TITANSGRAVE Episode 3 - Danger at the Market

It's Tuesday! That can only mean one thing... well, it can mean lots of things. Like it's my birthday in 3 days. But in this particular case it means that there's a brand new episode of Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana, starring Wil Wheaton as he runs a game of Green Ronin's Fantasy AGE for his celebrity players. "The Beer Baron and Keg-E bid farewell to the party after considerable celebration and revelry. In an attempt to learn more about their mysterious orb, the group heads to Nestora in search of Farkiah the Antiquarian. Excited for an opportunity to bargain, barter, and more importantly, shop, the heroes quickly head to the market district, but they soon find that it holds more than goods. What does the city-state have in store for our heroes? Tune in to find out."

[video=youtube;Ypt6oit7Xqw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypt6oit7Xqw[/video]
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[kitsune9]

Wow! Loved this ending!

 

[camilaacolide]

Ahahahahahahaha!
I must admit, I enjoyed this so much!

I took my own advice from the last episode and just turned off my DM's brain.
Instead of analysing it as an RPG Session, I started watching it as an RPG Show.
And, in my not-so-humble opinion, this was the best episode released!

This is the third session of TITANSGRAVE and, as such, you can clearly see that some mileage is already accumulating from the previous sessions, with phrases and situations that create a strong identity to this party of characters. For example, the curious thing is that nothing happens in this episode! Besides a scene that serves to setup the cliffhanger ending, all the time is spent just shopping at the market. But because you already know the characters and the inside jokes, it shines! I laughed in so many situations!

There are a lot of funny moments and a lot of references to situations from previous sessions, that it really makes you feel like you’re part of this group! Everybody seems to be more engaged and having a lot more fun at the table! Also, in this session particurlarly, there was a lot more back and forth between the players and NPCs and a lot more interaction with the scenery, which made the episode richer and more dynamic!

Curiously, and I guess it’s because I watched this with a much more laid back approach, it was the first time I realized that a soundtrack keeps playing during the show, which adds a lot to the mood. At first, I thought this was added only in this episode, but after going back to the previous two episodes, now I hear it’s always been there. So good, it gets my seal of approval!

Remember: grab a bag of chips and a coke, and tune in to a nice 45 minutes RPG sitcom.
Go have a good time! The next episode has so much potential, I can’t wait!


Disclaimer: Due to a recommendation from Fildrigar, I recently watched Dragon Age from Tabletop. I won’t go into it, but I hated it. Nevertheless, it made me better grasp the limitations of this format of show, and how much TITANSGRAVE is pushing it. Probably, this also helped me appreciate much better Wheaton’s effort here.

"Five gold and a party!"

 

[camilaacolide]

Praise given, I have a complaint:

[sblock]I was so disappointed when they opened the mysterious sphere they've been carrying since the first session, and all the "magic" discs inside were only items that improved the characters mechanically (+3 to this, +5 to that...) I was expecting something much more mystical and imaginative, which would reveal some great things about the world or the story... oh well...
[/sblock]

 

[Von Ether]

Now I can see this show hitting its stride and things picking up. I like how they show off more of the art and seeing the player's visible excitement over the city map warmed my cockles.

And seriously, Dragons and Donuts are so going into my next game.

 

[werecorpse]

I watched the first episode and was underwhelmed. But I will watch the next few as I would expect it to take a while to hit it's stride. But I am grateful because it did draw my attention to Critical Role on the Geek & Sundry site. If you haven't watched it give it a go. It's D&D 5e at about 9th level at the start, loose rules application, longer sessions (2-3 hours) with a bunch of voice actors as GM & players. Some of the character stuff is awesome.

 

[Stacie GmrGrl]

I do wish that this game had much longer game sessions. It's kinda disappointing that they are under an hour long.

 

[camilaacolide]

I watched the first episode and was underwhelmed. But I will watch the next few as I would expect it to take a while to hit it's stride. But I am grateful because it did draw my attention to Critical Role on the Geek & Sundry site. If you haven't watched it give it a go. It's D&D 5e at about 9th level at the start, loose rules application, longer sessions (2-3 hours) with a bunch of voice actors as GM & players. Some of the character stuff is awesome.

I'll have to check it out as well!
But the first episode is 3 hours long, so it will have to wait a little!
Thanks for the tip!

 

[GMMichael]

Setting: awesome. Players: great sports. Wil: can GM for me any day.

But AGE is wearing on me a little. Whenever someone makes a test, a little timer starts in the back of my head, and I think to myself "you know, D&D (or enter your favorite system here) could have made that test twice as fast." I'm not seeing the benefits or pizzazz that stunts are supposed to inject. And just to nitpick, my pet peeve is when a character does something really easy - like talking to someone or looking around - and the GM wants a roll anyway.

Now, in Wil's defense, he's granting a better outcome based on what that test result is: you don't just see people milling around with that Seeing test (?), you also see CCTVs everywhere. And I think he can get away with it, since he can edit the show. But for those of us not producing a show, some of those tests need to be handwaved.

Anyway, I like the game and the show overall. I also like the damage reduction from armor, and the gridless combats. I hope the show continues to entertain, and reveal all that AGE has to offer.

 

[dd.stevenson]

I really like the production values in this show, though I'm not itching to go out and play AGE based on what I've seen.

I'd really like if roll20 took some cues from this show: the option to have face cards pop up at the bottom of player's screens (rather than plopping it in the middle of the screen) would be neat.