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My initial reaction to RoW, I have to admit, was a bit *meh*. Without spoiling anything for anyone, I found the, err...*travel*...a bit contrived, and I decided to do my usual with an AP I'm not fond of: not run it, but plunder it for (Pathfinder's standard) the awesome maps, artwork, NPCs, beasties and alternate rules.
But, funnily enough, I went to see "X-Men: Days of Future Past" on the weekend, and there was a trailer for "Malificent", with Angelina Jolie in the title role. I was watching it, thinking "Hey, she'd make a great white witch!"
Then it hit me. I'd been looking at RoW all wrong! I was comparing it to "classic" fantasy RPG campaigns. But it's not that, and I don't think it was ever meant to be that.
It's a dark fairy-tale. It's less J. R. R. Tolkien and more Brothers Grimm. As soon as I realised that, I started re-reading it and going through it, and it suddenly fell into place, and I think it would be an AWESOME campaign!!
My suggestion, because I know there are a few people out there like me who weren't overly-impressed with RoW at the start: go back and read it, but think fairy-tales. Think witches eating children. Think "lost in the snowy woods". Put on Nox Arcana's "Grimm" while you're reading it.
Have fun. :)
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Yes! that was my impression of Reign of Winter, and my daughters as well, so much so in fact that when my daughter made her and her younger brothers characters she made them elven siblings witch hunters on the trail of the winter witch that abducted their younger sister, who was an apprentice of a mysterious old crone.
also her brothers character is rather moody because he was almost cooked alive during the abduction.
and thats the kind of stuff we talk about on the walk to school:)
This is why I'm running the campaign. I'm still awfully fond of it. :)
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It is most definitely a story of fairy tales - dark ones. It's one of the reasons I'm bouncing between dropping one encounter and keeping it, as the fairy-tale aspect of that encounter is still viable. (Other bits are just XP bait, however.)
I will admit certain books have less of this Fairy Tale feel. Books 1 and 2 have strong fairy tale aspects. Book 3... I'm not so sure, though there are a couple elements. Book 4 has almost no fairy tale aspects that I noticed, but I am more than eager for people to prove me wrong.
It is Book 6 where the fairy tale aspect returns in full bloom and does homage to it and to Baba Yaga as well.
It would be interesting to see people listing fairy tale-like elements in each Book however - probably hidden behind Spoiler buttons!
who needs fairy tales in book 4 when you have alien dragon riders:)
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The problem with text-based forums is that you can't see me rolling my eyes.
well i never read many dragon rider type books when i was younger (except the dragon lance chronicles) so the cliché hasn't been over exposed for me:)
and honestly I'm so looking forward to Frozen Stars, in fact this might be the first AP where i'm more pumped to run the back half then the first:) although to be honest the whole AP has me pretty jazzed:)
You never read Anne McCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern books? I must admit some surprise. Then again, I've one player who is outspoken about his disdain about that series as he doesn't agree with McCaffery's assertion those books are science fiction.
I used to love them when I was younger. Now that my tastes have matured... well, I love to reread books frequently. But some books just have lost their charm for me. That series is one.
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it does seem surprising i admit (doubly so because our house was like a library with noise) but no i did not read even a single bit of McCaffery, nothing against her or anything i was just really into old school horror (frankenstein, dracula, etc) anything to do with pirates or history and also stuff like Sherlock Holmes and the like. then i got into the FR fantasy stuff.
tho now im really getting into James L. Sutters books (if you havent read Death's Heretic, do so!)
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Doesn't matter what you read, so long as you read. :)
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absolutely! we read a lot, the nice thing about having kids is i get to go thru the kids books and pick up stuff i might've missed:) and now that my daughter is plowing thru chapter books all new avenues are opening up!
the reading lists for things to read to become inspired for the various APs are my new favorite threads:)
absolutely! we read a lot, the nice thing about having kids is i get to go thru the kids books and pick up stuff i might've missed:) and now that my daughter is plowing thru chapter books all new avenues are opening up!
the reading lists for things to read to become inspired for the various APs are my new favorite threads:)
Reign of Winter inspirational reading/viewing I've used so far:
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis.
Doctor Who, BBC.
Wintersmith, Terry Pratchett.
A Hat Full of Sky, Terry Pratchett.
The Books of Magic, Neil Gaiman.
Enchantment, Orson Scott Card.
And I can't remember the Russian fairy tale and folklore and children's stories books that I've read.
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For musical inspiration, there's a great orchestral piece by Mussorgsky which is directly inspired by Baba Yaga's Hut: linky linky.
For musical inspiration, there's a great orchestral piece by Mussorgsky which is directly inspired by Baba Yaga's Hut: linky linky.
thats awesome! the kids were totally jamming to it, for authentic russian music tho nothing beats The Leningrad Cowboys;D
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Funny you mention Doctor Who, voadam. I'm reading the RoW series right now, getting ready to run it, and every time the hut travels, all I can think of is the whirl, whirl sound the Tardis makes. I think Baba Yaga would make a better villian time lord (with her hut shaped tardis) than the master!
Also, sound tracking this adventure is hard. I've listened to so much Russian folk music trying to find creepy and failing.
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Funny you mention Doctor Who, voadam. I'm reading the RoW series right now, getting ready to run it, and every time the hut travels, all I can think of is the whirl, whirl sound the Tardis makes. I think Baba Yaga would make a better villian time lord (with her hut shaped tardis) than the master!
Those camoflage circuit's are notorious for getting stuck on a single configuration.
"My living space ship is disguised as a hut on two giant chicken legs with a skull lantern picket fence so as to be inconspicuous. Brilliant, right?"
I've incorporated a lot of fey timey-wimey stuff including having the party encounter a young Baba Yaga in the First World after gaining the Black Rider Mantle and the Ulfen PCs instigating the original invasion of the Land Linnorm Kings and another PC siring the original Jadwiga.
Having Baba Yaga show up in various times in different bodies with different personalities is a good running theme. "Isn't she supposed to be a tall and thin hag with bony legs, iron teeth and completely child-eating scary? Or is she a short fat ogress who is amused at mortals but secretly helps and rewards little girls? Those must only be exaggerated legends, she was an angry young human peasant woman witch when we met her."
I picked up on the "dark fairy tale" aspect immediately with the "Jan Brett childrens book"-style illustrations on the inside front and back covers...
For a selection of Russian folk tales in translation, try Arthur Ransome's "Old Peter's Russian Tales". IIRC, Amazon has a free Kindle version (although I'm not sure of the quality of that version).
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There is another thread already about music, so I am not going to advise any music here (just check out Russian composers), but I would like to add one inspiring book series to the list, which I hope is still in print:
C.J Cherryh:
- Rusalka
- Chernevog
- Yvgenie
This series perfectly captures the atmosphere of this campaign.
I am adding some fairy tales to the campaign, e.g. the adventure "Challenge of the fang" from "Tales of the old Margreve" (from Open Design/Kobold Games), which is a Russian/Slavic version of Little Red Riding Hood.
I am using this adventure in Waldsby, and the PCs can earn the rimepelt here (instead of just killing a winter wolf with two different eyes).