EXTREMELY

live goes on even after you drop out of college

Yeah, because they consistently have been putting out high quality content, and a lot of that is thanks to Sam Reich!

how did collegehumor die? i wonder if its like an actual point in time they announced the death of it or if the channel was slowly turning into something else and everyone just agrees that collegehumor died

@@ruolbu I cannot believe I hadn't put together the connection between the name "dropout" and "college humor" until I read your comment. It was right there all this time, and it just never clicked until now.

Ditto

And for anyone who can’t afford it: ask if any of your friends have one, because they endorse and encourage account sharing.

​@@JordanLeightheir policy is so beautiful. It came out with the Netflix crack down "Dropout's new password-sharing rule: you should share your password with a friend who can't afford Dropout, because it would be nice of you"

fr I dropped my other streaming services because I just don't use them. Dimension 20 alone is worth it but there's so many other good shows that rank among the most fun I've watched in a long time. And if you're like me and look at the selection and go like "Oh, I don't like game shows or like pseudo-reality concept TV shows" it's so much better than that.

Agreed! They also have a free trial for a week.

I'm not sure if what Hank described is what most people do as session 0, though perhaps I'm actually in the minority on my perspective. In my experience, session 0 is less a cameras off session that models actual gameplay and more a time where the gm sets expectations and helps the players build their characters both mechanically and their personalities/place in the world as needed. It's a very open and silly time usually, but doesn't really compare to actual play. Again, this is fully anecdotal, maybe session 0 does go more like a test session with everything already done to help players figure out interactions and basic gameplay for other groups. I dunno, just wanted to share that it's not the definition of session 0 for all dnd groups

@@NerdyGirlTay I feel like in can be either or both. I think it depends on the group. What you describe feels like an experienced group that wants to mess around and feel things out with an understanding of the game. I've only ever played with newer people and/or people who don't know each other that well, and I find that session 0 goes much better if you're able to jump into the game, whether it's pre-campaign and/or a scenario that can be canonical or not depending on how everyone feels about their characters by the end.

@@Two-HeadedBoy funny you say that, that was actually my very first time playing dnd. We had a pretty mixed group of experience vs not though at that table so you maybe still have a point. I think it comes down to gm preference and experience most likely for what session 0 looks like for a group. I've never personally had a session 0 like you're describing so I can't really compare to say it's better or worse. I think any and all time spent together before session 1 would still be pretty helpful though whether it's gameplay or simply character building together.

​​@@Two-HeadedBoyWhat @nerdygirltay described is exactly what a session zero is. What you/Hank are describing is called a session .5. I'm a DM myself. Most DMs do session 0 before character creation. The point of a session zero is to make sure that everyone has the same expectations. Even if they are my best friends or family I do one. Sometimes what people would be comfortable with in a movie isn't something they'd be comfortable playing. You should also be making sure your players are excited about the game you are planning, restrictions on race/class, and the house rules. With new players I usually go over the rules, play some improv games, and start character creation at the end of session 0. But most people agree that session 0s are the best way to keep yourself off r/dndhorrorstories so they should be done before every campaign. Session .5s are really useful for helping you work out the kinks and helps your players get into their groove before the 1st session. I really love them before one shots and short campaigns where there isn't much time to get into character.

My table does both. We're experienced players, but I particularly enjoy running a bit of combat in session zero. It gets out some of the nerves/kinks around playing a new class and starts team building immediately. Plus, a no stakes tussle is a fun reward after hours of talking about mechanics and expectations!

😂

Method acting at its finest 😂

bringing "know thy enemy" to the whole new level

seasoned d20 fans know that this is totally normal response to the trauma that Brennan Lee Mulligan will subject his players to.

It's the reverse. his character _allows_ hyperfocus to happen, by dealing with distractions.

😂

I was just gonna say, sounds like he really embodied the character!

I don't think it's method acting if that is your actual personality.

On a 5 inch phone, this comment cuts off, “an example of being a true meth…”

😢🎉

I believe just ny virtue of being on d20 he would have become a SAG member if he wasn't one before cause they don't really let people do long things like the show otherwise. He had actually like, before the season was out about how he wouldn't be able to talk about things. But! Now that it is confirmed they are non struck! We get this video!

Yep! And it's also why he's only just started talking about this season. He's a SAG member, and he mentioned not being able to "react to a cool thing he was a part of" on twitter, when the strike started.

He tweeted a few days before they announced the season that he was super excited about something he was apart of, but he wasnt going to promote it to adhere. It was super cool of him to do, about two-three weeks later is when dropout got the official OK to continue shooting!

Thank you for confirming that for folk. Some of us may have seen the various announcements either from Hank or from Sam Reich (the CEO of Dropout) talking about how they are allowed to promote their stuff again, due to an agreement w/ the AMPTP, having agreed to *all* of the WGA/SAG-AFTRA demands. It's entirely plausible and reasonable that others may not have, so it's great to get that validation in here.

I wish it had a playstation app. That's the only reason I don't have it

literally. they are awesome

So true, the only streaming subscription that I have which never disappoints. I love Dropout so much.

Absolutely! It's the only streaming service I still pay for & share with a couple friends.

When I first subscribed to Dropout, I figured I’d cancel after I finished watching the show I was interested. Well it’s been over a year and I’m still subbed, and it has been worth every penny. And what’s also nice is that I don’t feel like my money is going to a major multinational corporation that’s just going to sell my data for profit.

The fact that he did a deep dive on neuroscience for his craft is something you probably really vibe with 😂!

*Brennan

​@@seanfields2576frigging autocorrect xd

brennan + hank crossover

@@DeltaNovum Bird Facts Hyper-fixation being put to good use.

And a time traveling magician might show up. “WE ARE NOT ANIMALS” (If you don’t get it, you need to watch more dropout)

I couldn't believe how good the whole cast was on this one. Everyone is rocking it and clicked so quickly

I would watch them watch paint peel.

Add Lou and I'm in!

​@@junoantaresofficialI feel that if you add Lou to that mix there's a good chance he starts throwing paint on the walls "COME ON LET'S DO THIS AND GO HOME."

“Stacy Fakename!” “Are you related to Joanna Fakename? 😂”

@@emilysmith2965 "So what if it is!"

send her in. send him in?

Trappeze artists

​@@Nighthunter006"I'll tell you so what if it is, there ain't NO ONE named joanna fakename!"

JAAACK MY BELOVED

MORGAN E LAVANDOWSKA? you’re a celebrity bro

Yes!! Come join us! It's great to see everyone's reactions in the moment, and oftentimes cast & crew will stop by to chat too.

the GOAT responsible for the oft-neglected rails of the adventuring party zoom episodes

Bump!

Titansgrave was what gave me the excitement/confidence to finally try D&D so I had a similar pipeline experience Five gold and a party! (Also have to note that I do have the Titansgrave book and my first game was set in Valkana, but using that setting + D&D rules was the compromise I had to make with my group 😂)

This is exactly the same for me!

Same! I owe my DnD love to Hank. I have to hold myself back from referencing 5 gold and a party all the time because I don't know anyone else who would get it!

Same!! And Stranger things between Titansgrave and Crit Role definitely helped. Five gold and a party!

Such a similar pipeline! And Titansgrave was such an incredible production!

I've seen episode 0 and session 0 thrown around and they seem to mean the same thing so yeah! This is a completely normal thing that happens at a lot of tables. Sometimes more formal. Sometimes less formal. It encompasses a lot.

I think they usually call it "Session 0" instead of "Episode 0" because some GMs like to use it for normal campaigns as well, not just streamed one. Brennan was on a GMs roundtable over on Critical Role with Matt Mercer and Aabria Iyengar a while back and they talked about this at length. It's meant to establish pre-existing relationships and get players comfortable with their characters before you start the actual campaign.

@@ElijahCemYup! I know with Critical Role's current campaign, Matt Mercer ran them in different groups so even the players had no idea what was going on in another group.

Both names do get thrown around a lot because different DMs use them differently. While some use the early playtest model others are content with a meeting to discuss concepts and expectations.

@@ElijahCem At least in my experience, a "session 0" doesn't actually include much or any gameplay, like an "episode 0" does. With groups I've played with most of the players showed up with less than a character concept and it was more of a time to go through the mechanical aspect of character creation with the dm present so the could approve/disapprove things and give help and ideas.

That first intimidation interaction would have made the value of a dropout sub all by itself. So. Good.

That was SO good. There were a few times during this episode where I just completely forgot how late it was and laughed louder than I should have.

That was amazing

It was amazing, I mean truly special

I've seen him play starfinder before Even with Yuri Lowenthal

Right! I was thinking the same thing.

I feel like I turned to this aspect of DND at the right time, bc while DND is not new to me, Brennen and Hank being a part of it is, and I'm thrilled he is on the road of recovery, and all of them are so darn funny. And with my life right now I need a distraction

I really felt complicated feelings when - struggled with adhd, gaslit by recent media into thinking I didn’t, and then relearning from hank through this incredible description. You are doing amazing work my god.

Same! 🥰

I cannot recommend D20 more!! I loved Fantasy High (80s movies), Misfits and Magic (Harry Potter), A Crown of Candy (Game of Thrones), Neverafter (Fables, Folklore, and Fairytale), A Court of Fey and Flowers (Bridgerton… so similar in vibe to drag queens) and Starstruck (Star wars/trek)!! All of the season are good but those are the standouts

@@averyrex9907 Not to mention all of the originals and all five seasons of game changer! Total forgiveness is so, so good. Highly recommend that one, if no other original. The highs and lows and the sheer drama, and then emotional catharsis on the final episode? Good stuff.

This was so good. Leaving Brennan speechless is a thing for pros hehe, and Hank delivered fantastically

I never thought of it that way!! Great perception!

amazing. and when it's a fact like "you can break half the bones in a body just by breaking the bones of the hands and feet" it's 10x more menacing lol

What games do they play?

@@LightPink The large majority of Dimension 20 (D20) seasons uses the classic D&D 5e rules, though Brennan has always been a fan of house rules to fit the themes/genres they played in. In the ninth season of D20, Aabria Iyengar was a guest GM, and introduced the Kids on Brooms system. In Season 11, Gabe Hicks was the guest DM and used his own created system called The Mythic system. Season 12 was sci-fi themed, so Brennan opted for the Star Wars 5e system. Aabria's return as a guest DM for Season 14 brought a blend of D&D 5e and Good Society. Mentopolis, as Season 19, is using a sister system to Kids on Brooms called Kids on Bikes. Not all seasons are the same length, as they can have anywhere between 4-20 episodes depending on the types of stories being told (longer campaign stories vs. one-shot-esque scenarios)

​@@BandGeekSquadronACOFAF was such an incredible season. I just have to say it everywhere!

@@VereskVeil Oh god, I loved it so much. It was so brilliantly high stakes and emotionally charged without any formal "combat", and the epistolary phase was such a brilliant addition to storytelling, I was hooked every moment!

​@@BandGeekSquadronright? I couldn't imagine it being better than the trailer, and my imagination was found wanting.

Honestly, I've watched the first EP and Hank freakin nailed it. He's so good!

makes you understand what they meant by the "heart of the cards" in yu-gi-oh lmao

it's so lovely!!!

exactly!! same here. i only started playing D&D in 2022 and when my friend was describing what i'd later find out was Fantasy High (!!!), i was like, ohh i've watched hank green on one of those. not really knowing that there were different systems etc.

5 GOLD AND A PARTY!!!

Titansgrave was also what got me hooked on this game

That's also how I got into D&D. Great little series.

Titansgrave!!! Omg i wish they made more of that! It was so incredible! I wanted more of it and critical role at the time was so low production i couldn’t get into it vs titansgrave. By the time it had the production I value i was so lost with the story i didn’t bother with it plus it’s sooo much content. I’m glad they made a series on it though (which is amazing!). That being said dimension 20 is 1000% exactly what i want from watching someone play DnD. Fantasy high had me freaking hooked! I gotta watch some more of the series and I’ll definitely watch this mini series at some point soon too.

Problem is that the Penny Arcade people are pretty transphobic IIRC

@@jazzymoth​​⁠That’s not quite accurate (thankfully). Mike (a/k/a Gabe) did make a lot of transphobic *statements* out of ignorance over a decade ago. No question about that. But then he apologized and acknowledged the ignorance of those statements after he worked through the initial defensiveness he felt in response to the reactions he received. Penny Arcade and PAX certainly aren’t perfect. (Nobody is.) But unlike transphobic folks who are bigoted from a place of hatred and actually embrace that hatred, Mike recognized he was speaking from a place of ignorance and was willing to learn and address that ignorance. Of course, I know that doesn’t change the fact of those initial statements being hurtful in and of themselves. I certainly understand why those who *were* hurt by those statements would not be inclined to give them another chance, because that hurt is very real and that hurt matters. I also see a very real difference between those who say hurtful things without knowing they’re hurtful (out of ignorance) and those who say hurtful things *because* they’re hurtful (out of hatred). And I believe that difference is especially important when those in the first group speaking out of ignorance are willing to learn so they can avoid doing so in the future. Because those who spoke out of ignorance but were then willing to learn will (hopefully) also join us in standing against the people who deliberately say hateful things out of hatred. I want to change hearts and minds-those capable of being changed, at least-so I prefer to embrace those who learn from their mistakes and grow beyond their initial ignorance once they recognize it. I’d rather do that then ostracize them to the point that they’re actually given a reason to join the hateful people who *will* embrace them for their ignorance and try to *keep* them ignorant. But I say that knowing I’m coming from a place of privilege, as an ally who hasn’t had those hurtful statements actually directed at me or my own identity, and who believes this is one way (among many) I can use my privilege to be a better ally. And I certainly understand why those who *were* on the receiving end of those statements would have zero interest in giving them a second chance (let alone spending the time and effort to educate someone out of their ignorance).

​@@TeletheusMy goodness, that's very well said

i understood it as how the session experience was for him personally not that it was just for him. he said he felt that it was a normal thing for the crew. i see how it could be understood either way though

​@@angeldelacruz5278I understood it as "wow, so many talented folks here who could probably jump right in and be decently successful at learning, reacting, improvising all at once. Meanwhile I definitely get a lot out of this session 0 thing!" I think a session 0 is so, so critical to having a good campaign. Some familiarity & connection expands creative possibilities vastly.

The real problem I have myself is interrupting people with jokes when I’m non even there in character, he did intimidating facts when scene was designed for him.

what hank describes is not what the rpg community considers a session zero. what he describes is only possible with regards to a live play/actual play

Yea it definitely sounded more like a warm-up session. You can do those in a normal campaign too, but usually it just happens naturally over the first session or two.

Yes! Good vibes, and hyper intelligent people with a seemingly limitless supply of humor and ideas.

If you've seen any other Dimension 20 seasons Brennan's super leftist views seep through all the time. See; The Cubbys from Fantasy High.

He was also on the podcast! It's one of my favorite episodes😊

@@haleyphelan6987 oh sweet! Where can I check that out?

I discovered Brennan Lee Mulligan and then Dropout BECAUSE of Hank and John. Brennan was a host during Project for Awesome livestream and he was so singularly funny and GENEROUS to his co-host (Improv!) that I had to look him up and figure out what his deal was.

Same! Almost the exact same.

I just commented almost this exact thing. I watched Titansgrave for Hank, then fell down the deep, dark RPG rabbit hole, and now it’s like a whole fifth of my interests.

Haha, same here. Subbed to G&S/PlayAlpha waiting for season 2 of Titansgrave, and got Critical Role instead! Been hoping for a Hank Green guest appearance pretty much ever since. Is it Thursday yet?

Same! DnD is SUCH a big part of my life now, as a badass hobby, a creative outlet and most importantly meeting some of my best friends. But it all started with watching Titansgrave because Hank participated and then finding Critical Role through thinking Laura Bailey was /so cool/. Hank you're our OG TTRPG influencer!

I think it's awesome that so many of us found Critical Role and TTRPGs through Hank and Titansgrave. It's crazy to think how our lives would be so different if that one thing had never happened!

I think you just convinced me to get dropout

could not agree more!

If you love a good Brennan conversational podcast, I highly recommend his episode of “99 questions” - 4 hours and 20 minutes of absolute gems!

Which episode is dear Hank and Brennan??? I need to listen to it immediately!

I just googled it it's episode 339 of dear Hank and John

Wait. There was a Hank and Breneen podcast???? Downloading immediately

I feel like this is something Hank will be really good at at having fun with 😊.

Sometimes I read a story and the characters are just voices in a void until the author starts adding to their characteristics and features. And sometimes I see books as a literal movie in my head with so much detail.

🎶 Yoouuu are nooot aloooonne... IIII am heeere with yooouuuu 🎶

@@HelloDollies yeah, sometimes the only thing I picture is... The letters on the page that spell their name 😅😅😅

@@WidowOfSirius yes!!!

​@@HelloDolliesUnfortunately I tend to develop a picture before the character is described if the author waits on said description. It can be difficult to reconcile the two. And once I've seen a filmed version that can also end up competing with my unadulterated imagination.

The different game system without rigid rules based turn based combat doesn’t lend itself to Rick Perry minis like d&d does. Misfits and magic didn’t have minis either (it was run on essentially the same system as mentopolis)

I agree. Even if I don't manage to watch most content, I want to support them so I stay subscribed

Worth it for Game Changer _alone._ (Though Make Some Noise has been _on fire_ this season.)

@@jyrinx My only gripe with game changer is there's not enough of it. The survivor episodes are so unbelievably funny.

Trapp leaning back in his chair proudly after an inane interaction is so funny to me

So proud and grateful for this video. also Will absolutely support a hank the tank gymbro vlog.

@@arielanonymous7270 oh my god yes! Hank the tank!

I only discovered both and the ridiculous awesome human being called Brennan Lee Mulligan and I fell in love with all three of them ❤.

+

Thank you so much I was looking everywhere for it

Chris Perkins designer for D&D and semi-professional DM, Jerry Holkins (aka Jerriford K. Horkrims) of Penny Arcade as Omin Dran, Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade as James Tiberius Darkmagic, Wil Wheaton of many things but off the top of my head Tabletop for Geek & Sundry, and the fourth would be either author Pat Rotfhuss as Viari the thief (is there a chandelier in this comment?) or Morgan Webb as Elf ranger Môrgaen or possibly both because they did a couple five player games as well. There was also at least one live event where some of the players each DM'ed a short game for part of the session with Chris playing in all of them, which was a good time.

​@@TehFrenchy29If it was Acquistions Inc. well Viari and Aeoffel only met when Perkins brought Wil's character back as an NPC. Would have had to have been Scott "Binwin Brobzebottom" Kurtz. Morgaen was his first replacement so Aeoffel didn't play with her either.

@@MorinehtarTheBlue Yes, you're right, that's a good shout. I forgot he was the fourth and Wheaton left fairly early on. How could I forget Binwin, the Dwarf who's father was at one time so traumatized he quit drinking.

..

5 GOLD ANNNDDD A PARTY??

Loved Tiransgrave warts and all (there were certainly issues with it). Wil Wheaton's dice curse definitely hampered the tension. Sometimes I wonder how he manages considering that he loves TTRPGs and Tabletop gaming in general. Not to mention getting screwed over which tickled down to fans. I really would love to have seen the game continue at the very least in the gaming space. I don't know of very many science fantasy TTRPGs.

I remember when dropout was first announced, either a vocal minority or the vast majority initially thought it was just a shitty cash grab, but now I am hearing people should its one of the best. And I am inclined to agree

@@HallowedKeeper_ Yeah man, they seem to really care and put a lot of work into the content. I have no regurts

+

I hadn't known about that either until he said it

Yeah, Titansgrave was pretty awesome! For his first time doing an Actual Play series, Hank was awesome as Aankia, especially when she was confronting a huge baddie from her past. The scenes really pushed Hank out of his comfort zone and the rest of the players were so nice to him about it.

They did a test game before Fantasy high season one