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ourstoatmeansdeath · 2 months

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I've seen a few posts from people who think Henry was being shitty to Gorgug or setting Gorgug up to fail by allowing him to do 3 years of the artificer track at once. But I have a lot of experience in STEM, and I think Henry was being incredibly kind in a very engineering-coded way.

I did an undergrad degree in engineering and have been in STEM spaces for more than 10 years. And the STEM way of being an asshole is much more like what Porter did. So many people who don't look like they fit the stereotype of who belongs in STEM have been explicitly told to leave. Like, I was at a conference last year where a presenter asked all the people in the room who had been told to change their major to raise their hands. And there were lots of us with raised hands. (This was in a diversity equity and inclusion session, so a lot of non-traditional looking people for engineering.) If Henry wanted to be an asshole he would tell Gorgug to leave, or that the curriculum was "rigorous" and half-orcs can't usually hack it, etc. But he didn't!

Henry did the classic STEM thing of laying out all of the options, even the ones that aren't desirable. Since Porter won't sign the MCAT, the reasonable options are all gone. Henry mentioned that Gorgug doesn't need to be in school for artificing to be an artificer ("If artificing is something that brings you joy and brings happiness to your life, you don't need school. You can do that on your own.") Which is NOT something that STEM people do. I've never heard an engineering professor say that someone who does STEM stuff as a hobby can call themselves engineers. Henry is being absurdly kind by saying this.

When Gorgug says that he wants to do artificing in school, Henry gives the option to do all three years of school at once. [Note that Henry did not suggest this at first. Henry didn't offer it until Gorgug basically asked for a loophole.] This reminds me so much of all the STEM people who know a system really well and give you advice on how to navigate it. They note that their path isn't what the system was designed to do, but if you really want to do it you could do it this way. Which is exactly what Henry does. This also gives Gorgug the agency to decide for himself.

Henry also goes out of his way to say that the people who work hard are the ones he would bet on. This is also so nice as a STEM person! I can't tell you the number of professors I had who said that a specific problem shouldn't take long, or "if you're efficient you should be fine." I also had a professor who said some people can code and some people can't, and he didn't know how to help the people who don't have a natural aptitude for coding. Henry saying he thinks Gorgug can achieve this through hard work is super enlightened for a STEM instructor.

tl;dr Henry is incredibly enlightened for a STEM instructor. He tells Gorgug that Gorgug can still be an artificer without formal schooling, and then when Gorgug expresses a desire for the formal education he tells Gorgug the path. If Henry does a heel turn I will be emotionally devastated lol

#brennan please no henry heel turn i need this #yes i know his last name is hopclap IT COULD BE FINE #maybe henry has a bad relationship with reuben #dimension 20 #d20 #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #fhjy #gorgug thistlespring #henry hopclap #porter cliffbreaker #fhjy spoilers #fantasy high junior year spoilers #STEM #STEM culture #engineering #engineering culture #fantasy high meta

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mccoyquialisms · 1 month

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my fantasy high red-string-conspiracy-theory-board-of-the-main-mystery lore tracker (a long ass post) (because I love both mysteries AND organization of inconsequential information):

rough chronology of events:

In ages past there is a wedding attended in the Chaos Mountains by Sol and Galicaea of their sister the Witch Goddess to an unnamed giantkin god. This god is a summer god, sibling of the giant winter goddess Ruvina

Over centuries, the unnamed god's domain changes from the sun and summer to fire

This unnamed god is killed and their name was wiped from history. The other gods remember who this being is, but due to obliviati mori, cannot reference them directly to mortals. Red shatter stars appear around this time

850 years before present day, the Witch Goddess's name is erased by her followers (encouraged by followers of Galicaea) and she is transformed into the Nightmare King. Before she does she performs the 4 trans-substantiations to resist being "unmade". Her familiar Kalina becomes a plague and begins to spread through the mortal populace. These events likely happen after the death of her spouse, as there is no reference to a spouse when the Witch Goddess was previously mentioned

Roughly 4-6 years before modern day, the pit fiend Bakur attempts to resurrect his god, whose name was lost "so they could not be worshiped." The return of this god is felt to be a significant threat to the world. Lydia Barkrock and her adventuring party stop him by sealing Bakur in a red gem in Lydia's chest, where she keeps him imprisoned with her rage

The Ratgrinders, then called the High 5 Heroes, meet in freshman year and consist of Kipperlilly, Oisin, Mary Anne, Ruben, Ivy and Lucy.

They xp level up by killing rats, twig gremlins and other small magical creatures in the woods behind Aguefort

The events of freshman year happen and Kalvaxus is released. During prom, Ragh spots Jace Stardiamond talking to Arianwen. He is later "barbarian healed" by Porter and after this can see Kalina. Kalina finds Ragh later and threatens Lydia if he talks about what he's seen

Sophomore year spring break happens and the Nightmare King is transformed into the goddess now named Cassandra

At some point Lucy began to return to the woods after party sessions to revive the rats they killed. She did this long enough and with enough regularity that the rats remember her name/face well and think of her fondly

Paperwork is submitted for Lucy to change her god from Ruvina to a god whose name cannot be read, just before her disappearance. A few days later a second request is submitted to withdraw this change. Neither form was ever seen by Lucy's teacher Yolanda Badgood

Lucy was killed near Lake Shimmerstone by multiple assailants with both weapon and magical damage towards the end of sophomore year, in the period of weeks after grades were complete, but before summer break. The area has multiple uprooted trees, some of which were used to hide her body. Unholy rites were performed over her body to force her soul to the beyond, so she cannot be revived.

Lucy is reported as dead but her body was never found. She was described as "not alive in this material plane" via divination

Because of the timing of her death, her party was not moved to pass/fail as all grades for that year had already been submitted

Night Yorb and the long dark summer happens

Buddy Dawn, a cleric of Sol, is specifically requested by the Ratgrinders to be their new cleric for junior year

Also over the long dark summer, the Loam farmers are accused of embezzlement and the Frostyfair festival is moved from there to the Thistlesprings tree at the recommendation of Lola Embers. Sklonda Gukgak is assigned as the Loam couple's public defender

Kipperlilly finds or is found by the rogue teacher and has passed the whole of junior year

Junior year begins. On her first day, Kipperlilly questions Jawbone on where YES! was created

Kipperlily announces she is running for student body president and her primary platform is for uniform equity under the rules without "favoritism"

In the mall of the Synod, the event that kicks off the battle is Cassandra becomes angry hearing Kristen isn't coming to help find followers. She says "This isn't fair!" as a razor-sharp flickering star of red light emerges from her chest. 24-point, red shatter stars infect nearby wizards and turns them into rage-filled, violent, giant versions of themselves. The people taken over by the shatter stars are instructed by an unknown voice to attack Cassandra

Cassandra is able to be calmed by a high persuasion and when she does, she expels multiple shatter stars. She seems to recognize them and says "I thought you were dead.”

Before Kalina is taken over by the shatter stars, she looks to Riz and says "Ragh Barkrock". She then slits Cassandra's throat, triggering a new round of rage in Cassandra

Cassandra suffers multiple attacks and begins to transform into a giant, red raging version of herself and attempts to kill the party. Before she's successful, the gang are swept away in a time loop back to Spyre. The Bad Kids see the Synod is destroyed, and Kristen finds she has shards of Cassandra in her pocket

Kristen attempts to commune with Cassandra and hears a voice say "She is at my side once more." The voice then mocks Kristen with YES!'s body and then tells Kristen it is coming for her, and it will break her irrevocably.

Ivy sees Fig disguised as Lucy at the party at Seacastor Manor, and has an inscrutable reaction to it, but did not seem surprised

The cloud rider engine in Fabian's basement is broken and a piece is found missing

Kipperlily does the food truck event with the subliminal OK messaging on the packaging

Ruben Hopclap performs at FrostFaire when he is attacked by Principal Grix. Grix is eventually killed by Fabian. The Bad Kids determine Ruben was doing some kind of ritual with a song about anger above an arcano-tech array in a 24 point star pattern, successfully releasing a large amount of some type of magical energy.

Simultaneously, Yolanda Badgood is killed at Lake Shimmerstone by immense concussive force damage, and afterwards her body is expertly hidden. She is subjected to the same unholy last rites that Lucy was.

The Bad Kids find Lucy and Yolanda's bodies, and Kristen releases their souls, who travel to the beyond on a "trail of moonlight"

Sklonda's clients are found murdered

Mazey reveals that the Vice Principal (i.e. Jace) does not become the Principal, and it would be the student body president who becomes the new principal of Aguefort

additional info we can reasonably infer or that don't fit neatly in the timeline:

Buddy's grandparents, and likely Buddy himself, have a vested interest in his grandfather becoming the cleric teacher. He went to Aguefort and is familiar with the school. Presumably he wants this to be able to preach about Sol and spread his influence

At some point before her death, Yolanda told Jace about her concerns regarding Lucy's deity-transfer paperwork

Cassandra is not dead, but is "beyond reach"

Lucy and Yolanda were noted to be in "realms beyond", which Brennan specifically noted they were taken from and "whatever was happening there"

The Ratgrinders are gunning for the bad kids and seem to be orchestrating situations to try to get them to take drugs

Porter's philosophical discussion with Fig regarding the concept of protection and how that is often inextricably tied with rage, that one can act as a fuel for the other

Porter is a paladin of the ancestors, and at some point was mentioned to be a goliath, though this seems to be debated in canon. If true, it's possible he's a descendant of giants

Kristen bring's up Sol's wrath and Buddy does not refute this, agreeing Sol's wrath is a well known aspect of him and he has been quite angry because of the dark summer/night yorb situation

As above so below. What the gods do affect their mortal followers, but conversely, what the mortals who follow them do also affect the gods

A god can only come back from death in a place a god had been born or created, meaning Bakur's decision to try to revive his fallen god in the Red Waste was what doomed it to failure

Bakur's documents are written in the language of giants, and his deity is said to be from the same region as Ruvina. Combining this with Adaine’s research, and the “mitochondrial magic print”, Bakur’s god is Cassandra’s former spouse

The cloud rider piece was likely stolen by the Ratgrinders as Kipperlily asked Aelwyn to research schematics of the device

Kipperlily seems to be keeping information from some of the other Ratgrinders, telling Aelwyn she needs to "protect Oisin" from their shady deals

Kipperlily's mother works for the city treasury and her father is in real estate. Neither are super wealthy, but Kipperlilly has been paying Aelwyn large amounts of money to obtain arcane components. Given the timing of this with the disappearance of a large sum of money from the Frostyfair accounts, the timing of the murder of the people who were blamed for it, and that the new chosen location happens to be the home of one of the Ratgrinders rivals, the Ratgrinders involvement is thought to be likely

Cassandra's whispered clue of "spies, tongue, curse"

Places outside Spyre, like the Synod, are easier for dead gods to reach

For whatever the Ratgrinders have planned, a student being the principal of Aguefort is essential for it. A lot of people have had to be conveniently absent or dead for this circumstance to occur.

This is all not even touching Aguefort's whole journey through time and possible time quangle issue and whatever the fuck Fig's Bad Luck Thing is. I'm not convinced that these are related to the god stuff and are likely their own separate issues. also, I am tired lmao. If you want to hear my rambling theories, I'll be making a separate post.

#fantasy high #dimension 20 #fhjy #dropout #my musings #did i avoid all of my responsibilities after work today to write this? yeah.#do I feel bad about it? also yeah but it was still fun.#fantasy high meta

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bloodyshadow1 · 9 days

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I know the bad kids are weeping, especially gorgug, about how Arthur's hologram/illusion told them all their studying and hard work was pointless, but that doesn't mean it was. Look, the purpose of an education is to gain knowledge and grow. Sure modern education as a whole has corrupted the idea of school and education, but that doesn't mean it's pointless.

Despite how hard it is, the bad kids have flourished this year, it's terrible that they were put through that, but it doesn't mean their hard work was in vain. This isn't a post about how pain or adversity makes you strong, because fuck that. But life isn't easy, there are challenges that you have to endure to get what you want.

Sure, they could have taken the last stand early in the year and if they succeeded, they would have had an easy year, especially compared to the year they had. But if they had taken it, whose to say they would have succeeded. After the night yorb fight, they were level 8 or 9, they are currently 13 but I assume 14 after that last combat. that's 4 to 5 levels they gained since the start of junior year. And that's what levels are supposed to represent, experience. Exp is supposed to show what your character has been through as they go through life learning and growing, it's not a notch on your belt of all the things you've killed to gain power.

If the bad kids tried the last stand at the start of the year, they would have been creamed. Yes, they weren't as stressed, but they also hadn't grown as much and would have been slaughtered. Fig didn't have her paladin levels that did massive damage this fight, Adaine and Kristen wouldn't have access to 6th and 7th level spells, Fabian would only have 3 as opposed to his 7 levels in bard or the confidence to be maximum legend, Gorgug wouldn't have had his homebrewed subclass and pioneered at Aguefort, Riz wouldn't have his higher level spells and abilities that would have meant no haste which meant no double sneak attacks that helped them so much this fight.

This is what sets them apart from people like the Ratgrinders. Because as much as the Ratgrinders seem to hate them for being 'favored' by the school, the Bad kids have earned every scar and bruise, every stress token, every spell slot and point of HP to get to where they were today. They beat the deadly challenge in a way that no one has done before and they got a 100% on the questions, not a single one of them went down, the proctor was barely hurt. There will always be people who take the easy way out that doesn't mean the path you forded was wrong

#fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #fantasy high junior year #kristen applebees #adaine abernant #fig faeth #fabian seacaster #riz gukgak #gorgug thistlespring #fhjy #fhjy 15 #fantasy high meta

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bounded-accuracy · 2 months

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Nemesis Alert does seem potentially useful, but are we going to ignore the possibility that other people use the same bank and could ALSO have Nemesis Alert turned on?

Like of all the people we’ve met so far, who seems the most likely to also have a KVX account? And would therefore know instantly the second the Bad Kids soured on her (like 2s after meeting)? Talk about a rough first impression.

#kipperlilly copperkettle #dimension 20 #d20 spoilers #fhjy #d20 fhjy #dimension 20 fhjy #fantasy high junior year #fhjy spoilers #dimension 20 spoilers #fantasy high #fantasy high meta #fantasy high theory #fabian seacaster #fabian aramais seacaster #kvx bank #the ratgrinders #ratgrinders

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dabblingreturns · 30 days

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Okay I'm 3 episodes into the seven after having watched freshman and software year of the bad kids and I think I might know what Sam Nightingale's issus is with Zelda dating Gorgug.

So a lot of it is probably the normal wariness of a teenage girl who's boyfriend tried to traffic her, and her foster parents just broke up because her foster dad cheated and her parents probably arnt together. And she doesn't want her best friend hurt by a man same way she or her foster mother were.....

But I think Sam also has beef with gorgug specifically. Well not gorgug the person, but the idea of Gorgug.

Her mom's human and her dad isn't, and she has been raised her whole life by humans elves as a water Genasi. And gorgug was also given up by his biological parents to be raised by a new family that also loved him but wasn't able to help with his orc side.

So on the surface sam and gorgugs history looks simalar. Except Gorgugs birth family did want to be a part of his life with no alterior motives and Sam's mother wants to exploit her.

And Gorgugs parents love and support him but also love each other, and Sam's foster mother leaves her in an empty house when she leaves.

And Sam was a child actor who knows the ugly side of fame and gorgug is a up and comming drummer of a big rock band and is being pushed, and occasionally pushing himself(crab party) into the spotlight.

And Sam sees the similarities between them.

But Sam is actively trying to to leave behind her old life, her old gender, her old family, and her old best friend.

I imagine to Sam it might feel as if she and Gorgug are running the same race but he is bounding ahead with ease. And what makes sam so unloveable that she has to fight for every bit of real affection in her life, but gorgug just seams to take being loved as a normal and natural thing.

And Gorgug is fighting his own battles, and they are real and important. But Sam is fighting battles gorgug never even had to think about because gorgug got lucky and Sam didnt.

#dimension 20 #the seven #fantasy high #sam nightingale #gorgug thistlespring #fantasy high meta #i love gorgug so much #and i dont think sams anger is fair #but by god do i see where it is comming from

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camillahex · 3 months

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something that is very interesting to me about kristen and kristen's whole arc is that i feel like when you have had your world rocked like kristen did at the very beginning of freshman year and then are struggling with unlearning almost everything that was taught to you by your family and community and at the same time struggling to find something (or in kristen's case as a cleric, some divinity) to anchor your beliefs and sense of self to it can be very hard to shore up that sense of trust and that belief that there are things that matter when you do find something

i'm thinking of that one post that describes how if you've been depressed for a long time the parts of you that know how to want things have sort of atrophied and you have to actively practice developing desires in life again and developing your wherewithal to fulfill those desires, and how in kristen's case she has spent so long in that state of rejecting what she was told the truth of the world was and then flailing in a lack of community and support and stability when she was worshiping yes (which only ever ended up to be helio repackaged) that she now needs to build back up even her ability to believe that her god matters and that she has a deity worthy of her worship

and for all that we had that resolution of "doubt is a practice that lives in your hands, not a belief that lives in your heart" i think (hope) this will be the arc where we see kristen really grapple with what that means and build up her spiritual strength and community (along with her physical strength, which i am thinking she has been using as a distraction from the isolation and hesitancy she still feels bc suddenly finding/remaking a god whose... schtick, i guess is one that really resonates with you doesn't mean that the defense mechanisms you've built up in order to leave a former toxic environment and worship suddenly just disappear)

#fhjy #kristen applebees #c.hex posting #fantasy high meta

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thevalleyisjolly · 3 days

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It seems to me like there's a particular element of hatred that ties in with the rage from the rage crystals. Anyone can be angry and it's literally the defining feature of barbarians that they learn how to harness their rage in service of a goal. But with the rage crystals, it's as if it stokes up existing feelings such as discontent, jealousy, inferiority, or perceived unfairness directed at a particular target, and heightens them until it becomes full-on hatred. You're no longer just angry about something or someone in your life. You hate it with an all-consuming, personal ardour that eclipses any attempt at moderation or abatement. Anything connected with the object of your contempt is guilty by association; every action appears through the most bad-faith lens regardless of intention or truth. It isn't a mindless rage, but rather a targeted personal hatred that feeds off of a person's existing feelings and spurs them to take aggressive action. It's not enough just to stew in silence or work out your anger by yourself. You have to do something about this problem in your life, and you have to specifically do something to the problem because they are the reason why everything is wrong. If only they were gone or dead or humiliated or dethroned, everything would be better. At least until the next problem comes along. Because that's the thing about being a D&D adventurer. There's always going to be another antagonist once this quest is over.

#dimension 20 #fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #fantasy high meta #something something kipperlilly hating the bad kids but also the bad kids hating kipperlilly on sight #and how it's the structure of most d&d quests to have a bbeg figure responsible for most of the problems the party is dealing with #because it's easier in stories when there's one or two tangible and defeatable bad guys to direct all your efforts towards #and on and on it goes; always another bad guy to fight and defeat #until you combine a d&d quest with a growing up narrative #and realizing that all the problems in your life are more complex and multivaried than a single cause #there are academic challenges and tricky interpersonal relationships and demanding commitments and so many stresses #yes there often are big bad guys who are responsible for many problems in the world and you should be angry and you should fight them #but getting rid of one bogeyman does not mean all your problems will be solved or even that any problems will be solved #don't mistake eliminating an enemy with fixing what's broken in the world

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probablybadrpgideas · 10 months

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Over the course of the game, roll a d20 every so often.

This measures the progress of a different, unmentioned party of adventurers who are on their own quest to stop an unrelated threat to the entire mortal world.

If you get a one they fuck up and die so the world abruptly ends with no warning.

#rpg #roleplaying game #D&D #meta #rule idea #high fantasy worlds aren't stable #statistically speaking one of these Chosen Ones are gonna fall in a river and drown or something eventually #then we're right fucked.

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thisisnotthenerd · 9 days

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ok but all the bad kids were so strategic and effective in the last stand. i know gorgug's crits and fig's spells were huge but everyone really played to the best of their class. look here for the questions and killing blows.

adaine's spell usage was super effective--the mephits granting advantage and blinding opponents. the scatter to get the melee fighters where they're the most effective. using mirror image and her bonus action divination cantrips to not get hit. the use of the portents was excellent--keeping gorgug from taking huge damage from the purple worm and allowing fig to crit on the wyvern enhanced both of their strategy immensely. she split the difference between damage and utility very well.

kristen's bless let the melee attacks hit when they would have missed and she held that concentration the entire time, while intermittently healing and reducing the number of enemies they had to face (skeletons & manticore) and getting out of the way where she wouldn't be targeted. if she hadn't been moved to the side by buddy no one would have caught kipperlilly. absolutely critical support casting. ally really took a lot from playing margaret and applied it here.

fig, despite feeling insecure about her melee attacks, did a ton with her melee cantrip/smite combos (insane) and ambient spirit guardians. by moving around the battlefield strategically and drawing attention as the fake proctor she dealt with the smaller enemies (jellies, stirges, rust monsters, mimic) and actively took down the shrimp dragon, wyvern, and pentacorn.

riz went the other direction; hiding and using the extra action from haste to get sneak attack multiple times in the round. his sneak attacks really served to whittle away at high hp counts when the bad kids had to split focus. plus the clutch defeat of the roper and umber hulk was excellent.

fabian wasn't critting as often as gorgug, but he followed a similar strategy to fig; where she drew attention and killed enemies with AOE and melee, fabian drew attention from single combatants and dealt with them effectively: he practically soloed the hydra and roper with assistance from riz and kept the umber hulk and crab man off of his allies as the final wave converged.

gorgug thistlespring. the crit king. initially he was doing big damage in a similar strategy to riz; he got huge hits on the gorgon and shrimp dragon before taking on by far the most challenging enemy, the purple worm, with assistance from adaine's attack spells. two full turns as the only combatant taking damage from the worm, while knocking it prone every single turn.

this was the battle of the brands for the bad kids, scaled for level 13 combatants. they put everything into this fight.

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #fhjy #fhjy spoilers #fantasy high junior year #fantasy high junior year spoilers #intrepid heroes #adaine abernant #kristen applebees #fig faeth #riz gukgak #fabian seacaster #gorgug thistlespring #dimension 20 meta

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midnightfox450 · 4 months

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Y'know at first I was kinda bummed that this season started with a full combat episode because it set a weird opening tone for me that wasn't the comfort I was expecting. But then I realized that's likely entirely The Point.

Most Fantasy High seasons and oneshots start out with the Bad Kids at home. Brennan gives everyone a little time to introduce themselves, their families, and what they've been doing outside of adventuring. Typically it would make sense to start a new season with a bit of an "npc parade" reintroducing friendly faces to get everyone settled into the world again. It's been three and a half years since we've last seen them, after all. But there's no settling that needs to be done because in-universe there was no break at all.

There's literally no time for introductions. The Bad Kids have gone through so many changes over the summer but neither them nor we get any time to digest it. Besides essential battle companions, the episode is noticeably devoid of any friendly faces. No parents, no partners, no classmates. Instead there's all these new people so purposefully out of place. Who the hell is Balthazar? Who even cares? They have school in three days. It's the end of the world for the third time in two years and they have school in three days. And school just means the world will find a way to end itself all over again.

#Like oh i see it was meant to be jarring #I also got the vibe that they had actually played the beginning of the fight offscreen #which helped add to that feeling of being unceremoniously dropped into the world again #fantasy high spoilers #fhjy spoilers #dimension 20 #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #d20 #fh #fhjy #fantasy high meta #dimension 20 meta #fhjy meta

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ourstoatmeansdeath · 3 months

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I am so appreciative of the way Dimension 20 explores all the ways people can have bad parents. They show a lot of them and they explicitly call out when the parents are shitty. This post is mostly about episode 3 of FHJY and the AP.

Like in "Not All Who Wanda Are Lost," Kristen sees her estranged parents for the first time in a long time, and everyone acknowledges how hard and difficult it is! It's also eerie how good Brennan is at playing the different flavors of abusive parents. Like the "I don't wanna know" from Kristen's mom as Kristen tries to tell her about how Kristen is doing well living in a haunted house now. (Right after Kristen's mom explicitly asked how Kristen is doing!) Or how the Intrepid Heroes all seem to know that eldest daughter pressure, and Ally and Brennan both talk about how Bucky is under more stress now that the oldest daughter shield isn't around anymore. (I think Siobhan mentioned "this is my emotional support eldest daughter" in a Burrow's End Adventuring Party.)

And Adaine's dad wasn't just shitty bc he was going to kill her and Aelywn. He was also shitty for all the ways he abused them both the whole time. Even before Sophomore Year, the Abernants were explicitly called bad parents. In the "I Wanda'd In" Adventuring Party the Intrepid Heroes even discuss how it's complicated when you have shitty abusive parents but they cover the bills. No one said that maybe Adaine should have thought about the money before killing her dad, or in any way implied that the abuse would have been worth the financial support. They acknowledged the nuance of the situation. And how it leaves Adaine especially unprepared because she truly has never talked about finances. That conversation strikes the very specific kind of wistfulness that you have when you leave a bad situation, but some parts of the bad situation were easy in a way your life isn't easy anymore.

I have a lot more feelings about this that I can't turn into words quite yet. I'm still thinking on it. But it means so much to me.

#dimension 20 #d20 #fantasy high junior year #fhjy #fantasy high junior year spoilers #adaine abernant #adaine o'shaughnessey #fantasy high sophomore year spoilers #not all who wanda are lost #i wanda'd in #dropout #kristen applebees #intrepid heroes #brennan lee mulligan #ally beardsley #siobhan thompson #eldest daughter #fantasy high #fantasy high meta

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heliza24 · 4 months

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kind of obsessed with the decision to start so fully in media res that the bad kids were not only down spell slots and hit points but also deeply emotionally exhausted from a summer full of unrewarded heroism and fully committed to new npcs. like what a good way to fully suck your audience back in and also honor the lapse of time irl and in story time. truly no one does exposition like D20, Brennan is never not smart about perfectly balancing world building, character background and plot hook. and since we know the characters and the world we could start this campaign fully *in* the plot right from the word go. and then instead of an inciting incident leading to a battle, or a break from the character's normal reality causing them to fight for the first time (ie the first season), the end of this battle is the inciting incident for the rest of the season. being in combat and saving the world *is* the normal reality for the bad kids. and this sets up FHJY as a campaign that can be focused on something other than that, because the story starts at the end of that normality, or when something in that normality shifts. (is the inciting incident Fig's new powers? or how this battle resolves? TBD! but I have a good feeling about it regardless). SO smart. because if we went from sophomore year straight to a campaign that was focused more around school and the normal experience of being a teen? it would feel weird. but this is the perfect set up.

#dimension 20 #d20 #d20 fhjy #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #my meta

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bloodyshadow1 · 2 months

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I think Brennan went too far in nerfing Fig being a bard this season.

I get Fig/Emily made a deal but to make nerf her entire class without explaining how, it's not really fair. Brennan is a great DM, but I don't think anyone should be free from criticism, Emily seemed to like it according to her interview, but it's still something bad DM's do. Brennan is a good DM and friend so I don't think he is being malicious, I think he's doing it to tell a better story that he knows Emily will enjoy in the end so it is okay for them, it doesn't change that it's an overreach of what a DM should be able to do in my eyes.

As a viewer, my opinion does not matter, because the game is not for me, but also as a viewer I am allowed to criticize what I watch. I get that Brennan is trying to do something cool for the story, but at the very least to me, he went too far. Right now, Fig/Emily are afraid of their bardic inspiration, it's poisoning her against the class. Bardic inspiration is a huge part of the bard class, one of it's staples. It's like if a barbarian lost their rages or monks lost their ki abilities, that alone is too far without talking to the player first and explaining how the mechanic has changed.

The mall fight in episode 5 was the most egregious example, I see people talking about how it was almost a TPK and the bad kids were only saved because of Brennan, but I disagree. They were only put into that situation because of DM overreach. Yes, Brennan let them live in the end, but they were only in that situation because of an unfair and insane Diabolus Ex Machina specifically targeted against Emily/Fig. a Fire elemental that did not exist before that turn, appeared out of nowhere with a tray of shrimp and it getting knocked away with one of the shrimp somehow landing in Cassandra's mouth, and being something that she a goddess is somehow allergic to and resulting in her getting knocked out, all because Fig gave her a bardic inspiration.

That's not fair, I don't care how cursed or unlucky Fig is because of the deal she made, that's a crazy amount of bad luck to correlate to a single bardic inspiration. That's like 2 nat 1's in a row bad, not a d8 or bardic inspiration bad. That's one of the worst rolls possible on the wild magic surge table twice bad.

This is not saying that Brennan is a bad person, a bad friend to the people at the table, it's not even saying he's a bad dm. But it is a criticism for that moment because it was unfair. I might be in the minority here, but I personally don' think a dm is above the table, I think they are another player with a different rulebook. They have their own rules that they cannot/should not break just as any other player at the table.

#fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #fantasy high junior year #fhjy #brennan lee mulligan #dimension 20 #d20 #fantasy high meta #if you think I'm being unfair or a bitch #at least have the guts to reblog or reply to it #don't hide in the tags

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bounded-accuracy · 2 months

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I think most of the gods in Spyre are probably non-evangelizing. We just see a very skewed sample because the evangelizing ones tend to (1) have more followers and (2) leave more of a written record.

I don’t think Cassandra’s fear of dying is necessarily a standard part of being a god. But gods who have that fear are better able to spread; the ones who aren’t worried about immortality don’t create that same urgency in their followers. The pre-NK version of Cassandra got forgotten, but they actually got forgotten in quite a loud way.

Probably lots of gods get forgotten and it’s just… not a big deal. They have one follower or a tiny handful of followers, they live a mortal lifespan, and then they pass on. They don’t have to force themselves, lich-like, to stay relevant over many generations or a wide tent of followers. They’re a close match to what some specific followers need in a specific time and place, and that’s enough.

You’re much more likely to run into a follower of one of the louder gods. But it’s sort of an illusion. It’s like going to the American South and seeing kudzu everywhere, and assuming most plants are like kudzu. Or that kudzu must be the plant that’s most beneficial to humans. There’s way more variety than that, it’s just that kudzu spreads really fast.

#dimension 20 #d20 spoilers #d20 fhjy #dimension 20 fhjy #fhjy #fantasy high junior year #fhjy spoilers #dimension 20 spoilers #fantasy high #cassandra fantasy high #kristen applebees #fantasy high meta #osmir fantasy high

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dabblingreturns · 25 days

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A lukewarm defense of Kristen Applebee's.

I'm on fantasy high junior year episode 5 and things are not going well between Kristen and her godess.

And I'd love to say that it's because Kristen is a selfish dirtbag who doesn't know how to have a healthy relationship. But that wouldn't be fair.

I think the issue is a twofold.

One big issue is expectations.

Cassandra used to be a major diety. With thousands of followers and cults of mysteries before she was betrayed. She is used to reaching out and always finding a follower who is overjoyed to be touched by the divine.

Kristen on the other hand spent 15 years as the favorite Cleric of Helio. And was praised by her comunity for being the one that Helio talked to directly. As It that was an honor. But Helio had other followers he could tap, it wasn't just Kristen. The amount of worship Helio needed from Kristen was relitivly low. She was a long term investment for him. Helio was able to subsidize Kristen's power for a year after she left him, just in the hopes of getting her back. But circumstances have changed.

Both Cassandra and Kristen are used to working with excess resources but now neither of them have those resources that they used too. But they both still act as if they do.

And this is the problem. They keep not providing what the other needs because they can't, but are then suprize when the other also let's then down for the exact same reason.

Kristen isn't thinking and communicating with her godess 100% of the time because she is a highschool student who is busy saving the world and dealing with drama and being a dumb teen and sleeping. And that is normal behavior. She doesn't feel that checking in with Cassandra every five minutes about how every decision in her life might effect Cassandra is a reasonable thing to do. Because it's never been nessasity before and is a massive inconvenience in combat. Cassandra asking for updates while Kristen is in combat might get Kristen killed.

And Kristen not being able to provide the worship and attention is activly harming Cassandra even at times when Kristen can't provide attention. (Kristen should be providing more worship than she is, but I don't think she can provide as much worship as Cassandra needs)

But both Cassandra and Kristen keep treating the other as if they have limitless resources and thats not true.

The second issue is a fundamental misunderstanding how how Kristen liturgical nature.

Kristen is a really particular kind of saint. She's a Heroic Saint who does big miracle and has Revelations (tm) and changes the face of the world.

But Kristen is NOT a evangelical Preacher (tracker is but that's a differnt post) or charismatic leader. She doesn't have the skill with words or psychology or organization to create a church and recrute people. She has no talent for missionary work.

200 year from now she could become a great saintly example as a vessel through whom Cassandra saved the world. But currently she is a hot mess. (Heros often are).

But Cassandra is expecting a missionary, not a hero. So Kristen keeps failing in her eyes.

And Kristen is messing up and missing opertunities.

Kristen messed up by not going on social media after the Night Yorb and sighting Cassandra as the major diety involved.

Being the ASB president at Aguefort Adventuring Academy doesn't sound like it should help Cassandra but if Kristen played it correctly it could. Other students looking for a new diety might pick Cassandra if Kristen remembered to mention her more. Kristen could be a godly influencer. But she's so all over the place she doesn't.

Basically Kristen Applebee's could be doing better in a task where she has been set up to fail.

It's shitty for everyone, but if Kirsten could sail though this smoothly, she would gave to give up everything that makes her Kristen Applebee's.

#dimension 20 #kristen applebees #cassandra (godess)#augefort adventuring academy #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #ally beardsley #fantasy high meta #hot mess cleric #highschool is hard for everyone.

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