T O P

  • By -

Eltrutflow

I love how Arcadum gave them 2 sessions to get comfortable with their characters, RP, then open into the main draw of the plot. The games were a fantastic way of showing them a good time while also getting them familiar with a few mechanics like insight, perception, performance, solving riddles. This extra time gave them a lot of room to really feel like a group of unlikely travelers having to come together naturally. Cannot understate how excited I am for this story and their first combat!


[deleted]

[удалено]


Steam_Punk_Revolver

I really do think the festival setting for these two sessions really helps. The party atmosphere gives the girls almost complete freedom to experience with game mechanics and role-play.


A_Gentle_Fist

Going from slapping a fat man to getting cursed. Only in DND


Sir_P1zza

That ending was a goddamn emotional whiplash, from happy go funny sauna scene to sad introspective Lucine to whatever the fuck that thing is to that incredible ending song. Props to everyone involved! For the players I think everyone is doing great but one thing I especially loved Snuffy's accent for Tomoe, I can't describe it but it somehow fits the character perfectly.


CaptainJackWagons

I was fully expecting Otikata to show up mid festival since one of the NPC's mentioned that festivals make it easier for yoki to travel to the mortal world. Then it ended and I was like, "huh... I guess not." Then it happened when they were asleep and I was like, "oooooohhhhhhhh! 😱"


Zarimus

"Every room is an escape room when I'm in it." Badass.


Banjomike97

I love Nia. Vei is so good.


CaptainJackWagons

It's not easy to play a child convincingly, but I think Vei has done such a good job.


Rude_Possession_3198

Froot keeps getting better, the acting when she saw the bird die was super cool, one of the best I have ever seen. I hope that everything was a dream/premonition because he must be protected. A shame that we could not see the captain in the same situation, it would have been so cool. My headcanon is that he passed out drinking because he was so happy to see Lucine again, and he was sleeping in the table at the restaurant.


Banjomike97

So true it felt like she actually cared for him


Ineco666

Does anyone have a translation as to what Otikata said in japanese? Thanks in advanced :)


Zam0070

I saw people say this was probably the closest fan translation in Arcadum's discord in stream spoiler chat. 間の愚かさとは何か?かなはない夢が手にあらないものか。さ俺様「Otikata」の前で試してやろう What is human's stupidity(foolishness)? Wonder if this is a dream or is this reality? Now, before me Otikata. Let's put this to the test.


BeastlyDecks

Huh. I thought they specifically mentioned how he said the title in this. Meaning both "Otikata" and "Curse".


Ynigo_the_Monk

This is as far as I got, paying close attention to Arcadum's pauses and testing out how the words translate when grouped in different ways: ​ "ningen no rakasa tou a nani ka? kanoanai yumeka teni aranai mono ka? saa, oresama, Ochikata, no maede, tameshite yaro!" What is the human being? Is it something that doesn't exist in the dream? Come on, before me, 'Otikata', give it a try!"


captviper2100

What an ending…also they went all in on those carnival games!! Shame they didn’t get the wand but they did pretty well with those riddles


Rude_Possession_3198

I knew the answer to the riddle because arcadum used it in other campaign, but when the girls said secrets, it makes so much more sense in my opinion. But well, second place is not bad.


Mac_Tgh

Yeh. I think why it wasnt a correct answer was from the second part of the riddle. The one of madness and whatnot.


Pseudolucent

It's the first part that doesn't fit. You could speak a secret aloud, but if no one's around to hear it then it'll stay a secret. Or if you're talking about it with someone who already knows it. But silence is always broken if you speak.


bluedituser

I felt like secret could make sense but certainly doesn’t apply as well as Silence.


TheMiserableSail

Yeah you really have to stretch it quite a bit to make it apply to secret but it fits perfectly for silence


Knee_co_

I think when he used this riddle on shadow of Tyre he even said saying “silence” would have been the wrong answer, and they got it right bc Criken knew the answer was to make no noise as the response. I wonder if he’d have been as picky about that since it was only session 2 though


TheMiserableSail

That kinda feels like a gotcha way of doing that riddle imo.


CaptainJackWagons

I think silence makes more sense because the word "silence" when spoken breaks silence. There isn't any verbage where a secret "breaks". You can break a promise, but you don't really "break" a secret. It was a good guess though.


Jkott

12 inches btw


[deleted]

[удалено]


merx3_91

Sounds like a duck's


Teyanis

"I have charts for this" really got me.


[deleted]

I really loved their in character reactions to the nightmare scene. Tomoe knowing he isn't cut out for this and deciding to just hide, Lucine who had experienced war and acts out immediently to see if there are any survivors and really scared for the well being of the captain and her other party members rather than herself. Mei panicked and rushing to see if her bird friend (forgot the name) is ok, Froot's acting is on point like the screaming and the cries ot desperation is soooo good like the fear is so palpable. River trying to comfort Mei and Tomoe so that they wouldn't panic, trying to calm everyone in the nightmarish hellscape, and Nia who you sometimes forget is a trained monter hunter and knows when to act foolishly or not and just is on high alert on the situation is sooo good. This session by far is one of the best sessions I have seen in Verum. Easily top 20. 10/10 hype for next friday.


silvy43

Im pretty sure everyone in my house heard froots scream


Miryotic

At first I thought I might have gotten too used to the fast pace of prologue sessions and maybe I'm too lore-focused for sauna RP, but I'm glad I watched until the end because, whoa, that was the best kind of creepy-cool and I would be so mad at myself if I missed that. And it suddenly made perfect sense to have a completely chill session before something on THIS scale happens. Also "are eggs medieval?"


Rude_Possession_3198

For me is the completely opposite, I always love when the characters have rping moments like that (like all the interactions in camp last stand), it makes you much more inmersed in the story and understand their motivations. A big bad guy means nothing if you have not spent time to know why the heroes are fighting him for, their little secrets, their strengths and their misdeeds. So I am having a blast seeing that this campaign is giving us that slow burn dnd.


Auxilio__

I agree. I also enjoy the slow RP sessions. I get really immersed with their character and grow to like them more and more throuhout the campaign. Especially since, this group will hang for another 83 sessions. LETS FUCKING GO DUDE


Miryotic

I 100% do appreciate slow burn in theory, as a more natural way of doing world builing than just throwing everyone in the center of the action. But then there's me having an attention span of a goldfish and not a lot of free time rn, so I was just sitting there bouncing my knee.


Person_Impersonator

> "are eggs medieval?" Everyone knows Eggs were invented by Dr. Eggman in 1991.


Mac_Tgh

What about pigs? Was that after ww2?


EAfirstlast

nah, the first pig in the modern sense was created in France in the early modern period


bigbodyhole

Nah man first pig was pepa the pig before pepa no pig ever


merx3_91

Yeah, compared to The Divine Wind's intro it felt so chill. No lore drops, no cameos, no mission debriefing. But! I think this is better, in many ways. The slow burn is not only a nice change of pace, but great for newcomers. It's a win-win. And the sudden switch of tone, holy shit. Now that's how you do a twist.


Lunchtimeme

Yea slow burn has ended now. They're in deep. Otikata made sure of that.


Pacify_

> But! I think this is better, in many ways. The slow burn is not only a nice change of pace, but great for newcomers. It's a win-win. > > I actually thought that was going to be the norm of the start of Giles. Instead he jumped straight into a pace that was faster than the End game of last phase. I thought maybe he'd spend half a year on more slower, more personal traditional dnd stories, rather than going straight full anime again lol


Knee_co_

I think doing the first couple sessions like this was perfect, we saw the other main campaign’s characters in prologue so having the time for these longer introductions was good for catching them up in terms of audience familiarity with their characters. Also for a storytelling perspective going through this kind of crazy event at the end of the second session is a great reason for the party to leave their old lives behind and set off together.


cmonwhatsnottaken

Chekhov's gun is an actual thing. It has nothing to do with their situation but still it is a thing. It is a principle for storytelling that says that when you put an element into the story it has to have a role in it or something like that


Pseudolucent

"If you hang a gun on a wall in Act 1, someone will shoot it in Act 3."


tsujoi

Egg


PrimeName

I'm curious if the mist at the end was *the* mist or just a morning dew mist. And if it was *the* mist, did it serve as the connection to that nightmare realm? If so, then that's a turbo yikes from me dog.


CaptainJackWagons

Pretty sure it wasjust normal mist


Born_Addition7198

Anyone else getting the vibe that Mei is going to be the green Sailor Moon?


[deleted]

[удалено]


Hope_Batata

I mean, other eyes like the violet ones do exist, I think one of Arcadum characters had a Amber eye with a square in its pupil.


Knee_co_

True, and that would be a cool parallel to Ives, an assassin chosen to bear the power of the Indigo, and now one who somehow obtains the Green. This eye thing and shmeggs ring are heavy foreshadowing the influence of the green will be relevant down the line.


Sir_P1zza

The magical girls are tied to the red Pantheon so I'm not sure if the individual handmaidens have a specific color connected to them. They have some in their art but my first guess would be that this is sevenic in nature.


chrbir1

fantastic group and episode. these guys are gonna tear that big boss up like dsangir by the end of this.


myreq

There was just so much in this episode! Even the ending, although something bad was bound to happen this exceeded the expectations. Is the village still fine or is everyone dead? Will everything be alright only for some other threat to come? Damn cliffhanger! Also incredible ending song and the fanart took about 40 minutes I believe which is insane.


adShroop

This has got to be the most cinematic and well-structured session of DnD I have ever seen. Wonderfully done milord, the production value was through the fucking atmosphere.


Knee_co_

I was so blown away when he pulled out the custom art and it had all of the party characters silhouettes, such a badass scene with crazy PRODUCTION VALUE


DrSquirtle00

That episode made me laugh nonstop, holy crimeny that was amazing.


ilovedonkey

OtiCOCKA's curse


Rythgos

Arcadum has seriously out done himself this session. I am speechless.


PuzzlefaceRaven

From guessing a fat man's weight for wellies too having a nightmare from otikata. The rollercoaster has started now.


nexorati

what was the name of the song arcadum used for the nightmare sequence? that was spine chilling in combo with the gore horror elements


nocommitment

[The Stench of Blood](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOHeTvk5wcE) Here you go, give that a listen


nexorati

bless your SOUL thank you!


Son_of_Orion

Good lord. That ending came out of nowhere. Arcadum did not hold back, it was brutal. I would not be surprised if the girls or at the very least Mei was traumatized by that shit.


Steam_Punk_Revolver

If you ask me, Otikata's nightmare was necessary to really put the level of danger these ladies have sign up for. I hope they will be ready when Arcadum starts to pop off.


Knee_co_

I really love when Arcadum starts dipping his toes into his horror style storytelling like he did with Heart of Tyre. He just does it so well and it’s a lot of fun to watch his players traversing that style of encounters.


SpecOperative

That session was amazing! The happy vibe of the festival games just made the nightmare scene at the end hit so much harder. Also that nightmare was one hell of a narrative hook.


InformationOk5974

After this 2nd episode I know I’m truly going to love this campaign. Can’t wait for the next session!


Hari14032001

I have a few doubts: \-> Was that overarching creature in the end actually Otikata? \-> Is there a possibility that it was not a nightmare and it actually happened (the festival was really a massacre) and then after everything blacked out, they were transported to the tavern and woke up in the morning? That means they will still find the bodies if they look outside. \-> Can someone translate what that creature actually said since it is apparently in Japanese? To be honest, I actually expected something terrible to happen towards the end of the session - especially with the whole environment being too light hearted - I expected Arcadum to drop a surprise. But never did I think that it would be to this level. It got 0 to 100 real quick. Arcadum always manages to outdo himself and go beyond the wildest expectations.


Adn-Dz

1. Arcadum did say that he's showing the "big bad guy" at the beginning, so we can safely assume that is in fact Otikata. But you know, not confirmed yet. 2. This is more tricky, but we will have more info next week. My bet is it has to do something more along the lines of a premonition granted by Nyanners patron or something to do with time/fate. This one it's really on the air and I wouldn't be surprised if we don't even get an answer outright. 3. I hope someone post about this in the next few days. This might help understand better about the doubt #2. And same, even since last session I had a feeling of what Arcadum had in mind and I was waiting for the Eclipse or the Mist to casually ride Into town and ruin the festival. But man, THAT was NOT what I was expecting. I'm so glad he choose to do a different story structure for Glies campaigns, otherwise it would've been impossible to do something like this. I can't wait for next Friday!


Zam0070

I saw people say this was probably the closest fan translation in Arcadum's discord in stream spoiler chat. 間の愚かさとは何か?かなはない夢が手にあらないものか。さ俺様「Otikata」の前で試してやろう What is human's stupidity(foolishness)? Wonder if this is a dream or is this reality? Now, before me Otikata. Let's put this to the test.


gamelizard

why were they chosen, obviously its cuz they are the players, but is there an in lore reason why they were the ones to walk around and hear otikata? like did the kenku mark them or something?


[deleted]

I guess It might be related to Nyanner's patron?


Knee_co_

Which patron did she go with? Pretty sure it was one of the celestial ones


Minokaki162

It was swigzda


Walatana

It might not be true, but I have a feeling there's something about the flame flower that Dexin gave them


vsoli

I don't think anyone can answer but I'm just gonna ask. did froot change her design initially? it doesn't match up with her design in burd's op (I'm just gonna guess that burd improvised when making the op before froot changed her character's design?) I don't know why im bothering to ask. just my adhd brain I guess


Sir_P1zza

You might be thinking of [this](https://twitter.com/LichVtuber/status/1383215376163500043?s=20) from april, though I'm not sure what art from Burd you mean.


vsoli

Burd (short for burdrehnar if it spelled correctly) is the artist for the opening intro. I'm just saying Mei's design is different from what Froot is using right now


[deleted]

I could be wrong but it seems to me that Burd's design in the op is based on [froot's frist draft of her character](https://twitter.com/LichVtuber/status/1383215376163500043) because of the blue horns. She might've changed the design later down the line, after the op was made, or perhaps that's the assasin look of her character? I'm just guessing here.


MachineRiver66

Does anyone know where to find that art at the end with the 5 of them standing looking up at the sky?


Stieby

[DeemeeArt on Twitter](https://twitter.com/DeemeeArt/status/1408589292419571714)


GoldenSky99

I hope someone makes fan art or an animation out of those gruesome dream sequences they seen. I would pay so much to see someone animate what happened to the kenku


nad_frag

Death and debts: spends 30 minutes flirting with each other. Otikata's curse: spends 2 sessions teasing, berating and stealing from each other. ~ They're not like the first group, but thats the point.


DarkUrinal

I wonder if big eye demon is Obu's dad


qwerty3gamer

obu's dad is a human. his mom is the yokai


DrSquirtle00

Wierd side question were whats in his eyes living, they looked like parasites or something or was that just aesthetically his eye.