Angus McDonald is the world's greatest detective, as well as a friend of Magnus, Merle, and Taako. He is a very good, well respected, clever, smart, and talented flesh boy. Angus has exceptional deductive reasoning skills and is skilled at solving puzzles and piecing clues together. He uses a book of interception to detect magic used for deception. The party (particularly Merle) regularly pick on Angus in a joking manner by saying his name wrong and stealing Angus' belongings from him.
History[]
Early Life[]
At some point before boarding the Rockport Limited, he became the world’s greatest detective.
Murder on the Rockport Limited[]
When he was ten years old, he was hired by the Rockport City Council to track down the Rockport Slayer.
On the Rockport Limited, he was dressed up very fancily in a fancy-boy suit and blue fancy boy cap. Kinda like a schoolboy, but fancy. Angus kept a hand crossbow in his sleeve.
He brought with him a plain blue interceptor book, without any sort of cover art. The Interceptor book can intercept messages that are transmitted through magical means, and then display them in a plain text version, uh, of any language of the reader’s choosing on the page. The book is about divination which is the school of magic about learning secrets long forgotten, predicting the future, finding hidden things, and foiling deceptive spells. He has a detective’s toolkit with a mirror on a stick on it, a notebook, a magnifying glass, a dusting kit, a grappling hook, and all kinds of stuff. He also brought fruit leather with him but ran out.
The party first meets Angus on the Rockport Limited train when he offers to help the party solve the murder on the train.
He thought the Bureau of Balance bracers were some sort of communication-impeding bracers.
He can drag a full grown man across a train compartment.
His pleasure room was his grandpa’s library. He was transporting his grandpa’s favorite silverware and going to give it to him as a death-day present. Taako tells Angus that they were only able to reclaim 3 forks from the train, but in actuality, Taako stole the rest of the silverware set and sold it at Fantasy Costco.
Lunar Interlude II[]
In Lunar Interlude 2, the party finds out that Angus has been hired by the Bureau of Balance as a seeker and will be working with the party to provide critical intel and support throughout their various missions. Later on, it is clarified that Angus joined the Bureau of Balance because he was such a good detective. He had been figuring out many of the mysterious holes in people’s memories and he was edging his way toward either unraveling a Bureau of Balance conspiracy or working for them.
The Crystal Kingdom[]
Angus attempts to help the Reclaimers in the Crystal Kingdom arc when Hodge Podge asks the party to spell aarakocra, but Hodge Podge realizes they are cheating and cuts off their communication.
Lunar Interlude III[]
Angus begins learning magic from Taako, starting the lesson with Mage Hand. About a week and a half of lessons later, Angus brings Taako a box of macaroons that are destroyed by the Umbra Staff.
Lunar Interlude IV[]
He thought Merle was going on a secret mission in Neverwinter and followed him. He was then introduced to Merle's children Mavis and Mookie.
Powers and Abilities[]
This smart and beloved boy is great at detective work and riddles! He also knows some spells after he started learning magic from Taako in Lunar Interlude III.
Spells[]
The following are the spells known by Angus. (Note: most low-level spells can be cast at an additionally higher level for a stronger effect.)
Cantrips[]
Cantrips are spells which can be cast at any time. Angus knows 3 of these.
| Name | Synopsis | School | Number of Times Used | Episodes Used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mage Hand | A spectral, floating hand appears at a point you choose within range. You can use the hand to manipulate an object, open an unlocked door or container, stow or retrieve an item from an open container, or pour the contents out of a vial. | Conjuration | 2 | Ep. 40 The Adventure Zone Presents: The Live Boston Stunt Spectacular |
| Produce Flame | A flickering flame appears in your hand. The flame remains there for the duration and harms neither you nor your equipment. | Conjuration | 1 | Ep. 40 |
| Prestidigitation | You create a shower of sparks, clean or soil a small object, print a symbol or color, etc. | Transmutation | Ep.51 |
1st - 6th Level[]
| Name | Synopsis | Level | School | Number of Times Used | Episodes Used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disguise Self | You make yourself—including your clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings on your person—look different until the spell ends or until you use your action to dismiss it. | 1st-level | Illusion | 1 | Ep.51 |
| Silence | For the duration, no sound can be created within or pass through a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point you choose within range. | 2nd-level | Illusion | 1 | Ep. 59 |
| Zone of Truth | You create a magical zone that guards against deception in a 15-foot-radius sphere centered on a point of your choice within range. | 2nd-level | Enchantment | 1 | Ep. 59 |
| Lightning Bolt | A stroke of lightning forming a line 100 feet long and 5 feet wide blasts out from you in a direction you choose. | 3rd-level | Evocation | 1 | Ep. 67 |
Items[]
Current Items[]
- Book of Interception
- Three forks and three spoons
- Hand crossbow
- Dusting kit, magnifying glass, grappling hook, and other sleuthing tools
- Magnus' grandfather's knife
Former Items[]
- His grandfather's silverware collection
- A snack-size can of sour cream and onion Pringles, given to Taako, Merle, and Magnus to give to their roommate, Robbie
- Three "Caleb Cleveland: Kid Cop" novels, which he gave to Taako, Merle, and Magnus for Candlenights.
- Box of macarons
- Wand
- Taako's plastic sheriff's badge, given to Merle
Featured Episodes[]
Fan Art[]
Quotes[]
- "I have a motto! And it's: 'Age ain't no thing!' " —Angus, Ep. 13, Murder on the Rockport Limited (Part 4)
- "It's time to fucking crack this thing wide open!" —Angus, Ep. 15, Murder on the Rockport Limited (Part 6)
- "I shot a kid!" —Angus, Ep. 16, Murder on the Rockport Limited (Part 7)
Trivia[]
- Griffin based Angus's voice on Keebler Youngblood from the Superego sketch, The Amtrak Heartland Flyer, Episode 3:9 (10:40).[1]
- Angus is roleplayed to admit that he is a "...mad brony, yo" in one of the episodes of the Murder on the Rockport Limited arc. It is still unclear as to whether or not this is a joke.
- While technically unconfirmed, Griffin did express a particular fondness towards the fan-theory that Angus was actually a silver dragon in disguise the whole time, during The The Adventure Zone Zone: Balance Arc Finale.
- Angus knows spells that are not on the Wizard spell list: Produce Flame, Silence, and Zone of Truth. Wizards in all printed source books do not have an ability to gain spells from other classes without a feat such as Magic Initiate, which only allowed one to choose from a single class's list. However, there are two ways that Angus could possess all of his shown spells: by being a 6th level College of Lore Bard, utilizing the Additional Magical Secrets class feature to take Produce Flame from Druid and Lightning Bolt from Wizard; or by using the Theurgy Wizard School from Unearthed Arcana, which allows Wizards to learn Cleric spells and gain the features of a Cleric Domain, allowing Angus to learn Produce Flame from the Druid cantrip list by reaching 6th Level with his chosen domain as Nature. As both of these require 6th Level in their respective classes to learn Produce Flame, however, it is still not possible for Angus to have known it if he indeed hadn't gained the ability to cast 3rd Level Spells by the time of the Day of Story and Song, as full casters don't gain 3rd Level Spells until 5th Level in their class.
- Angus was confirmed to most likely be Jewish in the Candlenights in Tacoma live show, when he appeared and greeted everyone with an exclamation of "Happy Hannukah, Sirs!"
- Angus was named after Twitter user @Angry_Angus.[2]
- He has a grandpa in Neverwinter. The memory of his grandpa's name died long before he was born.
- Angus' dad told him he's not allowed to talk to people who worship pagan gods.
- In both an alternate future and a high school AU/dream sequence, Angus is incredibly jacked.