Harmonquest
| HarmonQuest | |
|---|---|
| Genre |
Live improvisation Adult animation |
| Composer(s) | Ryan Elder |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Dan Harmon Spencer Crittenden Joe Russo II James A. Fino |
| Producer(s) | David Ichioka |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Harmonious Claptrap Starburns Industries |
| Distributor | Seeso |
| Release | |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 |
| Original release | July 14, 2016 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
HarmonQuest is an American adult animation/live improvisation television show created by Dan Harmon. The show is part animated, part live action. Dan Harmon and comedians Erin McGathy, Jeff B. Davis, along with game master Spencer Crittenden, perform a fantasy roleplaying campaign in front of a live audience. Each episode of the show also features a special guest player. The content of their stories is then animated by Starburns Industries, and the episodes feature a mix of live and animated footage. On October 19, 2016, Seeso renewed HarmonQuest for a second season.[1]
Development and production
Dan Harmon and Spencer Crittenden have been including a Dungeons & Dragons game segment at the end of Harmontown episodes for a while with great success, when Harmon pitched the idea of Harmonquest, originally conceived as low-budget, online-only show. Evan Shapiro, NBC Universal executive vice-president of digital enterprises, took the idea seriously, and when Seeso was developed as an NBC-owned comedy channel, an order for ten episodes of Harmonquest was confirmed.[2][3]
Episodes
Season 1 (2016)
| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Guest | Directed by | Written by | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Quest Begins" | Paul F. Tompkins | Larry Houston | Spencer Crittenden | July 14, 2016 |
| Fondue Zoobag (Harmon), a half-orc ranger, and Boneweevil (Jeff Davis), a goblin rogue, start out in their hometown of Earthscar, as a centenary ritual of preservation of the Demon Seal is starting. Beor O'Shift (Erin McGathy), a half-elf barbarian woman, runs into the village asking for help to deal with cultists pursuing her. As the party challenges the cultsits head-on, they are joined by Teflonto (Paul F. Tompkins), Earthscar's champion and the militia he commands. As the battle rages on, after a few cultists and militiamen were felled, a mysterious knight clad in black armor (Later revealed to be Vortheon, the leader of the Scions of the Manticore) strides directly into the center of Earthscar and grabs the runestone protecting the Demon Seal, thereby unleashing evil abominations who leave a trail of destruction in their wake. The cultists warn the party that they intend to collect all three runestones to resurrect the Manticore and destroy the world. Vortheon then blasts away the party with dark blood magic, killing Teflonto and injuring Fondue and Boneweevil, before fleeing through a portal with the surviving cultists. The village's chief then exhorts the party to go through the Stone Saw Mines to Freshport to warn his brother, Dunnan, of the danger he faces for guarding the second runestone. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "The Stone Saw Mines" | Chelsea Peretti | Dominic Polcino | Spencer Crittenden | July 14, 2016 |
| Fondue, Boneweevil, and Beor reach the Stone Saw Mines, only to find them in severe disrepair and ruin. They meet up with the dwarven monk Deepak Chopra (Chelsea Peretti) at the entrance to the mines, the lone survivor of an attack by one of the arcane horrors unleashed by the Demon Seal. Deepak leads them through caverns of the mines, sharing with the party her desire for revenge against the villains who slaughtered her village. Along the way they survive encounters with skeletons and ghosts, ride through the mines in a minecart, and discussion is made of Fondue's own issues with cowardice, neuroticism, and abandonment. In time the party reaches a volcanic forge, where they procure new equipment, including a hefty short-sword for Beor, a golden rapier for Boneweevil, a shank for Deepak, and a new bastard sword for Fondue. Just as they do so, one of the abominations manifests itself in the room with the party, and assumes demonic control over Deepak's body. The newly possessed monk assaults the party, leading Fondue to abandon them and retreat (Making the excuse that it's "character development") only for Deepak to give chase. Beor catches up to the bedeviled dwarf and impales her on her newly accrued short sword, killing her and the demon within as well. Soon after, the party discovers a mine shaft elevator. It takes them out of the mines back into the daylight, to find the port town of Freshport just ahead. | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Welcome to Freshport" | Steve Agee | Larry Houston | Spencer Crittenden | July 14, 2016 |
| Exiting the Stone Saw Mines, Fondue, Boneweevil, and Beor soon find themselves in Freshport, a humble trading port next to the Dernum Sea. The trio is welcomed to the town by an eager tiefling bard named Tec Powers, (Steve Agee) who befriends the party and regales them with improvised songs. After Fondue mentions the Earthscar Village chief sent them to warn them of the coming danger of the Manticore cultists, Tec brings them to the Union House to meet Dunnan, who runs the docks and dockworker's union. A rollicking gala is taking place inside, which the party is promptly denied entrance to by the guard. After a botched attempt at intimidation by Beor, Tec sneaks the party in by putting the guard to sleep with a lullaby. Once inside they track down Dunnan, (Who has a perfectly square body and no knees) and take him aside into a study to explain themselves. After some interrogation, Dunnan discloses that the cultists had already made contact with him, and traded the second runestone for the safety of his own family. He also tells the party that the same cultists gave him specific instructions to kill them once they arrived in Freshport, and take the third stone from them, which is revealed to be the necklace around Beor's neck. (Which comes as a surprise to the party.) Dunnan then attacks them with summoned monsters and Tec, who also turns on the group after being offered a job in the dockworker's union. In the pandemonium of the battle, the study catches fire and the monsters and Dunnan are slaughtered, which attracts the attention of the local guards. Tec, feeling guilty after betraying the trio, leads them to a window overlooking the Dernum Sea harbor. As Tec distracts the guards with spells, the party escapes into the cargo hold of a passing trading vessel. (But not before Fondue gives Tec a romantic kiss goodbye.) | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Across the Dernum Sea" | Ron Funches | Dominic Polcino | Spencer Crittenden | July 14, 2016 |
| To escape the guards at Freshport, Fondue, Boneweevil, and Beor stow away onto a passing trade vessel. The party remains out of sight, but grows hungry after several days of being hidden. Driven by their hunger, they venture above in search of food, only to immediately give their position away to the ship's crew after an incompetent attempt at stealth by Beor. After some confusion, they are eventually greeted by the ship's captain, revealed to be the famed buccaneer Ribs Sanchez. (Ron Funches) The party takes an instant liking to Ribs, who welcomes them aboard as his guests after some smooth-talking by the charismatic Boneweevil. Their newfound friendship is interrupted however, when a gang of adaro arrives to take over the ship. Boneweevil soaps up the side of the ship so the adaro can't climb onto it, with some success, but several still make it onto the deck of the boat. Battle ensues between the party (with Ribs and his crew assisting) and the adaro, but is interrupted by the arrival of Vortheon and his dark vessel, which crashes into the side of Ribs' ship, causing the adaro to retreat in a panic. As Vortheon summons the second arcane horror to attack the party, Beor hides her necklace, which contains the third runestone, after some panicked commanding by Fondue. (Who implores her to put it in her ass.) The party then does battle with the abomination, who very nearly kills Ribs, but is ultimately struck down by a strategically placed stab from Boneweevil's rapier. This does nothing to stop Vortheon however, who ensnares the party in magical bindings, and telekinetically procures the third runestone from Beor's off-screen hiding place. The group (Save for Ribs, who is allowed to go free because he had nothing to do with them.) is led onto Vortheon's ship which sails en route to Manoa. | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Manoa Prison Hole" | Aubrey Plaza | Larry Houston | Spencer Crittenden | July 14, 2016 |
| The party has lost the final runestone to Vortheon and his dark minions, and are subsequently taken to the Manoa Prison Hole to be held captive. Vortheon gloats at the party from outside of their cell, and reaffirms his plans to resurrect the Manticore now that all three runestones had been acquired. After he leaves through a magic portal, a strange gnomish alchemist named Hawaiian Coffee (Aubrey Plaza) reveals herself, having been hidden beneath a pile of rags in the prison cell. With her help, the party comes up with a plan to lure guards into their cell and knock them out. (Which ultimately devolves into them gruesomely mutilating the guards.) Hawaiian Coffee then leads the party through the Manoa Prison hole, behind an assortment of locked doors and rooms to search for metal trays, which she transmutes into shivs for the party's use. In time the group makes their way to the evidence locker on the top floor, where Hawaiian Coffee recovers her potion-making and bomb-making kit, and the rest of the party recovers their respective goods. Immediately afterwards, Hawaiian Coffee hits Boneweevil with a potion that makes him shrink down to 1/8th of his size for no discernible reason. Prison guards advance upon their location soon after, upon which the party escapes out the nearest window, while Hawaiian Coffee distracts the guards by blowing herself up. They land outside to discover the prison has descended into chaos, their actions having incited a prison riot, and quickly leave, venturing into the Sandman Desert. | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Entering the Sandman Desert" | John Hodgman | Dominic Polcino | Spencer Crittenden | July 14, 2016 |
| Fondue, Boneweevil (Still shrunken to 1/8th of his size), and Beor find themselves wandering through the Sandman Desert, searching for the Doorest of Fores that lies just at the edge of it. As they wander they come across a peddler's caravan under attack by wraiths. The owner of the caravan, a sorcerer named Hohn Jodgman, (John Hodgman) offers the party a sum of money and food if they drive the wraiths off and escort him through the desert, coincidentally, to the Doorest of Fores. After forcing the wraiths to retreat, the party celebrates their victory by helping themselves to one of the many sandwiches in Hohn's caravan. Fondue is appalled to learn that one of the meats used in the sandwich is orc-loaf, being a half-orc himself, and takes an immediate disliking to him. In spite of this, the party sets about accompanying Hohn and his caravan through the desert. Along the way, the party encounters the wraiths a second time, but once again drives them back, and the battle ends with Boneweevil being restored to his natural height. Hohn then confides in Fondue that he's had a change of heart, having come to know the half-orc as a living breathing creature, and will no longer sell orc-loaf sandwiches. The two of them then take the orc-loaf sandwiches and bury them in the desert to give them a "proper funeral." The next day Beor presses Hohn for answers as to why the wraiths keep chasing his caravan, only to discover a strange-looking magical wand on his person. The wraiths arrive once again only to unveil themselves as humans beneath their cloaks. They reveal that Hohn rode his caravan into town, kidnapped members of their desert tribe, and transformed them with his wand into sandwiches to sell from town to town. His plans having been exposed, Boneweevil disarms Hohn of his wand, while Fondue and Beor attack and subdue him. Hohn summons monsters to fight them, but they are easily defeated by the party. Having taken a liking to Hohn, and feeling bad about the prospect of killing him, Fondue offers that if he transforms all of the remaining sandwiches back into the tribesmen and goes on his way they will allow him to live. Hohn agrees, transforming the sandwiches back into living beings. (Though several have bites taken out of them.) With that, the group parts ways with the desert tribe and Hohn's caravan, and enter the Doorest of Fores. | ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "The Doorest of Fores" | Thomas Middleditch | Dominic Polcino | Spencer Crittenden | July 14, 2016 |
| The party has made it to the Doorest of Fores, but lack a sense of direction among the rows and rows trees with doors in them. Scouting ahead, the group runs across a strange, tiny man named Dildo Bogpelt (Thomas Middleditch), who befriends them and agrees to help them navigate the Doorest, and seek out its guardian, Clarence. Along the way they run into multiple riddles and puzzles in the woods, before making their way to the center of the Doorest. In the center they find Clarence, the guardian of the woods, manifested as an anthropomorphic flower, and later an ent. Clarence assigns the party a series of trials of self-discovery, each of which they pass easily, causing Clarence's physical form to crumble. He congratulates them on realizing they are true heroes, and clears a path to their next destination. Before they make their way, Dildo disappears leaving only a trace of pipe smoke, leaving the party to enter the Dragon's Temple on their own. | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "The Dragon's Temple" | Kumail Nanjiani | Dominic Polcino | Spencer Crittenden | July 14, 2016 |
| Fondue, Boneweevil, and Beor enter The Dragon's Temple to find it largely empty except for a lone kobold custodian, cleaning up the place. The janitor, named Eddie Lizzard (Kumail Nanjiani), boredly agrees to help them make their way through the temple, but proves to be more a hindrance to the party than helpful, as he frequently finds ways to trick them into giving him their gold. (The party decides to keep Eddie along in the hopes that he'll "get tired of being an asshole.") They come upon an idol in the shape of a dragon's egg, which proves to be useful in solving a myriad of puzzles and traps as the party continues on. Along the way they also find a crate full of gold (Which Eddie immediately steals) and master sage, a plant known for its properties in purging evil spirits, ghosts, or entities. In time they come upon a pedestal set before a gigantic dragon statue, upon which they place the idol. The statue shoots magical fire at the egg, which causes it to hatch and immediately grow into a full-sized dragon before the party's very eyes. As they witness this, the third arcane horror bursts into the temple and possesses the dragon. Boneweevil assaults the dragon with master sage, forcing the demon out of the dragon's body, upon which it immediately attacks the group. The abomination puts up a heady fight, but ultimately crumbles to black dust after Boneweevil shoots it with an arrow laced with more master sage. Freed of the arcane horror the dragon leaves the temple, revealing the door to the cult of the Manticore's innermost sanctum. Eddie Lizzard picks the lock for the party (In exchange for a 3-person handjob) before parting ways with them, taking all of their gold with him. | ||||||
| 9 | 9 | "The Secret Hideout" | Rhea Butcher | Dominic Polcino | Spencer Crittenden | July 14, 2016 |
| The party make their way deeper and deeper into the cult's hideout, along the way discovering the sword that Fondue picked up from the forge in the Stone Saw Mines is enchanted with the spirit of a spectral paladin, named James Dean (Rhea Butcher). The party (Now with James Dean in tow) reach the center of the cult chambers, to find the cultists pouring buckets of blood into a large basin in the center of the room, as well as drawing runes and reagents around it. As the party engages them, the lead cultist explains their plan to use a combination of blood magic and the runestones' power to summon extra-dimensional portals to summon the Manticore, and ultimately break the boundaries of life and death itself. The cultists gradually fall to the might of the party, but are quickly interrupted by the return of the black knight Vortheon, who siphons the blood of the fallen cultists into the basin, bringing their plan closer to fruition. The party eventually defeats Vortheon, aided by James Dean's holy magic, but it proves to be for naught, as Vortheon sacrifices himself to fill the last of the basin with his own blood. The ritual is completed, and the Manticore emerges from a dark portal and incapacitates the party. As they lay helpless on the ground, the Manticore announces his intention to return to Earthscar Village to tear open another portal in between his world and theirs, and allow more abominations to invade. As he takes flight towards Earthscar, Fondue tosses the sword containing James Dean at the Manticore, hoping to deal one final piercing blow to the beast. (It only lodges itself in the Manticore's anus.) As the sword grows farther and farther away from the group, James Dean slowly fades out of existence, leaving the party alone in the ruins of the cultists' hideout. | ||||||
| 10 | 10 | "Earthscar Village" | Matt Gourley and Nathan Fillion | Dominic Polcino | Spencer Crittenden | July 14, 2016 |
|
The Manticore has crossed over from its dimension, and making its way back to Earthscar Village to tear open a new portal between worlds. As the party watches the Manticore fly off into the distance, they discover the runestones were left behind. They take them and use them to open another portal which takes them back to Earthscar, ahead of the Manticore. As they exit the portal they find themselves face to face with Fondue's father, Chadge (Matt Gourley), who joins the group, hoping to make up for abandoning Fondue as a child. They search the village to warn the chief, as Chadge regales them with war stories of questionable truth. Reaching the village square, they discover that an elf named Tedder Spice (Nathan Fillion) has replaced the original Orcish chief. The party warns Tedder of the Manticore's plans, who joins the group in searching for the original chief, Sandy Michael, who knew more about the power of the runestones. Chadge is hesitant to seek him out at first since he owes the old chief $6000, but they seek him out anyway. Sandy Michael comes up with a plan to use the runestones to open a portal, force the Manticore through it, and then re-seal the demon seal so it cannot be re-opened. As the plan unfolds, the Manticore arrives early, leaving the party, with Chadge and Tedder to distract the Manticore, while Sandy Michael prepares the seal. Amidst the battle, the Manticore tackles Boneweevil and drags him away from the seal. Though the party fights valiantly, they can't bring the Manticore back towards the portal. In the middle of the chaos, Chadge, who had been distracting Fondue throughout the battle, prepares to sneak off into the shadows, but Fondue castigates him for his history of cowardice, and excuses of having fought in various wars as his reason for abandoning him. Chadge finally breaks down and admits that he never fought in any wars, and that he left because he was afraid of being a good father. Determined to make it up to him, Chadge decides to drag the Manticore into the portal himself, charges headlong at the beast, and starts to drag it closer to the seal. Through Chadge and Boneweevil's combined efforts, and the arrival of the blue dragon the party saved in the Temple of Dragons, the Manticore is forced into the portal, which closes, trapping not just the Manticore behind it, but Boneweevil, Chadge, and the dragon as well. Though the monster was vanquished, it's a shallow victory for Fondue and Beor, who are left to mourn the loss of their friend. In a mid-credits tag however, it's revealed that both Boneweevil and the dragon (Whose name is revealed to be Charles) survived the trip through the portal, and they band together to search for a way back to their own dimension, from behind the demon seal. | ||||||
References
- ↑ Petski, Denise (October 19, 2016). "Dan Harmon's 'Harmonquest' Renewed For Second Season By Seeso". Deadline. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
- ↑ http://www.indiewire.com/2016/07/dan-harmon-interview-harmonquest-seeso-dungeons-dragons-role-playing-1201705699/
- ↑ http://www.fastcocreate.com/3061722/master-class/dungeons-dragons-and-dan-harmon-how-spencer-crittenden-ended-up-on-a-harmonques
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