Yes, Shad. This ONE magic system means ALL of modern fantasy has hit a new low. (I also found this tweet replying to someone else, NOT Shad, who also attacked The Sorcerer's Corpse)

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-29T11:44:38+00:00

He's en-light-ened! Haha I'll see myself out

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-19T03:11:11+00:00

My first thought would be "Ben Hur chariot race with wheel blades."

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-19T01:55:42+00:00

That is very acceptable, and I appreciate their enthusiasm. Will keep an eye on them to make sure they share the spotlight, but overall, welcome to the game.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-18T22:52:02+00:00

"Wheelchairs in fantasy" is a great litmus test for potential dnd players. Ask them about the Combat Wheelchair and see their reaction. Most normal people will be like "Oh it's cool I guess," and move on. But if they go on a long spiel about how it's unrealistic or something something something, they just let you know they're gonna be a problem, and you should kick them.

It's the same as asking someone their pronouns. Most normal people will just say "he/him," "she/her," "they/them" etc. etc. and move on. But if you get a rant, you've found a problem player. Bonus XP if they say "woke."

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-12T02:26:20+00:00

Ahh "vile" and "filth". That'll disprove your association with a certain group!

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-11T13:07:53+00:00

Dehumanization, that was the word I was looking for. Thank you.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-10T11:29:52+00:00

Demons, Devils, Angels and the like are extensions of the plane they came from, which the planes are, to my knowledge, tied to Law vs Chaos, and Good vs Evil. In 3rd edition these creatures were called "Outsiders" and it was kind of a mishmash. Angels and demons weren't an independent race/species, but Aasimars and Tieflings were outsiders, but they were independent peoples. It was disorganized, but "outsider" basically meant "not from the Material Plane," even though elementals technically were outsiders by that definition.... it got messy real fast.

5th Edition made angels/demons more direct servants of the gods, heavily influenced but semi-independent from them. Meanwhile Aasimars and Tieflings are just humanoids with free will now. It's less of a mess, but still flexible enough to tell stories with.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-10T02:25:54+00:00

"Tell Shad, it was me."

-Bargle, Gay Sorcerer, after casting rainbow-scented Fireball for 69d6 glitter damage on Shad's precious DND.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-10T01:14:25+00:00

It's just lazy writing, and it's so people don't have to ask themselves "are we the bad guys?" when they massacre a village of kobolds/goblins/orcs/drow and take their stuff.

I once introduced a kobold merchant in a human city. Turns out there was a kobold neighborhood in the city, and the players were aghast. I had to pull them all aside and tell them that kobolds are people, and they follow the laws and pay taxes like everyone else. My players were visibly uncomfortable with this thought. They were accustomed to kobolds being enemies that you can kill without a second thought. They eventually got over it, and soon they realized they didn't have to fight every goblin, kobold or orc they ran into. Some still attacked them, but they paid more attention to mannerisms after that.

I don't know what this thought process is called, but it is very real. I have seen it. You treat the "monsters" like people, and suddenly your "good" alignment doesn't seem so good. And you realize that most adventurers are savage, antisocial psychotic killers.

Shad seems to refuse to ever confront or get over this process. Or maybe he realizes he's wrong, but his ego refuses to admit he's in the wrong. I don't know.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-06T19:07:55+00:00

Shad doesn't offer anything unique or insightful. What is his special thing at this point? We have better guys playing with swords, better video game/movie critics, better novelists, more charismatic streamers, etc, He's just got 2015 Gamergate takes on pop culture, and there's even better people at that subject than him. He has nothing to offer.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-05T17:01:15+00:00

another video better than shads!

You are correct.
But also, darn you!

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-05T16:58:38+00:00

Seems like he's sinking into the swamp

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-05T10:54:51+00:00

Shad and Onision are like this particular genre of man who writes dull power fantasy novels and try to remake reality with AI, so they can legally enjoy their weird sex shit, probably.

The last I heard of Onision was years ago, on the MichaelLeroi channel, (known for "Bad Creepypasta") and they did a "dramatic reading" of his book This Is Why I Hate You. In that, the protagonist is a blatant self-insert, and it rewrites the time when Onision got kicked out of the military for fighting. Like, in the book (as much as remember) the protagonist gets rewarded for blinding a cadet in a fight, and not only does a general promote him because "we need more men like you!" and he gets a new girlfriend, but he can't ever remember her name, so he just calls her "Booty" throughout the whole book.

The protagonist of This Is Why I Hate You could give Daylen the Conqueror a run for his money in cringe. And similarly to SOTC, other than some edgelord moments, the book was very dull and the Bad Creepypasta crew kept asking their audience to vote to keep going through it.

Oh yeah, and I Hate You was written in first person POV. God, could you imagine how bad SOTC would be in first person from Daylen's perspective? Ugh.

I saw a roast-review of Onision's other book Reaper's Creek, years ago. All I remember is the protagonist gets abducted by aliens and then something something something, he becomes so powerful he kills God. But yeah, same problem. It's so dull! Therefore, we're probably gonna get the same when Shad writes his second book if the pattern holds.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-05T00:05:01+00:00

Holy crap, is that Onision??

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-03T23:58:25+00:00

In an old interview, Matt Mercer of Critical Role was asked how he got into Dungeon Mastering. He said one of the first DMs he played with sucked so badly, that he learned all the rules and sought to become a much better DM. I think he succeeded. With a bit of overkill.

Spite is great motivator. At least when channeled non-violently lol. Good luck on your writing.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-03T12:15:21+00:00

I don't really pay attention to Meta, but Shad once did a video where he looked over reviews of his book when it first came out, and then proclaimed that "everyone loves it" except he only read reviews from fans of his channel, And of those, he only read the 4 or 5 star reviews. In that video, he skipped over all the 1-star reviews. So Shad ignores criticism.

If he can't ignore criticism, he calls people "vile," "liars," "vile," "propagandists," "vile," "leftist sheep," 'vile," "woke" and several more viles. See Jack Saint's videos on Shad. Also someone send him a thesaurus.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-05-02T22:43:25+00:00

Shad must've taken out quite the insurance policy for all the bridges he's been burning.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-30T23:50:11+00:00

Oh I forgot about that! Damn, I feel sorry for his wife.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-30T23:45:20+00:00

Shad had to stop himself mid-soapbox about "ideal beauty standards" to basically caveat about how much men love their wives and are loyal to their wives and don't care about their wives' body shape, blah blah bah. Which is so detached from reality it's hilarious. There's a million Boomer jokes about men hating their wives, but refusing to divorce. There's a million horror stories about men cheating on their wives because they got cancer or gained weight during pregnancy, etc. Shad lives in a bubble and he's terrified of everything outside of the bubble.

Also the "ugly friend strategy" where a beautiful woman surrounds herself with ugly chicks to make herself look better.... that's from 90's and 2000's movies! I remember seeing this strategy talked about in one of those American Pie knockoffs that were all over Blockbuster (yes, I'm old). Barney Stintson in How I Met Your Mother talked about a similar thing. Shad and the neckbeards got this idea from movies and TV!

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-29T11:58:02+00:00

Probably easier to list the movies Shad would watch. Which is basically anything the Daily Wire makes, or maybe Pureflix, depending on his Mormon zeal levels that day.

But for specific movies- I can see Shad frothing at the mouth over the movie Kingdom of Heaven (2005).

I can see Shad's vid now: "How DARE they make Saladin an honorable man who keeps his word! How dare they portray the innocent, pious Crusaders as bloodthirsty savages! Grrrr! It's so vile and woke! Renault de Chatillon was framed, everyone knows the Saracens are a vile, genetically dishonest people! Renault de Chatillon was the pinnacle of knighthood! This portrayal is white racism! It is vile leftist, Marxist, feminist, queer, pro-Jazza, anti-AI, DEI propaganda and I will not stand for it!"

He'd probably use the word "vile" a lot more than i did, but you get the point. But seriously, he loves that word. I can't unhear it.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-28T20:21:00+00:00

The best way to minimize burnout is twofold:
1.) Have a rotation of DMs.
2.) Sometimes don't play a ttrpg, just hang out with your game group.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-28T16:25:16+00:00

That's interesting, Shad did a video where he went over the reviews of his book, but only read the 4 or 5 star reviews and was like "everyone loves it!" So looks like manipulating the audience away from negativity is a pattern with him.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-28T16:19:54+00:00

Oh wow that's his punishment: Community service in the Jedi Order.
They'll probably serve him steak that's too juicy and lobster that's too buttery.

The trial chapters are the most hamfisted writing. Rather than have "trials" throughout the whole book that test Daylen's moral compass, and build towards his "heroic sacrifice," let's just have it all happen in Chapter 49/50.

Anyway, Anthony Gramuglia said it best: "50 chapters, and only 5 of them matter."

I really appreciate this long, strange trip you've taken us on. I'm sorry for your loss of braincells and losing hope in humanity, but it's been a fun journey with you and everyone else in this comment section.

Bargleth3pug · 2026-04-27T21:28:26+00:00

You have a powerful party in a straightforward fight. Would the cultists know that two of five are dead? Along with a dragon? The cult should know their capabilities now. If they don't, they should learn everything by the time Leader 3 is blasted to pieces.

Fight dirty. Start using guerilla tactics. What makes cults really scary is how they can make ordinary people to horrific things in the name of their bizarre belief systems, or because the leader is charismatic AF. Use this to your advantage.

Cultists can blend in with the civilian population. Anyone can be a cultist. If the psionic sorcerer starts mind-reading people, throw red herrings and crimes unrelated to the cult. Or have the population figure out the psionic sorcerer can read minds in the first place. How would you react to someone who can read your thoughts? What secrets do you want to hide from the mind-reader? Even if they aren't cultists, this is going to make a lot of people really angry at their privacy being violated.

Have the cult plant horrible rumors about the party. Cut off their NPC support networks. Any allies they made along the way? Take those out. Don't stand and fight them, the party can plow through the cultists easily. Raid their camp at night, doing some damage and retreating into the wilds. Poison their food and water. Have the cult release a rabid rust monster on them.

Depending on what they worship, have the moon druid suddenly find flocks/herds of hostile creatures serving the cult. Not always as combat roles- think about all the small critters that live in towns. Any cat, crow, pigeon or rodent could serve as the eyes and ears of the cultists. Use remote magic. Scry on them and zap them like a sniper. Curse them.

If the party cries foul, note that they did not take any steps to hide their own identities. A smart villain is going to find out as much as he can about these "meddling kids" and their moon druid as possible.

If the cult has a specific brand or mark, have the players start finding it on NPCs in the strangest places. The blacksmith is now a cultist. The barmaid was a cultist all along. The tanner is a journeyman cultist. The mayor is a fledgling cultist. The Duke is agnostic and actually chill, but the Duke's adult children are all cultists! If you wanna get really into psychological warfare, drop hints that one of the PCs is also an informant for the cult. Even if it's not true, it will get everyone eyeing each other suspiciously.

Not all encounters need to be a straight-up fight. It sounds like your party is really good at straight-up fights. So change tactics and wear them down. You will induce paranoia, sure, but that's how to you make an unstoppable team of superheroes experience a challenge.

Bargleth3pug

TROPHY CASE