Acq Inc: The "C" Team

Literally seconds ago as I write this, the first season of Acquisitions Incorporated: The "C" Team ended. I'm basically just going to gush about it, but let's give you some background first:

About ten years ago, the guys over at Penny Arcade started doing a webseries/podcast of a D&D game (something that I think was less common then than it is now) called Acquisitions Incorporated, in which their characters were an adventuring party/corporate hell mixed-level-marketing company, run by Jerry Holkins' character, Omin Dran. It later became a regular feature of PAX.

Basically meant as a way to promote the then-new 4th edition (and later converting to the far more popular 5th edition) of D&D, it managed to mix classic fantasy role-playing stuff with the odd Penny Arcade sensibility (if you ever played the On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness games, you'll have a good sense of that.)

This year, Holkins started a new series as a spin-off of the main games (which tend to only take place about two or three times a year at PAX) in which Omin creates a franchise in his own home town staffed by the player characters, who, unbeknownst to them at first, are there to investigate a deeply personal tragic mystery of Omin's past.

I want to avoid hyperbole, but I think this is one of my favorite shows (not just gaming streams, but like TV shows and that sort of thing) of the year. The players have such a great sense of character and the plot that Holkins weaves for them is a fantastic combination of utter silly ridiculousness and really compelling mindbending supernatural horror.

The characters:

Donaar Blit'zen, played by Ryan Hartman, a Dragonborn Paladin who is apparently a prince, and certainly acts entitled, but oddly never seems to want to talk about his illustrious family.

Walnut Dankgrass, played by Amy Falcone, a Wood Elf Druid who is the last member of her matriarchal enclave after it was destroyed by those seeking to build a city in her enclave's forest.

Rosie Beestinger, played by Kate Welch, a Halfling Monk who is an old lady with seemingly a million children, but also seems to have some sort of dark past she may be trying to atone for.

K'thriss Drow'b, played by Kris Straub, a Drow Warlock who has been desperate to seek out information about an elder god he believes is greater than anything else in the universe.

While there are some silly names there, and the characters certainly get up to silly things, the series is remarkably good about giving them all real character moments, and not forcing everything into combat all the time. It actually feels like a TV show, with characters getting to step in and out of the spotlight every now and then, and not just a bunch of people rolling dice to see if monsters get splattered on walls (though that does happen sometimes.)

Anyway, if you're looking for something entertaining, I highly recommend checking it out. It's also in podcast form, which is great if you're working or commuting or for whatever reason can't have your eyes on a video screen.

Also, the "C" Team has for some reason spawned an absurd amount of high-quality fan art, including a series of animations by Zeebashew that include some recap videos for the first few episodes, as well as little clips from other episodes.

I'm basically just evangelizing, partially because now I'm sad that it'll be a few months before we get more episodes. (I'm starting Critical Role now.)