#reverse of strahd

[probablybadrpgideas]

Reverse vampire. Dies when deprived of sunlight, injects people with blood instead of sucking it from them, is empowered by garlic and silver, has the most flushed red skin color instead of being deathly pale and can only enter a house if specifically told NOT to do so.

­

[morrigan-sims]

Judgement

upright: resurrection, reflection, reckoning, judgement, and awakening. reversed: lack of self-awareness, doubt, self-loathing.

Yet another tarot card edit, this time for my Curse of Strahd character, Avra! She's a shadar-kai/reborn phantom rogue who was brought back from the dead by the Raven Queen to serve as her chosen assassin. She was sent to Barovia to kill a rogue lich, but one of the people meant to help her (a raven given human form by the Raven Queen) has made a bargain with him instead...

Her epithet in my notes is "the revenant", and I think it's pretty obvious why. And also pretty obvious why she gets the Judgement card. (Resurrected from the dead, brings her goddess's judgement upon people, etc.)

In this case the reversed version of the card is also fitting, or at least it most likely will be as her arc progresses... (Though the "lack of self-awareness" is pretty accurate, given recent events in the campaign.)

Oh, and of course I had to include a raven looking down on Avra. The Raven Queen does keep a very close eye on her, even now that she's in Barovia...

[malzenn]

The Devil

In tarot, the Devil (upright) represents the shadow and negative forces that hold you back from being the best version of yourself, you are trapped by short term pleasures which leads to long term pain. Healthy attachments can turn obsessive and co-dependent.

Reversed the Devil calls upon you to leave behind what is holding you back and to confront your fears that chain you down. It can tell you that you are hiding your darkest self from others.

This is my piece for @curseofsergei 's Curse of Strahd zine @mementomoristrahdzine

[sweetestlittledarling]

Hear Me Out: M6 as Dnd Monsters

Note: For @vesuviaweekly Prompt of 'Hear Me Out'

So, I had an idea a while back about a monster creature AU where the M6 were monster creatures. They were still themselves just monsters, and it got me thinking as another one of my loves is Dungeons and Dragons, and as most people know that has a big book dedicated to all sorts of monsters. So, with the help of my fellow players and my dm I started crafting some idea of which Dnd Monsters the M6 would be. These are just my opinions after some long thought (and help from others) and if you have any other ideas or maybe a comment or two, please don’t hesitate to comment or message. I would love to hear other people’s ideas.

Asra: Yuan Ti

So originally, I thought of a Naga since that is what I think of for half snake/half human. But when I looked them up in the Monster Manual, I realized that a Naga in Dnd is more a snake with a human looking face. So, I went on to the next snake-based race and settled on the Yuan Ti. Now Yuan Ti can come in many forms as they can have a snake as basically any body part (like really, my dm showed me), but I imagine Asra is the variety that is half human on top and snake below. His snake coloring, I always thought should be similar to Faust with the cornflower snake, and he is a very agile climber and swimmer. Asra also enjoys basking in the sun to warm along with Faust and gives great hugs.

Julian: Were-Raven

 I could make this entire list ‘Were’ creatures, but I figured that would be too easy, so I am giving that honor to Julian. I am doing this mostly because his Reverse form reminds me of Howl from ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ and that always made me think of a raven transformation. According to the Dnd lore Were-Ravens are amongst the most intelligent of the were creatures but are very rare, mostly existing in the world of Ravenloft and Strahd (one of my favorite games to play btw). They also can have three forms: Human, large raven, and human/raven hybrid. In my head I think Julian is a little embarrassed by his raven form, but he does love to fly. He also likes to nest and collect shinny things.

Nadia: Silver Dragon

I wanted something regal for Nadia as well as intelligent and in Dnd lore there is nothing more intelligent or regal then a dragon. In Dnd lore dragons have two gods who were once one, Bahamut and Tiamat. Bahamut is like the father and gentler of the two, having control of the Metallic colored dragons: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Brass. Silver in particular are probably the most human like and like the cooler weather. They are also highly intelligent and do not enjoy combat, looking to avoid it. I imagine that Nadia’s entire family could be dragons and would be a noble family house.

Murial: Giant (Storm Probably)

Like I said with Julian I could make this whole list were creatures and make Muriel a were-bear or were-wolf, but I felt that would be too easy. I wanted Muriel to be a forest protector as well as be reclusive, to which my Dm, pointed out that he would probably be a good giant. So, giants are often found in homes away from the human world, a lot of the time on mountains or in forests. Storm giants in particular get along with a lot of the native wildlife. They are also known to have magical affinity which of course connects to Muriel. Storm giants are often able to discharge electricity which would be an interesting effect I think when Muriel is upset. I have the idea that he is able to control his size with a spell, though only to an extent and sometimes has to step away into the forest when he has to grow to his actual giant size.

Portia: Were-Cat

Portia was tough to figure out because I didn’t want to just go with Tabaxi (the Dnd cat people) because it just didn’t feel right. So, I lied and made two were-creatures on this list (though I guess it makes sense they are in the same family). Were-cats, like were-ravens, have three forms (Human, cat, and a hybrid of the two) and can communicate with cats. They are also great charmers who have skills in getting out of trouble. I mean I could just imagine Portia turning into a cat and running around with Pepi. I also think she would enjoy getting head pats and scratches behind the ears.

Lucio: Red Dragon

So, I mentioned the Metallics, I now have to talk about the Chromatics. The Chromatic dragons are seen over by Tiamat and a little bit more on the malevolent side. Red dragons have fiery tempers and a great deal of pride which sounds a lot like a certain count. I imagine when he gets angry, he spouts a bit of fire from his nose and grows a bit scalier. He is also very prone to starting things on fire by accident while in a rage. He also has horns that wrap kind of like a goat.

And for a little self-indulgence:

Robin/Lark/Sparrow (My AU Apprentices): Harpies

In my monster AU, my apprentices are Harpies, half bird/half humans. Usually in Dnd lore harpies are female but I can make an exception in this case. Sparrow likes to sing but Harpies are known to lure people with a dangerous song, so she often doesn’t though Julian really enjoys her voice and they both make nests.

Lark enjoys flying and often is seen doing tricks, which is great because he has a very large love to jump off of to get some height.

Robin enjoys watching the sun set from a high perch which is good because Asra also enjoys climbing, and snuggling.

[terrified-spider]

D&D Vampirism & the Results of Regenerative Abilities

A small note:

I’ve posted about both Elder Scrolls and D&D on this blog, and I’m pretty sure I’ve already written some headcanons about TES’s portrayal of vampirism. What’s described here is only for my D&D world building, Barovia/General Ravenloft in particular, where the condition is generally treated much more like a curse than in the Elder Scrolls franchise, where it’s a contracted illness. I won’t promise that I will or won’t write about TES vampirism, as i think it’s fun, it’s not something I find fitting for the Domains of Dread.

This post contains spoilers for the heavily modified version of Curse of Strahd I will be eventually running, and spoilers for the novel I, Strahd. Changes from the RAW 5e module include:

Alek is back! He’s not having a good time. 

Escher is Van Richten’s lost son. It’s not that important to this essay, but I do mention their shared eyesight problems in passing.

Shout out to @mx-lamour and their fanfic "What have I done?", for being the reason I finally sat down and wrote this all out. 

An Introduction to Vampirism & Wound Recovery in Undeath:

Whether described as a curse or blessing, Vampirism is a magical condition, one that has a number of effects on the patient’s natural recovery/healing process, and by extension, the development of scars throughout one’s unlife. While none of the information here is intended to impact gameplay and balance, it can have an influence over roleplay and certainly does in character design. Flavor is free, and I want it all.

Becoming a vampire is akin to pressing pause on one’s life and body, stopping the aging process, but not reversing it. For example, no more of Strahd’s hair will turn gray, but the streaks that are there will never change back to black. Escher’s eyesight and the myopia inherited from his father are impacted by age, getting worse over time. While being turned provided him with some new dark vision, he will remain nearsighted to the same extent he was upon death. The march of time has stopped, but that doesn’t mean it can be reversed. 

Scar tissue is subject to the same forces, and old scars obtained during life will stop fading, remaining just as visible or unapparent as they did upon the body’s death. Unhealed wounds will repair themselves only once regeneration begins, but are subject to the same factors as other wounds obtained post mortem.

General Post Mortem Wounds and Scaring Trends:

While there is some variation in these trends, there are three main degrees to which wounds will leave a lasting impact.

Minor wounds don’t last. These are the results of unsilvered weaponry, mild damage from running water, and necrotic magic. Very little is in the way of the regeneration and healing process, so there are less chances for something to go wrong, such as debris entering the wound, or the injury to scab over, and increase the chances of a scar forming. On the off chance one does form, it usually vanishes within an hour at the latest.

Most magical damage provides the same level of regenerative difficulty as that of sivered weapons and most instances of water damage. Silver and water, both considerable weaknesses of vampires, react poorly with the dark magic of a vampire’s curse, and interfere with it’s influences over the body. Similarly to those described prior, these scars will fade with time, simply taking longer, usually over the course of a couple days, or several weeks at most. 

Sunlight will cause the most dramatic injuries, leaving burns over the exposed skin, and healing to form scars that never fade.

Turning Wounds:

Turning wounds are usually bites, the injuries that kill someone as they become undead, and the place of the curse’s transference. Given the nature of the wound, magic doesn’t make the wounds particularly easy to heal, even with the assistance of vampiric regeneration, which is usually what heals them.

Unlike other wounds that result in varying scar types and will reflect the type of damage when applicable, turning wounds usually lave behind contracture scars, where the skin has tightened over the wound in the healing process, giving the impression of skin stretched over the injury. It results in much more obvious scar tissue that can sometimes cause the individual pain, both due to the nature of the scar type, and the magical influences.

While most turning wounds are bite marks, such as those on the necks of Alek and Escher, they can take the form of other injuries, such as the numerous arrow marks across Strahd’s torso and chest.

Different Types of Vampires & Exceptions to the Trends:

The patterns here assume that the subject described is a vampire spawn, a common type of vampire within Ravenloft and Barovia in particular. Consumption of blood will have an impact on healing speed, where greater access to blood will speed up the process, and under feeding can drag out the process for months or longer. However, differences in the nature of one’s curse can manifest as much more dramatic differences in healing ability.

Failed Spawn - Alek Gwilym:

For some reason, the curse didn’t transfer right. In the case of Alek, his blood was already used to reanimate someone, and the Dark Powers forbid Strahd from ever having a good time. Alek just got caught in the crossfire.

Technically they use the Nosferatu stat block but that’s behind the DM screen, not in game.

Turning wounds on failed spawn don’t heal properly, leaving open wounds that won’t bleed, but can be opened up further, and can cause significant pain if not kept clean or become irritated.

The Dark Powers hate you in particular - Strahd von Zarovich:

Aside from turning wounds, any scar will fade with time, including severe sunburns.

Injuries resulting from critical hits will have lasting impacts, such as vision or movement issues, punishment for mistakes in combat.

It needs some work, but this is inspired by the parts of Strahd’s relationship with Barov I’ve been able to flesh out. It needs some work still, but the man taught Strahd mistakes have lasting consequences, either in a material sense, or Barov holding failures over Strahd.

Cleveland Clinic on Scars (:

[raviollies]

that last piece made me really curious about whats the deal with theta and blythe. like how do they see/treat each other and such. could you tell us a bit about how their relationship is??

I have a LOT to say

Blythe and Theta have a very complicated relationship, as that's my bread and butter, but giving a little detail as to why Blythe sought out a pact and the little blurb on her backstory would kind of give a better understanding of the specific themes I am going for.

Blythe is very much meant to embody the toxic expectations of society (and particularly women) and how that can mentally deteriorate you. There is a conversation to be had about the desire of validation from the public can force you to reshape yourself until you no longer resemble what you once were, and how that takes a toll on you but that's for another time.

Some aspects are not unique to being a woman but it ties together --- she excelled academically, got a job, was prim, proper and attractive; a good student, a good daughter, a good woman, and eventually, the expectation of good wife and mother.

However, this was not only not acceptable for her exaggerated sense of ambition and pride, and it being tarnished by being thought of as 'simple', the disrespect of being acknowledged for your looks and your mind being overlooked, and her rather rampant desire to be in control and not subservient (Internalized misogyny at conflating being a wife/mother to giving up your freedom and agency) --- she could not stomach to be just that, and wanted more, to really CARVE her name into history. She wanted to be on top, to have power, to be the top dog so to speak but felt confined by the cage she very much had a hand in constructing. You set up expectations for yourself, mold yourself and then find that mold restrictive.

At the time in the background of her life, floating in and out was a mysterious sorceress, Theta, who upon gleaming more and more of Blythe's desires, revealed herself to be a fairly powerful fey, and offered a Warlock pact. Blythe would get what she wants, and Theta, would get an apprentice, and an eventual member of her coven. The appeal was there, who wouldn't want to be a powerful witch?

Except Theta failed to disclose that the pact would involve Blythe becoming a fey herself, being transformed into a Hexblood. Having her trust in the process broken, she fled from her family in Waterdeep and went searching for a way to reverse her "curse" and return to being an Elf, and that's how she ended up in Barovia!

Blythe very much despises Theta, she sees her as someone that had ruined her life with her fey logic, someone that cursed her and parasitically permeates her existence. She wants nothing more than to rid her life of this hag. Theta on the other hand, does not hold any ill feelings towards Blythe, believing her to be confused, lashing out because of something she does not understand but eventually will. She is possessive over her, and will do things because of her own perception of "doing what's best for Blythe", uncaring of what Blythe thinks, after all. She just doesn't get it yet. (This is very much meant to be a parallel to Ireena and Strahd's relationship)

Like that one post of someone's mother turning a sunflower away from the sun to face the room because she enjoys looking at it, Theta is meant to represent this overbearing nature of "wanting better" of older generations. She does not do things because of any evil intent, but rather out of a twisted form of love ---- she genuinely cares, but does so in a way that only does further harm. She will berate, hurt people that Blythe cares for, dash her dreams because she EARNESTLY believes that's for the best, because she thinks that Blythe is meant to be like her (and who's to say that Theta, at one point, didn't walk the same path?). But that's not to say that Theta is not a major obstacle in Blythe's life, that has to be excised.

That's the JIST of it; I really enjoy writing and exploring themes that draw from my personal experiences to really provide an interesting narrative, so I hope it's engaging!

[velvetwarfare]

The moonlight trickled in through the fogged glass, casting a long shadow that crept behind the back of the large Nosferatu knight. While the hospitality was gratefully welcomed, she could not stop her thoughts from spinning deadly webs in her relentlessly wandering mind.

Standing a distance from the dark lord, the black knight was almost entirely consumed by the darkness that penetrated the fancy halls — save for the illumination of golden candlelight upon the sheen surface of her armor and the unmistakable glow of silver, crocodile-esque eyes. A lone card rests betwixt the crevices of two digits, soon risen as she speaks,

“ Are you truly happy with this life you live? “

Her gaze is intense, to say the least. Just as her mother once did, the Vistani was attempting to break through the barrier of flesh and peer into the man’s damaged soul. ‘The soul seekers’, The Copper Carriage once was. Mama Andreá did not read the cards to tell the future — she would do so to read one’s soul and truest emotions. The shadow self. This knowledge was passed onto a younger Bethanne — who was now using this sixth sense to her advantage against the powerful baron. A very thin ice to trek — but she was not one to fear death when death was the God she praised.

Holding up the reversed nine of pentacles, she continued,

“ Count Strahd, you may have everything in the clutches of your hand, but you are not rich. Material possessions can only get you so far in the woes of loneliness before that feeling gnaws upon your heart strings and rips apart every physical distraction you have.

You have everything. A castle, brides, gold, servants, Barovia itself — yet gold cannot buy that loneliness off of your soul. Happiness is not a material possession. And all of this, including Barovia, means nothing to you if you were to achieve true contentment. Am I incorrect? “

Suddenly, the same claw-tipped digits that held the card burst through the Queen’s face — and the shredded paper was discarded on the floor.

“ Material possessions are nothing compared to genuine love and respect. You are poor. You are a wealthy noble — but you are poor spiritually and mentally. And that alone is enough to destroy all of the physical distractions. “

[ CHARISMA SAVE: 21 ]

A short pause, her gaze becoming less strict. Softening.

“ Who else would have the balls to give you this wake up call? You also read the cards. You should know this already — but most folk tend to avoid their shadow work and pretend it does not exist until it is too late to change the fates. You are aware how is Vistani perform, da?

This was not meant to drag you. I want to help you. But in order to help you, I must first break away your ego before it can retaliate against me.

Allow me to speak to your soul, Strahd. Not the noble baron. “

@strvhd

[candles-inthewoods]

INTRO & WARNINGS

Hello there, my name is Rosemary. I use she/her pronouns. I'm over 18 (23 y/o), but this is not a typical NSFT blatant explicit blog.

This is a side-blog for curating content that reminds me of The Gothic. Specifically Gothic Romances, with a heroine lead. Fucked up coming-of-age tales, with a fantastical, dramatic and historical edge to them. This blog will include unnerving themes and imagery, so please leave if you're sensitive for your own benefit.

This is a side-blog, so I will not be able to be mutuals or start conversations. If you'd like to get in touch with me, do send me an ask! And if you'd like to talk more, I'll reach out to you through my personal account.

CW List, Tag Directory and Media Inspo after the cut.

LIST OF SENSITIVE TOPICS

abduction, blood, cannibalism (#devour), excessive/ gratuitous violence, gore, psychological torment, supernatural monsters and elements, unhealthy + toxic relationships, etc

These topics will not be tagged individually.

You are strongly advised to leave this blog if you are uncomfortable with these topics.

You are responsible for your experience on Tumblr. I cannot physically stop you from following so it's your judgement for your own sake.

TAG DIRECTORY

#actual advice — The Gothic explores and highlights human flaws and points of conflict. But they say a character flaw is just a character’s strength taken too far. A trait in reverse. So, if you reverse all of these constructive, helpful observations and just see them from another angle… these keys to recovery end up as destructive tragedies. And Gothic stories are often the biggest tragedies there are.

#art — artwork that depicts the aesthetic.  

#analysis — posts that are serious insights into tropes and stories. Analyses and academic papers and such.

#board — collages, mood boards, web weaves, gif sets

#characters — characters and the interactions between them

#costume — fashion of the aesthetic

#gothic heroine shit — Active and angsty female leads, instead of dream-like feeble female leads. Byronic she-bastards. themes of self-discovery and independence

#gothic pulp — Artwork from the Women-Running-Away-From-Houses era of Gothic literature. Art style ranges from the 1940s to the 1970s.

#holy — these posts specifically include religious themes and imagery.

#ingenue things — the idea of pure innocence and naivety and kindness and sympathy. brutes who become enamoured and possessive over damsels. ideas of corruption and escapism

#mine — My own posts… both serious and silly.

#people — images of figures that would be at home in this aesthetic.

#places — images of various estates, castles, forests, churches and other similar scenes.

#poetry — various quotes, translations and poems.

#prompt — ideas, prompts and plots that can make for interesting stories in this genre

#prose — relatively longer snippets of fiction

#recs — recommendations for any works in this genre (typically films or novels)

#writing help — how to write a better story or better characters.

#yearning — shitposts that poke fun or straight-up idealize the Gothic

FOOLERY

🌘 a pearl from the pile: a random post from this blog

🌘 what haunts your heart: asks that i've answered

🌘 the cultural touchstone of our generation: a personal list of (tv) tropes that fascinates me

🌘 how to navigate tags on desktop

MEDIA INSPO

🕯️ Candyman (1996) 🕯️ Corpse Bride 🕯️Crimson Peak 🕯️ Curse of Strahd 🕯️ Ghost (the band) 🕯️ Hannibal (2019) 🕯️ Haunted Mansion (2003) 🕯️ Phantom of the Opera 🕯️ (tbc)

If you have any recommendations, please send them in. I'm always looking for that perfect story that captures the feeling.

[dungeonsandblorbos]

Welcome and Tag Masterlist

hello and welcome! i love playing TTRPGs, and as it says in the bio, i have Too Many Thoughts about my PCs from my various campaigns to keep them to myself anymore. so i made this sideblog to infodump about my beloved PC blorbos!

as a general note, this is not a family-friendly blog. there's a lot of adult language, adult themes, and written descriptions of TTRPG violence that can at times get pretty gorey. i do tag potential triggers by the specific post and try hide more triggering parts of posts under cuts, but i am only one human. please feel free to let me know (either publicly or privately) if i missed a trigger tag or if there is something you would like me to tag for!

also please feel free to send me asks about any of the characters or campaigns, or even just TTRPG things in general. i love these topics and will gladly take any opportunity to chat about them!

finally. there's a lot of blorbos on this blog, and a lot of NPCs, and a lot of campaigns, and a lot of tags, so under the cut here is a handy little guide to help keep them all straight!*

*disclaimer: nothing and no one here is straight. i am incapable of making characters and stories that aren't queer and so are most of the people i play with.

without further ado, the campaigns! i will probably be redoing my campaign intros and character intros at some point, and will add the links for those once completed. these are listed as Campaign Title, System Used, in reverse chronological order.

Curse of Strahd, DnD 5e my current obsession. this is a heavily homebrewed version of Curse of Strahd (like, we're talking a good 80% or more homebrew) DMed by my husband, @somethingclevermahogony. it's all of your dark queer gothic horror dreams come true! this campaign is just absolutely chalk full of dead doves like body horror, child abuse and death (almost entirely off-screen), animal cruelty, body horror, gallows humor, cannibalism, oh my god so much gore, and body horror. but don't let that get you down; there's also a lot of very funny and very heartwarming moments in this campaign and the worldbuilding our DM does is so fucking cool. this is also technically two campaigns, as we have both a present day game with two PCs, based on the Curse of Strahd book, and a prequel campaign with just me as a player, which delves into some of the history around when Barovia was first closed off from the rest of Faerun, roughly 400 years before the main campaign. in the present day, i play a human tempest cleric named Cerris Dalca Tempescu, who is just so very very tired. our other PC is Shalden Broadfist, a purple half-orc paladin who serves a desert worm cult. our party is rounded out with a couple of NPCs; Vasillica, a flesh golem made out of pieces of the bodies and souls of at least a dozen different people by an insane angel, and Milo, an adorable little klepto halfling boy who used to be the Bagman and still has Bagman powers. in the prequel, i play Kire Dalca, a human eldritch knight fighter who came to Barovia as part of the original war effort against Strahd and then got trapped in Barovia. coincidentally, she's Cerris's many many greats aunt and she's also so very very tired (and maybe pregnant shhh). the tag for the present day campaign is #curse of strahd homebrew, and the prequel is #curse of strahd prequel, and you can find them both or general CoS things under #curse of strahd. recurring character tags include #cerris tempescu for my cleric, #shalden broadfist for my companion PC, #ireena my beloved for (of course) the brilliant NPC Ireena Kolyana, #meow meow milo and #the bagman for Milo, and #kire dalca for my fighter. pretty soon there will also probably be tags for the secondary PCs we made as backup characters in case our first PCs die, as they have actually both been introduced in canon now.

Hot Gay Pirates in Your Area! Avatar Legends: The RPG my other current campaign, with my college TTRPG group (which includes my husband as a player). it's set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, during the era of Kyoshi. specifically, it's late summer in 250BG (Before Genocide). there are some promised darker elements, as well as a lot of enemy deaths, due to the nature of this campaign, but overall it's a very fun, chaotic, and queer story! we play as a party of pirates/smugglers on a small ship called The Confusion, working for the Ruike clan, a coastal Fire Nation crime family. our total ship crew currently numbers 10, with four PCs, but it might very well get bigger given that we started with a crew of 9. i play Aila Ruike, granddaughter of the head of the clan and heir apparent after her father. she serves as The Confusion's sort of second in command, and is a talented firebender and swordswoman, though she's much better at environmental control and defense than offense. she's stoic and stern and kind of mean in a hot way, and has two priorities in life: upholding her family honor and taking care of her team. my husband plays Bo of the Foggy Swamp Tribe, a waterbender who ran away from home to avoid the pressures and responsibility of leadership. he's flirty and silly and a little bit vicious in battle (his bending style is based on the US "boxing" style rough-and-tumble), and pretends to be a lot dumber than he actually is. we also have Onartok of the Southern Water Tribe, a sweet but naïve waterbender prince who, like Bo, ran away from home to avoid the pressures of leadership. before joining the crew, he was "roommates" with Aila's cousin Jai. and finally, the enigmatic Lì, a former EK child soldier who ran away from the army and is now a fabulous genderfluid pirate who goes off on violent side-quests with Aila while the waterbenders are doing nice people side-quests. tags for this campaign include #hot gay pirates in your area!, #our ship is called the confusion for a reason, #atla, and #aila ruike.

Acquisitions, Incorporated: Cauldron & Kettle Questing Company, DnD 5e this was our second campaign with our college TTRPG group, and was a fun romp set in the world of Acquisitions, Inc., an actual play podcast by Penny Arcade based around the idea of "classic adventuring parties but make it capitalism." it was primarily played out of the official Acquisitions, Inc., playbook, with some additional homebrew expansions and a nice little extra homebrew arc on the end that introduced us to the incredible chaos of the D10,000 wild magic table. we played as the Cauldron & Kettle Questing Co., a subsidiary branch of the larger Acq Inc. corporation, based in Phandalin. at our branch, we also owned a tea shop named the Cauldron & Kettle Cafe, and we had a steam-powered teapot-shaped vehicle dubbed the Tea Trolley. this campaign accidentally ended up going very hard on the found family vibes. i played Jun Vyardes, a half-elf light cleric/bard, travelling priestess of the fire and revelry goddess Vestia. she's very devoted to her found family, and after a life of wandering, is finally starting to learn how to settle down and grow roots. my husband played Tim Cobbletoss, a half-orc barbarian primarily raised by a blind halfling woman, so in personality he's basically a british grandma with occasional anger issues. he and Jun share a human father we affectionately referred to as Daddy Bard, who is such a terrible father that complaining about him is actually part of how these two started bonding. we also had Briny (played by the same person as Onartok), a goblinoid blood hunter who likes shells and the ocean and gambling even though they don't actually know anything about gambling; and Taku (played by the same person as Lì), a whooping crane aarakocra monk who is very smart and powerful and unfortunately also fragile, and whom Jun regarded as a little brother and became very protective of. tags for this campaign include #acquisitions incorporated, #Cauldron & Kettle Questing Co., #bard is only one letter away from bad (for Daddy Bard nonsense), #jun vyardes, and #tim and jun.

The Orphic Uprising and The Amazonomachy, Cypher these were two continuous arcs that together formed the first campaign with our college TTRPG group. they were set in the world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, so we sometimes refer to them collectively as the PJO campaign. we played as a group of Camp Half-Blood kids, all in their late teens by the end of the story. in The Orphic Uprising, it was a group of four of us sent on a prophecy quest to the Underworld to rescue Dionysus and prevent the children of Nyx's attempted takeover of Olympus. in the Amazonomachy, it was a group of five sent out to prevent the Amazons' attempted takeover of Olympus, because apparently Olympus just cannot catch a break! i played Nina Grayson, daughter of Nike, a talented gymnast, dancer, and rock-climber lowkey obsessed with victory and willing to fight a little dirty if that's what it took to win. i had a lot of fun with her mechanically, as she was basically an unkillable damage- and debuff-dealing machine--she just, ya know, also didn't really have any social skills and was very much a himbo. iconic himbo acts of hers include solving a puzzle by punching a horse statue in the face, getting set on fire and then putting it out by drenching herself in monster blood, solving a locked door problem by punching the lock open, splitting the party to go undercover with the Amazons without telling her friends she was only fake-betraying them, and punching a bitchy goddess so hard it temporarily killed her. i love her. at some point she acquired the nickname Larry. my husband played Chuck Hickey, an Italian-American son of Dionysus who lived on his grandparents' vineyard who really embraced the chaotic side of his godly heritage. silly and goofy but also a talented battle strategist, highly charismatic, and capable of turning into a fire-breathing leopard. cause, ya know, Dionysus. the other character present for both arcs was Beatrice Starveling, a NY-based daughter of Apollo raised by her two gay dads. she was an incredible performer, a true bardic legend, and alongside Chuck, played a key part in helping Nina come out of her shell. for The Orphic Uprising, our final party member was . . . i gotta be honest i don't remember his name, just that he was kind of an obnoxious Mary Sue type son of Aphrodite, who the rest of us all had a grand time poking fun at and complaining about when the player did not return for the second arc. for The Amazonomachy, we welcomed two new players and their PCs, Bryce (played by the same person as Onartok and Briny) and Murph (played by the same person as Lì and Taku). Bryce was a dumbass (affectionate) son of Eros who was sweet and well-meaning but generally clueless, and somehow had really good game with the ladies. Murph was a son of Epimetheus (hindsight), a surfer bro and himbo extraordinaire with amazing luck and an incredible knack for having just the right tool for the job, somehow. tags for this campaign include #confusion crew, #the orphic uprising, #the amazonomachy, and #nina grayson.

North Pines Camp, Monster of the Week, and Grovington College, Demon Hunters: A Comedy of Terrors these two campaigns were my first dives into TTRPGs, both with the same GM and both with slightly altered versions of the same PC for me, so the GM and i had a few fun inside jokes and callbacks during the second one. these were played before i met my husband and before i got good at note-taking, so my memory of them is very hazy. tbh any content posted about these two will be undetailed, completely out of context, and full of holes, but the basic shenanigans are still very fun to look back on. North Pines Camp was a kids' summer camp in ?????, built on top of what used to be monster-hunter training grounds. our PCs were all camp employees, and our main goal was typically to keep the kids safe (or rescue them) from whatever ~monster of the week~ showed up to wreak havoc. there was a deeper mystery element running through it, about what happened to the old monster-hunter camp here, but we never got far enough into the story to really get anywhere with it. Grovington College was a decently sized college with greek life located in Grovington, ?????, USA; it housed a chapter of the Brotherhood, a demon/monster-slaying organization. our PCs were all members of this chapter, tasked with taking care of various demon and monster problems around campus and the town as a whole, in between doing college student/professor things. in these campaigns, i played Indigo Sullivan, a queer psychic with both a caffeine and an attitude problem. technically they were two separate characters for the two campaigns, but like, the version of him that continues to roll around in my head is an amalgam of both PCs plus all the additional things i've tacked onto him as time has gone on. most of those additions can be summed up as "he's now even more queer and has even more problems." tags for these campaigns are #north pines camp, #grovington college, and #indigo sullivan.

and that is all of them, phew! that's a lot thank you for reading this all and please enjoy my blog!

[ladywildwood]

My D&D Campaigns

Since I'll likely most definitely be posting about my D&D campaigns and characters a fair bit, I figured I'd throw a post together about them so that anyone who decides this dumpster fire of a blog is worth reading has a clue what I'm going on (and on) about.

So here we go! Fair warning, some spoilers ahead for two official modules.

Curse of Strahd / Nimalia Nimalia, a 200+ Wood Elf Druid (Circle of Stars). Her clan has been at odds with the town of Daggerford forever, so she has to suck it up and make nice when a bunch of human and elvish kids go missing. She meets the other PCs at the temple, they agree to help her investigate a lead, and it's been all downhill from there.

(art by necromandi on IG)

Since coming to Barovia, Nim has been nearly killed several times (one which earned her the attention of a Dark Power known as the Evening Glory), found out another PC, Theodora, is her great-great-granddaughter, boned Rahadin several times, and been turned into a werewolf. I also recently found out that Ismark is the reincarnation of her human husband that she abandoned forever ago. He and their daughter tried to find her and wound up trapped in Barovia. Who knows if Nim will ever figure this out though because she gave up the memory of him in order to reconsecrate one of the fanes. So that's absolutely heart-breaking.

We started in December of 2021 and are closing in on the finale (maybe. we do a lot of roleplaying - on more than one occasion we spent an entire session in one room)!

(art by NoGlory on YCH.commishes)

Descent Into Avernus / Teya > Kallan > Tyshara > Kallan again Technically I had three characters throughout this campaign, but two of them were the same (sort of), and those are the two I'm going to gush about most. My Divination Wizard, Tyshara, might get an honorable mention here and there, but this was not the campaign for her. We tried, girlie.

I started the campaign with Teya Amell, an early twenties Aasimar Paladin of Ilmater. Her family is part of the nobility of Baldur's Gate, and her father spent her whole life leveraging the fact that she's angelic to Get Places. She was a high-ranking member of the city's guard (because of her family name, not actual ability). She died during a fight in the secret sewer shrine? to the Dead Three, and that's how Kallan was brought into the game. Kallan's soul was forced into Teya's body by Bane. Kallan has no memories of a life before joining Teya and Feels Bad about stealing her body.

(art by anotherliz.art on IG)

She died outside the gates of the High Hall in Hellturel (stabbed by her Not Boyfriend, another PC, that had been charmed by a scary red lady), which is how Tyshara got thrown into the mix, but before that she had a lot of conflicted feelings about things. She even went to Teya's funeral! Towards the end of the campaign she was brought back by Krull, a tortle cleric of Tiamat, and allowed to finish the quest with the party under the agreement that she would then serve Tiamat for the rest of her life. Joke's on him though because Bane overrules Tiamat and he's got dibs on her soul. We just finished this campaign, so I'll probably have a whole big write up about it at some point.

We actually just finished this campaign after a little over two years, but I still fully plan on talking about it.

Unnamed Homebrew Campaign / Primrose My Monday night group is abandoning official modules and heading into our DM's homebrew world! I'm waiting until our DM gives us the player primer he's working on to figure out more of the details, BUT my character is a Primrose (real name currently Karisha Peveki but may change depending on if it's lore-friendly) a late 20's Tiefling Bard who's incredibly shy and anxious. She is an accomplished poet with a reverse pseudonym - she first published under her real name, wanting to prove herself to her family, but when she Made It she realized she absolutely does not want the attention (mostly), so she adopted the name Primrose. She also likes to dive into her cups.

We'll be starting this campaign in early November!

I don't have any art of her yet, but here's her HF mini!

[dante-sol]

Spoilers for D&D Curse of Strahd

I need to vent, and I don’t want to vent on people I know so let’s shout into the void!

TLDR – Party had a TPK event and 2 of the members are leaving. They are good friends of mine and one of them has pissed me off by making personal attacks.

 So everyone should be dead. A party of lvl 3s took on 3 night hags working as a coven. It’s the windmill. Anyone who’s played Curse of Strahd know this part. How we got here, Is simple. Names have been changed.

Players:

Aaron: Light Cleric (Husband)

Sophie: Paladin of Vengeance (Wife)

Maya: Wild Magic Sorcerer (played as a 9-year-old child)

Wayne: Armorer Artificer (My Character)

Background events

Had a 5th that dropped from the campaign the day of this session

Burgermeister informed the party that people go missing

Maya is played very chaotically.

Met an old woman selling pies during the night. Was told they help people go to sleep.

Old woman offered to buy Maya. Sophie said no and imposed herself between them.

Out of Character (OOC) Sophie realizes the fable the old woman was about We made jokes about the pies being made of children.

Hung out with the Vistani. One of the warnings was to stay away from the windmill.

We have a deed to a windmill from the “Death House”

Events of the day:

Everything was uneventful so far. We crossed a bridge and had ravens flying around. They didn’t mess with us so we didn’t mess with them. Came across the remnants of a village with spinning windmill blades poking over the hill. Maya wanted to explore, Wayne & Sophie were ambivalent, and Aaron wanted to keep going. We decided to check out the village and arrive at the windmill.

As we approach, a raven sits on the door frame and caws at us. The cawing gets louder and more rapid as we get closer before flying away. I say OOC, “It’s almost like that’s a warning.” Maya runs up and knocks on the door. The old woman from before answers. Maya hides behind Sophie. Aaron begins to speak with the old woman. He’s making a deal about how he owns the windmill. Wayne sees this and confronts Aaron. They argue about whether Aaron should care about the ownership of the windmill. During this, Sophie messages the Dungeon Master (DM) and casts detect good and evil. She finds out that the old woman was evil.  She than casts Abjure Enemy on the old woman. DM calls of Initiative rolls.

Sophie is top of the round. First thing she does is strike her for almost max damage: breaking Abjure Enemy. Aaron is next and casts scorching ray. Old woman is next and does a few things. She calls out for her sisters, runs inside, and summons a minion. Wayne goes and rolls a nat 1. The DM has me roll for damage and has me take it as feedback. The damage was almost half of my HP. The fight continues and two hags show up from upstairs. We get our ass kicked. My character stays outside due to the size of the room and fires lightning at the hags. Wayne see the writing on the wall and tried to get those he can up and run away. Then it happens. DM has the Hag do a mass sleep spell. Everyone other than Wayne falls asleep, and Sophie was making death saves. Wayne ran. The DM had the Hags stabilize Sophie. Sophie leaves the discord call

Aftermath:

DM Explains what happens next. I would have a one on one to bridge the gap and the rest of the group will continue next session. DM informed them that the hags will have them make a deal. They will need the find children and sell their pies. DM than informed them that if they didn’t want to take the deal or just wanted to play a new character, their character will die. If they keep playing the character, then they get the chance to change their race to Hexblood. He informed them that anything that happens to them can still be reversed. Sophie returns and he goes over everything again. He then says goodnight and logs off.

The players are still in discord and talk about the session. I am excited. I see conflict and I want to see how the story goes. Sophie is mad and Aaron is dejected.  Maya stays quiet. I don’t pay attention to this and start to speculate on how Wayne is gonna react when he sees them. Aaron and Sophie are complaining on how the hags should have never been that strong and how they should have had a chance to win the encounter.  I gloss over them and keep going.

The bombshell gets dropped by Sophie, “I’m Done. I’m done with this campaign.” I went quiet. All the excitement I had evaporated. I didn’t fight them. I just nodded my head. Sophie said she wasn’t enjoying the campaign and with the 5th leaving, she couldn’t trust the rest of us. Maya due to her chaotic nature and Wayne for running away. She said she felt that Aaron was the only other player and she didn’t want to run a two-person campaign. I just stayed quiet with vague affirmations to keep support.  I soon left the call.

The Next Day:

I was playing with Aaron and another friend on Xbox. We were having fun and she asked how D&D. Aaron started going off. He started off by saying the campaign was done. He complained about the encounter, with the DM’s capabilities, and with the player Maya.  This is where is where it pushed me over. Maya’s character was based off her daughter.  Aaron relayed this and then added the comment, “With the way she plays her, you’d think she thought poorly of her daughter.” I was pissed but I kept playing.

At the end of the night, I asked Aaron when they’d tell the DM they were leaving. This set him off again and he continued. I waited for the other friend to leave before I started speaking up. I question the actions they took and why Sophie just attacked. His reasoning was that it was in their character. He then proceeded to give me method after method on how he would have ran the campaign. He told me that for him to stay, the DM would have to change how he ran the campaign. It came to a head when I asked him if he trusted the DM to run the campaign. He informed me that he did not. I responded that I did.

Typing this out has helped me sort myself out. I’m still mad at Aaron for his comments at Maya. I realize there is a fundamental difference between how each of us sees it. I don’t see him staying and it saddens me. Now it’s 2 a.m. and I have a headache. 

Thank you for reading.

[kahoolaish]

End of the Year sketch of Vampire Raun

Curse of Strahd ended, Raun is still vampire - something his monster hunting crush Ez almost killed him for. He told her he wouldn’t resist if she really wanted to end him, only condition was that she did it right then and there or never spoke of it again..

He’s still alive - or whatever you call an undead version of living. So is she. They are out hunting monsters together and exploring the nature of their relationship. Ez has said she will never get involved with Raun romantically as long as he is vampire, but she is dedicated in searching for a way to reverse the vampirism.

Raun probably knows it’s too late for him, or maybe he doens’t wanna change if he ever gets the chance. A wish spell can be used for so many other meaningful things.. So these days, while Ez is out hunting, Raun is settling down in dark caves during the long hours of sunlight, wondering if today is gonna be the day he goes into the fire..

[wardingprotector]

xii: the hanged man.

a drabble in two parts: upright & reversed. word count: 697

PART I. upright, signifying an acceptance of sacrifice and to take a breath and wait.

you are up at an ungodly hour, though you have come to realize both gods and hours have little hold in this dark land. watches are shared duties between the lot of you, and even within the tower, you keep quiet vigil over those you come to regard as dear friends. you think narius would like them. you think he would be proud of what you have chosen to do here, for these people, for this land.

        you think back to this land. the physical land. struggling trees and plants, crops under nourished by the land that holds them. it pains you, because it would pain your Mother. but more than the land itself are those that inhabit it. the sadness, the grief, the suffering and oppession and loss that permeate ever corner of this land. the fear and hopelessness that grips those living in this land tightly within it’s clutches.

        you know that you will not leave this land. you cannot. you will not abandon these people, even if it means your own life. still, your hand throbs, though the wound as a reminder of your promise has long-since scarred over.

you look over the sleeping faces of those you care for. four bodies bundled in blankets and cots, restful as one can be. you lean your head back, staring at the ceiling. for not the first time, you feel that you and your companions are woefully unprepared for this. you fear for them. for what may become of them.

you wish for nothing more than to hear reassurance that they will make it out alive. You look at the shield against the wall, the wreath and crook etched so tenderly into it. A reminder of what you do, what path you chose for yourself. You steel yourself. You will protect them. All of them. this land, these people here, and, a glance over each of those resting peacefully, you add to yourself: your family.

PART II. reversed, signifying resistance or indecision or being unsure of one’s path.

        you feel a tightness in your chest as the woman speaks over the meal. She mentions it so casually and easily. As if she had not just laid the literal fate of a demiplane on your shoulders with such certainty you want to be sick. It was one thing to set your own choices in such a determined direction, but the sudden realization that people saw you as some sort of prophesied force in this nearly makes you choke on your food.

        jaw clenches a bit, and you take a small sip of water to soothe the nerves. you change the subject a bit, try to redirect. the topic comes back up and you excuse yourself. outside, the ground is cold and familiar as you sit, hands touching the earth, needing a connection to something so solid of a reminder of home as your Mother.

you take a few breaths to steady yourself. she must be confused. or attempting some form of sabotage on behalf of strahd. you want nothing more than to put those reasonings to her statement, to calm your mind with the platitudes of false intent. yet, even after you speak with vane, the words of lady wachter hang like lead in your stomach.

        how could you be foretold. you are hardly strong enough to do much of anything – you barely feel strong enough to protect those closest to you, no matter how much you desperately want to. That night does not ease those feelings, only growing stronger as you gaze across the valley that once was.

        my lord. feels like an acid burn and you recoil from it and from the man offering you a chance. It feels too careful to be a coincidence, and you rebuff him. the words he says don’t leave you, however. you shove the idea of such prophecy away. you do not want to be a savior, you only want to help.

still, you awaken with a new determination to fight for the land, and those that live within it.

[thecaduceusclay]

Hello!! I hope it's not intrusive, but I'd love to hear more about your spooky ocs? They sound absolutely delightful + very up my alley hehehe

It took me a bit to get to this since I'm on a mini vacation rn but I'm more than happy to tell you about them >:3

It's under a read more since I know I'll be longwinded. (Also so Mika doesn't read this if she looks at my blog, there's spoilers here about Wilde)

tl;dr: Daniil is a spiderverse OC. He's a scientist with a special interest in the black plague, he spends his free time being a villain and is usually weird and obsessed with Spider-Man.

Wilde is a Curse of Strahd PC from a Victorian-inspired world. He's a necromancer and heavily inspired by Victor Frankenstein and the Re-Animator films.

This is Wilde! (Currently going by Dr. Wilde Cadaveric). He's one of the three PCs in our Curse of Strahd game. He's an amnesiac reborn who's desperately trying to hide that he's undead and doesn't know who he is. He's autistic in the way where he doesn't always get that he should have tact and grace, but he's somehow still the most socially aware in the party at times...

Before ending up in Barovia he was named Victor Wilde. He was working on a master's degree in Necromancy at a university in London. He and his mentor were working on ways to reverse death, but when the Ethics Board came down hard and quashed their plans things went bad. After a night of drinking his mentor and friend killed him and resurrected him. Wilde woke from the attempted resurrection with very few memories, very confused, and physically changed.

He's in the uncanny valley, he's Scottish, he let someone do experimental top surgery on him, he has a girlfriend and a boyfriend he left behind. What can't he do?

Then there's Daniil Reznik!

Daniil is a little complicated. He was made in the height of the Spider-Sona craze after Across the Spider-Verse. The original Daniil (Spider-Vamp) was the Spider-Man from Earth-888, a world where instead of Covid they got hit with a Vampire Virus (as it's known colloquially, it has a real scientific name and scientists are firmly refusing to call it vampirism). He was a forensic pathologist on the Os-Corp team working on the cure.

Most of his schtick is that he's obsessed with Peter Parker (who is still Spider-Man, I have a whole complex plot for how Daniil ends up in that position).

Me and my husband ended up making a ton of multiverse variants of him though (a straight up villain with radiation powers he sees as a gift from God, his pre-transition self who went full Carrie on everyone, a disturbingly normal guy, etc.) Our favorite is Dr. Plague.

Dr. Plague is a villain from Earth-1610. He went to high school and (totally coincidentally) the same undergrad as RIPeter. He's a plague doctor themed villain in his off-time and has been since he was like 16 (you know how it is with teenage crushes 🤷‍♂️). Up until Peter died he was a kind of intense, cryptid-like, silent villain who maybe fought a little too viciously.

After Peter's death (and a few months being despondent and depressed, you know how it is with maladaptive obsession) he ended up eventually teaming with Miles. He's kind of ended up de-fanged by the overwhelming fact that the new Spider-Man is a literal child holy shit.

I have way too many AUs for this guy, way too much lore, and way too much investment.

If you wanna see occasional in-character ramblings from him @leech-fluincer is Dr. Plague's blog.

Other random fun facts: He's from North Dakota originally, he was emo when he was a teenager, he's devoutly Russian Orthodox (and kinda has religious OCD, oops), his favorite movie is Saw 3d (because the reverse bear trap goes off), and my husband and I have an AU we're very attached to where he and Uncle Aaron end up having to fake date to save Miles' ass from a poorly thought out lie.

[velvetwarfare]

for as much crack shit I post about my dnd cos group it’s mainly because if we DIDN’T insert awful jokes and actions, it would be incredibly fucked up and depressing all around HFHGJVB

so far we got uhhh

- Beth: Had her entire vardo slaughtered by her vampire lord, was bitten and turned into a nosferatu ✨ for funsies by him ✨ , constantly poked at by him, he then proceeds to slaughter another Vistani village after she got close to them and killed our past wizard, witnessed UNFATHOMABLE gore in the fog, had her first love interest tortured and kidnapped (then killed by the opposing vampire army to be set against us) , betrayed her original oath and the God’s sentient sword seppuku’d her as a fuck you. Desperate to redeem Cassandra (Strahd) before it’s too late. the most damaged punching bag here HFHFHCBV

- Oren: Our second cinnamon bun. A changeling who cannot remember at all who she is. Changes into other people to feel ANY familiarity. Her father(?) was Beth’s first love interest — who likely no longer remembers her or has to kill her now due to being on the opposite faction. Her love interest was a warforge that got torn to absolute pieces by Beth’s vampire lord when he ambushed the masquerade and put Ireena in a comatose state.

- Yona: Our detective satyr. Her descendants were the closest to killing Cassandra (Strahd). So naturally, this crack shit demon blackmails her innocent ass into signing a contract to murder Cass herself or he’ll let the party die in the future. She literally just wants to find her family. Is constantly going through a crisis because she knows how attached Beth is to Cass already and really doesn’t want to both murder her and butcher the bond she has with Beth.

- Nova: Our first cinnamon bun. A himbo half elf. God bless this bard because holy shit do we need his vibes — that are slowly faltering after everything. Aldo just wants to find his family. The love interest of Ireena — and had to watch her get fucked over by Beth’s vampire lord. Has been hellbent on trying to reverse the feeble minded state. Just wants his damn girlfriend back.

- Morian: This dwarf dude who got such a hard bonk on his head that it both gave him amnesia, ptsd, and he can only speak in grumbles. Dude gets ptsd attacks and cannot decipher between reality and past. Starts genuinely speaking common and calling all of us some names he remembers from his past from his family. He lost all of his family.

- Elias: Centaur war horse. His lover was torn apart and he only has his hand left. Has been desperately trying to revive him. It’s not going well. He carries around this hand. Also hellbent on helping Ireena as part of the royal guard.

- Cass, so far of what we know, heavily homebrewed: Her fiance (Tatyana) was murdered in front of her. They supposedly had a child, but the child’s whereabouts are unknown. Literally has her child’s drawings pinned to her dorm’s walls. The court corrupted her with power and took advantage of her lingering humanity to meld her into what she is today. Turned to vampirism to save her people — regrets it. Was once a kind baroness.

[spiderwarden]

Reverse Boss battle

REVERSED MINTHARA FACING YOUR MUSE AS THE BOSS, Minthara taking on Strahd von Zarovich, needs only on theme, from the Original Monster Hunter Himself.

@strvhd / BOSS BATTLE - VS MINTHARA.