Dunce (Dunce) Revolution

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It's another character class centered episodes as we chat about everybody's favorite goody two shoes: the Paladin. Once again, Buzz sits down with a veteran level and current player in his campaign, Will, to chat about the class Will is actively playing. 

But first, we talk a little shop and about the nature of reviews, doing justice to creators vs. being consumer advocates when critiquing a piece of media, and the overall state of the industry lately. If you just want to hear some good old fashioned TTRPG talk, skip to around the 18 minute mark (18:00).

We also find some time to have some very early thoughts about the 2024 Monster Manual, which has a surprising number of excellent updates. Will also returned from a trip to NYC, where he saw not one, but two DND live shows and shares his experiences at the theatre.

I know the more hip generations talk about whether someone has "aura" or not, but I don't think they mean in the way a Paladin does....or do they?

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(It's not just a potentially randy joke in the title, it's also a Nosferatu (2024) reference....in fact let's say it was a Nosferatu reference first in case this isn't allowed or something, and any other interpretation wasn't our intent all along. Smoooooth.)

No, but obviously we are discussing Warhorse Studio's "Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2" (published by Deep Silver), the sequel in what is now a series of Late Medieval action RPGs with some deeply immersive elements. To be completely at the Renaissance Fair about it, we get a little more critical in this episode as we get into the finer details of the game play. But, we did end up giving it a good score overall. 

What's that you say? You weren't aware we were also officially reviewing games now? Well guess what, we are! And you can check out Buzz' written review on our new website, www.duncerevolution.com, if you're more into reading or need to see a numeric score for some reason.

We also briefly talk about the PSN monthly gift game for February 2025 "High on Life" and the "Monster Hunter Wilds" beta, you know, if you happened to be able to play it when the PSN finally came back online this past weekend... 

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So, to keep it brief, Porter played Mahjong IRL with some middle aged ladies in his neighborhood and he couldn't get enough of it. So then he went home and booted up Yakuza Kiwami to continue to playing the Microsoft Solitaire equivalent of Mahjong. And now he might actually finish Yakuza Kiwami (and it's about time).

But first we start off with something slightly newer:  Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (Jump Over the Age, 2024), a fresh take on cyberpunk, resource management, and most of all, dice rolls.

And for no good reason, Buzz played some Dead By Daylight and learned the skill gap is real and that he will probably just stick to watching drag artists stream it on Twitch.

Also, we come to the agreement that Goro Majima is probably the best character in any video game and we cannot wait for Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

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If you couldn't tell by the episode title, Buzz is somewhat excited to have received the latest Nippon Ichi Software SRPG "Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero" early. In fact, not even some weird cold symptoms could keep him from mouth-breathing his way through some early impressions.

Meanwhile, Porter shares his experiences with the surprise drop that was Ninja Gaiden 2: Black from Koei Tecmo. And since we let him get away with honestly too much on this podcast, Porter also shares his recommendation for the comic series "Die" (2018-2021, Image Comics). No, but actually it sounds really good.

And because of the previous item, we get sidetracked talking about isekai as a genre and how the deep VRMMO plots could lay off some of their contrivances. 

"My life is like a videogame, trying hard" - no it's not. Stop. We got real problems to contend with and serious turmoil on a global scale. Now let's play some D&D...

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Will joins the party again as we swap old stories of our time around the table fighting everyone's favorite vampire, Count Strahd von Zarovich. We deftly work our way from Ravenloft's humble origins in 1983 to the more contemporary Curse of Strahd module from 2016 and its revisions since.

Spoilers for both the Curse of Strahd and Vecna: Eve of Ruin modules for D&D 5e (2014). We don't delve too heavily into plot spoilers, but if you plan to play through this module as a player, you might want to save this episode for after your campaign. However, if you're a DM, come on in and learn some tricks to really mess with your players!

Naturally we meander all over the place, covering such topics as Mordenkainen's magnificent marketing schemes for spell names, why owning a piece of property may be one of the greatest plot hooks of all time, and how many times you can pull the doppelganger trick on your players (Answer: infinite number of times).

So, push that girl into the healing pound, take a few levels in Cleric, and grab some Strahd electrum as we dive headlong into Barovia!

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Board game talk on your video game podcast!? Blasphemy!

No, daddy chill, because Final Girl is, like, just that good. For real, for real.

Anyway... We do spend a good first chunk of this episode talking about the excellent and modular board game "Final Girl" from Van Ryder Games. From the innovative dual cover peel-off design of the boxes to the mix-and-match game play of killers and settings, it's quickly becoming one of the best things we have played so far this year. (And I don't mean that as a backhanded compliment either. Like, yeah it's January and early in the year, but trust us, it's really good)

Now back onto digital media. We have been playing a smattering of games as the year finally kicks off, including Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle Remastered from NIS (all in anticipation of an actual Phantom Brave sequel later this month!), Dynasty Warrior: Origins, Tales of Graces f Remastered, and Citizen Sleeper. Oh, and I try to convince Porter to play Disgaea, because you can't break the fourth wall if it was never there in the first place.

Oh, and uh, the Switch 2 is a thing. But that's all we know.

~I want Chanel 9 boots/'Cause we are living in a material world/And I am a final girl~

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We were on one this episode, so please, take multiple seats and listen to us ramble about nothing and be excessively catty. February, if you could hurry up and deliver some games to play, that would be great.

I suppose some highlights include us discussing the joys of playing old Pokemon games using Nuzlocke rules, some lighthearted dunking on the Nintendo Switch, and tutorials for how to be extra chatty in Marvel Rivals.

For legal reasons:

This is a parody podcast featuring a parody episode that is itself a parody special. All statements are nonsensical and are not based in reality. Statements and commentary found in this recording should not be taken as fact or as realistic or truthful reflections of reality. Furthermore, the statements made in this episode are completely bombastic, purposefully hyperbolic, and not at all a reflection of our thoughts, opinions, or affiliations, nor are they meant to be taken as serious conjecture or scrutiny of any persons, organizations, companies, conglomerations, or any other parties therein. All references to individuals and events in this episode are entirely fictional, and due to the content of this episode, it should not be viewed by anyone. Any viewpoints expressed in this episode are purely conjecture and should be treated as unfounded allegations with no basis in reality and are therefore squarely within the theater of the mind's personal opinion. Moreover, no thoughts, jokes, bits, scams, segments, interactions, discussions, ovations, movements, brain storms, or conspiracies from this program should influence the thoughts, behaviors, actions, or purchasing decisions of anyone in any shape or form. Additionally, if there are any concerns over the content found within this episode, it is in some ways protected under "fair use" or some variant of "free speech" or more likely, a nuanced combination therein. Consulting the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide will likely not be helpful in this scenario. The Player's Handbook (2024) may be more helpful, but that is on a per reader basis and individual interactions with that subject matter are subject to change overtime. As an aside, I hope old dusty Musty was joking when he said he would buy Hasbro and therefore own Dungeons and Dragons. If he had seen the film Richie Rich (1994 Warner Bros. Pictures) starring Macauley Culkin, then he would be well aware that no matter how much capital you throw at a situation, it won't garner you real friends, which is ironically, the lifeblood of D&D. It makes one wonder if someone had invited him to play D&D, if we wouldn't be seeing a different timeline altogether? Speaking of D&D, that film adaptation starring the nice Chris actor was good, wasn't it? I think they finally captured the nuances of playing D&D with your friends, in that the stakes are totally high but also goofy. Sort of like The Gamers: Dorkness Rising (2008 Dead Gentlemen Productions) film, but with more production value and the budget to hire Hugh Grant as the bad guy. He makes a believable bad guy, but what was his class supposed to be when he was an adventurer before turning on his party? TV Tropes says he's a rogue, and I guess the shoe fits. Speaking of rogues, I still think Astarion is the best character from BG3, but this is largely due to his voice actor Neil Newbon doing that funny "Goosestarion!" ditty. If you go to Esty right now and type Goosestarion into the search bar, you would be amazed at how much product is returned in that search. It's just mind-blowing how much a 30 second song from a stream can impact the world at large. Although, I bet if you walked around a train station shouting "Goosestarion!" a lot of people wouldn't have a clue what you were doing. You'd probably be asked to leave. Anyway, don't stop, never give up, hold your head high and reach the top. Bring it all back to you. Weird we didn't talk about Sonic right?

It's a cruel, cruel summer.

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It's time for us to put out our definitive and empirically curated list of the top ten best games of the year 2024. It's absolutely mental how original we are, because I have never seen any other show, regardless of medium, utilize this easy to generate content format.

Buzz and Porter played the most games this year (lol, get a life nerds), so they were chosen to craft their top ten lists in complete secrecy from one another. Oddly enough, there is just as much crossover as not, which leads to normal healthy discussion and not pouting about an invitation to play Helldivers 2 that never came.

Last episode of the year on the last day of the year, feels natural, cyclical even. We'll be back in 2025 with season 3. Until then, have a safe New Year's Eve!

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The Dunce (Dunce) Dungeon team is back to roll investigation on the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide, an updated core rule-book for Dungeons and Dragons 5e. 

Yes, we think it's weird that it's coming out this much later than the PHB. Yes, we think it's weird that the 2024 MM won't come out until 2025. Yes, we think it's weird that they did it in this order when the MM is arguably the most mechanically critical book for encounters.

We also meander through a variety of side-topics, as is our way, including THACO, Magic: the Gathering being the lifeblood that seems to sustain game shops, other ways to spend a point of inspiration, the cultural impact of Stranger Things normalizing TTRPGs, and the love and hate relationship we all have with Roll20.

Please pardon us, as we also reminisce about scenes from our latest campaign, we are just very excitable. Rest assured, you are not being sold on some Live Play scheme. We leave that work to the people who actually know how to make money off of this media.

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Well, we meant it when we said we gotta go fast, because we saw Sonic the Hedgehog 3 opening day/night (depending on how you frame it) and it was pretty, pretty, pretty good! (And apparently audience meta scores, critic aggregate scores, and the box office would all agree with that take.)

We play the Hero story first on this episode by avoiding all spoilers right until about the 20 minute mark, after that, it's all systems go on spoilers. You've been warned.

Anyway, have a happy, safe, and restorative holiday(s).

(Live and learn!) Hanging on the edge of tomorrow
(Live and learn!) From the works of yesterday
(Live and learn!) If you beg or if you borrow
(Live and learn!) You may never find your way