Colossus of the Crux: A Daggerheart Actual Play Podcast
Colossus of the Crux is a new science fantasy Actual Play podcast featuring a cowboy, a cyborg, a four meter tall, three-eyed cat and whatever the hell Qualo is. Join the unflappable scrapper crew of The Rizon as they maybe save the multiverse. This podcast uses the awesome, narrative-forward Daggerheart system by Darrington Press.
Colossus of the Crux: A Daggerheart Actual Play Podcast
S1B6 Level Me Up Daddy
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In this special bonus episode, we take a backstage look as our unflappable players level up their toons in preparation for Season 2!
Colossus of the Crux is a new science fantasy Actual Play podcast featuring a cowboy, a cyborg, a four meter tall, three-eyed cat and whatever the hell Qualo is. This podcast uses the awesome, narrative-forward *Daggerheart* system by *Darrington Press*.
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We got some feedback from another person uh who's been listening to the uh podcast, and I don't know if I should share it.
SPEAKER_04Well now you have to.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, if you didn't want to share it, you wouldn't have fucking brought it up, so go ahead and let it fly there, bud.
SPEAKER_03No, I don't have to. But um uh Audra, do you remember what Madeline said about the podcast? That it sounded professional? Not just that. She she gave a compliment to a specific player.
SPEAKER_05She said that she thought it was I didn't say we should say it.
SPEAKER_06Oh, I just wanted to know if you remembered. Yes. Alright, what was the feedback?
SPEAKER_03Oh, the feedback uh was that uh uh she was like one of the characters has just uh I I'm paraphrasing here, uh, but she was like, one of the characters has like the sexiest voice. And I was like, no. And I was like, who is it?
SPEAKER_02Garrett has a fan.
SPEAKER_05And she was like she said, she said, and I and I quote that she would very much enjoy this person reading like the dictionary to her.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So it's obviously Brie.
SPEAKER_03And I was like, and I was like, uh what and she's like, I couldn't remember it his name, and I was like, is he playing the cowboy or the quallo? And she was like, oh, oh, the the qual.
SPEAKER_02Oh god no, ew, gross, she has terrible taste. I said uh yeah, no, god no, my voice is not my best.
SPEAKER_05Or else his ego is gonna get huge.
SPEAKER_01But definitely between the koalo and the cowboy, the koalo does have the better voice. 100%.
SPEAKER_02God no. No, I would date the cowboy.
SPEAKER_03I would not I would not date the quality what you just said now, that should be the opening of the episode. One zero, let's cue the music. This is gonna be some B-side footage, audio, some B-side audio of the players leveling up from level one to level two. You guys excited? Yes. Yeah, you have.
SPEAKER_06And I acquiesced. You're like, fine, you can level, I guess.
SPEAKER_03Um, we should probably do quick voice intros. Uh so joining me around the table are.
SPEAKER_04Hi, I'm Bree. I play Glitch, the ship mechanic.
SPEAKER_05Hi, I'm Audra, and I play Tabitha, the ship's quartermaster.
SPEAKER_01Hi, I'm Garrett. I play Tacan St. James, the ship's pilot.
SPEAKER_02Hey, I'm Eugene. I play uh Qualo, the ship's science officer. Question mark. Yes, question mark. And I just want to let you all know that it's okay to eat stoics because they don't have any feelings.
SPEAKER_06Philosophy joke.
SPEAKER_03So high Philosophy burn. We're gonna get some angry, well, some not angry, we're gonna get some very I don't know how they would send it. I read your I was listening to your podcast, and you cannot eat stoics. Not unless you cook them very thoroughly first, because the meat's tough.
SPEAKER_01Um You'll need a crock pot or perhaps a sous vide.
SPEAKER_03That's so stupid. Anyway, this episode has no structure. Uh I if there's not gonna be any plot here, we're just leveling up. And so we thought maybe you guys one of you's like really masochistic and is like, oh, level me up, daddy, or whatever.
SPEAKER_04Um And if your name is Marcus Aurelius, you should definitely not listen to this episode.
SPEAKER_03Uh it's just gonna be leveling up and jokes about stoicism today, folks.
SPEAKER_01We'll title the episode Level Me Up, Daddy.
SPEAKER_03I'm just gonna call it Don't Listen in all caps, and we'll see how many listens it gets.
SPEAKER_06Dead air. Dead air. Dead air dead air dead air. What's a good experience for me?
SPEAKER_02I'm terrible at coming up with experiences.
SPEAKER_01I was trying to find something fun from like level one to use. Uh and what I settled on was uh weaponized illiteracy. I have uh no idea how that's gonna come in handy, but that's what I went with.
SPEAKER_03Wow, that's gonna be hard to top, guys. Coming out of the gate strong.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I know what I'm gonna I know.
SPEAKER_01Uh that that whole thing came for the fact that I took a minus one to my knowledge roll because you have to take a minus one to something, and I was like, well, maybe it'd be really funny if he doesn't know how to read.
SPEAKER_03Maybe we can like um maybe we can house roll something where you just keep getting minus ones to your knowledge as you level.
SPEAKER_01I just keep getting dumber and dumber and dumber.
SPEAKER_03All right, well, go ahead, Brie.
SPEAKER_04No, uh go ahead. The final episode. What were you saying?
SPEAKER_03Final episode, you guys are in front of like the the you know final boss, and they're like, what do we do? And you just and they turn to you and you're like, Me no dough.
SPEAKER_01Potato roll, and I just roll at them.
SPEAKER_02Hop in, Bree.
SPEAKER_04They will not I feel like there's only one possible experience for Glitch on this level up, and that is I'm surrounded by idiots. I love it.
SPEAKER_03I was actually going to say uh it should probably be something to do with insulting your teammates.
SPEAKER_04Yep. It I think this is the the natural course. This is the obvious I'm surrounded by idiots, in which glitch can use a plus two anytime she's trying to get the rest of the crew out of a scrape of their own creation.
SPEAKER_02That's gonna be a lot of things.
SPEAKER_03Is there gonna be like a softening arc, or is it gonna be soundere all the way down?
SPEAKER_05Soundere all the way down. Yeah, it's just great.
SPEAKER_01Let's let's give it its own room to breathe and grow. We don't know.
SPEAKER_02I don't I don't know anything of what you just said. So I'm gonna ignore it. Hey, Audra, what's your experience gonna be?
SPEAKER_05Uh I'm not sure yet. So like so I I was thinking That's a that's a good experience.
SPEAKER_02I like that. I'm not sure yet.
SPEAKER_05Um I was thinking, like, so there's been a few times where like uh, you know, like I'm dashing through somewhere, but because of my size, it's like difficult to get through like crowded like roads or streets or whatever, and like maybe I can like have an experience where like I just shout like make a hole and people like something something specifically when you're in these like weird confined spaces. Yes, but then it like it could like translate to me like you know making a hole being able to get yeah, like getting through like places that like would normally be like hard.
SPEAKER_03That's really good.
SPEAKER_02I was gonna say she's not heavy, she's my brother. That's tool to reference for you. All right, fine.
SPEAKER_01I was gonna go with uh since I was I wasn't thinking about the the different ways you could use make a hole. Uh I was I was thinking miss squeezums.
SPEAKER_03Uh if she fits, she hits.
SPEAKER_01If she fits, she hits.
SPEAKER_07Nice.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I like make a hole though, because like you could use that for a whole lot of things. No, that's really good. It's really yeah. Make a hole's really good.
SPEAKER_06It's it's a it's the experience with a thousand uses. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_04We could cut this out, but see, I actually, funny you would say that, I actually told the the story of behind He's Not Heavy, He's My Brother on air the other day. So I'm bringing that one up. Just happened happened to have just told that story.
SPEAKER_02And would you mind telling the audience where they could find that story?
SPEAKER_06On Google.
SPEAKER_01Um plug your personal life, Bree, and your your your regular income generation.
SPEAKER_04No, I will personally cut that one out of the tape.
SPEAKER_06You're like, nope.
SPEAKER_02That was me doing my fresh air impersonation.
SPEAKER_04You make an incredible Terry Gross.
SPEAKER_02She's tiny. Have you seen her live once? She is a tiny human being. Yeah.
unknownGod.
SPEAKER_02Um anyway, so my experience is gonna be uh just push some buttons. What could go wrong?
SPEAKER_05It worked out well for you in that uh last encounter.
SPEAKER_03It did. It did. It could also be weaponized literacy.
SPEAKER_04I also like what could possibly go wrong.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I think weaponized literacy, maybe but that'll be my next experience. I like I do like that one. That might be a little close to lore born though. Let me think about it. No, I'm going with mine, but yours is good. I appreciate the effort. Next on level up options.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, after that you have to pick a bunch of stuff to level up.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Well, obviously I'm gonna increase my trait. What does instinct do again? That's your wisdom.
SPEAKER_04Um depending on your cuts, it might be your spellcasting trait.
SPEAKER_02I'm pretty sure for me it's finesse. It is. There we go. Finesse and knowledge it is.
SPEAKER_06Next level, are you gonna level up your escrima sticks? Or are you just gonna let that fall by the wayside?
SPEAKER_03What do you mean level level them up? What stat do you use for your oh yeah for it's finesse? Okay, so you did finesse and knowledge. You didn't do instinct. Oh, okay, I gotcha.
SPEAKER_02No, yeah, finesse is is good for me. Um and it's all around useful. Where are you leveling your stats?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I was just looking at domain cards. I am gonna level up.
SPEAKER_06Uh I'm gonna go ahead and uh take a plus one to my invasion.
SPEAKER_03And then I am going to You get hit an awful lot for a sorcerer.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. I mean, I I'm a little squishy, so we're trying to be a little less squishy.
SPEAKER_06Oh I definitely want to increase my traits. And I'm putting up my agility and my finesse.
SPEAKER_01I think I'm gonna take yeah, another point of evasion. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Well, I don't know. Oh, good choices. Audrey, what did you level up?
SPEAKER_04Uh uh, I was gonna pick a damaged card, but I could also pick something that's helpful to the group. Does anyone else have an ability that allows them to have an advantage on picking uh non-magical locks, disarming non-magical traps, and stealing items? You do? Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yep, I got that. Cool. Um for my second level up option, I decided to choose with the main card and I pick Shoublemaker. Uh which will allow me to to taunt someone within very far range and give them a bunch of stress if I make a successful roll.
SPEAKER_01Oh, so you're taking the the bonus domain card? Yep. That's nice.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. The Grace Domain is just uh super useful.
SPEAKER_01I know, it's full of like really good stuff.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's it's really good. Like when I hit the five domain limit sometime next level, it's gonna be hard to to pick between them. Up your stress so that you can more easily Yeah. Yeah, that's that's gonna have to be part of the activity there, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Uh in the other game that some or some of us might play in, uh I play a wizard and I have to like swap spells all the time. I take I take more stress from swapping than I do from monsters.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was thinking about doing the extra stress slot because I've got a couple of things like several things that key off of it, but I got a bonus one from being human, so I think I'm gonna let it ride for this level.
SPEAKER_02Let it ride.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I think the extra evasion though is not getting hit as often.
SPEAKER_06I feel like as the tank, I should probably as my second level up option, I should gain an HP slot. Yeah, that's a pretty good one. Not a bad idea.
SPEAKER_04Alright, Glitch is gonna take a domain card called Shadow Bind, make a spellcast roll against all adversaries within very close range. Targets you succeed against are temporarily restrained as their shadow binds them into place.
SPEAKER_02That's pretty dope. It's good that you're doing midnight because I'm avoiding midnight as much as I can.
SPEAKER_04I I know, I feel like we're a good balance there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I am being super lame this level up. I'm just doing like core stuff like evasion. Uh the domain card I took was untouchable, so it just ups my evasion even more. Maybe I should spread this out.
SPEAKER_02That's a good one. That's a really good one. You just gotta pump your agility all the time. Are you gonna cowboy tank?
SPEAKER_01I mean, that's what I was trying to do uh in the the last combat with Hush was just draw as much attention to myself as possible.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it was working out really good. And that you almost died. You should not tank.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Maybe I should take that extra hit point instead.
SPEAKER_05Whirlwind sounds pretty good.
SPEAKER_06Yes.
SPEAKER_05Especially considering my giant uh lineage where a lot of things become very close range to me.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. And then you just uh death blossom.
SPEAKER_05Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03So whirlwind is you hit everything at very close with the same attack?
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Uh anything that takes damage uh in addition to my main target takes uh half half of the damage.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Does that cost anything to use?
SPEAKER_05I spend a hope to to initiate it. Like whenever I do an attack roll and it is successful, I then spend a hope to activate whirlwind, and that's whenever I can do half damage to everything else that's in close range of me. Or very close range.
SPEAKER_03So I'm going to uh house rule that a little stronger for you since it overlaps your giant's reach. Um I'm thinking giving you the option of choosing between uh hope and stress as how you pay for it. How's that sound?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, sounds great.
SPEAKER_03Okay. So I I don't think that's broken at all. Everybody else, that ruling sound fair?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, just the option between hope and stress.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I think you should make a three.
SPEAKER_03No, I'm not gonna do that. Whirlwind is too powerful to do that.
SPEAKER_05I'm just whirlwinding all the time.
SPEAKER_03Then you only whirlwind. She turns into like the mom from Tasmania Devil cartoons. Uh uh.
SPEAKER_06Bindle win!
SPEAKER_01I think I might back off taking that plus one to evasion right now because I took untouchable. So I'm gonna jump my evasion from a 12 to a 15, and I'm like, I've got a little room I can put something more interesting in.
SPEAKER_03You should up your experience. Do the experience plus one. That's exactly what I was thinking was uh that way when you roll fly or whatever, you're like, oh, I got a plus fourteen to the roll.
SPEAKER_01It'd be a plus three, but yeah. No, I'm thinking the same thing. It's mostly which other, what's the other experience? I've got Campfire Cowboy and weaponized illiteracy.
SPEAKER_03You were doing pretty good using your experiences.
SPEAKER_01I wouldn't worry about that. I think so too.
SPEAKER_03The real trick is stacking, is being able to stack multiple experiences on top of each other.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I didn't even think about doing that. I never have enough hope. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's the problem.
SPEAKER_04Also, every time you use uh that untouchable, we need to come up with a uh completely legally distinct version of MC Hammers can't touch this to play.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I was thinking about uh unstoppable, but is it Sia?
SPEAKER_00I'm unstoppable.
SPEAKER_02No, that's when when uh Tabitha is using Mega Hole. Are we at the domain card part yet?
SPEAKER_01I mean are you at the domain card part?
SPEAKER_02I I already picked my second domain. My official domain.
SPEAKER_01So you haven't picked your your freebie?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Tell no lies. Tell no lies. Oh, that's really good. That's so quality.
SPEAKER_02Yep. I'm mad that that chick never gave me her name.
SPEAKER_01Ophelia? I know her name. We had to we had to figure it out later, but just because she's never introduced herself properly. Yeah. Madam, you have no decorum. We will speak.
SPEAKER_02That domain card doesn't force you to answer, so it wouldn't actually have solved that problem for me, but still.
SPEAKER_03It will be if they answer, they will reflexively speak the truth.
SPEAKER_02Right. But she never did, she always deflected.
SPEAKER_06Right.
SPEAKER_01Okay, yeah. I increased my experiences instead, so I've took a plus one to if it runs, rolls, or flies, and can't fire cowboy and you got untouchable, um Tabitha took whirlwind.
SPEAKER_03Did you say what you took glitch?
SPEAKER_06I took Shadow Bound.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Increased my invasion.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_04And uh yes, uh, and my experience is I'm surrounded by idiots.
SPEAKER_06I love it. So prickly. Okay, so is everybody leveled? Uh I am.
SPEAKER_05Like, do I do something to like save the changes I made?
SPEAKER_06No, just click on the very bottom.
SPEAKER_02Oh, wait, there is a save button?
SPEAKER_04It is, and it will reset it if you don't hit it.
SPEAKER_02Son of a is that why I couldn't Oh my god. Is that why it didn't save? Oh my god. In in this other game that the GM referenced earlier, it took me like an entire night to figure out how to do the level up. Um and I think that's why. Jesus.
SPEAKER_03Okay, let me hear let me know when everybody's locked in and then I'll wrap this mini mini sode up.
SPEAKER_06Lock and loaded. Locked and loaded. Two out of four. Are we gonna play elevator music during that dead air? Oh man. Umber one of the default Cisco hold music. And that's the episode. Did we everybody finish leveling?
SPEAKER_04Locked and loaded. Yep, yep, yep.
SPEAKER_03Yep. Okay. Oh god. I was so happy when this started, now I'm like demoralized. Uh, and with that, we're gonna end this uh this bit of content. Uh special thanks to our sound guy. Uh, and I'd like to say here in this mini episode that our sound guy is Eugene Kualo. Thanks, Z. He's been promoted. Yay. Uh his stipend has been increased from applause to three Skittles per episode.
SPEAKER_02So it's the crappy red ones, though.
SPEAKER_03They're in the mail.
SPEAKER_04Um they're a little tacky from age.
SPEAKER_03Uh, but they're in a regular envelope, which is a regular paper envelope. Um okay. Uh special thanks to Darrington Press for creating Daggerhearts and to our incredible fans. If any of you listen to this, why? I don't understand. Don't forget to like, subscribe, comment. Five stars the whole thing. It's the number one way to help the show. Uh Colossus of the Crux is part of the Witch Key March universe. If you're interested in playing in any of the associated games, you can find them on startplaying.games. And uh I will say we see you next week, but you might be listening to this out of order. So we'll see you when we see you, everybody.
SPEAKER_04Later, alligators.
SPEAKER_02Yes, I know that's not how still system works.