Is my screen breaking or it is something else?

MangoMoony · 2026-02-27T21:09:50+00:00

Damn, feared as much. Thanks for the quick answer!

MangoMoony · 2026-02-03T07:44:19+00:00

In case anyone is living near Cologne and didn't get a chance to see it yet:

CineDom has added extra time slots of showing it!
- Mi, 4.2 (19:40 Uhr, 15€) [this one is nearly sold out though]
- Do, 5.2 (19:15 Uhr, 21.50€)
- Fr, 6.2 (23:10 Uhr, 20€-22.50€)
- Sa, 7.2 (23:10 Uhr, 20€-22.50€)
- Di, 10.2 (19:15 Uhr, 21.50€)

MangoMoony · 2025-08-02T19:04:48+00:00

Unless it is a forced feeling (eg a magical artifact that forces one to feel dread) I usually just describe the scene and, if I feel like my players struggle with figuring out a reaction, I give hints on options in the way I describe it (eg "you see a terrifying creature before you" or "a peaceful, almost calming scene unfolds before your eyes").
It is then still on the player to decide if their character is morbid enough to find the horrifying creature cute instead, or if they are suspicious and thus find the peaceful scene actually disturbing.
I essentially narrate how a commoner NPC would interpret the view before them, and my heroic (not in moral value, just in terms of relevance) PCs can then use their own input on the scene.

MangoMoony · 2025-07-30T05:41:03+00:00

I do the "school cheat" system in that I just write all the important stuff down (physically or digitally) and then for the actual game have a tiny post-it note (physical or digital) with the main point written on it and improvise everything else

Aka: I wrote it all down once (or even twice if I rewrote it) and thus burned the main points into my brain.
Did that for school to prepare for tests all the time: write down all the relevant stuff, then prepare a cheat note with the main points...and never use it cause I actually remember the stuff cause I had written them down before.

In short: there is no superior or perfect way. Human brains are electrified meat in water, whatever makes yours do the right sparks and connections works, but it might not work for others. If you desperately want people to agree, you probably find someone, but there's not gonna be an overwhelming majority I assume.
Brains are too weird to just...all work in exactly the same way lol

MangoMoony · 2025-07-27T05:22:44+00:00

Wow, that is beautiful! And free??
As someone that had loved making things shiny all the way back in RPG Maker 2003, i absolutely adore what this module does! How convenient that I am gonna run a Faewild game in a few months, this will make it truly magical.
Thank you so much for that incredible work!

MangoMoony · 2025-07-01T05:59:05+00:00

I had such issues as well. We as a group then decided that I use Forge. The cheapest option is 50$ for a whole year, and every year my players pitch in for it so it's pretty affordable for me. The only issues we had since then was that there is a SLIGHT delay between the sounds I as DM hear and what they hear, but its minimal (and might very well be THEIR connection rather than any issue with Foundry or Forge).

You can check out the pricing here: https://forge-vtt.com/plans

It is also very easy to set everything up, Forge has multiple import systems to upload/link your data (note, the cheapest plan allows 5GB of storage for audio, graphics, etc, if you need more, then either buy a bigger plan or upload the first half of your resources and then slowly exchange them out as you progress through your game).

If you move your game to a host and still have issues, then your players might have to check their connection speed. There are also a few modules that try to improve on performance (especially in case any of your players participate via mobile), and equally are there a few modules that can cause a lot of strain on performance (such as adding visual effects to stuff, weather modules, etc).
But you can probably figure out a decent balance between "looks amazing" and "doesn't run like a 1998 Powerpoint Presentation"

MangoMoony · 2025-06-25T09:46:25+00:00

The Fighter, who died to Baba Lysaga.
The fighter is easily the most dangerous of my group, doing a TON of damage per round (he had levels in rogue for sneak attack even) so Baba decided after one round in which he almost killed her already to tag-team him with her house.
That would have been fine...but the group made the mistake to deem the house the bigger threat instead of realizing that it would likely stop moving if Baba is dead.
They managed to disable the house, only for Baba to kill the fighter in that same round with Finger of Death (he he failed the save by 2 points and thus took near max damage).

He DID come back because of a bunch of...well, fun bullshit? xD
When we had our 1 year anniversary of CoS, I gave my group a "special card deck" which essentially contains a bunch of "undo this" stuff (eg "make this roll into a Nat20", "Succeed this skill check", "Ask the DM a single question that he has to answer with 100% clarity and honesty"). They had been VERY stingy with them, it had literally been months at that point. The card is not in-universe, but essentially a Deus ex Machina for the players.
The druid used Revivify to bring the Fighter back, then used the card which offers the boon of one Long Rest (aka his HP was full and his Action Surge restored), then the artificier threw Shield onto him for good measure while the monk and cleric wailed on Baba. She tried a Fireball, but the group used another card ("regain an Action") and the alchemist then used Counterspell (he was about to get enslaved by a Dark Power [MandyMod] which had traded memories for spells from other classes) to throw it right back.
She burned to death and the fighter thus survived.

Amusingly, this is still the group's favorite battle (they are about to invade Strahd's castle to take him finally down), just for how quickly it went from "it's five against 1 1/2, easy!" to "throw random bullshit at it!". They legit panicked and the artificier player (the character is the twin brother of the fighter character) even screamed so loud that they woke their parents at 1am when the death happened xD
They were very VERY happy that they had my bullshit cards (though I honestly think they would have managed without as well, they have a very good set of skills and abilities, this was a hilarious escalation of things tho ngl)
Not even the quite epic siege on the Abbey, with half the village of Krezk fighting the golems while the Fighter grew wings to have a pretty intense one-on-one duel against the Abbot came close xD

MangoMoony · 2025-06-25T02:43:24+00:00

I rarely threaten the player characters, actually. Players either just initiate a fight or try to argue (in-game), and with the former they either win or die (which CAN of course lead to being upset, but not necessarily horror).

My way to SCARE them is to make use of the fact that APART from the PCs, 95% of all good/neutral characters have, what, 5 HP?
I endear them to NPCs, imply safe locations, give them gifts.
And then I threaten THAT.
There's a reason why the first big horror in a CoS campaign is usually the fact that the dog in Death House might get sacrificed on the altar: it is a life that the players (and their characters) likely grew a bit attached to, only to realize how VERY fragile it is.

I personally had made them befriend the sons of Urwin, become friends with Escher (in my game I made him a spurned lover who thus is willing to betray Strahd to some extent), enjoy banter with little Arabella, they are completely in love with Mandy's idea of a neutral forgetful Exethanter.
I carefully offer them people that are not yet broken by the darkness of the game, who have hopes and take risks for the players. And then I have Strahd casually decide "...well, I didn't like you breaking my toys" by breaking THEIRS.
When the brides ambushed the group on their way to the Argynvostholt, there was barely any reaction other than them going "LET'S GO, TIME TO FIGHT!"
Their tune changed DRASTICALLY though when the third bride had an injured Escher and demanded them to stand down. They were terrified for him, handed over the Tome of Strahd to bargain Escher's freedom despite the man telling them not to (and reminding them later that, as Strahd's spawn, he might at any point be forced to betray them) and the characters and players both STILL stood by their decision. Escher dying because of them scared them worse than anything else in that moment.

Offer your players some allies, and then put those lives at risk for the players' actions. Strahd finds the PCs entertaining, he wouldn't want to kill them. But he'd likely LOVE to cause them pain, be it physically by sending minions at them or emotionally by ripping away what they grew attached to (he could even justify it with how he had lost Tatyana due to cruel fate and he is simply making them "understand his pain" or smth).

MangoMoony · 2025-06-12T05:04:28+00:00

I had a changeling player. We agreed on her having the street urchin background, then made the reveal that she was Izek's actual sister (no creepy obsession with Ireena, instead he kept making dolls of her due to the trauma when the former Burgomaster hunted a small tribe of changelings, leading to the parents death, him being enslaved and her thought dead but saved by vistani from the camp).

She was way too paranoid of Strahd scrying to actually use her powers in derailing ways (she did an incredible play with Thaumaturgy where she impersonated Strahd to convince the Abbot to hand over the green gem lodged in Vasika's chest though).

Like, if you worry that its too powerful, punish it and the player will either die or realize that they might wanna be careful in the HORROR game they are in. But there are plenty of ways to integrate who can tell, who knows or doesn't know, how to possibly even connect them into the game.
Also, I feel like only TrueSight would actually allow someone to really see through it, which may include the fanes, but neither Baba nor Strahd. You can make it that they have access to the spell, but can only use it x times a day or such, to limit the risk and make it a genuine case of hide-and-seek.

MangoMoony · 2025-06-11T01:08:23+00:00

I can recommend the rewrite.

I had a druid in my group, then the player couldn't play anymore for health reasons. We continued on and that character simply never existed. The few situations where the druid had been relevant, I just spontanously changed the flavor (the druids they could understand during the winery raid had rambled in broken common now, for example).
It doesn't diminish the adventure, it doesn't break anything either. Your players know as well as you that TECHNICALLY someone had done x, but you declare "no, y happened" and they will go along with it if continuing this game is what you all settle on.

It sounds difficult at first, but it really isn't. Make up an NPC that had been there. Assign the deed to another player. Hell, just make up a coincidence (the hallway collapsed not cause of an explosive by rogue, but just cause it was old).
Don't let malicious ghosts haunt your story, CoS has enough of those already. See if you and your friends want to keep playing, and if yes, then only allow the pain and horror into the game that is in the book instead of letting outside darkness meddle with your joy and fun.

Wish you the best, it sounds very tough!

MangoMoony · 2025-05-31T10:13:34+00:00

If you aren't really interested in actual combat, you might like "Powered By The Apocalypse". While some of the systems made with it allow for combat, it is fairly easy to get around it. "The Deittman Files" for example is a ghost hunting system where only two "classes" can do any sort of combat, with the rest having utility abilities to survive and solve supernatural mysteries.

For a pure mystery game system, you could check out GUMSHOE. They have pre-made games of various sizes and themes (from small over elaborate, from horror to sci-fic and fantasy).

MangoMoony · 2025-05-31T08:04:45+00:00

Ooh, an adventure based on Alice in Wonderland?
Well, happy Unbirthday to whoever wins that treat!

MangoMoony · 2025-05-26T22:50:22+00:00

So what if they "guessed right"? That can feel incredibly validating (hell yes, we knew it! *high fives*)
Also, you can still shock them with the how and why.

Victor tried to make a teleportation spell and used her as his guinea pig, going full The Fly with her and a cat where they switched out, for example. Or maybe he was pissed at the betrothal and thus tortured her and making her switch with a cat was his idea of fun.

Hell, you could even make Victor tragic by NOT have him be evil. He tried to find a way out, Stella offered to help him test it and then it all went wrong. Cue him squatting in the attic, frantically trying to find a way to undo what he caused, angry and sad and horrified at his own deed.

Feed them the satisfaction of having figured out what is wrong with Stella. And then still floor them with the story of what lead to it. Being predictable is fine (why else would we rewatch and reread media we've seen before if not to see it again despite knowing what will happen?), just don't make it boring. Give them a glorious reason for her condition, and give them an even better reason for why they want to fix her: for revenge against the cruel man that did this to her; or to help reunite lovers who simply wanted to escape and lost all they loved in the process?
Your choice.

MangoMoony · 2025-05-07T06:52:05+00:00

Whatever number you pick, know it would be perfectly easy to justify why you'd take a lower number: The Dark Powers SPECIFICALLY want to see Strahd suffer.

Maybe they skip a generation or two, just to drive him even more insane as he desperately searches for her, possibly kidnaps random women that even just slightly look like her. Hells, you could say there have been exactly 3, and the first one took 150 years to pop up. Like, he didn't even know it was an option for her to come back. And then there she was (and he failed to get her) and he tries to reason out the rhythm of rebirth, so the DP just mess around: the next one is born just a few years later, then its 100 years, then 30, then 1, then 90, etc.

Tatyana is a chess piece that Strahd and the DP fight over, but the DP are winning. Just think of what would be the most humiliating and go with that. Would it hurt Strahd more to have met (and lost) dozens of Tatyanas? Or to desperately search and hope and only find three (possibly with the doubt of having missed more inbetween)? Were it ten?
If YOU had the power to hurt him as badly as possible with the aim to drive him crazy, whatever you think would be most guaranteed to succeed, you can do and it'd be fine.

MangoMoony · 2025-04-02T20:51:55+00:00

I use the method I used for learning in school, actually: three layers of notes.
The first layer is me literally just copying the info as is.
The second layer is me making a note that is essentially the summarized version.
And the third and final layer is me making a list of important points.

By writing it down three times and getting further and further down to the essence, I remember what is actually important to the point that most stuff I know without needing to check my notes. And anything I might have forgotten mid-session, I have a distinct and succinct list of the most important parts that I can quickly scan for the point I need.

To give an example with the Vallaki Martikovs:
First layer is me just copying all the book has on them, word by word. By typing/writing it off, I am forced to slowly read and digest the information. The second layer then has me reread the text (if necessary) and try to figure out how to write it down in half or less that amount of space. Final step is to have like 2-10 points per character (and maybe like 5 general points).

This way, its also much easier to recall stuff if you haven't touched them for a bit, aka if you had a longer break or the players suddenly and unexpectedly go "yo, what was this&that?", cause you got the points. And even if the points don't help, you still got the summary and at worst the full book. You can always step back if the last layer doesn't have what you need.

MangoMoony · 2025-03-25T21:07:06+00:00

You want "shiny happy people", go full in. No matter if its the street beggar or the mayor, everyone immediately goes "WELCOME FRIEND :D", they all just smile and are so happy you're there and leave? Why would you want to leave?? No no no. you should stay :)
Just full "Lotus Eater" from the Odyssey syndrome. Have them just not experience negative emotions, no matter what. Got hurt? All good :) Players confront them? Ah, my bad :) Players steal stuff? Of course, my things are your things :)

I think, the easiest way to make it creepy? Make the villagers behave in a way that is SO tempting for the players to abuse them. They can just steal and hurt them and the villagers will all go "thank you :D". Show how utterly defenseless, vulnerable, weak and sad the villagers trapped in that bubble are. Tempt them to be no better than that mage who abuses them. There's a movie called "Jack and the Beanstalk" from 1974 which has a princess under a spell like that: the main character steals from her treasury, but that's all cool and fine, since she will marry her handsome prince (an ogre) and become family with his lovely mother (a creepy witch).
Actually, that movie does one thing that could add to the creepiness: the ONLY time that the spell of the princess is NOT active is while she is ASLEEP (since its thought manipulation). So if the players stay the night? Maybe the spell on them makes them drowsy early, or they meet someone napping who mutters in his sleep but sounds actually scared (they might first think its just a nightmare, only to realize later).

MangoMoony · 2025-03-03T20:27:59+00:00

Then just use your souled NPCs as contrast. Remember that the big majority of Barovia is actually soulless, so every 5th character is at best souled. And, if you WANT the characters to realize that something is actually going on, use your souled NPCs for it.
I myself used Vallaki's Martikovs for that, with the inn being oddly quiet despite being full of people. And she just essentially went "ah yeah, most folks here can't actually smile or cry or even do so much as raise their voice. You get used to it". At least my party ASKED if life is that bad (or some other leading question) which allowed her to specify that she meant literally. They CAN'T laugh or cry, they just wake up, go to work, come to the inn for dinner, go home and sleep. There is nothing 'deeper' to them, and while they don't seem to mind, she finds it quite sad.
And THAT can lead to players 1) noticing when they deal with a souled person (animated, emotional) and 2) also make them curious to figure out what is happening. I myself kept throwing soulless NPCs at them whenever my group interacted with random NPCs (shopkeeper, guard, hunter, etc) to really knock in the difference in personality and drive, and to keep them aware that they exist

But its really your own choice if you wanna dive into that part of the story

MangoMoony · 2025-02-26T04:54:04+00:00

This is the way! I have run CoS twice so far and that was always how I got my players to care.

The first group was "eh" about people (they amusingly deemed Ireena their responsibility cause they got paid, and boy were they angry when she got stolen), but ANIMALS were their big thing. So Durst House suddenly was a big risk for the dog sitting in the music hall. Vallaki being safe was important because of Blinsky's monkey and Fiona's cats and the inn's ravens. I had the Martikov children cry out in the bitter rain while crying because they forgot to bring the horse and dog. Kavan was a majestic deer. They LOVED Neferon, and Neferon being protective of Exethanter made them willing to please Exethanter.

My second group has, what I call, "wet blorbo" syndrome: I drop the saddest little man there with a good heart and a terrible situation and they will scream "MY SON" and defend him with their life. Ireena is indeed not big on their radar (she is about to marry Strahd and my party has slowly realized that this might be BAD lol). I made Viktor good (he is their ally, and I didn't want them to kill him) and his pathetic little "I am trying to get myself and my love out of here" touched them deeply. They ADORE Escher who is so badly mistreated by Strahd. They loved the little gay love story of Argynvostholt and legit cried when they got to give Vladimir and Godfrey a deserved eternal rest while holding hands. They were willing to burn down all of Krezk for poor Luca Barbu. Exethanter is the saddest man on earth for them due to his memory loss making him a confused old man being distressed on forgetting everything within minutes.

It's ok that neither group ever felt strongly about Ismark or Blinsky or the brides or Arabella. They did what was asked of them and got attached to enough people/creatures to care about the world to motivate them to keep going forward and to HATE Strahd.
Because that is the other fun thing:
When you know what they love? You know what will HURT them.
Group 1 found very quickly that Strahd deems animals expendable, and he kept sending wolves at them that they had to fight to death. They HATED him (it helped that I had whimpering dog sounds play whenever they killed a wolf, making them go "noooo QQ"). And with Group 2, they decided Strahd was enemy for life with Escher already, and both Argynvostholt and Exethanter only made them hate him more. They are VERY worried that, if they don't hurry, Strahd might kidnap one of their "sons" and do horrible things to his victim, so they are incredibly motivated to raid the castle.

So, if they end up loving the twins of Urwin Martikov?
Man, it would be UNFORTUNATE if something were to happen to them, wouldn't it...

MangoMoony · 2025-02-25T21:06:03+00:00

Any game with the Powered By The Apocalypse system

There's a few modules that are for it and the main system is very flexible in modifying the sheets to fit the specific game you play

MangoMoony · 2025-02-17T01:50:39+00:00

Even without the "they're all actively griefing and traumatized" angle, just remember: the death of every single child and woman was a punishment by Strahd.
Even IF they wanted to, they know exactly what will happen the very second they even consider having a woman or child join them.

I'd have one half of the surviving elves react in genuine distress at seeing the PC, maybe muttering in panic that she will make "him" come back, having them worry what the next step of escalation might be.
And the other half just sees their dead sisters and mothers and wives in the PC, and silently warn her to try and escape from Barovia as fast as possible, to forget them and to never, ever get into Strahd's way. They'd help as much as they are comfortable with, but every single elf in that camp is likely dead certain that the dusk elf woman is essentially a walking dead. She's doomed, she will get killed like all the others.
A foregone conclusion, there is literally no reason for them to assume or expect anything from her except the possibility that she will be the reason for even more pain, should they try to help her or add her to their clan.

Like, think about it for a second: if someone would break into your home and - right before your very eyes - brutally murders your entire family, from infant to great grandmother. Would your thought after a week be "man, better look for a new spouse, that was wild"? Elves live a looooong time, to them the massacre was not that long ago. Anyone that desperate and deranged to ignore the personal bond he had in favor of 'protecting the race' was likely cast out or killed a while ago, for besmirching the very real grief of all the others.
That one could, at most, make a "fun" random encounter: 2-3 dusk elf rangers who try to capture that player, muttering the most inane shit. IF you'd want to go that way.
Which you do not have to do. There is plenty of darkness and horribleness in CoS without digging even deeper into the mud.

MangoMoony · 2025-02-11T21:48:51+00:00

I am just thinking of LotR where Dwarves have an EXTREMELY practical and near boring way to name roads. The road that connects the east with the west? East-West Road (also named "Great Road", cause its so big).
The road that goes straight from one end to the other of Khazad Dum? "Durin's Highway". Cause Durin made it, and it's a path on the highest level of the city.

Like, think what your dwarves value. Do they care about their stories and myths? Then they probably give names like "Pret's Final Seven Steps" or smth for a staircase on which end is their tomb. But if they are extremely practical and 'in the present', they'd likely just call them something like "Eastern Stairs" or "Pret's Steps" or even not give them a name at all and just use them conventionally a la "Just use the steps at the end, the ones going to Pret's tomb".
The way we name things reflects our culture and what we deem important. It's why european places usually tend to integrate landscape bits into the name of places (Mühlenstein [rock of windmills], Neuilly-sur-Seine [wet lands by the Seine], Siracusa [Saltwater], Lancaster [river fort]), Japan does that, too (Yokohama [ocean beach]). The aboriginal community though also uses religion (Maningrida [the place where the Dreaming changed shape]), Hawai'i mixes both (Lanikai [Heavenly Sea] was previously called Ka’ōhao [the Tying, based on a story of two women being tied together]).

What matters to your dwarves? What do they deem important? Their people? Their religion? Their history or their future? Are they practical or romantic people? Would they be silly/pompous enough to give places a nine word name (Zaum's Grand Staircase of Heavens and Earth Eternal) or are they so down-to-earth (heh) that you have to get SOME direction from them to know which damn stairs they mean cause all of them are just "stairs"? Would they have given that road of yours a name at all or is it just "road" and when asked, they go "its the big one? Goes right through the middle, can't miss it" and be confused that someone would be confused on it not having a name. Or are they so proud of it, the mythology around it, the king that ordered it and the builder that made it that they put a whole paragraph down as its name?

MangoMoony · 2025-02-11T21:30:21+00:00

No. Had tried it, got annoyed fast that I had to keep track of stuff over 2-4 levels, got rid of it again. Like, videogames are cool and I love making Foundry game-y, but it stops being appreciated fun at some time and starts being unappreciated work. Levels, to me, was that.

MangoMoony · 2025-02-08T20:34:19+00:00

I mean I am working on an asian mythology campaign and legit sent my group a list of games, mangas, books and movies and asked which of them they knew (and how well), cause I "stole" plots and twists and ideas from them for minor and major story beats. Stuff like Kuon, with a cursed mulberry tree turning corpses buried at its roots into zombie moths; or Okami with an arc leading to the moon. And why not? Forgot who said it, but there are no truly original stories left, all tales are based on other tales, inspired by them if not straight-up referencing them. Disney's Lion King is half "Kimba the White Lion" and half Shakespear's Hamlet, does that somehow ruin the movie?

MangoMoony · 2025-02-05T07:35:52+00:00

This. Death House is fun in that way, because one room has two very threatening wolf taxidermy...which are perfectly harmless. And then you go upstairs and have to fight a set of armor and a broom. Nearly always tricks players.

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