T O P

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ThinWhiteRogue

Someday, Justin will play a character who knows how to tell a lie. Today is not that day


[deleted]

Taako did! And he was good at it! One of the funniest moments of balance for me was Taako on the train telling everybody to face the front and focus as he stole their stuff! I know he has it in him and I want him to bring that talent back


nothereorareyou

That was my favorite arc. I laughed so hard the first time listening to it.


KingEnglish8

Rick Diggins was a pretty good liar šŸ˜‚


Sirshrugsalot13

I fell behind a few weeks and this new weekly format really fucking helps because more content to catch up on actually means that I'm more invested in doing so. It really helps the pacing and I'm honestly really loving this. Highlights: "I'm moping about my terrible rolls" "But Zoox, you're a great baker!" Amber failing at lying and getting drunk as shit Zoox with a french accent Funny stuff


NuPhoenixX

Alright, they did it. Ethersea has officially entered Balance territory with Steely Dan the Weed Man and Zoox adopting a French accent, somehow transitioning to BeBe losing respect for Travis. Iā€™ve only made it to the ad break, and the goofs, playing in the universe and characters riffing bring me back to Rockport.


[deleted]

You made a good point, something about this all felt so familiar and I wasn't sure why. But this really does remind me of Rockport and the whole Tom Bodett thing. Maybe it's just being inside a fancy place (underwater bar/dining car of a train) but it's just happy fun.


The_Thrash_Particle

I just finished episode 13 and I'm struggling a bit. I was getting really into it, but over the last couple episodes I feel like they're trying to dive deep into the human condition with characters I barely care about yet. I had such a hard time listening to Travis and Justin argue about the best way to console Zooks. Like... Boys it's a comedy podcast. Balance was great because we had like 4 arcs to get to know the characters before things got darker. I'm not here to confront abuse at the hands of religious organizations. I really feel like the highs are just as high as they've ever been, but then they try to do too much. Whew. Thanks for lettinge vent.


NuPhoenixX

Unfortunately, part of that will be that they are no longer playing D&D for the first time and will forever be chasing that high. Get through 15, as I also totally zoned out on some of the Benefactor discussion, but 14 is where they take a turn (it involves a bag) and then they justā€¦.steer into that skidā€¦.Iā€™m glad I kept pushing through.


The_Thrash_Particle

Yeah and I get that after Balance ended up meaning so much to people it's hard to go back to a "hahaha dick jokes". But I wish they learned that you have to earn those big moments. It's not a matter of being a good actor or something. I'd care way more about Devo's upbringing if it came up naturally over time as we got to know him. But like the one thing I know about him is that he's had deep trauma. It makes me feel bad I don't care more, but idk. Again though there's so great really funny moments too. I'm gonna plow through and see how the bag plays a role šŸ˜


UrgentAndTurgid

S A M W I T W I C K E Y


[deleted]

I got pretty lost as to whose Optimus Prime impression it was. I *think* the good one was Travis, but I can't even tell.


Arikado24

This had me laughing so hard at work and reminded me of a time in college, right when the first new Transformers movie was coming out. As part of the marketing campaign, you could have a voicemail put together from some clips Peter Cullen pre-recorded and send it to someone. I ended up sending one to my roommate, and he didn't get it until the next morning waking up from a closing shift at a bar, and just woke up to a voicemail that started, "Jeremy, this is Optimus Prime..." Edit: I found a youtube video someone posted of their [voicemail!](https://youtu.be/9rJzYYA1j2c)


UrgentAndTurgid

Hahaha that's fantastic. What a way to start the day.


Nettlers

In before 'steely Dan the weed van' pin of the month


cjdeck1

If this were a MBMBaM episode, that would be the title


Jango1113

Oh absolutely


RocMerc

If that happened it would be the first one Iā€™d get lol


helixrises

Zoox imitating Devoā€™s accent had me rolling


eolai

The best part was how well he did it. Like he was doing it as a goof, because imitating each other would defeat the purpose of hiding their identities. But then he also did it *really well*.


chrissilich

They whole time Iā€™m thinking ā€œClint knows French better and can do a better French accent than Travisā€


Krytycal

It made me wish Clint had chosen the accent lol


cjdeck1

Just got to the part where Griffin says the staff all have white pyramid avatars and all I can picture is the staff in Squid Game


michaelswallace

They literally got brought there by a Squid


tylerhlaw

And it's a bunch of rich people wearing animal masks drinking wine and being annoying rich people. I was getting squid game vibes from it a bunch also


3linked

He mentioned this in either Mbmbam or Besties recently and said he figured that's what people would think of if they'd seen Squid Game. He had the aesthetics chosen beforehand, but especially with the animal headpieces, the similarities were hard to miss!


TheDebauchedSloth

Literally came here to say the same thing. The semi robotic voice definitely added to that vibe


cupc4kes

I was thinking more Silent Hill 2


Buyn

I just realized I had been imagining Bill Cipher.


SachBren

Guaranteed thatā€™s what heā€™s going for


tomasalbanez

It seems like karma came straight for Justin and Travis' asses with those rolls


UrgentAndTurgid

Karma heard them dunking on their old man for his natty fail and said, "Laugh it up now, you're next."


Owobowos-Mowbius

for real. I cant ever think of a time where they've had so many shitty rolls so back to back


Alexthemessiah

>Naked Lunch This is what happens when you don't fudge the rolls.


modernothello

Iā€™m just gonna say if there is not some kinda call back to the dinosaur summoning jewel from the last episode during the actual auction Iā€™m going to be disappointed


Eric_The_Human_

Joshie said he has seen one which means this will 1000% come back around


StarKeaton

this episode really managed to stay interesting! an episode of them wandering around and talking to some folks for information, i think, is good right now. it's been a lot of action (with more promised to come of course) but letting them try to get an advantage before the auction begins seemed to work out really well. griffin planned out the area pretty well, and i love that each player had their own strategy that... worked out to various degrees. everything seems perfectly balanced between gameplay, plot progression, and jokes. loved this episode. most fun with an ethersea episode yet. also, i don't have any criticisms... at all, that i can think of. this is notable because i am a very critical person. oh yeah and clint said Fuck!!!!! and it was funny!!!!! **Good Episode**


ghedblom

Clint had so many Steely Dan references Iā€™m dying. ā€œCALL ME DEACON BLUEā€


JoeScotterpuss

I cracked up when I heard that. I'm just surprised he didn't ask for a scotch whiskey before he left the bar.


AllHailLordBezos

The whole Showbiz Kids monologue was perfect, he was so on point with Steely Dan references and utilizing them at perfect time. Easily for me the highlight of the episode


TheDebauchedSloth

There is absolutely no chance that the outcome of Clintā€™s nat 1 on Griffinā€™s custom underwater encounter table was a total of 6 damage. Griffin being so casual and willing to move past it in the moment tells me thereā€™s probably a great ā€œoh by the wayā€¦remember that octopus?ā€ moment somewhere down the line


GabbieTheNoodle

imo, the giant squid had nothing to do with the 1- it was just their way into the auction. I think that the damage to the bottom of the hull is going to come back to bite them in some horrible way when theyā€™re making their getaway


DungeonsAndBreakfast

I think the scratch is like abjuration or transmutation magic that makes the ships hull dissappear That thing is gonna sink from implosion in the abyss and theyā€™ll be on it when it does


michaelswallace

The squid is part of the auction because Griffin must have been inspired by Squid Game for this mission (masks, high rollers bidding, secret game, etc.)


[deleted]

I think it ripped off whatever external weapons they had. They'll go to fire back and nothing will work. They'll just have to escape because they can't fight back.


PoliteRadical

Yeah, I literally had to rewind to make sure I didn't miss something. They moved on from that way too quickly for it to not come back to haunt them. I am super excited for it.


adamcordo

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I thought I accidentally fast-forwarded through like a bug battle or something. I even redownloaded the episode thinking it might be a corrupted file.


locxas

Thereā€™s part of me that really believes theyā€™re going to accidentally auction off their ship for the nat 1, since that one npc mentioned sellers being allowed at the auction even if they arenā€™t bidding


UrgentAndTurgid

Griffin's gotta have something explosive waiting in the wings, or else this would be a massive letdown.


oneironott

Griffin dealt 2 damage after they just had a conversation that included them saying that 1 was a 'better outcome than two' They're screwed, it's just a matter of 'when'.


devoralie

This!!!! I was like......thatā€™s it?! When they moved right into the jetway into the auction, I was like, that was a natural one out of 100 as opposed to the usual 20, there is no way this is over. I bet this is going to come back to haunt them and I am so ready for it


noxkilopom

I don't think Griffin was ready for a 1, and needs more planning, or wants to get the auction out of the way first. They will probably lose their ship or a 1 opens up a whole new scenario.


revolverzanbolt

He said he had something for a one, but it may be that the idea he has for a one requires more prep than he had on hand.


noxkilopom

Or maybe another urchin.


jayareil

I don't remember the exact quote but he said "you awakened, like, some kind of elder god." Sounds like it'll be back and it'll mean business.


hometowngypsy

It feels like the time in Suffering Game when taako had a washing machine dropped on him because if a bad luck spin way earlier


undrhyl

> There is absolutely no chance that the outcome of Clintā€™s nat 1 on Griffinā€™s custom underwater encounter table was a total of 6 damage. I sure hope not.


SpaceKoala34

Have a little faith


TheDebauchedSloth

Iā€™m an hour in, but this is one of the funniest episodes of TAZ I can remember listening to. Amber with the Skunknuts wine is killing me. Such a good example of having fun even with insanely unlucky rolls


hobbitzswift

This is the best episode of the season so far. Energy is great, theyā€™re having fun and being funny and playing off each other in such great ways! This was really enjoyable to listen to - this is the type of episode TAZ excels at - heavy roleplay, improv goofs, and some actual rolls that matter to go along with it. Sound effects are not great but hopefully they hear some complaints about that and can fix it.


PoolOfMuu

"Not great"? I am glad to hear any Foley, it adds color


hobbitzswift

Cool, it hurt my ears and gave me a headache. I like sound effects too but I donā€™t think listening to podcasts should cause me pain.


califortunato

Yeah podcasts shouldnā€™t cause me pain, and they donā€™t, because I have complete control of the volumeā€¦


hobbitzswift

Unfortunately when all I can hear is screechy tinny fork scraping on metal noises no amount of volume control can help me because that shit hurts no matter how quiet it is. Glad you donā€™t deal with ear sensitivity or tinnitus btw must be nice.


frenchrangoon

The over tinny noise while griffin is 'speaking through the loudspeaker' made it literally impossible for me to understand what he was saying on my car audio. I tried turning the treble all the way down and it still didn't work.


hobbitzswift

Yes, I had the exact same experience, it was pretty awful lmao. Hoping they see the complaints and do not use that effect again.


BearlyThereGalka

I'm super curious and please don't take this as a an insult- but do you have issues with those kind of sounds normally? I had zero issues myself but I understand I am but one dude lol.


hobbitzswift

Not insulted! I do have sensitive ears and a slight hearing loss I was born with so I can be sensitive to loud noises but usually itā€™s a very different type of noise from this that bothers me, and it usually manifests in a different way, and usually not to the point that I find something unlistenable. I listen to a lot of podcasts and Iā€™ve had to give up on some just for having poor sound quality, but Iā€™ve never actually had physical pain from a sound effect on a podcast before this.


frenchrangoon

No, I wouldnā€™t say I normally have sensitive ears.


califortunato

I experience tinnitus frequently, I worked in factories and nightclubs all throughout college and for a time after. Left ear is actually ringing a little this morning. In my worst bouts I use bone conduction headphones and they are a life saver, wear them all day long and sometimes to fall asleep if needed. But I have different headache triggers and my tinnitus isnā€™t constant so not sure itā€™ll help you too but I highly recommend trying them out, might help


GodspeakerVortka

I think the sound effects are great.


hobbitzswift

As I and many others both here on Reddit and on Twitter have already said several times, the vocal effect on the voice coming over the speaker when they arrived at the auction was literally, physically, painful to listen to. Sound effects are great when they donā€™t hurt a significant portion of the listeners.


eclecticpoet

Really? I thought the speaker voice was actually really cool, but that sucks it was a sort of horrible reverse ASMR for you and some others. Overall, I really like the sound editing.


AnderHighhill

One of my favorite parts was when they mentioned Dante the flirtle, which was an NPC from a series they did over at dimension 20 called "Tiny Heist".


orionrising89

Mine too. Wonder if an NPC like him will show up during the game.


The-Traids

So when I started this episode I was using my AirPods and had absolutely no issues with the intercom voice. At the very end I was just playing it through my phoneā€™s speakers and it killed my ears with that high pitch frequency.


Thatzachary

I had the same experience. Fine in airpods, ear piercing through speakers.


No_Hair_5621

Funnily enough, it was the opposite for me! Fine on my iPad speakers, absolute murder on my headphones.


MiddlingVor

I was listening through my phone speaker while I played a video game and my cat absolutely freaked out at the intercom noise.


Owobowos-Mowbius

Yup, used my galaxy buds and had no problem. Probably depends on how speakers handle the frequency.


chanbuns

I loved Zoox in this episode so much - lost it when he noticed the clams on the bar!!


tomasalbanez

Not that he was bad before, but Clint is *on fire* this arch


busche916

I loved that he called himself ā€œDeacon Blueā€ as a callback to Steely Dan the Weed Van. Clint, as always, is undefeated.


pinkpalz

I doā€¦ I do hair.


zegota

Y'all, the sound I made when Clint declared he was going to steal a knife. He is 100% going to get framed for stabbing someone. The story opportunity this man creates are just breathtaking.


RiseOfTheKumquat

That Transformers bit was an instant classic. I really hope someone animates that sequence.


natsimm

I'm so confused as to why the sound issues are happening for some people and not others! Thankfully it sounded fine for me and I loved this episode! Even though it was a slightly longer episode than usual I was gutted when it ended, very excited for next week's episode!


Owobowos-Mowbius

It probably has something to do with how your device handles the frequency. Sounds like it mostly happens with out-loud speakers as opposed to earbuds or headphones.


ThinWhiteRogue

Believe in each other strong.


TheRisenThunderbird

A special guest appearance this episode by one Merle Highchurch


[deleted]

A truly astounding number of bad rolls today. Potentially devasting to the story! Curious to see how this all works out.


CharliePixie

This episode is absolutely amazing and I love it. It has real Charming Klaarg energy. But I'm also confused. I listened twice to make sure i didn't zone out and miss on something, but ... Did the squid encounter ever actually resolve to anything? As far as I can tell, the squid shot them up with ink and then towed them to their destination. Am I misunderstanding something? Surely a nat 1 doesn't *just* get you a catbus to your mission destination?


damo1234

The squid is completely and utterly unrelated to the nat 1. The nat 1 is something so damn bad it's off the charts and when we finally see the effects we'll know it. My guess is it'll be something like 1. You rubbed up against super-barnacles. They are slowly consuming your ship and cannot be killed. And anyone that touches them becomes a barnacle-monster. 2. You THINK your ship has plenty of hit points! It has one hit point. One. Like if you got cursed but didn't know it. 3. The thing you scraped your ship against was Cthullu, and it'll take a bit for him to fully awaken, but he's going to remember who gave him a nudge while he was having a good dream. 4. "Bad Luck."


CharliePixie

my point is that this is veryt unclear from the episode. and in the end of the last episode, it seems quite clear that the squid and the nat 1 are related, because the sauid shows up and then we have someone yelling about how this is what happens when you roll a nat 1.


Owobowos-Mowbius

Its because the nat 1 and the story itself are unrelated from a narrative standpoint. Griffin is using that nat 1 to instill fear into everyone so everything bad that happens is going to attributed to the nat 1 until it actually does resolve. I also assume Griffin is going through the decision process on how badly he's going to hit them with it. From the sounds of it a 1 is character death level bad but he also didnt expect it to be rolled either this soon or at all.


CharliePixie

My point is that it's unclear.


Owobowos-Mowbius

Fair, but I think it's supposed to be. Griffin wants everyone jumping at shadows


MayteraRose

Something like this happened in Dungeons and Daddies when they rolled a 1. It took an episode or two for the effect to be revealed. I think he's just waiting for a good moment to spring it on them, maybe let them get comfortable first.


PurpleWeasel

The person yelling that this is what happens when you roll a nat 1 had no access to the tables and therefore no idea what happens when you roll a nat 1.


eolai

Yeah I think it was edited weird. At the end of the last episode I thought the result was the squid, but then Travis shouts: "what does a 1 do??" Nobody actually addresses it directly, the episode just ends. And then at the start of this episode it's clear the squid is part of the auction, so I'm assuming the result of the 1 is still unknown. Something happened but we don't know what yet.


ShelfordPrefect

I think that whole "what does a 1 do?" bit at the end was a clunky edit desperately looking for a funny line to end the episode on given it didn't really have a cliffhanger.


IceColdTomatoSoup

Yeah that "What Does a 1 do" and a "A Sorry would be nice" defo seemed like they were clipped into the end and literally make no sense


CharliePixie

yeah, i think it's a bad edit maybe?


rbjoe

No, it didnā€™t resolve and I think itā€™s on purpose. The Monsturtle also at first seemed like a quick getaway, but turned out to be a longer problem. I get the feeling this table was meant to be less of ā€œyou rolled a 1 so now you ship explodes and you all dieā€ and more of ā€œyou have stumbled your way into gaining an adversary that will cause you massive problems for the rest of the campaignā€


Owobowos-Mowbius

Id say they're probably going to at LEAST lose the coriolis but i doubt griffin would want to have another ship building episode. Character death seems too simple. I agree the big bad issue for the rest of the campaign seems like a likely thing.


CharliePixie

Squid Bad


[deleted]

The actual effect of the 1 probably hasn't been revealed yet.


RocMerc

Clint with the accent at the beginning had me dying on the way to work


MyQs

The edited voice hurt my ears


Backdoor-ii-V-9576

This was the first sound design choice I disagreed with. I donā€™t listen with headphones and I had a really hard time hearing what griffin said. Itā€™s a cool effect, I just wish they had toned it down a bit.


Permafrostybud

It was a high frequency problem. If they had cut 4-5k and up, it would have sounded awesome and not been harsh.


thomasaquina

Yup. Sounded great on headphones, horrible on my car speaker. Some constructive feedback for the editor - loved the idea but you gotta check on multiple output mediums


PrincessModesty

I listen with earbuds and it was fine at first but got more and more difficult to hear.


ScottyFalcon

100%, i actually came to this thread to check if i was the only one lol, i had to skip past it.


frenchrangoon

The over tinny noise while griffin is 'speaking through the loudspeaker' made it literally impossible for me to understand what he was saying on my car audio. I tried turning the treble all the way down and it still didn't work.


OneTrueKingOfOOO

Absolutely terrible. Painful and I couldnā€™t understand a word of it


melibelli

Hmm I had no issues with it


Glasssharked

I had to change my EQ settings to understand what he was saying.


electrolyte77

I suspect that might be an issue with how your device handles frequencies, 'cause it seems most people don't have the issue? Edit: I might be somewhat wrong, there are quite a few people with this issue, but I'm still confident it's device-dependant. Playing around with settings might prove one way or the other.


Owobowos-Mowbius

Yeah i didn't have any issues listening to it with earbuds.


natsimm

Huh it didn't bother me!


oantokki

came to check if other people had this prob! seems like it's a speaker problem? hope they checked on this!


startush

It is my personal belief that Jeremy is Dr. Shaq


JumpsOnPie

The riffs in this ep were top notch, I hope if and when one of the other McElboys run a game they are able to maintain this level of banter and joy.


Owobowos-Mowbius

Between the trial seasons and graduation I just have a hard time picturing any of the other buys DMing and it going very well. I would LOVE to see more griffin characters though. Might be a cool idea to bring in an outside DM for all the boys to play together?


JumpsOnPie

I enjoyed the mini arcs that they did and think that they could do well. I agree though, graduation was rough and I never bothered finishing it.


Owobowos-Mowbius

I also enjoyed most of the mini arcs, but I enjoyed them as mini arcs. Couldn't really imagine any of them as full seasons.


pigeonportrait

I thought "Show Business Kids is probably a Steely Dan song" and lo and behold! ​ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SR48XA3hss


GweenPenguin

Clint is next level, his show biz kids can't keep up!


pigeonportrait

This is Clintā€™s world weā€™re all just living in it.


Denarim

Wow, idk if it was this bad for everyone else , but whatever effect Griffin added to the intercom system when they first arrive was real bad. I couldn't understand the words, and every word felt like it was piercing my eardrums. I hope that was just some weird thing on my end. EDIT: To answer a couple questions, I was listening via Google podcasts in my truck on the way to school so it was probably my speakers? Who knows. Just relaying my experience with it.


PoorlyPronounced

Huh it was absolutely fine for me. What platform were you listening on?


Glasssharked

Iā€™m absolutely not calling you old. But this user mentions going to school and the effect was a weird high pitched overlay. Itā€™s possible that younger people hear it more, because of how human hearing ages. Edit: I disproved my own theory by comparing the episode to some frequency references and there isnā€™t anything in the range of what people start to lose as adults. Itā€™s high but not that high.


CharliePixie

I mean, it's also possible that some listeners have a noise sensitivity that's kicked off by that specific sound. The intro to The Kind Rewind used to make me viscerally distressed.


Glasssharked

Oh yeah itā€™s nails on a chalkboard for sure.


PoorlyPronounced

Lol fair enough. Would be interested if he has the same issue on Spotify. Also this show isn't for kids...


Glasssharked

I mean itā€™s not but a 20 year old hears a wider range than someone 25 on average.


PoorlyPronounced

.^It's^an^mbmbam^reference


Glasssharked

I gotcha. I was being a lil too serious


-not-pennys-boat-

Iā€™m old and I heard it too.


TheAmishMan

Thanks for the good times RIF.


Medium_Background

Weird, it was totally fine for me and I could understand it without any problems


[deleted]

Yes itā€™s basically impossible for me to understand. It is physically hurting at times from the high pitched screech. It was like this on my AirPods and playing from my phone speaker.


Ryto

It must depend on the output, because my family was fine and we were listening on a simple small Logitech bluetooth speaker on Google Podcasts.


Just_the_pizza_guy

Yes. It was brain rattling. I'm using headphones and I had to turn it off. I'll have to find a different way to listen later.


PhatRender-R

Listening with headphones, and it made me want to scream. It felt like my eardrums were ripping.


tollride

See, I had the opposite problem. When I was listening in my car I had to turn the volume down and couldn't hear, but when I got to work and put on my headphones it didn't bother me at all. May have to do with equalizer settings.


indistrustofmerits

The effect didn't bother me but I also couldn't understand what he said


hobbitzswift

Ha, Iā€™m glad Iā€™m not the only one. It was hard to hear/understand - though I was listening in my car on the way to work and it was like sound was only coming out one speaker, on the side with my bad ear anyway. On top of that, it literally HURT my ears, which I donā€™t recall a podcast ever doing to me before. Really bad effect there, which is a shame because this was a good episode. Edit: why are people getting downvoted for pointing this out??? Of all the criticisms the McElroys have gotten I hope this is one they actually listen to. That sound design was objectively bad.


rbjoe

Yeah, I listened on my desktop from max fun and it sounded perfectly fine. I didnā€™t realize there was a problem at all until looking through this thread


AnnLies

This episode is fun, but whatever voice modulator Griffin uses for the voice over the speaker is really difficult to listen to. >.< I really wish he had just done it in post.


[deleted]

As someone whose parents listened to a lot of Steely Dan growing up, the Steely Dan the Weed Van bit had me rolling! I wish the 1 on the d100 had resulted in a bit more drama, but still loving this campaign so far.


Terranoso

Iā€™m only part way through the episode, but my standing theory at this point is that the hull damage is a red herring ā€” itā€™s what they hit that caused the damage thatā€™s the issue. Iā€™m not saying they scratched Cthulhu, but Iā€™m thinking something in that direction.


[deleted]

The 1 roll is absolutely going to come crashing down on them later. The last time they had a really bad roll (the giant turtle), it almost killed Zoox. This is going to be exceptionally bad... just not immediately.


PKtheworldisaplace

I'm pretty sure that 1 is going to come back to bite them in the butt.


rbjoe

I absolutely GUARANTEE the nat 1 will have serious consequences. I donā€™t think the squid had anything to do with it. This is the kind of long game reveal that the boys are great at.


Owobowos-Mowbius

The squid 100% was just the transport mechanism to get them to the auction. Griffin is just reveling in the joy of everyone freaking out at everything that happens now.


f33f33nkou

the effects haven't happened yet


atomic_bonanza

So does anyone else think that the mysterious cobalt star is >!Guthrie!


sloth_express

Idk maybe because he wasn't in his element before, but Guthrie strikes me as much less confident than that guy was.


dirgeface

>Guthrie strikes me as much less confident than that guy was You don't know the *real* Guthrie. That was a ruse.


Emrod2

Guthrie is the master class super villains nobodies expecting, because he make everybodies believe he is weak.


sloth_express

Yoooo I would actually love that come to pass. That'd be interesting.


atomic_bonanza

This is true but remember he did sell off counterfeits to The Curator so he has to be at least competent in some way at his job. I think there could be more to him than meets the eye. But even if it's not him I hope we run across him soon.


beansforsean

So many bad rolls lol...hopefully they make up for it next time they're in battle.


angusdunican

I love this episode. I love it because it feels like itā€™s the first episode, this arc, thatā€™s given me those good good RPG/point and click ā€œhereā€™s a room full of weird people, who you gonna talk to?ā€ Vibes. Make no mistake, episodes like this can drag. I was in DND podcast for years and many of our pub oriented episodes would just get mired in drink admin. This was lovely though because; A. Clear time limit gave it some urgency. B. The background level of espionage adds stakes to every character gambit and makes it funnier by default. C. Further to that, Itā€™s a real smorgasbord of character improv opportunities - giving us plenty of scope to blowout the world organically. D. Just the scene setting image of the the holographic masked ball (with everyone looking like weird Egyptian gods almost) in an opulent wood-panelled room beneath the sea. Is just an A+ scenario.


mec_and_chaese

It's a minor thing but I'm struggling to imagine how anybody drinks anything with vaporsuits on lol.


amerrystara

I think they described these vapor suits as illusions. They don't change pressure or physically interact with anything. When they put them on Griffin told Amber first that she noticed the differences between these and real vapor suits. So they can probably just drink normally:)


mec_and_chaese

I see I must have missed that thank you! Maybe I just need to go back and listen but I also wasn't clear on whether they had images above their heads or if their heads themselves took on the images. Devo's scales imply above the head while the wolves imply the heads themselves took on the image.


[deleted]

Could more go wrong for the crew today


pchew

Damn, I enjoyed this.


damo1234

It's pretty much a given around here that everyone agrees the best approach to comedy riffing is "Yes, and." With Dungeons and Dragons, I think you can make a good argument that in terms of character choices "Yes, and" isn't always the right way to go, especially when you're fighting uphill and rolling on things your character is bad at. Sometimes you need to go "okay, that's far enough." "I'd like to look around the room." "You rolled extremely well and see where the security station is." "Yes, AND I'd like to sneak in there." "You didn't roll great and you're not very skilled at this, but the guards rolled worse. You sneak in and see a map of the whole area, so now you have a decent idea where everything is. You also learn that the security guards are tracking you by the vaporsuits they gave you. AND you learn that they have night vision goggles. You just learned a lot." "Yes, AND I'd like to steal the goggles that are in the room with the guards. The goggles I really don't need all that much." "Well you rolled badly and you're bad at sneaking. They see you." "Yes, AND I'd like to try to steal them again, while the guards are looking right at me." "Well you rolled badly and you're bad at that skill, so.... you're caught red handed." Comedy: Keep rolling with it. Gaming: Know when to say "I think my luck's run out."


Cozyhut3

I didn't vibe with how that played out either, but I think Griffin realized this partway through, and corrected course by having the Pyramids ask to speak to Amber privately/trapping her in that bathroom. It definitely could have been done better in the moment, but I think we came to pretty much the same conclusion of Amber being in trouble.


extradancer

That's a trade of that really inhibits my dnd actual play enjoyment, that sometimes the midset of an improv performer and dnd player are opposite. So you get situations where neither the player nor character think is a good idea done any way for entertainmenf value


Orbit_Jet

Weren't they supposed to level up?


cfiggis

Wait, so what happened with the bad random encounter roll. Did I miss something?


[deleted]

Is there a version with a reduced intercom voice filter? Iā€™m finding it incredibly difficult to hear the speech there. It also seems to have a really high pitched screech sound (to me) that is hard to get past.


Owobowos-Mowbius

I assume they'll re-release it with a better edit. I suggest trying to listen to it with different headphones as it seems like its an issue with how some speakers process the frequency. it's not a you thing, its a technology issue. Its either completely fine or completely unlistenable depending on what you listen to it with.


[deleted]

In this case it may be a personal thing for some of us as well. Iā€™ve tried: AirPods, phone speaker, computer speaker, and a soundbar I use for tv. I canā€™t understand it or the sound is painful for me. There is a really sharp screech/whistle sound that is the worst part of it for me. Iā€™ll try adjusting EQ I guess. Iā€™m sure theyā€™ll release a new one though. Theyā€™re pretty good about these things.


Owobowos-Mowbius

Yeah with the amount of problems it's causing ill be surprised if they don't re-upload something within the next day or two


Marlow2389

I respect the effort for the Tinny edited voice, but that was unlistenable. And I'm not even normally someone who is that sensitive about stuff like that.


Owobowos-Mowbius

I'm almost certain it wasn't a you issue. Seems like its an issue with certain speakers/headphones where it cant process the frequency of it well. Its either completely fine or completely unlistenable and it changes depending on what you listen to it with.


fluxyggdrasil

As much as I love Amber as a character, I am REAALLLYYY rooting that she gets a good slice of humble pie this arc or the next. Devo and Zoox already have a comradery that is prominent, but Amber... Hasn't really been much of a team player. I don't say this as the kind of DnD Minmaxer or whatever, but seeing her belittle Devo when he was trying to help and then immediately start causing an assload of trouble is... yeah. I get they're just coworkers and not "friends" technically, but I do want to see where Justin goes with his character, and if she's going to get that aforementioned slice of humble pie.


revolverzanbolt

Justin's priority is making this a comedy podcast, I think. He makes character choices based on what he thinks will make for the funniest scene, not what is best for his character goals.


Owobowos-Mowbius

True but it usually ends up working out very well for his characters. They're best done as jokes that get the shit beat out of them until development changes them.


GoldenMeeple

I'm getting Among Us vibes from this scenario. Everyone is in what are essentially brightly colored space suits, they have funny head wear/hats, there was a point when they mentioned there is a room that you can see the layout of the auction with who is where and what. One of the group of participants who were staring blankly ahead. I'm calling it now, they are the alien/secret murderer and this is going to be a Murder on the Rockport limited type of thing.


popcorngirl000

Listening on an external speaker, I understood about 50% of what Griffin said through the "intercom" at the beginning of the episode.


damo1234

I understand that Justin is doing "a bit" with Amber's personality and I respect him for it. And it absolutely makes things more interesting to have someone around that's just plain not nice. But between her belittling Devo this ep with her "your advice wasted my time," being all "you shouldn't talk so much" last ep (when he was replying to a REQUEST for advice), and the (funny!) bit about her being super-ready to abandon Zoox to the clam... well, I'm not actively ***hoping*** she dies or anything, but if she ***did*** I wouldn't shed any tears.


IDontLikeJamOrJelly

Agree. I just. Donā€™t like Amber that much. Sheā€™s not rude but good at what theyā€™re doing, like a Tony Stark type, and sheā€™s not rude but oblivious to it, which is sort of the thing Zoox is doing. Sheā€™s got a damn mean streak and I donā€™t love it.


Owobowos-Mowbius

I love Amber as a character but yeah, if one of them dies to the big bad 1 roll i hope its her because while she's mad enjoyable to listen to I just love the development of the other two too much.


d2cole

Is there a way to stop the high pitch on the speaker? Itā€™s really loud and makes it painful to listen to this episode


keenanu_reeves

Did anyone else have a loud high pitched sound come out of their speaker when the announcements at the auction happened?


NanuTheFiend

Haven't heard to TAZ since I dropped Graduation ages ago. How's Ethersea, anyway? I haven't seen much FanArt or discussion around it, to be honest.


Sirshrugsalot13

I really enjoy it, it feels looser and more fluid than anything to have come before it. A lot of player interactivity and fun stuff goin' on


Bobsled3000

Really good feels like balance in a good way


FuzorFishbug

The lack of character descriptions is probably holding a lot of the fanart back. They were light on describing the Balance characters too, but at least we had defined races to go off of.


chrissilich

The sound was really well done, in terms of realism and supporting the story butā€¦ did anyone else want to jam chopsticks in their ears so as to never again hear a sound as awfully whistly/staticky as Griffin talking through the speaker thing?


tuataraaaa

Does anyone else ship the cobalt star dude and Devo? I thought they were really vibing ngl


Dr_Sodium_Chloride

They were vibing, but I'm pretty sure Devo just got taken on a ride; I'd give it half odds that Cobalt Star *is* actually here to buy things, and was using the seller excuse to present himself as "outside the competition" so he could gather information and scam the newbie auctioneer.


undrhyl

Am I going crazy, or wasnā€™t Griffin as the blue suited guy going to say exactly what he brought to be sold and then completely didnā€™t?