SU&SD Play…. Dungeons & Dragons: The Hangover

Paul: Are you already missing the madcap misadventures of SU&SDD&D? Then grieve not, because today we’re also sharing our very special (and slightly different) live SHUX roleplaying session. Prepare yourselves for The Hangover!

This rather different D&D module is based around the hugely successful comic Rat Queens and was authored by its creator, the ineffable Kurtis Wiebe, so who better to ask to run this remarkable roleplaying event than the man himself? Yes, that’s right, Kurtis took the helm while Pip, Cynthia, Quinns and Matt went wild with his characters. Don’t worry, no canon interpretations were harmed during the making of this video.

Our huge thanks again to Kurtis for flying in to make this happen, for doing a Q&A after and for being such a terrific convention guest. This is also a personal point of pride for me, as I assembled and organised most of this session, and it was a pleasure to bring some live roleplaying to SHUX. One short word of warning: this is definitely a little more NSFW than many of our other videos. As they say in some parts of the world, viewer discretion is advised.

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Review: Hive Pocket

Surprise, it’s a re-review of Hive! Fortunately the last review barely talked about the game and wasn’t filmed in a totally ancient ruin. In more ways than one, it’s wonderful to think how far we’ve come.

Gosh, we’ve had a lot of fun recently returning to older games. They’re all so good! What are some of the games in your collection that you feel have stood the test of time, readers?

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SU&SD Play…. Dungeons & Dragons, Part 3

What follows Part 1 and Part 2? We’ve got some news for you: It’s the third part of our D&D adventure!

In this episode our team of a tory, a crank and a lizard descend into their very first dungeon,  the very engine room of D&D. What monsters will they fight? What puzzles will they overcome? And what treasure will they find?

It’s easy to poke fun at D&D. It’s a lot harder to argue with the thrill of beating up a boss and taking his gold. Get ’em, Badger!

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Review: Cockroach Poker Royal

As our team continues playtesting and preparing for the first of the year’s Big Reviews, here’s a cheeky appetiser! While Quinns was on holiday this month he filmed a couple of lightweight reviews on his favourite travel games, starting with the ever-entertaining Cockroach Poker.

(Yes, we published an article about Cockroach Poker before, but in 2018 our written articles reach a fraction of the audience that our video reviews do. In other words, if a game’s absolutely awesome then us writing about it is basically the worst thing that could happen to it, so going forward you can expect us to occasionally re-visit a classic game in video format.)

(And no, you’re not wrong, Quinns mentions Galaxy Trucker in this video but forgot to film that bit of the script. His waterlogged English brain was probably struggling with all that sunshine.)

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SU&SD Play…. Dungeons & Dragons, Part 2

It’s time to rejoin the adventures of Badger Kennington, Mr. Balderk and Sean Dragonborn! Our group’s inevitable descent into “being the bad guys” continues apace.

If you missed part one, check it out right here. If you want to watch more from our sickeningly good guest dungeon master, Mark Hulmes’ own channel can be found here. Or were you looking for something a little… stronger? If so, all of SU&SD’s role-playing game coverage is here.

Tell you what, this “Dungeons & Dragons” thing is a lot of fun. Expect big things from this game. As cutting edge board game critics, we’d stake our reputation on it.

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Dungeons and Dragons with Mark Hulmes

Last year we transported our bodies to Bristol for a day of filming with Mark Hulmes – a Dungeon Master extraordinaire who specializes in creating high-grade fun within the realms of Dungeons & Dragons. Be aware that whilst we’ve snipped out the swearing, the series does contain infrequent graphic descriptions of violence.

Joined by friend of the show Pip Warr, we delved into a world of monsters, fine wine, and terrifying levels of socioeconomic privilege. Quintin squeezes into the boots of a tired and possibly dangerous Dwarf, Pip is a Druid Dragonthing who doesn’t entirely understand humans, and Matt is just a terrible man who also unfortunately seems to have acquired a gun.

This is a three part series which will continue next Wednesday, and shortly after this one wraps up we’ll have a video of the same group playing The World Wide Wrestling RPG. Honestly, it is quite the thing. 

Chomping at the bit for more? Please enjoy this video from last year’s SHUX in which the team and friends played through a D&D adventure as the cast of Rat Queens – with the author of the series acting as Dungeon Master! We had an absolute blast with that one, although do bear in mind that it is honestly very rude.

Review: Gloomhaven

Sentient trebuchets rejoice! With just hours to go until the end of the board gaming year, we’ve snuck in our review of 2017’s biggest game. The fantasy hack-and-slash epic that is Gloomhaven weighs in at a preposterous 22lbs, it takes hundreds of hours to finish, and it raised more than four million dollars on Kickstarter.

It will be enjoying a global retail release just next month, but should you buy it?

Let’s take a look.

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Our Xmas Pledge Drive is Now Open!

Quinns: Oh my goodness! With just Matt’s Gloomhaven review and a year-end podcast to go, that’s almost it for us this year.

“But wait!” you cry. “I haven’t had nearly enough Shut Up & Sit Down!”

Then please, consider thanking us for the service we’ve been providing for more than six years with a donation. Anyone who signs up to donate in a given month will enter the prestigious SU&SD Gold Club, and members receive a monthly behind-the-scenes newsletter, discounts on merchandise and early access to ticket sales for SHUX, the SU&SD convention.

Paul: This December’s newsletter goes out in a week’s time and it’ll be a holiday special, containing our plans for 2018, a blooper reel and access to ALL previous newsletters!

Thanks, everybody. We’ve had a great time putting together a year’s worth of board game coverage for you guys. Who fancies another year?

Merry Christmas from Team SU&SD.

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Review: Azul

The holiday season is upon us and Paul has discovered a very special gift has come his way! But does it really suit? Azul is an abstract game, nothing like the sort of thing he usually enjoys, so was this a present poorly chosen? Has someone made a terrible mistake? Are the holidays ruined?

There’s only one way to find out! Sit back, get comfortable and enjoy our special, seasonal, candlelit review.

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Review: Twilight Imperium, Fourth Edition

At last. A full six years after we rugby-tackled one of the most glorious and gargantuan board games ever made, we once again take on Twilight Imperium. Sleeker and shinier than ever, just how does the refined fourth edition compare with its previous incarnation? Look no further, for we offer you the definitive review of this epic space opera.

And yes, we really do mean definitive. After Matt and Paul prodded the game so much at Fantasy Flight’s headquarters for Matt’s in-depth documentary, Quinns took on the brave (some would say Herculean) task of looking at this new edition both as a standalone game, but also alongside its predecessor, which is now widely discounted. Which one deserves your money?

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