In Praise Of Doraleus And Associates

If you happen to be a fantasy role playing game enthusiasts or happen to enjoy animation with witty dialogue, then you might just enjoy Doraleous And Associates. I feel like I'm a little bit late to the party, but I discovered this cartoon recently. It began back in 2012, created by Hank And Jed Movie Productions and had a total of 50 episodes.

It's a classic medieval fantasy type of show. Doraleous is the brave Warrior who leads the group. Neebs is an Elven Rogue with a bit of an attitude. At one point, he even gets fired for not obeying orders, and yet he has to be either the luckiest or smartest character on the show. Mirdon is the absent-minded but still very effective when you need him to be Wizard. Then there is Drak, the loyal Dwarven Warrior. These three are the main associates of Doraleous, but there is also Sir Walken, based on a very familiar actor of the same name, and the Barbarian Bruf.

Doraleous is based on your typical Warrior. He's good of heart and out to protect the realms. He always endeavors to do the right thing, and he's hoping that he and his associates might get paid. It seems like most of the time, things don't quite work out that way, but the group seems to have success most of the time, even if it doesn't work out exactly as planned.

The dialogue is clever and there are hidden meanings thrown in throughout the episodes. Though I don't necessarily believe this is a political cartoon, there are times when people will assume that it is. Really, the dialogue will have you laughing at times in every episode. It's all about the dialogue. What I notice is you'll have Doraleous explaining the plan, whatever that might be, and oftentimes, Neebs is the one coming up with an alternative. Mirdon is all too quick to side with Neebs or just say something silly.

From the comments you'll see for each video, many people have a negative view towards Neebs. To me, this is the character that makes this show the most entertaining. He's such a jerk sometimes, although he isn't necessarily trying to be a jerk. It's just who he is. He does have a heart, and you can see at times that he has a great amount of respect for Doraleous. He just doesn't agree with the orders or thinks he can do it better. Oftentimes, he's right. I have noticed a very striking similarity between the character Neebs and a certain actor, although it's not as in your face as the Sir Walken character.

We all know the classic King Arthur tale. The Lady Of The Lake bestows the sword upon him. Well, there is a similar type of theme throughout this series. The Lady Of The Lake in this case is a bit of a troll. She delights in offering up the sword to those who seek it, but it never quite works out for any of them. There are a few moments between her and Dotaleous. He came so close to actually getting it in the end, but you have to see how it turned out for him. If you give this series a chance, you might have to suppress the desire to binge watch all 50 episodes, which generally run between 4 and 8 minutes long.

I don't want to give away all of the plots and clever references from the show, but there is a kingdom that needed the assistance of Doraleous and Associates, or so Doralious thought. They were the Meh Kingdom. Ultimately, Doraleous walked away in disgust. I'd like to think that this particular kingdom went down, but somehow I can just picture the invaders doing the same thing.

There is also the Geigh Kingdom. The idea is to see how many puns and cliches they could stick into the episodes involving the people of this kingdom, although there's no indication that this kingdom is made up of people who happen to be gay. They were invaded by the Giopi's. Yes, you get the picture, and people of a political bent might be offended or amused, but this was not political in the least.

What made it amusing to me was when Neebs happened to show up when the Giopi's showed up to invade the Geigh's. Doraleous was so fed up with the Elf's antics that he fired him. Dejected by being dismissed, Neebs took on another profession, broom salesman. He knocked on the gates to the Geigh Kingdom, but he didn't want in. He simply wanted to sell them some brooms. What's interesting is you see how Doraleous does care about the Elf, even with him being out of the group. He tries to usher the Elf into the castle, but all the Elf really wants to do is sell brooms.

Once Neebs walks away, knowing he can't make a sale here, everybody is watching him from the top of the castle walls. Neebs, either courageously or foolishly, walks up to the leader of the Giopi army. He's trying to sell him brooms. As luck would have it, he makes the sale. And it's funny watching how this whole thing plays out. Was it all Neebs' plan to save the kingdom? Who really knows, but you have to see the episode to believe it. One of the lines of this episode is probably one of the most quoted in the series. It's a play on a line from the movie 300. As the Geigh Kingdom's soldiers prepare to defended themselves, the leader yells, "This is Geigh!"

Sadly, after the 49th episode, the creators stopped making new episodes. From what I have uncovered, they were unsuccessful in a campaign to raise money, and even with monetization, they're not getting enough compensation from YouTube to make it worthwhile. This is with between 300,000 and 500,000 views on most of their videos. It makes me sad to realize that there won't be any new episodes coming, or at least none are planned. There's so much more entertainment that could be offered up by Doraleous And Associates as they attempt to save the world from various evildoers.

At least we still have the episodes that were created to enjoy. About a year ago, they created a 50th episode, sparking some hope that they would come back. It was a one-off deal, but I guess you never know. You can look up Doraleous And Associates on YouTube and see for yourself. If you're a fan of fantasy role-playing or just witty dialogue in animation, as I mentioned above, you owe it to yourself to check this out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

First Episode - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg1mxlzEP3Q

Journey Quest Is One Of The Better Web Series On YouTube

I mentioned this briefly in a an article a while back, but there are some very nice web series on YouTube that I enjoy. One such series is called Journey Quest and is the brain child of the people at Zombie Orpheus and the The Dead Gentlemen. Actually, The Dead Gentleman created the independent movie franchise, The Gamers. The latest movie, The Gamers 3: Hands Of Fate, is being shown as a web series on YouTube as I write this.

Journey Quest has run for two seasons with a third season already paid for and being planned. It tells the tale of four adventures on a quest for the Sword Of Fighting. The series is written by people who have played Role Playing Games at the table, so there is that sort of humor, but it can be amusing for non gamers who enjoy fantasy as well.

There is Glorion the fighter, who believes that killing equals honor. He's caused problems for the party by killing every Orc he sees, and now the Orcs are on their trail. There is Carrow the party healer, who tries to keep the Glorion from killing the party's Wizard.

That wizard is a cowardly man, who is equally bad at spell casting, named Perf. One has to wonder why he's even on this quest, but the answer lies in his feelings for the party's ranger, Nara. Nara believes the sword is her destiny.

A series of unfortunate events takes place in the first season as Carrow tracks down the fleeing Perf to warn him of the Orcs, only to get shot by a volley of arrows. Perf and Nara flee, only to fall right into the final room of the dungeon, the one with the much desired Sword Of Fighting, an intelligent, talking sword with an attitude.

Somehow, the sword ends up in the hands Perf, and that puts a bounty on the party's heads. As we follow along, we see Perf's feelings for Nara, but there's not much indication what she feels for him. Is it mutual? There is also Wren the bard, who tracks the party in secret to chronicle their exploits for her epic song. She has an encounter with the Orcs, and it appears the Orc leader, Rilk, is attracted to her. Will anything come of it?

There are several interesting characters and many well played out scenes during the two seasons, some of theses scenes are very amusing. Glorion is still in the dungeon, mowing down every obstacle that gets in his way, on a quest for the sword. What will happen when he discovers the sword is gone?

Journey Quest is not just about the humor. You start to like the characters and want to know what's next. There is quite a fan base for this show, and it's those fans who have donated to make the second and third seasons possible. I can't wait to see what's in store for season 3. I've included a link to the series web site below.

http://www.zombieorpheus.com/

Also find episodes on YouTube

The Lost City Was Classic Dungeons & Dragons With A Good Story

The Heroes of the Dungeon Crawl Book is available a Lulu in PRINT       Or FREE DOWNLOAD...


One of the best adventure modules of the old Basic Dungeons & Dragons game was The Lost City by Tom Moldvay. Within it's pages is enough information to run an entire campaign that can last for weeks with a story filled with plot turns that keep the players guessing.

The city of Cynidicea was a thriving city at one time, but over there years it's glory faded. They worshiped the gods (Gorm, Usamigaras and Madarua) and a mysterious creature named Zargon. Zargon was indeed powerful, though not the god the priests made him out to be. He did possess a miraculous healing ability.

When a disaster struck, the leadership actually constructed an underground city underneath their great pyramid. This city had an underground lake, and they survived by cultivating mushrooms and other edible fungus. They built homes and a temple and other buildings in the underground city, but there were also places its citizens dare not go.

Worship of the other three gods was outlawed in the city, and Zargon was the god of worship. The ruling priests would sacrifice citizens to Zargon to appease him. The population was kept under control with a hallucinogenic drug slipped into their water.

There were those who fought against the priests of Zargon to try and free the people of Cynidicea, and they worshiped one of the three gods. However, these factions often feuded with each other over how things should be done. The three factions set up bases in the pyramid above the city, and the priests of Zargon avoided that place.

The adventuring party would come across the tip of the pyramid as the rest was buried in the sand of the desert. Hungry, thirsty and with no sign of food in sight, they decide to investigate the pyramid. There is a way in, but it is trapped. This adventure can start out with death immediately if the party isn't careful.

It is assumed the party will be relatively new adventures, but they will gain more experience and power as they adventure into the pyramid and the city below. Moldvay outlined what was in the pyramid. The city has a map and ideas, but the Dungeon Master must fill in the blanks. The DM is encouraged to add new adventures and some ideas are suggested.

Basically, the players will run their characters through this campaign. Through this adventure, they will go from beginners to the heroes who saved Cynidicea by defeating Zargon, getting the drug out of the water and removing the priests from power. To do this, they will have to work with the three factions.

Molday, in my opinion, was one of the best creative minds D&D had in the early 1980's, and this may be his best adventure. He also wrote the 2nd edition rulebook for Basic D&D, which made the rules much easier to understand. If you can find a copy of The Lost City, it's interesting, even just to read.

I've never understood why D&D has had such a difficult time making a good movie. They could take a module like The Lost City and make a story out of that. There's so much there, it could even be a two or three part movie without much problem.

More Details On The Lost City: http://pandius.com/cynidgaz.html

If You Could Learn Five Magic Spells, What Would They Be?

The Heroes of the Dungeon Crawl Book is available a Lulu in PRINT       Or FREE DOWNLOAD...


NBC appears to be ready to run another spinoff series of Bewitched. This time, it's based on Samantha's granddaughter. I have to admit that I would love to be able to use magic. This has given me an idea.

Okay, here's how it works. You are offered five magic spells that you can use whenever you want. What would they be and why?

I used to play a lot of D&D back in the day and used to think it would be so cool if I could use some of those spells. You don't have to have played D&D to make a top five list. Just think of five spells you would like to use.

I would have:

Teleportation - I would really love to be able to go anywhere in the world in an instant and be able to get back home to my own bed.

Polymorph - It would be fun to be able to shape shift into various human and animal forms and use the powers on others.

Time Manipulation - Travel forwards or backwards or even stop time. Think of the possibilities. Gotta be responsible with it though.

Healing - Being able to heal people in need and even raise the dead would be a gift to share with everyone.

Create Food & Water - A cheap way to eat and you can feed the hungry.

Invisibility would be fun. It would be nice to be able to move around undetected, but I already said I could only have five. I'm already able to go anywhere I want to go, change shape, travel through time, heal the sick and create food. I think that pretty well covers it for me.

An Impromptu Heroes Of The Dungeon Crawl Session

Alas, Poor Gimpy, We Hardly Knew Ye

The Heroes of the Dungeon Crawl Book is available a Lulu in PRINT       Or FREE DOWNLOAD... 

Heroes of the Dungeon Crawl is still up on Lulu.  Nearly 100 copies have been downloaded for free and a couple copies have been purchased.  That's not much considering how long ago the Basic Charts Edition was released, but it's not bad.

Though we never finished the main rulebook with all of the details, the Basic Charts Edition rulebook contains all of the rules needed to play this game.  We're proud to have created some of the most simple rules for a Fantasy RPG that are out there today.

Our reason for that is simple.  We want people to play the game, not sit around the table reading books and spending time creating characters.  These days, people have to budget their time, so the quicker they can be at the table playing a game of HotDC, the better.

We're proud of the fact that one or two people have actually sat down and played a game of HotDC.  Recently, we had some people put this game through it's paces with some interesting results.

There are challenges for the Hero Guide, one of them is making sure that the game balance isn't tipped too far one way or the other.  This can be managed by making a note of each character's stats and adjusting your creature's stats as needed.  You may have simple battles here and there and more challenging fights at the end.  These stats are easily adjustable to accommodate your needs.

Because re-rolling a new character is a snap, character death isn't a big issue.  A player can have a new character in a few minutes.  We have thought about supplements with new character options for advanced players, but really, simple is better.  There are other games that can accommodate the need for a character to have more things.  On the other hand, a resourceful Hero Guide can easily incorporate house rules into HotDC that suit their needs.

For this game, we made use of the bandage option as a way to help prevent death and allowed the option of characters to start at 1st, rather than 0 Degree.  Most of the players opted to start at 0, but our youngest player started at 1st degree.  As a player under 10, this was done to keep him engaged.  He played a Warrior named Hawk.

Our one female player opted for a Mage named Sheena.  We had a Priest named Brother John and a Rogue named Gimpy.  Gimpy had some rather interesting stats and was at a disadvantage, but the player chose to play him anyway.

In the town of Dragon Vale, Hawk was graduating Warrior school and the other three needed to pass one more test to graduate.  The four were sent on a dual mission.  The church wanted the party to retrieve some honey from a nearby hive that was rumored to have a few Giant Bees among the colony.  The Priests wanted a sample of the honey to study its healing properties.

The Warrior's school wanted to put an end to a Goblin colony before it started  It was rumored that a Goblin Sargent was already leading a group of Grunt Goblins into the nearby cavern to set up base.  The school wanted to put an end to this.

Privately, Sheena had been informed by her instructor that the Goblins were in possession of something very valuable that could cause harm to the town of Dragon Vale.  A group of Demi Dragons have been launching raids on villages, and the intel suggested that the Goblins had somehow come into possession of a Demi Dragon Egg.

The party traveled North about five miles before venturing east into the forest.  About a mile into the journey, they could see bees flying around and the buzzing got louder.  Gimpy ventured in further for a closer look and saw a huge hive  He reported back to the group.  Hawk and Gimpy ventured in with a couple jars to get some honey.  The party decided that if the honey had healing properties, they should get some just in case.

On the way back to the other two, Hawk was surprised to be followed by three Giant Bees.  Gimpy was far enough ahead, but Hawk was attacked. All three missed him.  Gimpy armed himself with a bow and just managed to hit and kill one of them.  Hawk struck down another Bee and the third one fled.

The party continued back to the path and then ventured west towards the hills.  They were within a quarter mile of the caves when Gimpy ventured ahead for a closer look.  At the front of the cave were two Grunt Goblins.  He also noticed a pair of Pink Demi Dragons flying off in the distance.  They appeared to be searching below for something.

Gimpy reported the news and Sheena revealed what the instructor had told her about the Demi Dragons.  It is thought that the Goblins had stolen an egg, and the Demi Dragons are rumored be angry over the theft.  The egg belonged to their queen, and if they make it to Dragon Vale, they could cause serious damage.

The party decided to venture to the cave entrance where Sheena cast Short Nap on the two guards.  They tied them and gagged them and dragged them away from the opening.  They ventured into the cavern .  Off to the right was a passage that went downward a ways.  It had a foul and rotten smell.

The party discovered bones and tattered cloth strewn about the floor and surmised that this may have been where prisoners had been dragged and killed.  From the walls, it appeared as if the earth was moving.  It was Earth Mytes, living pieces of earth.  Sheena sustained a point of damage, but the three Earth Mytes were easily disposed of.

They ventured back to the main corridor.  Off to the left was a passage that opened up into a big cavern .  There was fire and the smell of something being cooked.  Gimpy heard female voices.  He understood Goblin and made out the fact that a dozen or so Goblins had gone out to raid a nearby camp of Kobolds.  One of the female voices was complaining that Sargent Kang and his guards didn't go and never seemed to go on these raids lately.

The party had a brief discussion and decided that this might be their best chance.  The went in deeper and Gimpy discovered a secret passage that led to what must have been the Goblin treasure room.  There were 100 gold pieces, 300 silver and a half dozen pieces of jewelry that looked valuable.

As they were bagging the obviously stolen money that was likely intended to be used to build a better fortress, three Ratlings came into the room unnoticed, hitting Brother John for 2 Life Points.  The party won the battle thanks to Hawk killing two of the three.  They discovered that under the pile of rags in the west corner of the room was a hole, and they could hear more Ratlins climbing up.

The party headed out of the room.  The party had Brother John eat their jar of honey, and he was healed completely.  After checking out three empty caverns that looked like they could have housed at least four dozen Goblins, they came across a crudely locked door at the end of the cavern.

Gimpy went to work on the lock and picked it.  The room and three more beds and another locked door at the far end of the room.  A check of the furnishings revealed 25 gold pieces and a pair of standard daggers.  Gimpy picked the other lock and they entered what appeared to be Kang's headquarters.

The room had cheap rugs that might be with 1 gold piece and a few other furnishings that were in better shape than anything else in the cavern, but maybe worth 1 gold piece.  There was a desk with nothing of value, but a note highlighting Kang's instructions to steal a Demi Dragon egg so they could hatch it and raise it as their own.  It also pointed out that reinforcements will be coming from the south upon news that the egg had been secured.

In the far east comer was a treasure chest.  It was locked.  Gimpy again went to work and noticed this one was trapped.  He managed to disarm what would have been sleeping gas to reveal an egg wrapped up and a red gem.  As he was standing over the chest, looking at the egg, a voice came from the door.  It was Kang.

Kang ordered his three guards into the room and followed.  Brother John cast Life Boost on Hawk, and Sheena cast Stinging Mist at the three Grunt Goblins and their leader.  Gimpy fired an arrow at one of the Goblins and hit for a kill.  Angered, one of the Goblins struck a lethal blow at Gimpy, dropping him on the spot.

Hawk went for Kang and struck the first blow.  Brother John stood in front of Sheena and scored a hit on one of the guards.  Sheena wanted to cast Short Nap, but she didn't want to put any of her party members at a risk.  She threw a dagger at one of the Goblins, but she missed..

Brother John dispatched of a second Goblin guard and the remaining guard missed him.  Kang struck Hawk and Hawk hit him, but both lived.  Brother John hit the last guard, but he lived.  Taking a chance, Sheena drew her other dagger and swang at the guard.  She hit, but he lived by one Life Point.  He swing at her and hit, only doing two Life Points of damage.

Hawk missed Kang, but Kang hit him.  Had it not been for Brother John's Life Boost Incantation, he would have been dead.  Brother John killed the final guard and Hawk killed Kang.  The party tried to bandage Gimpy, but it was too late.  He was dead.  They gathered up everything they could take.   They had foiled the Demi Dragon egg plan and killed the Goblin leader.

Back in town, they were rewarded for retrieving the jar of honey, killing the Goblin leader and retrieving the egg.  The town would send a party to clean out the caves of any more Goblins.  The Mage instructor and Sheena would return the Pink Demi Dragon egg to it's mother personally to maintain positive relations.

The party was rewarded with 300 GP's each and the three 0 Degree adventurers were now 1st Degree.  Hawk was happy, because he could buy better equipment.  He was all set to go again, but his parents were ready to go home.  However, he left with a printed copy of the rules.  Maybe a new HotDC player was born today.  At any rate, it was nice to see the rules in action.

Alas, poor Gimpy didn't make it, but his player had a good time nonetheless.  As for Gimpy, he died valiantly and will take his place among the Hall of Fallen Heroes.  That's were they all go when they die.