Encounter Party: The Dinner Puzzle
June 30, 2024 4:28 PM - Season 1, Episode 14 - Subscribe
DM Brian leads the players through a fine dining puzzle where choosing the wrong utensil could have deadly consequences; Olred gets a new playmate.
This was the kickoff to week 2 of filming AND WHAT A KICKOFF IT WAS. Brian kept clicking his pen to write stuff down and it *terrified* me every time.
I love this puzzle because it's the kind of thing you could *easily* do at home. What I love about what Brian's written is really nothing in the course of the campaign couldn't be done at home (the play could be a lot of work :P). We had access to some set pieces that would be hard to recreate at home but the actual WORKINGS of the campaign? Totally doable.
posted by neddonovan at 6:14 PM on July 6
I love this puzzle because it's the kind of thing you could *easily* do at home. What I love about what Brian's written is really nothing in the course of the campaign couldn't be done at home (the play could be a lot of work :P). We had access to some set pieces that would be hard to recreate at home but the actual WORKINGS of the campaign? Totally doable.
posted by neddonovan at 6:14 PM on July 6
As I said before, I loved how this and the previous episode incorporated "encounters" beyond the traditional D&D fare so creatively.
A few thoughts:
We need a photo of Khary wearing an actual Velveteen Mask outfit. Or at least a painting of Tolo in it. neddonovan: please make sure this happens :)
Duncan was a bad mofo. Dude took Vinh down to like half HP off 1 (well, 3) slaps?! That guy's level is definitely in the double digits.
Had it been me at dinner, I would have kept trying to roll Nature or Arcana checks or whatever on each dish -- I wonder if there was a way to figure out that the "bonker" was magnetic? But yeah, hella anxiety-inducing.
The Salad course was my favorite, because I love the idea of watching your food engage in a Battle Royale, with one part of your meal eating another part of your meal, like a self-making Turducken.
I didn't quite catch what Vinh & Dryddian did differently for the Wish Fish Fantasy Fricassee from the others -- was it that they actually went about the physical action of eating their invisible fish, while the others didn't? Or that they imagined eating it? I need to rewatch that bit.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm allergic to Ooze." Best line of the night.
I really, really wanted to see the metrics Brian was using and how their performances affected the campaign. I was so curious about that.
Final request: we need an animated spin-off starring Olred and the Displacer Kitten(s).
posted by Saxon Kane at 12:24 PM on July 7
A few thoughts:
We need a photo of Khary wearing an actual Velveteen Mask outfit. Or at least a painting of Tolo in it. neddonovan: please make sure this happens :)
Duncan was a bad mofo. Dude took Vinh down to like half HP off 1 (well, 3) slaps?! That guy's level is definitely in the double digits.
Had it been me at dinner, I would have kept trying to roll Nature or Arcana checks or whatever on each dish -- I wonder if there was a way to figure out that the "bonker" was magnetic? But yeah, hella anxiety-inducing.
The Salad course was my favorite, because I love the idea of watching your food engage in a Battle Royale, with one part of your meal eating another part of your meal, like a self-making Turducken.
I didn't quite catch what Vinh & Dryddian did differently for the Wish Fish Fantasy Fricassee from the others -- was it that they actually went about the physical action of eating their invisible fish, while the others didn't? Or that they imagined eating it? I need to rewatch that bit.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm allergic to Ooze." Best line of the night.
I really, really wanted to see the metrics Brian was using and how their performances affected the campaign. I was so curious about that.
Final request: we need an animated spin-off starring Olred and the Displacer Kitten(s).
posted by Saxon Kane at 12:24 PM on July 7
Saxon - yes Vinh and Dryddian mimed eating their food where the rest of us did not.
posted by neddonovan at 11:45 AM on July 9
posted by neddonovan at 11:45 AM on July 9
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
I can't believe Duncan slapped Vinh. I almost expected them to start rolling for initiative -- and then they did, upon getting seated for dinner! Honestly, dining in Temprus Mallory's household is more stressful than some combats.
The table settings were just...wow. A dinnerware puzzle indeed. If Duncan preferred not to poison guests, there was definitely a better way to go about it! I would've had no idea how to use the various utensils and on what components of each course. (The bonker, lol.)
I didn't think Asher's appeal about her sister to work...but family ties (usually nieces, heh) seem to be a sympathetic motivation. Finding the Patriar's son works well with their mission and gives them official blessing to pursue the Future.
And yes, the displacer kitties playing with Olred were adorable. :)
posted by thataway at 9:21 PM on July 2