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The content is good, well-formatted and interesting - I think it will make for a fun series of adventures. I'd give it a higher rating if not for the quality of the print version.
The POD hardback was horrible - the gutter was too narrow so that the pages all ran into the binding making them hard to read, and the paper feels cheap and was very wrinkly. Get the PDFs and forget about the print verison.
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I ran this for a special New Years Eve event at my local game store and both the party and I had an absolute blast.
This is a funnel adventure and can be run several different ways. I ran a modified selection of encounters to fit a four-hour time limit.
The adventure is set up as a guided tour through a carnival moving the players from one encounter to the next while a tragic and heartbreaking backstory is revealed. The Judge is free to modify the order of encounters to their liking or they can make the carnival more of a sandbox. As a rule, I tend to dislike adventures that lead players from one encounter to the next but in this case, it seemed logical and didn't leave the party feeling as if they were being railroaded.
Overall, the encounters are a perfect mix of goofy, deadly and challenging and you can borrow many of them to fit other adventures.
I would not hesitate to recomment this adventure. It makes for a perfect session of fun for everyone.
I have one caveat for a potential Judge. This is an adventure that will require you to have read and studied the encounters before you run it. You can't run this by the seat of your pants.
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My players enjoyed this adventure vey much and it was a joy to run. I especially liked the flexibility and the players loved the detailed story they were able to uncover, as well as the varied encounters, both beneficial and malevolent, that fit consistently within the theme. One player, whose character was turned into a chicken, flat out refused when I talked to her between sessions about giving her a chance to turn her character back into a human. She wants to keep playing her as a chicken. So it's given us the opportunity to integrate the Ragnacock character class from the Goodman Games Gazette vol 2 issue 6.
Overall everyone had a fantastic time playing this funnel and it's made a great start to what is going to be an interesting campaign.
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Gathering of the Marked (adventure 24 pages, extras 26 pages) is a fun adventure for Dungeon Crawl Classics. It is a funnel adventure. The rules suggest that you use 16 zero level characters or 8 first level characters. I used 8 zero level characters and 4 first level characters. I did change the magic system. I used the FlexTale Solo Adventuring Toolkit to make the adventure longer and to solo it. So, the woodcutter was killed by a shambling horror. My thief was killed by an acolyte. My blacksmith had his left hand chopped off earlier in the adventure and got killed by a swamp ogre later in the adventure. My barber and potato farmer both got killed by a steel hook. My sage got spit on by a Boneflenser and the ranged acid attack took him out. The adventure is a bit dark and when my characters got to the last scene, my nature wizard had no spells left, my cleric had one spell left, two of the characters were wounded, and they all were exhausted (it is a long adventure, more than four hours for the players). So, at the end, they did have an opportunity to fight off evil and be good guys, but at this point they did not feel like it. They accepted their fate and became official members of the cult (my six surviving characters). Maybe you will have better luck. Give it a try!
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I have run two of the adventures/funnels in this book with the same group and it's an absolute blast. There is good DCC feel here, some gonzo, some eldritch weirdness and of course bloody good villians.
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I've run this adventure multiple times for both my home group and at conventions. It's a blast and a great way to introduce new folks to DCC. I love the illustrations and maps and that the illustrations have been provided as paper miniatures. When I run the game I use the paper miniatures and Middle Kingdoms Adventure & Trading Co Map Tiles. Many people think using minis and terrain for a 0-level funnel is madness, and maybe it is, but it's also super fun. Even with minis and map tiles, I've run Nebin under 4 hours at a con. Please give us more Instant Action Adventures and paper minis!
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Perils of the Sunken City is something special.
It's a setting that can be used repeatedly, a justification for a group of characters to find adventure of all kinds, and it's a full-fledged funnel to boot. Best of all, it was already ready-for-use when DCC's core rules were first published.
That last fact, coupled with engaging writing and high production quality, sets it among the all-time best sellers on RPGNow. It also results in a tone that doesn't quite sync up with what we've come to expect from Dungeon Crawl Classics adventures. Understandable for its time, the feel of Mustertown has more in common with Pathfinder or 3.X D&D than with the Goodman Games line of Appendix N inspired offerings. It does nothing to diminish what Perils can do for you at the table.
The adventure sets a wonderful stage with memorable characters that are given just enough depth to let you make them your own. This type of design let's a Judge be a Judge and shouldn't be as rare as it seems to be these days. The setting of the Great City and Mustertown, set at the foot of the Sunken City, promise endless opportunity for adventure. Indeed, whole campaigns can easily take place with repeated excursions in the endless muck and mire. This alone is worth the price of purchase.
The included funnel, Madazkan's Court, is almost an added bonus. While linear at times, it is filled with a number of memorable encounters which will reward clever play. The module flows well and the progression is straight forward. With the exception of a discrepancy between a map and some written text, everything is easy to follow. The final room is terrifying in just the way a DCC adventure should be.
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I've run this adventure five or six times. Sometimes it's a Total Party Kill, sometimes a handful of heroes emerge, sometimes way too many 0-level characters survive! But it's always a blast!
Players new to DCC are instantly hooked by the weirdness and danger of the adventure and "old pros" appreciate the unusual encounters and flexibility of options.
Very entertaining to run and to play. Recommended!
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This is a great module for a first-time DM - like me! I'm really enjoying playing through it - the art style is light hearted, but the material is still edgy. Some of the traps seemed tough to understand when reading, but in play they were fun. This module also provides a nice starting point for other adventures in Mustertown. Overall, a great module!
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Carnival of the Damned is a must own adventure.
It is as simple as that. As a funnel it is exceedingly adaptable in that it can be trimmed down and plays quickly or fully played and give many hours of gameplay. By many hours I mean easily 9+ hours.
What most impressed me about this funnel was the fact that there is actually a story sown within it that the players can discover. The main enemy starts out as a big bad but as the adventure runs the players slowly become sympathetic to the enemy. To be honest, it is a little like Game of Thrones in this regard.
That being said, it has a good number of magic items that aren't unbalanced in power but give the players plenty of opportunity to discover (and lose) neat magic items. The claw machine alone entertained my players for a good 30-45 minutes.
The PDF even includes some neat miniatures for those who use them.
Overall this is currently in my top five picks for funnels and I love running it. Very recommended.
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I'll provide my SPOILER-FREE review in brief, bulleted format. Keep in mind that I haven't run this adventure, but I read it with running it in mind. I did play in a very abbreviated version as part of this year's Roll20Con.
Carnival of the Damned is a tremendous value for the money. It contains 130+ pages of content including dozens of very clever magic items and a well-developed patron.
While it would be great fun for a tournament, it would really shine as the start to a campaign. Don't rush through this adventure. The author is absolutely correct that this adventure is best enjoyed as a zero level funnel with no time constraints.
The adventure would require multiple sessions to progress through all of the content and achieve the end goal. To do it justice, do not attempt it as a four-hour one-shot.
It is probably necessary to level up at least once to be successful as the encounters are very challenging, and many are quite deadly.
As judge, put some effort into ensuring that the players get bits and pieces of the background so that they can understand the underlying story.
The author makes good use of the die chain, something i haven't seen employed as frequently elsewhere.
If I had to criticize (and I don't feel that I do), I would suggest that you develop your own, longer paraphrased descriptions for each encounter. Out of necessity, the descriptions are a bit briefer and less descriptive than they could be. Likewise, you may wish to develop maps and/or illustrations for some of the encounters without them.
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I’ve been looking forward to the release of David Baity’s ‘Carnival Of The Damned’ adventure for Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG since it was first announced by Purple Sorcerer games last year.
This is a quick 'first impressions' write up rather than an in depth review because I don’t want to give away any spoilers for this brand new module. That said I am planning on running the adventure a couple of times in the coming months so you can expect to learn more about the foul denizens of this particular carnival in the not too distant future!
The module is designed to be run either as a level 0 funnel or a tournament style adventure. It contains over 30 different encounters set in a travelling carnival which, it turns out, is not quite what it seems once the sun goes down! The premise may be simple, but the backstory is elegant and well thought out. It’s a lot more involved than just a case of ‘rescue the kids and kill the bad guy’
The adventure includes twisted versions of carnival rides and games, and the player characters will come across a unique group of adversaries. Clowns feature quite heavily, but let’s face it, who isn’t scared of them? (I blame Stephen King’s Pennywise)
The encounters can be arranged in any order, although the author includes some useful notes and a suggested ‘running order’ for both tournament style and more 'story driven’ funnel play. It’s also worth noting that David has included a couple of useful devices (a magic lantern and a mechanical fortune teller) which the judge can use to help guide the players and reveal the story. Used carefully these should really add to the adventure and prevent it from feeling too linear. The individual encounters could also easily be dropped into other games. It wouldn’t be a great deal of work to scale up the encounters to make them a more appropriate challenge for higher level characters either. Remember though, DCC RPG is not about ’balance’ and if there isn’t at least some danger of character death you’re missing out on the fun!
In typical DCC fashion nothing is quite what it seems in ‘The Carnival Of The Damned’ From the kid’s ball pit to the penny arcade via a disturbing encounter with a bearded lady there is something to terrify every player and delight every judge!
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Eine schöne Sache an der OSR–Szene ist, dass es inzwischen viele kleine Verlage gibt, und sich einige davon am Schreiben von Abenteuern versuchen. So auch Mark Bishop, der seinen Erstling jetzt bei Purple Sorcerer Games veröffentlicht hat. Einem solchen Anfang wohnt für mich oft ein Zauber inne, und deswegen interessieren mich solche Veröffentlichungen besonders. Bei Neuerscheinungen für Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC) oder andere OSR-Systeme sitzt das Geld bei mir sowieso besonders locker. Genau dieses verschwenderische Verhalten hat bei Nebin Pendlebrook’s Perilous Pantry wieder zugeschlagen…
Inhalt
DCC beschäftigt mich nahezu jede Woche, aber zu einer der schönsten Eigenheiten des Systems komme ich nur selten: dem Funnel. Wenn eine Gruppe von neuen Spielern eine Horde von Stufe-0-Charakteren erstellt und mit ihnen auf Abenteuer auszieht, dann ist das oft wunderbar chaotisch, amüsant und auch für erfahrene Spieler etwas Neues.
Nebin Pendlebrook’s Perilous Pantry ist genau darauf ausgelegt. Beim Ausbauen seines Behausung ist ein Halbling aus Versehen in einen unterirdischen Bereich vorgestoßen. Neugierig hat er sich vorgewagt und ist nicht wiedergekehrt. Auch der örtliche Büttel, der ihn suchen ging, kam nicht wieder. Und jetzt liegt es an einem bunten Haufen Dorfbewohner, sich von der Speisekammer aus in die Tiefe zu kämpfen.Wer will, kann das Erstellen dieser Truppe in der Dorfkneipe ausspielen. Die Details sind liebevoll ausgestaltet, inklusive einer kurzen Story zum Namen der Schänke.
Stufe-0-Charaktere sind ja nicht wirklich robust – und beim Funnel sollen ja auch weniger interessante Figuren ausgesiebt werden. Deswegen tauchen in solchen Einführungsabenteuern der Stufen 0 und 1 eher tödliche Fallen auf, schließlich sind sie für mehr als einen SC pro Spieler ausgelegt. Hierbei entscheidet dann eine Mischung aus Würfelglück und schlauem Vorgehen über die Überlebenschancen des Einzelnen und der Gruppe.
In der ersten Hälfte des Abenteuers überwiegen daher noch kleinere Kämpfe, zu erforschende Mysterien, Geheimgänge und Fallen. Diese sind durchaus klug gestaffelt, lernt man dabei doch auch gleichzeitig die Spielmechanismen gut kennen. Generell sind die beschreibenden Texte stimmungsvoll, und trotz der relativen Geradlinigkeit des Dungeons wirkt es doch vielseitig und interessant. Vor allem aber wird viel Wert auf interessante Fundstücke für die Spieler gelegt. Mit Glück oder gezieltem Ausforschen findet man viel, was den Einstieg in das Business als selbstständiger Abenteurer erleichtert. Dabei erweitern die Gegenstände stellenweise das Machtrepertoire der Stufe-0-SC deutlich, aber nicht übermäßig. So haben einige gefundene Gegenstände zwar gespeicherte Magie, aber diese verpufft auch nach nur einer Handvoll Anwendungen.
Später lauern dann zwei bis drei größere Konfrontationen, wobei dem SL kluge Varianten der Lösung angeboten werden. Verstarben zu viele Möchtegernhelden, so gibt es eine glaubwürdige Möglichkeit, weitere Figuren einzuführen. Eiern die Spieler zu sehr herum, kann der SL die Magie der Umgebung benutzen, um ihnen einzuheizen. Sogar an eine kinoreife Mantel-und-Degen-Aktion bei einem zentralen Kampf wurde gedacht!
Spielbericht
Beim Spielen sind mir dann doch mittendrin zwei Sachen aufgefallen. Ich musste mehrfach etwas länger herumblättern und suchen, weil mindestens zwei Beschreibungen für Türen nicht in den Räumen waren, aus denen sie herausführten. Ein Teil der Beschreibung von Raum 1–10 findet sich vor Raum 1–8 und 1–9, weil der angrenzende Gang keine eigene Nummer hat.
Charaktererschaffung habe ich durch den Charaktergenerator von Purple Sorcerer Games ersetzt. Einfach vier Charaktere pro Seite ausdrucken, auseinanderschneiden, mischen und verdeckt verteilen. Manche der altertümlichen Lehrberufe führten mal wieder zu einigem Nachfragen und kurzer Internetrecherche. Nichtmenschliche Charaktere entstehen durch die Tabellenverteilung sowieso immer sehr selten.
Einige Charaktere werden nur dadurch interessant, dass die Spieler kein Interesse an ihrer Weiterverwendung haben. Also probiert man schon mal gewagtere Aktionen, und wunderbar chaotische Ergebnisse sind die Folge. Es wurde viel experimentiert, und aufgrund der magischen Gegenstände des Abenteuers auch auf Stufe 0 Magie gewirkt und Untote vertrieben.
Weil wir diesmal mit abwischbarer Matte gespielt haben, wurde uns zum ersten Mal das unsägliche Gedränge bei einem Funnel bewusst. 15 Figuren in einem schmalen Gang? Wirkte selbst mit farbigen Spielsteinen unwillkürlich komisch. Das Abenteuer ist übrigens für 16 bis 24 Figuren bestimmt.
Zu besonderen Ehren kam ein unbedeutender magischer Gegenstand – ein Ast, auf den Magischer Mund gewirkt wurde. Der Zauberer lag im Sterben, und sein letzter Hilferuf erklang noch lange nach seinem Tod. Eigentlich ein nutzloses Ding, außer für einen kurzen Stimmungsmoment vielleicht. Aber die Spieler tauften ihn „Stecki“ und probierten solange damit herum, bis ein NSC tatsächlich die Stimme erkannte. Sehr beharrlich.
Zwei Kämpfe waren mir hierbei für 15 Anfangscharaktere zu stark gewesen, und ich habe sie jeweils leicht abgeschwächt. In die finale Konfrontation schafften es 8 der 15 Bauernsöhne und drei NSC-Verbündete. Es überlebten letztlich 6 SC und 2 NSC. Reich zogen sie davon. Vor allem erlebten wir viele jener genialen Momente, für die DCC immer wieder gut ist. Es gibt in diesem Abenteuer viel herauszufinden und viel auszuprobieren, was gerne auch in Klamauk ausartet.
Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis
Angesichts der Qualität des Inhalts und der guten Optik, sind 4,49 USD definitiv in Ordnung für dieses Modul. Die Seitenzahl wurde auch nicht künstlich aufgebläht.
Erscheinungsbild
Jenseits des Titels und der Rückseite ist das PDF in Grautönen gehalten, was übrigens sehr stilvoll aussieht. Die Textmenge pro Seite und Schriftgröße empfand ich als sehr angenehm, und hilft vor allem beim Lesen im elektronischen Format.
Die Illustrationen sind gut, viele davon sind im verniedlichenden Stil anderer Purple-Sorcerer–Produkte gehalten. Es sind genug vorhanden, um den Text aufzulockern. Das Titelbild gefällt mir besonders in seiner schlichten Art. Die handgezeichnete Karte ist in einer ansprechenden Schrägansicht gestaltet.
Bonus/Downloadcontent
Battlemaps und Faltaufsteller gibt es als Extra-PDF beim Kauf zusätzlich. Auch das Artwork ist nochmal in größerer Auflösung zum Ausdrucken beigegeben.
Fazit
Ich habe das Abenteuer in einem Zug gelesen und war sehr angetan. Es ist übersichtlich aufbereitet und auch optisch ansprechend – Karte und Handout sind besonders ansehnlich. Von der Gestaltung zentraler NSC bis zu den einzelnen Räumen wirkt das Modul liebevoll gemacht, ohne sich in unnötigen Details zu verlieren. Auch am Tisch wusste es zu überzeugen.
Purple Sorcerer Games hat ja bisher nur John Marr’s eigene Abenteuer veröffentlicht, aber mit Mark Bishop hat sich ein Weiterer gefunden, der sich zu veröffentlichen lohnt. Hut ab vor diesem Erstling!
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I picked this up on release as I love the tone and presentation of previous Purple Sorcerer publications and was curious to see this, their first adventure with a different writer, Mark Bishop.
The introduction is solid and well written and the rumour table adds some flavour, though the players will be in no doubt as regards which direction they need to take from the get go. Some may see this as 'railroading' but in a convention or similar environment it's important to get straight into the game and personally I have no problem with this approach.
There are some great original monsters and some very well thought out encounters, I particularly like the run in with the 'Toad-Spiders' early in the story. As this is a level 0 funnel adventure characters would usually get little chance to dabble in magic, but there is a nicely written opportunity for one of the characters to acquire a classic spell, allowing new players to see DCC's fantastic magic system in action. There is plenty of danger and peril in the adventure which matches my expectations of a DCC character funnel. This game is not about 'balanced' encounters! That said I'm sure with quick thinking and some good roleplaying the player characters can succeed and find the missing halfling, even though things are unlikely to work out exactly as they had hoped!
The presentation, artwork and maps are up the the usual excellent Purple Sorcerer standard and the PDF includes a separate appendix file with battlemaps and paper minis which make great 'props' even if you don't usually play the game with figures. Personally I'd love to see someone produce a selection of 'level 0' type paper minis to complement the excellent monster minis that Jon includes with all of his adventures (If I had any artistic talent I'd have a go myself!)
I'm yet to run this adventure as a live game but I've read it through a couple of times and I can't wait to try it out. It might just be the perfect introductory adventure for folk new to tabletop and to the Dungeons Crawl Classics RPG in particular.
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Originally posted at: http://diehardgamefan.com/2013/07/03/tabletop-review-a-gathering-of-the-marked-dungeon-crawl-classics/
Purple Sorcerer Games puts out a series out adventurers for Dungeon Crawl Classics that take place in the region of the Sunken City. Their fourth and latest, A Gathering of the Marked is the longest so far, clocking in with a page count of nearly fifty! Now not all of those pages are for the adventure. You’re also getting detailed maps, paper cut out miniatures, and outs and more. I was impressed with all the extras that came with that adventure. If that wasn’t enough, you get three different versions of the adventure – one for the Kindle, one for a generic e-reader and one for mobile devices. I found the mobile one to be the best overall on all devices while the default PDF seems to have issues when viewed on a computer (a bit of lag with loading the overlaying images and content). Getting three versions of the same adventure in different formats is great as it ensures each DM can use the one that works best for him or her, and also makes the $5.99 price tag all the more enticing. Sure you may only use one of the three, but at least you don’t have to worry about formatting errors and the like.
One area where a Purple Sorcerer release for Dungeon Crawl Classics differs greatly from a Goodman Games one is with the art. Goodman Games adventurers tend to have dark, grim and gritty artwork straight out of the earliest days of tabletop roleplaying. Purple Sorcerer adventures tend to use a more cartoonish feel. I personally really like it as it’s not only a juxtaposition from the extreme body count and horrible violence that a DCC adventure contains, but the style really stands out regardless of systems. I look at the art the same way I do a Lego video game. It’s very cute but said cuteness isn’t for everyone. Whether it’s your cup of tea or not, the art in this (or any Purple Sorcerer) adventure will definitely help make the adventure memorable, especially with the sheer amount of handouts with crazy pictures on them.
A Gathering of the Marked is probably the longest and most detailed Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure I’ve ever seen. It’s designed for either 16 Level 0 or eight Level 1 characters, which sounds like a lot to those new to DCC, but it’s pretty on par with what the system is written for. There is a HIGH player death count in DCC and so each player is encouraged to have two or three characters each. That sounds like it might be hard to roleplay, but DCC is more about the combat and roll-playing that character development and figuring out what makes your guy or girl tick. Even with the sheer amount of characters, it’s going to be hard for players to make it to the end of this adventurer. Although no one encounter will lead to a TPK (Total Party Kill), I would be surprised if even a fourth made it to the end of the adventure…and those will probably die there. Yes, A Gathering of the Marked is one of the most lethal Level 0 adventures for DCC and if you know the system, that’s saying something. That said, if you read the adventure and feel it’s too deadly/not deadly enough (!?), you can always scale back the encounters. It’s your game, after all!
The crux of A Gathering of the Marked is in the same. Seems the poor PCs are the descendants of members of an eeeeeeevil (INDEED!) cult and as such, when they hit maturity, a strange glyph appears on their forehead, causing a burning sensation and prodding them towards their eventual fate – The Winnowing. The Winnowing is a series of trials to see which of those that bear the Mark of Athax are worthy of being members in the dark cult…and which are merely worthy of being eaten, disemboweled or what have you. There are a lot, and I mean A LOT, of encounters as the PCs go through the trials and tribulation of The Winnowing. Can they survive, and if so, do they join the cult their forbearers were once members of, or do they try and stop the cult from gaining any more power, saving their descendants from eventually going through the same they have had to? More importantly, can they do it themselves, or with the help of a unexpected and cryptic ally?
There really isn’t much in the way of story here. The plot is pretty thin and straightforward, but that’s very much in line with Dungeon Crawl Classics. The emphasis is more on the non-stop action and if you’re a gamer that prefers adventures with a lot of talking head moments or detective work, you won’t find it here. If you are looking to see cheesemakers and fishermen trying to hack their way through zombie thingies and a big ogre, then this is for you.
One of the things I really likes about this adventure were all the items a character could find which would enable them special bonuses upon reaching Level 1 – as long as they chose the class relating to that item. You might find magical gloves that gives your agility a massive boost and some extra thieving skill points if the owner of the item chooses Rogue/Exotic/whatever as his First Level class. There are other neat magic items too, like the MASTER SHOCKhelmet, which is hilarious and lethal at the same time. So even if characters do die horrible in this adventure, the survivors will get some pretty nice bonuses once they level up, thus ensuring their chances of continued survival will be even greater.
I do need to make one more mention of the length. Unlike most DCC adventures which can be played in a single session, it will take two or three to get through A Gathering of the Marked. Make sure you realize this and can devote the time to the adventure because it is that long. The good thing about breaking it up into two or three sessions is that players can replace their massacred characters between sessions –as long as the DM has a good place to shovel them in.
All in all, I think A Gathering of the Marked is the best adventure I’ve seen from Purple Sorcerer Games yet. While it’s not the best DCC adventure I’ve read, the fact you are getting so much stuff, combined with the length of the adventure, means I can strongly recommend it to fans of the system. You’re definitely going to get six dollars worth of entertainment out of it.
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