D&D is getting into the actual play space with a youtube series titled, Dungeon Masters.
First two episodes are out, and happen to be Ravenloft focused.
I haven't watched yet ... but intend to soon.
I figured we'd need a place to discuss!
(In any event, after I finish watching the first two episodes, I'll report back)
Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
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Joël of the FoS
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Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
Link:
"A full set of (game) rules is so massively complicated that the only time they were all bound together in a single volume, they underwent gravitational collapse and became a black hole" (Adams)
Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
The video is just over two hours long. I made it through the first hour.
(I didn't switch it off for being bad or anything ... I just rarely find that I can sit through lengthy podcasts so I break them up into manageable chunks. Will totally revisit the second hour with a later viewing)
I actually listened with a notepad out and scratched out my first thoughts.
(I'll try to be spoiler conscious and use the spoiler tags when/where appropriate)
First, I should say that I am pretty new to the actual play podcast space (I'm about halfway through the 1st Critical Role campaign which I listen to as I drive to/from work, but other than that I have next to no experience with podcasts like this).
The gang starts in Baldur's Gate. Fair enough. Most RL campaigns often include a normal start followed by a misty trip in the beginning. It does sort of reinforce that this will be a 'weekend in hell' mode of RL campaign that 5th edition seems to lean into. Like some others here, I do prefer a unified Core and the RL setting to be run as a campaign setting, and not just a place to be escaped from, but there are plenty of ways to skin that cat, I guess.
Sound effects. There were a few glaring ones very early in the show that I thought were a bit overdone (which, thankfully did not continue). I was listening with headphones on, though, so maybe I'm just being picky. But in the scene, when something blew up ... there was an explosion sound added in post that was just a bit much. If there was a bird, you heard cawing, etc. Like I said, only a few instances, but I did not feel like they added to my enjoyment of the tale. Background music was ok though.
Very early on, I could tell that the podcast was going to be geared toward newcomers to the game. As specific game terms popped up for the first time, a little sidebar would appear on screen for a bit. Long Rest was defined, etc. If a character named a spell, a little window popped up with the name of the spell and a synopsis of what it did, etc. It wasn't too distracting, but I did need to pause it here and there to be able to read the info (I hate trying to read/digest something while someone else is speaking over the graphic ... I find it difficult to pay attention to both ... so for my own sanity, whenever a little window popped up on screen, I paused the tale to read the sidebar, then unpaused it to hear what they were saying.
Another thing obvious from very early on is that not all of the voice actors were familiar with D&D. This is a particular pet peeve of mine I guess, carried over from the Critical Role folks who ... after playing something like 20 sessions together can still be counted on to ask the DM something like 'Saving Throw? What's that mean?' The instance that caught my ear was when one of the players cast a spell ... they proudly pulled out a card to read off every part of the card except what the spell did "I cast XYZ. This spell takes my action ... and I can cast it 15' away' ... then nothing about what the spell actually does in the scene.
The first encounter. Ooh boy. I guess I should start with what I did like. The DM led the discussion and asked folks questions after they declared an action. 'What did that look like?' She asked, drawing an answer out of one of the players that just named a spell they had cast. It has been quite a while since I have played FtF and it was neat to see. Meh, I guess I haven't played with new players in a while or had to patiently nudge players toward that sort of descriptive role play when they needed it.
I'm a stickler for the game being first and foremost, a game. I mean, sure, we are telling a story too. But there is a framework there that underpins everything. The game has rules, it has turns, you can do XYZ on your turn, etc. The action economy was non-existent. It was crumpled up, thrown in the garbage, set on fire, the ashes were welded into a steel coffin, and then buried at sea. There was no init. One character went, the bad guy went, another character went, the bad guy went again, then the bad guy cast a spell that affected everyone, then another character went, etc.
It took a solid 20 minutes to get through the first round (which because there was no discussion of game terms ... I can only assume that a single round had passed ... the only indication I had of that was that the first guy to act declared another action).
Dispel Magic was used wildly incorrectly. Counterspell might have been appropriate, but I got the feeling that this nuance was lost on the players/DM.
During the fight ...
Later in the podcast, the gang made their way to RL. They used the old 'you wake up in a forest' schtick. One thing that stuck out sideways to me was that the DM said to the table, after being awake for like 3 seconds ... "You are now on a different plane of existence." As a RL nerd ... I feel like this was a cheap way to explain that they had been transported to the Demiplane of Dread. There was no dawning realization, etc. No sinking feeling that something was amiss. It was handled in one sentence from the DM to the players in a 'Now that that has been settled, we can get on to the next bit.' Fine, I guess. Just not my cup of tea. I get that they are time limited or whatever on a podcast, and have a lot of story to tell in a limited amount of time, but personally I like it much better with these sorts of tales if the 'We're not in Kansas anymore' realization happens slowly, insidiously, over the course of that first session.
Cursing. An F-Bomb made a (singular) appearance. There was a minor curse word earlier (sh!t) that did not quite rise to the level of being offensive, but as something being produced / vetted by the IP's corporate owner, I did sort of expect this to be a clean version. (I will say that the tone was waaay less offensive than the Critical Role folks who swear like sailors, make lewd jokes about visiting brothels, and have other instances of inappropriate humor embedded throughout their podcasts)
The gang discovers that they are in ...
Minor rules-lawyer moment. A group stealth check was called for. Okay, fine. Group checks can be a great way to have a group undertake something that they can all work on. If half of them pass the check, the group passes. Easy peasy. My rules-lawyer moment was that the group check called for was Dex (stealth) ... and the section in the DMG that describes group checks specifically calls out Dex (stealth) as not being a good fit for group checks ... because one person absolutely can fail and ruin it for everyone.
This observation might just be mean ... but I think the graphics guy working on the video in post has never played D&D before. There were times that character stats were displayed on screen for a moment, like when one of the PCs was bing introduced, or later when an attack caused them to lose hit points or something. Anyway ... when the standard six stats were displayed, you saw two rows of three and then some character art.
3x2 Like so:
But sometimes, due to the placement of the graphic on screen they had to stack the stats differently
2x3 Like so:
It's been a minute since 1st edition ... so I mean ... I could have overlooked the order if it had been:
But what the heck is: Str Dex Int Wis Cha Con ????
Okay, SkiBird ... deep breaths ... get off your high horse.
Onward.
By the end of the first hour ... the gang had an idea of where they were and what to do next. In some of the exposition that got them to this point, the DM all but said that this was a weekend-in-hell campaign.
Specifically ...
All in all, it was enjoyable, but it didn't knock my socks off. Will listen to the rest of it (probably tomorrow) and report back!
One thing I did like was that there was a lot less whispering back and forth / side conversations between players (as compared to the folks at Critical Role, I mean). I find it very difficult to pay attention to podcasts like this when everyone is talking over one another.
(I didn't switch it off for being bad or anything ... I just rarely find that I can sit through lengthy podcasts so I break them up into manageable chunks. Will totally revisit the second hour with a later viewing)
I actually listened with a notepad out and scratched out my first thoughts.
(I'll try to be spoiler conscious and use the spoiler tags when/where appropriate)
First, I should say that I am pretty new to the actual play podcast space (I'm about halfway through the 1st Critical Role campaign which I listen to as I drive to/from work, but other than that I have next to no experience with podcasts like this).
The gang starts in Baldur's Gate. Fair enough. Most RL campaigns often include a normal start followed by a misty trip in the beginning. It does sort of reinforce that this will be a 'weekend in hell' mode of RL campaign that 5th edition seems to lean into. Like some others here, I do prefer a unified Core and the RL setting to be run as a campaign setting, and not just a place to be escaped from, but there are plenty of ways to skin that cat, I guess.
Sound effects. There were a few glaring ones very early in the show that I thought were a bit overdone (which, thankfully did not continue). I was listening with headphones on, though, so maybe I'm just being picky. But in the scene, when something blew up ... there was an explosion sound added in post that was just a bit much. If there was a bird, you heard cawing, etc. Like I said, only a few instances, but I did not feel like they added to my enjoyment of the tale. Background music was ok though.
Very early on, I could tell that the podcast was going to be geared toward newcomers to the game. As specific game terms popped up for the first time, a little sidebar would appear on screen for a bit. Long Rest was defined, etc. If a character named a spell, a little window popped up with the name of the spell and a synopsis of what it did, etc. It wasn't too distracting, but I did need to pause it here and there to be able to read the info (I hate trying to read/digest something while someone else is speaking over the graphic ... I find it difficult to pay attention to both ... so for my own sanity, whenever a little window popped up on screen, I paused the tale to read the sidebar, then unpaused it to hear what they were saying.
Another thing obvious from very early on is that not all of the voice actors were familiar with D&D. This is a particular pet peeve of mine I guess, carried over from the Critical Role folks who ... after playing something like 20 sessions together can still be counted on to ask the DM something like 'Saving Throw? What's that mean?' The instance that caught my ear was when one of the players cast a spell ... they proudly pulled out a card to read off every part of the card except what the spell did "I cast XYZ. This spell takes my action ... and I can cast it 15' away' ... then nothing about what the spell actually does in the scene.
The first encounter. Ooh boy. I guess I should start with what I did like. The DM led the discussion and asked folks questions after they declared an action. 'What did that look like?' She asked, drawing an answer out of one of the players that just named a spell they had cast. It has been quite a while since I have played FtF and it was neat to see. Meh, I guess I haven't played with new players in a while or had to patiently nudge players toward that sort of descriptive role play when they needed it.
I'm a stickler for the game being first and foremost, a game. I mean, sure, we are telling a story too. But there is a framework there that underpins everything. The game has rules, it has turns, you can do XYZ on your turn, etc. The action economy was non-existent. It was crumpled up, thrown in the garbage, set on fire, the ashes were welded into a steel coffin, and then buried at sea. There was no init. One character went, the bad guy went, another character went, the bad guy went again, then the bad guy cast a spell that affected everyone, then another character went, etc.
It took a solid 20 minutes to get through the first round (which because there was no discussion of game terms ... I can only assume that a single round had passed ... the only indication I had of that was that the first guy to act declared another action).
Dispel Magic was used wildly incorrectly. Counterspell might have been appropriate, but I got the feeling that this nuance was lost on the players/DM.
During the fight ...
VIEW CONTENT:
Cursing. An F-Bomb made a (singular) appearance. There was a minor curse word earlier (sh!t) that did not quite rise to the level of being offensive, but as something being produced / vetted by the IP's corporate owner, I did sort of expect this to be a clean version. (I will say that the tone was waaay less offensive than the Critical Role folks who swear like sailors, make lewd jokes about visiting brothels, and have other instances of inappropriate humor embedded throughout their podcasts)
The gang discovers that they are in ...
VIEW CONTENT:
This observation might just be mean ... but I think the graphics guy working on the video in post has never played D&D before. There were times that character stats were displayed on screen for a moment, like when one of the PCs was bing introduced, or later when an attack caused them to lose hit points or something. Anyway ... when the standard six stats were displayed, you saw two rows of three and then some character art.
3x2 Like so:
Code: Select all
Str Dex Con
Int Wis Cha 2x3 Like so:
Code: Select all
Str Wis
Dex Cha
Int ConCode: Select all
Str Int Wis Dex Con ChaOkay, SkiBird ... deep breaths ... get off your high horse.
Onward.
By the end of the first hour ... the gang had an idea of where they were and what to do next. In some of the exposition that got them to this point, the DM all but said that this was a weekend-in-hell campaign.
Specifically ...
VIEW CONTENT:
One thing I did like was that there was a lot less whispering back and forth / side conversations between players (as compared to the folks at Critical Role, I mean). I find it very difficult to pay attention to podcasts like this when everyone is talking over one another.
Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
Watched the second episode.
I forgot to mention the title sequence last time, which I think is pretty cool. It's done in a cartoony shadow puppet style and has tons of classic D&D stuff to look at (displacer beasts, mimics, beholders, etc) as the viewpoint pans around during the opening credits.
The gang gets their first RL encounter, and I am happy to report that structure is back. The opening encounter during ep1 definitely had me thinking they were just going to ignore all of the rules and go for a 'vibe.' I'm very happy to say that this encounter used init, and the action economy was maintained.
The new-to-D&D player stumbled through their actions a bit ... not quite understanding what could be done in a turn or how to use their character's special abilities, but the DM was very good at polite corrections. I was glad to see the rules getting taught and adhered to instead of the 'Yes, and ...' approach of the DM letting an imaginative-but-technically clueless player ignore rules.
If I'm being a bit critical ... the choice of the sorcerer class for the new player was a bit of a mismatch. I hate to sound like a gatekeeper, but there are certainly easier classes to play when you are learning/teaching the game. Sorcerer has a bit more crunch, and an emphasis on resource management than say ... rogue.
Some small instances of toilet humor. Nothing too egregious. But a few times there were chuckles and knowing looks passed between the players when one of the characters said something with (what I assume to be unintentional) sexual innuendo. I might be reading too much into it ... the transcript is clean, and all they did was glance back and forth with a smirk. At least they didn't resort to any 'That's what she said' nonsense or 'ba-dum-tiss' childish attempts at calling attention to the unfortunate turn-of-phrase to make a punchline out of it.
There was a return of the F-bomb though, this one during a PC vs PC argument, which I assume was some sort of pre-arranged friction the actors were setting up for later ... but it was played out to look spontaneous. I'm not a fan of PvP, if it wasn't pre-arranged ... I wouldn't want to play with these guys.
A note on party composition. I'm not sure how to phrase this next bit, but it touches on my general unease between the nostalgia of Ravenloft-that-was as compared to Ravenloft-that-is. This is the creepiest creepy party that ever creeped. Each PC has some sort of dark secret, or evil origin that they keep hinting at. A dhampir, a hexblood, a reborn, a drow (and the lone non-creepy race, gnome, to round out the party) ... and each of the classes are using/showcasing ALL of the new RL-centric subclasses (a spooky artificer, a spooky ranger, a spooky cleric, etc). I guess I like RL more when the heroes are Heroes that have been thrust into a dark and perilous land ... and I like it a lot less when the setting is used by players as an excuse to play some sort of dark, conflicted hero-villain, lone wolf, ne'er-do-well that has a dark past. For balance, I don't necessarily mind if like ... one PC has some sort of dark twist ... but I feel like as soon as you say 'RL' to your players ... they all want to play the evilest evil that ever eviled and the party becomes over saturated. It takes me out of the game a bit. Just my personal preference though. Meh.
Some melodrama was introduced / seeded for later development ...
One thing I do enjoy about these actual play podcasts is how they roleplay during downtime ... that's something I can get better at, guiding my table to plan next steps 'in character' as it were.
A final note on production value. When they edit the shots together, they often switch cameras back and forth to get reaction shots of the players, and/or show who is speaking, etc. Normal. To be expected. It's just that the shots are sometimes out of focus. Like ... not once or twice and then never again. I mean ... at least a quarter of the 'players are speaking' shots look like the camera guy wasn't sure who he should point at, or how to focus a camera. It's one of those movie magic jobs that, if you are doing it right, no one notices. And when folks do notice the slipshod camera work or whatever ... they aren't paying attention to the tale, to the performance, etc. It sort of takes me out of the game for a moment.
Nitpicking aside, I feel like structure-wise the story is coming together (if a bit railroady). Will tune in next week for sure.
I forgot to mention the title sequence last time, which I think is pretty cool. It's done in a cartoony shadow puppet style and has tons of classic D&D stuff to look at (displacer beasts, mimics, beholders, etc) as the viewpoint pans around during the opening credits.
The gang gets their first RL encounter, and I am happy to report that structure is back. The opening encounter during ep1 definitely had me thinking they were just going to ignore all of the rules and go for a 'vibe.' I'm very happy to say that this encounter used init, and the action economy was maintained.
The new-to-D&D player stumbled through their actions a bit ... not quite understanding what could be done in a turn or how to use their character's special abilities, but the DM was very good at polite corrections. I was glad to see the rules getting taught and adhered to instead of the 'Yes, and ...' approach of the DM letting an imaginative-but-technically clueless player ignore rules.
If I'm being a bit critical ... the choice of the sorcerer class for the new player was a bit of a mismatch. I hate to sound like a gatekeeper, but there are certainly easier classes to play when you are learning/teaching the game. Sorcerer has a bit more crunch, and an emphasis on resource management than say ... rogue.
Some small instances of toilet humor. Nothing too egregious. But a few times there were chuckles and knowing looks passed between the players when one of the characters said something with (what I assume to be unintentional) sexual innuendo. I might be reading too much into it ... the transcript is clean, and all they did was glance back and forth with a smirk. At least they didn't resort to any 'That's what she said' nonsense or 'ba-dum-tiss' childish attempts at calling attention to the unfortunate turn-of-phrase to make a punchline out of it.
There was a return of the F-bomb though, this one during a PC vs PC argument, which I assume was some sort of pre-arranged friction the actors were setting up for later ... but it was played out to look spontaneous. I'm not a fan of PvP, if it wasn't pre-arranged ... I wouldn't want to play with these guys.
A note on party composition. I'm not sure how to phrase this next bit, but it touches on my general unease between the nostalgia of Ravenloft-that-was as compared to Ravenloft-that-is. This is the creepiest creepy party that ever creeped. Each PC has some sort of dark secret, or evil origin that they keep hinting at. A dhampir, a hexblood, a reborn, a drow (and the lone non-creepy race, gnome, to round out the party) ... and each of the classes are using/showcasing ALL of the new RL-centric subclasses (a spooky artificer, a spooky ranger, a spooky cleric, etc). I guess I like RL more when the heroes are Heroes that have been thrust into a dark and perilous land ... and I like it a lot less when the setting is used by players as an excuse to play some sort of dark, conflicted hero-villain, lone wolf, ne'er-do-well that has a dark past. For balance, I don't necessarily mind if like ... one PC has some sort of dark twist ... but I feel like as soon as you say 'RL' to your players ... they all want to play the evilest evil that ever eviled and the party becomes over saturated. It takes me out of the game a bit. Just my personal preference though. Meh.
Some melodrama was introduced / seeded for later development ...
VIEW CONTENT:
A final note on production value. When they edit the shots together, they often switch cameras back and forth to get reaction shots of the players, and/or show who is speaking, etc. Normal. To be expected. It's just that the shots are sometimes out of focus. Like ... not once or twice and then never again. I mean ... at least a quarter of the 'players are speaking' shots look like the camera guy wasn't sure who he should point at, or how to focus a camera. It's one of those movie magic jobs that, if you are doing it right, no one notices. And when folks do notice the slipshod camera work or whatever ... they aren't paying attention to the tale, to the performance, etc. It sort of takes me out of the game for a moment.
Nitpicking aside, I feel like structure-wise the story is coming together (if a bit railroady). Will tune in next week for sure.
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Rucht Lilavivat
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Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
I just watched the third episode and I am definitely enjoying it for what it is.
It's a different kind of game session, but one that I've certainly been a part of many times. Yep - no initiative. Yep - highly narrative. Yep - very loosely goosey. But you know what? This is exactly like it would be to play with Tracy Hickman if he were to run you through Ravenloft. I've had the deep privilege of playing with him, and that's what it's like. You buckle up and enjoy the ride.
As far as PVP goes, all of these people are trained improv actors. Improv acting thrives on conflict. I used to watch an improv group in college - they would craft a play spontaneously right in front of your eyes based on a three or four seed ideas. The only way to craft a plot out of that is to create conflict with the other characters on the stage - but you also had to bring it back around to some kind of resolution. So, I appreciate the players here bringing those skills to the fore.
I do like that dice rolls DO matter. It's not just off the cuff storytelling. The rolls of Critical 1s matter. And there's a particular Critical 1 that is pretty devastating in the session. If it were under a different DM, it would have resulted in a TPK, basically. But their DM chose to frame it pretty differently, and it would have not been good for a YouTube show if, on Episode Three, there was a TPK.
The main reason I'm watching this is, yes, it's Ravenloft, but also it's Neil Newbon and Devora Wilde - if people didn't know they were major voice actors in the Baldur's Gate 3 video game. At this point, they are like gaming royalty.
It's a different kind of game session, but one that I've certainly been a part of many times. Yep - no initiative. Yep - highly narrative. Yep - very loosely goosey. But you know what? This is exactly like it would be to play with Tracy Hickman if he were to run you through Ravenloft. I've had the deep privilege of playing with him, and that's what it's like. You buckle up and enjoy the ride.
As far as PVP goes, all of these people are trained improv actors. Improv acting thrives on conflict. I used to watch an improv group in college - they would craft a play spontaneously right in front of your eyes based on a three or four seed ideas. The only way to craft a plot out of that is to create conflict with the other characters on the stage - but you also had to bring it back around to some kind of resolution. So, I appreciate the players here bringing those skills to the fore.
I do like that dice rolls DO matter. It's not just off the cuff storytelling. The rolls of Critical 1s matter. And there's a particular Critical 1 that is pretty devastating in the session. If it were under a different DM, it would have resulted in a TPK, basically. But their DM chose to frame it pretty differently, and it would have not been good for a YouTube show if, on Episode Three, there was a TPK.
The main reason I'm watching this is, yes, it's Ravenloft, but also it's Neil Newbon and Devora Wilde - if people didn't know they were major voice actors in the Baldur's Gate 3 video game. At this point, they are like gaming royalty.
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doctornecrotic
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Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
I don't think I could make it at all, so I appreciate all that viewers are effectively doing for me. To me, this feels like a mix of video test run for a new Heroes of Horror type book, an advertisement in action (which, no duh), and then some. The bits I've gleamed feel too clean, borderline uncanny as far as gaming and spaces go. I've watched few let's play game streams ever. While Commander Holly's take on Planescape (something that was presumably memory holed due to controversies year back) was a bit too quirky for me, things felt more organic to me there. Even the somewhat hackneyed attempt at using the Nentir Vale (before somewhat tossing it away for a chunk of the game) felt a little less off to me as well... even if I never cared for the smug grin of Mike Mearls.
I didn't see much in world scope within those notes, but I'm guess they didn't get a lot in that regard accomplished? I certainly understand slog from rules, lack of experience, and then some getting in the way. I have to admit, some of the confusion from the newbies was somewhat endearing from the little I skimmed through.
But, when it comes to Wizbro, I rermain a rather dour writer as always.
I didn't see much in world scope within those notes, but I'm guess they didn't get a lot in that regard accomplished? I certainly understand slog from rules, lack of experience, and then some getting in the way. I have to admit, some of the confusion from the newbies was somewhat endearing from the little I skimmed through.
But, when it comes to Wizbro, I rermain a rather dour writer as always.
VIEW CONTENT:
I muse of grim fates in The Lands of the Mists. You can see more here.
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alhoon
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Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
What edition do they use? What Ravenloft product?
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
My DMGuild work!
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
My DMGuild work!
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Joël of the FoS
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Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
5e (but quite rule light), VRGtR and the new RHW material I guess (they are in Sithicus)
"A full set of (game) rules is so massively complicated that the only time they were all bound together in a single volume, they underwent gravitational collapse and became a black hole" (Adams)
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Rucht Lilavivat
- Evil Genius
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Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
They are in Sithicus. They show the map on the episodes.Joël of the FoS wrote: Thu Apr 30, 2026 1:37 pm 5e (but quite rule light), VRGtR and the new RHW material I guess (they are in Sithicus)
Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
Episode Three
The story is really starting to shape up. I'm interested in seeing where it is going.
A final note about the production values (and then I'll stop griping about it). I wish that the camera operator responsible for focusing on Neil and Devora's side of the table would, you know, focus the camera on the actor when they are speaking. It's always the static shot, the one with two actors in frame ... Neil is in focus and Devora is not. It's like they just took 30 seconds to set it up and then left it goofy for the entirety of filming.
Onward.
They are getting better about letting folks know when House Rules are in effect. Exhaustion works differently, Nat 1's on ability checks are now critical failures, etc.
The schtick with the 2D paper descriptors was neat ... this element of the tale is being foreshadowed & experienced by the players at just the right rate (in my opinion). It seems like each episode we get, some new facet of this mechanic gets expounded on ... and I am curious to see how it fits into the larger tale.
I also liked the kidnapping angle of 'Why in the heck do we care and why are we willing to put it all on the line here?' I think a little too often, a lot of these Weekend-in-hell type adventures require a suspension of disbelief, and the heroes just go through the motions of being heroes or risk the whole thing falling apart. 'Oh, we're in a dark land, and the people are oppressed? Better barge into the castle and take on a lich/vampire/death knight/other fill-in-the-blank foe we have never met and know nothing about ... for no good reason other than 'us good, him bad.' Yawn. I like my stories with a little more meat on their bones than that. A little more emphasis on the 'why.'
The kidnapping angle turned that on its head and now there are stakes. Now it is a rescue mission that pits our heroes against the main opponent of the tale. It was a nice framing device, will definitely have to use that one on the future.
Dark gifts make an appearance, and its wonderful. Definitely taking mental notes on how these were introduced in-game.
The gang finds themselves on the receiving end of a Tarokka reading. A few of the cards from the new deck makes an appearance. Dunno if the cards were staged or not, but the DM did an outstanding job of adapting the card to the player that drew it.
Each card was used as a chance to shed a little light on the secrets each of these characters are keeping from one another. (Each PC is the creepiest creep that ever creeped, remember?) Not my cup of tea, but I get it. RL often attracts dark character archetypes because players, I think, enjoy being the horror/monstrosity instead of being a hero that stands against the dark.
I know these are seasoned improv folks that have a history of working together ... but I really took notice of / appreciated the DM's subtle nudging when the other actors tried (well intentioned, I assume) to take the spotlight from another player.
In the Tarokka scene, each person drew a card and then got a short 1-on-1 spotlight moment from the DM about what this card was and how it tied in to the spooky backstory that each of these characters have. Devora drew a card and then two of the other players briefly tried to make it all about them. The DM stepped in with a gentle, "This is about you, Zora" and got things back on track.
Recognizing that the wheels are coming off of the bus and getting the tale gently nudged back on track, all while DMing in-character, is a unique skill.
I'm excited to see more.
The story is really starting to shape up. I'm interested in seeing where it is going.
A final note about the production values (and then I'll stop griping about it). I wish that the camera operator responsible for focusing on Neil and Devora's side of the table would, you know, focus the camera on the actor when they are speaking. It's always the static shot, the one with two actors in frame ... Neil is in focus and Devora is not. It's like they just took 30 seconds to set it up and then left it goofy for the entirety of filming.
Onward.
They are getting better about letting folks know when House Rules are in effect. Exhaustion works differently, Nat 1's on ability checks are now critical failures, etc.
The schtick with the 2D paper descriptors was neat ... this element of the tale is being foreshadowed & experienced by the players at just the right rate (in my opinion). It seems like each episode we get, some new facet of this mechanic gets expounded on ... and I am curious to see how it fits into the larger tale.
I also liked the kidnapping angle of 'Why in the heck do we care and why are we willing to put it all on the line here?' I think a little too often, a lot of these Weekend-in-hell type adventures require a suspension of disbelief, and the heroes just go through the motions of being heroes or risk the whole thing falling apart. 'Oh, we're in a dark land, and the people are oppressed? Better barge into the castle and take on a lich/vampire/death knight/other fill-in-the-blank foe we have never met and know nothing about ... for no good reason other than 'us good, him bad.' Yawn. I like my stories with a little more meat on their bones than that. A little more emphasis on the 'why.'
The kidnapping angle turned that on its head and now there are stakes. Now it is a rescue mission that pits our heroes against the main opponent of the tale. It was a nice framing device, will definitely have to use that one on the future.
Dark gifts make an appearance, and its wonderful. Definitely taking mental notes on how these were introduced in-game.
The gang finds themselves on the receiving end of a Tarokka reading. A few of the cards from the new deck makes an appearance. Dunno if the cards were staged or not, but the DM did an outstanding job of adapting the card to the player that drew it.
Each card was used as a chance to shed a little light on the secrets each of these characters are keeping from one another. (Each PC is the creepiest creep that ever creeped, remember?) Not my cup of tea, but I get it. RL often attracts dark character archetypes because players, I think, enjoy being the horror/monstrosity instead of being a hero that stands against the dark.
I know these are seasoned improv folks that have a history of working together ... but I really took notice of / appreciated the DM's subtle nudging when the other actors tried (well intentioned, I assume) to take the spotlight from another player.
In the Tarokka scene, each person drew a card and then got a short 1-on-1 spotlight moment from the DM about what this card was and how it tied in to the spooky backstory that each of these characters have. Devora drew a card and then two of the other players briefly tried to make it all about them. The DM stepped in with a gentle, "This is about you, Zora" and got things back on track.
Recognizing that the wheels are coming off of the bus and getting the tale gently nudged back on track, all while DMing in-character, is a unique skill.
I'm excited to see more.
Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
Episode 4 & 5
The story is still pretty engaging. One thing that I have noticed with these actual play podcasts is that the DMs enjoy turning a trope on its head. Not to make too many comparisons between this tale and the folks at Critical Role, but I noticed that both this Ravenloft tale and Vol. 1 of Critical Role have the team ally themselves (if only for a short time) with what otherwise would be a monster. An illithid in one instance, and a banshee in another.
It sort of makes me wonder ... have all the normal stories been told? Must the tropes be subverted/inverted in order to get any mileage out of them? Do we need to 'reinvent' a thing in order to enjoy it? I see the allure, I guess, of turning expectations on its head ... it does set up an 'aha!' moment for your players when something does not appear as expected. I guess that I am not sold that this is the only way to enjoy D&D. The classics, after all, are classics for a reason.
A guest actor joined the cast in session 4, and was a welcome addition. Definitely seeing the draw of hiring a voice actor who enjoys playing the game to be on the team. The character found themselves the target of a Reduce spell ... and the very next sentence they spoke was shifted up in octave. A neat touch that actually made me laugh. It was one of those 'had to be there at the table' moments, but its the unexpected humor of stuff like that that I enjoy and find memorable.
It is getting a bit tiresome, however, of some of the other folks not knowing the basics. Monsters are here, quick what do you do? I cast Dancing Lights (with the hopes that it was a defensive spell). The DM has to consistently ask the new-ish player 'what is it you are trying to do?' and then offer alternatives. I get it ... folks can be new to the game, but maybe not the ones you hire to be a part of your production. Although, as I sit here and type this, perhaps that is one of the goals of the podcast. To showcase a DM navigating things that might happen at a table with new players. Instead of showing off a highly polished product, the goal (for the lack of a better term) would be to show a collaborative learning environment where not everyone starts off on the same footing with regard to knowing the mechanics of the game and the DM has to spend time and energy to politely herd the cats a little bit. I'll stop griping about it and just go with the flow.
The fight at the waxworks was pretty cool. Evocative imagery. I struggle with telegraphing to my players when they have been outmatched (and that, perhaps, a fighting retreat is in order). It has been my experience (at least with PbP) that once an encounter starts ... the folks you are playing with will doggedly stay in place and fight until one or more of them drop. I was definitely taking some mental notes on how the DM told the players without telling the players that running away was definitely on the table. (but then she actually had to say the quiet part out loud, and remind the players that they probably should run) The setup was nice, execution needed work. I still took some mental notes though on how to set up an encounter like this in the future though.
There was a moment in the next episode that touched on one of my sticking points with Ravenloft when it is used as a weekend-in-hell setting. Namely, how in the heck would a guy from the Forgotten Realms know anything about another setting (and, as the tale is set in Sithicus, the other world would be Krynn and the setting would be Dragonlance). The scene in question ... our players find a temple. DM says 'Roll me a Religion check ... you recognize that these holy symbols have something to do with Paladine.' Same thing goes for History checks and the like. For my two coppers, this is why RL works much better as a campaign setting and does not work as well when modeled as a weekend-in-hell campaign with visitors from another world. That way, the Religion check can encompass foreign faiths that have found their way to the land. 'You see a symbol that you recognize as one of the minor religions of the southern core ... you grew up a few domains away and it hasn't spread very far outside of Sithicus but the stories have reached you. You recognize the deity being revered is called Paladine.'
Dark Gifts made another appearance (for another player, so now we are up to two). In the first instance, I thought the introduction was neat ... a result of a negotiation with an entity the character knew very little about. The guy got what he asked for ... but there are strings attached. Wonderful. There is storytelling mileage to be had with events like this. This next iteration of a Dark Gift being introduced was not great though, occurring after a failed navigation check ... It was framed as a 'failing forward' kind of mechanic.
It played out essentially like this.
DM: Hey, I really need you to pass this roll so that the next part of my story falls into place.
Player: I rolled poorly.
DM: Well, you pass anyway, and here is the weird thing that happens to you as a result.
Dark Gifts, or failed powers checks, or whatever we are gonna call them ... I feel like the player needs to be responsible for walking into that trap, for accepting the thing that is about to help/hinder them. The choice matters, it's part of what makes it work. For me, getting lost in the woods is not enough of a reason to introduce this mechanic and burden/curse the character.
Another thing that I'm becoming more and more convinced of is the importance of a really good session zero. The amount of secrets that these PCs share / don't share with one another during their PvP role played downtime would drive me crazy and have a large chance of derailing the game if they weren't worked out ahead of time.
The tale is getting a bit too railroady for me, and I just feel like there has to be a better way to put the players in a position where the characters' actions are what drive the tale forward. In this instance: Uh-oh ... undefined monsters on the path between A&B. These monsters don't have stats, you cannot fight them or avoid them and we won't roll anything ... but if you stop, they tear you apart and you die. Solution was to start running toward the one place the DM had telegraphed was safe. Then after seeking refuge in the safe place, on the next adventuring day ... a mysterious carriage showed up to usher our players from one set piece to the next. I dunno ... I guess as a DM I find that level of railroading to be clunky and unfun. If I need (for the story's sake) to have the players take a long rest at a certain location, and then on the next day need to ensure that they travel to village X ... I am 100% sure that I could do it in a way that wouldn't be as hamfisted as 'You will die unless you do as I say, and on the next day ... your ride shows up, you had better get in.'
Meh. Maybe I'm too old and grumpy to enjoy this style of storytelling. I made it this far, I'm going to see it through, but the warts on this one are starting to show.
The story is still pretty engaging. One thing that I have noticed with these actual play podcasts is that the DMs enjoy turning a trope on its head. Not to make too many comparisons between this tale and the folks at Critical Role, but I noticed that both this Ravenloft tale and Vol. 1 of Critical Role have the team ally themselves (if only for a short time) with what otherwise would be a monster. An illithid in one instance, and a banshee in another.
It sort of makes me wonder ... have all the normal stories been told? Must the tropes be subverted/inverted in order to get any mileage out of them? Do we need to 'reinvent' a thing in order to enjoy it? I see the allure, I guess, of turning expectations on its head ... it does set up an 'aha!' moment for your players when something does not appear as expected. I guess that I am not sold that this is the only way to enjoy D&D. The classics, after all, are classics for a reason.
A guest actor joined the cast in session 4, and was a welcome addition. Definitely seeing the draw of hiring a voice actor who enjoys playing the game to be on the team. The character found themselves the target of a Reduce spell ... and the very next sentence they spoke was shifted up in octave. A neat touch that actually made me laugh. It was one of those 'had to be there at the table' moments, but its the unexpected humor of stuff like that that I enjoy and find memorable.
It is getting a bit tiresome, however, of some of the other folks not knowing the basics. Monsters are here, quick what do you do? I cast Dancing Lights (with the hopes that it was a defensive spell). The DM has to consistently ask the new-ish player 'what is it you are trying to do?' and then offer alternatives. I get it ... folks can be new to the game, but maybe not the ones you hire to be a part of your production. Although, as I sit here and type this, perhaps that is one of the goals of the podcast. To showcase a DM navigating things that might happen at a table with new players. Instead of showing off a highly polished product, the goal (for the lack of a better term) would be to show a collaborative learning environment where not everyone starts off on the same footing with regard to knowing the mechanics of the game and the DM has to spend time and energy to politely herd the cats a little bit. I'll stop griping about it and just go with the flow.
The fight at the waxworks was pretty cool. Evocative imagery. I struggle with telegraphing to my players when they have been outmatched (and that, perhaps, a fighting retreat is in order). It has been my experience (at least with PbP) that once an encounter starts ... the folks you are playing with will doggedly stay in place and fight until one or more of them drop. I was definitely taking some mental notes on how the DM told the players without telling the players that running away was definitely on the table. (but then she actually had to say the quiet part out loud, and remind the players that they probably should run) The setup was nice, execution needed work. I still took some mental notes though on how to set up an encounter like this in the future though.
There was a moment in the next episode that touched on one of my sticking points with Ravenloft when it is used as a weekend-in-hell setting. Namely, how in the heck would a guy from the Forgotten Realms know anything about another setting (and, as the tale is set in Sithicus, the other world would be Krynn and the setting would be Dragonlance). The scene in question ... our players find a temple. DM says 'Roll me a Religion check ... you recognize that these holy symbols have something to do with Paladine.' Same thing goes for History checks and the like. For my two coppers, this is why RL works much better as a campaign setting and does not work as well when modeled as a weekend-in-hell campaign with visitors from another world. That way, the Religion check can encompass foreign faiths that have found their way to the land. 'You see a symbol that you recognize as one of the minor religions of the southern core ... you grew up a few domains away and it hasn't spread very far outside of Sithicus but the stories have reached you. You recognize the deity being revered is called Paladine.'
Dark Gifts made another appearance (for another player, so now we are up to two). In the first instance, I thought the introduction was neat ... a result of a negotiation with an entity the character knew very little about. The guy got what he asked for ... but there are strings attached. Wonderful. There is storytelling mileage to be had with events like this. This next iteration of a Dark Gift being introduced was not great though, occurring after a failed navigation check ... It was framed as a 'failing forward' kind of mechanic.
It played out essentially like this.
DM: Hey, I really need you to pass this roll so that the next part of my story falls into place.
Player: I rolled poorly.
DM: Well, you pass anyway, and here is the weird thing that happens to you as a result.
Dark Gifts, or failed powers checks, or whatever we are gonna call them ... I feel like the player needs to be responsible for walking into that trap, for accepting the thing that is about to help/hinder them. The choice matters, it's part of what makes it work. For me, getting lost in the woods is not enough of a reason to introduce this mechanic and burden/curse the character.
Another thing that I'm becoming more and more convinced of is the importance of a really good session zero. The amount of secrets that these PCs share / don't share with one another during their PvP role played downtime would drive me crazy and have a large chance of derailing the game if they weren't worked out ahead of time.
The tale is getting a bit too railroady for me, and I just feel like there has to be a better way to put the players in a position where the characters' actions are what drive the tale forward. In this instance: Uh-oh ... undefined monsters on the path between A&B. These monsters don't have stats, you cannot fight them or avoid them and we won't roll anything ... but if you stop, they tear you apart and you die. Solution was to start running toward the one place the DM had telegraphed was safe. Then after seeking refuge in the safe place, on the next adventuring day ... a mysterious carriage showed up to usher our players from one set piece to the next. I dunno ... I guess as a DM I find that level of railroading to be clunky and unfun. If I need (for the story's sake) to have the players take a long rest at a certain location, and then on the next day need to ensure that they travel to village X ... I am 100% sure that I could do it in a way that wouldn't be as hamfisted as 'You will die unless you do as I say, and on the next day ... your ride shows up, you had better get in.'
Meh. Maybe I'm too old and grumpy to enjoy this style of storytelling. I made it this far, I'm going to see it through, but the warts on this one are starting to show.
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TheArcaneWeirdo
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Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
Railroading is just bad DMing. It has nothing to do with age.
"Not all that is violet is deadly, and not all that is deadly is violet." - "S", Gaz IV, page 13.
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Joël of the FoS
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Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
Still, it's a mistake young inexperienced DMs often do.TheArcaneWeirdo wrote: Fri May 15, 2026 10:11 am Railroading is just bad DMing. It has nothing to do with age.
"A full set of (game) rules is so massively complicated that the only time they were all bound together in a single volume, they underwent gravitational collapse and became a black hole" (Adams)
Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
I wasn't knocking anyone's age, except perhaps my own with the 'old and grumpy' comment.TheArcaneWeirdo wrote: Fri May 15, 2026 10:11 am Railroading is just bad DMing. It has nothing to do with age.
I don't think that the DM is bad, but I do sense that the limitations of having a corporate overlord footing the bill for the production are starting to show.
I mean, for starters, they probably had to get their plot reviewed/blessed ahead of time by the higher-ups. I bet they had to put up with studio notes too. Recommendations from high above. 'Less this, more that. We're really trying to showcase the new Tarokka deck ... so use that a bunch.'
They probably only have a predetermined number of episodes within which to tell their story too. I mean, plenty of folks are drawing a salary here. They hired cameramen, editors, catering, makeup artists, drivers, built a studio, etc ... this whole thing is on a timetable.
I Imagine that the whole tale has been storyboarded already. 'I have to get you to the castle by episode three.' 'Then, by episode six, XYZ must happen in order to set up the grand finale in episode eight.'
Were this just friends in a living room, or some sort of podcast that would go for 100+ episodes ... the story could breathe ... it could take its time for the various detours when the players (inevitably) stomp off in some unplanned direction.
When a company is footing the bill, though, and has already said that you only get like eight episodes or whatever ... I can see how the DM is sort of bound.
So I guess what I'm saying is that we aren't necessarily seeing a bad DM ... we are seeing a probably great DM walking a weird tightrope between telling a great story and tap dancing for the guys that write the checks.
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TheArcaneWeirdo
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Re: Dungeon Masters, Campaign 1: Ravenloft
I didn't think otherwise. I meant it's a legitimate, objectively correct criticsm and not a generation gap thing.SkiBird wrote: Sat May 16, 2026 8:19 amI wasn't knocking anyone's age, except perhaps my own with the 'old and grumpy' comment.TheArcaneWeirdo wrote: Fri May 15, 2026 10:11 am Railroading is just bad DMing. It has nothing to do with age.
I don't think that the DM is bad, but I do sense that the limitations of having a corporate overlord footing the bill for the production are starting to show.
I mean, for starters, they probably had to get their plot reviewed/blessed ahead of time by the higher-ups. I bet they had to put up with studio notes too. Recommendations from high above. 'Less this, more that. We're really trying to showcase the new Tarokka deck ... so use that a bunch.'
They probably only have a predetermined number of episodes within which to tell their story too. I mean, plenty of folks are drawing a salary here. They hired cameramen, editors, catering, makeup artists, drivers, built a studio, etc ... this whole thing is on a timetable.
I Imagine that the whole tale has been storyboarded already. 'I have to get you to the castle by episode three.' 'Then, by episode six, XYZ must happen in order to set up the grand finale in episode eight.'
Were this just friends in a living room, or some sort of podcast that would go for 100+ episodes ... the story could breathe ... it could take its time for the various detours when the players (inevitably) stomp off in some unplanned direction.
When a company is footing the bill, though, and has already said that you only get like eight episodes or whatever ... I can see how the DM is sort of bound.
So I guess what I'm saying is that we aren't necessarily seeing a bad DM ... we are seeing a probably great DM walking a weird tightrope between telling a great story and tap dancing for the guys that write the checks.
"Not all that is violet is deadly, and not all that is deadly is violet." - "S", Gaz IV, page 13.