Follow TV Tropes

Following

Web Original / Dice Friends

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dice_splash.jpg
Dice Friends is LoadingReadyRun's Actual Play show, available both as video and as podcast. It generally consist of Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition campaigns with occasional forays into other Tabletop RPG systems. It is made up of larger campaigns with several mini-campaigns.

The episodes can be found on their Youtube channel, on Twitch, and as podcasts on the LRR website.

    List of Dice Friends campaigns 
  • Escape from Semolo Plateau, with Dale Friesen as the DM, and Paul Saunders as Dande (Tabaxi Monk), Kathleen De Vere as Morra (Elf Rogue), Brendan “Beej” Dery as Bontan (Dwarven Cleric) and Graham Stark as Snak (Goblin Fighter). Set in the Forgotten Realms during the events of the Tomb of Annihilation adventure, on the island continent of Chult, a large island which is basically a self contained Death World filled with dinosaurs, undeads, dangerous plants and disease. The players are group of convicts on the titular Semolo Plateau who aim to recover their freedom, and get involved in larger events. This campaign is 10 episodes long so far.
  • Dragon's Orders. the continuation of the above adventure.
  • Murder on the Semolo Plateau, with Cameron Lauder as the DM, and Ben Ulmer as Rigen (Human Bard), Coriander Dickinson as Lenta (Dwarven Barbarian), Ian Horner as Aten (Human Ranger) and Kathleen De Vere as Daji (Human Rogue) as member of the Semolo Plateau militia trying to solve the murder of a wizard who had been visiting. This mini campaign is three episodes long and shares continuity with Escape from Semolo Plateau.
  • Camp Nettlebee, with Kathleen De Vere as the DM and returning players Cameron Lauder as Niann (Half Elf Ranger) and Ben Ulmer as Peloton (Halfling Wizard). Joining them are Alex Steacy as Ulrica (Human Fighter) and Serge Yager as Malfeasance (Human Bard). Set in a summer camp where children are going missing, the group plays as the children from Cabin 3. 3 session long mini-campaign, set in the same universe as Escape from Semolo Plateau. (Kathleen's character from Escape from Semolo Plateau is one of the camp's counselors.)
  • Burning Bright, with Cameron Lauder as the DM, and returning players Ian as Worth (Human Paladin), Cori as Rose (Human Paladin), Graham as Marten (Human Paladin). Joining them is Adam Savidan as Beloc (Half-Orc Paladin). A 2 session long mini-campaign.
  • After the Flood: 6 episode campaign DMed by Cameron, set in the same world but far after the events of Burning Bright. A group of 4 wake up with no memories and discovered they were tasked to transport a Living Spell. With Ian Horner as Boleznena Pamet, Coriander Dickinson at Hella Ironblood, Serge Yaeger as Sword, and Adam Savidan as Petr Zelse.
  • Enigma of the Startunnels, with Cameron as Yuri Armstrong, Cori as Ruby Ride, Ian as Krancor, Kathleen as Inspector Assayer and later, Beej as Carfax™ Seagull in a 3 episode mini-campaign run by Dale with a 60s science fiction tone running on Fate.
  • The Sand Witches of Dry Gulch, a bonus episode starring Kathleen as Euphomia Flunt, Dale as Zal the Accursed, Ben as Terry Goodstuff and Ian as another Krankor in a one-off adventure run by returning LRR crew member Jeremy Petter to promote his new Deck of Many Things app. Set halfway between the standard D&D fantasy world and a spaghetti western, the town of Dry Gulch has had it's water diverted away to the nearby Pewter City who are selling it back to them. The party is attempting to correct this injustice and solve some personal problems when they find the legendary Deck of Many Things.
  • Music of the Spheres, with Beej as Peter Tremaine, tech guy extraordinaire, Serge as @Franky, social media celebrity, Matt as Norman Weiss, New age pharmacist and Kathleen as Jessica Wilston, Crossfit Trainer. Cameron returns to run a game of Call of Cthulhu 5th Edition.
  • Bylaw and Order, a campaign following a party consisting of Cameron (as Avenir, a human Rogue), Ian (as Krankor, a Vedalken Wizard), Serge (as Molander, an Elf Druid), and Ben (as Nog, a Goblin Fighter) as they seek to have an extensive new food safety bylaw ratified for the Azorius Senate, a complicated and dangerous prospect in the city of Ravnica. Run in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, using content from the Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica campaign sourcebook.
  • Under Torchlight: A 3-episode mini D&D campaign run by Cameron using the Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica sourcebook and set in the same "Sixth District of Ravnica" as Bylaw and Order. With Matt Griffiths as March (a Loxodon Rogue), Kathleen as Danika (a human Fighter), Serge as Sebastian (a human Warlock), and Erika Cole as Ana (a human Bard). The party works at a simple Rakdos-owned restaurant that finds their business coming in conflict with the strange goings-on from the warehouse across the street.
  • Trouble in P4RA-DI5E: An 8-episode campaign run with the Paranoia (Red Clearance edition) system. With Kathleen as Kennedy, Ian as Ira, Beej as Blake, and Jacob Burgess as Jordan. The crew are hired as Troubleshooters to solve the various problems plaguing Alpha Complex, running into an inordinate number of people named Brenda along the way. All the while, a mysterious Underplex looms large over the Troubleshooters.
  • HEAT DEATH: A 6-episode campaign in the Alien system run by Cameron. With Cori as Company man Gregory Sinclair Jr., Ian as ship captain the Roman Moritaka, Adam as engineer Harris Schafer, and Alex as Clinton Barker. The crew of the Ledomia wake up from hypersleep not in their ship, with no clue as to how they got to where they are. Notable for the first 4 episodes of the campaign being the last episodes of Dice Friends to air before the COVID-19 Pandemic, causing a long hiatus until they were able to pre-record the final two episodes.
  • Farmer McFarmson's Farm: An 8-episode campaign run in the TOON system. Notable for having a rotating cast and Animator (Game Master), starting from the third episode. Also notable for having "bonus episodes" (again, starting from the third episode) that placed the player characters in spin-off scenarios, such as a Film Noir world or a bonus episode IN SPACE. With Dale as the initial Animator and later Rocky Turtle, Kathleen as Verity Mouse, Jacob Burgess as Hank Sheepdog, Serge as Trilby Turkey, and Andy Cownden as Swinebeck Pig.
  • Not A Drop To Drink: A 3-episode campaignnote run by Jacob in Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition. With Adam as Olivier Tyndall, Cameron as Silas Reed, Heather Dery as Jessica Chadwick, and Cori as Jordan Hinkleman; four freshly "turned" vampires trying to find their place in Vancouver Island by night. A sequel campaign is in the works, currently scheduled for 2021.
  • In addition, there's a series without a set schedule that occasionally fills in for the others where Adam Savidan plays through various Fighting Fantasy style Gamebooks with off-camera input from Paul, Beej, or both. Adam's protagonist for each book is named Otaku Jeff, a man who Adam indicates is one entity who reincarnates like a time lord.


Dice Friends contains examples of:

  • Action Pet: Kelvin, the fluffy white dog from Camp Nettlebee, has levels in cleric.
  • Accidental Pervert: Niann. While investigating the first cabin, he finds another camper's bra in a chest. Malfeasance sees this and proceeds to spend the entire rest of the campaign calling Niann a pervert.
  • Adults Are Useless: The only remotely helpful adults in Camp Nettlebee are Jaspar Prutchett and possibly Morra, and it is debatable both whether Morra is really helpful and whether she's even an adult. note 
  • Animal Wrongs Group: Morra's attempts to rescue animals invariably ends badly for the rescuee. In addition, the group sponsoring her actions seems to have ulterior motives beyond helping animals.
  • Book Ends: Escape from Semolo Plateau begins with the prisoners being assigned to gather materials for a feast, including such exotic ingredients as t-rex eyeballs. At the end of the campaign they find themselves coerced into working for a dragon who demands his favorite delicacy... t-rex eyeballs.
  • By-the-Book Cop: Daji is very obsessed with rules and regulation. He's also the only guardsman who stays on the force by the end of Murder on the Semolo Plateau.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Whenever someone reads the Unified Ravnican Sausage Standard, they note just how long and thorough it is, even by Azorius standards. A few paragraphs are even duplicated. This is because it was written so the first letter in each paragraph would spell a secret spell in Old Ravnican that would allow its creator to summon Ilharg and begin the End Raze.
  • Cloudcuckoolander:
    • Most of Dale's NPCs are rather... quirky.
    • Morra. She's a student from Waterdeep who transferred to Chult (A notoriously dangerous island) as part of a school project and then decided to devote herself to rescuing lizards. As counselor in charge of Cabin 3 in Camp Nettlebee, she's possibly even worse.
  • Bomb Throwing Anarchist: Euphomia quickly turns into one of these after getting demoted from her clerical position.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: At first it seems like Snak has those, as he abandoned his tribe of goblins and was imprisoned when it was found he was stealing militia supplies and stockpiling it (some of it outside town, like he was preparing to flee). Turns out Snak just left his tribe because he's asocial and his tribe really likes group hugs. They are still otherwise on good terms - though the rest of the party seem to get along with them more than Snak does.
  • Death World: Chult. Between the Dinosaurs, the tropical (magical disease), the rampant undead, the parasites, potentially hostile (and sometimes insane locals), it is incredibly lethal. Cameron makes ample use of the expression "dying of Chult" in his game.
    • The rogue planet in HEAT DEATH is one; being frozen, in deep space, and seeded with at least a lake's worth of a certain black goo.
  • Evil All Along: Ogavan Zunak, the Azorius official who sends the cast of Bylaw and Order to ratify his new legislation to improve the quality of sausages, hid a second law in it that would allow him to summon Ilharg, the Raze-Boar and destroy Ravnica. He was sick of how convoluted Ravnica's legal process had become and decided that he needed to wipe the slate clean.
  • Fun with Subtitles: Another member of the crew manning the streaming computer will add annotations, funny jokes and subtitle by the DM's face and under each character's name, reflecting what's going on.
  • His Name Really Is "Barkeep": Inspector Assayer's first name is actually Inspector.
  • Killer Game Master: Jer's reputation as this from Temple of the Lava Bears is brought up in Dry Gulch.
    • Dale isn't particularly lethal but he clearly has a mischievous streak and many of the combat encounters in Escape from Semolo Plateau are incredibly close calls.
  • Meaningful Name: Snak is bite-sized.
  • Mix-and-Match Critters: The monsters of Chult are named this way. They're not literally half-this-half-thats, but the residents are too busy trying not to die to work out new names for them so they just approximate.
  • Mythology Gag: "40 points of acid damage" from Temple of the Lava Bears comes up from time to time.
  • One-Steve Limit: Averted - in Dry Gulch there are 2 Euphomias and a never-ending supply of Krankors.
  • Overly Long Name: Dande's full name, which he had kept hidden for personal reasons, is eventually revealed to be Golden Dandelion Gale.
  • Previously on…: The context for each episode of Enigma of the Startunnels is delivered through previously on segments. Due to the loose continuity of that campaign, the segments often reference events that didn't actually happen the previous episode.
  • Remember the New Guy?: How they swap out Yuri Gagarin for Carfax™ Seagull when Cam couldn't make it.
  • Running Gag:
    • Bontan is not a necromancer. Until he is.
    • Snak frequently attempts to stack on top of other players who have no idea what he's doing.
  • Sense Freak: Inspector Assayer is always delighted by new tactile sensations.
  • Silly Reason for War: The Dragon's Orders party finds out that the 'Baker's War' consists of three bakers who all use the same recipe but disagree on which direction the sugar should be spun. One spins it clockwise, the second counter-clockwise, and the third in a conical matrix.
  • Too Dumb to Fool: Daji's description of Rigen and why he trusts Rigen: "he's too idiotic to be capable of deceit."
  • Trade Snark: Carfax™ Seagull, for no discernible reason.
  • Welcome to the Big City: Dragon's Orders has the party take a trip to Waterdeep. Being from Chult (except for Morra, although her experience in the city is similarly limited) they're quickly overwhelmed by the size and confronted by people trying to rob them or screw them over.
  • You All Meet in a Cell: The first campaign begins this way.

Top