#Campaign Scaling

[blorbologist]

Y'know, I think I figured out why the Hells still feel like a new low-level party to me, even though they're level 13 and almost 100 episodes in.

I don't quite think it's the lack of conversations, or the fact half the party's plot hooks are big ties to past campaigns - though that definitely plays a part.

... Bell's Hells still primarily rely on quest givers.

Most of their goals are given to them and do not feel organic to the party, and constantly remind us that the Hells are pretty much never the most powerful people in the room. Which is usually something you see with a low-level party.

NPCs offering jobs is not a bad thing; it's a very common plot hook. Matt has been extremely skilled with using NPC quest givers in those two campaigns. Not only do they provide an obvious plot thread, but they can put the party in the path of others (say, the Nein running into the Iron Shepherds while doing a job for the Gentleman and everything that came of that). And the Hells had a solid start with it too - Eshteross was an excellent quest giver!

The problem is that Bell's Hells have never really not had a quest giver.

Maybe it's a byproduct of the more plot-heavy structure of this campaign? But while prior parties have felt like they decided on their course of action and what they prioritized, Bell's Hells feels less like level 13 (13! Level 13!) experienced adventurers and more like an MMO group clicking on the exclamation point over an NPC's head. Where does the plot demand we go next? Who do we report back to?

They're level 13.

At level 13, Vox Machina had just defeated a necromantic city-state to clear their name and Percy's conscience. And, you know, the Conclave just destroyed Emon. No one was explicitly telling the group to gather Vestiges and save the world (though Matt guided them there), and they were usually among the most powerful people in the room. They chose which Vestiges to prioritize, which dragons to tackle when, even if the over-all plot was pretty clear.

At level 13, the Mighty Nein were celebrating Traveler Con (another PC goal, I'll note) after brokering peace between two nations, accidentally becoming pirates and heroes of the Dynasty. The Nein regularly chose what to do based on personal goals, not grand ones. Though definitely smaller fish than Vox Machina at this level, they were very independent and gaining solid political clout.

While we're at it: level 13 is one level lower than the Ring of Brass, who had a huge amount of sway over Avalir. They ended the world, and also saved it, while in the grand scheme of things being only a smidge more powerful than Bell's Hells are now.

Can you really see the Hells wielding that amount of influence, when they're constantly being told what to do next?

The god-eater might be unleashed, so Bell's Hells have no time to do anything but what is asked of them. No time for therapy unless stolen from Feywild time, no travel on foot and late-night watches. They haven't even had time to grieve FCG. Percy was grieved in the middle of the Conclave arc. Molly was grieved when half the party was still in irons.

Matt is in the very unfortunate spot of not being able to give the Hells the same agency as the other two parties. Not only because of the world-ending plot introduced so early on; they are surrounded by characters they know (and the cast knows) are stronger and wiser than them - the familiarity of the past PCs and NPCs is to their disadvantage.

Why would the party reasonably ignore Keyleth's task that will help save the world and go off on a romp? Why would the cast when they know well Keyleth has to be sensible and with the best intentions in mind? The stakes are just too high.

It means that the Hells still feel like they're running errands instead of pursuing their own destiny. Their accomplishments are diminished as just being parts of a to-do list, and any stakes feel padded by several level 20 PCs/NPCs standing 5 steps away ready to catch them.

This isn't Bell's Hell's fault, nor is it Matt's. It could be amended, I think, if the Hells are really left to their own devices for a long period of time without support and shortcuts (like during the party split)... which would be really tricky to pull off at this point in the campaign.

They're level 13. They're big fish, but they're stuck in a pond full of friendly sharks, so they don't feel big at all.

[teansouprmyjam]

i've been having this wizard on the brain lately

[edelgarfield]

i think bell's hells is the most realistic depiction of what would actually happen if you took a group of random people and told them the fate of the world was on their shoulders.

[soaring-trash]

goofy pâté dragon

goofy pâté dragon

[humming-fly]

Ayy it's been a hot sec since I promo'd a group art project I was in hasn't it - I'm happy to say that dry spell is now over with the release of the Umbral Wings kickstarter, the second dragon tarot project I've gotten to be a part of!

I'm actually a little late sharing the info on this one, the kickstarter itself is already nearly funded and is at about $8 out of 9k with 26 days to go, but there's still plenty of time to hop in there and grab this snazzy deck! If you've ever gotten one of these collaborative tarot decks you know they're Gorgeous and this one is no different, so be sure to check it out if awesome dragon art is of interest to you!

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

I read Hussie's author notes and they were so disappointing. He dismisses Eridan and gamzee as one-dimensional nastyboys, he claims Rose and Dave's true arc was to refuse their quests and they just needed to stop feeling guilty about it, and he says karkat's final frog didn't even matter and he was just worrying over nothing. There's so much potential clearly written in and he just throws it all away bc lol. Your analysis is so much more nuanced has so much more thought put into it both with regards to who these characters are as people and the role they serve in the plot. I'd take your ideas over what hussie thinks is canon any day of the week.

this is super funny to me because i absolutely take what hussie says into account like all the time HAHAHA

Like genuinely I go back to their formspring/tumblr/forum/book notes all the time to see how on-track i am with my analyses. If you like whatever bullshit i'm talking about, then you like hussie's writing!

[missusbenzedrine]

this is the way that it is. this is the way that it always will be.

our party is getting ready for a battle that will determine the fate of a city and likely the world, so...D&D campaign comic time

[raviollies]

I've reached the ship stage of absent mindedly doodling domestic scenarios while giggling and kicking my feet and I just want to crumple up the canvas and eat it.

[lizardinkart]

So I’m living up to my username now I guess-

Lizardfolk NPC from this new campaign! Woo!

[thespoonisvictory]

desperately need more worlds beyond number episodes right now pls

[explodingquails]

It's been so long but I am back to shitposting on this dumpsterfire of a blog. Yes I have Critical Role brainrot

[vaguely-concerned]

travis matagot just -- the very concept of him unlocks something deep and feral in my brain, even aside from all the changeling stuff. an angel looked upon you once as a child and, after seeing every possible thread and pathway of the man you will grow into one day, said 'I see no sin here' even as its holy flames consumed your screaming parents and the town around you. that angel, having stumbled head over heels to earth after killing god, later deliberately loses their name to you in a card game so the eyes of heaven can't find them. you and the angel have proceeded to annoy the everloving FUCK out of each other for centuries because you just keep. bumping. into each other!!!! through the power of like Narrative and also simply being two of the only people who've even been around that long. you've kept their name for them this whole time and never breathed a word of it, even though they seemingly never even explained why they wanted to lose it in the first place. you've sworn to die together or not at all.

what if you met an eldritch horror as a child and then became their best (and most irritating) friend/life partner/frenemy/perpetual thorn in their side (affectionate). I'm obsessed with this idea of being divinely judged as unworthy of damnation so early in your life and having to have that in the back of your head forever even as your self-loathing and trauma start piling up over the centuries and you have done so many shitty things along the way. like. is he trying to prove them wrong. is that part of his whole thing about trying to escape the narrative. or is it to prove that 'no actually awful things happen to me because I'm awful, you got it wrong from the start (fuck you btw)' because at least that feels like a choice, like some kind of control to hold on to? what is going on here travis. what the fuck

[xbadnews]

thinking about how Percy's surface distaste of magic comes from a place of ' I can't do that :| ' / minor jealousy.

Thinking about percy's jealousy over innate magic users being a major factor in him taking warlock abilities from orthax.

[diagoose]

I WILL make you look at her face as many times as I want >:]

wanted to practice coloring in a simpler more loose kinda way, had this sketch of Leigh lying around.

I love her face, it gets more square everytime we draw it, get that jawline girly.

[dragongirlbunny]

hhhhhh i want to do more worldbuilding for this scifi idea but all my brain is providing is "tim-curry-spase.gif"

[prolibytherium]

I'm going to be real I don't have any doubts that there are trans people on the tumblr/auttomatic staff who sincerely want to improve circumstances for trans users on this site but I'm really not going to care about apologetic gestures until there is material improvement. I won't trust vague assurances of improving anti-harassment measures until I see it. It's not like any of these patterns of abusive moderation against the most vulnerable demographics is new.