Hey Mr T - thanks so much for listening! Very much appreciated!! And thank you for the Shield clarification - we're still looking stuff up YEARS into playing :)

Well thank you so much for the praise :) We're so happy you enjoy this lil show we made! Means so much to us that you like them so much!! Very much appreciated to YOU for listening

Aww awesome!! Right on! Point of Inspiration WOO HOO

No, YOU'RE awesome!!

Well this means the world to us! We love inspiring others to get bit by the D&DBug and we're so happy to infect another loyalist :)

Wow!!! Well it is truly an honour to be there for you when you needed our silliness :) Hope that you're doing well and our endless thanks for having us be part of your healing!! What an honour!!

Aww, this is so wonderful!!! Thank you so much for listening and relistening :)

There is no other guy, ONLY BOREN!!!!!!!

WOWY ZOWY!!! What a compliment! Thank you so much for this praise @elguntor. Telling a good story was what was desired from Session 0, and we're so glad you're on board - much obliged!!

@@DwarvenMoss looking forward to everything you guys come up with!

LightSamurai - you're making us fall in love with our own stuff all over again :) Thanks for listening!!

hell yhea i do! going towards chapter 3 @@DwarvenMoss

It worked it worked! Welcome to the journey, so glad you're listening along :) Thanks for all the nice comments!

🤣🙃

Whoa Totally!! Great call!

Well thank you so much for listening! Very much appreciated

And we love you :)

Always learning something new :)

Indeed my friend, INDEED!!!

I am also with me on this one :) I like your solution! ... The way I had it was that Van Richten has seen this play a hundred times before, W&B aren't the first adventurers to be pulled pulled through the mists to face Strahd... However, they did look impressive to him as he watched and helped them along the way in every way possible aside from joining them in the final battle (which he said he would do, but never appeared as planned)... Since Van Richten has seen the tape play to the end in various ways throughout the years, all he wanted to do was help them get to Strahd (saved them from Vallaki) and tell them how to defeat him in hopes that this time might be different. As for withholding information, all he withheld is what he has seen with past adventures but who is he to say what has happened to them would for certain happen to W&B and what value is to tell them? Maybe this time they really ARE the chosen ones -- maybe? He has seen this before but he holds out hope. Basically, although he genuinely wants his longtime friend Ezmerelda and the land (that killed his son) to be permanently freed from Strahds curse/nightmare, he is not going to get in between the Raven Queen, Strahd, Wendle's conscious and foretold prophecy of Madame Eva. He's just going to make sure they get there alive, have all the information they NEED to kill Strahd, see how the prophecy unfolds and hope (safely) from afar that this time will be different...

@@DwarvenMoss Makes sense. My players got Zuleika as their ally, but I found Esmeralda to be such an interesting character, that I have had her tagging along with the party as well. How might you change things if Van Richten was the fated ally?

Ez and Zu would make an EPIC duo!!! Heck ya, how did that turn out? If Van Ricthen was the fated ally I'd keep an air of mystery around him and play him as a suspect, self-serving, tormented aged soul. It's almost like Rictavio is a more fun version of his innocence lost and flip of the coin classic VR is a bit of a curmudgeon and a beaten down misanthrope with secrets... I'd have him accompany them to Ravenloft fighting along side them the whole way but as soon as the battle starts they'd look back and he'd be gone! I would also have him try to convince Wendle to give in and rule Barovia because maybe then Strahd and the land could finally be free from his nightmare... Either way, I'd still make the non-Rictavio version of him a lil sus and a bit of a d**k! Never meet your legendary hero's they say!

@@DwarvenMoss yeah, he is not a very likable character is he? Especially the way they have him written, with the choices he made about Esmeralda and her heritage. Although the way WotC have the Vistani written isn’t the best in my opinion either. It has been very fun having the Zu in the party fighting alongside my Paladin and the Barbarian. My party was hesitant to explore some of the regions far from the safety of Vallaki or the Wizard of Wine, so I placed Zu’s husband in the white tower instead of Strahd’s castle and she demanded that the party help her rescue him before she would join them on the quest of against Strahd. While there, I had the Roc attack the party. It grabbed the warlock and flew up into the air over the mountains. The cleric cast banish on the Roc. You can guess what happened, the warlock fell to their death, hundreds of feet down the mountain side! Well, now we have a ranger in the party, lol. Actually that death was a really fun role play moment. I took the warlock into the other room and described the death-scape to him. The dark powers temped him with gifts, of flight, of resurrection, of all sorts of power. However, as a Celestial warlock, the player refused their temptations! Is was awesome. I should also mention that previously my players were real movers and shakers in the town of Villaki, and they chose to help the Shoemaker and depose the Burgermeister during the festival. During that fight, I chose that moment to release the sabertooth tiger. That was when Van Richten’s cover as Rictavio was blown. He managed to get the tiger back in the wagon, and he took off, leaving town. I had Ezzy leave the party, chasing after Van Richten. Afterward, they met back up with her, and she told them that she had seen Strahd confront Van Richten and kill him before she could catch up. Then Strahd disappeared in a cauldron of bats. This is of course, not true, Strahd is a masterful wizard in his own right, and a practiced Illusionist. However they don’t know this yet! I’m so excited. I believe our campaign will likely be finished in two more sessions. I can’t wait.