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.
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it’s just the way that the doctor still tragically loves the master despite everything.
the master has destroyed their planet and violated their people in the worst way possible and yet they’re still intrinsically entwined for eternity.
the master is who he thinks about when there’s a chance he may die and the master is who he thinks about when he survives.
missy said “my heart is maintained by the doctor” and i do think that’s mutual. the doctor’s hearts are maintained by the master, they always have been and always will be.
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i may or may not have made full designs for mercs in an rp i'm doing...
rb > likes or smth
misc + og designs under cut :thumbs up:
here's them before i started colouring
most of these are pretty gimmicky on purpose, also i changed a cuple of stuff here and there
for the sake of the rp i designed these kill feeds (more or less inspired by those chat devices someone made for dsmp that one time) (it's a little primitive, but it only has to be functional)
there is a v.2 which has the form of a watch (you can see it on sniper, spy and engie) (it also has a mode where instead of sending notifications it vibrates, thought it would be fun for sneaking) (maybe it even has a walke talkie function, yk, for team comms) (i didn't draw but it's all fictional anyway)
i kept some on my hcs in these ddesigns too, like engi's and Pyro's special goggles and tails and
i also removed Medic's lab coat because... well... he doesn't have it on...
i removed Sniper's facial hair too because i ended up hating it hfsgfe
there's also this uh,, thing i made
(yes, i made spy look and pose like that on prpose lmao)
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Imagine sending an extremely professional ruthless mercenary to do some mercenary business on an island far away and while he's there he finds a young kid who he adopts as his son and he has a journey of self discovery and acceptance in regards to his sexuality and he meets a really nice guy who he starts an almost-relationship with and he learns the true power of friendship and all in all does everything except what you sent him there to do
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Worst part about watching a tv show and then dabbling in the fandom is seeing how the fans perceive things and immediately wanting rip your finger nails.
Imagine my surprise to find there are people who hate Loid and thinks he’s abusing and exploiting Yor. Like be so fucking for real right now don’t piss me bruh are you 8 or something
I watched the honey pot scene and died of laughter only to go on Reddit and people are happy because they thought the honey pot was too far… but marrying a random woman and grabbing a child off the street is fine?
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