D&D Court: Sick Aarakocras, Tiny Cows, and the Snorkel of Shame

I grew up with a Old Spaghetti factory down the hill from me and y’all are missing out, get in there and get some of that free bread and garlic butter.

Brandon R

I loved the cow story

Squishy, Pawpaw's Brushtail Possum lover

Spoiler for dimension 20's ACOC: Just putting it out there that Emily did have a dragon once, Cinnamon.

Squishy, Pawpaw's Brushtail Possum lover

this isn't the first episode of DnD court but it's the first when I use the tag and sort by oldest to newest :( I wish someone would go thru the uploads and organize them also birds have cloacas without a sphincter, the bird oughtn't have been able to choose when to shit. as a DM I told my aarocokra player that people don't like him cause he shits in court

Summer Tribe

"Like we said in the Linky Pinky fuckin' Stinky case, you can't put the shit back in the ass"

Beatrix

I’m playing OOTD right now and am playing through one of the “heroic paths” where I’m trying to restore the order of the dragon lords and you guys were right in saying you get a wyrmling and it levels up. You essentially have key quests you want to do and my Druid character had to hatch a wyrmling and raise it and I’m eventually going to be able to be a wyrmling as I fly alongside my dragon and I’m so excited

MegAnn Haubold

I think not knowing about indoor beach volleyball is a California thing. Here in Wisconsin, we have a couple bars with indoor sand courts.

Sarah Brownell

I am also reading Priory of the Orange Tree!

Hardcore disagree with the court on the 2 spells in one turn guy. I would absolutely ruin a night if someone in my group tried to pull that nonsense. Completely ridiculous the DM allowed it.

Whitney Weltz

Not sure if this is the right place to bring this up (and apologize for the length), but the ruling on the case with the rules lawyer (snorkle) struck me as perhaps not sensitive to a key issue. I do not know anything about the person who submitted this case, but as the parent of an ASD child (who DMs me and who I DM), it definitely felt very familiar. Although the DM gets to set the rules of the universe, the group is playing a specific game with specific pre-set rules - they chose 5e, rather than something more flexible and improv driven. Many people, whether neurodivergent or more typical, find rules to be very important, and specifically choose to play games with many intricate rules as a way to cope. In this case, the rule was being abused in an extreme manner that went well beyond what the balance of this game set is supposed to allow, and may have been something this person simply couldn't live with - it very well could have "broken" the game for them (as would have been the case for my child). This is also not merely a harmless error, as making one player overpowered often makes the game less fun for all other players (even if they "win" more), since the others have less of an impact. They clearly understood that they made everyone else upset and may have wished that wouldn't have happened (again, something that hits very close to home), but also may have wanted to be told that people understood why this was so important for them. Some people simply cannot be more flexible with things that are clearly identified as against the rules - and I think a bit more context or understanding that this might be the case for some people would have been good (whether or not that was the case for this particular person).

Dana Weir

I loved hearing about the cows. I grew up in a small ag area in CA. One time we got very lost on back roads and ended up driving through plains where cows were not fenced in and got very close to the car. There’s also a park that is literally right next to a cow field you can just sit and watch them. ...and there was a time a cow got out and was just chilling in the road by my high school.

Nova

Back in the mid 90s there was a actual book series of spelljammer which I read. It started in the forgotten realms with a crashed spelljamming ship and went from there. To Emily's dream, there was an actual galleon spelljamming ship, which I believe was a human ship, so your dream would fit there

Keith robinson

It was so weird hearing my name in this episode, Abner is really just doing his best. D&D court is the best, please keep doing more ! I totally get the cow party, they're just so cool!

Sooo I haven’t finished the episode yet but I have actually played indoor beach volleyball, there’s a big complex in Toronto that I’ve played at multiple times

I’m just gonna second the priory of the orange tree recommendation, it’s a great book

James

I read Priory of the orange tree last year! I loved the wlw plotline but I felt dragon-baited since there was very little dragon considering so many paged :/ Same with Naomi Noviks Uprooted tbh, giving some dude the nickname The dragon and then he isn't even a shapeshifting dragon.

Saru

I cannot BELIEVE Emily didn't mention the time she got a dragon mount lol

Scottee

I love the D&D Court episodes. I listened to this while exercising, and it is tough to stretch when you are laughing. Worth it though!

Carrie Copa

I love knowing that Caldwell drinks Two-Hearted Ale, that's my favorite beer

Logenthar

To add to that this situation, making a deal with a celestial being is exactly what the celestial warlock is forTo add to that this situation, making a deal with a celestial being is exactly what the celestial War lock is for.And the much better multi class for Bard

Rick

Re: Emily's birthday party - I grew up in an ag science town with tons of cow farms. Whenever I'm back home I'll bike to the cows and draw them. Hearing Emily's story made me really nostalgic :'-)

sola

I gotta say there’s one angle the court didn’t look at for the cleric/druid case; and that’s the actual rules of magic, and class definitions. There are a lot of worlds, some of my own included, where classes are literally defined by their magic sources. I think it’s likely that in this DM’s world, paladins and clerics are literally the only classes with access to god-gifted magic, and druids by definition get their magic from the earth. Druids are traditionally a pretty neutral and god-averse class in D&D, and making a Druid that gets powers from a god could be breaking the rules of a lot of settings if the DM cares about that. There’s no way to know without asking the DM, but I think it’s important to consider.

MrMach6

I dunno if Em has adhd like i do but sitting up in the middle of the night and remembering something with an "oh my god..." is EXTREMELY relatable lmao

Jayson Bailey

The only way I could side with Linky Pinky Stink (or w/e his name is) is if the DM described the loss of the wings as if they were easily recoverable or involuntarily hinted at such with euphemisms and the likes

David Wieland

As the "Jesus" who asked the question. That's what I was seeing while reading the character, but my DM is adamant that having a dragon, even a wyrmling, is overpowered. I thought it was kind of a high risk, high reward situation. But I appreciate your input.

cow birthday sounds lit might do that for my 27th

Marisa

I love Emily's cow story so much. About a mile from my house is a small farm with a bunch of sheep and I drive past them every day. It takes everything in me not to pull the car over and go knock on their door and ask if I can just go pet and feed the sheep please. The struggle is real

Arwyn Robinson

Abner thanks the judges & bailif for hearing our case. It was so awesome having it featured in D&D court I wouldn't even have cared if I lost. Also loved the cow viewing brithday story!

MJMM

Im sorry to dissapoint you. It isnt. The thing is, the player has always been known to play stupid characters, and I believe the player aimed to be a DM Nightmare in my campaign, and as i was the new guy and teased my campaign as being really epic, he took it on himself to change that

You could have worded it better, but I do feel like the honorable judges went off on you a little harder than necessary. This isn't a case of a player and DM not knowing the rules, the player had read the rules and chosen to interpret them in a way that put them at an advantage, and the DM had gone along with it even when the rule was clarified. Emily's stance that you shouldn't have said anything because the Warlock is "on your team" is also troubling. Everyone's on the same team, players and DM, and it should partially fall on the players to ensure their party isn't abusing the rules.

Andrew PG Lusk

as i was playing a hexblade warlock myself i was considering going full caster

Mikkel Voigt

I refuse to believe that Stinky Linky story wasn't meticulously crafted just to give Murph conniptions.

Andrew PG Lusk

jeez i didn't realize i missed duncle

keysi ellle

Okay when I say "loudly protest" was more like, telling the DM that I disagreed with their decision, not punching a hole in the wall.

Mikkel Voigt

Lol some of these names remind me of my Dragonborn My'kemic Al'romanc

Myka Donati

The cow viewing party cracked me up! My parents drove me and my sister out to a farm where they heard the people had a llama rather than take us to a petting zoo. We did not see the llama. We also didn't get ice cream.

Austin Johnson

Like they told the other player to find a new DM for much less!

Scott

I really disagree with them on the Warlock thing because I thought the petitioner made it clear this is how the DM would rule going forward. As somebody who got into a campaign where the new to 5e DM let the Cleric double up on spells with both actions... It sucks. Like why is anyone else even playing. So yeah I don't blame him for making that a sticking point. Also it seemed like they said the ruling killed the mood not their outburst. Tho the causation was unclear.

Scott

For the warlock question player, I would just start using my bonus action for actions. They allowed the warlock to cast Darkness (which costs an action) as a bonus action, so you should be allowed to attack with your bonus action, or cast a spell with a casting time of one action with a bonus action, too. Rather than argue with the DM, I'd take the time to exploit the ruling to to show them why it was wrong. Sounds like they just have a fundamental misunderstanding of the action economy or overlooked the casting time of the spell when making the initial ruling.

Bob Crossen

I thought you were going to sentence them to read 'The Good Book'. Lol

Emily

Potion of Fire Breath for example does 4d6 fire damage on a failed save, and is an Uncommon Potion, can be done as a Bonus Action 3x times in an hour until the effect is gone.

Maia Costea

I don't understand why the paladin can't just reskin his Summon Greater Steed (Pegasus or Griffon) as a dragon, it keeps the power levels balanced and he gets that sweet, sweet flavor. Maybe have a collar for him that makes him take a mini-breath attack, equal to a Rare Magic Item perk.

Maia Costea

For the question about Oath of the Dragonlords: I’ve been running that exact premade campaign for a while now (not the DM in the scenario), and one of my players actually used Oath of the Dragonlords for a while as his subclass before converting to another oath due to story (actually Oath of Heroism from Theros funnily enough). One of the underlying themes of the subclass and really the whole entire campaign is based on the hero(es) restoring an ancient order of dragon riders called the Dragonlords. The subclass actually has the character hunt for an egg that they then have to work to hatch and bond magically with, and keep alive as a wyrmling. At lvl 15 they become a young dragon, but in battle is seriously nerfed until you reach level 20, when they have regular young dragon abilities. As part of the magical bond, the character will die if the bonded dragon ever dies, so it’s a pretty serious commitment on the player’s part to try and keep this wyrmling alive at high levels and in my opinion the level 20 ability is comparable to other level 20 Paladin capstones, considering that’s all that happens (the character doesn’t gain any additional abilities like with other Paladin subclasses). Love the show, love you all, congratulations Caldwell!

This is what I came here to say, celestial warlock/bard would be so much fun. Or even Divine Sorcerer would make sense

Pamphleteer

To put a little context into it. That was what I said to Link Pinkystink. "Your wings have been badly burned and charred, so the feathers will never grow out again" the players agreed to that, but they thought any type of healing spell would help. I actually took inspiration from when beverly broke his legs, in that they had to see an expert level cleric. Thats when the player thought i was being too harsh on him. They thought they could grow the feathers out again faster with use of spells. Thats what I denied them.

Yeah im gonna have some real problems making an indoor sand volleyball hall. I have been punished fairly for allowing Link's character

Congratulations Caldwell! Beautiful name! And Abner is truely the best!

Bukvar's Assistant Isy F

also, just as an addendum, i found that the 20th level ability for the oath of the dragon lord essentially allows you to either a) transform into a young dragon or b) gain control of a dragon of any age for an hour (unless they beat a dc20 wis save) so maybe that changes y’alls opinions

H-Train

I love listening to this while getting ready for some indoor sand volleyball Bahaha

Taleisha G

Okay, compromise for the multiclassing bard: Celestial Warlock. Offers a similar skill set as the cleric or paladin while still honoring the fact that the player made a promise (or pact, if you would) with a divine being while still keeping the same spellcasting modifier for Stat play

Anthony

D&D court is hands down my new favorite bonus content.

Rei

I would die for Abner.

Bonky Fiasco

I know this is a call back but....im absolutely thrumming wth joy

lilly smoke

I think he talked about it during an episode of If I Were You when Murph and Emily both were on? Maybe? My memory is really bad so that's the best I got, but you should listen to those episodes anyway if you haven't

Cedocore

Sad that Lou could not be along for this one, his presence in the last court session was amazing - plus it would prevent ties!

EMILY LIKES PHISH????!?????? My life is changed forever

My little Sister is named SYDNEY, YES, congratulations Caldwell!!

Nesve Fowl

Norway isnt that big on volleyball. But guess i have to fill up a handball hall with sand.

Also, super proud of you for being a great dad already

Grant Klein

Love you Caldwell, come back soon!

Grant Klein

Pausing 2 minutes in to cry about Caldwell! Since we’re dear friends, if you didn’t know. All the love!

Gabi H

I’m playing a drakewarden right now and it’s so fun

Theodore Giesen

BETA REVEAL PAPA CALDWELL ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Maxwel Anderson

I've got the snorkels all sanitized and ready to go *insert evil executioners laugh muffled through a mask here*

I feel like we overlooked the insanity of the party arguing Stinkys feathers would regrow. Make him wait a year in-game before he can fly again. "It can take a year to regrow charred feathers. Birds that are really, really badly burned may have some damage all the way down the feather shaft and into the follicle or maybe it burned their skin and the feathers don't regenerate properly."

Will next week be the Hexbloods still? Need more of the Safari!

Space Cat

Completely unrelated to the affairs of the court, but I loved hearing that Emily is reading Priory of the Orange Tree! It's one of my absolute favorite books!

Sydney (Sidney?) is a top-tier name and I'd expect nothing less from our Duncle

Matt A

Are you really gonna leave us hanging on the story of how Amir ruined a game of Werewolf!? What did I miss!?

ChloPiercer

Spelljammer is in D&D as recently as 3e, although it's in a magazine somewhere online. I don't think it got a 3.5 update.

Taylor Schult

There are several types of drakes. There are stronger kind than the basic drake in the Drake warden class

Christopher Wagner

I am glad that the Tanner Family is doing good and Duncle has graduated to Daddy admirably. Sending well wishes to you all, especially Baby Sidney.

Tom J

Love to hear that Bell's Two Hearted shout out over here in Detroit!

Stephanie Karisny

Spell Jammer was fun back in the day. AD&D addition

Christopher Wagner

CALDWELLS BACCCCKKKKKKKK

H-Train

hearing all the boobs back together 🥺🥺❤️❤️

screaminggg we missed u cauldwell<3333

i love lou but what a surprise treat to have caldwell back! definitely on board with having lou back regularly though <3

Rachel

Had a kid in April. I feel you Caldwell. That first month is a void

Brother Lagniappe

Lou seemed to really enjoy these. Hope he's brought in for some more.

Michael

Calooh Callay!! Welcome back!!!

Steven Strait

Just so happy to hear his comedy again!

Christopher Wagner

Good luck with the double holiday lol

Trevor Brown

Caldwell’s child and I share a birthday. Based

Trevor Brown

Papa Duncle!

shahshahsbizadv

Beta Caldwell better then most release titles

Calooh Callay!

Casey White