0:08

Welcome, Dumbheads, to MDC, the Mega

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-Dumbcast. In this series, we examining

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every single goddamn page of

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The Crucible of God, an -time

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story from the scenario book, Gehenna,

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to determine what is the

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dumbest thing on each page. Every

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episode is one page, every

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episode is short. The Crucible of

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God was published in 2003

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by White Wolf. Tonight

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we're discussing page 209 of

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Gehenna. We are at the end.

0:38

of The Crucible of God scenario, and

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this is the last page of

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Season 6. Next time, I'm going to

0:44

be doing a wrap -up episode The

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Crucible of God and also just the season

0:48

as a whole. But tonight is the last

0:51

page of the last text that I'm covering

0:53

this season. And it's gonna be a short

0:55

one. Last time. I really wrapped up

0:57

the story. It was a long episode.

0:59

I took you all the way through. Timmy the Tree's

1:01

Christmas Adventure, which I think we can all agree is the

1:03

only way this season could have ended. I

1:06

mean, everything was pointing toward that. The

1:08

signs were there. I think

1:10

if you go back and re -listen to

1:12

this season, you'll see the subtle foreshadowing throughout.

1:14

I did so much work in the episode,

1:16

laying out exactly how this ended for Vampire

1:18

Drama Club. that I barely

1:20

engaged with the page itself at all. Partly

1:23

that's just because I had a lot of vampire

1:25

drama club business to take care of this is

1:27

the last scene of their story really. So

1:29

I wanted to focus on them, but

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also it's partly because there's otherwise

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not much to talk about on

1:35

the page. Page 208 is just

1:37

a section entitled Aftermath that describes

1:39

the default ending of this scenario.

1:41

the player characters go ahead with

1:43

Sawat's plan, get diabolorized by Zemishi,

1:46

get redeemed inside Zemishi, and thereby

1:48

lift the curse for everyone. I'm

1:50

not going to read the whole page to you, especially

1:52

since it's not the page we're talking about today. but

1:55

to hit the high points of the default ending of the

1:57

Crucible of God. There are no remaining

1:59

vampires. including the player characters.

2:01

Everyone is either cured of vampirism or

2:03

has transcended to another state of

2:05

existence. state of disintegrated Or they

2:07

are All kindred who had moved themselves

2:09

even a little ways back to mortality become

2:11

mortal again. ways All other kindred burn and

2:13

leave not even ashes behind. So God

2:16

did offer a chance at humanity. behind. So God

2:18

did of chance at those who did not

2:20

accept this merciful offer, But those threw directly

2:22

in the garbage. It's like they

2:24

say, threw closes a door, he opens a

2:26

window like also a trap God So a jump

2:28

for that window. window. Humanity has

2:30

been reduced to 1 %

2:32

of its population pre Bacantes

2:35

The fucking roaming are still

2:37

roaming around, crazy, also the Also So

2:39

a large portion of the large portion

2:41

of the human population is

2:43

now serial killers. significance unclear, like strive to

2:45

be human, to be human, high

2:48

but also a high percentage

2:50

of humans are Visisitude, the Zamishi discipline, continues

2:53

to thrive on though even though vampirism

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has gone has a thing

2:57

that that... living creatures can have. there are are

2:59

all kinds of twisted animals and plants and

3:01

stuff and people around the world who have still

3:03

a little bit of a still in them. bit

3:05

of a still a bunch of giant

3:07

monsters roaming around from when monsters roaming around

3:10

from when The giant mouth that

3:12

eats cities is still active, has

3:14

calmed down, has to have left Seems eating

3:16

left the city eating game, but occasionally the

3:18

landscape for inscrutable reasons. Then

3:20

there's the thing about

3:22

Sarah, the who Sarah, who canonically in the

3:25

text often called called the shaper. Sarah is

3:27

the name that she gave, but

3:29

really she is the Shaper. has She

3:31

has this unique discipline that allows

3:33

her to modify matter and create

3:35

objects. Within the text, she is a

3:37

forgotten I added the I added

3:39

the detail that she was one of the

3:41

kings, because in the in the continuity

3:43

that we've developed over the season, if

3:45

Vampirism was seeded on earth long ago, ago,

3:48

like in the KT extinction event, there

3:50

there weren't any humans then. then. But

3:52

there were sentient beings, so it makes sense that

3:54

the forgotten would be lizard

3:56

people, not humans. humans. Anyway, shaper gives herself

3:58

a crystalline body and creates... mountains in the shape of

4:00

the shape of the Player Characters to

4:02

honor them, of the part of the default ending.

4:04

that's basically that's basically it. That's how the

4:06

story ends. of Darkness World of Darkness has turned

4:08

into kind of a weird fantasy world. and

4:10

stuff, and monsters and stuff. go from there,

4:12

I guess you're meant to go from there of what

4:14

you least on, is of what you is on is

4:16

like the world None transformed to Vampire of that applies

4:18

to vampire drama a They found a different route secret

4:20

found the secret ending where you get to

4:23

revert a lot of the effects of lot of the

4:25

So the effects, None of of that happened,

4:27

and it's not very exciting exciting

4:29

I think the author I think the

4:31

this because the author provided here

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on page the author provided, here on page

4:35

endings to the scenario. These endings

4:37

are endings are respectively more and hopeless and

4:39

less crappy and hopeless than the

4:41

main ending ending, one exception, which we'll

4:43

get to at the very at the Ending

4:45

number one, the crappy ending. the It's

4:47

called ending. It's is silence, quote.

4:49

Silence. troops that enjoy hardcore tragedy

4:52

might prefer to give give an

4:54

even bleaker ending. I'm sorry, I'm

4:56

momentarily distracted by the idea

4:58

of hardcore tragedy the in hardcore porn.

5:00

in like but also it's a classic

5:02

tragedy, like an Aristotelian. Like I stumbled

5:04

upon my my with her head caught

5:06

in the washing machine washing I had sex

5:08

with her and now I must fall

5:10

upon my sword. fall Now I

5:13

must tear out my eyes. tear that. eyes. I

5:15

I know. know. Maybe could give a little life

5:17

to both the I think. think. See, the

5:19

problem with this, though, is everybody

5:21

has to die before the has otherwise

5:23

people won't watch it all the way

5:25

through. It'll lose the tragic effect. it

5:28

all the know. through I will watch your

5:30

three -hour pornographic reinterpretation of three-hour but

5:32

I enter as a skeptic. I

5:34

don't know if you can make it of but I'm

5:36

rooting for you. Anyway, enter what is this hardcore tragedy?

5:38

know if you can make it gel, the world in

5:40

their struggle and drain all life

5:42

to fuel their quest for Godhood. All of

5:45

humanity dies. dies. All the animals die.

5:47

All the All the plants die. in in

5:49

the sea dies. the Only the characters are

5:51

left, the last the on a

5:53

planet as barren as the moon. They they have

5:55

nothing to feed upon, except each other.

5:57

other. And then, a torpor that never ends. or

6:00

the mercy of of the For extra For extra

6:02

irony, death let the death of of the

6:04

Antediluvians propel the characters to the ancient site

6:06

of Eden, ancient now blasted and dead like

6:08

the rest of the world. the rest goes

6:10

on to say you can see what the

6:12

to say final actions are before their inevitable

6:14

end. I gotta tell you, for all that

6:16

I have shit on gotta tell pretentious I have

6:18

of the world of darkness, of the it raised

6:20

me right it this actually sounds like a

6:22

good time to me. like a good of darkness

6:25

The me to want me to some some tragic

6:27

role playing into playing characters

6:29

who have lost lost and everything

6:31

is now lost and everything

6:33

is dying. they're all they're all about to either

6:35

go to sleep forever walk walk into the sun,

6:37

and they've got to decide what to do last. as

6:40

as everything ends, that actually seems

6:42

like into that. get into that. of a It's

6:44

a bit of a quiet ending for this

6:46

whole scenario. once I feel like once you throw

6:48

a tentacle monster into the mix, destroying Manhattan. it's

6:51

It's weird to have the characters die

6:53

in a quiet tragedy. It feels like they

6:55

should die in the middle of a

6:57

giant footprint as something stomps across the

6:59

city. seeking to to gorge itself on

7:01

a nuclear reactor or something. But okay, so so

7:03

far so good, it's a downer ending.

7:06

you couldn't say couldn't say that the

7:08

chronicle wasn't pointing toward it. has This has

7:10

all been pretty dismal and things have

7:12

gotten worse and worse, so if it ended

7:14

with everything ending, I I don't think you

7:16

could complain. At At least you couldn't

7:18

say you were blindsided. were So that's the

7:20

ending that is darker than the standard

7:23

ending. standard of becoming a of becoming

7:25

a thanks to your good

7:27

friend Rushmore, Sarah. everyone dies and dies

7:29

dies and die. you die and one

7:31

cares. And then the money shot, obviously. This

7:33

brings us to the second second ending. ending,

7:36

entitled, Here Go Again! quote,

7:38

for another For another possible

7:40

ending, the not all the characters

7:42

emerge from the flesh of the

7:44

Zamisci Antidolubian cleansed They do however They do,

7:46

however, feel dot, dot The curse of

7:49

Cain no longer Curse of Cain no

7:51

longer weakens In fact, the In fact,

7:53

the characters may find that their disciplines have all

7:55

increased, and they can expend

7:57

Vitae more rapidly than before. before. They are

7:59

the last vampire... left from the Old World and

8:01

the first vampires of the They can They

8:03

can sire more vampires if they choose.

8:05

and fire remain fire remain as deadly to

8:08

them as ever, but any weakness

8:10

peculiar to their clan no longer them.

8:12

them. this is Great, case hey, this is We case

8:14

scenario. We tried to redeem ourselves

8:16

to God by saying like, we are hideous beings,

8:18

but we have tried, made we have made an

8:20

effort. We have struggled to regain our humanity.

8:22

We have done our best. We've wished and hoped

8:24

and prayed for the redemption that you have

8:26

in store for us. And the voice of God

8:29

is like, is like. I see that truly

8:31

penitent, so so penitent in

8:33

fact. that thou hast unlocked today's secret

8:35

showcase. redemption. thou getest to keep it all,

8:37

the get us to keep

8:39

it all. jet ski, the brand new

8:41

car, the the brand new

8:43

car. and the power to Jamaica, and

8:45

the power of thine unholy nature,

8:48

how does that feel? face. puts

8:50

a microphone in your face. happens is more

8:52

or less what happens to Vampire Drama Club.

8:54

the here's the thing, I'm not going to

8:56

get into a a huge amount of detail

8:58

about the world that Vampire Drama Club returned

9:00

to. not not surrounded by

9:02

vampires anymore. Maybe Vampirism has been cured

9:04

except for them. them, maybe its its

9:07

numbers have been greatly reduced in some way,

9:09

but it's but it's not the world they

9:11

left, which is to say a world

9:13

overcrowded by predators. But But Vampire Drama

9:15

Club remain vampires. They've overcome their clan

9:17

weaknesses, those who had a clan weakness. They're

9:19

now the only vampires in Gothpunk

9:22

and they're living in a world

9:24

that has not experienced this

9:26

year -long apocalypse. Vampire Drama Club

9:28

are awakening Vampire a 2009 that

9:30

is a 2009 that is vibrant and healthy

9:32

and hopeful conspicuously unapocalypse

9:35

because of their actions their

9:37

actions and those effects this

9:39

is This have to admit

9:41

to admit, a little bit of a cheat. a cheat,

9:43

a little bit of a cop -out cop-out,

9:45

and of the feel -good ending that

9:47

this scenario demands, right? It's a

9:49

big It's a big gonzo scenario and you

9:51

kind of would love to see

9:53

it end on a positive note.

9:56

with with big buggers, positive things

9:58

happening, or at least. an implication

10:00

that these characters you've come to love, these

10:02

characters who love, these the campaign are going

10:04

to go on to have more adventures going to

10:06

go it's going to be great. more adventures,

10:09

part of this second as

10:11

ending. this we get the following. ending,

10:14

we get the following. Quote, in

10:16

the somewhere in the hand thrusts out of

10:18

a shallow grave a shallow man pulls

10:20

himself from the earth from he bears

10:22

a mark of fire on his forehead. on his He

10:24

shakes his head in his head in a looks

10:26

at his hands, feels his teeth, teeth. then

10:28

looks up at the night sky. sky. He He

10:30

screams, you won't you let me

10:32

die? is the only response

10:35

is the mocking, of God as he laughter of

10:37

cycle he begins a cycle anew with

10:39

a new race of laugh that puts it know,

10:41

it's the laugh that puts it

10:43

over the top. That's what makes this

10:45

the dumbest thing on this page,

10:47

because the until the I it and guess I

10:49

get it and I can see where, yeah,

10:52

there's a lot of horror

10:54

potential in the idea that still so

10:56

is still so mad about

10:58

the first murder murder. that continues to

11:00

put the first the through the

11:02

through at what point does this

11:04

become disproportionate? Even for the

11:06

inventor of murder. for But the

11:08

idea, of murder. But the idea, yourself yourself, put

11:10

God's perspective. Long ago, like the

11:12

second generation of humanity, like

11:14

Adam and Eve's kids. Adam and got

11:16

into it, one of them killed the

11:18

other. At the time, other. At the absolutely.

11:20

At the time, At you felt like,

11:23

felt like guy guy came, throw the book

11:25

at him. He's a criminal mastermind.

11:27

He invented a whole goddamn crime. whole

11:29

god damn crime. Murder. -R -D -E -R,

11:31

write it down. made I just made up

11:33

a name for it. It's when one

11:35

person. the life the life of

11:37

another person. fucking this fucking genius,

11:39

this fucking Moriarty. But that was was

11:41

so long ago. That was

11:43

tens of thousands of years ago.

11:45

are Here we are in 2009.

11:47

God, and you watch Kane wake and wake up

11:49

you Kane. wake up and Cain, this

11:51

guy, Cain was born East.

11:54

the the East. East. tens of

11:56

thousands of years ago just just wanted

11:58

to do some gardening. There there

12:00

wasn't anything else to do. to do.

12:02

hurting was just herding and gardening and his

12:04

brother was doing herding, so by process of

12:07

elimination he did the gardening. the gardening.

12:09

who was excited about was excited there was

12:11

nothing else to care about there He wakes

12:13

up to care his way out of his

12:15

grave. up and He hoped way last time

12:17

he closed his eyes that he would

12:19

never open them again. his eyes like, would never

12:21

open them again. He's like, ugh. and you've been tormenting

12:23

this man. for the

12:26

entire span. entire span. of of the existence

12:28

of the human race. And he

12:30

is disappointed to wake up wake feels

12:32

his teeth and feels that they're still

12:34

fucking pointy and screams in frustration.

12:36

Like, aren't we done with this yet?

12:38

like, aren't we I the first person who

12:40

ever made a mistake? I the first person

12:42

who ever made a person No. made

12:45

a mistake. person who ever me

12:47

a break Got me a break. you see

12:49

this God, creation your child who

12:51

fucked up and fucked up, and therefore,

12:53

have been been... torturing

12:55

him for tens of thousands of years years

12:57

he wakes up and screams in frustration

12:59

that this is still happening and you

13:01

hold your belly and you laugh and

13:04

laugh. your No audience for this but

13:06

yourself. This is just for

13:08

you. This is just for you. This

13:10

is This is like horror story for Kane,

13:12

yes. But to live in a

13:14

universe with a God like this,

13:16

like me. me. We We thought Gehenna was

13:18

bad. I I mean, the food runs

13:20

out, the fuel runs out. Yes, yes, I

13:22

understand. Babies for sale out

13:25

of the back of back of mans, stopping

13:27

across the countryside. across the countryside.

13:29

Dogs, the wrong color, I get

13:31

it, it's pretty bad. pretty bad. Your eternal father

13:33

in heaven laughs loud at the thought

13:35

of tormenting you for eternity. eternity.

13:37

much worse. This is so

13:39

much darker than anything else in

13:41

the scenario. this And this is

13:43

the good ending. is This is

13:45

Because you, the player you, the this in

13:48

this scenario, you got everything

13:50

you wanted from the dinette set

13:52

on up. up. as part of

13:54

God trolling this guy

13:56

Just to bring it just to bring it

13:58

back down to the human scale. scale. God gave

14:00

you an expensive present just to

14:02

hurt someone else's feelings. And has been

14:05

hurting this person's feelings as hard

14:07

as he can. as hard as

14:09

he limits. no fucking limits, since

14:11

creation. So your fucking fucking

14:13

presence, of a of a

14:15

maniac who just, nothing

14:18

makes him chuckle like

14:20

creating someone. then and then

14:22

watching them burn forever. it has to

14:24

mean, it has to be the dumbest

14:26

thing on this page page. Just because, like if

14:28

if it were the other alternate ending even.

14:30

even then maybe we'd pick something else for

14:32

this page. else But for this one, But for

14:34

the ending that for the did everything right, you

14:36

got everything you wanted, things are going great,

14:39

there's a chance, there's hope. We move

14:41

forward. great. for that ending. chance. There's

14:43

hope we move forward for that ending

14:45

to thing in this scenario,

14:48

thing know, it just, I it

14:50

almost comes back around comes way

14:52

of having to appease appease God submit

14:54

to God in this scenario

14:56

is so distasteful. Presenting God in

14:58

this way almost makes it

15:00

make sense, but make sense. this is

15:02

is too up. We We were promised

15:04

personal way back in in alien At

15:06

last, this makes me uncomfortable.

15:08

This is too dark and I'm

15:10

scared of it. scared that is

15:12

not what I wanted from

15:14

the wanted from the ending of this in-time

15:17

scenario. So that's it for the the of

15:19

God. Join me next time as

15:21

we discuss. we discuss the whole fucking of

15:23

darkness, now that we have

15:25

completed our speedrun of speed run of

15:27

same, on MDC, the Mega Dumbcast. This

15:30

has been Mega Dumbcast. New

15:32

episodes has been day except for

15:34

New episodes when all day except for

15:36

Sundays, when all the week's

15:39

previous episodes drop in one big

15:41

on the on the only RSS feed. If you'd

15:43

like to If you'd like to

15:45

access that feed and support the

15:47

show, visit patreon .com/-dumbcast. This

15:49

episode's theme song is song is Yeti

15:52

by Getty work you

15:54

can find whose .io. at -P

15:56

-P -B -E -A -T UPP,

15:58

I -O. Dumbheads. I will catch you

16:00

next time. time.