Dungeon Crawler Carl And The Rise Of LitRPG

SPEAKER_03 1:07

Welcome everyone. I mean, if if you're still ho if you're still listening to this podcast, kudos to you. Thank you. Thank you. Much appreciated. Thank you for coming back again for I guess we'll call this a new season of of Legends, Loot, and Lore. Um So much has happened. We don't have time to catch you up on all that. But we we are gonna we are gonna start making new episodes again. And it m here I am. We have two new well, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Are you the new new co-host or wasn't I always kind of the new co-host? New old co-host. I'm the old new co-host.

SPEAKER_03 1:47

Oh yes. I'm Andrew, your host, and my co-host is Catherine. Hello, Catherine. Hello, Andrew. Hello again. Here we are.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Wait, I can do the catch-up. You want like the six-second catch-up?

SPEAKER_03 2:01

I was gonna say the last time we did this, we were married.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

No, we did at least one live recording since we yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 2:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Yeah. So we're not.

SPEAKER_03 2:12

That's old news then.

Welcome Back And Life Updates

SPEAKER_00 2:13

But we haven't been married for like a year and a half, so that's cool. Like legally. Uh it's been two years since the whole process started. Can you believe that?

SPEAKER_03 2:22

I can't.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Uh let's see. You have three cats, I have two cats, I have a new knee.

SPEAKER_03 2:28

As far as the apartment complex is concerned, I have two cats.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Right.

SPEAKER_03 2:33

No, I know. For anyone's listening, it's only two. I swear to God, it's only two.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

It's just that sometimes the gray one looks really black. Yes, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

Mm-hmm. Exactly. Uh colours in the sun. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

I think we have the same jobs. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

Uh think so. Yeah. Oh, you got engaged. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Andrew got engaged.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

I gotta go, I gotta go back and like listen to when like look at the data when the last episode. It was hold on.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

I'm looking now.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

Look it up.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

I'm looking it up.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

Alright. So while while you're looking that up, we are we're going to r kick off this new season of Legends, Loot, and Lore. Um by doing a bit of a side quest. We're gonna talk about um Dungeon Crawler Carl.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 3:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Our last episode was in December of 2024.

SPEAKER_03 3:30

December of 2024. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. It's been it's been a hot minute.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

It's like this is a whole new a whole new podcast.

SPEAKER_03 3:43

Very very nice. Um yeah, as I was as I was saying, we're gonna talk about what?

SPEAKER_00 3:50

I said sorry.

SPEAKER_03 3:51

No, don't be sorry. Um all good. So we are going to we're gonna talk about Dungeon Crawler Carl and it's and how how kind of it came not how it came about, but kind of how Dungeons and Dragons kind of is the the forefather of of Dungeon Crawler Carl. I I have a hard time saying that.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Um the

Why Dungeon Crawler Carl Now

SPEAKER_00 4:16

um the one article I read called it the rise of lit rpg. The rise of lit rpg. Actually, what I had googled was the rise of lit RPG because I knew there had to be an article called that.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

Um of course.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

It feels like it came up really, really fast.

SPEAKER_03 4:32

What do you mean?

SPEAKER_00 4:34

Like, I feel like you weren't hearing a lot about lit RPG, and then all of a sudden, like Dungeon Crawler Dungeon Crawler Carl exploded.

SPEAKER_04 4:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

And kind of opened up everybody's eyes to this whole. And I'm sure there are people listening to this who are gonna be like, I've known about this for years. I didn't. Uh, and I'm very excited that I do now, but it feels like everything's happening for Dungeon Crawler Carl at the moment. Like Matt Dinnerman and Jeff Hayes have become kind of celebrities in their own right, and it's a very interesting time um for books, which really people don't like books enough anymore.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

No, I I I completely agree. I I think probably and and we'll we'll get into this. So let's let's let's start off with um kind of what lit RPG actually is.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 5:32

So it it it really is as it as kind of the name alludes to, it is literature, but it's it instead of like a lot of the Dungeons and Dragons stories that I've read, it it's the characters themselves are aware of the levels and and things like that, so it's leveling up. Um so it really takes a lot of the mechanics of an RPG, um D D, you know, video games, what have you, and and kind of blends that with the actual storytelling. Um I mean that and and really like I said, yeah, I mean, D D is the the original, I think, RPG sort of um that that really has brought about that whole genre. And and now it it's it's it's gone from tabletop gaming to actual actual books, uh, which is which is great. It's it's a fascinating read. There's there's a whole bunch of um Matt

What LitRPG Actually Means

SPEAKER_03 6:30

Dinnerman books series that um what's the other one? I'm trying to remember the other one.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Operation Bounce House is the book that you see all over the place, which I have not yet read.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

There's also it is oh, Kaiju Battlefield Battlefield Surgeon.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

Mm-hmm. And then there's another whole series that I'm gonna start next, uh, called He Who Fights with Monsters.

SPEAKER_03 6:54

He Who Fights with Monsters, tell me more.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Uh, that's the one that everybody seems to recommend if you really loved Dungeon Crawler Carl, which I do. So it is I'm pulling it up in my Audible. I spend a lot of time in the car, folks. Don't judge me.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Listening is reading. Reading is fundamental. And I know that's controversial, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Uh one of the things that I thought was interesting in the article that I read about this is that um it said that while there is a ton of uh there are a ton of titles out there that fall into this category, but not all are created equal. And I think, you know, there's a lot of self-published stuff that is maybe not as good as it would be if it had an editor. Um I think that's part of why Dungeon Crawler Carl is so accessible.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

I also think Dungeon Crawler Carl is accessible because, and I think it's why it's m many people's first lit RPG, because you don't necessarily have to be a gamer or a Dungeons and Dragons fan to understand it.

SPEAKER_03 8:13

Not at all. I mean it helps. It helps, exact exactly. But it's not a requirement.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Okay, so this is He Who Fights with Monsters. Uh, I believe there are three books in the series right now. Here is the summary. Jason wakes up in a mysterious world of magic and monsters. It's not easy making the career jump from office supplies store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer. At least Jason tries to be heroic, but it's hard to be good when all your powers are evil. He'll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters, and that's just in the first day. He's going to need courage, he's going to need wit, and he's going to need some magic powers of his own. But first he's going to need pants. Hey, that sounds a lot like Carl.

SPEAKER_03 8:58

It does sound a lot like Carl.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Interesting. After cementing itself is one of the best-rated serial novels on Royal Road with an astonishing 13 million views, He Who Fights with Monsters is now brought to you in professionally formatted audio. The other reason I think Dungeon Crawler Carl, and I'm sorry I'm doing a lot of talking right now, but I'm very passionate about Dungeon Crawler Carl. The other reason I think it's become so popular and so many people recommend it is the audiobooks.

SPEAKER_03 9:31

Oh, you you have to give it up to Jeff Hayes for Oh my god. And that's the thing, like that that's a that's a big difference. And we'll we'll dig deeper into this, but I I mean for me, it's one of the big differences between this series and a lot of other books is that the amount of voices that are done um by one person. But a lot of a lot of narrators don't do voices like that. Right. So so I think that that that that's really kind of what helped I think help the popularity of the books.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

I mean, when I started listening, I I heard them say narrated by Jeff Hayes. And then when he launched into Princess Donut, I was like, that has to be someone else, right? Like, haven't like, how

Why The Audiobooks Hook People

SPEAKER_00 10:22

do they not have this person credited? And I did a quick search and found out, no, it is Jeff Hayes, and with very few exceptions, he does the vast majority of the voices.

SPEAKER_03 10:33

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

I know they've had a few other guests, notably Patrick Warburton as Carl's dad, because Jeff Hayes has said that um Patrick Warburton was kind of his inspiration for Carl's voice. Although I hear um, oh, why can't I think of his name all of a sudden? Married to Megan Malale. Can remember her name.

SPEAKER_03 10:57

Married to Megan Malale.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

You don't know who's looking it up? Yeah, I'm looking it up. Oh, Nick Offerman?

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Yes. I hear Nick Offerman when I hear him when I hear him do Carl. That I never because he's gruffer than Patrick Warburton. The tenor maybe is Patrick Warburton, but that gruffness says Nick Offerman to me.

SPEAKER_03 11:26

Got it.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

That's who I thought it was initially. I stopped and looked because I was like, wait a second. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:34

Hmm. Interesting. But anyway, let me get back to back to the beginning of all this. So let's let's talk about what what we're gonna cover in this podcast. And let's dig deep into some of these ideas.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Because I did a lot of talking already.

SPEAKER_03 11:55

No, that's that's hey, that's what we're here to do. We're here to talk. Um but some of the things I want to I want to make sure we hit on, like I said, what are what lit rpg is, how D kind of help shape the genre of of lit rpg. Um and and conversely, how lit rpg may influence D D, and what what possible benefits, drawbacks this has for tabletop players of any any game type. And do you think that dungeon crawler car will strengthen D D or compete with it? Uh some of the some of the things that we will touch on. But we've already talked about kind of what lit rpg is. Um what is what is it not? Let's let's let's talk about that. What is lit RPG not for you?

SPEAKER_00 12:48

For me.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

Not a replacement for all those other things. It's an enhancement.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

It's not like I'm not gonna stop playing DD because there is lit RPG.

SPEAKER_03 13:02

Sure, no, exactly. I don't think it's and it's it's not like your typical like I said, I mentioned this because I've read a bunch of the D books. You know, it's not a D book.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

No.

SPEAKER_03 13:13

Like it it's not it's not what it's it's not tied into DD at all. Um I mean it's not necessarily this one's not necessarily based on a video game, but it's very video game similar. Um it's not a choose your own adventure book, for sure. Um which would be interesting. I mean and I mean we can talk about this now or later or whenever, but I mean, you know they're coming out with the the tabletop RPG for um Dungeon Crawler Carl, so I did not know that. You did not know that?

SPEAKER_00 13:45

I did not know that.

SPEAKER_03 13:47

Wow, whoa. Hello. Um I'm gonna look it up right now because I can.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Uh because we're on a computer.

SPEAKER_03 13:58

Because we're on computers. It's no, it's a they they did it was a Kickstarter, I think they I don't know if it was Kickstarter specifically, or it was uh it was a um crowdfunded uh official sponsor.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Speaking of which, yes, when we get to the end of this, I think we should take a short aside to talk about the guild.

SPEAKER_03 14:19

Oh yes. We can definitely talk about that. And it also, you know what this also reminded me of? Um it's it's not a it's not lit RPG, but it was uh it was a web series, uh Legend of Neil.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Oh gosh, Legend of Neil.

SPEAKER_03 14:33

Old man. Exactly. And

A Dungeon Crawler Carl Tabletop Game

SPEAKER_03 14:37

that's another tie into Felicia Day. So um see it all comes all comes back around. But apparently I think it's coming out in November of 2026.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 14:52

It's like a massive like player's guide on on how to play. I I think we should maybe that's what we should do, is is for Legends of War, maybe pick that up and uh that'd be fun. Try playing that.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

It would be nice to live play again. Right? I have this sneaking suspicion because I am no Jeff Hayes, that um if we do another campaign, that all of my characters are gonna sound like Zanros.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

Excellent, that'd be amazing. Whole whole bunch of packaday packaday smokers. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

So that during each break, James can marvel at the fact that my throat doesn't hurt from doing that.

SPEAKER_03 15:35

Impressive. It's like uh um Alex Brightman. Alex Brightman as as Beetlejuice. Mm-hmm. You you both you both went to the same voice voice acting school.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

Apparently.

SPEAKER_03 15:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

Uh he's got fun vocal folds. I've got giant tonsils, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 15:55

There you go. That I guess I guess that works for you.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Apparently.

SPEAKER_04 15:59

Apparently, yes.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Been working for me for almost 50 years, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:06

So I'm I'm just looking at some of the questions here that I was working on. So I mean, I guess this this was this was both our our first um introductions to lit RPG.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Yeah. Well, because somebody told you about it, and then you told me about it.

SPEAKER_04 16:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

And then little does Matt Dinnerman know, but uh Dungeon Crawler Carl got me through a whole heck of a lot of my knee replacement surgery.

SPEAKER_03 16:29

So there you go, yeah. And you and you ordered the you ordered the autographed books, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Books one and two, yeah. Sure did.

SPEAKER_03 16:38

That's exciting.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

I'm hoping he they're gonna pop up at um we're going up to Rhode Island Comic Con in November.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

I'm hoping they'll show up there.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

What makes you think they're gonna show up there?

SPEAKER_00 16:51

They've been showing up at a lot of comic book conventions, and that's a really good one.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

Uh is it really? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Rhode Island Comic-Con was probably my favorite that I've done.

SPEAKER_03 17:01

Really?

SPEAKER_00 17:01

Interesting. Yeah. They had great guests. It's huge. They've got lots and lots of vendors. It was real and it's like in it's in a like convention center, but also it goes into the

First LitRPG And Why It Works

SPEAKER_00 17:12

hockey arena. They literally had guests all lined up in like the on the ice. It's very cool.

SPEAKER_03 17:20

That's that is very cool.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

And if you look at the guests for this year, uh we already booked the hotel because we're definitely going, because they're announcing more and more. Um, they're currently on Christopher Lloyd was announced yesterday. Uh Kathleen Turner today. Wow. But there's um they're gonna have, I was gonna say, if you don't go, I need your Beetlejuice play bowl back because Leslie Kritzer is gonna be there and I'll get her to sign it. Awesome. Um yeah, Alex Brightman's gonna be there. Um, Matt Ryan from Legends of Tomorrow. I'm gonna have him sign my uh Constantine Funko.

SPEAKER_03 17:57

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

Uh there's just a ton. Like, I'm saving all my money for this particular con this year because there's so much like the um my Mr. Pointy and that X-Files thing I got you, those came from Rhode Island Comic-Con.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

Oh no, okay.

SPEAKER_04 18:14

Oh, very nice. Yeah. Excellent.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

Just call me Madam Tangent. Anyway, yes, I think this was both of our introduction to Lit RPG. And I I feel like from everything that I read, kind of preparing for this, that it's a lot of people's introduction into Lit RPG.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

For all the reasons I was talking about earlier. It's super accessible, um, it's funny. I think if you come in and you listen to the audiobooks, it's a whole other experience that you're probably not expecting.

SPEAKER_03 18:50

No, yeah, I I didn't I didn't know what to expect going into the books. Um and to be qu and to be perfectly honest, it it took me a little adjustment. And and his voice his the voice that he's done for Carl has changed throughout the books.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

Well, Carl is only 27. And the way he does his voice, he sounds like a grizzled old man. And I know he's been through a lot.

SPEAKER_03 19:18

He's been through a lot, he's smoked a lot.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Fair.

SPEAKER_03 19:22

Um so I mean I I could I can see why.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

I mean, all that naval training.

SPEAKER_03 19:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 19:34

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

I know it's the Coast Guard guys, that's the joke.

SPEAKER_04 19:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 19:45

Anyway. Um so so let me tell you, let me ask you let me tell you. Let me tell you something. Uh let me ask let me ask you this. So I feel like I'm interviewing you. Um so having having played D D and video games prior to read or listening, reading, listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl, did that make it any easier for you to to get into it or or or like how do you feel about that? Like, did it make it easier? Or do you think that somebody without any background whatsoever could jump right into to Dungeon Crawler Carl and um and pick it up and figure it out?

SPEAKER_00 20:25

I think somebody with no background in any of this could jump into it. I don't know if they would enjoy it as much necessarily, because there's a certain there's a certain charm to it that you really understand if you are somebody who's either a gamer or has played um, you know, any role-playing game, but DD specifically.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Um so I don't think you have to have had that background, but I do think it helps in terms of like immediate enjoyment. There are a lot of people that I see who are like, you know, I'm like three chapters in, and it like, what the hell are you all pe all are you all talking about? How is this good? And it's like it is good though, you just have to give it a chance. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:15

Yeah. Like it's for for me, I think having played a lot of those types of games, video games over the years, um, having now played D D for several or a few years, um I think it definitely helped because I think it was it gave you it gave you a level of what's he doing back there?

SPEAKER_00 21:37

He's just sleeping, he's got a ball over his eyes.

SPEAKER_03 21:43

Living his best life.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Yeah, there's just so much fur that I can't tell like where the fur is and where the cat is.

SPEAKER_03 21:49

Right. Oh, hi fizzy. Aww. Such a cute cat. Um but like for me, for me it's very interesting because like there are a lot of shout outs to um D D in these books, like various monsters and things like that. Um that that he references. Like some of them, some of them are definitely pulled right from that type of from that environment.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:25

I'm like, oh Knowles. I'm like, okay, I know those. Um, you know, like there's all sorts of different things um that that he pulls in that are helpful. But I mean, it's just I I'm I'm excited for the opportunity to play the game. Mm-hmm. Because I think I think it'd be super cool.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

I think it's gonna be a complicated game though, because it's not so you know, the interesting thing about playing a Dungeons and Dragons campaign is that you're for the most part in one world, right? This feels like every floor of the dungeon. And I mean, I guess we should give a brief overview of what this is even all about.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

Uh Basically, the rent is due on Earth and the aliens come to collect. And anybody who's indoors when the event occurs is mushed. And anybody who's outside has the opportunity to either stay on Earth and try to survive or to descend into the dungeon.

SPEAKER_04 23:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

And our hero Carl and his cat. Well, his girlfriend's cat, but ex-girlfriend. Yes, that's right. Miss Be Miss Beatrice. Yes. Um Princess Donut. Well, Carl is debating whether he wants to go into the dungeon. And his uh decision is made for him when Donut bolts in. And he would probably have gone in anyway because he went out to try to get Donut, who darted out a window wearing nothing but boxers, um, bees pink Crocs, and the leather jacket.

SPEAKER_03 24:06

Quite quite the quite the outfit to dungeon crawling.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

And uh

The Setup Of Dungeon Crawler Carl

SPEAKER_00 24:11

you get into the dungeon, and that's when uh you start fighting for survival, basically. And your goal is to survive each of the floors.

SPEAKER_04 24:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

So each of the floors has a different type of theme. Floor one is very typical DD beginner campaign kind of floor.

SPEAKER_04 24:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Um and they oh, and the other part of this that is probably important to note is that this is, of course, streamed to people all over the galaxy who consider this great entertainment. Yes. And this is, I forget which I forget which season of Dungeon Crawler World this is, but it's been going on for a long time. Yeah. Uh, and this is Dungeon Crawler World Earth. I think that's probably a good start to it, right?

SPEAKER_03 25:01

Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, it's it's funny because um, you know, it's I I I guess I guess the old trope in in D D is, you know, you meet in a tavern. Right. And and that's your adventuring party your adventuring party. But um this is this was a lot more fascinating because there everybody was kind of solo to begin with. Yeah. Um and they learned that later, I later on you could have you could have like teams of of people fighting to together to get through the um get through the various levels, but it's it it really is a solo RPG kind of to begin with.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:44

Um and I I I found that really interesting. So it's there's a whole different I like the I like this the setup of it personally. Um I thought I thought it was a lot of fun. Something again, there's I'll I'll I'll make a plug for it. There's a book that I I backed on Kickstarter. Um called called You Don't Start in the Tavern.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

Um I've actually I think you've told me about that, because I was gonna say I've heard of it.

SPEAKER_03 26:12

Um I'm gonna look it up.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

While you do that, I'm going to talk about Princess Donut and how it comes to be that she uh starts talking. So one of the things that uh Carl receives in one of his first loot boxes, and this is where you kind of get into the whole you get treasure or reward as you play, uh, is what they call an enhanced pet biscuit. And again, this gives you an option, right? You can feed this to your pet. They might just die, they might become evil, or they might have enhanced abilities. And Donut immediately starts talking with a British accent and um clearly has been paying very close attention to everything that's been going on for years, and is ostensibly smarter than Carl.

SPEAKER_03 27:02

She is she is a voracious watcher of television. She loves Gossip Girl. Gossip Girl loves the gossip girl. Um Carl's Carl's always like surprised by how much don't like wait, how do

Princess Donut And The Pet Biscuit

SPEAKER_03 27:20

you know that?

SPEAKER_00 27:22

You know, one thing, I think Carl is a really sympathetic protagonist, which is part of why the books are so charming. And the thing that I liked the most about Carl is something that Donut calls out very early on, which was that he had broken up with B and he was looking at apartments, and Donut noticed that he was only looking at pet-friendly apartments because B had been thinking about selling donuts, so Carl was gonna try to take her.

SPEAKER_04 27:55

Right.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

And that right there tells me all I need to know about Carl. And you learn so much more about how giving and kind he is throughout the series, but I think that is like the first indication of what kind of person he is.

SPEAKER_03 28:12

Oh, for sure. Um he's he's again, despite the gruff exterior, um he he loves Donut.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

Oh, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_03 28:23

And and he's very and I mean that's the whole thing. I mean, because Donut's really the the main character, so to speak, in their in their party, because he's just the uh in the court of the the royal bodyguard. The royal bodyguard, yes. He's the royal bodyguard of Princess Donut, so it's not even him. Yeah, it's which is really funny.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

I I mean in the game. I I really I like Carl a lot. I love Donut. Have you gotten to Jamal yet?

SPEAKER_03 28:56

I still don't I still have not heard anything about Jamal. Jamal has so many sorris to give.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

Where does this when does this pop up? He's one of um oh I'm not gonna remember her name. The one with all the tattoos. Uh Sarendogore? No.

SPEAKER_01 29:13

No, who is it? The the the circus, the niad. Signet, yes.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

One of her tattoos um come to life.

unknown 29:28

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

He's a shark. It's amazing. When you get there, it it's probably later in book seven.

SPEAKER_04 29:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

Uh I love him so much. I love nothing more than I love Jamal.

SPEAKER_04 29:40

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

He has so many sorris to give.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

Poor Jamal. I know.

SPEAKER_03 29:49

So So again, like I was saying, you know, there's there's a lot of familiarity back to um D D. You've got classes, because they can choose their class, they they level up. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:03

Um they get special abilities. Special abilities that change with each with each floor.

SPEAKER_03 30:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

And you know, there's it's interesting because they're they're very aware of these things like hit points and XP and they talk a lot about constitution because donuts is so low, and that's part of why Carl is so protective of her.

SPEAKER_03 30:24

But she has the high charisma.

SPEAKER_00 30:26

Yeah, and she's smarter than he is.

SPEAKER_03 30:29

Yeah. Yes, indeed. There's also I mean, there's also you have the healers, you know, you've got the support people.

SPEAKER_00 30:37

Um You got the muscle.

SPEAKER_03 30:39

You got the muscle, you got you got all those different things.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Um Yeah, like Carl is really, I would say, the equivalent of a bare knuckle brawler.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Uh but you've got I would put a barbarian class. Yeah, yeah. I mean, where would you put where would you put donut? She's she's not well, she's not a melee fighter,

DnD DNA Inside The Mechanics

SPEAKER_01 31:05

for for sure. Is she a mage? A wizard? Because she has a missile, so she is a bard. At one point she is a bard, yes. She gets the musical. Yeah. She gets the musical abilities, though.

SPEAKER_03 31:25

Speaking of the musical abilities, I I've heard a lot of people poo-pooing the uh on the audiobook, the the auto-tune.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

That's where I am in my re-listen.

SPEAKER_03 31:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

I think it's funny. I think it's hysterical. She's supposed to be a terrible singer. Right. But a lot of her spells in this particular floor depend on her singing. So her oh, and this is another aspect of it. Her fans vote on a fan box that gets her autotune. Right. I think it's her fans that give her the auto-tune, right?

SPEAKER_03 32:01

I think I think it's the Princess Posse.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Or it's the uh Is it the waste management?

SPEAKER_03 32:08

Is it waste management? Is it the waste management? I can't remember who gives her the auto-tune mic.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

It's not Empress Denadia.

SPEAKER_03 32:15

No.

SPEAKER_00 32:17

It's just It is very complex. Yes. And this is why. So before we started recording, Andrew was laughing at me because I listened to all eight books, and then I immediately started re-listening because I feel like I've missed so much. Because it is incredibly complex and it like really builds this world.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

Yeah. It really does.

SPEAKER_00 32:43

And you do start to lose track of characters and like through lines and Ferdinand.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

You mean gravy boat? I mean Ferdinand.

SPEAKER_00 32:57

Gravy boat. That's his bird. Right. I love Ferdinand. I love him so much. He's so funny.

SPEAKER_03 33:08

No, Ferdinand. Ferdinand is good. But the what the but what what's the one character you don't understand why people like?

SPEAKER_00 33:14

Oh, Prepotente?

SPEAKER_03 33:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

I gotta tell you, the farther I've gotten in, the more I've liked Prepotente.

SPEAKER_03 33:20

Right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:21

He is a misunderstood child, essentially. In the beginning, all he did was scream and antagonize. I know.

SPEAKER_03 33:31

Well, that's why because I was ahead of you to begin with. Right. Not ahead of you in the book, so I didn't want to say anything. Like, yeah. That's better.

SPEAKER_00 33:38

It does.

SPEAKER_03 33:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:39

Yeah, because he starts to become relatable.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Mm-hmm. Oh, for sure. He's just a kid who wants to be loved. Yeah. And Carl's his best friend. What did you do? I don't know. It's just it's just like that. My finger wasn't this fat when I bought the ring. And now it is.

SPEAKER_04 34:17

So there.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

Okay, we're off the rails again. That's alright.

SPEAKER_03 34:21

Um. So let me ask you this. I ask I ask you a couple questions. Like I said, I'm just gonna interview them. So what what let RPG, since you since you play DD, what let RPG conventions feel most directly inherited from DD?

SPEAKER_00 34:38

So I think we've talked about a bunch of them. Um like the race and class choices.

SPEAKER_02 34:43

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

And the interesting thing in this book is that you come in, obviously human because you were on Earth. Uh you can bring pets in, animals can come in, uh, but everyone gets to choose a race and class. So, you know, the whole joke is that Donut is never going to be anything other than a cat, but she could choose to be.

SPEAKER_04 35:01

Right.

SPEAKER_00 35:01

Um, and then you know, you get a character like Ellie, where she was 99 years old, and the joke is she becomes this like frost maiden, but she's still wearing the um grippy socks from the nursing home. And uh so I think that definitely uh healing potions, that's a biggie.

SPEAKER_03 35:24

Oh, sure.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

Uh the fact that you can buy a bed that gives you uh what is essentially a short rest and it replenishes your energy.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

Right, right. Yeah, because the bed, because I I think they're I think they're at four hours or something, if I recall correctly. I can't remember.

SPEAKER_00 35:42

Um I think Or two hours. The idea of the in this series, they're guilds, but where you can kind of work together. Yes. I I think that definitely comes from it. I think that idea of teamwork is really huge, right? Like they're essentially all fighting each other. They get points for killing other crawlers, like but when you're somebody like Carl who is inherently good at heart and you come across other people who are good hearted, they're kind of bound to bond to each other, right? And I think that's part of what's so charming about it, but I think it also does play back to DD. They kind of become this little like family of misfits, right?

SPEAKER_03 36:31

Well, I I think I think it's you know, for me, it's what what bonds them as a common enemy.

SPEAKER_00 36:36

The AI or the aliens, because it's both of those things.

SPEAKER_03 36:39

No, no, no, no, no. I mean, I mean, just who they're fighting in the dungeon. You know, they're they're all there's strength, as they say, there's strength in numbers.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:49

So I think a lot of that comes from from D D. Um you know, it it's not if you as they always say in DD, you know, you never split the party. Right. So it's there that that concept of there is strength in numbers, it's not it's it's it's not as much fun as a as a solo gamer.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

Um hundred percent.

SPEAKER_03 37:13

And I think you see that in some of the characters in the books over over time, who who have kind of fought um like who is it, Lucia Mar?

unknown 37:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:24

Yes. So like you like you see what happens to people when they're um CC and Gustavo III. Exactly. Um I don't know how you remember all that. My god, I I am I'm terrible.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

Don't worry, I remember nothing at work anymore.

SPEAKER_03 37:46

Oh well that's good. Well, at least you remember something.

SPEAKER_00 37:48

But I remember CC and Gustavo 3.

SPEAKER_03 37:50

Excellent. Um But yeah, so I think I think that's I think that's emphasized in this in this series. That again, they're you're you're better off being together than being alone.

SPEAKER_01 38:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:10

Um well, and I think it's interesting because it's a big part of Carl's character development, right? Because he is essentially a loner, and when he goes in, his main goal is to keep himself and donut alive. And then they kind of inherit Katya, and then she becomes essentially family to them.

SPEAKER_02 38:29

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

And then they meet um all of the Metal Ark people, and you start to actually feel loss, and then there's the whole piece where Carl, you know, goes out of his way to save Chris. He doesn't have to do that.

SPEAKER_03 38:45

Right. But there's also the the girl, the shapeshifter.

SPEAKER_00 38:48

Katya?

SPEAKER_03 38:49

No, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 38:50

In the Oh, juice box?

SPEAKER_03 38:54

Is it juice? No, no, the girl. There's like a young girl.

SPEAKER_00 38:57

Bonnie. She's a gnome. She's a gnome, though. She's not a shapeshifter.

SPEAKER_03 39:00

Okay, I thought she was a shapeshifter.

SPEAKER_00 39:01

No, remember, she was the gnome, she was making the lemonade, her father had been killed, the floating house. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

Um this is why I re-listened to the books.

SPEAKER_03 39:10

That's why I'm gonna that's what I'm gonna. I think I'm gonna read the books, actually.

SPEAKER_00 39:13

Yeah, I want to wait for them. Um, like, you know, now that I have the autographed copies coming, I don't want to buy a whole other set of them, but gotcha. Um, I do eventually want to read them because I I do think it's kind of hilarious to see um in writing Donut refusing to not type in all caps.

SPEAKER_04 39:31

Right.

SPEAKER_00 39:33

Is this is it time for me to do this?

SPEAKER_03 39:36

Wait, hang on, I'm not looking. Ah, very nice. Yes, I am yelling Carl. Um I was just gonna ask you something, now I can't remember. I'm sorry. No, that's all right. Um oh, I was gonna say, so what are your what are some of your favorite uh donut isms?

SPEAKER_00 39:53

I am yelling, Carl is definitely one of them.

SPEAKER_03 39:56

Right.

SPEAKER_00 39:57

Uh I love the fact that uh she feels the need to greet absolutely everyone. Like she'll walk into a room. One of my favorites is Hi Katya, hi Katya's boyfriend. Um revolution, Carl. Because that's one of the moments where you realize that Carl views Donut as a child. And in a lot of ways, she is. She's very childlike, but she's also so smart. And that's one of the moments where you start to see how smart she is. Um I love that she refers to herself as mommy with uh with Mongo. Because I call myself mommy to the cats, so I totally get that. Yep. Um I'm trying to think of some of her others. Oh, something about don't ask me to remember everything I've said to a stripper. Is that the line?

SPEAKER_03 41:00

Those are my favorite lines. So you go you can't you can't expect me to remember you can't expect me to be held accountable for everything I've said to a stripper. That's what it is. You can't you can't hold me accountable. Um that one, and why would a stripper ever lie to me?

SPEAKER_00 41:16

Which I which just kills me because it's like her absolute hatred of cocker spaniels and insistence on basically equating every dog as a cocker spaniel is hilarious.

SPEAKER_03 41:30

Yes, indeed. I she's very let me ask you another question. What's that?

SPEAKER_00 41:36

Yeah, she's very funny, but you know, she's also very endearing.

SPEAKER_03 41:40

She is, absolutely. Um and I love the relationship between the two of them. Yes. That's that's been one of my favorite like growth stories throughout the whole the whole thing. Just their their their relationship.

SPEAKER_00 41:55

Um now Ferdinand's showing up again, so Ferdinand's such trouble.

SPEAKER_03 42:03

So let's talk about let's talk about the the AI as as as kind of the dungeon master.

SPEAKER_00 42:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:09

Um how do you how do you feel about the what's your what's your take on on the AI?

SPEAKER_00 42:14

I think it's interesting that the AI is becoming sentient um to a point. I mean, he's uh it it has always been sort of sentient. It's little obsession with Carl, it's foot fetish. Um that that voice.

SPEAKER_03 42:34

The voice the voice of Joe Hayes does has the AI. It's just like it's the creepiest fucking voice.

SPEAKER_00 42:42

The foot fetish one, especially.

SPEAKER_03 42:44

When he has when he's when the when the guy is like putting Carl's toes in his mouth. Yeah. That's what Carl realizes, like, this isn't a thing.

SPEAKER_00 42:57

Um, I think it's interesting because they basically say that like the AI develops sentience and becomes ungovernable at some point during every crawl, and yet they keep using

The AI Dungeon Master Problem

SPEAKER_00 43:09

it.

SPEAKER_04 43:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 43:11

Um I I think it's really interesting, and I'm fascinated to see where it goes. And it sounds like from everything I've read and Matt Dinneman has said, there'll be two more books. So we don't have that long before we find out kind of how it ends. And that's a favorite thing for people to debate is how it's going to end.

SPEAKER_03 43:35

How is it going to end? How do you think it's gonna end? How do you how do you envision that ending?

SPEAKER_00 43:40

I feel like I feel like Carl is going to be the one to finally put an end to everything. My main question is whether that means Carl dies. And I feel like there's uh better than a 50-50 chance that he will.

SPEAKER_01 44:02

Because I don't think there'll be another crawl.

SPEAKER_00 44:07

He's gonna burn it all down.

SPEAKER_03 44:09

I don't know about that. Like like they talk about um you know kind of postponing the crawl. But they don't I don't I don't know if I see the crawl ever ending.

SPEAKER_00 44:25

But that's what I think Carl is going to be able to do. I think he's the only one with the power to end it.

SPEAKER_03 44:32

Do you think Carl's doomsday scenario is going to play into that?

SPEAKER_00 44:36

I don't know, because I know he can't kill Donut.

SPEAKER_03 44:40

No, I I I understand that, but like I'm saying I think I think it's gonna be the the typical sacrificial martyr. Um I because I I think about it in D terms, um, like like what what that kind of means for he's he's gotta save the party kind of thing. Umly he can only he can defeat the big bad. Um Like someone like someone's gotta someone's gotta like take the final blow and and and kill the big bad. Yeah and I think that he's gonna take that upon himself.

SPEAKER_00 45:17

Oh absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 45:18

And I think um I'm trying to think of hi Mulder. Hi buddy Sorry. No, it's fine. My other son. Yes. He's so good.

SPEAKER_03 45:36

Um I think I think someone someone's gonna end up taking Princess Donut.

SPEAKER_00 45:43

Um like a katcha or Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:47

That's that's kind of what I'm what I'm thinking. Yeah, I want to I wanna see because I don't know how it all plays out because I haven't finished this is level nine. Um the the dueling tiaras. Like I don't know how that whole yeah, so you know.

SPEAKER_00 46:02

I do I do, and I'm not gonna ruin it for you or for anybody listening to this. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 46:08

Um yeah, I like I said, I don't I just don't know um how that's gonna how that's gonna work. Um I assume because you mentioned cut mentioning Katya that she she lives, so uh so far. Well you finished you well up to book eight, you know.

SPEAKER_00 46:29

Yeah, exactly. Through book eight, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:31

Yeah, I mean that's why I could see something like Katya taking taking donut and and them kind of riding off into the sunset. Um and Carl sacrificing himself, Carl sacrificing sacrificing.

SPEAKER_00 46:44

You know, there's also a world in which they pull a Buffy and he sacrifices himself but somehow is resurrected.

SPEAKER_04 46:53

Right.

SPEAKER_03 46:54

Yeah, I don't know. Maybe you know what would be really funny is if he became the AI, like right.

SPEAKER_00 47:01

The other question that I see bandied about quite frequently now is whether Mongo would be able to leave the dungeon because he's dungeon born.

SPEAKER_04 47:12

Right.

SPEAKER_00 47:13

Um and I don't think this is a huge spoiler. Donut chooses a pet who is uh uh what is he, a mon Velociraptoriensis, but that's why he gets the name Mongo. He is a Velociraptor. But um Donut has a dinosaur child that she has a special saddle that she rides. Um and she adores him. I mean, you know, there are multiple there are multiple times in the books where Donut almost gets them killed because she's so worried about manga.

SPEAKER_04 47:47

Manga was appalled. This is an outrage!

SPEAKER_00 47:53

Oh my god. I uh Yes. Yeah, I I don't know how I think it's gonna end, but I do uh guys I kinda do. I kinda think it's gonna end with with Carl saving the world.

SPEAKER_01 48:11

Interesting. He wants to burn it down, man. Mm-hmm. So So why winding this all down.

SPEAKER_00 48:23

So let's talk about the Yeah, because just uh time check, I've got about 20 minutes.

SPEAKER_03 48:28

Yep, that's what I figured. Okay. Um so it it's now it's now a direct series um TV show. Yeah. So um that's gonna be forthcoming, thanks to well, thanks in part to Seth McFarlane.

SPEAKER_00 48:46

Um and Jeff Hayes has just been announced as the voice of Donut. He's the first casting decision.

SPEAKER_03 48:52

Thank God for that.

SPEAKER_00 48:53

I I don't know that they could have made it anyone else.

SPEAKER_01 48:56

No. I don't know. Um who I uh let's so let's talk let's okay.

SPEAKER_03 49:05

Since we've got a few minutes, sure. Let's talk casting.

SPEAKER_00 49:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 49:10

Who I would you know who would I who I would throw up there? Who because I I love this woman's voice and I think she would be perfect. Um thank the Phoenicians. Judy Dench.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

Is Judy Dench still alive? Isn't she alive? Oh god, did Judy Dench die?

SPEAKER_00 49:27

Did I kill Judy Dench?

SPEAKER_03 49:29

Did you just kill Judy

TV Adaptation News And Dream Casting

SPEAKER_03 49:30

Dench? She's 91 years old. Okay, she's too old. She might die. She might die. I know that's that's that's a problem. I'll just I'll just AI her voice then.

SPEAKER_01 49:45

Um I could see that though. Like that that's that like that kind of or um who else?

SPEAKER_03 49:56

Emily Blunt?

SPEAKER_00 49:58

Maybe.

SPEAKER_03 49:59

Maybe it's gotta like to me it's gotta be Jeff Hayes.

SPEAKER_00 50:02

Oh, it has to be Jeff Hayes. Yeah. So one that I've seen bandied about um that people seem very unhappy with that I would be delighted with. Seth Green has um mentioned that he'd be interested in voicing Mordecai.

SPEAKER_03 50:17

Yeah, that would be interesting.

SPEAKER_00 50:19

And I would love that. I mean, he's a talented actor, he does voices. Um, I pick.

unknown 50:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:28

So go ahead. He has the Seth McFarlane connection.

SPEAKER_04 50:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 50:32

Um, I think he'd be very convincing, but most people do not seem to like that casting.

SPEAKER_03 50:39

I can I can I give you my casting, which I think you might love. Uh-huh. For Mordecai?

SPEAKER_00 50:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:44

Alan Tudic.

SPEAKER_00 50:46

I knew that's who you were gonna say. But let me say Prepotente. Alan Tudic. He does all the like animal voices in the Disney movies. He's hey hey!

SPEAKER_03 51:00

He's I know, he I know.

SPEAKER_00 51:02

And I mean Prepatente would give him the opportunity to have a like voice and personality, but also get to scream like an angry goat right in my goddamn ear.

SPEAKER_03 51:13

Yes. Um I feel like Mordecai because he because he changes every floor.

SPEAKER_00 51:19

Yeah. I think I thought Alan Tudic might be a good one for like do you think they'll make it an actual person in costume, or do you think it'll be CGI? I don't know. So Alan Tudik. Do we think that they will make them like I don't know if it's gonna be CGI or live action? And I feel like if they're gonna make Prepotente a person in makeup, then it should be Alan Tudic.

SPEAKER_03 51:43

Alan Tudic's so good at the mocap, though. I know. I know.

SPEAKER_00 51:49

I still my casting for Mordecai is gonna be Seth Green, especially because he wants it.

SPEAKER_01 51:57

I love Seth Green. He's up there. I I you mean uh who was it?

SPEAKER_00 52:06

Daniel Oz Osborne. No, no, Scott Wolf. Scott Wolf!

SPEAKER_03 52:14

Uh nobody listening knows what we're talking about. Okay, so sh so short story. We were at we were at New York Comic Con one year. We we we got the VIP tickets that year. Yep. Um and so we were in like the VIP lounge just hanging out, and Seth Green walks in with his handler because there were because there was there's windows that look down on the on the con floor. So he was he was just checking everything out. And my brain just went haywire. And I'm like, Skywolf! Skywolf! And she's like, Who the f like what the fuck? Who cares? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:49

Skywolf. Yeah, I guess Cardiff 5 was okay. I'm like, go over there.

SPEAKER_03 52:55

And you're like, all right.

SPEAKER_00 52:56

And I look over and I'm like, oh holy shit, that's Seth Green! Yes. And Seth Green was a delight. He was a doll. Thank God. That one really would have hurt me. If he hadn't been nice, that really would have hurt me.

SPEAKER_03 53:13

That would have been that would have been rough. Would have been painful. That would have been very rough. Yeah. Um but anyway, so so what do you so let's wrap this all up. So what do you think the impact is or will be for Dungeons and Dragons, other TTRPGs, that what what do you think? Do you think like this will be a gateway drug, like Stranger Things was?

SPEAKER_00 53:39

That's exactly what I was gonna say. Is I think it's going to have the same kind of impact that Stranger Things did for DD when they kind of brought it back with the whole Hellfire Club uh storyline. I think people because I think the biggest thing with Dungeon Crawler Carl is that it's really coming into the mainstream now. Yeah. And I think as that happens, you will find people who will read it and they'll hate it. But you will also find people who will read it and they will love it and they will start looking for other ways to get that kind of entertainment. And DD is the obvious choice there.

SPEAKER_03 54:17

Right. Or or the or the dungeon crawler car crawler carl TGRBG itself. Yeah, because you know, we we did the um as yet untested, so we'll see.

LitRPG As A Gateway To TTRPGs

SPEAKER_03 54:28

Right. We'll see how that even does.

SPEAKER_00 54:30

But when I started um DMing, which I hate and I'll never do again, we started with the um the Stranger Things um campaigns that they had created. So I think people will be drawn in by that for sure. And I I think it can only do good things in terms of you know making the gaming community even broader and bringing in people who might not have thought it was something they'd enjoy.

SPEAKER_03 54:59

For sure.

SPEAKER_00 55:00

I had no interest in DD before I started playing with our campaign.

SPEAKER_03 55:06

Right. And now you're ready to play again. And now I have a voice. Yes, you do. On that note.

SPEAKER_00 55:18

Oh, wait, wait, wait. The guild, real fast, the guild.

SPEAKER_03 55:21

The guild, real quick.

SPEAKER_00 55:22

Okay, so the guild had the fastest, um, the fastest funded Kickstarter like the first day for a 15 million? Yeah. Wow. Um I have to make my donation. I'm obviously gonna do the popcorn bucket one. Have you seen all the prizes?

SPEAKER_03 55:38

I I I have. How much is that?

SPEAKER_00 55:40

Uh I think it was I don't think it was that much. I think it was like a hundred.

SPEAKER_03 55:44

Oh, okay. That's not bad.

SPEAKER_00 55:45

It wasn't like a it wasn't a crazy one.

SPEAKER_03 55:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 55:47

But I'm like an exec producer on the I am not going to be an executive producer. Yeah. No, me and me and Felicia Day are having a meeting in a couple of minutes, actually. That's why I gotta go.

SPEAKER_04 55:57

Oh, excellent.

SPEAKER_00 55:57

You thought I had to go pick up Rob, but really I I I want to look actually at it real quick. But should we do a quick The Guild was a web series? How many years ago was that now?

SPEAKER_03 56:11

It's been well, is it 10 or 20 years?

SPEAKER_00 56:13

That's that's like the whole It's gotta, it's it's gotta be 20. Yeah, I think it's as painful as that is to say. Yeah. Yep, 20th anniversary. Twentieth anniversary. So they're gonna make a Renfare movie. They're solving

The Guild Kickstarter Surprise

SPEAKER_00 56:24

a mystery at the Renfair. Uh it is currently at no, it's currently at 3,005.

SPEAKER_03 56:31

Oh, 3,000 five. Yeah. I guess I was I got the numbers wrong.

SPEAKER_00 56:36

I think you put a one in front of the three. Apparently I did. Uh yeah, they have three million five sixty-three seven ninety-one.

SPEAKER_03 56:43

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 56:44

Uh with twenty-two thousand backers.

SPEAKER_03 56:47

That's incredible.

SPEAKER_00 56:48

And a month to go. Wow. Um, I want to look though at the yeah, so for $20 you get the movie and some add-ons. For $35, you get the card game. For $45, you get the TTRPG.

SPEAKER_02 57:08

Ooh.

SPEAKER_00 57:09

For actually the popcorn bucket is the $50 level.

SPEAKER_03 57:12

Oh, that's not bad.

SPEAKER_00 57:13

Yeah, no, not at all. Uh at $55, you get the wearables bundle.

SPEAKER_02 57:18

Ooh.

SPEAKER_00 57:20

125 the game night bundle, which seems to come with dice.

unknown 57:24

Hmm.

SPEAKER_00 57:25

Uh 130 the entertainment bundle, which is um a Blu-ray of the movie, a comic book, and the popcorn bucket.

SPEAKER_01 57:35

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_00 57:37

Yeah, so there's uh there's a lot of options. I mean, you go all the way up to a thousand dollars, and you get premiere tickets with red carpet access, two premiere after party with Felicia and Cast, a bound in signed movie script, a signed movie poster, you get thanks in the end credits, you get a card game, the TTRPG, like you get everything. Everything. Wow. Wow. Um, I just think it's fascinating that 20 years later, this little web series that nobody else I knew was watching at the time.

SPEAKER_03 58:14

Right.

SPEAKER_00 58:15

Has become this cultural phenomenon to the point where it is it's brought in over $3.5 million.

SPEAKER_03 58:23

That's impressive.

SPEAKER_00 58:24

It really is.

SPEAKER_03 58:25

That's an impressive fan base.

SPEAKER_00 58:26

Yeah. And they just announced um their first casting outside of the build itself. Did you see this?

SPEAKER_01 58:34

No.

SPEAKER_00 58:34

Nate Fillion.

SPEAKER_03 58:36

Really?

SPEAKER_00 58:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:38

Amazing.

SPEAKER_00 58:39

Yeah. Which I mean makes sense. I think he and Felicia have been friends ever since um Dr. Horrible.

SPEAKER_04 58:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:46

Um But yeah, I just thought it was a nice tie-in to talk about that real quick because I mean, again, that is that whole same genre, right? Of role-playing that is so popular. And I wonder if they tried to do this ten years ago, if they would have gotten the same kind of response.

SPEAKER_03 59:07

I don't yeah, I don't know. Who knows? Maybe we should talk about that in our next episode.

SPEAKER_00 59:12

I think we should.

SPEAKER_03 59:13

Sounds like a plan. All right. All right. Well, Catherine, thank you so much for joining me today to talk about all things dungeon crawler world earth. Earth. And again, we'll hope hopefully we uh hopefully we had some good conversations and we'll we'll talk next time about uh the guild and maybe other other uh DD related, RPG related um Legend of Neil.

SPEAKER_00 59:41

Um god, Legend of Neil. I might have to watch I might have to re-watch Legend of Neil first. Okay, let's do that.

SPEAKER_03 59:49

Let's rewatch Legend of Neil and then we'll talk about that and the guild. Sounds good to me. All right. All right. Well, thank you everyone for listening. Um, I'm looking at my mic for some reason. Um thank you, microphone, for listening. And uh we'll catch you next time on Legends of Luton Lore.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:05

Bye.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:06

Bye.