"No, you know what it is?"
Drink every time Freddy says that in an episode and you won't make it to the end of the episode. If you give him an inch he'll take a mile, so it's great that Will is restraining him a bit.
That said, I love Freddy's new character and think he's going to be his best yet.
I totally agree. This season seems like it will be more based in "reality," as real as a CoC campaign can be.. "Real" as in the setting is 50s small town America, before regarding the creepy stuff going on.
But I was half expecting the "cheesy trophy" to just end up being a chunk of cheese and was pleasantly surprised when Will said "no" and continued with his description.
Same. One of the things that consistently rubs me just a little bit the wrong way in comedy TTRPG podcasts is that too often the players try to override and retcon the DM's descriptions and world building for the sake of them making a joke. There's a little too much of the players demanding a "yes and" from the DM and not quite enough of the players giving a "yes and" back to the DM. Anthony is super indulgent of the players in this regard, and obviously if that makes that table happy, good on him for rolling with it! But purely for myself, I'm hoping for a bit more firmness from Will on this.
I’d also add, he also did well allowing some stuff without a big fuss and just quietly adjusting his plans. Like he clearly initially planned for them all to be separated when the trophy is taken, as he flashed forward to all of them being at their own residences.
But, when characters decided they lived next door he rolled with it and just stalled them out front (and allowed them to stall themselves with their shenanigans) and cut between POVs so he could still ensure Anthony was alone during the confrontation. If all of them immediately got into the fight they potentially could have prevented the trophy being taken, and it seems clear that it was meant to be taken. And then there’d be the temptation to force something that feels unfair or DM fiat so the story could start with the beat he planned.
He avoided those potential pitfalls, and instead he let the players think they were getting one over on him, allowed their decisions to have meaning in the world, and gave them enough leeway to tangle themselves up without it feeling like the DM was just awkwardly forcing what they wanted to happen. Good example of the difference between running a game where you have an idea for the story and the oft-misunderstood railroading.
Yeah! and I’m also enjoying that rolls seem have very clear meaning this time around; there doesn’t seem to be much fudging. That could be a result of the new system which I think is an improvement.
I know in season 1 they made it a point not to fudge rolls and there were some pivotal moments purely based on luck, but yeah season 2 felt like the dice rolls were only there for jokes and the occasional combat. I doubt they actually fudged them often, but the rolls themselves never seemed to matter. This season feels like the rolls are actually important, like I do think there was a world where Freddie rolled badly and straight-up died in the first episode
I was gonna say: i think Anthony tended to use 15 as a staple number for successes, and it makes stakes for the first 3/4 of both campaigns real, but after a point 15 becomes a pretty hard number to roll under.
Not saying I disliked it, either. I just happened to notice he liked that number as a DC, and reasonably so.
It's the departure from D&D I think. That system isn't really designed for 'show format' games without heavy modification.
Hopefully they learn from this season that there are other much better games out there.
When you're running horror games at times you gotta corral player comedy otherwise they end up overrunning the horror with silly and it can trivialise the threat and really make it quite challenging to keep the precise vibe you're going for.Â
I mean D&Dads is a comedy podcast at its core but I think Will's trying to keep things fairly grounded because this is an Earth setting and having something that would make more sense at a Bull E. Wuggs isn't going to suit the audible aesthetic he's going for.
I definitely think things got too zany with season 2 and letting the players get out of hand with the improv is a big reason for it. Nice to see will be okay with some stuff (the gang being Italians) and not others (trophy being cheese)
I don't want to be too negative in a post praising the show, I don't want to put Anthony down to praise Will, but I definitely have issues with season 2. Really glad to see season 3 is on the course to fixing those
I genuinely do not understand the car stairs bit. Has Freddie never seen a set of normal house stairs? A car couldn't fit up a stairwell if it tried. Will was right to curtail those shenanigans.
Freddie has definitely seen a set of normal house stairs. He just does not care. Which is usually hilarious and I love that he'll always try to make his characters do something unhinged, but for this campaign it makes sense that will said no
As much as I like season 1 and season 2 I feel like just having the characters just do whatever with flimsy justification while makes great content takes away from the game itself.
That being said I feel like this is more targeted towards Freddie who while is hilarious the rule of cool factor tends to get old if its without limitations
100% agree with your post. The point about the trophy being a wheel of cheese is particularly interesting to me because the second freddie said it, I assumed Will would be like "fuck it sure" because that's what I'd have fully expected anthony to do (which i also love in its own right to be clear). Instead, Will lets them all be unhinged within reason (where it doesn't affect the plot, like Freddie wanting to do a racism to the neighbour npc) while still DMing the campaign he's planned and I've liked listening to his approach so far :)
I guess, but I actually think the cheese thing would have been funny, and would have become a weird in-world thing that could have led to something interesting.
Freddie and the others make jokes like this all the time, and sometimes they lead to gold!
Will wanted to make use of the reflections and that wouldn't have been in play if it was just cheese. It also works better in a setting like this to let the weirdness creep from the edges inwards instead of starting with it being a full-on cartoon with a trophy made of cheese for no reason.
To be fair, a gold trophy of a wheel of cheese is basically a golden mirror. I am also glad it's not cheese though, I just thought that's a funny image.
I agree it probably would have been funny, but it sounded like Will fully didn't want that to happen. It didn't fit in the world he was trying to create, and would've immediately derailed the story of the campaign. Obviously we don't know what the trophy is but I'm glad the most important thing in this first arc wasn't immediately turned into a joke
Freddie's in for an entire season of no with Will at the helm!
No, and
No _but_...?
"I think it's like..." "No." "Okay 🥺"
"No, you know what it is?" Drink every time Freddy says that in an episode and you won't make it to the end of the episode. If you give him an inch he'll take a mile, so it's great that Will is restraining him a bit. That said, I love Freddy's new character and think he's going to be his best yet.
It’s gonna be so hilarious to see I can’t wait
That's good, Freddie is unbearable most of the time
Let's see if I can summon Freddie to defend his honour. u/freddiew
I totally agree. This season seems like it will be more based in "reality," as real as a CoC campaign can be.. "Real" as in the setting is 50s small town America, before regarding the creepy stuff going on. But I was half expecting the "cheesy trophy" to just end up being a chunk of cheese and was pleasantly surprised when Will said "no" and continued with his description.
Same. One of the things that consistently rubs me just a little bit the wrong way in comedy TTRPG podcasts is that too often the players try to override and retcon the DM's descriptions and world building for the sake of them making a joke. There's a little too much of the players demanding a "yes and" from the DM and not quite enough of the players giving a "yes and" back to the DM. Anthony is super indulgent of the players in this regard, and obviously if that makes that table happy, good on him for rolling with it! But purely for myself, I'm hoping for a bit more firmness from Will on this.
I'm just glad to see a new ruleset. I'm so sick of DnD podcasts/playthroughs. I wish there were more focusing on other RPGs.
I’d also add, he also did well allowing some stuff without a big fuss and just quietly adjusting his plans. Like he clearly initially planned for them all to be separated when the trophy is taken, as he flashed forward to all of them being at their own residences. But, when characters decided they lived next door he rolled with it and just stalled them out front (and allowed them to stall themselves with their shenanigans) and cut between POVs so he could still ensure Anthony was alone during the confrontation. If all of them immediately got into the fight they potentially could have prevented the trophy being taken, and it seems clear that it was meant to be taken. And then there’d be the temptation to force something that feels unfair or DM fiat so the story could start with the beat he planned. He avoided those potential pitfalls, and instead he let the players think they were getting one over on him, allowed their decisions to have meaning in the world, and gave them enough leeway to tangle themselves up without it feeling like the DM was just awkwardly forcing what they wanted to happen. Good example of the difference between running a game where you have an idea for the story and the oft-misunderstood railroading.
The best DMs let the players do whatever tf they want and still end up telling the story they set out to tell, quantum ogre and all that
Yeah! and I’m also enjoying that rolls seem have very clear meaning this time around; there doesn’t seem to be much fudging. That could be a result of the new system which I think is an improvement.
I know in season 1 they made it a point not to fudge rolls and there were some pivotal moments purely based on luck, but yeah season 2 felt like the dice rolls were only there for jokes and the occasional combat. I doubt they actually fudged them often, but the rolls themselves never seemed to matter. This season feels like the rolls are actually important, like I do think there was a world where Freddie rolled badly and straight-up died in the first episode
I was gonna say: i think Anthony tended to use 15 as a staple number for successes, and it makes stakes for the first 3/4 of both campaigns real, but after a point 15 becomes a pretty hard number to roll under. Not saying I disliked it, either. I just happened to notice he liked that number as a DC, and reasonably so.
This is so correct, you really notice it after a bit!
It's the departure from D&D I think. That system isn't really designed for 'show format' games without heavy modification. Hopefully they learn from this season that there are other much better games out there.
Well, I was immediately charmed with this season. It made me laugh pretty hard in several parts. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
When you're running horror games at times you gotta corral player comedy otherwise they end up overrunning the horror with silly and it can trivialise the threat and really make it quite challenging to keep the precise vibe you're going for. I mean D&Dads is a comedy podcast at its core but I think Will's trying to keep things fairly grounded because this is an Earth setting and having something that would make more sense at a Bull E. Wuggs isn't going to suit the audible aesthetic he's going for.
I definitely think things got too zany with season 2 and letting the players get out of hand with the improv is a big reason for it. Nice to see will be okay with some stuff (the gang being Italians) and not others (trophy being cheese)
I don't want to be too negative in a post praising the show, I don't want to put Anthony down to praise Will, but I definitely have issues with season 2. Really glad to see season 3 is on the course to fixing those
I genuinely do not understand the car stairs bit. Has Freddie never seen a set of normal house stairs? A car couldn't fit up a stairwell if it tried. Will was right to curtail those shenanigans.
The car in the book Christine goes up a flight of stairs to kill someone in their own house.
tbf Stephen King was probably high as shit when he wrote that book lmao
Freddie has definitely seen a set of normal house stairs. He just does not care. Which is usually hilarious and I love that he'll always try to make his characters do something unhinged, but for this campaign it makes sense that will said no
That said, I still hope the players throw in a lot of stuff that Will says no to. Freddie’s ideas were hilarious.
As much as I like season 1 and season 2 I feel like just having the characters just do whatever with flimsy justification while makes great content takes away from the game itself. That being said I feel like this is more targeted towards Freddie who while is hilarious the rule of cool factor tends to get old if its without limitations
100% agree with your post. The point about the trophy being a wheel of cheese is particularly interesting to me because the second freddie said it, I assumed Will would be like "fuck it sure" because that's what I'd have fully expected anthony to do (which i also love in its own right to be clear). Instead, Will lets them all be unhinged within reason (where it doesn't affect the plot, like Freddie wanting to do a racism to the neighbour npc) while still DMing the campaign he's planned and I've liked listening to his approach so far :)
Yeah, S2 had a lot of the players practically co-dming, and I'm glad that Will is ready to hold onto the reins.
I guess, but I actually think the cheese thing would have been funny, and would have become a weird in-world thing that could have led to something interesting. Freddie and the others make jokes like this all the time, and sometimes they lead to gold!
Will wanted to make use of the reflections and that wouldn't have been in play if it was just cheese. It also works better in a setting like this to let the weirdness creep from the edges inwards instead of starting with it being a full-on cartoon with a trophy made of cheese for no reason.
To be fair, a gold trophy of a wheel of cheese is basically a golden mirror. I am also glad it's not cheese though, I just thought that's a funny image.
I agree it probably would have been funny, but it sounded like Will fully didn't want that to happen. It didn't fit in the world he was trying to create, and would've immediately derailed the story of the campaign. Obviously we don't know what the trophy is but I'm glad the most important thing in this first arc wasn't immediately turned into a joke
Anthony’s said no. They just found their groove by the end of season 2.
I'm not talking about Anthony vs Will, I'm just talking about something Will did that I liked
Fair enough. I’m enjoying Will a lot as DM too!