D20 Rewatch - Fantasy High: The Beginning Begins

Intro: (If you just want to read the review, feel free to skip this)

Hello! Welcome to the first review on this blog. I've been bored as of late (not really, I'm much too busy to be adding a review site to my plate, but I'm doing it anyways.) so I decided to start a rewatch of my favorite show of all time, Dimension 20!

I've seen pretty much every season (besides Shriek Week, the two Dungeons and Drag Queens Seasons, and the latter halves of both Burrow's End and Misfits and Magic S2) so most of this will mostly be revisiting and enjoying whatever it may be these episodes have to offer! And also probably remarking on how far the show and its players have come.

Every review will follow the same structure: Intro, Episode Description, Plot, discussing each character (separated into named sections), Favorite Scene, The Mystery, Stand-Out Player(s)/Character(s), Best Roll, Worst Roll, a Brennan Lee Mulligan spotlight, and an overall Rating. If you have any suggestions for things you'd like to hear me discuss, feel free to tell me in the comments! 

Anyways! I love Fantasy High, it's still easily one of my top 5 favorite seasons, and so look forward to some very positive reviews. 

Episode Description: The cast introduces their PCs, including a neurotic elf, a goblin PI, and a corn-worshipping cleric. Each of them manage to get detention together before having to face their first villain.

Plot: I won't be writing full plot descriptions for these episodes because they are absurdly long and just aren't fun to write. Plus, I assume you've already watched these episodes if you're here, and you really just want to hear my thoughts and what's going on. Still, I'll make a bulletpoint list of the important plot beats we see. And spoiler alert for this entire season (as well as Sophomore Year and Junior Year.)

• We learn about the Elven Oracle being killed during a storm while on board the Cerulean, we learn that there are four missing girls, including Riz Gukgak's babysitter, Penny Luckstone, and we learn that Fig's real dad is a demon/devil of some sort.
• At the start of the school day, we have the iconic scene of Gorgug getting punched by Fabian, Goldenhoard's introduction, Fig breaking into the teacher's lounge, and Riz talking to popular seniors Penelope Everpetal and Dayne Blade, who want to get prom reinstated, right before getting dunked into a trash can and getting insultingly called The Ball.
• Zayn Darkshadow, notably, knocks into Kristen and sends her Helioic bible across the hallway while she talks to Coach Daybreak.
• At the opening assembly, we get the iconic "What Is An Adventurer?" speech by Arthur Aguefort, which is just a brilliant introduction to what may still be the greatest NPC ever made by Brennan Lee Mulligan.
• Fig meets Lunch Lady Doreen, and she's the first person we see really connect with Fig---also a hint at Fig's very-much-not-jaded personality, as she is just so immediately infatuated with Doreen. It's very sweet all around, especially with Doreen convincing Fig to at least try out the classes at the Aguefort Adventuring Academy.
• Adaine steals the book Watches and Wards from the restricted section of the school's library under advice from her very hot older sister, Aelwen Abernant (no, that is not a typo). She, fittingly, immediately has a panic attack, and is given detention by Goldenhoard. It's also fairly notable here that we see Goldenhoard just kind of be a really nice guy, which is fun knowing what the twist at the end of this season is.
• Fabian absolutely crushes it during Bloodrush tryouts, but due to his unsportsmanlike behavior and constant gloating, he is not given a position on the team, as well as a second detention slip. Notably here, Daybreak denies ever taking a bribe from Fabian's father, and he says that Fabian "has no heart."
• Riz, while searching for the Rogue teacher, spots Sam Nightingale talking to a tiefling greaser, Johnny Spells, who definitely fucks. Penelope Everpetal drags Sam away to another conversation, and Riz follows them. At least, until they go into the girl's bathroom, at which point Riz asks a dwarven student, Ostentatia Wallace, to go into the bathroom and tell him what they're saying. She agrees, as long as he steals tea from the teacher's lounger, which he very skillfully does. She goes into the bathroom, and Riz is given detention.
• The last of the six PCs yet to get detention, Kristen, opts out of choosing an Adventuring Party of other Helio worshippers, and instead asks to join "The Bad Kids" in detention. Confused but happy to help, Coach Daybreak gives her detention for bearing false witness.
• Together, the six of them head to lunch, where creamed corn is being served. Ragh takes Kristen's Bible and throws it into the vat of corn in the back of the cafeteria. Adaine retrieves it with Mage Hand.
• After school, they all head to detention, where Mr. Gibbons is watching over them and wants to help them talk through their feelings. He's unable to do so, unfortunately, as the kids hear a scream coming from the cafeteria. The Bad Kids run out to the cafeteria, where they find corn cuties, a giant Corn Ooze, and a now-possessed Lunch Lady Doreen. 

The Archdevil of Rebellion: Fig has a really good introduction in this episode. At points, she comes off a bit too exaggeratedly rebellious and angsty, but it makes sense---she was the preppy, cheerleader type just last year. She's essentially just adopted this aesthetic, as we can see from her emotional borders immediately being broken by Doreen.

She also maybe has the funniest lines in this episode, which I moreso attest to Emily Axford being perfect. We do also see the first example of one of Fig's Crazy Antics, where she disguises herself as her own mom to try and trick Gilear into taking her to see her dad. It's hilarious, and also a wonderful showcase of how Brennan's DMing manages to both allow for player freedom while keeping them on track (more than that in his section.)

While definitely not my favorite character, Fig is still a Bad Kid, and the Bad Kid's are still one of the most solid groups of PCs out there. Knowing what's coming for her in the future, it's fun to see her still struggle with her emotions and be so cold with Sandra Lynn and Gilear. 

Toxic Masculinity Is Dead: Fabian is the highlight of the first episode, full stop. Most of that is a testament to Lou Wilson's skill as a performer, but Fabian is just such a fun character to see in a TTRPG setting. 

What's important in this first episode is we see Fabian's gloating and need for everyone to know he's great immediately bite him in the ass twice. When he tries to assert dominance by attacking Gorgug, and when he hogs the ball during Bloodrush try-outs. Both times he shows his skill and "dominates" whatever it is he's doing, but he also neglects to think of others, a sort of foreshadowing to his character arc in the future.

And, as the name for his section of the review would suggest, he eventually learns to fight this toxic masculinity, and it's a sight to see. Alas, it takes a good season and a half before he goes from "fun to laugh at" to "fun to laugh with" overall. 

It's also heartbreaking to see how much he idolizes Bill Seacaster, knowing what happens later on in this season. Fabian is the second biggest source of tears in this series, and I'm very excited to get to all of those moments.

The Greatest Wizard of this Age: Gorgug, weirdly, does little this episode. Speaks to Zac's ability as a "comedy sniper" that he still makes a big impact though.

Really all we get from Gorgug is his intro scene, him getting punched, and then just interacting with the other Bad Kids once they're grouped up. Still, I'm well aware of the fantastic comedic beats Gorgug hits, as well as the wonderfully beautiful scenes and lines he has. (It's Gorgug. Keep going.) A middling start, but I know how fantastic he gets really soon.

Saint of Mystery and Doubt: I understand Kristen as a character is very divisive within the fandom, and we'll get to that when she does the insane things she'll eventually do, but for the first episode, she's fairly normal. Ally does a good job for what was their first ever DND session (if we're not counting any potential "tests" they did for a Session 0 or anything.) and their comedic chops help any problems they may be having with characterizing and such.

Notably, Kristen's Helioic belief is already called to question with her family and Kristen not really agreeing with some of the religion's beliefs, but she is still very stuck in her ways. This'll change very soon, but oh well. 

Even more notably, Kristen is the one to coin the name The Bad Kids. Perhaps the most iconic thing to come out of any D20 season. You love to see it!

The Elven Oracle: My favorite character when I first watched Fantasy High! (Up until episode 14, at least.) Adaine has some very big stand-out moments with her immediately showing her ferocity, as well as how much her anxiety disorder hurts her in her day-to-day. She has two panic attacks in this episode! Both arguably because of her sister, so, we also immediately see how rough her home life must be.

She also easily has the worst parents of the bunch when it comes to loving their child. At least, from what we see here. Kristen's come really close when we see how they act in later episodes, but that's far into the future.

We also see Adaine's inherent kindness, with her helping Kristen get her Bible from the vat of corn. She is kind, she does want to be kind, it's just she's grown up in a household that makes her so much more prone to aggression whenever someone is in ANY way on her bad side. As I've said before, very excited to watch her grow into the insanely powerful party wizard she is by Junior Year.

The Ball: And here we have my favorite of the Bad Kids. Riz Gukgak. And, funnily enough, I didn't care for him for a good majority of the season. Him nor Murph, unfortunately. I think I too quickly wrote Murph off as the sort of boring, rules-lawyer-like cishet white guy that every DND group seems to need for some reason. Of course, that's not the case (at least, the boring part), but still, it is a bit obvious he's the least experienced improviser of the group. Riz's antics are fairly boring and are mostly made iconic due to Brennan's own work: The Ball and his interaction with Sklonda (oh I could say so many words about how much I love this little family and how happy I am to know their lives get so much better from here). Of course, we get a lot of iconic moments soon that are all Murph (right in episode 2, he triggers the first Box of Doom roll), and perhaps it's a bit unfair to write off his ability to role-play as Brennan doing the heavy lifting, but I love the guy, I swear.

It is also fun to see him be the punching bag, when obviously he becomes probably the most capable Bad Kids of the six. If you put the Bad Kids in an arena and forced them to fight, Riz's ability to hide, use Uncanny Dodge, and Reliable Talent would probably give him the win. Feel free to argue about that in the comments. 

Misc. Characters: It's absurd how many wonderful characters we meet in this first episode. All of the parents, first of all, are brilliantly introduced and feel so real. (With the exception of the Abernants, who are cartoonishly snobby and ignorant of their daughter. Unless they're not. If you've gone through this please tell me.) Gilear is hardly a spotlight in this episode, and nothing truly "Gilear-like" occurs yet---that'll come a bit later in the season, no worries. 

We also get Ragh, a fan-favorite, long before he realizes he's gay and joins the side of the good guys. His fellow Bloodrush player, Dayne Blade, is very forgettable and mostly there just for the sake of there needing to be a Prom King, but he's funny enough.

Vice Principal Goldenhoard is fun, and his kindness is both a fascinating aspect to see in his character (knowing he's the big bad of the season), and also a brilliant way to throw off anyone who may have suspected he was going to be a twist villain.

I'd say the absolute stand-out of the episode is, of course, Arthur Aguefort. It's a shame he ends up dying in the next episode, which means we potentially miss out on Aguefort dotted throughout the season, but his monologue in the middle of the episode is legendary and truly something to behold. No idea if Brennan wrote that out beforehand, but I wouldn't doubt it being something he just came up with on the stop. All love to Aguefort.

Favorite Scene: Absolutely Riz's character introduction. He is truly special to me, and to see him immediately start the season as the stressed out kid taking on responsibilities he should never have to shoulder makes my heart swell, and his relationship with Sklonda is one of the best of the entire show. 

That's not even mentioning the wonderful character details we see, like Riz having business cards, the fact they have an agreed upon minimum of sleep Riz needs to get, Sklonda letting Riz have all the milk he needs for his cereal---it's beautiful and it's heart-wrenching. 

The Mystery: We get the set-up to the season-long mystery here! We learn four girls have gone missing, we learn that Sam Nightingale has something to do with it, we get our first lead with Johnny Spells + Penelope talking to Sam about something. We also get the Oracle dying and Aelwen suggesting Adaine do something to win the school's approval---something that immediately gets her detention. It's fun, but with not much to go off of as of yet, all I can say is that it's an interesting hook, and a fun way to merge John Hughes, Fantasy, and small town mystery.

Stand-Out Player(s)/Character(s): As much as I love Riz and Adaine and the rest of the Bad Kids, the stand-out player/character in this episode is absolutely Fabian. He is a riot through the entire thing, and Lou Wilson has such an infectious charisma and energy that just always makes him a joy to watch. He gets the best character moments (punching Gorgug, Bloodrush try-outs), and he is just oh so fun to hate, ESPECIALLY knowing how he comes to love the Bad Kids. 

Best Roll: Not much big rolling in this episode! I guess it'll have to go to Fabian's roll during Bloodrush, which resulted in him kicking ass and also getting immediately rejected from the team. 

Worst Roll: Adaine fucking up her spell saves at the start of the episode, paired with the perfect character moment of her wasting all of her spell slots on bickering with her older sister during breakfast. You love to see it. 

Brennan Lee Mulligan Spotlight: I'll use this section to shout-out Brennan's absolute mastery at introducing us to a world and immediately making it feel loved in, while already dropping hints at what we know will become VERY relevant later on: Zayn bumping into Kristen, Ragh throwing her Bible into the vat of corn, Penelope and Dayne trying to re-instate prom, Aelwen getting Adaine to steal Watches and Wards from the restricted section, the Elven Oracle dying---all of this set-up happens in this first episode, all of it is deeply relevant either to the plot or the characters, and all of it feels natural. It's masterful foreshadowing, and I love that Brennan never had growing pains---he was just the best from the start. 

 

Overall Thoughts: I mean, what can I say? This is like my seventh time watching this episode, and it never gets worse. The characters are so fun to watch, the Intrepid Heroes are gods at what they do, the world is one I am so jealous of and one I just love to sit and think about; this season perhaps changed my life more than any other piece of media out there, and that's really special to me.

It's a blast, it's not even close to the best episode of the season, (there are two episodes I think are fairly weak, and one of them is a combat episode. Besides that, pretty much every episode of this season just goes up and up), and it's one of the best sessions of an actual play out there. I love the world of Spyre, and I can't wait to figure out how I'm going to review a combat episode.