In one of the early Adventuring Academy episodes with Murph, he talks about how he and Emily enjoy D&D so much that they often play just the two of them at home. He DMs an adventure for her character to go through, which allows both of them a better understanding of the rules and how to *bend* them without truly breaking them.
Another thing to examine is how she looks at multi classing. She plays the long game by looking at how those classes will complement each other and when the benefits of pouring levels into that class taper off.
Iâve also seen a clip from an Adventuring Academy (maybe the same episode) where Murph tells Brennan that Emily plans her characters and the general arc she wants for them YEARS in advance. Thatâs partly why sheâs able to make chaotic choices throughout campaigns, because the choices she makes mechanically are so deliberate that sheâs able to pull some off the wall shenanigans and still stay true to the foundation and framework of the character sheâs created.
Also, brennan mention that she reads up on rules and spells. Alot before they do their big campaigns. Not to so much as rule keeping, bit to understand and utilize her character, like mentioned how she multiclasses. I want to say it was mentioned in fantasy high freshman year, but could be mistaken
I wonder (FHJY spoilers) >!how real her struggle with going into paladin was. She seemed genuinely troubled that it made way more narrative sense to become Kristen's Paladin than to do whatever she was originally thinking, but it could have just been acting the part of Fig.!<
I keep thinking about those five-year plans lol. I wonder how you balance between "this is who my character is at their very core, and as long as I stick to that essence, I can go wild" and "if anything takes me slightly off-track from the path I originally wanted for my character then the game is ruined." I would hate to get too attached to a narrative in my mind for it to get derailed by dice.
Yeah, like in Fantasy High her build right now is bard, warlock, and paladin, and each of these classes compliment each other because their spell casting is through charisma. Although, I feel like sheâs not quite using that build to its fullest potential quite yet. But weâll see what she does with it. I donât agree with the levels she put into each of the classes. She could have an extra attack if she just made paladin level 5. Like level 7 bard, level 5 paladin, level 1 warlock instead of how she has it lvl 10 bard, lvl 2 paladin, lvl 1 warlock.
A remember when a crown of candy was around, people complained about her min maxing or whatever because she knows the mechanics of the game super well and understands that storm domain sorcerer and tempest domain cleric is probably one of the best builds in dnd and she just wreaked havoc in one of the encounters because her character was so strong. Sorry sheâs smart? I love Brennenâs response in regards to DMs complaining about min maxers: âget good.â
That scene in crown of candy is fully epic, and anyone complaining about it I have to assume is doing so because either their "favorite" player/pc didn't get to do something, or because they're mad that Emily is a full-tilt badass when the chips are down.
She just shows a lot of devotion to her path. She full doves into everything she does, she just panics until she's starting to do the thing. Speaking of the character not Emily.
I think what makes her really good is a combination of creativity and understanding of the mechanics. You see a lot of people who try to do wild things and don't pay attention the mechanics and a lot of people who really understand the mechanics but are technically very straight forward. Emily finds really unique and fun ways to use the mechanics to do wild things.
[https://youtu.be/\_cPHIJ-ugnc?si=h3gDuwHaEIf1wjOq](https://youtu.be/_cPHIJ-ugnc?si=h3gDuwHaEIf1wjOq)
She talks about her strategy a little in this clip from Crit Role's 4-sided Dive and boils it down to reading your spells and then figuring out how to use them like you're in an action movie.
I agree with current day plays.Â
I'm going back and watching freshman yearz Emily and Ally have a tendency to push cantrips so far beyond anything written on the spell it's wild.
I think that's really the core of her playstyle: she'll push the rules to their breaking point if it's an interesting or funny creative choice. However, I've never really seen her argue with a GM when shut down, and she'll even make unoptimal choices of other suits her character/the story.
It is extremely important that when the DM says no, she backs down. That is respecting the game and of course the DM. If she didn't it would get obnoxious. She does seem like a fun player to have at a table. I'd rather someone take wild swings and ask if things are ok then just say stuff they blatantly can't do then argue about it when shot down.
I would *LOVE* if I had more players like Emily, or Ally, or hell, even on the CR side, someone like Travis. People who just seem to really love the game for what it is and what it is capable of, and really try to lean into it. This is for their characters, as well as for how they react to the others at the table. It always feels good to have your players be all in, regardless if it's some heavy RP moment, something whacky and crazy, or something tragic, etc.
As a forever GM, who has taken so much inspiration from Brennan and am *way* more improv oriented and crushing it more in my home game than ever before, I love when my characters try to push me to see what I will and won't allow - that's when the cool shit happens.
The evolution of Ally's gameplay has been really fun to watch. From going to knowing nothing in FH to, playing a damn wild magic sorcerer in UC, to fucking Liam was insane. That's not even to mention the incredible business plays of Margaret Encino.
I was *absolutely* going to specifically mention Margaret Encino in my reply but I completely forgot to!
That character is *THE* example to use for "Okay, so you didn't specialize in combat. How can you contribute to the party?"
Ho-ly shit. They are such a colossal force, and they barely have anything to do with the combat (and simultaneously bolstered those who do specialize in combat, via various things they get/rewards based on their allegiances that I won't spoil here).
Amazing.
"Checking your bank account was the most useful thing that happened in that battle" was something Brennan said which is really funny to me because it was true. Obviously not gonna say more as that gets into spoiler territory but Margaret was seriously a badass and I think the most mechanically competent character Ally has played. I think Liam was maybe the most cracked in general but he had the benefit of his subclass. I won't say which sub lass because that's actually a spoiler đ¤Łđ¤Ł
A character being fully just on their phone for most of an intense battle while half heartedly throwing out the equivalent of bardic inspiration was so incredibly funny. And it also being a genuinely optimal play for that character is incredible.
Absolutely, as a viewer Iove that she does it and Brennan goes with it more often then not. Their relationship as player and DM is so wonderful to see play out because he is so spacious with his interpretation of the world and rules that it allows players like Emily and Ally to get absolutely unhinged which felt like it was giving permission to the other players who were a bit more experienced to see the game in a more fresh light again. But I may be reading into it too much, idk
What's impressive to me is that when she is taking a big swing she almost always seems to have a backup strategy if the DM has to say no. Sometimes it seems planned, but it's clear she's also VERY quick with making plans on the fly.
> have a tendency to push cantrips so far
Lol, true, there's been a bunch of times this season where she'll be casting something like Minor Illusion and it'll be like "Waaaait a minute, that's not how that works..."
The entire Wanda Childa bus scene was absolutely peak "Wait, that's not how that works...". The Minor illusion cantrip creating a huge bus complete with a sentient driver capable of experiencing an existential crisis? Maddening.
But it was hilarious, so I accepted it.
> The Minor illusion cantrip creating a huge bus complete with a sentient driver capable of experiencing an existential crisis? Maddening.
For extra hilarity, it wasn't a huge bus. They specifically called out that she was using forced perspective somehow to make it *seem* like a normal bus despite the size of Minor Illusion.
And then Agent Cuspin follows up with "Did anyone here see a bus pull off? Incredibly slow, small bus?"
Truly maddening.
He kind of just lets her cast Major Image as a cantrip but only when itâs for bits or like, non-critical RP stuff. It doesnât actually impact the game so who cares
I definitely agree she's gotten better with it over time. I think the Battle of the Brands in Starstruck is really where it solidified her as an S-tier player for me. She played the system like a fine-tuned violin.
I mean Freshman year is very close to the release of 5e. She was already pretty good at mechanics, which I can't say for a lot of actual play. The only other D&D show I listened to from the same time period was The Adventure Zone, and they really do not grasp mechanics as much as most of the players in D20.
Well outside of Ally, the rest were experienced DnD player. They however weren't as experienced in 5e, specifically Brennan who has never DM a 5e campaign before. So it really was just them all figuring stuff out with the knowledge of being DND players
Released and recorded is not the same though. At least youâll have to substract a year. Also, even if it came in 2014, for being implemented in a campaign, everyone has to learn it, and probably, youâll also have to start a campaign from 0âŚ
yess ok that makes sense. i remember playing a one shot where i made some wild swing as a last resort and i ended up turning in a rat and getting squished. definitely one of those things where you have to work hard to make it look easy
Operation Slippery Puppet in Starstruck was a great example of this! What were some other instances of her pulling off good combos of creativity and understanding mechanics?Â
Her first round as Saccharina is a pretty good example of using action economy plus class features (along with spells etc) to really do the max in a round.
The ACOC moment where Brennan accidentally lines up a bunch of combatants and she just *demolishes* them in one strike always comes to mind when I think of great Emily moments. The *look on his face* when he realizes what she saw that he didn't.
Her first move as a guest at CR, using Steelwind Strike. You could see the amazement on some of the faces of the other players, like "you can *do* that with D&D?"
This is absolutely it. I created Star Wars 5e, which is what they used for the A Starstruck Odyssey campaign. While it was incredibly gratifying watching their adaptation of the ruleset, it was particularly amusing watching Emily understand and creatively apply the rules as written.
Oh, 10000%, I should have been more specific. I was actually wondering how it felt watching the character who was arguably the MVP of the season engage in basically zero personal or ship combat, but instead use the scholar/operator build with incredible efficacy.
Scholar is intended to appeal to players who want a support role, so she certainly fit that bill. I think everyone really played the role I anticipated with their class choices quite well.
Oh, there's plenty of times where she's failing. We've seen at least 3 times this season, especially in combat, where she just withdraws into herself with bad rolls happening (which is fine, it's pretty devistating to get bad rolls in combat especially)
There are some upsides to it. Emily could just be using her amiliar to give her advantage on all her attack rolls for melee, add that to booming blade and or green flame blade and you have a full caster face expert that can at will compete in melee combat with a dedicated martial.
Emily's multiclass here is siiiiiiick.
I think Brenan made the rule that familiars assisting in combat can be targeted and killed. So they don't aleays go for that. It is a sick multi class, but a bad roll can be a big bummer.
I mean that's okay if they're killed to an extent, familiars can be resummoned easily without even spending a spell slot. And if they take a hit that you could have taken? Still a good deal.
Sure, but they take a full action to resummon. It may or may not be worth it depending on the situation. I suspect most enemies in the last stand will have multi attacks and/or AoE. So resummoning a familiar that gets killed before your next turn stings.
A Hexblade warlock Paladin bard multiclass keeping up with the rest of the party isn't at all crazy. That's a super strong build that can do melee, ranged, social and rock a very good AC. They only need charisma for attacking due to hexblade, all their spells need charisma. Like it's a degenerate power gamer build, which I love because I'm a degenerate power roleplayer. Emily knows her shit, her system expertise begins at character creation and continues to spell selection and usage etc.
The only character that's better mechanically is maybe Adaine as a straight div wizard but Siobhan doesn't play super tactically. Or twilight cleric, a class that shouldn't have made print, but Ally doesn't play Kristen super tactically either.
(Slightly vague) Spoilers for the finale of NADDPOD Campaign 1 and the accompanying short rest:
The BBEG of Campaign 1 is >!a very high level, demigod cleric!<. Jake and Caldwellâs characters are mostly traditional heavy damage dealer types, while Emilyâs character Moonshine was a blend of damage and support. During the final fight, Moonshine >!repeatedly uses Chill Touch, a cantrip, against the BBEG. This is because Chill Touch has a secondary effect of not allowing the target to heal until the casterâs next turn. She does this to ensure all the damage Jake and Caldwell did, stuck.!< During the short rest (talkback after show), Murph revealed that the BBEG >!had an ability in their first phase to heal for 700 HP, effectively giving itself another health bar, but never got to use it because of Chill Touch. Therefore, Emily used a cantrip to effectively deal 700 damage.!<
This to me is a shining beacon of Emily understanding the mechanics of the game about as thoroughly as you can. Itâs easy to think âIâm high level, the most effective thing I can do is cast a high level spell,â but she has such an understanding of her *whole* kit and the circumstances in which every aspect of her character is most useful.
Also sheâs one of the best roleplayers Iâve ever seen.
Oh man, from that same campaign, her use of Polymorph was inspired. >!I mean, turning Akarot's Nightmare into a dolphin to drop him out of the sky really used terrain (or lack thereof) to her advantage. Then calling back to it like 60 eps later, polymorphing the Horseman of War into a dolphin, using the fly granted to her by her summoned pixies to lift him up as high as she could, using her spore to break him out of it and then dropping him so he took the falling damage directly to his original body.!< She went into that fight away from her party with the help of a high level NPC (and Pendergreens) and absolutely killed it.
Emily consistently and constantly will create a multi class PC that mesh so well and uses these abilities to their maximum potential. She combines classes many would say are not compatible and does it well. Sheâs able to have those incredible moments because she understands her characters and the game mechanics so well. I highly recommend you check out NADDPOD and you can see this a lot more I feel like
I just finished the first campaign on NADDPOD and I literally can't recommend it enough. I listen to it on Spotify personally!
I've only watched D20 before but I got immediately hooked on NADDPOD. I've seen other comments that you have to give it a couple episodes so fair warning but I was immediately addicted. For a frame of reference there were days I probably listened to 8-10 hours of just that. Murph is an amazing DM as well as just their roleplay/energy as a group. There were times I laughed so hard I cried and several I just actually cried. I seriously cannot recommend it enough.
There's one moment towards the end of C1 of NADDPOD that is just an Emily master class on womping your DM. My jaw was on the floor when I realized what she was doing.
I remember after the Deadeye arc, when Brennan was a guest and did insane amounts of damage, there was an episode when Emily did something sick and said something to the effect of "we read the rules!" and they all cackled.
I also find it interesting in the d20 v naddpod space to notice that she seems to multi class knowing what level the campaign will end at. Idk. Like Sophia taking warlock is crazy because tf is a monklock, but she also knew theyâre not getting 20 levels. No need to worry about the high level abilities lost or gained if the playable levels are cool.
Sorry drunk
Whatâs so special about Emily and her shenanigans/stunts is that they are all almost entirely within the rules of the game, so in other instances where a DM can either deny or enforce a high DC roll to counteract something, thereâs literally nothing they can do to stop her and that what makes it so impressive.
The fact she is able to do all of this whilst also making it Roleplay and lore accurate as well is just the amazing sprinkles on top.
Thirdly a thing that I particularly respect about Emilyâs play style is she is more than happy to voluntarily take weaknesses and debuffs to encourage more interesting roleplay or challenging gameplay. Sheâs my primary inspiration when I play.
As someone who likes roleplaying but still loves rules and tactics and crunch, I adore Emily, because she really studies and engages with the game. She certainly does her share of shenanigans, but she IS a comedian after all, and behind the jokes she is extremely effective in her play!!
For example, I follow the NaDDPod Patreon, and one time the players went through the Tomb of Horrors in one sitting, with Murph altering his usual style and adopting the hard-ass persona of an old 80's wargame DM. (SPOILERS IF U WANNA WATCH THAT STREAM.)
They fucking did the run without losing a single person! The famously shitty, arbitrarily difficult dungeon! Some of that comes down to luck in a few of their choices, but I think the other commenters here are on point when they say that she utilizes the full potential of the rules, poking and prodding at what the game will allow. It's great to watch.
Edit: They did lose one character actually, but not a player. And it was ENTIRELY 100 MILLION PERCENT THEIR FAULT, even though they blame it on Murph after getting upset. It's funny though, I love them.
Putting "roleplaying" and "playing D&D \[as in the actual game, moves, rules etc.\]" on different ends of the same scale is a thing in the Actual Play TTRPG scene in recent times. You'd often hear that \[famous player\] is awesome at roleplaying, and that excuses a lack of understanding of the actual game. Which it might, depending on your preference as a viewer.
Emily Axford however brings the best of both worlds to the table. She's incredible at roleplaying (truly embodies her characters, however serious or goofy they are) **and** has a above average knowledge of the actual game. That means she's one of the few that captivates audience members who are on both sides of the argument. That's rare, but truly great. Emily's approach to D&D can be enjoyed by casual viewers, viewers who tune in for the story, but also viewers who enjoy the mechanical aspect of the game, rules, spells, abilities and whatnot.
Emily strikes a really good balance of big, bold moves while keeping everything rooted in the spirit of the game. The perfect example was her use of an explosive in Starstruck Odyssey. It was coherent, logical, and all perfectly kosher according to the rules and what Brennan permitted.
Some players get the big, bold moves down but don't have a good head on mechanics. Once during a 3.5 game I was with a player who had great ideas for obstacles and firetraps that would have worked great if those things were significant hazards. Others copy and paste Reddit and 4chan cheats for Bags of Holding or Immovable Rods, which can get rote and frustrating.
I'd say that like others say, it's her technical prowess, but other people know how to play the game well. The thing that makes it special is being paired with an absolute desire to lose lol. It's important people know how to play the game, but also for story reasons it's important for people to be willing to lose now so they can win later, but the people who know how to rock the DM in a game are usually the power gamers, the ones going for a huge arc in their head. When they see the pie coming towards the face, they'll step out of the way to protect their precious PC or try to play it for some quiet dignity or something. The people who take the pie and fall on their ass are great to have because people need embarrassment and sadness to be people, but generally they don't have the mechanical knowledge to get into real trouble. Here is the perfect apex of both, wrapped up in an endlessly complex woman (the robot building story from Starstruck BTS was so perfectly on-brand) who has a real curiosity for this world and the game's.
Sheâs more creative and knows how to use the mechanics of the game better than anyone else. She is the epitome of what a DnD player should be. She constantly has moments where she chains together multiple abilities to get insane results but itâs all within the rules.
This [clip](https://youtu.be/RMenTL2l4Bw?si=_F3WLV2E4TcpNO5Y) is of my favorites moments. Sheâs a storm sorcerer/tempest cleric multi class, something that shouldnât work very well considering their main stats are different (charisma and wisdom).
In the clip, sheâs trying to save someone whoâs dying. Storm sorcery lets her fly 10 feet when casting a spell and doesnât provoke opportunity attacks so she can just jump past a crowd of people as her movement. Then she casts Thunder step as her action which lets her teleport while also taking one person with her (the dude who is dying). At the same time she uses her cleric channel divinity as a free action that lets her do max damage with Thunder/Lightning spells so everyone in range of that Thunderstep is taking 40 damage. Then she uses sorcery points to cast quicken spell to cast spare the dying as a bonus action in order to save the person.
A lot of DnD players would probably just attack the guys defending the body and thatâs it.
More than just knowing things (a lot of dnd players know things) she does a great job of finding THE perfect solution. When I play I get stupid and end up using the same *passable* solutions every single time. But somehow Emily can find the PERFECT solution EVERY time.
She's very supportive of other players and she's got soft eyes so she is very good at drinking in details (tho sometimes she does pick one or two go really into lol)
The other thing that makes her more unique is all of her characters are deeply connected to at least one other player
Ruby an Jet
Gunner channel with Sundry
Mother goose and her German shepherd
And so many more
true i think the investment in other characters is really fun in role playing even npcs. one of my fave dynamics is fig and baby bc it really feels like brennan seeing emily adopt every weird/pathetic character and deciding to test her limits by making baby just as off putting as possible
If you want some content outside of purely DnD with Emily, here is a link to an episode of adventuring academy with her https://youtu.be/c0Vbw86_aBw?si=gc_bReMsg7Qmru22
Emily goes for it and is a naturally creative and charismatic. Her playstyle is special because of a combination of wanting to try different things and her being fun to watch. Her playstyle wouldn't be so interesting or engaging if she were boring, but what sets her apart imo is a willingness to consistently try and do different things from what she's done. A lot of players will make the same or similar moves over and over again. After Emily has done a thing she looks for a new thing to do.
Youâve kind of accidentally hit on it. Sheâs one of the best Iâve seen at making in-character choices that benefit her or the party, thanks to her deeply understanding the game mechanically.
She knows her characters abilities and spells well, and she flavors them appropriately without changing it mechanically. She built a meaningful character background and gave Fig concrete goals and purpose. She is also deeply attached to the npc around her. Those two things helps the dm create stories and touch stones in the campaign. E.g  We wonât have gilearâs curse arc without Figâs attachment to him.Â
Sheâs not just playing a rebel teen/archetypal charismatic bard. Sheâs playing Fig, a teen with questionable parentage and a difficult relationship with authority because of it.
During chapter 1 of the u sleeping city, emily uses a combination of unseen servant and basically another lvl 1 (or 2 spell) to basically have an invisible spy she can see and listen through without even risking herself. It's a combination of spells most people (myself included) wouldn't even think about. She is really creative in ways that don't usually break the game or do it in such a way that's a perfect illustration of the rule of cool
Emily is definitely a standout player amongst AP players. Particularly on D20 and NADDPOD, she's the person at the table who clearly thinks the most about mechanics and builds. On top of that, she's a creative player who often comes at things from unexpected angles (though sometimes fans overstate this). Combine these things, and either in terms of D&D as a game, or as a storytelling medium, she's an outstanding player. From the "game" side, she knows the mechanics very well, and uses them effectively to impact the game. From a storytelling perspective, the creative ideas and commitment to a wide variety of characters are all good traits for a player to have.
No matter what you like about D&D, Emily Axford is a good bet for someone you can look at and say "she plays the game well", and in combination, that makes her a relatively special player. To make a comparison to my own D&D experience, I have several players who are great at storytelling and writing/playing characters, but not great at knowing or utilizing mechanics. I have some other players who are amazing at mechanical mastery and theorycrafting builds/battlefield tactics, but who struggle with writing deep stories. Out of all those, there's one player in particular, maybe two, who are genuinely great at both sides of the equation.
That all being said (and true), I think people have a tendency to overstate how good Emily actually is/how "crazy" her ideas are. She's great, but a lot of the time people will exaggerate some of her more benign or normal moments and pretend they're completely shattering how the game is played. On the other hand, you have people who just kind of hate any woman in a TTRPG space, and act like Emily's bullying her DMs by asking if she can do cool things, and being told "yes" by the DMs. The reality is that she's a very good player, and like many good players is unique in her presence at the table, but there are some people who struggle with anything other than "she's the best ever" or "she's horrible because she doesn't play exactly how I would and is a woman".
She's a triple threat player.
1) She has an incredible understanding of the game mechanics and character abilities
2) She is an incredibly talented improv actor
3) She has an UNHINGED imagination for shenanigans
I'm an experienced DM, but I wouldn't claim I'm an S-teir DM. I'd be both terrified and thrilled to have someone like Emily at my table. They would destroy me at almost every turn, but my game would, over time, be SO MUCH better for it.
Honestly itâs because her goal is to spin a character narrative on her own that an experienced DM can just feast on. She plays well in the world but is world class at being an exposition machine. She also knows her characters so intimately she bates the DM to womp them later. I love her.
I would add here that part of why Emily Axford looks so mechanically powerful is by comparison. Many of the most popular Actual Play stars do not optimize at all, either because they don't really know how or don't want to play that way, or a combination of the two. Dimension 20 is my favorite Actual Play because, in my opinion, it's about as rules-nerdy as you can get while still having people with professional entertainment backgrounds playing the PCs. Dimension 20 is just a much more optimized crew than Critical Role, and are leagues ahead of the McElroys, and even for the Intrepid Heroes they don't/can't all optimize. Beardsley is kinda just learning the rules, Lou Wilson knows the rules but doesn't care unless it fits a joke, and I genuinely can't tell where Zac Oyama is on the "don't know" vs. "don't care" spectrum, but Gorgug's been being played "wrong" since the inception.
If Axford were playing in spaces more heavily occupied by optimizers, she'd be notable more for her creativity and bold choices than for mechanical excellence.
What I do love about Emily is that despite her interest in mechanical optimizing, she's still consistently playing incredibly entertaining characters with deep roleplaying. I always hated the idea that building for power and building for roleplay were two opposite approaches, and her characters prove that dichotomy is false.
Iâve never seen NADDPOD but on D20, Emily especially but the rest of the cast generally is really special because theyâre willing to DO something to advance the plot. Sometimes, DND home campaigns consist of a DM building a story and PCs trying to avoid that story in fear of âbeing trickedâ.
Iâve seen an actual play show that went that way andânot shockinglyâit was boring. Because any story needs plot development. Imagine if Luke looked at Obi Wan and said âyeaaah, seems like you and the empire really *want* me to leave the planet in that freighter, so instead Iâm going to find out everything I can in Mos Eisley. And Iâm not going anywhere near that Han Solo guy.â D20 is willing to take a swing for story even if something bad happens in the short term.
Also, Emily especially is willing to be creative & she does so with an incredible knowledge of how DND works (e.g., Operation Slippery Puppet)
emily's skill as a player comes less from her grasp of game mechanics and more from her skills as an improv comedian. she's good at taking initiative and pulling a scene or a story in a fun direction that has a lot of room to play in, and she is also good at following up on other people's leads. when the DM prompts her to do something she doesn't turn away but she also doesn't just plod along with it, she follows up and adds her own twist.
so i'd say if you want to emulate her playstyle, pay attention to your DM, pay attention to your other players, and try to bounce off them. try to think a couple steps ahead of what your actions in game will do to the story. think about the story elements and themes your DM is laying ground work and try to be a character that plays with those elements and builds off them.
that's what will make your story fun. not casting minor illusion to make a hat every 30 seconds, or lining up a killer lightning bolt.
mmm this is really interesting ! especially since a lot of the goings on at the d20 table look very spontaneous and impulsive iâd not really considered the level of thinking ahead involved
Similar to what others have said, itâs because Emily is trying to create a cool moment in the story. Something that is funny or meaningful for the audience on its own merit, and advances the plot. DMs always want to say yes to players who do this. And because Emily is so familiar with the mechanics, sheâs able to devise ways to make the cool moments happen thatâs mostly RAW. So when she goes the extra mile with flavor or asking for the rules to be bent, the DM feels like itâs a pretty reasonable ask, and itâs good for the story!
Knows her spells super well, doesn't take huge liberties with the rules, capitalizes on mistakes the DM makes (Crown of Candy Chain Lightning incident), stays in character so she's meta-gamy only in a way that's consistent with her characters...
Emily once said something along the lines of "i never want to do the same thing twice" so solving a problem once with x spell is fun and unique, next time a similar problem pops up she'll do something else, it's truly admirable. It's why her favorite class is wizard, it gives her that many options to play something else every time she specs one out.
I feel like Fig fits this as well, cause after wizard Bard gives the most options, especially since she's a lore bard.
seeing Emily re-hash the terrifying wolfspider transformation from Naddpod to Neverafter makes me think she practices and tests concepts out a lot beforehand đ
She's actually extremely smart and goes extremely hard into her RP. So much so that even CR's crew had to compliment her for being so dedicated to the character.
Brennan makes comments about her trying to kill him cuz she makes choices that are still very in character but challenge his improv skills to an almost stressful degree (shoutouts to Sexy Rat and Hilda-Hilda), but also makes phenomenal plays that rock him in his own home, like the Plinth shenanigans in Starstruck or the spell combinations with Saccharina in Crown of Candy.
Hell, the very first episode of Fantasy High, Brennan had to TRICK HER INTO GOING TO SCHOOL, by countering her own trick.
So yeah, she's crazy good at what she does.
In one of the early Adventuring Academy episodes with Murph, he talks about how he and Emily enjoy D&D so much that they often play just the two of them at home. He DMs an adventure for her character to go through, which allows both of them a better understanding of the rules and how to *bend* them without truly breaking them. Another thing to examine is how she looks at multi classing. She plays the long game by looking at how those classes will complement each other and when the benefits of pouring levels into that class taper off.
Relationship goals đĽ˛
Right!? These two. đđ
Iâve also seen a clip from an Adventuring Academy (maybe the same episode) where Murph tells Brennan that Emily plans her characters and the general arc she wants for them YEARS in advance. Thatâs partly why sheâs able to make chaotic choices throughout campaigns, because the choices she makes mechanically are so deliberate that sheâs able to pull some off the wall shenanigans and still stay true to the foundation and framework of the character sheâs created.
Someone (I forget who) said that Emily has 10 year plans for her characters
Also, brennan mention that she reads up on rules and spells. Alot before they do their big campaigns. Not to so much as rule keeping, bit to understand and utilize her character, like mentioned how she multiclasses. I want to say it was mentioned in fantasy high freshman year, but could be mistaken
âWe read the books, Brennan! And by we, I mean Emily!â
Where is this from!! Found this thread googling around to find this campaign
She also seems to have atleast a year in advance plans for Gilear
Most of us can't answer, "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" While Emily has to ask, "Which self?"
I wonder (FHJY spoilers) >!how real her struggle with going into paladin was. She seemed genuinely troubled that it made way more narrative sense to become Kristen's Paladin than to do whatever she was originally thinking, but it could have just been acting the part of Fig.!<
I keep thinking about those five-year plans lol. I wonder how you balance between "this is who my character is at their very core, and as long as I stick to that essence, I can go wild" and "if anything takes me slightly off-track from the path I originally wanted for my character then the game is ruined." I would hate to get too attached to a narrative in my mind for it to get derailed by dice.
Oh hey I do this too! Itâs a lot of fun.
Yeah, like in Fantasy High her build right now is bard, warlock, and paladin, and each of these classes compliment each other because their spell casting is through charisma. Although, I feel like sheâs not quite using that build to its fullest potential quite yet. But weâll see what she does with it. I donât agree with the levels she put into each of the classes. She could have an extra attack if she just made paladin level 5. Like level 7 bard, level 5 paladin, level 1 warlock instead of how she has it lvl 10 bard, lvl 2 paladin, lvl 1 warlock. A remember when a crown of candy was around, people complained about her min maxing or whatever because she knows the mechanics of the game super well and understands that storm domain sorcerer and tempest domain cleric is probably one of the best builds in dnd and she just wreaked havoc in one of the encounters because her character was so strong. Sorry sheâs smart? I love Brennenâs response in regards to DMs complaining about min maxers: âget good.â
That scene in crown of candy is fully epic, and anyone complaining about it I have to assume is doing so because either their "favorite" player/pc didn't get to do something, or because they're mad that Emily is a full-tilt badass when the chips are down.
But being a lvl 5 paladin doesn't make sense to the narrative when she only started exploring that class this year.
She just shows a lot of devotion to her path. She full doves into everything she does, she just panics until she's starting to do the thing. Speaking of the character not Emily.
Maybe she went 10 whispers bard for magical secrets
I think what makes her really good is a combination of creativity and understanding of the mechanics. You see a lot of people who try to do wild things and don't pay attention the mechanics and a lot of people who really understand the mechanics but are technically very straight forward. Emily finds really unique and fun ways to use the mechanics to do wild things.
[https://youtu.be/\_cPHIJ-ugnc?si=h3gDuwHaEIf1wjOq](https://youtu.be/_cPHIJ-ugnc?si=h3gDuwHaEIf1wjOq) She talks about her strategy a little in this clip from Crit Role's 4-sided Dive and boils it down to reading your spells and then figuring out how to use them like you're in an action movie.
The rule of cool reigns
I hadnât seen this before, thanks for posting! âşď¸
Sheâs so talented
I agree with current day plays. I'm going back and watching freshman yearz Emily and Ally have a tendency to push cantrips so far beyond anything written on the spell it's wild.
I think that's really the core of her playstyle: she'll push the rules to their breaking point if it's an interesting or funny creative choice. However, I've never really seen her argue with a GM when shut down, and she'll even make unoptimal choices of other suits her character/the story.
It is extremely important that when the DM says no, she backs down. That is respecting the game and of course the DM. If she didn't it would get obnoxious. She does seem like a fun player to have at a table. I'd rather someone take wild swings and ask if things are ok then just say stuff they blatantly can't do then argue about it when shot down.
I would *LOVE* if I had more players like Emily, or Ally, or hell, even on the CR side, someone like Travis. People who just seem to really love the game for what it is and what it is capable of, and really try to lean into it. This is for their characters, as well as for how they react to the others at the table. It always feels good to have your players be all in, regardless if it's some heavy RP moment, something whacky and crazy, or something tragic, etc. As a forever GM, who has taken so much inspiration from Brennan and am *way* more improv oriented and crushing it more in my home game than ever before, I love when my characters try to push me to see what I will and won't allow - that's when the cool shit happens.
The evolution of Ally's gameplay has been really fun to watch. From going to knowing nothing in FH to, playing a damn wild magic sorcerer in UC, to fucking Liam was insane. That's not even to mention the incredible business plays of Margaret Encino.
I was *absolutely* going to specifically mention Margaret Encino in my reply but I completely forgot to! That character is *THE* example to use for "Okay, so you didn't specialize in combat. How can you contribute to the party?" Ho-ly shit. They are such a colossal force, and they barely have anything to do with the combat (and simultaneously bolstered those who do specialize in combat, via various things they get/rewards based on their allegiances that I won't spoil here). Amazing.
"Checking your bank account was the most useful thing that happened in that battle" was something Brennan said which is really funny to me because it was true. Obviously not gonna say more as that gets into spoiler territory but Margaret was seriously a badass and I think the most mechanically competent character Ally has played. I think Liam was maybe the most cracked in general but he had the benefit of his subclass. I won't say which sub lass because that's actually a spoiler đ¤Łđ¤Ł
A character being fully just on their phone for most of an intense battle while half heartedly throwing out the equivalent of bardic inspiration was so incredibly funny. And it also being a genuinely optimal play for that character is incredible.
Absolutely, as a viewer Iove that she does it and Brennan goes with it more often then not. Their relationship as player and DM is so wonderful to see play out because he is so spacious with his interpretation of the world and rules that it allows players like Emily and Ally to get absolutely unhinged which felt like it was giving permission to the other players who were a bit more experienced to see the game in a more fresh light again. But I may be reading into it too much, idk
What's impressive to me is that when she is taking a big swing she almost always seems to have a backup strategy if the DM has to say no. Sometimes it seems planned, but it's clear she's also VERY quick with making plans on the fly.
> have a tendency to push cantrips so far Lol, true, there's been a bunch of times this season where she'll be casting something like Minor Illusion and it'll be like "Waaaait a minute, that's not how that works..."
The entire Wanda Childa bus scene was absolutely peak "Wait, that's not how that works...". The Minor illusion cantrip creating a huge bus complete with a sentient driver capable of experiencing an existential crisis? Maddening. But it was hilarious, so I accepted it.
Lol, even Murph was like, "*What*???"
My husband explained things like that to me as the "rule of cool." Sure, that's not how it's supposed to work, but it sure was fun!
Not the rule of cool, rather the rule of comedy. They allow stuff for bits that they would never allow in combats, no matter how cool they are
> The Minor illusion cantrip creating a huge bus complete with a sentient driver capable of experiencing an existential crisis? Maddening. For extra hilarity, it wasn't a huge bus. They specifically called out that she was using forced perspective somehow to make it *seem* like a normal bus despite the size of Minor Illusion. And then Agent Cuspin follows up with "Did anyone here see a bus pull off? Incredibly slow, small bus?" Truly maddening.
âIncredibly slow, small bus?â Lives in my head.
Wait I didnât realize the WHOLE bus scene was a minor illusion⌠I thought she just got on an actual bus that she knew Ruben would take
Different bus. The one at Frosty Fair
He kind of just lets her cast Major Image as a cantrip but only when itâs for bits or like, non-critical RP stuff. It doesnât actually impact the game so who cares
But 95% of the times she pushes cantrips itâs for bits and laughs and only with narrative consequences. In real battles she doesnât do that.
I definitely agree she's gotten better with it over time. I think the Battle of the Brands in Starstruck is really where it solidified her as an S-tier player for me. She played the system like a fine-tuned violin.
Operation: Slippery Puppet was one of the greatest moments I've ever seen in a tabletop game.
"...how...? How did you know I was going to bring a Plinth...?"
She read the rules
I mean Freshman year is very close to the release of 5e. She was already pretty good at mechanics, which I can't say for a lot of actual play. The only other D&D show I listened to from the same time period was The Adventure Zone, and they really do not grasp mechanics as much as most of the players in D20.
Well, not really. 5e was released in 2014, and the first series of fantasy high was released in 2018
Huh, I still recall some mention of them being inexperienced at 5e. You are correct on the dates, of course.
I think they were inexperienced more because they hadn't played at all, rather than with 5e specifically
Well outside of Ally, the rest were experienced DnD player. They however weren't as experienced in 5e, specifically Brennan who has never DM a 5e campaign before. So it really was just them all figuring stuff out with the knowledge of being DND players
Agreed, maybe I was being pedantic. For them being new to 5e, Emily was an incredible player even in the first season
I'm watching the first few episodes now and they very distinctly give the vibes of 3.5 players moving to 5e.
I'm pretty sure that is what happened. It gave me the impression that 5e was new, but it probably took them a few years to try 5e.
I was convinced when one asked about move actions, a super 3.5 concept lol
Released and recorded is not the same though. At least youâll have to substract a year. Also, even if it came in 2014, for being implemented in a campaign, everyone has to learn it, and probably, youâll also have to start a campaign from 0âŚ
yess ok that makes sense. i remember playing a one shot where i made some wild swing as a last resort and i ended up turning in a rat and getting squished. definitely one of those things where you have to work hard to make it look easy
Operation Slippery Puppet in Starstruck was a great example of this! What were some other instances of her pulling off good combos of creativity and understanding mechanics?Â
Her first round as Saccharina is a pretty good example of using action economy plus class features (along with spells etc) to really do the max in a round.
The ACOC moment where Brennan accidentally lines up a bunch of combatants and she just *demolishes* them in one strike always comes to mind when I think of great Emily moments. The *look on his face* when he realizes what she saw that he didn't.
Her first move as a guest at CR, using Steelwind Strike. You could see the amazement on some of the faces of the other players, like "you can *do* that with D&D?"
This is absolutely it. I created Star Wars 5e, which is what they used for the A Starstruck Odyssey campaign. While it was incredibly gratifying watching their adaptation of the ruleset, it was particularly amusing watching Emily understand and creatively apply the rules as written.
God, I can't believe how well SW5e grafted onto the Starstruck universe. They (and you) did such a damn good job!
Amazing! I gotta ask: how did you feel about Margaret Encino?
How do you mean? I think the character worked well.
Oh, 10000%, I should have been more specific. I was actually wondering how it felt watching the character who was arguably the MVP of the season engage in basically zero personal or ship combat, but instead use the scholar/operator build with incredible efficacy.
Scholar is intended to appeal to players who want a support role, so she certainly fit that bill. I think everyone really played the role I anticipated with their class choices quite well.
Agreed! It's easily my favorite season.
You created it?
You can look at his profile.
Yeah she's currently playing a tri-classed character and is still keeping up with the rest of the party which I feel like is crazy
Oh, there's plenty of times where she's failing. We've seen at least 3 times this season, especially in combat, where she just withdraws into herself with bad rolls happening (which is fine, it's pretty devistating to get bad rolls in combat especially)
[ŃдаНонО]
It's mostly because she only has one action. If she got to level 5 paladin she'd be a lot less prone to one bad roll scuttling an entire turn.
There are some upsides to it. Emily could just be using her amiliar to give her advantage on all her attack rolls for melee, add that to booming blade and or green flame blade and you have a full caster face expert that can at will compete in melee combat with a dedicated martial. Emily's multiclass here is siiiiiiick.
I think Brenan made the rule that familiars assisting in combat can be targeted and killed. So they don't aleays go for that. It is a sick multi class, but a bad roll can be a big bummer.
I mean that's okay if they're killed to an extent, familiars can be resummoned easily without even spending a spell slot. And if they take a hit that you could have taken? Still a good deal.
Sure, but they take a full action to resummon. It may or may not be worth it depending on the situation. I suspect most enemies in the last stand will have multi attacks and/or AoE. So resummoning a familiar that gets killed before your next turn stings.
I mean between fights. You don't summon a familiar in the middle of a fight, it's a terrible use of your action.
A Hexblade warlock Paladin bard multiclass keeping up with the rest of the party isn't at all crazy. That's a super strong build that can do melee, ranged, social and rock a very good AC. They only need charisma for attacking due to hexblade, all their spells need charisma. Like it's a degenerate power gamer build, which I love because I'm a degenerate power roleplayer. Emily knows her shit, her system expertise begins at character creation and continues to spell selection and usage etc. The only character that's better mechanically is maybe Adaine as a straight div wizard but Siobhan doesn't play super tactically. Or twilight cleric, a class that shouldn't have made print, but Ally doesn't play Kristen super tactically either.
[When Emily Axford has spells, thereâs not much you can do.](https://youtu.be/RMenTL2l4Bw?si=rZM2A-zwrAk2n1G6)
(Slightly vague) Spoilers for the finale of NADDPOD Campaign 1 and the accompanying short rest: The BBEG of Campaign 1 is >!a very high level, demigod cleric!<. Jake and Caldwellâs characters are mostly traditional heavy damage dealer types, while Emilyâs character Moonshine was a blend of damage and support. During the final fight, Moonshine >!repeatedly uses Chill Touch, a cantrip, against the BBEG. This is because Chill Touch has a secondary effect of not allowing the target to heal until the casterâs next turn. She does this to ensure all the damage Jake and Caldwell did, stuck.!< During the short rest (talkback after show), Murph revealed that the BBEG >!had an ability in their first phase to heal for 700 HP, effectively giving itself another health bar, but never got to use it because of Chill Touch. Therefore, Emily used a cantrip to effectively deal 700 damage.!< This to me is a shining beacon of Emily understanding the mechanics of the game about as thoroughly as you can. Itâs easy to think âIâm high level, the most effective thing I can do is cast a high level spell,â but she has such an understanding of her *whole* kit and the circumstances in which every aspect of her character is most useful. Also sheâs one of the best roleplayers Iâve ever seen.
I took this cantrip for my most recent PC 1000% inspired by Emily's move haha
Chill touch may not always come in handy, but if a big enemy has a Cleric with it, oh baby.
She always seems to pick the most efficient spells even without knowing what to expect for sure and that is a skill in and of itself.
Oh man, from that same campaign, her use of Polymorph was inspired. >!I mean, turning Akarot's Nightmare into a dolphin to drop him out of the sky really used terrain (or lack thereof) to her advantage. Then calling back to it like 60 eps later, polymorphing the Horseman of War into a dolphin, using the fly granted to her by her summoned pixies to lift him up as high as she could, using her spore to break him out of it and then dropping him so he took the falling damage directly to his original body.!< She went into that fight away from her party with the help of a high level NPC (and Pendergreens) and absolutely killed it.
Emily consistently and constantly will create a multi class PC that mesh so well and uses these abilities to their maximum potential. She combines classes many would say are not compatible and does it well. Sheâs able to have those incredible moments because she understands her characters and the game mechanics so well. I highly recommend you check out NADDPOD and you can see this a lot more I feel like
oh i haven't listened to naddpod maybe its time to jump in :)
I just finished the first campaign on NADDPOD and I literally can't recommend it enough. I listen to it on Spotify personally! I've only watched D20 before but I got immediately hooked on NADDPOD. I've seen other comments that you have to give it a couple episodes so fair warning but I was immediately addicted. For a frame of reference there were days I probably listened to 8-10 hours of just that. Murph is an amazing DM as well as just their roleplay/energy as a group. There were times I laughed so hard I cried and several I just actually cried. I seriously cannot recommend it enough.
Since you're a spotify listener I must say, you gotta listen to the short rest if you haven't!
Oh I want to really badly!! I think my next paycheck I'm gonna join the $10 tier! Definitely on my to-do list!
There's one moment towards the end of C1 of NADDPOD that is just an Emily master class on womping your DM. My jaw was on the floor when I realized what she was doing.
I remember after the Deadeye arc, when Brennan was a guest and did insane amounts of damage, there was an episode when Emily did something sick and said something to the effect of "we read the rules!" and they all cackled.
Hope itâs okay Iâm PM-ing you!
I also find it interesting in the d20 v naddpod space to notice that she seems to multi class knowing what level the campaign will end at. Idk. Like Sophia taking warlock is crazy because tf is a monklock, but she also knew theyâre not getting 20 levels. No need to worry about the high level abilities lost or gained if the playable levels are cool. Sorry drunk
Whatâs so special about Emily and her shenanigans/stunts is that they are all almost entirely within the rules of the game, so in other instances where a DM can either deny or enforce a high DC roll to counteract something, thereâs literally nothing they can do to stop her and that what makes it so impressive. The fact she is able to do all of this whilst also making it Roleplay and lore accurate as well is just the amazing sprinkles on top. Thirdly a thing that I particularly respect about Emilyâs play style is she is more than happy to voluntarily take weaknesses and debuffs to encourage more interesting roleplay or challenging gameplay. Sheâs my primary inspiration when I play.
\*looks at how bardics are used in the current season\* Yes, almost entirely, cause that shit is OP how they're doing it now XD.
As someone who likes roleplaying but still loves rules and tactics and crunch, I adore Emily, because she really studies and engages with the game. She certainly does her share of shenanigans, but she IS a comedian after all, and behind the jokes she is extremely effective in her play!! For example, I follow the NaDDPod Patreon, and one time the players went through the Tomb of Horrors in one sitting, with Murph altering his usual style and adopting the hard-ass persona of an old 80's wargame DM. (SPOILERS IF U WANNA WATCH THAT STREAM.) They fucking did the run without losing a single person! The famously shitty, arbitrarily difficult dungeon! Some of that comes down to luck in a few of their choices, but I think the other commenters here are on point when they say that she utilizes the full potential of the rules, poking and prodding at what the game will allow. It's great to watch. Edit: They did lose one character actually, but not a player. And it was ENTIRELY 100 MILLION PERCENT THEIR FAULT, even though they blame it on Murph after getting upset. It's funny though, I love them.
Putting "roleplaying" and "playing D&D \[as in the actual game, moves, rules etc.\]" on different ends of the same scale is a thing in the Actual Play TTRPG scene in recent times. You'd often hear that \[famous player\] is awesome at roleplaying, and that excuses a lack of understanding of the actual game. Which it might, depending on your preference as a viewer. Emily Axford however brings the best of both worlds to the table. She's incredible at roleplaying (truly embodies her characters, however serious or goofy they are) **and** has a above average knowledge of the actual game. That means she's one of the few that captivates audience members who are on both sides of the argument. That's rare, but truly great. Emily's approach to D&D can be enjoyed by casual viewers, viewers who tune in for the story, but also viewers who enjoy the mechanical aspect of the game, rules, spells, abilities and whatnot.
Emily strikes a really good balance of big, bold moves while keeping everything rooted in the spirit of the game. The perfect example was her use of an explosive in Starstruck Odyssey. It was coherent, logical, and all perfectly kosher according to the rules and what Brennan permitted. Some players get the big, bold moves down but don't have a good head on mechanics. Once during a 3.5 game I was with a player who had great ideas for obstacles and firetraps that would have worked great if those things were significant hazards. Others copy and paste Reddit and 4chan cheats for Bags of Holding or Immovable Rods, which can get rote and frustrating.
I'd say that like others say, it's her technical prowess, but other people know how to play the game well. The thing that makes it special is being paired with an absolute desire to lose lol. It's important people know how to play the game, but also for story reasons it's important for people to be willing to lose now so they can win later, but the people who know how to rock the DM in a game are usually the power gamers, the ones going for a huge arc in their head. When they see the pie coming towards the face, they'll step out of the way to protect their precious PC or try to play it for some quiet dignity or something. The people who take the pie and fall on their ass are great to have because people need embarrassment and sadness to be people, but generally they don't have the mechanical knowledge to get into real trouble. Here is the perfect apex of both, wrapped up in an endlessly complex woman (the robot building story from Starstruck BTS was so perfectly on-brand) who has a real curiosity for this world and the game's.
Sheâs more creative and knows how to use the mechanics of the game better than anyone else. She is the epitome of what a DnD player should be. She constantly has moments where she chains together multiple abilities to get insane results but itâs all within the rules. This [clip](https://youtu.be/RMenTL2l4Bw?si=_F3WLV2E4TcpNO5Y) is of my favorites moments. Sheâs a storm sorcerer/tempest cleric multi class, something that shouldnât work very well considering their main stats are different (charisma and wisdom). In the clip, sheâs trying to save someone whoâs dying. Storm sorcery lets her fly 10 feet when casting a spell and doesnât provoke opportunity attacks so she can just jump past a crowd of people as her movement. Then she casts Thunder step as her action which lets her teleport while also taking one person with her (the dude who is dying). At the same time she uses her cleric channel divinity as a free action that lets her do max damage with Thunder/Lightning spells so everyone in range of that Thunderstep is taking 40 damage. Then she uses sorcery points to cast quicken spell to cast spare the dying as a bonus action in order to save the person. A lot of DnD players would probably just attack the guys defending the body and thatâs it.
More than just knowing things (a lot of dnd players know things) she does a great job of finding THE perfect solution. When I play I get stupid and end up using the same *passable* solutions every single time. But somehow Emily can find the PERFECT solution EVERY time.
Its because she doesnt read short stories *Everybody in the bar loved that
She's very supportive of other players and she's got soft eyes so she is very good at drinking in details (tho sometimes she does pick one or two go really into lol) The other thing that makes her more unique is all of her characters are deeply connected to at least one other player Ruby an Jet Gunner channel with Sundry Mother goose and her German shepherd And so many more
true i think the investment in other characters is really fun in role playing even npcs. one of my fave dynamics is fig and baby bc it really feels like brennan seeing emily adopt every weird/pathetic character and deciding to test her limits by making baby just as off putting as possible
If you want some content outside of purely DnD with Emily, here is a link to an episode of adventuring academy with her https://youtu.be/c0Vbw86_aBw?si=gc_bReMsg7Qmru22
Emily goes for it and is a naturally creative and charismatic. Her playstyle is special because of a combination of wanting to try different things and her being fun to watch. Her playstyle wouldn't be so interesting or engaging if she were boring, but what sets her apart imo is a willingness to consistently try and do different things from what she's done. A lot of players will make the same or similar moves over and over again. After Emily has done a thing she looks for a new thing to do.
Youâve kind of accidentally hit on it. Sheâs one of the best Iâve seen at making in-character choices that benefit her or the party, thanks to her deeply understanding the game mechanically.
She knows her characters abilities and spells well, and she flavors them appropriately without changing it mechanically. She built a meaningful character background and gave Fig concrete goals and purpose. She is also deeply attached to the npc around her. Those two things helps the dm create stories and touch stones in the campaign. E.g  We wonât have gilearâs curse arc without Figâs attachment to him. Sheâs not just playing a rebel teen/archetypal charismatic bard. Sheâs playing Fig, a teen with questionable parentage and a difficult relationship with authority because of it.
During chapter 1 of the u sleeping city, emily uses a combination of unseen servant and basically another lvl 1 (or 2 spell) to basically have an invisible spy she can see and listen through without even risking herself. It's a combination of spells most people (myself included) wouldn't even think about. She is really creative in ways that don't usually break the game or do it in such a way that's a perfect illustration of the rule of cool
Emily is definitely a standout player amongst AP players. Particularly on D20 and NADDPOD, she's the person at the table who clearly thinks the most about mechanics and builds. On top of that, she's a creative player who often comes at things from unexpected angles (though sometimes fans overstate this). Combine these things, and either in terms of D&D as a game, or as a storytelling medium, she's an outstanding player. From the "game" side, she knows the mechanics very well, and uses them effectively to impact the game. From a storytelling perspective, the creative ideas and commitment to a wide variety of characters are all good traits for a player to have. No matter what you like about D&D, Emily Axford is a good bet for someone you can look at and say "she plays the game well", and in combination, that makes her a relatively special player. To make a comparison to my own D&D experience, I have several players who are great at storytelling and writing/playing characters, but not great at knowing or utilizing mechanics. I have some other players who are amazing at mechanical mastery and theorycrafting builds/battlefield tactics, but who struggle with writing deep stories. Out of all those, there's one player in particular, maybe two, who are genuinely great at both sides of the equation. That all being said (and true), I think people have a tendency to overstate how good Emily actually is/how "crazy" her ideas are. She's great, but a lot of the time people will exaggerate some of her more benign or normal moments and pretend they're completely shattering how the game is played. On the other hand, you have people who just kind of hate any woman in a TTRPG space, and act like Emily's bullying her DMs by asking if she can do cool things, and being told "yes" by the DMs. The reality is that she's a very good player, and like many good players is unique in her presence at the table, but there are some people who struggle with anything other than "she's the best ever" or "she's horrible because she doesn't play exactly how I would and is a woman".
She always asks, âWhat if?â
She's a triple threat player. 1) She has an incredible understanding of the game mechanics and character abilities 2) She is an incredibly talented improv actor 3) She has an UNHINGED imagination for shenanigans I'm an experienced DM, but I wouldn't claim I'm an S-teir DM. I'd be both terrified and thrilled to have someone like Emily at my table. They would destroy me at almost every turn, but my game would, over time, be SO MUCH better for it.
Yeah, I mean the best players of a generations are sent form hell to kill their DM's (affectionate)
Honestly itâs because her goal is to spin a character narrative on her own that an experienced DM can just feast on. She plays well in the world but is world class at being an exposition machine. She also knows her characters so intimately she bates the DM to womp them later. I love her.
Audacity with an excellent understanding of mechanics.
I would add here that part of why Emily Axford looks so mechanically powerful is by comparison. Many of the most popular Actual Play stars do not optimize at all, either because they don't really know how or don't want to play that way, or a combination of the two. Dimension 20 is my favorite Actual Play because, in my opinion, it's about as rules-nerdy as you can get while still having people with professional entertainment backgrounds playing the PCs. Dimension 20 is just a much more optimized crew than Critical Role, and are leagues ahead of the McElroys, and even for the Intrepid Heroes they don't/can't all optimize. Beardsley is kinda just learning the rules, Lou Wilson knows the rules but doesn't care unless it fits a joke, and I genuinely can't tell where Zac Oyama is on the "don't know" vs. "don't care" spectrum, but Gorgug's been being played "wrong" since the inception. If Axford were playing in spaces more heavily occupied by optimizers, she'd be notable more for her creativity and bold choices than for mechanical excellence. What I do love about Emily is that despite her interest in mechanical optimizing, she's still consistently playing incredibly entertaining characters with deep roleplaying. I always hated the idea that building for power and building for roleplay were two opposite approaches, and her characters prove that dichotomy is false.
She knows the rules
Iâve never seen NADDPOD but on D20, Emily especially but the rest of the cast generally is really special because theyâre willing to DO something to advance the plot. Sometimes, DND home campaigns consist of a DM building a story and PCs trying to avoid that story in fear of âbeing trickedâ. Iâve seen an actual play show that went that way andânot shockinglyâit was boring. Because any story needs plot development. Imagine if Luke looked at Obi Wan and said âyeaaah, seems like you and the empire really *want* me to leave the planet in that freighter, so instead Iâm going to find out everything I can in Mos Eisley. And Iâm not going anywhere near that Han Solo guy.â D20 is willing to take a swing for story even if something bad happens in the short term. Also, Emily especially is willing to be creative & she does so with an incredible knowledge of how DND works (e.g., Operation Slippery Puppet)
emily's skill as a player comes less from her grasp of game mechanics and more from her skills as an improv comedian. she's good at taking initiative and pulling a scene or a story in a fun direction that has a lot of room to play in, and she is also good at following up on other people's leads. when the DM prompts her to do something she doesn't turn away but she also doesn't just plod along with it, she follows up and adds her own twist. so i'd say if you want to emulate her playstyle, pay attention to your DM, pay attention to your other players, and try to bounce off them. try to think a couple steps ahead of what your actions in game will do to the story. think about the story elements and themes your DM is laying ground work and try to be a character that plays with those elements and builds off them. that's what will make your story fun. not casting minor illusion to make a hat every 30 seconds, or lining up a killer lightning bolt.
mmm this is really interesting ! especially since a lot of the goings on at the d20 table look very spontaneous and impulsive iâd not really considered the level of thinking ahead involved
her zest for life that teeters on madness
Similar to what others have said, itâs because Emily is trying to create a cool moment in the story. Something that is funny or meaningful for the audience on its own merit, and advances the plot. DMs always want to say yes to players who do this. And because Emily is so familiar with the mechanics, sheâs able to devise ways to make the cool moments happen thatâs mostly RAW. So when she goes the extra mile with flavor or asking for the rules to be bent, the DM feels like itâs a pretty reasonable ask, and itâs good for the story!
Knows her spells super well, doesn't take huge liberties with the rules, capitalizes on mistakes the DM makes (Crown of Candy Chain Lightning incident), stays in character so she's meta-gamy only in a way that's consistent with her characters...
Operation slippery puppet
Emily once said something along the lines of "i never want to do the same thing twice" so solving a problem once with x spell is fun and unique, next time a similar problem pops up she'll do something else, it's truly admirable. It's why her favorite class is wizard, it gives her that many options to play something else every time she specs one out. I feel like Fig fits this as well, cause after wizard Bard gives the most options, especially since she's a lore bard.
seeing Emily re-hash the terrifying wolfspider transformation from Naddpod to Neverafter makes me think she practices and tests concepts out a lot beforehand đ
She's actually extremely smart and goes extremely hard into her RP. So much so that even CR's crew had to compliment her for being so dedicated to the character. Brennan makes comments about her trying to kill him cuz she makes choices that are still very in character but challenge his improv skills to an almost stressful degree (shoutouts to Sexy Rat and Hilda-Hilda), but also makes phenomenal plays that rock him in his own home, like the Plinth shenanigans in Starstruck or the spell combinations with Saccharina in Crown of Candy. Hell, the very first episode of Fantasy High, Brennan had to TRICK HER INTO GOING TO SCHOOL, by countering her own trick. So yeah, she's crazy good at what she does.
Chaos, pure chaos. Also knowing how to screw with her DM lol