An animatic I made for The Adventure Zone! Audio is from Ep. 56. The Suffering Game - Chapter Six Check out my twitter if you want to see more of my art! / itsrobinss
Someone recently pointed out something I never noticed about this moment: each of the boys are put in a situation where they have to do the OPPOSITE of what their role usually calls for. Magnus needed to be rescued, Taako needed to be selfless, and Merle needed to cast the perfect spell at the right moment. They assumed one another's roles perfectly, and it's beautiful.
This is why I love Taako so much and why he’s so relatable. He’s been screwed over and rejected so many times that he would rather keep everyone at arms length than risk being rejected or betrayed again. This moment is where he decides to show a bond with someone else.
"Oh what's that? You're completely fucking my whole story idea for the sake of an utterly spontaneous moment of perfect character synergy and emotional catharsis that will define the relationships of the story from this moment on? Well...sure."
@@TheKelsey307 On the one hand, it is definitely a little scary to have your entire next arc upended like this. On the other hand, this fucking rocks, because of what it does for the characters and their relationships, and it opens new avenues for the story.
@@keaton5101 Really, isn't that just so perfectly Merle? The most important spell he's ever cast, and he cast it with no care as to how it's "supposed" to work.
@@keaton5101 I mean given the contexts the rule of cool HAD to be invoked on this one. Out of place for the actual spell but fitting within the description and absolutely hardcore in the setting
I love how from Merle, Edward, and Lydia's perspective, Taako says that super awesome one-liner and then faints. Just freaking death drops. Perfection, 20/10.
KappaRoss kinda sweet, too, because you never know what could happen in D&D, and it implies that he wanted to make sure he remembered those two, if nothing else. T-T
After the last TTAZZ and hearing that the boys were never supposed to be able to save Magnus at all and he was originally going to team up with Kravitz to fight the Hunger in the astral plane, and that this whole scene totally caught Griffin off guard and now it's one of his favorite iconic moments in the whole series adds an extra level of heartwarming and just like... damn.... they really Did that. It's amazing what the roll of a 20 and some great storytellers can do.
"The The Adventure Zone Zone" are some extra episodes where the boys talk about the campaign and answer fan's questions, it's super interesting and lets you appreciate a lot of scenes (like this one) on another light. I don't know if they are on Maximum Fun, but they are available in spotify (they are in order of emission so you have to search for them in between the other episodes)
I love this moment so much, and it works really well, but the amount of meta gaming that kind of went into it always bothered me, as Merle and Taako shouldn’t have known what was happening as soon as they did. I think it turned out pretty well overall but that part just always annoyed me.
The fact that the three of them are unknowingly in agreement of what they need to do still baffles me. Griffin has said this moment wasn't scripted and it blows my mind that Justin, Travis, and Clint all thought to work together and save each other without even talking about it.
I think part of that comes from continuously being so close to dying in Wonderland and at the end they really DIDN'T want to let that happen to any of them
SAME that always bothers me, I hope when they recreate this scene in the graphic novels they give us Taako calling out to him or at least looking visibly distressed by his bf's predicament lol
That's what makes it so great! The finale stuff was good resolution etc, but most of the big beats were for the most part fairly obviously pre-written by Griffin (not that there's anything wrong with that). This scene, though - the fact that it was character-driven and spontaneous probably makes it my favorite moment in all of TAZ.
Plat just my own opinion of course, but there are far fewer spontaneous moments. Griff doesn't let the group mess with his story much at all. It's a very different show now.
As liches, the Vogue Elves REMEMBER the war. And they’re powerful mages, with possible access to divination spells... I wouldn’t be surprised if they KNEW!
CLOAKER well, no, you don’t get to choose what you get when you cast the spell. You’re asking for help, possibly asking for something in particular, but what ally you actually get is up to god
CLOAKER okay, I was a little off. Here’s an excerpt from the spell description. “You beseech an otherworldly entity for aid. The being must be known to you: a god, a primordial, a demon prince, or some other being of cosmic power. That entity sends a celestial, an elemental, or a fiend loyal to it to aid you, making the creature appear in an unoccupied space within range. If you know a specific creature’s name, you can speak that name when you cast this spell to request that creature, though you might get a different creature anyway (GM’s choice).”
When #Taako was at first wanting to join the twins in Wonderland, imagine maybe he also wanted to be a twin again. They refused him, in a way. and now they are taking the only family he has left.
As cool as Magnus teaming up with Kravitz in the astral plane to fight the hunger sounds this is definitely still one of the best moments of the podcast
I loved this so much and I wish people would stop accusing Griffin of railroading the group. Like not only are they brothers who obviously love each other, railroading is forcing the group to do what you want. Railroading would be "okay you rolled a nat20 to escape but oh would you look at that one of those humanoid figures came out of nowhere and hit you into the portal oh no" More than a DnD podcast, TAZ is a story, and a story needs structure. You can't have the players running around doing whatever they want however they want because that's as entertaining as watching someone play sidequests in Skyrim. They're having fun, they're not complaining, and if you genuinely don't like where the story is going then don't listen to it.
it's even funnier when people accuse griffin of railroading bc the arms outstretched scene is literally the exact OPPOSITE of what griffin's plans were
@@loreleiloriestone9179 It's a sign of a great DM when you've just had someone destroy your entire plans for an adventure and you do such a good job of winging it that everyone thinks it was scripted.
Lewa263 Smudged hand was 100% a joke for this but here's kind of a Wonderland reason Magnus would have it: They're the two things he least wants to lose. If he does end up losing them, being forced to forget one or the other wouldn't it make sense he'd want some sort of anchor to remember and find them? Anyways that's just a overly complicated explanation for a gag bit I'm sure
Lewa263 Okay but I write things on myself a lot just because, including names and stuff he might just have written Merle and Taako on his hand just because
Great job. Loved this scene. Seeing both Taako and Merle bust out exactly the right spells to use in that moment to work as a cohesive team was fantastic
True, but it makes you wonder what if they didn't save Magnus or Taako didnt get a good str check? I really want to know what Griffin had planned but i suspect he gave them time to search for answers/told him what planar spells they had before hand. just imo
Yeah I think Magnus honestly wasn't supposed to survive that and that was gonna lead into some other stuff, but god it turned out SO MUCH MORE AWESOME.
Jared Bergeron the the adventure zone zone that got released today addresses that! Griffin had an entire mission planned with dead Magnus but tres horny boys did so goddamn good that they changed his story and had a great team moment! That time at camp good friend paid off
The moment when Merle reached for Taako was so good in the podcast, but oooh, when the music kicked in in the animation some tear welled in my eyes with a though "Oh, my sweet boys, they work so well together QvQ"
This is singularly the last kind of scenario that any DM expects, and yet it is also the kind of scenario that every DM secretly hopes to happen in their campaign - for their players to defy the fate you had in mind for them. It's beautiful.
no matter how many times I hear it, when griffin pauses briefly and says "...because you're dying," I get chills. it's delivered so fucking perfectly I can't even describe it
I love the air of calm to the characters dispositions when shit really hits the fan. You can totally tell the emotional connection between the characters and the amount they trust and rely on each other to work together! Which is really a feat we should attribute to Griffin's sly DM skills.
Great animation to go with this scene. This is honestly one of the sweetest parts of the adventure. Magnus is always jumping in front of other people to take the hit, but this time Taako, arguably one of the most selfish characters, rips his own soul out of his body to save Magnus. And then Merle casts a super smart spell to save both them and its just amazeballs omgggg
Gets me every time. This is why I love D&D. Larger than life moments like this. Characters with depth and purpose, banning together to tackle impossible odds, forge powerful relationships, and force those onion ninjas to do their thing.
I love this moment. It was so crucial to the character development of all of them. Taako was so desperate to not loose his family, because as aloof as he always seemed before he recovered his memory, he loved Merle and Magnus and couldn’t bear to lose them. Some part of his brain wouldn’t let him forget the connection they built over their 100 year journey through time and space. It’s even better now since we know that they shouldn’t have been able to save Magnus and that Griffin had a whole arc planned for Magnus in the astral plane, but they completely thwarted that with their characters’ love for one another
My first listen i had no idea how much "rule of cool" and changing of plans went into this moment. I legit thought this was the solution to a puzzle or something, like Griffin had seen them pull spells and rolls out of nowhere so much that he created an impossible scenario to make them get creative. Finding out this was never intended was a MAJOR recontextualizing moment for me, and an extremely hype one at that!
This! Exactly this!!! You can do both. They established early on this wasn't really going to be a "rules heavy" game and for this style of play they are so so good!!! There are merits to both
the real Finna Spring for starters, planar ally, the spell Merle used to pull Taako back, is supposed to take ten minutes to cast and has a pretty high material cost. Magic jar, your soul stays in the jar unless you are directly attempting to possess somebody and also has a casting time of a minute. But casting time and material components is something they mostly chose to ignore. They keep with the spirit of the spells and make for super interesting story telling and that's why TAZ is great. Critical role is an example of very rules heavy play. Some find it more enjoyable while some find it much slower to deal with. I find both to be excellent in their own right. It's just about how you want to play the game and present your story.
@@PaigeDyerASMR Well put! Yeah there are benefits to both approaches. Rule heavy play can lead to interesting mechanical stakes which can have unintended but cool narrative consequences (like some of the best moments in CR imo). But as long as everyone is having fun there is no wrong way to play.
@@PaigeDyerASMR gotcha ok. I think to get into D&D this more story driven less rules stringent play is kind of nice and maybe as you grt more into it go to rules heavy game play. Idk
6:42 taako's smile... that's how you can tell they're all really friends because he looks over at merle and sees him helping out and its just this smile of "i knew he'd come through, even though i give him a hard time, i know i can count on him when it's just the three of us and we need his help"
Oh my stars, your Lydia is _BEAUTIFUL!_ Also, A+ on the entire animatic in general! It's really impressive, the quality of the drawings over such a lengthy scene. Major props :D
MERLE'S HAND GOING UP AND ALL THREE OF THEM HOLDING ONTO EACH OTHER WAS AMAZING!!! 7:14 when he finally pulls them in was some Ghibli shit!!! Reminded me of Castle in the Sky or Howl's Moving castle, that floaty feeling! And before, him standing there over Taako's empty, collapsed body and staring at possessed Magnus gave me chills!! Wow!!!!! Awesome!!!!!
I love how this unintentionally implies that Magnus had Merle's and taako written his hand before he got possessed, because Edward didnt have time to write that. So basically magnus is a himbo who needs help with names
God this part was SOOO cinematic! Though I just realized: Merle's the only character who hasn't been properly mind-controlled at this point, with Magnus at 1 and Taako at 2. I'm worried for short plant grandpa in the end of this interlude :(
0:41 I love how none of them hesitated with that question. *Every member of this show knows exactly how strong word of mouth is when it comes to advertisement.*
This was absolutely gorgeous to watch. The way you depicted the characters up to this point was amazing, especially Taako, never seen such a fabulous elf before. Rad animatic through and through.
One of my favorite things about this scene is how the three instantly, almost simultaneously say "word of mouth." TAZ relies entirely on word of mouth advertising, so of course these 4 in particular know just how powerful it can be. That one instant really reveals the effect the audience has had on the McElroys and it's touching.
this part blew my mind! and oh my gosh, i love your character designs and interpretation of the scene! the little additions you did just made it for me! wonderful job!
Honestly, this is just awesome, I haven't seen many DnD podcasts or anything of the like but this is truely awesome and it really reminds me of some of the reasons I love DnD. You can create mystical worlds where, even against impossible odds, you truly triumph, and while you may have beaten fate at its own game, both fate and even death still has plenty in store for you
I think this moment is so goddamn iconic not only because it was spontaneous, but also because it was the first time each of them showed that they would sacrifice it all for each other, especially Taako, who is by nature a self-serving character.
i WISH i had words to express how good this is, and how hard it hit me !! INCREDIBLE !! have you sent this to any of the Good Good McElboys? they've gotsta see it
You did such a good job on this, I literally got goosebumps. Also I'm so impressed by the length of this, so many animatics are really short so I was delighted that this one was 7 minutes. Brilliant stuff. Totally subscribed and totally excited to see more of your work.
fucking beautiful. tearing up over here. The moment itself is a testament to the power of the kind of improvisational storytelling inherent to the show and to tabletop gaming in general, but on top of that, you animated in beautifully. It truly captures the weight of that moment for me.
This is ab-so-lute-ly stunning, I can't even begin to tell you how much- but I think my favourite is the way Taako stands right before projecting himself out of his body and the swooshy look to him in the astral plane. And Magnus' face, the naked fear on it when he realizes what's happening, wow. Also Taako's smile when Merle's hand comes for them!!
God this scene never ever fails to ruin me. Especially that moment in which merle casts his spell and the music kicks in full. I always just have to _laugh._ its not funny but the energy my body just forces me into is visceral. It fills me with an indescribable positive emotion. These boys are so fucking good at what they do. I think Travis does it to, right at when Clint says hes going to summon them back into the plain You did an _amazing_ job animating this. Your art style is gorgeous and you can see the effort that when into this. Phenominal work.
I love this scene in its entirety but still something makes me lose my shit whenever I think of the line "You're standing next to a Taako that's gone completely catatonic"
This part in the podcast made me cry. To be honest, the first time i heard it i had to lie down for a while. well done on capturing the moment well with this animation, i know this animation was made a year ago but im going to re-listen to the entire adventure zone because ive cried about it again. thank you for this
Knowing that Griffin intended for Magnus to die here, makes it all the cooler that he didn't. Griffin did his damnest to kill one of the three, made a place where healing was forbidden, a place that lived on your suffering, a place that WANTED to kill you, and tried to multiple times, and they refused. It gives me the feeling of when you fight Asriel in undertale, you refuse to die. You get killed and walk it off. I recently just watched this, and the chills it gave me were so great
Listening to this moment on the podcast I just thought it was really cool and maybe a little cheesy, but seeing it illustrated like this actually made me emotional. Great work.
I really like the beginning, how you showed the different forms of advertisement while keeping true to the fact that neither of the liches were present. This is just really pretty too.
okay so i've watched a lot of these animations and they are all good.. but the animation on that last scene! Taako's smile as he sees Merle's hand, grabbing magnus' hand and flaying back towards Merle. that animation tugged on my heart stringss it was perfect.
Holy shit I need to listen to Balance again. It was something I listened to while walking my dog which took a bit of focus, so I never got the 100% experience. Watching these animatics demands me to get the full experience.
Griffin literally says thanks to YOUR ANIMUS BELL, like fuck I can’t believe he was dropping hints before the reveal, because ofc the 2 lichs know where the items originated from ugghhh so goood
I love the McElroy boys and I found myself watching this, unaware of what TAZ is, not knowing of this podcast. This lead me to listen to the show, and watching this, hearing this all again hits harder than you could imagine. This is A+
Hot heck my man, I've listened to this episode and thought about this part so many times now and this is still the closest it's gotten me to crying. Wow. Absolutely incredible. I love your designs, the imagery, the way the music rises, everything. This is excellent.
it took me forever to get to this scene and from all the animatics I've seen of this particular scene, I was expecting it to be as dramatic as the animatics make it out to be!! anyways, op, this animatic is what introduced me to the mcelroys and TAZ and its 100% inspired me to rework my taako cosplay to reflect your design!
this is why I love d&d it is setting up a moment like this and then watching the players nail it. it is so much more powerful because it is you doing it not some character on a tv show it is you.
I absolutely love Taako going "I've got an idea for ya" and then passing out. It's so cool yet dumb.
Classic Taako
ThisChannelHasNoContent i loved this
Cool yet dumb. Perfect summary of TAZ
“I plead Not Visible!” *Absolutely nothing happens.
Don’t worry guys
I have a plan
Taako has left the game
Someone recently pointed out something I never noticed about this moment: each of the boys are put in a situation where they have to do the OPPOSITE of what their role usually calls for. Magnus needed to be rescued, Taako needed to be selfless, and Merle needed to cast the perfect spell at the right moment. They assumed one another's roles perfectly, and it's beautiful.
the fact that Merle's "usually calls for" role is not casting perfect spells, is something I find hilarious
@@arigstone5447 and it was all completely accidental. A true genuine example of character development
This is why I love Taako so much and why he’s so relatable. He’s been screwed over and rejected so many times that he would rather keep everyone at arms length than risk being rejected or betrayed again.
This moment is where he decides to show a bond with someone else.
OMG you're right!!
Dm: *plans to separate characters and have the one go on an epic quest*
Player: *Rolls nat 20 to not*
Dm: Well okay then
Critical Not should be an official tabletop RPG term.
"Oh what's that? You're completely fucking my whole story idea for the sake of an utterly spontaneous moment of perfect character synergy and emotional catharsis that will define the relationships of the story from this moment on? Well...sure."
As a beginner DM I find this hilarious and horrifying
@@TheKelsey307
On the one hand, it is definitely a little scary to have your entire next arc upended like this.
On the other hand, this fucking rocks, because of what it does for the characters and their relationships, and it opens new avenues for the story.
This is, and may always be, my absolute favorite moment in TAZ. It's the moment I went from greatly enjoy them to absolutely loving them.
Oh don't mind Merle, he just cast the single MOST IMPORTANT SPELL HE'S EVER CAST
that can't be right I didn't see any Zone of Truth being cast :P
the most important spell he's ever cast, and it wasn't even close to how that spell was supposed to work.
@@keaton5101 Really, isn't that just so perfectly Merle? The most important spell he's ever cast, and he cast it with no care as to how it's "supposed" to work.
@@keaton5101 I mean given the contexts the rule of cool HAD to be invoked on this one. Out of place for the actual spell but fitting within the description and absolutely hardcore in the setting
Never underestimate dad reflexes.
I love how from Merle, Edward, and Lydia's perspective, Taako says that super awesome one-liner and then faints. Just freaking death drops. Perfection, 20/10.
"check THIS coping method out!" (dissociates)
To be honest, "I've got a better idea!" followed by faceplanting strikes me as kind of a Taako thing to do.
3:54 implies that Magnus always had the names Merle and Taako written on his hand, which is hilarious.
KappaRoss kinda sweet, too, because you never know what could happen in D&D, and it implies that he wanted to make sure he remembered those two, if nothing else. T-T
Alyssa Harrison and, considering what we later learned and who he had already forgotten, hits preeee-tty hard
It’s tattooed there
After the last TTAZZ and hearing that the boys were never supposed to be able to save Magnus at all and he was originally going to team up with Kravitz to fight the Hunger in the astral plane, and that this whole scene totally caught Griffin off guard and now it's one of his favorite iconic moments in the whole series adds an extra level of heartwarming and just like... damn.... they really Did that. It's amazing what the roll of a 20 and some great storytellers can do.
Tort تورت waiT WHAT
where did you listen to this :00 i never knew this
"The The Adventure Zone Zone" are some extra episodes where the boys talk about the campaign and answer fan's questions, it's super interesting and lets you appreciate a lot of scenes (like this one) on another light. I don't know if they are on Maximum Fun, but they are available in spotify (they are in order of emission so you have to search for them in between the other episodes)
That's amazing!! :D
Tort تورت sobs
I love this moment so much, and it works really well, but the amount of meta gaming that kind of went into it always bothered me, as Merle and Taako shouldn’t have known what was happening as soon as they did. I think it turned out pretty well overall but that part just always annoyed me.
TAZs only advertising is by word of mouth, I got chills when they all answered the same thing together.
i know right!
Seriously, that was one of the most amazing unscripted moments in my opinion
limitdriver321 I get chills every time I hear it
Way waaaay late to respond to this but they also run ads on other shows on maxfun
I found taz because a friend recommended it, I now have a cult
The fact that the three of them are unknowingly in agreement of what they need to do still baffles me. Griffin has said this moment wasn't scripted and it blows my mind that Justin, Travis, and Clint all thought to work together and save each other without even talking about it.
I think part of that comes from continuously being so close to dying in Wonderland and at the end they really DIDN'T want to let that happen to any of them
I like how you actually show how upset Taako is after seeing Kravitz being consumed by the hunger. Like, everyone just kinda glosses over that.
SAME that always bothers me, I hope when they recreate this scene in the graphic novels they give us Taako calling out to him or at least looking visibly distressed by his bf's predicament lol
Probably the greatest moment in taz history and it wasn't even supposed to happen
Justin Montana "I'll be having my body back you undead fuck"
Travis pls I can only love you so much
That's what makes it so great! The finale stuff was good resolution etc, but most of the big beats were for the most part fairly obviously pre-written by Griffin (not that there's anything wrong with that). This scene, though - the fact that it was character-driven and spontaneous probably makes it my favorite moment in all of TAZ.
Yeah, turns out players making the story instead of being railroaded by a GM is pretty cool. I'm really sad that TAZ has lost its way lately.
Jesse Conzemius In what regard?
Plat just my own opinion of course, but there are far fewer spontaneous moments. Griff doesn't let the group mess with his story much at all. It's a very different show now.
My very good best friends
*looks at smudged writing on hand*
Martha and Tanto
Maybe and Burrito
magma and taco bell
milk and taint
MaAAAH and Tuck
Murph and Costco?
I JUST NOTICED SOMETHING.
they said "and thanks to *your* animous bell"
aaaaaAAAAAAA
lazy anxiety holyshiticantbelieveididntnoticethat *intense raptor screeching*
lazy anxiety AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I’m pretty sure that’s just a reference to the fact that it’s what they came to Wonderland for, but it’s a nice little detail either way
As liches, the Vogue Elves REMEMBER the war. And they’re powerful mages, with possible access to divination spells... I wouldn’t be surprised if they KNEW!
I DIDNT EVEN FUCKING NOTICE GRIFFEN IS SO FUCKING SMART I CANT
Clint proves that his whole "I don't know what I'm doing" is all a gag. He knew exactly what he was doing with "I use Planar Ally."
If captain jack sparrow was a cleric
@Chloe Watters Technically this was how the spell works considering he knew the specific name of the creature he wanted to summon
CLOAKER well, no, you don’t get to choose what you get when you cast the spell. You’re asking for help, possibly asking for something in particular, but what ally you actually get is up to god
@@ruerue244 The spell literally says you can call upon a specific entity if you know it by name
CLOAKER okay, I was a little off. Here’s an excerpt from the spell description.
“You beseech an otherworldly entity for aid. The being must be known to you: a god, a primordial, a demon prince, or some other being of cosmic power. That entity sends a celestial, an elemental, or a fiend loyal to it to aid you, making the creature appear in an unoccupied space within range. If you know a specific creature’s name, you can speak that name when you cast this spell to request that creature, though you might get a different creature anyway (GM’s choice).”
When #Taako was at first wanting to join the twins in Wonderland, imagine maybe he also wanted to be a twin again.
They refused him, in a way.
and now they are taking the only family he has left.
VioletPurple holyyyyy I hadn't even ever thought about that omfg djjsjdjcdns
I’m a twin and this comment just killed me
*Ahem* whO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT-
Not to mention his sister IS A LITCH!
HEY FUCK YOU I WAS HAVING A GOOD DAY DAMNIT
As cool as Magnus teaming up with Kravitz in the astral plane to fight the hunger sounds this is definitely still one of the best moments of the podcast
"bad luck" gives me chills every time ;;;;
I knowww
I loved this so much and I wish people would stop accusing Griffin of railroading the group. Like not only are they brothers who obviously love each other, railroading is forcing the group to do what you want. Railroading would be "okay you rolled a nat20 to escape but oh would you look at that one of those humanoid figures came out of nowhere and hit you into the portal oh no"
More than a DnD podcast, TAZ is a story, and a story needs structure. You can't have the players running around doing whatever they want however they want because that's as entertaining as watching someone play sidequests in Skyrim. They're having fun, they're not complaining, and if you genuinely don't like where the story is going then don't listen to it.
Yeah this really is the exact opposite of railroading.
it's even funnier when people accuse griffin of railroading bc the arms outstretched scene is literally the exact OPPOSITE of what griffin's plans were
This scene IS pretty much the antithesis of railroading. They just removed a whole gd arc that Griffin had planned with this stunt.
@@loreleiloriestone9179 It's a sign of a great DM when you've just had someone destroy your entire plans for an adventure and you do such a good job of winging it that everyone thinks it was scripted.
@@Karajorma ain't that the truth
Never gonna get over Griffin’s “...what?!” when Merle says ‘planar ally’. Ugh so good.
You fucking nailed that planar ally casting my dude
I love the smudged names in his palm, even though it makes no sense that Magnus would have that written there.
Lewa263 Smudged hand was 100% a joke for this but here's kind of a Wonderland reason Magnus would have it: They're the two things he least wants to lose. If he does end up losing them, being forced to forget one or the other wouldn't it make sense he'd want some sort of anchor to remember and find them? Anyways that's just a overly complicated explanation for a gag bit I'm sure
Thanks for the feels.
Lewa263 Okay but I write things on myself a lot just because, including names and stuff
he might just have written Merle and Taako on his hand just because
Loren Daemon magnus goes over his reasons to live and holds up his hand
after everything they've been through, he still doesn't know these fools names. canon.
Great job. Loved this scene. Seeing both Taako and Merle bust out exactly the right spells to use in that moment to work as a cohesive team was fantastic
True, but it makes you wonder what if they didn't save Magnus or Taako didnt get a good str check? I really want to know what Griffin had planned but i suspect he gave them time to search for answers/told him what planar spells they had before hand.
just imo
Yeah I think Magnus honestly wasn't supposed to survive that and that was gonna lead into some other stuff, but god it turned out SO MUCH MORE AWESOME.
Jared Bergeron the the adventure zone zone that got released today addresses that! Griffin had an entire mission planned with dead Magnus but tres horny boys did so goddamn good that they changed his story and had a great team moment! That time at camp good friend paid off
Already listened to it so yeah suspicions cleared.
"Yes, my two very good friends..."
*looks at smudged writing on hand*
"...Marle and Taiko."
You wouldn't want to forget your two best friends.
You wouldn't want a lich the tear them away would you?
The moment when Merle reached for Taako was so good in the podcast, but oooh, when the music kicked in in the animation some tear welled in my eyes with a though "Oh, my sweet boys, they work so well together QvQ"
I don’t even understand the emotions I feel every time I listen to this scene. It’s like nothing ever written
This is singularly the last kind of scenario that any DM expects, and yet it is also the kind of scenario that every DM secretly hopes to happen in their campaign - for their players to defy the fate you had in mind for them. It's beautiful.
no matter how many times I hear it, when griffin pauses briefly and says "...because you're dying," I get chills. it's delivered so fucking perfectly I can't even describe it
It's hilarity hear Taako's fighting words and the immediately see him collapse
“I got a f___in idea for ya.”
(WHUMPF)
I love the air of calm to the characters dispositions when shit really hits the fan. You can totally tell the emotional connection between the characters and the amount they trust and rely on each other to work together! Which is really a feat we should attribute to Griffin's sly DM skills.
Great animation to go with this scene. This is honestly one of the sweetest parts of the adventure. Magnus is always jumping in front of other people to take the hit, but this time Taako, arguably one of the most selfish characters, rips his own soul out of his body to save Magnus. And then Merle casts a super smart spell to save both them and its just amazeballs omgggg
Gets me every time. This is why I love D&D. Larger than life moments like this. Characters with depth and purpose, banning together to tackle impossible odds, forge powerful relationships, and force those onion ninjas to do their thing.
I still think this is one of the most amazing parts of the entire adventure.
I love this moment. It was so crucial to the character development of all of them. Taako was so desperate to not loose his family, because as aloof as he always seemed before he recovered his memory, he loved Merle and Magnus and couldn’t bear to lose them. Some part of his brain wouldn’t let him forget the connection they built over their 100 year journey through time and space. It’s even better now since we know that they shouldn’t have been able to save Magnus and that Griffin had a whole arc planned for Magnus in the astral plane, but they completely thwarted that with their characters’ love for one another
My first listen i had no idea how much "rule of cool" and changing of plans went into this moment. I legit thought this was the solution to a puzzle or something, like Griffin had seen them pull spells and rolls out of nowhere so much that he created an impossible scenario to make them get creative. Finding out this was never intended was a MAJOR recontextualizing moment for me, and an extremely hype one at that!
My favorite part is when Taako smiles when he sees Merle’s spectral hand and knows exactly what to do it’s literally the best thing
Me, the rules lawyer: That's not how any of those spells work.
Me, the enjoyer of good things: Shut up nerd, this rules!
This! Exactly this!!! You can do both. They established early on this wasn't really going to be a "rules heavy" game and for this style of play they are so so good!!! There are merits to both
How are they supposed to work?
the real Finna Spring for starters, planar ally, the spell Merle used to pull Taako back, is supposed to take ten minutes to cast and has a pretty high material cost. Magic jar, your soul stays in the jar unless you are directly attempting to possess somebody and also has a casting time of a minute. But casting time and material components is something they mostly chose to ignore. They keep with the spirit of the spells and make for super interesting story telling and that's why TAZ is great. Critical role is an example of very rules heavy play. Some find it more enjoyable while some find it much slower to deal with. I find both to be excellent in their own right. It's just about how you want to play the game and present your story.
@@PaigeDyerASMR Well put! Yeah there are benefits to both approaches. Rule heavy play can lead to interesting mechanical stakes which can have unintended but cool narrative consequences (like some of the best moments in CR imo). But as long as everyone is having fun there is no wrong way to play.
@@PaigeDyerASMR gotcha ok. I think to get into D&D this more story driven less rules stringent play is kind of nice and maybe as you grt more into it go to rules heavy game play. Idk
6:42 taako's smile... that's how you can tell they're all really friends because he looks over at merle and sees him helping out and its just this smile of "i knew he'd come through, even though i give him a hard time, i know i can count on him when it's just the three of us and we need his help"
The fact that this scene was COMPLETELY unscripted, plus the fact that it was NEVER supposed to happen, makes this one of my favorite taz scenes
"I gotta fucking idea for ya!" *super bad-ass line followed by eyes rolling into back of head and collapsing*
Oh my stars, your Lydia is _BEAUTIFUL!_
Also, A+ on the entire animatic in general! It's really impressive, the quality of the drawings over such a lengthy scene. Major props :D
MERLE'S HAND GOING UP AND ALL THREE OF THEM HOLDING ONTO EACH OTHER WAS AMAZING!!! 7:14 when he finally pulls them in was some Ghibli shit!!! Reminded me of Castle in the Sky or Howl's Moving castle, that floaty feeling! And before, him standing there over Taako's empty, collapsed body and staring at possessed Magnus gave me chills!! Wow!!!!! Awesome!!!!!
I love how this unintentionally implies that Magnus had Merle's and taako written his hand before he got possessed, because Edward didnt have time to write that. So basically magnus is a himbo who needs help with names
The emotional response this sequence and the music and how everyone is truly bonding- I legit am brought to tears
God this part was SOOO cinematic! Though I just realized: Merle's the only character who hasn't been properly mind-controlled at this point, with Magnus at 1 and Taako at 2. I'm worried for short plant grandpa in the end of this interlude :(
I'm not crying you're crying
Seriously though this is the closest anyone's come to depicting how I imagined this happening
Also your Taako design is perfect
WHEN TAAKO FELL OVER OMG
“I got a f___in idea for ya.”
(WHUMPF)
0:41 I love how none of them hesitated with that question. *Every member of this show knows exactly how strong word of mouth is when it comes to advertisement.*
Best Use of Planar Ally ever.
jesus. that isolated “bad luck” gives me chills every time
I love the way Taako's face just LIGHTS UP when he sees Merle's hand!
That music always makes me tear up, this arc broke me and really proved that TAZ was something I’m in love with
This is so good, you editing out some of the table talk makes it work even better, Good Job!
"Thanks to *your* Animus Bell..."
THEY K N E W .
This was absolutely gorgeous to watch. The way you depicted the characters up to this point was amazing, especially Taako, never seen such a fabulous elf before. Rad animatic through and through.
I'M SUFFERING BUT I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS (the names on magnus' palm made me cackle pretty loudly tho)
Well... That's what Wonderlands about, right? (AND YEAH ME TOO)
One of my favorite things about this scene is how the three instantly, almost simultaneously say "word of mouth." TAZ relies entirely on word of mouth advertising, so of course these 4 in particular know just how powerful it can be. That one instant really reveals the effect the audience has had on the McElroys and it's touching.
Great art and great animation, but holy shit that music addition was the fucking kick to the gut
this part blew my mind! and oh my gosh, i love your character designs and interpretation of the scene! the little additions you did just made it for me! wonderful job!
merle and taako's names on his hand made me laugh so hard i wasn't expecting it, it was such a great addition
Honestly, this is just awesome, I haven't seen many DnD podcasts or anything of the like but this is truely awesome and it really reminds me of some of the reasons I love DnD. You can create mystical worlds where, even against impossible odds, you truly triumph, and while you may have beaten fate at its own game, both fate and even death still has plenty in store for you
I think this moment is so goddamn iconic not only because it was spontaneous, but also because it was the first time each of them showed that they would sacrifice it all for each other, especially Taako, who is by nature a self-serving character.
I literally cannot describe how amazing this is?? Everyone who listens to the show needs to see this.
i WISH i had words to express how good this is, and how hard it hit me !! INCREDIBLE !! have you sent this to any of the Good Good McElboys? they've gotsta see it
88FingersEddward mcelbows
this taako is, Blessed
that ending with just the music was so adorable!!
You did such a good job on this, I literally got goosebumps. Also I'm so impressed by the length of this, so many animatics are really short so I was delighted that this one was 7 minutes. Brilliant stuff. Totally subscribed and totally excited to see more of your work.
DayGloBetty i literally got chills
i'm not crying you're crying
Look, we're all crying, and that's okay.
fucking beautiful. tearing up over here. The moment itself is a testament to the power of the kind of improvisational storytelling inherent to the show and to tabletop gaming in general, but on top of that, you animated in beautifully. It truly captures the weight of that moment for me.
taako looks so beautiful and graceful here. i love it.
This is ab-so-lute-ly stunning, I can't even begin to tell you how much- but I think my favourite is the way Taako stands right before projecting himself out of his body and the swooshy look to him in the astral plane. And Magnus' face, the naked fear on it when he realizes what's happening, wow. Also Taako's smile when Merle's hand comes for them!!
God this scene never ever fails to ruin me. Especially that moment in which merle casts his spell and the music kicks in full. I always just have to _laugh._ its not funny but the energy my body just forces me into is visceral. It fills me with an indescribable positive emotion. These boys are so fucking good at what they do.
I think Travis does it to, right at when Clint says hes going to summon them back into the plain
You did an _amazing_ job animating this. Your art style is gorgeous and you can see the effort that when into this. Phenominal work.
I love how Edward didnt write anything on his hand, which implies magnus made a note of his friend's names for himself
Easily the greatest Clint moment so far. Chills everytime
This is fucking radical, totally captured the feeling of the moment from the episode and even went beyond it. A+++
I love this scene in its entirety but still something makes me lose my shit whenever I think of the line "You're standing next to a Taako that's gone completely catatonic"
"...because of your Animus Bell..."
Me realizing they can know the item by name BECAUSE THEY'RE LYCHES!
Okay Arms Outstretched continues to be my single FAVOURITE scene in the Balance Arc.
This part in the podcast made me cry. To be honest, the first time i heard it i had to lie down for a while. well done on capturing the moment well with this animation, i know this animation was made a year ago but im going to re-listen to the entire adventure zone because ive cried about it again. thank you for this
Knowing that Griffin intended for Magnus to die here, makes it all the cooler that he didn't. Griffin did his damnest to kill one of the three, made a place where healing was forbidden, a place that lived on your suffering, a place that WANTED to kill you, and tried to multiple times, and they refused. It gives me the feeling of when you fight Asriel in undertale, you refuse to die. You get killed and walk it off. I recently just watched this, and the chills it gave me were so great
Listening to this moment on the podcast I just thought it was really cool and maybe a little cheesy, but seeing it illustrated like this actually made me emotional. Great work.
I really like the beginning, how you showed the different forms of advertisement while keeping true to the fact that neither of the liches were present. This is just really pretty too.
okay so i've watched a lot of these animations and they are all good.. but the animation on that last scene! Taako's smile as he sees Merle's hand, grabbing magnus' hand and flaying back towards Merle. that animation tugged on my heart stringss it was perfect.
Holy shit I need to listen to Balance again. It was something I listened to while walking my dog which took a bit of focus, so I never got the 100% experience. Watching these animatics demands me to get the full experience.
Griffin literally says thanks to YOUR ANIMUS BELL, like fuck I can’t believe he was dropping hints before the reveal, because ofc the 2 lichs know where the items originated from ugghhh so goood
I really enjoy the aplication of "rule of cool" here, allowing merle to use summon plannar ally to get his friends from the ethereal plane
I love the McElroy boys and I found myself watching this, unaware of what TAZ is, not knowing of this podcast. This lead me to listen to the show, and watching this, hearing this all again hits harder than you could imagine. This is A+
When I think "Taako" I think of a tall, thinmin, but personally I am super into your thicc Taako
One of the most creative solution to a problem I've ever witnessed. When I heard it I got so many chills down my spine. Truly amazing dynamic.
this scene and lups re-emerging are two of the most amazing scenes to be blessed with.
actual tears out of my face this is really good thank you for making it
Hot heck my man, I've listened to this episode and thought about this part so many times now and this is still the closest it's gotten me to crying. Wow. Absolutely incredible. I love your designs, the imagery, the way the music rises, everything. This is excellent.
Merle and the music at 6:15 literally made me cry and I’ve never listened to adventure zone before.
5 years late but Thank You for making this gift for the rest of us who are just arriving and who are yet to come
I will never ever get over the way this arc made me feel when I first listened to it
I really like your design for Merle. A very earthy boi. Also Griffin's incredulous "what" at 6:19 always gets me.
it took me forever to get to this scene and from all the animatics I've seen of this particular scene, I was expecting it to be as dramatic as the animatics make it out to be!! anyways, op, this animatic is what introduced me to the mcelroys and TAZ and its 100% inspired me to rework my taako cosplay to reflect your design!
HOLY SHIT DAWG THSI LOOKS FUCKING AMAZING!! The way you animated Merle pulling Taako and Magnus out of the ethereal plane was SICK as FUCK!
this is why I love d&d it is setting up a moment like this and then watching the players nail it. it is so much more powerful because it is you doing it not some character on a tv show it is you.
love the names written on hand joke. and HELL YEAH an animatic this quickly??? incredible
My favorite moment in TAZ and you animated it beautifully. Love Taako passing out and the thud he makes, had me in stitches
i see this, see the 7 minute time stamp, and think Holy FUCKing shit how long did it take hyou. whatt. also its SOO Good !!
Giselle +