Title: Dead Meat
You can watch this episode here.
I made an episode guide for Dice, Camera, Action right here. It's got everything you need to know about this show to follow along. I also marked off which episodes I think are the best.
There is a Dice, Camera, Action section on reddit.
Ezmerelda: I forgot what had happened with Ezmerelda. A few episodes back, Strahd bit her and she uttered a vistani curse. Both of them vanished into mist. It looks like she is now a vampire. I wonder what the curse was?
The Party
(Anna) Evelyn - Human Paladin of Lathander
(Nathan) Paultin - Human Bard
(ProJared) Diath - Human Rogue
(Holly) Strix - Tiefling Sorcerer
(Mark) Ezmerelda - Vistani NPC
Last Time: Paultin tried to escape Castle Ravenloft but it looks like Ezmerelda stopped him. The rest of the group is trapped in the Amber Temple. They obtained the Tome of Strahd. Evelyn was cured of her lycanthropy.
Hey... we start off with a little animated intro! It looks like a shelf with Blinsky toys. There's a little Diath hanging from a noose....and there's an Evelyn werewolf with an axe! It ends with the Strahd doll popping out of a coffin. Fantastic.
Then we get a title. Wow. Now we're getting somewhere!
In the Amber Temple, a bunch of vampire spawn are coming at the group.
Over at Castle Ravenloft, Paultin fell and took 17 damage.
The group stops Chris and demands to know why Chris lets the Acquisitions Inc group ride dragons while Evelyn can't even keep her horse alive. They think Chris loves the Acquisitions Inc group more than his "real kids."
Paultin tries to wake up Falkon, but he is 100% dead. Ezmerelda is on a battlement 90 feet above him. Paultin gives her the finger.
Ezmerelda walks down the wall. Jared is wondering if we're about to have some PvP. Paultin casts suggestion on her, which actually breaks Strahd's control over her.
In the Amber Temple, the group rolls initiative. Every character rolls a natural one. I don't think I have ever seen that before. Then Chris rolls for the lich - natural 1!
Wowww. The first vampire attacks. Natural 20! Freakish!
The vampires grab and bite the heroes. Strix uses misty step to teleport up to a ledge. The lich uses a measly cantrip and the group is mildly outraged.
 |
| Ezmerelda |
Back at Castle Ravenloft, Paultin and Ezmerelda creep into the castle and make their way to that room with the colored stones that can teleport them. Chris kind of hinted that Paultin should go there. Paultin actually tried to leave via the drawbridge but that was not happening.
The vampires are sucking the life out of the group. Diath uncanny dodges with his veins.
In the Castle, Paultin and Ezmerelda are trying to decipher the riddle to figure out the locations they can go to. Here comes Ass Smear! Interestingly, Ezmerelda knows that Ass Smear is actually named Rahadin. He lied to the group about his identity. Chris accidentally called him Rahadin on about 3 different episodes, but the group never seemed to pick up on it.
In the temple, Strix is dropped to 0 hit points. Wow, the vampire attacks again on unconscious Strix. That's beyond alarming. The vampire drops her off the ledge. Diath catches her.
Back in the Castle, Nate is taking forever to make decisions again. He eventually decides to go through a portal to the Amber Temple. Ezmerelda tries to hold Rahadin off. Ezmerelda uses a red stone to open a portal to a different place.
Anna is being really funny. She's going off on the vampires, scolding them like a mother.
The vampires run. The heroes go to heal Strix. She's DEAD. DEAD! That's where we stop.
Ohhh boy. If you read the vestige spoiler thing in my review of episode 21, there is a way to bring her back to life. Or who knows, maybe she will rise up as a vampire.
Holly says she actually has three other characters ready to go. Awesome. I wonder if they are also Planescape-related?
The group will be doing a live stream at TwitchCon in 3 weeks. Chris says he has a vampire costume ready to go, and there might be a special guest, too. It sounds like the whole group is going to wear costumes. Holly is going to make them. She is amazingly talented. I watched her make that Strahd doll. She did it in half an hour and it is incredible - beyond professional quality.
Overall
Good show! Everyone was really pumped up today. I think they're all still buzzed from the Acquisitions, Inc. game. It almost doesn't matter what this group does in the game, they are just plan fun to watch. The group chemistry grows every week. These are the good times and what is really nice is that I think we may be in this zone for a very long time.
It must have been really cool for them to watch Chris run the Acquisitions, Inc. game. I actually like this group more than that one and I think that given enough time, this show can be a really big thing. I do wonder if the fact that they are connected remotely hurts it in some way. I will definitely enjoy seeing them all sit at a table together. Maybe they could tape some shows like they did with Force Grey and Acquisitions Inc?
I am definitely glad Paultin is back with the other heroes. Let's never split him from the group again.