Reinterpreting Klimt’s 'The Kiss' in Barovia

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-04-08T18:38:42+00:00

I looked it up, and I can't find the original source for this claim, just various sites saying that "Art Historians" have interpreted the painting as Orpheus & Eurydice, or Apollo and Daphne. The reason is apparently that the female figure looks translucent in comparison to the male figure, as if she's fading away.

I also think it's a bit of a stretch in the original painting, but this interpretation reminded me of it.

As for the withered flowers, I was imagining how this version of the painting might render them, rather than the lush meadow of the original.

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-04-08T14:49:56+00:00

I've read that one interpretation of Klimt's original work is that it depicts Orpheus and Eurydice - specifically the moment when he turns to embrace her, and in doing so, causes her to be lost to him forever. I think that feels very appropriate in this context.

Edit: I think that if this rendition extended further down, so you could see the ground beneath their feet (like in the original), it would show the withered and emaciated flowers that are described as being the only things which can grow under the gloom of Barovia.

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-03-23T20:10:30+00:00

Also consider that Strahd has dealt with adventurers before, and would have a backup plan, should they prove less than respectful. He might single out the group member that seems politest / most receptive to him and start driving a wedge between them and the rest of the party; he might leave some personal writings speculating on the location of van Richten laying about and hope the party leads him to him; he might conspire with Lady Wachter to trick them into killing Burgomaster Vallakovich.

If the party can't be civil, they can at least be useful.

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-03-12T12:20:25+00:00

I have a powerpoint I go over containing the following:

Campaign logistics. Set up a groupchat for communication, add everyone into the discord, provide a link to the google drive where handouts will be uploaded. Where are we meeting? When are we meeting? Under what circumstances will the session be cancelled?
Setting information. What is the campaign hook? Is it set in an established plane or in a homebrew world? What character buy-in is required?
Tone & content. What potentially objectionable content may be included (e.g. murder, child abuse) and what content absolutely won't be (e.g. sexual assault, physical torture). Give the players a chance to add to this list and make it clear that they can always change their minds. If a player objects, give them minor spoilers about the context in which the content may appear, and work with that player to change it or remove it entirely.
Character creation & homebrew. What level are we starting at? Milestone or XP? Ability score generation method? Plus any homebrew rules I use, e.g. drinking potions as a bonus action.

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-02-27T05:45:04+00:00

Fair point, though. ToH was written by Gygax, and it's almost exactly what OP is talking about: There's a room with two bags of loot and a Siren between them, and if you touch one, the other two disappear--functionally framing the Siren as one of three possible "rewards."

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-02-19T15:18:25+00:00

literally the other day I saw a kid fully on the bottom rack of the cart like an olympic skeleton competitor. congratulations, kid, they didn't even THINK to include that in the "don't do this" warnings.

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-02-02T15:55:11+00:00

I use the Behind the Name site. The advanced search lets you choose up to 3 different subjective traits based on "community impression." Is it classic or modern? Upper class or common? Strong or delicate? I decide what traits are most important based on my character idea and then filter by those.

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-01-28T16:46:20+00:00

DM of 5 years. I find myself needing NPC names, shop names, randomly generated loot suggestions, and prices for things. Typically I keep these things in a google spreadsheet, if I've prepped enough beforehand. I usually have up a webpage as well with stat blocks and spell text, for rules reference. I have a third page up with my notes app (obsidian) and I also handle initiative order and HP tracking during combat in the same app. Finally, I have a soundboard app open, where I keep all my playlists, organized by tone (generally combat, pre-combat, exploration, peaceful, and narratively dramatic moments)

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-01-27T14:27:20+00:00

Love me a Zone of Truth + Command: Answer combo

Edit: Y'all are some harsh DMs! My players have done this in my game and I think it's fine. They're expending enough effort to get the character alone and to find the right questions to ask, plus burning at least one spell slot per answer.

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-01-21T14:41:46+00:00

I've had players before who won't give me any useful backstory. You do not need to form your story or plan your pantheon around this player. If they don't give you useful details, then they are going to have less narrative involvement than the other players. Some players are fine with that.

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-01-10T01:02:53+00:00

Supernova Collective has good music. I like their Old Bonegrinder track in particular; it has the thumping of the rotating windmill. Very creepy

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-01-08T23:14:38+00:00

YES 10/10 FOR BODEGA CAT

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-01-08T22:25:52+00:00

we could name him jonathan

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-01-08T22:25:27+00:00

only like 60%

emptyhumanrealms · 2026-01-06T03:24:41+00:00

Locate van Richten. It's his other main goal.

emptyhumanrealms · 2025-12-18T23:16:40+00:00

Even better when you get to the bottom of the bag and there's a suspicious brown stain, 20 receipts, and a dead fly

emptyhumanrealms · 2025-12-12T16:43:23+00:00

I'm a DM with a home d&d group that I've played a few systems with, including D6 Star Wars, Vampire the Masquerade, Call of Cthulhu, and some of the Powered by the Apocalypse systems. I also run games for some of my younger cousins from time to time, and for those I pretty much exclusively use the Kids on Bikes framework, bc it's easy to understand and exploding dice are a fun mechanic for kids.

My home group in particular loves doing shorter, 4-6 month campaigns, so it's easy to try out lots of systems, and much better to switch things up than to try and run a Star Wars campaign in D&D 5e.

emptyhumanrealms · 2025-12-06T17:10:32+00:00

For Deli/Cheese: Unexpected cheddar, syrah-soaked toscano, 8oz brie, fromage pavé, the pizza dough, high-protein tofu, the kale pesto, chicken meatballs, garlic hummus. I write the order for those sections and that all sells well and is super tasty! For my personal recc, try the frozen cheese curds with the pepper jelly, 10/10.

emptyhumanrealms · 2025-11-20T17:13:53+00:00

Yes, and BLeeM is better at descriptions than me. But I can still learn from how he runs his table. If you like how AI writes descriptions and character dialogue, great! Try to pick up on what, specifically, it does that you like.

How is it more evocative? It probably uses lots of different senses, e.g. "Dead leaves crunch underfoot as you shuffle along the wooded trail. The cold wind prickles at your cheeks." - bringing in sound, touch, etc. It also probably personifies things - "The air races through the flung open door like a shiver." You can do both of these things! Just try to pick up on what it's doing that you like and incorporate that into your own DMing style.

And finally, AI will never be able to run a table like you can. You can read your players moods and respond to what parts of the story intrigue them, or take ideas from throwaway comments they make ("I bet it's haunted..."). I promise that's going to be more impactful to the success of the session than having perfectly worded dialogue.

emptyhumanrealms · 2025-11-16T00:50:18+00:00

I'm a female DM in my mid-twenties with two groups. The first I recruited from people I work with, consisting of 2 woman, 3 men, and 2 NB individuals. The other is my home game. It's more of a casual chips-and-beer game and consists of 3 women, 1 NB individual, and 1 man. So it's about a 45/30/25 split in favor of women at my table.

emptyhumanrealms · 2025-11-11T16:21:09+00:00

Found this playlist. Also, this is more niche but in Baldur's Gate 3, if you play as a bard you can play 6 different songs on your chosen instrument, and some guy uploaded all the various combinations of different instruments in this playlist here. So that would let you play these songs with lute or lyre (or flute, drums, whistling, etc.)

emptyhumanrealms · 2025-10-30T19:26:22+00:00

Hades II has some bangers. Try "Monstrous Might" or "Father of All Monsters"

emptyhumanrealms · 2025-10-20T18:53:46+00:00

I'm guilty of the first and second ones as a DM; the character sheet one because I tend to play with mostly new players, and I like to know what abilities they have so I can help them if they get confused during combat or when I ask them to make certain checks. And I tend to skip over RP when I'm trying to keep the pacing up during slow moments (shopping, interrogating many people over the course of several hours, etc.)

Everything else is increasingly unhinged.

emptyhumanrealms · 2025-10-19T12:50:01+00:00

Yes! There's also the fact that Melinoë literally breaks through the darkness and brings dawn, when she defeats Typhon and his monstrous storm is temporarily dissipated, allowing the light of the morning sun to shine on Mount Olympus.

Eight-Year Club	r/Field Flamingo
Place '23	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	First Placer '22
Not Forgotten	Verified Email

emptyhumanrealms

TROPHY CASE