Starcrossed: A Ravenloft Comic Discussion

[The Whistler]

You know, I have this sudden desire to stick a Living Wall in my campaign. Sadly, two of my PCs read this comic too.

Three! I enjoy lurking. I enjoy malicious, human-eating building components less.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Whoa....

I guess that answers my question ... but it begs another: does this mean you owe yourself a sock to the jaw, Isabella?

[NeoTiamat]

Utterly, completely terrifying.

I actually feel sorry for Gravois. I mean, bad egg as he might be, no one deserves that.

It also seems that the shock knocked Santine out of her scary yellow eyes. Arguing that it's something internal and mentally controlled, rather than, say, a possession.

[Isabella]

I guess that answers my question ... but it begs another: does this mean you owe yourself a sock to the jaw, Isabella?

Hey, these guys aren't players.

I don't hear them complaining.

I actually feel sorry for Gravois. I mean, bad egg as he might be, no one deserves that.

Ravenloft! Where winning traumatizes you for life!

[Nikolas of the Mists]

Ravenloft! Where winning traumatizes you for life!

True enough. I had one player whose character was so traumatized after an encounter with Juste in Scaena that he gave his character sheet to me and said "That's it. Franco is done. He's going to be a farmer in Darkon for the rest of his days."

I really, really like the depiction of the wall (or floor) complete with that colour. Givse it that special creepy oomph.

[DocBeard]

Niiiiiiiiiice.

Every action scene you do gets sharper and sharper-the sound effects are really useful here, both in the standard sense and to give a feel of urgency. The tense, brooding mystery has become something Else out of nowhere, and escaping that sort of weirdness with sanity and soul intact takes skill, luck, and back up.

[Joël of the FoS]

Pretty cool twist, in those last 3 or 4 slides. Great!

Joël

[Nathan of the FoS]

And thus the living wall is pacified.

Leaving Our Heroes to explain what on earth they did with Gravois, which may be a bit difficult. Although if they dig up that patch of earth I'm betting it will be all bones by this time, which even the Souragnien authorities would find pretty damning.

[NeoTiamat]

That.... was a surprisingly creepy last page, actually. Yes, you say that nothing really happened, but it's sort of jarring in how fast the thing can go from HORROR to "We're still alive. Aren't we?"

It's jarring, but it's an in-character jarring (i.e., the world is this way), which makes it kind of sinister and creepy. I like it!

Hrm.... which Book for the Living Wall.... Seven? Nine? Possibly in cramped quarters with a few mobs of Zombies for crowd-control.

[The Whistler]

Hrm.... which Book for the Living Wall.... Seven? Nine? Possibly in cramped quarters with a few mobs of Zombies for crowd-control.

See? See? This is why I can't do SideRP with you without feeling like I'm in the middle of a two-for-one Forboding sale, with a special Imminent Doom giveaway going on while supplies last.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Okay, here's a wild thought: what if our nameless protagonist isn't so much a cleric of Ezra as she's a voudan of Ezra? That whole 'Ezra protects her own'-thing, followed by her suddenly displaying superior strength and a weird aspect might be a version of the Mount of the Loah ability, but invoking Ezra instead of one of the Loah. She'd still be able to cast healing spells, but also a slew of other things ...

[DocBeard]

She could be a little of both-depending on what set of rules you're doing, a few levels of druid or a few fey pact warlock levels would be a great way for a cleric of a more wild, land-based power to express herself, as it were.

[Isabella]

And that's a wrap! And by wrap, I mean there's still three weeks to go. But you've got the gist of things. The reason I mention this is because I will have to start drawing chapter three next week, so if you have any feedback about what you want to see more of or less of, now is the time, before I've already started on it!

And no, not everything was resolved, and yes, some of it will be, but some of it won't. You may feel free to ask me about which is which. Part of it is because a little mystery is always welcome, and part of it is because my little black grubby heart hopes people like this and I wants to leave plot hooks, just in case! You know, being useful and all that. For example, there's this:

Maybe it's the real Zoe's spirit?

From long long ago. It shouldn't be a huge surprise to say now that, wherever the trio are going, Jean and Zoe are not going with them. They haven't entirely vanished, but they won't be leaving Souragne.

I never figured out Jean's class - he could be anything from an expert to a FoS member, Souragne division - I suspect he'd work better in 4e where NPCs don't follow the rules. Zoe, on the other hand, I never statted up because there was so much that could still go wrong. Maybe she's a "normal" alchemical child - or she could be a Dread Golem (survived through her creator's obsession, sound like anyone?), or she could be crazy, or she could lack a soul. All possibilities. I'm not sure what happens when a Dread Golem starts to hate her creator but still has parents who love her.

And there's the matter that Rotipher brought up - it's extra tricky because I always assumed that Jean used the body of Zoe creating the new one (suffice to say, whatever he did, he wouldn't bury the body in someone else's shed). Meaning a proper burial required putting the new Zoe in the ground. Very tricky, and not something I felt like defining. But I'd like to think these might come in handy for someone.

And, Marie mentioned Gravois' sons, so that family might not be done yet either...

[Pamela]

Request number one: please, please bring Father Desmarais along; I haven't seen enough of him to date and hate the idea that he might be gone.

Request number two: if you bring him along, get him more involved! Let Marie take a backseat for a while!

[Isabella]

Since only Pamela and NeoT seem to have a strong opinion (or any opinion at all), this week begins "The Adventures of Father Desmarais".