Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I\u2019m delighted to be returning to the adventures of Vox Machina, as they attempt to flee the bowels of hell with a big nasty devil hot on their trail. Well, technically not the bowels of hell, since they\u2019re actually pretty high in its layers \u2013 more like the esophagus of hell, I suppose? Regardless, in true devil\u2019s bargain fashion, last episode\u2019s daring feats of gambling by Pike were only enough to get them safely beyond Zerxus\u2019 doors. For the <\/span>rest<\/span><\/i> of their journey, they\u2019re now free game for Zerxus\u2019 minions, who have been instructed that only Pike needs to return intact.<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, my own party is making their escape from an equally oppressive pocket realm, as they charge forward towards the final battle against Strahd. Our DM has mercifully acknowledged our general frustration with Curse of Strahd\u2019s limited venues for player expression and one-note tone, and thus we recently barreled through the last pre-climax hurdles at warp speed, gathering weapons, liberating allies, and hatching anti-Strahd schemes all in the course of one mammoth session. One of the most important skills you can develop as a DM is flexibility, and the understanding that you are collectively creating a living text \u2013 by fast-forwarding through material we clearly weren\u2019t passionate about, they were able to create a version of Curse of Strahd that was actually paced such as to keep our interest.<\/span><\/p>\n As of now, we\u2019re currently mid-battle with Strahd, with my peace cleric Tilly attempting to keep his attention off my friends by calling him things like Strahdy-wahdy and Strahdikins. Meanwhile, our noble bard Tulip keeps me alive, swashbuckling rogue Oberyn skewers him with the Sun Sword, and Uncle Fester-reminiscent wizard Dr. Bob does god knows what with his impressive magical faculties. I can vividly see the freeze frame of our ongoing battle in my head, and can\u2019t wait to get back to the fight \u2013 but for now, we\u2019ve got some hells to escape and a dragon to slay. Onward!<\/span><\/p>\n Episode 5<\/b><\/p>\n We begin on a flashback to Allura and the rest of the prior band of heroes, back in the days of their own adventures. These flashbacks are obviously a privilege of adapting material from tabletop DM-led exposition to TV drama, fitted snugly within the additionally flashback-accommodating format of the cold open. They have done an exceedingly graceful job of making this structure feel natural, like the story was always constructed this way<\/span><\/p>\n I also like how they\u2019re weaving in this theme of cyclical conflict, which subtly points to a great catastrophe awaiting Vox Machina. Zerxus\u2019 party of heroes fell to ruin and invoked the Calamity, Allura\u2019s party splintered and failed to permanently seal their target, and now Vox Machina must take up the mantle, knowing that the lessons of history point towards a coming failure for them as well<\/span><\/p>\n This all collectively emphasizes the importance of the players\u2019 choices \u2013 the only thing standing between them and this grim historical precedent is their agency, their own ability to flip the script<\/span><\/p>\n Kima and Allura of course possessed an excellent adversarial rapport before eventually becoming lovers. I absolutely adore writing this sort of romance, and actually have a similar long-term NPC romance brewing in my campaign, between two characters whose dynamic isn\u2019t far off from Natsuki and Yuuko in Sound! Euphonium. I always try to write towards my players\u2019 interests, but my own passion for any given quest is generally tethered to the emotional drama of the NPCs involved \u2013 and if I can make that drama feel convincing and satisfying to me, I can only hope it provides some entertainment for my players as well<\/span><\/p>\n The two end up fighting a chimera alone, a perfect venue for reflecting on how much they mean to each other. I pulled <\/span>this<\/span><\/i> gambit back during the campaign\u2019s first act, when one of my major NPCs was kidnapped, and another made a desperate play to save her. Nothing like a near-death experience to make characters voice the secret hopes they thought they\u2019d take to their graves<\/span><\/p>\n Allura\u2019s starstruck face upon Kima\u2019s victory leads us back to the present. Yeah, that would do it<\/span><\/p>\n While Allura is eager to rush after Kima, the other two urge caution, prompting Allura to question if they\u2019d feel the same if it was either of them in danger. An excellent trick \u2013 using the obvious parallels between these pairs to challenge them on their actual feelings for each other. Though they\u2019re portrayed by the DM, good NPCs should possess their own interiority and perspective, making them useful tools for elegantly pressing the players on their feelings or reasoning<\/span><\/p>\n For players who are less comfortable expressing themselves, NPCs can also mitigate the pressure of performing in a group. I\u2019ve occasionally thrown in \u201cfireside chat\u201d sequences featuring several NPCs and the player party, where the party\u2019s allies reflecting and confessing their feelings is employed to make the players feel more comfortable expressing their own characters\u2019 thoughts<\/span><\/p>\n Allura\u2019s agitation works perfectly here, prompting Percy to declare \u201cwe\u2019re not together,\u201d which in turn forces Vex to chew on how those words make her feel<\/span><\/p>\n Vex is well-positioned for a classic personal arc \u2013 having been taught only distrust and self-reliance by her father, her journey involves letting go of her need to control everything, which will also lead her to embracing a relationship with Percy<\/span><\/p>\n In general, I consider \u201cwhat is their journey\u201d to be the most fundamental question defining any reasonably multifaceted character. Characters defined as fixed points, as simple sets of values and affectations, will rarely surprise or delight you. From the question \u201cwhat is their journey,\u201d everything else emerges \u2013 what informed their current outlook, how they present themselves towards the world, and what they either hope or fear to become<\/span><\/p>\n Down in hell, the City of Dis\u2019 generally murky atmosphere is doing a fine job of integrating the party\u2019s CG pursuer into the composition<\/span><\/p>\n And out in the snow drifts, the weather provides a similar accommodating effect for the dragon Vorugal. This show\u2019s overall composite has improved significantly since the first season \u2013 no longer do either CG or traditionally animated characters look superimposed over their environments, rather than genuinely integrated into them. Of course, the layouts don\u2019t measure up to the best anime has to offer, but at this point anime itself also has trouble measuring up to the layouts of the pre-digital era. Now that it\u2019s so easy to make CG backgrounds and superimpose characters over them, the art of the graceful, voluminous layout is slowly dying out<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAllie?\u201d Kima asks. Never underestimate the power of a cute couple nickname, particularly if it contrasts against that character\u2019s generally serious or regal affect<\/span><\/p>\n Kima and Allura\u2019s fight naturally echoes the flashback from before, an obvious privilege of this adaptation. DnD is too slow-paced and too ambiguously staged for this sort of thing; asking your players to find dramatic satisfaction in the resemblance of a current event to one from months or even years ago is generally a fool\u2019s errand. Of course, I\u2019m breaking that rule myself with my current conception of \u201ctrain-top battle: the sequel,\u201d but that event feels singular enough even in DnD framing to naturally evoke the comparison<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYour weapon is too damn loud!\u201d \u201cI\u2019m sorry, we can\u2019t all blast magic out of our bloody fingers!\u201d Allura and Percy are an excellent pairing<\/span><\/p>\n Allura gets speared upon some frozen tree roots as Vorugal blasts her. Another handy feature of NPCs: they can ratchet up tension in combat without actually changing the encounter\u2019s mechanical variables, by being imperiled in such a way as to create a greater sense of urgency or consequence<\/span><\/p>\n Percy fires at the ice itself to send Vorugal crashing into the lake. Environmental variables like this can be tricky, because players can\u2019t actually physically assess their surroundings without the DM as intermediary. Lackluster implication of devices like this can feel like railroading, with the DM providing exactly one useful environmental object \u2013 while on the flip side, creating a fully imagined arena of distinct variables for every fight is a huge ask for the DM. Here, the icy lake is basically the fight centerpiece, so exploiting it seems natural<\/span><\/p>\n The hell-party arrives back at the portal, and Keyleth begins opening it as the others fend off their pursuer. Another fun fight concept: the holdout point, wherein a party must delay the advance of some antagonistic force until rescue arrives. Alongside simply diversifying the styles of combat, this conceit allows the party to briefly fight an opponent that\u2019s well beyond their abilities in a controlled scenario. A fine method of introducing a late-game foe early; in fact, I used a variation on this for my party\u2019s first, accidental journey to hell, foreshadowing their eventual final battle<\/span><\/p>\n Active camerawork does a nice job of conveying the size of their opponent as they dance around this giant devil<\/span><\/p>\n This devil provides a handy opportunity to demonstrate the core faculty of Pike\u2019s new breastplate. Basically the same logic as a Zelda boss: give the party a new tool, then construct a boss that demonstrates that tool at its best<\/span><\/p>\n An excellent \u201clet them fight\u201d moment as the devil chases them through the portal, and immediately sets to work attacking Vorugal. The default case is to avoid robbing the party of their kills through DM interference, but there are lots of cases like this. Having two simultaneous holdout fights resolve through the unstoppable enemies being thrown at each <\/span>other<\/span><\/i> is a lovely payoff for surviving their rampages<\/span><\/p>\n The party is forced to flee and dodge falling wreckage as the two titans do battle. This is actually a concept I haven\u2019t used before, but have in my drafts for my next major post-campaign quest: a combination of combat and agility, with a traditional combat encounter segueing into two kaiju-sized monsters wrestling across the battlefield. I\u2019ve been working to more directly integrate expository and mechanical action, and having the players be required to actively navigate such a battlefield in traditional turn order seems like a fine approach<\/span><\/p>\n Vorugal\u2019s defeat is then used as an affirmation of Allura\u2019s trust in Kima. A fine bookend for this adaptive arc, though I doubt it played out this way on-table \u2013 watching two monsters fight is one thing, but having an NPC steal the party\u2019s final blow is a step too far<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve actually used this faux pas to fun dramatic effect before \u2013 my heroes have a rival do-gooder that they absolutely despise, and part of that hatred comes down to him once stealing their glory during a major conflict<\/span><\/p>\n Keyleth and Vex perform a sweet combo attack, firing one of Vex\u2019s arrows into Vorugal with Keyleth\u2019s root-growing magic attached. Combo attacks aren\u2019t naturally supported by DnD\u2019s combat system, but they\u2019re such a satisfying fusion of mechanical ingenuity and roleplay solidarity that I am forever seeking ways to crack them mechanically<\/span><\/p>\n And Done<\/b><\/p>\n Thus our heroes defeat another dragon, and pick up a spiffy new suit of armor in the bargain. These dragon fights are proving to be excellent campaign markers, each serving as a simultaneous capstone for personal arcs and embodiment of mechanical advancement. And with the production having so improved across its seasons, they\u2019re also proving delightful visual highlights, cinematic spectacles to aspire to in my own encounter design. DnD\u2019s turn-based combat system doesn\u2019t naturally lend itself to inventive, collaborative acts of martial derring-do, but its rules were made to be broken, and when DM and players are working in sync, basically anything is possible. Now if you\u2019ll excuse me, I must get back to work implementing combo attacks!<\/span><\/p>\n This\u00a0article\u00a0was\u00a0mad<\/a><\/em>e possible by reader support<\/a>. Thank you all for\u00a0all that you do.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wrongeverytime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/October21111254.jpg?resize=584%2C329&ssl=1\")
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<\/p>\nLike this:<\/h3>\n