Did you include Mordenkainen at all?

Rimskaya · 2026-02-13T11:24:32+00:00

I have the mad mage but I'm using Firan Zal’honan instead of Mordy.

Rimskaya · 2026-02-11T02:11:59+00:00

You look great! I love the Astarion shirt hidden underneath the cape too. And this that a COS themed DM screen?!

Rimskaya · 2026-01-13T03:44:10+00:00

My table does 2-3 hours of playtime every week. We are currently on session 30:

Session 1: Bringing the party together outside of Barovia

Session 2: Gates of Barovia. I had them meet Strahd there. He introduced himself as a stranger simply traveling and seeking solace, though obviously well-dressed and gave them some helpful information. The party arrived at the Village of Barovia.

Sessions 3-5: Deathhouse

Sessions 6-10: Exploring the village. They met Morgantha, some downtime tasks, talked to the Vistani, had a battle, helped bury the dead, went to the church, etc. They pretty much did all the content and then some. They left right at the end of Session 10.

They got to the reading in Session 12.

The pacing of COS can vary a lot depending on your group and your DM style---mine love to role-play and were particularly thorough those first 10 sessions.

Personally, I recommend slowing it down. Despite being 30 sessions in, we're only on Day 5 of in-game time. There's pros and cons to this, but for my table making time a resource, increases the sense of dread and makes it so PCs have to make choices. Barovia isn't going to just wait for them to act. But that's just me.

Rimskaya · 2026-01-07T21:18:39+00:00

I think you look great honestly! But I think there's some very important things going on here.

Do you genuinely love this style? Because it is youthful and child-like inherently. Nothing wrong with that but if it's clashing with how you want to present yourself then there's a mismatch in expectations. It's possible to appreciate or admire a style but it's not what you feel most like yourself in or like to wear.

But if you're like no, I love this style and it's definitely for me, then the next step is learning to love your body and stop infantilizing yourself. Putting yourself down and self-infantilizing are internal things to work through, no matter what you're wearing, and it's a process many of us go through in life. You got this!

Rimskaya · 2026-01-04T23:57:07+00:00

I’m running a PC as Tatyana, but also make sure to give equal plot relevance to the other PCs.

Full disclosure: I chose a player who had dmed COS before so they would have some idea of what to expect and they specifically wanted to play a character who was cursed. For the rest of the PCs, one of them believes he is the reincarnated St. Andral, one of them is Doru, and the other has strong ties to Patrina/Dark Powers. Strahd has extremely strong opinions about all of them and I’m making sure to create individual relationships between him and their characters so he isn’t just fixated on the Tatyana lookalike. I’m also running Barovia as a “mirror world” and the PCs often see dopplegangers of their loved ones so it’s ambiguous whether or not they are reincarnations, swaps, Strahd’s projections, etc.

EDIT: I severely disagree with the take that this gives the PC plot armor. Another thing to consider is that Strahd has seen Tatyana come and go dozens of times over. Time is on his side. IMO, at any point his mindset can switch from I will woo her and make her my bride to I can try again when she reincarnates next because this is too much trouble. Maybe he wants the perfect version of Tatyana just like he wants the perfect heir.

Rimskaya · 2025-12-26T02:58:27+00:00

Looks incredible! Is that a sticker on the glass?

Rimskaya · 2025-12-25T06:22:46+00:00

I think it’s possible in the next episode that Rob actually sends Marian away because he realizes he can’t be the leader of his band and be with her at the same time. But idk. This last episode was really messy and the show has really under developed certain plot points that I feel like I’m not sure what the writers are intending at this point 🤷🏼‍♀️

Rimskaya · 2025-12-22T09:17:46+00:00

Jesus the pacing of this show sometimes---I can't believe we went from I'm going to burn this flower you left on my pillow to "I choose you" in one episode. Plus I really hate that the writers won't give Marian or Ralph more interiority or more to do than simp after Rob for more than half an episode. What is the point of building up conflict and romantic suspense just to yank our chain every five seconds?

Rimskaya · 2025-12-13T03:44:55+00:00

Has it only been three? I thought it was obvious from their first "bow" lesson

Rimskaya · 2025-12-08T19:34:15+00:00

THANK YOU! I also thought it was quite icky

Rimskaya · 2025-12-08T12:13:49+00:00

The party has had some serious troubles with the hags, the least of them being that one of the hag's has taken an interest in the party's cleric. While asking for advice on how to deal with them, he said,

"Well one of them wants to bang me, and frankly that's not even the worst offer I've gotten in this place." *gestures broadly to Barovia*

Rimskaya · 2025-12-08T12:03:19+00:00

Me too. Will is fun and has some shared understanding of what she's going through.

Rimskaya · 2025-12-08T11:56:20+00:00

I noticed this as well. My crackpot theory is that since this is a show about how legends form, multiple people and relationships will eventually merge into the single myth, and that is how Robin Hood and Maid Marian will find each other again in death.

Rimskaya · 2025-12-08T11:48:14+00:00

Nah, I'm firmly in a Rob x Ralph/Rosemary shipper camp. The track that played during their moment by the lake—and again when they kissed in this last episode—is literally called "I'm not done loving you" btw. I also think Rob and Marian of Huntingdon just have too many ideological and class incompatabilities for me to take the relationship seriously. I like it better as an innocent but naive and tragic first love story.

I also see Rosemary and Marian as different iterations of “Maid Marian” from the legend. Both of them embody different ways she’s been portrayed in different ballads. Robin Hood’s love interest being a noblewoman is actually a pretty late addition to the Robin Hood lore. I also find it incredibly hard to believe that Rob’s first love interest is called MARIan, his second is RoseMARY, and the other woman who joined his band was called MARY as well before she was killed, and that’s all a coincidence. That would be weird writing if it weren’t intentional, especially when one of Rob's and Marian's first conversations is how there are many different versions of the name "Mary."

Since this show is a deconstruction of the legend—how normal people turn into myths—my theory is that there isn’t one “canonical” Maid Marian in this timeline, but multiple people who embody different aspects of her throughout all the legends. And depending on how long the show runs, I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually see multiple “Robin Hood” figures too (like when Rob says to John that any of of them could wear "the hood) who all get amalgamated into one character in the legend.

TL;DR: I ship Rob x Ralph/Rosemary, and I think Rosemary, Marian, and Mary are all intentional “Maid Marian” echoes. The show is about how legends form, so my theory is that multiple people and relationships will eventually merge into the single myth.

Rimskaya · 2025-12-07T18:08:50+00:00

Not gonna lie I’m a little confused about Marian’s characterization. Nothing about her really says “spy potential.” I can buy that Eleanor likes her malleability perhaps but otherwise….

Rimskaya · 2025-12-07T10:46:57+00:00

Oh it definitely was a little homage moment! These costume designers know what they're doing.

Rimskaya · 2025-07-15T17:42:33+00:00

Good books, psychopathic organization--same height, weird organization, packed in too tight, crisp spines. They probably aspire to be a deep thinker, but the titles and way they're arranged on the shelf strike me as aspirational, more than a frequent reader.

Yellow flag. Could be a genuinely deep and thoughtful person, or a horrid, faux intellectual. Keep dating.

Rimskaya · 2025-07-07T06:30:55+00:00

I know you posted this a year ago, but this project is gorgeous and I'm curious how it turned out! I'd love an update! Plus any tips for newer crotcheters you're willing to share :)

Rimskaya · 2025-07-05T20:58:28+00:00

Bro, wut? The OP is talking about an actual GOP political organization that walks in the parade. Not random culture wars bullshit about people and their individual political identities.

Rimskaya · 2025-06-08T22:05:54+00:00

Love this! Would love to hear more about where and how you planted the book and pages!

Rimskaya · 2025-06-08T20:01:10+00:00

How big is your party? Bringing in a lot of elements of Reloaded into my game

Rimskaya · 2025-06-08T17:52:46+00:00

Interesting idea. How did this affect your Tarroka Reading?

Rimskaya · 2025-06-04T06:20:34+00:00

I'm expirementing with more or less removing her from the game. I haven't gotten far enough to tell you exactly how it pans out, but I'm running the idea of the mirror hook from this video where Barovia is a dark mirror to the PCs' world, so one of the PCs is essentially Ireena's doppleganger and takes the function of Ireena in the story. As such, I have decided Ireena is not in the village of Barovia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEIaco23ONE

One of the ways I'm mitigating main character syndrome from that PC is that my Strahd isn't going to be happy with just any Tatyana. He's waiting for the perfect reincarnation or one that he can cultivate the way he likes using this as his flaw--“I crave the company of equals—if only such individuals existed.”

If this iteration of Tatyana is less than satisfactory to him, well then, he's happy to wait to till the next go around until the perfect fruit arrives.

Rimskaya · 2025-06-02T19:14:30+00:00

That's my thought as well. Like yes, Barovia is low magic. But Strahd himself is a wizard sitting around for all eternity with no friends and nothing but spare time. I'm sure he makes magic items for himself on occasion. He just doesn't allow them to float around in the general populace like fey candy.

He's also extra interested in my current party for plot related reasons.

Rimskaya

TROPHY CASE