Are you doing ok? Have you eaten and drank enough today? Did you know there was an after credits scene? Good. Time for the Afterparty.
Housekeeping
- Our gorgeous Campaign 2 poster by Sarah Barra is available NOW! Patrons, check your messages for a free digital download. And everyone, check out the merch store to buy a physical copy!
- We’ll be publishing three one-shots over the next three weeks, followed by an Afterparty. Then, on June 14, the summer of JTP kicks off! You won’t want to miss the bus on this…
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Cast & Crew
- Dungeon Master, Co-Producer: Eric Silver
- Co-Host (Milo Lane), Co-Producer, Editor, Sound Designer, Composer: Brandon Grugle
- Co-Host (Aggie O’Hare), Co-Producer: Amanda McLoughlin
- Co-Host (Val Vesuvio), Co-Producer, Editor: Julia Schifini
- Multitude: multitude.productions
About Us
Join the Party is a D&D actual play podcast with tangible worlds, genre-pushing storytelling, and collaborators who make each other laugh each week. We welcome everyone to the table, from longtime players to folks who’ve never touched a roleplaying game before. Begin with Campaign 2 (The Join Campaign) for a modern, sci-fi superhero game, or marathon all of Campaign 1 (The Party Campaign) for a high fantasy story. And once a month we release the Afterparty, where we answer your questions about the show and how we play the game. New episodes every Tuesday.
Transcript
Amanda: Hey, hi, hello, and welcome to the Afterparty at the end of the book!
[spooky noises]
Brandon: Ooh, it's spooky!
Eric: We're all dead. Sorry.
All: [laughter]
Julia: Oh, don't mess with the people.
Eric: Yeah. canonically, actually, I can't tell you anything about the characters, but the players, were all dead.
Brandon: We are dead, yeah.
Eric: That's canon.
Brandon: Well, Julia has been dead. Julia has been a ghost for like--
Julia: Oh, yeah.
Brandon: --30 years, I think?
Julia: Yes.
Amanda: Oh, yeah.
Julia: Since I was born.
Eric: Brandon, what do you mean, we've only had three players on this Dungeons and Dragons podcast [Brandon screaming] for 30 years!
Julia: [in a spooky voice] I'm haunting you!
Amanda: Speaking of incredibly long durations- ummm Eric, I know you were crunching some numbers recently, as you are want to do, and you have a little present to share with the rest of us players.
Eric: I do. That's true, a little, a little, a little--
Brandon: Prezzy for no reason?
Julia: Prezzy no reason!
Amanda: Prezzy for end of campaign, I would say.
Eric: Oh, a prezzy anniversary reason. So one day, I was watching Dimension 20. And I'm like, these episodes are so long. But they come out weekly, but it's seasonal. And I wonder how much content comes out from the various D&D media as a comparison Join The Party. So I ended up spending an entire day just for fun, writing down as many shows from like a representative sample size of different types of shows about length and comparing the amount of content in individual video and audio feeds to see like how some of that stuff breaks down. So I, I did like gnathopod, and Taz, and Dimension 20. And people have already compiled this for critical role, which is very scary to look at.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: And like retails and all that stuff. But mostly the thing that I want to share here, because honestly, the thing that I found out is like, wow, critical role and unedited four-hour video stream, bakes a lot of stuff, surprisingly. And the Adventure Zone, which started out before any of them else made the least. So strange, weird, but I did put together all of the lengths of Join The Party episodes. And I have some conclusions that I can share with you here.
Brandon: And they aligned with the Fibonacci sequence. We got to steal the Declaration of Independence, Eric!
Amanda: Eric did accidentally get lemon juice on a letter yesterday. And then held it up and said, "Amanda, the Declaration of Independence!" And I cried and cried. It was so good.
Julia: Oh, incredible. Incredible.
Eric: I mean, how often does that happen? I had to take my chance--
Amanda: It was incre- Eric, it's incredible. The people have to know they think they know the full you but there's so much more under the surface.
Eric: Okay, so let me share the numbers that I have here. And then I can tell you the conclusion.
Amanda: Sorry, I don’t know what that word means.
Eric: Let me share the numbies–
Amanda: Thank you.
Eric: – that I put together and I can tell you some conclusions, okay? So, Campaign 1 episodes came out to 3,510 minutes, which was 58 and a half hours, two days and 10 and a half hours, right? When you add on a piece that has another day and an hour. So the total audio that we made just of the story and Afterparty episodes of Campaign 1 was like three days and 11 hours, right?
Julia: Damn.
Eric: So now let's compare that to Campaign 2. The Campaign 2 story episodes, come out to 4,436 minutes, which is nearly 74 hours, which is three days in two hours. Plus an extra day and six and a half hours of Afterparty episodes, which comes out to four days and eight and a half hours of Campaign 2 audio.
Julia: Holy shit!
Brandon: Campaign 2 was longer?
Amanda: I would have guessed they were almost exactly the same length.
Brandon: That's what, I would have assumed Campaign 1 was much longer! Weird.
Eric: The number of episodes are pretty close. I don't know that off the top of my head. And we also did more Afterparties, which is wild. So just that whole comparison is totally, totally funny. There's also all the bonus episodes that we did, which is the Punchbowl, the One-Shots, and anything else that we put in the feed, that is an extra day. It is nearly a day 23 and a half hours. So audio in the feed is 8 days and 19 hours.
Amanda: That's so much.
Brandon: Damn!
Julia: You can finish it in a little bit more than a week. Get on it everyone, don't sleep!
Amanda: Oh my, god!
Eric: Episodes grew 19% longer between Campaign 1 and Campaign 2. Sorry Brandon.
Brandon: Huh, I wonder why that is Mr. Eric?
Eric: That's because I hate you and I like making you listen to my voice longer.
Amanda: I don't know guys, the only difference is Julia's here now so--
Julia: Maybe I talk more. Do I talk more than the rest of you? That makes sense.
Brandon: Yeah, that's, that's absolutely…
Eric: There, there's also 500% more Italian accents than there was.
Amanda: Nooo!
Julia: So true.
Eric: Comparing Campaign 2 and Campaign 1.
Amanda: Fun round number.
Eric: So yeah, those are some fun numbers. I put together some graphics of this that I'm going to share some time. You probably before this episode comes out on social so they also check that out. I've, I have a really pretty pie chart. I want, I want to share.
Julia: [mumbles] pie chart. Yeah.
Amanda: Oh, is that a picture of pie in the in the corner?
Eric: Yeah, there's a pictu- there's a picture of pumpkin pie in the corner.
Brandon: Yummy!
Amanda: Well, guys, that's a huge accomplishment. How do you feel about it?
Julia: It doesn't feel real.
Brandon: Well, it was over the course of what, for 2017, 5 years? So I feel like we haven't done enough. [giggles]
Amanda: It does feel like we've spent a collective four and a half sleepless days in Lake Town City. It feels that real to me. That feels about right.
Julia: Four and a half days in the time loop.
Amanda: Yeah. Yeah.
Eric: That's very funny. I like the idea of being in a city and just like you can't sleep! Go do some shit for four and a half days. That's how I feel, playing with Dungeons & Dragons. It, it's pretty impressive. I, it's really, really cool. It's funny how this kind of just like, started as a thing that Brandon and I ended up talking about drunk at a happy hour for a job that we hated.
Brandon: Drunk and concussed. You always got to, you always got to say the concuss.
Eric: That's right. I was concussed, Brandon was not.
Brandon: That I know of, at least.
Eric: Yeah, Brandon got hit by a car after that unrelated to us talking about this. And now--
Brandon: Who was that? It was Anthony Burch driving?
Julia: Woah!
Eric: In from the future. So yeah, it's wild that we, we've made nearly 9 days of audio. It's pretty wild.
Brandon: I'm pretty proud--
Eric: I think forget--
Brandon: --a lot of audio.
Amanda: I am proud of us too. And that reminds me in fact, of the group bonding activity that I sprung on you guys before we started recording these final episodes. We did both episodes, 57 and 58 in one marathon session. And before we started, we had a little candle lighting ceremony. And Julia, would you tell everybody, former theater kid that you are and that I am as well, what we did in high school? That was the candle lighting ceremony?
Julia: Basically, at the last performance of a show the closing night of a show, everyone would get there early, you would go into the auditorium, you would shut off all the lights. You would like usually plastic candles, like fake candles, not real candle.
Brandon: And kiss.
Amanda: Yes.
Julia: Sometimes you would--
Amanda: And know Brandon, the kissing was later at the cast party.
Julia: Yeah. And so basically, you would go around a circle and tell like what your favorite experiences were of the show. Like something nice that you liked about something that someone did. And just like, it, it's a very much like, [singing] as we go on--
Amanda: Yup!
Julia: --we remember, moment for everyone.
Brandon: Everyone's dressed up like vitamin C, it's wonderful.
Amanda: And we did that before the final recording session. Just to remind each other and ourselves what this experience has been like, and what we love about each other. Brandon, Eric, was that was that okay for you?
Brandon: It was a struggle. I did have to go on a emotion walk afterwards to just sort of like shed it off of me. But I got through it.
Eric: Just like all the times, Amanda asked me if Aggie can talk to her family. It was sprung on me at the last second. And I was more, I was very nervous about my notes. So I had to go last and I had to think about it. But it was it ended up being very sweet.
Amanda: Good. I thought it was lovely. And I highly recommend it to anybody finishing a momentous occasion.
Brandon: Yeah, it was, [whispers] it was actually wonderful. Don't listen to me. I'm just being an asshole.
Amanda: Good. Well, speaking of, of things you sprung on you, of course. Let's get into Episode 57. All stuff that happened before our big fight, where Milo was passed out on the floor, napping and watching Ozark sideways on an iPad. Val was making Ragu out of everything in Aggie's cottage. And sorry, Eric, I, I once more wanted to meet family members unplanned. Sure seemed like you plan it out. So sorry, slash. How did you come up with the idea for that sub-basement?
Eric: I just need to say not truly 90% of the interactions, Amanda has asked to have with her family for Aggie and her family. I have not planned, I have not had something to do unless there was like them reaching out to her. Which I think it's fair because I intentionally was like, poking you and your family button. That I just needed to come up with it at, at the time.
Julia: It's a very sensitive area. Don't poke it.
Eric: Yeah, it's bruised.
Brandon: Where's that button?
Eric: It's bruised. I shouldn't be poking it.
Amanda: Where is, where else? It’s on the tum.
Brandon: Is on the tum. What am I thinking?
Julia: The side tum.
Amanda: Side tum, side tum? Oh, yeah.
Eric: So I was like, Uh, okay. And then I had to, I kind of just wrapping things up, and, and I thought it was funny to kind of tie back all the stuff that had happened with Hank to this. Or that, but of course, they would just have like, secret documents that were kind of left out.
Brandon: Wait, so you didn't plan that in advance that document thing?
Eric: No.
Amanda: You keep saying that, Eric. And it seems like I know you're not lying, but it just, it seems like a lie! Because it, it seems so seamless.
Julia: It's almost like Eric's a good DM, guys, like weird.
Eric: Dadadadadada.. Dadadadadada..
Brandon: Like that was such a, such a like necessary, like part of the plot. Like, I felt like that was important to the story. And you're just like, what? This is why I get mad when you tell me you don't have notes!
Eric: This, this is also why I don't like saying it because it ruins the magic. Like, the magic, you wouldn't have known. We had ended up having that longer conversation. And this is also like, listeners wanting to figure out where things are. Because like, you know, we do so often so far in advance that it is we need that separation. So like, don't tell us what’s missing. Because we might have moved on by that or that, by that point. But I feel like we had been talking about this a lot from the how fast the escape was from the basement of the OTA. And that was because January needs to show up because that went into direction I was not planning. So we had to get out of there as fast as possible security system was on, let's just fucking get out of there. And like, yeah, you could have looked around. And there were more documents. But I thought that there was a, there was a hole there that we didn't get a chance to talk about. And I thought it would be funny if it was in Aggie's parents' sub-basement that they dug themselves. So the other thing was like you were so suspicious of your parents. And I'm like, no, your parents are just, just doing stuff. So when, when you were like, who's the contractor? Who is it? Your mom would not remember the name of the contractor. You all know your mom, like you don't know name.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: So I was doing that you were so, you were so suspicious of it. So I'm just like, I, I can only tell you what, what exists. And your dad spoke for the first time, face, not to the side on a phone conversation, which was funny. That's what I like about playing these types of games in episodic tabletop RPG is that storytelling truly is one after another. Oh my God, there's a hole here, I'm gonna fill it in. But I had to figure it just like come up with it. I was looking at my notes and being so freaking nervous what were you doing. And then you're like, Hey, can I do something you haven't planned for, okay?
Amanda: Sorry.
Brandon: So did you make up that basement thing off the, off the top of the dome too?
Eric: Yeah. So when you asked to go over there, I knew you wanted to check if they were pixeled, right?
Amanda: Yes!
Eric: And I had fast forwarded through some other stuff like, Hitomi, not pixelated, whatever, right? Milo's friends not pixelated. I but we didn't have to make them show up. It was like whatever, you know. So I knew that I wanted to like if you were going to intentionally check, and especially because, Julia, you had said, while they showed up at some point, so we don't know. I feel like Aggie's parents were the only one who would like it wasn't like intentional. Like kicking you in the gut, fridging your loved one, you know what I mean?
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: So I wanted to explore that. So you want to over there. I'm like, all right, they're not going to be there, because it's very strange. And you rolled really well. And then I wanted to have the dexterity saving throw to really freak you out. And I'm like, okay, they're gonna be, there in a secret basement. And we and then we kind of just went from there.
Julia: Eric, can I backtrack slightly?
Eric: Sure!
Julia: Going back to the OTA. And like how we had to kind of get rushed out of there because the security measures were going down. Can you tell the listeners about the nightmare that you had a few weeks ago?
Eric: Oh, yes. Oh, my God. I texted, I texted this guy who put this in our Slack channel. I had a dream that Brandon rolled a Nat 1 in the OTA.
Brandon: Oh, yeah.
Eric: And then Milo got arrested and went to Superjail. And then we spent 5 episodes trying to break about of Superjail. And it was like, it was like non-sequence gameplay. Like, I was playing like an hour with Brandon, and then an hour with Julia and Amanda. And I'm like, Oh, I guess this is going longer than, than what I thought. And I, we were already done by then but I was, I was very nervous and I was like about that.
Brandon: Here's the thing, Eric, that wasn't a dream. That was a fucking time loop. It's a time loop--
Amanda: Ohhhh.
Eric: Heeeeee!
Julia: Time loop, real life time loop.
Eric: I am gonna come back to that. Because that, that brings up a point I was thinking about, and I want to talk about this later. But like, the reason why that was in my head is like, Friends at the Table deals with that a lot. They don't know when the end of their campaign is going to be. So they're just like, oh, I, we're 10 more episodes, I guess we're doing in this thing. And that's what they're dealing with right now. So I think I have that in my head. And I've been thinking about them a lot about like, the way they record finales. Like how they just kind of like suss it out as it goes. And like record stuff and put stuff back in and cut stuff and add stuff. And that's something I've been thinking about quite a lot as we've been exploring these episodes and there's a part in the finale that I want to touch on that, that I tried to implement that. And that's why I had that dream. So Austin Walker, it's your fault. That I, I freaked myself out in the in dream.
Amanda: And hey, we do know what's happening next. So stick around, that'll be revealed later.
Eric: Oh, what a tease!
Amanda: Afterparty! Sorry folks lot to get through. Eric, all of us would like to know, I think. Where did you get the idea for our temptation letters? How long have you had that one up your sleeves?
Eric: Yes. So the whole thing, you know, Gutenberg so rich, he can do whatever he wants. And I wanted a final temptation here. I didn't think any of you were going to take it of course. But I did want him to know y'all were coming. And that, he was going to do once sort of like final plea to kind of like throw you off and give you the things that each one of your characters would want and hopefully would follow. I feel like the easy ones that I did was for Milo and Val, specifically, giving money to the mayoral campaign and having the government recognize Little Italy of Laketown City is like a place that we could put a lot of money towards. And then I was really proud of myself for coming up with a secret, secret Park.
Julia: I want--
Amanda: It was so good.
Julia: --to go to there.
Brandon: I know.
Amanda: I know.
Brandon: That was the most tempting one.
Julia: The rest of us were like, Aggie, if you don't take that we'll take it, it's fine.
Amanda: I know, me too. And it didn't strike me until just now that that's a really a, a preserver fantasy. And that, I think it's a really lovely kind of tie-in and echo that you did there.
Eric: Yeah, absolutely. I also want to point out that yes, Gutenberg does not know Val's name. Which is why it's like oh, I guess I, guess their name is Vulcani, short for Vul- Vul maybe they go by Vul. So that's why I had full on the, on the envelope. Which was, it was a joke for me, I think only. Once you two revealed your, your names and your faces, he was like, I don't have to look up the third one. That's right.
Brandon: I should have taken it. I shouldn't have taken the Coal Campaign and a left turn and been like, all right, now the lanes are corrupt politicians, baby, let's deal with that!
Amanda: And Julia, moss, driving the giant lobster would like to know, earlier in the campaign, Julia said that Aunt Min had told Val they would improve Little Italy, they would have turned. So what was Val feeling when they burn that letter?
Julia: So I think that that statement that I made was while Val was still under the influence of the mirror. I don't think that that's the case like later on, like, I'm not sure how long the influence lasts. But in my mind, it's like if, Aunt Min had said that specific thing in that time period then Val would have turned. But also like, given that we were like in the endgame there and Val was just like, so close to getting to punch Gutenberg in the face. They probably like, they wouldn't have turned at that moment. And Eric was right in like, saying, like, yeah, I didn't expect any of you to actually like take these bribes and leave. But I think maybe like Val got some ideas from the document for like, maybe some Grassroots Campaign stuff inspired by it.
Eric: Yeah. I think that's the thing that's traveled the farthest is Val's relationship with their family. There was very much like Ooh, look at this shiny new thing when Aunt Min show back up. Especially in comparison to Val's dad, who was kind of just like a deadbeat. We only saw him through Val's mom's eyes. And then as their relationship developed was like, No, Aunt Min sucks! like, fully sucks. So I can't imagine, I can't imagine you you ever taken that.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Very, very specific, like, look at this, this new person who's shown up and hopefully they're nice, but no. Terrible.
Amanda: And I think that brings us to the fight in the finale itself. And I think we got to start with Gutenberg’s villain monologue. Which Pizzalover346yt, would like to know. Eric, did Gutenberg have that presentation ready? Or did he just wing it?
Eric: Hmm, good question.
Julia: I also Eric, this is a question for me, because I go into a fugue state after we record or during the recording. Did you say all that to us? And I just don't remember it or did you record it later?
Eric: No, I recorded it later.
Julia: Okay.
Brandon: But also Julia, you did do a bunch of murders in that fugue state.
Julia: Oh, shit!
Eric: Yeah. You're on the lam. Is that, is that why you moved.
Amanda: Check your badge for the tattoos that, that will tell you all about it.
Eric: In a Prison Break way or in a Memento way?
Amanda: In a Memento way.
Eric: Okay, got it.
Amanda: Prison Break awfully influential on us. That really hit it at the right time for us that shortly Fox series.
Julia: Wentworth Miller is just great. That's why!
Amanda: It's true. It's true.
Eric: Gotta gotta write that down, that's a great name for a character name.
Amanda: It is.
Julia: Wentworth Miller? Yeah.
Eric: Yeah! Yes, I did not say that. That was the thing I was touching on was like, I was very keyed into my notes, especially because I was going to run a very complicated, high-level fight in a second. So I was like, Oh, shit, I have to do, I have to talk to you three before I can start the fight, dammit! So later on, I realized that there was a lot of stuff that I had planned throughout the entire campaign. About like, Gutenberg had his hand on the scale the entire time for nearly everything that happened in this campaign. And I wanted a chance to reveal that to the listeners and not necessarily to you three. Because I don't think you would have cared and Brandon would have yelled at about minute to--
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: --say, "Shut the fuck up! I'm gonna kill you!"
Julia: I did see someone's reaction, which was like, I'm surprised Milo hasn't interrupted yet.
Eric: Yes. So--
Amanda: Post production!
Eric: So I really wanted to make sure that that was clear to everyone about like, the villainy that was happening here. And how much he was like a villain who always was involved even early It's like move to game peace forward. Even if y'all won. I was also very nervous the entire time of making sure that like, the villains and a superhero story have intention, and like you're doing something, and I realized I left that out. So that's why I wanted to do that later. So I wrote it, and then put it in there. Brandon, we worked together on it. And it was also nice to like, we didn't have to do a recap. Because that was the recap of the entire campaign. Which I thought was really cool doing something different. But yeah! No, I was really interested. So I feel like he knew we all were coming. So he had prepared that slideshow.
Brandon: I thought it was fun. Because I, I don't know, this might be too subtle for a lot of people. But like, in the beginning, I sort of had Gutenberg's voice as if it was talking to you. So like, you're, you as the listener questioning whether or not it's Eric and or Gutenberg talking to you. And then Eric, the narrator comes in and like confirms, oh, this is Gutenberg. Here's the situation. And then we swap it back to like, institute, which I thought was fun. I also want to say, no, it's caught this yet, but like, we didn't have a super exciting end to the Episode 57. And so when I yelled, "Fuck you! I'm gonna kill you!" That was not small, yey. I just cut it to put it in front of Gutenberg at the end of 57, because I needed a button.
Julia: I, I did notice that, I was, Ooh, Brandon, very sneaky. I love that.
Amanda: I love it. People pointed out that it really had some Tracy energy of Zale at the end of Campaign 1.
Eric: Yeah, no, this is it's funny that we usually don't record two episodes in a row. So I was just like, we gotta get it. We got to do it. And I, I guess I wasn't even sure where this was going to end up. So like, sometimes you got to put endings into podcasts when they don't happen, you know?
Brandon: I also check your, your line when we rolled initiative that little like gleeful hihi was after you ministerial initiative. I threw that at the end too.
Amanda: Oooh.
Eric: I like that. No, that's really good.
Amanda: I love that.
Eric: Yeah, that's the ma- hey, magic of podcasting, baby. We're making something good for you, regardless of what we record in the room.
Julia: Too true.
Amanda: Speaking of references, Rhiannon would like to know, was it a deliberate one-up mushroom shit post reference from Gutenberg when he said, “You cannot kill me in a way that matters."
Eric: Yeah, that's from a really old Tumblr post about someone like someone like confronting mushrooms and realizing that like they live and die of like, yeah, with a mushroom with a fucking knife. Yeah, that was a reference to the mushrooms. Because of course, it's been a big thing in our campaign. And also, that was foreshad- that was foreshadowing.
Julia: Hmmm.
Amanda: That's true. That's true.
Brandon: Kind of quickly Google mushroom, Tumblr.
Amanda: Yeah, it's a good post.
Brandon: Kill me in way that matters.
Amanda: So let's get into some more fight particulars. I was startled, listening back at how badly I rolled in trying to distract the Sommelier and get her out of the way. Eric, I would just like to know, was there like any DC? Was it like a low DC or was there no DC in convincing her to walk away and I just literally failed?
Brandon: I also just want to acknowledge real fast, Amanda, what the fuck happened to your rolls in the last like, quarter--
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: --of this campaign?
Amanda: I don't know, Brandon. They were more erratic than I've ever experienced.
Julia: I think we've all spent too much time around Brandon. And our rolls--
Amanda: Are possible.
Julia: --pay off.
Amanda: Possible.
Eric: I think I want to flip that around on the three of you. And say, after you had a conversation about Milo's murder vengeance. And then the Sommelier had showed up. Like, were you expecting that to happen? And how did everyone kind of like, deal with that as it showed up? Because I was very much like, in the moment of the character, so I didn't get a chance to like, think about what y'all were doing.
Amanda: I certainly didn't expect it. And I appreciate it, Brandon, that you left in my real kind of like heavy sigh and deliberation. [Brandon chuckling] In thinking about whether or not to include her on the text message, which was very soon rendered totally moot. But you know, Aggie was in that moment choosing Milo's loyalty over thing that she thought would be strategically helpful. And then for this rally to show up, it was kind of like, okay, decision made for me. I know how to deal with this now.
Brandon: Yeah, I have super appreciative that, Aggie relented. But I didn't expect Sommelier to show up in some form. But what I didn't expect was Sommelier to show up and be like, Yo, this is just a job. Like, please don't kill me. Like, I don't actually, I thought, you know, she was going to be like, big bad number two.
Julia: No, I, I was actually really excited that we got to learn more about the Sommelier's motivations.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: Which I feel like, up until that point, we really didn't know a lot about her. Other than like, this is a job and I'm taking it for the money. And now we like kind of know why she's doing that and it's fascinating!
Amanda: I can't believe looking back that we met the Sommelier in an Entanglements episode, just in the admissions office at SUNY LTC. Just pulling shit out of her body through her mesh cuts. I’m very, very happy that she, you know, looking back became a bigger part of the campaign.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Absolutely. Listen, that's the beauty of those Entanglements, you never know who's gonna show up. The actual big bad was the group of thieves who are based off of Space Jam on the Harlem Globetrotters. When actual big bad, cannot remember them, I can probably look it up my notes. That's true. You sometimes made us pass through, they pass through like ships in the night. Yeah, I thought it was really important just to go back to your original question to make the roll low. I mean, like, the Sommelier walked in there and was like, Oh, you guys are gonna fucking wreck shop. Especially if I don't take the other side. It might be more of a fair fight if I'm on the bad guys' team. So I'm just gonna get out of here. Gutenberg probably paid me 50% upfront. So I'm just gonna fuck in peace. And it helped that I, Val, and Milo were already in there beaten stuff up, and it was Aggie. Because you were very clear about what happened. You relented immediately after the Sommelier said, this is my shit. You're not just because you have the moral high ground doesn't mean that you're right. And you're like, yeah, no, that's a good point. So like the roll, you already said the thing that would have went well, in that conversation, the roll was just about the number of attacks. That Sommelier would do to like, sell it a little bit. And if the Sommelier was gonna do it right to your face, which is why you got hit twice. I need to remember your goddamn character sheet because you’re resistant to poison. That's on me. Yet, yeah! That's why that happened.
Julia: All the whispered conversations between the two of you in character were hilarious.
Amanda: Thank you. Like I thought while listening back and then promptly said on the podcast. Which happens so often, it, it's such a funny part of being a podcaster. I'm just glad I got to use Purity Body one time in this god damn campaign.
Julia: Yep, yep.
Amanda: Let's talk a bit about the N64. I thought when that came out of the Eternal Engine, that was like a shining moment during the campaign. That's when the stakes felt so high for me is when we first encountered the power of the N64 and the turning back. It reminded me of the time loop. And it really just made the fight feel weedy in a way that I knew before it had plot weight, but then I was like, Oh, shit, like, how are we going to do this? Brandon and Julia, how did you feel when the N64 revealed its power to redo stuff?
Brandon: No, no, no!
Julia: No, no, no!
Brandon: No, no, no!
Amanda: No, no, no, no!
Brandon: Oh no, you're cheating!
Eric: Would you like me to read out all of the enemies that came out of the Infinite Creation Machine?
Brandon: Yes!
Amanda: Yup!
Julia: Were there some that never came out that we missed?
Brandon: There must have been, right?
Eric: No, actually.
Amanda: Ohh.
Julia: Oh, we got a problem!
Eric: So this is also a thing that I, I, first Infinite Creation Engine, someone pointed out and spelled out ICE and you guys destroyed it, which was very funny.
Julia: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Eric: I did not think of that. So the, that was how I was keeping pace in what was happening here. Because there were three different folks, Gutenberg, Triplicate, and then the enemies that were attached to the Infinite Creation Engine. So the first one was just straight up Ma. It was his Ma showing up again, doing some big ICE stuff. Julia, I would love to have a conversation about how much you hate me after ruining your, your day in two very, two ways. The Gigabear with ice fangs. Of course, the sentient N64 was in the middle. So something I wanted to point out was that it started getting weirder. From this point, it was like straight this was a recreation of Ma. Then there was like a slightly stranger version of the Gigabear. A perversion of, of John Paul and the N64. Whatever the fuck was going on in my head for Big Pain. And then finally the giant yarn bird with the actual yarn organs inside of it.
Amanda: I maintain, I want some yarn, awful! If somebody crochets or knit, I would love just like a yarn intestine, please.
Brandon: a yarn kidney.
Eric: Ohh that actually--
Amanda: Yeah!
Eric: --sounds really comfort.
Amanda: Right? So cute!
Eric: I want to wear a yarn ribcage on my head.
Amanda: Ohhh.
Eric: So yeah, I was using that as a way to keep pace as like, Y'all were doing damage to Triplicate and Gutenberg. Because like, the thing I, is that I was able to like a Pokemon trainer, recall enemies as they stepped back in and so I use that to my advantage to keep introducing characters, keeping pace, etcetera.
Amanda: So this was a question that came in from Molli, Wife of Mirrors, just excellent. Eric, how do you, as a DM balance the N64's ability to make players redo an action without making it feel unfair? Players, did it feel unfair? Generally, how do you balance abilities that have the potential to feel cheap or unfair to your players? Great question, Molly.
Brandon: No, no, no!
Eric: No, no, no! I think when you're using Homebrew, the more you stick to raw, just the game the mechanics of raw, the less likely you're going to piss somebody off.
Amanda: What is raw made?
Eric: Rules as written.
Amanda: Ahh.
Julia: Ahh.
Eric: Like the actual game mechanics in the book. So I'm like, Alright, these are always going to be reactions. So I want to get one per round. And then I can do something else bonus. But like, where I get an extra one. So I would never do that to you more than allowed. For example, you know, if you're playing in your game and a wizard uses Counterspell, three times and around. You're going to be like, hey, wait a fucking second. You want to get one reaction, that's not fair. But that's why, that I only used it once. But I tried to use it as much as possible, especially as he came all the way back around. And we went through like, you know, 6, 7 rounds of combat. So it kind of refreshed pretty quickly. Because of the way the Infinite Creation Engine could Pokeball and swap folks out.
Julia: I recall, like, in the moment that I was frustrated with the N64. But I didn't feel like it was unfair, because I realized you were only doing it once around and realized it was kind of a reaction. Listening back, I was like, I could have just destroyed that thing. Like the first round. Why didn't I fucking do that?!
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Pull of a one-track mind.
Julia: Yeah, I was like, I must punch everything. But this tiny machine.
Amanda: It really felt like there were so many steaks and so many things to put out. Like those drones with the electrical wires knowing that Gutenberg was ultimately, as long as he was attached, at least in my mind, new enemies could spawn. It just felt so high stakes to me. And I think Brandon did a great job in the edit, giving us a real kind of like pacing and power. But at the time, like, it felt so satisfying, because the fight felt almost too big to win, but not quite. And I think that's, I don't know, Eric, how on earth you kind of prepare for that or, or plan for that. But it felt so, so right.
Eric: Listen, my biggest advice when you run combat? Get someone to edit it. [laughter] Greatest advice. Yeah, I think also I the N64, although effective, also was being a real dick. Like I took Julia's--
Amanda: Sure!
Eric: --break away just--
Julia: You just makes break away.
Eric: --for fun. Just 'cause you still did damage and you still hit anyway. But I feel like that's what the, the ve- the type of enemy the N64 was, was just like to bother more than to do effectively turn the tide of the fight.
Amanda: So I'd be a little philosophical, but maybe playing D&D for a podcast in some ways is easier than doing it at home. In the specific aspect that all four of us know that ultimately, we're trying to make the most satisfying story we can for you, the listener. I don't know that Brandon and Julia would never like prioritize of, of a cool move for themselves over a thing that is narratively satisfying. And Eric remember prioritize like, Oh hohoo, look at all the monsters I can stack against you over a story that feels satisfying and winnable to us. And maybe that's harder to do when there's no objective audience there.
Brandon: Yeah, I think when you're not pressured to keep the show or the, the narrative on track, like you definitely, for lack of a better word. Like make more selfish decisions, just by the nature of what the thing is. So I like playing D&D on mic for that reason, yeah. But you can also do that in your home. You just have to consciously do it.
Amanda: That's true.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Story above all.
Eric: True. Also, sorry, I gave you brain freeze, Val.
Julia: It's okay, that bear he, he, he bit my head.
Eric: I thought it was pretty cool. I, I did write down specifically the Gigabear. If the Gigabear hit, it was extremely bad for Val. So I knew that was gonna happen. And I wanted to point that out. I think all of you did have specific enemies that you had to deal with. The Gigabear was for Val, the Big Pain. Going back to Aggie's hate of scams wanting to talk about NFTs. That was kind of– for you trying to get being Compelled Duel the entire time.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: And then like the things that were more ranged. Like the bird trying to and the N64 to some level was trying to throw Milo's concentration off. So balancing what all the enemies were supposed to be doing. Once they had a good idea of what you were going to attack in the fight.
Brandon: Here's the problem, Eric, is when you give the N64 a hilarious voice, I'm never going to kill it. So--
Eric: And that's on you!
Julia: Maybe I liked the voice so much I want you to keep doing it.
Eric (as N64): Oh no, no, no!
Amanda: So fun
Brandon: I just have a quick question about the battle just for no one in particular, but specifically also, Julia. How long have you held a grudge against me for not healing you? Is it the entire campaign or?
Julia: You know, it's, it's never really been a problem I realized like in my fights because I'm a tank and also a Barbarian, I don't take a lot of damage. But it's just very funny because once the time loop happened and we had Multitool instead of Preserver, you were the team's healer from then on. And I don't think you ever fucking healed us once!
Brandon: You never were even close.
Julia: I know, it’s just funny.
Amanda: To be fair, I don't think Preserver did a lot of healing either but I specifically chose that class. Because early on in character creation, Julia was like, someone has to fucking heal people--
Julia: Someone has to do some kind of healing.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah.
Eric: I do think you need a healer with larger, just to, to defend Brandon from a mechanics perspective. If I was going to kill you, I could just do it with three people. You know what I mean? And like I think a healer and having someone who's devoted to support is important with four if not five plus classes. Where you have a ton of monsters, people are doing damage and someone needs to heal. If like if your glass cannon is going to get targeted. If you're like very squishy, high damage folk is going to get targeted, that's what it is. So like, I've always balanced damage accordingly. And you know, that's always been like that. We've always had Barbarians who could tank and we always had Monks and Rogues who could defend themselves. And we never had like a really, really rinky-dink character. Like, I feel like our magic users have always had some amount of A- AC. Like, that's why we've never had Wizards. We've only had Clerics and Druids who aren't so, so fragile.
Brandon: I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said about Milo there.
Julia: Not so fragile.
Brandon: He's not rinky-dink.
Eric: The nicest thing I've said about Milo is, while you have 100% of your HP back, congratulations.
Amanda: Well, Rhiannon would like to know, Eric, what are the other ways that the gang could have defeated? Question mark, Gutenberg. And was breathing life into the ice. So Rhiannon is the one with that, that initialism. Uhm, something you thought Milo might do. That was such great idea from Brandon that it felt like hacking.
Brandon: Thanks!
Eric: I want to touch on the second thing first about the Awakening Spell. That was really smart. And--
Brandon: Hey, thanks.
Eric: And we've said this a lot. But Brandon, you are very good at coming up with creative ways to use spells.
Amanda: Oh, yeah.
Brandon: Thank you!
Eric: So here's the thing, hey, to all of your GMs at home, if someone is doing something creative, and you like it, but it doesn't fit necessarily with your mechanics, just add another roll on top of it. Like just make it a little harder to do because you're trying to like use fate to make it work in a way that was weird. And you were like, you were like, Oh, what if, can I awaken this? I, I don't think so. It's kind of like a computer. I'm like, oh, no, there's a person, there's a part of a person and there. So we were able to figure that out. And I thought that was really, really smart. And it really did influence the way that the fight went because y'all got little, little month bunnies of your own.
Julia: Oh, so cute.
Eric: So when like then when the engine itself, especially after it stopped spitting out monsters, was an ally to you, you kind of flipped it.
Brandon: Uh-hmm. And my advice to all the players out there who are bad rollers is get an Amanda who rolls, you're successful you.
Julia: Yeah. That's what happened.
Amanda: Most fortuitous roll in my life, man, I don't know what to tell you.
Eric: But I think they're like, that's something that's very underrated in terms of planning. In that, like, hey, you need help doing this, whether it's your own force of will or someone else setting you up. Like those are things we can take from other game systems where you're allowed to help someone in a very more tactile way. Instead of being like, I need help, they have advantage! Like, yeah, there's a more there's kind of a more tactile, fun way to do that, like, lend your action to make something real hot happen.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: I thought that was really cool.
Brandon: Thank you.
Amanda: Yeah, and shout out to Dementia 20 for helping me really kind of like grok the, the full shape of combat and when I chose a Monk, part of it was 'cause, you know, Monks are awesome, and they're told me so and I totally agree. And secondly, I really wanted to kind of challenge myself on action economy and kind of using every bit of what was available to me and initiative. And holding my turn and, and using every inch of my movement and my key points and you know, ordering things differently. I'm sure you know there are ways in which I could have improved but looking back I'm, I know that I could not have done that in Campaign 1. And I'm, I'm happy that holding my turn and that being so, so clutch.
Eric: I have a quote here for Brandon Grugle's Twitter on February 18. "I think I just did the coolest thing I've ever done in the most fun fight I've ever played, ever? D&D is good, y'all."
Julia: That's true.
Brandon: Did I put that last thing on there? "D&D is good, y'all." Someone--
Eric: Yeah, you did.
Brandon: --of the trolls bias to Twitter, Jesus Christ.
Julia: No! No, it's perfect.
Brandon: No, but yeah, I was, I was really proud of those two moves in this fight. The, the heat metal and the awaken.
Amanda: Pen and they're both so good. So perfect.
Brandon: Thanks.
Eric: I, I want to point out that both Brandon and Julia silently flipped me off as I was describing Gutenberg re shifting the drones. Just as, it happened between Amanda yelling at me when I came for something she wanted and getting flipped off. I got a lot of negative feedback.
Julia: It was lovingly flipping you off, come on.
Brandon: No, I was mad
Eric: I can tell, I'm like Brandon, you're just gonna let you keep doing this? Like come on!
Brandon: I just wanted to explode Gutenberg’s head, let me explode his head like a watermelon!
Julia: Come on!
Eric: And take one more round, God dammit! I have to extend this fight! Come on!
Amanda: Rhiannon also asked me that I was wondering, Eric, could the gang have defeated Gutenberg too quickly for him to go into the machine? Or was it like an unskippable boss fight event?
Eric: So that was the foreshadowing. Gutenberg always had that in his back pocket as a final solution of had copying all the Gutenbergs out there which was undefeated. Which was his whole thing with Triplicate. Why Triplicate was his right-hand person the entire time? Right and copier machine the entire time.
Brandon: [laughs] Oh, no, Triplicate I got jammed again!
Eric: That's why there's one really wrinkly Triplicate the quarter, you know what I'm saying?
Julia: There's always one person in the office that knows how to get Triplicate to work.
Brandon: And they will never be fired.
Amanda: Now I'm picturing Triplicate in like pale yellow, pale blue, and pale pink, like dido paper. Feel like that like, three-sided like memo paper that you take notes on in class. Fan artists, I'm, I'm calling you, Batsignal.
Eric: The only thing I want to say is that like, yeah, you could have done it in various ways, but that's the way you wanted to do. And that's the way the fight went. Like, I can't control that, like, sure you could have decided to done a blitz on Gutenberg. Plus fire, Val holding a flame hand to his face. While Aggie and Milo defended Val's back. You could have done various things, but like, that's not how it shook out. So like, I don't have control over that. I think that's part of why D&D is good, y'all.
Julia: D&D is good, y'all. Brandon Grugle, 2020.
Brandon: God damn it!
Julia: 2, forgot what year it was.
Amanda: And then, of course, we get into the final minutes of the campaign. Okay, where to begin?
Eric: Can I admit something?
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: To the, to the audience?
Amanda: Oh, sure.
Eric: After the fight, the only thing I wrote down is the Infinite Creation Engine goes into overdrive. Final copying plan beginning with a progress bar.
Amanda: What?!
Julia: That’s it?
Eric: That's so, those are my, those--
Amanda: Alright!
Eric: --are my last notes.
Amanda: What?!
Brandon: God. I just got an ulcer.
Eric: So I very much had it up to you. It changed, this change because there was a Dr. Morrow, alive Dr. Morrow in there. So I'm glad I didn't write anything down. Because it was a different kind of thing with Dr. Morrow, guiding you to what you were supposed to do. So whatever, you know, like I didn't know what was gonna happen. It was whatever, whatever you want it.
Julia: I have like anxiety now knowing that. I'm like, anxious. I'm like, that's all you wrote?
Brandon: Same.
Julia: That's all you wrote?!
Amanda: Well, that makes me, that makes me stressed, and really, really damn proud of you, Eric.
Brandon: Well, I'm glad that we had a player who welcomed the sweet embrace of death suddenly.
Amanda: Okay.
Eric: Is that you, you mean Milo?
Amanda: All right. I feel very conflicted about this. Zach, the MultiDad, Moderator Extraordinaire would like to know, in all caps, by the way, WHAT WAS THE SECRET? WHAT WAS THE SECRET?
Eric: Do you want to say it?
Brandon: Oh!
Amanda: Sure!
Brandon: Oh, oh! Or I will suggest this to you, it's in the episode. It's just real quiet. So if you guys--
Eric: Ooooh.
Brandon: --distract it, you can hear it.
Julia: Oh, but Brandon, that means I'm the only one on the call that doesn't know.
Amanda: Eric pointed out to me that I still had two key points left on my character sheet. Which I think I would have. I may have also realized, but you pointed out to me that I could just stretch and that the weight of my body could make it happen. Even though both Val and Milo succeeded in trying to grab my legs.
Julia: Yeah. Because Brandon and I were just like, we're not letting you do this. No! Unacceptable.
Brandon: No, we're not a discussion!
Julia: We're not gonna sacrifice Aggie in the finale.
Amanda: And listen, I honestly it felt like listening back I got like a hot flash of anxiety that it was selfish or scene-stealing in some way. Like that's, I don't think the kind of, I don't know, person I am or player that Aggie is. But it just it felt- it felt so right. And I don't know how much more to explain beyond like, it felt right. I think it's ambiguous. I think only one of us is elastic enough to put the entirety of her body into a machine and keep her ankles in the ground. And I don't know exactly what happened after and I, I love that the ending leaves that ambiguity.
Brandon: Yeah. It was not scene-stealing just--
Julia: Yeah, not at all. I think that the reason that Brandon and I both reacted that way in character is because we never would have let Aggie make that sacrifice on her own.
Brandon: Yeah, totally.
Amanda: Totally. And Maaike.kool, would like to know, how did the group feel in that moment? How did you feel about that ending?
Julia: Oh, I was very nervous for you and I didn't know what was gonna happen. And I was still like, and we could talk about this, which is also a question. Which is basically like, what would you have made? And I was like, I had choice paralysis. I didn't know what decision to make. Every time I like, made a decision in my head. I was like, no, but here's the way that Eric can monkey paw genies wish that and turn on me. I was like, I don't know.
Brandon: My main feeling was, hot damn, I don't think Season 1 Amanda would have made that split decision. So like, I was thoroughly impressed and in awe and sad that your character is dead and ripped in half and bleeding on the ground.
Eric: I would also say Preserver would not have made that decision.
Brandon: Yeah, that's true.
Amanda: I think so too. Guys, what would you have done? I know we kind of threw around some ideas and we can talk about the stretch card. Which Eric just fucking came up with in his brain on the fly, God damn you. What were you thinking? What would Val or Milo have done if they were the ones who got to kind of tip those dominoes in the machine?
Eric: Well, well, first I want to before, I want to say that. But also, thinking back on it, do you have any other ideas other than throwing yourself into it? That was the thing that Dr. Morrow inside the machine thought.
Amanda: Can you tell me there's another way?
Eric: I know! It was open-ended. I'm asking--
Amanda: Yeah, yeah.
Eric: --like, were there other, Were there any other ideas that you had?
Brandon: I mean, no, I knew one of us would. I mean, this is, I guess, naive me when I was thinking Eric had notes. But I was thinking that obviously one of us needs to hop in, and you were making it pretty clear that, they it would be a sacrifice, probably.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Ambiguous, but like, you were like, you know, Anubis wouldn't be able to help Milo in that situation, Val would probably die. And so I yeah, that was my only thought.
Julia: Yeah, I mean, like, in terms of what decision Val would have made, I, I said to Brandon, I'm like, you did a good job editing this. Because I felt completely frozen by choice paralysis. And it was like, very difficult for me to again, like, come up with something that I couldn't see, like twisted or turned into something evil or bad. And so I and I still don't think I have like a real answer to how I would have actually wanted to respond to that prompt.
Amanda: I mean, I, I can't imagine like tossing someone else in there, you know. Both because that's only thing that comes to mind. Like, you know, I, I feel like we could keep trying to like deal damage against the machine. But just narratively it felt right? And I think the fact that we did awaken it, that there was a consciousness kind of dueling with Gutenberg’s will. Like Gutenberg was there a sort of Avatar or echo of Dr. Morrow was in there. And like, it makes sense that there'll be need to be another will imposing itself on the power of that machine. And I think part of what makes you know, our small age heroes- heroes, is that they you know? They wouldn't throw someone else in there. Not least of all, because we can't fucking trust anybody else's agenda except our own. And the people who we would trust, we would never allow to do that in our places. So it, it just, it made total sense to me.
Brandon: Oh, guys, we didn't try true love's kiss.
Julia: Ohh--
Brandon: Oh, fuck!
Julia: --we should kissed the machine.
Amanda: FUCK
Julia: That makes sense now.
Amanda: Fuck!
Eric: I actually that was one of my notes that if you kiss it then it would turn into a frog.
Amanda: Kiss on the mouth.
Julia: Damn it!
Amanda: Kiss on the mouth?
Eric: Yeah. Kiss it right on, on the matte black mouth.
Julia: As we decided in the episode, it's a butt, so you would kiss the butt.
Amanda: And 'cuz it's matte black. Eric would really show that lip print.
Eric: Exactly.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Amanda hates it.
Amanda: I hate it so much. Every time a fucking influencer shows like a matte black dutch oven. I'm like, stop it! Babish! God!
Brandon: In terms of the like, solutions for the question of like, what do you want from Eric? I sort of threw out all my options. I, I wanted to do the, I probably would have done the comic book ending of put Gutenberg in a Mirror Universe where he's trapped forever. But yeah, that was my, that was my go to I think.
Amanda: Totally. And mine is very much Universal Basic Income. Like I think most of the campaign ultimately. And sort of like, I don't know, I don't want to say in expertly. But like in, in real ways is reckoning with the fact that like, you know, harm comes from a place of like, lack much of the time. And I think the, the real answer to most people's problems is enough money. And so that's, that's what felt kind of the most far-reaching and preserving choice for people.
Eric: Yeah, what did you end up saying that what you wanted just like to help people to make people's lives better?
Brandon: You said that you don't want anyone to go to a job that they hate anymore just to like survive you know.
Amanda: Where that makes the world worse. Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: And I think that those conversations with Sommelier and the kind of unfolding of her motivation over this last arc was definitely on my mind as I thought that.
Eric: Yeah. And yeah, the Universal Basic Income is kind of the thing that I thought of when you said that. And the thing that like something very material that could change, which I came up with a stretch card. I thought that was pretty cool.
Amanda: God, so perfect!
Eric: And then yeah, I said UBI specifically, because like for SNAP or food stamps, there's very specific stuff that you can only get and I was very intentional about that like you could only get like pretty much just produce. Because we, we have to impose on people who need help that they also need to eat nutritionally and not have anything good at the only. Which is wild, so that's why in the cart there were like pre-made, there's pre-made food and baby supplies which you can't buy with SNAP which is wild.
Amanda: Yeah, other, other countries maybe let you do this not this one.
Eric: No. Not in the United States. So that's why I wanted the stretch card to be. Like the stretch card has some amount of money on it that people can use for groceries specifically. But then can add on for rent and utilities and--
Amanda: Yeah!
Eric: --whatever else.
Amanda: I think like a caregiving wage and, you know, Universal Health Care, universal retirement. Stuff that people deserve and makes the, the kind of basic needs of life taking care of.
Brandon: Julia, did you have any ideas about what you would have chosen? Or--
Julia: No, I still have choice paralysis. I'm till thinking of the ways that Eric could make it seem bad.
Eric: You see, I, I would not have monkey pawed you, Julia.
Julia: I, I know. But like at the- because I know it was like the ending. But I also didn't know like, how much was in between then and the ending. And so I didn't want to like make a decision, you know what I mean?
Eric: Yes, I will, when we get to some, maybe some who can say is at the end, I can touch on this a little bit. Maybe I'll do a little bit here. My headcanon is that it was a sacrifice. Someone who was throwing themselves into the machine, and then that's your wish like that's your thing. So like, I wouldn't have monkeypod you because you would have made a sacrifice. I think Eric's headcanon, which is not canon. Because we haven't played it. But I think that Aggie is gone. So that's why I didn't, I wanted it to be, exactly what you want. Or at least a very physical version of that.
Brandon: Just a pile of legs on the floor.
Julia: Oh, no, we're just holding on to legs. Oh no!
Amanda: Just two sneakers.
Eric: That's not canon. That is, do not! It’s what it is!
Amanda: Really. It just occurred to me. What if, what if there was some kind of like, you know, reintegration of Aggie and Preserver? Something about the timelines kind of remitted itself? And, you know, one or both of them pop back out?
Eric: Maybe.
Eric: Wha--
Amanda: What If
Brandon: What If: Dr. Aggie.
Amanda: Multitude presents, What If.
Julia: What If: Third Aggie?
Brandon: What If: Third Aggie!
Julia: What If: Third Aggie?
Amanda: Maybe, maybe.
Eric: Or maybe Quinn then becomes Multitool? That's very comic book-y. And, and, but now she has sticky powers. It's very confusing.
Brandon: Oh oh, oh oh! Are they on the same team as Milo? Milo is--
Eric: No Brandon.
Brandon: -- can’t work anymore.
Eric: No. Incorrect.
Julia: Milo retires.
Amanda: All right. Let's talk about that After Credits scene. First of all, lots of people. Brandon, how dare you slash Brandon, Thank you! Brandon, how do you, real talk, how do you decide how much of a pause to leave?
Brandon: Uhh, I mean, real talk? I, I play it back like, a handful of times and just feel it. I know--
Amanda: Yeah!
Brandon: --it's not a good answer. But like--
Amanda: No, it's--
Brandon: --I, I have like my default of like fade outs and fade-ins. Like fade-outs are generally six seconds and fade-ins are generally four seconds.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: But you just got to feel it.
Amanda: It felt right to me. And Eric, when did you decide to write this?
Eric: We had had a conversation before. Actually, I had said this on an Afterparty. We had conversations before about like, this story being over, but like Laketown City, maybe not being done necessarily. Or like, and I'm saying that like, in a storytelling way. I don't want to like, say one way or another of what we're going to do next. But it's like the city still remains. But I didn't want, but we didn't want to end it. I said that to all of you to make choices that like your story's over. But Laketown City can exist. And then I think Brandon, you threw that idea out there when we finished recording.
Brandon: Yeah, we had finished recording. It was on tape, too. We finished recording. And I think Eric because you didn't have any notes, you were feeling a little bit self-conscious, which you didn't need to of course. But like you were feeling self-conscious, like was that good? Was that, was that a good ending?
Amanda: I did too, because I was like, fuck! Did I just mess up?
Brandon: Yeah. And I think we were all- and yeah, I think yeah, remember that. And then me and Julia or everyone was just like, yeah, that was wonderful.
Julia: That’s great.
Brandon: Like, you know, here's some ideas if you want to chew on them. And like give yourself an out of like, a scripted thing, you know, but yeah, and then you came back and we're like, I have a thing!
Julia: Crushed it!
Eric: The wildest, I cannot fucking believe. I'm like, you know how we're gonna end this? I'm going to improv a scene between two people at a grocery store. Like fuck, man!
Julia: I love it.
Eric: Jesus!
Amanda: So perfect.
Eric: So yeah, it's very funny. I touched on this in the mid-roll of the episode in that like this campaign began as a conversation with the Infinity saga of movies. And like how, I, I you know, I've watched all of them but like how incredibly surface level and like capital A, American they are. And how not like specific they are, the movies in particular. And I felt like having an after credit scene was a reference to that. Which I thought was very funny. Using it in the way that it was intended, not just because like you have a big board somewhere and you have to tie the Spider-Man movie into fucking Doctor Strange. A strange, in American accent is how I fucking talking about it. You know what--
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: --I'm saying? So--
Amanda: If only get Samuel L. Jackson for like, one day in Burbank, like two hours max.
Eric: Yeah. He was--
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: --driving through Atlanta and he just stopped off--
Amanda: That's true.
Eric: --the green screen studio. So I wanted to have that as a reference to where this kind of started. And truly it was an after-credit scene. And that reference is something that may or may not get picked up. Someone else kind of like tied this to specifically comics of like, a maybe, maybe, maybe thing that may or may not get picked up. It's just like a thing you've got to throw the end of the comic. But I, I thought that doing an after-credit scene touched on that stuff.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: I mean, that's one of the things I love about comics is like, nothing's ever permanent. There's always like an out that you can take if you need to or like for 40 years down the line a new writer can take the out, you know.
Julia: No one stays dead.
Brandon: Exactly. So I think that's, you know, if we're making a comic book, it's necessary, it's an ingredient.
Eric: Exactly.
Amanda: Absolutely. Well, you all for the final time in a Campaign 2 Afterparty, I am going to pop into the kitchen and get us some more charcuterie!
Brandon: Ohhh.
Eric: Ohhh.
Julia: I love a charcuterie board!
Eric: You thought the prosciutto was over, but it's not!
Brandon: Can I, can we get some sour beer and homemade Sour Anthony snacks, to celebrate?
Amanda: No!
Julia: No!
[Midroll]
Amanda: Hey, it's Amanda. We all say a lot of schmaltzy stuff near the end of this episode. So I'll, I'll leave most of my reflections to there. But there is a pretty fabulous moment when you realize that thinking about your D&D character truly feels like thinking about a real person that you're friends with and who you met and who has a life and a backstory when you're not voicing her. And I had that moment a couple of times here recording this Afterparty, and it's a wonderful thing. So welcome to the midroll. We have lots of prosciutto, people. First and foremost, thank you to all of the people who joined the Patreon. Some of whom joined by the way just to yell, WTF in the Discord and we approve and appreciate that message. Welcome to Catherine MAL-uh-kye, AJ murmur, Zack Z, Douglas Dreamer, Michelle MCed, Denae, Link me, and Jeff. Thank you so very much for your support. I don't think any of us are ever going to forget watching your reactions to the finale in the Discord. And it is truly what makes the show so special. I can't wait to see what all of you think but everything we have coming out over the next few months. So go to patreon.com/jointhepartypod to become a patron and join the Discord today. It is a great day to check out another Multitude Show. This week I want to recommend Horse, which was co-created by of course our own DM, Eric. And recently welcomed him back for a special episode 100 celebration. This is a podcast all about the ridiculous stories, internet drama, and the biggest and baddest personalities out there today, all from the world of basketball. Hosts Adam Mamawala and Mike Schubert. And in Episode 100, special guest, Eric Silver, want the world to know how unbelievable the history and culture of basketball is. So check it out every other Monday by searching Horse in your podcast app or check out horsehoops.com. We are sponsored this week by Backblaze. They provide unlimited backup for Mac and PC. That's all of the movies, music, photos, videos project, and data that you have on your computer safely backed up to the cloud. They have nearly two exabytes, which is a true measure of data size of data under their management and counting. That's almost 2 billion gigabytes, by the way. Backblaze runs in the background of your computer, it's running in the background of the studio computer as I speak to you right now. And it just seamlessly back stuff up. It keeps your files safe without you needing to do a thing. If you ever need to, you can either download individual files from Backblaze or restore your entire device from anywhere in the world via web access. One time I forgot a file at work and I was home so I just logged on to Backblaze and downloaded it it was so seamless. Or if you ever need to, they can mail you a flash key or hard drive right to your door preloaded with your stuff. Start a 15-day free trial with no credit card required at backblaze.com/jtp, that's backblaze.com/jtp. Finally, we are also sponsored by Squarespace, which has been powering the Join The Party website for the 5 years that this podcast has been around. And we are always making use of their new features and designs to make the website even easier to use. This is of course a beautiful platform for building your brand and growing your business online. I know firsthand that the Join The Party website was at first just 3 or 4 pages and then we started adding episodes one by one. And now that we have two campaigns in the books and even more coming up. The website is able really easily to grow with us. Making website is so easy. It's an integral part of launching a new podcast. The thing that makes it feel really real, and they make it so easy to do so. I love their beautiful custom templates, very easy-to-use SEO tools, and online stores that sell physical or digital products. So if you're launching a podcast, brand, or business, let Squarespace be your toolkit. Go to squarespace.com/jointheparty for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use offer code, "join the party" to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. And now let's get back to the Afterparty.
Amanda: Alright, guys, I'm back ready to reminisce as we go on. We remember when it reminisce a little bit about the campaign.
Julia: My, my mouth is full of gabigol.
Brandon: Anthony the Sour here.
Julia: Oh no!
Eric: Hey, we got a great show tonight, Mummenschanz is here.
[Everyone laughing]
Eric: From the first season of The Muppet Show.
Amanda: Oh my God. Okay. Mage Silverleaf would like to know, what was your favorite moment in the campaign? For me it the, the stomach-dropping moment that we realized we were in a time loop. Like it, I, I was like, damn, he really went there. It made so much sense to me why Eric was so like excited and, and giggling maniacally about this arc starting. And I was just like, holy shit, it felt like such untrodden ground in AP Podcast. And certainly in campaigns that I've played in, because you've heard all of them people. And I was, I was so stunned and excited. I wanted to keep playing.
Julia: I still remember screaming at you, you lied to me! And that was one my favorite one moments of all time.
Brandon: That's so funny.
Eric: I, I, I hit you so hard with Julia, that's too hard. Stop fucking talking about that!
Julia: So yeah, like, obviously, the time loop was a, a huge one. I was also a big fan of the stuff with Aunt Min and joined the channel. And like trying to kind of make character decisions that made the most sense for Val. And also like, big ups for the time shark, nearer and like getting to travel to another timeline. Like, that was so cool.
Amanda: It was so cool.
Brandon: I really loved, I think one of my favorite things was the idea to play the quiet year at the beginning to build the world.
Eric: Excuse me, that is the original IP RPG City Planner only available in No Capes, it's available on Join The Party merch store.
Brandon: I'm sorry, I won't get you sued. Let me rephrase, the generic board game that we use to play what, you know what I mean. Yeah, I just thought like, it was really nice, because we started the campaign already invested in the place and having a feel of the lore of the place. And like all those things that you, you have when you live in a place for a long time. And things that you discover along the way of a campaign, but we already had that. So we automatically already like felt like part of the city, which was great.
Amanda: Totally.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: I, I also love during the paper course.
Julia: Oh, yeah.
Amanda: Oh my gosh, when the paper was so good.
Brandon: What was my guy's name? Like Boring McBorington?
Eric: Pretty much, yeah!
Amanda: Wasn’t it like Charles Charles Charles?
Julia: No.
Eric: God, I wish it was Charles
Amanda: [laughs]
Julia: Todd.
Eric: Very good.
Julia: Your name was Todd.
Brandon: Todd.
Amanda: Todd. How could we forget? Basically, Charles.
Brandon: Yeah. And then I would say I was, when I was like, I have parents and Eric was like, Oh, and then made a really good story out of it, which was--
Amanda: Incredible.
Brandon: Turning Lucas into an okapi. It was also good. That was awesome.
Amanda: That’s true. That’s true.
Eric: Oh, man, there's so many fuck. If I need to drill down on one specifically, because I have I have a lot. I, I agree, the first times, I'm going to tie this to art, two times that we got show art for Join The Party. The first was the map. And that is representative of them the work that we all do. And then running RPG CityPlanner and doing collaborative world building in ways that it wasn't anticipating. And I think I touched on like 95% of the stuff that we came up with, which I'm really, I'm really happy with. And I built on top of that with Hello, Laketown City because it felt real. I just had to like fill in the stuff that we didn't already touch.
Amanda: I was just thinking about when we got Zoey's sketches for the whole of Lake Town City and how gorgeous those character sketches are. Particularly the one that you worked with that Dr. Mactier on the Ph.D. students.
Eric: Oh, yeah, who was the we didn't even come into the campaign.
Amanda: Should have.
Eric: Would have been wild. Then the second one was the character arts that we got from Lapis Lazuli, who is, who does a lot of art for like NADDPod and Dimension 20.
Julia: And then we got Milo dump--
Amanda: Dump truck ass.
Julia: --truck ass.
Amanda: Dump truck ass! Dump truck ass!
Eric: Yeah, that's where--
Amanda: I found out a new way to start thinking our recordings, we just say Dump truck ass, sounds great.
Eric: Yes, that's how funny that was and seeing someone else taking another crack at our character characters. And then the final one is with Sarah Beras, big poster of everything. Seeing where the campaign has led us and like, especially at the end. All the way from our first characters to Emily Slaughter and Sour Anthony and like the first few episodes. All the way to Preserver and like and Threadbare and Mega Muncher and all that stuff. And Triplicate like relatively new folks. I'm really happy just like seeing all that come together.
Amanda: Is that poster available at jointhepartypod.com/merch?
Eric: You--
Brandon: What?!
Eric: --bet your butt it is!
Julia: Yesss!
Amanda: Oh, it's so pretty.
Brandon: It's, it's--
Eric: It's ready.
Brandon: --fucking Incredible.
Eric: You go buy it, link, link is in the doobly doo. Go check it out.
Amanda: So good. So good.
Brandon: Sarah is my favorite artists now.
Amanda: So good. So good.
Brandon: Fuck you, Picasso! Sarah's coming up.
Julia: Oh damn, Pablo is coming at yo' ass!
Amanda: And speaking of which Wyvern Apologist would like to know, what are the places you wish you could have explored more or even at a different time?
Eric: I wish I hadn't made Wyvern into a live show character. I notice it earlier.
Amanda: So good.
Eric: Yeah, I feel like I indulged a lot of that already in Laketown City. So go check that out if you haven't, but I'm really proud of some of the writing that I put in there. And like we didn't touch it, but like that's okay. I think the thing that made it started making me think about that was actually that live show with Wyvern in it and the Angel of Death who was also an insurance salesman?
Julia: Yep!
Eric: In the strip mall like that made me sort of think about what, what else is in Lake Town City that we haven't touched on.
Brandon: Eric, you're mistaken. It was a tax preparer. It was a--
Eric: No, he wasn't! You just don't know why, you just don't what exactly he is!
Julia: Why can't the actuary do our taxes? I don't understand!
Eric: I don't know!
Julia: It was the funniest. That was so funny. The running jokes in this campaign have been so glorious. Especially the ones between you and me, Brandon, like, in particular.
Brandon: Yeah, the ones that we were just stupid about something are just--
Julia: Yeah. The best.
Brandon: The only thing that I can think of that I would want to maybe explore a little bit more, because Eric, I think thoroughly explored most of like, you know, Lake Town City it was, was the company 10. It would have been really interesting to begin to, like, tie that into like, labor in the town and that kind of stuff, but, yeah!
Eric: Honestly, Brandon. And I'm not doubting you. I'm not making you feel bad or anything. Because--
Brandon: Did you suck at D&D, you suck at ending, goodbye!
Eric: Because Thornhill Coffee became a candy store, that was actually something I was going to pull on if it was going to be like a real Starbucks analogy thing. And there, there would have been some other some other stuff surrounding that. So I was thinking about that but then it became the kind of center point of join the loop. And--
Amanda: Yeah!
Eric: --we didn't get to explore that in the larger machinations. Like, remember that plot point about how Dr. Morrow talks to all the CEOs?
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Sage landslip said this, Dr. Morrow forced all the CEOs to move to Laketown City and to give people jobs. Like that was something we were going to touch on if Thornhill, if Thornhill hadn't changed.
Julia: Brandon, you asked me if I held any grudges against you for not healing me? Not for not healing me, for turning my coffee shop into a saltwater taffy shop. That's, that's the grudge I can't.
Brandon: I don't know why we're blaming me for this. It was Mr. Time Shark over there with his Thornhill has to change to something what will it be? What am I gonna say? A tea shop?
Julia: Eric, remind me, Eric remind me what was the prompt for that, that you gave Brandon?
Eric: It was it was Thornhill has to sell something else what it was moments ago.
Julia: so you chose salt water taffy!
Brandon: I'm sorry. I was on the moment and my improv. My improv learning, I said don't think, so I just said what came to mind.
Eric: Again, it was so funny. And again, I don't want to lay any blame at Brandon's feet. But like that was, that's what happened. I'm, I'm sorry, that's what happened.
Amanda: Now listen, Thornhill and Mayday Ark and increasing Starbucks unionization efforts, correlation or causation? Who can say?
Julia: I will say the real Thornhill--
Amanda: Was the friends we made along the way? I totally agree.
Julia: Sure. But the real Thornhill that I based at the coffee shop on and that I named the coffee shop for is now a hot sauce and spice shop. That would have been a good option.
Amanda: It's pretty good!
Brandon: Well, I'm sorry to lose your fucking mind, Julia!
Julia: Couldn't have been you, couldn't have made Astro something different. No, you had to make my thing!
Brandon: It was Thornhill, it had to be Thornhill!
Eric: Yeah, now I have to say that one's on me. I should have wrote down questions to ask you if you had got put in the water. I also didn't write that shit down. That one's on me, about my improv.
Julia: That's okay. That's fair.
Amanda: Veronica asked, if they were to put a statue in a park in Little Italy at the museum and at the nearest National Park for the LT3, what would the statue be of? And what would the plaque at the bottom say?
Julia: Okay, so mine, for Vulcani, would be like Vulcani in the middle of like punch in a bad guy. But also like holding a box of pizza and the plaque says, "Nothing is too good for Little Italy.”
Amanda: [laughs]
Julia: Vulcani 20xx.
Brandon: I won't lie I did see this question in advance and the only thing my brain spat out was, "To infinity and beyond! So--
Amanda: That's pretty good!
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: what's so funny about both of those is that like you guys are still around so I can see both of you like standing in front of your snatches, being like, and Milo being like, I worked here! That's me!
Amanda: It's my job! And I think it Multitool around. Or if not then, then hopefully the others in her stead would make a statue for Preservers specifically. And you know, either replace Smokey the bear statue or you know give Smokey the bear an Auburn-haired, plus size sidekick and have a Preserver statue saying, “Watch out for forest fires and other hazards”
Eric: Oh hey there!
Brandon: It wasn't--
Julia: And other hazards in small paranthesis.
Brandon: Hold the fuck up. It wasn't good to be only you can prevent crime or, or villains or, or--
Amanda: That's good too, that's good too.
Julia: I like Amanda's, the saltwater taffy option.
Eric: Oh hey, there, it's Ranger Preserver. What do you have to tell us about leaving trash in the florist?
Amanda: Don't smoke!
Brandon: Preservers hand also just goes back and forth to wave at the kids.
Eric: It's a she's holding the hat and like--
Brandon: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Eric: --and the hat is going through the building because you know--
Amanda: Okay.
Eric: --the hat has a blade on it. So it goes into it.
Amanda: What if Smokey had the sign for the risk of forest fire that day and Preserver had the sign for risk of super villainy that day?
All: Ohhh.
Julia: Like that!
Amanda: Pretty good. Pretty good. Abbey would like to know, Eric, what was a small moment you didn't expect to become relevant later on? And players, what was something small about our characters that you didn't expect to become a bigger part of who they were?
Eric: Oh, that's a good question. Ya'll go first.
Julia: So mine was I kind of was worried that I had lost valve. Like when I originally pitched Val, it was like, small nonbinary Italian punk. And I was worried that I lost that kind of energy early on the punk energy.
Brandon: Hey, Julia--
Julia: But then I– Thank you.
Amanda: You should wipe up immediately. But there's nothing more punk than matrimony, I say.
Julia: I will say though, that like I realized that instead of like, a, a big part of the punk community is like, literally communities like helping others being very grassroots, like volunteering your time and making sure that everyone in your community is like, safe and not in need. And I think that a lot of Val's civic responsibility and trying to do right by their communities, both Little Italy and the superhero community was something that kind of shone through with that punk aesthetic.
Brandon: Totally. There's nothing more punk than sticking into the to the man, you know?
Amanda and Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah! I do think that, that's what happened because of joining the channel. Like you--
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: --I mean, explicitly that like, if the mob is gonna move, make a move into Laketown City, then Vulcani needs to stand up, and then that's where that lead.
Julia: That happens.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: And the only thing I can think of is I didn't expect tonight to become my literal origin story. But yeah, that's all I think I can think of that was a small thing.
Eric: I knew from the beginning that I was gonna be important. I don't know when you meet.
Julia: Oh, no!
Eric: Oh, no!
Brandon: I should have known it the moment you made that voice that I was gonna get fucked up by Tuna in some way.
Amanda: [laughs] And I was like, Yeah! Are you from a big family? Irish Catholic? Sure. Six siblings seems right. And one day at home, I was like, You know what, Eric, if you really wanted to, like focus on my character, and really get to the heart of things, you can bring my siblings in, by the way, and I'm, I'm so glad that that happened.
Brandon: And then he tied all six of them onto the railroad tracks. And twirled his mustache.
Julia: Twirl that mustache.
Eric: Aggie's parents, I would say like I said before Aggie's birth is a big one. I did not know where the first NPCs were going to fit in your life. I wasn't sure how, where Emily Slaughter was going to fit in, obviously Sour Anthony, of course. And then of course, Des, Dr. Morrow, and January. If they were very open-ended, and I wanted to see what would happen next. So I would say Emily Slaughter, I did not think that she would become a foil for the three of you as someone who like theoretically had their shit together, but was much more. I don't want to say Craven but like, success-oriented, maybe?
Amanda: Yeah!
Eric: And someone who was like doing it the right way. I was not anticipating like doing that. Also, I was really proud, I think at the beginning of the article that Tegan wrote about Aggie's family in the beginning and how Emily Slaughter fit into that. I wrote that whole article out.
Brandon: It was a great article, it was well written.
Amanda: It's so good.
Eric: That was, so that was really fun. So I would say Emily Slaughter and Tegan definitely. And then, oh my God putting rose gold into fucking Tegan's backstory.
Amanda: Yey!
Eric: God I love that! That little detail was honestly, I think, the, out of all the things that was thrown off at us some details that one that rose gold used to date Tegan was the biggest one I think has the most effect on our, on our podcast.
Amanda: Honey, I'm sorry, unmasked, without warning.
Eric: Oh my God. Jesus Christ!
Amanda: But speaking of, of Emily, Wyvern Apologists also like to know, how do we feel about the LT3 upcountry keepers friends to enemies Ark or enemies back to friends to enemies back to unlikely coworkers?
Julia: I feel like Emily's fine. You know, I mean? Like she needs to be a little bit reeled in and not be allowed to girl boss as hard as she does. And I think by getting rid of Taxonomy and Sour Anthony, she's fine now. Like, because she had these two underlings. She was worse.
Brandon: Yeah.
Julia: And now that she doesn't have underlings, she's better.
Brandon: I think she's trying her best, you know?
Eric: 100% That's, that's always the well that I went to. And I guess like, I also wasn't anticipating Aggie being the mouthpiece for that. I guess. Both Val and Milo hate Emily Slaughter so much. That that--
Julia: It's like Aggie you deal with this.
Amanda: I, I felt like the, the like the, the last option and I was like, Okay, fine.
Eric: But also Emily Slaughter tried to get you to leave the team the entire time.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: I didn't anticipate that coming so that whole relationship just really developed. Yeah. a 100 I agree, 100% with, with Julia and Brandon. That like, knowing that her underlings were pixels, or that two of them were pixels and one of them was a fraud, I think really shows how success-oriented she was. Like, Yeah, I'm just gonna grab whoever I can who will do what I want. And I'm just gonna do, I'm just gonna do me. Very I, the girl boss thing I was trying to lean into as hard as possible.
Brandon: Yeah, I also don't think Val and Milo hated Emily Slaughter. We're just incredibly competitive.
Julia: Yeah! Also exasperated is probably a good word.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: You guys were so annoyed every time she talked and it was really funny. It was also why it was so funny that Val, you willing talked to Emily Slaughter and the trolley problem scene.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Which made it, which-
Julia: I did do that.
Eric: And then she fucking all mighted all over your ass. And I was like, Jesus Christ!
Amanda: Dang it! Aidan would like to know, players was there a moment where you realize you fully understand who your character was?
Julia: Yeah, I think I've, I've mentioned this before, but it's very much the Join the Channel scene and having to like, know who Val was enough to to make these like weird decisions that I wasn't anticipating. Having to make especially be influenced by the painting.
Amanda: Totally. For me, I think it was really when I saw Preserver and Multitool face-off, which I never expected to happen. And I think Eric did such a good job of kind of playing Preserver through a mirror under duress. That I saw like how different they were and where those fundamental decisions of, you know, one thing really changing. And how that made a very different form of Aggie and made me really pleased and proud and I think that those differences really allowed me to like, allow Multitool to make that kind of final daring move. Like her seeing how rigid and closed off and kind of disaster avoidant. And, you know, scarcity mindset for lack of a better, millennial phrase, Preserver became that let her kind of swan dive into an optimistic future.
Brandon: Yeah. Yeah, I think for Milo, it was really like, the moment that Eric introduced my friends. Because I think at the beginning, I just gave you like, some stereotypes of people.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: And then you actually came up with fully-fledged people. So like, you know, the moment that you introduced Lucas, I was like, Oh, this is the thing that I'm gonna revolve Milo around and then you put Lucas in danger. And I was like, Yeah, okay. And all the little scenes were like, we pull pranks on each other and all that kind of stuff. And Astros and like, I think that really cemented like, Milo is the, is the person that really cares for his friends above all. Especially because he has the literal power to do that. So he feels a responsibility towards his friends.
Eric: Yeah, I think the thing where Lucas was really pissed at you for not telling him that you had powers. And then you were a superhero, that I really wanted to hammer that home as well.
Brandon: Yeah. And I think that the reaction to Lou being squashed by a refrigerator, while warranted!
Eric: Oh, for sure, 100%
Brandon: Definitely, definitely informed by the fact that I think Milo had told himself a narrative at that point that he was the guy that protects his friends. And yeah, that threw that into stark relief that he couldn't always do that. So--
Eric: I, I also want you to know as your DM, I 100% would have had your back have you tried to kill his mind.
Brandon: Thank you.
Eric: 100% all, all of, all of the characters didn't want that. Lou was like you, this is too much. I'm fine. Truly. You saved me already. And the Sommelier was like, “Don't do that, don't kill me.”
Eric: So like, but I wanted, you know, as, as your DM if you wanted to do that I was 100% on your side.
Julia: As your friend, Brandon, I would have reluctantly broken Milo out of jail. I would have been annoyed about it. Would have had that 10-episode Arc on the side. Eric would have been frustrated with us being in jail --
Brandon: Julia, we did. We did have that arc.
Julia: Oh, no! I forgot.
Amanda: All right. Kate would like to know, “Eric, was there anything you plan that didn't make it into the campaign?” And similarly, Ralts asked, “Can you tell us about wild things that might have happened if the characters made different decisions at certain points? What notes have you been sitting on for years and itching to tell us all?”
Brandon: Open your notebook! Oh, wait, there's nothing there.
Julia: No, notes!
Brandon: Got 'em!
Eric: I originally had an idea that average bear was going to be a front for Gutenberg, which it was. Because which we explored in during the paper. And that people were going to take BuzzFeed-style quizzes to reveal what their powers were. For the folks a lot more people would not have had powers. And then they would have had the 1up mushrooms, which if they had taken one, it would have revealed the superpower that--
Brandon: Love that!
Eric: --they had done in the quiz.
Amanda: I love that.
Julia: That's why you had them in New York City when Aggie went to resolve those, right?
Eric: Exactly. But then where we figure it out. That's why Sour Anthony had them in the beginning the entire time. So I ended up, we ended up moving away from that and I think Join the Paper was a little more, I'm so happy we did that. And I was a little more straightforward. But yeah, that was going to be the overarching thing. But then Gutenberg became more of like a Gutenberg just fucking hates Dr. Morrow. And that's the motivation of literally everything.
Julia: Okay, okay.
Eric: That's the big thing, everything else I've kind of talked about. Like, you know, I, I build this episodically, I build it brick by brick of your choices. So some things went one way, something's on the other. The main thing is kind of the some of the stuff we lost in Join the Loop, that's the big stuff.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Join the loop, how we didn't get the big car fight at the auction house.
Julia: RIP.
Eric: RIP.
Amanda: RIP.
Eric: RIP John Paul. And then I ar- we've actually did an entire episode of party planning about this. Everything y'all missed in the OTA. But I'm also it's like, whatever, you know, you play what you play.
Brandon: Quick, Julia, what was the name of that game?
Amanda: Aw!
Julia: Couldn't tell you. Memento disease.
Brandon: [laughs] Look on your face when I asked you that is priceless.
Amanda: It’s a ruse, colon, a quiz about the the man behind the game?
Eric: No, that was a different, that was a different one.
Julia: Party for Fun?
Amanda: Party for Fun, thank you.
Eric: That was Party for Fun.
Julia: Oh, yeah.
Eric: That was the quiz about me. This was the fake game show that I ran about what you thought would happen in the OTA that you missed. To hate you different, self-indulgent game shows Brandon hatred.
Amanda: If you’re not a patron, you should do it.
Eric: Party planning is fun, guys. Party playing is fun.
Amanda: Alright. Alright. So, so much talk about, I can do this forever, guys. But I think a final question here from kat.rozes. “Eric, how do you feel about your growth as a DM over the last campaign? Players, how do we feel about character growth and personal growth over the last campaign as players?”
Eric: Yeah, I wrote this down. And I, I had this right in the beginning, right in the front of my brain, when Katie would ask this. I would never have done something like Join the Paper. There was definitely a big risk for me to be like, Hey, let's do this. Are you okay with us? Join the Loop was also a massive undertaking. Challenging myself to do this time loop thing when no one had done it. Except for like, the Adventure Zone, just doing Majoras Mask, which, which is, you know, great. But I have not seen this in any other way in, in D&D media. I really had been pushing myself on describing places and characters. And I think I'm better at that. And I realized how many goddamn game mechanics I invented, I think was a big thing. And the amount of those I put into fights to make them more interesting. I am really proud of myself at the final two fights of Campaign 2. I felt like it was in control. I felt like there was a lot of fun stuff to do. If you broke it, I didn't care. It was just, it's kind of just like a, a launch pad for you to figure it out.
Brandon: Yeah, I'm shocked that 5 years and I'm still, every time we roll initiative, I'm surprised by the thing that you've made up.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Thank you.
Julia: There's always something that I don't anticipate in a fight. And it's delightful.
Amanda: And I'm so proud of all the stuff that you've published as well in in about the the JTP Universe. I think knowing that people have used those materials. Like No Capes. Like Hello, like tensity to run one-shot set in our world, you know, I think is just huge kudos to you that you've made this vibrant enough that people want to set something here and gave them the tools to do it.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Thank you.
Brandon: Really cool.
Amanda: Players, how do we feel?
Brandon: Uhm, yeah, I mean, I feel, I feel good. I feel very happy about the way that I've grown since Campaign 1 in terms of a player on mic, in terms of a character developer. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to and, and, you know, as we said earlier, like, this isn't the end of these characters. So like, there still is some growth at Milo's to do of course, but like, I'm happy with this, like kind of nervous, anxious human and going from a nerdy, silly boy. To someone who is actively, actively trying to use their powers for good and like, learn how to use it properly. And like really work with the team and all that kind of stuff. And then yeah, I mean, I did the, I felt like I did the two- coolest two things I've done in a D&D game. No less in this finales, so pretty happy with those two things as a player.
Amanda: And you have a new step rabbit?
Brandon: I do. Yes.
Julia: That's true.
Brandon: That's the goal. That was the goal of these entire 5 years was to get a little rabbits--
Amanda: Sure!
Brandon: --as a brother.
Julia: Adorable. I think for me, the way that I would sum up how I feel about like both the character growth and my growth as a player is, at the end of this campaign, I know exactly where Val would go from here.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: You know what I mean?
Amanda: Totally.
Julia: And that says something both about like, how well Eric built the world, and how confident I feel about like making decisions in character and as a player. And I think that kind of just sums it up really well for me.
Eric: Totally.
Julia: I know where we go from here.
Amanda: My goal for myself in starting Campaign 2 was, the more involved try to, try to carry some of the weight take my responsibility seriously, I think was very in my head about being a new player, and learning the rules in the system and just not messing up during the first campaign. And during this one I really wanted to contribute. And I think starting out, you know, to Brandon's point with collaborative world building for Laketown City, really just set that, set that tone. And Eric, the number of things that we got to collaborate on as well, about character and plot stuff. Like the side quest with Sommelier, the time shark and getting to, you know, fully throw, not fully throw away. But getting to kind of have a soft restart on a character that I had gotten very confident. Knowing her and how to play her would have totally rattled me in Campaign 1. But just felt like an exciting way to like, try and do new things this time around. So thanks for your support. And I, I'm proud of what I learned and what I did and excited to take these skills and try something even more kind of outside my comfort zone.
Brandon: If I'm being honest, like I don't really think about myself as a player. Because I'm distracted by how good of players you two fucking are.
Julia: Okay.
Brandon: Yeah, y'all are incredible. And I am impressed every single time we play a game.
Eric: Yeah, the three of you are very good at playing game. I think--
Amanda: We already did the candlelight thing.
Eric: No, it's fine. I, I've been thinking about this a lot. And it's funny how, [sings] as we go on, we remember.
Julia: I'm gonna put that underneath, the section.
Eric: I think there's something about us being podcast native, or, or that being like the main medium in which we express ourselves. And I think we play to the podcast. It's interesting how comedians and improvers have latched on to this. And that, like, the main thing they do is make jokes. And then like, they build things around that. And I'm not, that's not dismissive. That is more like you, they're so funny, and, like, make rude jokes so much, because they're quick on their feet. And they have a lot of experience doing comedy. And I feel like we play to the microphone. And I'm very proud of that. And as obviously all the work that Brandon does, of course, I feel like that's where Join The Party lives. And I think like we, we embody that so if people want the, the most podcast, Dungeon & Dragon Podcast. The most, the most audio friendly, like that's where they come from the one we play to this medium. We don't play to D&D comedy podcasts be played to actual play game, podcast audio medium, which I'm very proud of.
Amanda: Yeah. And I think like all good podcasts, the conversation begins when we put out the audio. That's not the end of it. And I know I'm speaking on behalf of all of us when I say like, Thank you for listening. I don't know what I personally would have done for the last two and a half years that without this world to think about and escape into and build and improve. Without all of you, you know, supporting us and your messages and emails and, and Discord. Emotes, your enthusiasm, your fan art, knowing that people were as invested in this world as we were made it feel so real and makes it feel like a place that we can always dip into, and not a thing that is done.
Brandon: Totally. Yeah, I was thinking about this. And I remember that when Campaign 1 ended, you and me, Amanda and Eric, were like, do we want to do another campaign? Like what are we going to do? Do we want to do it? Why did we want to do it? Blah, blah. And we were like, alright, well, let's we want to do it. But let's only do it if it's not fantasy, and we get to play like real people. And the Mirror Universe in which we did not play this campaign is such a sick one.
Julia: Darkest timeline.
Amanda: The darkest timeline.
Brandon: Like especially not having Julia--
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: --involved in it. Like, yeah, I, I'm so glad that we did this and so happy that we have these characters and this world to dip back into. And it was just such a highlight, especially in these last like two years.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Absolutely.
Julia: And like as the the new person on the team, the new kid in the, in the playground--
Amanda: Doesn't feel that way at all.
Julia: I never felt that way. And that's something that I both appreciate of like the three of you and of the audience who kind of just like fully-embraced and accepted me and I, I very much appreciated that.
Eric: There was just one question I want to touch on.
Amanda: Yeah!
Eric: Maureen are wonderful bookie, wanted to know who the person was? Who was in the lab from the other cut away scene? That was just to signify that there was something going on with the people's river.
Amanda: Right.
Eric: And that, that is some scientists working for the people's river.
Amanda: Oh, yeah.
Eric: That was pretty much that, that's it. And maybe talking to a goon or Triplicate, or whoever over the phone. It was really just to say that like, there's machinations happening. That was the other thing that like Gutenberg was doing a lot behind the scenes when you guys were at the gala. That's why he tricked, he tricked Emily Slaughter into using that venue. He used Mr. Pinstripe, initially as Baits that was all that stuff was, was him putting the hand on the scale and that's what that scene was. I just want to clarify that, that you didn't miss anyone. It was just like people's river scientists number four. You know what I mean?
Amanda: Gotcha. People also asked after Tegan and, and if they are going to be okay, okay, here's my new headcanon, ready?
Eric: Please.
Amanda: And it is because they're kind of just rewatch Gravity Falls. I think that Tegan uses their investigative chops to find that Aggie had been accidentally sort of trapped in some kind of like mirror portal dimension. But for Aggie no time had passed. So for Aggie, she goes into the machine, you know, kind of like sets things in the right direction and then pops backed out and there's Tegan. And she's like, amazing, Dave, I was gonna text you! And you know, it's been like 5 months or something. That's what I think, that's what I think.
Brandon: And in my headcanon, we're all at, you know, want Aggie O'Hare with Tegan?
Amanda: Sorry.
Brandon: And it's just a pair of legs.
Julia: Awful--
Amanda: Alright guys, sorry, guys.
Julia: --Brandon, awful.
[Everyone laughing]
Eric: Brandon, it's just the shoes, which is somehow more tragic.
Julia: It's, it's the same event for some reason as Cassandra and Hank's wedding. I know.
Eric: A double, double event.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: Yup!
Amanda: It is, two rooms, you know.
Eric: So I just want to say--
Julia: See this, the precedes you and double time.
All: [laughter]
Eric: This is just headcanon. This is what I think, this is what we all think. When we say that Laketown City isn't finished, like Laketown City, the city, the fictional one, that extends. And regardless of other we dip back into it as a story that we tell him his microphone. That's why I wanted it to be this more ambiguous ending here. The Laketown City isn't over, even if the story ends with the stretch card. I don't know if we come back, I really don't. And maybe we do. Maybe we don't. We'll see what happens. What I do know though, is what's going to happen next to the Join The Party feed.
Amanda: Ohh.
Julia: What?
Brandon: What is that, Eric? I'm not prepared.
Eric: Brandon, I should have known that you were asleep the entire time during these meetings and you just drawn eyeballs on your eyelids.
Amanda: That's true.
Brandon: Justin Long and whatever fuck the movie that was.
Eric: Hey Brandon, what do you think about this? [snoring sound]
Amanda: Characters? Wow!
Julia: I, I like the idea that you've tied your hand like totally--
Eric: Yeah!
Julia: --system that goes up every once a while just big thumbs up.
Brandon: Just every now and again, just--
Eric: It, it's voice activated. If someone says they got your computer.
Julia: If it ta- if it hears Brandon, use them. Big thumbs up.
Eric: I love that. Okay, here's what's coming next. We ne- we said weekly, we said weekly, we are not stopping. We got three weeks of One-Shots. We are doing an Afterparty about those One-Shots, okay? And then after that, we're starting a mini campaign for the summer.
Amanda: Ohhh!
Julia: Summer!
Brandon: Summer, summer, summer time.
Amanda: What, what is that campaign called? And what is the, what is the rough theming? And is there any relationship between those two things?
Julia: Tell the name, tell the name.
Eric: It is called the Camp-paign.
Brandon: What?!
Eric: We are going into summer camp for the summer. We are doing a mini campaign, we are playing a different game. We are playing Monster the Week.
Amanda: Castle reprise. Huh?!
Eric: We, we wanted to get away from the Dragons game for a second, so for a little bit. Was there a playing Monster the Week, it's gonna be like 15-ish episodes. There's a world building episode, there's an episode zero, which we've already recorded. And we're so, so fucking excited to share it with all of you.
Amanda: Well, that perfectly map onto the summer in the Northern Hemisphere, June 15, to roughly mid September. Yes, it will!
Eric: Roughly! Definitely roughly. So please, we're not going anywhere. Get ready for next Tuesday, and all Tuesday's going forward. Monster the Week, short campaign, summer camp vibes. You're gonna, you're gonna fall in love. It's gonna wild.
Julia: Do we also want to give them a little tease about the One-Shots that we're doing in between?
Brandon: I think so.
Eric: If you want to, yeah.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: I don't want to say anything because I'm not running that shit. I'm just a player, I'm just vibe.
Julia: No!
Amanda: True. I'm going to say my One-Shot. You guys are all just cheeky little guys who love to party.
Brandon: Hoooh?
Julia: And for my One-Shot. Y'all, life in space is hard.
Amanda: It is.
Eric: It's really hard.
Amanda: So many feelings, so many, so many bright lights.
Eric: Bright lights, big city, big feelings.
Amanda: And then Eric after the campaign, we don't know what's next. We're going to be returning to a long-form Dungeons & Dragons campaign. And we're sorting out the details in the meantime. So don't worry guys, there's going to be another meaty, there will be a Campaign 3, it will start in the fall. And we're gonna marinate on like a poke bowl, we're gonna marinade. Like sashimi grade tuna. That is what I had for lunch. On a, on what we're going to do after that?
Brandon: All four of us are gonna jump into a bag of soy sauce.
Amanda: Yes!
Eric: That's
Amanda: Brandon will vacuum seal us and sous vide us!
Eric: Like a motion.
Eric: Sounds great. And I know we said it before but the posters out now, y'all go fucking buy the poster!
Brandon: Go buy!
Amanda: It's so good. Sarah Berra, you're so talented.
Eric: All patrons and make sure to check your email for the digital download of this, which you got for free. Because we hit 600 patrons and you're all amazing.
Amanda: Oh, and we did, we should give you content warning that Gutenberg is uncomfortably hot.
Amanda: So, just good luck to that.
Julia: Also, Sour Anthony is too hot.
Amanda: He is.
Julia: That was my only complaint about--
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: --poster. Which I say jokingly--
Amanda: Byron Zorn is appropriately hot. Sour Anthony is perhaps too hot. So Sarah, just--
Brandon: I will, I will fully admit that I fell in love with Tommy immediately, I'm seeing that so.
Eric: All right, we did it, Campaign 2. It's why it's so weird, this is so weird. We've been recording this. We started recording this in 2019. That was like 20 years ago.
Amanda: We did.
Julia: It's wild.
Amanda: And now that it's complete, by the way, this is a perfect time to say to your friends, I know I've been bugging you about Join The Party for months now. Or, hey, remember this podcast that I've been talking about so much. It's complete now! Whether you want to start with high fantasy Campaign 1 or modern superheroes Campaign 2 or recruit your friends to get the heck on board for the Camp-Pain over the summertime, we're going to teach you how to play just like we do every single Ark we do. It is a fantastic time, send folks to jointhepartypod.com. We're making the website even better, even nicer, even more accommodating for newcomers. So please help us out. The only way that you grow a podcast is when your fabulous listeners text their friends, dates and coworkers to come along. So thank you for everyone who has. And if you haven't yet jointhepartypod.com. Well, like Tom said he lives on in our brains minds, hearts, and podcast feeds. All four and a half days of it. But folks we will see you next freaking week with a one-shot DM by yours truly Julia Schifini.
Julia: Woah!
Amanda: So stick with us. We will see you there, we'll see in the Discord, we'll see you online. And until then.
Brandon: Bye guys!
Julia: Later!
Eric: Don't make it weird. I'm gonna miss you in this voice.
Amanda: May your rolls trend ever upward. We love you.
Eric: Bye!
Julia: Bye!
Amanda: Bye!
Brandon: Bye!