Murder Dice - A 5e Dungeons & Dragons Podcast · Dungeons and Dragons

Murder Dice - The Gates Ep.47

·1 hr·5 clips

Freakness signs a contract with Lucifer, selling his soul to rejoin the fight against Sudafur.

This episode continues the party's journey through the nine circles of hell in their Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Host and Dungeon Master David guides players Ben, Mike, Kyle, and Christina through their characters' perilous adventure. The group resumes play after a hiatus due to major life changes among the cast. The episode picks up mid-battle against the three-headed hellhound Cerberus in the third circle of hell. The party had previously slain two of its heads and used the clue "what it truly craves is beneath your feet" from a gate sign. Ben's character, Naya, uses a natural 20 perception check to spot bones in the mud through his eagle companion Hootie. Mike's character, Ubu, throws a femur bone to Cerberus, which calms the beast and reveals a key on its collar. Retrieving the key causes Cerberus to vanish, allowing access to the fourth gate. The fourth circle presents an immense treasure hoard containing every imaginable magic item, food, drink, and attractive beings. Freakness, the venom-infused squirrel companion, is intensely tempted by a cache of a rare metal called Tantalum, or blue gold. Despite warnings, Freakness eats some of the metal and fails a DC 24 constitution save, getting sucked into the treasure pile. Kyle's character, Sandy, also touches the treasure and disappears. Both characters are visited by Lucifer in this sub-layer of hell. Lucifer offers Freakness a contract for his soul in exchange for rejoining the quest to eventually fight "Sudafur," which Freakness signs with a bloody paw. Lucifer offers Sandy a similar soul contract, joking about Sandy's importance and unzipping to reveal a comically underwhelming physical appearance. Sandy signs, and both characters return to the pathway. Meanwhile, Naya and Ubu cautiously proceed through the treasure room, find an exit gate, and take a short rest, later rejoined by the resurrected Freakness. The most interesting moment is the detailed, humorous interaction with Lucifer, who negotiates soul contracts with a mix of menace and absurdity. The players' out-of-character banter includes a debate over the best Spider-Man actor, with Tobey Maguire receiving praise. A running joke involves the group's need to edit out "derogatory" satirical comments from Ben. The episode features a candid, funny moment where Kyle's young son is in the recording room and must be ushered out before an adult conversation about dog anatomy. The treasure room's temptation mechanic creates genuine consequences, instantly removing two characters from play. The tone is highly conversational, casual, and filled with improvised humor, inside jokes, and meta-comments about the game and recording process. The style blends cooperative fantasy adventure with frequent, lighthearted interruptions about personal lives, pop culture, and tangential anecdotes. Listeners who enjoy actual-play D&D podcasts with a strong focus on player camaraderie, improvisational comedy, and a loose, narrative-driven game will love this episode. Those who prefer highly edited, serious, rules-intensive gameplay without meandering off-topic discussions might want to skip it.

As heard by us

A loose, funny return that shifts from baited loot to danger on the water.

Murder Dice reads like a reunion as much as a play session, with the cast openly noting how long it has been since they last recorded and how much life has changed in the meantime.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Come back to the table after a long pause and watch the sketchy scene get weird fast.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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