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[0:31] R. Alex Murray: Hell yeah. Well, welcome back adventurers to the Ale! And Well Met! Twenty Sided Tavern Podcast. It's me, R. Alex Murray, your host and universal swing and idiot. Back jamming. Hey, and we have two new, well, not new, but new to the podcast people. Don't look at me like that. This is an audio medium, but I will brook none of those looks from you, Cassidy Sledge. What do you mean? Sledge and RJ Christian are here and we're going to hang out with them. And so now y'all know them. You've seen them on stage as the DM and the TK swing and all the characters, all the characters, all the characters. If you put me and Cassidy together, we get one you.

[1:15] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah.

[1:19] R. Alex Murray: Oh, mathematically that's how that works. Cassidy plus RJ equals R. Alex Murray. Mathematically what happens.

[1:23] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah. R. C. Murray Cola.

[1:27] R. Alex Murray: Yeah. And yeah, the, all the characters was I was, have you played every, you played everybody?

[1:31] Cassidy Sledge: At this point I played everyone.

[1:35] R. Alex Murray: Yeah. What about Ethel?

[1:39] Cassidy Sledge: Okay. Well, no Ethel.

[1:43] R. Alex Murray: What about Zvezda? What about Katya?

[1:47] Cassidy Sledge: Okay. Women matter.

[1:51] R. Alex Murray: So I haven't played everyone. Women count. So no, I haven't played everyone.

[1:55] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, absolutely. No, you gotta, gotta do it.

[1:59] R. Alex Murray: Oh man. And you've played, what are you? Good Lord. Say hi.

[2:03] Cassidy Sledge: Hello. I'm Cassidy. That's my name. Cassidy Sledge. I'm the bar swing. I cover DM and TK.

[2:07] RJ Christian: Hell yeah. Step up, step up. Introduce yourself.

[2:11] RJ Christian: Yeah. What's up? It's me. RJ Christian. Holla at your boy. I am player swing. I cover the warrior, mage and trickster.

[2:15] R. Alex Murray: Hell yeah. Well, welcome to the podcast nerds. What we've been doing for everybody's first episode mostly is sort of like, just like saying a little bit about yourself and how you started playing D&D, what got you into nerdery in the first place. Just, you know, just getting to know each other. And then, I don't know, about three episodes from now, I'm going to try and start getting really weird.

[2:39] Cassidy Sledge: Okay.

[2:43] R. Alex Murray: Once everyone has been on it. I'm excited about that. I don't know what that means.

[2:47] Cassidy Sledge: Hell yeah.

[2:51] R. Alex Murray: We're going to get freaky. It's going to be so strange here in this little dressing room that's turned into a podcast studio. It's going to get weird.

[2:55] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah.

[2:59] R. Alex Murray: But yeah, how do you, how do you find yourself at the 20-sided tavern, Cass?

[3:03] Cassidy Sledge: Well, I'm very fortunate in that I had a very nerdy brother growing up who, well, so our dad bought us a Sega Genesis when we were wee little lads and lassies.

[3:07] R. Alex Murray: Hell yeah. Sonic all day, every day, baby.

[3:11] Cassidy Sledge: And then my sister got Dance Dance Revolution on the PlayStation 2 for Christmas.

[3:15] R. Alex Murray: Oh wow. With the pad and the whole thing.

[3:19] Cassidy Sledge: Oh yeah. It was crunchy and so noisy every time you rolled that mat out.

[3:23] R. Alex Murray: Oh, they suck.

[3:27] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, they were terrible, but grinding for hours, baby. And then we were like, hold on a second. This is a PlayStation. It's a gaming console. You can buy more than one game for it. You can buy DDR2, DDR3. There's a Guitar Hero, which is just DDR for your hands.

[3:43] Cassidy Sledge: No, but literally, that's where we started. And then we were like, hold on a second. We can get violent with this. And then we got Xboxes. My brother and I played through a couple Halo campaigns together. And then he got me a Switch because he's cool as heck like that. And now we play Baldur's Gate together. And then I guess, oh, D&D. Yeah, I started playing during the pandemic.

[4:03] R. Alex Murray: Say what you were going to say.

[4:07] Cassidy Sledge: I was just going to say that all counts.

[4:11] R. Alex Murray: Oh, yeah. Yeah. And then I started playing D&D during the pandemic. And I saw this thing and I was like, I want to audition for that.

[4:15] Cassidy Sledge: Sure, yeah.

[4:19] R. Alex Murray: Yeah, I mean, we don't need to talk about the audition process. Actually, I would love to get into that right now. Let's get real crunchy about the three of us sitting next to each other on a weird little bench in Pearl Studios about to throw up on our feet.

[4:27] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, that is the fact that we were all at the same conference.

[4:31] RJ Christian: Oh, my God. Round two.

[4:35] Cassidy Sledge: We were all together. I was sitting very quietly next to y'all, trying desperately not to out myself.

[4:39] RJ Christian: Oh, my God. I remember because I remember RJ and I had met in the first round. And I remember we walked into the second round and we saw you going around and saying hi to everyone. And I remember just being like, God damn, this guy. He knows everybody.

[4:51] Cassidy Sledge: I remember going on to the Instagram, going back like, hey, what's up, beer motherfucker? I thought you guys were I was like, oh, these guys are friends. These guys know each other.

[4:55] RJ Christian: We literally had met the day before.

[4:59] Cassidy Sledge: That's the best.

[5:03] R. Alex Murray: But I mean, yeah, less that than the like there has to be something in you that looks at the casting notice and goes, yeah, yeah, I could do that. Right. Sure. Like because not everybody does. I mean, I'm sure we think about it as because we have people come up to us all the time and go like, how do we get in the show? Which, by the way, you know what? Quick PSA. If you come to see this show and you're an actor, listen, man, we get it and we love you. But like, don't ask me how you get to when you can audition for the show when I'm like doing the show in the audience. That's weird.

[5:39] Cassidy Sledge: Surely that has happened to both of you.

[5:43] RJ Christian: It's something where I don't know how to. I mean, I can't give you. I can't. I have the job.

[5:47] R. Alex Murray: You mean my job? You'd like my job, the one that I'm doing right now. Someone has to leave inherently for you to get this job. I'm so sorry.

[5:55] RJ Christian: I love it when people follow me on Instagram and they go, hey, when are tour auditions? And I'm like, my brothers in Christ, I don't know. I don't I don't know what tour is happening. I do dumb, dumb jokes on the stage, man. I'm like, I don't even know what the, you know, script updates are going to be. We're changing the script all the time. I don't even know what that night's going to look like. I couldn't name a third of the chaos chart.

[6:19] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, my God. I'm not your guy,

[6:23] RJ Christian: but man, what drew you in, RJ?

[6:27] RJ Christian: I was in the marching band in high school.

[6:31] Cassidy Sledge: That is such a specific nerd.

[6:35] RJ Christian: I'm glad we have a marching band nerd. And it's a thing where, like, the marching band attracts all the types of nerds. So, like, the lead saxophone was like a science guy. He was all in the science and mathematics. And there was a guy who was, like, really into Pokemon. And, like, I ended up hanging out with these guys who were really into, like, Super Smash Brothers and Dark Souls. And so I wasn't I sort of got dragged in. Like, I didn't self-identify as a nerd. I was a nerd. But I got dragged in by my marching band friends.

[7:03] R. Alex Murray: But Dungeons and Dragons is fairly new to me.

[7:07] RJ Christian: Before doing this, I had played, like, four sessions.

[7:11] R. Alex Murray: I love that. Well, you're in a full-on ass campaign now, right?

[7:15] RJ Christian: I am. I've had to skip a couple of days.

[7:19] R. Alex Murray: But that's been fun. So now I've been inducted. The show works. You really don't have to know if you're playing for work. You're like, I better get into it. I better really be able to do this.

[7:27] RJ Christian: Right now? 2024.

[7:35] R. Alex Murray: So I'm a human bard.

[7:39] RJ Christian: Are you actually?

[7:43] R. Alex Murray: Oh, in my campaign? In real life?

[7:47] RJ Christian: I just said, freaking marching band.

[7:51] R. Alex Murray: A human bard.

[7:55] RJ Christian: I play a warforged warlock.

[7:59] R. Alex Murray: Interesting.

[8:03] RJ Christian: It's really quite fun. We were talking about you being a warlock the other day. I didn't know you were a warforged. That's fun.

[8:07] R. Alex Murray: I want to do an Eberron setting so we can have a warforged.

[8:11] RJ Christian: Yeah, we've got Hiro. He's a fishing robot.

[8:15] R. Alex Murray: Fishing?

[8:19] RJ Christian: Yeah, he loves water, but every time he goes near the water he breaks down because robot.

[8:23] R. Alex Murray: That's so sad.

[8:27] RJ Christian: We love to do that as our character flaws here, right?

[8:31] R. Alex Murray: We love to be like, you're a bird. Can't fly. Scared. You're a big dumb bro who's friends with everybody. Idiot. Too bad you're dumb.

[8:39] RJ Christian: These poor guys. These poor idiots trying to save the world.

[8:43] R. Alex Murray: Well, you've got to have something to work against, right?

[8:47] RJ Christian: What's their name?

[8:51] R. Alex Murray: His name is Mark Zero.

[8:55] RJ Christian: Because he's the first model of this guy.

[8:59] R. Alex Murray: That's so DTSD coding, too. It's so like, what's the wizard's name? Mark. And then you take it and make it funny.

[9:03] RJ Christian: Mark. Go for it.

[9:07] R. Alex Murray: Mark was not a... He was a great guy, but honestly, he was a little weird. But I worked with him for so many years, and we kissed a little bit.

[9:19] RJ Christian: But unfortunately, he liked dark magic, and he made...

[9:23] R. Alex Murray: Okay, this is new.

[9:27] RJ Christian: He put it in his mouth, and then one day, the Havoc came!

[9:31] R. Alex Murray: We called it the Havoc! And he put it in his butt.

[9:35] RJ Christian: But my friends, the watchful order, they had to...

[9:39] R. Alex Murray: That's a new development, too.

[9:43] RJ Christian: They put them in the sartophagus, and they said...

[9:47] R. Alex Murray: The shartophagus?

[9:51] RJ Christian: Don't go breaking my heart.

[9:55] R. Alex Murray: But now I wonder, is it cracked open?

[9:59] RJ Christian: I'm not sure if this is spoilers or not for the show.

[10:03] R. Alex Murray: I think it might be, but I think also...

[10:07] RJ Christian: Hold on, it's cracked open. What do we have to do?

[10:11] R. Alex Murray: Get the director on the phone and make the script edits tonight.

[10:15] RJ Christian: Put them inside a big egg, and it cracked open.

[10:19] R. Alex Murray: Get a pen and make a big omelette. Any questions?

[10:23] RJ Christian: That's what he says.

[10:27] R. Alex Murray: It's amazing, because that's essentially what it boils down to.

[10:31] RJ Christian: Boils egg.

[10:35] R. Alex Murray: That's what it poaches around to, you know what I mean?

[10:39] RJ Christian: I like how it was just making no sense, and you said, omelette, you're finished.

[10:43] R. Alex Murray: Don't laugh. Don't encourage that kind of behavior, Murray.

[10:47] RJ Christian: Why? My brain's scrambled.

[10:51] R. Alex Murray: You're just jealous. You want to poach my jokes.

[10:55] RJ Christian: You joked my joke?

[10:59] R. Alex Murray: I did not say joke.

[11:03] RJ Christian: You said jokes.

[11:07] R. Alex Murray: I don't know, man. We will be vindicated.

[11:11] RJ Christian: We'll be vindicated by chat when it hits.

[11:15] R. Alex Murray: This is about to be the most chaotic episode, I feel.

[11:19] RJ Christian: It's the most chaotic episode, and we're all punch-drunk and insane.

[11:23] R. Alex Murray: It's the beautiful thing about this show, right? Because both of you guys are on tonight, right?

[11:27] Cassidy Sledge: What track are you doing?

[11:31] RJ Christian: Warrior!

[11:35] R. Alex Murray: Duh. Idiot.

[11:39] RJ Christian: What the heck?

[11:43] R. Alex Murray: I kind of want to talk more about Mark Zero.

[11:47] RJ Christian: Are you guys playing in...?

[11:51] R. Alex Murray: Mark Zero is trying to get enough money to bail his creator out of jail.

[11:55] RJ Christian: That's why he's going around robbing everybody.

[11:59] R. Alex Murray: Wait, time out. Is this a homebrew world?

[12:03] RJ Christian: This is a homebrew world.

[12:07] R. Alex Murray: We can't do it because there aren't Warforged in Faerun.

[12:11] RJ Christian: Really? I didn't know that.

[12:15] R. Alex Murray: We've got to do another one there if we want to put the fun robots into the...

[12:19] RJ Christian: I want guns. I mean, I guess we've got Barry Blasters, but we don't have...

[12:23] R. Alex Murray: That's the Spelljammer. I'm in the Spelljammer's campaign, and everybody at the table was like, WHAT A FUCKING GUN!

[12:27] RJ Christian: I need the listeners at home to recognize that right before Murray did that, he pulled the microphone so far away from his mouth.

[12:31] R. Alex Murray: Excuse me, can I make a spaceship?

[12:35] RJ Christian: Can it talk to me? And then can I have a fucking gun?

[12:39] R. Alex Murray: Hell yeah. Can I get the Cortana like Halo?

[12:43] RJ Christian: Yes. With Spell?

[12:47] R. Alex Murray: Yeah.

[12:51] RJ Christian: Please, let me be a Psywarrior and have a gun. Let me be a Jedi with a gun.

[12:55] R. Alex Murray: Wait, hold on. Does that exist? Can you reskin a familiar into an AI lady?

[12:59] RJ Christian: Sure. A blue little lady? I'll allow it if I'm your DM.

[13:03] R. Alex Murray: I'm into it. I'm going to go for it.

[13:07] RJ Christian: I'm an unseen servant, but I want the servant to be seen and also sexy.

[13:11] R. Alex Murray: That's what I do. Make a wisdom saving throw.

[13:15] RJ Christian: To see how nice your unseen servant's titties are.

[13:19] R. Alex Murray: Oh shit, Nat 1. Ugly.

[13:23] RJ Christian: Beauty's in the eye of the beholder.

[13:27] R. Alex Murray: How many eyes, then?

[13:31] RJ Christian: Do I know? Do I know how many eyes are on a beholder?

[13:35] R. Alex Murray: Quick, RJ, your wisdom re-roll question is, how many eyes does Thar have?

[13:39] RJ Christian: Two.

[13:43] R. Alex Murray: That's incorrect.

[13:47] RJ Christian: I don't know the answer off the top of my head. I want to say eight, but I probably am wrong.

[13:51] R. Alex Murray: On average, well actually, in D&D, the average is a lot greater than two.

[13:55] RJ Christian: For beholders?

[13:59] R. Alex Murray: Yeah. I would argue. Because I got the big one in the middle of the face and all the little tentacle eyeballs, no?

[14:03] RJ Christian: Oh no. Two.

[14:07] R. Alex Murray: There it is. The confidence.

[14:11] RJ Christian: I love it. Alright, so if we're both relatively new to D&D and you started off, what would you say other than video games is the thing that you are the biggest nerd about?

[14:16] Cassidy Sledge: Do you have like, I mean, I probably you guys are smiling at each other. I know what Cassie's gonna say. I know what both of you are gonna say, but the listeners don't. What are you gonna say?

[14:31] RJ Christian: Well, I thought you were gonna say music.

[14:36] Cassidy Sledge: I was.

[14:36] RJ Christian: Oh, were you? I was gonna hold on a second. We're both gonna say music. You wanna do it on three? Like, hold on one more second. Okay, we just kissed. Uh, anyways, or you just unlocked a, like, someone's new horrible ASMR. Somebody listening is like, somebody just went, "Oh," and now they're chasing that specific lip noise. They're like, "Oh, I need schlorpie in my ears."

[15:00] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, yeah, I can't get a lot of streams. I can't go to sleep unless somebody makes...

[15:06] RJ Christian: Oh no, it's my horrible party trick. I hate it.

[15:09] Cassidy Sledge: The worst! I love it! Do it again!

[15:21] RJ Christian: One schlorp for the road! Popping pustule!

[15:28] Cassidy Sledge: Oh man, okay, music. Music! We're both music nerds. We know...

[15:31] RJ Christian: I knew this! I know this to be true. You're both absolute music nerds. You have a full-on, at least one degree in it.

[15:36] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, I got a BM.

[15:36] RJ Christian: Yeah, do you also?

[15:43] Cassidy Sledge: I got a BM.

[15:43] RJ Christian: Don't! That's true! That's true!

[15:43] Cassidy Sledge: I was not talking about a bowel movement.

[15:50] RJ Christian: You had that look in your eyes.

[15:50] Cassidy Sledge: I always got a look in my eyes.

[15:57] RJ Christian: It's hard not to! Like, it's just hard not to. Every time somebody says, "It's your duty to do this," which happens a lot in, like, fan high fantasy or five fantasy TTRPGs, I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, what's my duty? Is it my sacred duty?"

[16:18] Cassidy Sledge: Are people gonna get mad at me if I don't do my duty?

[16:20] RJ Christian: I feel like this show has, like, ruined me. I can't go five seconds without being like, "And now it is time to make a pun."

[16:30] Cassidy Sledge: I mean, yeah, I mean, we have to! We have to! It's our job! We do it all the time! We can't stop!

[16:36] RJ Christian: It has been well established that portmanteaus are welcome on the podcast anytime if you think of a good one.

[16:45] Cassidy Sledge: Okay, uh, yeah man, like that! We just sit around goofing, but BM and music! BM and music! And you both, like, I mean, RJ, you write musicals like a crazy person!

[16:52] RJ Christian: It is true! What are you working on?

[17:00] RJ Christian: I am working on a Christmas musical. Um, that is, it has changed shape so many times, but it is a parody of, like, homework Christmas movies. You know, it's gonna be this businesswoman who comes back to her small town and...

[17:09] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, the Christmas tree Iowa or whatever!

[17:13] RJ Christian: Exactly! You know, Christmas on the moon! You know, Christmas with grandma! Yeah, and it's, you know, she's gonna meet that country man and settle down, but it's gonna be silly! It's gonna be funny!

[17:28] Cassidy Sledge: Hell yeah! I'm into that! Um, I'm sorry, I just came up with a portmanteau!

[17:34] RJ Christian: Yes, please!

[17:34] Cassidy Sledge: Um, okay, a popular holiday meets a dangerous thing that happens when you combine ammonia and bleach: Christmas dirt gas!

[17:52] RJ Christian: Are you proud of me?

[17:56] Cassidy Sledge: Always!

[17:56] RJ Christian: Yay! Always!

[18:02] Cassidy Sledge: Okay, I got one!

[18:11] RJ Christian: What other biohazards are we gonna get?

[18:11] Cassidy Sledge: Okay, yeah, a holiday where you plant trees is also Sharon Stone trying to teach young kids... Oh, fucking! I shouldn't be making 90s movies!

[18:21] RJ Christian: We're both shielding Arbor Daytona Beach!

[18:28] Cassidy Sledge: Arbor Dangerous Minds is what we're looking for!

[18:34] RJ Christian: But we are young!

[18:40] Cassidy Sledge: No, yes! Like the fun song! I know!

[18:45] RJ Christian: Okay, is that weird? You guys are the, are y'all the, you're the current babies of the cast, right?

[18:51] Cassidy Sledge: Babies of the cast!

[18:51] RJ Christian: Oh, we are the two youngest, huh? That is true! Okay, how's that going for you?

[18:57] Cassidy Sledge: What? I don't know how to respond to that!

[19:05] RJ Christian: Either, man! I don't know! Is it weird? It was, I felt like a little while ago the cast skewed young, and all of a sudden it feels like it's skewing older now, like it's skewing 30s, early 40s.

[19:11] Cassidy Sledge: When we're all on stage together, we all feel young and dumb and stupid in a fun way!

[19:16] RJ Christian: I do not go on!

[19:22] Cassidy Sledge: Okay, I'm just like, I'm just running around with my silly little friends! Yeah, and then all of a sudden we're backstage and people are like, "Ah yes, my spouse that I am married to in the house that I own is happy!" And I'm like, "What is that? Who owns a house?!"

[19:30] RJ Christian: Okay, which one of these off-Broadway actors owns a house? But people have, like, pets and stuff, and I'm like, "I don't know if I can afford to feed myself!"

[19:35] Cassidy Sledge: Houseplants? No, I kill everything! I don't care!

[19:43] RJ Christian: Anything! Someone just, okay, Jasmine got a Tamagotchi from Comic-Con, and she said that I could be its godmother!

[19:47] Cassidy Sledge: That is... you've grown up!

[19:56] RJ Christian: Dark! Listen, listen, I'm a big Tama girly, okay? I don't have any problem with that, but the idea of you being like, "I will be this Tamagotchi's spiritual aunt!" Yeah, anytime that little guy takes a poop backstage when Jasmine's on stage, you know I'm gonna clean them!

[20:07] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, you're on it! You're there!

[20:13] RJ Christian: If they poop too much, they get sick! So you gotta clean up the poop, and then you gotta get medicine! Just like a real baby!

[20:19] Cassidy Sledge: Just, I'm a Tamagotchi for real! You're actually...

[20:24] RJ Christian: If I poop too much...

[20:26] Cassidy Sledge: Oh my god, he just pooped on the floor, Cassidy!

[20:29] RJ Christian: Oh, I feel bad! I feel bad! Clean it up!

[20:29] Cassidy Sledge: All right, really bad! What's your least favorite vein that I may inject some medicine into?

[20:37] RJ Christian: My least favorite vein? Do Tamagotchis have favored veins?

[20:43] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, I've never in my life as a true and honest 90s child owned a Tamagotchi!

[20:44] RJ Christian: What? My sister had one, and she murdered that fucker on the weekly! It was bad!

[20:51] Cassidy Sledge: I'm more of a pog slap bracelet man myself!

[20:56] RJ Christian: I recently learned that pogs are little cardboard circles!

[21:02] Cassidy Sledge: Yes! I mean, this was the problem, right? I believe Connor on stage started talking about pogs and was like, "Is there not one elder millennial on this stage with me?"

[21:08] RJ Christian: Right? I think Jasmine knew!

[21:12] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, yeah! But I was lost in the sauce!

[21:17] RJ Christian: They're the only thing that I have ever been the first person to have in my life!

[21:21] Cassidy Sledge: Interesting!

[21:21] RJ Christian: Like, I was the first guy! I was like, "I've got pogs! My aunt got me some for Christmas!" But like, that's the thing about being the first person to have something, right? You're like, "I have these!" And everybody's like, "What are those?!"

[21:27] Cassidy Sledge: Are you too old for silly bands?

[21:32] RJ Christian: Oh yeah, for sure!

[21:32] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, you fucked your silly bands though, right?

[21:37] RJ Christian: I'm too old for silly bands! Like, I had to deal with kids in classes that I was teaching having silly bands!

[21:42] Cassidy Sledge: I'm sure there's some overlap and something between our generations of...

[21:47] RJ Christian: Oh yeah! I mean, there's, I mean, Sonic the Hedgehog!

[21:52] Cassidy Sledge: Hey! I mean, but those are the big ones, right? It's the huge stuff! It's like when we started zipping around references on stage!

[21:58] RJ Christian: Yeah, it happens!

[22:06] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, because you guys are all like, "Skibbity!" I'm just kidding! I'm just kidding! I would never!

[22:11] RJ Christian: Just kidding! We say "gyat"!

[22:20] Cassidy Sledge: Riz! Ohio! Sticking out your gyat for the Riz Lord!

[22:27] RJ Christian: I managed to, without thinking about it, somebody said something and I just went, "Slay!" And it was like, it was acknowledged by one of our young Zoomer, like, backstage staff, and they were just like, "Yes!" And I was like, "I did it!"

[22:37] Cassidy Sledge: You're so young and with it!

[22:37] RJ Christian: No, false! False! I have a wife and a pet and so many houseplants! That's an adult person thing to say!

[22:47] Cassidy Sledge: I have a Roth IRA account!

[22:53] RJ Christian: No! And a high-yield savings account! And I try to diversify my portfolio!

[23:00] Cassidy Sledge: You're just becoming Chester!

[23:07] RJ Christian: I am Chester! You and Chester are one!

[23:11] Cassidy Sledge: Yep! That's... I mean, I've been on a gap year for 25 years just running away from my responsibility! I don't want to be there!

[23:20] RJ Christian: Wait, RJ, is there a character you feel like you are?

[23:24] Cassidy Sledge: Yes! Is there a character I feel like I am? That's an interesting question! I don't know! I always feel like I'm putting on a little different something! I don't know! Is there an easier one to slip into? Like, is there anybody that you're like, "Yeah, I like just really feel comfortable in this guy"?

[23:31] RJ Christian: At this point, it's been Allister! Yeah, which has been... I've been doing a lot of dark Allister! Yeah, just like doing him as freaking Batman! Yeah, it's been... Oh gosh, who used to do the... Pete Holmes used to do the sketches as Batman where he's just like, "It's okay! You wanna see how sweaty I am into my batsuit?" Like, you just... It's so funny! And like, Batman's such an asshole, and I like internalize those as a kid! So when I slip into this character, I'm doing like Pete Holmes' Batman! It's fun to make him a bastard that way!

[23:53] Cassidy Sledge: I mean, it's fun to see all the different ways everybody can make, like, the zealot weird! It's so... like, the characters are so, so different! Like, now that you see, like, how many different people get to embody them, like, they contain multitudes! It's impressive!

[24:05] RJ Christian: Oh yeah, because at this point we got, like, yeah, with me and both y'all and the players on the... me and you and Will, like, there are four people regularly getting a hold of a lot of the characters! Just insane!

[24:18] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, and I will say, just as someone from behind the bar, it's been really fun to watch you sit with these characters for several months and see how they, like, grow and progress! Marie, I don't know if you feel this as much anymore because you're also bouncing behind the bar and you don't have as much time to, like, play with characters, but I remember, RJ, your Allister used to be like this, like, Minnesota...

[24:30] RJ Christian: Oh yeah! Like, "Oh, how are you doing there, kids? Yeah, me Allister! I'm just gonna bop you with my sword here! Don't do it again!" That's a big goober!

[24:43] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, I think he's just a loser! Like, "Oh, I can't talk to my kids! I don't know what a freaking Pokey Man is!" So any tips on that poor guy just needs some help! Come on, he wants to get hit with the kids!

[25:04] RJ Christian: Yeah, well, you get to do it! I mean, we talked about that! Abira talked about that even, and even Felicia in, like, just a short amount of time of like, "Yeah, let me mess with them!" It's like day one to day eight, sure! They're like, "Oh yeah, the third time I got to be this character!" Yeah, you're just like, "Oh totally! Like, this is such a weird thing, right? You know, we get to run the same scenario over and over and over and over and over again, but it's different, different, different, different!"

[25:36] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, man, it's fun!

[25:41] RJ Christian: Yeah, well, I feel like it swings! At least in my experience, it's been like, "I've got to hold on to the safe choice for a good bit because I don't know what I'm gonna do with this character! I'm not gonna be able to do it eight times a week!" And it's like, "Okay, now I know who the hell this guy is! Now I'm gonna do something completely different!"

[25:54] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, I'm gonna... let's burn one! Let's see what happens! Because I absolutely have... I forget who I walked some... someone in this weird run of all of us covering Warriors for a month! I got in and, like, took a swing, and then I was in it, and I was like, "I hate this! I hate this guy! This is... oh no! I've given myself nothing to play against! I don't have anything going!"

[26:17] RJ Christian: All right, do you remember what character it was?

[26:23] Cassidy Sledge: No, I don't! And I just sort of was like, "All right, well, that's how it goes!" I think it was... I want to say it was Tamburlaine, and I just, like, went to do something, but I didn't, like, I didn't make a big enough choice, sure! And so I ended up just being Alex with a thing in his hands!

[26:34] RJ Christian: Sure!

[26:44] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, if you could play one character, that's a hard question! I feel like someone asked this question on the Discord recently, and I've always had a soft spot for Allister, and I do think it's because my very first character ever was a paladin!

[26:55] RJ Christian: Sure!

[26:55] Cassidy Sledge: There's something very exciting to me about him there! But in terms of, like, actual playing in our TST campaign, I probably, uh, Tamburlaine, just because I feel like in terms of, like, if I ever had to go on stage last minute for something, a bard is something that I feel familiar with in my day-to-day life!

[27:11] RJ Christian: Yeah, I mean, that's... I mean, we're all right there! Like, give me an instrument! Let me go! Like, "All right, I'm ready! I can sing dumb songs forever!"

[27:20] Cassidy Sledge: It's always a good bit of being like, "Oh yeah, Tamburlaine, play one of your best songs!" Like, "Okay, I've been playing this one for years!"

[27:24] RJ Christian: We walked right into it last night, man! We did a, like, with our freaking band! Yeah, we just were like, "We're in a band now!" And that was it! The whole show was us, like, doing weird songs! And like, I think it went up and down with the audience! Was into it, and then we're like, "Are they gonna do this the whole time?" And then we're like, "Oh, we love this!" And then we're like, "Are they still fucking doing this?" And then we're like, "Oh my god, they're gonna, like, use the power of song to kill the bag!" Okay, good word! Oh, you committed the whole show! It was the whole... it was the saga of the Beefy Boys!

[28:03] Cassidy Sledge: The Beefy Boys!

[28:03] RJ Christian: Oh, stop it! It was just wild! That's great! There's a whole lot of us being like, "You know this song?" And then somebody'd say the title of a song, and then we'd all sing it together! And like, in a Beastie Boys rap kind of way, or no, it sounds bad and is awkward in unison! And wait, can I get a little taste?

[28:20] Cassidy Sledge: You cannot! It's lost to time and it's dead now! It can never happen again!

[28:26] RJ Christian: What?! This is a podcast! I reserve the right to say no! But all right, what's the butt?

[28:33] Cassidy Sledge: But you can yeah, no you can sing a song. Yeah. I don't want that. Hold on. Why Paladin? You said your first ever. Why were you drawn to Paladin?

[28:44] RJ Christian: Okay, that's a really good question. We're coming to you. I want to know why warlock but Paladin.

[28:51] Cassidy Sledge: Well, I built my character. My then partner at the time was building a campaign with his high school friends and said hey, why don't you join? And I was like heck? Yeah, and we had the what 14 15 hour road trip from Chicago to New York. So I in that 14 hours was doing a heck ton of research and I was like I want something that's got a big arm. I don't want anyone to touch me but I won't be able to smack people and I want to cast spells and so it's kind of down to cleric and paladin. But I was that was very tempted by that lay on hands pool. I was like that insta healing. It's kind of sexy. Oh Paladin. Yeah, so I committed to the bit and then I wrote a seven-page backstory.

[29:39] RJ Christian: How long did it take for that all to go up in flames?

[29:44] Cassidy Sledge: Like a couple months honestly, okay, we lasted pretty long nice. Oh, I mean I met your backstory you stuck to the backstory.

[29:50] RJ Christian: I committed baby. I made it to my bit. I mean one or the other that's the Travis McElroy of it all. We'll just invoke Trav. Hey guys, Travis McElroy is coming to be in our show if you didn't know that yet you ding-dongs, but like for the first has like he you know, that's he wrote his like are you aware to have any of you guys listen to me out you right now on I love the McElroy brothers.

[30:14] Cassidy Sledge: That's loud I hadn't heard of Bria I and guard do nothing really I'd heard her dm3 shows with the McElroy's.

[30:22] RJ Christian: Wow.

[30:24] Cassidy Sledge: I knew yeah. Yeah. Yeah, which makes it real easy to be like, hi. Nice to meet you. You're a co-worker now. Hello. Yeah, I'm gonna have to be like don't freak out but yeah, you wrote like a huge backstory for his first character in their first campaign and like fun stuck to it.

[30:43] RJ Christian: That's cool that you stuck to it and like made it work. I like I went cleric for my like first.

[30:51] Cassidy Sledge: We're both church weird. Yeah, we are and and church weird. Are you church weird?

[30:57] RJ Christian: Yeah, yeah.

[31:00] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, yeah sure do you want to expound on that no to any of us I mean I think we all just in our class selection.

[31:09] RJ Christian: Yeah.

[31:11] Cassidy Sledge: Like a cleric and a paladin walk into the room or like a cleric and a paladin walk into the room and the bartender says Jesus Christ, who are you?

[31:20] RJ Christian: Jesus Christ, it's like correct. Yes. Yes, you got you nailed it in one. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know cleric cleric for me. I don't know why cleric I guess I felt like my cleric good listeners that can you hear Alex? Don't pull in the background. I hope you can those dulcet tones.

[31:40] RJ Christian: Yeah, I don't know man. Like there's something about like I always want to be I like being half support half kick-ass. Yeah, right. I'm gonna be both and like you used to have to pick really for D&D.

[31:53] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, you used to have to pick like oh, we're talking like advanced second edition. I mean, we're talking like third. We're talking like I mean like but or even like or like did you play find a bunch of video games? Did you play like Final Fantasies or do you play RPGs?

[32:03] RJ Christian: Oh, yeah. Yeah, those would really get you on like this is person it's support. Yeah, I mean spit on you. Yeah, absolutely. And they just sit there and do nothing my brother and I really committed to wizard 101 and I was a I was a big life life school wizard. I don't know wizard.

[32:23] Cassidy Sledge: Oh because you're old. Yeah.

[32:25] RJ Christian: Also, well, I also have like a blank spot and where I went to college right like I didn't play video games. We played like like N64 Goldeneye and like Smash Brothers we had we had um GameCubes. So there's a whole lot of us Smash Brothers.

[32:41] Cassidy Sledge: Oh yeah, we did skip your story for why you picked warlock.

[32:44] RJ Christian: Yeah, we did. I was always thinking about I knew this guy was gonna be a robot and I was thinking about how like say like cyborg when the Teen Titans, right? Like sometimes those you'll blast out like a rocket launcher sometimes we'll have like you know like needles or whatever, but he always goes back to the seismic cannon. Yeah, and for me I think warlocks I think it's got the Eldritch Blast. Yeah, they can do other stuff they'll do other cool spells and whatever but they can just boop you with that Eldritch Blast as much as they want. That's not very big moves per episode, right? Yeah, it's like a like the Teen Titan like the freaking love Teen Titans.

[33:22] Cassidy Sledge: So it's so much. I also like it.

[33:28] RJ Christian: Divine we did it. Hooray. I'm so proud of us Teen Titans.

[33:34] Cassidy Sledge: Yes, fairly odd parents.

[33:37] RJ Christian: Oh Timmy was an average kid. Yeah, no one understands mom and daddy Vicki always giving him commands.

[33:43] Cassidy Sledge: I mean I was watching cartoons I also probably about when I had graduated from college and was like being an idiot stoner in my early 20s I was probably weirdly watching a lot of the same.

[33:54] RJ Christian: I mean, I recently got into like 14.

[33:58] Cassidy Sledge: Get a little high and watch between the Lions that show that you just get that.

[34:07] RJ Christian: Oh my god.

[34:08] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, baby, oh very reading rainbow ish, yeah. No, but there were a lot of puppets happening this show needs puppets that's my new that's gonna become mine. Yeah, it's my t-shirt.

[34:22] RJ Christian: I just one I tried I tried to put puppets on the chaos chart and they said no I've got some you have them.

[34:31] Cassidy Sledge: I've got a lot. I was a children's entertainer for like seven years so I've got like my god, I have a like a closet full of puppet friends that my wife does not like.

[34:41] RJ Christian: I think we need a sock puppet for every character on stage and then at one point if we chaos chart roll everyone turns into a sock puppet for the rest of the scene.

[34:50] Cassidy Sledge: You can only communicate three years. I like number 87. It's time to light the lights.

[35:02] Cassidy Sledge: I'll tell them you need this if we all I don't we absolutely cannot start up.

[35:14] RJ Christian: Episode 6 of the podcast that will result in an email.

[35:21] Cassidy Sledge: Oh man, yeah puppet like just a puppet behind the a puppet behind the bar so that every once in a while I could just be like puppet.

[35:27] RJ Christian: He summons his member of the city watch it just like a puppet comes up and you just have to deal with.

[35:40] Cassidy Sledge: Like yeah, just like like Muppets Treasure Island style is just like there's a puppet here now.

[35:45] RJ Christian: I'm gonna be honest. The only Muppets film I've ever seen is Christmas Carol.

[35:49] Cassidy Sledge: Wow, I'm sorry, that's not even the Jason Segel ones or nothing. No, I'm a Michael Caine supremacist apparently I guess.

[35:56] RJ Christian: Hey listeners, if you like that idea email.

[36:01] RJ Christian: The Caine mutiny.

[36:03] Cassidy Sledge: There's a really old person joke. Oh my god. Yeah, that's all right. Well, you're missing out you watched a couple episodes of the Muppets with me the other day.

[36:13] RJ Christian: Do we put one on and both fell asleep?

[36:18] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, man, I mean it's good stuff like I like, you know, I don't I don't feel like the Muppets need me to defend them right. Yeah.

[36:27] RJ Christian: I'm just saying I don't know. What are we gonna get Kermit as a guest star?

[36:35] Cassidy Sledge: There there's a way to do that for sure. Oh my god, and I like.

[36:42] RJ Christian: I don't know. I mean they do guests. I've seen the music festival that I go to every summer had Kermit as a guest he came in saying the Rainbow Connect.

[36:50] Cassidy Sledge: Oh my god.

[36:53] RJ Christian: Yeah, he just popped up and saying the Rainbow Connection and then Jim James of my morning jacket. No, no, no you don't care. It doesn't matter.

[37:00] Cassidy Sledge: Just appeared out of it.

[37:02] RJ Christian: He hadn't been there all weekend and like appeared walked on sang a verse and then like disappeared and his band played Red Rocks in Colorado the next day like he just like.

[37:12] Cassidy Sledge: Up here does sing with and then we had animals show up and be a the drummer.

[37:17] RJ Christian: Okay, I have never wanted anything more in my life than to have Kermit be a guest star.

[37:24] Cassidy Sledge: Well, let's see I could a either introduce him to my Webbers treat him like I like to treat pigs.

[37:32] RJ Christian: All right, Kermit.

[37:43] Cassidy Sledge: How are you gonna make some pork? Oh, no.

[37:47] RJ Christian: Well, I'm gonna all right. I take back everything I said, I don't want this to happen even a little bit I take it back. I mean, I would love it if it showed up like have you seen Elmo on like late-night shows?

[37:59] Cassidy Sledge: Oh it's so great.

[38:02] RJ Christian: Yeah almost hysterical and get it gets kind of raunchy.

[38:05] Cassidy Sledge: Oh.

[38:05] RJ Christian: On like late-night shows, it would be really great if Elmo just showed up and Elmo canonically like three.

[38:13] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah, he's a New York three though.

[38:18] RJ Christian: Make sure in LA one.

[38:24] Cassidy Sledge: But yeah, no, he's like an angry New York three dude, it's ridiculous. He's like talking mess on Jimmy Kimmel and doing like a lot of entendre and it's very it's very funny I like his beef with Rocco, yeah, it's the best who's the person who like smacked Elmo do you remember this?

[38:39] RJ Christian: Like Elmo was on some show. I was like, I don't want to put a neck.

[38:45] Cassidy Sledge: I don't remember who it was but Elmo was Elmo's on some show with with and like he said something kind of funny and someone got mad and like smacked Elmo and then he went on to a talk show the guy was like, I just want Sam. So sorry smack me. I was like but like this is really good.

[39:03] RJ Christian: Do it again dang.

[39:16] Cassidy Sledge: I can't believe you haven't busted that out. I don't know how we would.

[39:22] RJ Christian: Well, like that's like a new accent chaos chart. I'll be perfect. Oh my god I'll tell you what the next the next time the next time I get that I'll do Kermit if you promise it the next time you get it.

[39:34] Cassidy Sledge: All right, it's gonna get one of us is gonna get it on the first chaos stuck being Elmo for an hour.

[39:45] RJ Christian: the laryngeitis.

[39:47] Cassidy Sledge: Great, but Jesus.

[39:53] RJ Christian: Can pronounce ours.

[39:59] Cassidy Sledge: I was just an ooboo the whole time.

[40:12] RJ Christian: That's amazing my multitudes. All right. Well, I mean I can't wait. I'm excited to see how muppety and puppety we all get but yeah, thanks for hanging out this has been a lovely chat I feel like we've we've chatted.

[40:27] RJ Christian: Yeah, the chat has been you guys have got a show to get ready for.

[40:33] Cassidy Sledge: Yeah. Yeah. So thanks so much. You want to take a second to scream your socials or whatever into the mic?

[40:38] RJ Christian: Yeah, do you want me to actually scream?

[40:41] Cassidy Sledge: Yep, okay.

[40:43] Cassidy Sledge: Hey everybody, my name's Cassidy Sledge. You can find me on Instagram at Cassidy Sledge. How's that? Was it good?

[40:51] RJ Christian: Yeah, it was great. Thank you.

[40:53] RJ Christian: Hey, this is RJ Christian here. You can follow me at RJTheComposer and my theater company at The Hardy Meal and I am still at our Alex Murray on all socials and you know who I am I'll be back again next week.

[41:05] Cassidy Sledge: Next week I'm really excited. Our last two cast members that y'all have not gotten to hear from yet Alex Dompoli and Connor Marks will be here with me and Cassidy and we're going to have a bar episode and we're going to talk about how rowdy it is to be DMs and tech members.

[41:23] RJ Christian: Oh, it's going to be bad.

[41:25] Cassidy Sledge: Oh, we're going to talk shit on all the rest of you players.

[41:27] RJ Christian: Oh, it's going to be bad.

[41:29] Cassidy Sledge: Mostly, yeah. The next week's episode will be why four people don't like RJ Christian.

[41:35] RJ Christian: Oh, man. My therapist is going to have a field day with that one. She asked how your week went and you just hit play.

[41:43] Cassidy Sledge: So why do you think your co-workers hate you?

[41:45] RJ Christian: This place is 40 minutes long.

[41:47] Cassidy Sledge: They fucking said it.

[41:49] RJ Christian: They did it for 40 minutes.

[41:51] Cassidy Sledge: They paid to do it.

[41:53] RJ Christian: They produced it.

[41:55] Cassidy Sledge: They missed it.

[41:57] RJ Christian: They promoted it before they did it.

[41:59] Cassidy Sledge: It's the most viewed episode.

[42:01] RJ Christian: They're liking it.

[42:03] Cassidy Sledge: The one upside is you have a fantastic Elmo impression so we'll be sure to mention that.

[42:07] RJ Christian: Be nice to me.

[42:09] Cassidy Sledge: That was worse.

[42:11] RJ Christian: That was amazing.

[42:13] Cassidy Sledge: Friends, we got to get ready and go do this show. This was glorious. Thanks everybody for listening always and until next time, ail and well met.