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24

The Campaign: Guilt Trip

October 4, 2023 by Tim


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Acher4
Acher4
7 months ago

ROFL!
That’s just such a great finale to this arc.

Risky
Risky
7 months ago

This is why you always pick their pockets.

Rolan7
Rolan7
7 months ago
Reply to  Risky

Yess… that’s why we do that… 😉

Greevar
Greevar
7 months ago
Reply to  Risky

Who wouldn’t check the dead cleric they’ve been adventuring with for items that would revive a dead body? Your party should be keeping track of that in case someone dies.

TheHalfBoy
TheHalfBoy
7 months ago

Two just had that knife ready to go, eh?

Rolando
Rolando
7 months ago
Reply to  TheHalfBoy

It feels like a callback. Don’t know how familiar you are with the way Tim portrayed the four players in the beginning, back in CAD 1.0. But before they would play D&D, they’d just lead regular gamer lives while constantly killing each other since they could re-spawn. They’d always have some weapon at the ready.

I take it you read one of the first campaigns they went through, the one called “Best Served Cold.” Where we first meet Groff’s father. Player One doesn’t take too kindly to Player Four there at the end, either.

i dont know
i dont know
7 months ago
Reply to  Rolando

They killed each other at the start of CAD 2.0 as well. First one was December 12, 2012, https://cad-comic.com/comic/in-character/

(Also I hate that this was over 10 years ago already)

Eric the White
Eric the White
7 months ago
Reply to  TheHalfBoy

DM has been killed once already in this campaign. At least, who knows how many more off panel.

BaufenBeast
BaufenBeast
7 months ago

Were the insanely expensive resurrection offers an attempt to get the party to search Tobyn’s pockets?

Killiak
Killiak
7 months ago

So you DIDN’T loot your buddies corpse!?

What a bunch of n00bs.

Urazz
Urazz
7 months ago
Reply to  Killiak

This isn’t just being a bunch of n00bs, but a failure as adventurers of epic scale. We must take away their adventuring license for failing to loot their dead comrade.

Jedi
Jedi
7 months ago

Knew it, it would have been better to stick with crystal Tobyn !

7egert
7egert
7 months ago
Reply to  Jedi

crystal Tobyn didn’t tell about the scroll, meat Tobyn did

Casper
Casper
7 months ago

**Chef’s kiss** for at finale 😀

Lily
Lily
7 months ago

This is a good example of taking the ‘no meta’ stance too far. At the core, the first priority of any game should be to have fun. Which means it is okay to occasionally tell people stuff they shouldn’t know, if it is going to enhance the fun of the game. Also you could of just had it fall out of his pocket or something.

MyBigPony
MyBigPony
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

Ye but they had an insane adventure and also didn’t have to use the scroll. I’d call it win win.

Lily
Lily
7 months ago
Reply to  MyBigPony

It would be fun for most players, but in this case none of them wanted to go on the adventure. They were all railroaded into it against their will and hated it. Which is proven by their reaction, and them insisting over and over they didn’t want to do it. Which goes to the other big thing, you should know your table.

Carti Blak
Carti Blak
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

They weren’t really railroaded- they turned down other options, like paying full price for a resurrection.

Rolando
Rolando
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

It’s a very obvious, transparent case of “we enjoyed it, but we don’t wanna admit to it.” They are all clearly the “I wanna act cool about it” type. Look at Player One’s reaction, regarding the daddy’s salvation. He literally squeals with joy, then tries to pretend he didn’t in front of the DM. Honestly, and with all due respect, your comments make it sound as if you have a hard time figuring out basic human behavior. I’m not one to guide myself by the majority opinion, BUT I do pay attention to it. Maybe you should too, seeing as… Read more »

Lily
Lily
7 months ago
Reply to  Rolando

I am honestly surprised that “don’t railroad people into doing stuff they hate” is apparently a hot take, but maybe I shouldn’t be. I have sadly known quite a lot of toxic players around the d&d table(and these are friends, who I generally like as people, but playing a long term campaign with them can be a pain).

As for figuring out basic human behavior, I have never met an actual real person who was that emo, who would pretend to hate stuff they actually loved. I am sure they exist, but I wouldn’t call that the ‘normal’ response.

Rolando
Rolando
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

You also fail at basic text comprehension. Shocker. 1) “Don’t railroad people into doing stuff they hate” is a literal mistake from you, since the word “hate” does not apply because, as I said… They enjoyed it. I even gave you one undeniable example of it. When your counter-argument relies on literally dodging what I said, to repeat yourself as if I hadn’t tried to refute that already… You’re clearly failing at basic logic as well. 2) Do you know what “annecdote” means? Apparently you don’t, since you use it as if it were solid evidence. “I never saw it… Read more »

ouRKaoS
ouRKaoS
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

Worth it for the nose arrow.

scottsmom
scottsmom
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

How was any of what they just went through not “fun”?

Lily
Lily
7 months ago
Reply to  scottsmom

None of the players enjoyed it, so how is it fun for them?

Rolando
Rolando
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

This is a PRIME example of “it’s okay to NOT tell people stuff, because it certainly made for a fine adventure.”

DanD
DanD
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

The question, to me, is always “is this something the characters would likely know from simple interaction”. Do I, as a player, remember that we distributed a rez scroll from loot 2 years ago? No. Would my character, for whom the events were only a couple of months ago? Who also doesn’t have my entire mundane life distracting them from remembering? Very likely. Same with does the character carry rope? Do they have close family members? What’s their favorite food? These are all things that a person knows about the close friend they’ve been fighting beside for years, that I… Read more »

The Legacy
The Legacy
7 months ago
Reply to  DanD

I disagree. Every party worth their salt would check the body for anything of value for the rest of the party before committing to something like this.

CTOWNS
CTOWNS
7 months ago
Reply to  DanD

Personally I always paid attention to anything of reasonable value distributed, at least mentally. If it wasn’t granted in secret, I would have remembered something as valuable as the rez scroll even if two years went by. I was the guy remembering every spell or magic item the mages had and how many charges they had. Then again, I played only as a kid with a DM who was very loose with the rules and regs, so he probably would have just guided the course of events to whatever craziness he wanted, anyway…

kaladorn
kaladorn
7 months ago
Reply to  CTOWNS

So, as my group went into a cadence of 2-3 games a year (usually about 7-10 hours each session) due to distance, people did start forgetting stuff. I’m going to assume you might play weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly. But try it every 4-6 months between games so if the thing you might be trying to recall could be 2 years ago real time… The Mage (read:Necromancer, but those are illegal, so a Mage) was the only arcane character and the big lore person so he got every odd magic item that nobody else needed or couldn’t use. At one… Read more »

leduk
leduk
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

well, I think this was a fun campaign tho.

KaoGen
KaoGen
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

And some people find this fun. Plenty of people, as a matter of fact.
Why else would DnD have implemented death at all as a mechanic?

Terrible DM
Terrible DM
7 months ago
Reply to  KaoGen

Because Gygax was a hardcore simulation player, to the detriment of story and gameplay. Magical healing exists as a gaming concept because he wasn’t satisfied with people sleeping off major injuries and his players were sick of the logistics of medieval surgery and weeks of recuperation every time they came back from a dungeon.

People can and do make fun stories while using the mechanics provided, but D&D was never designed for that, it just kind of congealed out of war games.

kaladorn
kaladorn
7 months ago
Reply to  Terrible DM

…in your opinion. The story is what happens when you play out the events. That’s what those of us who came up creating our own modules because there went many and most of us homebrewed our worlds. Back then, dying wasn’t a big thing because a character could be made in 10 minutes and at 9th level, maybe 15-20 minutes, not like 3E and 4E. Dying was what made your choices matter. It wasn’t Epic Fantasy. It was somewhat Darwinian. But it was D&D. And (lol) we wanted it that way. And some still do. Magical items served a mechanical… Read more »

Lily
Lily
7 months ago
Reply to  KaoGen

Plenty of people find it fun, but none of the people in the game found it fun.

Lumi
Lumi
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

thankfully the feelings and actions of the players are specifically tailored to deliver a series of punchlines and is not actually indicative of how Real People would work through this

Lily
Lily
7 months ago
Reply to  Lumi

Well obviously it is a comic, but it is entirely possible that real players might not enjoy this. Specifically they got very sidetracked, and there are real players who would much rather stick to the main plot and make progress on it, rather than get completely distracted.

Disloyal Subject
Disloyal Subject
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

And those players would be well within their rights to avoid this plotline the DM hastily cooked up to provide an alternative spending money or questing for a church by not rejecting the first couple options he pitched. Or, hell, avoiding this one too.
Not that this campaign has much of a main plot anyway – more like each character has plot hooks being used.

Groober
Groober
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

I got the impression that they did find it fun, though. They’re just expressing frustration at the difficulties they faced in their classic way of dealing with it – by murdering each other.

Eric the White
Eric the White
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

The purpose of roleplaying is to have adventures, not be efficient.

kaladorn
kaladorn
7 months ago
Reply to  Eric the White

There is more than one reason to roleplay and to have adventures. Sometimes it is to test out a world and experience it as you travel it and try to understand how it works and how a character I am playing would react in their social and economic and religious contexts. It’s also interesting to see GMs that have figured out how their world works so it feels more real and finding bits of that over time is a great part (discovery!). Some just like to roll dice and smash things. That’s fine if you like it. Some want to… Read more »

Lily
Lily
7 months ago
Reply to  Eric the White

It isn’t about being efficient. Some people would rather focus on the main plot, over side quests though. For example, if the story was to go save the princess from a dragon, then fighting kobolds in the swamp for no reason what so ever, is kind of a pointless thing. It qualifies as adventure, but it doesn’t progress the story. Ideally, the kobolds are on the way to the dragon, or you need to retrieve something from the kobolds to defeat the dragon. That way it all ties together. If you are fighting the kobolds just to level up prior… Read more »

VibrantEvolution
VibrantEvolution
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

Oh c’mon how lame is that?! I just laughed out loud and I would have done the same if this would happen in a real D&D. This was an awesome joke XD

Esc
Esc
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

This is like critiquing an sitcom episode for characters getting into absurd hijinks.

It’s a comedy comic. If they did things right there wouldn’t be any reason to watch.

James
James
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

I don’t know why you’re getting so many downvotes, I agree entirely. I mean it made for a fun comic, which is cool, but as a DM that’s a shit move.

Lily
Lily
7 months ago
Reply to  James

I have a feeling that some of them might of tried this or similar things in real life.

CTOWNS
CTOWNS
7 months ago
Reply to  Lily

LOL @ the massive neg rating. IDK why they hate it that much 😀

Stephen
Stephen
7 months ago

Considering the amount of tooling about 3 had to put up with from 1 and 4 during this quest session; I’d call not mentioning the rez scroll until the very end fair payback

Though, if 1 and 2 decide to duct tape 3 to the ceiling then that would also be fair payback 🙂

Michiel
Michiel
7 months ago

Would anyone else in the party even have been able to use that scroll? Guess it depends on the system. ?‍♂️

Rolando
Rolando
7 months ago
Reply to  Michiel

I was wondering the same thing. I know next to nothing about D&D’s system. But it’s clear from their reaction, that it would’ve made things A LOT easier for them. Perhaps Flizwit can use it, or hiring someone else to do it would’ve been way cheaper and simpler.

Mike
Mike
7 months ago
Reply to  Rolando

Makes You wonder how easily obtainable those scrolls are… Why look for a ress specialist, if You can just buy a scroll and make any mage use it?

Rolan7
Rolan7
7 months ago
Reply to  Mike

A scroll of that level in DND is quite expensive, on top of needing a cleric (or a high Use Magic Device) to use the thing. There’s a surcharge for storing up magic in this way!

Chibi-Acer
Chibi-Acer
7 months ago
Reply to  Michiel

Probably not under normal D&D rules. But they likely could’ve gotten someone else who could to use it to do it for a fairly cheap service fee. The scroll basically replaces the material component costs, which is primarily what made the process expensive.

Ray
Ray
7 months ago

I bet Loff the Mighty would argue the trek was well worth the time, as well as the spirit the old man asked the party to retrieve.

Lrbearclaw
Lrbearclaw
7 months ago
Reply to  Ray

A spirit who is totally NOT gonna be the BBEG…

Rolando
Rolando
7 months ago

LOVING IT xD Tim can present a story with moving, even solemn parts to it… Then do a silly bit by the end, without disrespecting the story but actually ENHANCING it.

It is a bit unrealistic, that no one checked his pockets (you know how handsy many characters are). Or that “I have a rez scroll” wasn’t shared knowledge, as it’s important for everyone…

But it can happen easily enough, and it made for such a fine adventure. 11/10.

Last edited 7 months ago by Rolando
Ocramot
Ocramot
7 months ago
Reply to  Rolando

It’s totally possible the DM mentioned the cleric having that scroll, but none of the players took notes.

Rolando
Rolando
7 months ago
Reply to  Ocramot

Spoken like a DM that has experienced the pain of watching players miss something important, just because they didn’t pay basic attention. I hear you.

To me, note-taking is vital to the spirit of roleplaying. It doesn’t make sense for a character to forget something that happened hours ago in game time, only because the player experienced it weeks ago in real time. Also because real life memories take more space and a higher priority in our brains.

Note-taking prevents that, at least to some degree.

Clappers
Clappers
7 months ago

Turns out they got his nose, but not his wallet

ThatGuy
ThatGuy
7 months ago

I’ll be honest: I was worried the murderous impulses of the Players were forever lost to their characters only. Seeing One strangle Four while Two is holding a knife brings joy to my heart <3

Rolando
Rolando
7 months ago
Reply to  ThatGuy

I hear you. It feels like a callback, even. To how the players were shown, back in their beginning. Which was over a decade ago.

It’s weird, to know I’ve followed CAD for close to half my life. Been here since the very start, or nearly so.

I don’t regret it, though. Tim’s work is awesome.

Last edited 7 months ago by Rolando
Kenju
Kenju
7 months ago

And this ladies and gentlemen is why you ALWAYS loot the bodies of dead allies.

Lrbearclaw
Lrbearclaw
7 months ago
Reply to  Kenju

Or: Tell them if you have an item to bring you back if you fall in combat.

Pajuka
Pajuka
7 months ago
Reply to  Lrbearclaw

But whatever you do, for God’s sake don’t mention you have a res scroll as your first words rejoining the realm of the living. Your character has to know the absolute cost / struggle it was to res you without the scroll. You take a moment to appreciate your party and the lengths they’ll take to save you.

Then spoil the hell out of that touching moment with the scroll knowledge

Chibi-Acer
Chibi-Acer
7 months ago

LOL, nice job 3 for being a good DM/player ?

Cheez
Cheez
7 months ago

Cake is lining up a killing shot and 4 is just rolling dice to save 3 from 1 and 2.

Achirae
Achirae
7 months ago

Point of order! You cannot tell me that Cake didn’t immediately go through meat-Tobyn’s pockets. The only explanation for that scroll being in his pocket now is that she took it and did everything she could to sabotage the quest so she’d get to sell it off or whatever. Her crystal-Tobyn attachment, it was merely a lackluster final attempt to convince everyone to not res meat-Tobyn, and when no one was looking, she snuck the scroll back into Tobyn’s pockets because otherwise she’d be (rightly) blamed for the entire series of events.

VibrantEvolution
VibrantEvolution
7 months ago

HAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHA! That was awesome XD

C Johnson
C Johnson
7 months ago

always loot the corpse!

Timmeh
Timmeh
7 months ago

I had my characters find a priceless gold bell, but it was painted in copper to hide it, was forgotten for decades, was untarnished, didn’t make copper-y sounds when hit, and was heavier than it should have been. They never even checked it, just put it on the cart, and sold it to a traveling merchant to save on space. I only felt a little guilty that they lost that money, but I hinted at it SO HARD. Like, even the merchant was sweating and stammering when trying to buy the gold bell and left very quickly. It wasn’t until… Read more »

foducool
foducool
7 months ago

a bit of their fault for not trying to loot him kek

Phaet
Phaet
7 months ago

I bet only one of them can read it anyway

TamTroll
TamTroll
7 months ago

oops.

jack
jack
7 months ago

ah, just like the good ol’ days.
nothin’ like a strangulation to get the circulation going.

…if anyone gets the reference, i couldnt help it once i had the thought and heard it in his voice.

7eggert
7eggert
7 months ago

They were there when he bought it, weren’t they?

Scarsdale
Scarsdale
7 months ago

No. 3 did it for the sake of the story, which I get, but C’MON! Really? GAH! Yeah I would have been right behind him with a soul-eating dagger with the rest of them! And you can see why I never played it, too many a-hole DM’s out there. That and going to the old comic shop, the counter manned by a bored stoner who couldn’t tell the difference between Marvel and DC, the play-room filled with young fat guys that haven’t showered in a week… Very attractive… DnD has been around for a long time, home play was rare… Read more »

Last edited 7 months ago by Scarsdale
Groober
Groober
7 months ago
Reply to  Scarsdale

It’s a shame you’ve had such a bad experience. It sounds almost like you’ve had the full TV/movie experience when approaching RPGs. Ooo, was there a bully called Biff as well?

Scarsdale
Scarsdale
7 months ago
Reply to  Groober

I love RPGs, been playing them since the very first one came out on Atari 2600. What I hate is people that think “Oh, he seen it on TV/Movie somewhere” Where do you think that stuff comes from? Writers use RL only they “spice it up.” It was a crappy, run down comic book/ magazine shop in Gary, IN. It was 1976, I walked in to see what they had, seen the door open to the play room and asked about it, I was hoping it was where they had the “adult” stuff at.The guy at the counter was 19… Read more »

Groober
Groober
7 months ago
Reply to  Scarsdale

Ah, that wasn’t sarcasm, bud. It was genuine amazement with a added quip at the end for humourous effect.

Scarsdale
Scarsdale
7 months ago
Reply to  Groober

Don’t mind me, too many trolls and RL people that make comments like “there’s no way you’re that cool” to my face. small minded people that hate it when someone has a more “colorful” life. not that I wanted it, it just happened.

Kazuma Taichi
Kazuma Taichi
7 months ago

Went back in the archive, and I’m surprised that Cake never suggested looting the body

That said, 3 seemed hearbroken enough at the time of death that I don’t think Tim had decided on today’s punchline way back then

Alex
Alex
7 months ago

When was the last time they actually tried to kill him? It’s been a minute.

Kevin Greenbaum
Kevin Greenbaum
7 months ago

Kill him, use the scroll and sleep that entire session off like a bad hang over.

Crestlinger
Crestlinger
7 months ago

‘Would you not have wanted to travel to another plane?’
‘Would you have Not wanted to meet up with your dad again?’
‘Would you Not have wanted to shoot off a nose arrow and get a purpose to go hunting for a crystal one?’

CTOWNS
CTOWNS
7 months ago

2 brought out a Tanto! (I learned that from Starfield)

Saixak
Member
Saixak
7 months ago

It was still a worth-while journey. They saved Loff from an extended stay in what was essentially Purgatory.

Pulse
Pulse
7 months ago

youre telling me Cake didnt loot that scroll?

Groober
Groober
7 months ago
Reply to  Pulse

She wouldn’t have mentioned it. Then no nose arrow.

Xero
Xero
7 months ago

And that’s a hy every party needs a rogue

Ben
Ben
7 months ago

Emphasis on “had.” That scroll has been in Cake’s pocket for most of the arc.

Rae
Rae
7 months ago

They didn’t loot his body? What kind of friends don’t loot their dead friend’s body?

Bloof
Bloof
7 months ago

He was willing to lose his character before mentioning the scroll. Dedication. But who was the other soul they rescued? Why was she chained?! I’m invested in these answers now!