MDY

CR is taking its monthly short rest this week, so no episode.. However they have posted their SD ComicCon panel instead..

Episode 28 - The Deathwish Run Bells Hells enter the deadly crawler race known as Deathwish, where survival is the only rule and winning is the only option... (The whole race was so much fun.. but they save the best for the very end.. )

Episode 27 - A Race for the Prize Bells Hells tend to their inner relationships before returning to the Seat of Disdain, but a surprising face in Paragon's Call rattles several members of the group... (Really loving the whole mystically-fuelled Mad Max/Deathrace theme of this bit of the campaign.. )

Thankfully you don't have to delve too deeply into the vile pit of Reddit to find tons of good free maps.. There's one for maps made in the aforementioned Dungeondraft as well as Battlemaps which has posts going back years..

Episode 26 - Hidden Truths Bells Hells seek out allies and options in their evolving plan to infiltrate Paragon’s Call… but unexpected revelations trouble the group.

Ep 26 is a don't miss.. Sam hasn't been that gobsmacked since Matt dropped Kaylee on him in Campaign 1.. It happened twice here.. Well played Erica..! Loads of great character stuff for Fearne, Imogen and FCG. Plus Marisha is having SO much fun as Laudna.. WTF is up with that creepy drug den? It's great fun having (especially just after EXU Calamity) a location heavily based around stuff scavenged from that era, giving rise to a classic post apocalyptic setting..

Going to have to go back and watch the original TOS episode that ep10 revisits.. ..to remind myself how it was supposed to play out..

Episode 25 - A Taste of Tal'Dorei Bells Hells explore Bassuras and the Paragon's Call stronghold while getting to know their new friend Dusk, whose past strangely intersects with one of their own...

New intro!! And the latest wtf thing showing how ridiculously mainstream CR has become..

HBO Max have also posted Season 1 Ep1 in full on Youtube

My motion sickness isn't as bad as that, but the odd game does still set it off. Sometimes sitting further away from the TV helps, but the odd one is really bad - I think Sleeping Dogs was the last one to really get me.. I'll definitely never be able to play VR games, as I feel ill within a minute or two and similarly it's an hour or more until I feel ok again..

I'd like to see more games about averting disasters/deaths rather than causing them.. I'm imagining something like Blast Corps, but instead of knocking down buildings, your construction vehicles are used to dig trenches to act as firebreaks during a forest fire, divert floodwater away from cities etc. Plus we're at a point where simulating earth being dug/moved about dynamically should be possible. Another idea would be something a little like Burning Rangers, but expanded to a whole futuristic emergency services response team that exist in a world of massive corporations each meddling with forces they barely understand and when things go wrong, our teams are sent into dangerous labs, bases and other space, underwater or generally hostile environments and the combined skills of each division are needed to help them move through the environment, deal with various threats and rescue hostages/survivors.

Wow.. what a finale. This was totally in a different league than the previous EXU - Brennan weaves a fantastic tale from start to finish and all the cast are on top form. For emotional impact and just great, dramatic storytelling, I honestly think it's up there with CR's best.. In addition to the Calamity Wrap-up we should see next week, there was also a Twitter Space discussion between the whole cast.. https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1YpJkZNoneyGj?s=20

Wow.. the final episode is intense, exhausting and pretty damn incredible.. Prepare yourself.. Episode 4 - Fire and Ruin With time running out and an ancient terror unleashed, the Ring of Brass make their last stand for Avalir, for Exandria, and for their souls as calamity draws near...

Another really good episode. It's fun watching how they're doing a spin on a lot of classic Trek tropes, but they're well written enough that they feel pretty fresh. (Though the '2 days out of contact' thing got conveniently forgotten about later in the episode..)

As you might imagine, being set at the time of the Calamity (800+ years before Vox Machina) means this is likely going to be pretty standalone - though there's some benefit to knowing a bit of the world lore from MM.. But there's no spoilers for anything else.. The non-regular members of the cast are all fantastic so far - there's good chemistry among the whole group and the storytelling from Brennan is indeed superb. Episode 3 - Blood and Shadow Confronted with how deep Avalir's corruption runs, the Ring of Brass must face hard truths about themselves as impossible choices are made and lines are both drawn and sundered...

Calamity.. Ep2 - Bitterness and Dread. The Ring of Brass deepen their investigation into Vespin's inconceivable ritual while juggling their own profound desires and lofty ambitions... Brennan is indeed excellent, he's perfect choice for this and it has been rather special so far.. I love how well he illustrates the advanced tech/magic setting for us and the characters are a delightful mix of sincere to highly arrogant, befitting their status in this decadent civilisation. Despite the fact we know a good deal about what will happen from Matt's lore, this has still managed to surprise (and delight) and we're only halfway through..

Calamity.. Ep 1 - 'Excelsior' The flying city of Avalir begins its triumphant return to the continent of Domunas while the Ring of Brass, a group of eminent city dignitaries, begin to uncover hints of something rotten within their gilded home...

A fantastic return to acting this year in 'Everything, Everywhere All At Once' after a 20+ (40 if you discount a couple of minor roles in the late 90s) year gap for Ke Huy Quan, after starring in Temple of Doom and The Goonies as a child..

Episode 23 - To the Skies Bells Hells finish their business in Jrusar and take to the skies on The Silver Sun skyship, where wonders and dangers lurk among the clouds… The ending of this is a good one! One more episode next Thursday and then we have a break while Exandria Unlimited: Calamity runs in it's place..

RSC page with ticket booking is up on the site and Ticketmaster have presales up too.. £18 for early performances, jumping to £30 later.. https://theatre.ticketmaster.co.uk/book/1ELGN-my-neighbour-totoro/ https://www.rsc.org.uk/my-neighbour-totoro The global premiere of Studio Ghibli's My Neighbour Totoro comes to London's Barbican stage this autumn. The celebrated 1988 animated feature film by Hayao Miyazaki will be brought to the stage by its original composer Joe Hisaishi in a landmark new adaptation by the RSC written by playwright Tom Morton-Smith. This enchanting coming-of-age story explores the magical fantasy world of childhood and the transformative power of imagination, as it follows one extraordinary summer in the lives of sisters Satsuki and Mei. My Neighbour Totoro will play a strictly limited 15-week season from 8 October 2022 - 21 January 2023 and promises to delight all generations. #FindYourSpirit