Bards and Barrels
Are you new to Dungeons and Dragons and TTRPGs? Then you are in the right place! Bards and Barrels is the perfect introduction to the world of DnD and TTRPGs. With engaging discussions, helpful tips, and plenty of laughs along the way. Join us as we explore the game and share our experiences as players and Dungeon Masters.
Bards and Barrels
S3 Ep 20: That's a wrap...on Season 3
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We look back on the fun that was season three and what is to come in season four of Bards and Barrels!
The end is near.
SPEAKER_00There's the opening crack as it overflows to end the season. Oh yeah, that was like my best one too.
SPEAKER_02That was kind of overflowed. Love it. It is time for another episode of Bards and Barrels. I'm Ross, along with me, Brett and Phil for your ride tonight. And this is our annual season wrap. We're gonna talk, we're gonna, you know, reminisce a little bit about this season, and then uh we'll talk a little bit about what's coming down the road in the fall for us. Uh, and then we're gonna, you know, disappear for three months. No, I'm just keeping it we won't completely disappear. Uh but with that said, I should know if, you know, over the the time where we're not producing, well, shouldn't say we're not producing, while we're not dropping podcasts. Always producing. Make sure you're following us on Threads and Instagram and YouTube at Bards and Barrels, because we will be posting things there over the summer. Uh, as we do them or things pop up, we'll make sure we get out there with uh all the normal things, you know, just hopping in there. So, guys, I guess the first question I have for you tonight is as we look back at season three, which is hard to believe we've done three seasons of Bards and Barrels. Um what are your feelings about this one? It was it was short because Phil and I both had new kids.
SPEAKER_03Party members, new party members. Yep.
SPEAKER_02So that shortened our schedule a little bit. We had everything recorded by September. I don't know, but I he we should that's something we should we should be proud of that, though, because I I'm still very impressed that we actually got all of that done uh before our kids got here.
SPEAKER_03So yes, and also weird because there's like this uh there's almost like a disconnect every time we get in the studio again.
SPEAKER_02Oh hey, we're back.
SPEAKER_03It's been a while.
SPEAKER_02Yes, it has been a hot minute. It's like you guys came over tonight. I'm like, I don't know when the last time Phil was here.
SPEAKER_03Well, yeah, I walked in the room, I'm like, what's different?
SPEAKER_02Brett's been around a few times, but but Phil has not been over. Uh, but what what are your general thoughts about this season? Like just about the stuff that we covered. Do you think we're still cranking out some solid content?
SPEAKER_01I think so. I think we've had a lot of fun. Um continuing on with some of our old reliables, but then also mixing it up with some new stuff uh and getting some fun feedback from some of the listeners.
SPEAKER_02I I think you hit it on the head. I think this year so far, we've gotten more feedback from people actually listening to the podcast and saying, hey, you guys are doing a great job, like keep it up, things like that. And it's it's people that we've heard from before, like uh crit hit the giant, things like that. But then just like being on threads and stuff and people coming and checking out the show. It's like they're like, yeah, these guys are great, you know, go listen to them and things like that, which I think is fantastic. And it's good for us to know that you know, people are listening and they like what we're doing because it's a good motivator, right?
SPEAKER_03I think it was fun that we gotta finally finish up the class reviews just in time that you know we're gonna have to do updates to all those with some new comments.
SPEAKER_02But hey, it's all right. I only got how many comments on the artificer because there they people were like, uh, you know, this does this like this piece doesn't exist anymore. I'm like, yeah, I know we recorded that before we ever saw any of the new stuff. Well, I think we mentioned like we didn't know that if the artificer was gonna exist yet because it wasn't in the core classes, and so I think we mentioned in the episode, we're like, oh, we don't know if this is coming yet. And it was like right before that episode dropped, Wizards announced that the artificer was gonna be in the Eberron book that's coming out. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So it's like, ah so little previews, stay tuned for 2024 rule book changes. Yeah, true.
SPEAKER_02Uh I I feel good about this season, though. I mean, I I think the the anchor for a lot of what we do is still being making the game accessible, like making sure like everything's digestible for people, which is not something that a lot of podcasts do. Like there's a lot, there's a lot of real play podcasts now. Yeah, oh yeah, and there's a lot of fantastic ones, there's a lot of okay ones. What we're doing is different than what most people are doing, which I think is fantastic.
SPEAKER_03We tried my favorite beer this season that we've tried on the show so far, the Tezcat Lapoca.
SPEAKER_00That's right. Oh, that was a good one. It was like motor oil, if I remember. It was like coated the glass.
SPEAKER_03It was good, don't get me wrong. That's a description of its viscosity. However, it tasted much better than that.
SPEAKER_01But fittingly, we are also drinking a new pickle beer because we once again tried some pickle beers.
SPEAKER_00Because why not? There's always got to be pickles in this. Damon's favorites.
SPEAKER_03Not a review, but shout out to the pickle wrinkle by Half-Brothers Brewing Company.
SPEAKER_02We'll tag you in the post, don't worry. Uh, speaking of the opening crack though, and and Damon or Damon Brett mentioned it, but Damon is now a permanent fixture on the opening crack. He was on a couple in season two, and then when we did season three, geez, Phil, just making all kinds of noise over here.
SPEAKER_03Just got used to sitting in this chair been gone for too long, kicking the table.
SPEAKER_02Damon joined the opening crack. I think that is an excellent addition because it it's actually somebody who really knows about beer, not just you know, speaking off the cuff and yeah, it's good beer.
SPEAKER_01He knows how to make the beer. We just drink the beer. Brought in an expert officially.
SPEAKER_02It's a good balance between somebody that can talk beer and guy, because he I don't think Damon could care less about the DD part. He does a good job, but he he he's just like, I have no idea what I'm talking about, and bless him for trying.
SPEAKER_03His stories about where to find his beer are always fantastic.
SPEAKER_01So you don't need to know anything about DD to play a DD. That's true. That's a good point. That's a good point. Just jump in and play.
SPEAKER_02Also, I think all of our humor bodes very well for those episodes. Uh, and and it's it's just it plays really well. Uh, but I think that's a good segue into talking about season four. Uh so season four is gonna look a little different compared to like how we've been doing things. So we're gonna as far as the podcast goes, we're gonna stick to a bi-weekly drop. There'll be DD, and then on the off week of the bi-weekly drop, we'll still be doing opening cracks, but there's gonna be fewer of both of those because on the opposite weeks of those, we're gonna be dropping something every week. And so it's gonna be a podcast, and then it's gonna be a YouTube video. So we're gonna really do some dives into doing some YouTube videos and posting consistently on that platform. Uh, and then we'll go back and forth on the podcast with the DD stuff, and then we're gonna do the opening crack. But the opening crack is gonna get a facelift, and I'm really excited for this because we talked about it at the season wrap last year about the bottom of the barrel, because we thought this was gonna be a bonus thing that we do, and we were gonna do four like really long things. Uh, and instead, we're actually gonna beef up the opening cracks and do a bottom of the barrel segment. So, like the front half of those will be beer, a little DD, and then the back half is us gonna be talking about nerdy shit. Whatever we find at the bottom of the barrel. Exactly. Well, and and honestly, I think one of the something that would be really fun to do would be like before we ever do a s record a single one of those, like put topics in a bowl. Okay. And then when we do one, we draw the topic out for the bottom barrel. So you're scraping the bottom of the barrel for the topic, and then that's what we talk about. Could be music, could be movies, could be video games, could be anything.
SPEAKER_01We cannot let Ross have this much control, Phil.
SPEAKER_03I'm just trying to think of like where to buy like a mini whiskey barrel so we can actually put that in a barrel.
SPEAKER_02So don't ask me, I'm encouraging that to our Amazon list. Anyone knows, send us one. That would be fantastic. Um, but I think that'll be a good mix because I think one of the things that we're not necessarily missing, but that that it's we haven't done a whole lot is we don't talk a lot about what influences us. Yeah, that's fair. Because like music influences you, movies influence you, video games, everything, books even influence you. And we don't talk enough about that. And the closest we get is during those opening crack episodes where we, you know, veer off into talking about our favorite Christmas movies during the Christmas episode and stuff like that. I think it'd be fun to actually have a segment to where we can sing a song together because we all know it and love it, or something, you know, that we randomly find out we all love or something, or we're quoting major league, which Brett knows all about because we do it when we play Rocket League or something like that. So, uh what are your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER_03I'm excited for it. I think it'll be fun. I it's a different view into the other stuff that we love, so which I think is awesome.
SPEAKER_02All the other nerdums.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Uh I think it's gonna be fantastic. I'm so excited for that. Uh, YouTube stuff though, I think that's something that we've dabbled in to this point. Uh, we've we've done a couple videos, which I think have been decent and have done pretty well. Uh, we've done a lot of shorts that are mostly just meme type things. I I would envision the shorts still kind of staying that fun type of thing to me, uh, just because that's that's strictly for getting eyeballs on a video that we do. Whereas like the the videos themselves are probably gonna be like hard-hitting something. You know, it could be uh talking about the new core rule books or stuff like that.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, I think that we have some ideas that kind of play into even what we do when we record the podcast, right? Like little insights into different parts of the rules, or like, hey, what are some misconceptions about DD? Like things like that, taking a quick look at the rule book or something that maybe changed in the 24 versus 14. Just small snippets like that, that we can still share information just in a different word, medium medium.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and we might be able to share uh visually some extra things that we can't really convey on podcasts. Sometimes you just need to be able to see something.
SPEAKER_02Right. Well, and I think a prime example of that is Brett, you and I talking about like the the artwork in the 2024 monster manual. Like that's a that's a one prime for a video because like uh I actually did a short on it how we talk uh I mentioned that like the green dragon, like how in the original 2014 book it's just basically a green dragon standing there, but then like in the new one it shows the green dragon swimming underneath a boat as it stalks its prey. It's like that's something you really need to see. You can't do it justice just by talking about it kind of thing.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, yeah, that's true. I think that yeah. There's a couple images in the Monster Manual 24. I'm like, eh, not ideal, but most of them are great. There's like one or two. I'm like, no, no. Please elaborate. We got time. We'll flip through later. Okay, okay. There are a couple more.
SPEAKER_02Uh okay. I I think that's really all I have. What thoughts do you guys have before we get out of here?
SPEAKER_01We need suggestions for the next great pickle beer. Don't tell Damon. Not what I thought. If you're listening to this, don't let Damon know. We can we need another pickle beer to be able to introduce him to.
SPEAKER_02I love that. Yes. Because yes. Uh, but that made me think of something. Uh if you have questions about mechanics, about anything in DD, even if it's not DD, send those to us at bardsandbarrels at gmail.com, or you can message us on any of our social media channels because those could find their way into our mailbag. We've already had some comments from people uh who said certain things or asked questions on our social media channels that have found their way into our mailbags. And that's gonna continue being a part of this show because A, they're fun to do. And if anything, I think I've talked to you guys about this. I would love, love, love, love, love to do a live mailbag. Uh, and then maybe have like uh Sean Crit Hit the Giant come on for a live mailbag with us would be fantastic. And yes, I'm still gonna lead that, and you're gonna be mildly in the dark.
SPEAKER_01Buckle up, Sean. Buckle up, buttercup. Here we go.
SPEAKER_03Man, they're gonna see us flipping through the rules if we're live, though. Flipping through the rules.
SPEAKER_00Phil's gonna be coming in with all the books. Ross asked the question, and you see the oh shit look on Phil and Oh, that would it would be funny though.
SPEAKER_02I think it would be entertaining if nothing else.
SPEAKER_03That's fair.
SPEAKER_02Um, okay, anything else?
SPEAKER_03I'm excited. You want to see what the frightened condition looks like?
SPEAKER_02Oh that's its own short, like a clip from the video. I love that. Uh, you made me think of another thing. Uh so when we're talking about videos, we'll just one more thing. Yeah, you just keep talking about it. Sell down, Steve Jobs. If only I had his money. Uh we had talked a turtle deck. I've I've seen a few of these videos where people have like laid out a 15-foot by 15-foot grid and like done some explaining of like conditions and things like that. We need to do our own version of that. I I know there's some really good ones out there, but I think that there needs to be a barred and barrels take on this. And I think it would be fun to do.
SPEAKER_03I have a fantastic YouTube video suggestion. Let's explain the difference between piercing, slashing, bludgeoning, and we'll just test with like cardboard weapons or something.
SPEAKER_00That would be fantastic.
SPEAKER_01We can show diffic uh difficult terrain by avoiding piles of coop poop. The old dungeon dog leaving some presents in the yard, wandering around the backyard filming you.
SPEAKER_00Don't step in the poop. Roll dexterity.
SPEAKER_02Oh man, that would be fantastic. All right. Uh, that's gonna do it for this episode. I think we've thrown enough ideas out there for this one. Yeah, oh, absolutely. It's not like we haven't done that before. Uh, but thank you for joining us for this season. Uh, that's a wrap on season three. So thank you for being on this journey with us. You can listen to past episodes of the show anywhere podcasts can be found. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky Social, YouTube at Bards and Barrels. We'll see you soon.
