johann stringing his fiddle to compose a new song for the Voidfish. And outside, above the sky, above the boundaries of space, beyond the Prime Material Plane, we see the twelve planes moving in perfect synchronicity. But beyond, a thirteenth plane descends, a disc of shimmering darkness crossed with bright colours, larger than any other plane, and eyes open, shining with malice and hunger, focusing on the Bureau, and somewhere inside, a smile.

In some ways, this is rather confusing. In fact, before relistening, my recollection of this episode was just a jumble. Relistening, it makes more sense.

Telling people Magnus is dead is…not quite cruel, but it’s rough for Avi, and the Reclaimers, and anyone else. Hopefully it gets straightened out quickly. It’s kinda interesting the Bell was going straight in the sphere in the hanger, rather than in the Director’s office, but maybe Griffin did that more to facilitate the Fantasy CostCo stuff. Speaking of, Taako’s feud with Garfield over that sword is nuts. (Yes, I misunderstood what was going with it. What the Drawmij spell does is this: you bind an object to a sapphire, then at a later point you can crush the sapphire and summon said object from anywhere. I got confused and thought when Justin started talking about casting the spell, he meant Taako was crushing the sapphire to summon the sword, in order to give it to Garfield. What he actually did at that point was bind the sword to the sapphire, and then pulled out the sword and handed it over using the more conventional methods of physically picking it up. The sword is now in Garfield’s possession, but Magnus has been left a sapphire to crush and summon it. However, where Taako got a 1000gp sapphire when he keeps selling any gems to Garfield, I’m not sure.)

Merle didn’t get to say or do much this time; Taako seemed to be taking the lead. This happens. I mean, Magnus got more time last episode. It all varies for episode to episode.

The regrowing bodies stuff is really cool. I’m also enjoying Griffin’s cutscenes elsewhere, although that kind of stuff would not, and should not, work in a home game. In a game that’s for the DM and the players and no-one else, the only “scenes” should be ones the characters should know of, either by playing it out or because they were there or are hearing about it. But this game is at least as much for us listeners, which is why these bits work, only because it’s a show. It’s serving the story, not the players.

But this is a show, and it is about the story, and it’s a fantastic story. And the players are still shaping it; Griffin put Magnus-in-a-pod in the shop, but he didn’t guarantee they’d find it, and he’s let them decide what to do with it. Magnus could have hopped in straight away, or decided to leave it and keep trailing after Merle and Taako. Magnus could’ve been in the spa with Barry. They could’ve had Barry walk in with them. They had lots of options. It’s working well.

TAZ Balance Episode 57: The Suffering Game Chapter 7

The Adventure Zone Masterpost

TAZ Balance Episode 59: Lunar Interlude V: Reunion Tour Part 2

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Oxventure Wyrdwood Season 2 Chapter 1: Mossfold

Written 11 Jul 2025, shortly after watching, before release of Ep2.

A torso is caved in by a warhammer, blood spurting from the mouth, falling to join five other corpses. An Inquisitor stands over the remains of a team from Folkmoot. He pulls out a bottle and pours silvery liquid on the ground. It makes a solid surface, so he can scry. There’s a campfire dying down, and Team North-West waking up to start the day. The image pulls out, leaving an impression of where they are – the north edge of Wyrdwood, where it borders the marshy expanse of Mossfold.

Willowfine passes out cups of tisane, while Happen explains that his Order requires them not to carry more than three days’ worth of food. He invites them to his Church in Balewood, not for the first time. Robin offers his attempt at coffee, made of mud and flavoured with bark and a pine cone. There is a tapping on one of the copestones Willowfine carries, the one connected to Folkmoot, asking for a report. She reports that they’re heading into Mossfold, and is told to continue. Robin compliments Lug’s internal compass, as the only other person he knew with one had swallowed an external compass.

They continue on their way, through warm woods, until the trees abruptly stop. There’s marsh ahead of them, sepia-toned, and Willowfine and Lug can feel the divide between regions. Willowfine makes an Insight check, except because of a Wyrdness Johnny makes the check and describes the result. There’s a sense that things are not as they should be. Robin asks Lug if he knows anything, but Lug doesn’t want to talk about it. Robin also has a headache, and Willowfine offers her tisane and the paste willowfine, a painkiller.

Happen suggests spreading out to cover more ground. Willowfine agrees, and Robin jogs off in a random direction. They let him be the leading edge. Crossing into Mossfold, the humidity increases and the ground is springy. Lug has a deep sense of energy, and feels uneasy. A couple of miles away, there’s the indistinct shape of the settlement Augrim. He warns the others that the people there have very strong beliefs. He rounds them up, and explains that the people of that village were the ones chasing him when they first met, because he wronged them by refusing to be sacrificed. Despite the danger, he feel drawn back, and he has questions as to why. They consider options, noting the lack of agricultural activity, and Lug says they wanted to sacrifice him because the harvest failed. Robin gets indignant, calling the villagers idiots in a tone more like Morven. They decide to fake having captured Lug and are bringing him in, having heard in a tavern Augrim were looking for him and given him drugged mead.

So they “tie” Lug up and head for the village. They pass raised beds with little growing, certainly not enough to feed the community. They approach the town hall, and Robin calls out for anyone who might hear. Cressida looks around, and spots that while the team are leaving footprints, there’s only one other set of footprints, small and soft and apparently clothed in fine slippers. Happen follows the tracks to a building. Willowfine glances into a nearby hovel and sees the fire is out and there’s a person lying still on the bed, despite it being the middle of the day. She enters and finds the person is sleeping. She can tell they’re not getting enough to eat and is ill, and can smell stimulant herbs from Fenfold. Happen restrains them, a hand over their mouth, and wakes them. They startle, and when Happen asks what’s going in, they say they’re sick.

Another door opens, and someone calls Willowfine’s name. There’s a woman in the entrance to the hall – an older, hunched woman. This is Agrimonia, another Cleric of Willowfine’s order worshipping the Green Mother, a matriarch. Willowfine introduces them all, and Agrimonia explains that she was sent out to find those who need healing and do what she can. She’s been in the village for a week and can’t tell what’s wrong; the villagers are all just exhausted.

In the hall, Agrimonia has been making tisane, and the smell of herbs fills the air. There are many sick people. Agrimonia explains they all sleep but are never rested, and some complain of nightmares, of a woman sitting on their chests. None have died, but she fears it’s only a matter of time. Willowfine asks if, as the villagers fell sick one at a time, it’s a catching disease, but Agrimonia hasn’t caught it yet.

Lug muses on the attempt to sacrifice him to their god. He’d assumed they worshipped a false god, that there was no connection between him and their situation. But now he’s wondering if there was something deeper.

Happen wakes the woman Agrimonia identifies as the first to fall sick and asks what happened the day she fell sick. She’d had bad dreams, but just…felt tired. Robin suggests the woman on her chest, and she’s described as long green hair and clammy, like pondweed. Then Agrimonia gives the patient a dose of bitter medicine.

Willowfine checks that Agrimonia has tried magic, and then speculates it might be a curse. Agrimonia’s dreams have not been disturbed, but she hardly has time to sleep. So Willowfine takes over and sends her to sleep. Agrimonia hands over her satchel, that to Willowfine is almost as powerful artefact, and collapses into a chair. Robin is sent for water for the cauldron. Happen and Cressida observe Agrimonia’s sleep. Happen watches for signs of bad dreams, or of something invisible on her chest, but gets nothing. He remains watchful. Cressida wants to check for any signs Agrimonia might be becoming like pondweed, but there are none, just exhaustion. Willowfine tends the patients, and asks Lug how he’s feeling; rather conflicted.

Robin has pulled a bucket of water from the well, but it’s foamy like ale. He brings it to the others and shows them. They wonder what Agrimonia has been drinking, if she’s been Creating Water, why she’d have sent Robin to the well, and Cressida tries to explain a bath bomb – and warm baths – and regattas. But Lug recognises this as powler’s suds, a water creature that lures people into it’s water source and drowns and eats them. They look like women with hair like pondweed.

They investigate the well and find it full of foam. Robin tosses a stone down, and there’s a stirring like something coming to the surface. The suds start dissipating and Robin leans in to investigate, rolling a Nat 1 and falling into the well. Happen darts forward, using the Cadence die, but the sprites aid him in catching Robin’s boot. They reel backwards, safe on dry ground.

Robin explains he saw something down there, and they decide to send their most powerful attacks down as Robin tosses another stone to lure them out. Willowfine casts Sacred Flame. Lug throws a handaxe, and while he misses, the iron infuriates the powler, who slashes him in return before attacking Happen and Cressida. Cressida casts Fear, but the powler resists. Robin’s headache spikes, and the spell Magic Circle bursts out, containing the powler. Happen shoots it with an arrow tied to a rope, but the circle deflects it into the sky. Willowfine asks Robin about the magic, but he doesn’t know how; maybe he can learn Sacred Flame.

Willowfine tells the powler they’re going to banish her, but the powler protests that she’s been very careful not to kill anyone. She wants something in exchange for moving on. Robin suggests that maybe the magic will hold her in place forever, and they huddle to discuss what they could offer her. They consider directing her to the evil beekeeper cult. Robin wracks his mind for stories of bargains with fey. They could offer something in kind, or more dangerously, a boon. So they decide to direct the powler to the bee cultists. She pulls out a tooth, and gives it to them. When they reach a suitable settlement, they must put the tooth in the water supply, and she’ll come to that settlement. When she leaves, the people of this village will recover. Then they try to figure out how to cancel the circle. They also ask the powler if she knows why the magic went wrong – she doesn’t, but she knows something’s feeding off it.

They return to the hall, where Agrimonia heals Cressida, Happen and Lug. They tell her about the powler, and she feels a fool for not having figured it out. The patients are recovering, so they start questioning them. One of the villagers ask Lug where he’s been. They say it was cruel of him to run away, and he says it was cruel of them to take him from the woods to sacrifice him to a god he doesn’t know exists. They converse, alluding to another group who will be coming after Lug. Lug says that he’s got friends now – Cressida says that’s a strong word. Agrimonia is slightly less well-disposed to these villagers, and suggests she could travel with the team. They accept, and Happen gives Lug the tooth, in case he feels like dropping it back into the same well. As they leave, Happen informs them it’s wrong to farm.

They travel slower, with Agrimonia among them. Suddenly, Robin feels a flash of pain across his skull, and sees…Morven, pulled from his body, and they see each other face to face. Then they slam back together, and there are three words burned into Robin’s memory: Nichol the Heresiarch.

Time for the rolling rite, and no-one rolls for consequences. Not this time.

Notes from pre-show podcast commentary: Jane advocates listening to Season 1 before Season 2, and Andy wants six seasons and a movie. They are recording on a very hot day and discuss cooling methods. They plug the Geek Media Network they’ve been incorporated into – last time I checked, I was interested in exactly none of the other podcasts on that network. Then they talk about going to a conference in Brighton, and Mike’s Le Mons arcade game which lives in The Loading Bar in Brighton. Andy has been playing Tony Hawke, they’ve both got Switch 2s and been playing a lot of Mario Kart, and he’s been to see Megan 2.0. Jane’s been playing Death Stranding 2 and enjoying it.

Notes from post-show podcast commentary: Andy says that what’s going on with Robin and Morven is setting up for their arch for the rest of the season, but is being coy, for obvious reasons. Jane draws attention to the use of their harmless water vapour machine. Andy asks Jane what goals she’d had for Willowfine going into the season. She hadn’t had goals for Willowfine in isolation, but she’d wanted to deepen her relationships with the party. She’d also talked to Johnny to develop Agrimonia and Willowfine’s desire to care and protect – so introducing the matriarch was a good way to reflect that. The name comes from a yellow-flowered plant that was historically used in remedies. Andy draws attention to the level-up, going from Level 5 to 6. Jane can’t quite remember what was new for that level, especially as she’s only played a cleric in Wyrdwood and there wasn’t anything big. For Andy, he wanted to introduce bleed between the characters. There was a new spell, and Andy decided to give it to Robin, not Morven, and he’d also talked to Johnny about getting a bit more leeway in which spells he could choose, because he wanted to maximize roleplaying opportunities. So he picked Magic Circle, but Robin doesn’t have full control and it only comes out in tomes of high stress – but Morven is going to respond poorly to Robin getting magic. Apparently Producer Zack pulled them up on Magic Circle needing ten minutes to cast, but they decided to rule-of-cool it, and they can always say Robin had been stress-preparing it for ten minutes before it completed and burst out. Andy explains a little more about how the personalities will bleed between each other, and how they’re going to try to maintain their own personalities. They discuss Lug and human (sentient) sacrifice, and is such a sacrifice justifiable. Jane got a bit excited about powlers, which are similar to Jenny Greenteeth or Nelly Longarms. They finish up with talking about merch, including the new Chaos Magic liquid core dice – I already got my own set, and they are truly beautiful – and giving details about the Tales of the Guild tour next spring – I have a ticket for the Birmingham show, but I can only afford the travel for one of the three shows.

Selected notes from Unwinding Wyrdwood: Johnny and Zack feel that time’s passed really quickly, given that it’s been a year since they filmed Wyrdwood Season 1. They filmed Season 2 quite quickly, giving it a really intense energy. Johnny changed their longer-term plan for the Inquisitors as a result of how things with the beekeeper cult went last season – they spent a lot of time walking their dog Watson in the woods and talking to her about the plans, figuring them out that way. If someone bugged that dog’s collar, we could have such an insight – although that would also be very creepy. Johnny then talks about how they made Mossfold feel different from Wyrdwood. They talk about how they didn’t expect Lug to talk about so much so early; they’d wanted to drop hints for Mike, but Mike decided to go all in straight away. So Johnny had to adapt a bit, and he talks about handling the unexpected and what being derailed actually is. Zack compares it to being in a writer’s room. Johnny goes into a lot of detail about the powler and Agrimonia. But if you want those details, and others, you’ll have to watch Unwinding for yourself as it is a Patreon exclusive.

I like Wyrdwood. I like the characters. I like the setting. I like the mysteries. But I don’t always feel totally absorbed by the plot. And this episode was one of those times. I liked the reveal of what happened to poor Lug. I liked Agrimonia, she’s a lovely character, I can’t wait to learn more about her as they travel together. I liked Robin’s burst of magic. But I just didn’t care all that much about the powler and the bargain. Sure it’s cool that they’ve now got this power and obligation wrapped up in a tooth, but I think I mostly wanted the villagers to recover so Lug could have his answers, and he only got some – and we the audience don’t understand all the answers he did get. Although I guess it would’ve been really mentally bad for poor Agrimonia if they died after she’d worked herself to exhaustion trying to heal them.

I am, obviously, really curious about this Nichol the Heresiarch person. Is he maybe one of the Inquisitors? Or perhaps their enemy? Is he maybe linked to Morven? I’m remembering Marshal Luther Rackstraw from Deadlands S2, mechanically a Blessed character but deceived into serving the Devil (or some other hellish power), but maybe I’m projecting because that double-episode also featured falling down holes.

I did kind of hope Morven might come out to play properly this episode, but it makes sense it didn’t happen. It wasn’t mentioned, but seeing as it’s been several days since the end of S1, she and Robin must have swapped at least twice – Robin to Morven and back, possibly same again. Are they getting more chill about allowing the other to take their turn?

I do also wish they’d been a levelling up segment shown in the marathon – I hadn’t known it happened until the stat blocks flashed on screen in the episode. I know Jane said she didn’t get much, and Andy indicated the only really significant thing was the new spell, but still.

The next episode is called Homecoming, so I guess we’re gonna get more Lug time. Looking forward to that – he might be a Barbarian in class, but he’s a sweetheart at heart.

Oxventure Wyrdwood Season 2

Oxventure Masterpost

Oxventure Wyrdwood Season 2 Chapter 2: Homecoming

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TAZ Royale Episode 3: The Trial of Abjuration Part 2

Written 10 Jul 2025, immediately after listening, before release of Ep4.

Ziggurat Island map here

Rictus is facing a statue holding a gold key, that is trying to take over his mind with death magic. He runs back across the bridge, to kick the wall of the cave. His train of thought is, pain broke the statue’s hold, so if he breaks his own foot, every step would cause pain. He can’t break his foot by kicking, so he reaches into his experiences with animated corpses to visualise his foot as not-his-own, and drops a large rock on his foot. He takes two points of damage and messes up the foot. He falls to the thrall, but the pain jerks him out of it as he steps towards the edge. He limps up to the statue, and as he stares up at it, it makes another attempt to enthral him. He fights off the enthrallment, says, “Not today, death”, and takes the key. He leaves.

Laurevith has just seen Tremora, the yellow Magic Ranger, be reduced to dust, her crystal flying away and the bell chiming. The other three Magic Rangers finish scaling the cliff, and red approaches, more politely this time. He introduces himself as Ignatio, Elemental Ranger of fire, and asks Laurevith if he’s seen their companion. Laurevith breaks the news that she’s dead. Ignatio is somewhat upset. Justin asks a few questions about Tremora’s crystal that flew away, to determine if it was valid loot. Griffin gives him that there were similarities to the blue one, but also differences. Laurevith talks to Ignatio, suggesting that as the cave’s peril is fire-based, maybe Ignatio should scout it out. Justin rolls Nat 20 on Persuasion. Confident in his mastery of flames, Ignatio heads into the cave, while Laurevith prepares a Lightening Lure to catch any flying crystals. Sure enough, the cave belches flames and incinerates Ignatio, and Laurevith’s Lightening Lure just catches it, dead on the DC.

(Side note, Laurevith found an Absorb Elements crystal near a cave with a powerful elemental attack. Rictus Prime spotted a crystal near another particularly perilous spot; maybe it has a mind-ward spell in it? And Hellgrammit heard an argument on the Observation Platform near his gold key with the bladed leaves, so perhaps there’s the specific crystal to beat the guardian in each gold key location? Assuming there’s a gold key in Laurevith’s cave.)

Laurevith turns to the blue Elemental Ranger and admits that while it looked impressive, he nearly missed. But blue turns and flees. Green calls after blue, then asks Laurevith for Ignatio’s crystal. Laurevith refuses, and green follows blue. Laurevith slots Ignatio’s crystal into his grimoire-gauntlet. He sees Ignatio’s memories, his childhood, his time defeating evil with the Elemental Rangers, and his spell Burning Hands. Justin and Griffin clarify how the Absorb Elements works; it doesn’t provide immunity, but reduces damage, and stores energy to be discharged later. Laurevith ruminates on Ignatio’s memories, what he saw right before his death: an antechamber with a tunnel where the flames came out, and an alcove containing lockers and a table, a scorched skeleton with a pickaxe, mine cart tracks, a mine cart pushed off the tracks. He reckons he could probably dash to the alcove before the flames emerge, but the flame fills the tunnel, and Ignatio had not been able to see the end of the tunnel where the flames came from. (I’m getting strong Eleventh Hour vibes here.) Laurevith prepares for the reaction Absorb Elements and dashes – Dex saving throw at a -2, advantage due to knowing the way, 17. He runs past the scorched remains of two Elemental Rangers, and makes it to the alcove just in time.

Hellgrammit is drifting into unconsciousness. He can hear voices in the distance. Then he comes to, drowning on a fluid being forced into his mouth. He swallows, and finds it’s a health potion. He opens his eyes and finds himself tangled in a sticky web, a giant tarantula Thri-keen above him feeding him the potion. They’re on the observation platform, and there’s an illusory symbol of a gold key hovering over the tarantula.

The tarantula greets Hellgrammit as a brother, saying that he couldn’t leave a fellow Thri-keen to die, even if they’re adversaries. He can’t quite introduce himself, as his name is a source of contention – as the other two wizards on the platform, a bald man in robes and another in a coverall and mask, all three of them claim the name Spider. They were arguing over it when Thri-keen Spider heard Hellgrammit being killed. Hellgrammit asks if Thri-keen Spider has his key, the one he almost died for. Spider confirms he does have that key, and he does owe Hellgrammit for distracting the razorweed enough for him to snatch the key with his web, but Hellgrammit was sort of dead until Spider healed him. Hellgrammit gets aggressive in demanding the key, offering to make Spider his right hand man when he takes over the world, and Spider tells him to back down. Hellgrammit offers to kill the other two claimants to the name Spider (despite it being against the rules), but he misses on the persuasion roll. Spider leaves, planning to wait until some of the competition is whittled down to dash to the Ziggurat. The other Spiders follow him, leaving Hellgrammit tangled in web goo.

As Rictus claims his gold key, an illusion of it appears above his head. The statue has deactivated, so he limps out of the mausoleum. The graveyard is less occupied now, most of the aspirants having left to hunt elsewhere. Above the Ziggurat, a floating clock tells him nearly half the time has elapsed, and more symbols indicate a good number of keys have been claimed. Griffin has Rictus roll Constitution, to indicate how well he’s dealing with his broken foot – he passes the check, for now. Sitting on a gravestone, catching her breath, is the athlete. She’s impressed that he got the key, but somewhat disturbed that he smashed his foot in order to get it. She couldn’t damage her feet, because they’re too important to her. Rictus remembers that when she ran past him, she appeared to be running supernaturally fast. She introduces herself as Hasty Jane Jennings, the fastest woman alive. Rictus hasn’t heard of her, but she hasn’t heard of the Ravenwood Barons of the Breathless Fields, so that’s okay. She expresses that she owes Rictus a debt, and doesn’t like owing people, so she’d appreciate it if Rictus could give her a way to repay him sooner rather than later. In the meantime, she has to go find a key for herself, so she zooms off.

Rictus hobbles towards the Falls, where his great-grandfather’s ghost Rictus Prime told him there was a magical crystal. The Falls feed into a small lake, and Rictus can see a man in a sweater and headphones by the side of the lake. Rictus examines the area, wondering if there might be fish, but it’s very clearly a magically created, artificial feature – and there does seem to be something shining behind the waterfall. Rictus tries to scramble over the wet rocks to the waterfall, but slips and falls into the lake, the current pushing him down. But the man in the sweater reaches down and helps pull him up. But before Rictus is fully safe, the man looks him in the eyes and says, “You need to give me your key.”

Laurevith looks around the alcove he’s reached. It seems mostly ransacked. There’s no protective gear, but there’s various things Laurevith could use to make barriers, like the overturned mine cart. Laurevith heaves the cart back onto the track and rolls well enough to not only succeed in placing it, but also dodge back into the alcove and grab the pickaxe before the fire belches out again. Then he pushes the cart ahead, trying to give it the momentum to roll on so he can hop into it for a ride, but it bumps a rock and comes off the tracks – Laurevith gets it back on, but flames wash over him. He casts Absorb Elements as a reaction, and takes only three points of damage (I think Griffin was being lenient in how much damage even before the resistance is factored in, because being burnt to a cinder with only six points of damage? But maybe it’s because Laurevith was sheltering behind the cart.) Then he gets the cart going again and hops in as it zooms down the track. There’s another blast of flames, and this time Laurevith can see a carved dragon that at first seems to be crystal, but is actually ice, with a gold key in the middle of its head. As it belches its flames, Laurevith ducks into the cart and avoids damage. The cart reaches the end of the track, overturns and spills Laurevith onto the floor. He casts Burning Hands – which Griffin had forgotten Laurevith had acquired – and as his hands swell and redden and inflame, he pressed them to the dragon’s head, melting the entire top half to a puddle. He claims the gold key.

Hellgrammit has escaped from the remains of the web, and can look over the Ziggurat island. There’s also a giant magnifying lens next to him. The symbols in the sky tell him nearly all the gold keys have been claimed, and maybe half the silver and bronze. Just over half the hour has passed. Hellgrammit decides to look for another gold key, using the lens as it’s unlikely there’ll be a second in the gardens. He surveys the woods and the tower. He rolls very well on his investigation check (advantage due to the lens), and gets a very good look. He can see through the windows of the tower. At the top, there’s a glass chamber with a gold key on a pedestal. Leading up to it is a spiral staircase, and through the window Hellgrammit can see a wizard running up the stairs. As they approach the top, something picks up the wizard, rips them out the window and flings them into the woods to their demise. Hellgrammit can see faint traces of a giant, invisible humanoid shape, that had reached in and grabbed the wizard. Elsewhere in the woods, Hellgrammit can see signs of other aspirants, and what initially seem to be birds soaring above, but on closer inspection are winged crystals. But he can’t see any other keys.

Hellgrammit descends the stairs from the observation platform into the woods, heading for the tower. There’s enough of a trail to reach it easily, but the traces of the humanoid are no longer visible. Hellgrammit remembers his research into the Octave, and guesses the humanoid is the titan, a man-shaped entity that can hide in a pocket of spacetime, but because of how big it is, it has trouble seeing anything as small as a humanoid, especially if they stay still. Hellgrammit casts Infestation to send a swarm of gnats in the general direction of the titan as a distraction, while he uses Chameleon Carapace to colour himself like the tower wall. This time the distraction tactic does work, and Hellgrammit slips into the tower. The ground floor has a clutter of wizardly paraphernalia, and as he makes for the stairs, he can smell something from a stack of barrels and crates. He investigates, finds a lot of spell components, and a particularly large barrel with no lid full of a clear, pungent liquid and a stone like the one in his gauntlet-grimoire at the bottom. Hellgrammit squats atop the barrel to use his tail to fish the stone out, attempting a smooth snapping motion, but it doesn’t quite work. He gets the stone, but it take a moment. He makes a Con check and gets a Nat 20, so he only takes half damage, which isn’t too bad, but he does yelp in pain. But there’s a pop outside, and the trees rustle as the titan returns.

So this is how Griffin solved the “PC dies in Ep2” issue; tarantula ex machina. It works, and it’s easy for the show, but I’m not finding it quite as satisfying as I’d hoped. Maybe I’ve been listening to Johnny Chiodini saying “PC death is good actually” too often (check out Oxventure Deadlands). And to be clear, it’s not a bad way of doing it, it does add extra depth to the variety of NPCs, and also lets us continue to enjoy (?) Hellgrammit’s megalomaniacal tendencies. I think I might be starting to dislike him for more than just my discomfort with insect-people.

Laurevith, I was starting to like, but then he tricked a man into getting barbecued. I am impressed with how much mechanical development he’s going through, but it’s a little concerning that he’s figured out that getting people killed can net him more spells. The concept that was wigging me out about the Octave last episode.

Rictus, I still love. My poor little mew-mew, hobbling around with a broken foot. I hope he gets that crystal, get to keep his gold key, and gets some nice spells.

The other aspirants. Hasty Jane, I find her build mildly amusing, can’t quite put my finger on why. The Elemental Rangers, I find them a little weird. The three wizards all called Spider, that’s quite hilarious. Please recall that the “boss” in the adventure module Lost Mines of Phandelver, the adventure released with the first 5e starter set, and therefore the first “boss” of TAZ Balance, was also nicknamed the Black Spider. There’s always a wizard or sorcerer or mafia kingpin named something spider-y, so having three of them fighting for the title, one of them a literal spider, is quite funny.

I’m still a little unsure how well this set-up will actually work out, but I’m enjoying finding out. And definitely rooting for Rictus.

TAZ Royale Episode 2: The Trial of Abjuration Part 1

TAZ Masterpost

TAZ Royale Episode 4

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Oxventure: Wyrdwood Season 2

Set-Up

Written 10 Jul 2025, after watching bonus content from the Season 1 marathon, before release of Ep1.

Oxventure Wyrdwood Season 2 debuts on 11 Jul 2025, and two weeks beforehand there was a marathon stream of the entirety of Season 1 that also contained a Q+A with DM Johnny and Producer Zack, a Behind-The-Scenes segment, a trailer, and the first three minutes of the first episode, along with several fanart showcases.

As in Season 1, this features Johnny Chiodini as the DM, Andy Farrant as Robin Oatcake and Morven Hellwain (normal Human man and Human Sorcerer), Mike Channel as Lug (Firbolg Barbarian), Luke Westaway as Happen (Human Ranger), Jane Douglas as Willowfine (Aasimar Cleric), and Ellen Rose as Cressida Blackwater (Human Elf Wizard). Also featured, Oxventure Producer Zack Fortais-Gomm, who co-presents Unwinding Wyrdwood with Johnny, a post-episode reflection available exclusively on Patreon (as before, I will offer select notes from Unwinding, but not full coverage as it is premium content). The characters have levelled up to Level 6, and the system is Dungeons and Dragons 5e, 2024 edition.

As a reminder, this game features a system of magic debt due to magic not working properly, where every time the characters use a magical ability they accrue a point of debt, and at the end of every episode they roll a d100. If they roll their debt or lower, they are given an envelope with a consequence. I refer to these consequences as Wyrdnesses.

Trailer

Johnny repeats the grand history of the world; a land of Giants who passed on and the Wild Folk emerged. (Lug converses with…maybe a Giant?) Then Humans emerged. (Willowfine is joined by one of her tribe.) The Humans made a place for themselves. (Cressida is presented with wine; Happen is confronted with an affront to his Order who wants to kiss him?, Robin finds a man who did something to him.) But now everything has changed, spring is here, and magic will have it’s due (Lug rolls on the debt die to get a Wyrdness.)

Behind the Scenes

A combination of elaborate woodsy set dressing and modern technology. Johnny tells us their most memorable moment from Season 1 was in Ep2, when the party are eating soup with seeds in it, and Cressida is taken over. Ellen loves the series for the English and British folklore, because there’s some weird stuff. Andy loved the moment from Ep3, when they realised the off-white carriage was made of bone. Jane thought the moment in Ep1 when someone carelessly used magic and got transformed into a monster underlined the chaotic nature of the magic in this setting. Mike picks the big angry tree in Ep2. Ellen found the story of Team North really stuck with her. Luke recalls Happen falling through a roof and landing in front of his former fiancée, and hopes he gets to see her again.

They all dress up to film, and Johnny’s dog Watson is there. Johnny explains that they’re leaving the region of Wyrdwood and entering the region of Mossfold, which is less forgiving and more challenging. Ellen says Cressida still can’t find a good glass of wine, isn’t enjoying slumming it, but is more willing to be part of the team. Mike says we’ll get to learn a little more about Lug and his backstory. Andy says that Robin and Morven’s situation isn’t so new, and they’re going to be working out what their relationship is and if there’s a compromise, or are their personalities going to bleed together? (I hope they remain separate personalities, but I can see narrative benefits either way, and it might be easier for Andy if they’re not so radically different.) Luke thinks Happen might have a crisis of faith. Jane says Season 2 is going to be weirder, woodier, more magic, more horror, more folklore. Ellen says players will be challenged and tempted. Mike says mysteries were sown in Season 1 that will continue on. Johnny says there will be an uptick in the amount of horror.

Q+A

What are the names of the regions in the world of Wyrdwood? Johnny spent a very long time making the world. In alphabetical order, the regions are: Balewood, Bolventor, Earveth, Fenfold, Gallaiefold, Hrimwald, Mickleberg, Mossfold, Stonweld, Weregild, and Wyrdwood. Weregild are where the raiders are from – “weregild” is the word for reparation money, so it’s the raiders being cheeky. Zack asks where Johnny may want them to explore in future seasons. Johnny picks Hrimwald, a mountainous, icy region full of nomadic traders and craftsmen. Hrimwald is not so full of Wild Folk, it’s a place where you could have much more human stories.

Were there any other systems considered, especially considering Wyrdwood breaks the DnD system? Johnny just disregards most DnD settings. Geth was just “generic fantasy setting”, but Wyrdwood was something Johnny really invested themself in. They’d all just assumed it would be DnD, because that’s what Oxventure is built on. But Johnny did incorporate new elements into the system, such as the debt mechanic. There are other games Johnny considers to have done folklore quite well, such as Vaesen – in fact, Zack asked Johnny if they’d played Vaesen when he heard about the setting. But it’s made it a little harder for Johnny to return to after playing other things. Their favourite moment that made the party uncomfortable and really set the atmosphere was in Ep1, Folkmoot, when the carefree magic user had his joints snap back as he transformed.

What insight can Johnny give fledgling DMs into planning? Johnny actually changed how they planned between the two seasons. In Season 1, they had documents all over the place, lots of plans, reams of information at their fingertips. They found it was useful to have the information, but rather distracting. So for Season 2, they went back to pen and paper in a notebook, not so much for them to see but everything is visible at once. Johnny learns best by physically writing things out, so by writing it, they learned it better, and also was able to focus on the table better. Typically, they plan backwards, deciding where they want to end the session and working out how to get there, but with Wyrdwood, it was more of a journey, so they decided what story beat would facilitate further episodes, and go backwards from there. Zack says he thinks it worked out very well – they had already filmed the entire season.

Is there particular historical time period inspiring the architecture, technology, fashion etc? It’s more a sort of medieval melange – if Johnny went for anything too specific they’d get worried about anachronisms. Different areas have different levels of technology, but it’s more like 7th, 8th century. One of their favourite albums is Peasant by Richard Dawson, which is set in an Anglo-Saxon kingdom and each song is from the perspective of a different person. So that’s what they’re aiming for.

Did Johnny have any extra sections in Season 1 that didn’t come into play? They forgot the big dramatic moment of Season 1, and therefore had to move it to the cold open of Season 2, so they had to do “pan out to a scrying bowl”. But they’re happy with how it worked as a cold open, because it threw everyone back in emotionally. Johnny describes violence very graphically.

Are there any specific pieces of folklore that inspired the Poor Man? There’s a book called Cloven Country about the Devil in the English countryside. A lot of stories about the Devil in England used to be about giants, but turned into stories about the Devil constantly getting tricked. And one of the names for the Devil is the Poor Man. The one in Wyrdwood isn’t Satan, but he’s a trickster that many people have had dealings with. Zack can tell that Johnny really loves playing the Poor Man. Johnny very much enjoyed when the Poor Man popped up at the end of the finale and interrupted the party’s talk after escaping the cult.

If Johnny was to sum up Season 2 in one word, what would it be? Johnny thinks for a moment before coming up with “claustrophobic”. Not that there’s a lot of descriptions of enclosed spaces, but there’s an oppressive atmosphere. Zack suggests “cascading”, because from the start to the end there’s a non-stop cascade of stuff and knowledge – Johnny says they didn’t anticipate all of it.

I am definitely looking forward to the new season, even though horror isn’t really my preferred genre. This is very good horror, so I think I’ll enjoy it. As for mysteries yet to come? Cressida and Willowfine seem to be reasonably open. Lug, he hasn’t said much, but Mike’s alluding to a deeper story there. Morven and Robin, what happened to have Morven end up in Robin’s body after her execution is a mystery even to them. And Happen comes from a region that supposedly was depopulated of all its Common Folk. Plus there’s the shadow rabbits that appear every now and again, and the big mystery of what happened to make magic go weird.

OX Wyrdwood Season 1 Chapter 8: Friends & Falsehoods Part 2

Oxventure Masterpost

OX Wyrdwood Season 2 Chapter 1: Mossfold

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TAZ Royale Episode 2: The Trial of Abjuration Part 1

Written 10 Jul 2025, after relistening, before listening to Ep 3.

Ziggurat Island Map here.

There’s a giant fireball heading for the aspirants, but it hangs in the sky. The aspirants scream, but First Octave Oshum weaves a field of silence so he can explain the Trial. This is the Trial of Abjuration – the magic of wards and protection. The fireball will hit in one hour, and when it does, it will kill anyone outside of a ward over the Ziggurat. At this, one of the aspirants (casual clothing, white shirt, gold chain) sprints for the Ziggurat. He bounces off, and Oshum chides Bobby Dazzler to let him finish. To get into the Ziggurat, an aspirant will need one of 48 keys. 24 are made of bronze, which will be easier to collect, but will not have a bonus. 16 silver will be harder to collect, but will give a reward. And the last 8, made of gold, will give the greatest bonus, but will equally have the greatest peril. An aspirant may only hold one key. They must not attack or harm a fellow aspirant, except under certain circumstances – the “victim” must be in a red zone (the grass in front of the Ziggurat turns red), and must either hold a key, or have attacked an aspirant. The gauntlets on their wrists are their grimoires, which have many functions to be discovered, but if the embedded gem is tapped, they may ask questions regarding the Conclave, the current Trial, or the rules. Oshum looks forward to greeting the 48 successful aspirants, but those who die will contribute greatly to the Octave.

After an initiative roll to determine who’s action to decide first (which reveals Laurevith has a -2 to Dex), Rictus heads off. He notes a tent with a cat’s head sticking out (the atelier, according to the map), but plays to his strengths by going to the graveyard next to a great waterfall. But he’s not very athletic (Nat 1 on the check), and is overtaken by a more athletic woman, and there’s several other aspirants in the graveyard by the time he arrives. There’s an artificial gloom; gravestones, statues, a mausoleum with a darkened archway the athlete disappeared into. Rictus reaches out with his practised arcane skills in necromancy, rolls a Nat 20 for a total 25, and the ghost of his great-grandfather Rictus Ravenwood I (Rictus Prime) springs from his pocket. He was so curious about the Conclave he stowed away to cheer Rictus on. He agrees to help scout, although as ghosts get smaller the older they are, it’ll take him a while to cover much ground. They split up to look for keys, exchanging “I love you”s and admit neither actually like the rest of the family.

Laurevith makes straight for the mountains, having grown up in mountainous areas. His rival Gruckon passes, heading for the arena, and Laurevith gives him a playful shove. Laurevith’s gauntlet vibrates in warning. He loops around the Zigguarat and leaps over some white domes, the Eggs. He reaches the mountains ahead of several other aspirants, and looks for signs of the trail left by whoever left the keys. He sees some climbing walls with bronze keys atop them, a cave atop a craggy rock face to the left, and another rock face to the right with a floating blue crystal. Laurevith heads for the crystal. Behind him a quartet of aspirants approach. They clearly know each other and are dressed in matching suits and helmets; one red, one yellow, one green, one blue. They look like magic Power Rangers. They start climbing behind Laurevith, cheering on one of their number Ignatius. But Laurevith reaches the top first, and examines the crystal. He can’t determine what it is, but it looks like it might fit into his grimoire-gauntlet. He takes it, slots it in, and is swept up in a memory not his own.

Hellgrammit feels an urge to explore the garden, given people normally try to keep bugs out of gardens. He passes a lecture hall, a nasty-looking goblin with an empty bandolier overtaking him. The goblin charges down the path into the garden, which is full of exotic plants and trees with strange fruits. Hellgrammit follows. The goblin hurries forward to the far end of the garden, where a barrier of vines and branches separates them from the edge of the Ziggurat island. The goblin snatches a gold key from a plinth, and declares, “Thing are looking up for Powder Keg Kelly!” Then a number of leaves swing out and slice through Kelly. He drops, dead. The key floats back to the plinth, the gemstone from Kelly’s grimoire-gauntlet comes loose and flies away, and a bell rings out, audible to everyone. The leaf-blades turn to face Hellgrammit.

Rictus looks around the graveyard. One of the other aspirants has found a shovel and has started digging up graves; another is beating back some skeletons in the back corner to reach a bronze key. And the athlete went into the mausoleum. Rictus Prime returns, and tells Rictus he saw a blue crystal full of magic behind the Falls. Rictus could get to the Falls, but the athlete has been in the mausoleum for some time, so he goes in after her. There’s a staircase leading down, and an oppressive sense of death magic. The chamber at the bottom is a black void with a narrow stone bridge leading to a large statue, an Angel of Death, holding a gold key. The athlete is just standing there, wobbling. She takes a step backwards, turning to face Rictus, and her eyes have turned pitch black. She throws herself off the bridge, and Rictus darts forwards to catch her. He just manages to catch her wrist, but is slipping himself, and can feel the statue working on his mind. He resists, but can tell he’s in terrible danger, more so the longer he stays. The athlete is fighting him, trying to wriggle free. He tries to spit on her to shock her out, but misses, and she spits back and gets him in the eye. He taps the stone of his grimoire-gauntlet against the bridge to activate it – an illusory figure-eight appears, introduces itself as Chris, and Rictus asks if he is allowed to attack a fellow aspirant to save their life. Chris isn’t sure, but thinks if the intent is to save, it should be okay (this fits with Laurevith’s playful shove earlier), so Rictus casts Wither and Bloom on the athlete. The spell works, taking health out of the athlete, and he then gives it straight back to her, restoring all her health. But the inky void does leave her, and she comes back to herself. Together, they get her back atop the bridge, and Rictus resists the attack on his mind again. The athlete takes off out of the mausoleum, while Rictus considers the key the statue holds, and the risk of trying to claim it.

Laurevith remembers a day from the distant past, being a young Dwarf. A lantern fell and ignited a billow of gas. The flame passed over, leaving him intact. He remembers years of training, honing the spell Absorb Elements. He has learned it, and now has two spells. Snapping back to himself, he sees the Magic Rangers finishing scaling the cliff, and their disappointment that Laurevith has beaten them to it. Laurevith tells them not to beat themselves up, as he’s been climbing hills his entire life. The blue Magic Ranger asks if using a gust of wind to blow him off the cliff would count as attacking him. Laurevith wonders who they’re talking about. As they huddle up, Laurevith tosses a small rock in a failed attempt to convince them he’s giving them the crystal, then heads for the cave. The Magic Rangers follow, the yellow (who seems earth-aligned) overtaking. Yellow disappears into the cave, but as Laurevith pulls himself up, a column of flames launches out of the cave. A bell rings, and a shining stone flies out of the cave mouth. (Yellow’s name was Tremora.)

Hellgrammit is surrounded by deadly-bladed plants. He can see the key on the plinth, but there’s dozens of waiting blades. To his left, there’s steps leading to the Observation Platform, where he can hear a heated discussion. He decides to examine the bladed plants more carefully. He can’t identify them, but they’re extremely sharp. He can’t tell where might be safe to stand, but he’s fixated on that key. He casts Infestation to occupy the bladed plants while he snatches the key. The plants don’t seem very distracted by the conjured skeeters, but Hellgrammit goes ahead. He springs up and grabs the key, but the blades slash at him, dealing more than 11 points of damage. He collapses on the body of Powder Keg Kelly, and as he hits the ground, everything goes black.

After listening to this episode, I felt deep regrets about putting off writing the season intro. Because it’s not the easiest to not say that a PC dies in episode 2. It’s really creating an atmosphere, y’know?

I had expected that there would be some level of plot armour for the PCs. Didn’t know how, obviously, but I kina expected it because it’s a show. If it was a home game, it would be kinda easy for Clint to just roll up a new wizard and say “I headed for the lake at the start of the trial” or whatever. But because it’s a show, there were the bits with the Trial of Divination and so on. So what’s gonna happen next? Could be Clint makes up a new wizard – or takes over Bobby Dazzler, or even Gruckon, that could be interesting. Or maybe there’s something else, something bigger going on here.

What else? The crystals in the gauntlets, it kinda fits with writing spells in a grimoire – if you’re not aware, typically a grimoire is a wizard’s spellbook. It’s also a nice way to incorporate learning new spells into this restricted-magic setting. But, there’s disturbing implications. Anyone who dies in the Conclave, their spell, their magic, becomes available to others to use. Yes, that was said in the agreements during the Trial of Divination, and Oshum alluded to it again before beginning the Trial of Abjuration, but it still feels…weirdly predatory? Like, the wizards of the Octave have all this extra power, all these extra spells, even though everyone only gets one spell, these ones are special…but how much of that is just exploiting the dead? Are they just…parasites, scavengers, sucking the magic out of those who come for the Conclave? How many have died for the Octave’s power?

How many have they killed? How many have they murdered?

So, I’m wondering if there’s actually some deep story about uncovering the corruption of the Octave and taking them down. I know I alluded to such a set-up in my intro post, but I don’t remember if I thought of that after Ep1, or this episode. There’s also the fact that the “starter” crystals in the gauntlet-grimoires, the ones that can be used to call for answers, they’re described as being less cut and polished than the one Laurevith grabbed, and they flew away rather than hanging around, so there’s probably some sort of further processing. So maybe Hellgrammit isn’t gone yet?

I like Rictus quite a bit. I like Rictus Prime. I like that he helped the athlete, even though they’re opponents. He’s a sweet boy.

Laurevith, I think I’m getting more of a hand on. I’m definitely leaning more towards, “good-natured but doesn’t realise he’s hurting people”. The bit about him not knowing who the Magic Rangers were talking about when they were saying stuff about blowing him off the cliff? I think he’s rather naïve in at least some ways.

I think the Magic Rangers were idiots. They’re coming in as a team when at least three of them are going to die. Why? Why would you go into such a contest with your friends? Or maybe they’re just power-hungry beyond friendship – certainly beyond morals, considering they were considering killing Laurevith and not even for a key. I’m not applying the same logic to Laurevith and Gruckon, because they’re already rivals, even if I’m not sure Laurevith actually wants Gruckon dead. The athlete, I don’t think we’ve seen enough for me to decide if I like her or not. Bobby Dazzler and Powder Keg Kelly amused me.

Oh, last thought. I think Griffin might’ve been trying to encourage Clint/Hellgrammit to leave the gold key in the garden, what with the description of the Observation Platform. Just a guess.

Now, I think I’ve been rather restrained in resisting the urge to listen to Ep3 until I got this written, so I’m going to go find out what happens next.

TAZ Royale Episode 1

The Adventure Zone Masterpost

TAZ Royale Episode 3

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TAZ Royale Episode 1 The Trial of Divination

Written 01 Jul 2025, after listening to Ep1 and Ep2.

Sixty-four wizards have been called to the Conclave, to compete to be the best, to win or die.

The episode starts with Travis as Rictus Ravenwood IV. He enters into a room with a white birch chair facing a marble column carved to look like a younger version of himself. A voice calls from nowhere and tells him to sit and lower his psychic defences. As he sits, a fanfare sounds and welcomes him to the first trial of eight, the trial of divination, which was the first magic received in the world from the mother realm. It is the study of secrets divulged and received. To pass the trial, he must reveal his past and present, and in return he will be given a glimpse of the future that awaits if he is successful. Or, he can refuse, and leave, aspirations unfulfilled. Rictus accepts, and stares into the eyes of his statue. He feels a psychic influence and can tell there’s a divination spell on him. Given his grandmother also has a tendency to poke around in his mind, he opens up easily. 

Rictus remembers the moment he discovered his one spell. He was seven, and from infancy his family of necromancers had been pressuring him to come into his talent, giving him dead body parts to see if he could animate them. His father, the Baron of the Crossroads and Breathless Fields, has no other children and kept Rictus kinda isolated. He was given sickly woodlands creatures to practice with, his mother watching closely and his father (Rictus Ravenwood III) and the ghosts of his grandfather and great-grandfather nearby. His mother tried coaching him on necromantically draining life-force, and eventually, Rictus laid his hand on a chipmunk-like creature, making a green glow, and the creature died. His mother and father leapt up in delight, and Rictus revealed another injured creature with a pink glow being healed. Rictus had developed Wither And Bloom. He explained that it felt like a waste to just disperse the life-force, that there should be balance. His mother dismissed that, saying balance is irrelevant, that life is not their domain, and he must forget that part of the spell. But to Rictus, it’s all connected. His father and grandfather were also displeased, but it seemed his great-grandfather is more accepting. His father pulled himself together and said he can exhume and speak to a great-uncle who’s magic was also a little weird, but the Ravenwoods have a reputation to maintain, so they’ll get this little snafu sorted out. Young Rictus just had to keep it a secret.

Back in the trial chamber, the voice explains that by participating in the Conclave, he will wager his magic, but if he wins, his power will grow unimaginably. The statue extends its hand. Rictus clarifies that if he loses he’ll lose his magic, mutters under his breath that it seems win-win, and shakes the statue’s hand.

Next up is Justin and Laurevith Dreamwanderer Gonjebon. Laurevith releases the hand of his younger self, and the column rotates, showing his current self, not young but in his prime. The voice thanks him for showing his past, and asks to see his current life. He’s given the option to leave, but he gives in to the psychic spell.

Laurevith remembers the day he was invited to the Conclave. He was playing a ball game called goatball with other Goliaths which involves trying to knock each other off stumps, and winning. The game was interrupted when a group of Elf, Human and Half Elf schoolchildren arrive for a softball game. Laurevith graciously agreed to give up the field, saying there’s not much challenge any more, and the teacher let him know that they might have to move the goatball court further into Spiderfang Hollow to make room for a new library. Laurevith prepared for the final round of his game, but most of the other Goliaths backed out, as Laurevith’s opponents tend to get hurt. Except for one, Gruckon Rootpicker, Laurevith’s dearest rival. They exchanged insults, and Gruckon declared that Laurevith had besmirched his honour and challenged him to a sudden death goatball round. The ball smashed Laurevith in the face, knocking him off his stump, but Gruckon is not yet satisfied. Justin rolls a nat 1 to throw the ball back, so Gruckon caught the ball easily, said it just wasn’t doing it for him, and decided they’re just fighting now. He used his spell to yank a chunk of stone out of the ground and throw it, and Laurevith used Lightning Lure to deflect the stone, splitting it in two. (I think there’s meant to still be a load of school kids watching this.) But before the fight could continue, a discordant eight-toned horn sounded from above. Everyone looked up to the Octave’s Ziggurat island, as sixty-four tiny meteorites flew out. One approached Laurevith, before veering off to Gruckon. Gruckon was delighted, and everyone started congratulating him, then another comes down, for Laurevith. Gruckon looked at him with shock and a little malice. They took off, racing to be first to the Conclave. And Laurevith’s memories speed up to that moment.

The voice from nowhere explains that participation in the Conclave would require him to abandon the world beyond to discover the magic underpinning the world itself, never again to go about as he had been accustomed to. He is given the chance to back out. Laurevith states that almost always he would have won the goatball. The voice says it will be very interesting to watch the two of them, and Laurevith shakes the outstretched hand of his statue.

It’s Clint and Hellgrammit’s turn. Hellgrammit (Thri-keen, remember) releases the appendage of his statue, and the statue rotates, revealing an older version of himself; not frail but perfected, wearing robes of runes and a real leather gauntlet. The voice thanks him for his vulnerability, and offers a vision of a possible future, that which awaits him if he succeeds. He could leave, but the voice says that would be crazy. Hellgrammit’s not very trusting, but he eventually accepts, and gives in to the psychic spell.

He experiences himself very far away, full of magic verging on godhood, making his one spell seem irrelevant. He could do anything. He returns to the Skritch, the colony he comes from and their anthill-like home. He had been just another worker, but now all the other Skritch are following him as he goes through the tunnels, jubilant. He marches up to the queen and turns his back on her. He gives a speech, saying he will share his magic so the Skritch can elevate themselves to a mighty race, but he must have their mandate, overthrow the matriarchy, and become king. The queen, the broodmother, tries to send her soldiers to seize Hellgrammit, but he mentally commands them to stand down, and they yield. The other Thri’keen supplicate themselves. The queen laughs, saying all he knows how to do is control bugs. She asks to see his spell Infestation one more time as she hands over the crown. She looks at him, and it almost seems like she’s looking through the vision to Hellgrammit-the-aspirant as she says, “You could have been anything, and you chose this.”

The vision ends, and the voice warns that by participating in the Conclave he invites death; is it worth it? Hellgrammit grabs the appendage immediately, no hesitation, and the statue grabs him back. The gauntlet slithers off the statue onto Hellgrammit. A leather plate rears up behind his elbow, revealing a long needle that it slams into his elbow, and he loses consciousness.

The aspirants awake lying face up on the grass outside the Ziggurat. The island has taken flight again, and they find they all have finely-crafted leather gauntlets. Each gauntlet has a plate on the back of the hand, dotted with mounts for gemstones, one already filled by a cloudy white stone. A door high above them on the Ziggurat opens and eight figures emerge. One, an old bald man, clearly the eldest, steps forward. He welcomes them, introducing himself as First Octave Oshum. He is the one who will be replaced. He says all sixty-four have passed the first trial, as has every wizard ever invited to a Conclave. Now it is time for the second trial, which is historically unpleasant for the aspirants. They must steal themselves in order to survive. Oshum raises his hand, and above them a giant fireball forms and starts to descend.

I like Rictus. He feels like a poor little mew-mew. Family issues out the wazoo, but the whole balance of life and death, I really like it. Laurevith, can’t tell if he’s a bit of a bully, or is just oblivious. Kinda hope oblivious. The rivalry with Gruckon (who’s name I’ve probably misspelled, but I have no idea how it’s meant to be spelled) has great potential. I would guess Griffin will try to keep Gruckon in play as long as possible, but will the two Goliaths be at each others’ throats, or will they go their separate ways and come back for a showdown later? And Hellgrammit. As I said, Thri-keen wig me out a little, but the whole business with deposing his queen…yes, I get it is some form of autocracy, but he is just replacing one ruling monarch with another, and possibly taking over the world?

There’s also been some interesting hints about magic coming to the world, like there’s something outside the Fold, and the Octave have some insight into it, and maybe there’s going to be some exploration of that? It’s also vaguely interesting to note that no aspirant, ever, has turned back. And it sounds like the Octave gain the magic of the failed aspirants. Does that mean they get more powerful each Conclave? Or maybe…the Conclave is just to lure in aspirants to steal magic from? But the vision of the future might refute that. I wonder how they co-ordinated who got which vision (past, present, future), and how they managed to depict everyone’s character in those snippets. Maybe they’re just that good by now. I’m still a little uncertain about the workability of this campaign, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be fun anyway.

The Adventure Zone: Royale

The Adventure Zone Masterpost

TAZ Royale Episode 2: Trial of Abjuration Part 1

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The Adventure Zone: Royale

Written 01 Jul 2025, after listening to Ep1 and Ep2.

There was no intro episode for this campaign, so this is drawing from set-up elements presented in Episode 1.

The wizards answer, eight by eight,

The Conclave’s call, to demonstrate,

Their arcane gift, their single spell,

They number sixty-four, until,

A conflagration; sixty-three,

And sixty-two they soon shall be,

As one by one the wizards die,

‘Til one remains to reign on high.

This campaign is based on battle royale media, more Squid Game than Fortnite. In this world, the Fold, everyone is born with knowledge of one spell, but only a few put in the time and effort to practice and develop their spell, becoming wizards. But the eight most powerful wizards form the Octave, who live in the Ziggurat on a floating island and have plumbed the depths and wield seemingly infinite magics. When one member of the Octave decides to step down, they call a Conclave and invite sixty-four wizards to compete to take over as the newest member of the Octave, or die.

(Griffin would like to clarify that he planned this campaign before the death of the late Pope Francis and resulting Papal Conclave, and it appears he may not have been aware of the film Conclave starring Ralph Fiennes that came out recently either.)

The way this game will work, the players will be three of the wizards competing, the aspirants. They will be level one, with one spell each. They’re playing using DnD 5e (I don’t know if it’s 2014 or 2024 rules; I emailed to ask if they could mention it on the podcast but that hasn’t happened yet, although there was a comment about Clint having “heroic inspiration” on his character sheet, which I don’t think is a ’14 rules thing). Griffin is DMing. Travis plays Rictus Ravenwood IV, a High/Moon Elf with a neon mall goth aesthetic, from a noble family of necromancers. His one spell is Wither and Bloom. Justin plays Laurevith Dreamwanderer Gonjebon, a highly competitive and athletic Goliath. His spell is Lightning Lure. Clint plays Hellgrammit, a Thri-keen (insectoid race) with a second, smaller pair of arms and a scorpion-like tail. His society is similar to that of ants or bees, with a queen and workers. His spell is Infestation.

Each of the trials in the Conclave will be based on one of eight schools of magic, meaning there will be eight trials, but the first trial was over in just one episode, so I’m wondering if this is meant to be a mini-campaign. I’m also curious as to how they’re going to convincingly give the PCs “plot armour”, given the whole idea is that it’s a fight to the death – and how it’ll work out with three players and only one winner. It’s certainly an interesting concept, and honestly if anyone can pull it off, the McElroys are pretty good candidates. But…if anyone can pull it off. Or maybe the stated set-up is a smokescreen; the set-up for Steeplechase was that they’d be a band of crooks setting up a covert criminal enterprise, but it went a little more uncovering-conspiracies. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I’m also…not keen on Thri-keen, the concept of them more than the execution, because big bugs wig me out a bit. That’s a personal preference, but I am interested to see how it works. I don’t think I’ve seen a Goliath PC before, although they’re not quite so different from humans as Thri-keen, so Laurevith probably won’t be too mechanically novel. Moon Elf, so was Taako, but Rictus is still a new character, even if the mechanics are the same as previous. Unless they’re playing 2024 rules, which I’m pretty sure actually put more emphasis on background rather than race.

As a final bonus, Griffin has published a map of the Ziggurat and released the link with Episode 2; I am including the link here.

The Adventure Zone Masterpost

TAZ Royale Episdoe 1: Trial of Divination

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OX Guild Season 3: Bride or Die

Written 29 Jun 2025, shortly after relistening, having watched and listened previously.

This was a live show at MCM London 2022.

It is the eve of the wedding of Dob the Half-Orc Bard and Katie Pearlhead, Queen of Thieves. Dob is running around to finalise preparations when Katie approaches with some problems. First, the officiant has pulled out. Egbert immediately volunteers, as he is able to perform marriages as a Paladin…although he’s never done it before. Katie is undeterred and enthusiastically accepts Egbert’s offer. She also has decided that they want buttonholes, and that the perfect little blue flowers are in a glade in the woods. They have thorns that are so poisonous that if pricked they’ll kill instantly; a pollen that if inhaled will kill after two days of agony; a poisonous nectar…just overall very, very deadly. Dob agrees, even though Corazon is displeased with the disruption to the stag do he (as Best Man) organised. He plies Dob with large quantities of rum and they all head off for five minutes of flower-picking before their rock ‘n’ roll rager in the woods.

First, Corazon has arranged a stag for Dob to shoot. Given Dob is a vegetarian, he’s not keen, so he deliberately misses, and Corazon must’ve also been drinking heavily because he accepts the stag running off as gases leaving the body.

They wander through the woods until they find some very beautiful flowers with glinting thorns. Due to the extreme danger of the flowers, Corazon casts Grease to stop up everyone’s noses; Prudence asks why he didn’t just use Mage Hand, so Corazon uses a stretched out Mage Hand to stuff fingers up everyone’s nostrils. Prudence clarifies she meant he should use Mage Hand to pick the flowers, but Corazon isn’t interested in that. She passes pieces of leather to Dob so he can wrap the flowers before picking. Egbert declares the Grease in his nose has caught fire.

This gets ignored, as Dob has dropped all the leather without noticing and is about to shove his hand into the poisonous flowers. But a rift appears between him and the flowers and a tiny goblinoid creature pops out. He whacks Dob across the knuckles with a club and forbids him from touching the flowers. He is a boggle, and he and his fellow boggles are committed to guarding the flowers from the unwary, lest people get themselves killed. There is some discussion about if Dob should take the flowers anyway, he expresses certainty that Katie wouldn’t deal with poisons, and refuses to believe Corazon when he points out all the evidence that Katie has, in fact, been poisoning Dob. It devolves into yet another argument about Katie and if it would be acceptable to use different flowers, until the boggle interrupts and says that this complicated issue would not be assisted by adding the very poisonous flowers to the mix, and that there is in fact a patch of near-identical flowers twenty minutes ago, except they’re completely harmless, and are being gathered by another group of boggles who think these flowers are the really poisonous ones - this group is where annoying boggles are sent.

They head over to the other boggles, and hear them sing the Song That Gets On Everybody’s Nerves. Merilwen turns into a bear, and Corazon moves Mage Hand from noses to ears, including the bear’s. He then runs into the clearing and kicks a boggle straight up into the air; the boggle comes back down and crunches into a heap. Bearilwen rushes in to try to scare them off, but the boggles warn her away from the flowers. Dob marches in, disregarding the boggles, and picks six flowers. The boggles start yelling too each other the get the kit, but no one actually moves. After a brief discussion above the heads of the boggles, Dob declares he is a semi-divine being, and that they should have an industrial revolution and go wage war on the other boggles. They give him a flower-poison antidote before leaving, a syringe full of their urine called an e-pee-pen. Dob uses Prestidigitation to make it taste like vodka and drinks it.

Corazon leads the way to the campsite he’d arranged for their rock ‘n’ roll rager. There’s a bar with a bartender and drinks, and a musician. Dob finds it very nice. He recruits Prudence to turn his flowers into suitable buttonholes, dubbing her Maid of Dishonour; she accidentally knots some twine around the flowers to spell out “[expletive] Katie Pearlhead”. Dob does not notice.

They have another discussion about how they all think Katie is going to kill Dob, but he continues to insist they are wrong. He will go through with the wedding. After some quiet heavy drinking, the exotic dancer turns up. Corazon hadn’t been specific, so Johnny blindly flips through the Monster Manual, and the Elf goddess of the sea turns up. She does a dancing inspired by the mating of dolphins, involving a lot of rolling in the ground and shrieking, which is sufficiently entertaining. After more drinking, they all go to bed, the sound of boggle-on-boggle violence in the distance.

The next morning, everyone is hungover, except Corazon. They get back to the wedding venue, the crumbling ruin of a church, and get ready. Dob’s side has a lot of tavern keepers he played for and people dragged on adventures, and sixty skeletons, a Flame Skull, and the bones of a mule. Katie’s side had the dastardliest ne’er-do-wells in Geth, and also her parents, who have adopted the affectation of wearing a giant clam and a giant piece of grit over their heads. There’s a string quartet. It’s very pleasant.

Corazon, as Best Man, enters first, to his own theme tune (Andy actually has written a Corazon song, it’s pretty good), before Katie enters on her father’s arm. Her father wears the piece of grit, and Katie wears a beautiful shimmering gown with a floral pattern and blue embroidered flowers matching the ones she’d wanted for the buttonholes, and a particularly splendid pearl on her head. She comes to the front, and Egbert starts the ceremony. He gives deference to La Vache Mauve, and asks if anyone has any objections. Merilwen does; she thinks Dob can do better. Katie’s guests draw daggers, and Egbert appeals to La Vache Mauve for advice. Dob throws his voice a bit to pretend to be La Vache Mauve, and tells him to continue. Egbert proceeds to the vows.

A portal opens, and out pops a fifteen-foot-tall demon. He introduces himself as a Doubt Demon, whose name sounds like Chinny Reckon. He is an interdimensional traveller, drawn to moments of great doubt, and he must force the doubter to confront their feelings. Dob asks Katie if she’s unsure, and she removes her pearl in indignation. The demon says he’s actually here for Dob, who must complete his challenge or face his head chopped off. He must take up his lute and sing from the heart. Dob lost his lute in Hog Wild, so Chinny supplies him with a new one, but warns him that after killing one person, it’s very hard to stop, and if Dob doesn’t sing from the heart, Chinny will probably kill everyone in the room. Dob takes the lute, really likes it, and contemplates whether the head-chopping might be better. He has a song that is indeed from the heart, that he wrote before meeting Katie. He starts singing. “Liliana…” Everyone at the table and in the audience bursts out laughing.

Liliana Listen to me Stop this madness Put down that kidney

Liliana Oh can't you see? Your iron grip on the land of Geth Has got a hold on me

And I know That ambition shouldn't be Seen as a flaw And who hasn't thought About cloning an army of Egberts?

You wanna have it all

But one look from you And they'd subjugate Everything in their path But that's nothing To the way you’ve subjugated My heart

(Corazon: Liliana has the same number of syllables as Katie Pearlhead, it’s so easy to change it…)

Liliana Please see reason Look at my strong friends And the bosses they're cheesing

And I know we can find common ground Maybe over coffee? I can show you the skeletons I found

We could compare armies We could make them fight And we could sing and laugh and play I know this doesn't havе to end In a violent sort of way

But if you go to war with us Then I don't know whеre this ends 'Cause I might feel differently If you killed my friends

Liliana!

Dob enjoys the rush of performing for exactly one second. Chinny is somewhat speechless. He does not have to behead anyone, he will no longer block the wedding, and he departs. Corazon and Egbert try to continue the wedding. Katie looks very calm, and even, and wants to know if Dob has anything to say. Dob admits that he’s found that he is in fact still in love with Liliana and apologies for not having written Katie a song yet. Katie reminisces on how Dob had run after her, and asked if they could run away together, and now, she doesn’t want to stop running together; specifically, she wants Dob to run away from her, and when she catches him, he’ll wish the demon just killed him.

At the back, the skeletons make a speech about how they hope Dob and Dob-Wife have many children, and if they die, the skeletons will take care of the orphans. Dob tries to explain the wedding’s not going ahead, and Corazon launches into his Best Man speech. Dob and the girls bolt, Merilwen throwing confetti. Egbert suggests Katie could marry someone else, and Corazon Minor Illusions a groom-Dob before running; Katie turns down the offer, and Egbert also runs.

The girls get out, but one of Katie’s henchmen bars the door. Merilwen Stone Shapes a new doorway, and Prudence sends an Eldritch Blast in to clear the way - she also accidentally explodes the driver of the honeymoon carriage. A bunch of thieves are knocked down, blasted, and/or fallen on each others’ knives. Dob casts Greater Invisibility and charges the clutch of thieves surrounding Corazon. Egbert throws a “warning bomb” and explodes Dob a bit. He throws another bomb and annihilates twelve thieves. It’s the skeletons’ turn, but Dob gave them the day off. Katie throws a dagger at Dob, but misses and gets a henchman - Dob is convinced she missed on purpose. Merilwen casts Moonbeam. Prudence casts Hungry Hungry Hadar. Corazon casts Grease and slip-n-slides out of the church. The mob of thieves drop dead of a combination of radiant moon beam, frosty cold darkness, and milky acidic tentacles. Dob signals to Egbert it’s time to leave, hefts the hammer to recall the skeletons, and casts Hideous Laughter on Katie - the joke is, “our relationship”. She starts laughing manically. Egbert pulls out the umbrella full of bees he’s been carrying around for ages, rams it up the pearl, and opens it. They all flee. Corazon has appropriated a load of cocktails and the honeymoon coach, and they take off into the sunset.

Notes from pre-show podcast commentary: Jane is joined by Andy. Andy proposes a podcast randomizer. They talk about their recent EGX live shows, and move on to Halloween décor.

Notes from post-show podcast commentary: Jane loves a wedding, but Andy’s not sure if this counts, given it was aborted. He has been to weddings that included punch-ups. They consider boggles. Andy explains that Johnny had told Luke in advance he’d need to prepare a song – it was a very good song, and I believe he’s released a revamped version in his album on Bandcamp, but I don’t really know how Bandcamp works, or what it is, really. Luke has told Andy that he found it very intimidating singing on stage. They presume Luke did not know what context the song was going to be in, but also it was meant to be from the heart. They feel a bit sorry for Katie by the end. They look up DnD-themed weddings, and find one where the couple rolled a giant d20 down the aisle; if they rolled a 1, would they have to call the wedding off? (If they worship Cadence, definitely; see Wyrdwood season 1 episode 8). Jane says they’ve been busy with recording DnD, and the first episode of Legacy of Dragons is going up that evening.

I have a very good memory from when this episode was first broadcast (on YouTube, not the live show). I was on holiday in Italy, and the release happened to line up with a few free hours, so I set up outside the campsite café, the one spot with good WiFi, and watched it with my brother, and you bet we howled with laughter when Dob busted out Liliana. It was good day.

However, it seems the wedding day was so memorable it pushed the encounter with the boggles out of my mind. It’s interesting to see what I remember and what I don’t – and I also get to experience these moments almost as if for the first time. I did enjoy the boggles, and Corazon’s actually pretty good stag do – or as Egbert dubbed it, the shrub crawl. I don’t think boggles have ever come up again.

But of course, the wedding, and the song. It was a banger. There’s times I’ll still find myself singing “I might feel differently if you killed my friends”. At one point during the song, the camera view switches to Jane’s phone, and the audience are doing that thing with their phones out with the torch on and waving them in the air. It was brilliant. It’s probably the show I most regret not going to, although there was no way at that point I could’ve gone to MCM London, and there’s no way I could have known in advance it would be so great.

But we finally get a conclusion to the saga of Katie Pearlhead, although it’s still a little unclear why she was trying so hard to poison him before the wedding. Still. Katie’s little speech at the end, “I don’t want us to stop running, but this time, I want you to run from me”, it was just great. Yeah. Love this one.

OX Guild Season 3: Big Deck Energy

Oxventure Masterpost

OX Guild Season 4 Legacy of Dragons

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OX Deadlands Season 2: Post-Season Q+A

Written 29 Jun 2025, after rewatching.

Zack welcomes everyone to the Q+A session, congratulating them all on a good season.

Question: Has the studio been cleansed to remove the snake-eyes curse? They’re pretty sure everyone rolled snake-eyes at least once, and they figure out that it should be less likely to get a snake-eyes than a Nat 1, being a 1 in 36 as opposed to a 1 in 20. Johnny notes that since they finished Deadlands, they’ve only played DnD, and the consequence of a Nat 1 is much less dramatic than a snake-eyes. Jane points to the frequent use of harmless water vapour “smoke”, which might have had a cleansing effect.

Question: What was everyone’s most shocking moment this season? Mike immediately comes in with nearly falling into Hell (those pesky snake-eyes). Johnny agrees, but says it wasn’t a moment so much as a slow decline, and Andy admits he found it extremely stressful, because he didn’t want to write a whole new scenario about getting out of Hell. This was exacerbated by them shooting back-to-back, not giving Andy time to replan. They also recollect that they filmed Rubente Dextera before Queen of the River – they claim Luke had refused to come in, Luke claims they didn’t fulfil his rider, but it has been stated earlier that Luke was unwell, they’re just playing with us. Andy’s most shocking moment as Marshal was in Man For The People when Delacy just killed the guard, and Johnny’s was when Luke and Jasper subsequently jumped immediately to framing a child for the murder. Luke says Aloysius was his most memorable moment. Jane was shocked when the card player in Queen of the River actually chopped his own finger off. Luke says that adventure was also when he has to stop and confront the fact all their most valuable possessions were about to go down with the river boat – Jane notes that Delacy made the mature choice, while Garnet and Silas went back for their stuff, but I’m not sure that’s an entirely fair comment because, in Garnet and Silas’ defence, they only took the risk of going back for the weapons after Delacy had already successfully escaped with the bell and nominally completed their mission, so they weren’t actually being presented with the same choice. Andy restates that he’d expected one of them to go back for the weapons at the start of the fight (I can’t remember if he’d said that previously on the podcast or Epitaph), and Mike explains he’d assumed it wasn’t an option given they’d already been rebuffed once. Ellen’s most shocking moment was literal, being struck by lightning. Andy didn’t expect it either. Zack had a really shocking moment when Edie had a heart attack; he sits just off camera and was watching everyone’s faces. But they are all now considering learning CPR.

Question for Andy: What went into the design of the villains? The settings came first, and the villain came after (except Rackstraw, because he’s part of Silas’ backstory). He used a key descriptor to help build the villains; Jack was unpredictable, Rackstraw was terrifying, Redstone was annoying. Mike complements how the result was characters that felt very integrated into their settings. Johnny compares it to DnD, where the monsters are very much…pick up and place. Whereas in Deadlands there’s a much greater sense of being in their territory. Andy also felt that fighting humans is a lot more interesting and involved. Zack asks which villains got under their skins, and Ellen immediately calls out how punchable Redstone was. Jane agrees, pointing to his room of dead women as evidence of how evil he was. Andy points to Jack, who was just doing a job, and McDaniel, who had been replaced, as people who weren’t really evil. Johnny said they found it rather startling to find the real McDaniel, and it reframed the whole adventure. Mike liked Rackstraw for his connection to Silas’ backstory – the disillusionment was always there, but Andy approached Mike before S2 about creating Rackstraw and what he’d done previously. Andy explains that Blesseds are a key part of Deadlands and he wanted to add one, and the idea of a Blessed villain appealed to him, which is when he worked out he could tie them to Silas. Johnny calls out Jane playing a Blessed in a private game, and she says she found it really difficult, especially as a pacifist character.

Question for Jane: What’s Garnet’s backstroy and why is her talisman her father’s pack of antique playing cards? She was raised by a single father, a cardsharp and huckster in the non-magical sense who taught her all the tricks, before he was murdered by a band of ne’er-do-wells.

Question: Why is Bison Billie so cool, and when is his spin-off series? Andy says that if there’s a third season, Billie will have to be State Governor, and thus will be even more cool. They talk a little about how Jasper ended up with a really frilly blouse. Zack says that Jasper just comes in, and because he’s only there for one adventure he’s making as much of an impression as possible. Johnny likes that Billie is always thinking about what’s best to advance his own agenda, but he’s so warm and charismatic everyone wants to go along with him.

Zack asks Luke if Delacy’s arc had gone the way Luke had wanted. Luke thought there might’ve been a step backwards when Delacy sank the boat in Beast of Bisley Bayou, because he’s really stubborn and got a little to arrogant being a big-time monster hunter with all the adults. But embarrassment became a big factor in Delacy’s character.

Question for Andy: When players explore places like the Magic Mansion, did Andy have it all mapped out, or was it more drag-and-drop, and did the party miss anything? It varied. For the Mansion, Andy had a pool of rooms to pull from depending on what would fit the rhythm, but Cornwallis’ mansion had a set path to go through. There were more rooms in the Mansion, such as one full of ventriloquist dummies.

Question for Mike: Would Silas rather fight 100 horse-sized ducks, or 1 duck-sized horse? Mike says Silas’ hatred of horses is so much it would have to be the ducks. They consider who he’d react to a centaur. Andy makes a note.

Zack talks about how he keeps them on-track rules-wise, and he’s managing the lighting changes, and asks how they as players find it. Ellen finds it can tell them when to get scared; Jane says it keeps them all on the same page. They discuss favourite lightings. Zack reveals they have more coming up in Wyrwood, and they talk about the harmless water vapour.

Question for Ellen: How will Edie recuperate? Ellen found it hilarious, which is why she was always giggling. But Edie’s going to need to have a little rest on her chaise lounge. Jane suggests Edie should have a white streak in her hair to symbolise all she went through. Zack mentions the then-upcoming art showcase. Mike says that a character’s story is affect by the player, the Marshal, and the dice. He suggests that these can be things to explore in the next season.

Question for Johnny and Andy: What was going on with the ending, how much warning did Johnny have, how do they feel about the choices made? A lot of people asked variations on this, including me. Johnny intended Junie to always kinda be there in the background since Nate was first introduce; Nate was meant to be so old he’s aged out of social propriety, and part of that was Nate having lost his wife, lost his friends, and was just waiting out the rest of his life. Andy had a few ideas for how Johnny would respond, so he nudged it in certain directions, especially in Man For The People, and Johnny did indeed go in those direction, partly because he was playing along with Andy, and then it all came together in the finale. Were there other options at the end? Andy had other options, and Johnny certainly felt it. Junie could have inhabited Nate, they could have found another spirit, Jane had considered Garnet’s manitou (although she didn’t want to impose), Nate’s original manitou was still around. Johnny felt like Nate wouldn’t want to be parted from Junie again, but that would have involved her coming to terms with all the weird things Nate does now – and he also would be risking seeing his new family get hurt or die or just grow old while being functionally immortal, so it would be more peaceful for him to go on ahead. Andy always intended the season to end with having to decide what Nate’s fate would be. Mike says he’d just assumed they’d be some way that Nate would continue. Luke says for Delacy it was like Nate was the first pet that teaches you about death. Zack was touched by Edie reassuring Nate they’d look after Delacy.

Question: What moment from S1 or S2 stands out for them or their character the most? Mike recalls the sheer preposterousness of sticking his head through a painting. Luke calls back to Dead Man’s Worth, when he just called “through the throat please” to make the first kill of the episode and proved his killing-machine character worked. Jane liked Bursting the taxidermied bigfoot, the callback monster, and playing cards against the sick man in Dead Man’s Worth. Ellen enjoyed the bit in Amat Victoria Curam where she thought she was defending her brother but was actually beating up Garnet, and the investigating a creepy house with Jane and Tilly. Johnny liked when the gator showed up in Beast of Bisley Bayou, and when Nate got to tell Delacy he’s proud of him, and he’ll miss answering a question, sounding like he’s got more to say, but never saying anything (it doesn’t translate in text, less in summary). Andy liked Nate saying he’ll say hello again. Zack admits he cried at the S2 finale several times, in the room and then because he had to rewatch it several times. (I’m sure we all cried at that one.)

They wrap up with talking about the then-upcoming marathon of Wyrdwood Season 1 with a first look as Season 2.

It seems that everyone was very happy with how the season turned out – which is good, obviously. Lots of good detail dispensed, some good laughs, lots of harmless water vapour. It’s clear they’re open to a season three, even though they’re not decided yet. It would be nice. I also like how Jasper vibes with the group. I liked this season a lot, and sometime when I feel like bawling my eyes out, I’ll have to rewatch/listen.

Deadlands Season 2 Chapter 10: The Unquiet House

Oxventure Masterpost

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I apologise for my extended absence. I will be returning tomorrow with Oxventure Deadlands Q+A, and intend to procede with one post a day for the meantime. I also intend to include new links at the bottom of each post to help navigate between posts better. If you have any suggestions for other improvements I could make, feel free to let me know.

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OX Guild Season 3: Big Deck Energy

Written 05 Jun 2025, shortly after relistening, having watched previously.

This episode combined Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering | Commander Legends | Dungeons and Dragons: Battle for Baldur’s Gate, and thus was so visual it is only available in video format.

Johnny has picked one of the new planeswalkers who the party will meet at the end of the adventure, and Johnny will draw cards to determine what happens next at each stage of the adventure.

The Guild are outside in a field, the seal frolicking, when there is a clap of thunder and Binbag the wizard appears. A new being has arrived and they’re causing all sorts of trouble. A giant wolf, one could call it a dread wolf, leaps up and grabs Binbag by the throat before running off. Corazon and Dob try to ignore this to make daisy chains, but Merilwen is upset by what happened.

A woman steps out of the grass, saying she’s after the wolf. She is a planeswalker, Faldorn the Dread Wolf Herald. Her wolf ran off when he smelt wizard. Faldorn asks if they can do a favour while she catches her wolf. She knows what Binbag was warning them of: there’s another planeswalker in town (not Corazon), a mindflayer-pirate captain called Captain N’ghathrod (he looks like Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean) who zips around in his spell-jamming ship and has moored up, and his corrupting energy will turn the world into a hellscape if someone doesn’t banish him. Faldron points them towards a swirling mass of clouds.

They decide to go drive off N’ghathrod to save the world, and maybe get some nice loot. They crest a hill and find a consuming aberration, a mass of tentacles with a really big eye. Dob runs up to cast Shatter, while Corazon persuades Prudence to cast Banish. Dob does some damage, and it starts crying. The Banish sends the aberration back to its home dimension, given N’ghathrod’s presence is pulling random stuff in. They run away.

They come across a nice looking temple, the Temple of the False God, and they have break with the results of a long rest – which probably gives Dob and Prudence their single expended spell slot each. Corazon searches for treasure, and falls into a swamp. Corazon asks Dob for Prestidigitation to clean up and to smell like figs; Egbert grumbles, so Dob flavours him ultra-swamp. Corazon does find an enormous herald’s horn – the size of two people. Corazon blows the horn, and a tentacled man, an Illithid Scholar named Grazilaxx. Dob asks what minds taste like, and Grazilaxx says he likes the most intelligent. Dob identifies Prudence as the most likely, and they then have to discourage him from eating Prudence. They ask Grazilaxx if he’d like to eat N’ghathrod. He’s interested. Dob asks a lot more questions about eating brains.

As they go, they encounter another mindflayer, Guiltfeeder. Egbert has the most regrets, so Grazilaxx tries to distract Guiltfeeder. Dob suggests he could do that by doing something he feels guilty about, so he casts Shatter on Dob’s groin. Grazilaxx feels very guilty, attracting Guiltfeeder’s interest, until Grazilaxx reminds him of the taboo. So Guiltfeeder wanders off to someone who has just lost their puppy.

To apologise to Dob, Grazilaxx offers him a drink from an ever-flowing chalice. Dob recovers his hit points, and Grazilaxx throws the chalice away lest it ruin their fun. Corazon continues on and enters some ruins, taking some damage as a spiked wheel with a skull in the middle is swung at him by a helmeted figure who yells out “Curtain’s Call!” Prudence casts Eldritch Spear to obliterate him. Corazon also throws a rock, and thinks he’s the one who obliterate the man. The wheel is swinging back on a chain, so Dob declares Bear Down Protocol and throws Merilwen at the chain. As she is thrown, she turns into a cat, gets disorientated, and hits it with her back, sliding down towards the spinning blades. She manages to cling onto the chain and turns back into an Elf, and uses Produce Flame to melt the chain. She calls out to look out below, but Grazilaxx does not heed the warning and gets squashed by the bladed wheel. Dob proposes taking the wheel to defeat N’ghathrod.

The ground changes beneath their feet and turns into an island. They still have the wheel, but the ruins crumble and Merilwen falls – Dob catches her. This has at least brought them closer to their goal. Discussing whether they need to shoot themselves, they find stairs down into a waterlogged cavern and some catacombs. Corazon casts Dancing Lights to illuminate their way. They spend an hour navigating the tunnels while Coarzon plays with his lights. Eventually they find some stairs leading up, sharp steps, onto a Tainted Isle. Dob casts Prestidigitation to flavour and smell Merilwen like chips so seagulls swarm her in revenge for a bad pun; Merilwen casts Animal Friendship to make it a little less vicious. They consider catching seagulls, but a strange, multi-mouthed beast, a Hunted Horror, attacks the seagulls. A horn goes off in the distance, and the horror skitters off. Two centaurs with electric spear gallop down and ask where the beast went. They invite the Guild to join the hunt. Corazon mounts a centaur, to the disgust of said centaur who nevertheless bears it, and they go hunting. Dob proposes poisoning a seagull. Corazon refines it by Minor Illusioning a wineskin of poison (which Dob’s fiancée packed for him) into a seagull, putting it on a fishing line, and waving it around Merilwen’s head with the other seagull. They keep galloping after the horror, until they’re close enough that the horror smells the seagulls and charges. It grabs the “seagull”, takes a blow from one spear and has another thrown at it, then backs off and eats the whole “seagull”. Johnny asks Luke what the effect would be, because Luke knows Katie is poisoning Dob but Dob doesn’t know that, so Luke describes some poisoning. Johnny declares the horror turns itself inside out. The centaurs are a little put out by the hunt concluding in such a manner. The Guild invite the centaurs to join in hunting N’ghathrod. The centaurs agree, if Corazon will dismount. They also give him an Arcane Signet, that appears to have a face trapped in it. Given it’s stated use does not translate to DnD, Johnny decides it just gives him more spell slots.

They proceed on to the Nephalia Drownyard, a shipwreck surrounded by gravestones. It doesn’t look normal, it looks like a spell-jamming ship that sails between the stars. This is probably the scavenging ship of Captain N’ghathrod. They discuss options, and Egbert prizes open the wheel’s cover and runs it like a hamster wheel into the ship, with the help of a little Bardic inspiration. Corazon passes out knives for putting in mouths and they charge for the hole in the hull – Dob swallows his knife, but the carp living in his lung has fashioned chainmail from all the links Dob’s swallowed, and now it has a knife as well.

It's dark in the ship, so Corazon casts Dancing Lights. It’s full of bioluminescent coral. A face forms from it that starts calling for the captain, until Corazon kicks its head off, and then spends the net ten minutes kicking the coral to pieces. By that time, there’s a heavy tread and the tock of a pegleg on deck. They see the silhouette, tricorn hat and tentacles, asking who’s on his ship.

Corazon runs out to distract, while the others swivel cannons around to point at N’ghathrod. Corazon weaves a tale of being a pirate king that doesn’t impress, and the others have limited success with the cannons, so Egbert grabs a nail and hammer, and drives it partway into the pegleg. N’ghathrod notices, at the exact moment Prudence’s cannon misfires and blasts it and another cannon, along with one of the centaurs. Dob fires his cannon at N’ghathrod, and blasts him down onto the gun deck with them.

Roll initiative. Corazon’s pirate instincts take over and he screams, leaping onto N’ghathrod with his cutlass to Sneak Attack – because Swashbuckler – and hurts him good. Egbert force-feeds him a bomb, but it’s too damp to do much. N’ghathrod Mind Blasts everyone but Prudence. Prudence Eldritch Blasts N’ghathrod, and also the remaining centaur by accident. The centaur shakes off the stunning from the Mind Blast, Dob does not, Merilwen does, Corazon does (and hides), and Egbert does not. N’ghathrod’s face-tentacles try to latch onto Egbert, but it fails – it looks like he’s deterred by the -1 Wisdom. Prudence grabs the centaur’s spear and impales N’ghathrod in the shoulder, sending electricity through him. He yields. The centaur tries to kick Merilwen.

N’ghathrod pulls the spear out and says he’ll leave the realm if they leave his ship. As a parting insult, Merilwen casts Confusion so he’ll go to the wrong dimension. Corazon tries to steal the spell-jamming drive, but breaks it a bit. The centaur is weeping over his brother’s body, and the ship retreats, Geth knitting itself back together. The centaur vanishes, the drownyard reforms into a field, and there’s a tavern, so they all go for a drink. The dread wolf reappears, vomits up Binbag, who teleports back home, and Faldorn congratulates them.

This was very weird, and a bit hard to follow. I’m not entirely sure I agree with the decision with keeping it off the podcast, but I’m not the one choosing. I feel kinda bad for the centaurs and Grazilaxx, who got brutally killed by the Guild’s carelessness, but Captain N’ghathrod was fun – if tricky to type.

They were showing the cards onscreen as they pulled them, which is where I’m getting the spelling, but they’re also detailing what the cards do. Unfortunately, I don’t understand it, so the intricacies are lost on me. If you understand MTG, maybe you’ll follow it. I’m more amused by Binbag’s bad day and the saga of Dob’s lung carp.

If you can excuse the confusing nature, this is quite a good one.

OX Guild Season 3: Battle for Bardcon

Oxventure Masterpost

OX Guild Season 3: Bride or Die

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The “The Adventure Zone” Zone – Post-Abnimals

Written 05 Jun 2025, shortly after listening.

This episode was discussing Abnimals, taking listener questions, and announcing the next season.

First question. Were there any other animals they’d considered being, and if Travis were to make a hero character, what animal and why? Griffin protests Travis made lots of hero characters, but Travis says he wouldn’t want to play any of them; he’d want to be Golden Retriever with himbo energy. Clint had the spy cow concept already developed for a children’s book he wrote called Bovine International Cow of Mystery that was never published. Griffin couldn’t come up with anything else – he wanted a good gag. Justin just knew kids like axolotls. Griffin thinks they all had to find their thing, because the sheer breadth of what’s available would be overwhelming.

Next question. What inspired Roger Moore’s alien backstory, and which cartoons inspired the season? Travis had said there were three ways to be an Abnimal, and the other two had Mutate/Evolve locked in, so Clint thought he’d take Alien. They note backstories never really came up, and it kept going back and forth whether Ax-O-Lyle was a human who became axolotl or not (I seem to recall the set-up saying he was axolotl who became human), and he never remembered what he was before becoming Abnimal. Travis says he was inspired by a long list of cartoons: Cowboys of Moo Mesa, Biker Mice From Mars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Gargoyles, Road Rovers, a lot. And those never really got into backstory or justifying the setting and characters.

What was writing and composing the theme song like? (I love the theme song.) Justin helped write it; he came up with a loose song idea, then went to Eric Near, who wrote jingles for some of their other projects, and he wrote the melody. Then they took it to Johnathan Coulton to record it, and he reworked some of the lyrics. Justin wanted to try writing the song, it was a lot of fun, and he thinks it came out kinda cool (it came out very cool).

What was the inspiration for the names of the Greenback Guardians? The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were all named after Renaissance artists, so Travis went for inventors: Hedy Lamarr, actress and inventor of frequency hopping; Ada Lovelace, inventor of computer programming (…I guess I shouldn’t have been writing Loveless, huh); Isaac Newton (I guess he’s not really an inventor as such, but a really significant physicist; and George Washington Carver (I had to look him up, because I am British and am not that hot on what’s historically important to Americans; he made significant developments in agricultural techniques, and was also a Black man born into slavery in the mid-1860s, so a pretty incredible achievement). Travis had to find names that worked well singularly, and also ones he could say well – he tried Curie, but kept saying Curry.

How far in advance did Travis have the Walrus reveal planned, and was it hard to keep secret? Who was the players’ favourite NPC, from a pun or a narrative stand-points? Travis told them about the Walrus very early, because he knew it would be really obvious to the players, but it would be important that the characters didn’t work it out, because that’s how it goes in the TV shows they’re riffing off. So it was an open secret. Clint’s favourite NPC was Eel Patrick Harris for the name. Griffin’s, from a narrative perspective, was Chloro-Phyllis, because she’s an actual dangerous killer in a children’s show. Travis liked playing Herr Dryer and Artie Ficial.

A lot of action movies have an end-credit song; which rock ballad would they pick for a live-action Abnimals film? Clint suggests U2’s “She Moves In Mysterious Ways”, because of Chloro-Phyllis, but the others think that wild. Travis offers Ke$ha’s Animal, and Justin a Fall Out Boys cover of Hungry Like A Wolf.

Was Justin prepared to have Lyle evolve if he ran into iodine? Justin talks about how axolotls don’t metamorphose unless exposed to iodine. He thinks he’d have needed to plan that with the others. Travis considered making it a sub-plot, because Lyle didn’t get on with the Amphibi-Force is because of his lack of metamorphosing, he could be tempted by an iodine injection, but that seemed way too heavy.

What are their favourite fun facts about their animals? Justin had lots of axolotl facts, such as the limb regrowing, and he tried to work in as many as he could. Travis had been trying to work in the chance to chop off a limb, but he couldn’t figure out how to limit it to just Lyle. And it didn’t really fit the vibe of the cartoons – so it was mostly Lyle chopping off limbs. Clint had to stay away from references to beef or steak, or any form of eating. He maybe leaned a little too heavy into the farts, which was a bit tonally weird with the debonair character. But the farts were the main thing he had – Griffin describes it as his Give-A-Ghost Projector of the season, which is a reference to Steeplechase. Griffin didn’t know much about Ross seals, other than the siren song, but they are solitary and territorial, which he used to develop Navy’s relationship with Golden Seal.

Players, how did using the custom system affect their ability to inhabit the world, and Travis, how did it affect preparation? And do they plan to release the system publicly? Yes, they’ll release it some day, but it’s a really bare bones system, more for building on. Griffin thinks some games have the world and setting deep in the mechanics, while others are more inspired by genre. Travis let the players make up their own moves, they weren’t picking powers off a list, so they had a lot more freedom to play the characters they wanted to play – although Griffin found it hard to resist the temptation to fill roles. Clint liked the flexibility, and the fact they could fail and it would still benefit them, with the “Practise Makes Perfect” points. Justin found it made more sense in a group context, rather than benefiting going off alone. Travis found a big change was in combat; he went back to the cartoons, and found there was a lot of low-level hordes, so it was about crowd control. Griffin found there was in interesting by-product to the no-killing rule, which was that the fights weren’t really fights for fighting’s sake, and usually had different win conditions that just putting everyone down. Again, this came from the cartoons. So Travis loved the fight at the gala, and Griffin the Herr Dryer fight.

Were there story beats they wanted to explore but couldn’t? Griffin is satisfied with Navy’s story. Travis would have liked to explore Navy and Nicole Squidman’s relationship, but Griffin isn’t really comfortable exploring that. Travis would’ve liked to spend more time with the Barnyard Allstars and sports-related stuff, but it just didn’t come up. Nor did they get off-planet, or meet the dragon riders – there were lots of other groups that Travis just couldn’t fit in organically. Griffin appreciated Travis didn’t overload them – although they did occasionally get just a load of fish-based celebrity puns.

What are Travis’ other Abnimal names he had prepared? Most of them were off-the-cuff, but he did have Lion Reynolds and Ryan Gosling. Snarf was interesting.

How did it feel to have to come up with clever episode titles? Editor Rachel did that.

What about swearing? How many swears had to be edited out? 65 in total. Justin had the most at 22 – he just doesn’t self-censor, not even in front of his own kids. Travis had 20, mostly in descriptions. Griffin had 18, and Clint 4. They were sweariest at the beginning, then got better. There’s also data for saying “baby” – Clint started it with “yeah, baby” type stuff, which repulsed Griffin so much he tried to ban it, but he also did it the most and Clint the least.

Have their kids been listening? Travis loves the theme song, and keep asking about episodes and such – they’re telling him how to do it. Neither Griffin or Justin’s kids are interested. Clint’s kids listen, but only right before recording the next episode.

Now they’ve done some lighter, sillier seasons, would they give dramatic over-arching narratives a go again? They find that what works best is starting without the intention of the big narratives and see if it develops, because if they start with that intention, it feels forced. Abnimals and TAZ Vs weren’t really conducive to that. Griffin prefers to have fun that try to force it.

Is there any aspect of the theme they wish they could have done more with? There’d been an early idea of an ooze-man who’d been on the team and left to get a real job because they weren’t working out. Or more gross-looking mutants. But the nature of the game is not getting to do a lot of what was planned. They all seemed to react to NPCs different to how Travis thought; he hadn’t expected Deeen, but he prepared for more with Chloro-Phyllis. Goshua Darnett could’ve been a useful ally rather than a bit of a doofus. Justin says the name was just so silly, but Travis was actually doing a tribute to Clint not getting to use “Darn Tootin” in Dust Season 2, so he did “Gosh Darnit”.

Then they talk about the next season, Royale. It’s Dungeons and Dragons, run by Griffin, and I’m going to talk about it in the intro post, which should be going up tomorrow. They will be going back to a biweekly schedule with slightly longer episodes, because they just felt rushed to get the episodes out and they couldn’t enjoy themselves as much as they wanted to. This next season will not be so kid-friendly.

Lots of interesting stuff. I’m pretty excited for Royale. I do still think they could have done a few more adventures before Carver was kidnapped. The complete lack of mystery about Walter Russell/Walrus makes more sense now – my headcanon is that there are several notable walrus Abnimals that the characters are aware of, so it’s not so much like “this is the only one” the way it was for us. The ooze-person might’ve been fun, but the “he was part of the group but left because you weren’t doing well” did feel a bit ick, so good idea to drop it.

I loved Abnimals, and this was a nice way to conclude.

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OX Guild Season 3: Battle For Bardcon

Written 05 Jun 2025, shortly after relistening, having watched and listened previously.

The Guild have been at Bardcon for three days, although for some reason Merilwen never showed up. Katie Pearlhead did accompany Dob, and while he browses for a new lute, she checks out wedding bands. Corazon has got a lot of suits of tear-away clothing and layered them up. They mounted the Joyful Damnation on wheels and brought it in as their “tent” – a lot of bards assumed it was a themed bar and keep trying to get in, so Corazon has been selling overpriced booze – because Dob got VIP tickets. He has been engaged as the support act for the closing show, starring Copper Spine and their frontman Chadworth Croake, one of the most popular acts in Geth.

Dob is still explaining to Corazon that it’s a contract for a solo artist, they can’t do the Beeples, when Croaker approaches. He’s a frog person (I think that’s a Grung?) who is so dedicated to the band’s theme that he has had copper plates installed down his spine. He says hello to Dob, and invites him over towards the stage because he’s going to say a few words to the crowd. The Oxventurers head over, and Croaker takes to the stage to hype up the audience for the evening’s performance. But before he can introduce Dob, he collapses, spasming and screaming. Most of the crowd rushes forward to see if they can help, but the Guild get there first, with not a few audience members lightly gored by Prudence’s horns. Corazon grabs Croaker’s lute and assures the crowd the entertainment will continue, bursting into song – he does actually manage to convince them that he’s just covering for a minor issue, and the crowd calms somewhat, enjoying his ballad. Meanwhile, Dob organises the others. Egbert will heal Croaker’s outer, Dob will heal his inner, and Prudence will Detect Magic to figure out what happened. Prudence spots a short figure by a burger stall glowing with actively channelling magic, and runs at them. Meanwhile, Corazon turns around between verses and points out Croaker’s copper plates are steaming. Egbert pries them off – luckily they’re more clip-on than full implants – and he and Dob fully heal Croaker, while Corazon keeps distracting the crowd with some spoken word poetry telling of his great adventures (they’re fictional even in Geth). Croaker thanks them for their help, but says that if someone’s trying to assassinate him, he’s going to hide in his trailer (a portable swamp) until it’s sorted, even if that cancels the evening show. Corazon suggests maybe they could headline instead, but Dob points out that the show will not go on without Croaker. Corazon’s third act, something weird with a fife, has enraged the crowd, so they hurry off after Prudence.

While this was happening, Prudence was chasing down the would-be assassin. They crashed by a soup stall, the assassin tried to throw a dish at Prudence but just covered herself in bisque (first nat one of 2022), and Prudence smashed her over the head with a soup bowl. By the time the others catch up, Prudence has the assassin on the ground, at her mercy, and surrounded by a drum circle. They have been subjected to drum circles continuously for three days.

The assassin a Half-Gnome woman, readily admits to trying to kill Croaker. Her name is Maria Stevenson, and she is a member of NIMBR, Not In My Back Realm, a loose collective of people who have been wronged by bards and intend to wipe them out. There’s people who were dragged on adventures and then abandoned; guards who were fired for sleeping on the job; people who were seduced but the bard never came back, and barmen with such massive unpaid tabs their businesses collapsed. And the whole lot have formed an army to destroy every bard in Geth. Given most of the bards are falling over themselves from over-indulging, this is a serious threat. Maria, she’s here for justice for her grandfather, whose giant mechanical beetle was destroyed by a bard, so she went in as the advance party.

They break aside for a huddle, because they’ve figured out her grandfather must be M Channail, the Gnome druid they fought in the beginning of their adventures and killed.

Notes from Part One pre-show podcast commentary: Jane immediately confuses Andy with a bad pun. They discuss an unexpected extra bank holiday, due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, which coincides with the release of the new Monkey Island game. They also went to go see Morbius and they have a lot to say. Then Jane explains that Battle for Bardcon was a replacement for a cancelled EGX, so they made up their own convention to go to.

Notes from Part One post-show podcast commentary: Jane can’t believe M. Channail is back – sort of. Andy comments it’s the consequence of murder-hoboing. They love Bardcon. It was a great setting. They also announce the then-new dedicated YouTube Oxventure channel, as opposed to the videos being split between Outside Xbox and Outside Xtra. There will be a new adventure the following week, and the next season studio-recorded starting soon. (Then-soon; ages ago as I’m writing.) Andy mentions his DCOM podcast again, and tease the second half. They also mention the Oxventure Shorts/TikTok channel – I’m not on TikTok, but on YouTube, that was rather short-lived; still there, but not updating.

After discussing different plans to deal with the threat to Bardcon, including just running and letting Dob be the only bard in Geth (Prudence used Clairvoyance to determine they were completely surrounded), they decide to split up and each deal with one of the four factions, chivvying Maria into a drum circle and confiscating her spell components. As a backup, they leave Katie Pearlhead to prepare Plan B: get the sound system (a bunch of clerics casting Thaumaturgy) onto the wheeled Joyful Damnation, and have Croaker blast a powerful sounds-based spell like Thunderwave out as the ship is wheeled through the enemies.

Corazon goes to deal with the spurned lovers. He pretends that he too was spurned by a bard and ingratiates himself. Then he suggests that maybe instead of getting revenge, they need to move on, with people who aren’t bards, maybe with each other. He persuades them to set up a massive speed-dating event, but gets dragged in before he can escape.

Egbert takes the barmen with unpaid tabs. They’re all polishing glasses and a little confused. One bar-lady, a little more clear-headed, explains they all had to sell their establishments to pay off their suppliers after bards ran up huge tabs. Egbert asks why they’re not selling beer at extortionate festival prices. The bar-lady explains they don’t have beer, nor money to get some to sell. Egbert points out the beer tents are unmanned because all the bards have wandered off. The barmen rush the festival, occupy the beer tents, and begin extracting every last coin from the bards. Egbert buys an unsatisfying pint for 9 gold pieces.

Prudence goes next, and Jane immediately asks Johnny a lot of complicated questions about speed and distance. She then uses Eldritch Spear to take out two guards, and casts Summon Greater Demon to summon a shadow demon. She orders it to lead the guards away. One hour and six miles later, it dissipates, which all the remaining guards well away from Bardcon.

Dob has to deal with the temporary adventurers, who might not know what they’re doing but have some high-level gear. He casts Greater Invisibility to sneak behind them. When asked, Johnny decides Bob isn’t there – if Bob betrays them, it’ll be much more personal. Dob casts Major Image, of a 20foot cage with a 40foot dragon crammed inside. He then uses a spell to project his reward, proclaiming he is the greatest dragon slayer, has captured the dragon, but was unable to defend the hoard. The adventurers say they just want friendship, but the hoard sounds really good. Dob, in his new guise, encourages them to seek their own fortunes. In the hopes that sweeter gear will help them make new friends, they bolt for the non-existent hoard.

They re-congregate back at the festival. Katie pulls up in the Damnation, ready to do her part. She is not happy when Prudence says they don’t need her. Then Croaker leaps onto the ship and proclaims that as his support act didn’t turn up for the sound check, he’ll do a double-length performance, if those guys over there haven’t had too much – those guys over there are actually dead, as they are drum circle Maria was left in, and she is escaping. Croaker starts singing, and I’m not sure if it’s a reference to something or not, but I’m pretty sure we weren’t meant to enjoy it. But Bardcon is saved.

Notes from Part Two pre-show podcast commentary: Andy is still with Jane. He doesn’t want to spoil anything, but liked that they all got their own chance to shine – he compares it to the Blades episodes with half-parties. Andy’s been playing Monkey Island, and Jane has been playing Hitman. They’ve also been filming the next season of Oxventure in-studio, and someone caused Johnny to discard most of what was planned for the first episode. And that video they’re broadcasting the last episode onto Outside Xbox, the prologue to Legacy of Dragons (I’m calling that Season 4 Episode 0). Andy has recently been to a music festival, so they compare it to Bardcon.

Notes from Part Two post-show podcast commentary: Jane was happy to get to use both Eldritch Spear and Summon Greater Demon. Jane also wants to go to a football field to mark out distances with cones. Andy loved the variety of methods of solving the problem. They have the new Oxventure channel, new video, new season, and two live shows, which they’re going to hang on to before posting – I think these are two that I put at the end of Season 4. Andy talks about Mom Can’t Cook, and they discuss Halloween preparations.

In my opinion, the name “Battle for Bardcon” is a bit misleading, given there wasn’t really a battle. I guess that’s the price for naming it before playing it. I did love the solutions for the disgruntled NIMBR, the ones Corazon and Egbert came up with anyway, and Prudence was really quite amusing. I feel quite sorry for the temporary adventurers. Maybe they can become each others’ friends?

Maria Stevenson (who was definitely confirmed to be M Channail’s granddaughter) could make for an interesting recurring villain, but I don’t think she ever does. That might be because she doesn’t really know who the Oxventurers are, just that a bard wrecked her grandfather’s life (even though Channail kinda deserved it). Corazon is continuing to attempt to be a bard, which is amusing, and he even kind of pulls it off this time. But let’s be real, they just all had a really good time with Charisma-based rolls.

Bardcon is an interesting concept, and theoretically, it could happen again! Or in anyone else’s game, I suppose. Are you a DM looking to do something a little different? Visit Bardcon!

OX Guild Season 3: Hog Wild

Oxventure Masterpost

OX Guild Season 3: Big Deck Energy

[katgametable]

OX Guild Season 3: Hog Wild

Written 04 Jun 2025, shortly after relistening, having watched and listened previously.

It is the night before Winter Solstice, and the Guild are snowed in with a camp of traders near the Woods of Angerhad. The traders are planning their feast for the next day, and have called a meeting, although Corazon wants to press on. But the traders ask if the Guild would be willing to acquire a hog for the hog roast. Corazon suggests Merilwen in pig form, but a slightly better idea would be to hunt down a notorious territorial boar in the Woods. Dob, a vegetarian, suggests making a pig out of vegetable paste, but the others are more willing to hunt the boar.

The Woods are old and thick. Merilwen casts Speak to Plants and chats to the vines for advice. They don’t know anything, so Corazon hacks at them. Dob scampers up a tree, and Corazon follows. Egbert rolls a nat 20 to join them. Merilwen casts Locate Creature. Above, the boys notice a sort of spiral pattern to the Woods, except for a meandering break caused by a waterway, and a large clearing. Dob determines it would be easier to travel through the underbrush. Meanwhile Merilwen got no result from her location spell.

As the boys descend, they find three figures have joined the girls: a Half-Elf in caster’s robes, a Human in a sleeveless shirt and leather cuffs, and a Tortle with a double-handed war axe. The Tortle greets them, introducing himself as Arglye, the Human as Ricky, and the Half-Elf as Dirk. He asks if they’ve been hired to hunt the giant pig. They want in on the contract. The Guild take them up on it, possibly for bait purposes.

They discuss how to get to the pig, but the newcomers mutter among themselves, admitting when challenged that they think the Guild are incompetent and they can beat them to the pig. They split up, Corazon charging into the trees. He’s going in the right direction, but it’s not easy. Meanwhile, Merilwen cares for the vine Corazon cut off. Dob speculates that the pig might be a wise forest spirit the Woods is protecting, or a malevolent force it wants to lead them to, and suggests following the spiral. So they spiral, meeting the river several times. The first time, there’s a fallen tree, and the second, a rocky outcrop. But the third, there’s no easy crossing. It’s just ten feet of fast-moving water.

They discuss doubling jump distance and using ropes. Corazon cuts down a sapling to pole vault. Merilwen gets her bow out, asks Dob to hold her shoulders, and she shoots an arrow with a rope across and teleports to it -it’s the magic of her new bow. She shoots a second rope back, as Corazon vaults. His sapling gets stuck in the riverbed. Egbert and Prudence take the ropes, but Prudence slips and ends up hanging onto the ropes. Corazon throws his grappling hook and rope; Merilwen hooks it onto a tree and Corazon drops it in a huff. Merilwen casts Control Water to make a causeway for Corazon and Prudence, also pulling the water from Prudence, while Egbert gushes about how Corazon’s cheekbones parted the waters. Corazon’s sapling tilts and drops him on the riverbank, hurting him. Dob heals almost all of it.

Prudence notices something downriver, a Tortle with two passengers. They are ahead of the Guild, so they decide to pick up the pace. They consider trying to sail down the river to save a few loops. Egbert Summons Steed for a very flat alligator, big enough to fit all five of them. Merilwen fires an arrow as far as she can with a rope, while Dob Heats Metal on Egbert’s shield to warm the alligator. They winch themselves up the river, repeating it to go along. They hear the other team approach. Dob uses himself as a mast for a sail made up of all his clothes. But he loses his grip, loses his clothes, and smashes his lute. Merilwen casts Spike Growth, visibly, on the banks the other team are about try to cross. She also gives Dob her cloak.

The next crossing is the one they want to leave the river. They try to pull the alligator in, but it rolls. Merilwen gets thrown to it’s tail; Prudence fall in the river and has to be towed out by Corazon; but they all get to the shore. Egbert dismisses Alligbert. Merilwen’s vine is dubbed Avril LeVine. They make it to the clearing.

Notes from Part One pre-show podcast commentary: Jane welcomes Andy to September and pumpkin spice latte season. She explains Hog Wild was the 2021 Christmas special, recorded in-studio, so the video was great set dressing, and they had better microphones. Andy notes that every year, they try to do a Christmas episode and it never comes out very Christmas-y. (Thinking about it, across all the Christmas specials, I can only think of one that genuinely was Christmas-y, and that was the Blades special run by Luke, not Johnny.) Jane also bemoans putting down her blanket-knitting for the summer, because she’s not sure she remembers how to knit now.

Notes from Part One post-show podcast commentary: Jane and Corazon discuss Dob’s nudity and how they kept forgetting it was meant to be cold. Jane loved the alligator and the vine, and Corazon refusing to accept help. Andy enjoyed Dob’s paste pig – they speculate what it might be made of, possibly mushroom duxelles. They discuss vegetarian options at holiday dinners. The penultimate episode of Blades Season 2 is about to broadcast, and they’re booked to do two live shows at EGX – Jane is looking for some new rings for Prudence – and at MCM London and Birmingham. I’m a little unsure which shows these are. They also say there’s more plans, but not what they are. Andy gives some tips about keeping autumn in your heart.

The clearing looks inhabited by something large and four-legged. Dob asks Prudence to try Detect Magic, but she doesn’t find anything. Corazon suggests this means the pig is not a magical spirit. Dob is going to bait, so Corazon rubs a truffle over him. There’s a crashing of large creature.

The massive boar is fifteen foot tall at the shoulder. It bellows at Dob. They fight the boar, including Corazon using Mage Hand to smush a beehive into is and give it a honey glaze, Prudence’s Detect Magic giving an outline with figure-shaped hotspots in the rump and centre of different magics, so she yells that it’s a pantomime pig, Merilwen using Flame Blade to break into the boar while also setting it on fire, Dob trying to put out the fire, and Prudence pulling out someone to interrogate.

The pig’s crew tumble out. They explain they were just trying to scare them off. The giant pig is to protect the Woods. The traders are actually property developers who want to cut down the trees and build houses. Corazon is furious at being lied to. They decide to make sure the property developers won’t take over and discuss options. They figure they can just run them over with the giant boar. But the other team has arrived and intend to take it back to the traders for the reward.

Dob and Egbert climb into the boar with Merilwen, while Corazon explains what happened. Dob tries to encourage them to join in getting revenge on the “traders”, so Prudence casts Message to ask Egbert not to run them over just yet. But Egbert accidentally sends Argyle flying. When he returns, they agree to join and everyone loads up into the boar, souping it up and making it look scarier.

They charge back to the property developers’ camp, which is all getting ready to start logging - there’s even a show-house put up. Corazon calls on them to surrender or they’ll go hog wild, which is the cue for everything to descend into chaos. Things are smashed, people are blasted with lightning and smashed with axes, and the leader agrees to surrender and give them all the money. Prudence climbs atop the war-hog-mobile, crackling with power, and threatens to steal everyone’s souls, resulting in the workers grovelling before her.

The lead developer hands over a big chest full of coin. Corazon gets some strange urges to set up a foundation to preserve the Woods, and soothes it by tacking on some self-promotion. Argyle and his compatriots swoop in and take their share, about half, and the Guild call back the workers to get started on the preservation. The Guild have a lovely solstice dinner in the show hut (it is not clear what they ate, but I suspect Dob’s paste-pig), and Merilwen prepares to Stone Shape a statue of Corazon.

Notes from Part Two pre-show podcast commentary: Jane wants to talk to Andy about elves from Rings of Power. And then House of the Dragon. And then Disney’s live-action Pinocchio. I am not interested in any of these, so it was a little dull.

Notes from Part Two post-show podcast commentary: Andy says he should have guessed evil property developers, but he loved the reveal of the fake hog. They talk about Christmas dinners and spending the day in Disney World, and announce the Blades Season 2 finale. Then Jane reads some reviews.

Y’know, I misremembered this one. I thought it was Argyle and co who concocted the fake pig plot, so it always seemed a bit off to me. But hey, turns out it’s better than I remember!

Also, the first use of Merilwen’s new bow’s unusual properties. Teleporting isn’t what I’d have picked, but it is useful and pretty cool. I think it’s also a +1 longbow that bestows proficiency, and is unaffected by resistance to non-magic weapons, which are all nice extras. This also features Dob losing his lute, which he’d probably only just repaired after Prudence-as-Dob used it to garrotte the demon duck in Fete Worse Than Death. And also all his clothes. Johnny probably should’ve made him do some con saves for cold damage.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, because now I fully understand the plot.

OX Guild Season 3: Let's Get Fiscal

Oxventure Masterpost

OX Guild Season 3: Battle for Bardcon

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TAZ Balance Episode 57: The Suffering Game Chapter 7

Written 04 Jun 2025, shortly after relistening, having listened to the entire Balance arc some time ago.

Taako and Merle watch as a mannequin possessed by Magnus threatens the body of Magnus, which is controlled by Edward. To avoid confusion, I will be referring to Magnequin and Ednus.

They fight, Taako and Merle and Magnequin against Ednus and Lydia. The Red Robe intervenes to stop the liches using the animating properties of the environment against the Bois. Merle goes down, and there is a lot of trying to explain the difference between being dead and making death saves. Taako animates a bunch of mannequins to dogpile Ednus. Magnequin takes a swing from Railsplitter, is not cut down due to not being a tree, and has an intense flash of memory - when he was a boy and lost a fight protecting a dog, and he gazed up into the purple sky with two suns, the sky he’d grown up under…but that’s not the sky of Faerun. He grapples his body and activates his Magnetic Charge, sending all his metal items (like Chance Lance, Railsplitter, and his shield) flying. He calls Chance Lance to himself, and Ednus responds by ripping his arm off. Cam reappears, requests a health pedestal, and gives Merle all his health, dying himself but reviving Merle. They briefly discuss what might happen if Magnus’ body dies, and make a Pinocchio joke that, this side of TAZ Vs, is retrospectively hilarious. Merle uses the Ring of the Grammarian to turn Divine Word into Divine Wood, healing Magnequin, but Taako goes down to Lydia’s Death Bolt. Magnequin, using the Chance Lance gifted to him by a goddess, channels the divinity from Merle’s spell into stabbing Ednus. Edward is cast out of the dying body, and Taako’s Umber-Ella consumes him. Lydia screams; she cannot remain undead without him. She also disintegrates, leaving behind the Animus Bell. But she had time for one final act: destroying Magnus’ body.

Magnequin (now just Magnus) rummages through the discarded pile of belongings , checks on Stephen the goldfish, and retrieves a health potion to feed Taako. They retrieve their belongings, and the Red Robe points to the Bell. Magnus picks it up, and it asks if he wants to live forever, but he shuts it down. But as he picks it up, there’s a windstorm of black fog, as everything dissolves, and Wonderland is no more. About twenty other people are revealed, most looking pretty miserable. Antonia heals Taako, despite looking much older and probably being blind. Magnus gets rather distressed about being dead. He retrieves his torn-off mannequin arm, and swings it at the Red Robe. Taako and Antonia keep talking, and Lord Sterling apologies to Merle for Forsaking that one time (I guess it wasn’t actually those two Halflings). Lord Sterling promises to do something to make it up.

As Magnus swings his arm at the Red Robe, the Red Robe catches it, and Magnus has another memory-vision. He’s walking through some Badlands, looking for somewhere to hide something he’d made, something dangerous. He’s taken off his crimson red uniform jacket, with an insignia over his breast. In the distance, he sees two strangers, a man and a little girl. He approaches, and they offer water and kindness. He spends time with them and finds out they’re really good people, and he decides to hide his cup with them.

He comes out of this vision walking through the Felicity Wilds with the others, following the Red Robe. The Red Robe asks them to trust him, promising that everything will make sense soon. Magnus agrees, and the Red Robe puts a finger to his mouth, creates an illusion of a Stone of Farspeech, and holds out a hand. Angus’ voice is coming through the Stone, a little distressed, but they hand over the Stones and the Red Robe crushes them. They notice the sky above them is dark and roiling, like a storm but with no rain. The Red Robe says they need to make headway before nightfall, because tomorrow will be fateful. He makes an audio-note on a coin-like object, and says they’ll need to disguise Magnus.

They travel for a while, and when it’s time to make camp, they find a clearing with a firepit, and stumps carved into chairs. This is a campsite they’d made when travelling from Neverwinter to Phandelin, over a year ago. They settle down to rest.

As Magnus sleeps, he dreams. There’s too much for him to remember, but two visions stick with him when he waits. Standing on a silver ship, surrounded by other red-robed figures, as the ship flies into the sky away from a land being consumed by a wave of darkness. And the Voidfish floating in its tank with a thick, leatherbound book.

In the morning they continue, passing the main road, and the Red Robe leads them into a cavern not terribly far from the gerblin hideaway Klarg ruled. It’s clear this is where the Red Robe has been living. There’s a desk piled with tomes and maps, and a board with a map tracking the movement of the Bureau’s moon base and locations of the Relics. And at the back there’s a six-foot talk glowing pod that appears to be growing…someone. There’s a body growing within. There’s also a chest with a red robe draped over it, with a circular patch with twelve multicoloured circles. Taako and Merle can’t read the text in the middle, but Magnus can read IPRE.

The Red Robe explains that events in motion for over a decade are coming to fruition. There’s gaps in their memories that are too big, but they will be filled by the end of the day. The tank is something he acquired years ago and he’s used it several times to recreate his physical form, but when he moves into it he will forget the truths he remembers in his lich form, and must rely on following his own commands – if he’s not too stubborn. He apologies to Magnus that it would take months to make him a new body. He’s going to move into the body, but he won’t recognise them. They’re going to have to follow the Red Robe’s commands. He sinks into the tank, asking Merle to pass him a change of clothes from his chest.

Magnus has another vision. He’s on a cliff edge, axe drawn, facing an army of shadows and the sky pitch black. The silver ship weaves between columns of shadow and escapes, prompting a wave of relief. A human man steps up next to him, in the same crimson uniform and patch, on a robe note a jacket. The horde is about to overrun them when a black spike shoots into the man’s chest. He grins at Magnus and says they’ll get him next time.

Magnus sees the man’s face in his memories. Taako sees the face of the man climbing out of the tank. Merle finds a recognisable outfit in the chest.

Barry Bluejeans is back.

Griffin made comments in the TTAZZ about Barry being dead and gone. Dead, yes, but gone, not so much. Tricksy, tricksy. I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely sure why so many people liked Barry so much, maybe I’m just too British to get it, but I can appreciate that people liked him.

The fight was pretty mental. There was a lot going on; I picked out a few bits. Magnus’ memories…in the “previously on The Adventure Zone”, it’s highlighted that the undead are unaffected by the Voidfish, but he’d already been inoculated, so there shouldn’t have been more memories to remember. I’m not sure how I feel about the collapse of Wonderland; it sounds like no-one got back what was lost, although if it was all taken by the Bell as necromantic energy that got sucked into it, that kinda makes sense. Sucks, though. Even before we get to Magnus the mannequin.

It feels little rough that Griffin didn’t even give them a chance to get Magnus back into his body. I do feel a little uncomfortable with how much Griffin was making decisions and taking things away from the characters. Also, it felt like Merle and Taako didn’t really get to do much of anything outside of the combat this episode. It’s probably just because Griffin can do more with Magnus than the others right now, but I hope Clint and Justin didn’t mind.

But more than anything else, the mystery is spooling out ahead of us.