Just saw acquisitions incorporated in theaters

[NecroDancer]

It was awsome, the map was THE BEST! The DM was quite liberal and the characters did some pretty OP stuff but the dialogue more than made up for it. I have never seen an episode of AI before but they had a hilarious intro that filled me in. I highly recommend watching it online if you missed it (because it won't be shown in theaters again).

[Temperjoke]

Yeah, I watched it on their Twitch channel. Chris Perkins was giving a huge amount of leeway to keep the game flowing. :P

EDIT: They have previous years and the short series they did prior to this on youtube

[Fishybugs]

My son and I went to see it tonight. It was a lot of fun. I live near Seattle, so I'm going to try and get tickets to be there in person next year. Slim chance, but I'll try.

Yeah, definitely get caught up. They've been doing it since 2007, first as a podcast.

[Hopeless]

Were the cast from Force Grey involved?

[Dalebert]

I thought it wasn't going to be available to watch online.

[Temperjoke]

Were the cast from Force Grey involved?

Not at all

[Hopeless]

Shame I assumed they were going to crossover to make it especially awesome but oh well...

So any chance of a second season of Force Grey then?

[odigity]

I thought it wasn't going to be available to watch online.

It was a little confusing re where to go and when, but I eventually did watch it here, though I started a few minutes late:

http://dnd.wizards.com/paxwest2016

[Dalebert]

The livestream has now ended. We hope you enjoyed the experience, and be sure to look for an archived version in the coming days.

Ah, nice. I had heard it wasn't going to be made available. I thought they were imposing artificial scarcity to get people to go to the theater. I would have if I didn't have a game that night. Instead, I farmed purple worms and spanked a beholder with a humiliating defeat.

[Thrudd]

Yeah, I watched it on their Twitch channel. Chris Perkins was giving a huge amount of leeway to keep the game flowing. :P

EDIT: They have previous years and the short series they did prior to this on youtube

He always does, doesn't he? They're more about being funny and entertaining than about demonstrating how to play D&D.

[Byke]

Were the cast from Force Grey involved?

They are chasing the Zents with the last piece of the rod...Flaming Chariot + Blimp = A Big BOOM!

On the topic of Chris Perkins giving players alot of leeway...have you seen the CoS series with the waffle crew? He allows the sorcerer to use the Careful spell metamagic like the evokers Sculpt spell. Is that an error on his part and did he change how careful metamagic works in his games? IMO careful should equal sculpt spell in it's current incarnation it's useless and no sorc ever takes it.

[Temperjoke]

I think he's just demonstrating a different form of being DM, instead of being strict and tightly-adhering to the rules, he allows a lot of wiggle room based on intent, to help ensure that his players (and audience) are having a good time, instead of being bogged down in constant arguments about whether it's legal to do such-and-such thing.

I realize that this isn't something that a lot of DMs and players like, I've seen how pedantic many folks get with their rules, but it's just another form of DMing, possibly attempting to encourage more people to get their hands dirty and become DMs.

[DivisibleByZero]

He always does, doesn't he? They're more about being funny and entertaining than about demonstrating how to play D&D.

I think that when they deviate slightly from the rules to make the game more enjoyable in the moment, they are demonstrating perfectly how to play DnD.

[Byke]

I think he's just demonstrating a different form of being DM, instead of being strict and tightly-adhering to the rules, he allows a lot of wiggle room based on intent, to help ensure that his players (and audience) are having a good time, instead of being bogged down in constant arguments about whether it's legal to do such-and-such thing.

I realize that this isn't something that a lot of DMs and players like, I've seen how pedantic many folks get with their rules, but it's just another form of DMing, possibly attempting to encourage more people to get their hands dirty and become DMs.


When Chris did stick to the RAW, they got wrecked ....Chris and the players have made the AI series entertaining. But the players truly have no clue how to play the games. This is my one gripe about the entire AI series, if their are going to represent the franchise and make money doing it, at least learn the rule set.

It was obvious in their encounter with the white dragon, when Chris stopped giving them the amount of leeway he usually does, they had no clue what to do and died horribly.

[RulesJD]

It was awsome, the map was THE BEST! The DM was quite liberal and the characters did some pretty OP stuff but the dialogue more than made up for it. I have never seen an episode of AI before but they had a hilarious intro that filled me in. I highly recommend watching it online if you missed it (because it won't be shown in theaters again).

I just want to point out that it was blatantly clear that he was trying to move combat quickly due to how long they took to get going in the beginning.

Part of that was poor time management on his part with the glade + red dragon thing soaking up a ton of time. Their banter is absolutely the best part of the show, but it got kind of blatantly obvious near the end how much he was trying to rush the show along to avoid going over time.

[odigity]

He always does, doesn't he? They're more about being funny and entertaining than about demonstrating how to play D&D.

Which I understand and accept. Given the situation, with the time limit and a live audience, he gives a consistently amazing performance. I can't imagine anyone else doing better.

However, I was hoping when they moved to the weekly episode format that they'd get a little bit more crunchy. I like the weekly episodes, but it doesn't have the same energy as the live shows; at least if it was more rules-y, it would have a different additional appeal. Perkins is the head of D&D, I would enjoy hearing him delve into some rules clarification or even game design theory once in a while.

(My favorite season is when they visit Jim Darkmagic's family, and that had almost no combat.)

[LaserFace]

I think that when they deviate slightly from the rules to make the game more enjoyable in the moment, they are demonstrating perfectly how to play DnD.

Yeah, this is his typical method and I endorse it. Pretty consistent with the DMG; say yes to your players, do what's cool, make rulings without getting bogged down.


When Chris did stick to the RAW, they got wrecked ....Chris and the players have made the AI series entertaining. But the players truly have no clue how to play the games. This is my one gripe about the entire AI series, if their are going to represent the franchise and make money doing it, at least learn the rule set.

It was obvious in their encounter with the white dragon, when Chris stopped giving them the amount of leeway he usually does, they had no clue what to do and died horribly.

lol they know the ruleset they just made some mistakes, players do that all the time. They might be soft on the rules but who cares, even experienced players forget plenty of details about their own character's abilities and limits.

I think it's absolutely forgivable that they aren't system nerds, because folks want D&D to extend to broader audiences and not just the people who see it as Serious Business.

Hell, my favorite among all the D&D podcasts and junk is The Adventure Zone, and sometimes I forget they're even playing 5E.

[Byke]

lol they know the ruleset they just made some mistakes, players do that all the time. They might be soft on the rules but who cares, even experienced players forget plenty of details about their own character's abilities and limits.

I think it's absolutely forgivable that they aren't system nerds, because folks want D&D to extend to broader audiences and not just the people who see it as Serious Business.

Hell, my favorite among all the D&D podcasts and junk is The Adventure Zone, and sometimes I forget they're even playing 5E.

I love the AI franchise and Chris DMing it as entertainment....but I whole heartedly disagree with you on the players knowing the rules set.

I agree they don't need to be system nerds, the Viari and Oman players show that they understand the basic rule set and the gameplay/roleplaying is fine.

Jim and Bin-Win have on the other hand do not. What is Jim's wizard school? As an 8th level mage it took 20+ hours of recorded game play to finally figure out the Firebolt does 2d10 dam at 5th. He still can't figure out his saves or + to hit. Chris just accommodates them both for the sake on getting on with the game.

In the the dragon fight video, the first encounter was a frost giant. Jim wasted every single one of his spells(and a counterspell on a NPC party member) on the giant. making him useless in the dragon fight. I could go on and on.

For those of us who understand that this is entertainment that is one thing, but as D&D continue to grow, new players may assume that this is the norm.

[Joe the Rat]

They guy who knows the rules and has a plan, the guy who knows the rules and tries to make everything an Acrobatics roll, the guy who sucks with rules and numbers, and the "answer is always axe to the face" guy. The goofy voices DM. And everybody making jokes.

It's not teaching you how to play, it's showing you what a game of D&D is like.


(My favorite season is when they visit Jim Darkmagic's family, and that had almost no combat.)4th edition game, almost no fighting. :smallwink:

[Giant2005]

I thought it wasn't going to be available to watch online.

You can watch it here (https://www.twitch.tv/pax/v/87638811).

[Alcibiades]

They're just on such a tight schedule, it's not possible to get caught up in rules too much or they won't be able to resolve the adventure. That's also the reason Pat gets so much leeway from Chris, he's the player who tries to analyze everything the most and asks a bunch of questions what he can do, so Perkins just tells him yes so he makes his move. ("You can put it wherever you like, Pat" - so he stop taking forever just moving)

None of AI really play 5e regularily AFAIK, they're just familiar with the basic systems from previous editions. I think the only one who might still be play regularily is Krahulik - I know he showed off a bunch of stuff he made for his 4e campaign - but he probably stuck with 4e, or he might just be busy demoing Thornwatch.

[LaserFace]

I love the AI franchise and Chris DMing it as entertainment....but I whole heartedly disagree with you on the players knowing the rules set.

I agree they don't need to be system nerds, the Viari and Oman players show that they understand the basic rule set and the gameplay/roleplaying is fine.

Jim and Bin-Win have on the other hand do not. What is Jim's wizard school? As an 8th level mage it took 20+ hours of recorded game play to finally figure out the Firebolt does 2d10 dam at 5th. He still can't figure out his saves or + to hit. Chris just accommodates them both for the sake on getting on with the game.

In the the dragon fight video, the first encounter was a frost giant. Jim wasted every single one of his spells(and a counterspell on a NPC party member) on the giant. making him useless in the dragon fight. I could go on and on.

For those of us who understand that this is entertainment that is one thing, but as D&D continue to grow, new players may assume that this is the norm.

I think there's a difference between Casual Pleb and Doesn't Know The Rules. They still understand what HP and AC are, what a to-hit bonus is, what advantage means. There's more to the game than that, but the substantial parts are pretty well understood. From what I can tell, a lot of folks who don't frequent RPG forums are on a similar level.

Lack of mastery is completely manageable from a DM perspective and I can think of approximately zero problems that would come from new players behaving this way. "Whoops I forgot an attack" or "Whoops I asked to use a spell in a slightly wrong way" is basically a non-concern compared to the chemistry of the party, and I'd rather play fast-and-loose with dirty newbs until they developed a stronger grasp, than alienate them simply because they haven't put time into reading mechanics.

[Alcibiades]

Part of that was poor time management on his part with the glade + red dragon thing soaking up a ton of time. Their banter is absolutely the best part of the show, but it got kind of blatantly obvious near the end how much he was trying to rush the show along to avoid going over time.

From my perspective, it was just a bad call to have the castle be made -that big-, since it begs for a prolonged combat encounter. I don't think that really meshes too well with these players - or at least with my experience as a viewer. The banter in-combat is usually fun but the best parts of the PAX shows are the non-combat stuff.

[Thrudd]

Which I understand and accept. Given the situation, with the time limit and a live audience, he gives a consistently amazing performance. I can't imagine anyone else doing better.

However, I was hoping when they moved to the weekly episode format that they'd get a little bit more crunchy. I like the weekly episodes, but it doesn't have the same energy as the live shows; at least if it was more rules-y, it would have a different additional appeal. Perkins is the head of D&D, I would enjoy hearing him delve into some rules clarification or even game design theory once in a while.

(My favorite season is when they visit Jim Darkmagic's family, and that had almost no combat.)

Me, too. I was hoping in the series Chris would actually help them learn the rules and be a little more tactical. I find them somewhat entertaining, I like the whole adventuring corporation idea and jokes that Jerry has made his own.

But I am consistently disappointed with their lack of understanding of the game and frustrated with how lenient Chris is. Instead of suggesting things to the players that help them learn their characters actual abilities and are consistent with the rules, he just says "yeah sure" to every ridiculous thing they say. D&D is not that kind of game, and anyone watching this as their only example of the game will have the wrong idea about several things. (Ie, my wife, who now thinks D&D requires having an elaborate set-piece model on which the entire game will be played)

I can see and hear Chris' frustration sometimes, as well, but the live games have different priority than real playing and he knows that these guys have little interest in the game. Of course, they only play D&D a few times a year, and I get the feeling Mike and Scott don't particularly even want to play but it's now a sponsored thing and they have to.

Pat Rothfuss and Jerry think more like D&D players, mainly Pat, and that's because he played old school D&D back in the day. But even he is not clear on the new rules and abilities hus character has.

[Byke]

Lack of mastery is completely manageable from a DM perspective and I can think of approximately zero problems that would come from new players behaving this way. "Whoops I forgot an attack" or "Whoops I asked to use a spell in a slightly wrong way" is basically a non-concern compared to the chemistry of the party, and I'd rather play fast-and-loose with dirty newbs until they developed a stronger grasp, than alienate them simply because they haven't put time into reading mechanics.

Totally agree and in the AI series Chris does a great job of just going with the flow. A DM playing fast and loose with new players is some of my fondest memories of playing D&D. (Like everyone having the exact same inventory sheets and skills....everybody including the mages having vorpal swords and belts of fire giant str..ect..ect).

That said a newb vs someone having at least 30+ hours of experience playing on video in just 2016 and representing D&D/getting paid to do it, all I would like is a little more effort put into caring about the game and mechanics.

The AI group is fun to watch and have great chemistry as a group...my only gripe is some of the members could put a little more effort into actually learning the game and representing it properly. I don't want to see rule lawyering just some basic knowledge and imagination used other that Benign Transposition or Raging through an impossible giant door...

**EDIT as for the set I agree waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy to elaborate for just a 3 hour sessions. What a waste :) ***

[RulesJD]

*snip*

**EDIT as for the set I agree waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy to elaborate for just a 3 hour sessions. What a waste :) ***

I'm willing to bet an amount of money equal to however much that set piece costs to make that Chris has planned on the party getting there MUCH sooner in the night and thus have more time to set if off. He basically let them **** around (great entertainment I'll grant you) in the beginning a lot and had to rush through the end. Which unfortunately was the entire point of the main set piece.

[Thrudd]

I'm willing to bet an amount of money equal to however much that set piece costs to make that Chris has planned on the party getting there MUCH sooner in the night and thus have more time to set if off. He basically let them **** around (great entertainment I'll grant you) in the beginning a lot and had to rush through the end. Which unfortunately was the entire point of the main set piece.

It's been the same way several times with the set pieces. They often barely get to explore them. I think he'd do better just to tell them how they get to the castle/dungeon/set piece and why they're going there, ask them what resources they would like to have taken with them. It's a twice-a-year game, it would make more sense just make every sessions a one-shot episode and dive right into the actual adventure immediately after the expository text reading.

[tsotate]

I don't want to see rule lawyering just some basic knowledge and imagination used other that Benign Transposition or Raging through an impossible giant door...

Also, since when did Benign Transposition make it into 5e? I loved that spell in 3.5.

[Byke]

Also, since when did Benign Transposition make it into 5e? I loved that spell in 3.5.

I asked myself that very same question :) But Chris does give alooooooot of leeway, or he simply doesn't know. He seemed to genuinely not know if the spell was valid or not, what the range and condition were to cast it.

But it's part of the Jim lore so to quote Chris "Sure why not"

[Temperjoke]

Some of it is due to the transition of characters to 5e, a number of their abilities, Jim's spells especially, had to be converted for the new rule system. As for the set pieces, some of that is also due to the setting too. During the series they put on youtube, it was just regular maps and descriptions, but this is a main stage event at PAX, so even if it's a bit overboard and doesn't get fully explored, it's part of the show and entertainment, just like all of them being in costume.

[RulesJD]

I asked myself that very same question :) But Chris does give alooooooot of leeway, or he simply doesn't know. He seemed to genuinely not know if the spell was valid or not, what the range and condition were to cast it.

But it's part of the Jim lore so to quote Chris "Sure why not"

Conjuration Wizard level 6 ability.

That's how we know Jim is a Conjuration Wizard.

[Alcibiades]

Yeah, they also considered using Benign Transposition during the Vault Heist part of the series.


I'm willing to bet an amount of money equal to however much that set piece costs to make that Chris has planned on the party getting there MUCH sooner in the night and thus have more time to set if off. He basically let them **** around (great entertainment I'll grant you) in the beginning a lot and had to rush through the end. Which unfortunately was the entire point of the main set piece.

He didn't really ''let'' them mess around as much as he was a willing participant. Much of the lead-in was of his own creation - the red dragon, the scrying orb, dropping the orb, the silver dragons showing up, etcetc.

Also, even if they had started the castle sequence earlier, they'd still have to rush through parts of it. There were so many enemies in that castle, it'd have taken at least two sessions to take them all down in regular combat, if they could have managed it at all.

At PAX Prime they usually go the extra mile on decor and accessories, I think they just got a bigger budget this time to dress things up.

It was a bit of a waste of the money that went into that castle, but I prefer the loony stuff over watching AI play out the initiative order for 3 hours straight. :smallsigh:

[Giant2005]

Also, since when did Benign Transposition make it into 5e? I loved that spell in 3.5.

It isn't a spell, it is a special ability that is unique to Jim (he can do it at will). Kind of like Viari's singing.

[RulesJD]

It isn't a spell, it is a special ability that is unique to Jim (he can do it at will). Kind of like Viari's singing.

Please see my prior post. It is not unique to Jim.

It's the level 6 Conjuration Wizard ability.

[Byke]

Please see my prior post. It is not unique to Jim.

It's the level 6 Conjuration Wizard ability.

Yah but does Jim know that he is a conjuration Wizard :P and as written the 6th level ability is 30 ft and requires line of site....not to 100Ft + switching with guy falling a mile above ground.

From a player perspective he should be evocation or enchantment since his favorite spells are fireball or suggestion.

[RulesJD]

Yah but does Jim know that he is a conjuration Wizard :P and as written the 6th level ability is 30 ft and requires line of site....not to 100Ft + switching with guy falling a mile above ground.

From a player perspective he should be evocation or enchantment since his favorite spells are fireball or suggestion.

Did you watch the show? Chris literally said that he was going to ignore range and line of sight for that ability because it was cool.

It also makes sense for the subclass given that he is always conjuring doves.

[Byke]

Did you watch the show? Chris literally said that he was going to ignore range and line of sight for that ability because it was cool.

It also makes sense for the subclass given that he is always conjuring doves.

Yes I did watch the show and Chris thought it was a spell and not a class ability. But I will give you conjuring the doves...even though the 2nd class level ability does say inanimate objects.

Let's agree that Jim doesn't conform to the magic using rules as written, which is fine for entertainment purposes. But he is still a terrible wizard player....which is also fine.

**Edit Spelling**

[Hopeless]

Just finished watching this on Twitch can summon explain the ending?

Is Curse of Strahd the next scenario they're running through?
Aren't they going to rescue Portesia let alone finding Kylo?

And what about Force Grey?
Will they have a second season to resolve their side of that adventure?

[Thrudd]

Just finished watching this on Twitch can summon explain the ending?

Is Curse of Strahd the next scenario they're running through?
Aren't they going to rescue Portesia let alone finding Kylo?

And what about Force Grey?
Will they have a second season to resolve their side of that adventure?

When "Kyle" aka Aeofel showed up in the game, I was half expecting Wil Whedon to make a guest appearance at PAX to reprise his character. But I guess that is probably not really going to happen. Since they didn't find out what happened to the Dran Enterprises people at the cloud castle or even see any of them, that plot thread is still dangling. I'm sure they will have escaped and in another adventure they'll show up again.

I don't know if AI is going to do anything with Curse of Strahd, since they seem to have skipped over it already.
I guess we'll have to wait until the next PAX to see what they do. Honestly, any ongoing plot feels irrelevant to me, as infrequent as the games are. They are just a device for Chris to show off some element of his latest adventure path while the guys attempt to make funny for the audience.

[Alcibiades]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another youtube series, though I guess it's not likely they'll do another one before PAX East.

Will Wheaton and Scott Kurtz had a major fall-out around the time he stopped doing the shows. (possibly the reason he stopped, not sure) It was an all-bridges-burned kind of deal so I didn't really expect him to show up, or ever again for that matter.