I'm watching episode 46 of Strange Hungers and I'm enjoying it as an example of a not particularly unusual adversary (gnolls!) being spiced up by DM and players being willing to try weird and fun things. Oeidur's first ever attempt at an, I think it was third-level lightning bolt? being bargained for with "what are you willing to have go wrong; are you willing to hit an ally" is fun for a character who is the known asshole. Barden trying to scare off the gnoll at the end because just trying to kill it doesn't seem Heroic and she is trying to be Heroic, and then immediately following that with the dramatic slide under the owlbear to slice it open and going "did it work?!" feels like commentary on the kind of persona Barden is trying to construct in the world. The swashbuckler slide and Oeidur's lightning bolt turned area of effect both ended up feeling like fun ways of combining mechanics and characterization even in a gnoll fight that wasn't inherently themed to anyone's character arc.
