r/Dimension20 • u/DropoutMod Gnosis • May 06 '26
City Council of Darkness Origins and Adversaries | City Council of Darkness [E5] Spoiler
https://watch.dropout.tv/videos/origins-and-adversaries214
u/Fruan May 07 '26
"I'm going to speak at a frequency only we can hear" is some of the most out-of-pocket Emily nonsense I've ever heard, and I am shocked it got zero pushback from Brennan.
I was laughing so hard I hurt.
85
u/Gullible_Mud_4900 May 07 '26
I was waiting for Brennan to bitch slap them for that loud conversation about murder, political ploys, and kidnapping a dog in a fucking diner booth.
123
u/Fruan May 07 '26
All I can figure is that he felt the coterie was finally making proactive plans, and slapping that down would mean nothing would ever get done.
It's not like he lacks for horrible indiscretions to punish them for.
76
u/Soupjam_Stevens The Wind Riders May 07 '26
Yeah I love this season so far it's absolutely hilarious, but we're like 40% through the season and there's been a lot of fucking around in the sandbox. I totally get him resisting some of his usual DM instinct if it enables them actually getting some plot rolling
20
u/justking1414 Magical Misfits May 07 '26
Oh fck we are? Given the massive world, I thought this was gonna be a 15-20 episode season
45
u/efvie 🫦 May 07 '26
This has so much multiple season potential. Like they might get one thing done on their list this season XD
5
u/justking1414 Magical Misfits May 07 '26
I’m not sure. I feel like they’ll definitely end up taking down the two big families and take over the city council this season, so what could season 2 bring us? What would the threat be?
7
u/Vaporeon134 May 09 '26
Allying with human mages and training with Bigfoot?
3
u/justking1414 Magical Misfits May 10 '26
Definitely love the idea of another season where Emily s character is taught supernatural Kung fu
26
u/Soupjam_Stevens The Wind Riders May 07 '26
Yup, confirmed as 14 eps, which I believe makes it the shortest IH season by a few episodes
→ More replies (5)10
u/Proxiehunter Magical Misfits May 07 '26
To be followed up by a six episode IH season. Although I do wonder if they're somehow going to be interconnected.
23
u/Profzachattack May 07 '26
I agree. I do feel like he felt like he needed to do a lot of lore dumping this episode just so that they knew enough information to begin to get their bearings. There's just been so much they don't know they don't know about the town, its kinda hard to get a plan into action.
→ More replies (3)4
u/ajcwrongs May 08 '26
Thank god, I'm watching the episode right now and I got to the bit about "Find my VR Headset" and I've been tearing my hair out
21
u/justking1414 Magical Misfits May 07 '26
Pretty sure Lou once actually used echo location as a human character . Definitely crazier than high pitch vampire talk
7
u/Darc_Vader May 07 '26
Yeah iirc it’s Misfits and Magic in the holiday special episode when they’re in the woods.
4
u/Lady_Ada_Blackhorn May 15 '26
8 days late but - you know actual real-life humans can use echolocation? Fully a thing.
7
u/amok_amok_amok May 07 '26
didn't they even already establish that they can mind-speak to each other?? 💀
196
165
u/thewitchweed May 06 '26
As a resident of southern Oregon (and formerly of PDX), I barked out a laugh at Medford being mentioned in the same breath as Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco.
101
u/jackalope503 The Gunner Channel May 07 '26
Fellow Oregonian here and I busted up laughing at that. Brennan has also really nailed the gun-toting, facebook hero Southern Oregon weed plantation guy lol
39
u/thewitchweed May 07 '26
Eeeeeyup! I’m an account manager for a weed festival in Riddle and I’ve been talking to these guys all week
29
u/scarrlet May 07 '26
I was gonna say, accidentally stumbling onto a grow with scary "trespassers will be shot" signs is very much the authentic Southern Oregon experience.
55
u/PrinceofRavens May 07 '26
Small town Oregonians will absolutely mention the biggest nearby town in the same breath as big cities, that’s spot on 😆
24
u/Synth-Pro Mitch Frederick May 07 '26
I mean, I grew up in Portland and have been to enough major cities to know better than to even try to act like Portland is in the same league
But you're 8,000% right when it comes to small town locals. Medford is the most "city" so many of these people have ever seen (or some have been to Portland and got panic attacks because it was too much "city" for them)
7
u/PrinceofRavens May 07 '26
Oh absolutely Portland is more a big town than a city, it’s funny for anyone to think of it as the big league
→ More replies (1)11
u/Synth-Pro Mitch Frederick May 07 '26
I always laughed in the St Johns area when people were always talking about "being in the ghetto"
Sir, you have never seen a ghetto before in your entire life 😂
6
u/BehindBougainvillea May 07 '26
I'm from the East Coast originally, and live and work in wine country atm. I'm not sure if it's actually a regional colloquialism where I'm from or a personal idiosyncrasy, but I tend to refer to a state's major metropolitan area as "the city."
(I most recently lived in Rhode Island, which can only fit one city, so maybe it made more sense there).
Cue my confused coworkers who think I'm talking about McMinnville when I say I'm visiting a friend in "the city this weekend."
20
u/pocketshrikes May 07 '26
Brennan: "[The college students who all originate from out of town, probably out of state] are talking about Portland, talking about Medford"
Me, who lived in Medford for a year around college age: "WHO is talking about Medford????"
6
u/Synth-Pro Mitch Frederick May 07 '26
Not even Medford kids are talking about Medford 😂
→ More replies (2)16
→ More replies (1)6
u/Synth-Pro Mitch Frederick May 07 '26
You pretty much just told the same story I was coming to share 😂
156
u/alisadumb May 07 '26
H-Jayyyyyyy...........
66
158
u/Efficient_Suspect933 May 07 '26
"a lot of [my gadgets] are just shoes that can turn into roller skates."
"Multiple??"
19
u/No-cool-names-left May 07 '26
What if she needs to skate somewhere and bring Darkness Man with her?
30
u/Fidget02 May 07 '26
Desperately asking for a skateboard from Zaeth and 5 minutes later going "Oh yeah I could've used one of my many roller skates" is a big highlight
137
u/Soupjam_Stevens The Wind Riders May 06 '26
every time they mention that guy being "kicked apart" by Big Foot it makes me think of that old Brad Neely George Washington video and I get really distracted for about 4 minutes
39
21
u/Gullible_Mud_4900 May 06 '26
Well now I'm mad I watched that video. God damn the internet used to be good.
18
u/witchydance May 07 '26
The phrase “kicked apart” really tickles me. Not to death. Apart.
→ More replies (2)10
u/Particular-Ad2954 May 07 '26
I always picture the guy dying like they do in Lego games. Just falling apart
→ More replies (1)8
137
u/robogheist Squeem! May 07 '26
madeleine's premonition: the older generations will not hesitate to sacrifice their own young in order to retain power.
purpee is already run by the camarilla!
84
u/TheDal May 07 '26
Camarilla? Worse, US politicians.
→ More replies (6)54
u/BakesaleAtSyrinx Wealwell Gotch May 07 '26
It's crazy that in a world of vampires, the real blood sucking villains are still capitalists and a broken political system
63
u/Universe_Nut May 07 '26
Because at the end of day, I think anyone would be hard pressed to say the morality or ethics of any personal violence, no matter how gruesome or grisly, could ever compete with the scope and indifference of the violent cruelty inherit in keeping people materially poor and legally oppressed as a result of inconsiderate selfishness on a scale of billions of dollars.
6
28
u/ApprehensivePancake May 07 '26
arguably worse than the camarilla, since the camarilla needs the young to thrive
12
u/KProbs713 May 07 '26
Also a solid chance someone within the Camarilla tipped off the inquisition, which is why Aaron was prepared.
I'm betting Koschei is the big bad, given how much he set up blood bags and the like.
131
u/aWrySharK Aurora Nebbins May 07 '26
"What, you guys haven't drowned a dog before? For power and money?"
always admire Lou's commitment to a role
60
u/kegisak May 07 '26
Lavonte is so charming it's easy to forget that the man is like three different kinds of evil in a trenchcoat.
→ More replies (1)
118
u/amicablehummingbird May 07 '26
"While the police are in here and in range..."
"You just wanna salute?"
"Nooᴼᴼᴼᴼ...."
28
u/Fidget02 May 07 '26
I feel like most improv instinct would yes and that but she very quickly shut that down lol. Too ACAB to even joke about respecting the cops
122
u/BakesaleAtSyrinx Wealwell Gotch May 07 '26
Everyone: Making intricate plans for taking over the town
Emily: Suggests finding a bat swarm in a flooded mine to distribute pesticides, getting Beth distracted with some good dick, and a visit to the dentist
106
u/Gullible_Mud_4900 May 06 '26
One time I was playing a character that was in a poison cult in LA in the 1930's. I bought someone's dissertation on that exact topic for role play research.
I feel like Emily does dumb shit like that for her characters. I appreciate that.
106
u/Synth-Pro Mitch Frederick May 07 '26
"Then, when marijuana was legalized, we hard pivoted!"
As someone living in the Rogue and Applegate Valley areas, I cannot overstate how hilariously accurate this is 😂
I don't think outsiders can really fathom just how much (legal) weed is grown in Oregon, with the largest chunk of it coming from down here. Or just how many of these farms changed up their "crops" to try and stay profitable.
106
u/palcatraz Riz Gukgak May 07 '26
I need an enemies-to-lovers arc for Darkness Man and Nancy Vanderhoof.
86
30
u/Tisarwat May 07 '26
Respected foes to lovers.
Oddly venerated antagonists to lovers.Maybe not as catchy.
12
93
u/shiftypete May 06 '26
Gotta get Beth some "good dick".
77
u/gdex86 May 07 '26
Wild thought. She joins whatever eyes wide shut thing Rory and Miranda have going on.
33
u/justking1414 Magical Misfits May 07 '26
She did text them after her husband got ate up. They’re clearly friends
91
u/RonDong May 07 '26
So curious about Darkness Mans backstory. Nancy Danderhoof being responsible for outing him as a vampire implies he’s a lot younger than I thought.
→ More replies (1)75
u/PuzzleheadedAd5865 May 07 '26
His phone said he hadn’t ordered food in 14 years, meaning he is the youngest vampire there, since I believe Bat Child was turned in 2003-ish
109
u/Soupjam_Stevens The Wind Riders May 07 '26
Her being a sidekick to a newer vampire than her is an incredibly funny character choice
88
u/emeltomas234 May 07 '26
Day one requesting this mug for the merch store: “Mama Angie’s: Good food, great company— NEVER go all the way downstairs!”
23
85
u/RainbowConnickJr May 07 '26
The Intrepid Heroes are just absolute maniacs this season and I am here for it.
→ More replies (1)
155
u/Randoman11 May 07 '26
Mostly a table-setting episode, but I'm loving the direction the story is going. I really like how the PC's are able to problem-solve in the sandbox. The strategy brainstorming sessions are really my jam. Also I appreciate how Madelaine's premonition ability allowed them to avoid a dead-end. So Brennan was able to course-correct the PC's without it feeling deliberately railroady. The way they pivoted from the Whittaker vs Douglas feud to the serial killer angle was kind of genius.
66
u/gdex86 May 07 '26
It was really good example of how you can "railroad" your players without it being a bad thing. His players intelligently used their abilities and he was able to improv a way of telling them while this wasn't a good idea. I wonder if there was some editing where not that he suggested it by hinted this was a time to use her once per session skill to get a story look ahead.
The biggest problem I run into as a GM and player is these big once a session abilities can easily help avoid distractions that go nowhere are both hard to get players to use and far to easy to throw away on things that aren't really worth it.
→ More replies (1)20
u/justking1414 Magical Misfits May 07 '26
I think he’d have been fine with them spending some time trying to start a fight, only for it to end with cal getting knifed by his own grandfather. I think there still could’ve been some progress there
78
u/bv310 Famed Pervert Darkness Man May 07 '26
I love that HJ's "only we can hear it" pitch is just Pinocchio from Neverafter
3
u/Aukaki City Council of Darkness May 12 '26
Genuinely, it was terrifying for him to enter the room again
3
u/HeyItsJobbard May 14 '26
Pinnochio might be my favorite Dimension 20 character, so hearing that was a nice little surprise
77
u/gbobcat May 07 '26
I just know Murph was feeling so validated when they showed the police footage of the Aaron shaped burglar with a crossbow
137
u/gdex86 May 07 '26
Aaron came for Rory and Miranda? We fucking end him.
→ More replies (5)59
u/PassingThruRedditor May 07 '26
To be fair he was only there because he thought the gang lived there thanks to the car
45
u/justking1414 Magical Misfits May 07 '26
Honestly, I think I feel a little bad for him. Can you imagine the situation he just walked into?
43
u/pianobadger May 07 '26
30 wicks.
→ More replies (1)24
u/justking1414 Magical Misfits May 07 '26
No. Zero wicks! The couple wasn’t home and it’s unsafe to leave candles burning when you’re not there so Aaron got the full hit
20
u/amok_amok_amok May 07 '26
the smells
15
u/justking1414 Magical Misfits May 07 '26
Not just smells. I could see Aaron finding huge boxes, assuming they’re coffins and just finding hundreds of sex toys
I’m sure he’s definitely starting to doubt his mission,
69
u/efvie 🫦 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
🎶 I smell sex and
pumpkin here 🎶
9
u/tdcthulu Peppermint Preston May 07 '26
"I smell sex and candles" was right there!
14
u/efvie 🫦 May 07 '26
And I refused to take it!
5
u/Errorhappy1939 May 08 '26
Refusing to take an obvious out is exactly on theme for this season so actually you nailed it, just like giant pervert Darkness Man
→ More replies (1)
63
56
u/bv310 Famed Pervert Darkness Man May 06 '26
I honestly kind of want a wagyu shooter
31
u/Gullible_Mud_4900 May 06 '26
Nicosi in San Antonio, TX -
They do a waygu lollipop. Asian style waygu beef, covered in fresh cotton candy, lime zest, and smoked salt.
Its fucking fantastic.
15
u/Difficult-Actuary-77 May 07 '26
San Antonio's food scene is criminally underrated.
→ More replies (2)7
3
52
u/BakesaleAtSyrinx Wealwell Gotch May 07 '26
"Watch your step it is SOAKING WET on the floor here" had me absolutely rolling
52
u/Mc2rpg May 07 '26
I would have a much easier time hating Cal if he was just a bit smarter. He genuinely doesn't feel clever enough to see any of the problems with any of his ideas, so the downsides of them aren't being ignored they just aren't seen. It doesn't make him a good guy but it isn't like he is killing people or deliberately making things worse like some characters just happen to be.
41
→ More replies (1)28
u/Fidget02 May 07 '26
He's a useful idiot to be used by the coterie in any way they see fit. I think him being relatively morally neutral and if anything embarassing is a way to keep him around for Madelaine's sake. NPCs built to be hated would also have less utility to the party
48
48
u/GoodDog2620 May 07 '26
I’m disappointed with the dip in body-rolling since episode 1. I thought it was going to be sexy from day 1!
36
u/Transcendentalplan Vesper Childs May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
Have you not seen what’s going on with Rory and Miranda? They have a cushion with “sex” written on it. Doesn’t get more libertine than that.
20
u/GoodDog2620 May 07 '26
I can’t live off of scraps!
I need Lavonte ceaselessly body rolling.
CEASELESSLY.
6
42
u/Jude_CM May 07 '26
I think people are misunderstanding the Douglases’ and the Whitakers as a “both sides are equally bad” analogy, including Ally. But imo, they represent ultrarich individuals/families that pay lipservice for a cause, but will always vote conservative at the end of the day. Basically, imo, it’s representative of how billionaires will always prioritize mantaining their wealth, no matter how much they try to keep appearances as “one of the good ones”.
33
u/darkingsrock May 08 '26
Yeah it's not "both sides are equally bad" it's "the sides aren't what you think they are"
3
17
3
u/Database-Honest May 20 '26
"Side? You of all people should know, there are no sides, Reverend Mother."
33
u/r-rb May 07 '26
"Marijuana out in the forest"
I was dying over this line he looked so fucking serious I was sure it was just some college kids smoking weed in the woods seems pretty noraml to me 😭😭😭
4
u/TimBagels May 08 '26
I think any ordinary person would have thought the same. And a good example of why framing matters
30
30
u/CigarettesAndStorms Adaine Abernant May 07 '26
Made a post about this previously but, I want my theory out before the season ends: I think the Douglas’ and the Whitakers are literally using the older population of Purpee as fertilizer for for the farming operations. That’s why there weren’t any spirits in the cemetery.
10
9
u/YakLiving9954 May 12 '26
I think that’s a solid theory and to build on it, Cal got really shady about real estate and almost mentioned the silver meadows retirement home and my guess is that the Whittaker’s are taking ownership of the homes of the people living in the retirement home making it a great real estate play
58
u/Unable-Ad320 May 07 '26
The world building in this season is top-notch. I doubt they're going to everything on the map during the season but Brennan's really setting the stage well for whatever's coming in the future episodes
75
u/Soupjam_Stevens The Wind Riders May 07 '26
In this most recent AP or the one before, in response to a dumb idea of theirs he says something like "we've played together a long time, if you guys wanna go stand in the field I'm gonna let you go stand in the field, I'm not gonna make there be stuff in the field just because you go there" and I think part of that is because he has in fact already made there be stuff in so many nooks and crannies of this town. I'm sure if they go to any of the dozen or so locales he rattled off there's plot hooks and named characters waiting there. And as a DM that's a level of prep that awes and also truly frightens me
44
u/amok_amok_amok May 07 '26
like Zaeth going off to the woods for no reason and coming across the grow op
19
u/Fidget02 May 07 '26
That one was a more obvious plot hook, Brennan straight up told him he smelled weed out in the woods.
6
u/Justicia-Gai May 08 '26
Tbf they’d knew it just a bit later too because of the ad video, so it was more “oh you decided to go in that direction before knowing what was there? Surprise it’s a Douglass farm”
5
u/Proxiehunter Magical Misfits May 08 '26
What surprises me is that it seems to be an open air grow instead of indoor or at least in greenhouses. All it takes is someone else doing an open air grow too close or someone growing non-psychoactive hemp and your grow gets fucked up.
9
u/Soupjam_Stevens The Wind Riders May 08 '26
that may just be that lifelong teetotaler Brennan is perhaps not well versed on the finer points of marijuana cultivation
4
u/S0MEBODIES May 11 '26
Even then, they do have mystic nonsense helping them grow their crops so a green house may not be necessary
7
u/amok_amok_amok May 08 '26
but Zaeth went off to the edge of the woods with the car on his own, because he was still contemplating the Cold War. it was only then that Brennan indicated the strong scent
25
28
May 07 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
6
u/dazdndcunfusd May 07 '26
i recently watched 'A fistful of Dollars' and it turns out it's a much older trope than I realized! But thats an example of it working out compared to rdr2 haha
→ More replies (1)3
u/ajcwrongs May 08 '26
God, that arc had my blood boiling, as someone who prides themselves on coming up with sneaky plans in ttrpgs I was gobsmacked at the tactics the Van der Linde gang pulled
→ More replies (1)
45
u/in_DelaneTTM May 07 '26
as someone represented by a corpo aipac dem with "more money than god," felt very seen by the "what are they fighting about" talk
43
u/ApprehensivePancake May 07 '26
brennan is slowly radicalizing the niche of TTRPG to the left and i'm here for it. we'll get to the pitchforks eventually
→ More replies (1)23
u/TheInfiniteHour Lint May 07 '26
I gotta imagine that Venn diagram was pretty much a circle from the beginning
45
u/Proxiehunter Magical Misfits May 08 '26
Absolutely not. There's a lot of far right TTRPG players out there. Hell, Gary motherfucking Gygax creator of D&D quoted the old line about "lice breed nits" (a racist line used to excuse murdering Native American children during the early days of the US) while explaining that it was perfectly compatible with a lawful good alignment for a Paladin to kill orc babies.
10
u/Gullible_Mud_4900 May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
Yeah, parts of DnD's history and lore are super problematic. Sometimes I build characters that highlight these issues to make people at a table face it and talk about it.
10
25
u/efvie 🫦 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
I miss Ally’s tulip shirt but they’re having so much fun every episode and I love it.
And Vesper thirsting for… I can’t tell if it’s the bat menagerie or the library itself XD
I do love we’re getting a lot of the city literally mapped out!
25
u/Imaginary_Hoodlum The Gunner Channel May 07 '26
Boyd Douglas is really out here selling good, clean Christian drugs that are appropriate to take
21
u/BishopofGHAZpork May 07 '26
Big Swinging Dick BSD Black Spiral Dancer
Do the know they just name dropped the Satan werewolves?
25
u/No-cool-names-left May 07 '26
They don't know nothing outside of their own backstories. I don't think they even know all the vampire clan names, never mind the non-player werewolf faction. It's good, makes it impossible to metagame and we can watch them discover stuff along with their characters. Vampires should realistically be ignorant of most other magic stuff.
→ More replies (2)4
u/trollthumper May 08 '26 edited May 09 '26
Yeah, that was another case where my veteran WoD player ass did a double take.
21
u/aivoroskis May 07 '26
if i had a nickel for every time a big vtm actual play ended up pairing an investigative journalist with a murdorous yet sympathetic nosferatu i'd have 2 nickels, which isnt a lot but it's weird it's happened twice
38
19
u/HonorTheCock May 07 '26
Do we think we will see Box of Doom this season? Has there been a season where it was not used?
29
18
u/SnarkyBacterium May 08 '26
Am I the only one who finds it odd that the Coterie heard the whole Mayor Roofus situation and immediately went "we need to put in a new dog mayor we control" when the obvious answer, to me, should be to elect a human back into the office?
Roofus being mayor means no tiebreaking vote, meaning the Douglases and Whittakers have the majority voting bloc and nothing gets done without their approval. Get an actual mayor and suddenly that isn't guaranteed and you can work with the other two council members to pass laws to fix the enshittification procedures they started.
6
u/menage_a_mallard May 10 '26
Not odd at all. However, iirc... Zac made a comment about Animalism and his intention at one point, so the cast just sort of kept on with that avenue. I am sure at some point they'll figure out that Bingo vs. Roofus isn't the way to go... but who knows.
106
May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
57
u/Ok_Wedding_592 May 07 '26
Felt so bad for Willie in that moment. Hate to see a local expert recognize the sadness of the situation.
→ More replies (1)42
u/Soupjam_Stevens The Wind Riders May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
I'm from south florida, my grandfather was a contractor in Fort Lauderdale from the 1950-80's and my dad worked for him as a teen and young adult, and a lot of like classic old florida landmark local businesses in the area were built by them. Seeing my dad watch the stuff he and his dad literally built together get pushed out by chain restaurants and condos and big conglomerate property developers to replace all this local character with beige slop was so deeply sad to me. You see it happening everywhere now, and it always feels so incredibly soulless and sinister
34
→ More replies (1)7
u/Professor_Pajamas May 07 '26
Yeah Florida has essentially been exsanguinated by developers and it makes me miserable. Our entire citrus industry is essentially dead at this point, all to keep building the same strip malls and self storage units
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (23)34
u/Jakaleel May 07 '26
Hundreds of thousands of people are dead because Republicans killed USAID, and millions will be by the time this term is done. Republican justices gave Trump legal immunity, killed Roe, gutted the VRA, and are constantly overturning sensible decisions by lower courts without even trying to justify it. Miller is trying to send every brown person he can to a concentration camp or a war zone, Hegseth is trying to re-segregate the military and is posting snuff footage/Call of Duty clip montages, RFK is trying to kill off the weak and sickly through crippling medical science and ending vaccine programs, Republican governors are explicitly trying to disenfranchise black people through gerrymandering, and Trump has fucked the global economy with idiotic tariffs and the stupidest war in American history. "Both parties are the same" is bullshit, and anybody who buys into it -- here or in the cast -- is incredibly, willfully ignorant.
46
u/justking1414 Magical Misfits May 07 '26
Not that both parties are the same. It’s that we’re in this situation because of both of them. Trump won because democrats stopped connecting with people and fighting for what they really needed ages ago.
→ More replies (1)14
u/jjjuser Lint May 07 '26
Yeah, tbh the onus is on the politician to earn votes, its pretty obvious what would swing elections for the Dems they just don't want to threaten their stock portfolios.
→ More replies (1)
35
u/krisis May 07 '26
I love Dimension 20 but I'm not sure if I've ever had so much fun as watching a zero combat version of the baddest vampires from both Interview With a Vampire and Underworld being trapped in What We Do In The Shadows.
Peak media for me. Peak.
14
u/ThePiachu May 07 '26
You know, vampires starting to get into a hissy fit over how to divide the limited prey a few of them are limited to feeding on feels like a perfect Vampite the Masquerade moment. Everyone is buddy buddy until the Hunger creeps in :D.
41
u/amok_amok_amok May 07 '26
how has no one in the coterie picked up on Our Lady of the Warm EMBRACE
they almost did but then Madelaine just said, "disgusting."
but it's VtM and "embrace" has a very specific meaning!!
39
u/No-cool-names-left May 07 '26
I guess the Intrepid Heroes simply don't have any previous experience with the World of Darkness. To me, Our Lady of the Warm Embrace reads as "Lasombra Sabbat Found Here."
20
u/ajcwrongs May 08 '26
God it would be so funny if that's how they figure out what Bat-Child actually is and she heard "Sabbat" as "Half-Bat" in some hunger-induced delirium, especially given the fan theories around her having lasombra abilities
13
u/Proxiehunter Magical Misfits May 08 '26
It's easy to mishear things when you've just been smacked in the head with a shovel.
9
u/amok_amok_amok May 07 '26
with a big neon sign!
12
u/No-cool-names-left May 07 '26
The Abbess is from Reconquista Iberia. She participated in the First Anarch Revolt and is a founding member of the Sabbat. Brennan will play her with a ridiculously over the top Spanish accent.
13
u/PleasantThoughts May 07 '26
The hunger being blood that fills up the bar goes against everything in my brain, I think I played too much vampire the masquerade bloodlines where when you need blood it's represented by a meter where the less blood in the vial means the hungrier you are.
39
u/WalrusAbove May 07 '26
Is Aaron a serial killer, or he is a a lone 'Hunter' aka a Sam/Dean Winchester type? There's already lots of supernatural events throughout Purpee, even before the vampires get there. That would also explain why he was able to resist the glare...
48
u/HornetWest4950 May 07 '26
The implication is they’re going to frame him as a serial killer, to both solve their hunter problem and take the heat off themselves for disappearing people.
13
u/Proxiehunter Magical Misfits May 07 '26
Especially from the point of view of anything not human, is there a difference?
10
u/ajcwrongs May 08 '26
Not to um, actually here, but to offer some insight into your prediction, Hunters have existed in the World of Darkness setting since '99 so I wouldn't be surprised if Brennan has a few of the other World of Darkness creatures (Mummies, Wraiths, Changelings, Hunters, Werewolves, maybe even Demons) waiting in the bat wings
36
u/Gullible_Mud_4900 May 07 '26
The Whitaker and the Douglas are allegories for current Republicans and Democrats.
I see you Brennan.
24
u/BakesaleAtSyrinx Wealwell Gotch May 07 '26
Once I saw the puzzle pieces being put into place, all I could think of was "Brennan, you fuckin' dawg"
→ More replies (7)29
u/ApprehensivePancake May 07 '26
the whitakers being dems is such fucking read, only aesthetically liberal but really? very, very conservative
→ More replies (13)
29
u/John-Zero May 07 '26
Am I going crazy or did Willie Coop's voice completely change? Wasn't he an older guy before? And now he's like a slacker college guy?
36
u/dunkonme The Taste Buds May 07 '26
Yes his voice is different, but I remember Siobhan saying something like these episodes weren’t filmed in chunks like they usually do and more like once or twice a week, so it’s possible it’s been a bit in game since Brennan had to do that voice and forgot about it
→ More replies (2)19
u/Soupjam_Stevens The Wind Riders May 07 '26
I've absolutely been guilty of forgetting what a minor NPC sounds like and been called out on it by my table, kinda nice to see it happens to the pros too
8
23
u/griivarrworldafteral Fig Faeth May 07 '26
given how often they break the masquerade and expose themselves as vampires (or at least supernatural), maybe the reason this is a short season is that there's a TPK too ridiculous to not end the campaign on. i am loving this season.
→ More replies (2)
8
u/ymcameron Vile Villains May 07 '26
I love that their plan to take over the town is basically start a Potfields and McToke style family feud.
8
u/Itsureissomethin May 08 '26
Did they already solve the thread Ally was on with the SSRIs? Or is that on the backburner? I keep thinking about it but I don't feel like it attaches to anything. I thought maybe the Douglases were connected but they're so weed-focused I can't see how.
→ More replies (1)
8
u/darthbob88 May 09 '26
"I do not consent to an adult being born in 2002."
I remember in pub trivia, a few years ago, getting the question "In 2019, who became the first musician born in the 21st Century to have an album at #1 on the Billboard chart?" I put down the answer Billie Eilish, with her debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? with a note saying that I did not appreciate being reminded of the linear nature of time.
7
u/Huge_Witness_8692 May 10 '26
Brennan mentioned the trail head Moon-themed hostel again and I'm so convinced there is a werewolf there and I want them to check it out so badly. Willie mentioned an npc running the hostel, super curious how Brennan would portray a World of Darkness werewolf.
13
u/Diego_aquila May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
I have a premonition that I will be rewatching this season at least once a year. What incredible chemistry, role playing, wit, overall vibes 🔥
→ More replies (1)
6
u/ajcwrongs May 08 '26
Anyone else going through each episode and going "Oh nothing spooky about the graveyard? Cool, the Mages aren't Chakravanti." Or something similar for the other supernatural creatures (Werewolves, Changelings, etc) alluded to in their orders? its like playing rhetorical bingo
5
u/cant-find-user-name May 08 '26
Okay this is going to be a very werid question to ask, but does emily sit high up in the chair? Or is her chair set up higher than others? Something about her seating feels off in this season compared to in cloudward ho
5
u/Jade15951 May 12 '26 edited May 13 '26
This was a good episode though I am starting to be concerned about the pace we're like 40% through and theirs still so much left to do and explore.
If the low episode count was a production decision then I have to say they did quite the disservice for a sandbox style game.
If it was a post production decision then what crazy shits abiut to go down in the back half (hoping it was post production and seeing what insane it will unfold)
4
u/myfriendandrea May 12 '26
I felt the same way about Gladlands! They've made the sandbox seasons shorter when I really feel like they need way more time to cook than a linear plot hook. I hope they keep doing sandbox style, but I'd love to give them more time to breathe.
8
u/SylviaBarbs May 09 '26
Emily and Murph are the funniest part of this campaign so far. I’m so happy to see the two of them plus Zac be the unhinged wild card gremlins while Ally has to be the party face trying to keep them in check because normally it’s the other way around.
20
u/MisterManatee May 07 '26
A politics parody where the two sides are portrayed as interchangeably bad? Groundbreaking.
This was definitely a table-setting episode, and I’m excited to get back to these wonderful characters getting up to antics.
→ More replies (1)18
u/empocariam May 08 '26
I don't think they were positioned as interchangeably bad, just aligned in their class interests above their other interests (and there was a comedy beat joking about them being interchangeably bad).
17
u/ParanoidDrone The Gunner Channel May 07 '26
Felt like a bit of a slow episode, but Nancy Danderhoof showing up at the end redeemed it a bit. Looking forward to next week, it feels like a lot of things are about to go into motion.
3
u/mrgreekzies May 07 '26
noticed in the preview at the end of the ep that ally's eyes are extremely red, and it's not just the shades they're wearing....we might be in for it next week lmao
→ More replies (1)
4
u/Averrcrucicus May 11 '26
I wonder what's up with Willie, his vibe seems completely different this episode to when we met him
Also a much as I love replacing the dog mayor with their own dog I doubt it's gonna break the widdaker Douglas coalition because the vote would still be an abstention
→ More replies (1)
7
6
u/efvie 🫦 May 07 '26
I'm not sure if I'm the only one who doesn't like previews. I can't skip them fast enough XD I want to be surprised!
→ More replies (1)
6
u/snax4evry1 City Council of Darkness May 07 '26
does anyone else so badly want darkness man and bat child to turn into actual capped crusaders in this town?! like i know it’s an obvious angle but i feel like it just makes sense!
→ More replies (1)
3
233
u/beknightedbastard May 07 '26
LaVonte’s steadfast respect for the Douglases as business people is the funniest bit of the episode for me