#binging cr3 might be the better way around

[soulfirespam]

I love Aabriya (Top 3 of DnD personality period!), but gotta say genuinely bad timing for an ExU flash sideways. This didn’t set her up for success (she killed it because she is awesome but still. Sucked a lot of genuine momentum from the bells hells)

This is just one of those times where the story was picking up speed, but not only that the BH as a group were gaining narrative momentum. There was a roll of choices made by each of the members of the hells and they moved up to be the active participants in the world instead of moving through it like habitual NPC’s on a side task. To have that momentum and the loss of a party member all leading up to this episode and then this detour really kinda threw water on it all.

This is kind of the second time where when the story’s momentum was building up to give BH that bit of character growth; having them come together gather each other up and dust each other off. To help build each other up. And instead of giving them that opportunity or that focus, the story split them off which is a choice that IMO does not fit well as a “weekly” actual play show. I am sure it will watch better during a binge or on an animated tv show. But currently as a live actual play show, this kills the pacing for the BH group once again. Takes the emotional weight that came so organically leading up to this moment and diminishes it.

Because when the story comes back to them, it will be nearly a month in real time since FCG died and 3ish weeks since they took the time to sit down and have a conversation to explore the emotional weight of what had happened; something that they did today only after Matt tells them to take the moment to do so. Genuinely wild that such good RP only came about because Matt essentially forced them to sit down and talk. (I mean if it works it works. He should’ve put his thumb on the scales earlier too, so many moments of RP passed over in the rush to keep the “plot” progressing with the Ruidus ticking clock)

I think it’s just another one of those things that makes it seem that the Bells Hells as a group are not as important in the story that is being told in their campaign.

I would’ve been so much more psyched to have had this flash sideways take place at any other moment. As of right now, just having all the lore that was dropped, all the emotional capital and just narrative momentum that was so hard fought for have the air let out of them with this little break for live watchers.