On this installment of the Backstory to the Future arc, a dead body serves as the catalyst for a long lasting friendship. Kroy embraces his inner arsonist, Bort performs and old family tradition and Nubz contemplates leaving the pirate life behind.

“No, I don’t know about any…pancakes. What do pancakes have to do with anything?”
-I have absolutely no idea what the context of this quote is, but I googled ‘Cyclops quotes’ and this popped up. Whatever it is though, it’s X-Men related

Cyclops suffer from what we’re going to call ‘Joan Jett syndrome’. They have a bad reputation. But that’s mostly because they get mad when people steal things from them. Then those people are like “why you mad bro? Damn, these Cyclops are jerks.” Meanwhile Cyclops is actually pretty chill and Odysseus is the jerk.

Also, maybe elephants have been the true Cyclops all along? Join Kyle and Alex as they try to determine whether these one-eyed shepherds are friends or fiends.

This week Nubz relives her first attempt at leading a raid, Kroy works with his French twin to set up a heist at his old monastery and Bort, well Bort poisons himself a lot and we finally learn where Scrambles came from.

“The Addams Family started, when Uncle Fester Farted”
-I mostly just wanted an excuse to type out ‘farted’, but I guess a Crawling Claw is just Thing anyway so it kind of fits.

The Crawling Claw definitely has one of the most unique names in the Monster Manual.
Ok maybe that’s not true. But it does have the most unique… ummm, actually there is pretty much nothing unique about these little dudes at all. But that doesn’t stop Kyle and Alex from having a blast with this week’s episode.

There’s something just so perfectly silly and absurd about these severed hands that it’s almost impossible for them to not sit at the top of any “best creatures in D&D” list.

But are they friends or fiends? Give the episode a listen and then let us know what you think.

In part 2 of Backstory to the Future, The Gang confronts their past. Well, Bort doesn’t. Bort fights a boar and gets some body modification done. But Kroy is reunited with his old master and Nubz returns to her hometown… kind of.

“I’m half a bird,
a snake that flies away.
I don’t know where my soul is,
I don’t know where my home is.”
-Huh. Did you know that Nelly Furtado was a guardian of the gods?

The Couatl is the most majestic creature we’ve covered on the show so far. It’s a colourful, benevolent snake-bird protector demi-god that will never lie to you and always has you best interests at heart. Which is nice because the only other snakes I can think of are Kaa and the guy from the Simpsons and neither one of them are exactly stand-up characters. Oh and the guy from Smash Bros that I don’t like playing as.

So come give the episode a listen, learn about the D&D lore as well as the real life version of the Couatl and then let us know if you think they are friends or fiends.

In part 1 of the ‘Backstory to the Future’ arc, Nubz gets stuck in a time loop and Bort The Grappler actually does some grappling. They both find a treasure that they both individually deem ‘my precious’. Meanwhile Kroy heads back to his monastery and we inch closer to finding out just what the heck kind of felony he has committed. Is it backstory time? I think so.

The Cockatrice in D&D lore is nowhere near as cool as it should be. So Kyle did some extra research and we talk about the origins of the real cockatrice.

Honestly, the best part about this episode is that we learned that a ‘Fart Egg’ is a real thing.

But is the Cockatrice a friend or a fiend? Give the episode a listen and then let us know what you think.

This week Kroy tries to play some tricks on El Diablo and the Gex, Bort has his own mini crossover episode with Jurassic Park and Nubz (actually Alex) cries a little bit. Everyone gets mad at DM Kyle and they declare he is a sociopath. They might not be wrong.

“Come on feel the noize
Cloakers eat your boys”

Did you know this was a cover and not a Quiet Riot original? I sure as heck didn’t. But it’s fitting because Cloakers are basically covers too.

“How does that even make sense Kyle?” you ask.

I don’t know, it doesn’t really make sense. But Cloakers are just stingrays, so they’re like a cover version of a ray, and a Ray by any other name would smell as- ok yup, this has officially gotten away from me.

If you wanna get a better handle on Cloakers, just come give the episode a listen. And then let us know what you think. Are Cloakers friends or fiends?