#secret histories TRPG

[d-pennants]

Spoilers for the Dragon Prince Season 4 and beyond.

My collated notes of all the hints about what is coming up in the Dragon Prince, from interviews, AMA, ComicCon panels. Updated with stuff from Through the Moon.

There will be 7 seasons of 9 episodes each total and possibly some side projects. The story will be in three arcs with a time skip between the arcs. Books 4 & 5 makes up the next arc, which may be called the Mystery of Aaravos. Book 4 is Earth.

Side projects have been confirmed to all be part of canon and include a video game set in Xadia, an tabletop RPG game called Tales of Xadia, a possible feature film of the Orphan Queen and a possible side story set during the reign of Sol Regem featuring Sir Phineas the Cursed and his travelling companion an elf professor Delilah Geel (Who wrote the Secrets of Xadia book).

The video game was in play testing in October 2020, and Wonderstorm was still hiring staff to work on it. After S3 came out they said there was going to be an announcement about the game in 2020, but things may have been delayed due to Corvid.

Through the Moon graphic novel is set between seasons 3 and 4. It feature’s Rayla, Callum and Ezran having returned to Katolis and receiving a request from Lujanne to go the Moon Nexus  for a ritual at new moon and bring Phoe-Phoe’s ghost feather. While there Rayla seizes the opportunity to use the lake’s power as a portal between life and death to try an answer the questions that have been plaguing her about the fate of her parents, Runaan and whether Viren is truly dead.

There will also be a second graphic novel set between seasons 4 & 5.

Reminder - stuff said in interviews, AMA & so forth is subject to the team changing their mind when it comes to actually putting stuff in the show or books. They’re still planning things out. So take things as “the current idea is this, but we’ll see how it pans out”

There’s no word on how long the time skip between season 3 and 4 will be, however, Through the Moon starts 3 days before new moon and S3 ended 2 days after full moon, which is only 11 days. About 17 days pass in TTM. The Tales of Xadia TRPG is also going to fit in between these season too. AE said a vague ‘lots of weeks.’

Season 4 will include the hero trio trying to address how to heal and start to change things in the world, however there are scars history has left that will impede them. Aaravos will bring those scars to bear, though the creator did say that Aaravos himself didn’t cause those scars, he ‘brought it out’ in the people who did.

There’s a big theme of understanding what’s happened in the past and how it affects what’s happening now. Questioning what their fore-bearers have done, admitting fault and forgiving mistakes. (BTW, this is on both human and Xadian sides).

“Ezran is the key to everything.” Ezran’s empathic ability will allow him to play a role in the world no other can as he can connect to non-human beings. Though the circumstances of S1-3, who his parents are and his strong compassion, Ezran is in a unique position to cause real change.

Callum will learn more Sky magic spells well as obsessing to work a connection to another arcanum - he is dedicated to being the best mage he can be. Callum will always have a conflict between what do you want to do with magic and what will you do for magic. One hint given is that Callum cannot perform healing with his Sky magic. On an Instragram Live AE admitted he was trolling a bit, but said a betting person would pick Callum being the first human archmage. On an AMA there was a hint that historically there may have been elves that learned a second arcanum. (However, interview stated Aaravos’ mastery of all the primals is just him - he’s special).

Callum’s ‘destiny’ is tied in with the Key of Aaravos Rune Cube. It will be very important coming up. The Key is being pulled towards a location in Xadia. The closer it is to the location, the stronger the pull. (Reminder - it previously belonged to Aaravos and unlocks a great power in Xadia). In Callum’s Spellbook it says that once Zym has been returned Callum intends to find out what the Key does and make Harrow proud.

Writers have been very cagey about whether Callum being able to learn an arcanum means other humans can. “Callum learning Primal magic means that Callum learned Primal Magic.”

They’ve referred to him as the first human to learn an arcanum. However, another interview indicates that humans may have been able to connect to the primal sources in the past - thus Callum relearned something that has been forgotten for over a thousand years

Are non-magical species able to evolve into one that can use magic?

JR: There have been humans long in the past that could have AE: Yeah, right JR: They’re like [waves hand], but modern day he’s a phenomena. Like nothing is done like this no longer. AE: Yeah, I mean if Callum is developing the ability to do Primal magic do you believe that Callum is special because he’s the only human who’s able to do it or do you believe that that Callum is special because he’s the first human in forever to realise it is possible for humans. You know that kind of a little bit the question - I mean he’s special either way and right, but is he special because he’s realising that that maybe those limitations weren’t true or is he an exception to to this limitation.

Cartoon Universe interview

Though they did point out there’s not been much incentive in the last 1000 years for humans to learn Primal magic, given that Dark magic is both easier to use and more powerful.

Rayla will have an inner conflict about her future as a Moonshadow elf that she needs to figure out. Including how being friends with humans and wanting to be a protector rather than the assassin she was raised to be will affect her relationships with her people. (Plus, the whole being ghosted and ghosted parents issue needs to be addressed). Update info from TTM: Rayla ends TTM by going on a quest by herself to locate Viren. Her clues are the Storm Spire, a cave and... a giant cocoon.

There is an unspecified but important storyline involving Runaan. But the coins will get addressed at some point.The coins would require very powerful magic to release the trapped elves and it may not be possible for Primal magic. However, Viren is capable of releasing people he has coined.  Also, Rayla knows something happened to her parents, but doesn’t specifically know about the coins. Viren showed Rayla a pouch and mentioned adding her to his collection. AMA answer suggests Callum didn’t see what Viren did in the history spell - he just know Viren did something to Rayla’s parents. TtM seems to confirm Callum’s spell didn’t show that part. Whether Gren saw Runaan in the coin seems up to debate - in the novel he knew Viren used magic on Runaan came out holding something small, like a button or coin.  (PS. They also confirmed Runaan slew Harrow, and Harrow is dead dead).

Soren has a complicated future ahead of him as he’s lost the only support system he’s known his whole life. He has a lot to learn and many places to go.

Claudia is going to get a lot worse and there’s a long way to go for her, though they did hint that there’s hope for her in the end. Her motivation is love and family, not power. However, she is willing to go to great sacrifices for her family... Also, her hair will get whiter. 

“When we get back to her in Season 4, there is some amazing stuff, just in the first few episodes, which by the way are also funny and quirky and all the things we’ve come to love about the character, but she becomes a very critically important driving force of the narrative in Season 4.”

Inverse interview.

It will be explained in S4 how Claudia was able to perform the resurrection spell. It hasn’t been used previously because she either a) didn’t know it - as in Aaravos taught her it - or b) didn’t have what was necessary to cast the spell.

The story about how Claudia managed to find a supposedly extinct for a 1000 years unicorn and capture it will be addressed in S6.

According to Claudia’s VA -  Racquel Belmonte - Claudia will likely have a protege dynamic with Aaravos. She will change her mind a bit on disliking all elves and open up a bit on seeing Viren’s connection to Aaravos.

They have a backstory about why Viren treats Soren so harshly compared to Claudia (though he’s manipulative of both), though it’s not indicated when this backstory will be shown. New info from the book said that Viren used dark magic to save Soren from dying of an illness. This ravished his appearance and whatever he did scared his wife, Lissa, into leaving him. Also Viren wanted a son who would carry on his path and is disappointed Soren isn’t like him. Viren feels some resentment towards Soren that he refuses to acknowledge.

AMA confirmed that Lissa will not be making an appearance in S4 or 5. There is a possibility she may be included in S6, but it’s just a potential idea. Early mage fam life involving Lissa will come up in the novels.  (BTW she currently lives in Del Bar and was in no danger from the smoky assassin as she has nothing to do with the leadership of Del Bar)

Viren became a bit of a card carrying villain in season 3, however in season 4 & 5 some of the complexities behind his actions will be revealed. (His VA said that Viren had understandable reasons in S1 & 2, but was a villain in S3, however, he’s happy with how S4 & 5 will develop Viren. Also he gave a strong hint that Viren will have a kind of “fresh start” thing going on, and “do a 180″, and his story is apparently kinda wild). 

Viren and Aaravos: Viren didn’t take Runaan’s warning that “you found something worse than death” seriously enough. Viren is ‘in hot water’ in his dealings with Aaravos. The question over time would be - “Wait, am I making my own choices or am I being led to choices you wanted me to make, Aaravos?”

This current era will be known as the Return of Aaravos. Apparently in S4 & 5 Aaravos is going to be very... mysterious. In fact the arc could be called The Mystery of Aaravos.

“The next two seasons are about understanding who Aaravos was, who they thought Aaravos was, how they realized what was happening, and imprisoned him.” 

This is tied into the Orphan Queen storyline, for more info see this post. Parts of this storyline will feature in flashbacks S4 onwards.

A lot of Aaravos’ motivation comes from a relationship he had with a character whose name is featured on the map from the novel. (Candidates are Skall’s Hook, Ruins of Elarion, Mount Kalik and Eboreus. They said on a Q&A that Elarion wasn’t referring to a person, just the city).

Aaravos has a speech coming up in S5 that explains about the history of magic and why he’s interested in humans. Summed up - Over 5000 years ago there was only one kind of magic, deep magic, and it was very difficult to wield, then something happened that split magic into the 6 Primals Source and gave every creature and plant a connection to one of the 6 Primal Sources, which were much more practical magics. Except humans. 

When asked what was coming out of the cocoon an interviewer gave “Aaravos’ physical form” and some jokes options. Ehasz replied, “I’m gonna say none of the… well, I’m not gonna say.” TtM update: In the world between life and death the cocoon held a corrupted version of Viren - a month after Viren was resurrected at the end of S3. Rayla says Viren is caught between life and death, but in the living world.

Janai is Queen Khessa’s heir, so she should be the next Sunfire Queen. Janai also has a brother. (Sunfire elves also have a Light Being form with healing powers that’s even rarer than the beserker Heat Being form. This fact has come up a couple of times so they’re likely going to introduce a character with this form - could be Janai’s brother). 

Janai will find out that Aaravos whispered something in Khessa’s ear before he killed her.

Also on Amaya and Janai:

Also, they did a reveal page for Janai's mount, a Twin-Tailed Inferno-Toothed Tiger, with some interesting info. These flying firecats are believed to only tolerate those of pure-heart and aggressive to those of ill-intent. You can't give a factoid like that and not use it somewhere.

Tales of Xadia will feature storyline content that bridges the gap between Season 3 and the newly-announced Season 4 of The Dragon Prince,” according to Fandom’s press release. “Players can explore the ruins of Lux Aurea, try to restore the corrupted Sunforge, and fight to stop the spread of the evil monstrosities it radiates. This off-screen story will come alive in game supplements—as well as in organized play events—prior to Season 4’s release.

Forbes

Sol Regem will be in season 4. (No character makes me think of “scars of the past” more than this character. He is not going to be interested in reconciliation between Xadia and humanity).

There will be a new elf character - Terry the Earthblood elf. Has similar powers to Toph from Avatar tLA and is said to be very funny. For reference this Earthblood elf is from Callum’s Spellbook;

Also a new dragon in season 4 - Rex Igneous (Fire King) the Earth Archdragon, who lives underground but comes up every hundred years. He’s appeased by food he hasn’t tried before (looking at Ezran and his jelly tart habit here);

They mentioned that both Earthblood and Tidebound elves will be introduced in seasons 4 & 5.

There’s another archdragon who has been mentioned at SDCC and in the novel, Luna Tenebris, who reigned between Sol Regem and Avizandum.. Ehasz said that the end of her reign is being explored in S4, but no current intentions to explore the beginning.

JR mentioned that the territory of the Skywing elves will be visited at some point, and how having a small portion of the population that has wings, and a even smaller population that can magically manifest wings, has an affect on their culture. (The three types apparently have different outlooks - with winged elves being known for moving on when they don’t care to deal with things).

They’ve mentioned a character that will be introduced in the video game will make it into the show. AE & JR were talking about how they were currently writing stuff for S5 and how this character just got their moment, so I think this character is due in S5.

Core novel Book 2: Sky will introduce a very important Dark Mage character not yet featured on the show.

Also, as a tidbit from AE - there’s a scene in S5 where someone makes a sacred promise to Bait.

Sarai will feature in the show again. AMA confirmed Callum’s father is “fully human.” His father may come up in the novels.

In the novel new lore about unicorns was introduced. This lore will be incorporated into the show at some point.

The reactions to elf/human romantic relationships will be a thing.

Aanya will be featured again. Ezran and Aanya will be friends. 

Queen Fareeda of Evenere actually survived the smokey assassin’s attack - she just went missing for a bit. Her story may come up later on.

Captain Villads and Berto are likely to be featured again, but not confirmed. 

They do have some stories about Callum’s father they want to tell, but it’s likely to be in books rather than making it into the show.

Crow Master has scenes coming up. The Crow Lord is real but that’s all they’re gonna say.

Some very epic beings will eat jelly tarts in the show.

And a finishing note to put the fear in you - possible major character death.

PS. It has been confirmed that Rayla, Callum, Zym (and Bait) are the main characters for all seven seasons, so this leaves... Soren, Claudia, Viren and Amaya. 

[unchivalrousnovel]

Introduction

Hey writblr. Let’s talk.

WIP

“Unchivalrous,” a novel about Olly, a rogue historian who must complete a dangerous heist for the sake of learning the true history of a city torn apart by warring bands of fallen knights. To succeed, she must learn to work together with the too-confident, talkative socialite Wyn and the much quieter, violent old-timer Gareth in a city where double-crosses and dark secrets hide behind every corner of the labyrinthine streets.

Basically Ocean’s 11 meets Arthurian legends.

YA fantasy/romance. Samples soon.

About

Anna, 21, author. This is a sideblog. Interested in birds, history, literary theory, trpg’s, meta fiction.

[dmsden]

Picking the Skill Lock – Building non-combat encounters that won’t stall out when a skill check fails

Hullo, gentle readers. I can’t believe there are now 2,000 of you! This week’s article comes from my friend Kirk Daniel who asked got into on “Non-combat encounter building. How to keep a mystery or a plot hook from getting locked behind a skill roll.” Great question!

Given that D&D is a game that uses ability rolls and skills to let the players try things, they often form a crux of non-combat encounters. The two non-combat pillars of the game (Exploration and Social Interaction) often hinge on skill rolls. Skills like History, Nature, Perception, Religion, and more facilitate exploration, while Deception, Insight, Intimidation, and Persuasion are the rulers of the Social Interaction realm. But what happens if you have a key element to your plot that you want to convey, and the PCs just aren’t hitting the skill rolls that you need? Are they doomed to miss out on your plot?

My general rules fall into a few key notes:

-          Things guarded by skill checks should generally be luxuries, not necessities.

-          Never make something vital impossible for the PCs to overcome through only one means.

-          If the roleplay is good, toss the skill check out the window.

-          When all else fails, there’s always magic.

-          Only you know what your original plan was.

First and foremost, you should never “lock” your plot or something vital behind an obstacle. If you’re building skill challenges, or non-combat encounters, don’t hinge the entirety of your campaign’s ability to move forward behind them. Save the rewards of skills challenges for “luxuries” – things that will make the PCs’ lives easier. For the same reason, you should never use a puzzle or riddle as the only way to advance in a situation. If your players can’t solve it, they’re stuck.

For example, the PCs are trying to make their way into a fortress and defeat the invulnerable evil Dragon with it. They know that, within the dungeon, there is a sacred McGuffin which is the only thing that makes the Dragon vulnerable and potentially defeatable. You don’t want to hide the McGuffin behind a riddle, a puzzle, or a non-combat encounter. If the PCs can’t solve it, or if the dice are cruel, the whole dungeon becomes an impossibility, leading to frustration for both you and your players.

If, however, the McGuffin merely makes it easier to defeat the Dragon, then all bets are off. Hide it behind a secret door. Make there be a riddle or puzzle to overcome. Give them a crazy skill challenge where they have to jump and balance on the correct set of floor tiles, or else they and the McGuffin will be plunged into lava. In this case, the McGuffin is a luxury, not a necessity, so it’s their call to go after it or not. If they do, the PCs have no one but themselves to blame if they fall in lava.

If you do want the McGuffin to be mandatory to your quest, make sure there are multiple avenues to getting it. In this case, failure on the non-combat encounter might make it more difficult to achieve, but it should be possible. It just ramps up the difficulty. For example, the PCs can see the McGuffin behind a wall of force. If they fail the non-combat encounter to get through the wall, then the sphinx that normally guards it comes home. Now they have another problem; they have to riddle the sphinx to get it. If they fail the at sphinx’s riddles, then they have to fight for it, or bargain, or find some other way to achieve it. Each failure adds another layer of complexity to the situation – like a reversed film of someone peeling an onion.

Hmm…interesting image, that.

At its core, D&D is a roleplaying game. If your players do some amazing roleplaying as they interact with that pesky sphinx, feel free never to roll a die to represent the sphinx’s challenges. Maybe the sphinx is deeply moved by the bard’s eloquent plea, or maybe the plan they come up with is so crazy that you just have to see it happen. So let it happen! Often, if the players drop something so nutty in my lap that it just has to work, I’ll give them advantage, or even handwave the roll (although in this case, I sometimes like to make things…interesting with unforeseen consequences.)

Sometimes players really like to overcomplicate a situation. In a game with so much magic, I’m often stunned that the players forget to use it. In cases like this, I’ll sometimes slip just the right bit of magic in, replacing something else I’d had in mind. Is a door locked, and the PCs can’t pick it? Time to drop a scroll of Knock in the next treasure horde. Could the PCs potentially get by a challenge if they were invisible or small? They’re liable to find a potion of invisibility or diminuation soon. There’s clairvoyance, scrying, detect thoughts, commune, commune with nature, find traps, augury… The list goes on and on.

In the end, as I’ve said in many other columns, it’s important to remember that only you know what you originally had planned. Maybe you intended an awesome skill challenge to make the PCs sneak through the duergar city. But if they want a knock-down, slog-out fight instead, give it to them. Or vice-versa. Or maybe they’ll use dimension door to bypass the whole mess. No plan completely survives contact with the PCs, but you can have the creativity and flexibility to go with the flow and reward their ingenuity. It’s one of the reasons I will always find a TRPG more satisfying than a computer game. A computer game can’t take into account all the hair-brained schemes players come up with.

So be smart in your adventure planning and flexible in the execution of it. Build your non-combat encounters to give goodies instead of necessities. Or else them ramp up to greater difficulty as things go to hell. It’ll make your game more fun for you and your players.

As a reminder, I’m always looking for more ideas for articles, and my idea bag is starting to look a little low. If you have a question you want answered, please ask. Odds are, if you’re curious, someone else will be curious, too.

[ipsl0re]

One thing I really love about the Secret Histories ttrpg system is how it’s built around the players at the table not knowing anything about Cultist Simulator.

Because, yeah, odds are that you won’t have a bunch of friends who want to learn about the political ramifications of the intercalate. But you might well have a bunch of friends who are willing to play something occult and 1920’s-y.

Still, the real best part is that I can plop a fallen Skaptodon in front of my players, lay out 101 clues, and only when one of them is an explicit extract from De Horis will they be able to put stuff together, while I lean back, cackling about how the guy briefly mentioning eating chicken explains everything.