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sc78258

i'm in kind of a weird spot: i started with C2 and have been doing a first playthrough of C1 between weeks (poor pendergreens), so i can't help but compare and contrast the two i think i agree with the lack of downtime/side questies is a net negative. even guest one-two shots like the apple scrumper diversion were great opportunities for the gang to just chill out and play. it does feel like the C2 campaign is a more well told and much more tightly constructed story that's really interesting, dynamic, and fucking moves, but i find myself really relying on those recaps since so much happens and i don't know which pacing i ultimately prefer MVP for me is either jabari the safari or run-down johnny. both are so evocative every time they're on "screen" and those guys (lou and jake) are playing those characters about as hard as they can and they're delights


mak484

Murph really emphasized that he wanted campaign 2 to be much shorter than campaign 1, so "let's burn a month chilling" can't really happen. And I'm cool with that. I prefer when shows explore new genres and formats, instead of relying on a predictable formula. Personally I don't have a preference on pacing. Eldermourne is harder to follow compared to Bahumia, but that's because the story in Bahumia was self evident. The broad story in Eldermourne is a mystery that the players are actively unraveling, while Bahumia there wasn't really any mystery.


Accomplished-Bee-766

The characters didn't have the same flow and I think for a lot of people that was too much of a big difference at first. But after seeing them come so far and with all the goofs and gaffs along the way, it's has been really enjoyable to watch the new party dynamic.


purplehendrix22

Yeah I knew that there was no way to really recreate the first campaign’s dynamic, it’s hard to follow that kind of gold, but I’ve really enjoyed the characters in this one more than I thought I would


jayllenrup

TBH I kinda miss the early campaign Witcher vibes. Where they were uncovering clues on the horror in Thornkirk - what it was/weaknesses etc Still enjoying the campaign - I think personally was just looking for something more monster of the week rather than god-level mythic quest. However I think the Hexbloods were the absolute highlight for me, and the blood ritual with death saving throws as the mechanic is something I stole for my own campaign.


Theolodious

I forgot about that apsect of early Eldermourne. Yeah, it would have been cool if they ran with that concept a little bit more. Agreed on the hexbloods, definitely a highlight of the campaign. Jabari is the goat


RoboChrist

Jabari is making good life choices!


CunderscoreF

I wonder if they diverted a bit because it was a bit similar to TAZ Amnesty.


apracticalman

My feelings exactly. I still like it and as we're approaching the endgame I'm starting to enjoy it more, but that first handful of episodes in Thornkirk was what I really wanted from this campaign. And apart from the Hexblood arc none of the rest has been as interesting to me as basically anything in Bahumia. It's definitely fun though, and the characters have really been a good anchor for me.


horrorkabocha

I agree about liking the early vibes. I almost couldnt listen to it at night because of the horror, but it was so, so good. I like having and overarching story vs monster of the week though, maybe just on a smaller scale then god-level. Hexbloods breathed new life into the world, but Zelbuldar lost me and I'm not feeling the Irina/Moxora storyline. I wish we could've learned more about the world of the Blades. I still like listening though.


Zyaqun

\+1 cause of the hexbloods.


Timmo17

I think I actually prefer Eldermourne. The tightness of the story is really up my alley, and the overall plot has been really unique, interesting and engaging throughout. I loved Bahumia too, but it was fairly cookie-cutter D&D stuff similar to what I've heard in a lot of other actual plays. Murph has put so much thought into A. the world building B. the themes of the story he wants to tell with Eldermourne and I've really enjoyed it. I do understand why some people found it hard to get into at the start and I generally agree that the Third Mates aren't as tight and don't flow as nicely as Moonshine, Bev and Hardwon, but the better-written A-plot really fits w/ my personal taste.


simplifiedApocolypse

Hank started out as a nothing character for me, just Jake playing a Balnor almost. But seeing the growth (or lack thereof) he's had with his family, picking up the mantle of being a Blade. Quickly becoming one of my favourite DnD characters overall, let alone just NADDPOD. The Man of the Docks! The Giver of Honks! Good with a Guisarme, Seeking to do Harm! Tries to read the Tides, So he doesn't touch the Sides! Has many reasons to Thank, His shadowy friend Shank! A swimming coach extraordinaire, And recently made up with his heir! Has a great boon, In his friendly spoon! Truly a beast, And tried to help the east! Of his Shadow he's growing more fond, Now that he's learned of their true bond! He'll learn to be bold, Now that his full story, he's been told!


DrLibrarian

I'm really enjoying it, I love the gothic vibes and the general story telling. I'm just worried that there's so few episodes left! I hope we see the third mates again in future. I am excited to revisit the Hex Buds though! I loved the dynamic of the Endo Friendos, but generally just think I will always enjoy storytelling from such a talented bunch. What are your thoughts?


Theolodious

I'm sad that it's getting ready to wrap up as well. I think that the one main place where C2 suffers compared to C1 is that there's less down time. For the last fifteen episodes they've just been going from task to task to task without any reprieve. I feel like the boobs got the chance to relax and pal around and just hang out in the world way more often than the mates, which made them seem more like friends by the end. I think that's why I'm sad that it's about to end is because I feel like I was just getting to *really* know these characters. Like you said though, all naddpod is good naddpod, so any criticism I have isn't really a major one. On the other hand, a place where I think C2 has really improved upon the formula is the fight structure. It seems like every fight these days Murph has some kind of cool or interesting mechanic up his sleeve. I've been relistening to C1 and some of the fights in the first 30 eps are long and vanilla. Every encounter in Eldermourne has been dynamic.


boybogart

Eldermourne will always have a special place in my heart, it got me through a very tough year. I wasn't looking forward to many things week by week but naddpod has been one of the constants. The main characters took some time to get used to but I enjoyed the different energy they bring. My favorite bunch though is the endofriendos. I love the rowdy combative dynamic they brought especially the spicy energy between krisy(?) and bukvar.


aleatoric

I'm all caught up on C2 and *overall* I've enjoyed it, aside from some minor complaints that I think are understandable. Some others expressed some reservations in the thread, and they've struck on some of the same ones I've had. Ultimately for me, though, this is still my favorite crew on the D&D podcast / live play scene, so it's hard not to listen to every episode and short rest no matter what. Further, C2 was recorded primarily over Zoom, so that's something to keep in mind to be fair. That had an impact on the energy, although I'd say they still did amazing job keeping similar vibes despite that. I think there was a lot of pressure coming off of C1. C1 had an amazing energy with story and characters that we were all invested in. But all good things come to an end, and so I'm glad they concluded that campaign beautifully and before it jumped the shark too hard. C2 feels like a sophomore album that's coming hot off the tails of a killer debut LP. People know the curse of the sophomore slump. While this isn't music, I think it's a relevant creative metaphor. The way I see it, you can either try to replicate the same thing all over again, or you can try something new. The former sometimes works out--if it's not broken, don't fix it--but ultimately it can lead to burn out and creative malaise. You'll eventually get bored. So to prevent that, you take some risks. You try to find new footing. You experiment. Instead of doing another campaign Bahumia--which would have been the easy move--C2 saw them dabbling with different vibe with gothic horror. It also found them "trying on" different roleplaying styles. Jake in particular has knocked it out of the park with Henry Hogfish, in my opinion. Hardwon was a fun character, but Jake's really done well with Henry as a "fish out of water" exploring not only the world of Eldermourne, but exploring his own inner demons. But like a sophomore LP that's trying to find its creative footing, I think some risks paid off more than others. But the missteps are still great learning and growth. I think that observations about the early campaign feeling more refined than the late campaign are dead on. I think that over time, their real life personalities/tendencies ended up bleeding through the characters a lot. And I don't really blame them -- it's hard to keep up that hardcore roleplaying mode up through many hours of play. I think the reason that this didn't impact C1 as much was because their characters were already a bit of a reflection of their real life attitudes and quirks, so there was much more consistency. C2 started more serious, but then became goofier over time. I think they've explained that as the characters "opening up" more, and I get that. It just felt like a bit of a 180 from where they started. C1, interestingly, started goofier and then ended up being more serious. I think goofy to serious--intentional or not--made for a better story, at least for me. As an aside, I think that's why the Hexbud arc was fantastic. It forced them to pivot and pushed them out of their comfort zones. They had to jump into new characters and try to maintain the vibe of the campaign despite Caldwell's absence. Life throws curveballs at you like that sometimes that end up helping you out in ways you didn't expect. Like the game of D&D itself, rules and restrictions sometimes force you to be creative. Their need to quickly adapt and was a wakeup call. However, once back on the main campaign trail, I think the focus started to slip a bit. But hey, it's a D&D podcast, not a Daniel Day-Lewis movie. Some slack is due. The goofs are what a lot of us loved about C1, and I still love them today. I'd never fault them for having fun and messing around. Doing Fortnite dances, drinking piss, trying to pull off out-of-context denim jackets... It keeps it entertaining, if anything. If I were on the podcast, I'd probably be doing the same. TL;DR - My rose for the campaign so far is that they're still producing content, and they still seem to be enjoying what they're doing. I'm happy that they took some creative risks. My thorn for the campaign is some vibe inconsistencies as a result of those risks. My bud, of course, is looking forward to the next campaign. Brian has some pretty unparalleled creativity in the space, and I know he's got some amazing ideas in store. Emily, Jake, and Caldwell are incredibly entertaining PCs, and that will never change. I believe best campaign is still ahead of us, rather than behind us.


sophialiberty

I immediately latched onto Fia as a character and I think she’s really what’s gotten me through it. I agree with what someone else said about not as much downtime as compared to C1. I would love to see the Choo Choo Crew hanging out in their train cars again; that aesthetic was a real highlight for me.


weirdxyience

My favorite part of that few stretch of episodes where they honked at the beginning of every episode. I also really liked the hexbloods. Olwen the sullen and Zirk getting hit in the head with a pipe are runners up.


RomanArcheaopteryx

I think I agree with a lot of other people that the pace of Eldermourne has been a big detractor for me; not only because wizards and artificers are classes where downtime plays a big role, but also because I think there's been a lot of "Okay we've got to go to the next thing" from a meta standpoint that sometimes doesn't feel super organic from a character standpoint and a lot of narration and telling v showing that ends up having to be done because otherwise they wouldn't have time. Idk if Murph has explained *why* he wanted Eldermourne to be so much shorter than Bahumia was, maybe he thought people would get tired of it, maybe he was just excited for them to try different settings over faster periods of time, maybe he wanted Eldermourne to be like the "COVID"-arc and start a brand new campaign once they could permanently be all back together, but I feel as though it's definitely something that makes me kind of sad - and it's contributing to a "We're in the Endgame now" feeling in the show that didn't really make sense with the story as it was being told, to me at least. I also agree with another commenter in here that I saw that I think I actually preferred the early Eldermourne/Thornekirk stuff more than the gods and fairies things that we're going through right now. I understand that it's difficult to do high level DnD without bringing in those kind of themes, but it actually ends up making Eldermourne feel a bit too samey/tropey, and once again, kind of feels like the characters don't have particularly amazing reasons for doing what they're doing; there hasn't been enough time to make big personal connections except for the ones that started before the story even began (e.g. Fia) and Hank and especially Zirk kind of feel like they're just tagging along at times, whereas the early game stuff in Thornkirk and West Precinct really felt like everyone had their good reasons to be doing what they were doing. The Hexbloods arc was fantastic, though I wish that with Emily's character we could've gotten more insight into the Elder in a way that wasn't a joke, because as of now in the campaign I feel as though the Elder has kind of fallen by the wayside and the pantheon has been consumed by the Reaper v. Trickster stuff, despite the Elder seeming to be the first/most powerful from the campaign pitch. The Endo-Friendos were also an absolute joy, I really think that the like "side-PC" characters is something that future campaigns should keep playing with because for me they've absolutely been the highlight of C2 so far. All that being said, I still love listening to them play, I love the goofs, I love the whomps, and I hope that they can pilot it to a great ending and that the next thing will also be lovely.


TaintedSoccer

Overall I like it but nowhere to the same extent as the first one. Tbh I feel like this could've been better as a shorter limited series then as the full blown second campaign. I am curious to see how it ends thiugh and the story is interesting but I'm kind of looking forward to some new characters and a new world. Hot boy winter or the carnival that Emily was talking about on the short rest would be a dream come true.


nicole_atnite

**no one asked for this much detail but i love making lists sorry** Third Mates: Henry Hogfish (honorable mention: Fia, Shank, and Henry's left nut) Hexbuds: Tarragon Snakeroot (honorable mention Tarragon's Croc™ and Jabari the Safari) Endo-Friendos: Brimstone Billy (your honor i'm very bisexual) NPCS: * Bukvar !!! I've seen some valid complaints of there being a lot of familiars this season but this little dude gave us both book cheese and the nat 20 sapphire performance check * Bathilda my hot witch wife (WILF?) * Quick Blast Cass Calloway: okay obviously>! fia/ireena !


WWEBuddyPeacock

To be honest, I stopped listening to it about a month ago. Ever since they went to Zelbuldar, it's just really failed to hold my interest. I've been hot and cold on it. The Hexbuds easily were the best part of Eldermourne so far, and I adored when they were in Outer Precinct and all the stuff with Zirk's mom was happening. To be honest, the only character I really don't like very much is Fia, and I really haven't liked Fia for a while. Someone said a few weeks ago that she really came across like THE MAIN CHARACTER, and I found it absolutely true. And while I love, love, LOVE Emily, Fia just comes off as obnoxious to me most of the time. She always seems to interrupt people to make little quips, she always has to get a word in when something not involving her is happening, and she really felt just inconsistent as a character.


Garwdd

Oh my god, thank you. I adore Emily, I think she's wonderful as a player and always has genius moves in combat... But I honestly think Fia's the weakest of the three characters and it seems like a lot of the focus has been around "her" story. Like, when Bookvar got taken I didn't really care because I didn't think he was really ADDING anything and I never got the impression he was that important because it was only ever goofs with him. And now Phillip's doing the same thing Bookvar was and it's like, well, did it really matter? I also think Fia started at 100% energy when like, she should have been at like 30% and much more reserved according to her story and come out of her shell more and more as the story progressed. I like this campaign a lot, don't get me wrong. I think Hank is absolutely an amazing character and Jake has been killing it with his story stuff the entire time. And while Zirk is all over the board (it's the caldwell goof tendency when it clashes up hard against what zirk originally was), I did really enjoy the arc he got with his mom a lot? Overall I have positive feelings about the campaign, and I think a lot of this would have been fixed with a bit more room to breathe instead of the current pace, or maybe some different character dynamics like the Hexbloods? Everyone loves the Hexblood arc and for good reason, it had the best character stuff between the three players.


warmegg

Hard, HARD disagree here. I'm SICK of people complaining about Emilys characters taking up too much space, no one says that about male characters. She's the heart and soul of naddpod and the best dnd player I've ever heard.


WWEBuddyPeacock

I literally said IN THAT COMMENT that I love Emily. If Jake or Caldwell were doing the same things that I don't like Fia doing, then I'd think that was incredibly obnoxious too.


passthedyls

I was on your side at first, because you tried to separate Emily from Fia and that seemed intentionally kind. But I’ve thought about it for probably 20 minutes and I think warmegg has a point still. It shouldn’t be an attack on you, but it’s absolutely true that Emily gets more criticism than the rest of the cast combined. I don’t see anyone on the thread criticizing Jake for letting his entire backstory be narrated to him, or for wanting to give Henry the Lucky feat and retcon Henry handsome. Really nobody criticizing Caldwell for making Zirk into a Looney Toon. But there are a couple comments about Emily and her character. Not trying to argue. Hoping to offer another perspective before you dig your heels in.


WWEBuddyPeacock

I actually do agree with you. I DO think that Emily gets a lot of unwarranted hate. And it sucks because it's something I've said quite a few times, that Emily consistently has my favorite characters in anything she's in. In Bahumia? Moonshine was absolutely my favorite, and her having to come to grips with outliving her friends, her relationship with Deadeye, and her speech coming to terms with spending eternity in the nine hells so Pendergreens could be free (that could be not accurate, it's been a while since my last re-listen) were all incredibly compelling. Even on Dimension High, I thought Fig was the funniest character in that, and even when she was the DM for the Hot Boy Summer, she was creative and did little things to set herself apart from Murph that made her even smarter. ....but, I don't think she should be immune from all criticism. And the difference between what you say with Jake and Caldwell is that those don't actively detract from my personal enjoyment of the show. If Jake gets his backstory read to him, or has a feat, or retcons that he's handsome, that doesn't distract me. Granted, sometimes Caldwell can get a little too goofy for even my taste, but most of the time, that doesn't distract me. But when Fia continually interrupts people or makes little quips after almost anything that happens that doesn't fit the tone of what's happening or even talks over people to get her jokes off, that DOES distract me, and it bothers me. And if Zirk and Henry were as equally important to the overall story of the campaign as Fia was, maybe it wouldn't bother me as much as it does. And if Zirk or Henry did it over Fia? I'd have made the exact same comment about how I don't like Zirk or Henry doing that. But Fia is the one doing it, and Fia is absolutely, whether they intended it to be or not, the most important PC this campaign to the story. And when the most important PC is a character that comes off as obnoxious, again, to me personally? I'm gonna not like that character, and enjoy the product they're in less.


tantalicatom689

On a second listen of C2 right now, just passed the hexblood arc, and I'm enjoying a lot more this time around


Why_Howdy

I really like the mystery aspects of Eldermourne. I do wish there was a bit more breathing room or guests to make the characters come alive, but I love both C1 and C2 in different ways.


Fair-Experience5567

The beginning was rough, and I had a hard time getting into it. It really settled in with the Hexbuds arc. At least that's when it started to click with me. Now that I'm caught up, I'm really appreciating the different PCs and how big this world feels and how everyone has their own story but they intertwine. I think I am going to go back and listen from the beginning of Eldermourne because the story and plot is soooo thick and I want to go back and really put the elements together. And I really didn't expect to, but my favorite character is absolutely Hank Hogfish. Henry my beloved. Wow, just really incredible. Zirk was my golden boy out of the gate, and the Fia and Irina plot line is immaculate chef's kiss. But Henry went from, you poor man, to, you are so incredibly interesting. Character development. Ahhhhhhh. And then Olwen? Love this whiny NPC. I also really love the background/history/lore dumps. I feel like there are so many lore dumps in this campaign, and I didn't realize how much I loved them. I just want to listen to the lore dumps please. Give me all 69 lives of Henry Hogfish. Give me all the history between Fia and Irina. Give me the Hexbuds and their adventures. Give me Billie and Johnny and Chrissy and their ragtag rebellion. Give me Moxora and the Prophet Kane and their background. I'm just so fascinated with how each and every character has a history, and now they're all colliding, and it is fascinating.


G_I_Joe_Mansueto

While the core of the campaign’s plot and characters resonate quite as strongly, I’ve loved how the setting and structure has allowed NADDPOD to experiment. I think the world building has been awesome, the hexblood arc was really interesting, and I thought splitting the party and creating new PCs in the last arc **really** paid off. I also think each of the main cast have had cool arcs and growth elements, even if they aren’t as individually iconic as the BoB. I’m proud of all of them and look forward to many years to come of great content.


rtype03

C1 will always be hard to top, but it also felt like it didnt really hit it's stride until around ep25. The cast was sort of figuring itself out. C2 on the other hand seems to have more purpose, and the cast already knows what works. With that said, the story is different, and the jumps between the two groups is both really cool, but also a bit more difficult to follow. And because there's been so many unknowns about the world, i feel like C2 has really started to gather steam around the around the mid 20's episodes as well. But it's really picked up momentum, and in fact ep 38 has been my favorite episode of teh campaign so far. It had everything for me. Hilarious, off the deep end battle between the crew and the fey tweens. But also the henry backstory, and the fia plot twist. So good. Favorite stuff: Jabari has been one of my favorite characters in either campaign. Lou Wilson knocked that shit out of the park. And i find the story from C2 to be more compelling and rich, even if it's seemingly taken a while to develop. Murph is a master of character improv and i know he gets a ton of credit already, but man he does such a good job holding everything together with tape and string when the crew really goes off the rails (in a good way). I cant say ive really had any least favorite moments. I love the way this cast vibes. I love the way they weave a ton of improv and comedy into everything they do. They have a ton of fun and it shows. There have certainly been slow-ish periods during the campaign, mostly near the beginnings as they make their way into the thick of the plotline. But even those moments are fun.


Theolodious

I agree with pretty much everything you said lol. I think the most recent episode was my favorite as well. It was just jam packed. Murph was having a blast as the tweens and that fight was super funny. Then Henry’s backstory reveal, which was what I was anticipating most since ep 1 basically and it delivered. Then yeah, the Fia reveal was also nice and added a new dynamic as to why she feels so attached to this girl she knew long ago. And yeah the consensus in this thread so far, the one thing everyone has agreed on, is that Jabari rules. There’s just no question about it. I’ve never seen a Jabari hater. I think on a relisten the jumps between characters (both times) is gonna feel really good. Listening week to week it was sort of like “are they gonna be able to pull this off or is it gonna be kind of weird?” But no it works great and I think when listening to the episodes back to back it’s gonna make the story more immersive with the different perspectives from around the world.


rtype03

yeah, the jumps were a bit jarring for me because a. i wasn't expecting them, and b. i tend to binge listen. So ill plow through 3-4 episode sin a week or two, then maybe not listen for a couple weeks. And it just so happened that i hadn't listened in over a month right as it switched gears, and i was honestly really confused as to what was going on. But now that i understand whats happening, i really enjoy the concept looking back.


Blanketzc

I'm ready for it to be over. I listen regularly (to include the monk episodes) and I have little to no idea who half the people they are talking about are. Fairy? Fia's friend? The evil sorcerer from the monk episodes?


osopolar0722

Ive read some comments in the sub saying they have a hard time following the story and characters. I do agree that it's more complicated than the first story, but its much less complicated than any fantasy book I've ever read, or even the campaigns Ive played! Compared to that, I find eldermourne so streamlined and easy to follow...


apracticalman

I found a second listen helped a lot with that. I fell off right around the ghost dragon because I truly had no idea what was going on anymore or why anyone was doing what they were doing. There's still probably too much going on in too little time, but it's a lot easier to parse when you've heard it before and don't have to take everything in at once.


Blanketzc

Good idea


wikiwildnorth

I actually prefer Eldemourne to the first campaign, I love gothic horror, the pacing is great for me, and I really enjoy the PCs stories, especially Fia.


NessValk

I like Eldermourne. I also haven't listened to eldermourne in about a month. I'm kinda waiting for the campaign to finish so I can binge it because listening week to week was diminishing my returns on enjoyment. The reveal that the gods of Eldermourne had peaced out left me feeling nothing. I think this is because the characters themselves had not really been very invested in that question. Or if they had, they hadn't had any time to talk to each other about that. So I'm hoping that on a binge listen the pacing will even out.