RPG update for Feb 2022

 

Return of the doughnut...

Revelation made a significant difference to the number of games that I've played or run, doubling them in one fell swoop. I've run four games this year and played six, so a reasonably slow start.

Gumshoe is in the lead, with three sessions of Trail of Cthulhu (the excellent Eternal Lies campaign where we're playing 1-to-2).  The current chapter will end in another couple of sessions, and then we will return to the Yellow King.

In second place, we have D&D Fifth Edition, with my Curse of Strahd campaign. Due to illness and work commitments we've only managed two sessions when we should really be on seven so far this year. Hopefully things will pick up.

Then there's a cast of thousands (well, five different games) from Revelation.

Half the games have been online. Strahd using Roll20, Eternal Lies over Zoom.

28 February 2022

Returning to the City [Revelation 2022]

The crew for this weekend's game.

I'm just finalising preparation for Revelation 2022 this coming weekend, pulling together the City of Mist material. I'm running a scenario from the 'Nights of Payne Town' campaign. I've actually run a couple from this before at previous conventions, and I'm minded to offer it as a mini-campaign option at some point in the future.

The players all selected pre-generated characters from the copious selection that have been produced for the game, and we've an interesting mix. One of the key bits for me was to produce a table with the mysteries and identities that underpin their characters and also the weaknesses. This is so I can push their buttons appropriately during the game session.

Looking through the material I have already printed, I suddenly realised that I've run this at least three times previously at conventions; twice face-to-face and once virtually using Roll20. This time, I'm running 'The Furnace', the kick off to the mystical vein of the campaign.

It's a fun game and system.

23 February 2022

First Impressions - Death on the Cards

A small but well made package.

Death on the Cards is a quick playing and fun card game themed around Agatha Christie's detective novels, published by Modiphius. I originally tried to pick it up around Christmas as a stocking filler for Jill, who likes this kind of murder mystery, but it was out of print at the time. Anyway, the restock finally landed so I ordered a copy, which I played with the two lads this evening.

Physically, the box is well made (with a magnetic closure) and the cards are of quality build. The insert is snug (you'd have to hack it if you wanted to sleeve the cards. There's an Art Deco theme and the illustrations are lovely.

You play the part of suspects who have become embroiled in a murder; one player will randomly become the murderer, the others are looking to reveal the killer.

Game play is simple: You have a six card hand, which comprises detectives, events and some more sneaky stuff. You also have three secrets. The aim of the game is to find out the murderer (for most players) or to escape and get away with it. In larger games, the murderer may have an accomplice (but we didn't try this out because there were just three of us playing). 

Whether you are found out or not will depend on how well you can protect your secrets. Clearly the murderer has one dark secret, but two other more amusing and gentle ones. 

You play tricks of detectives to reveal other players secrets. Typically, you will play between two or three detectives initially to get a set (Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot need a set of three to get on the table). Once played, a set allows you to force the reveal of one of another player's secrets. You can add further cards in future turns to repeat the action if you want to. Some of the cards act as wild, or even allow you to use another player's set of detectives to investigate.

In most cases, you can play a card to block a secret being revealed, or the effects of an event card. Of course, this can escalate as another player can play the same kind of card to block your block and so on. 

The event cards allow you to steal secrets to replenish your own, force card swaps and more. The swap can force on further actions (for example, revealing your secrets). You can also accelerate or slow the burn through the deck, which can be useful as the final card to be revealed in the deck is 'the murderer escapes'. The murderer can also win by forcing the other players to reveal all their secrets. If you hit this position, you continue to discard and draw a card each turn, but you cannot take an action because you are a social pariah! The murderer's final secret will be 'I am the murderer', which means they have lost.

The game works well thematically, is made of quality components and was fun to play. Definitely one we'll bring back to the table, although the youngest doesn't like the idea of being the murderer.

PS A two player game will probably take less time as it will be apparent who the murderer is. 

22 February 2022

The Doctors & Daleks Announcement

The thread

Emmet Byrne, Cubicle 7's creative director, has posted a thread on Twitter about the backlash that Cubicle 7 have had for announcing that they're producing a version of their Doctor Who RPG called Doctors and Daleks which will be compatible with Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition. If you're going to read this, then I encourage you to read the thread before you go on.

I guess the backlash is to be expected, as there were grumblings amongst the Twitteratti when Cubicle 7 produced the Adventures in Middle Earth line, which sensitively ported The One Ring to a Fifth Edition chassis, but was very much its own thing. Although I'm a massive TOR fan (I have both the lines from Cubicle 7 and Fria Ligan) I have copies of the AiME books and they're very well done. I wouldn't use them for Middle Earth as a go too, but they'd work well. Definitely better than MERP did. 

It's worth observing that I am running an extended campaign using the Fifth Edition rules. If you read this blog regularly, you'll have seen the Curse of Strahd posts. It's was the first D&D that I've run properly since 2nd Edition AD&D at school. I'd dabbled with some Black Hack related games, but I never expected to be running a campaign that had reached its thirty five session using D&D.

It's also worth noting that I have pretty much the entire Doctor Who RPG line, because the series was part of my youth. I managed to put a tooth through my lip when I tripped running from the theme music as a kid, heading to get behind the sofa. It's a game that I want to get to the table at some point because I think that it will be really fun. 

The truth is that Cubicle 7's Doctor Who line has pretty much reached a mature state. There's not a huge amount more that they can publish unless they release an adventure or campaign book, the new Doctor book when Jodie Whitaker moves on or reissue older material against the revised rules they've recently published. There's not a lot of momentum there. From a business perspective, it makes a lot of sense to release a Fifth edition port. There's a licence fee to be paid to the BBC and sales from the new game will probably have a halo effect for the sourcebooks for the original line. Adventures in Middle Earth showed that there's a huge part of the RPG market that is just D&D. Data from the Virtual Tabletops backs this up. You have D&D, and you have the rest of the market.

A rules port could be done really sympathetically to the property. The initiative system could be lifted (it favours the players by action type with Talkers going first, followed by Movers, Doers and finally Fighters), and at its heart D&D 5e has a consistent rules engine (roll high D20 with advantage/disadvantage) which would work fine. They can easily drop most of the combat crunch out and just run with the core game. I've faith that this is what will happen.

The anger about this announcement is pretty much misplaced. I'd be willing to bet that many who have joined in don't own the Doctor Who RPG, and are just dogpiling on Cubicle 7 because they've announced a product for Fifth Edition. They don't like the reality that D&D dominates the tabletop gaming space. There's no need for the anger.

Personally, I'm not going to be buying the product because I don't see any need for it for me. I have the current game; my main decision is whether I buy the second edition core book for the revised rules. But there are a lot of people out there who will find this an attractive proposition and are heavily invested in the Fifth Edition engine.

I think it's nice to see some love from Cubicle 7 for their other properties; recently, they've seemed more like 'the Warhammer RPG' company, which is a whole other discussion.

20th February 2022

 

A 'Back to School' week

Exam practice

It's been a back-to-school week for me, as I spent five days split by a weekend on an ISO45001 Leader Auditor course (run very ably over Zoom by Bywater). This was topping up on skills I'd learnt probably a decade or more ago when I did the same thing face to face for OHSAS 18001. 

They were long days, with a couple of hours of exams and reading each evening. Assessment was through coursework and an exam at the end.

Mind mapping

Prep for the exam had me trying to condense the course into a couple of mind maps. They amused the eldest when he saw them. "I can relate to those", was his wry comment. I drew them up on the reMarkable which works well. Despite being a greyscale screen, you can add colour on highlighters and lines that show when it prints out.

 

My study partner

At times it felt like there were two of us studying, as one of the cats - Rebel - took quite an interest, was vocal and kept on trying to get my attention. You can see her on top off the course notes in the picture, which she too some persuading to relinquish. She also started meowing like mad, to the point that the course tutor asked if anyone had a cat there. She's not normally very vocal.

Exam was online, screens shared, recorded. Overall pretty good with decent software that bookmarked anything that you may want to go back to. Two hours went by in a flash and I wasn't facing the battle with handwriting legibility that scrawling for an exam gives me.

Overall, a good experience to get parts of my brain working that haven't for a bit, but quite tiring! I await the results!

19 February 2022

Curse of Strahd - S4E7 - All the fun of the Carnival

  

The party are presently in the Carnival that has arrived at Vallaki; having visited some of the shows, they've regrouped and want to find out more about the mysterious Isolde who leads the travelling folk through the Mists. Is she an evil, cruel and dangerous mistress of death, or has Professor Pacali misrepresented her.

Our dramatis personae:

Ser Adon de Rouge of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good. Married to Ser Alys.

Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.

Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good

Ser Alys de Adon-Rouge of House Starbright (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral. Imagine a slightly greener take on Grace Jones... Married to Ser Adon. 

also featuring: 

Ireena Kolyana (a human warrior, daughter of the Burgomaster of Barovia, Twice-Bitten reincarnation of Strahd's unrequited love, Tatyana) - upgraded as a sidekick.

with : 

Alexei the Vistana (a young human expert, sent to pay off his debt to the party by his Vistani elders after they rescued Arabelle from certain death when Alexei lost her in town. A late teenager who is so taken by Ireena and the excitement of the adventure that he's forgotten he planned to be sulky and surly for his 13 moon exile) - upgraded as a sidekick.

All characters are presently 6th level, including the sidekicks. 

4th December

The party, with the exception of Alexei and Ireena, reconvene at the Big Top. Inside, they can hear Tindal working the crowd's excitement as they get closer to the show beginning. Kel arrives last, running breathlessly, apparently having been to the Litwick Market which follows the Carnival through the mists, initially to hide but then to shop. He explained to Gaddock that he'd bargained with a Fey woman who had sold him a bag of sunshine big enough to fill a large room for two hundred gold pieces. He'd actually asked for a bag big enough to fill a castle, but the price was too high. The woman didn't want gold, she just wanted all the colours from his life. Kel wasn't ready to sacrifice that.

Sers Alys and Adon scouted around the back of the big top to where Professor Pacali had said that Isolde's office was, with the six distorted creatures that she had twisted cruelly that would prove that she was evil and keeping everyone there against their wills. They found a canvas door and slipped in, around them boxes and performers getting ready, in front a ten-foot tall monster of a man. He introduced himself as Hermos, the stage manager. Behind him, a dark skinned elf was checking through papers. While they talked to Hermos, they checked out the woman, who they quickly realised was Isolde herself. Strapped to her back, almost shadow-like and yet so real, leaving the iron taste of blood in their mouth as they looked it it, was a long bladed sword that definitely had the feel of an artefact. They challenged Hermos about the story they'd heard about the victims of Isolde. The two of them pulled a curtain back and revealed the twisted flesh of creatures. 

Isolde told them that the Twisting was a natural force from the mists, and she had just withdrawn her protection from the individuals after they had broken the rules of the Carnival and committed heinous crimes. She defiantly held their gaze, and challenged if they felt she didn't have the right to protect her domain as she saw fit? Quietly, they agreed, confirming her mastery of the Carnival. They could sense the good in Isolde, but there was something cold brutal about her blade, a sense of blood and death. The talked for a few minutes; in the end, Isolde offered to take them with her as they were strangers in Barovia. They demurred when they found the Carnival had limited control on its path and rarely crossed out of the mists of the dark domains. Conversation finished, they headed back to find Kel and Gaddock.

Kel and Gaddock caught Tindal's eye as they entered. They were soon drawn into a show act with Wood'n'head, a man who could not be injured by a blade. Competing against the Blade Brothers, two Skurra who were expects in throwing swords and knife, Gaddock somehow managed to be last one standing and to defeat the last Blade Brother, winning some shadow dust and a silvered dragon's claw that never goes cold. Kel was knocked out second, so won a consolation prize of a bunch of funeral flowers which would never grow old. 

The next act involved the Blade Brothers competing to get the closest miss when throwing blades and each other. Kel and Gaddock decided that discretion was the better part of valour. Instead, they had a chat to Adon and Alys on how their visit had gone to Isolde. Between then they decided that they weren't going to act against the Carnival's leader. In Ser Alys' case there were some deep respect there. Gaddock was then annoyed by a kid who wanted his autograph and managed to get cloud on a stick over his jacket. He nearly lost his temper over this. 

The next act was the Illuminated Man, who presented an opportunity to face down your darkest fear. Ser Adon leapt up and took the challenge. The Illustrated Man drew on powers and drew something out of Ser Adon, a shadowy mass. He then drew a tattoo off his own body, which mixed with the form drawn from our hero. It took form and rose up; next thing that happened was that it started to attack him. With utter calm, Adon cut the form in half, dispelling the magic and destroying it with radiant fire as he struck it down with the blade "Deva's Redemption". He made it look easy. The Illustrated Man was hurt by the death of the tattoo, its original location looking like it had been burned. Unfortunately, the ease that he dispatched his darkest memories encouraged some of the Georges present to have a go. They were roundly trounced. He won some shadow dust and an artefact that looked like a dragon claw which was permanently cold.

Slipping out of the big top, they went shopping in the Litwick Market, where Adon bought some splint mail, and Gaddock some spell ingredients. They picked up some items (I gave them a budget and the chance to draw on some spending in the future if needed if they could justify it, a bit like a preparedness roll in Gumshoe). Kel went looking for a magical cloak of protection but decided that the cost was too high, as the fey-woman selling it said that all she wanted for it was for Kel to give her a smile. Becoming wise to the ways of Fey bargaining, he declined.

At the edge of the market, Gaddock discovered an old wagon, some distance from the nearest fire. He broke in, only to rush back out, pursued by Zombies. Ser Alys rushed in, taking one down in a complicated triple strike. Kel and Gaddock then let loose with fireballs, swiftly destroying the creatures. As the fire settled, the party noticed three creatures climbing out of the wagon; as they fled into the mists toward Vallaki, they moved just like the Vampire Spawn they'd faced previously on the roof of the Blue Water Inn. As the creatures escaped, the roof on the wagon burst open, and three larger creatures, took to the sky, obscuring the lighter moon as they lofted higher, hiding south into the town.

The characters agreed it was time to head back to town, away from the Carnival which was proving to be a dangerous distraction. As they headed back, they wondered if Strahd had broken the detente that he'd offered. Only time would tell.

GM Notes:

I'd forgotten how lethal the party are, but they have just reminded me that they are seriously down on magic and other consumables now. Some of the show elements worked well, others not so much. I feared that one of the players was fed up with it, so tried to keep it moving.

They nicely sidestepped the conflict in the Carnival; in some ways it's a shame, but it moves us back towards the main storyline. The big question is that Strahd had implied he wouldn't do them harm, and yet there was a wagon full of Zombies, Vampire Spawn and whatever the creatures that flew were waiting outside Vallaki. They'v established that the Litwick Market is not a direct part of the Carnival, just fellow Fey travellers, so the wagon wasn't something that Isolde or Pacali had been involved in as far as they could see.

The offer to take the two warriors with them startled their players; I don't think that they expected it, yet they turned it down because of unfinished business with Strahd. I think it may have given some hope that they can escape. The thing that they aren't clear about is whether the Carnival is there with Strahd's permission or if it can make its own way willingly.

9 February 2022

First Impressions - Orbital Blues RPG

Orbital Blues has some of the most distinctive art & layout I've seen.

Orbital Blues is a roleplaying game published by Soul Muppet Publishing. I've two of their previous releases; The Stygian Library and Best Left Buried: Deeper. One I loved, the other disappointed. How will Orbital Blues work out?

TL;DR: Orbital Blues is a simple, rules light RPG that riffs on the Traveller engine and aims for the a space western vibe, set in a lived-in universe of faded and failing hyper-capitalism. Characters are flawed, broke and trying to make a living in a hard universe. Their troubles will likely consume them, as debt and pressure builds. The book looks gorgeous and is really atmospheric; you can clearly see what they're trying to achieve. I love SF roleplaying games, and loved much of the material described as inspiration. There is much to love here, but there is something missing. The nihilism of the tone undermines my urge to run a game with this. The game misses the aspects of hope that its inspirations had; the Firefly crew were always optimistic that they'd make that score, the Guardians upbeat but cynical. This is a game that has mechanics for the impact of character's troubles but no counter-point to give a high note. Played as presented, the darkness of the setting and the mechanics eats at the soul. Usually, I'd be bursting with ideas to run a game having read something this well put together, but I'm not feeling the love. And that's a huge shame to me as this has been so lovingly put together.

Orbital Blues describes itself as the rock-and-roll future that never was and that nobody wanted. It's a game of bounty hunters, vagrants and bleeding heart outlaws. Players form the crew of a ship trying to make a living, with the odds stacked against them. The blurb references Cowboy Bebop, Firefly and Guardians of the Galaxy as the space western inspiration that underpins the game. I guess you could probably add shades of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett to that these days. They're all good references, but the feel of the game is slightly more melancholic than the sources mentioned. Firefly and Guardians both have a hopeful vibe within them that I didn't find in Orbital Blues.

The book is hardcover, with 208-pages in full colour. The endpapers are bright orange and contain random tables for creation of places for the characters to visit. The artwork by Joshua Clark is superb and deserving of the accompanying book, Wayward Stars, which takes you through the development of the pieces used in the book. It is one of the best illustrated and laid out books that I have seen.

There are a couple of typos, but nothing jarring and nowhere near the issues I found in Best Left Buried: Deeper which killed that product for me. This was a relief as the early release looked like it was going the same way. Some of the later section feels a bit rushed, but I suspect that isn't the case. Rather, they took a decision to tell you how to generate the NPCs rather than do it for you.

Mechanically, you have three core stats, Muscle, Grit and Savvy, which range from 0 to +2. They can drop below zero in some circumstances and characters are described as being above average. Stats get added or subtracted from dice rolls.

As you develop you crew, each player picks a title for their character that reflects the concept; the Muse, the Hick, the Stray, the Wheels, the Drinker and more are given across a two-page spread for inspiration.

Characters have two ratings that reflect how damaged they become; Heart, which functions as a physical damage track, and Blues. Blues come from your Troubles, which are past misdeeds, regrets and vices that haunt you and function as hooks in play. Your character also starts with a Gambit; something that they can call upon to get a job done, often providing a mechanical advantage for dice rolls. They can gain more Troubles and Gambits as you play. 

Characters also start with equipment and mementos. Equipment works with tags for effect and mementos provide roleplaying opportunities to draw upon. Starships are have three stats, just like characters (in this case called Body, Mobility and Systems) and there are random tables to aid in creating and naming them. It's also suggested that you pick a piece of music to represent your character.

The core game mechanic is very similar to Traveller. Roll 2d6 and add the appropriate stat and try and get more than eight. The Mongoose Traveller 2nd edition boon/bane advantage/disadvantage mechanic is implemented and ties closely to gambits and other situational modifiers. If you have the upper hand (advantage) you roll 3d6 and chose the highest two dice. If you are against the odds (disadvantage) you roll 3d6 and take the lowest two dice as your result. Heart can be spent as Exertion to re-roll any number of dice.

You may need to make a Blues check if your trouble requires or if something terrible happens. This is a stat check with grit; success gives you a point of Blues. If you end up with 8 Blues, you can declare that Trouble is Brewing, and you trigger a scene where you confront your trouble. It makes you harder to hurt, and you can spend Blues for exertion; at the end of the scene, your Blues resets to zero and you can gain new Troubles and Gambits, or raise your stats. 

Combat is reasonably abstract. Initiative order is taken from a d3 roll with Savvy added, with highest results going first. Melee weapons provide an advantage for initiative, but range may tell on this.

Attack rolls are handled differently to Stat Checks. You roll three dice, not two. You can take any two dice as the roll to attack, but still need to get 8 or more. The remaining dice forms the base damage. Upper hand adds an extra dice as usual (you keep the best three) and vice versa when you are against the odds. Again, this harks back to Best Left Buried. Hitting zero heart kills NPCs and antagonists; players will need to make a single die roll, shooting to roll above their number of Troubles to avoid death.

Personal scale weapons won't usually damage vehicles, but may well hurt occupants. 

If it's all too much for your character, you can declare a scene as your Swansong. This gives you significant mechanical advantages but your character will suffer a mortal wound and die at the end of the scene. 

Starship combat has its own section and there are different roles for crew members to take (Helm, Sensors, Communications, Repair, Weapons and more) with a selection of actions for each. There are also guidelines for dealing with disturbances - phenomena which may impede, damage or amplify aspects of a ship's performance. Some tables of examples are given. 

Money is handled somewhat abstractly with credits and debts. The system is loaded to pressure your characters with debt (because it drives the need to adventure and take risks). It reminds me of aspects of Best Left Buried. Higher debt can cause problems, and bad things can happen. If you turn a profit, you can save or invest in improving or repairing your ship.

There's a decent expanded equipment section. In addition, there's a section that provides statistics and example vehicles and starships.

The GM section includes some good guidance on running the game, helpful notes on running chases, and then some decent advice on creating scenarios which includes a set of typical missions and related random tables for legal and illegal work. There's discussion of handling the repercussions of adventures and guidance on creating new Troubles and Gambits.

There's a section on creating goons, packed with examples; these come at three levels - individuals, mobs and organisations. Stats and resources change the larger the group faced. There are examples from the police, mobsters, pirates, corporates and local muscle. Marks are the bosses and significant individuals; they will have gambits and perhaps even troubles. There are examples from a wide range of backgrounds.

The book then moves onto an example location for adventures, the Sutler System. There are key contacts, locations, rumours and hooks. The Bounty Board can provide missions and there's a random events table for travel. Locations are detail along with key establishments that the characters may end up at along with the characters and hooks they can encounter there. It works as a decent sandbox and there's guidance on how to tailor the key NPCs to give the flavour that you want.

The book wraps up with some sound advice on taking care, especially around Troubles as they can lean into areas around mental health that some players may not be comfortable with.

The package from the kickstarter came with some nice postcards of the art and an accompanying book, Wayward Stars, which explains how key parts of the art were created. I enjoyed this, as it gave some genuine insight into the vibe the authors were aiming for and the way the look was created.

To conclude: Orbital Blues is a simple, rules light RPG that riffs on the Traveller engine and aims for the a space western vibe, set in a lived-in universe of faded and failing hyper-capitalism. Characters are flawed, broke and trying to make a living in a hard universe. Their troubles will likely consume them, as debt and pressure builds. The book looks gorgeous and is really atmospheric; you can clearly see what they're trying to achieve. I love SF roleplaying games, and loved much of the material described as inspiration. There is much to love here, but there is something missing. The nihilism of the tone undermines my urge to run a game with this. The game misses the aspects of hope that its inspirations had; the Firefly crew were always optimistic that they'd make that score, the Guardians upbeat but cynical. This is a game that has mechanics for the impact of character's troubles but no counter-point to give a high note. Played as presented, the darkness of the setting and the mechanics eats at the soul. Usually, I'd be bursting with ideas to run a game having read something this well put together, but I'm not feeling the love. And that's a huge shame to me as this has been so lovingly put together.

Oribital Blues and its companion material.

5 February 2022

New Marillion album taster - Murder Machines

It's just under a month until the new Marillion album "An Hour Before It's Dark" releases; those who pre-ordered got access to the first track from the album - "Be Hard on Yourself" at the end of last year, and this Friday saw the release of another track "Murder Machines".

The track reflects the shadow of living through the last two years of the pandemic, and I quite like it.

The previous single is now available to stream as well:  

I'm looking forward to this release.

5 February 2022

Curse of Strahd - S4E6 - Something Wicked This Way Comes

 

The party depart from Krezk and head back to the Wizard of Wines brewery with the cart and drey to collect the delivery of wine for the Blue Water Inn in Vallaki. They stop overnight, leaving on the morning of the 4th December to head back, laden with good cheer for the townsfolk.

Our dramatis personae:

Ser Adon de Rouge of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good. Married to Ser Alys.

Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.

Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good

Ser Alys de Adon-Rouge of House Starbright (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral. Imagine a slightly greener take on Grace Jones... Married to Ser Adon. 

also featuring: 

Ireena Kolyana (a human warrior, daughter of the Burgomaster of Barovia, Twice-Bitten reincarnation of Strahd's unrequited love, Tatyana) - upgraded as a sidekick.

with : 

Alexei the Vistana (a young human expert, sent to pay off his debt to the party by his Vistani elders after they rescued Arabelle from certain death when Alexei lost her in town. A late teenager who is so taken by Ireena and the excitement of the adventure that he's forgotten he planned to be sulky and surly for his 13 moon exile) - upgraded as a sidekick.

All characters are presently 6th level, including the sidekicks. 

4th December

The party, headed north from the vineyard in the early morning, with the mists still swirling. As they reached the bridge near the Old Svalich Road they noticed some strange white leaves on the floor. Investigating, they established that they were - in fact - pieces of paper advertising a Carnival which had apparently arrived in Vallaki.

Come to the Carnival!

COME and CELEBRATE!

Come and have fun!

A proper family celebration, not a forced one!

See the shows!

Visit the market!

Come to the CARNIVAL! 

Back for the first time in years.

They looked at each other, startled at the news. Continuing further east, they heard unnatural howls on the forest hill to the north. Ser Alys quickly realised that this was no ordinary wolf howl, it seemed tainted by a tortured humanity. Taking stock, they wondered if these could be the werewolves that had led them to stumble into Barovia in the first place. They couldn't discount it so decided to investigate. Alys quickly identified tracks, so they left Ireena and Alexei with the cart while they headed to investigate. Ser Adon crashed over, losing his balance while trying to find a good route forward, and Kel was losing his bearings, so Gaddock used a combination of levitation and his familiar to find the right route to the clearing where whatever had let the howl out was waiting.

Kel acted to spot any deadfall's that could make a noise revealing that they were coming, which was fortunate because both the warriors were struggling to be stealthy with their armour. Fortunately, Gaddock summoned a fog which masked their approach. They reached the clearing, surprising two werewolves which seemed to be intent in discussion. Kel reacted by fireballing them, fortunate that the fog prevented the forest from taking worse than blast damage (it may be hard to explain why they set the hill on fire!). Burned and surprised, Gaddock attacked one with a mindspike, but it shrugged off most of the effects. Ser Adon charged in with the blood spear, and brutally slaughtered the first wolf, getting a surge of energy when the Blood Spear drank it to death. He then attacked the second one, before Ser Alys finished it off with the orkish letter opener. Their eyes met over the dead body, and for a moment Adon looked almost wolf-like and hungry-eyed.

Searching the bodies revealed that both the lycanthropes had leaflets for the Carnival. Searching the clearing revealed a dead body, one of the people that they had met in Krezk. This was a surprise as the people of that town rarely left it. They buried the body and said a few words over it to prevent it rising as an undead. Kel looked out across the two miles or so to Vallaki and could see glittering lights towards the lake; it definitely looked like something had arrived in town.

While they travelled along the road, Gaddock used his spells and lore to investigate the leaflets. He came to the conclusion that they were some kind of lure and talisman which acted in a similar way to the mists that surrounded Barovia, luring and drawing people in. The words appeared in people's native tongues; Gaddock had been warned about sorcerers like this. "Always avoid dark magic like necromancy and advertising" was drilled in at the Academy. Gaddock was convinced that the Carnival may have come from outside Barovia.

They reached town to find the guards stretched thin; apparently many had called in sick or had gone to the Carnival. They arranged for the wine to be dropped off at the Blue Water Inn, then met up with Alys'  deputy Reisen Munin who reported that all was well; the Carnival was back and the greybeards suggested that it was maybe sixty years since it last visited. The party excitedly reminisced about what delights could be expected, every type of food on a stick including clouds, butter and rats. Munin tried to find out what a goblin was like and Ser Alys described a made up monster. They decided to head out and see what the Carnival was all about.

Both Ser Alys and Ser Adon dressed up very smartly, leaving their armours behind. Alys in a party dress, and Adon in crimson trousers with a sky-blue hat. Heading out the lakeside gate to the North, they discovered the Carnival set perhaps 100 metres back. Interestingly, the mists held back from it and there was a clear path to the gate. As they entered, they realised that they could see the night sky with different starts and a dark moon. Shocked, Kel realised that there was a feel of the Shadowfell to this place. Gaddock passed on sound advice, starting with avoid eye contact and don't reveal your true name!

Gaddock's rules, some of which may even be true!

The ticket booth attendant, Claude, was pleasant and chatty, but had some kind of growth coming from his neck, a kind of creature. Ser Adon offered to heal him, but Claude declined, explaining that the Twisting was a natural effect for those that travel between places in the Carnival and unavoidable. 

A gentleman in a top hat identified himself as 'Tindal the Barker' and explained that he led the acts in the Big Top and would love to see them all there later. They agreed to see the show but then split up to try the attractions that he described that most excited them.

Ser Alys went to the high striker where she befriended an attractive Orog, and then beat him in how high she could send the flaming skull into the air. He asked her if she wanted to go out; she explained she was married but perhaps the three of them could hang out at the pub later. The Orog, Tosk, was very excited about the offer, perhaps too excited. He handed her a bag of shadow dust (which causes invisibility) as a prize for beating him so soundly.

Kelwarin's attention was drawn to a tent by the pipes a Satyr was playing. The next thing he knew he had a cup in his hand and was rolling dice and trying to predict what flowers would sprout from the pots some pixies were planting. Of course, he couldn't resist using his natural sorcerous powers to manipulate the result, winning a thousand gold. As he reached for it, he felt the brush of mind of a Pixie. That brush turned to anger and he realised they had realised he'd bent reality to win. The tent went cold with anger and somehow Kel resisted the spell cast at him to turn him into a white rat. He grabbed the cash and ran, fleeing into the Litwick Market, a place populated by Fae where you could buy anything, but it was dangerous and nothing to do with the Carnival. It just followed it around.

Gaddock went to see the fortune teller, Madame Fortuna. Her wagon was guarded by two silent Skurra, Vistani which had joined the Carnival who wear black-and-white faceprint and never, ever, speak. He realised that he didn't have cash but ended up trading away the memories of his child in return for lore. He couldn't remember exactly what he learned but he knew it would come to him in a time of need. He has no recollection of the fact that he is a father or what he requested, and his mind has been twisted so he no longer tolerates children and they find him scary and want to avoid him. This was a secret none of the party knew; apparently he had been married when he was in the Militia, but his wife had eventually left him because he kept volunteering for duties away from home. Their marriage lasted a decade, but he hasn't seen his child since. He stumbled out of the Wagon knowing he had forgotten something but no idea what.

Ser Adon went to the Hall of Horrors, narrowly missing being vomited on by the person who went in before him. Met at the door by Professor Pacali, he soon realised that there was more to this place than he expected. Small creatures were held in tanks, some form of homunculi. Larger creatures where also delayed. Looking in a large looking glass, he caught a glimpse of something in the mirror. A creature perhaps. Pacali noticed that he had seen this so sidled up and started to question Adon. He explained that all the performers were trapped here by the Carnival's leader Isolde on pain of being twisted. If Adon didn't believe him, he could just check out her office behind the Big Top; the remains of six people she'd twisted to the point of destroying their sanity was there. He asked for Adon's assistance in breaking the trap; he'd prepared the magic to do so, but needed support to get it to the right place. Not willing to commit without finding out more, Adon planned to check out Isolde's office.

The whole group got back together near the Big Top. They shared stories but then planned to see the Big Top show and find out more...

GM Notes:

I decided that I wanted the return to Vallaki to feel special, as the location had been at the heart of the game. Having read 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' over Christmas, and also having read about the Carnival in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, I decided to use it. I actually went back to the 2e version (which I found great as a set up but far too full of flavour text) and also a DM's Guild reboot of it. This meant that I had some work to do with Token Tool to prepare NPCs, plus uploading all the VTT maps. I picked up Van Richten's on Roll20 so I could transmogify the creatures across and drag and drop them in. I'm glad I did, because it made the Compendium material easily accessible.

I wanted some suitable music; I grabbed a piece by Travis Savoie for the Witchlight Carnival from his recent RPGToolkit II album. I also located a copy of James Horner's score for the early 80s Bradbury scripted movie version of 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' on YouTube, so ripped it with Piezo and added it to Roll20. It fitted the mood well. I'd have bought it, but it isn't on streaming services and there were no copies available to buy obviously anywhere. I was a bit frustrated as the YouTube downloading software I have used for the last five years has been deprecated and the latest update they did didn't want to work. If it had then I could have pointed to a YouTube playlist and got it all ripped out.

I was worried that this could be too twee, but it seems to be working. There is a dark edge and the music worked perfectly when Gaddock cut his Fae Bargain for a future use of Legend Lore. I actually have three different plot lines to play with, one an update from their first visit and the others new. Both the two new lines could have dire effects for the Carnival or Vallaki itself.

Although the Carnival is a potential route out, Strahd will not let Ireena go, and would trap the Carnival instead. He is less bothered about the characters, although if they ran he would feel like his fun has been spoiled. 

It was fun getting back into this, like a pair of old shoes. And yes, Ser Adon may well have failed an important saving roll when his spear drank the blood of the lycanthrope. 

I used 4e style skill challenges for tracking the werewolves and sneaking up on them; I liked it as it gave reasons for everyone to do something. Failures on tracking made the stealthy approach harder. Must do this again.

2 February 2022