Campaign synopsis: “Hero to many. Enemy to some. When Thjazi Fang is marked for execution, various figures from across his remarkable life unite to uncover the truth behind his grim fate. In a land still suffering from the fallout of dead gods and living in the shadow of a tumultuous rebellion, these disparate people will come together across the fractured world of Aramán and connect in ways they never imagined.
As hope and victory fade, a question hangs over Aramán. Without the Gods, what great deeds now fall to us? And who, or what, shall grab their crown from themselves?”
Episode synopsis: “A battle for vengeance ensues in Castle Sloke as the Soldiers face the traitorous Baron Casimir Gavendale and his new knights…”
Pre-episode thoughts
Before writing this post I’ve been wondering if maybe I should section out these ‘reviews’ by the chapter titles used on Beacon (and I assume YouTube). I’m thinking this will be a good way to gather my thoughts and means people can check out these posts even if they haven’t finished the entire episode yet. I’m going to trial it this week.
Based on the synopsis of the episode, I’m expecting this to be a very combat heavy episode. Which I’m not mad about actually. It will be a nice change of pace compared to the huge lore dump the previous episodes have been.
Cold Open
I’m so happy to see Matt on my screen again. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss having him as the GM. I like Brennan but I find Matt more engaging.
It’s also great that the cold opening is happening in real time rather than a flashback. At the moment, I’m more interested in what the characters are doing right now as the story builds, rather than things from the past. I like a grand reveal for backstories.
Do we think a lot of these cold opens were recorded in advance? Surely other players aren’t turning up to only play for 10 minutes each episode.
Announcement Playhouse
Even when he isn’t the GM, Matt still can’t escape Sam’s antics. The picture he held up of Matt’s ‘real hair’ is definitely something he would have put on a T-shirt in previous campaigns. It’s nice that he included multiple members of the cast in this bit. It’s impossible to make Ashley look bad though, even with Guy Fieri hair.
Inside Castle Sloke
There are two different spellings of ‘sloke’ on Beacon so I don’t know which is correct. I personally prefer Sloke over Sloak, so I’ll be using that.
I LOVE the castle map. Does Brennan make them himself? If so, hats off to him. If not, hats off to the production team. I wonder if Matt misses making maps as often.
Travis has talked about trees two episodes in a row. “Cats love trees” is especially funny as he keeps falling out of them. I’m now imagining Teor climbing trees for fun during his free time, hanging upside down using his tail. I like to think he’s going to do something like this soon to prove to the rest of the group that he can successfully climb a tree. Trees have become the new doors or chairs.
I’ve decided that Kattigan x Teor is my most wished for ship after the first part of this section. Also because I really want a Robbie romance. Dorian and Orym didn’t really get fully off the ground in campaign three. Plus Robbie keeps calling Teor handsome so I think he’s feeling the vibes too.
The Soldiers table is nothing if not consistent with their terrible rolls. Yes, Travis has rolled two natural 20s already during this episode, but not when it really matters. I’m hoping for some really great combat moments. Nothing has beat the fight at the Tachonis manor just yet.
I didn’t think I’d hear “the squid has eaten Doctor Finger” today, but here we are. This group is ridiculous but I love them.
Tyranny is living up to my expectations of unhingedness (absolutely not a word). “I have nothing that heals but I can give you the finger”, was too funny. Also the fact that she’s a tiefling (demon) warlock makes me very happy as that’s what my first D&D character was.
‘Desperate measures’ feel like they’re trying to sneak Daggerheart-style mechanics into the campaign. It’s pretty cool, and I like homebrew stuff, but this is a pretty big change. I have a feeling every single player will forget it’s a thing, which is fine as I’ll likely never remember what the options are either, so get ready to explain it a million times Brennan.
Possession of Castle Sloke
I completely missed the fact that Wicander’s character sheet changed from cleric to sorcerer in the last episode. I called it from episode one! It’s actually insane that there isn’t a single cleric in a campaign with 13 player characters. I know rangers, paladins and druids can do a bit of healing, but this is a Brennan Lee Mulligan campaign, he’s a savage. I feel like you really need a cleric.
Travis is always funny but I feel like he’s really been on form in campaign four. His actual character is very stoic, which I imagine is why he’s cracking so many jokes as himself – these are the moments I love the most though. The little breaks in tension that this campaign has needed so far. It’s pretty intense isn’t it.
We’re eight episodes in now and Wicander and Tyranny are cementing themselves as my favourite characters. Their dynamic is so good and actually hilarious – I know a lot of people are shipping them already (Whitney included). I can’t tell you how happy I am to love a new cast member’s character so much. I think everyone worried that new members wouldn’t add much worth to a full campaign but Whitney is doing a great job so far considering she hasn’t played much D&D before now. She’s using her spells in such creative ways, the poison spray to create a bleach for their new banner was pretty genius.
Cooldown
I love how the start of the Cooldown was just discussing dogs. The dog counter was *chef’s kiss*. There are a lot of dogs in this campaign so far and I love it.
Thimble being the damage dealer of the group is very funny when you remember she’s about 4 inches tall. I’m excited to see how Laura will evolve her combat as she levels up.
If Skinner the redcap (from the last episode) isn’t the big bad of this campaign I will be severely disappointed. That’s actually a joke but I do hope we encounter him again at some point. I love Brennan’s unhinged NPCs.
The review of next week’s episode will be posted a day earlier on Wednesday due to festive content. My original plan was to post twice next Thursday but then I thought that was a bit ridiculous – why double the amount of work I need to do if I don’t have to?
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