What did we miss during our time lost in the woods? Was Charles always an undead moose? Is John Bonez Bones real?! All that and more on the Afterparty!
Upcoming Schedule
- November 8: Camp-Paign Episode 16
- November 15: Camp-Paign Episode 17
- November 22: Afterparty (Eps 16-17)
- November 29: Camp-Paign Episode 18 (Finale I)
- December 6: Camp-Paign Episode 19 (Finale II)
- December 13: Camp-Paign Episode 20 (Finale III)
- December 20: Afterparty at the End of Camp (Eps 18-20)
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Find Us Online
- website: jointhepartypod.com
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Cast & Crew
- Co-Host, Co-Producer: Eric Silver
- Co-Host, Co-Producer, Sound Designer, Composer: Brandon Grugle
- Co-Host, Co-Producer: Amanda McLoughlin
- Co-Host, Co-Producer, Editor: Julia Schifini
- Artwork: Allyson Wakeman
- Multitude: multitude.productions
About Us
Join the Party is an 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. Hop into the Camp-Paign, our Monster of the Week story set in a weird and wild summer camp, or marathon our D&D games with Campaign 2 for a modern, sci-fi superhero game and Campaign 1 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 where we only saw each other in Meet space just a few weeks ago.
Julia: Oh my gosh we did.
Brandon: Woah. What? Why?
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: What were we doing? I don't remember.
Eric: Pie eating contest.
Julia: Oh, yeah, that was fun.
Eric: Yeah, it was good.
Julia: It was a good time.
Eric: Yeah, I learned that Brandon is actually has a human form. And I was pretty excited about that. I thought he was kind of just like, you know like it ghost Pokemon where it's ambiguous, but he's a real person.
Amanda: Yeah, I verified that Brandon has no smell. Yeah.
Eric: Oh, god. I forgot about that.
Eric: I saw Julia's hair in person, that was neat.
Julia: It was great.
Amanda: That's true. Even better on the video.
Brandon: Julia's hair looks even better in person.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: And Amanda, you were there? I was there.
Amanda: I was there.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amanda: I wore white after Labor Day. Embarrassing.
Eric: That's pretty ru–that's pretty rude of you.
Amanda: Because there's not, there's not enough time on the clock to talk about Eric's and my tight nupts. That’s our tight nuptials.
[Eric laughs]
Julia: Oh, I hate that. I loved your wedding. I hated that.
Amanda: Thank you.
Eric: Our tight nuptials feels worse.
Amanda: Our sick nupts? Is that better?
Eric: Our-our great nupts.
Brandon: I like that, keep saying that Amanda.
Amanda: Thank you, because we had an incredible event filled three weeks of Join the Party. So shall we talk about it?
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: We shall let's go. What happened? We've been away for nine weeks.
Amanda: Let's talk about it. So the first thing that happened no big deal was the conclusion of the Woods Arc, where of course Les challenged the head of the faries to a fairy decathlon, and other kinds of things happened as well. So let's get into it. First players, and Eric, any thoughts and feelings about the Woods Arc as a whole in the last afterparty, we're like, you'll see what happens. So what happened? How do we feel about that arc?
Julia: It's scary, I also think– it was scary. We were in the woods and we were lost and it was scary. Okay.
Eric: I'm gonna start, I'm gonna start using that as a pull quote for the campaign.
Julia: It's scary?
Eric: Like, what word campaign three is like, alright, so in campaign one, it was kind of fantasy inspired. And campaign two was like superheroes and stuff, and Julia said that Camp Paign was scary.
Julia: Yeah, it was. I also Eric, we're going to talk about the mechanic that you didn't get to use, but I felt a little disappointed that we didn't get to really use it except for the fact that I pulled a little boy's soul a lot of his body.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: You sure did. You sure did do that.
Amanda: Let's start there. Eric, what do you have planned, and how did we fuck it up?
[Brandon laughs]
Julia: We did too good. We did too good at this baby game, Amanda, Eric didn't get to use his cool mechanic.
Eric: I know. I've heard from Brandon that this is a bad stupid baby game Monster of the Week, um evil hat if you're listening.
Brandon: Just to be clarified. Did not say it was bad or stupid. I said it was a baby game for beginners.
Amanda: A baby game for babies.
Eric: It was an easy game for babies. So you were also good at statisticianing, at statistics, and rolling a D6 to evoke what events happened. I also want to say I did not fiddle with the table on this, which sometimes I have to do because I only made like a one D6 table. And sometimes like people roll 5-5 in a row. So I didn't have to like fiddle with it all that much. But this all happened very organically, like Phoebe running into Charles, Carrie-Ann running into Steven, and Les running into Mavis Beacon. That was all very organic.
Brandon: I'm sorry, Eric. I don't mean to stop you but Mavis Beacon who teach–who teaches typing?
Eric: Yes, Brandon, thank you. Mavis Beacon who teaches typing. So that was all organic. And then the point when Les and Phoebe ran into each other with different booze that was very organic, just from the way that I'd rolled it. Because one of the things I had on here, was you are replaced with a robotic changeling. That was something that I was trying to get across because you know I–introducing Mavis Beacon first was wonderful, because they kind of established that she had this like mechanic background, this–this robotics background. And then she–there's something wrong with Mavis Beacon who teaches typing, right? And that was like the fairy glamour, which I've learned from listening to Spirits so much, their ability to like control. The Spirits podcast is a boozy dives and myths and legends from a feminist queer perspective. So I really wanted that glamour, that like Greenbrook as we saw, he's just kind of a dweep [laughs] but when he's challenged, he'll he ask to do the challenge, but he can just kind of be owned. But you know, his whole thing was control over people and Mavis was involved in this in some way. So Boo, there were two Boos, right? And that's how we figured it out. And Phoebe with decisive and dangerous action pulled souls out of people's body.
Julia: I think it's fine.
Eric: It was incredible. So here's how the robotic changeling move would have worked. If this isn't a group of two or more, swap out the youngest character. Remember, I don't remember, I asked all three of you a bunch of questions.
Amanda: Yes.
Eric: And one was about all of your birthdays.
Amanda: You did.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: And I was like, this is gonna be not good for me.
[Brandon and Amanda laugh]
Eric: If that character is a player character, pass a note to this person that says, you are now a changeling version of yourself. Act natural, but your goal is to make the other characters as lost as possible. Whenever you roll, take -3. If the other characters figure out, this is a changeling, or after five minutes, your real player can make a kick-some-ass move as the real character to break out of the ropes that are tying them up.
Julia: That's so cool.
Amanda: I wish that happened.
Brandon: Eric, if you would have given me that, I would have been so awkward.
Eric: Oh, yeah, no, without a bit of fine. I mean, that would have been great.
Amanda: But it would have been so good with your burgeoning crush that we learn more about in the errands, that would have been good.
Eric: Yeah. So if this happens to a singular person, which is or to an NPC, I kind of control it or you do it yourself. You can still pass that note along, and then you narrate them running into a different character. But then later on when you run into the field, that's when you reveal there are two of them at the same time.
Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: That's uh–
Eric: That was also possible. Um, that all changelings have the same powers in text and the character, but their harm capacity is 2 because they're just a little robots. So they got hurt, they could have just gotten destroyed. So the– I understand that this was the most um. I don't want to say boring, but I guess like hands-off version of the robotic changeling, that I controlled the NPC. I do want to say though, I did not know Boo was going to come on this trip with you. I thought I definitely want an NPC to come with you three. But there was a thing about something that happened. I don't remember because it was so long ago. But like something had happened that encouraged me that Boo was hiding in someone's backpack. And I thought that would be a funny move.
Amanda: Didn't I do my start-of-session move, and I didn't get help and I caught a mission that was complicated.
Eric: Yes, I think we must–it was that yeah.
Brandon: It was–it was Les' backpack and then Carrie-Ann like your–you were very focused on trying to fix your status with the–whatever the word is, and your thing.
Amanda: The Sect?
Brandon: Yeah, thank you.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: So because of that, that's why I put Boo in the backpack. And unfortunately, Boo was the youngest, so that's what happened. But it's still–I mean, I had a really–I thought it was incredibly fun, and I'm really happy that this happened.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah, I'm, I'm sorry for Carrie-Ann's status with their sect, but it was incredibly fun.
Julia: No, it was delightful.
Brandon: It worked out really well. Like I think like, it was a nice symbiosis of like, what the character would have done anyway and also like what the mechanics dictated, so I thought it was fun.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Totally. Carlz, chaotic entity wants to know, uh hey, Mavis Beacon is definitely the supposedly dead monster-hunting teammate of Crudo and Friday, right?
Julia: Oooh.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: Who can say? Who truly can say?
Julia: [in a tiny voice] Our first question is, who can say?
Eric: I forgot about this from last time. I think that, that Carlz got this in right after we recorded.
Amanda: In September yeah.
Eric: In September. so I really wanted to include it. Because it had–it had 16 eye emojis on Discord.
Amanda: Damn.
Eric: I felt like it had to include it.
Amanda: Incredible.
Eric: Oh, we can say about Mavis Beacon though.
Eric: She teaches typing.
Amanda: She teaches typing. Yeah.
[Brandon and Julia laugh]
Eric: I–the only thing that I wish that I could have Phoebe–
Amanda: Sorry Eric, but you got to stop. But this Julia, let me take that claim for you, so you can make it sound like I got that joke at the same time. She teaches typing, right?
[Brandon and Eric laugh]
Amanda: Okay, thanks.
Eric: The only thing–the only thing.
Amanda: Cut that out, cut that out.
Julia: She got it, she got it.
Eric: Stop being funnier than everyone else. The only thing that I wish I'd had to figure it out a way to get it across was, like say, Oh Boo was a robotic changeling. It's hard to express to someone who knows a lot about monsters that they would pick up like this mystery you do in the game. So I'm just like, hey, Les you know this. And I wish I was trying to figure out a better way to do it. But at the same time, it'd be like, yeah, that's, um, it's fine. I thought it was a cool thing to say.
Julia: It was.
Amanda: Yeah, it didn't strike me as clunky or, you know, hand on the wheel at all.
Brandon: I agree.
Amanda: We also got a lot of questions, Phoebe about Charles the Moose. So from your perspective, Julia, and from Phoebe's perspective, what was actually meeting this decomposing carcass of a moose like?
[Brandon laughs]
Julia: Emotional for sure.
Amanda: Yeah.
Julia: And I think it was actually, it was really like gratifying storytelling-wise that Phoebe at her lowest, to then got to meet Charles and feel the embodiment of the things that she has been feeling and seeing it in person.
Eric: Shout out to the dice man.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: The dice want to tell a story does as much as we do.
Julia: That was so good, uh. So good.
Eric: That was fun. Being able to do that in person was really nice. I'm just like, yeah, I'm like, I feel like I've known what Charles looks like the entire time, and I'm really excited that I got to explain that to you. And like sorry that I explained mushrooms again.
Julia: Yes I know. I love mushrooms.
Eric: Fungi are cool and weird. I don't know what to tell you.
Amanda: It's also been an interest of Julia's, and as long as Julia has been our co-player on Join the Party, mushrooms have figured into our campaign so.
Julia: I legitimately sent Brandon about six pictures of mushrooms before you guys come in.
[Eric and Amanda laugh]
Julia: There are really cool mushrooms I saw!
Amanda: I actually had a question from Paul for Brandon and Eric here about Charles which is, was Charles always going to be a Moose? Did Brandon just call a hell of a shot or did the player manifest this by referring to him as a Moose? So how did that moment go?
Brandon: [clears throat] I will uh respectfully sip my coffee while you answer, Eric.
Eric: Oh my god. [laughs] This was already back in, what was it, episode five or six when Phoebe, it was like a mystery. Charles was just trying to get her to figure out what animal Charles was. And Julia really threw me for a loop, but Julia was like.
Eric (as Phoebe): Hey, Les, what animal? What animal do you think this is? Um.
Brandon: It was, what's the top of the food chain?
Julia: Yeah, what animal’s at the top of the food chain?
Eric: Right. And I wrote a message to Brandon to say out loud [laughs]
Brandon: Yeah, Eric Slacked me. Because I was like, Oh, I don't know, like a fucking lion or some shit. And uh, yeah, Eric slacked me the answer. So I sounded really confident, but that's just called acting baby, you know.
Eric: That's the magic of editing my friends. Is that you didn't–you didn't know that I told it to Brandon. But Brandon said it, and I was, be cool.
Eric: No. But I know that–
Julia: It's the power of the edit baby.
Amanda: Jul, yeah, but look at that–that's, that's what we do. Like the whole thing of Join the Party, is we are trying to create the feeling of being at the table and being immersed in a story and telling it with your friends at the same time and it's going to sound and be a little different than the magic of being in the room with somebody. And so cutting out you know, Brandon and Eric doing this and then cutting out the minute and a half it took to do that, gives you the feeling of this like wonderful moment where you lock eyes across a table, and one of you texts each other and passes a note, and then one of you go, a moose.
Eric: Yeah. Exactly.
Amanda: Like it, it is something I really value and a part of the audio medium that I think is really exciting, is that you're all at the table with us, but the table is endlessly big and yet you have perfect hearing and what's that a view. But you've perfect earshot of what we're all doing.
Eric: This was also really important I think to Julia, to you creating your character.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Like we intentionally did the spooky and not any of the other magic classes, because you wanted like a specter out there or like a fit, a creature that was affiliated with your magic if I remember correctly?
Julia: Yes, I think I requested. I was like, Oh no, like a fucking magic wolf or something that gives you a quest.
Eric: Yes you said a wolf.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah. And that was really cool. So that's why I always knew that Charles was a moose. And that's also a thing that I learned at camp, that moose is the largest fauna that currently exists. It's like a, like a holdover from the megafauna of the prehistoric age. So I, I knew Les would know, know that fact. I wanted Brandon as Les to say the word megafauna.
Amanda and Julia: Yeah.
Eric: And that was really important to me. So I'm glad that all kind of came together.
Brandon: Did you know that Meese also lived alone, I didn't realize that. There are solitary animals.
Amanda: Oooh, I didn't know that.
Brandon: I went on a nature preserve tour thing, and they have one moose, and she lives alone. And then we didn't even get to see her because she was so solitary. She was hiding.
Amanda: That's fair.
Eric: Brandon, what is a nature preserve taste like? Is it good on bread? Is it?
Brandon: Ah, what was the other joke? That was good.
Eric: I can't– I don't remember what the other joke was, I thought I had two but I only had one.
Julia: He blacked out only remembering that.
Eric: Yeah, you're right. yeah. Julia, please cut out the 10 minutes of me staring forward.
[Brandon and Amanda laugh]
Julia: Okay, I'll shorten it a little bit.
Eric: Just a little bit.
Amanda: Brandon, I would also like to know what your and Les's plans are with your new role as president of the fairies. It was, it was basically forced on you by Carrie-Ann because she did not want it. But I am glad that you get this opportunity.
Brandon (as JFK): Er uh, the fairy–
Julia: Oh my God.
Brandon (as JFK): I can’t do JFK.
[Julia laughs]
Eric (as JFK): I er, uh want the fairies, party platter!
Brandon (as JFK): Party Platter!
Eric: It's good, that's it.
Amanda: There you go.
Eric: That's it.
Brandon: Um, I'm gonna say dirty water, platform number one. Uh, platform number two is free skies and platform number three is all the kids you could want. A child in every pot.
Amanda: Alright.
Eric: Incredible.
Amanda: Good.
Eric: I'm excited for Les to follow through on that. I had no idea how that mystery was going to end. Can I tell you? Like I knew there was going to be a challenge at the end because the whole thing about Greenbrook and, I had this all the way back from the first mystery.
Amanda: Yes.
Eric: Was that if you challenge Greenbrook, he had to take it? And I had a bunch of like thoughts that were going to happen like you could challenge Greenbrook to a–um, waterslide dive competition.
Julia: You didn't try to suggest that to us.
Brandon: That was one of them. We–that was ended up being like the 10th event or something.
Eric: Oh, yeah. And then but just like throwing the decathlon together was so funny.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: And how ridiculous it is that a fairy decathlon 11 events, I didn't–we just did that. Anyway, I had no idea how I wanted to end it. So I'm like, fuck it. We're doing an 80s Montage at the end.
Brandon: Yeah.
Eric: Sorry. That was, that was really funny. But, so I mean, you know, you don't have to, especially with Monster of the Week. You don't have to know how it ends. You should just follow your heart.
Brandon and Julia: Yeah.
Brandon: And who knows? Maybe, maybe that will come back to play at some point who can say? I don't know.
Brandon, Julia, and Amanda: [sing songy] Who can say?
Eric: Brandon, why would you lie and say we'll come back? It’s not gonna happen.
[Julia and Amanda laugh]
Eric: Don't do that.
Brandon: The F in JFK stands for Fairy.
Amanda: Ooh.
[Eric laughs]
Amanda: Brandon, I thought it stood for frog-icide, because I have a bunch of questions here about Phoebe and the frog in the Errands.
Brandon: Yeah, let's talk about it.
Julia: What up?
Amanda: Julia tells me about your plan to kill this frog once and for all.
Julia: Uh, so in the beginning of the woods, I had suggested hey, I want to kill this frog and it just like didn't really pan out and I had it in my mind that like, I don't think Phoebe would tell you to about it because she was concerned that you weren't on board as much as she was about killing the frog. And also it felt personal to her. You know.
Amanda: Hmmm.
Eric: I will say that we did entertain that at the beginning of the woods.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Like, that was all legitimate. And it's because you didn't roll well, that nothing happened. And also because you just decided to charge in, to charge into the dungeon again to see what would happen. So like that was 100% real, like we could have done something else. Or I could have like trashed that whole mystery, would have done something else. So that was all, that was all legit.
Brandon: We had like a player discussion that we just had to do something about.
Julia: Yeah we did.
Brandon: Yeah. Yeah.
Julia: Yeah. And I also I remembered something that we had discussed in a previous Afterparty. Eric, were you talking about the mechanics of Monster of the Week and how, like, the only way of defeating a monster is really like knowing its weaknesses and knowing how best to attack it like strategy-wise? So a big thing for me was, I wanted to go into the errands prepared. So you and I had a couple of discussions about, okay, how would Phoebe go about actually taking care of this fucking frogman? What kind of big magic stuff would Phoebe need in order to trap and bind and banish it?
Eric: Yeah, I actually have our slack conversations right now.
Julia: Excellent.
Eric: I guess I always ask every once in a while. I'm like, hey, if you want anything, just let me know. And Julia was like, oh, yeah, I've been kicking this thing around. So I don't know if we want to read this verbatim.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: You want me to summarize it?
Julia: Yeah, go for it.
Eric: Okay. Uh, you want to be Julia? Amanda?
[Brandon laughs]
Amanda: Julia should be Julia.
Eric: Well, Julia– I mean, I have it in front of me on my computer, unless Julia wants to--
Julia: Yeah, no, Amanda, play me.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah, do that.
Eric: Yeah. I'm going to play this as if Brandon is playing me.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: No, I'm just kidding. I–I don't have. I don't have that skill. I can't do, I can't go that level.
Brandon: That’s too many layers.
Julia: You have the range darling, you have the range.
Eric: Okay.
Amanda: Eric, should you be Julia, I should be you?
Eric: Oh, yeah. Let's do that. No. That's better.
Amanda: Let's do that.
Eric: So, we’ll get started here.
Amanda: Alright, Eric Silver at 10:14 am.
Amanda (as Eric): Hey, let me know if you want something to record something for Phoebe.
Eric (as Julia): 10:21. Yes. Hi. I want to use a big magic to summon and bind and potentially kill that goddamn frog for crimes against nature, and being a little bastard. It's how doth the crocodile time.
Amanda (as Eric): 10:27 am HA! Let's go find that frog.
Eric (as Julia): 10:33. And Phoebe is gonna make it a solo mission. Because after that pep talk from Chuck, she's feeling more confident in parentheses, (and also a payoff for her Darkside getting nastier) end parentheses.
Amanda (as Eric): 10:34 Oh, hell yes. For big magic, you're gonna have to do some extra stuff to summon and bind. What could be fun?
Eric (as Julia): 10:40 I figured. Just let me know what I gotta do, but I want to keep it a secret from the other players until the very end if possible.
Amanda (as Eric): 10:40 Okay, yeah. Okay, so the things would be one since Frederick is a house demon, It lives in the big girls’ cabin, so you gotta go there.
Eric (as Julia): 10:41 Hmm. Hmm.
Amanda (as Eric): 10:42 And there'll be campers there, two, Frederick travels with its ooze protector, so you can assume you got to deal with that. Three as a house demon, you can only bind Frederick using some materials from the house it currently inhabits, which is lucky for you because in order to keep the Camp Diogenes spirit, they use some local wood that was harvested from some fallen trees at camp. The sovaĝa tree.
Eric (as Julia): 10:45 Oh man, nature's COMING for the frog.
Julia: Yeah.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: Uh. Here's the thing. Julia, you might have noticed that, from what Amanda read was that I went oh, hell yes at 10:34. And then at 10:39 I told you what Big Magic was. I had to make it up, in those five minutes.
Julia: Yep. Good job bud.
Eric: I had to make up what you want to do. Uh. So that was, that was wild. I did not know that this was coming and I–it was just Friday morning. And I'm like, yeah, I guess here's a Big Magic ritual for you Julia.
Julia: Yay.
Eric: It was wild.
Amanda: Well, it seemed flawless.
Eric: I'm really happy with how it came out. And I–the sovaĝa tree was something I had to make up. Right at the end was that the sovaĝa tree was like a combination between a maple tree and a willow, and that was the tree that was outside of the cafetorium, but it was a hardwood tree. So the whole thing about Phoebe using the squirrel to get it down, was that like you couldn't just hack it down. Because Julia at some point said, I have a big knife and I'm like, I don't think a kitchen knife is gonna make it happen for you.
Brandon: Is the sovaĝa tree a real tree or is that something you made up?
Eric: No, I made that up. I think sovaĝa–
Julia: From his brain, Brandon!
Eric: I think sovaĝa means, if I remember correctly, tree and Esperanto or something. Forest and Esperanto, so then I use that.
Brandon: Cool. I love it.
Amanda: Julia, TJ wanted to know how high is Phoebe flying after that badass display.
Julia: So high. The best. Just– just living, living the dream.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: I just love that you were on like a, like an RPG side quest in the middle.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Or fuck yeah.
Julia: It was very important to me, you know? And I also like I said, I wanted to keep it a secret until the very end because I wanted you guys to be like, what the fuck are you doing?
Eric: Yes.
Amanda: No, it was great. And it gave me and Brandon the opportunity to talk about Les's feelings.
Brandon: Yes. Eric, would you say that Julia was on a twitch.tv/jtpsidequests?
Eric: I would say that.
Amanda: Yay.
Eric: That's good for you to say, good plug, Brandon.
Brandon: Cool. Cool. Cool.
Eric: Really quickly just before we move on from this. I was–I thought it was really funny, that like when Julia would ask me a question, obviously I knew it was coming. But like when I felt Brandon and Amanda go, what? Why are you asking these questions?
Julia: My favorite line from that episode is, Amanda going, was I supposed to have a Tuesday activity plan?!
[everyone laughing]
Eric: I know because I'm just like, Alright, I guess Springer takes off on Tuesdays. Yeah, I mean, that's justified for that all day.
Brandon: Julia just made up Tuesday, and then I just yesterday on Tuesday, and the man it was like, what the fuck is Tuesday?
[everyone laughs]
Julia: Why does everyone have Tuesday activities?
Brandon: I also– my favorite thing is that I didn't understand the fucking baking soda. Everyone got it, except for me until the last fucking second.
Eric: Yeah. It was– the whole thing was great. I was really struggling the whole thing, especially in the beginning, when Phoebe was in around the stove in the cafetorium in the first episode of the Errands when the whole conversation was Springer, and then, you stealing something from the Cafetorium and then Jennii and Conway looking at you like you're a fucking weirdo.
Julia: Fucking Jennii and Conway.
Eric: That was probably my favorite moment. That was my favorite moment for that episode.
Julia: Jennii’s out there dating a Kelpie, and is calling me weird? Fuck that.
Amanda: Hmm. Hmm.
Brandon: Kids being hypocrites, weird. I don't know.
Amanda: Hmm. Weird.
Eric: Yeah, seriously like.
Eric (as Jennii): Hmm. Phoebe's so strange talking to squirrels. Come on, girl. Shh! Shh! Shh!
Brandon: And what is the Kelpie sound like, Eric?
[Eric blowing raspberries, clip clops]
Brandon: Hey Jul–hey Julia, cut that out for me so I can put it on the soundboard? Thank you.
Julia: You got it, bud.
Amanda: Yey!
Eric: Noooo. Oh piss
Amanda: Brandon. Tell me about Les' emotional journey over these episodes.
Julia: Yeah, Brandon, tell me about Les' emotional journey.
Eric: Yeah, Brandon, tell me about Les' emotional journey.
Brandon: Well, I also enjoyed at the same time that Carrie-Ann's emotional journey sort of intersected.
Amanda: Brandon! That's fucking not going to work. You know this, Brandon.
Brandon: I'm not going to–
Amanda: You're no spreading.
Brandon: I just mean, like, we both had emotional moments at that last part.
Amanda: We did.
Brandon: And then, Les got to like put a backseat to his, and listen to Carrie-Ann for a second, which I thought was fun.
Amanda: Yeah. And I think Carrie-Ann was her most clear-eyed and listening to somebody else that she's been all campaign, frankly. And I'm giving you some advice on how to apologize.
Eric: I– I. To build off of Brandon's point, but we are gonna go back for Brandon to talk about Les' emotional journey. It was interesting because we usually don't have multiple characters in their feelings. I feel like we only have one, I can think of a lot of times in Campaign 2 when one character was in their feelings, but we finally had an opportunity for two PCs to deal with their ship at the same time, which I thought was really wonderful.
Brandon: Yeah, that was really fun, and I just love the visual that you made Amanda, Carrie-Ann on top of the slide, just like kicking her feet, you know?
Amanda: Hmm.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: But yeah, no, I mean, I think it's pretty self-explanatory. I think Les puts his heart on the sleeve. So yeah, I mean, I think like, Les has been feeling the complex child emotions of, of scared and enamored with Phoebe for the entire time, you know?
Eric: Sure.
Brandon: And I think he had to figure out what he was scared of, and why. And he did eventually and figured out that it was his own shit, you know? And not anything to do with Phoebe actually. So I think through the help of Carrie-Ann, that, you know, he worked it out and– but also being, you know, a preteen, a young, a young kid, he doesn't know how to actually like, make it better.
Amanda: Right.
Brandon: Especially–
Eric: Oh, that was so funny.
Brandon: Yeah. Especially with someone of the opposite gender or another gender.
Amanda: This is also on the heels of the, you know, terrifying being face to face with a Bigfoot-like that was the last Afterparty, but for Les, it was days ago. And so coming face to face with weirdness and kind of figuring out what you want to do, and move forward with and like what is, what is a weirdness you want to kind of negotiate with? I imagine is a big moment.
Brandon: Yeah, like realigning the priorities of like, what's actually weird, and what to trust and what not to trust. Yeah, all that kind of stuff wrapped up into that.
Eric: Yeah, I think it was fun being able to do this in Monster of the Week, because as I was saying, like, I have been trying to view this as like a season of television. And like, this is like Les' character journey, you know, as expressed in the background of a few episodes so far. And there's like, these have all kind of like, I see the path that Les has gone on the entire time. And I think that in this campaign, it's easier to put an obvious symbol down of character growth like literally, that's Charles for Phoebe. And literally, it's the Bigfoot/Phoebe for Les. And then literally, it's Avery for Carrie-Ann. Like, I've been very nice, being able to put things that are so like, clearly like, this is what you look like, and you have had to stare at it. That was the whole point of the Puzzle Cleric.
Brandon: Right.
Eric: Was like, you know, there's always those episodes of TV shows where it's like, the character is reckoned with themselves. You know what I mean?
Julia: Yup.
Eric: And It's fun being able to just continue forward with that.
Amanda: A 100%. So I think we have to relive the lowest point of Carrie-Ann's life, which is relevant to– to Director Löw.
Julia: Ohh, buddy. Oh, boy
[Brandon laughs]
Amanda: It was so good.
Eric: Nothing. I just want to say nothing is funnier. The teenager is talking to adults badly. Nothing is funnier.
Brandon: I'm curious. How did that feel for you, Amanda like, to have Eric act, like a play-acting chiding you?
Amanda: Yeah. I remember in. So in Campaign 1, I would often feel like responsible and like I had failed when my dice rolls didn't go as planned. When you know, I wants to do something as a player, when an Inara wanted to do something as a character, and the dice didn't let it happen. I felt like I had let down the party or the story by like, not let– not like helping that thing occur. In Monster of the Week, like a jazz for failed rolls.
[Brandon laughs]
Amanda: Just because I mark experience, which is a metaphor, I have a claim to my therapist a lot. But also because it is, it is just as interesting. And I am truly like, have no emotional stake in what the dice roll ends up being. And so I think Eric actually did very well, I think everything the director said, was completely justified and understandable. And also, you know, was a useful reminder, I think, for Carrie-Ann, where if the director had said, like, oh, don't worry, he's a liar. I got it. Thank you. You're the best we'll figure this out. I don't know what kind of doubt might have remained in her mind, or if she was just kind of taking it at face value and moved on with her life. But this is the way more interesting option for the story end for me.
Julia: Yeah. 100%.
Eric: I'm trying to think of how those roles would have went, is like the failure was the director turning on you. I feel like if you would roll—
Amanda: Angrying the target, yeah.
Eric: Yeah. I feel like if you rolled a success, the director would have confessed to you that the Alicanto did eat the whistle, but I feel like she would have lied to you if you had a middling success. So it's like it's kind of funny, how that's just how it happened. It's like those were the three choices, and that's what ended up happening.
Amanda: Yeah. And now Carrie-Ann is left sort of for the first time without unquestioning devotion to camp, and I am really interested to see how that goes. Not least of all, because she is faced with somebody directly afterward in episode two, who did die at camp! And Eric, my question for you is, did you plan Avery before Carrie-Ann said her dreams to die at camp, a couple of episodes ago?
Julia: Woah, oh.
Eric: [sighs] Huh.
Brandon: Also, I want to know, were you looking at a stack of Avery paper when he did, when you named Avery, or was that [laughs] ours?
Eric: Okay, so I want to touch on that first because that's, there's a reason why I did that. And I did it similarly with Mavis Beacon. There was a moment in Gravity Falls. I don't know if you'll remember, but there was a one where like they go into—
Julia: Spoilers for Gravity Falls.
Eric: That's it. Spoilers for Gravity Falls. It's, it's one of the Monster of the Week episodes. Honestly, it's either big but like Dipper and Wendy go into like the secret. Like they find a secret passage in the inside of a tree. And they go in, there's like a lab down there. There is a guy down there who's pretending to be the writer of the journal, right?
Julia: Right.
Brandon: Right
Eric: And when he's down there, they're looking around, and then Dipper picks up this like, I think it's an old frozen pizza box. And it's like for Red Baron Pizza. And then he realizes that the quote-unquote "journal writer" and the Red Baron have the same face, and it's because the guy down there is a shapeshifter monster.
Julia: Yep.
Eric: And I love that, that has stuck with me so much as a reveal and I've been alluding to it both with Mavis Beacon and with Avery, of we don't know what their real names are, because they might have responded to a piece of media, or a, or an object that had a name on it that they chose. So we don't know what Mavis Beacon's real name was. That was the whole glamour thing, was that she thinks she's Mavis Beacon who teaches typing, or maybe she is Mavis Beacon. Who knows?
Julia: We don’t know.
Eric: With Avery, I think Avery has been down there for so long, Avery does not know their own name. And that is what I was kind of, that was what I was alluding to. And I loved that, that so much, I wanted to put that final seed of doubt in your heads as you were, as you ran out.
Brandon: Imagine if Eric had named Mavis Beacon, Matt Blaster.
[everyone laughs]
Amanda: Or Putt Putt.
Julia: Putt?
Eric: Yeah, this is Putt Putt, goes to the moon.
[Brandon laughs]
Amanda: We have some excellent journalism here by, Catowl_dolls who says I looked up Avery labels to find out how old that layer, like the sticky dodges um of the wall was. So smart. Saw the original name of the company and now I can't stop laughing. Eric, would you care to own up to what you did here?
Eric: Yeah, I—
I followed up with Catowl and I looked up what it is. This is from the Wikipedia page. The company was founded in Los Angeles California in 1935. As Kum Kleen Products.
Julia: Oh no.
Amanda: With K's.
Eric: K U M K L E E N.
Brandon: KUM?!
Eric: Kum.
Amanda: Kum, Brandon. Kum.
Brandon: WHAT?!
Amanda: Yup.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: The name was changed to Avery Adhesives in 1937. Only lasted two years, folks!
[laughs]
Brandon: Eric, what did you do?
Eric: I didn't do it. They looked it up.
Amanda: Catowl uncovering journalism.
Eric: Hilarious.
Julia: You did this to yourself.
Eric: Incredible.
Brandon: Oh no. Oh no.
Eric: [laughs] Before we move on, I want to ask Amanda, how did you feel confronting a character who stayed at Camp forever? One and then two, stay to camp forever because they didn't feel safe at home. And that's what I was trying to get across. But what how did that look to– to you and to Carrie-Ann?
Amanda: No, definitely, I think Carrie-Ann's first impression was that this was a potential threat, you know that a person, a creature embedded in the walls, all kinds of tools at their disposal. Is it a threat? Is it someone who needs help? And both of those things were kind of through her mind. And by the end, you know, she realizes that Avery is not a threat. But also this is not necessarily like, you know, this could be a natural extension of Carrie-Ann, sort of dream and on the heels of being yelled at by the director, of told not to talk to Steven, of you know, so many truths being revealed and realizing that the adults who run the place are kind of just adults, and not unimpugnable gods and authority figures. It leaves her with a lot to think about. And I think her you know, sect mission of defend and uphold camp becomes a little bit murkier, like what exactly are you upholding? Is it following the rules and it never really has been like doing what I think is best for Camp? But what does that mean? Is Avery being you know, trapped, or is Avery getting sustained by, by where they are? So a lot of questions and a lot of big feelings, and the initial thing was like, can I get something to help me/am I gonna be able to get out of here?
Eric: Yeah, I don't know. I just thought it was—again, I was throwing a symbol at Carrie-Ann and seeing what happened.
Amanda: I mean, it's the most resonant possible thing for Carrie-Ann to be looking at. So, yeah, I mean, the answer is like all of feelings.
Eric: I thought it was really great. It was very cinematic or TV writing to me, that Carrie-Ann ran ahead and Les was figuring out a little bit behind, that like Carrie-Ann got like five minutes alone with Avery, and then Les showed up and it was like, FUUUUCCCK.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: I know that was so funny.
Brandon: How dare you direct quote, Les to me.
[Brandon and Amanda laugh]
Eric: Whoa, terrible. I hate it.
Amanda: We had some questions from the audience of course about Avery. TJ wanted to know how Avery is existing.
Eric: Uh. Dark Souls magic.
Amanda: Oh, Okay.
Eric: From, from. From Dark Souls.
Amanda: Dark Souls?
Eric: Yeah. Like from the video game. Yeah--
Julia: We had to pay them a licensing fee. It was wild.
Eric: [laughs] Yeah. Avery was supposed to be at Elden Ring, but I've made them cut it.
[Brandon laughs]
Amanda: And the question surgeon, Michelle Spurgeon wants to know. How long has Avery been down there? Are they cursed? Are they related to Steven?
Eric: Good question. All good questions from the question surgeon. How long have they been down there? A long time. Are they cursed? Nooo? Are they related to Steven? No.
Julia: They've been down there for either 20 years or we'll be there for 20 more years.
Eric: Yeah.
[Brandon laughs]
Amanda: Magdalena wants to know Eric, how long have you been waiting for players to ask an adult about the morning announcements, and also to go into the gym?
Julia: Eric. What the fuck?
Amanda: How did it feel when they did? How was it for the players? Are there more secrets about camp that they haven't found out yet? That's certainly, yes.
Julia: Eric. What the fuck?
[Amanda laughs]
Eric: Yes, there is another question. Some other people have asked about John Bonez Bones. Kazy, 3 kobolds in a trenchcoat, who said is—
Eric (as Kathy): Is John Bonez Bones real? Uh. Hey, here's the thing. John Bonez Bones? [laughs] I don't know. Hmm. What do you all think is John Bonez Bones? What do you think his deal is?
Amanda: I think he's real. And the director forgot it that he did that.
Brandon: Yeah, I think he's real, and the director is just being silly for some reason. I don't know.
Eric: I don't want to say whether or not John's Bonez Bones is real.
Julia: Okay.
Eric: I don't see—because I like that it was, the way that that came off. It was such a perfect moment, I think between Carrie-Ann and the director, that Carrie-Ann brought up a weird thing. And then the director is like, what? [laughs] what the fuck are you talking about?
Eric: Yes. Wish she could say to anything Carrie-Ann says for any number of reasons.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: Exactly. What I will say is that you know, the problem I have of how to start episodes. And I really wanted to work on that during this campaign. I just came up with that framing device of John Bonez Bones in the moment when we started the first—the first time I did it. So like I didn't know necessarily, I know now. I don't know if I want to say necessarily what I know. But I do have an answer for it. I just think it's fun. I just honestly think it's fun, then it's a question. I—here's what I'll say. I always wanted the question to come up if John's Bonez Bones is real.
Brandon: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Julia: Yeah. Of course.
Eric: Yeah.
Brandon: But he's got to be real. Because what are we putting, there's—there's a suggestion box, like a question box. So either all the kids hear him and none of the adults do. And the adults are like, where are they putting? Why are they putting questions in a box? Why is Carrie-Ann writing in on a waffle with a Sharpie?
[Amanda laughs]
Brandon: Yeah, so I don't know.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Is he making me announcements at dog whistle frequency, and we thought about that?
Julia: [laughs] only people under the age of whatever can hear it.
Brandon: Yeah, exactly 19k.
Eric: You can say.
Eric: Yeah, that's exactly. So that's what's with John Bonez Bones. Like he– I know the answer, who knows, right? The wonderful thing about doing the world-building game that we do is that I have a lot of secrets. I get to bring back to you that a lot of y'all made up remember? Amanda made up below the gymnasium. So I was been waiting on that. But you know, the way that Monster of the Week plays out, is like you really only want to use one thing at a time. So I wanted to play that out. So yeah, there are plenty of secrets that are still at camp, that we haven't touched on. And I'm glad that we had opportunities to run into some of this stuff. But again, it's like the world-building game is divorced from the storytelling itself. And like it can only be triggered by the characters doing a thing, you know? It's like, you know, the whole point of playing a world-building game is like, no one has an ego, because there's no character yet.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Right? And that's what I find fun.
Julia: I will say since Brandon introduced the how doth a little crocodile game in the world-building game, I have been wanting to use that for like a fucking creepy-ass scene, since the beginning. So Brandon, thank you for letting me do that.
Brandon: Julia, you made me so happy. I smiled while editing it multiple times.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: Incredible. It's wonderful because I also didn't have to do anything other than be a scared little frog.
Julia: Good.
Eric: Like, it was fun. It was really fun playing that scene out, because I'm just like, well, Frederick's pissed, he's so sad and scared.
Brandon: I also– slightly unrelated, but I– we should go back to Carrie-Ann for a second. I loved that scene, and the way the dice roll went, because of the ending of that episode, where we get a peek into the psyche of the director. Where it was like, I don't know if you had always planned this Eric or you just did this in the moment. But like, the fact that the director was like, now that I am director, like as if it had been her ambition for a long time and got it. And you know, now would you– the dog finally catches its tail. What do you do with it kind of thing?
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: But yeah. I just love that little moment, that little let parallelism.
Eric: Yeah, I mean, that's the structure of the TV show, that I really wanted to put something in there. And also like, this is the ambiguity. We can't forget that Steven foretold someone would turn on everyone else. And it could be the director. It could be any of the players, it could be any of the PCs. And I just don't want anyone to forget that kind of like nugget, that runs through this entire season of television we're playing on the podcast.
Brandon: Could be Tater Tot.
Eric: Could be Tater Tot.
Julia: Fuck.
Amanda: It could be.
Eric: Now, listen, maybe Tater Tot’s, I don't know, like a creature and kills everyone.
Julia: Probably.
Eric: And something, yeah.
Amanda: Well, awkwardly, I made some twice-fried Tater Tots for appetizers. So I'm going to run into the kitchen get some.
Brandon: Yeah!
Julia: So hungry.
Eric: Thank you.
Amanda: I'll be right back.
[midroll]
Eric: Hey, it's Eric. I don't know if there's something about like the global supply chain or maybe there's just getting older. But it's very funny aging into certain companies. Like all of a sudden, all I want my entire closet to be is full of LEDs and lo-beam. Because it's like, it's sturdy, It's well made and like—you listen, I've been going to American Eagle for like 15 years now. But at some point, I'm just like, can I wear these anymore? Are these shirts well made, it's like I want, I want all the shirts that a grandpa wears because it's like soft and cuddly? So welcome to the mid-roll. I hope you can find a flannel that is sturdy and will last for many winters to come. First and foremost, shout out to our newest patrons Evan and Kimberly, the party never stops over on Patreon, where we have our Patreon-only Discord, which as always, is the most wonderful place on the internet. And for just $5 a month you get access to the Discord plus party planning audio, which you might remember is the Patreon exclusive podcast, where the Join the Party hosts just kind of hanging out in the most recent episode. Brandon and Julia just reviewed Amanda and my wedding. It was very fun. Thank you so much for doing that. If you're uh—if you want to spend a little bit more quiche on us there are ad-free episodes at $8 a month video content, and $10 a month and more, and more, and more. Please go check it out. It's what lets us do this full-time as we are cooking up incredible stuff for the future of Join the Party, patreon.com/jointhepartypod. It is a bright and shining morning for you to check out another show here in the Multitude collective. I think you should check out Exolore. Have you ever wondered what life would be like on a planet different from our own? Or how writers create your favorite fictional worlds? Well, wonder no longer, because we got the facts for you. Every other week astrophysicist/ folklorist. Yeah, you heard that right. Dr. Moiya Mctier explores fictional worlds by building them with a panel of expert guests, interviewing professional world builders are reviewing the merits of worlds that have already been built. I've been on to talk about the Pokedex and Pokemon and it was so so so much fun, you'll learn, you'll laugh, you'll get an appreciation for our special Earth really is. Check out Exolore by subscribing today, wherever you get your podcasts or go to exolorepod.com. Moiya is truly one of the smartest people and most interesting people who exist on this world. And it's incredibly wonderful that we get to have her making this wonderful show here at Multitude. We are sponsored this week by Inked Gaming, where you can get gear for your home games, or your gaming friends because gamers need gear. I love they have custom items, where you can put logos, mottos, or silly inside jokes on them permanently. It's like a tattoo on your stuff, which is fun. It's merch but for your own campaign, they work with indie artists and always pay royalties to the artists they work with. And so we think that's really particularly neat. So go ahead and check out their mousepads, their play mats, their dice bags, and the other essential gaming goods that you can only get from Inked Gaming. And just for Join the Party listeners, they have given us a special 10% off discount. They don't do this for all the podcasts. They don't do this for Marc Maron, they just do it for Join the Party. All you have to do is go to inkedgaming.com/jointheparty and use the promo code Join the Party at checkout. The discount isn't automatically applied to your order. That is inkedgaming.com/jointheparty and use promo code Join the Party at checkout. We are also sponsored today by Backblaze. They provide unlimited computer backup for Macs and PCs at just $7 a month. You can backup documents, you can backup music, you can backup photos, and videos, and drawings, all of the data that you need to make sure does not disappear. Because it's all of our lives, it's the music of our lives. It's backed up securely to the cloud, which you can access from anywhere in the world using their apps for both iOS and for Android. They have restored over 55 billion files, billion with a B files for customers. And if you ever have a disaster and need the whole hard drive, they can send you a flash key or a hard drive restore right to your door, you can get a free fully featured no credit card required trial at backblaze.com/jtp. That's backblaze.com/jtp for a full-featured trial. Finally, this show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Sometimes you wish that life came with a user manual. There are so many things that I wish were explained to me that are just out of reach. Like how are you supposed to comfort your friend when they're having a hard time? Or how are you supposed to explain to your parents that you need to lay down boundaries without making someone upset? Or how are you supposed to create magic that don't involve pulling bones out of your body and using them as magical conduits? I just wish someone would explain it to me. Luckily, therapy is the closest thing we have to that user manual. And the easiest way to get therapy is through online therapy like BetterHelp. As the world's largest therapy service, BetterHelp has matched 3 million people with professionally licensed and vetted therapists available under 100% online. Plus, it's affordable. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to match with a therapist. And if things aren't clicking, you can easily switch to a new therapist anytime. It couldn't be simpler. No waiting rooms, no traffic, no endless searching for the right therapist. Learn more and save 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/join the party. That's betterhelp.com/jointheparty. And now back to the after party.
[theme]
Julia: Amanda did you get gravy to put on these twice-baked uh Tater Tots? Oh my God.
Brandon: And cheese curds?
Julia: Oh my God. I'm so hungry.
Amanda: Yeah. I need individual cups of garbage plate!
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Little dixie cup.
Eric: Oh, that's– Now I want that. I would– folks, It's not happening. I wish it was. I really wish it was.
Brandon: Why are you ruining the magic, Eric?
Eric: Because I'm hungry and I wish it was real.
Julia: I have leftover poutine in my fridge, that I am going to heat up when we're done, so let's wrap this up!
Eric: Ohhhhh. Fuck.
Amanda: I'm planning to make casserole today with Tater Tots on top. It's gonna be great.
Brandon: Oh yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: All right people we have some game and character questions beginning with Abbey, who says okay, wait, I just thought of something. Is Steven and the anatomically correct skeleton made of only bones? Because it's someone who is a physical therapy student, the thought of him being made of bones with no ligaments, is more terrifying than him just being weird magic guy.
Julia: It's a classic skeleton. He's got no ligaments.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: No.
Eric: Honestly, wouldn't that be so scary, If it was a skeleton just with ligaments?
Julia: Yeah, that would be worse.
Brandon: That would be so much worst.
Julia: That would be so much more body horror.
Eric: I can't come up with that. That's some Junji Ito shit. That's not me.
Brandon: Fun fact. Les has double ligaments.
Eric: That makes sense.
Julia: Horrifying.
Eric: That's what happens when you go through puberty at eight and a half.
Julia: Yeah. Well, that's also the thing. I recently watched the original Hellraiser for the first time recently. And part of the plot is like, they have to keep murdering people in order for this one guy to like, gain his flesh back.
Brandon: [in disgust] Oh.
[Eric laughs]
Julia: And like, so there's a lot of like different versions of like skeleton to full flesh man that they show, and I'm just like, all everything in between, this is bad.
Eric: Happy Halloween, November 1st.
[Julia and Brandon laugh]
Amanda: J Factorial, wants to know, the recent episode with the photo finishes and Bigfoot eating fairies made me wonder if we would ever see a flash forward for the best friends. Like a where are they now type situation, maybe in the final episode? Hmm.
Julia: Who can say?
Amanda: Who can say?
Brandon: The thing I can't say, cool last name J Factorial, I wonder where it came from?
Amanda: Hmm.
Eric: Party Planning. Give her Party Planning.
Amanda: thecheesewitch__ for you Julia, wants to know when are they playing the ill-fated games of seven minutes in heaven and spin the bottle at camp?
[Brandon laughs]
Julia: Ohhhh. I don't know. I don't know.
Amanda: CIT cabin?
Julia: That would be like too much. I feel like I would. I was blushing listening to Les talk about Phoebe. I don't think I could handle that from a roleplay perspective.
Eric: Yeah, we're not role-playing that, but assume it's happening. It's definitely happened.
Amanda: Oh, it's certainly happening.
Julia: The problem is like, it's happening at camp, but the best friends are not cool enough to get invited to that party.
Brandon: That's very true.
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: I think they definitely call it seven minutes in hell here though. It’s definitely that.
Eric: Oh for sure. Assumed Dougie Juice has kissed everyone okay?
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Let's assume Dougie Juice kissed everyone.
Amanda: And Jennii and Conway just flip a coin, and heads or tails they kiss.
[Brandon and Eric laugh]
Julia: Super cute.
Eric: Jesus Christ.
Brandon: Now. I did just imagine Dougie Juice being like, spin the bottle for me from his bed. And then when somebody's like, come here.
[Eric and Amanda laugh]
Amanda: Yeah, have you ever seen him walking? I don't know.
Eric: Hey, Dougie Juice is 6’1, he can do whatever you want, apparently.
Amanda: Kahyehm says, no question. I'm just declaring I ship Phoebe and Les.
Brandon: Yayyyyyyy! [giggles]
Julia: Awwww. Me too.
Eric: Can you ship something that has not subtext, but textual—
Amanda: You can.
Eric: Observation. Is that true?
Amanda and Julia: Yeah.
Julia: You could
Eric: I just want to check okay? I also ship little Phoebe and Les because I'm– I'm a part of this meeting.
[Brandon giggles]
Julia: Awww.
Amanda: And similarly, Keeks226, said I just want to say I love and support Phoebe. And she's very special in every way, heart heart.
[Brandon laughs]
Julia: Thank you. Thank you. I also want to say, I don't know if I've said this on the podcast before or not. Uh. Just assume any character I play is bisexual.
Brandon: Hmmm.
[Eric laughs]
Amanda: Yeah. Uh well, great segue Julia, because Dice Obsession said, okay. So on Eric's NPCs, you're Jewish. So what did Bigfoot's Bar Mitzvah look like?
[Brandon laughs]
Amanda: Was it themed? Who attended? And what was his Torah portion?
[Brandon laughs]
Julia: Eric, tell us.
Eric: It's an incredible question. I feel so old [laughs]
Amanda: Yeah. [laughs]
Eric: I'm like, oh my god. You remember the thing I said. But also like, damn, you got you sure to get me?
Julia: He—he then got me.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: Listen, just imagine in your own head. I don't even want to solely this beautiful question with an answer. I just like, great question.
Amanda: I bet it was something from Leviticus about like sheep uh—
Eric: Yeah, it was one of the— one of the counting just one of the various counting ones.
Amanda: Reikerei said, did anyone else feel kind of sorry for Fredrik the frog? He may be super mean and annoying. That's a frog fact. But he's also still a rare and mysterious magical creature of Camp frog emoji.
Julia: No. He is manipulating little girls into thinking that they're like special, and then making them do difficult life-threatening challenges. No!
Brandon: No. He also—we all know that slimes are beautiful human beings with feelings and passions. And he has somehow convinced this slime.
Amanda: That's true.
Brandon: To do his bidding, and that's —
Eric: Bradwick. Our beautiful Bradwick. I mean this is a great, i—It's a great question. I'm glad that you felt this way because I also felt that way about Frederick the frog a little bit myself. It's like him being a house demon, he like, he there's something going on with it, or him. I forget what—I didn't want to gender Frederick the frog, who fucking knows. But it's like, there's something going on in this monster demon's head. That's like not only am I a house demon, so I protect this area. But also, someone's going to come in here who is the chosen one hero? And I'm going, it's my responsibility to test them to make sure that's true. And like That's so weird. There's like weird amalgam of stuff happening and of course, Phoebe didn't like that and did what Phoebe had to do. Because he did—it sucks so you're gonna put that out. I totally agree with Julia, that like he's gonna just put this on random teenage girls, like that's wild.
Amanda: Unacceptable.
Eric: Yeah, there's something going on in Frederick's head that this demon thought this and I—I was always thinking about like, what was Frederick doing before folks came down here, like wha—wha—what did they do? What were they— who also had interacted with Frederick, that was definitely something I was— I was kicking around in my head.
Amanda: Treybieee also says, when Carrie-Ann inevitably goes through a rebellious phase, what rules will she break? And I want to do a little round-robin here. What rules do we think Carrie-Ann would break when she gets rebellious?
Eric: Oh, she's gonna stand on grass, that was just seated.
Amanda: Yeah.
[Brandon laughs]
Julia: Steal snacks from the cafetorium without letting Springer know.
Eric: Wow, um.
Amanda: Good. Good.
Brandon: Go to bed like five minutes after lights out [laughs]
Julia: Wow.
Eric: Hell yeah dude.
Amanda: Amazing. I was gonna say wear socks that are not regulation, like slightly too short or too tall.
[Brandon and Eric laugh]
Eric: We like with bold stripes on.
Amanda: Exactly. Yeah, like a slightly off-camp green.
Eric: Yeah.
Amanda: And now just some questions about the podcast and us as people. Um, this one's from Rikyjanne, uh not a question, but Errand's one is one of the funniest episodes of the season. I have never laughed so many times during a workout, people probably thought it was possessed.
Brandon: Oh, that's so sweet.
Amanda: Thank you. We'd love to hear it. Ben Hoover asks Eric, how do you decide what to give as rewards? Like Phoebe's arrow, the original camper handbook, etc.
Eric: That's a good question. For Phoebe's arrow, that was something that Phoebe had kind of looked for or wanted, and I think that there's something about like being able to give, in Monsters of the Week, giving people better equipment, because leveling up is so like odd and specific to the playbook itself. In terms of the handbook, I think that was something that Carrie-Ann was looking for. Were monsters—for Monster of the Week, specifically, I feel like I'm responding to what the move is looking for, or do the intention of the character during that mystery. So it's like, if you roll well enough and you figure it out, I'm not going to say like, what does Carrie-Ann want? Carrie-Ann wanted some help. You were looking for something from the beginning of camp, like something a pure distillation of what camp is.
Amanda: Exactly.
Eric: And like, I'm not, not gonna give that to you. So I wanted to come up with something that was interesting. Oh, I forgot that It was like skin bound. That was fun.
Amanda: Uh-huh.
Eric: I forgot about that.
Amanda: Belt.
Brandon: Well, I think it is made of humans, human leather, and you said, maybe?
[everyone laughs]
Eric: Some real Necronomicon shit. I— I really, really like that one.
Amanda: Miranda says, I was listening to the September Afterparty while driving in my car and saw a license plate that just had frosty during the part about the origin of Crudo Anaconda's name, so of course, I started singing to myself in the car.
Eric: [sings in the tune of Frosty the Snowman] Crudo Anaconda was a jolly happy soul.
[Brandon and Amanda laugh]
Brandon: That's incredible.
Amanda: [sings in the tune of Frosty the Snowman] With a—with a— with an eyepatch a coat to fill in three, and has a crush on Friday.
Brandon: [sings] And a mother complex.
Amanda: There you go.
Eric: Oh, Yikes. Yikes.
Amanda: TJ says touching on something we discussed earlier. Is Charles the link between campaign two and the Camp Paign? Are there purple mushrooms on the moose corpse that have animated it and given it sentience?
Eric: Oh, interesting.
Julia: No.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: No, that's wrong!
Amanda: That is a real who can say?
Eric: [in a little voice] No, she's correct.
Amanda: Buzzy bee—
Eric (as Boo): My podcast, shut up.
Amanda: Buzzy bee boi says, I forget if someone asked us already, but what is everyone's favorite NPC so far? I don't think we have had that question yet. Julia, and Brandon, what are your favorite NPCs so far?
Brandon: I mean, Tater Tot is everyone's favorite. Of course.
Amanda: Of course.
Julia: I mean, it's Boo, but I do have a newfound love and appreciation for Springer. So.
Eric: Yeah.
Julia: Yeah.
Amanda: Yeah, that's true. This is such a rude answer for the listeners. I loved the NPCs we met in the unrecorded first practice one-shot that we played, which actually you will learn more about soon. Hang on for that, but I—I loved the I loved Zev I think the most. I think Zev was my favorite NPC so far.
Brandon: Oh yeah.
Amanda: Just pound for pound of like yeah plot impact dialogue, and just like really relating to a kid, it Zev.
Eric: Zev is on like the screen rant list that's like the best NPCs from one episode of the campaign, you know.
[everyone laughs]
Brandon: I think I'm gonna say my favorite is, Les's sister, More.
Eric: Oh right.
Julia: Brandon, I'm so glad that joke stuck because I just said like on a fucking whim and now it's a thing.
Amanda: I know. When I listened to it again in the episode, I said fuck you.
[everyone laughs]
Eric: There must have been—I—I also love Les's whole family. Did I do an impression of your parents at one point? I must though.
Julia: Yeah, you did the mom being like, Les, if you see a woman with a branch, just know--.
[Brandon laughs]
Eric: Oh, that’s right. Yes, I like doing impressions like-- Like your crunch, your incredibly crunchy outdoorsy REI ass mom.
Amanda: Kazy, three kobolds in a trench coat wanted to know. Hey, Eric and team would you ever do an evil one-shot or campaign? If not, what kinds of villains would you make for a join the villains? I asked because Phoebe gives up strong evil vibes in this episode.
Amanda: I would fucking love to do that.
Eric: That'd be fun.
Amanda: That' be fun.
Brandon: And you just heard Julia's impression of Eric, when Eric thinks of something super cool to do so. Who can say?
Julia: Yeah, yeah.
Eric: I think we'll do that at one point. I mean, I really you know, I love threading that stuff and does sometimes larger campaigns. So I'm sure we can do that at some point. I ran that for three black halflings once. On their feed, I ran a one-shot of them being villains in Laketown City, which was super fun. And I had a bunch of like NPCs from our campaign as well. So I've done it before. It's quite, it's quite, silly.
Amanda: That episode was great.
Brandon: Yeah, maybe when we have some extra time between things, we could do like a return to Lake Town City. Where-- was I talking to you Eric, I was talking to someone where, I think it was dimension 20, did a return to a campaign, where the DM played their PCs. And—
Eric: Yeah, I'm trying to remember where that's from.
Julia: I think that’s a Critical Role thing.
Brandon: Critical role. Oh yeah, I was talking to Eric Schneider. It was a critical role.
Julia: Yes.
Brandon: And I love that idea because we could go back to LTC. And our characters, our PCs can be older, like mature superheroes.
Eric: That can be found.
Brandon: And then like we play villains. And like, yeah, I don't know. That could be fun.
Julia: Yeah, that'd be really enjoyable. I love playing evil characters. As we can tell a lot of my like one-shot characters have been kind to evil. Not fully evil, but kinda evil.
Amanda: We could challenge the big super, little super program graduates to like a throwdown.
Eric: Oh my god. That'd be so funny. Are you guys fighting teams?
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: Superheroes.
Amanda: Yeah.
Eric: That would be great.
Amanda: Then you have, you have like multi-tool, and Val and Kilonova on the sidelines being like, your left! your left!
[Brandon laughs]
Brandon: Oh, shit.
Eric: Oh, that's funny.
Amanda: Mazter of none, says Eric, it seems like you've been creating more space and opportunities for everyone to take the reins. Is this more a reflection of your GM style growing and changing or a difference between Monster of the Week and D&D?
Eric: Interesting.
Amanda: Great observation.
Eric: Yeah, I definitely think it's a difference between Monster of the week and D&D, there's a lot of stuff that like require—you have to tell me the action you're going to do before you do the move-on your playbook. So I literally need to ask you, like what does this look like before we can even entertain? Like that's just from the game system. And again, I've talked about this a bunch, but like, it's really important to see the differences between game systems and how that reflects in play and in storytelling. This is something that I think that I'm pretty good at, in terms of like, tabletop RPG podcast, so it's something I really always want to do until it's turn over.
Brandon: We agree.
Julia: We agree.
Eric: It's trying to turn over as much as possible to the player of folks feel invested, like our world-building games. I didn't realize how revolutionary It was back in campaign one, when I was, all of you during that one episode about like how everyone's doing.
Amanda: Yes.
Eric: But uh, you know, it's something that I really like doing and hopefully we can keep, like the spirit of this going if we return to a game that doesn't have this stuff baked into the game system.
Julia: Tell you.
Amanda: Who can say?
Julia: [sings] Who can say?
Amanda: And our final question before we get into the future of the campaign, and how this will all come to a conclusion. Paul most recently asked, but others have asked as well. If we had to translate the best friends into D&D characters. What classes do we think they would be?
Julia: I think very easily, Phoebe is probably a warlock.
Eric: Sure.
Amanda: Yes.
Eric: I like that.
Julia: Given her relationship with Chuck, it probably got to be a warlock.
Eric: That's interesting. You can throw some like Forest vibes in there, as like as you taking this from the spirit of the forest.
Julia: Yeah.
Eric: I think that's very cool.
Amanda: You think not a paladin?
Julia: No I don't think so.
Brandon: Oh, yeah, 'cause I guess you get your powers from like nature.
Amanda: I think Carrie-Ann feels like a paladin. She feels like a fucking uptight—
Julia: Hell yeah.
[Brandon laughs]
Amanda: Who's enforcing law and order only?
Julia: That— incredibly correct Amanda.
Brandon: Whos' your like in D&D terms? What's your like God? Like your—
Julia: Camp.
Brandon: I know it's Camp, or like what the— It doesn't have to have like a D&D Eric, I forget what Paladins are.
Eric: Yeah, with you know, that's what Dungeons and Dragons tell you to do for Clerics and for Paladins. Like you got to be— it's your magic comes from like your devo— well for Paladin specifically, they come from their devotion.
Amanda: You’re like a holy knight, right?
Eric: Yeah, you're like a more of a Holy Knight. So you can do it from—some of these Paladins are from ideals as well.
Amanda: Yeah, I think pledging fealty to the Director of Camp is the—is the way.
Eric: That can be cool. Yeah.
Brandon: This is the way.
Amanda: This is essentially the playbook I already have. But yes.
Brandon: Yeah. I'm not 100% Sure. I mean, like, obviously, like fighter would work well. I mean, what do you all think? I don't know.
Julia: I feel like Les is like an inquisitive rogue maybe. Like one of the like, not stealing things, but like mastermind or inquisitive.
Brandon: That can work.
Eric: Rogue is really interesting because Les is only really good. Sorry, I'm not gonna say this meanly. I mean this truly, Les is really good at like only two things, which is like, figuring shit out about monsters and running really fast.
Amanda: Yes.
Eric: And that feels very similar to Rogues. How they're like really only good at two things.
Amanda: Especially the like investigator flavor of Rogue. You have a really kind of detective bent on your, on your rogue.
Eric: Yeah. So that plus like your incredibly high dexterity would that makes a lot of sense for Les.
Brandon: I’m into that. that. Never played the Rogue, so.
Amanda: Maybe a future campaign.
Eric: So, so sneak attack works like this.
[Brandon and Julia laugh]
Amanda: And our final question of the day, Evvvity wants to know, how many future episodes have you already recorded?
Brandon: [whispers] All of them.
Julia: [whispers] All of them.
Eric: Oh, good. Good question.
Amanda: Eric tell us what's coming up.
Eric: Yeah, I can't 100% say how many episodes we have, because we've recorded the remaining episodes of the campaign.
Brandon and Julia: WHAT?!!!
Eric: You were there, you know.
Julia: WHAAATT!
Eric: Plus some episodes of the next campaign.
Amanda: WHAT?!!
Julia: What?
Eric: So, to answer the specific question, we have recorded five episodes of the campaign, the remaining five episodes of the campaign, plus two more episodes that are coming out far in the future. So Evvvity, to answer your question specifically, it's seven. However, I want to be clear about what our calendar looks like going forward. Right. So, next week on November 8, is the first episode of the next mystery, the campaign episode 16. Then the week after that is campaign 17, the second episode of that mystery, we're then doing an Afterparty in between, because of the way that Afterparties are split because we have five story episodes left. So that's going to be on November 22nd. So we haven't recorded that yet, because we need your questions.
Julia: Yes.
Eric: Then after that, we have three finale episodes or final mystery of Monster of the Week of the campaign. Episodes 18,19, and 20 are on successive weeks, November 29th, December 6th, and December 13th. That will be the finale episode. And then we have an Afterparty at the end of camp, which is on December 20th.
Amanda: Do a candle lighting and lock-locking ceremony.
Julia and Eric: [sings Graduation Song] As we go on.
[Brandon laughs]
Everyone: [sings] We remember.
Brandon: This is our holiday. Our holiday times are winter times gifts to y'all.
Eric: It's finishing the campaign. So everyone feels resolved.
Julia: Yeaaah.
Amanda: Chance to gather.
[Julia laughs]
Eric: If you don't retain information, well, auditorily. Don't worry, I've already made graphics. And I have posted them to our socials. So please check that out, and view to see the end of the campaign schedule. After that. We've– like I said, we've already recorded episodes of the next campaign, of campaign three.
Amanda: Weeeee.
Julia: Weeee.
Eric: We’re very excited about it. We're not sure if we're gonna go right into Campaign 3, or we're going to do something in like a month of stuff in between. So I've just have something a little bit more fun, a little bit less fiction, to give our editors a little bit of a break. I think it'd be fun, but we haven't decided yet. But we know what we're doing. We 100% know what we're doing next.
Amanda: There's an epic Campaign 3, and we know our characters, and we know our mission. And God, I can't wait.
Eric: Tight as hell. So after that episode on December 27th, we'll tell you more about this in the finale Afterparty.
Brandon: And I know you, you know– what it sounded like. But our editors means me and Julia.
Julia: That's true.
Brandon: [laughs] So, we need to– we need to sleep.
Julia: We would like naps, please.
Eric: I would like to nap.
Brandon: I also need time to write a theme song. So–
Eric: Oh that's right. Good point. Good point. But I have a very good idea. I've already suggested this and I think we're going to do. I have a very good idea of what we're doing immediately after the campaign as well. So like we have an idea just depends if we're gonna go right into campaign three or we're going to do this thing for like a month before we do that.
Amanda: You know how, how lifters never skip leg day. We never skipped Tuesday. We're not skipping Tuesday at all people. You're gonna get new Join the Party every single Tuesday from now until certainly, we plan till the end of 2023. So you got lots coming. Don't worry.
Brandon: Have you seen our calves? They're perfect.
Julia: So thick.
Amanda: Cut.
Eric: They're jacked.
Amanda: They're cut.
Eric: They're pokeable.
Amanda: They could cut glass.
Eric: [sounds of disgust] No, I don't.
[everyone laughs]
Amanda: All right, people. Any final thoughts, feelings, questions, or concerns? Or shall we bid the fine folks here, a good evening?
Julia: I have all the feelings, but we can. We don't have to dwell on them.
Amanda: I want to say my favorite episodes of the campaign are yet to come. Shit is about to pop off. I can't wait. It's so good. And I think you guys are gonna really love how the story concludes.
Brandon: Yeah, I'm glad you all are enjoying it. Thanks for listening.
Eric: I can't even say what my favorite episode is. If the ones coming up I'm very excited about, but I'm like, do I like it more than the woods? Do I like it more than Crudo Anacando? like, I don't know. I don't know. It's, it's a big question. But it's been really satisfying. I hope all of you feel satisfied by the way that this 20-episode campaign has been coming together. And working with the story. Like it feels like a TV season has been really fun for me. And I hope that it comes together a little bit better than maybe some finales of TV shows you've received in the past.
Amanda: We're sticking the landing people. I'm just saying now.
Eric: We're just gonna kill Les and he's going to be an angel?
Julia: Yeaaah.
Eric: Is that what happened to the other supernatural?
Brandon: Angel or demon who can say?
Eric: Who knows?
Julia: Phoebe will say that she has feelings for Les, and then he will completely ignore that she said that.
[Brandon laughs]
Amanda: Yeah.
Brandon: Hey, Eric. Eric and Amanda. That was supernatural.
Eric: No, I got that. I knew that. Carrie-Ann is gonna walk into a restaurant and then it's going to be an immediate blackout.
Brandon: I do have one final unrelated thing to anything we've talked about that I want to say.
Brandon: If you're in the US, go vote. Go vote.
Julia: Yup.
Amanda: Yes.
Julia: Do it.
Amanda: Get your ballot now.
Eric: That's right. I forgot this is coming out on Halloween extended.
Amanda: Definitely do that.
Eric: Also, all of us were together for our wedding. And it went really well.
Julia: Damn straight.
Amanda: Yeah, these guys are really cute.
Eric: It's fun.
Amanda: Really cute. Alright, folks, well, until next time.
Eric: Byeee.
Brandon: Bye guys.
Julia: Later.
Amanda: May your roles turn ever upward. Or if they don't, it's fine because Monster of the Week is really good. Okay. Bye.
Eric: If your roles or if your roles are bad, it actually creates a better story, so it's fine.
Julia: Okay. Bye.
Amanda: Bye.
Eric: So, ignore what we said, it's fine.
[theme]
Eric: Let me bring up the Monster Mash because I wrote it out clearer on there and my notes for this word guard were absolute garbage.
Julia: I was working in the lab late one night.
Eric: It was a Mash.
Brandon: When my eyes beheld…
Julia and Eric: It was a Mash.
Julia: [sings] They did the monster mash. Rap for daddy.
Eric: Rap, rap for daddy. Okay, yeah so I’m ready.
Julia: Shock the body, shock, shock the body. Okay, go ahead.
Transcriptionist: Kristianne
Editor: KM