Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

My Favorite Posts I Wrote This Year – 2025

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I started this post series last year as one of my year-end posts. I write my end-of-year book survey and my pop culture year in review, and now I’m adding this to my list. These are posts that I enjoyed writing or posts I’m proud of. I’d love an extra like or comment on these posts if you could spare the time! I’d really appreciate it. Here are some of my favorite posts I wrote in 2025.

Candela Obscura – Mini Campaign

Candela Obscura – Mini Campaign was a post I wrote in January of this year. This campaign feels like it happened a long time ago, not just this year. I love playing other TTRPGs that aren’t just Dungeons & Dragons, and I am fortunate to have found a group that’s open to playing other systems. This was a mini-series that played for a few months, and I’m glad that I was a part of it. I added this post to this list because it was a post I liked writing, and even re-reading this brings back fond memories of our game.

Cosplay Advice I’d Give My Younger Self

Image is a photo of Erik Killmonger and Donna Troy in cosplay.

Cosplay Advice I’d Give To My Younger Self was another post I had to include on this list. This was a personal post as I talked about what I struggled with when I first started cosplaying. If younger me could look at how far I have come, I think she would be impressed. While I don’t get to cosplay that often, I love getting the chance to write about it. I would like to write more about cosplay in 2026 and hopefully come up with a regular cadence of cosplay-related posts.

When in Rome

Image is a photo of me leaning up against a bar. Behind me is the Colosseum in the background.

When in Rome was one of the posts I wrote to summarize my vacation in Italy. I knew I wanted to plan another international trip, and I learned a lot from reflecting on my honeymoon in 2023. This vacation was relaxing, especially because we focused solely on Italy, rather than hopping around to other countries. It’s tough to choose which post to include, but I decided to choose Rome since we spent the most time there. I love traveling and seeing new places, even if that means traveling within the US. I want to continue writing about travel.

Moonshine Cybin Cosplay

Image is a photo of me smiling. I'm wearing a red wig that has two braids on either side of my head. I'm holding a staff behind me. I'm wearing blue overalls, olive green rainboots and in a pocket of my overalls is a stuffed opossum.

Moonshine Cybin Cosplay is a post that I knew I wanted to include on this list. I’m proud of this post and this cosplay for a few reasons. The first is that this was a relatively cheap cosplay. I thrifted the overalls several years ago, and the bikini top I already had in my closet. I only ended up buying the crown, the green rainboots, and the opossum. I’m trying to find more ways to cosplay on a budget, as cosplay doesn’t have to be financially burdensome. Another reason I’m proud of this cosplay is because of how much this character means to me. I have talked about NADDPOD on this blog, and the fact that I finally took time to cosplay Moonshine was necessary. I liked how I wrote this post and summarized the cosplay and how the cosplay came together.

10 Year Writing Anniversary – Twin Cities Geek

10 Year Writing Anniversary – Twin Cities Geek is a special post because ten years only come around once. Writing for Twin Cities Geek has meant a lot to me. My writing has improved in ways that I don’t think would have happened had I not started writing for them. There aren’t that many people who can say that they have volunteered somewhere for ten years. I am happy to be one of those people. I hope to continue to partner with Twin Cities Geek in any way I can.

Vesper’s Story Came to a Close – The Conclusion of Our Campaign

Vesper’s Story Came to a Close – The Conclusion of Our Campaign is the last post I will include in this list. I still think about this campaign a lot and how much it meant to me. Vesper’s story came around full circle, and I’m in awe that I rolled seven natural 20s in that final session. If you don’t believe me, I have the other players in my group who can vouch for me, I promise! I have grown as a player and have learned how to be a better player at the table because of this campaign. Vesper’s story is going to stick around forever, and there will never be a moment when I don’t think about her. Special shout-out to Badwolf Adventure Studios for running this campaign and letting me be a part of it.

I had a good number of posts to choose from this year. I will continue to write this as an extension of my usual end of year posts because I think it helps round out my year from a writing perspective.

Dirty Laundry and Dimension 20 – Dropout

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One of my friends tagged me on Discord to let me know that several cast members of Critical Role were appearing in a comedy sketch called Dirty Laundry. Dirty Laundry is a show on Dropout where various comedians submit their stories. The guests need to guess who submitted it, and if they do, they receive a point. If the comedian tricks everyone and it’s their story and no one guesses them, they get three points. I have been wanting to watch Dimension 20 for a while, so I decided to try the free trial to watch this particular episode of Dirty Laundry. I ended up subscribing for a full year since it was 20% off, which I felt was a good deal considering all the content I have access to. For the amount of content I get to watch for the price, it’s been well worth it so far.

I mentioned Dimension 20 earlier. Dimension 20 is Dropout’s TTRPG streaming show. The first series, I believe, is Fantasy High and features Brennan Lee Mulligan as the DM with Murph and Emily Axford as players. If that sounds familiar, it’s because both Murph and Emily are on NADDPOD. I don’t know much more than that, but I like how it’s not as huge a commitment as Critical Role is. There are multiple seasons, but they also stream shorter series, which I think complements the longer campaigns that I watch with Critical Role. If you aren’t feeling that campaign, another one should start soon that might fit what you’re looking for. I will probably love Dimension 20, and I’m hoping to start it officially sometime next year.

I haven’t had my subscription for very long, as the only show I have watched so far is Dirty Laundry. It’s so funny. The Critical Role one was hilarious. There was a story someone shared about how they rode on a drug dealer’s horse. I won’t spoil whose story that was, but the one Matt shared, where he was at an orgy and didn’t even know it. It didn’t surprise me at all that it was Matt’s story. I watch Dirty Laundry at night after work because it’s a show I don’t have to pay much attention to after a long day. I also watched Dirty Laundry while I walked on my walking pad. With it being winter, it’s not ideal for walking outdoors, so I use my walking pad much more in the icky months. I watched two episodes while I walked, and the time flew by.

I’m looking forward to using my Dropout subscription. I think it will be something I use fairly often, and I can’t wait to start watching Dimension 20 next year.

Does a TTRPG Rulebook Count as a Book Read?

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Earlier this year, I purchased and read both the Vampire: The Masquerade Player’s Guide and the Camarilla sourcebook. I have been getting more into the lore of Vampire: The Masquerade, and I have enjoyed paging through both of these books. Reading a TTRPG sourcebook is different than a book for obvious reasons. I’m less trying to take in everything that I read, but instead pick out things about the lore that I want to remember for later. Could I count the TTRPG sourcebook I read into my final reading total for the year?

The first thing I did was go to Goodreads. There may be a way, or there should be a way to add a book to Goodreads if it wasn’t already there to begin with. I have personally never done that before, so I can’t speak to that process. I couldn’t find the Player’s Guide there, but I did find the Camarilla sourcebook. There are reviews for the book, and the fifth edition of Vampire: The Masquerade is also on Goodreads. I’m not saying Goodreads should be the truth or the answer to this, but I find it interesting that other readers have added these books to their shelves.

Getting into the definition of reading, one definition states, “the activity or the skill of comprehending the meaning of written or printed matter by interpreting the characters or symbols of which it is composed.” This definition came from Oxford Languages. If we examine the definition of reading, I’d say the answer is yes: TTRPG rulebooks count as reading. By reading a sourcebook, you are comprehending the printed material. I’d argue that a TTRPG rulebook has more comprehension than reading a book since the rules of a TTRPG game can be quite complex.

I’m not really tied to an answer on this. If someone were to provide a compelling argument and say, “No, I don’t think TTRPG sourcebooks count as reading,” I’d be inclined to listen. I don’t think I will add these books that I have read to my final reading total, partially because I don’t want to spend the time logging them into Goodreads. I also have no interest in rating them because I liked both of them, and I don’t have much else to say in a full review.

Currently, I’m reading Vampire: The Masquerade, The Second Inquisition sourcebook, and I have asked for two more sourcebooks for Christmas this year. If you have a strong opinion about this, I’d be happy to hear it.

My Comics Reading Slump

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Image is a photo of comics laid out on carpeted flooring. At the top left, it's a Scarlet Witch comic. To the right of that one are Thunderbolts comics. Below both of those are Moon Knight issues and Star Wars The High Republic comic issues.

I have tried to write this post at least three or four times. Each time, I ended up abandoning the post altogether. One project I have been working on is editing my previous blog posts. Throughout this process, I have been taking note of things I wrote about several years ago. I used to write a lot about comics. There were posts where I was reviewing three or four different comic book series. To say that I’m in a comics-reading slump would be an understatement. It saddens me because reading comics brings me so much joy, yet I don’t feel compelled to pick up a comic to read. Why is that?

When I think about what started this reading slump, a few things come to mind. The first is the expense of reading comics. When my husband and I bought our house, we had to review our budget. One of the easiest ways for me to save money was to cut out going to the comic book store. While a single issue comic on its own isn’t all that expensive, I would end up buying several trade paperbacks on top of that. It wouldn’t be uncommon for me to spend $50 every time I go. That may not seem like a lot, but if it’s $50 every week or every other week, that can add up. As much as I want to go visit my local comic book store, I have so many graphic novels on my shelf that I want to read first. I’d rather prioritize my reading and then stock up on more comics when I’m ready.

The second reason for this comics reading slump is feeling out of the loop. Unlike other hobbies, with comics, I don’t have any good comic podcasts or YouTube channels to watch. I don’t know what’s being released or which comic series are ongoing. As a side note, I’d love any comics podcast or YouTube recommendations. I used to follow a few accounts, but they stopped posting regularly. Several years ago, I was a part of a local comics Facebook group. This was great! It felt like I had a place to talk about comics that I didn’t have in the past. I ended up leaving the group due to an increase in posts where people felt comics were getting “too woke”. Leaving a Facebook group isn’t an airport; there’s no need to announce your departure. I believe comics are for everyone, and diversity in comics is a great thing. I don’t want to be a part of a community that doesn’t echo that.

The final contributor to my comics reading slump is prioritizing my Goodreads TBR. While I have made substantial progress with reading books, comics got left behind. Once I finish my TBR, I’m going to approach reading differently in the future. I’ll write about that later, I’m sure, but this approach will be more focused on incorporating comics into my monthly TBRs.

Where do I go from here? One thing that has helped is to start over. I have thought about why I love comics so much and what series mean a lot to me. I pulled off all my old Calvin & Hobbes comics to re-read in the coming months. I have started digging into all the graphic novels I bought in April, and decided to re-read The Manhattan Projects. This is one of my favorite comic series, and I finally found the missing volumes I needed. It’s surprising how much I remember about the series since it’s been years since I last read them. To get out of this slump, I want to reconnect with why I got into comics to begin with.

New Orleans By Night

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I wanted to share something I have been enjoying recently, and I hope you will enjoy it too. I was browsing through the VTM Reddit (Vampire: The Masquerade), and someone had shared their guide for running a Vampire: The Masquerade game in New Orleans. This guide was created by The-Katawampus, and it’s free to view. I downloaded it and started reading it. It’s fascinating! It’s 194 pages, and according to the Reddit post, it was intended to build upon the lore from an RPG book published by White Wolf in 1994.

I have never been to New Orleans myself, so I can’t say how accurate it is to the region. It seems well researched, though. The guide includes information about New Orleans, Baton Rouge, LA, and Biloxi, MS. It features various locations, regional history, specific NPCs, and more. I’m only twenty-seven pages in as of typing this out, so I still have more than 100 pages to read before I’m done. The fact that this is free to access is incredible, because there’s no doubt that I would pay for guidebooks for Vampire: The Masquerade in different states or countries.

If you’re interested in checking this out, I have linked both the original Reddit post and the link to the Google doc.

Astronauts & The Holidays – December TBR

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Image is a stack of three books on top of each other. The spines read from bottom to top - Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher, and The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling

It’s the last month of the year, and with that comes an ambitious TBR. One of the books I had on hold for weeks at my library suddenly became available. While that wasn’t planned, I wasn’t going to miss the chance to read it. This means that I will be attempting to read three books this month, which has either worked out or not. Two of the books I was planning to read are three hundred pages or less, so it could be doable. Two books are holiday-themed, and the book I had on hold is not. I think this will be a fun, somewhat seasonal TBR.

In November, I read three books, which are as follows:

  • How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin 5/5 stars
  • Told You So by Mayci Neeley Unrated
  • Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca 3/5 stars

How to Seal Your Own Fate was an entertaining, cozy mystery. Told You So was difficult to read, but I ended up loving it more than I thought I would. For those who are unfamiliar, Mayci is a cast member on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Mayci writes about her unexpected pregnancy when she was nineteen, the abusive relationship she was in, and how important tennis was to her. As a note, I don’t rate memoirs. I think it’s odd to rate someone’s trauma, and it feels wrong to me. It’s not my place to tell someone how they should write their own story. Finally, I finished the month by reading Well Traveled and adding another completed book series to my list! Well Traveled was my least favorite book in the series, but it had to do with the male main character rather than the series itself.

These are the three books I’m reading this month. Wish me luck!

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Joan Goodwin is one of the few to join the NASA space shuttle program. She trains and becomes close friends with her team. Everything changed in December of 1984. Part of me thinks this is a potential retelling of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster in 1986, but I could be wrong. This will be the second Taylor Jenkins Reid book I have read, with the first being The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I ended up loving that book, and I thought the premise for Atmosphere was too good to pass up. When my local library said this book was ready for pickup, I knew I had to read it.

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

Mona is a Wizard, but she isn’t a soldier. Her familiar is a sourdough starter, and her magic can be seen in the bakery. When Mona arrives at work, she sees a dead body on the floor. Mona is pulled into a conspiracy, and why is this assassin after her? This seems like a cute and cozy story. I haven’t read a T. Kingfisher book yet, and I thought this was the perfect book to start with.

The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling

Bowen Penhallow is asked to attend a wedding in the Welsh countryside, which he begrudgingly agrees to. Tamsyn Bligh sells magical wares and is aware of Bowen as an occasional customer. She also gets an invite to this wedding and hopes to steal an artifact while she’s there. Bowen and Tamsyn get up to some shenanigans and end up being transported to 1957. They must work together to get back to the present. This is the third book in the Ex Hex series, and this book is only 276 pages. That’s part of the reason why I decided to read three books since this book is considerably shorter.

I’m feeling really determined to read all these books. Out of all the months where I thought I would read three books and it didn’t happen, I feel like this month will be an exception.

The Mighty Nein (2025)

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by
Image is a poster for the Amazon series, The Mighty Nein. There are seven characters. From the bottom, there's a monk who's holding a staff, a muscular woman holding a huge sword that's bigger than her body. There's a woman with horns and blue hair. To the left of her, there's a man holding what appears to be a fireball. Towards the top of the poster is a goblin, a purple skined individual holding a tarot card, and a half orc, green skinned man holdinga sword.

The Mighty Nein has premiered on Amazon Prime with new episodes releasing on Wednesday. The Mighty Nein chronicles Critical Role’s second campaign, and arguably the campaign that Critical Role is known for. I have introduced my husband to both The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein, even though my husband has never watched a full episode of Critical Role before. I am loving The Mighty Nein, and I think the show streamlines the campaign in a way that’s easy to follow.

There will be spoilers for both the show and the campaign.

The Mighty Nein follows seven characters, with six being introduced in the first four episodes. Caleb Widogast (played by Liam O’Brien), Nott The Brave (played by Sam Riegel), Beauregard Lionett (played by Marisha Ray), Jester Lavorre (played by Laura Bailey), Fjord (played by Travis Willingham), and Mollymauk Tealeaf (played by Taliesin Jaffe). Yasha (played by Ashley Johnson) makes an appearance, but doesn’t say much and isn’t connected with the group at this moment. Caleb and Nott meet after Nott steals Caleb’s spell components. Beau is investigating an attack with the Cobalt Soul, and Jester has a run-in with Fjord after his ship is wrecked in a storm. Mollymauk is helping Gustav prepare for the carnival. After the carnival is ransacked by a devil toad, the characters team up to prove their innocence and that they were not behind the attack on the carnival.

My favorite characters in the campaign were Fjord and Caduceus, who have not been introduced yet. From the show, I like Beau and Molly. It’s interesting because, during the campaign, I disliked Molly, which I would say is a somewhat unconventional take considering how much the fandom loves Molly as a character. I liked how Molly was portrayed in the show. They were less pompous, and I like how there was more emphasis on the Tarot cards. Beau’s story with The Cobalt Soul is one of the major plot points in the show, as it should be. I also liked how the earlier episodes emphasized how all the characters met. In the campaign, they meet, but the show ties everything together in a nice way, so it provides more emphasis on Caleb and Nott’s friendship before meeting the others.

Focusing on the NPCs, I liked how Trent Ikithon is a major focus right away. One thing I wish from watching the campaign is more emphasis on Trent and how evil he was. He would appear every now and then, but was more of a background character. In the show, that’s not the case. He is ICKY. He is a major player in the upcoming war, and he experiments on people, which is again, really gross. Trent’s early appearance helps establish his eventual downfall, and I look forward to it. Another notable NPC is Dairon, Beau’s mentor. Dairon is voiced by Ming-Na Wen, who also plays Melinda May in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I thought that was a perfect casting for the character. Dairon was one of my favorite NPCs from the campaign, and I love how she’s voiced by another one of my favorite actors.

With most of Critical Role’s campaign adaptations, there are changes from the campaign to the animated show. The first notable change was Yasha. In the campaign, Yasha knew Molly from episode one, whereas in the animated show, Yasha is nowhere to be seen. I think this change may have been necessary, considering Ashley Johnson was still filming Blindspot during the campaign. I think it could have been more difficult to explain narratively why Yasha disappears. If I had to guess, I think the group will meet Yasha when she’s under Obann’s influence, and they will have to free her. I wonder if this will happen in the first season of the show or a lot later. Another change was the death of Gustav. In the campaign, Gustav survives the attack, whereas in the show, Molly is forced to kill him when he’s turned. I think this provides Molly more direction as a character. It gives more meaning to the scimitars that he carries.

I’m curious to see if Avantika will appear this season or if she will be saved for later on. The Mighty Nein is an enjoyable rendition of Critical Role’s beloved campaign. The Mighty Nein can be streamed on Amazon Prime.

My First Dragons, Dungeons & Drinks Game

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Last week, I went to my first Dragons, Dungeons & Drinks game. Dragons, Dungeons & Drinks is an organization that runs monthly Dungeons & Dragons one-shots at various breweries in the area. There are some events at Brühaven, a brewery in Minneapolis. Some events are hosted at Bad Weather Brewing Company, a brewery in Saint Paul. Dragons, Dungeons & Drinks has even expanded to Duluth, which is two hours north of the Twin Cities. I have been on their Discord for some time and was able to go to their November one-shot titled “Rise of the Queen”. Without knowing what to expect, I had such a fun time.

I loved how organized everything was. I arrived at Bad Weather around twenty minutes early. There was a small registration area where you checked in and were offered a name tag. After I checked in, I saw that on the desk were a ton of free dice for those who didn’t have any. I didn’t take any because I brought my own, but I liked how Dragons, Dungeons & Drinks had that available. Once I put on my name tag, I was shown to my table. Our table was supposed to have five players, but only four showed up. I have no problem playing with people I don’t know, and this table was a hoot. For not knowing each other, I felt we all got along well. There wasn’t anyone interrupting or overstepping, and we all worked together to complete the mission. It’s nice to know more people who love TTRPGs as much as I do.

As far as the characters, there were several pre-made characters to choose from. I have no preference as to what I play, so I chose last based on what everyone else wanted to play. I picked Urla, the Witch of the Circle of the Stars. She was the Elf Druid. I like how each character has their own character art. Each character has their history, so you can understand a little about them. As someone who invests a lot into the roleplay element of the game, I liked this a lot. Urla is not very charismatic, so I chose to play that out throughout the session. Each character sheet is laminated, and each DM has a whiteboard erasable marker. I found myself using it to cross off any Wild Shape or spells that I cast.

The one-shot took about four hours. Our table was one of the last to finish as our combat went long. I say that it went long, but it definitely didn’t feel that way. I was engaged from start to finish. Normally, I’m the note taker in most of my groups, so it was nice to be able to put my journal away and pay attention to what everyone else was doing. Each Dragons, Dungeons, and Drinks one-shot is said to be standalone, meaning you don’t have to play the other adventures to follow along with this one. I would say that’s true. I didn’t feel lost or that I was missing anything by not playing in the other games.

This is a ticketed event, meaning there is a cost to play. There are several cost tiers. There’s the early-bird ticket, meaning you save five dollars if you buy ahead of time. This is $30. The standard ticket is $35. There’s the Hero-Tier, which grants admission while also donating to the Dragons, Dungeons, and Drinks community initiatives. This is $40. Finally, there’s another option called the Player Ticket Reduced Rate. This is for those who may need an extra hand. I purchased at the Hero-Tier because I like the idea of pitching in for someone else or for pitching into the organization. There’s also an option to donate to the dice goblin collection, which is how Dragons, Dungeons, and Drinks can offer free dice at each one-shot. I like the flexibility in tickets, and if I’m able to, I plan to purchase a Hero-Tier ticket every time.

If you want to find out more about Dragons, Dungeons, and Drinks as an organization, I wrote this article for Twin Cities Geek recently about how the organization came to be. I am glad that I was able to go to a game, and I hope to make it to many more in the future.

Creating a Book Series Tracker

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I got this idea from Riley Marie, a YouTube book channel that I follow. She created a Book Series Tracker where she tracks which series she’s currently reading and how many books she has left. I thought this was such a great idea! I have been trying to finish more book series as I tend to read many first books in a series and then never read the rest. I recently reviewed all 805 books I have logged as read on Goodreads. My tracker is nothing fancy; I’m using a Google Sheet and created three different sheets: Series I’m Working Through, Series I’m Not Finishing, and Fully Completed Book Series.

Image is a screenshot from a Google Sheet. There are two lists. On the left it says "Name of Book Series" on the right it says "Read? Y/N" It then lists each series, books in that series and Y or N if I read that book.

I’m trying to read and finish eight book series. This may feel like a lot; however, two books I plan on reading by the end of the year will finish that series. This will leave me with six book series going into 2026. I think that’s doable. The second sheet I created, Series I’m Not Finishing, is exactly what it sounds like. I read the first book in a series, and either I felt that book could have been a standalone, I couldn’t get into reading the second book, or the first book didn’t generate enough interest for me to read the others. I created this sheet to be organized and remind myself why I discontinued that series. It’s not that these were books I didn’t like, not at all! I enjoyed reading these books, but I’m not feeling a pull to go back and continue with the rest of the series. The last sheet I created is Fully Completed Book Series. This sheet is again exactly what it sounds like. I went through all my books and listed which series I had read all the books in. In total, I have finished fourteen different book series. I thought this number would be lower, so I was surprised when this number was above ten. I don’t have a set goal for this, but I’d like to see more series added to this list.

Image is a screenshot from a Google Sheet. It features two lists. On the left, it says "Name of Book Series" on the right it says "Thoughts / Comments".

This was a little time-consuming to put together, but I’m so happy that I took the time. This is going to help keep me organized with my reading goals. If I’m really feeling ambitious, I’d like to extend this to the graphic novels that I’m reading, as I want to finish more comic series, too.

Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 First Impressions

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I decided to buy Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. I was on the fence about the game, but once they rolled back the paywall for clans, I wanted to buy it to form my own opinions. While watching gameplay online, the game didn’t seem bad. The biggest catch about buying a game on release is whether it’s going to be buggy. I have played a few hours so far, and I haven’t had any issues with the game freezing or being glitchy. I haven’t finished the story yet, but once I do, I will write a full review. I wanted to share a few first impressions of the game.

I mentioned the atmosphere of the game, but I am enjoying Seattle as the setting. As I walk around with Phyre, it feels like this is what Seattle would be like if it were the backdrop of a World of Darkness game. Speaking of Phyre, she has grown on me as a character. When it was first announced that the main character’s name was Phyre, I thought it was a little ridiculous. I actually prefer Phyre’s Elder name of “The Nomad”. In between playing as Phyre, another character in this story is Fabien, the vampire who talks to Phyre in her head. Fabien was embraced in the 1920s and was investigating a serial killer. I’m curious to see how the story is going to play out and how Phyre and Fabien’s story relates to each other.

One portion of the game that I feel has a learning curve is combat. In my first playthrough, I decided to play as a Ventrue. Ventrue isn’t necessarily known as being a combative clan, but since I’m playing a Ventrue in my Vampire game every other Friday, it felt fitting to play as a Ventrue in Bloodlines 2. When I first started playing, I was dying a lot. As an elder vampire, I felt I could handle a few Anarch ghouls. I couldn’t have been more wrong. One thing that has helped me with combat is dodging attacks. This sounds silly because this should be obvious, but I wasn’t doing that as much. On a successful dodge, Phyre will do a counterattack with a kick. Another thing that helped me is to approach combat encounters as stealthily as possible. There was one mission where Phyre had to rescue some kidnapped ghouls. Once I took them out silently, I took on the bigger ghoul alone, and that made combat a lot easier. For reference, I’m playing on Normal difficulty. The final thing I would add that helped me in combat was using vampiric abilities. One of my favorites as a Ventrue is Terminal Decree. Terminal Decree allows you to command a mortal to kill themselves. Although if you use this on bigger enemies that carry machine guns, they get confused and drop their weapons and forget to pick them up again. This was clutch. I read this tip online, and it worked like a charm. Combat can be difficult, but once I have learned what works, it’s been easier to play through the story.

There are other minor things that I haven’t been loving about the game, but I think I will save that for my review. When I think about my thoughts on the game thus far, I feel Bloodlines 2 was worth the money. The disappointment comes in for me is that this game could have been so much more than what we got. This is something I will touch on more in a later post.