Troll Playing Game

"Troll Playing Game" is the first segment of the 6th episode of the seventh season of Trolls: The Beat Goes On!, and the 86th overall episode in the series. It premiered on August 27, 2019.
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Poppy joins in a game of "Cupcakes and Caverns" with Branch. When going gets tough, Poppy wins by a favorable probability.
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Poppy rushes to Branch's bunker because a tickle fight has broken out between two Trolls in the village. He doesn't answer and a strange note is on his bunker. Having pulled the note free, it activates a trap door under her and she falls. She lands inside Branch's Bunker and hears speaking. She then sees a 12-sided dice roll by and is confused.
She enters a room and sees Dennis, Smidge and Biggie sitting around a table with Branch at the top end of it. Biggie explains as Branch fumbles for words that they are playing a game Branch invented called "Cupcakes and Caverns". Smidge states that Branch said he had asked her every month to play, but Poppy was always busy. She states that doesn't sound like her at all. Branch confesses he never invited her as she puts fun over rules, and the game has a lot of rules. Smidge, Biggie and Mr. Dinkles beg Branch to play as Poppy asks if she can join in so long as she follows the rules. Branch allows her to join so long as she promises that she will indeed follow the rules.
She asks how to play and Smidge explains they are on a quest to find the Gem of Friendship; Dennis claims that it has the power to spread Love and respect to whomever draws near. Poppy grabs Love, Respect and Gems noting Branch has been keeping her away from all of this. He continues the game cutting out the light. They introduce themselves as Bignor the Worm Master, Smidge-winn, expert with a bow and hair-row and Thistleus the Wise, Keeper of the Sacred Scrapbook. Poppy goes to introduce herself as Pop-Pealanor, the sorcerer of song and dance, but Branch stops her and hands her Lady Paopsalot, the knight. She asks why they can't make up whatever she wants, but Branch gives her a look and she remembers she promised to stick to the rules.
Branch continues the game and the group is attacked by an Ice Growler. As Bignor and Smidge-winn go to attack, Popsalot stops them as she thinks she can befriend it. It growls and attacks her when she goes to hug it and as a consequences, Thistleus steps in and though beats it is frozen solid for the rest of the game. Branch comments to Thistle that he doesn't actually have to act like his frozen just because Thistleus is. Poppy realizes that she took Thistle out of the game and starts to plea with Branch about it even asking for a re-do, but Branch states these are the rules. The rules make the game stakes high and the consequences real.
Branch continues the game and the remaining party members continue on, doing random events along the way. The team comes across a river that they must pass. Popsalot, having lost a party member because she did the wrong thing and she lets Bignor and Smidge-winn tell her what to do. Once on the mushrooms, Bignor and Smidge-winn tell Popsalot conflicting instructions leaving her confused to what is best and she is hit by flood waters as she took too long.
They arrive at a village of Fuzzlings and Branch notes that if they negotiate well they may lead them to the Gem. This time Popsalot does nothing, and lets Bignor and Smidge-winn do all the talking. Branch states this offends the Fuzzlings and they attack. Popsalot sees a trapdoor and breaks the lock; the trio enter it to escape the Fuzzlings.
Popsalot goes to apologize for constantly messing up and ruining the game, but Bignor stops her as he sees the Gem of Friendship. As she hears Dice rolls from Branch, she says "Are you kidding me?". Branch states that by taking the Gem, she activated the Dungeon's traps. They hear a voice and are approached by Branchtar the Isolated. Branchtar states he stole the Gem to stop the spread of Friendship throughout the realm. Smidge-winn stands defiant against him and Branchtar summons a group of creatures to attack.
Branch asks what the players want to do, Biggie unleashes Mr. Dinkles and Smidge lets out a quiver of hair-rows, but Poppy does nothing and hides in the corner, saying the pair are really good and can win without her. The pair attack and despite rolling high numbers, they lose badly.
Branchtar turns his attention to Popsalot now and draws closer, forcing Poppy to react now whether she likes it or not. She decides to hug Branchtar. Poppy is done second guessing herself as this is how she plays. She then begins to use the rules of the game against Branchtar, even though Branch warns the chances are one in a thousand. Poppy notes she's holding the Gem of Friendship, bringing it down to one in a hundred. Plus, her character has a +2 Charisma rating and Branch puts a 12-sided dice on the field, then Poppy has Popsalot take off her armor giving her a vulnerability bonus. This means the roll amounts to the flip of a coin.
Branch tosses the coin - heads she fails, tails she wins. He flips the coin and she wins. Branchtar is befriended and the Gem is hers.
The other players leave and Branch tells Poppy she did great today. He apologizes for not inviting her and says he is looking forward to next week, revealing he wants her to be the Cavern keeper this time. She laughs evilly.
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;Trolls
*Amanda Leighton as Queen Poppy
*Skylar Astin as Branch
*Josh Keaton as Dennis
*David Fynn as Biggie
*Kevin Michael Richardson as Smidge
;Other
*David Fynn as Mr. Dinkles
*Gary
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This episode is available on the "Trolls: The Beat Goes On! - Complete Seasons 5-8" DVD.
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*The episode title is a play on "roleplaying game", known as "RPG" for short. A roleplaying game is a video game where the player acts "in the role of" a character within an imaginary world, hence the term "roleplaying", since “troll”, and “role/roll(homophone)” rhyme,
*This is a parody of Dungeons & Dragons, often referred to as "DnD" for shorthand.
*Typically, in DnD dice rolls extend up to 20 sides or "D20", rarely reaching a 100-sided dice or "D100". D100 roles are known as a "percentage roll". Players usually roll two 10-sided dices or "D10s", with one acting as the 10s denominator due to the rarity of D100 dice and how difficult they can be to read. So while Branch pulling out a 100-sided dice isn't beyond reachable experience, a 1000-sided dice is rather farfetched.
*The characters are loosely based on actual DnD characters:
**Biggie is based upon a "fighter" class, though they typically don't have animal companions (rangers, another "warrior class", do).
**Smidge's larger ears are supposed to make her look more elf-like and match the race of the same name in DnD. She's most likely based on the "ranger" class, and is the archetype "Elf, archer" character that can become common in the game. This archetype is in turn based on The Lord of the Rings, which had a large influence on the game's conception.
***As a note, they wouldn't use the word "Elf" as established in "Marshtato Fairy", "Elf" is a racial slur to Trolls, so calling Smidge a "elf" would be degrading to her character.
**Dennis is based upon a healer class, most likely a priest.
**Poppy's character she tries to choose is loosing based upon a sorcerer, who's a person born with magic (as oppose to a wizard who isn't). She's then switched by Branch to a class similar to the Paladin, who typically relies on charisma and is actually a nod towards her character.
**Branch's character is loosely based on the stereotype of an "evil wizard", which became a common trope in DnD.
*Most RPGs allow players to play as any character they want. Branch doesn't allow Poppy to do this, and changes her character. This is frowned upon in RPGs, but Branch was doing so to make sure she stuck to the rules.
*This episode also makes reference to just how strict the rules are in RPGs like DnD; there are often a lot.
*In DnD and most RPGs, if the player's character is dead, they can re-roll a new character and enter. However, technically, Thistleus never died; he was just frozen.
*Poppy does all the common mistakes that RPG newbies typically make, such as:
**Letting others tell you what to do instead of thinking for yourself.
**Taking too long to do anything.
**Not speaking when spoken to by NPCs.
**Not taking action when you need to.
**Letting others handle situations that you should be involved.
**Rushing to grab the MacGuffin they're after without checking for traps.
*Branch goes to tell off Dennis for overacting, then remembers he's dealing with another Troll; Trolls are known in the series for overacting, as seen already in "Freeze Tag". This is a nod to players who overreact towards the "roleplay" part of RPGs.
*Towards the end of the game, Poppy begins to exploit the complex rule system of Branch's game by doing things such as taking off her armor to give her a weakness bonus. Again, this is a reference to stat-boasting players who try to win by exploiting rule loopholes and doing things that give them bonuses. This isn't generally frowned upon in RPG circles (unless it goes against the spirit of the "roleplay"), as it's considered a sign of expert-level understanding of the game.
*This episode is the ninth one in the series to feature the running gag referencing the common classic cartoon logic rule of "gravity does not work until you look down".
*Several members of the Trolls: The Beat Goes On! staff are known to be DnD players, so this episode was likely done as a nod to their hobby.
*Jim Mortensen noted that the crew thought the name "Popsalot" would be inappropriate, so they thought of changing Poppy's character name to "Papsalot"; but then their legal team gave the okay to use the name. Branch changing the name of Poppy's character was a nod to this.https://jimmortensen.tumblr.com/post/612245894937591808/cmere-jim-whats-the-story-with-papsalot-why
**The likely reason for this is that "Popsalot" implied Poppy's character had issues with flatulence.
**The name is a play on "Poppy" and "Lancelot", a character from a Matter of Britain and was a knight serving King Arthur in the tale, being one of the most famous characters after Arthur himself and Merlin. It is common for RPG players to reference myths, legends or popular media when naming characters.
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Trolls- The Beat Goes On - Troll Playing Game - POP 🎲🐟
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Category:Episodes
Category:Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episodes
Category:TBGO Season 7 episodes
Category:2D animation