The Story of Now (with Deborah Ann Woll) | Adventuring Academy Season 2 | Ep. 13

[@viktorwik]

Deborah is a delight and great at expressing what she enjoys about the game, this was a great episode.

[@Zalintis]

It's very difficult for me to imagine her without friends in school!

[@Fata59]

​@@Zalintis A lot of kids are shitty. If you're passionate about something they'll dump on you for having a hobby and investing a lot of time and energy into it usually because they have nothing going on at home or were raised by narcissists. This can extend into adulthood and is toxic as fuck.

[@pahsl2577]

How about Thanos as a High Wisdom Evil character

[@8684LYFE]

Deborah's advice of having material, emotional, and narrative rewards on all quest line is such a simple but amazing advice for DMing. Love her enthusiasm and approach so much.

[@ikeekieeki]

i love her point about how we re-write our histories as we remember them. not many storytellers are willing to engage with that

[@BIZEB]

Suddenly, Twiggy makes absolute perfect sense. It's Deborah, as a DM, presenting them with a Fun, plot driven, puzzle riddled dungeon! Amazing!

[@UncleTrog]

*Sigh* I've been running D&D games since 1983. Figured I knew everything. Watched a lot of shows on DMing and not got much from them. Then along comes this incredible, compassionate beautiful genius in the form of Deborah. Here's a new insight...and here's another...and another. Pure gold. I'm going to have to watch this over and over until I've absorbed everything!

[@InstantReplayLive]

"That person finds your stutter so disarming and adorable." is the best advice, I love that.

[@liamross340]

the “well how could i say no to that face” part of charisma that is rarely talked about in d&d

[@EsquilaxM]

Deborah loves talking about this so much. And Brennan loves having someone to talk to about it and hear new ideas from

[@LordMogatron]

WHAAAT! I had no idea you did that based off of Siobhan/Rowan's reply. That was one of my favorite exchanges from TUC, and to know it had that great of an impact is amazing.

[@mach6794]

Brennan is such a good interviewer. He'll start making a point about RPG theory and when his interviewee goes off on a tangent that sorta misinterprets what he's talking about, he doesn't circle back or feel the need to be heard on his original idea, he just puts the flow of the conversation and the interviewee in the highest priority and moves forward. Eventually, though, I DO wanna hear him finish that thought on a society of druids that connects empathy and intuition to magical potency, because that was about to be a doozy and we all know it.

[@kacektv9405]

I just ADORE her so much i totally forgot she went on to do DMing that is so awesome and I love so much of what she said. Like I swear every time Bren-Dad fangirled over something she was saying I was over here doing the EXACT same but ten times more enthusiastically if you can believe it :D

[@dreadbull5039]

I totally fell in love with her during Daredevil!! Such a sweetheart!!

[@rhsc38]

Woll is an amazing storyteller and a Master DM. I don't watch many new movies or TV shows. Never heard of her until I saw her DM a game on KZbin. I'd pay a subscription to watch that on a regular basis. She plays her parts in the story but never makes it all about her or uses the opportunity to showcase her acting or voice acting chops. It's a balancing act, and she does it to perfection.

Sincere advice spoken from the heart by two people who have brought much joy to many, even beyond their own tables. Thank you. Merry Merry, stay safe... keep being you.

[@Frownlandia]

"Is it even possible for a character to have high charisma and low wisdom?" Scanlan Shorthalt. I was already thinking of him in terms of characters who aren't aware of their flaws. Sam Riegel played Scanlan so unaware of his lack of awareness that the other players didn't know until nearly the last session of the campaign that he had a 7 wisdom.

[@jannienordby4198]

YES!!! Holy shit YES!!!! Thank you so so so so much for bringing Deborah, she is so amazing and wonderful just as yourself. So hearing her ideas and ways, is really amazing for me, since her way of GM'ing matches my own in a lot of ways, not all naturally, but many. So thank you so much for this. I love it and have watching it a lot of times

[@RPGmodsFan]

I love Deborah Ann Woll. She always has such a positive attitude, and it seems Hollywood has not jaded her, and hope it never will.

[@quidambrujah]

as an actor, she can really sell the emotion of the moment

[@gandhigun2304]

Tip for new DM's, use early game quest selection to inform long term plot. Do they want to dodge sirens in the water and dive for pearls? Mine in the tunnels for gold fighting through giant spiders? Dredge through the forest where a trader lost his bag of gems while watching out for predator's? Let their selections inform plot progress. Lean in to the type of adventure they want, peppering in options to divert.

[@lifotheparty6195]

I loved D&D in highschool and again with some guys in the barracks when I was in the army. I’ve really struggled to get involved in the D&D communities and local gaming clubs due to there just being this gap between what I enjoyed about D&D and the people in these communities. Brenden Lee Mulligan’s campaigns exemplifies everything I love about the game.

[@TatumVayavananda]

My wife and I are so in love with Deborah Ann Woll; she's such a great role model and "face" for accepting, open, and fulfilling RPG play!

[@danielcarty6057]

"What brought you to L.A.?" "Oh, the man who killed my father lives here, and I'm hunting you down." "Wow, that's...specific...."

[@colegodofcows3765]

yes that is what he said

[@tbs_Incorporated]

These two people are fiercely intelligent and deeply involved with this game and I absolutely love them for it. This is an amazing conversation to behold.

[@dehro]

She's a great ambassador for the game

[@Mourndarkv]

I enjoy getting ideas directly from players mid game. It really does let them feel like they've figured out a main storyline, meanwhile it actually came from them. 😂

[@davidhoffman6595]

I really hope that Twiggy returns for Critical Role. She's SUCH an adorable character! 🤗

[@Elheru42]

I came here to say the same thing. She was a wonderful character. But more than anything a brilliant player. If I could see anyone actually joining the crew at Critical Role permanently it would be Deborah.

[@RoraighPrice]

what other game-breaking devices will this person have stolen next time

[@quidambrujah]

56:48 Woll’s response to Brennan’s description of building new worlds is just fire. watch her face-she is just eating it up and is in the moment. you can see it in her face that she’s thinking, ‘yeah! yeah!’

[@Helmethead85]

Brennan I love this channel so much. I’ve learned a lot and soon will be running not only my first game but Dming at the same time! Soo excited! Keep up the good work.

[@Atrivion]

Relics and Rarities was just a good show! I really want it to come back! Bring it back Deborah! Pretty please!

[@lexileighluv]

I love hearing about what Deborah thinks of PC’s and their background. I always find creating a huge backstory is really hard for me and that I’d rather see where my character goes organically!

[@noahtheinfuriator]

i REALLY relate to the approach she has - it was very difficult to for me to get behind modules, but the homebrew world i made gave me a stage i felt comfortable building from. If D&D intimidates you, sometimes making it all up is the way to go!

[@alexandermackay9636]

3 years late to the party watching this video, but I found this interesting. By Brennan and Deborah's metric, high wisdom villains possess a tremendous amount of understanding and awareness, but still CHOOSE cruelty. In The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly says: "You can see beyond what people want and what they need, and you can choose for yourself." She is a definitive example of high the high wisdom villain.

[@bongboyz6468]

Definition of an underrated actor. Everything she does is incredible

[@MrKChusker]

Omg this conversation brightened my day. Thanks!

[@randall2989]

Awesome interview. Love how you are making DMing approachable. I am learning to DM and tour guys view on improving and making your own world really speaks to me. Keep up the good work.

[@MarcAmAlb]

Sooo, can we agree that Deborah is one of the most charming persons in the world?

[@AdeptusRidiculous-2025]

Deborah is so great in the takes of DnD world building!

[@emessar]

I had to check during the intro to make sure I was playing normal speed and not 1.25.

[@Darleer]

I can listen to Deborah talking about D&D for a year straight I feel

[@hp2xp425]

Deborah is a human Daylight spell! Great episode.

[@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648]

I’ve like both of your work, it was so great to see you two bounce ideas off each other, good advice, all of you.

[@RainbowRandolf]

The High Wisdom Villain they're talking about is Grand Admiral Thrawn. Though he's pretty stacked in Int and Dex as well.

[@lincalmighty]

Another great High Wisdom villain is Thanos. He is acutely aware of the scarcity of resources available to sustain life, but instead of choosing to double the resources with the Infinity Stones he goes with the random 50/50 murdering.

[@Valwryn00]

Agreed. I interpret the archetype as the villain who can "predict the end". They are able to see the order of the world/society/nature and the path it's on and are taking drastic action to either accelerate it to "limit suffering" or some drastic action to course correct and try again. All your antiheroes generally fall into here, Saskue would be my example.

[@dougpirko211]

Marvel's Magneto. He is very empathetic---to mutants. Perceptive. Understanding of the human ability to hate that which is different.

[@oxymoronman]

Great high wisdom villain examples would be LoK's Zaheer or Owlman from Crisis on Two Earths

[@Thumocracy]

I was also totally thinking of Zaheer!

[@doodsanddudes]

Deborah we’ll is more awesome as a gamer .love it Doods. Great to see you @Deborah Ann woll

[@JohnnyLeyenda]

Funnily enough I first saw her in the Game Night episodes here on KZbin, and really liked her energy. It was weeks later I realized she was an actual celebrity! She's so humble and such a positive role model, I really admire her now.

[@rowanbuck119]

Their talk about a high WIS villain, reminds me of the BBEG of my last campaign. They were a level 20 Vampire Monk who had valued the state of unlife over that of life and sought to reshape the world into one where undeath became the natural state of creatures in, so all would be eternally free from death as undead. It wasn't at all what the PCs wanted, obviously, but with his intent effectively making everyone in the world "immortal," it gave a few of them pause(especially the evil/neutral ones).

[@UnPremierSouffle]

What a good show. What good people to exist. Thanks for your words and thoughts, this is precious for humanity :D

[@katherinealvarez9216]

THAT'S DEBORAH WOLL! Karen Page is everything wonderful and Jessica is just the best.

[@empiredirt6530]

Deborah Ann Woll also played an excellent role in The Punisher netflix series, same character as from Dare Devil; as those shows narratives were tied together. I'm really not into the Hollywood superheroe flicks right now but those two shows straight up affected me deeply. Excellent interview, a privilege to see worlds collide & relate. These people know their shit. I laughed when she said shes "only" been playing for 7 or 10 years. It's true that it can feel like that, dealin with decades of storytelling.

[@faust1138]

don't care how late I am to this, but there is so much big Ginger energy from this, I am dying.

[@digdude64]

Brennan is the human muppet we love and deserve.

[@karynelizabeth6065]

This was such a useful conversation, not only on how to improve DM skills but also how to contribute as a player.

[@druid_zephyrus]

This one really validates my DM style...and also life a good bit. Using mythic language to describe my feelings and emotions... That is kind of like when a coconut finally finds a freshly cooled island. Terrifying and relieving to hear it explained so clearly. Brendad Lee Momigan facilitating and dispensing wisdom. And of course, a huge thank you to Deborah Ann Woll for their insight as well, as the conversation could not have occured without them.

[@robertpartee]

They have such great chemistry! They should have her on a dimension 20!

[@AMRosa10]

Brennan talking to Deborah about what a high Wisdom, Evil character would look like and then delivers on that by pulling out all the stops as Asmodeus in Exandria Unlimited: Calamity.

[@pirate8731]

Deborah is so beautiful without any makeup! Love u Deborah ann woll 😘

[@dankokkos3826]

Deborah is wonderful dnd gamer. Love her tabletop work as well.

[@WhatsUpGazpacho]

Deborah is a great guest! Loved the dynamic between two passionate DMs and Deborah's interesting insights. I'm definitely going to use that nat20 persuasion check to give the bbeg disadvantage or other such mechanical benefit

[@mironricardo]

Loved her on True Blood and Daredevil. She is top.

[@kiarchbold]

Loved this. About to start DMing so these videos are REALLY helpful. Thanks guys!

[@novajohansson3194]

I didn't think I could get more attracted to Deborah, then I find out she plays D&D!?😱 *faints*

[@guille787]

So many Wonderful things said in this talk. For the bit of "not letting the PCs persuade an enemy", I suggest offering a fair trade from the enemy's perspective: i.e. once one of my players tried to convince a lizard folk boss to join forces against a pseudo common enemy, as I the boss was chaotic evil I said "sure, me and my people will assist you in battle, IF you first let us keep the town down the road"

[@TheOnlyFeanor]

17:25 That gold greed vs kill my friends moment is such a Burning Wheel situation with a Belief being challenged.

[@facetankhank]

I honestly think Deborah is truly one of the most beautiful people on the globe. Definitely crushing hard. I have ever since Tru Blood.

[@jurgen4466]

She is so beautiful byt what really make her unique is her charms and her so lovely positive kind personality!

[@leonielson7138]

In response to Deborah saying that she didn't care for, sometimes antagonistic, inter-party relationships: for roleplaying, sometimes you have to let your character fall in love with something that you don't necessarily love. On Critical Role, Marisha's and Ashley's characters (Beau and Yasha) are exploring a lesbian relationship, but both Marisha and Ashley are engaged in stable, heterosexual relationships. Laura's character (Jester) recently broke the heart of Travis' character (Fjord), despite the fact that they're married IRL. At some point you have to let the character take on a life of their own, and play that narrative thread through, even if it makes you uncomfortable. Alternately, Travis hates ghosts, but one of his abilities is to summon a specter to fight beside him: by not embracing that aspect of his character, he really is missing out on a great resource. I'd love a scene where, after summoning the specter, he's actually able to communicate with it and get to know it - maybe it's an ancestor, who just wants to protect him. We don't know, he doesn't know, Matt might not even know (but probably does).

[@rhyattgere4833]

I absolutely love both Deborah and Brennan, so this episode is a pure joy! but someone really needs to get Deborah an actual microphone for Christmas, because listening to this just hurt.

[@GaiusMarcus]

I love Deborah's experience with the whole inter-party chatter element that CR has that so many games don't. I'm with her in that regard.

[@deepbanerjee7251]

Thank you Brennan. You're the best.

[@Andalosity]

Brennan must think SO FAST.

[@Judgewrath1]

I think a villain like Anton Chigur from No Country would be an interesting example of a high wisdom villain. He sees the world as random and pointless, and holds no value in humans, but is perceptive about human nature to the point where he is playful in manipulating others. His "wisdom" leads him to a philosophy of toxic nihilism.

[@sofer2230]

35:35 That is a fascinating thought experiment. I imagine an Evil-aligned character with high Insight would be like a Hannibal Lecter-type: Great at *reading* people for their reactions in a cold, detached-way, without actually empathizing with them.

[@listofromantics]

DAW & BLeeM need to get together for a D20 campaign.

[@tayxxmonster]

I'm increasingly being tempted into getting into dnd wow 🥺😫 ugh I love her work.

[@youraveragemonkey7823]

I loved Relics and Rarities. I wish we got Season 2 *weeps

[@rayzabel8789]

Relics and Rarities is the Firefly of D&D actual play series.

[@SirEdgard1013]

@@rayzabel8789 YES!!!!

[@shadowpsykie]

@@rayzabel8789 ME TOO!

[@jetvulcan2020]

I love them going over how there are so many different ways to play D&D.

[@seercreates]

Brennan questioning his wife choices for 2 hours

[@bismuthcrystal9658]

Brennan and Deborah. Such yes. About the only one i have left to deeply hope to see with Brennan is Brian David Gilbert.

[@kevinnoorman4815]

Is there going to be a second season of relics and rarities that was one of the best D&D show I've seen

[@holyhandgrenade3]

To address Deborah's hypothetical, One of my earlier characters in Pathfinder was a Neutral Evil Druid. So they definitely needed high wisdom, but instead of using that insightfulness or perceptive nature for "good", giving advice, being a good listener, etc. They used it for selfish reasons, manipulating flaws, exploiting weaknesses, that sort of thing. He wasn't charismatic at all though, so he was more likely to just stay quiet and be direct in his dealings (e.g. I know you want XYZ McGuffin, and I can get it for you. In exchange, I want XYZ Reward). And that insightfulness definitely was used cruelly, for example he betrayed and sacrificed his animal companion for more power (imagine if Vex killed Trinket to gain a Vestige or something) and his underlying logic for this selfish drive was, "nature is red in tooth and nail, so why shouldn't I?" It was definitely an... interesting character to play. Not my favorite, and I feel like Lawful Evil is easier to play as far as evil characters go, but it was definitely a unique D&D experience for myself.

[@joanasaraiva5405]

OMG, I did a double take. Love you Deborah.

[@oldwhitelincoln]

High wisdom, high intelligence, high charisma villain is Ozymandias for sure. Why I’ll forever love watchmen.

[@amandalaw8144]

This is such a great one! Super informative and helpful!!!

[@ZombieDish]

I cant wait for more Relics and Rarities.

[@cjjackstraw]

This was a great video. As a GM that aspires to run games like this for my players, I would give about anything to because player in their game. Wow. How fun that would be!

[@Sam-wt8kh]

As soon as I saw that thumbnail, I thought, "She looks so familiar!" But I couldnt immediately put my thumb on where I saw her. Then it occured to me. She's that guest player on Critical Role who played that gnome tinkerer that out-Investigate checked Caleb!

[@cypherkoro6553]

Wise villain: "Suffering makes people grow; therefore, I must create a society where people suffer as much as possible. And if a group of heroes becomes strong enough to stop me, good."

[@vieuxchat7154]

Deborah ann wool the most charming sa nd smart dungeon mistess and speakpersonn of DD5 !!!

[@danilopapais1464]

I love the idea of Deborah with the high Intelligence and Charisma character who has not that much wisdom. Could describe a lot of Warlocks who make very questionable decision by taken a pact with a possible evil entity.

[@liamross340]

reminds me of Nova from High Rollers. Fiercely intelligent but low wisdom and charisma is sort of middling. Hexblade warlock who loves knowledge but is trusting to a fault and naive about the world and without spoiling anything the most sympathetic to certain people others may perceive as villanous

[@quidambrujah]

Been watching D20 Fantasy High (midway through Junior Year) and somehow happened upon the Berenthal-Woll Real Ones dnd interview which sent me looking into her DND work which brought me here. NOW i want to see a season of D20 with Woll as a PC and i’d love to see her run a game as DM with Brennan and other D20 regulars as PCs.

[@MisteurBear]

1:26:00 was a big revelation as a DM en devenir: seducing the dragon or stealing the incredible artifact out of the villain's hands really can cheapen it all, even if in the moment, there is such a sense of THAT WORKED?! It really is work to honor the roll without "giving it up" but it's worth creating that "impossible odds success" and also why it didn't solve everything all at once

[@ArielTwain]

OMG Deborah 😍😍😍

[@karhart6663]

I am a writer at heart, so my PC's are super layered and I love introducing their quirks bc I know exactly how that quirk came about. That being said, I don't let the details of backstory bog me down when faced with decisions. My current ranger has done a few surprising things and she is already growing and realizing who she is now as opposed to being stuck in the past.

[@quidambrujah]

“you will always be creative around something that makes you gag” - Deborah Ann Woll 51:49

[@SeanBoyce-gp]

7:12 jeez that's so real. I never ran published material for decades simply because I was like "but I can get it wrong, and then they'll find out. And everyone will hate me and no one will play my favorite game with me." Now I don't care as much. I run published stuff when I feel too lazy to make up my own shit. But mostly, I just improvise the damn thing on the ground in real time. I have so much more fun that way. The only prep I'm jealous of is complex geography of a significant location. This is years later, but the way Brennan describes places in his podcast Worlds Beyond Number makes me want to prep more geography. Not, like, maps, but conceptual locales.

[@PaiOeShi]

Someone needs to link that panel.

[@bugamail]

That was great. Thanks guys

[@jeremyrace6349]

love that you mentioned travis I love the brothers

[@awaytoanywhere699]

world building. 101 (for me anyways). a) start small! b) make a little map (4x6 inches -ish) c) 3x the rule of 4. (4 towns, 4 sights (mines, old ruin, remote temple, lone keep, abandonned outpost etc, 4 evironment “frontiers” (big forest, coast line, desert, swamp, mountains, hills, icy tundra etc.)

[@doug3691]

Deborah (wonderful, beautiful) talks about being somewhat intimidated by all of the new material out there, and thus likes creating her own worlds. I grew up with "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons", the second version of D&D, and I've had time lately to watch Critical Role, Relics and Rarities, some D20 material, and get back into the game myself. While I respect all of the new stuff, my version is mostly AD&D.

[@bahamutalchemist]

4e is my favorite edition. It'll always have a soft spot in my heart too.

[@quidambrujah]

turns out i’m really old because my first dnd set came in a blue box in 1980 and these two are waaaayyyyyyy better at DMing than i could ever be or had played with-if i had played with people like these 40 years ago, i’d still be playing.

[@gilbertosilva1304]

I think Magneto is a good exemple of high wisdom and high charisma. He understand the world and others people fears and prejudice. The great change between him and Charles is the rage and the absence of Hope in humankind.

[@Countfoscolikesmice]

1:43:29 sit around and talk in funny voices. LOL. that's amazing.

[@martman123456]

May be cool to see a campaign with characters who all chose classes that did not align with their stats, but entirely based on envy of what other classes can do.