Just screaming into the void about random topics because I need a way to collect my thoughts #2
I've been watching VLDL's NPC D&D up to E48 (Awesome Sorcerer) and I don't know how things might change in the other 4/5 of the campaign that I've still to watch (hoping that some things will) but so far Baradun and Greg (and Adam and Alan respectively) are the only player characters I've never gotten annoyed by.
The constant shenanigans are fun but Bodger and Bob (Rowan and Ben) frequently take jokes way too far and repeat them so often that it just becomes annoying to me. (Like the batman bit, I only found that moderately funny to begin with but Bob's been repeating it so much these past few episodes that I just want him to shut up about it.) Bodger especially commits so hard to being an absolute nuisance that I frequently wish he just wasn't there at all. He has great and hilarious bits as well, don't get me wrong, but it feels like no "serious" scene can just unfold naturally because he immediately gets bored with everything and screws around to make something "funny" happen. The plot is really interesting to me so far so I wish they were a little more able to balance the plot bits with the comedic bits which I feel like everyone else is willing to do to a certain extent (Baradun especially) but almost every time they try to think something through or pay attention to Rob's hints and the way he indicates for the plot to develop Bodger inadvertantly does something to completely throw them off. (Like the whole Dirk thing. He seemed like a character Rob planned a potential sidequest with but instead of treating him fairly normally with how willing he was to help them and maybe getting to discover that sidequest, Bodger was so insistent on incompetently probing him about all his trauma that short of physically making him shut up - which I'm not sure they'd be allowed to do since it's PvP and how Bodger would respond to that - they had no way of approaching Dirk sincerely. They certainly could've tried harder, no doubt, but with the way that entire encounter went I have a pretty strong feeling Bodger would've just kept talking over them regardless.) And that just annoys me so much because the rest then goes all in on the comedy too and it destroys/derails anything they were initially trying to do. The same goes for Bodger constantly asking what's going on or what they're doing because it stops most of the few interesting conversations they're trying to have about the plot when they have to repeat the most basic things over and over. Yeah, it's in-character for Bodger to be stupid and a total dunce in social interactions ("that's what my character would do!" says hi) but you could easily play him in a way that still has him be stupid without exaggerating it to this frustrating degree.
At this point Baradun is by far the character I am most invested in. Some of that is certainly pre-established bias as I always find him the most entertaining in their skits but I also like Greg and Bodger a lot in them while this campaign just more and more cements my love for Baradun over everyone else. He's the only one who feels like he's truly engaging with the story and the character arc he's clearly being set on. (And it's such an interesting one too!) Bob has potential but I'm not nearly as attached to him as I am to the other three that I already know and love from their skits so he has a much bigger hurdle to clear to get the same kind of investment from me for whatever he has going on with that dark voice in his head. (Along with me just liking character archetypes like Baradun more than archetypes like Bob.) He's entertaining with his terrible dice luck but he's not at a point where I would say that I truly care about his backstory or his arc (if he's going to have one).
I technically care about Greg and Bodger already but their issue is that they feel completely unconcerned about the story as a whole. It makes sense to a certain degree with their characters not really being the adventure type but it's very damning in how they had to be forced into participating in the story in the first place by literally having any other alternative cut off to them instead of finding a way for them that invests them into the plot on a personal level. I don't know what kind of prep they did before and inbetween all these sessions (and I don't have experience with D&D myself so I completely understand being overwhelmed by the mechanics and constantly forgetting stuff, I don't mind that) but with these two in particular it feels like Rob has to do everything for them because they're not even trying to build anything with their personalities the way Baradun is (or even Bob though admittedly he has a lot more freedom with his character). No thought to how their characters might change through their new circumstances and experiences or how their backstories might play into whatever is going on. (Like, apart from some gags here and there, would anyone even notice that Bodger was supposed to have grown up in the Dead Frost, the very area that they're in right now? He doesn't act like it at all.) Greg has definitely changed (quickly becoming unconcerned or even excited about the others' shenanigans like Bob exploding stuff from the inside) but it doesn't feel like organic character development but rather Alan just wanting to participate in the shenanigans or forgetting certain stuff along with the rest of the party (like not protecting the sled dogs or not focusing their attacks on Wither rather than the other wolves). There are wonderful scenes where he feels entirely in-character (like still insisting to try and talk things out with the wizard who's tried to kill them three times already or being sent in to negotiate as the least threatening member of the party) but they're not the majority.
In general Greg feels the most disconnected to how his character is portrayed in the skits. He's enjoyable, nice and funny, I don't mind him at all, but he doesn't feel like "Greg" a lot of the time which contributes to my lack of investment in what he manages to accomplish. His skills don't feel fitting to him like Bodger's and Baradun's do or come naturally from his character. I get it's very difficult given he's supposed to be the most generic villager character possible, the "straight man" who reacts to all the weirdos and weird stuff around him, so he doesn't have as strong of a personality as Baradun and Bodger have. Still, I wish they would've managed to translate Greg into a player character with him feeling more like, well, Greg. Baradun as the High Sorcerer is easy, being a sorcerer who does all kinds of powerful magic and spells is in his name. Bodger as a blacksmith is physically strong and has somewhat of an experience with weapons so him being a Barbarian who just hits everything as hard as he can perfectly fits him as well. Artificer is probably the closest they could get to the kind of shopkeeper/farmer character Greg is and I really like how his tools are just "everyday things" he would have like a bucket or rope or Poppy (more or less) evolving into a robot sheep with a cannon but being this kind of tinkerer is still not something that seems to come naturally from Greg's established traits. His skill development is the same, it just goes into completely random directions, e.g. his acting ability which is fun but comes out of nowhere for the character. In contrast to that I'm much more invested in seeing Baradun develop his skills because it's both him relearning abilities he already used to have and choosing specific spells that are so very Baradun (like Expeditious Retreat) but also learning them in an entirely new way which provides great entertainment.
Even when Baradun is the one to derail things or start joking around he does it in a way that keeps things contained without majorly disrupting whatever they're currently doing (like the casino bit). It might just be a difference in playstyle (the others preferring to just "fool around" in their fantasy world and not trying to write any "deep character explorations") which is completely fair but then I just honestly prefer Adam's playstyle of fooling around AND creating a story with his character at the same time.
The combination of all of this leads me to kinda watch this whole campaign firmly seeing Baradun as the main character and the others as comic relief side characters that are entertaining so long as they don't take too much focus away from the main act and his story - an interpretation which Baradun would absolutely love, I'm sure. I mean, that's just what this canonically is, what are you talking about?
