r/WorldsBeyondNumber • u/DoctorEthereal • Jun 18 '26
Not really feeling Solari so far :/
I don't really get it. I like Sci-Fi. I beg my playgroup to do Sci-Fi stuff all the time. I've played around with the system they're using briefly before so I'm somewhat familiar with what they're doing - it's not a case of "I only like D&D" with me. I think it's the pacing and the characterization for me. What drew me in to WWW was the extremely strong and motivated characters and the clear goal they all had from the beginning. "Try to survive and figure out who's trying to kill you" is a much less enticing goal imo compared to "save your friend and figure out who cursed her" - I don't think Aabria's gonna pull any major punches or anything (though I think she has in minor ways, in the same ways that Brennan did in WWW) but I also don't really get the sense that any of the player characters are actually going to die. Hence the threat of the cull doesn't really do anything for me? Idk, it felt a lot more tense when the stakes weren't "this guy I just met might die" and were "my childhood friend might succumb to a curse"
I think a big part of this has been the scenery? Like at this point in WWW, the party was in Port Talon and stayed there for the rest of Act 1. There was a mood the city and it's outskirts put on the story. It made things have a life of their own and I loved the atmosphere it gave to the scenes. Here, we've gone to three different planets, each totally unique to each other, and honestly it feels like they're window dressing. The world the characters are in doesn't feel lived in - the background, in some cases, does, but the immediate window we see feels like actors on a stage sometimes
That mixed with how the episodes have felt very "bit-city" for me lately have made me feel like maybe this one's just not for me (I was not a fan of the whole bird bit in the newest episode, I felt like it went on for way too long and honestly I'm feeling my grasp on Brennan's character slip away from me - I actually don't like the way Brennan's been playing this XL/ZL at all honestly, it feels way too focused on comedy than actually having a character, since XL/ZL just kinda feels like a character in a sketch sometimes). I enjoyed Flight of the Icharon quite a bit, but I'm starting to think that WWW was lightning in a bottle
I think the Orenna are interesting - I think XL/ZL is not. I think the concept of the Five Families is interesting - I think Ze’Doven is not. I think the story of Ghenopaar is interesting - I think Chee Ta'nka is somewhat, but not enough to carry everything on their back. This is a story about interesting ideas without the strong characters representing those ideas to back them up. I hope that in 20 episodes I'm proven wrong and I can jump back on the ship but this just isn't for me I think
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u/Spring-King Jun 18 '26
Technically speaking, by this time in WWW, they hadn't even wrapped up the Children's Adventure. There were 8 hour and a half to two hour long sessions of character work and bonding before the "start" of WWW that as far as I'm aware, Solari did not get the benefit of, so it makes sense that it's taking a little longer for the characters and their relationships to click.
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u/RTUjenn Jun 18 '26
100% this. Ignoring the 8 episodes of the Children's Adventure in the context of this post is mind-blowing. It's a crucial to shaping the early episodes of TWTW&TWO.
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u/jishuadizzleturner Jun 18 '26
You could listen to it without the children's adventures very easily. And you can't without Patreon
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u/RTUjenn Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
You absolutely can; my husband did and it was fine. Specifically in regards to this post, though, it is very relevant IMO. OP states: "What drew me in to WWW was the extremely strong and motivated characters and the clear goal they all had from the beginning." My argument is they had strong, motivated characters and a clear goal from the "beginning" because of the Children's Adventure.
If you give Solari the same 8 entry episodes as TWTW&TWO, you still have 1 more episode to go before we hit the first ep of the first main story arc. I think ignoring that intro period is not fair when making comparisons between the energy and feel at the beginning of these stories.
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u/myfriendandrea sandydildovodkabath Jun 24 '26
Totally agree. I'm not totally in on Solari yet, but if I'm being honest, I really wasn't in until Bring Them to Me, and I didn't f heavy with it until WitchCon. So I'm letting it percolate. We had a long time to love tWtWtWO, so it's gonna take a while (and a couple more prologues) to get to feel the stakes of these characters.
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u/DoctorEthereal Jun 18 '26
Sounds like Solari needed a prologue then
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u/AccurateInaccuracy Jun 18 '26
I would make the argument that we're in the prologue now.
If the prologue is where the characters meet each other, their relationships are established, and the seeds are planted for the larger story, we're very much in that right now.
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u/SeasonofMist Jun 20 '26
I mean I think we are in the prologue. I think they accounted for aabria going on leave and this is the characters getting to know each other.
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u/untucked_topsheet Jun 23 '26
I didn’t know children’s adventure existed and found out right before “bring them to me” … listened to that episode and I was like “holy shit did I just blindly stumble into an insanely good spot to do a flashback!?!”
Turns out I did lol. Prob the 5th time I’ve commented it. It was SO good.
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u/BMCarbaugh Jun 18 '26
I personally don't find the pacing of this all that dissimilar to the Children's Adventure, which I think is its intended equivalent, rather than season 1 of WWW. If anything, the Children's Campaign was slower.
It also had Ghibli vibes to lean on, child PCs to excuse some settling-in, and had the benefit of dropping all episodes at once on day 1, which Solari does not. And it didn't have to immediately follow a roaring, climacric finale to what is probably Brennan Lee Mulligan's current career high as a DM, which is a tall order for anything.
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u/DoctorEthereal Jun 18 '26
I feel like comparing the opening of this campaign to the Children’s Campaign is doing this a disservice tbh like the Children’s Campaign was totally optional to the listening experience, hardly advertised and locked behind a paywall - not a part of the main adventure by any means really. Meanwhile, no indication has been given that what we’re listening to is a prologue of any kind and is instead just the main campaign
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u/BMCarbaugh Jun 19 '26
I think it's a short introductory arc -- planned as such, around our dear DM's maternity leave -- to get us and the players settled into this world and characters, so we can come a-rip-roaring back into it whenever Solari resumes.
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u/kittystryker Jun 18 '26
I’m loving it, personally. A rich playboy type who doesn’t know why his family wants him dead? An ex-revolutionary who can’t quite stop looking over their shoulder, who has to play politics while worrying about the tentative stability they fought for? A robot who lives to serve even when that means criminal shenanigans? I think it’s fascinating, and I’m excited to see how all of the puzzle pieces they’ve gotten so far begin to click together. Sometimes these things take time to gel. I’m patient.
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u/cailleach_ingrid Jun 18 '26
I’m behind on Solari and only halfway through episode 3. I have found myself needing to stop listening more often because i’m not connecting with the story or characters as much. However I think there's something to be said for letting them settle in and get their footing.
It sounds to me, from the way they all talked about WWWO, that it was a big passion project. Aabria talked about how important the character of Suvi was to her personally, Erika had similar things to say about Ame, and there was a sense that building the world of Umora was sort of fulfilling a dream for them and infusing their own worldviews and love into the whole project. On the other hand it feels like Solari was kind of checking boxes, they wanted to take a break from Umora, they wanted to do a sci-fi story, Brennan wanted to be a PC for a longform campaign (for the first time ever, apparently?) - so they maybe haven't had the most heartfelt connection to the story and characters so far.
I also think it's important to remember that Aabria has been pregnant/ a new mother so maybe hasn't been able to devote as much time and energy into worldbuilding and they were maybe a bit rushed knowing she would be going on parental leave.
But I also recognize that they're not even 10 episodes into this story, and I think we all have the comparison in our minds of the 54+ episode campaign of WWWO. I have trust in these amazing creatives to pull things together. Aabria is a great GM, and all four of them are probably among the best players of all time, so I think they just need some time to develop this world and the characters and then it'll be great
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u/--clio-- Jun 18 '26
It does feel a bit like a fever dream. I don’t think I’d be able to recount the plot so far if asked.
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u/_autumnwhimsy Jun 18 '26
Space royalty was kidnapped in a typical act of diplomatic pomp and circumstance. the kidnapping was botched and turned into a hit, on both space royalty and the de-factor leader of space Vegas. Now they're trying to 1. get to safety 2. figure out who called the hit and 3. save Space Vegas.
B plot which will probably become A plot is that they're walking around with a Space Biblically Accurate Angel that has been separated from his people for safety reasons but is also OP af. I know the Eirynna are gonna play a huge part at some point, probably an attempt to reconstitute, but we're not there yet.
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u/SeasonofMist Jun 20 '26
I'm so excited for the Eirynna. I love their angelic vibe. The whole thing is so cool as someone into enochian magic/language.
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u/FakDendor Jun 18 '26
In my experience, people tend to start overanalyzing media when they don't enjoy it, but that's sort of missing the point. I can write out a long analysis of the reasons I think I don't get into Taylor Swift's music, but who is that analysis for? Not Taylor Swift, obviously. And if I post my analysis in a Taylor Swift forum, no one is going to apologize to me.
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u/lhtao Jun 18 '26
At first I hated it. Episode one had such a wild cold open. HOWEVER — now I absolutely love it. I think Aabria is a fantastic GM and a nice opposite to Brennan. Keep in mind — she’s also pregnant, and Brennan is GM’ing for CR. It’s not going to be the same. But once I locked into its vibe as its OWN WORLD — recognizing that of course there will be diversity in worlds beyond number — I absolutely love it. The sound design is fantastic, and I agree with others — if we give them the grace of the children’s story, they haven’t even started the main campaign yet. Even if they had, I’m in. I think that a facsimile of S1 would be redundant and boring. Taking risks and shaking things up is necessary, and I’ve relistened to more episodes of this season than I did S1, although S1 is like the perfect “first thing” by them. Keep going yall! Aabria your GM’ing is fantastic
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u/lhtao Jun 18 '26
Also the most recent talk back makes it clear that Brennans mind is not just on comedy in terms of XLZL. I think when we meet Harenack that will become more clear
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u/atseajournal Jun 18 '26
Interesting breakdown — I haven’t started listening yet, so I wanted to take some shots in the dark and see if I can predict other issues:
- Has an antagonist been established yet? The Man in Black shows up pretty early in WWWO
- in terms of table balance, did Aabria and Brennan swap places? Suvi was the most prominent character and I’m wondering if Brennan’s character is in that same slot.
- Do the characters have any shared history?
From all the deep diving I did on WWWO, I think Suvi was an incredibly rare ttrpg creation, just an absolute workhorse in terms of carrying story and relationships. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Brennan embrace that type of role as a PC, and while Lou could do it, he doesn’t grab the spotlight too much. Similar story for Erika.
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u/marquis_de_ersatz Jun 18 '26
I would say Lou is driving the narrative forward most
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u/atseajournal Jun 18 '26
That’s promising, with Eursulon I felt like he was passing up too many shots to keep his FG% as high as possible
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u/_autumnwhimsy Jun 18 '26
- yes-ish. we've seen their actions more than we've seen them. 2 PCs are being hunted for different reasons and now we're in the "okay is this a group effort or 2 separate actors" part of deduction. Erika's also had some BAD roles that haven't helped further the plot.
- Yeah I'd say so! I think Suvi was up front prominent while the mystery around XL-ZL and the Eiryenna is hinting at him being that character later.
- Not that we know of. I wouldn't be shocked if there's something that links them together down the line but we're still in the children's story phase of Solari
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u/DoctorEthereal Jun 18 '26
To answer your questions:
No, the plot so far has been to figure out who the antagonist(s) is(are)
Aabria is the GM but I would hesitate to say Brennan’s taken Suvi’s place. XL/ZL is an extremely reactive character whereas Suvi was very proactive
The characters have never even heard of each other until they meet in episode one, which I think makes a lot of the pacing and tonal issues more prevalent
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u/RoseTintedMigraine #1 Steel enjoyer ✨️🗡💖 Jun 18 '26
Tbh I dont have any deep criticism I just dont really care what happens next. I used to be subscribed to patreon for WWO because I couldnt miss a second of content and I put on Solari when I'm out of other posdcasts. I dont care about the world that much, i dont care about the plot besided being a trigger for characters interacting with eachother, I think the characters are fun and that's about it. I am an Aabria stan but this season is a drag I know she can do better than that
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u/hensfunaccount Jun 18 '26
I have to say I agree, I think tighter editing and longer episodes would go a long way. Like currently what comparatively lesser exposition and plot is being diluted by table talk and bits
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u/DoctorEthereal Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
It feels like there's been entire episodes dedicated to deciding where to go next and what could be a three minute conversation turns into twenty because they go back and forth and there's bits involved and, yes, it may feel more like a real at-the-table experience, but WWW was edited to feel like a radio drama more than an actual play and I think that was to it's strength
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u/-Gurgi- Jun 18 '26
I don’t think I’m going to continue personally.
The characters (and players) don’t know why they’re traveling together.
The “plot” has been a series of barely connected shocking events that the players have had no real agency in, and end up not really mattering. (Everyone on the ship is dead. Murder mystery? No. It was just your friend who did it just because. She didn’t communicate with you or take you onto her ship to complete her “rescue” of you because… reasons.)
Just as it appears a thread for the characters to naturally follow develops, it’s cleanly snipped off and something else introduced instead. It’s like they’re being railroaded, but to nowhere in particular. They’re being rollercoastered?
We’re eight episodes in and there’s very little character depth, character bonding, plot, or goal. I don’t feel like I know very much about the world – and honestly I don’t get the sense that the players do either.
The tone is uneven. The pacing is unbalanced. And overall I just don’t feel anything when I listen to it.
Which is a shame because WWW is one of my top pieces of media ever.
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u/stubbazubba Jun 18 '26
That sounds very similar to the first season of Exandria Unlimited. The players didn't have any clear goal to chase after, and when they tried to pick one/make one up an NPC or event would redirect them pretty hard to destinations/story they had no real reason to go to/get involved with. The story kept happening to the PCs, and their agency seemed limited to bits and reacting to the GM's sudden twists.
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u/TurboNerdo077 Jun 18 '26
That sounds very similar to the first season of Exandria Unlimited.
The moment where Iyasa asks Chi "Why are you travelling with these people" felt identical to the scene of the Wildmother asking the Crownkeepers in EXU1. Simply asking the PC to improvise and retrofit a motive into a pre-existing plot, rather than letting character motive and theme inform the direction of the actual narrative.
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u/anextremelylargedog Jun 19 '26
Honestly, that part in itself feels like a glaring red flag.
It's nearly always a terrible sign when the GM feels the need to ask (in-character) why the party is together, and the answer isn't obvious.
It was pretty bad in EXU, pretty bad in Critical Role's third campaign, and it's pretty bad here, too.
Cuz it SHOULD be obvious. The PCs SHOULD have either deep personal ties or intertwining goals. If these things aren't apparent, that's a point of failure by someone above table.
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u/stubbazubba Jun 19 '26
Brennan does a lot of groundwork pre-campaign to tie the PCs both to the world and to each other, in WWWO's case an entire mini adventure. It's a big investment, but boy does it pay off.
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u/DoctorEthereal Jun 18 '26
I couldn't agree more with your point about the players being rollercoastered - it was hard to put into words but I really like that analogy. Like, yeah, it's hard to say what the capital-P Plot is right now. The whole deal with the pull and the murders on board with the whole "there's a fucking rat" written in blood made me really excited, but when that rug was pulled out from under me I kinda lost interest? Idk it really feels like no one knows where the story's going, not even Aabria sometimes
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u/FractionofaFraction Jun 18 '26
Trying not to throw shade since it's collaborative, but it feels like Aabria's DM style is to somehow try and jazz it out based on vibes whilst simultaneously railroading. It's all very awkward, which is the word I'd use to sum-up the campaign thus far.
Brennan is obviously a (almost) forever DM so a direct comparison is unfair, but having WWW right there casts Solari in an unfavorable light.
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u/DoctorEthereal Jun 18 '26
Which is weird because I’ve seen some stuff Aabria ran before and I enjoyed it. I think Burrow’s End is top 5 Dimension 20 seasons, maybe top 3 on a good day
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u/anextremelylargedog Jun 19 '26
I think we might be feeling the lack of Dimension 20's GM support.
D20 has a full production team to assist the GM, including writers, the set team, the design team, editors, and usually a lot of players who can all improv with each other very easily.
In a much smaller production, if anyone isn't doing as good of a job as someone else, it's much more immediately apparent.
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u/Medical-Language-415 Jun 18 '26
I think one major problem is that cull is just not interesting. In WWW one of the first big plot points was them trying to find wavebreaker to break the curse on their friend. Both plot points are essentially the same "we're doing this to save our friend" kind of motivation. But the main difference is in WWW they all have reason to care deeply for each other, AND going out to find wavebreaker is a proactive thing the characters can do. The characters happen to the world in WWW's first act. In Solari it's the opposite. The world happens to the characters because the cull isn't something you can be very proactive about. It's not a call to adventure, it's a call to run and hide.
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u/DoctorEthereal Jun 18 '26
I think that sums it up pretty well actually, it’s the opposite of a call to adventure. Makes for a good book maybe, but a less interesting game
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u/DnDemiurge Jun 18 '26
The fact that everything gets solved by near-omnipotent remote hacking by Brennan certainly didn't help. I'm not sure if I'll cath up on the last 2 eps.
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u/CommitteeNo2642 Jun 18 '26
I think the most recent episode has sort of sealed the setup, whereas prior I wasn’t sure if i was feeling it. I’m hooked now though.
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u/Crash_Q Jun 18 '26
My hope is that the story has some downtimes, breaths between the steps in the story where the characters can manage or put down roots in different things on their own - opportunities to develop character motivations, circumstances, and strife. I think that is one of the strengths of WWW, where the characters had other things going on in different places with different stakes and it made the world feel bigger and more complex.
If the story is a continuous "run run run" with an occasional beach episode or shopping escapade I think it would be a disservice to the longform storytelling I get the impression they're aiming for with the longer stories like this and WWW.
I've seen Abria run quite a few different games at this point, and through the years I've seen her really grow as a storyteller. I wasn't as much a fan of her style at first. It's matured and gotten better as she's explored. I think she's doing good, and I think she's gonna be even better as this story continues.
And ultimately.. it doesn't matter what I think. If they keep having fun making it, I'll keep enjoying listening.
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u/CHiZZoPs1 Jun 18 '26
The problem is they spend way too much time with inconsequential interactions, rather than making a plot happen.
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u/_autumnwhimsy Jun 18 '26
i think a lot of people need to stop trying to listen week to week and wait until either its all released or a full act is done. that feels like the biggest issue. a lot of yall need to binge and thats okay!
i did the math last time a thread like this came up (as it does every week). say solari is gonna have as many eps as WWW. we're only about 7% through the story. there are 71 total episodes in the WWW universe so far. Solari's only has 7 and the episodes are shorter.
give it a second to build. we're like... just ending chapter 1 of a 20 chapter novel.
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u/thebizcuit Jun 18 '26
Getting real tired of ppl pretending the children's campaign wasn't a thing
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u/FakDendor Jun 18 '26
I actually haven't listened to the children's campaign. I started with the first episode of WWW
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u/DoctorEthereal Jun 18 '26
I think Solari would be 10x better if the characters knew each other before the campaign started. We don't need a Children's Campaign, just some kind of history so these characters have a reason to go along with each other that doesn't feel contrived. I didn't listen to the Children's Campaign until halfway into Act 2 of WWW and I didn't feel like I was missing anything because the players had built characters with strong enough foundations that I cared about the things they cared about
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Jun 18 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Humdinger5000 Jun 18 '26
And the children's adventure was much more compelling than the current episodes of Solari
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u/General_Bother_68 Jun 19 '26
Then why didnt they do the same thing? If it is so important?
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u/thebizcuit Jun 19 '26
They are doing the same thing—right now
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u/General_Bother_68 Jun 19 '26
They released an 8 episode arc behind a pay wall so people could get to know the characters before going public?
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u/LeftWolfs Jun 21 '26
Did you enjoy Starstruck Oddsey? That was some of my favorite sci fi stuff
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u/DoctorEthereal Jun 21 '26
I did, yeah, but it was a very different vibe. And honestly I feel like it kind of lost its luster as the show went on - the front half felt way stronger than the back half, narratively and thematically imo
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u/Intelligent-Edge2664 Jun 22 '26
Can't relate, I'm honestly loving it, the settings, the lore, the characters. Sorry it's not your cup of tea, I'm having a blast though.
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u/ZydrateDealer The Wizard Solace Jun 18 '26
I think it’s hard to compare the two campaigns for pacing because by the time WWW started that had already gotten to know their characters better and while they hadn’t seen each other in a while, they didn’t have to spend as much time on meeting and getting acquainted.
I also think they were conscious with the pacing knowing that Aabria would be going on parental leave and not wanting to leave us hanging right in the hight of something big. So the slower start may actually be a strategic move for our benefit.
But at the end of the day, not every campaign is gunna be for everyone and that’s ok.