Session Zero Heroes - A TTRPG Actual Play Podcast
Skylar: Welcome back, everybody. I say welcome back.
Skylar: That feels interesting.
Skylar: I don't know. I don't know how to describe that, but welcome back, everybody, to a special episode of Benders and Bruise. As if every episode of Benders and Bruise wasn't special. But I digress. Today we're doing a Q and a episode where we're going to answer all the questions that you guys sent in to us or that we kind of came up with for each other. There's some of those mixed in there as well. and yeah, we're gonna find out some interesting details that we didn't get to explore during the show. We're gonna talk about those. It'll be a lot of fun. So, kicking things off, I think the best way to do this probably, is to go around the table. I've got a list of the questions that either we got sent to us or that we came up with. Like I mentioned before, and I've divvied those out to everybody. So I think it'd be best to just go around the table and have each person pick one of the questions, and then just ask whoever it is that it's directed to. And then we'll go from there. So, Connor, you want to kick things off with one of the questions? Sure.
Cameron: Let's see here. So, I got a question for Mister Bildore. Ash ketchum.
Cameron: Cameron over here starting it off with me.
Cameron: Okay, yeah, I'll start off with you. Were there any, like, hints that we missed that you were trying to drop of your guy actually being a firebender? Aside from his name being Ash and brothers being named Ember and Blaze?
Skylar: Well, and he's from the fire nation.
Cameron: None of that. It was hints to him being a bender, more that he was from a fire nation. And his family had a lot of fire themes to it. And I mean, you could take his whole background being from the Fire nation as a hint to him being a firebender. But the thing is, there's plenty, plenty of people in every nation that aren't benders. So it's not like I was ever, like, pushing at that. The only major things that were like, I rarely hinted at him being a bender because a big part of his character was he was afraid of fire. He's a pyrophobia, because of his accident. And, because of that, he resented the idea of using his powers. So even in any crisis situation, the last thing he would do is use his powers. Right. And so because of that, it was hard for me to hint about it. And so his best hints were probably, like, his pyrophobia and his. All of his, scars from his burn damage and stuff. And, like, he, in some way is related to fire, whether he self burned himself, which, surprisingly isn't a thing you see all the time in Avatar, but, like, pyro people aren't flame immune. So I don't know why there's more people in the Avatar universe that aren't, like, covered in, like, burn marks, especially.
Skylar: From the firing age. I mean, you got, like, dudes that are, using fire.
Cameron: Like, the only one was Zuko. That was it. And it was just like, that's kind of weird knowing, because, like, I was asking Skyler when I was running the character specifically for our paw episode. Cause that might have been a. That was the one time I was almost gonna hint. It was our prequel episode, and we had to cross that hot floor. And Bill, I even messaged Skylar. I was like, does Bill have an immunity to fire damage? And could I just, like, walk across these hot coals and just not, not feel it? And he told me, if you do, it won't be as harmful as, like, someone else doing it, but it still would hurt, but just not as bad as, like, if a non firebender did it. And I was like, that makes sense. Cause I can use heat, so my body probably handles it better. But from the way he sounded, it sound like if I stood on them long enough, I would start burning still, so. And, like, I can fall in lava and burn to death still, so it's.
Skylar: Like, it'd be an interesting thing to, like, look into the avatar world and so on and so forth to see, like, I mean, all things considered, again, they don't. I mean, there's nothing to suggest that they have immunity. I don't know if it's just a situation where people that have firebending just have calloused fingers and feet to the point where, you know, when they're kicking because the fire is, like, right there, like, within inches of their body. So it only makes sense that to some extent, they're feeling that heat and that burn, but obviously not as much so as other people. I don't know.
Skylar: That's it.
Skylar: You know, it's an interesting question. It's an interesting question, but, like, you referenced Zuko having a giant burn on his face suggests that they absolutely can get burned. It's just like, why are they also able to control fire to an extent? You know, I don't know.
Cameron: Like, if I didn't know about Zuko, I definitely would not have made Bill have a giant scar on his body because I would have just thought, oh, firebenders can't get burn marks, right? But Zuko clearly shows you the opposite. So there isn't actually an answer to the question, though I never really hinted at it. The only real hint is my burn scars and his extreme phobia. But people definitely could have just chalked that up to, he's from. He's from the Fire nation. He's afraid of fire because he got badly hurt by it in the past. But that doesn't mean he has bending, so. But as we saw, he does have bending and that's what caused his damage.
Skylar: But, yeah, tough to say.
00:05:00
Skylar: Cameron, you got a question you can throw to somebody in the group?
Cameron: Sure. I could pass this to the next person to my left and go for Mikayla as Micah. it says, what does life look like for Micah once her father returns from his final mission with the rescue team squadron in 20 years? What is Mika up to? From llama lover.
Skylar: From who?
Cameron: From llama lover.
Skylar: Llama m lover.
Cameron: Llama lover.
Skylar: Thanks. Llama lover.
Cameron: I love llama. Clearly this person does too.
Skylar: Yeah.
Cameron: but basically, I think the storm of this question is it's a two part one. What does she do when her father comes back? And then what do you imagine Micah's future looks like?
Mikayla: well, I imagine when her father comes back, they probably find a place to kind of settle down.
Skylar: is that in gowling or do they just.
Mikayla: I would say in gowling because Micah has a lot of trauma with the water niche.
Skylar: That's a fair point.
Mikayla: and, I mean, she's currently staying at the hot. I mean.
Skylar: Whoa, whoa.
Cameron: That's a dramatic.
Skylar: She goes and she does open up a hot brew.
Mikayla: and so I figured when her dad comes, they probably settle down there until they figure out more of what they want to do long term. I think Micah would probably be very interested in doing, like, what do you call it?
Skylar: Arts and crafts.
Cameron: Describe it.
Mikayla: well, I'm trying to. You guys keep interrupting.
Skylar: Sorry, I. Pottery. You're doing the same thing. She just complained.
Cameron: What else was saying?
Mikayla: Something like, when you, when you. Like a private investigator.
Skylar: Oh.
Dave: Oh, yeah, I think you had mentioned that before.
Skylar: Yeah.
Mikayla: she probably gets her start. You know, she works dishwasher. She has a great backdoor business opportunity. I feel like, of just, like, literally.
Skylar: Out of the back door, like, she's cleaning dishes and then somebody runs up to the back door and they're like, are you. Are you Mika? Mika investigation agency.
Cameron: Well, I'm sure Mia.
Mikayla: I'm sure. I'm sure over time, she'd have some kind of code or whatever, but, like.
Skylar: Also, like, they knock on the door three times, then two times, then six times.
Mikayla: Also, who was her friend from the board group?
Skylar: Oh, Chicra.
Mikayla: Yeah, chicra. I mean, you know, Chicra could give her a great in with the community.
Skylar: Oh, I thought you were gonna say they're gonna start a business together.
Mikayla: I mean, that would be probably a high potential.
Skylar: That'd be kind of cool. But as, for.
Mikayla: As. For 20 years? I don't know. I don't know. She. I don't think that she's really interested in settling down and starting a family. I just think she's probably more making a name for herself.
Skylar: Yeah, no, that makes sense. She expands her investigative tendencies to go past the earth nation and into other nations. Who knows?
Mikayla: Solving mysteries play off those, role playing skills.
Cameron: Whoa.
Skylar: Like Zoink's scoob, you know, she had.
Mikayla: A lover in that. Well, that's where it was going, but it didn't actually end up that way.
Skylar: Are you talking about the prison?
Mikayla: Yeah.
Skylar: She takes that seriously. She goes somewhere with that.
Mikayla: Well, I mean, like, as a private investigator, she could just see her role playing.
Skylar: Not like she bending snaps all over the place.
Mikayla: Saucy. Has experience pretending to be something.
Skylar: Okay, I understand. That makes sense. All right, well, moving past the question given to you, do you have a question for somebody else? Michaela?
Mikayla: I can do Guo.
Skylar: Sure. Everybody's just passing around the table.
Mikayla: Well, I feel you're next.
Cameron: So.
Mikayla: what's Guo's long term goal? In reference to the blissful full brew in his career?
Skylar: Oh, is he gonna keep it up? Is he gonna. Is he gonna be the next Okaran?
Dave: I would say that he probably definitely keep, like, all the tea on the menu.
Skylar: Nice.
Dave: but he would probably branch out and either do something to compliment that more or open up another business, maybe, like, next door, you know, maybe have other. Other ventures separate.
Skylar: Sure, that makes sense. And, like, yeah, it doesn't all have to be in the same place. I actually imagine that a lot of the stovetop space was going to be used for just a bunch of tea kettles, so it just doesn't leave a whole lot of room for all the other food prep and stuff. So, yeah, if he had, like, a building next door or something, and maybe.
Dave: Someday he'd expansion.
Skylar: Yeah.
Dave: He'd have his own version of like, guy fieri's.
Cameron: Diners.
Dave: Diners, drive ins and dives.
Skylar: I love that idea. Dropping those, pebble ratings all over the place. That's awesome. That's awesome. I love it. Well, and,
00:10:00
Skylar: you know, all things considered, I did imagine personally when I was, like, described, especially near the beginning of the series when we actually see like, okaran's getting things ready in the kitchen and stuff like that. We're kind of going through what everybody's position within the blissful brew. And I imagine it being really crowded. Like, the sink is back there. So Mika's, like doing dishes. Mika and Brock, who, Brock is like massive, obviously, and they're doing dishes and it's crowding that whole section of the back area. And then you've got Okaran is trying to, like, cook stuff and Bill is trying to take stuff back and forth from the floor. So he's grabbing this stuff. You know, it's just like a really crowded environment in the back there. So, yeah, either an expansion or just like getting a second building, I think is probably necessary. Awesome. All right, guo, Dave, you're up.
Dave: Let's go. One for Skylar.
Skylar: Oh, my gosh. Who could have guessed?
Dave: All right, so what was the plan for the plot of the missing sea serpent? Scale.
Skylar: Ah, yes, the scale. Okay, so this is one of those situations where like, the DM obviously writes out like a whole elaborate thing and then expects the player. And that was my fault. I foolishly expected the players to just follow through with it and do the mystery as it was meant to be.
Skylar: And you can never, you can never.
Skylar: Put a thing into place and expect your players to do it the way that you thought you were going to do. That's not how that works. That's not how that works. I just thought you guys would, like, go in there and you would. I thought Cameron, honestly, I thought you would have the grid. I made a griddenne while I was plotting this out. And I had all the suspects listed and then I went through the entire mystery and stuck clues in and different points where I was like, if a person explores all these avenues, they'd find the clues and if they put them on this grid, they would know exactly who did it. Because there's literally one person that has every single element in their, their character. And at the very least, you could probably narrow them down to, like, two people. And just by attitude alone, you might have guessed that it was the right guy. But instead, Brock's like, flipping people over and shaking their pockets and then essentially torturing them into just admitting. And at that point, I was like, oh, my gosh. Episode or season two is gonna be 300 episodes long. What is this one piece? so I was like, I need to move this along. And just like, okay, fine. Yeah, you shake him, and the scale falls out of his pocket. Like, there you go. We got to get this plot moving. But where's the other scale? Oh, you don't know where the other scale is? So, yeah, I don't know. To be honest, it was kind of a filler episode just to have something goofy going on. And then, of course, Bill wanted nothing to do with the whole thing. Just beeline straight for the boat after he was, like, sick of it. And I'm like, you know, what's gonna stop them? I guess. I don't know. They just need to get to the island. This is a fair point. I can't deny it for the purpose of convenience. So, I mean, I don't know. There you go. It was a filler episode, technically. I just wanted to throw a mystery in there. I didn't think it would take three episodes to get through it.
Cameron: And all it took was Brock just chaining everybody's feet to the floor and shaking them upside down.
Skylar: That's right.
Cameron: That's right. If you want to get anywhere, kids start torturing people.
Cameron: Violent.
Skylar: Pick the kid up and shake his milk money out of his pockets.
Cameron: Violence.
Mikayla: We don't condone bullying, actually.
Skylar: Oh, yeah, we don't.
Cameron: Yeah.
Skylar: Don't. I appreciate Mika being the voice of reason.
Cameron: What?
Skylar: Yeah. okay, so question for everybody. We'll do. We'll do rapid fire around the room. This is mighty mine to you guys favorite NPC. Go. Connor. can you come back? I was worried where you. Okay. I was worried we were gonna go. Cameron.
Cameron: it's one of two characters. Oh, there's three. There's so many good ones.
Skylar: Oh, no.
Cameron: I'll just quick say my three favorites. One was the explosives guy. The other one was the 90 degree man, old guy that we. That was on the hike with us.
Skylar: The guy was ridiculous.
Cameron: I think the last one was kido Kito.
Skylar: All right, Michaela.
Mikayla: I liked Chicra.
Skylar: Yeah, that makes sense.
Mikayla: But I also did like the butler guy.
Skylar: Butler guy. Yeah. Almost forgot about him. That's a throwback. He was fun. Hey, wait a minute. So you're not going to integrate him? I feel like he would come up at some point in Mika's future endeavor.
Mikayla: I mean, maybe he could be my butler someday.
Skylar: Yeah, maybe you take him on as, like. Yeah, the blissful brew gets, like, really wealthy.
Mikayla: He could be, like, our host.
Skylar: Oh, you guys could hire him. M at the blissful brew?
Mikayla: Yeah, yo, I'm sure we could, because.
Skylar: Bill doesn't work there anymore as the host.
Cameron: You don't have a host.
Mikayla: There you go.
Skylar: He'll be pretty. Good job. He's brilliant. All right, Dave, favorite NPC.
Dave: Mister Okaron.
Skylar: Okay, he's right.
Cameron: Okay, I forgot about it. He's got a good point.
Skylar: Dang it. All right, back to Connor.
Cameron: Okay, so either the pirate, the lady pirate, the lady pirate, the lady pirate that Brock tried to
00:15:00
Cameron: give me a second.
Skylar: Hold my eyes.
Cameron: Or Chicra for nothing else than her saying, what's your favorite thing to do without a dad? Still, I think the best line of.
Cameron: The entire campaign, my magnum opus, NPC.
Skylar: Spur of the moment line right there. What's your favorite thing to do in that?
Cameron: Probably my favorite line of the whole campaign.
Skylar: that's true. I forgot about that. I need to put that on a t shirt.
Cameron: Like, make some stickers.
Skylar: What's your favorite thing to do without a dad? Dang. And I'd cry. A tear would fall. Every time someone bought that sticker or that t shirt. I'd go, oh, somebody out there? I'm sorry. Wow. man, I don't know. Kido was really fun to play. I also really enjoyed old man Gunja, which was voiced by our good friend Doug. that was just a goofy character to write for in his spoons.
Cameron: And his spoons.
Cameron: And then him and, Guo having, like, pie fight, like, trying to fight over the same pie eating entire spoonfuls of cinnamon.
Skylar: And he wanted interest on you borrowing his spoon. That was weird. All right, Connor, what do you got?
Cameron: I'll throw it right over to. I'll throw it over to Dave. Mister Guo Han from thinkbee 63. did you feel that Guo's backstory at the carnival would have shown up more throughout the campaign, or do you kind of wish it showed up more so he could flex his carnival muscles?
Skylar: Oh, man.
Cameron: Or circus muscles.
Dave: I mean, I did try to reference back to different skills that he had from the carnival, but the only thing that maybe I would have liked more to come through was the, lady he left behind.
Skylar: Mirabel. Yeah. To see her pop up again. That would have been interesting, for sure. I feel like there's a lot of opportunity we could have taken with the, with the carnival showing up again. I know. I kind of just threw chinks and Ani in there.
Dave: Oh, and also I did kind of leave it open to like, oh, Guo's parents are potentially alive still.
Cameron: Yeah.
Skylar: That would have been intense. I feel like, I mean, I think we hit two pretty emotional points with withdeze. Bill's backstory, Amica's backstory, like throughout the series. But I feel like, and no offense to Connor and Brock, but I feel like the only other like really emotional note that we probably could have hit would have been with whoa and his parents.
Cameron: I mean, that's fair.
Skylar: I mean, yours were like fine. Honestly.
Cameron: Brock was just a earth rumble six fighter.
Skylar: Yeah. Yeah. And your family was like all good. They're out there, they're doing their farm. You're sending them some money.
Cameron: Yeah, they're just over there harvesting their cabbages.
Skylar: I want to, I don't want to give too much away because I know there's a question that'll come up because I already read through them all and, and I have more to say on that. But I digress anyway. Okay. Cameron. Yeah.
Cameron: I have a question for you, Skyler.
Skylar: Oh no.
Cameron: If you could go back and change anything about the story, what would it be?
Skylar: Okay, so that's a really tough question. I was, I mean, it's tough to answer as the DM because the idea behind Dming is that I, I just come up with like the titles for the chapters. Right. And then you guys are the ones that are kind of creating the story that happens within it. Right. Like I just coming up with the headers, you guys come up with the actual like content within that. So it's hard for me to say like, man, I wish I could have changed that because I don't want to change anything that you guys sort of use to develop your characters with that, being said. That's a tough one. I was really happy with everything that happened. I might, I guess I'm not trying to cheat off of what was just discussed, but I probably would integrate whoa's backstory a little bit more because I felt like, like I said Conor or Brock's. Brock's backstory. It felt very like it was good where it was at. I feel like Bill had a very obvious like progression to get to. Michaela playing Micah had like a really fun kind of angst. You had the most like angsty team and that left a lot of opportunity to like throw the angsty teen into situations and see how they get themselves out of it because this angsty teen gotta grow up. but like Guo I felt like didn't get enough representation. I say that probably be my main thing that I'd want to adjust to like get, get Dave on a little bit of more and get Guo to like have an opportunity to, I don't know, have some big growth moment or something like that. Yeah, that's probably what I changed. Oh my, oh yeah, sorry.
Mikayla: My turn.
Skylar: Yeah, sorry.
Mikayla: I should have, I got a question for Brock Connor.
Mikayla: Do you, I feel like this is gonna come off very mean, but it's fine. Do you feel like Brock really learned anything by the end of the series?
Cameron: That's a good question.
00:20:00
Cameron: I thought that a lot in the last season.
Cameron: It's a fair question. And I feel like the answer is no.
Skylar: I think we can all agree it's no.
Cameron: Yeah, I mean, he kind of learned how to read.
Mikayla: Yeah, well, he was starting to, he.
Cameron: Was starting to learn how to read.
Cameron: But emotionally, no, no, he's not a character arc. He's just a character plateau.
Cameron: he was the base that everyone's arcs were built off of.
Skylar: Yeah.
Cameron: He had a good foundation and that was Brock. He was the foundation, the catalyst for everyone else.
Dave: Yeah.
Cameron: It's like by seeing Brock stay the same, you could see the growth of everybody else.
Cameron: That kind of makes sense.
Skylar: Brock stood still so everybody else could run.
Cameron: Exactly. And that's his role. And he filled that role.
Mikayla: I mean, he was really embodying a Brock there.
Cameron: He was. Yes.
Skylar: Brock started out punching his problems away and Brock ended punching his problems away. That was his plateau, I think you did.
Cameron: And he helped his friends punch their problems away.
Mikayla: I would really love to meet Brock's parents.
Skylar: one m is the cabbage man.
Cameron: Apparently one is the cabbage man.
Mikayla: And I, well, I just want to see if they're just as like, yeah.
Cameron: Well, the cabbage man was, they're probably.
Cameron: Like the nicest people.
Skylar: They probably are. Actually.
Cameron: Brock's just weird. He's just the, yeah, he's, we just kind of let him do whatever.
Mikayla: Like a dude.
Skylar: I mean, in the prequel episode, the cabbage man is kind of like, oh, we better not mess with the firebenders. They're more powerful than us. We're in the prison camp. Let's just roll. He's like, he's grandpa grape in, in veggie tales in the Egypt one where he's just like three square meals a day.
Cameron: It was paradise.
Skylar: Paradise. And then Brock's like, no, I'm gonna punch it.
Mikayla: Yeah, I just, I know how Brock became the way he did.
Cameron: Yeah.
Skylar: How did Brock go from. Yeah. Having such nice parents that are very passive.
Mikayla: Hidden psychopath.
Cameron: Maybe he just got. He took too many rock naps. Like he hit himself in the head too many times with a couple rocks. You know, maybe, amount of concussions he got from earth rumble or something.
Cameron: He's sleeping underground and no oxygen does something to him.
Cameron: Lack of oxygen doesn't do well for brain development. You could be on to something.
Skylar: Good to know for. Yeah. You're out there raising your kids, make.
Cameron: Sure they get oxygen.
Skylar: You want them to just punch everything.
Dave: This one is for Micah's character or Mikaela's character.
Cameron: Micah.
Skylar: Sometimes it's hard to distinguish.
Dave: Would you say I'm nothing like her.
Mikayla: Okay.
Dave: Micah is more willing to make friends now than she was at the start of the series is from distant dreams.
Mikayla: I mean, I feel like she'd be pretty content with the one she has.
Skylar: Dang. So. Even less so.
Mikayla: Well, I mean, like, you think about it, you know, she was really close to her parents. The whole thing happened with, her tribe. Mom died, she lost her dad. M. Well, she thought she. I mean, she didn't. She did lose her dad, just not in the dying sense of. And then Mister Okaron dies. She just. I feel like she's probably just. It would be hard for her to allow more and more new people to come in because attachments would form.
Skylar: Right. And she's tired of loss. Yeah, makes sense. Makes sense. But she did make remake friends with Chicra at the end.
Mikayla: Yeah, see, I mean, Chica is all she needs.
Skylar: Do you think she becomes friends with, what's, her name?
Cameron: Oh, Kai?
Cameron: No, Sora.
Mikayla: Sora.
Skylar: Sora.
Cameron: Probably, ish.
Mikayla: I don't know.
Cameron: What about the wild coyote boars?
Skylar: What about the other wild coyote boars? Yeah, I feel like scoliosis and the big guy.
Cameron: They seem nice.
Mikayla: I mean, I feel like having an in with Chicoro. She'd almost have to be right? Like, that's, in a sense, Chikura's family.
Skylar: Oh. you make it seem like they're gonna start the gang back up again with a different purpose.
Mikayla: I mean, they could.
Cameron: It's gonna be one of those fun.
Skylar: Games.
Mikayla: And tear them down.
Skylar: Oh, my gosh. It's just Scooby doing the game. Without the dog. I don't know. Yeah, without the. I don't know. Maybe you get something.
Dave: No, they have a fox dog.
Skylar: Oh, the fox dog. Ah. it learns to sort of talk. What?
Mikayla: I mean, it was in the spirit realm for a little while. It's possible.
Cameron: Yeah.
Skylar: All right. Fair enough. I'll give you that. That sounds cool. Is it back to me?
Cameron: Think so.
Skylar: okay. Everybody's favorite, moment in the series.
Cameron: Connor, are we talking about plot wise or, like, outside of here, like,
00:25:00
Cameron: between us talking?
Cameron: No.
Skylar: No.
Cameron: Okay, well, I kind of have two answers to that. Plot wise. My favorite part was just the wild coyote boar fight.
Skylar: That was a pretty crazy fight because.
Cameron: I mean, Brock got to punch chicra through a wall, and then the last guy who tried to run away, my role was so good that he. I was able to take away one of his abilities, and I decided to take away. He can't run away. And so we, like, we not only got the money back and got them to not mess with us, but we also took his money out of his pocket. So I think that was my favorite plot part. My favorite part from, like, just us, like, on the outside breaking the fourth wall here was how frustrated you got when we were in the cave that I think it was, me and Guo were able to just sort of earth bend tunnels, around the puzzles you had built.
Skylar: It's like the entire series of challenges when you're in and you have two.
Cameron: Earth where it's like, can we just make a tunnel?
Skylar: You're like, I sure.
Cameron: Like, it doesn't not make sense just how frustrated you were getting.
Skylar: That's true.
Cameron: That was fun.
Skylar: I mean, how do you win against the bendy element bend? I'm like, man, anything I throw at them is in this world. Like, as it is, like, there's no technology and stuff, so everything's just elements.
Cameron: Like, you had to do it in a mountain. Unfortunately, there were two earthbenders who could.
Skylar: Just make a door back on the pirate boat because at least that presented.
Cameron: Some challenge that would have worked. Can't bend wood.
Skylar: That's right. Cameron, favorite moment?
Cameron: it's probably my favorite moment because I think it's the start to where I personally thought it started getting really good in terms of the character development and the storytelling in was season three. It was the factory.
Skylar: Oh.
Cameron: I think that's when a lot of stuff started, like, hitting the fan, really. And a lot of stuff, like, a lot of things came to play all at, like, one moment. I think the distinct moment was when Mika had to choose between hitting Bill right to hit Madame Yang or to not hit Madam Yang. I think that one moment was a very crucial moment for the whole, where everything had led up to that moment, and that moment was a giant tipping point for a lot of stuff.
Skylar: Yeah.
Cameron: So I think that singular moment, I think, was one of the most important moments and one of my favorite moments.
Skylar: In the show that was pretty intense. And we're all looking at Mikayla like, is she gonna choose it? Is she gonna choose it? Cameron's like, dude, if you gotta do it, do it. Like, do what fits best. Yeah, it was pretty intense. Mikayla, on the flip side, what was your throwing boiling hot water in Bill's face?
Cameron: Definitely the ocean. Yang just got in the way.
Mikayla: Oh, my gosh. I don't know what my favorite part would be.
Skylar: I think Mikayla, out of everybody in the group, got the most frustrated every time Madame Yang got away at least.
Cameron: Are you kidding? I had her on the ropes, man.
Skylar: I sound pretty upset, but I feel like every time Michaela yelled, are you serious right now? You've got to be kidding me.
Cameron: Having a lot. so was your favorite moment when we finally knocked her out, finally took it away?
Mikayla: I mean. Yeah, but I don't know, I feel like the side conversations between some of the NPC's and our characters were kind of, I don't know, it's just nice to have something outside of the story sometimes.
Skylar: Yeah, yeah, the side. Side conversations and such. Yeah. That makes sense.
Mikayla: Just to see what direction that takes. I mean, because it does have effect on the bigger story.
Skylar: I feel like, like how you basically befriended chicra, like, from the get go, which was kind of ironic because she was coming for the very tea shop.
Mikayla: That well, and then, like, you know, after we did the factory, and I basically was like, sorry, Bill, for being a brat. I just felt like that you can see, like, the character growth.
Skylar: Yeah, absolutely.
Cameron: She liked the quiet moments.
Skylar: Yeah, quiet moments, which.
Cameron: No great moment.
Skylar: Absolutely. That dialogue is so necessary to really, again, build the characters and tell a story. And that's really cool when it works out that way. Sometimes, you know, you get a quiet moment. You're just looking at the players like, nice fire just sitting around it, I guess. I mean, are you guys just gonna go to bed or. Ah, you know, you kind of hope as the DM. Like, I mean, I got stuff ready, but if you guys want to talk a little bit, go ahead and. But no, that's. That's great. That's great.
Skylar: Hey, everyone. Skylar here. Are you a fan of session zero heroes and the shows we produce or the characters involved? Then you should check out our epic merch we have available online, from shirts to stickers and
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Skylar: everything in between. We worked hard on creating a variety of designs and made sure to get your favorite characters on those products, as well. Whether you're looking for broccoli on a hoodie to wear to the gym with you or maybe fizzle Finger's tote bag to stuff your ill gotten gains in, we've got you covered. Just head over to our website@sessionzeroheroes.com, and click on our merch tab to see all the amazing products and designs that you can get. Now back to the show.
Skylar: Dave, what was your favorite moment?
Dave: probably one of my favorite moments was, well, what? None of your characters were looking, but Guo did a backflip.
Cameron: Yeah, that was a good one. That was a good one.
Skylar: Yes. I love it.
Dave: No, I did enjoy, probably in the first season, the whole, like, lead up, to the wild coyote boar fight also. I just thought that was a fun gang to fight.
Cameron: It was.
Dave: but when guo inspired the community or whatever, and we all did the.
Cameron: Snaps, it was amazing. It was amazing.
Skylar: Can you imagine an entire towns worth of people just stepping at you with looks of anger in their eyes and just aggressively snapping at you?
Mikayla: I probably laughed.
Skylar: It would be weird.
Mikayla: What would you do?
Cameron: I mean, I'd, ah, be intimidated and.
Skylar: You just go win. You're the jets.
Cameron: You.
Mikayla: I just feel like I'd laugh out of awkwardness.
Skylar: Like, probably.
Dave: And then I did, like, the last, like, the last fight with Madame Yang, too. I thought that ending came together pretty well.
Skylar: M the bit where the guy's pen didn't have any Dilberts. Dipped right out of Dilbert. Amazing.
Cameron: Amazing.
Mikayla: You are also, like, really, I will.
Cameron: Say about that final fight. Insane. You put an amazing score that did it really well.
Skylar: Yeah.
Cameron: Beats and the pacing and the timing of everything was really well done. I so applaud you on that.
Skylar: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I applaud, I believe it was monumentous and studios that we got the music from.
Cameron: So you just got that?
Skylar: I know. I just got, they just reached out to ask if we would be willing to kind of collaborate with them on their kickstarter, and I was like, yeah, absolutely. And they just straight up offered. They're like, here's, here's a bunch of music you can use, which was amazing and super generous of them. And then I was like, hey, you know, I just want to check with you guys beforehand, but is it cool if we use this music in our show? And they're like, dude, yeah, that's, like, the point, basically. So, yeah, I was, that was awesome.
Cameron: Yeah.
Skylar: That they, they did that. And, not. Not like a sponsor, but they did help us out. Yeah, quite a bit on an awesome collab, so really appreciate them. Definitely go check out their. Their fantasy plus sound, board. It's really cool. So as you can, as Cameron can attest, it worked out really well. Connor, I think you're up. Right?
Cameron: Yeah. so I'll. I'll ask. I'll throw right back at you here, Skylar. what is your. I would like to ask, what is your favorite and least favorite off script moment where we went completely in a different direction than what you had planned?
Skylar: Well, I think we can all easily agree that the least favorite was the challenge. Well, man, see, now you guys have put it into perspective because there was the mystery of the scale that lasted three episodes. I didn't expect that. and just how you guys handled it, that might be a least favorite. But then also, you reminded me about the. The challenges within the cave solved almost entirely by, well, I can earth bend, so. So, yeah, I would say between those two, it's gotta be one of those for, like, least favorite. One of my favorite moments. Oh, my gosh, I hate to be that guy that just, like, says, oh, yeah, that thing that you guys already mentioned, but, oh, my gosh, that moment of, what's your favorite thing to do without a dad? Was truly magical and unexpected. I did not expect Mikayla to just, like, start making friends with one of, like I said, one of the people that you guys actively had coming after you guys. And I thought it was so funny. And then things started lining up really well with the whole dad bit and everything like that. I feel like it wasn't even just that. It was like that and, like, three other jokes about, like, can't really play catch, which is me.
Cameron: I don't know.
Skylar: There was, like, three other bits in there that I was like, this is the most, like, horrible thing we've ever come up with, but it's hilarious.
Cameron: I don't know.
Skylar: So that was. That was pretty off script and hilarious. Trying to think if there was anything that you guys did that, like, I didn't even have a plan for, like, at all. Like, you guys, like, completely went off, but I don't know if there is any. I feel like, and I'm not trying to say I railroaded, but I feel like I did a pretty good job of just, like, trying to keep the plot going with throwing me off.
Cameron: If I remember right early in the first season, you had kind of given us, like, even directions to where the wild coyote wars hideout was, But then Michaela decided,
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Cameron: let's go to.
Cameron: The rich people's house.
Cameron: If I had to guess, that wasn't in the plan. So that's how we got some basket out of it.
Skylar: Well, actually, that's not entirely true. I did have it planned in case you guys went there, because I came up with stuff in the basement and all of that kind of stuff. So, I mean, like, it was an option, but it wasn't what I thought you'd take. But I was also kind of worried that, actually, I think the base was the secondary plan. I was worried you guys would go there because I thought, oh, man, what if they just go there and just beat everybody up? Where am I gonna.
Cameron: I mean, that's what Bill wanted.
Skylar: Yeah. Yeah, I remember.
Cameron: Yeah, Brock. At that point, Brock wasn't as hard headed.
Skylar: So I think another element of, off script that I thought was hilarious was the fact that after season one, you guys still kept all that money. And then you guys went throughout the rest of the thing, and I sat there and I was like, okay, so the one thing I can't do in the whole rest of seasons two, and inevitably, three, is put anything in a challenge situation that would involve just buying your way out, because they can do that right now. They have a lot of money. I cannot give them any money challenges.
Cameron: That is fair. We did not spend a cent, did we?
Cameron: I mean, we just were too busy doing stuff. Yeah.
Skylar: Yeah.
Cameron: But we could have, like, bought. Oh, we could have, like, bribed so many guards.
Mikayla: We definitely spent a cent. Because you took pirate lady on a date.
Skylar: On the expense report.
Cameron: I think, like, the only thing we really paid for was that boat ride to the island.
Skylar: And the guide.
Cameron: And the guide. Yeah, and the guide. That was it, really.
Cameron: So the boat ride. The guide. And a date. And a date to a hot leaf.
Skylar: Juice to a, Well, nobody in this entire room except for Brock Lee, supported hot leaf juice in any way, to be fair.
Mikayla: But, you know, karma, he got arrested.
Cameron: So I got arrested immediately after.
Skylar: That's a good way of looking at it. Awesome. Karen.
Cameron: Well, I want to piggyback off of where you're already at.
Skylar: You could probably piggyback on comedy. Yeah.
Cameron: So this was a question asked by Luke.
Skylar: Okay.
Cameron: Hey, a good friend of ours, and, the question plays off of what you were talking about, which was, was there anything or storylines or NPC's that completely got skipped over because of our choices? So one of them was the warehouse you prepared, but did you have any other moments or characters that you had in mind that we just completely skipped over.
Skylar: Yeah. So this is kind of a big one.
Cameron: Yeah.
Skylar: So the original intent was not necessarily to end with season three. I had plans that were going to go past that already in place, and it was kind of more. I don't know. I don't feel like it would have been as, like, fun. I feel like it would have kind of felt like, you know, when shows.
Cameron: Go too far, you're dragging up the story. Yeah.
Skylar: But at the same time, I don't know, there could have been some fundamental moments. So I wanted you guys to obviously get the best blissful brew back, but the overarching concept that Madame Yang and hot leaf juice were still obviously out there and still obviously kind of a superpower. And then on top of it, in season three, you guys had that whole look into one of their factories and, seeing how, like, they're getting orphans from the Fire nation and just kind of manipulating them and using them and stuff like that. And so I was going to turn them into this, like, basically big corporation that you guys were going to take down little by little, and that's what was going to be future seasons. So you guys were going to travel either across the earth nation, and then, like, each season would be you guys taking down one of the shops or one of the major factories or something like that. So, going off of that, probably one of my favorite ones that I had planned was in the Fire nation in the Ember Islands, I think it was, which in the show is where, like, zuko and, Azula go to, like, have, like, that little vacation, basically. Yeah. So there was gonna be, like, a beachside, like, tea smoothie shack, and there was gonna be, like, this really chill dude that was running it, and it was technically owned and run. Bye. Buy hot leaf juice. But this guy was just kind of, like, you know, your. Your classic, like, chill, bro kind of guy. And I was like, oh, man, are they going to take this place down, or are they just going to, like, befriend this guy and try to convince him to, like, convert to blissful brew or something like that? I don't know. That was just one of the ideas, but, yeah. So that was kind of, like, the overarching things that got skipped over. That was kind of the plan. But I know that we've got other things that we wanted to run and there are some life changes and things and just didn't. It wouldn't work out. But at the same time, I don't. I don't know if it would have even been a fun sort of series to continue going on. On. I think we ended on a really powerful emotional note.
Cameron: I think the timing and the ending was a good ending.
Skylar: It worked out awesome.
Mikayla: Mikayla, question, for Cameron.
Cameron: Hello.
Mikayla: this is from zcarthe card now, something like that. there's, like, a
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Mikayla: lot to it, so sit down for a good time. What might life be like for Ash now that he had, now that he is back in the Fire nation? Like, what are his long term goals, such as a job? Does he join his father's factory? What about the coming war being enacted by the Fire nation? What? His dad choose to leave the fire nation to escape being a part of that, and where would they go?
Skylar: Dang, the hard hitting bill questions.
Cameron: See, I always thought about that because he's going back home with his family and stuff, and it's all. That's a lot of questions in one.
Dave: Depends if the Fire nation has a draft.
Mikayla: Oh, but I mean, it's all that.
Cameron: Kind of is really important. Like, I feel like that would answer all the questions also, like, I don't know much about, like, the lore of Avatar, so I don't know, like, and, I don't know, like, if your family's rich, if you can skip the draft, because Bill's family is very rich.
Skylar: I feel like you just get put into a position of, like, higher leadership within the military.
Cameron: That's probably what would happen. So if there, if the war happened, I, so I assumed what would happen was Bill would go back to work with his dad, right, and his brother, and they would start working to basically because the war then soon starts building up. And so him and his family, since it's very clear his family's anti the war and all these efforts and stuff, especially with what bill's seen firsthand, and the earth nation heard the earth nation reports, and then tells his dad about the stuff really happening. They're taking over towns, trapping people, killing a lot of people, you know, all this bad stuff. Then his dad definitely be even more anti stuff. So I think their factory would be like, make their. The factory is in charge of making weapons, like the met weapons of, like, the tanks and those vehicles and stuff, the warships and all this stuff. So I think his dad would start basically creating them to have, like, misfires and, like, jamming and flaws and, basically when they're in combat, they would just stop working and stuff, basically because that way gives the people a chance to fight back.
Skylar: Right.
Cameron: But then I think what would have happened is they would have caught on. His dad probably would have been put in prison, lost his seat, and then Bill and Blaze would have been probably forced to join the, Because that. Because I truly think if they were going against the nation, eventually they would find out, and then they would throw them in the military as punishment. And then his dad would lose his title and probably be forced to retire. But since his status, he wouldn't go to the military. Just be like, maybe become like a iroh, you know, where he's like a general, but kind of being forced against his will. Like, iroh, kind of like, iroh's a general, but like, yeah, he really doesn't want to fight. He's just like, I don't want to do this. I'm just going to, tell my troops to do the wrong things all the time.
Skylar: Well, yeah, like, they kind of put him into a useless position, basically.
Cameron: And that's what I think where Bill's dad would or Ash's dad would be. But I think truly Ash and his brother, probably, like ten years, 510 years, whenever the war really starts heating up, they would be forced to join the army.
Mikayla: So you think that they would stay and not run. You'd think they'd fight behind the scenes and not.
Cameron: They would definitely be trying to help without hurting in a way.
Skylar: Right.
Cameron: But, like, at the same time, they also don't want to get even more in trouble and then killed because of what they're doing. So they would have to be like, I don't know, maybe they. One time they. They. When the army's off in the earth nation doing stuff, maybe they run away from the army and escape together, and then they start working with, like, that recon. What that. What's that? Team squadron. Maybe since Bill knows where they, know has connections to them, maybe they separate from the war army, and if that group still exists, maybe they join them.
Skylar: I can see a really interesting plotline developing. So, like, right now, as we're waiting for, I don't know, I think it's Netflix or whoever to make. They're making an adult, like Aang in the gangs animated series of, like, what they do once they reach adulthood. Between then and legend of Korra, basically what happens. It'd be really interesting to do something like that for benders and bruise, where Bill grows up with Ember and they get forced into the military and stuff. And then they're like the bad guys to some extent, because even within. Because you guys have seen our dad was trying to subtly do things to harm the Fire Nation military. Yeah. we can't fall for those same mistakes because look what happened to him.
Cameron: Yeah.
Skylar: And so you guys are trying to, like, like you said, maybe not do as much damage, but, like, I still got to kind of fall in line to some extent. And then you run into these guys who are still over in the fire or the earth nation, and maybe you guys, to some extent, are somehow brought into the fight. And then you're looking across the battlefield and you see your old friend Bill doar, who you would exchange letters with up until a certain point, you know, and there's, like, obviously some
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Skylar: intense tension there. Maybe there's even a situation where Bill is part of, like, a specific military task force that's taking over gaoling. And then obviously you guys get caught up in that and you're thinking, oh, it's our friend Bill. He's going to get us out of this. And he's like, I gotta continue my cover. Take him to the prison camps or something like that. Like, whoa. And that means Brock goes back to a prison camp, which that would be interesting. Mika and her dad would be in a prison camp, which means I'd have to do the voice for that still. Whoa. I like the idea that, like, hold on. I know this is one of my questions of what would be an interesting side story, and we're just creating it right now.
Cameron: Well taken. Our very happy ending and being like, we all know that, yeah, there's a war coming.
Skylar: Here's the thing. It doesn't come back together at the end. Usually someone has to die.
Cameron: I was never a fan of Mika.
Skylar: And also Mika's dad's.
Mikayla: You're my brother husband. Come on.
Cameron: I was your brother husband. Baby daddy. Yes.
Skylar: That was also a really, that whole episode was another really favorite moment.
Cameron: Osha, Osha.
Cameron: Ben and snap. it's high.
Skylar: Rockets high. That's true.
Cameron: The brother husband's baby daddy situation.
Skylar: So convoluted. But, I mean, it was different people. It was information spread across different people. So it's like, oh, I guess it's okay.
Cameron: And then all while that was going on on the outside, I think Guo and Bill were, like, juggling or something.
Skylar: Trying to get dips. I like how we had, like, a really intense, serious discussion going on, and then we're like, no, wait, wait.
Cameron: Let's pull it back because it doesn't fit the vibe of our show.
Skylar: Too much, too much, too hard, too fast. That's our, like, our Patreon adulthood. Version of the show that you can subscribe. We don't have that yet. We'll see what happens. Whose turn was it? I lost, I think you.
Cameron: I was done with my answer and then you just kind of kept going. No, I don't care. It's a great side track.
Skylar: Hey everyone. Skyler, the game master for benders and Bruise, and the creative director over at Session Zero Heroes here. I just wanted to give you a quick outro before you head over to the next episode or call it a day. Firstly, thank you so much for listening to our show. It means so much to us to have such amazing people like yourself that enjoy the content that we produce. Without you, there really wouldn't be much point in all the work that we put into recording, editing, and sharing our TTRPG sessions with all of you. With that being said, we would love it if you would throw some love our way and drop us a review or a rating or whatever it is called wherever you're listening to the show based on whatever platform that allows you to leave reviews and leave recommendations. It means a lot to us to get to hear why you love the show we make, and it also helps the show reach other listeners as well, allowing us to grow our community. So if you're feeling especially generous, you could even go as far as to share our show to your friends and family who also enjoy TTRBG actual play podcasts. It's really expensive for us to be able to advertise and we don't do much of it, so it's a lot more help to have you guys share it with people that you know will enjoy it, and then they can join in the community that we're creating that would make you a session zero hero yourself. And additionally, we'd love to have you.
Skylar: Stop by on one of our various.
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Skylar: We post all sorts of updates, clips.
Skylar: And even the occasional behind the scenes look at what we're up to. And if you're ever looking for information on SDH or you don't use a podcast streaming site but you want to listen to our shows, you can do so by checking out our website@sessionzeroheroes.com, and while you're there, you can find out.
Skylar: About the cast and the crew that.
Skylar: Make our show and provide the players voices in all of our various series. And if you're feeling especially cheeky, you can check out our merch store where we have a ton of designs and products to choose from, all of which help us pay the bills and keep the lights on. So, once again, thank you all so much for listening. And remember to stay curious, stay heroic, until we roll again.
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