There and back again; a Neverending Tale. Neverending Nights

[Tawmis]

*looks at the map* OK... you start, go through a forest, then through mountains, then through desert, and finally a dragon... hmm. *thinks* Would this have something to do with KQ5 or KQ6, by any chance?

You did notice the "dragon mountain" right?

D'oh! Yes, I noticed the Dragon Mountain, but didn't connect it to Sierra. That's QfG5!
@ the episode. Salt for sale! Your salt needs are my concern!
Also, nice "Copa Cabana" reference. "The things she could do with a banan... ahem."

Heh - well, it's the Sierra logo - without the circle around the mountain.

And yes, the Salt Episode - it's funny because all of the "characters" are based off of real life personalities (exaggerated). For example, my wife, who voices Amiee the Armorer - loves to shop for clothes; so naturally, she was armor vendor; Poppy eats salt with _everything_ - like I'm pretty sure she'd season a salt stick with more salt. And the wizard that they're about to meet is voiced by Chad; and... Well, I won't give away his personality quirk until after Episode 6.

And the Copa Cabana thing; we were going to actually do a vocal singing of that song (using a karaoke background track), but never got around to it. The version of our song has completed lyrics and everything.

[Tawmis]

Episode 06, 1080p HD - "He's A Magic Man."

Quick, short, episode where Peter and Grayson meet Alan. THE ASTOUNDING!

[Rath Darkblade]

Alan the Astoundingly Intoxicated.

It's too bad they didn't ask him to join their party. They could do with a mage... or a cleric... or a rogue... heck, they could do with anyone with a little common sense!

But now they've broken one of the cardinal rules of adventuring: do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they can flame-broil you with a fireball. And do not steal from wizards, for exactly the same reason.

Curiously enough, when I ran an AD&D session (years and years and years and years ago), my party decided to send their rogue to try and pickpocket a wizard who was quietly drinking in a corner.

The guy playing the rogue rolled a nat 20 on his pickpocket roll, and everyone around the table were high-fiving each other, thinking "SCORE!" etc. Then the rogue asked what he found in the wizard's pocket.

The answer? Nothing but a slip of paper that said: "Hi! My name's Saruman, what's yours?"

[Tawmis]

Alan the Astoundingly Intoxicated.

Yes! And the story behind that one is - Chad, who voices Alan the Astounding - we were all on a cruise (me, my wife, Chad, his girlfriend, Poppy {who played the Salt Vendor in the previous episode}, her then husband, Adam {who plays Grayson}, and his then wife) - and quite a few drinks into the night (we were all pretty intoxicated) - Chad challenged me to a drinking contest. (Foolish move, if you knew my drinking prowess back in the days of our youth!), and I accepted. We were racing to the bottom with our drinks, so pounding them back, as quickly as they came. He asked my wife, what I hate, she said tequila (which is the truth - but when you're so many drinks in already, you pretty much cease tasting any flavor) - so he ordered two shots - and I slammed it down before he could. He finally admitted defeat, got up to go to the bathroom, and literally blacked out - mid step, and collapsed on the ground! (Which is why we see Alan the Astounding, being so intoxicated, and also passing out - it's a reference to that night on the cruise). We had to drag Chad to the bathroom and splash his face with water. (That night, to make matters worse, in his room - he had gotten up to go to the bathroom - and accidentally walked out his cabin door - which auto locks behind you. He knocked on the door, but his girlfriend was so intoxicated, that she was knocked out... so he literally, wandered around the ship, in his underwear, looking for someone to help him back into his room)... Which is the reference of "... I just happen to be at this bar drinking my pajamas" Who knew there was so much behind such a short episode, right?

It's too bad they didn't ask him to join their party. They could do with a mage... or a cleric... or a rogue... heck, they could do with anyone with a little common sense!
But now they've broken one of the cardinal rules of adventuring: do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they can flame-broil you with a fireball. And do not steal from wizards, for exactly the same reason.

Ironically, Alan the Astound was slated for a much bigger role (there was going to be consequences for Peter & Grayson taking his magical money pouch). He was slated to team up with Andrea the Assassin (who was looking to snuff Peter & Grayson - you will see her coming up later). However, Chad couldn't commit to the voice acting, so we replaced his character, with another mage (Daniel the Destructive, who you will see coming up soon). Much later, Chad was able to lend his voice for a few small parts, so that we could include him in the series and "conclude" his storyline (although drastically altered).

Curiously enough, when I ran an AD&D session (years and years and years and years ago), my party decided to send their rogue to try and pickpocket a wizard who was quietly drinking in a corner.
The guy playing the rogue rolled a nat 20 on his pickpocket roll, and everyone around the table were high-fiving each other, thinking "SCORE!" etc. Then the rogue asked what he found in the wizard's pocket.
The answer? Nothing but a slip of paper that said: "Hi! My name's Saruman, what's yours?"

[Tawmis]

Episode 07 - HD - "Things That Make You Go... Boom?"

[Rath Darkblade]

Uhm, I can't see it...?

[Tawmis]

Uhm, I can't see it...?

Now?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bytt4jT ... OZ&index=7

[Rath Darkblade]

"I know this violates the law of physics, but, eh - I never studied law!" Thank goodness for cartoon physics.

Yes, these two definitely need some new armour and weapons. The warrior has nothing but a chain shirt and a short sword (now buried in the ice cube monster - would that be a re-skinned acid cube?), and the ranger only has "outdoorsy" clothes and arrows that are useless against anything but giant ice cubes. Maybe now that it's melted, they can gather all the little ice cubes, sell them to barkeeps throughout the world, make some money that way, and buy some decent stuff.

I like this episode. They triumphed despite being totally incompetent!

[Tawmis]

"I know this violates the law of physics, but, eh - I never studied law!" Thank goodness for cartoon physics.

That was the hardest line (explaining what happened) in the entire series for me...

Yes, these two definitely need some new armour and weapons. The warrior has nothing but a chain shirt and a short sword (now buried in the ice cube monster - would that be a re-skinned acid cube?), and the ranger only has "outdoorsy" clothes and arrows that are useless against anything but giant ice cubes. Maybe now that it's melted, they can gather all the little ice cubes, sell them to barkeeps throughout the world, make some money that way, and buy some decent stuff.
I like this episode. They triumphed despite being totally incompetent!

Actually, not a re-skinned Gelatinous Cube! As it turns out, if you mouse over it - it turns blue. Discovered that while re-filming it. So that's what I used this time to make it look like an actual "ice cube monster."

This was drawn to my attention after I filmed it - someone, when we originally released the episode WAY back in the day actually MADE an Ice Cube Monster skin inspired by our episode!

http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn ... be-monster

I can not even begin to say how flattering it was to learn that.

[Tawmis]

Forgot to update here...

Episode 08 - Peter and Grayson need some new armor after the explosion of the Ice Cube Monster! (Unfortunately this is one of the episodes where there was some audio issues, for quality)
Episode 09 - Now that they got some armor (spoilers!), they need to replace their weapons as well! (Who knew an Ice Cube Monster cause so many problems?)
Episode 10 in 1080p HD is now available!

Peter the Ranger and Grayson the Fighter come across their good, old, friend Pawl the Dorf - who wants their help exploring a cave. What could possibly go wrong?

[Rath Darkblade]

Ep. 8

Yellow armour?

"I look like a plum for crying out loud!"

I love how they talk about his rash in front of the lady. "Can we please get back to the armour?" And he finally gets the yellow armour anyway. Fun episode.
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Ep. 9

Oh dear... that weapon seller is creepy. By the way, why is there a goblin walking around behind them?

Also, how can they afford such good weapons with 10 gold? But then, maybe I shouldn't think too hard about this.

Ah yes... their old friend Paul the Dorf.
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Ep. 10

"Ah, yes, the Ice Cube Monster. Why didn't you say so?"

Creepy cave. Pawl the Dorf isn't a good salesman. How did he sell them that map in the first place?

Grayson hates being a human? What's to hate about being a human in NWN? You get an extra feat when you start, and more skill points to spend. Sure, you don't get infravision or darkvision or whatever, but so what?

I like how they keep arguing about whether the goblin is a troll or a bugbear.

"Let's all go! YAY!" Fight coming up! Maybe Grayson and Peter might actually get some XPs!

Fun episode again.
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[Tawmis]

Ep. 8
Yellow armour?
"I look like a plum for crying out loud!"
I love how they talk about his rash in front of the lady. "Can we please get back to the armour?" And he finally gets the yellow armour anyway. Fun episode.
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Hah! In the original (non HD from back in the day), after the credits there was a scene that talks more about the rash, as a flashback. When I re-filmed it, I figured it wasn't all that funny/important - and the general mention of the rash was good enough.

Ep. 9
Oh dear... that weapon seller is creepy. By the way, why is there a goblin walking around behind them?
Also, how can they afford such good weapons with 10 gold? But then, maybe I shouldn't think too hard about this.
Ah yes... their old friend Paul the Dorf.
---------------------------------------------

Each character has a story behind it - and the person who originally played the character, often made (creepy) sexual jokes. (I make all kinds of sexual jokes, but I feel like I know where the line of funny and creepy is!) So when we cast him as a weapon vendor - we figured we'd make all the weapons an endless sexual joke, to make it feel creepy. What's unusual about that episode, after we recorded and released it, we had a huge fall out with that person - and it's the only episode we completely re-recorded with a brand new person doing the voice (but we didn't change the character's personality, because we didn't want to rewriter the entire episode). So only a few people ever saw the video with the original actor's voice in it. I recently dug it up and posted it again, with the original voice actor. The re-filmed has the new actor.

Ep. 10
"Ah, yes, the Ice Cube Monster. Why didn't you say so?"
Creepy cave. Pawl the Dorf isn't a good salesman. How did he sell them that map in the first place?
Grayson hates being a human? What's to hate about being a human in NWN? You get an extra feat when you start, and more skill points to spend. Sure, you don't get infravision or darkvision or whatever, but so what?
I like how they keep arguing about whether the goblin is a troll or a bugbear.
"Let's all go! YAY!" Fight coming up! Maybe Grayson and Peter might actually get some XPs!
Fun episode again.
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This episode was where I think we finally found our groove. To me, this is where the series really starts to get good. We had, by this time, made our own little studio in a garage, planned out the rest of Season 1, and purchased a better mic and recording system.

The reason for Pawl the Dorf's reason for wanting Peter and Grayson to go with him into the cave is explained later.

The next episode is what most people who watched our series, enjoyed the most.

[Tawmis]

When we originally released this episode "back in the day" - it was a fan favorite. So much so that we would eventually implement the three goblins into the story much more...

Episode 11 - HD - Deep, Dark, Revenge

[Rath Darkblade]

Yes, that episode kicks rocks.

TBH, because of their accents, I couldn't understand much of what the goblins were saying (except arguing about what "cool" means, that the tracks were "mine" or "mine tracks" etc., arguing about the expression "that kicks rocks", and accusing the goblin non-ranger of being a ranger, because he can identify tracks or hear things that they can't.)

So no combat? Aw, too bad. Do the two adventurers ever end up fighting anything?

Nice ep!

[Tawmis]

Yes, that episode kicks rocks.
TBH, because of their accents, I couldn't understand much of what the goblins were saying (except arguing about what "cool" means, that the tracks were "mine" or "mine tracks" etc., arguing about the expression "that kicks rocks", and accusing the goblin non-ranger of being a ranger, because he can identify tracks or hear things that they can't.)
So no combat? Aw, too bad. Do the two adventurers ever end up fighting anything?
Nice ep!

Thank you! (Yes, it is difficult to understand what they're saying - I learned, way too late in the game - that there is a way to change the pitch, but still keep the speed of dialogue speed the same...)

The three goblins - in case it was missed...

1. Their names are alphabetical... Albert, Bob, Charlie. (This continues with other "NPC" type characters... Dink, Ellen, etc).
2. They're representatives of the three main characters...
Albert with sword = Grayson
Bob with axe = Pawl
Charlie with bow = Peter

In case that wasn't obvious.

As for combat - I do believe there is actually only three or four actual combat scenes...

When they fought the Ice Cube Monster in Episode 7...
At the end of Season 1 (Episode 21), when they "plan their attack" on the dragon...
Season Three, there's a combat training for Grayson...
Season Three, when they raid the final dragon's cave... there's plenty of combat in one particular episode, as they fight their way to the Dragon.

Combat, over all, was avoided - because it's rarely "funny." So unless we could do something wonky with it (like the explosion of the Ice Cube Monster), we tended to avoid using combat.