Cameron was a bit annoyed because the group did not know what “actionable” I offered. He was correct in a sense…I had not offered any. The only task that was given was: if something is manipulating the mind of the miners down in the mine, get rid of it. There were no specific actions to be taken, no specific NPC to talk to, no timetable, no clear goal even. Open investigation. And all of it was intentional.
Read MoreCompared to the events on the Asperity where things were happening without the players having any control, here the situation was at a standstill, and it was the stillness that caused the tension. I particularly like the Trade story arc as I think it has all the good elements of a good gothic horror story.
Read MoreThe episode itself is still very light in tone – if you like gallows humor and bad taste, that is. But to be honest, I do like the end product. We get to see a lot of individuality in the characters and what their values are. Now that the players are used to their characters, their roleplay is stepping up a notch and I can take a step back and let them take the wheel.
Read MoreThe grandfather clock (or pendulum clock) in Lord Georgiy’s sitting room is a bit of an anachronism as Lamordia’s setting is close to our 1550s and the first pendulum clock was built in 1656, but I am keeping it to contrast once more how much of a technological gap there is between Barovia and Lamordia. Galileo’s studies on pendulums were key to reducing the size of clocks.
Read MoreLand at last! Nothing I could throw, not even a gulag, could dampen the relief and optimism of the players. I was quite happy at Hunter’s quick catch when I was slowly revealing the true nature of Vatyr. Indeed, no one goes to work in a salt mine at the end of the world of their own volition. One goes to the salt mine because they were forced to.
Read MoreTraveling over ice and having one character with exhaustion level 2 (speed halved) slowed the party to a dangerous level. In regular conditions, the Player’s Handbook (PHB) tells us you can travel 24 miles in a day. In difficult conditions, however, “you move at half speed in difficult terrain – moving 1 foot in difficult terrain costs 2 feet of speed – so you can cover half the normal distance in a minute, an hour, a day. (PHB p.182)” I reduced the speed furthermore because they are traveling on ice without proper equipment. The players found me rough, but I am being generous, considering.
Read MoreAs I mention in the episode, we play in “Hard mode.” What I mean is we are in a Gritty Realism setting. There are a couple of rules and mechanics that are added to the game for a more realistic and, let’s be honest, hard feel. The result is also a less high-fantasy world and more like a survival game. Resource management, be it spells and ability as well as food rations and ammunition become more important than a regular D&D game.
Read MoreI remember doing the recording of this episode. I never had so much fun drinking pretend alcohol. There was some kind of giddiness at the table that night. As if players and characters were in synch in letting loose after a harrowing day. It was truly a fantastic session and doing the editing, there was so much that I had to but cut out otherwise it would have been too long, but parts like the “Speak with Oyster” made me laugh all over again. I hope you all enjoyed it as well and it wasn’t too self-referential. I want to point out that after six episodes we are still in the first day and the players haven’t completed a long rest. Resources are going to be stretched thin.
Read MoreOn different forums and other podcasts, I’ve often heard that the medicine check is the most useless skill of all, and it is often shunned by players. I had never realized it was so and it came as a big surprise. One of the reasons I believe people think the medicine skill is useless is because they do not see how it can be used in-game. The Player’s Handbook is not very inspiring, telling us that a successful check can stabilize a dying creature and diagnose an illness. Xanathar’s Guide to Everything’s added a couple of ideas for checks but the skill remained a bit bland, in my opinion, so I get the unpopularity.
Read MoreCaptain Alyosha refers to a set of cards called Tarokka, saying that he “was told to be kind and to accept passengers today.” The group does not press him much further but let me expand a little more. A tarokka deck of cards functions, and is very similar to, our tarot card reading deck but uses fifty-four cards instead of the usual seventy-eight. Decks are used to perform cartomancy and is a form of divination that is jealously protected by the Vistani who perform it.
Read MoreThere are two reasons why players can become frustrated when it comes to a GM’s narration, I think. Either the GM is being too vague, and the players do not understand where they should go, or the GM is doing too much railroading. I’ll focus on vagueness today. This is a big subject and there is no way that I can cover it in a few paragraphs.
Read MoreAfter a brutal fight, we finally have a description of our protagonists! What did you think? Are they close to what you pictured? Any big surprises? I am super excited to reveal the official portraits of our quartet. They look positively badass.
Read MoreThe log is there to give you information about the setting we are glossing over. The players already know a few things about Ravenloft but you might not. As we progress, I’ll fill you in about the particularities of this world.
If this isn’t the first actual play podcast you’ve listened to, you know each GM likes to do things their own way. We play with our own share of homebrew rules. Some are quite simple but others, like the sanity rules, are more complex. When a house rule has been used during an episode, I’ll explain them to you in the log. Perhaps you’ll want to give them a try at your own table.
And finally, I want to share with you some of my finds like maps, illustrations and other resources. Anything I find and I think is pertinent I will share here with you.
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