#we’ll have to kill it too after killing Strahd and that’s fucked up

[shrimpari]

“I made a pact with Vol, a pact of Blood”

Strahd von Zarovich and his very, very good friend.

[jeeperso]

D&D Quotes Without Context

Ravenloft Edition, Har-Akir Arc, part 5

"Jonni, I will get the spray bottle.” “Jokes on you, I had to pee in that on my last watch!”

"I know the tale of Beni. He was said to be to That Guy as Strahd is to vampires.”

Gorbash: “I Hate Undead Insects.”

“Eddie, you got a circle of RAID?”

As you guys approach the end, an Imp materializes next to the switch. ”Welcome to the tomb of the Scarab King.” Jonni Eldritch Blasts him.

And suddenly, Poom was there. Because she can teleport.

"Very well, usually our prey is a little more worked over, but you managed to get by the scarabs and the gate without getting hurt, so we'll wait till the rest of the dungeon breaks you before we get our cut.” Poom: "That's very reasonable of you.”

“Fuck, this was built by a fan of hidden object games.” "Noooo! Not a puzzle trap, I hate those. Unless someone else has solved it and left clues they can take a long time to figure out.”

“Maybe there’s one of those ‘one of us always lies’ tests. Gorb can distract Marsh while I beat the shot out of them.”

GM: Getting through the hall will require a Dexterity check for each of you. Unless you want to fly over it or have some other way around. Player: Poom telelports to the other side.

Poom checks out the wall writing. Looks like it was written in blood, probably by an unlucky adventurer. Jonni: “Something about the Castle Aaaaaaarrrrrgggghhh.”

GM: If you were to hazard a guess, the sandstorm illusion was meant to trap those inside in a perpetual sandstorm until it drove those in it mad with monotiny. player: Monotony. GM: That too.

"Ventilabis puga, Frank.”

You enter the next chamber. It looks like the main burial chamber. There is a large onyx coffin on the ground, with several smaller coffins on the side. In the corner there is a small Har Akir child, curled up and crying. Jonni: “Well, I look forward to their adoption and, soon after, inevitable betrayal.” Gorbash: “…If this is a trick I will be pissed. If that’s an actual child I will be more pissed.”

Gorbash: “…How many necromancy-wielding assholes can we piss off in one tomb raid?”

OOC: So help me if the Mummy from Darkstalkers comes out of that tomb…

Inside the tomb there is a 10 foot tall skeleton, with a hugely distorted rib cage, large enough to hold a smaller person inside. Clutched in its hands is a large black book with a skull on the front. Jonni: “If this is one of the Inhumanoids I am fucking out.”

This is a Devourer. As mummies, vampires and liches are to humans, Devourers are to beings of the outer planes. The unquiet spirits of angels and fiends, created by Orcus himself. Jonni: “Skip to the end, how do we kill it?”

“No fair, you’re supposed to wait till we grab the book!”

GM: Marshal, you are now on hyper time.

Jonni flies up out of melee range and shouts back. “Fine. Let’s you and Gary fight.” She makes her Naruto hand signs and a creature of Shadow rises up in front of the Devourer. “Gary! Kick his ass!” “GODSDAMMIT, GARY! THIS IS WHY I NEVER SUMMON YOU!” “ONLY THING YOU’RE GOOD FOR, GARY!” Gary is texting his therapist now. OOC: HAIL TO GORBASH, TERROR OF THE UNLIVING! OOC: But we've already got Eddie. We even have a New Eddie back at camp. Too many Eddies. Gorbash will fix that. Poom cast "Overclock" on Gorebash. OOC: And from your class you can cast it on two of us at the same time rather than needing to concentrate? GM OOC: Welcome to third party products. Jonni: “Nyx, you’ve got an inter dimensional hidey hole, right?” Nyx: "Put that thing in a a regular bag, I don't trust it not to try and corrupt everything inside my pouches.” Jonni: “Ugh. Fine. But as the least corruptible person here, I’m carrying the bag.” “Maaaaaarsh! I needs the tongs!” You head back to the surface. When you reach above ground, you find that its night. Or at least overcast. Kat is waiting for you. ”Um Marshal, I think you need to see this.” Jonni: “Told you.” Out about 100 feet away from the tomb there is now a river of blood, at the shore is a skiff, where there is a figure standing. He reaches up an d points at Marshal. Jonni: “What fresh hell is this?” Marshal: "Charon. Ferryman of the dead. My patron has summoned me. Fresh Hell is exactly this.”

OOC: Zaslav is the Tiger Force at the center of all things. To die in Reality TV is to die for Zaslav! OOC: I’d say they could at least do a DC themed reality show where you’re forced to go through existence in Darkseid’s vision of the world, but you could get the same effect taking a film crew to CPAC. OOC: MOTHER FUCKER THEY GOT RID OF SHADOW DEMON POSSESSION IN THIS EDITION. OOC: Gorbash has his shining sword, Marshal has smite, and now Nyxie has Glowy Stabby Stabs. OOC2: And Jonni, as always has her hotness. OOC: And we learned Gary blows ass. OOC: Okay, I know Marshal is Big Bird in this scenario. Are the rest of us all collectively Snuffy? OOC: I couldn't type it out fast enough on my phone but my thought was "SHIT HE BROKE OUT THE GREEK, SHIT'S ABOUT TO GET REAL!” Jonni: “NO ONE PUTS JONNI IN THE NO FUN BOX!” Hades: “Do you want to go in the Super No Fun Box?” Jonni: “Everything I do legally counts as sex. Everything.” Hades: “It’s true; I checked.” OOC: So Jonnis is gonna go off and have fun with Alecto and Tisiphone, and Marshal can get stomped by Gilgamesh and Bible fruit. OOC2: Jonni is gonna defile that banana. OOC: If Marshal is dealing with those Two, Gorbash is jumping in from the stands. "Like hell am I letting my buddy get double teamed." Pause "Yes Jonni, I'm aware of how that sounds.” OOC2: What’s this! It’s Jonni from the stands with an illegal foreign arcane casting!

[palidoozy-art]

The more I think about your recent post about the changes you made to Strahd, the more I wonder about those changes you made to the others mentioned (Rahadin, Van Richten, Ireena, etc). I'd absolutely love to hear what adjustments you made as you already shared some stellar ideas already. Like the Tome? -Chef kiss- Amazing.

Oh mannn I do love talking about my campaign. I changed a lot with them. Again, weirdly enough, I think Strahd wound up being the most like his original incarnation. I could talk forever about the changes I made so I'll try to be brief haha. IT STILL WON'T BE BRIEF.

Obvious CoS spoilers below

IREENA - I thought it was weird that the picture they gave her makes her look like such a badass, and then the module just kind of writes her as a damsel in distress to either get kidnapped or pulled into water or dumped somewhere. To me, she's like, the second most important character in CoS -- and the book literally gives you less direction to roleplay her than her brother. Furthermore, reading her ending actually legit made me mad.

So I said fuck all that. Ireena in my game was a 19-year old girl who grew and developed over the course of the campaign. Several of my players actually said they thought of her as "the main character," just because she experienced a lot of character growth and development, going from a sheltered meek teenager to someone who can fight and assert herself. The biggest change I made to her though was that I very specifically did not just want her to be "Tatyana with memory loss." Ireena is a unique individual who happens to be partially made out of Tatyana's soul. While she shares many similarities with Tatyana, they're separate people, and part of what Ireena has to grapple with is how to live up to that. She's in the post-campaign because of that distinction -- while Sergei offered her to join him, she declined, because she wants to experience life past her twenties. I didn't get to play it out because we were kind of rushing towards the end, but I honestly envisioned a scene where she talks to the portrait of Tatyana, apologizing to her because she knows she's being selfish remaining alive.

This also brings up a unique problem in the post campaign. If Ireena dies, she ceases to exist and may not be able to be resurrected. When her soul leaves her body, it's Tatyana's again. Ireena very much wants to live. Tatyana doesn't. A resurrection has to be made with the consent of the soul, and if Tatyana declines, Ireena's just... gone. Forever.

Related: because I wasn't sure what my players would ask, and Rahadin would absolutely know this information -- there have been 18 incarnations of Tatyana, including the original. I actually have a timeline of when they were all born and how they died. The curse manifests in that they always die or are killed before their 25th birthday. If Strahd attempts to marry them, they lose their minds and throw themselves off of the same balcony the original Tatyana jumped off of during the ceremony. Strahd can never have Tatyana. Vampyr will ensure of that.

But yeah, essentially: Ireena gained actual class levels; she wasn't just Tatyana with memory loss; she traveled with the party for 90% of the campaign and wasn't just a macguffin to be kidnapped/take to places; and I removed any of the "Sergei takes her into water/the sky and you never see her again" endings because I absolutely hated those.

VAN RICHTEN - Van Richten I tweaked a lot from his original incarnation. First, I started him off as Lawful Neutral. No, game, I know you tell me he's Lawful Good, but I'm gonna have to disagree with you that "training a racist tiger to genocide an ethnic camp" falls under the spectrum of Lawful Good. Second, I changed him from cleric to artificer (alchemist). I somehow just got the impression the dude was a godless man, and so he felt more fitting to be a man of science rather than a man of the church. Third, since I wasn't sure the other dread domains were ever going to be brought into 5e I moved him out of Darkon and into another world from the outside.

His backstory was also tied more into Strahd and the campaign in general, as well as the Dark Powers. About 30 years ago, he went into the mists with his own adventuring party (that included Escher) to try to rescue his kidnapped son, Erasmus. He found his son half-turned and begging him for death. Killing him, Van Richten hunted down the Vistani woman (Ezmerelda's mother) who sold the man, and in a rage strangled her to death. This gave him a curse. Ezmerelda witnessed it happen.

He went on a warpath against vampire spawn and vistani alike, until Strahd proposed a deal to Escher. Escher lured the group to a familiar dinner date with Strahd... only for Strahd to murder all of them, including Van Richten. Van Richten was approached by a dark power -- Vaund the Evasive, and given the option to return to life in exchange for the promise that Van Richten would eventually return to Amber Temple and free him. He took it, waking up outside of Barovia. From there he became famed vampire-hunter-book-author, until in his early 50's he decided it was time to seek vengeance and fulfill his promise. He brought in his hat of disguise, came up with an alibi, and headed into Barovia as Rictavio the Great.

He was absolutely played as a much more morally grey character at the start (the party's first encounter with him rather than Rictavio was him literally torturing a dude). He softened over the course of the campaign as he grew attached to the party, until finally reaching a point in the post-campaign where he's considered Lawful Good

Also: Ezmerelda was treated more or less as his adoptive daughter. She absolutely argued against this every single time, but he even slipped up and referred to her as his daughter on a few tense occasions.

RAHADIN - Rahadin I adjusted a lot, too. A LOOOOOOT. Strahd being comically evil makes sense -- the dude is a darklord, that kind of comes with the territory. With Rahadin, I wanted him to have more motivations to his actions, because the base game actually suggests that the dude is actually capable of caring. In the base game, you can find him at Amber Temple, trying to "petition the dark god into releasing his master from his torment." He screams in grief if he finds Strahd dead. Furthermore it felt like the game glosses over the fact that the dude was adopted as Barov's son. It doesn't bother addressing how Rahadin felt about Sergei, who would in theory be his other brother. I thought a number of things suggested in his backstory were interesting, but not expanded upon in the base game. So I took it upon myself to do so.

I changed how dusk elf society was built, which affected the three major dusk elf characters. It worked off of a pretty brutal caste system, with three kings at the top overseeing all of it. Rahadin was born in a lower caste, but actually brought into the warrior caste after a member of royalty was intrigued by his stature. Rahadin worked as a general, but grew frustrated by the inefficiencies of the caste system and its inequality. He started attempting to use his influence to petition other members of nobility into changing or loosening the strict system.

Patrina caught wind of this, and viewing it as a threat to her lifestyle + viewing it as an easy way to gain brownie points with those above her... tattled on him to the three kings, spinning what he was doing as treason. Rahadin was arrested and subsequently tortured. They attempted to execute him on a breaking wheel, breaking his bones against the spokes and leaving him in the town square as an example. He wound up escaping, crawling his way out of town until he was subsequently rescued by a group of human monks. The event pretty much broke him, morally. He went to Barov soon after and sold his people out, taking a personal hand in helping annihilate the dusk elves and conquering their land. Barov was so impressed by the man's loyalty that he adopted him as his son.

Part of this was done to make a connection as to why the hell Rahadin just absolutely fuckin' hates Patrina so much (since that definitely got played up during the campaign). When thinking of Rahadin's motivations, I tried to come at it from the angle that this man was evil... but legitimately cared deeply about Strahd, Sergei, and Tatyana. He was devestated from the events of the wedding, but saw Strahd's return as a second chance. As the lone surviving witness from the wedding, he desperately wanted to help the three of them. But his own blind loyalty to Strahd and his broken moral compass prevented him from doing so.

One of my favorite little additions was a sidequest I offered to the players (they wanted to redeem Rahadin). They were requested by him to retrieve (well, "not destroy or sell") one of his most precious belongings in his office. When they get there... it turns out it's a birthday card and a worn-out old amulet from Sergei and Tatyana that he's kept after all these years. They got Ireena to read the letter to him, to help him keep going after Strahd's death.

anyway i could ramble on about changes forever but i don't want this post to get too long haha. i have. many feelings. over this campaign. maybe at some point I'll do a separate post with some of the others.

i also kinda wanna do a comic of an event from Rahadin's backstory for my players but we'll see, I might deem it "too stupid."

[ask-the-crimson-king]

Tales from D&D: The Campfire Song Song

[It is I, your friendly neighborhood Hermit back with another tale from D&D. And this one is... Certainly a saga. LONG POST AHOY.

IT IS ONCE AGAIN FROM MY CURSE OF STRAHD CAMPAIGN! The characters, in brief, are:

AETERNUS -- Goliath wild soul barbarian, played more like a golem than a goliath. Stoic, remembers almost nothing of his past. ARAZEL -- Blood angel (aasimar x tiefling hybrid) bard, has a patron because he used to be a Warlock and the player wanted to keep the patron. Very much a Bard. Has tamed a fucking dire wolf who is now named Boris. He is a good boy. LEON -- Human time domain cleric, worships a god of time called Tempus. Old retired soldier sent out into the world because his god has plans for him. CALEB -- Vampire desperado gunslinger, a vampire hunter who wants revenge against the creatures who turned him and killed his family. 

In the last session, the players had made it to the Old Bonegrinder and met the three hags living there. Thanks to a Fifth Nat 1, the hags became hostile because Arazel mentioned how he had a pet dire wolf and the hags thought he was sent by Strahd. 

I told them at the beginning of this one,  “If you can talk your way out of this encounter, I’ll let you level up right now instead of waiting for Friday.”

What the fuck happens right after I say that?

Arazel fucking crits on persuasion and the party is now LEVEL FOUR! HURRAY!

Caleb is dealing with the two sisters upstairs, his gun is mentioned, and then Arazel’s player says, and I quote,

Arazel had also purchased a pastry, and Aeternus ends up charging upstairs and Arazel turns to him and says, "Hey Pebbles, eat this okay?" Aeternus made the con save, so instead of having weird dream visions, he instead felt this weird sense of nostalgia that he cant place his finger on. Seeing the cakes were safe, the rest of the party all pay for a cake themselves and they all. fail. the save.

So they get to fall into a pleasant, dreamlike state, for 1d4+4 hours... and OF COURSE I roll a 4. So eight hours of them being in this trance. Arazel, Leon, and Caleb, all conked the hell out. Which meant Aeternus was alone with this Night Hag who was now cackling. 

And so he asked the witch what was in the cakes, and she simply said “some very rare and exotic ingredients. it is an acquired taste.” aeternus then took many hints, scooped everyone up, and left with Ismark (Kolyana and Ireena were waiting outside in a cart, not trusting that place one bit, but Ismark went in to help guard the party and keep an eye on Caleb.) 

They run back to the cart and Kolyana is asking what happened. Aeternus explains the situation with the cakes, and Kolyana then facepalms. He says,

"You didn't eat any, did you?" "I did, why?" "Those are dream cakes. they're popular in Vallaki -- you'll see why." "I do not dream." "Everyone dreams, my boy. daydreams, plans for the future, or-" "I have nothing to dream about."  The cart goes quiet before Ismark speaks up. "What do you mean?" Aeternus then says, "I remember nothing but war from my past." "A miserable existence, then." "Heh, makes you sound like a barovian," Kolyana says with a snicker. "We're all miserable bastards." 

More silence. 

"You really don't remember anything?" Ismark then asks. "Nothing but war." Aeternus shakes his head. "How old are you?" "... I do not know. I have been wandering for some time, but I know I am quite old." "I don’t remember any wars in our recent history. You don’t seem to be old enough for any of those." "Definitely not," Kolyana agrees. The cart is silent, and Aeternus goes quiet.

Hours pass, and the cart is pulled off to the side of the road. Ireena and Valerie, a Vistana woman they had met, (who owned the cart), go off to build a fire, while the rest stay back in order to wait for the others to come out of their trances. 

When they do awaken, the world is darker. More grim, more miserable. The mists seem to cling to them, and they long to be back in their dreams.

Arazel awakes with a start, drawing out his magic string and wrapping it around Leon's neck while a thin knife hovers at Caleb's throat. Kolyana, Ismark, and Aeternus all stand to try and apprehend him as he asks, "What the HELL happened to me?" "You were dreaming," Aeternus tells him. "We didn’t do anything to you." "Put the weapons away, you're around friends here," Ismark says, his sword half out of its sheath. Slowly, Arazel backs down, checking his wings to see if any feathers are out of place. Boris looks up at him expectantly, and Arazel takes him to the fire as the rest of the party files out of the cart.

They all go and head down to the fireplace, and enjoy a nice thick stew. Some of the vegetables are freshly picked from the lands around them, although they are thick mountain-dwelling plants. They are a bit higher up in elevation, though more surrounded by foothills instead of mountains. 

They enjoy their dinner and Kolyana asks them what they saw in their visions. Leon goes first, recalling his home. recalling the people he loved, the community fostered, everything. It felt warm. It felt safe. But that wasn't here anymore. Kolyana gave him a small reassuring pat on the shoulder before Arazel spoke up.

"I saw my mother." "Your mother?" Aeternus asks. "Okay, well, here's the thing. My mother was this holy angel, and my father was a damned and hated tiefling. And my father kinda dipped on me when i was younger. My mother served a very holy god who didn't want to be sullied with such a sinful abomination," he then gestures to himself, "and so my mum had to leave me." "Wait, wait, your mom left you because her god said so?" Caleb asks. "Well yeah but I mean I get it. if she didn't then she would've lost her powers, and-" "That’s pretty selfish of her." Caleb shrugs. "sorry, man." "Not really. I’m sure any parent would do that." "I can tell you, as a father myself, I would never do that to my children. No matter who the god was. I'm sorry you had to go through that," Kolyana tells him, giving Arazel a meaningful look.

“And what about you, vampire?” the old man asks. “What did you see?”

"I saw my home. I saw the old homestead. I saw my parents, and my siblings. It was nice." Before Kolyana responds, a conspiracy of ravens descends from the sky. one lands on each of Aeternus' shoulders, cawing.  The three Barovians all gasp. 

"What fantastic luck," Kolyana mutters. Arazel is tempted to have Boris pounce on them, but Kolyana quickly says "DO NOT ATTACK THEM! That would bring nothing but doom and misfortune. Ravens are symbols of good luck, not evil. At least not here." 

Arazel shrugs, and tosses a piece of his stew at them. They caw and hop off the giant's shoulders, peck at the food, then flutter off into the night. The party all decides to settle in for the night, and this comes my FAVORITE fucking part of the session;

Dream Chats with Strahd!

(Yes I’m bending the lore a bit but it’s for the rule of cool okay)

I bring each of the players into the Special Corner (Discord call, we have a D&D voice chat and then Special Corner for 1-on-1 with the DM) one by one.

First in was Arazel.

Arazel feels the presence of his patron. He feels a warm, golden glow about him, even if he cannot visualize Sanguinius himself. He soon finds himself within a hall. It seems to be that of a cathedral. Polished stone, nearly gleaming, is under his feet. But everything feels... a bit fuzzed out. Just barely out of focus. He sees a lectern at the end of this great hall, with, what 40k fans would recognize, as the BA symbol, inscribed into it.

And then he hears a very familiar voice, and sees a very familiar figure walk out from behind a pillar.

Familiar dark clothing, familiar face, familiar dark eyes. 

It is Strahd von Zarovich, and he has come for a chat. 

And he doesnt greet arazel with hostility. He says that he is impressed with this place of worship, and that he knows very little about Arazel’s patron. But he would love to learn more about him, and about Arazel himself. Arazel asks “why are you here?”

Strahd takes a sip from his glass before he says, “You and your compatriots all fascinate me. So I want to learn just a little more about you. How you think, what your morality is." He shrugs, and then explains that he does not have too much time to speak. An invitation will be given -- soon, though he does not know when -- and tells him it is within Arazel’s best interests to accept it. He wants to be able to have an open, honest chat with him and his friends.

He also asks that he does not discuss this meeting with anyone. A measure of trust. Arazel agrees, and Strahd disappears.

Next up, Caleb.

Caleb is dreaming of his homestead. He feels grass beneath his feet, but none of his family is here. Everything around him feels fuzzy, blurry. The only crisp image is of the homestead itself. Strahd appears to him as well, coming out of the homestead, and says similar things to what he told Arazel, namely the reason for his arrival and his interest in him and his friends. However, he also remarks on how similar the two of them are, referring to their shared vampiric nature. Caleb says,

"Actually we're probably very different. I think we became who we are through very different ways." 

Strahd agrees, but he offers a solution to Caleb's little bloodthirst-issue, (which luckily has been able to be curbed thanks to Leon being generous), and potentially knowledge about his abilities. Caleb recently gained the ability to be able to shift into bat form, and he thinks he may have other skills locked away.

An invitation is mentioned, along with the same condition. He cannot tell anyone of this meeting.

Caleb, begrudgingly, agrees. Strahd vanishes once more. Interestingly, Strahd does not mention how one of Caleb’s current goals is to go into van Richten’s tower to find the old hunter in order to find a way to kill Strahd. 

But we’ll get to that.

Then we go to Leon.

Leon appears within an old library. The books around him are nothing more than vague shapes, and there is a musty smell from the bookshelves. Ahead of him is a strange device, a piece of machinery made of many different concentric rings, which he realizes must represent the different planes of reality. It slowly moves, casting around shadows as an unknown light source dances around the room. This is a representation of how Tempus views reality and its many potential timelines, he realizes. Just a very, very simple model, but it resembles the one from his own church. 

Enter Strahd, a warm smile on his face.

“I’ve been waiting to speak with you for some time. You and I have much to discuss.”

Leon asks why he is here, and Strahd explains what he had told Caleb and Arazel -- though he also adds he wants to learn a little more about him, here and now. He wants to also extend the offer for Leon to learn more about Strahd himself in a sort of private talk, and expresses interest in learning more about Tempus and Leon's nature and relationship. He asks Leon to tell him a few things, and Leon agrees to tell him a bit about his past -- his life as a soldier, the village he had settled within, how he found Tempus, that sort of stuff. 

Then Leon cuts right to the point, saying, "Why are you really asking me this? I don’t like to associate with bad people."

"Well I wouldn’t call myself bad. I have made my mistakes, and I am no saint, but I’m not a horrible person." Strahd shrugs. "I ask because I’m fascinated by you. By all of you, honestly. You're quite the interesting little crew."

He mentions the invitation, but also gives a different message.

"I know Caleb is going to be going to van Richten's tower. I want you to stay behind in Vallaki when he does. I will send my invitation then. Our conversation will be a little more... private, for lack of a better term, then the one I shall have with all of you."

He gives the same terms -- that Leon cannot tell anyone of this meeting -- which Leon agrees to, and Strahd disappears once more.

Last but not least...

Aeternus.

Aeternus doesn't dream, but his mind does come to a daydreaming-state. He comes to one of the few scenes he remembers. A field, with the rubble of a broken house nearby. Nothing else is clear, or even blurred. It feels like he’s standing on the edge of a vast void.

Strahd appears once more, commenting on how grim this place was. Aeternus is on edge at the appearance of the vampire, but simply replies, "this is all I can remember."

"Oh, I know. All you remember is warfare. But even then, of no clear battle. Just fragments of death and misery. A shame, really." Strahd sighs. "I know of a way for you to begin remembering all you had lost. My libraries may hold some of the answers you seek, as do I."

Aeternus is quiet. Before he speaks, strahd smiles. 

"Petting that wolf made you remember something, didn't it? And the cake you ate? You remember something about a raven, too."

Aeternus is caught way off guard. Strahd has, somehow (rule of cool and plot reasons) gotten into his head. He goes on guard, but Strahd puts his hands up. 

"I can offer answers. I will be sending an invitation, soon. I do not know when. But I need to be able to trust you. Tell no one of this encounter." 

"How can i be able to trust you?" Aeternus responds with a grunt. One hand is on his axe. Strahd chuckles. "Caleb wants to go to van Richten's tower. Go with him. There is something waiting for you there." 

And then he disappears, and that is where the session ended.

[glasyasbutch]

playlist: craving #1

Link to playlist (on spotify)

1. Paper Planes by MIA

All I wanna do is 🔫 🔫 🔫 🔫 and 💲 and take ya money

Craving and Manic, better known as the thiefy tiefies, spent the last several years living a life of robbery and vengeance; this is the song that plays over the montage of their heists

2. Lean On by Major Lazer

Blow a kiss, fire a gun / I just need someone to lean on

Combination sexy heist vibes and having someone by your side as you lose your innocence vibes

3. Emporer’s New Clothes by Panic! at the Disco

I’m all dressed up and naked, I see what’s mine and take it / Finders keepers, losers weepers

Craving is slutty and greedy, and that’s what this song is about. (also she’s taking a pact with a devil so the music video is very apropos)

4. I Don’t Care by Fall Out Boy

I don’t care what you think, as long as it’s about me / The best of us can find happiness in misery

Wanted to accurately reflect how through the roof Craving’s ego can get (when she’s not forced to be around a warlock who’s better at being a rogue than her 24/7) ; also finding happiness in misery is mostly why she became a rogue in the first place

5. Up & Down by Girli

I’m a scaredy cat, a drowned rat, my life is looking pretty bad, I think about the future way too much and yes, it drives me mad / I’m a Basquiat, a Patti Smith, I’m Venus with her perfect tits, today’s the best day, I’m the shit, I’m never getting over it.

A really good representation of Craving’s constant internal struggle between thinking she deserves the world and more after how little it gave to her, and feeling like it gave her nothing for a reason.

6. One Way or Another by Blondie

One way, or another, I’m gonna find ya, I’m gonna getcha

So this campaign was originally conceived as “everyone makes the sexiest character they can think of and we compete to fuck Strahd first” and that’s what this song is in here for.

7. Just the Girl by The Click Five

She’s cold and she’s cruel but she knows what she’s doing / She pushed me in the pool at our last school reunion

I like to think this song is how most of Craving’s past flings feel about her. She also would push someone in a pool just for funsies, but she has 8 Strength so it probably wouldn’t work :(

8. Lionhearted by Porter Robinson

No matter what they try, they won’t take away our will to fight / So if we shoot them down, we can make it right, we’ll make this right

Craving and Manic’s mentality in attempting to find resolution through destruction. Also a good vibe for having to kill Strahd to get out of Barovia.

9. Coyote by Mako

And if it kills me, it’ll kill me, so let it kill me, but I’m never gonna live a lie

Craving is often ruthless to the point of recklessness, she knows its destructive, and she doesn’t really care. If she dies, she dies. She’s got people she’d like to see again.

10. Silver Platters by Les Gold

No need to be formal, you could be immortal, if you take the risk / Living through your doses, oh my heart remorses, sleeping on a bed of thorns but still you call ‘em roses

This playlist was created before we had played more than a few sessions of the game, and it was put on there with the intention of displaying how most of Craving’s lifestyle is a Very flimsy coping mechanism for the tragedy she’s faced. In retrospect, though, I think it’s also a good description of her slide into Glasya’s grasp.

11. Trouble by Cage the Elephant

Got so much to lose, got so much to prove / God don’t let me lose my mind

Trouble on my left, trouble on my right / I’ve been facing trouble almost all my life / My sweet love won’t you pull me through ? / Everywhere I go I catch a glimpse of you 

It’s always about her brothers, in the end. All the trouble, all the pain, she gets into it for them. She’d bear anything to stay by their side, to keep them safe, even if it destroys her.

12. Easy by Sleeping at Last

Maybe paper is paper, maybe kids will be kids / Lord I want to remember how to feel like I did

A  tribute to the lost childhood that’s always haunting her. The soft girl she could have been if the world had let her.

13. Relax, Take it Easy by MIKA

It’s clear we don’t understand this, but the last thing on my mind is to leave you / I believe that we’re in this together

(Lucky number 13 ... for a cursed campaign and a cursed character.) More than anything, this song is for and about Manic. But it’s also a good summary of how Craving walks through life - ignoring her problems and pretending like either she had them under control the whole time, or like she never had a chance of controlling them; whichever results in the least blame. She acts suave and calm, because the other option is fully breaking down. The eerie tenseness of the song I think really drives the vibe home.

[naenae00love]

Waffle Crew Moments(Spoilers!!)

So I have been doing this for a while. All of the quotes aren’t exact and I do miss words and funny things that happened.

I did miss my boo (at being reminded of escher)

You friends are invited to the wedding (Holly while muted shakes her head throws her snacks and disappears from frame)

Escher looks Paultin up and down disapprovingly and says we must get you fitted for a suit.

Now I have a lot of questions but I won't turn down a good suit

Time for another costume change Paultin

As Evelyn makes little noises of protest paultin coughs

Escher says: after everything is done then we can be together

Escher has been planning this since they left

Snort Count: 1

It's okay, you're perfectly safe, in fact you are perfect in every way. Thank you, I've missed you too

Escher wants to Paultin's side piece so bad

Escher speaks to her and Evelyn screams and tackles him

What in the name of holy morning lord is going on? A lot, yeah

Evelyn: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GROUND

Your engaged but you like this guy?

Oh that's, that's

*Points* You like him?

Evelyn does not ship this

That suit of armour wasn't there before. Oh is that what you're worried about when we are back in freaking Barovia? I've already peed myself over that. I've soiled my drawers okay? Does that make you happy? *Nate nods silently*

You think it might be the shadow of Strahd. What? I'm done, bye. *Holly leaves* But Strix... *Waves hand in frame* I'm gone. I'm not here. I'm under the desk, Strix is under the desk.

Strix: BUT WE ALREADY DID A LEAVE IN BAROVIA!?!

(It would be Strahd but it has Paultin's head) Let's call it Straultin. No! There is no Straultin.

Straultin Von Seppa, first of his name

What are you going to do? Slap me with your puppet hands.

Who is the master? I would also like to know, this pertains to me.

Evelyn is a strong independent puppet who don't take no lip, Escher

You should probably let that one stand back up. Why? I.. Because he likes me

How could you see me when I'm invisible? *Rolls his eyes*

Escher is at sass level 1000 right now

I'll put a pin that statement. LET'S NOT PUT PINS IN THINGS IN BAROVIA

Sees the mongrel folk called Cyrus again from when he was in the prison. *Snaps and points fingers* Ayye!! Cyrus: It's about time. It's good to see you too friendo. Let's go! Okay.

Once he is finished meeting with his friends, take him to his quarters so he can be fitted for a suit. I will be waiting for you there, my love. I'll be seeing you there, dude.

Paultin gets to meet all of his Barovian buddies

We have a rocky history and bringing up exes is kinda weird but

But you're like not in league with evil right? cause the evil seems to be in league with you. Putting another pin in that one. We'll get to it, don't worry I got this. *Mouths: I don't got this. I don't*

Waffles squeezes in between Diath and Strix. She's here too!? You shouldn't be here! I can't believe you brought the baby

The shadow is moving along the wall. *Quiet from Diath* No, no. Strix: I hate this so much. I hate this. We have to leave. No we have to stay under the desk. It is our new home. Starts to tidy up. So Waffles is the bed.. No Strix we are not living in Barovia. We were able to leave before, we can do it again.  No this desk is our new home, shut up! I don't wanna be hear. Neither do I!

Strix: We live here...AGAIN

Strix hugs Evelyn!!  I don't think you can smell me, which is great for you. It is very nice.

Strix only bonds with inanimate objects

Paultin: Diath, I need a best man

Hand Friend is gonna give Diath a wet willy

Diath throws the hand across the room. Come on dude.

Diath holds Evelyn's hand and says we'll fix you. You always do.

Cyrus: I've never had a friend!

Evelyn wants to cry, but we've established that she can't

*Paultin turns to Cyrus* Come on I'm right here. I'm just your servant. Oh no, don't, don't, come on. don't be like that.

Strix: Would you like some snickety snooks?

Strix offers jerky. I don't eat strange food. Well then we're not friends *puts the jerky back*

And you're not supposed to offering my any lip. Now I offered friendship but I can stop being nice if you want.

Everyone had relationships I don't know about!

Evelyn missed literally all the ships

Basically, I'm kinda fucked, so I don't know what to do, kind of panicking. Thoughts?

Strix what do we do? I don't know this kind of magic. Evelyn what do we do? We leave.

Wonder where Drizzt got off to...

Paultin approaches his shadow and it moves away from him. Come on dude

Sandy is off doing his own thing now thanks to Strix

Waves at the shadow. Shadow proceeds to have its cloak turn into bat wings. Stops waving.

Omg, I'm a bat King.

Paultin: wave rescinded

Time to study up before the wedding tonight

If we were to leave, where would we even go? Away..

This is my house now, I live under this desk

ROBOT FIGHT!!!

breaking stuff, no bueno, running, no bueno

Let's not encourage Darth Paultin, Diath!

Do I get a suit? Does he get a suit?

We'll have to find something for you Sir. It may not fit perfectly but it will have to do. Don't worry about it, it's fine.

Oh a lovely CREATURE you say

Diath is definitely talking about killing someone

What about Paultin? Are we just gonna leave him with that guy? For now

Of course 'animal friend' was Evelyn's takeaway

You know, just casually wandering around Castle Ravenloft

You already have so much to worry about. I was only thinking of you. So sweet. I only ever think of you. Too sweet.

If it wasn't forbidden I'd be all over you now, but that would be improper.

Still a better love story than Twilight

Holly holds up a sign reading RUN AWAY!!!!

Forever will have a new meaning for you after tonight. So romantic

Paultin sits next to Escher on the bed. I can barely control myself. I'm sure.

Some romantic bagpipes to score this scene

All those wonderful sunny times in Barovia

Strix has indeed proven that MOST things can burn

Evelyn you see what appears to be 3 witches riding on brooms coming towards the castle. Jared: No *goes off screen* (The moment you roll a nat20 on a stealth check) Strix pulls her hat down

Strix turned Diath into a cloud. Strix: Here Diath, have a magical time out

Have you learned to perform any tricks with that hand?

Paultin: Let me tell you about this hand...

Rolls a Nat 20 on persuasion for a 28. After Escher brushes his hair away Paultin puts his hand on the side of his face leans in to him and puts his forehead against his. The dark powers won't let this be will they? They always get their way. If only there was some other way out of this and then maybe this could actually happen.

A nat 20? Oh my...

Oh. THAT bride...

Hard pass *on a sign Holly holds up*

Paultin takes Escher's hand. *Jared singing quietly* I can show you the world, shining, shimmering, splendid.

And Paultin and Escher elope. The End.

Diath doesn't care about the wedding , he just doesn't likes these brooms

What if Waffles was the ring-bearer? Wouldn't that be cute? *Nate nods silently*

Paultin and Escher enter the chapel. Is Paultin looking fly? He isn't in his suit, just the raven get up. Aw. So, yes! Yes, you're looking very fly. Still holding hands.

What if Hand Friend was the ring-bearer though?

Strix sees Paultin and Escher holding hands and she is just like aw.

Paultin: yes, Abbot, I've prepared my 'vows'

Paultin winks at Escher has Escher exits the chapel

Tweet: The #wafflecrew IS FINALLY GETTING GAY

Strix's brother is skulking around the chapel. Holly moves off screen again and waves a hand at the camera: Well, it was nice knowing ya'

Paultin is getting the best wedding he neither wanted nor needed

Oh good. Here come the zombies.

Bridesmaids? Paultin didn't even ask us if we wanted to be bridesmaids

You see materialising in his hand is a golden mace. I'm sorry?

The Abbot grows giant black wings and tells Paultin what he must do. Is that clear? *Yells* Is that clear? Crystal. Ends

I'm having a good time. There's brooms down there just you wait.

The witches skipped out like fuck it we're out of here.

No session next week. Ah! But my wedding!

Thanks them for being awesome and I'm sorry I torture you on a weekly basis. No you're not! We enjoy it.