#Anyway curse of strahd tonight.

[vanhelsingapologist]

Your blood, my water.

—

Haven’t drawn him in many moons which means I colored a sketch I’ll never finish.

[shannanigan-art]

I gotta start posting more just sketches and shit here. Anyway here's Jax, my Curse of Strahd disaster rogue, from tonight's session (featuring our star druid and the horrible familiar of our warlock)

[mxvanrichten]

Wooooo it's D&D day again. We're playing again tonight so we don't have to wait like 5 weeks to play again due to holidays yuck.

Curse of Strahd Spoilers below for The Amber Temple:

I'm so ready and scared. Lol. We got rid of 3 of the 6 flame skulls and the amber golem last night. Unfortunately, the three flame skulls we have left to kill have not used their fire balls yet. 😅😅😌😌 Can't wait to deal with that in close quarters. We still have to find the Sunsword as well.

Silas is feeling really overwhelmed right now. He's got a lot on him right now and Brandy asked him what they should do at one point and he kinda lashed out "WHY IS IT ON ME!?" (He felt bad)

We're also dealing with Kasimir going into every room with Sarcophagi in them for whatever the fuck he's looking for. Silas and VR are both sus as fuck of Kasimir at this point, but Silas is playing nice because Brandy likes him. (Brandy plays nice with Rudolph because Silas likes him, so it's only fair 😅😅)

Anyways, sorry for the word vomit. I'm just so excited!!

[sapphim]

so in the curse of strahd campaign I'm running, the rogue and the wizard have already played parts of cos (mostly end-game content, they joined late) run by a different dm, and the paladin has been playing d&d since he was in diapers. so I've been gleefully fucking with them.

anyway, tonight the party met mr count strahd von zarovich for the first time, along with two of his side hoes (rahadin and ludmilla, iykyk). now mr von zaddy is such an iconic d&d vampire bbeg that he is literally namedropped in the paladin's divine sense feature. he's that bitch. so the paladin uses her divine sense. and I describe in lurid detail the overwhelming undead aura she senses, far more powrful and ancient than anything she's encountered before.

the paladin's player says "ok, cool, what about the other two." now mind, he is the group's usual dm, and ran the very first game of d&d I ever played. anyway I say "oh, the men? you don't get anything off of them. just the woman" and there's a beat. and he repeats "the woman." and with the utmost air of innocence I confirm. and then I get to watch his face BSoD. glorious.

[lalonderose]

d&d posting in tags. session ended less than an hour ago my brain go crazy

[somelazyassartist]

Okay I probably won't be very active for the next couple hours cuz we're playing some more Curse of Strahd tonight but!! I realize I forgot to post the player character's actual references before I started just posting random doodles of them lmao. Anyways here's Ailbhean the Bugbear, Kiyah the Harengon, and Sapphire the Fairy!!

(note this is not size-accurate as sapphire is like 2 feet tall, just zoomed in versions of their references for better quality lmao)

[lilyisfrozen]

Update #4, 9/2

How crazy its already September! On 9/6, it’ll be my four month anniversary on AO3! I’m thinking I post a new one shot on that day. If the plan goes through, its going to be a busy writing weekend! 

Haunted: Because I absolutely exhausted my writing energy on Monday, seeing how I wrote a 15.5k word one shot in a day, I did not start chapter 21 yesterday as I planned. I got busy and I was just straight tired. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t thinking about it. I do believe I have a solid idea for events in the chapter, so writing it shouldn’t be too difficult. I will start on it tonight. If I can get a third of the way through it, then it should be up by Saturday. Saturday is the goal anyways, but I would like to get as much done as possible tonight and tomorrow so I can work on this other one shot idea.

Sweet Dreams: Seeing as how exhausted I’ve been the last two days, no progress was made! 😂

Buster: This is the one shot idea I would like to work on for my four month streak on AO3. Its an Akaza/Reader fic, so I think my fellow Akaza simps will be pleased with this.

Wedding: Working title for the final Sesshomaru/Reader fic I plan on writing for a while. Its mostly done, just sitting in my notes waiting to be edited. Once I’ve finished, I expect it to be posted soon…ish! 😂

Me, my sister, my mom, and my best friend have begun our Curse of Strahd D&D campaign! Between writing the campaign, prepping, and other shenanigans, no writing will be done on Tuesdays and I can expect very little on Mondays from now on. 

My late start classes for this semester of college also start next week, so it’ll be a little hectic for me. If I only post one update for Haunted next week, I hope you can forgive me! While I’m not working, I’ll be practicing my instrument in place of that, so that’s another time sucker. I wouldn’t be surprised if going forward, one update a week for anything would become normal. Which is a shame because I would like to update Haunted once a week. I’ve been in that grove since June and have managed to keep up with it. If I do so, after Buster and Wedding, there might not be anymore one shots for a while. 

You know what! My goal is to post both Buster AND Wedding on 9/6! I know I can do it if I hyperfixated on the monster that was Dreams Come True! 

Which means…I have maybe 20k words to write in four days. Yeesh. Wish me luck!

[princesshalfdemon]

anyways tonight in curse of strahd

[glasyasbutch]

playlist: craving & manic

link to playlist (on spotify)

1. Oh Girl You’re the Devil by MIKA

And I said follow me, whoever you want to be / Don’t care where you go as long you stay with me

MIKA kin song!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The individual persona verses fit Craving (”girl with a bag full of hearts and the devil’s eyes”) much better than Manic but the general VIBES are just ... magnifique. It’s a song about people sticking together because the world hates them. Also like, devil themes ... tieflings ..... you get it.

I also just rly like the closing lines being “She’s a bad, bad girl, a very bad girl, he’s a bad, bad boy, a very bad boy” cause yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. Deal With It by GIRLI

We walk in, you stare at us, we find it hilarious / We came here to tear it up, we’re here to tear it up / Lights on, we roll up, makeup and undercuts / Lap it up, we’re pretty sure you can’t deal with it

Bro they went so fucking hard in their time as criminals like. So Hard. Especially a fan of the lines “back of a police car, free ride to the next bar” bc they really didn’t take law enforcement seriously like. At All. and the opening line of the selected lyrics above because two super fucked up and hot tieflings Definitely were eye catchers anywhere they went and they took a sick kind of pride in knowing that everyone was put off by them.

This song was originally on Craving’s personal playlist, but I moved it here bc it was much more of a pairs vibe.

3. Trouble by Valerie Broussard

I’m that knife in your boot, girl I got ya / I’m your number two man in the fight / We are revolutionaries tonight 

The only reason either of them made it a day out of their hometown was because they had each other, and they are So much more dangerous as a pair. 

4. Outlaws by Delta Rae

Don’t you know that we’re outlaws, giving the finger to death itself / We got no one to hide from, we got no one to toast our health

So this is on here partly just because I like Delta Rae. It’s technically a love song but it’s not explicit enough to turn me off from excluding it, because its much more about not giving a shit because you have the only thing you care about anymore walking by your side, and as long as they’re with you, you feel invincible, which is DEFINITELY how manic and craving walk through the world.

5. Bulletproof Heart by My Chemical Romance

Hold onto your heart in darkness / Will it ever be the light to shine you out or will it fail and leave you stranded? / I’m not going to be the one left standing / You aren’t going to be the one left standing / We aren’t going to be the ones left standing / Gravity don’t mean too much to me / Is this our destiny? This world is after me, after you / Run away, like it was yesterday

I always wanted an MCR song on here bc siccy niccy likes mcr and I felt like they deserved one on a playlist involving their character, but until recently I didn’t really listen to the band and didn’t trust myself to pick the song of theirs with the best vibes. But don’t worry! I’m having my MCR phase now so the updated playlist has one!!!! 

Anyways bulletproof heart makes me go fucking bonkers and the lyrics speak for themselves why it belongs on this playlist. It doubles for pre-campaign “we are just shitheads and society hates us and its fun cause we hate it too” and “we are literally going to throw overthrow strahd and probably die but like fuck it what else can we do” vibes

6. Skyway Avenue by We The Kings

‘Cause if you jump, I will jump too / We will fall together from your building’s ledge / Never looking back at what we’ve done / We’ll say it was love

Nic sent me and morgan a text one day and was like “if craving dies in strahd i genuinely think manic is just gonna walk into the woods and let a dire wolf get him” and then i added this song :)

7. Hey Brother by Avicii

Hey brother, do you still believe in one another? / Hey sister, do you still believe in love, I wonder? / Oh, if the sky comes falling down / For you, there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do

A part of me will always here this song and think of the Taaco twins, but hey, we can give it to other sibling pairs who have lived through near unimaginable strife and come out the other end bitterly clinging to each other for dear life. 

Fun fact! This song is also on Nissy & Leth’s playlist. I make so many siblings.

8. I’ll Keep You Safe by Sleeing at Last

Don’t be afraid / God knows these mistakes will be made / But I promise I’ll keep you safe / As you build up your collection of pearls you pulled from the deep / The most beautiful landscape I’ve ever scene

Unconditional love between people who so desperately need to be told that they deserve any kind of love at all. Also bonus for one of the verses being about clocks because :3 sirris :3

9. We’re Alive by Cavetown

Actually you know what? The way things are isn’t good enough / We’re alive and we’re here / Please listen ‘cause we’re scared / We’re alive and we’re here / We will scream til you hear

I like to think this is the song for the exact moment they woke up and coughed the ashes of their home out of their lungs and decided that they’d been left alive to make their existence a hell for everyone else who thought they didn’t deserve to have one.

10. Eating Like Kings by Shawn James

I’ve let the sun set 365 times with murder running deep in my heart / And if I didn’t directly pull the trigger, I sure as hell played my own part / You know that it’s a snake eat snake world, we slither and serpentine through / Cause we all took a bite and six thousand years later, this apples getting harder to chew 

Houghghgughhggh this song sexy ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I think its a song for the regrets that are beginning to creep up in the very back of their minds (especially Manic, fuckin good-aligned morninglord paladin lookin ass). 

11. Hell, Yeah by Nothing but Thieves

In a town upon the outskirts, with a flaw it cannot hide / I made my peace with sorrow and kept it all inside / They call it “hell”, yeah, why don’t we go there? / It’s way down below there, it’s just like home

Hell imagery, hopelessness themes, we are vibing.

12. A Demon’s Fate by Within Temptation

Angels have faith, I don’t want to be a part of his sin, I don’t want to get lost in his world, I’m not playing this game / When the shadows remain in the light of day / On a wing of darkness he’ll retaliate / He’ll be falling from grace ‘til the end of all his days

A song for good people turned to hate over the death of everyone they loved, a song for a brother devoted to a god of good and his sister devoted to an archdevil. Listen to this song with the volume up as high as you can stand it.

13. Years of War by Porter Robinson

Oh, two hundred years of war / Fight til we are no more / A curse on the streets of gold / Just know mine is a hand to hold / Take back what the kingdom stole / A curse on the streets of gold  

unlucky 13 songs for an unlucky pair, the lyrics speak for themselves man. It’s about standing by someone as they rip back everything that was taken from them

Fun fact: i wrote a songfic to this about Caleb and Beau Critical Role

Fun fact 2: I love this song so much it makes me go literally insane

[corseque]

So here’s a vampire romance update I was asked to write up: I’m the Dungeon Master running a Curse of Strahd campaign for my friends irl, which is the famous D&D campaign with vampires. I changed the plot so that one of the Player Characters would be the reincarnated love of the main vampire antagonist (in the usual game, this part is played by an NPC)

Anyway, I was excited but a little worried to thrust one of my players into this situation and I was hoping it would go well. Well, tonight they met Strahd and it went SO WELL. He was being his usual imperious self, harassing this group of level 3 characters with a group of 20 wolves, teaching them manners. Then, when the PC who was his reincarnated love took her turn, he (shocked after seeing her up close) used a Legendary Action to just go to her and stare at her in shock. “It’s you,” he said, a ghost of emotion in his voice. “You’ve returned to me, at last. After so long. I’ve waited so long.”

The player was very confused, and kind of deer-in-headlights, saying she’d never met him.

He takes her hand all vampire-suave, and sounding completely sincere, beseeching. “You may not remember, but I would know you anywhere, in any land. Tatyana, my love. Come with me. You must come with me.”

“But my name isn’t Tatyana, it’s Thia.” (The character just happened to be named so similarly to the name of Strahd’s canon love! Everyone at the table started hollering about how similar the names were.)

“You are Tatyana. Come with me, now.”

At this point, Thia fled inside the church, and Strahd whipped the others a bit for fun, and finally left. The player said she was shocked by it and she wouldn’t have thought of it, but it also fit her character’s story (she picked the back story of “a dark star has followed you your whole life”). She also wondered out loud “maybe a way to stop him is if I go with him?” and said it was a little creepy... but very interesting.

I really like this change!! it seemed to personalize the conflict that would normally be a little removed from the party, between Strahd and an NPC. Everyone seemed interested in the development and recognized the trope, and it invited a player more into the narrative who usually has a playing style of taking notes without asserting herself into the story. I think it was 5/5 star change all around, and I’m excited to see what they all do.

It’s also very very fun to play Strahd!!! I was getting a little emotional, begging that player. But then the next minute he’d be toying with the other players like fish on hooks, and the contrast was so good.... bad wizards.... I love bad dark wizards in love......!!!!!!

[currycurrie]

I updated Lady Wachter’s stats for the Curse of Strahd campaign I’m running. My party are a bit high leveled for most of the Vallaki story beats, and are expecting a pretty pivotal boss battle tonight. Stats are based off of the CR 6 mage from the Monster Manual with different spells and a new ability thrown in.

The idea for this boss fight came from the fact that the party didn’t really get a chance to explore Wachterhaus at all. The plan is to have Lady Wachter teleport from room to room through the house. I wanted to introduce some general puzzle elements into the boss battle to keep it fresh for my players. All of Lady Wachter’s spells were picked to up her mobility and stall out my party as much as possible, as opposed to raw damage per round. To keep things interesting and up the challenge rating of the encounter I also added an ability for Lady Wachter to summon imps once per round based on the Conjure Woodland Beings spell. My hope is that this will keep combat flowing as Lady Wachter disappears and reappears a lot, as well as give players a chance to explore the house a little. 

Anyway! Stat block is below! Feel free to use, and if you do please let me know how it went in your campaign!

[elvensemi]

The Curse Ongoing (Part 2): The Fortune Teller

Sometimes I write things for my D&D campaign. Weary uses a neopronoun because using they/them was too goddamn confusing in the context of a group, and you all just have to cope with that, okay.

[Part One] 

Weary had trouble believing they'd actually gotten out of the town of Barovia with so little trouble... in the relative scheme of things, in any case. Some wolves, which had gone poorly until it hadn't. Ey ran idle fingers across the letter they'd found on the corpse in the woods that the wolves had been so curious of. From the old Burgomeister, about Strahd. Pieces of a puzzle, but ey already knew what the picture would look like when it was done.

And now ey was here, in some tent with an old woman who knew who ey was, knew who they all were. Why had ey agreed to a fortune reading? Ey knew eir damn future already.

She gestured to the card on the right. "This card tells of history. Knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy."

"Sounds neat," announced Chara, reaching forward to flip over the card. It was eerie to behold, a hooded figure looming over two undead with pentagrams on their horned skulls. Weary wrinkled eir nose in distaste. Ey needed no occult arts to tell em eir enemy was a damned undead. Didn't they all know that by now?

"The Necromancer," the old woman informed them. "This card represents unnatural events and unhealthy obsessions; those who follow a destructive path... A woman hangs above a roaring fire. Find her, and you will find the treasure." Her voice had gone weird, neutral and droning, her misty eyes had grown mistier. Ey did not care for it. Then, she gestures to the card closest to em.

"This card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope." Ey perks up, curiously, reaching out to the card. Ey hadn't been certain ey'd take part in this little game, not when the children seemed so interested, but a holy symbol certainly caught eir interest. Ey flipped it; the card underneath bore an image of a large man, some kind of lord by his garb, pointing at a thin man, who was hiding a dagger behind his back.

"The Traitor," she told them. "Betrayal by someone close and trusted; a weakening or loss of faith." Ey stiffened, fingers curling hard enough they nearly tore the corner of the letter. Eir jaw twitched; she'd seen eir symbol, even knew eir name. She was surely doing this on purpose. As if faith had ever been eir strongest suit, hmph. "Look for a wealthy woman. A staunch ally of the devil, she keeps the treasure under lock and key, with the bones of an ancient enemy."

That boded ill for em getting eir hands on that holy symbol, then. Ey wanted nothing to do with any ally of the devil in Barovia. Disinterested, ey looked away, scowling. The others, however, were entranced as she gestured to the card on their left.

"This is a card of power and strength. It tells of a weapon of vengeance: a sword of sunlight."

"Weapons are my strong suit," announced Zur-snag, who had been watching curiously from Weary's back, leaning onto eir shoulder. Now he scrambled forward; Weary leaned forward accommodatingly so he could flip over the card. It showed a picture of an odd man holding a mask, winking and smiling.

"The Charlatan... Liars; those who profess to believe one thing but actually believe another." No one here, ey suspected, but ey couldn't help eir eyes from drifting slightly over to Phin, the young paladin who stood in the back corner, arms crossed and scoffing. "I see a lonely mill on a precipice. The treasure lies within."

They all perked up in unison at that. "The mill!" Chara exclaimed. "Lil G--"

"She just said his name," Weary said, frowning.

"That was a name? I thought she was dying."

"Chara!"

"No, I get that a lot actually," the boy in question, more often called Bambam but more accurately called an adorable little brat, interjected.

"Anyway, you got a deed for a mill, didn't you? In that fuck--"

"Language," Weary said, automatically. Chara rolled her eyes.

"In that weird house," she corrected, then stuck her tongue out at Weary.

"Yeah, I totally did! It's legally mine now and everything!" Bambam said proudly.

"There is only one mill in Barovia," the fortune teller, Madam Eva, informed them.

"I guess we're going there first," Weary decided. "Do you know how to get there?" This, ey directed at Madam Eva.

"Follow the road." It was Weary's turn to roll eir eyes. There was only one damn road. No shit they'd be following it.

She gestured next to the card closest to her. "This card sheds light on one who will help you greatly in the battle against darkness."

"Oh, new friend?" Horse asked curiously, reaching forward to flip the card over. They were still in their marionette get up, mask and everything, but it didn't seem to bother the fortune teller at all. The card was as unsettling as the first one had been, a gaunt, cloaked, undead figure on an equally gaunt mount, wielding a sword.

"The Horseman! Death! Disaster in the form of loss , a horrible defeat, or the end of a bloodline."

"Oh, great, it's good news," muttered Phin sarcastically from behind them.

"I see a dead man of noble birth, guarded by his widow. Return life to the dead man's corpse, and he will be your staunch ally."

"Um," Weary said, clearly uncomfortable. "That's actually kind of the opposite of what I do, so."

The woman simply gestured to the final card. "Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. This card will lead you to him!"

"Finally, the good part!" Bambam exclaimed, moving forward. Wincing, Weary blocked his hands, which prompted a very angry glare. Ey didn't want to know where Strahd was, except maybe in order to avoid em. If this lady thought otherwise, she was out of her mind... well, she clearly was at least slightly, ey supposed.

"You can barely see onto the table, let alone reach," Weary said. Not a lie, though a rude observation. "Let me help." Ey lifted the child--always so light, alarmingly so--onto eir knee, then flipped the card over emself. This card held the picture of an androgynous figure in tight clothing, a fan covering half of their face, smiling eyes looking over the top.

"Ah." The woman grinned wickedly up at him. "The Tempter. One who has been compromised or led astray by temptation or foolishness." Eir jaw twitched in irritation again, more at her grin than anything. And this was meant to be a card for a child? Ey held the boy a little tighter, glaring back at her. "I see a secret place-a vault of temptation hidden behind a woman of great beauty. The evil waits atop his tower of treasure."

A place to damn well avoid, then, though Bambam lit up at the mention of a 'tower of treasure.'

"Let's go there!" he announced.

"We'll go to the mill, if it's on the way." Weary said firmly. Ey stood up, placing Bambam back onto the ground. "Why don't you go see if the Vistani would be kind enough to share their food and camping spot with us tonight?"

The others filtered out, murmuring amongst themselves about the reading, already debating meanings. Weary stayed behind, eyes drifting over to the old woman.

"Madam Eva, was it?"

[trpg-dingusmaster]

yawning portal

the dm of Official Event is going to keep his usual day in the rotation as far as I know but ALSO take every other sunday to run this game.

although, he seems to have switched from these stand alone adventures to ones from actual modules? So he had us make new characters for the yawning portal module? either after we finish these or maybe on sundays? he’ll be running curse of strahd, which will get new chatacters also- the teens were exceptionally restless tonight so i missed a lot of details about dates and times and whats going on when... also the game started a half hour late and ended a half hour early because of this. we even had to pause half way through and literally go through a code of conduct spiel??

 so, now I’m playing an scourge aasimar warlock, I picked fey pact but I can still change it if I want to, I didn’t use any sub class specific spells or abilities yet so its fine I think. I might change it for the subclass spell list, another might be more useful  and we have a other spell casters who can do those spells on the fey list  (sleep, faerie fire, calm emotions, plant growth, ect)anyway if we really need them. I might chat with the dm about it see what he thinks.

I WAS going to be a blue dragonborn paladin, because I thought we needed a healer and I didn’t really want to be a cleric again? but the dm thought it would be better if I didn’t. he said because hes never had a group with that sort of character before and was curious how it’d play out but also I think he wants the other players to try different classes and learn to make better in game choices? so far they mostly seem to pick the same classes and same types of characters, the species are pretty much the only thing that differentiate the characters but even them its pretty much only aesthetically different and pretty interchangeable. if they need a healer hopefully the druid will pick up the slack or they better think through running blindly down hallways screaming for no reason. I typically pick healer only because no one else wants to do it.

so, the party is:

elven wizard?

human druid

tabaxi/cat person ranger?

goblin rogue

aasimar warlock

(new guy didn’t show up I assume work? or maybe got tired of the chaos like the other two who left)

the story is we were hi to openred by a lady to find her missing children, we found an underground citadel which lots of people go missing in and fought our way through rats and goblins and skeletons to find a door thats probably where the big bad is hiding? so we need to go explore some more to find stuff.

also when we arrived a rolled a history check and found out the citadel was once full of dragon cultists probably, and most of the destruction to the structure was caused by a dragon by some specific name I cant remember. I have no idea if thats relevant to what were doing but, I’m proficient in history so what the hell.

if my character can land any hits I’m the strongest attacker, but I’m pretty squishy, 9hp, 12ac. I was pretty sure I’d be rolling a new character after the second encounter.