u/TheNerdChaplain

I run a D&D game for some friends, and I like to include little easter eggs just for myself from books only I have read. I've had a homebrew setting for a long time where the party's central contact is a fat innkeeper at an inn called the Dancing Cartman.

I introduced this character and his inn to my party yesterday, and was immediately met with laughter I didn't understand. I've NEVER made the connection to the South Park character, only this one little inn from Eye of the World.

That said, I had to chuckle, and I may need to find a different inn.

Friendship levels persist into NG+, and about halfway through the game (after the Hulk fight in the desert), I've got everyone ranging from 9-17 friendship, with little effort. I'm playing on Ultimate II at the moment, and I am reviving one hero most missions.

What's cool is that I've gotten to appreciate so many more characters. Storm is a POWERHOUSE, especially between Stormshield and Goddess' Blessing. Morbius is a lot of fun to play with. I'm starting to figure out Deadpool; you have to pair him with a taunter like Captains America or Marvel. But if you can keep him from getting hit, one of his cards at En Fuego 2 or 3 can do over 2,000 damage.

Blade I'm still working on. I think the best strategy is to make sure he has as many mods that add Bleed as possible, and that everyone else has one or two Bleed mods.

The perk of that is that if you bleed an enemy, you can even get Soulbound enemies to attack their own.

I read this book at the recommendation of my girlfriend. It was a very slow burn at first, but the last few chapters - from the party to the end - really made up for it.

What kind of struck me is that the narrator never questions that she should stay with Maxim, even knowing that he killed Rebecca in a moment of anger. It's uncritically accepted that she had it coming because she was flagrantly unfaithful to him, and the fact of the cancer diagnosis justifying her "suicide" is simply a providential bit of luck.

Was anyone else struck by the narrator's lack of concern over this? How did you respond to the story overall?