Thoughts: Dice, Camera, Action 1-15

#WaffleCrew

Sure enough, after seeing the character Strix in the latest Acquisitions, Incorporated live session I wanted to go back and watch the series she came from (so good job Wizards of the Coast). During the last few weeks I’ve kept the Dice, Camera, Action episodes on YouTube playing in the background while doing other things and I have to say that, overall, I enjoy the series.

Chris Perkins, as usual, masterfully DMs the sessions. It’s been interesting to see how he has adapted to players missing sessions, just as any normal DM must do in a regular home game. I almost wonder if he asked the players to each come up with a quirk to explain how their character behaves when they can’t be there; one of them gets drunk, one of them hides or runs away, etc.

Instead of just playing with WotC employees, as has happened on the previous WotC YouTube steam games, Perkins recruited various Internet personalities to join the game. I think that move produced some good results and interesting characters. I also appreciated the guest stars from YogCast, though I have to admit that they – at times – outshined the regular cast of characters.

Holly Conrad plays as Strix, a tiefling sorcerer. This was the character that got me to watch in the first place so I was happy to see her as her typical overdramatic, tense self.

Anna Prosser Robinson plays as Evelyn the human paladin of Lathander. At first her fake accent annoyed me, but I realized she is satirically playing the do-gooder and thus her character has become one of my favorites.

Jared Knabenbauer plays as Diath the human rogue. It took me a while to tell that his character was a rogue since he doesn’t necessarily initiate doing rogue-like things. The player is funny, but I wanted to see the character do more. When he ***SPOILERS*** died and became a ghost, ***END SPOILERS*** he became a much more interesting character. Unfortunately, he has missed several sessions.

Nathan Sharp plays as Paultin the human bard. In real life he is a musician and has been in multiple bands so I wish we could hear him actually sing or play instruments, but he’s still an interesting and playful character. I just wish he didn’t have his character get so drunk during the quests.

For sessions 1-15, they have been playing Curse of Strahd. It’s fun to see how Perkins interprets the official modules (since we know he helped put them together). Since the entire campaign is focused on this one module, they spend a lot more time on the little details than I was inclined to do when I ran my group through the same adventure path. It’s fun to see the characters react to the NPCs and situations of the horror setting. The group came together, originally, looking for waffles somewhere in the Forgotten Realms; thus the #wafflecrew on Twitter.

Overall, I highly recommend this stream/series for people who enjoy D&D and enjoy watching others play the game. I’m looking forward to continuing to watch it and see what happens to the Waffle Crew.

(Above: #WaffleCrew Fan Art)