The Adventure Zone: Ethersea - Episode 7

September 3, 2021 6:44 AM

The Infinite Clam: Part One. The newly employed crew of the Coriolis take on their first official job with the Bluespan Brokerage. Devo confronts his past as he crosses paths with the leaders of the Benevolent Parish.
posted by Cash4Lead (5 comments total)

I'm really hoping "swim lessons" is an excuse to give Beck money and not plotting out a heavy-handed emotional cutesy scene down the road.

Sounds like Griffin got the memo about putting PCs in real danger. Hopefully he follows through.

I get the feeling the longer they go on the more off-mic plotting they do about their PCs' storylines. I miss when the PCs could be surprised-- it's one of my favorite things from e.g. NADD where the episode ends and they're all "HOLY SHIT!" I can't remember the last time something surprised me in TAZ; probably The Suffering Game?
posted by supercres at 9:27 AM on September 3, 2021 [3 favorites]

It's really making a big difference having these weekly.
posted by PussKillian at 10:39 AM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

I could not have been more delighted with Griffin's "none of you are the Chosen One" bit, because it suggests that maybe there might actually be some genuine risk along the way
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:18 PM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

I also want their characters to die
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:46 PM on September 3, 2021 [4 favorites]

Well, I want them to be able to die (as in, they don't get plot armor) but I don't actually want them to die. Ned's death in "Amnesty" was a big dramatic moment but ended up dragging down the overall story because it happened shortly after he had gone on a brief solo adventure in which Griffin had dumped on him a lot of backstory that were supposed to bridge them into the next quest, and some pretty interesting what-could-have-been died with Ned.

Devo (I guess that's the spelling, since it's short for "Devotion") is irritating me, and I think it's because Travis has decided he has to bring some Serious Sadness into the show at a time when everyone else is trying their best to make it a more lighthearted show than the previous couple seasons. And, frankly, his insistence on not spending money at the equipment store (in order to give it to charity) is in-character stupid -- it should have taken no arguing on anyone's part to convince him that spending money on equipment now is the way to make enough money to have the cash to spare for his causes. It's weird and tone-deaf and both Justin and Griffin were getting demonstrative about it, which instigated a weird feedback loop for a while. It was bad gameplay and bad role play.
posted by ardgedee at 7:34 AM on September 8, 2021 [4 favorites]