Darksun Spelljammer with puffin (animated spellbook)

Hold person
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Music:
Dopplegangers Demise by Lou Kelly
The Haunted House by Jakub Pietras
Wolverine by Kryptos
Egos by nate rose

[@zeebashew]

**Rules Correction!!** Looks like concentration is also broken by being incapacitated! (So it’s even worse!)

[@rodneylives]

The thing about Hold Person is, it (and pretty much all other debilitating status spells) have been heavily nerfed from previous editions, since the target gets a chance /every turn/ to end the effect. This video shows what happens if none of those saving throws succeeds, but it was the result of ridiculously bad luck.

[@HelicopterShark]

@@rodneylives Yeah I wish it was at least worded "At the end of each of it's subsequent turns, it gets to make another Wisdom save possibly ending the effect" What does this change..... not much except makes it on par with a normal cast for a WARCASTER reaction, which would be such an amazing use. Currently, they make 2 saves straight away. First to see if the spell lands then straight away if they fail as it would then be the end of their current turn.

[@FlaminTubbyToast]

I would be so down to listen to the epic journey to gain spells slots

[@JagEterCoola]

Why did the GM not mention the value of iron in Dark Sun? Would that just... Not be something the characters knew, at all? Why would the priests just start instantly attacking the torturer instead of interrogating him and making him give up what he was 'stealing'? Shouldn't they have been on a tight enough schedule with the entire 'get down by noon' bullshittery? Why did your human friend just stand around for 5 rounds while you died before your concentration was broken instead of getting the fuck out of there? I have so many questions and not enough answers, Zee please.

[@lordpepper6932]

not to worry, all the kobold rogue has to do is find a new God or celestial to help him and become a cleric or warlock cause uhhhhh he need Jesus to get outa there

[@velocevisrin5060]

That cultist dancing scene was amazing

[@kasheu]

100% agree

[@jordanarellano8058]

If every procession was like this, there would be less wars. Lol

[@johnrose5663]

I need it as a perfect loop video

[@rayclawicefire2503]

@@johnrose5663 well good news it is

[@chumprock]

Techno Viking had nothing on them.

[@Vegas242]

This sounds like the prelude to a really interesting warlock pact

[@patrickbuckley7259]

Sorcerer King/Dragon Pact?

[@noname-do5wo]

Oh I might steal that idea

[@singularity1130]

I'd love to DM a game for a Rogue passing out and meeting with an Eldritch being. The campaign: given an opportunity to grow stronger as a Warlock by utilizing their Rogue skills in order to complete tasks focused around deconstructing the snake cult; making their knowledge and strength your own. Once they're powerful enough they'll be given the power needed to escape the planet. The opening part where they barely survived and friends died is a beautifully brutal opener.

[@inkmcsquiddin2034]

Stuck on the plane of Whamchucbuuuurgah, the Rouge howled as the controls would not react. But then, he knew. He felt it, as if it had always been there. Go to the sacred site of Ifitsrealitwasntmeanttobe, and learn. Let that place guide you...

[@batmenic365StopMotion]

@@patrickbuckley7259 Absolutely this!! What other option is there on a world without Gods?

[@erikoftheinternet]

Other channels: it's impossible to die in 5e Zee Bashew: we average 1-2 characters per session

[@taddad2641]

when the dm is against you.

[@darkherculeskabuterimon7203]

"Impossible to die in 5E" I have only played 5e, and of the roughly 150 characters I've played in the past 7 years, about 3/5s of them are dead. I usually burn through at least three characters per campaign. Either the game is short or easy enough for me to keep my first character all the way through, or I lose a character every 3-6 sessions.

[@ramgladore]

It depends if you let your players minmax and the players if given the chance will optimize the fun out of game. That is the main reason why i like playing vanilla characters. I want a challenge.

[@NarhiFaunlha]

@@taddad2641 Or the players want a challenging and deadly game. Just because a PC dies doesn't mean the DM is 'against you'. Its a part of the game

[@EvelynNdenial]

@@NarhiFaunlha yep. if the players are up for it, a DM can run enemies intelligently and in numbers logical for the situation (ex dozens of gobbos/kobolds in a tribe or multiple squads of hobgoblins working together) it can become incredibly deadly. especially if the baddies start double tapping since they'd know about healing and the wack a mole system 5e is.

[@thomasoreilly857]

"And I, Glorb, an artificer of... middling skill" Well, at least he's honest about it.

[@bsmith6784]

If only his _middling skill_ had reached level 7, he could've made those saves. 😔

[@duongchuc1834]

ok

[@siscokidder]

@@bsmith6784 actually, he still couldn't. Flash of Genius, the 7th level artificer skill that lets you add INT MOD to an ability check or saving throw, takes a reaction to use. This screwed me over since in my previous session, my Hobgoblin Alchemist got bewitched by some harpies and walked ever closer to a cliff... being bewitched (and being paralyzed) incapacitated me, so although I could use Saving Face, a Hobgoblin racial ability that can also bump up saving throws by up to +5 depending on how many allies are near me with no action cost, to try and get out of it, I would still fall short until just before the cliff's edge when I finally made my save.

[@bsmith6784]

@@siscokidder Unless he already spent it that round, he'd still be able to use it on the *_1st_* save (when the spell was initially cast and he wasn't under its effects yet)

[@siscokidder]

@@bsmith6784yea, but we saw his dice rolls (supposedly). The final one was the one he could FoG'd out of, since it was one below the saving throw. Really, though, I want to know what his choices as an Artificer were. Had he made a homunculus, going incapacitated would have made them capable of acting freely, w/o the bonus action to command them, so it might have knocked the priest's concentration.

[@lilknux1646]

"Think of it as a compliment" "JESUS CHRIST!"

[@thehubbleton]

The most famous human sacrifice of all.

[@magmat0585]

Stan: Ayo, what the fu-"

[@DutchBlackMantha]

You know, that rogue is in the perfect position to be the questgiver for a follow-up campaign. Mysterious backstory, keeps his appearance hidden and can disappear like batman with the runs. He sends the PC's on various missions until they are trusted and high level enough to travel the multiverse with him.

[@Bluecho4]

Plus, the PCs would be natives to Athas (the Dark Sun world). So when the rogue says, "yo, wanna get off this hell planet? On other worlds, we have, like, water and shit. And you can just cast spells without destroying the biosphere", it's not even really a choice.

[@wadespencer3623]

@@Bluecho4 Hard to think of a main setting they could go to that ISN'T better than Athas. Almost nobody would stay there.

[@overthinkingisbad]

the cultist procession was something i was a little desperately hoping would be used on something and not just a short, totally delivered the episodes are always a great bit of fun

[@Jenthura]

1:45 to watch it again!

[@eliassierra2399]

That was my exact sentiment

[@MetaKaios]

Oh, right. That's why it looked familiar.

[@tythanh4708]

ok

[@tamtri6218]

ok

[@MurderousEagle]

The way you say "Fueled by magic" is actually the perfect demonstration for the tone of spelljammer

[@webbowser8834]

He used the right font, color palette and everything.

[@sylveswe]

But he spelled it wrong.

[@oskarbondesson4936]

I see you put that dancing cultist animation to good use.

[@quitkid8727]

Couldn't have gone any better

[@Andrew.A.]

I was holding out for "Spell Sluts" but this is also good.

[@stentor1980]

Within Candlekeep lies a tome, covered in cobwebs, its leather cover cracked with age. It is titled “How Not to Die on Athas.” If one were to open this book to its first page, one would see a single sentence: “Don’t go to Athas.” The rest of the pages are blank.

[@gavros9636]

How does one know about Athas without going there? Seeing as how you can't get out again if you do?

[@tomtom7955]

@@gavros9636 Deus ex Machina, plot armor, Gm fiat, patrick rofuss Bullshit.

[@gavros9636]

@@tomtom7955 Patrick Rofuss Bullshit?

[@tomtom7955]

@@gavros9636it's an acquisitions Incorporated reference. One of the players VRE gets away with all kind of shenanigans

[@gavros9636]

@@tomtom7955 Makes me wonder how the Acq Inc branch on on Athas works. Probably their isn't one, since there is no profit to be had on Athas.

[@danajensen9719]

As someone currently playing in a Darksun campaign Athas is no joke. Honestly its a miracle the party has survived at all.

[@josephperez2004]

A friend of mine is working on a homebrew system to play Darksun in, basically a fusion of the different editions with the parts he thinks are most appealing. He has outright refused to allow certsin chsracter options because some of them are just unreasonanly likely to get us killed. Like being a Half-giant....and eequiring four times the water of a normal human to stay viable.

[@harrysteel864]

@@josephperez2004 why not just get rid of the water requirement? Its not like you're not using homebrew lol

[@7therajin]

​@@harrysteel864 My guess: The DM is trying to recreate the vibe of the original setting which had a lot of gritty survival and fucked up moral choices baked into the mechanics rather than just you know, reskinning Faerun. Darksun was originally a 2e setting and the game was much closer to it's war gaming roots, in that character death was more or less an inevitability and you just rerolled a new one or had backups on hand. 5e's mechanics are a lot more forgiving and would require a lot of fandangling to make it feel like the system the setting was made with in mind.

[@harrysteel864]

@@7therajin I get that, but why ban certain character options because of mechanics you can change? Like, if requiring more water is that be a deal, just make them take the same water as a human! You're flying an interdimesional magic space ship, is a big guy not being as thirsty gonna break your immersion?

[@7therajin]

@@harrysteel864 Spelljammer is actually a different setting that has mechanics about traveling to other realms (settings) that's much more high fantasy weirdness and stuff (think a stew of Hitchhiker's Guide, some Star Wars and like the 80's TMNT cartoon). They just visited Athas (the Dark Sun setting) using the Spelljammer rules as a mechanic. Darksun is basically bronze age DnD set in a desert. Water intake was actually an important part of the survival of the setting with certain races (like Elves and Thri-Kree) needing a lot less and thus having an easier time surviving outside of the cities. There was a Half-Giant equivalent in the old game called Mules (human dwarf hybrids created through brutal rituals) who were basically kept as slaves dependent on their master's because it was almost impossible to sustain them outside of cities. From what I've gathered from the comment, the goal is an accurate recreation of the original setting with all of the unfairness and roughness attached.

[@javierpatag3609]

I must commend your DM for that. He had the presence of mind to remember the setting detail of iron being scarce and very valuable on Athas giving his NPC a reason to cast Hold Person on your character. A DM is already keeping track of so many things at once so picking up on that was amazing.

[@user-qd8yy9lc4g]

I mean. If you are familiar with Dark Sun at all, scarcity of iron is one of the basics. It is a fun way to trip up an outsider adventurer for sure, but, since past takes on Dark Sun decisively kept out of _any_ crossovers, it was not something that came up often. 5e goes in exact reverse, introducing Athas _through_ crossover, so that is something that should be plastered on the gazetteer front and center.

[@MrZedahmail]

Yeah its common knowledge

[@sporf_sporf]

@@user-qd8yy9lc4g There was one 'crossover adventure.' The Githyanki invade through an artifact portal in one of the later adventures, towards the end of its 2nd ed run.

[@user-qd8yy9lc4g]

@@sporf_sporf Yep, Black Spine. That was before Githyanki weren't part of any setting at that point, really, and it dealt with Athas' own Gith as well, so I wouldn't count it as that beyond literally going beyond Athas' known cosmos.

[@invertedghostgames9899]

Lol, that poor rogue. Both his friends died, he didn't get away with nearly as much as he probably wanted, and he was now stuck on that planet because their magic user was dead. All of that for a rock he could no longer use. Side Note: What an amazingly animated dance procession! Can't wait to see next week's episode!

[@Lamplordable]

Not just any planet, but Athas. A post-apocalyptic desert planet with cannibal halflings, magic directly defiles the world, the Lich Reich, and God always lets you go to voicemail.

[@efugee]

It's like an episode of the twilight zone.

[@BananaMystic]

To make it worse, probably the nearest arcane magic user is a paranoid, power-mad sorcerer-king tyrant that would kill quite possibly the entire world if he knew he had a sure-fire to get off of it before doing so. That's one of the reasons they say you shouldn't mix Spelljammer and DarkSun, like, specifically.

[@robynthethird4776]

Couldn't he somehow kidnap a Yuan-Ti mook and extort their innate spellcasting ability? I mean they're presumably zealous to the bone, and as seen here have some concept of scheduling, so if I were running it I'd have the captive refuse in the belief a search party would find the massive cuttlefish spaceship in the middle of the desert, which they absolutely would. Also since he'd need their suggestion he'd be at risk of getting it cast on him, but if I were him I'd go for it. Better than living there forever.

[@Jimbo55151]

@@robynthethird4776 maybe. But magic in dark sun is basically all dried up. Anyone who uses magic is already insane enough to murder them instantly if they get caught or has the chance to cause a huge cascade from the fallout from casting a spell that could kill them, anyone close, the city half a planet away, or the planet itself. Basically no matter what they are in for a bad time

[@shadowwolf9955]

So happy these are comimg out every week. This was a fun story but wow what a dark end to a campaign. I feel the rogue would make a great NPC to put in a campaign.

[@Ekair42]

a dark end fitting for the dark sun of athas XD

[@AxxLAfriku]

I am the most famous man on YouTub! This is not bragging! This is the truth! The truth will set you free, dear sean

[@leo_v8214]

Or a BBEG

[@jevinlippincott8783]

The real question here is how the hell does the rogue get off that planet? Does he try to survive long enough and he forces himself to become an arcane trickster or does he just take up magic initiate at the earliest interval? These are the questions we gotta ask to see what kind of npc he could become.

[@theposhdinosaur7276]

It could be an epic adventure to find a caster to fuel his ship. Though as far as I'm aware, finding a spellcaster on Athas that wouldn't murder you on sight is rather difficult. But just imagine. The other players make new characters - locals who hate their lives on this doomed planet. They are promised a way out IF they help the rogue persuade/kidnap a caster of some kind to power his spelljammer.

[@TimeBucks]

This story was wonderful.

[@Andhra1Gamer]

The story was good

[@buiphong7779]

wow i like it

[@parvinakter4483]

The store was very good

[@taddad2641]

disagree. while his presentation was good, it smelt of dm bullshittery.

[@thesquishedelf1301]

Snake priest had mad Pillar Man energy. And I love how his cultists are almost the same as the little weird dancers in that Felix Colgrave music video. It’s beautiful

[@thesquishedelf1301]

@Favius Arthum yep

[@camquoc5718]

ok

[@southron_d1349]

I once heard of a GM who was running a RuneQuest game. The party were off to slay a dragon. All was going well until they came across a particular door in the dungeon. An Iron Door. In a Bronze Age setting. The PCs said "Screw it, the door is the most valuable treasure". It was off the hinges in nothing flat and they left. I don't know what happened with the dragon. Presumably still sitting in a draughty chamber, wondering where his door went.

[@Alphacron]

The original Tomb of Horrors had a set of Adamantine doors. Apparently enough stories of people just trying to steal the doors and leave got around that the 3.5 rewrite specified that they were Steel doors plated or illusioned to look like Adamantine because the demilich was sick of having to replace them.

[@TheZombieOfDrake]

@@Alphacron And then, later in 3.5, the Eberron Campaign Setting book had an introductory adventure for 1st level adventurers that had an abandoned temple with Adamantine doors. Granted, it was a half inch layer of Adamantium over steel, but it was still worth the time and effort for 1st level PCs to loot the doors.

[@luketfer]

@@Alphacron Yeah it was actually MORE profitable to just take the Adamantine doors off their hinges and take them back to town than to bother doing the dungeon, you basically became stupidly wealthy without having to even enter the dungeon. Of course word of mouth about this spread along with the tactic of 'buy a shitload of sheep, herd them into the tomb to set off all the traps, deal with the monsters, leave' that later rewrites specifically tailored to stop these tactics (mainly because they REALLY pissed of Gygax for some reason, especiall the sheep one because one group did it at a tournament he was attending).

[@MasterZebulin]

@@luketfer "No, stop it! You're supposed to DIE!!!" -Gygax (probably)

[@vaelophisnyx9873]

@@luketfer Gygax was way too easy to piss off and way too bad of a DM to counter these tactics on the fly man made a dungeon to murder parties who thought got too strong, which is mostly a DM's fault.

[@mattstrauchon6756]

And THAT my friends is why I multiclassed into Rouge/Cleric. Fuel for my jammer and free water and food in a desert, not bad.

[@airistal]

Nice idea however a rouge is more likely to have their stats geared for charisma leaving their options leaning towards bard, sorcerer, and warlock. Each have advantages. Bards in the long run have access to spells of any class and have school of creation at level three for survival, Sorcerers and warlocks have more options in their bloodline/patron being first level features. However as soon as they have spells then features for surviving that environment becomes moot as they'll just be able to leave.

[@cjt354]

Create Food and Water does not exist on Athas and Create or Destroy Water affects only one gallon per casting (and for each level upcast, in the homebrew 5e version I've seen.)

[@evansageser6943]

Athas is a Godless world for the most part by the lore. While I think it's possible for a Cleric from another plane to maintain a connection to their God, as a GM I would rule pretty strongly against a rogue from a non-religious background being able to pick up the training necessary to initiate themselves as priest of one of their native deities without anyone else's help. Best case scenario would probably be turning to one of the native elemental powers or one of the Eldritch Sorcerer-Kings for assistance. Though the character description possibly implies that they're an Int secondary Rogue, so maybe just studying up as a wizard is the way to go.

[@Just_Jasen]

The transition of you saying "Welcome to this animated Spellbook" and then the ENEMY saying the spell is so good, especially with how the music kicks in.

[@luckyday5721]

I always wonder why there are so many cults in Dnd stories but seeing them dance down the hall made me think Oh oh yeah if their were tangible powers to get from deities we have so many people who would be able to fill that role.

[@InquisitorThomas]

I’m pretty sure the explanation is that Gods get their power from faith, and Good aligned deities tend to have a lot of followers providing a lot of faith. Evil Gods tend to struggle at getting lots of faith especially if they’re an evil god of a very niche domain like Poison or Domination where only a very small subset of psychopaths worship you. However big rituals provide a lot of faith so evil gods tends to have their followers do a lot more rituals than Good Gods who just need you to go to church or pray before bed for faith.

[@Bluecho4]

Absolutely. In any world where there is societal disparity (rich versus poor, nobility versus peasantry, majority versus minority, etc), social or environmental hardship, or simply people who have ambition, you're going to get people who seek ways to get an edge over others. In a world where the normal cosmic Powers That Be are supplemented by any number of beings that are willing to grant power or favor to mortals, you'll get folks who would be willing to serve and/or worship such beings. This not even getting into cultists drawn in due to loneliness, fear, ennui, despair, sorrow, or rage. For whom any community is craved, and any promise of purpose or secret wisdom an irresistible lure. Times of uncertainty, anguish, or existential horror can attract those looking for comfort or a way to reconcile their feelings. None of this is to say the cult's patron or leadership need to be honest about what's on offer. They just need to convince the would-be acolyte that what they say is true. As Real Life has shown us, many people want to believe such things. Cults are a very useful tool for DMs. They are fanatical in their beliefs, so they'll fight to the death and engage in all manner of villainy. They can draw upon supernatural powers that make them a threat at basically any level of play. Their plans don't need to 100% make logical sense, because they're running off of blind faith and lies. Cultists can come from many walks of life, and can hide in plain sight. And they can be evil enough that players can feel justified killing them, since they're neither reasonable nor repentant.

[@christopherg2347]

Dark Sun has no gods. They died, got banished or just gave up on the world.

[@GigachadVTuberEnjoyer]

cults make perfect sense in dnd. clerics have incredible super natural powers. but what if the clergy won't let you in, or the god you work for never grants you power? just go worship tiamat instead. it's free powers

[@unintentionallydramatic]

The thing that always bothered me is that this is basically not represented. You don't get an actual tangible benefit from being in a cult without class levels.

[@DrakeAurum]

What this basically shows is that Hold Person is one of those spells that's much more scary in the hands of NPCs than PCs. If a player uses it on a big-bad and they fail their saves, probably all that means is that the player gets to feel a bit more awesome and the encounter is shorter than expected. But if someone uses it against a PC and their luck is bad on the saving throws, it's a very easy way to die quickly. The part about attacks from within 5 feet being automatic crits really ramps up the danger level, because crits rack up those failed death saves very quickly, effectively removing one of the main cushions against character death.

[@mestre12]

And, its even worst if the crit came from a rougue

[@anomanomom239]

It is the reason why no enemy in Skyrim uses paralyse spell

[@burpbot7555]

@@anomanomom239 In Oblivion I once fought a Daedra whose Claymore could paralyze on hit, and I think even block. Good Times!

[@jamieadams2589]

Depends on who you're fighting. Against a swarm of kobolds, hold person is useless. Against the singular death knight hunting down the party, incredibly effective

[@DemoBytom]

@@jamieadams2589 Death knight is an undead, and thus cannot be affected by neither hold person nor hold monster spells.

[@ForeverLaxx]

Hold Person has to be one of the most abused spells our DM uses at the table. It really feels like the DM is just deleting your character but with extra steps.

[@josephperez2004]

Hold Person is basically the Boot Party spell.

[@CaitSith87]

Prepare silvery barbs?

[@buboniccraig896]

its almost as bad as my DM with high level sleep spells.

[@dokidelta1175]

Imagine how I felt as a DM when my party beat my paragon monster boss because I couldn't justify how Hold Person would paralyze the witch on one of her turns but not the others. That was supposed to be a brutal fight too.

[@CaitSith87]

@@buboniccraig896 thats why i always say a first level wizard easlily beats a first level fighter cause of sleep :)

[@ketsuekikumori9145]

Before the beat dropped, my first thought upon hearing a cult procession was in progress was the little animated short awhile back. So you can imagine a smile spreading across my face when it happened.

[@merlenclownshuffles]

XD lol YES

[@videogollumer]

Same, I knew where it was going. hehe

[@teamneerd]

Probably one of the most pleasant Dark Sun encounters I've seen

[@deltavictor8369]

Seriously. No one was even eaten by cannibalistic halflings!

[@IAmNotAPorkchop]

My husband and mine's head canon of YuanTi is that they worship in big snake pits in a rave Matrix Zion-style. So that Cultist procession felt like a prophecy fulfilled. love!

[@shada0]

The ending kind of reminds me of this conversation I had with some friends on why wouldn't an evil player or a thief backstab the rest of the party. My suggestion was that in a game with every encounter meant for a party, any lone adventure stuck in the middle of nowhere would most likely be screwed.

[@99sonder]

Another note about the Paralyzed condition. You count as being incapacitated, which in and of itself means you can't take any action or reaction of course, but it also comes with many other side effects mentioned in other rules and features. For example, being incapacitated means you don't impose disadvantage on ranged attacks by being within 5 feet of an enemy, so someone with a gun could just walk up and execute you with adv.->Auto crit. It also drops concentration

[@evanhoffman7995]

I was going to mention the concentration thing since I know a lot of people miss that one. Another fun thing is that you can still move while incapacitated, but most things that cause you to be incapacitated (paralysis, hypnotic pattern) also reduce your speed to 0. But that's technically a separate effect.

[@onceuponatimeandspace]

Also, "You lose Concentration on a spell if you are Incapacitated..." so by RAW, you lose concentration of a spell as soon as the Hold Person takes effect. But a lot of DMs don't like to rule that way

[@99sonder]

@@onceuponatimeandspace Yup, even after 3 years of experience with 5e, I didn't know this fact until recently. So I think a lot of DMs just don't run the rule as written because they think it specifically states it drops at falling unconcious (like rage does), like me and my group used to think before we re-read the rule.

[@masonmanic]

So that's what the procession animation was for! I love it.

[@davidcollins9213]

I've been waiting for this video since that came out

[@ad982347]

Hearing about dnd sessions is like listening to a retelling of a dream... most of them are boring AF but this was great, thanks man

[@gotenksta]

Or you are that one guy who forgets everything that happened in the session

[@roland4618]

I think the animation as well as the occasional voice acting helps a lot in addition to the well set-up narration. just hearing a DnD story on the side with someone telling the story can more often than not feel, like you said, a retelling of a dream. DnD stories are definitely much better when told with an animation or even still pictures to the accompany, even relatively "lower quality" animation or stick figures can tell a shit ton that would be absolutely horrendous to try and piece together in a single story telling sitting.

[@Halinspark]

A lot of them also really aren't all that interesting to begin with. Many of the enjoyable ones benefit from somebody who knows how to pick a story as well as tell it.

[@Raakarapu]

I'd say it doesn't matter if its a dnd story, dream or what you had for lunch yesterday. Its all about how the story is told, and some people have a talent for telling them. Give it some spice and change it to be more cohesive.

[@kindoflame]

I spent a solid minute laughing at the kobold casually saying, "Think of it as a compliment. I think of you as people." Its like reverse species-based racism!

[@faceoctopus4571]

Please explain the "reverse" part to me.

[@kindoflame]

@@faceoctopus4571 In many campaigns kobolds and goblins are treated like mindless animals to be killed for treasure, not people. This line was so funny because that very common situations was reversed, with the kobolds not viewing humans as a people.

[@faceoctopus4571]

@@kindoflame but isn't that still just species-based racism? If a man illegally kills a woman, that's murder. But if a woman illegally kills a man, is that "reverse murder" or is that still just murder?

[@Year2047]

Best one ever. Now we just need Dark Sun. I love you threw Sticks to Snakes in there. Great Easter Egg.

[@aidenauty9716]

Been looking for someone to mention that one, old early editions spells were wack lol

[@deanonfire7503]

Casting Disguise with the scale mail visible was a calculated risk But boy was I bad at math Actually that would have been genius in any other setting but wow was that a surefire gamble that backfired BIG TIME.

[@timothymclean]

So it's less being bad at math and more being bad at social studies (and hence inputting the wrong data into your calculations)? Pretty common problem for data scientists trying to larp as historians.

[@merlenclownshuffles]

@@timothymclean However it is neither social studdys or math, OR EVEN HISTORY GOOD SIR, it is infact GEOLOGY.

[@merlenclownshuffles]

@@timothymclean **** you rcn for being such a pretensios na sayer.

[@inkmcsquiddin2034]

@UCR_HxWnlGqdg6WEKFyL3VLAI If you want to be clever, you gotta know your setting and environment. I have a d*ck DM that builds great games by making knowing the environment important...detail is the best...

[@timothymclean]

@@merlenclownshuffles Geology and social studies are hardly unrelated. I'd argue that this falls more into the social studies end of things, like pointing out the effect that scarce tin deposits had on Bronze Age societies.

[@NonsenseFabricator]

"I know a shortcut. First, we visit the planet from Dark Sun..." Me: "let me stop you right there"

[@NibbleMyKibble]

Can we talk about that beautiful, unspoken use of Sticks to Snakes? Can't be the only one that noticed that

[@pedrostormrage]

4:34 "A cold, horrible truth set in: Nachtos was a rogue and spelljammers are fueled by magic" Tfw you're not an arcane trickster 🔪🪄

[@johnbrownlee5419]

I really want to know how this story goes after this point.

[@piranhaplantX]

@@johnbrownlee5419 I mean, if they continued. The rogue would basically have to recruit two new (spell caster) friends or find a way to get his old friends revived. Until they leave, they would basically be playing a Dark Sun campaign.

[@brianrose85]

Assuming this is (/was) a running campaign, and not a one-shot, I'd say the resolution is pretty straightforward -- Nachdos needs to find one or two people on Athis who can use magic and might be willing to team up; put another way, the other two players are going to half to roll two new characters anyway, so...

[@TF2PNub]

Natchdos could always "awaken latent magical energy from within" aka multiclass into sorcerer after trying to survive long enough to level up

[@drahydra]

@@brianrose85 Except that's a horrible prospect because Athas spellcasters cast magic by sucking the life out of the world around them. So it's really bad for that to get out of Athas and to other planes.

[@TheKeyblademaster199]

The full dance sequence with the context is absolutely stunning!

[@galanothi]

Now this is some quality colab, hearing this, I feel that somehow spelljammer made the caster martial disparity even stronger, like absolutely needing a caster to use the most important part of the setting.

[@alexdillahunt6908]

It is possible they changed that in the new system, but we won't know for a while. They already did remove the phlogiston and crystal spheres.

[@XpVersusVista]

at the same time you could argue that it makes spell casters weaker in combat because they already used some of their spell slots before.

[@Skywatcher16]

if you go by the original, i wouldnt consiter being barred from any and all fire ANYTHING, being strapped to a chair that burns all your spell slots for the day, and being cut off from any amount of summoning or divine power a "buff".

[@WhyYouMadBoi]

@@Skywatcher16 Yeah because its a buff to arcane casters. There is nothing stopping the party from resting for a day then going out, its literally not a set back like at all.

[@Heritage367]

Well to be fair, it's not called SWORDJammer...which sounds kind of wrong now that I see it typed out 😳

[@TheRealCeeJai]

2:00 This is quite possibly one of the greatest animated sequences I have ever seen in my entire life. The raving techno music just makes it *chef's kiss*.

[@naomihatfield3015]

Just to torment my players, I learned the steps to that dance. It's really rough on the shoulders...

[@VikingFyre]

Even if he could operate the Spelljammer, he wouldn’t have been able to leave Athas. It’s Sphere has weird issues that prevent anyone from leaving that world by magical means. I love Dark Sun, I really hope it comes to 5th

[@codebracker]

How do you leave then? Do you just pu your spelljammer on a big catapult?

[@VikingFyre]

@@codebracker nope. Getting to Athas via Spelljammer is extremely difficult, but leaving is impossible according to the old rules. It’s the reason why the Gith on Athas didn’t split into githyanki and githzerai, they were stranded on a young Athas before the division. Athas by design is a world without true gods that the greater cosmos would rather fade from existence, yet somehow manages to persevere despite the barely sustainable conditions. And since magic is so reviled and tightly regulated the only beings that have the power to operate a Spelljammer are usually the most evil and powerful. That’s why I love dark sun.

[@joshuajevans8824]

Yha that sphere is sealed tight. Shouldn't have ben able to get in let alone get out. One of the few places on the prime you can't Jam to.

[@bestaround3323]

@@joshuajevans8824 So the game was rigged from the start

[@josephperez2004]

Sort of like Wormwood in the Palladium games. Magic is basically dead in that world. Its possible to go to Wormwood, but if you do you are almost certainly stuck there because there isnt enough magic to connect to for magical exits.

[@eostyrwinn5018]

Seeing the cultist procession show up again was the greatest pay off of the year

[@smartestmoronx19]

Finally, we get to see the dance battle as it was intended!

[@kobudo]

God I miss Dark Sun. For a 2e setting, it had amazing themes, like spellcasters having serious environmental choices to make, thri-kreen as playable characters, half-giants that code-switch so hard only one half of their alignment is fixed, and if you flee the desert to the north, then you meet the halflings and they’re… well… let’s say they have a wildly different society that would give Bilbo Baggins himself a serious case of PTSD. The reward for a tough fight might just be enough water to keep your party going for another day or two.

[@SeekerPsycho1]

His face getting progressively more panicked and swollen was fantastic

[@criticalsweeper7965]

Everything went wrong and it was glorious. As much as I love clutch rolls and plans coming together, we need more stories like this in the dnd community.

[@joshuajevans8824]

its the 1's and the 20's that make the game.

[@Gork862]

Something noteworthy about Talespire is that it now has HeroForge integration so you can directly import custom heroforge models into the game. That in combination with custom map making means you can do basically whatever you want with this one game. It’s great

[@sergiocruz6195]

Since when

[@Lastname_the_First]

I just looked and saw an update on their Kickstarter page--they announced Beta integration with Hero Forge on April 25th.

[@slickrickard]

This is so sick

[@Bakamoichigei]

HeroForge support is hella cool, but the second I can import the minis I get every month on Patreon (after a few rounds of mesh decimation and adding normal maps, so Unity doesn't implode) I'm so sold on Talespire.

[@Gork862]

@@Bakamoichigei there is a way to import stuff but it requires a lot of work. The heroforge imports are super easy though.

[@ruthlesace]

I stop by for the dance every now and then, it's just entrancing

[@checkmarc8474]

"No plan survives contact with the dice." - Bilbo Baggins, probably.

[@crowstreaming]

Wow that’s even worse for the Kobold because if you know anything about darksun it’s that any Wizard with powerful enough magic to fly a spelljammer is probably not someone you want to meet.

[@rumbleroller2154]

Dude, I have to admit. Even with that foresight, it would have been extremely difficult to remember that iron is expensive in the world you're in. Sure, you COULD have add COPPER armor to the disguise, but who's going to remember all that? Your character would, but as an experience player, you're not going to remember a small detail like that... LOL

[@danwardspiral1794]

Lmao it’s even worse actually. On Athas, ALL metals are hoarded by the super EVIL defiler mages that rule the city states of Athas. So even copper armor would have been way too sus. In conclusion, never go to Athas willingly. I’ve used it as a realm of punishment that’s only slightly less harsh as being sent to the Nine Hells.

[@amstrad00]

Copper armor wouldn't really have been a better choice. It's not just iron that's rare on Athas, it's all metals. Normally armor is made of bone, leather or chitin components in that setting.

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

@@amstrad00 Which of those make clinky sounds like iron?

[@spacehitler4537]

@@danwardspiral1794 Which is the only reason to go there if you can go cheaply. I'm sure a sorcerer king would love a nice supply of steel weapons you could trade to his city for magic items.

[@TheRealMycanthrope]

@@danwardspiral1794 pretty hard to go to Athas willingly or otherwise anyway tbh

[@trolleymouse]

If it's any consolation to the rogue, going by the old lore the Spelljammer wasn't getting out of there anyway, as the surface of the sphere is an in-but-not-out kind of deal. Actually, most means of getting off Athas is blocked off. Occasionally a Planescape style door opens up, but the Gith are quick to barricade those, so the only "reliable" way out is the snake-winding inn, or whatever it was called. The one even the Dark Powers kf the Demiplane of Dread can't block.

[@AzraelThanatos]

The World Serpent Inn is one of the fun locations for a campaign in an, almost, Stargate kind of play style

[@evanlucas8914]

Love the more natural storytelling tone you took in this. The pauses, asides, uhhhs and umms all make it feel like a friend telling us about a funny fail he had in game.

[@hiygamer]

I'm really looking forward to Spelljammer coming out this summer!

[@alexdillahunt6908]

Same! I pre-ordered books already. What I am torn about is how to introduce spelljammer to players who know nothing about it. I could always just let them read the books, which the simplest way. However, I'm tempted to have my players start on a planet that doesn't have spelljammer tech and let them find a recently crashed ship that was escaping from an oncoming invasion. That would allow the players to learn about the setting at the same rate as their characters.

[@andrewtyrell4795]

@@alexdillahunt6908 Or just throw them in the deep end. That's my plan. Straight to giant space hamsters and whatnot.

[@scottjcaldwell]

Miniature giant space hamsters are the best D&D monster ever.

[@alexdillahunt6908]

@@andrewtyrell4795 That's kind of the idea. The ship crashed trying to escape an invasion that has now turned it's sights to the PC's home planet. They have to use the crashed ship to escape the planet and invasion and find themselves instantly in a larger universe. I'd probably have one member of the crew survive just to show them how the ship works and allow them to ask any pertinent questions.

[@patrickshaw411]

Same! And just like this video, I’m thinking of touring past dnd settings like Dark Sun, Eberon, Exandria, etc.

[@athenawheatley1032]

I honesly feel like you hit it out the park with nachdos' animations. You really have that funny little kobold a lot of life and exrpessiveness.

[@CivilWarMan]

A Curse of Strahd group I was in a while back was clearing the blights out of the Wizard of Wines. It was myself (Conquest Paladin), a Zealot Barbarian, and a Spores Druid. We managed to sneak up to the winery itself thanks to the Druid casting Pass Without Trace, and for some reason we decided to climb up to the roof instead of charging in the front door. As it turns out, this brought us to the window right next to where the Druid with the Gulthias Staff was lurking. Here is the entire combat encounter that ensued: Me: Casts Hold Person on the enemy Druid. Enemy Druid: Fails the Save Barbarian: Bursts through the window and hacks the enemy druid to tiny pieces in a single round. DM: Drops us out of combat and begins to describe the staff. Barbarian: Decides he doesn't like the vibes of the staff and hacks it to tiny pieces. Didn't take us long to finish clearing the winery after that since all that was left was a handful of very confused Druids.

[@BradK4444]

The dancing cultists part absolutely made this episode. I hope a few more of these episodes have weird funny quirky stuff like that in them.

[@steve-ru9sy]

Yeah, the cultist dancing scene literally made my entire week

[@SteelHeartEddy]

The more info we can get related to dark sun, the happier I am. I have such a deep appreciation for the setting and it's history! Great work as usual, captain!

[@dorca9308]

We played a Norse themed game with one of my friends, and at one point we were fighting an avatar of Loki, and the first thing that happened was the bard casting hold person and Loki failing the save. He lasted two rounds

[@jamesmiller3127]

I love this style of animated spellbook! Its always nice to see the spells actually put in practice in a game.

[@elafimilo8199]

I do want to try Dark Sun. Never thought of combining its ideas with space travel, though. And that sounds brutal 😂

[@TheNinjawithboots]

I have a campaign going right now.

[@healsallwounds]

It’s basically the Mad Max version of D&D, but with zero cars and a lot more psionics.

[@Nikolapoleon]

I seriously appreciate how so many of your stories end with at east a few PCs dying due to poor planning or coordination [or extreme bad luck]. It sounds like your group[s] really respect the concept of DnD as a puzzle that demands creative solutions. I don't know that I've ever played with a group that didn't expect to brute force their way through everything because they're the "heroes" and that's all there is to it.

[@taddad2641]

this wasn't bad planning though. this was the Dm being a meta gaming asshole.

[@timwoods2852]

They should really try traveling West to increase survivability.

[@Nikolapoleon]

@@timwoods2852 Oh, I see. Oops.

[@timwoods2852]

@@Nikolapoleon That could be a fun twist, though. 🤔 Imagine there's an area on the world map with a secret blight and traveling in that specific direction causes death and misfortunes. The players would either have to do research to figure out what was happening or just never go East again.

[@TechnicolorMammoth]

I think my favorite things are one: the cult procession, and two: that this has Dark Sun in it!!! I’ve never gotten to play, but I’ve read lots of lore from AD&D and 4e books. Dark Sun is so brutal but awesome , so the cult procession makes so much sense that it was to such brutally awesome music!

[@ThatOneJoeGuy]

I just want to say that its honestly refreshing hearing D&D stories like this. From what I've experienced DMs are much more likely to have totally unrealistic things happen in order to save the player characters than have events just play out like they naturally would. If other people found themselves playing out the situation in the video, I'm positive that the player characters would just be captured (and most likely later escape) despite what was trying to be pulled. Its nice hearing a story where the characters don't have plot armor. There was an escape plan, honestly a pretty good one, but because of a lack of information and bad rolls things just didn't work out. And that is totally fine.

[@Taliesin_]

If failure is an illusion, then so is every single success.

[@arkurianstormblade4109]

on the other hand theres also dozens of "oops I TPK my level 1-3 party, who spent hours making their character" stories

[@genericidiot8091]

I think that’s a bit of a closed minded way of thinking. Some people like different things from their games and that’s cool. Completely discrediting some peoples way to enjoy the game just doesn’t seem like the right idea.

[@ThatOneJoeGuy]

@@genericidiot8091 That's totally fair and I'm not trying to discredit the type of a game where there is relatively low risk for players. I think its normal for people to want a character to grow and be a part of a great story. But, to me, that type of game feels like the norm from what I have been experienced. So it does catch my interest hearing D&D stories where player characters get in a bind and can't get themselves out of it. I think it takes a bit of the excitement out of the world when you know that the DM is willing to throw you life lines because you are the "main characters."

[@brainiac642]

Both sides of the equation have to be right, the players have to be able to trust that the DM isn't going to kill them unfairly or capriciously, and the DM has to have players that are ok with putting the story ahead of their characters and letting death be a part of that. It can make for great scenes, but it's not something any group can do by default. It's fair for a DM not to kill off players because they know it will ruin the game with player drama, and it's fair for players to get pissed about characters dying because they know it was the DM being unnecessarily adversarial, or building the encounter poorly/unfairly. tldr, this worked out because Zee has an awesome gaming group.

[@vundoqweep3812]

So excited for Spelljammer to actually be official in 5e. Games like this are a BLAST, and you get some great stories out of them. The situation was perfect for a video and it turned out AMAZING.

[@malthus0016]

i REALLY loved this episode, kinda like a cold road short. id love it if you covered spelljammer more leading up to the 5e release. keep it up man!

[@keatonfox1874]

The little badguy techno dance-in is one of the most badass and hilarious sequences I've seen on the small screen in a good while.

[@andyenglish4303]

I'm like 'Wait a minute did he just say he was wearing iron scale armor? On Athas"? It was then that I knew where your plan went wrong. On the bright side that Kobold could likely convince any spellcaster he found to power his Helm for him on the account of *literally anywhere else on the Material Plane* is better than Athas.

[@marley7868]

just hire a druid and promise to lead him to your home towns forest or something

[@HeadHunter-mv2ht]

Don't forget though most magic users on Athas use there magic by sucking the life out of the world around them, and like to be kings.

[@kdot4068]

1:46 the BEST part of this video. period.

[@thefollowingisatest4579]

Incredible episode! The funniest part to me of this story is the players died on a mission that was trying to make it easier to visit the worst material plane in the multiverse. Also people who deride hold person have clearly never dmed a party that knew how to use it. Nothing like having several combats in a row quickly ended by the toughest enemy being paralyzed and then the barbarian just mashing them into a paste.

[@rjcurrer]

This is one of those videos I watch whenever I need a little pick-me-up during the day. It's a fantastic encounter!

[@deezcastforms]

I'm just imagining Zee screaming "Come on! Come the fuck on!" every time he failed a Wis or Con save until he got critted out lmao

[@Vallume_]

The wonders of spelljammer

[@RexyRonin]

Dark Sun and Spelljammer; two things that trigger my nerdgasm!

[@Flagonborn]

I thought one of the core concepts of dark sun is that as a setting it was completely cut off from other realms or dimensions or whatever.

[@rarr2130]

@@Flagonborn Not completely. It's cut off from gods, teleportation and portals.

[@riverkeith3276]

@@rarr2130 No, the lore states it is in it's own pocket dimension. That is why magic defiles the land, they don't have the aetherium from the universe to rely on and must use the energy from the land.

[@dr.strangelove9815]

@@rarr2130 Some of the older lore of DS mentions that, a high level wizard would be required to make a dice roll to do anything regarding reaching or communing with Inner or Outer Planes. I can't remember the percentile, but I read something around 5% success to have a high level wizard, or psion, do anything with the Astral Plane, which may be a ghost town near Athas. Then there was the possibility that the arcanist or psion gets "lost in the Gray", which had something to do with ability score reductions. There is a portal to the Astral in the Githyanki ruins, but the Gith are devolved due to the mindflayers, not due to Athas, and don't understand the portal. Dregoth has a portal too, which has driven him mad with his inability to become a god on Athas due to the Gray. And, I have heard, that there is a portal to the World Serpent Inn hidden somewhere. Plus Ravenloft too.

[@suprememugwump1405]

I love watching these old episodes. Never stop zee.

[@TheHasazin]

That's one of the greatest processions of priests I have even seen and I've seen midget halflings dancing dancing a jig on flying hats to worship some unknown eldritch horror.

[@samuelmeasa9283]

Seeing the dancing cultist I am reminded of something AJ Picket said in his Undead Dragons video. Specifically when he said pointed out that maybe giants and bird folk maybe use song and dance as part of the rituals. Also recalling somewhere from my child hood about king David's wife not being happy with him "Dancing" as they brought the arc of the continent into the temple. Might have to relook that one up... Also find where I left my bible after my last move.

[@benjaminsmith3843]

2 Samuel, Chapter 6 verse 14-23: And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. 16 And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. 17 And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 18 And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. 19 And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house. 20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself! 21 And David said unto Michal, It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play before the Lord. 22 And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour. 23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.

[@tylerray1368]

Okay imagine this as an awesome Warlock backstory- Nachtos, trapped on the hell plant for many years, gets a vision of a chaotic entity, promising a way off the hellscape in exchange for service.

[@bonedance]

honestly I'd watch a channel of just you narrating D&D stories, you are a master of story telling and its always a pleasure to get a story video.

[@salt-emoji]

Yes. Tbh I'm so glad you brought back the dubstep cult dance, 10/10 genuine lol.

[@ventusvindictus]

That snake priest procession animation is simply flawless.

[@oxthekillerwulf4213]

I should’ve known! When I saw a snake temple that this would happen!

[@jasonfisher5004]

That cult procession animation all completed is so satisfying, I have found myself re-watching it 10 times just today! Seriously good stuff you are making Zee, keep up the great content!

[@anthonypecha6714]

i was so happy to see that awesome snake cultist short, and this given context was amazing, fly that spelljammer to all the different crystal spheres i was also surprised to see the oldschool spell Sticks to Snakes in your animation, that made me chuckle. (throw 9 sticks, transmute them to snakes, take 9 snake bites and fail lots of con saves vs poison)

[@VanishingPuppet]

The techno cultist scene came out so GOOD!!!

[@Topbeehler]

I'll be honest I barely played DnD, and when i did I never had enough time to have an epic journey or fun large quest but I did really enjoy playing when I could. So as someone who isn't super understanding in DnD and doesn't have the time to play it I can promise you that even without knowing everything I still very much enjoy these fun videos. Every time you post an animated spellbook or some other fun video I'm always excited to watch it! Love your content

[@elle1113]

Bloody brilliant and thank you for these every week!!! LOVE the dance🙌🏼👏🏼

[@JMAssainatorz]

Having had your truestrike video in mind i couldent help but notice. "You are damn good at getting poisoned to death aint ya?"

[@Nutellla]

The cult members dancing is just 10/10

[@Toby_Hon_Cannoli]

I love these videos, especially when they touch on play styles or settings that I’m less comfortable with as a on/off DM because it projects them as less intimidating and more of a “look at the goofy thing my party did” kind of way. Keep up the good work man!

[@void-creature]

"do you like these sorts of ideas? Do you subscribe to such notions?" Has to be my new favorite call to action.

[@asuna411]

I really like the animate sequence with the dance before the hold person. I laughed. Thank you

[@InquisitorThomas]

Technically I’m pretty sure it’s impossible or at least borderline suicidally difficult to reach Athas with a Spelljammer because it’s connection to the rest of the D&D multiverse is wonky, also you don’t want your Dark Sun PCs/Villains hopping on a spaceship to get off their nightmarish post apocalyptic hellscape of a world. However I also imagine a Spelljammer adventure where the BBEG is a former Sorcerer King/Athasian Dragon that stole a Spelljammer from poor idiot that decided to land on Athas and now plans to commit Galactic Omnicide in addition to Planetary Omnicide would probably be awesome.

[@ShalimarX32]

Yeah officially Athas' crystal sphere is an elf's natural life span away from say Krynnspace or Realmspace... plus the DM was merciful to not cripple them with his artificer switching to the perserver/defiler system. Try powering a spelljammer with magic that eats life force. Every helm becomes a lifejammer helm... youch...

[@ImJustTryingToSurvive]

I would watch a 10 hour version of the cult procession without batting an eye

[@timothymaddux9018]

1:43 you have no idea how many times I watched this gif when you released it. Amazing! 🤣

[@Drawica]

"Cactuar, Tonberry, Spriggan prisoners." Someone's been playing Final Fantasy lately

[@VladdViever]

this story was wonderful. good person can definitely be such bullshit lol

[@Squiggypie]

Can't imagine what BAD person must be like then

[@insertinsults4567]

@@Squiggypie or EVIL person

[@brycevo]

Oh my goodness, I can't wait to see another story like this

[@salt-emoji]

Every single time. The procession music and dancing. 10/10.

[@david7522]

Some times I come back to this just to watch the snake priest dance