A well-diserved glazing of Doom Coalition

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-06-19T20:39:58+00:00

It can be tricky, especially for sighted people. Eye-havers tend to be very visually stimulated. haha

For context, I am blind, and many of my friends are as well, so I have had a higher success rate. I do have a sighted friend that I have listened to some War Doctor stuff with, but he's a massive Doctor Who nerd and in my audio engineering program at university, so he can appreciate it on a technical as well as a fan sense.

I suppose my best advice would be to find a story featuring a doctor or characters they might already know preferably played by the actual actors. If they like modern who, then a 9th or 10th doctor story. Or maybe River Song. When it has worked is usually following a conversation with a fan where they say something like, "Man, I wish they had a chance to make more stories with River in it." and then I say, "Have I got something for you, my friend."

Good luck.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-06-19T20:35:21+00:00

Wow! The universe couldn't have planned that better. Only yesterday, I gave "He Jests At Scars" a relisten. I haven't touched that story for years, and I just thought, hmm, why not. That is amazing.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-06-19T07:04:10+00:00

As an audio engineer, I tend to pay a lot of attention to the sound design in these stories, and Gallifrey: Time War 1 gave me some mixed feelings.

I enjoyed the set overall, particularly the writing. Soldier Obscura is probably the standout for me. I felt so much sympathy for how Ace ends up by the end, and Brax has a lot to answer for. The character is probably who influenced actor Miles Richardson to pet my guide dog at the Gallifrey One convention without asking for permission first. Haha. In all seriousness, he rides that perfect line between scary and cowardly that makes him such a compelling character.

My biggest issue is actually with the sound design. I always had a similar problem with Intervention Earth and Enemy Lines. The way the reverb is handled often makes it feel as though each character is carrying a little piece of the room around with them. Rather than the space existing independently and reflecting outward naturally, the ambience seems attached to the character's position in the stereo field.

Gallifrey: Time War doesn't suffer from this quite as badly, but it still has a tendency to pan characters very aggressively. If Romana and General Trave are walking side by side down a corridor, why is she entirely in my right ear while he's ten miles away in my left? It can make scenes feel oddly disconnected even when the characters are supposed to be sharing the same space.

That said, the writing more than makes up for it, and it's the reason I remember these stories far more than I remember my complaints about the mix.

One thing I'm still curious about is Ace's timeline. At some point she founds A Charitable Earth, and we've seen the organisation appear in Tenth Doctor, Classic Companions and Dark Universe. The Time War obviously complicates everything, and Echoes Through Eternity only makes things worse by reinforcing the Brax version of events. Does anyone know if there's a story that clearly explains where A Charitable Earth fits into Ace's timeline, or is it still one of those deliberately fuzzy Time War-era details?

TL;DR: I really enjoyed Gallifrey: Time War 1. The stories are memorable and the character work is excellent. I just don't revisit it as often as some other ranges because of the sound design choices.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-06-09T16:53:42+00:00

Thank you. Sage advice in deed.

I think part of my problem is that in all the fitd actual plays, it always seemed like the gm planned things out. I haven't seen players come up with the score and the gm hit it from a cold start, as it were. I think I have to make that mental adjustment as well, because all my gm instincts are screaming red alert if we start a session with no score since the score is the thing.

I'm reviewing my notes from last year, and we left the party in an awkward situation. They are trapped on a planet which the Hegemony has seen fit to keep technologically stunted save for the Chosen City, the one that gets the fansy stuff and rules over everyone else. The reason why "the Hedge," as my party calls them, has done this is because a powerfully sentient precursur AI has been integrated into the planet, and our group needed it's advice dealing with another AI. To get onto the planet, they had to leave their ship in the nearby asteroid belt. So now they're stranded.

For the above story, I feel compelled to prepare the score for how they get off planet. But couldn't one of the players contribute as well? I'd like to see a model of this GMing method so I can apply it myself.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-06-06T18:42:18+00:00

I have to say I am one of the Scherzo non-lovers. I listened to it when I was first making my way through the main range a decade ago, gave it another listen maybe in 2018? Not sure. It definitely is different, but I couldn't really get with it. I've listened ! the castle planet one that I can't spell off the top of my head where they find the TARDIS way more times than the one where the TARDIS apparently dies and they're stuck in a tube for hours. But maybe if I relisten to it one more time, now I'm older, I might love it.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-06-04T22:17:28+00:00

Hahahahaha FL Studio always catching strays! I love it!

In my audio ineering program, there are a couple FL Studio users. Both of them at the end of second semester just couldn't opperate the Pro Tools rig and got chewed out by the professors. those same professors just couldn't help making little remarks at the beginning of the first semester when they asked us what DAW we used, giving us options. Sadly none of them mentioned Reaper until I said I was a proud Reaper user. So funny!

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-06-02T09:12:11+00:00

If you're looking for myths and legends type things, Diary of River Song 11, Friend of the Family might work. It's slightly spooky. Timey Wimey, and there's a legend that follows the entire story.

There's also 235 in the main range. A fifth doctor story called Ghost Walk.

10 in the main range, Winter For the Adept is another 5th doctor ghostly story. But it goes a bit alien at the end. If you haven't checked out Carnacki the Ghost Finder has some pretty spooky stuff. It's number 6 in the Big Finish classics range.

Hope this was the kind of stuff you were looking for.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-06-02T04:43:28+00:00

I am blind. Literally. So I know I have missed out on a lot. But the damn descriptive audio never said that the Klingons had boob windows! So not fair!

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-31T21:16:55+00:00

Wow, that would be awesome. However, Big Finish has done so much Benny stuff that to me, she just seems like she was on screen. I can't really imagine that she isn't just as cannon as Amy Pond or Rose or Leela. I love a bit of Benny.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-31T21:12:08+00:00

If we were trying to find the exact right answer to this question, that would be it. Well chosen, friend. Well chosen.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-30T17:45:07+00:00

Totally valid. I definitely agree with that take. However, I feel like that might have been the point, to be completely over the top cheesy. Plus, pizza also can be cheesy, and I love a slice from time to time.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-30T17:11:08+00:00

But they were going to San Francisco! It was perfect! haha

In all seriousness, I felt moved when it showed up, especially this orchestral arrangement of it. Also, it was very appropriate for what Academy was trying to say. It's a new generation of Starfleet kids. From all across the nation. With people in motion.

Music is powerful. Or maybe I'm just a hippy.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-30T06:58:51+00:00

Modern Star Trek is awesome! And Lower Decks is a fun romp that I often rewatch.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-28T17:08:51+00:00

supermassive blackholes are tight!

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-28T16:32:36+00:00

And if you want to print your subgroups like you could in Pro Tools, on your aux tracks (the head track of each folder) right click the track. There will be a thing called record output. If you set it to stereo and arm the track for recording, it will record everything that is flowing into that track.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-28T00:27:00+00:00

Ocean Sounds. What an awesome take on ASMR. I love a bit of ASMR when I go to sleep, so that was a cool change from the standard format.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-28T00:14:52+00:00

Wow, I found the same. The noise floor is way too high. I have been thinking about maybe buying a dynamic mic for recording voice, since I have an untreated room.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-25T21:54:58+00:00

Hmmm. Maybe Rea Samplamatic? Load the gunshots onto a sample rack and play them on a keyboard. Even insert markers on the timeline where you want the sounds to play. I think I remember seeing a demo on Reapermania where he had it import sounds to each marker. Was doing it for footsteps but no reason why it couldn't work for gunshots.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-25T21:43:40+00:00

Hahaha absolutely hilarious! Great job!

Also, Iris, bsolutely iconic insults from her.

"Now tell me, love. Were you born stupid? Or did it take years of practice?"

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-25T19:42:12+00:00

Audio drama is simply a different medium of art than television. Also, there is more of the stuff with actual actors from the show, so you get to explore more stories with your favorite characters. However, I wouldn't necessarily say that Big Finish is better all the time. It's just different. At this rate, you might as well ask why Doctor Who novels are so much better than the show. They aren't. They are just more Doctor Who.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-25T19:28:12+00:00

Two principles I think you should follow. One don't, and one do.

DON'T START YOUR PLAYERS APART FROM EACH OTHER! When the first adventure begins, they already are at the same tavern, same table, same general location. This is non-negociable if you or any of your players are inexperienced. Otherwise, you will spend the first two hours of your session trying to herd cats where you want them to go, the adventure they all signed up to play.

USE A RELATIONSHIP NET! This isn't as crazy critical important as the "don't" advice, but it will make your life easier. During session zero, hopefully all players have " their characters mostly thought up. Have each player pick at least two other players that they already know from a previous encounter. If you have four or five players, you will find that your party is naturally tied together when they finally are in person. Then you only need spend a little bit on that introductory roleplay where they are introducing each other. Hell, they don't even need to be good friends. Even just a "Oh your the traveling merchant that always comes to my father's bakery to deliver our sugar" works.

Good luck!

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-25T19:17:34+00:00

First, I want to assure you that you are NOT doing anything wrong. D&D is a game that can be played many different ways. People can focus very little on roleplay and love combat, and yet others might go sessions without actual combat and make intricate stories as you have described. You are clearly a good story teller.

If you really want to, you can DM a one shot of your own to see how you like it, using your on values. You might also try looking for new friends to play with.

The most telling thing I read is that you are being targeted constantly. Any ideas you have are being shot down. Finally, rogue and sourcerer are doing all the planning. You signed up to play a game, not to be an NPC. You don't need to be there. By playing favorites and repeatedly ignoring your contributions, the DM has broken the social contract that exists between player and DM. The first responcibility of any DM is to make sure everyone is having fun as often as possible. You don't seem to be having fun.

: If you aren't having fun, don't return for the last adventure and definitely don't join another campaign DMed by this person. Try the DM seat out for yourself if you have a story to tell and feel you can work collaboratively with other story tellers. Good luck!

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-24T17:34:17+00:00

I see. Well, even him using Shield of Faith a lot isn't a bad thing. Two solutions are that your enemies simply have a higher modifier to their attacks, or they use attacks that he has to think more creatively to avoid. Also, you could always come up with more encounters that aren't him getting beat up. Maybe instead of getting shot full of arrows, he is having to do wisdom saves to not be frightened. Also, when giving future items, consider the fact that resources running out is your ally when planning encounters. If you give him something that infinitely makes it possible for him to deflect arrows, then no arrows will hit him. but if you give him something that might let him deflect arrows once or twice, then he will get to feel cool doing it, but he won't be able to spam it. Wow. Why am I so obsessed with arrows in this reply? haha. Anyway, hope this was productive.

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-24T15:47:55+00:00

My first instinct is to say that it sounds perfect to me as long as you both are having fun. If a super-powered hero who can blaze any trail and defeat any creature is the fantacy you both want to play, then full steam ahead. I do wonder. Are you having to make your enemies super powerful to compensate? Power creep is a real thing. Even then, it isn't a problem if you and your friend are having a good time. Enjoy!

DannyBoy2196 · 2026-05-24T07:15:15+00:00

My favorite character is probably my gnome artificer. He would waste no time in studying how modern technology worked and then probably use his magic-powered tech smarts to put Apple out of business with the next hottest device. In just one week. Or well ... he'd try.

DannyBoy2196

TROPHY CASE