Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

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

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Photo is my Dungeons & Dragons character art created by Badwolf Adventure Studios. It shows a woman with brown, wavy hair, staring straight ahead. Her left hand is on her hip. She is wearing navy blue Sorcerer robes. She's wearing a blue corset with a white undershirt. To her right, there's a black wolf with glowing pink eyes staring straight ahead. Behind her, there's a Disneyland style castle in the background glowing yellow.

Last month, Vesper’s story came to a close as our campaign had its last session. I have been playing as Vesper for two years, starting in July 2023 and ending in August of 2025. I am getting emotional writing this and for those who have never played a table-top roleplaying game, you might find this to be silly. When you play as one character for so long, you become attached to their story. I included some of my own personal struggles into Vesper’s story and as such, I became attached to her. This post serves as a goodbye to Vesper, but also being incredibly thankful that I got to be a player in this campaign.

For our last session, Vesper finally got to face her ex-husband, Garrick. In Vesper’s back story, prior to the events of our campaign, Vesper was married to Garrick, an evil vampire. Vesper left her marriage and trained at a magical academy with the ultimate focus of going back to defeat Garrick. Garrick, in turn, became obsessed with Vesper and wanted to be reunited with her. Vesper felt that in order for her to move on with her life, she would have to face him, even though she was scared to do so.

In this last session, I rolled seven natural 20s. This means I rolled a 20, seven times on a twenty sided die. This was unreal. Some might say that I’m lying or making this up, but I swear I am not. The other players looked at the 20 in my dice tray and could vouch for me if I needed them to. When I say the dice tell the story, I mean it. In Vesper’s story, I rolled many natural 1s which serve as critical failures. These had dire consequences for Vesper, so to see myself rolling so many natural 20s meant the world to me as a player. I have taken the two dice sets out of my dice pool, those belong to Vesper now. They sit on my TTRPG shelf along with my Vesper character miniatures.

While it’s easy to focus on Vesper, I think when it comes down to it, I’m so thankful that I found my group. Throughout these two years, I have become close with the players in our group. We exchange gifts with each other and we get together outside of our campaign to hang out. I find myself messaging the other players on Discord and chatting about all types of topics. I never thought that when I joined this group, I would meet new friends. I figured this would be a game and that’s it. In our epilogue session, one of the players bought us Coca Cola bottles with our character’s names enscribed on them. How cute is that?? On top of that, our GM gave me a d100 and told me if I made it through the campaign, I could keep it. There’s significance here as I rolled a natural 1 on a d100. It almost killed Vesper’s now husband Cam, but he survived. The d100 is now sitting on my shelf and serves as a souvenir for Vesper’s story and what it means to both her and me.

I can’t write this post without shouting out Badwolf Adventure Studios. Badwolf is where I play every week and they created my character art which I have shared multiple times and will continue to do so. Badwolf helped to create Vesper and gave her story life which is something I am grateful for.

With all that said, I’m excited to say that our new campaign will begin soon, so while Vesper’s story is complete, my time with Badwolf will continue. Here’s to Vesper; the character who taught me so much and who’s story will continue to stay with me for many years to come.

Grim Reaper and Pumpkin Coffee – Halloween Shopping

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Last weekend, my husband needed to go to Home Depot as he was working on replacing our bathroom faucet. He asked me to go with him, and I declined. I’m not a home improvement person, and unless it’s decorations or gardening, I don’t go. With that said, my husband came home and informed me that Home Depot had its Halloween decorations in its seasonal section of the store. Luckily, my husband needed to go back to Home Depot for something he missed, so this time I tagged along.

Image is a photo of a Grim Reaper holding a scythe. It's an outdoor Halloween decoration and has a stand. Next to the Grim Reaper is a brown and black tabby cat looking at it. The Grim Reaper is on a fireplace mantle.

There were so many options! I settled on a Grim Reaper along with some outdoor Peanuts decorations. I am trying to convince my husband that we need the 12-foot skeleton; that’s a work in progress.

On top of that, I needed to go to Trader Joe’s to pick up food for dinner. I found my all-time favorite Fall item in stock. It’s their Pumpkin Spice Cold Brew Concentrate. I don’t like Pumpkin Spice Lattes because they are too sweet for me. I use a little of the Pumpkin Spice Cold Brew Concentrate, coffee, and almond milk. It tastes like a cinnamon-y cup of coffee. It’s perfect because I get the flavor without the sugary aftertaste.

Image is a photo of an orange bottle from Trader Joe's. It says "Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Flavored Cold Brew Concentrate" and i thas cinnamon sticks on it along with pumpkins.

There are so many things that I love about Fall and I’m glad its here.

The Mighty Nein – Campaign Overview

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by

I finally did it. I finished watching The Mighty Nein, Critical Role’s second campaign. I started watching The Mighty Nein in 2023 and completed it this year. It took me two years to watch Vox Machina, Critical Role’s first campaign, so the timeline fits. I’d argue that The Mighty Nein is the more popular campaign within the fandom due to the higher production value amongst other reasons. The Mighty Nein had a slower start for me, but once I was in it, I grew to enjoy it. If you aren’t able to watch 141 episodes, but want to know what happens, this post is going to be an overview of the campaign as a whole. As such, there will be spoilers.

Spoilers for The Mighty Nein

This post will have four sections: the characters, the story arcs and the NPCs (non-playable characters played by Matthew Mercer), the romances, and my overall view of the campaign. Before I begin, I will reiterate that there will be spoilers for the campaign. If I’m going to deep dive into it, I want to talk about all of it. This will be my third and final time mentioning it.

The Characters

There were eight characters in this campaign and they are as follows:

  • Caleb Widogast, Human Wizard. Played by Liam O’Brien
  • Nott The Brave / Veth Brenatto. Goblin / Halfling Rogue, Wizard. Played by Sam Riegel
  • Jester Lavorre. Tiefling Cleric. Played by Laura Bailey
  • Fjord. Half-Orc Warlock Paladin. Played by Travis Willingham
  • Beauregard Lionett. Monk of the Cobalt Soul. Played by Marisha Ray
  • Yasha Nydoorin. Aasimar Barbarian. Played by Ashley Johnson
  • Mollymauk (Molly for short) Tealeaf. Tiefling Blood Hunter. Played by Taliesin Jaffe
  • Caduceus Clay. Firbolg Cleric. Played by Taliesin Jaffe

My two favorite characters from this campaign were Fjord and Caduceus. I think Fjord’s character was interesting especially his ties to his patron. His story gripped me right away and I liked how Travis could be a character to help advance the plot. For Caduceus, I felt he fit in with The Mighty Nein especially being a later addition. Caduceus offers great advice to the party especially when it came to Fjord choosing to serve The Wild Mother, which is who Caduceus serves. Caduceus was an excellent foil to the other characters as he was serious which balanced Jester’s personality.

Jester, Caleb, Yasha, Beau, and Nott / Veth are all tied for me as far as which ones I like the best. Jester’s attitude and her approach to the group was sweet. She often offered levity in dire situations. Caleb’s tragic back story shapes his character and why he is who he is. Caleb getting the vengeance he deserved was satisfying. Beau was abrasive and downright rude at times. However, I think Beau had the strongest character development out of everyone in The Mighty Nein and that’s worth mentioning. Beau comes to terms with the Cobalt Soul and the work that she does and I liked seeing Beau rise to the occasion. Finally, I liked the humor that Sam brought with Nott. Nott is a chaos gremlin at times, but when she has her chance to tell her story, it was really interesting to watch.

My least favorite character from this campaign was Molly. Molly’s personality rubbed me the wrong way from the get go. I think Molly was pompous and while that was probably an intentional choice by Taliesin, it didn’t work for me. It’s important to say that while I didn’t like Molly, I loved Caduceus, who was also created by Taliesin. Taliesin had my favorite and least favorite character in this campaign.

The Story Arcs and the NPCs

As I mention Mollymauk, I think it’s a great time to talk about the story and Molly specifically. Molly was killed in episode #26 “Found & Lost”. During a standoff with Lorenzo, Molly tried to use one of their Blood Hunter abilities. Unfortunately, Taliesin rolled too high and Molly went unconscious. Since Molly was right next to Lorenzo, Matt asked Taliesin what his last words were and Molly spit blood in his face before being killed. The moment itself is brutal! When I watched it, I could see the emotion behind Matt as this played out. While I wasn’t a fan of the character, I never would have wanted Molly to go out like that. The Mighty Nein killed Lorenzo eventually, but this moment changed the tone of the campaign.

On a lighter note, my favorite story moments were Fjord’s pirate arc, saving Yasha from Obann, Rumblecusp, and the final two episodes. This goes right into the NPCs, but Avantika is my favorite NPC from campaign #2. I loved her. She was flirtatous and every time Avantika would flirt with Fjord, my eyes would go to Jester because she HATED it. The drama, I’m here for it. I liked the combat sessions on and off the ship, they were entertaining to watch. I liked watching The Mighty Nein save Yasha from Obann. It helped explain Ashley’s time away as she was filming Blindspot at the time the episodes aired. When The Mighty Nein lost Yasha to Obann, it was a devastating blow to the group. That’s the thing with Dungeons & Dragons, sometimes you win, and something you lose. While the wins are exciting, the losses can also help shape the story. When The Mighty Nein finally took out Obann and Yasha rejoined, I was happy for them and to get to see more of Yasha.

The Rumblecusp arc aka. TravelerCon is another standout story point for me. Seeing Jester’s love for The Traveler and how The Mighty Nein save this island from Vokodo were fun episodes to watch. I found myself flying through episode after episode during this point of the story. Also, this arc had a huge reveal when The Mighty Nein meet Keyleth’s mom. This was spoiled for me before I watched it, but it didn’t ruin it for me. I liked the crossover from the first campaign and tying up a loose end from that story. The final two episodes from The Mighty Nein are also favorites. I liked the Lucian boss fight and all the eyes. Each eye had their own ability and it was interesting to see what they all did. The final episode wrapped up the story in a heartwarming way. I found myself feeling happy at the conclusion instead of being sad that it was over.

Before moving on, I wanted to mention other NPCs besides Avantika. I loved Pumat Sol. Pumat owns “The Invulnerable Vagrant” a shop that The Mighty Nein frequents. Matt’s voice that he comes up for Pumat is perfect and everytime The Mighty Nein finds themselves at “The Invulnerable Vagrant”, they seem to be in good spirits. Marion Lavorre, Jester’s mom, is another notable NPC. The love that Jester has for her mom shows no bounds. I think Marion abandoned Jester a lot in her childhood, but Jester still loves her anyway. The final NPC that I will mention is Dairon. Dairon serves as Beau’s mentor and pops in and out throughout the story. If I had to choose a second or third favorite NPC, Dairon would be in one of those spots.

The Romances

In TTRPGs, characters can romance each other or romance NPCs. In Vox Machina, there’s Percy and Vex, Keyleth and Vax, and Scanlan and Pike. In The Mighty Nein, there’s Jester and Fjord, Beau and Yasha, and Caleb and Essek. I’m not including Veth and Yeza since they were married prior to the events of the campaign. With the romances in campaign #1, I adored them. Percy and Vex were meant to be together and I was giggling watching them get together over the course of the campaign. Keyleth and Vax were also cute together, although their romance ended in heartbreak. Scanlan and Pike were a later developed romance, but I liked them together especially when Scanlan could mature into the man Pike deserved.

For The Mighty Nein, I feel that the romances were forced and I think it detracted from the story. Starting with Jester and Fjord, I felt Jester was more into Fjord and it wasn’t as reciprocated by Fjord. While they kissed in the end, it didn’t feel genuine to me. Beau and Yasha, while I think they are cute together, it felt like they got together in the last few episodes of the campaign. It didn’t have the same effect that the romances from Vox Machina had. I felt Caleb and Essek were better off as friends than being in a relationship. I think this campaign was less about developing relationships organically and instead was more of “I like you, let’s date”. That’s fine! I prefer campaigns with romances where the romance develops over time and it develops based on the events from the story.

Final Thoughts

The Mighty Nein was a fun, chaotic, and heartwarming campaign. I’d describe The Mighty Nein as a Guardians of the Galaxy type story with a bunch of misfits teaming up together. This campaign is absolutely worth the time commitment if you’re able to dedicate the time. If not, there are several abridged recaps including an animated one by Dani Carr that’s available on Beacon.

Now that I’m finished with The Mighty Nein, what’s next? I am planning on watching any remaining Mighty Nein adventures including the one-shots, the campaign recap, and the Vox Machina vs. Mighty Nein one-shot. Once those are done, I’m going to recommit to Bells Hells, the third Critical Role campaign. I watched it on and off in 2022 and 2023, but then left it behind to go watch The Mighty Nein which was absolutely the right choice for me. On top of that, Critical Role’s fourth campaign is set to premiere in October, so I will be balancing that on top of Bells Hells. Eventually, I will reach a point where I can say that I’m caught up on all things Critical Role. Today is not that day.

Uncrustable Burger – Minnesota State Fair

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I took a little bit of a blogging break which I felt was needed. There were more events on my calendar than usual and it was nice to live in the moment versus figuring out what I needed to write next. I’m happy to be back! This year, I went to the Minnesota State Fair twice and each time, we took my in-laws. My in-laws have never been to the state fair before, so it was fun to see their thoughts and reactions. I wanted to share some photos along with some of the food I tried including an Uncrustable Burger.

Before getting into it, I wanted to talk about the Minnesota State Fair in greater detail. Our State Fair is huge and crowded. I’m the type of person who prefers to go to the State Fair once every three to four years. My husband though, he goes twice a year and more if he’s able to. Going twice this year was big for me. Every time I go, I always take the bus. Several metro stations have buses dedicated to pick up and drop off at the fair. It’s the best way to go in my opinion because parking is a nightmare. This year was no exception, I ended up taking an Uber to the transit station, so I didn’t even have to drive once. We went on a Tuesday and on a Saturday, so my in-laws could experience the weekend crowd versus during the week. I always go during the week because it’s easier to take PTO and have it be less busy than try to manage on a weekend when everyone is there.

Image is a doughnut with Jalapenos, bacon, and cream cheese. There's a yellow drizzle on it which is honey. It's sitting on a pink polka dot paper to eat on.

One of the biggest draws to the State Fair is the food. There are always new food to try and often, I like to map out where everything is. This year, I tried the Jalapeño Doughnut and the Uncrustable Burger. The Jalapeño Doughnut is a doughnut with jalapeños, cream cheese, and honey drizzled on it. The doughnut was huge and I could have split half of this with someone else. The doughnut was savory versus sweet. The honey drizzle was a nice touch, but made it messy to eat. I only ate half the doughnut before a hornet wouldn’t stop buzzing around me and I had to throw it away. I’d buy doughnuts from this place again, but prefer my doughnuts to taste sweet.

Image is of what appears to be a hamburger in a white paper dish. Instead, it's the Uncrustable Burger. The patties are a fried orange color and there are little swirly lines around it indicating that it is an Uncrustable Burger.

The Uncrustable Burger was something else I tried. The buns weren’t hamburger buns, but were Uncrustable Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches that were fried. My brother-in-law bought this and let me have a bite. Making the Uncrustables the buns seems like a great idea, but the more my brother-in-law ate, the more the sandwiches dissolved. It was difficult to eat as peanut butter and jelly went everywhere. I only had one bite and I had jelly all over my fingers. Was this good? Yes. Would I order it again? Probably not. Besides trying new things, I had my usual favorites. Sweet Martha’s Cookies, Deep Fried Pickles, and French Fries. French Fries sound so basic, but there’s something comforting about getting fries at the fair.

It was fun to attend the Minnesota State Fair this year, but I think next year, I will pass.

Final Girl – Camp Happy Trails

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Image is a photo of two boxes. The first is Final Girl. The first box features a woman with black hair. Behind her off to the right is a man wearing an apron of sorts. He's wearing a pig mask and he's stalking towards her. To the left is a run down cabin. The right box is the Final Girl Core Box. It's all gray.

At Gen Con last year, I purchased the Final Girl core box along with the feature film box, Camp Happy Trails. Both games are published by Van Ryder Games. What interested me about the games is that they are solo games. This means that you play them by yourself with no other players. It’s funny, you think that if this were a game I would play myself, I would have played it a lot sooner. I didn’t get a chance to open this until a few weeks ago. Final Girl was a fun and narrative-driven adventure with numerous replayability options.

Image shows three game pieces. The first is Hans, the killer. He's wearing a red apron and he's carrying a mallet in his right hand. It shows his health as heart components. The middle board is the Horror board. In each section are dice. The horror level shows how many dice the player can roll at a time. The bottom is Reiko's card and it shows her picture on the right. On the left is five bodies with various benefits if they are filled

Final Girl is a game in which you play as both the Final Girl and the slasher at the same time. The goal of the game is to either kill the slasher or kill the Final Girl. In the Camp Happy Trails box, there are two final girls: Reiko and Laurie. Both Final Girls possess distinct abilities that can be utilized in the game. There’s a bit of a deck-building component, as there are cards that the Final Girl can play to move around the board, search for items, and attack the killer. Some cards are free, while other cards are purchased with time, as in the time it takes to perform actions. There can be a lot to keep track of, but once I played a few rounds, it was easy to pick up.

I loved the dice rolling aspect of the game. For the Final Girl’s actions to work, you would need to roll the dice. Fives or sixes counted as successes, while anything four or lower did not. Depending on the successes rolled, it would impact how well things went. For example, I could play a Sprint card, which allowed the Final Girl to sprint around the board. If I rolled one success, they could go a certain number of spaces, but if I rolled two successes, I could move more. If I fail the roll, it could end my turn, or I could lose time, which meant I couldn’t spend as much to buy new cards. I like this component of the game. In my first game, I was rolling hot, but in my second game, I wasn’t rolling well at all. It completely changed the tone of the game.

One thing I don’t pay as much attention to is how the game is designed. In the Camp Happy Trails box, each side of the box pops off, and it’s the killer’s health and the game board. To put it back together, you slide it back into the box, and it seems like it’s magnetically held in place. It makes for easy storage and is easy to put the game away. This isn’t something I normally care about, but I felt it was worth mentioning.

In each game, I successfully killed the killer with both Reiko and Laurie. Once this happens, there’s a card in an envelope that you can open only when you kill the killer. It unlocks special items for both Reiko and Laurie, which can be used in other feature film boxes. I think this is neat. It allows for more replayability with both Reiko and Laurie, and the items are connected to them as Final Girls. I could see this being fun to include Reiko in another feature film box with her special item and trying the harder version of the game. Speaking of which, there are two modes to the game. I played the easier difficulty because I didn’t know what I was doing, but I would be open to trying the higher difficulty with each Final Girl to see how it varies.

I liked playing Final Girl a lot. I could see myself buying the other feature film boxes in the future. If I find myself at Gen Con again, I’ll definitely wander towards Van Ryder’s booth.

Bloodlines 2 Release Date and Paywall

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Last week at Gamescom, it was announced that Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 was going to release on October 21st, 2025. In addition to this, there were pre-order bonuses for those who pre-ordered and for those who pre-ordered beyond the base game. It was revealed that two vampire clans, Toreador and Lasombra, were locked behind a DLC. For those who aren’t gamers, this means that the base game doesn’t include Toreador and Lasombra, and to get them, you would have to buy them as additional content. Internet reaction has been swift, and there are a ton of angry fans upset by this. I have talked about Bloodlines 2 before, so of course, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I address this.

Let’s talk about the clans locked behind a paywall. To try and explain this, imagine if Baldur’s Gate 3 locked the Wizard and the Barbarian in additional paid content. For a game that’s based on a TTRPG, I find it odd that the base game wouldn’t include all the clans. If anything, I’d understand if clans like Lasombra, Banu Haquim, or Salubri would be additional content since they weren’t pushed into the fifth edition of the game, but Toreador? Toreador is a hugely popular clan, and the fact that it’s not included in the base game is irritating. Let’s be clear, Bloodlines 2 isn’t the first game or franchise to not include everything in the base game. However, this feels like a major misstep to me.

Another critique I have been reading is the fact that you can’t create your own character. In Bloodlines 2, players play as Phyre, and while you can choose your clan, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of customization beyond that. This isn’t a deal breaker for me, I don’t mind playing as a pre-made vampire, as long as I get access to the clans that I want to play. With that said, I would prefer to at least be able to customize my appearance and hairstyle. It’s an RPG, and with most RPGs, character customization is a part of the game. I’d also add that I enjoyed the Vampire: The Masquerade visual novels on Steam, and I didn’t get to customize anything about the character.

Will I be pre-ordering this game? Nope. With that said, I rarely pre-order games. The last game I pre-ordered was Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and that’s because I knew the game would be good, and it was. Will I play this game? I want to, but I don’t want to waste my money either. If I had to guess, I would lean towards playing it because I want to see if I like the story at least. No matter what, this game is disappointing and had the potential to be so much more than what it is.

Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca

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Image is a book cover for the book Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca. The background is clearly tropical with palm trees and the sun and the sea in the background. There's a summer home that's bright yellow and white shingles. There's a woman standing behind a gate with a man standing outside the gate and he's leaning against it.

When I was choosing the books I wanted to read these next few months, I wanted to include Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca. I was reading reviews, and everyone was describing this book as cozy. I love Jen DeLuca’s Well Met series, which is a romance series taking place at a Renaissance Festival. I can confirm that Haunted Ever After is cozy and a delightful first book in a new series.

Cassie Rutherford moves to Boneyard Key, a small town outside of Orlando. Most of her friends are having kids, and Cassie wanted a fresh start outside the city. Nick Royer has lived in Boneyard Key his whole life, and he loves it. He owns The Hallowed Grounds coffee shop and makes a living serving tourists. Cassie and Nick meet at Hallowed Grounds after Cassie’s laptop battery died, even though she had left her laptop charging all night. Nick knows that ghosts are real; can Cassie be convinced? There’s more that’s going on at Boneyard Key besides its cutesy Halloween theme.

There’s nothing that Jen DeLuca would write that I wouldn’t like. This book was no exception. Reading this in August, I immediately wanted to pull out my cardigans, turn on a heated blanket, and drink apple cider. It’s still too hot to do all of those things, unfortunately. I loved Boneyard Key as a setting. The beach, all the small businesses, and all the characters who pop up throughout the story. It’s fun to predict which character will get their own book next.

I loved Cassie and found her story relatable. She is struggling with her friends going in different places in their lives (mostly having kids), and she feels left out. I admire Cassie for taking charge of her life and doing something different. Nick had to grow on me. He is described as being rude to tourists, which is fine, I guess? I think it was supposed to make him come across as grumpy in a hot way, but that’s such a red flag to me when someone is rude. With that said, it’s clear Nick has strong feelings for Cassie, and he treats her well.

Haunted Ever After is a great book to set the mood for the upcoming season. I rated Haunted Ever After four and a half stars on Goodreads.

Critical Role Campaign Four Discussion

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches, Gaming by

At Gen Con, Critical Role had a lot to announce. In their Daggerheart panel, they mentioned partnerships with other live plays and a new campaign frame or setting that is currently in development. Arguably, the biggest announcement, though, was at their live show that Saturday. Before the show, Critical Role announced that their fourth campaign will premiere in October and will be GMed by Brennan Lee Mulligan. This might not seem like big news, but it is. Critical Role has always had Matthew Mercer as their DM, so this is going to feel different. I wanted to share my thoughts on the news, along with the other announcement from the Daggerheart panel.

I am excited for Brennan to become a more permanent fixture within Critical Role. I have listened to Brennan’s podcast, Worlds Beyond Number, and it’s amazing. It’s such a good podcast that I can no longer listen to it while working because I find myself getting emotional at times with the story. Brennan is, of course, a GM for Dimension 20 on Dropout, so clearly, Brennan can tell long-form stories. I have no doubt that Brennan will do a great job with this campaign. Some fans felt this change was jarring. I think that’s valid, although I think different can be a good thing. Critical Role has been doing this for ten years, so it’s not unheard of for them to change their current pattern.

Another thing that is interesting is the negative reactions to the announcement. The same people who don’t like this are also the same people who hated Critical Role’s third campaign, Bells Hells. I find it funny that the people who weren’t excited were also the same people who thought Matt was burning out and said he looked tired. As a side note, can we not tell people that they look tired? That’s really insulting, and it doesn’t matter if it’s directed at Matt or me or anyone else. You can’t have it both ways; you can’t be negative online and then be surprised when Matt decides to take a step back for this campaign.

The real question, though, is campaign #4: using Dungeons & Dragons or Daggerheart? I have no preference as to which system Critical Role uses. It would be smart for them to use Daggerheart since it just launched. I have no doubt that Brennan could learn and pick up Daggerheart quickly. With that said, Critical Role made it big playing Dungeons & Dragons, so would it be alienating their fan base or those who aren’t a big fan of Daggerheart in general? It will be interesting to see how things unfold as October gets closer.

The last thing I wanted to touch on was the new campaign frame. In the Daggerheart panel, it was announced that a new campaign frame was in development. This campaign frame is going to be a Romantasy-themed setting. Do I have to become a GM now? I guess so. I love this idea! I could imagine playing in a TTRPG setting based in Obitraes from Serpent & The Wings of Night or Prythian from A Court of Thorns and Roses. I hope that a setting like this would bring in new players who may not have played a TTRPG before. I like how diverse some of these campaign frames are, and I’d like to see new source books developed by Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford in some of these settings.

I am looking forward to October. I should be finished with The Mighty Nein by then, and I will watch both Bells Hells and campaign #4 simultaneously. I think Brennan will knock it out of the park, and I’m curious as to what he will come up with.

The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner

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It seems fitting that I read The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner this year, as I went to Italy a few months ago. I have read a majority of Sarah Penner’s books, including her short novella The Conjurer’s Wife, which was meant to act as a link to The Amalfi Curse. Sarah Penner’s books are a combination of historical fiction and fantasy, and every time I read her books, I feel like I’m transported into whatever setting the book takes place in. The Amalfi Curse might be my favorite Sarah Penner book I have read thus far.

Haven Ambrose is a nautical archaeologist currently on site in Positano in Italy. She is investigating a ship wreck, and based on her father’s research, she believes there might be treasure there. Interwoven with Haven’s story, Mari DeLuca comes from a line of stregheria or sea witches. After a corrupt man kidnaps members of Mari’s family, Mari knows she has to use her powers to save and protect those she loves. Haven and Mari’s stories are connected as Haven reads about Mari’s story and what that means for her research in the present day.

When I read Haven’s story, it reminded me a lot of Lara Croft. The archaeological research Haven does and the relationship she has with her father were the first things I thought of when I read this book. Mari’s story was fascinating, and I liked reading about the relationship she has with her abilities and how it was different than that of her relatives and friends. Mari experiences more turbulence in her story than Haven does, but I feel like there are similarities between the two women’s struggles, even though their stories are two centuries apart.

The only thing I would have wished for is that this book had tied into The Conjurer’s Wife. If it did, it was subtle enough that I missed it. It would have been neat to see the two be related to each other in some way.

I liked The Amalfi Curse. The setting was pretty, and I liked the characters and reading their perspectives. I rated The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner four stars on Goodreads.

LARPing for The First Time

Posted in Gaming, Life Lately by

I am a part of four different LARP (live action role-playing) Discord groups at the moment. I had been meaning to go to a LARP, but every time I put the event on my calendar, something else would come up and I’d have to miss it. Last month, I was able to dedicate the time, and I went to my first LARP session! I wasn’t sure what to expect or if I would like it, but I ended up having a blast. I wanted to share a little bit more about what LARPing is, the game that I played, and the character I created.

LARP stands for live action role playing. Essentially, I’d describe LARP as playing a TTRPG, but instead of rolling dice, you act out what your character does. Players can set up objectives that they want their characters to meet and interact with other players through their characters. Gamemasters exist in LARP, and they come up with different events that all players can partake in. This is an over-simplified explanation of LARP, and as someone who has only LARPed once, it’s less of a refined definition and more of how I can explain LARP in my own words.

The LARP I went to was for the game Wraith: The Oblivion. Wraith: The Oblivion is a World of Darkness game, which may sound familiar as it exists in the same world as Vampire: The Masquerade. In Wraith, players play as ghosts who died in the mortal world and now exist in this darker underworld. Depending on how players died, players are sorted into legions. There’s a legion consisting of ghosts who died of old age, or those who died from acts of violence, or those who don’t remember how they died. There’s a mystery to it as to why your character didn’t move on after death. Why are they still here, and what do you hope to accomplish throughout the game? This was my first time playing Wraith, as I had heard about the game before, but hadn’t had a chance to play.

My character is named Mia. She was an emergency room nurse who remembers leaving work, but then she wakes up in the underworld. She was told that she had died, but she simply doesn’t remember what happened to her. Mia belongs to the Legion of Paupers, meaning a ghost who doesn’t remember what happened to her. How does Mia find purpose in her existence? I liked the idea of her finding value in her career and what that would mean for her as a character. I thought it was an interesting contrast for someone to believe in science and reason, and now has to think about things differently. On top of that, I wanted to make her death a mystery. I thought it would be easier to roleplay since I don’t know as much about Wraith’s gameplay mechanics.

Before the game, I was chatting with one of the storytellers on Discord. They helped share tips for crafting a character while also giving me space to come up with something on my own. When I arrived at where the LARP was held, that same storyteller helped me fill out my character sheet. For someone who had no idea how to play the game, I liked that someone took the time to walk me through it all. After that, I was partnered with another storyteller. We had a conversation in which Mia woke up in a darker emergency room of sorts, where she was told that she had died. After Mia got the rundown of the world, she was led by the storyteller to where the other players were.

I was a little nervous, because I didn’t know everyone there. There were two people whom I had played Vampire: The Masquerade with before, so not total strangers, but the idea of going up to people in character was a little intimidating. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. All of our characters were talking with each other, and time passed quickly. The session was four hours in total, and I didn’t find myself bored or losing interest. After the session ended, it was clear that Mia had plot points and things she wanted to accomplish in the next session.

My first LARP was a positive experience! I want to try out some of the other LARPs in the Twin Cities area, but this one will be one I want to continue with. I am proud of myself for trying something new and putting myself out there. While I go to conventions by myself, it’s something I feel comfortable with, and LARP was new. I can’t wait to LARP in the future, and maybe I’ll come in costume next time.