Call of Cthulhu was my first introduction to tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPG). I spontaneously drove to a game store where someone agreed to hold a one-shot for Call of Cthulhu. I was mesmerized by the setting along with the balance between a character’s death and a character losing their sanity. Horror TTRPGs aren’t for everyone as they are often extremely high stakes. When I heard that Critical Role was going to do live shows based on their horror TTRPG, Candela Obscura, I was thrilled. I just watched the second arc “Chapter Two: The Circle of Needle and Thread” and it was so thrilling to watch.

In “Chapter Two: The Circle of Needle and Thread”, there are five Candela Obscura investigators who are finishing a mission on a train. The five investigators include Marion Collodi (played by Luis Carazo), a medium who can occasionally see visions of the future, Dr. Jinnah Basar (played by Zehra Fazal) a medical doctor who is an asset to Candela, Sean Finnerty (played by Brennan Lee Mulligan) a soldier, Auntie Bee Monroe (played by Marisha Ray) a criminal and friend to Sean, and Nathaniel Trapp (played by Travis Willingham) an investigative journalist. After completing their mission on the train, they are assigned a new mission to look into these creatures that have gone after another Candela operative, Allison Suarez. Things quickly get out of hand as the five investigators struggle to keep control of the situation.

The GM (Game Master) in this three-episode arc is Spenser Starke, who helped write and design Candela Obscura. I was watching Spenser’s Critical Role Instagram takeover before the third episode was released. Spenser’s background is in film which I feel comes out in the episodes. I mentioned above how the five investigators started the episode on a train. The way that Spenser described the scene, it felt like I was listening to a Mission Impossible opening. Additionally, Spenser would open each episode with a detailed description of some horrific event and I’m not going to lie, it was unsettling at times. Spenser is such a good GM and really knows his stuff when it comes to crafting a horror story.

Besides the GMing, I liked what each person brought to the story. I think that Brennan Lee Mulligan stole the show. The way that Brennan / Sean talked about his vivid flashbacks from the war and all the things he was forced to do, my heart broke for him. There’s a quote that Sean says, “No Ma. I don’t wanna play soldier no more” in the third episode and I started tearing up. Brennan created this conflicted, interesting, and morally ambiguous character that I think had a lot of depth. The other characters were interesting in their own right. Auntie Bee plays a pivotal role in the final episode. It’s easy to not take her as seriously since she is supposed to be an older character, yet she can hold her own if she needs to. There’s also a good roleplaying dynamic between Dr. Basar and Marion that develops throughout the episodes. I think the cast was a huge highlight in bringing the world of Candela Obscura to life.

I was reading some of the comments and someone had suggested that Spenser was “too harsh” as a GM. There are moments where Spenser will hand out injuries to the characters if they don’t roll well. I personally didn’t think that Spenser was being too harsh. I think horror TTRPGs are supposed to create this feeling of being on edge. There are real consequences to a character’s actions and that should be taken seriously. I’m sure the cast had conversations with Spenser before the episodes were filmed, so I think everyone was on board with that. I like Spenser’s GMing style and I hope he decides to GM any future Candela Obscura arcs for Critical Role.

I’m looking forward to what Critical Role will do with Candela Obscura. I’d love to be able to sit down and play the game sometime, maybe at a future Gen Con perhaps?