This is a super cool idea.
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I’ll agree with others here that my only real problem with the show was inconsistent audio levels. I distinctly remember one point where Gassy, Adam, and someone else (Ken maybe) were talking, and I could here Gassy perfectly, Adam was OK, but whoever the third person was I couldn’t hear at all.
On the Patreon videos it also sounded like everyone talking would suddenly start peaking if they got super enthusiastic about whatever was being discussed.
That out of the way, everything else was great. Definitely the best show yet in terms of production.
Excited to watch the vods. Missed it live 
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Set, cameras, and story were all great, and I’m very much looking forward to Zeke, cheers!
@AdamKoebel the big dice seemed to be countdown dice where the numbers are not randomly placed but instead in a way to easily countdown or up life in certain games (like MTG) which in itself doesn’t affect the randomness of the rolls that much. The bigger issue with them was imho was the fact that the big dice didn’t really roll much at certain points.
Any ETA on the mp3? Missed the stream because dad’s birthday 
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First off, I have to commend Adam again on the world building done for CoS and how excellently these “extra” arcs help elaborate on it additionally. Think about the implications this live show had and how perfectly they tie into our main setting, with the way the world contintens are set up, with the half-orc race and the modern day
dwarfs. CoS’s lore has at this point overtaken that of Swan Song in terms of its layers, with so much left to explore, which is exactly why I hope the show doesn’t see retirement any time soon. Secondly, at least for me personally, it was Max’s character that in context of the story impressed me the most. He represents change. The Tabaxi that left his clan to witness the world and to recount the events he witnesses, to ulitmately deliver these stories for the generations to come. A wandering story teller, that may actually play the key role in spreading the mythos of the world. The cat man that brought dwarfen tech to the rest of the world. Epic stuff.
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Great production value and a fun show. I was hoping for one big boss fight at the end but I was happy with how it ended.
I didn’t notice until he said something, they’re spindown dice. A normal D20 has the numbers more spread out while a spindown die has all the higher numbers next to each other in order. They’re commonly used for games like Magic the Gathering where you’re counting down so it’s easier to find the next number. People say if it ends being weighted more to one side or another it could more commonly roll high or low but I’m not sure about it.
Thank you for noticing this stuff! 
I’m gonna definitely be thinking about the impact of the arc on future shows - this was our first Tabaxi and that’s always a big deal. I like the idea that their culture is the most open to Tieflings and that because they have their own mythology of reincarnation or the afterlife or whatever, that they’re not beholden to the war between heaven and the mara. As a result of Max’s portrayal I’m all of a sudden super interested in the Tabaxi as this kind of elder poet-race, travelers and lore-keepers and stuff.
(Partly too i’m inspired by the Cats in Monstress!)
As a world-building exercise, I am suuuper excited to let the way the players acted and what they decided play into the world and its history.
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Great work by everyone. I love the world of Court of Swords and soak up as much of it as I can get so keep these side arcs coming as you guys get the chance to. Max is such an amazing role player and gets into all of his characters so well its amazing. It kind of gets forgotten since he’s played Berg for so long how versatile he is, as glad as I am that Berg has been a character for so long its kind of sad Max doesn’t get to explore other characters very often especially ones with social stats.
A completely random takeaway I noticed while they were selected magic items is that the headband of intellect (Int = 19) is somehow only an uncommon magic item. Just going to throw out there a Flowers for Algernon Berg arc would be amazing haha.
Great show by all, the set was amazing, the production was amazing, the Dming was amazing as always. Keep em coming. Here’s to 50+ more episodes.
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Great show guys, good work as the GM @AdamKoebel as usual. It was amazeballs!
Gonna hit you up with some DnD questions relevant to liveshow and stuff.
To me there was an obvious change in combat pacing compared to the usual stream, and it probably has to do with the thing JP was talking about after his character died.
- What were those changes? Or will this come up in a following QA/patreon video with you and JP?
Next, I had in mind the whole VOD that it wouldn’t be fair for anyone to die before the end - making the suspension of “death” irrelevant. However, you often say there are worse things do to do player characters than kill them, something proven by Berg. So my question will be…
- If there is no threat of death, what other “failures” or lasting consequences could we see to characters that will affect the liveshow, or even following //seasons// of CoS?
Lastly, due to this I felt that as a viewer I didn’t really have anything to “fear” or feel helpless for the players. I’m thinking this time I wasn’t as invested in the threat, but rather the story. Combat felt like it would only end one way, maybe to follow up with the party waking up by the gods anyway I don’t know. This is only my opinion, thats not as thought through yet. CoS liveshow .vs. Nebula Jazza liveshow, I’d say the tension and stakes were much higher in Nebula Jazz, honestly due to how the system can swing the plot wildly. Dnd, not so much.
- What are the plans to make DnD streams/liveshow stories feel more impactful?
Honestly, this question also asks about how CoS is going to keep it all together if we lose another party and anther arc?
Thank you for the rollplay! I got into it as a GM myself thanks to you guys ^^. (Sorry for the last questions coherence, I kinda got super tired after a warm shower haha)
in terms of combat for the live show, all bar one encounter was “medium” (the remaining one was “hard”). On his prep Adam said this was at least initially just for the live show since they had two less experienced players in Ken and Aurey, but I think it was being discussed as a general move away from “all deadly, all the time” as well
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I also am waiting on the mp3
So Zeke is going to be the next guest. What do you guys think he’ll play? JP has said that his next character is probably a Wizard so maybe not that? Though having a pair of wizards join the party could be an easy way to bring the new characters in.
It sort of depends on what kind of Wizard JP wants to be. Wizards are divided into multiple playstyles which Wizards can play well (Although roles like (de)buffers are better handled by other classes like Sorcerer/Bard. Let’s examine this a different way. There’s a traditional metaphor for party composition, where there’s 3 elements to a party - the Anvil, the Hammer, and the Arm
The Anvil is the one essentially controlling or impeding the enemy or reducing their capability so it makes the Hammer’s and Arm’s job easier to do - reducing/nullifying enemy speed or actions, removing them from the fight entirely, or altering the battlefield. Feats like Sentinel help fit this role, along with a slew of spells, class abilities and actions like grapple. It’s also important for an Anvil to be high in initiative, to better set the encounter for the rest of the party.
The Hammer is pretty self-explanatory - do damage, or otherwise end the encounter.
The Arm’s job is to make sure the Anvil/Hammer effectively do their job - buffing the hammer to do more damage/move better assist the Anvil if he needs help filling in a role. He’s the enabler, and needs to be flexible to react to each situation.
So with those explanations out of the way, let’s see what we have. Berg is obviously a full-on Hammer - that’s not even a question. Ramus is another story - being a Light Cleric, he’s an Arm with some tendencies of a Hammer with spells like Fireball and Scorching Ray, and taking War Caster (Right?). If JP ended up being a Wizard, he would do fine as the parties Anvil - Conjuration, Illusion, and Necromancy are fine schools for that, as yes, summoning (the dead) would increase your action economy, affect the enemies positioning, and whatever else summons do. Illusions can do a whole bunch of things, and really limited only by the player and what the GM allows. I don’t think the group “needs” another hammer, but obviously taking spells for damage wouldn’t be a mistake. Sorcerer does some things better (due to Metamagic), but the skillset of Wizards are probably better suited to the campaign. Lastly, taking the “Alert” feat would help.
With that, let’s say JP does try to fill in the Anvil role. Well, that’s 2 ranged characters, with Berg by his lonesome. I don’t think another Rogue would be amiss. Specifically, one using the Swashbuckler archetype from SCAG, specifically for the “Rakish Audacity” ability, which removes the requirement that you need advantage if you don’t have an ally that also threatens a creature to apply Sneak Attack. This gives the party a character that has a boatload of skills (6+Thieves tools assuming no overlap), and good options/positioning for combat as someone that can either help take some heat off of Berg, or a buffer between the two casters while still retaining damage.
…Boy this ended up being a lengthy post for something that probably won’t happen.
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More than anything I think they need someone to take some hits so Berg isn’t the only one on the frontlines absorbing damage. Their most successful lineup was when they had gale, berg, and azriel. Healer/AOE, Tank, Off tank/off healer. A wizard will fit nicely but they could really use another melee fighter preferably one with access to emergency heals so they can stand Ramus up if he goes down then dan could play a little looser and not worry about not taking any damage. A paladin or melee ranger would be best imo but honestly another cleric is never bad. A melee fighting tempest cleric can deal some damage and a nature cleric at level 6 gets the ability to give resistance to any element as a reaction to themselves or an ally and would be able to help out bergs weakness to elemental attacks.
I know Xanathar isn’t out yet but it would be really cool if Zeke played an Oath of Redemption Paladin.
That 16+Dex AC when not wearing armor could make a really cool character. Perhaps dual wielding with one bludgeoning weapon for that Warrior of Reconciliation class feature.
It’s unfortunate that they’re just missing the release, it’s out November 10th. So many new options for them.
I think JP should just take Evocation or Divination would be cool. It would be fun to see say “Adam you’re next roll is actually a 3 for that attack”.
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I think “someone to take hits” is a bit of a misnomer - obviously, you don’t want to get hit. I think the proper way to phrase it would be along the lines of “another warm body”. They could have a fighter with heavy armor and a shield, which would be a difference of 3 AC over what a rogue would get with stats/armor alone. The only classes that could match that AC without relying on armor would be Barbarian/Monk. The obvious compromise would be to start as Rogue then multiclass a couple levels of monk, but then you’re going into MAD territory (Max Wis/Dex, with points in Con/Chr for Swashbuckler). Doable, but not sure if it’s feasible unless Zeke rolled some good stats.
I’d put the caveat that it’s also the party that came closest to TPK twice - once when they went down the well (never go down the well), and when Azriel Keller/Gale died, and Berg almost got caught. It wasn’t a bad team for 3 players, but I’d argue their success was partially due to luck.
In general I’m against the idea of solely relying on healing as a contingency plan, as unless you’re Berg, have high AC, or able to go before the guy that just downed you (so they don’t get advantage on a prone person), there’s a good chance that the healing done is just going to be negated. Relying too much of reactive healing can quickly drain everyone’s resources - better (and easier) to be proactive through spells like Aid, giving the enemy disadvantage, summoning extra bodies, or locking enemies down (Evard’s Black Tentacles is amazing).