Critical Lit

The GM advice flows like leaking promethium, in a neo-Gygaxian tone that's as refreshing as it is informative. Which is good because this system is a lot to digest for players coming straight from the d20 mines. And a who's who of the Southern Coscarla Division of Hive Sibellus is a bleak lineup of cultists, narcogangers, and despondent hab workers with no clue of the real horrors lurking in the n...

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only pointed critique, an eternity of trenchant analysis, and the laughter of satirical excess. We're finally dipping our toes and other augmetics into RPGs other than Dungeons & Dragons. This time, it's the very first Warhammer 40K tabletop RPG, Dark Heresy 1st Edition, published by more companies than you might suspect. The starter adventure,...

Pour out a little Red Dragon Crush for all our mist connections. As we walk out of Barovia for good, we leave this land and this book changed, and we don't just mean the lidless third eye and hunger for bones, though those are nice too. In this episode: last words, Strahd's MBTI, biggest surprises, advice for new GMs, pie in the sky games, final takeaways. Support us on Patreon to hear monthly bon...

You had questions about Curse of Strahd, both thought-provoking and simply provocative. Some mechanical, some hypothetical, some satirical, even some heretical. And we have...opinions. Hot takes! Suggestions! Recommendations! Support us on Patreon to hear monthly bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/CriticalLit Contact us: Email: hugepitfilledwith200spikes@gmail.com Bluesky: @CriticalLit.bsky.s...

Is this sandbox too spooky? Parties looking for a less grim take on Barovia have a host of more heroic (and more linear) options. They can be used to spice up an individual encounter, build out a whole plot hook, or even run an entirely different campaign altogether. Plus plenty of official Ravenloft content has dropped in recent years. In this episode: Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, Ravenloft:...

Strahd gets knocked down, but he gets up again. And again. The "final" battle is a tricky needle to thread, but victory earns a literal Pandora's box of endings. In this episode: Final fight with Strahd, Epilogue, Strahd Prevails, Strahd Dies, Rahadin's Revenge, Sergei and Ireena, Escape from Barovia, Aftermath, Appendix A: Character Options, Haunted One, Gothic Trinkets, Appendix C: Treasures, To...

While Kiril's away, the pups will play! The pack really sinks their claws into each other this time, but the real question is which of the lucky young newcomers to the den will come out on top in this single elimination competition? In this episode: Chapter 15: Werewolf Den (Pack drama, Approaching the Den, Areas of the Den Z1-Z8, Cave Mouth, Guard Post, to the death, Wolf Den, Underground Spring,...

Visit Yester Hill, a planned community for retired berserkers with absolutely no secrets hidden beneath a thin layer of sod. Evil druids seek to unleash their blood-filled wood upon the world, and even Strahd himself comes here to pine among the pines. In this episode: Chapter 14: Yester Hill (Areas of the Hill Y1-Y5, an enormous map, Trail, Berserker Cairns, Druid's Circle, death from above, Wood...

The final vaults in the basement of the Amber Temple hold the best rewards in all of Barovia. If it's wrong to murder your loved one and drink their blood or sacrifice dozens of innocent souls in order to ensure your immortality, then I don't want to be right. You can even bring one person back from the dead, and isn't that worth it? In this episode: Chapter 13 (X33c-X42, Ghastly Vault, playing wi...

Deep within the Amber Temple, alone in the dark, lurks the most helpful lich in the multiverse. Play your cards right and there's free drinks and body modifications, too. You didn't need those eyeballs, right? In this episode: Chapter 13 (X18-X33b, Architect's Room, ewer trouble, West Shrine trap, Secret Alcove hijinks, Lich's Lair, becoming buddies with Exethanter, Preserved Library, Barovian wit...

It's back to Barovia for Chapter 13, and the Amber Temple is sending mixed messages. Does it want us to freeze to death? Burn to a crisp? Get possessed by loot? Maybe this adorably bespectacled jackal-faced creature can help us. Nope, just more fireballs. In this episode: Chapter 13 (The Amber Temple history, Extreme Cold, Areas of the Temple X1-X17, Temple Facade, stealing the statues, Temple of...

Our final look at the Caves of Chaos takes 17 man-turns to unpack. The cult fit is very Queen of Hearts and matches the canonically evil furnishings. But the real villain is in accounting. Who else could set up such an enormous slush fund for magic amulets? In this episode: Hobgoblin Lair, Torture Chamber/Playroom/Food Storage, Shunned Cavern, Owl Bear's Den, Bugbear Lair, Caves of the Minotaur, G...

Many yawning orifices await as the spelunking finally begins in earnest! The myriad tribes of the Caves of Chaos have complex social hierarchies, tight-knit family units, commerce, treaties, and their own vintners, but their deaths carry absolutely no moral weight. Exterminate at your leisure. But first, we traipse about the friendly wilderness and hunt nothing at all. In this episode: Adventures...

Dammit granite! If these walls could talk, they'd blush and tell you "murder hole" is not the preferred nomenclature. Gygax continues to wow us with his commitment to verisimilitude (of a sort), but where do all these armored men keep the bathrooms? Fortunately, this keep is at the top of the hill, not the bottom. Just don't ask who's feeding the snakes. In this episode: Rumor Table, Areas of the...

What if "Do as I say, not as I do" was a D&D module? In 1979 Gary Gygax wrote The Keep on the Borderlands, cribbing plenty of useful GM advice from TSR colleague Mike Carr. Prepare yourself, friends, to experience the full power of mine imagination, for I am the Dungeon Master. I speak eternities into existence, only truths fall from my lips. Oh and there's a big fort on a hill. Don't be mean to t...

Everything's vine down at the Wizard of Wines! Chapter 12 is the nexus of nearly every plot hook in this book, but the wine won't flow until this gemless, ravenless, farm-to-table homestead is restored to its former glory. Too bad it's knee-deep in stick monsters and crazed, teetotaling druids. Remember, they're not dirty because they're evil; they're evil because they're dirty. In this episode: C...

It's a Dance Dance Execution at the door of this wizard tower. The wagon nearby is as volatile as a meth lab, and werewolves wait to finish off any survivors. Plus, we take another look at Strahd's potential enemies. In this episode: Chapter 11 (Van Richten's Tower, Khazan's backstory and tomb, Approaching the Tower, Khazan’s Spell Drain, Area's of the Tower V1-V7, Ezmeralda's Wagon, booby trap, d...

Sure, Strahd had one mother, but what about second mother? In Chapter 10, Baba Lysaga is a boy-mom wannabe, with a parasocial fixation on our titular vamp. To impress him, she wages a never-ending blood feud against Barovia's goat and raven populations. Adventurers are another matter. In this episode: Chapter 10 (The Ruins of Berez, the sad tale of Marina, Baba Lysaga backstory, Approaching the Ru...

For want of a dress, Krezk was lost. The Abbot gets serious about playing dress-up, Ireena takes a dive, fine feathered fiends guard the pass, and the roc just has the munchies. But the true villain, of course, is Sangzor, the gruffest goat on the mountain. In this episode: the second half of Chapter 8 and all of Chapter 9 (Areas of the Abbey S20-S24, Special Events, Something Old, Something New,...

Mutual aid! In my D&D? The Krezkites share everything: food, labor, and a growing horror at the screams emanating from the Abbey above. The empty graves strewn about town are almost as problematic as the portrayal of the people labeled "mongrelfolk" in this book. In this episode: the first half of Chapter 8 (The Village of Krezk, approaching Krezk first, Areas of Krezk S1-S5, Burgomaster Dmitri Kr...

Strahd may have tried to bury these gays, but they refused to stay down. In Chapter 7 we meet a goodly order of knights and their defeated dragon lord. What starts off as a side quest to lay unquiet dead to rest soon becomes a tragic love story that reaches across the centuries and literally brings light to this forsaken land. In this episode: Chapter 7 (Argynvostholt, The Order of the Silver Drag...

Dream Pastries™ are Pediatrically Delicious! Uhh, Tragically Suspicious? Chapter 6 of Curse of Strahd is a bigger deal than its page count lets on. Looks can be deceiving, but the hags don't bother with all that. What you see is what you get, and that's a whole lot of trouble. In this episode: Chapter 6 (Old Bonegrinder, night hags, hag covens, Areas O1 - O4, The Megaliths). Support us on Patreon...

Consider us Schick-pilled. We wrap up both our holiday hiatus and the 1979 TSR adventure White Plume Mountain in surprisingly high spirits: arms adorned with shiny new weapons, blood infected with instant super-tetanus, and bellies full of crab forearms. In this episode: Rooms 5-27, origin of I6 Ravenloft, Wave, Whelm, Blackrazor, just about the biggest giant crab anyone's ever seen, End Note, bac...

It's an old school holiday hiatus! We're tackling the first half of S2, the 1979 TSR adventure White Plume Mountain, written exactly one time (to his eternal chagrin) by Lawrence Schick. In this episode: publication history, front cover, map, Introduction, Dungeon Features, Wandering Monsters, Rooms 1-4. Support us on Patreon to hear monthly bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/CriticalLit Cont...

As we wrap up Chapter 5, all is not well in Vallaki! Never mind the devil cult hobbyists or the rampaging tiger. The coffin maker has six secrets buried in the attic, and they're waiting for a chance to feast. In this episode: The second half of Chapter 5 (Wachterhaus, Arasek Stockyard, Rictavio, Coffin Maker's Shop, Blinsky Toys, Town Square, Vistani Camp, Kasimir Velikov, Festival of the Blazing...