The Wonderful World of Darklords

In which D tries to find the pool of the Forest Spirit on her own. Good luck with that, D! The in-character fiction from the episode without the in-depth out-of-character discussion of the domain. Content Advisory for D's Journal (details on content advisories can be found on  Facebook,   Tumblr , and  Patreon ) Death (moderate) All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are...

Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords! In the spirit of April Fool's Day, we're once again taking a break from Disney movies for this month's episode (yes, we know Disney distributed the Ghiblis for a while, but we operate under strict Calvinball rules in which Home Alone can be a regular episode but Princess Mononoke can't). There's so much nightmare fuel in Princess Mononok...

Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords! In this episode, we tackle Disney's most terrifying setting to date, as explored in a horror movie that was absolutely not a soulless cash grab: the Hundred Acre Wood. Topics discussed include: The surprising connections between Winnie the Pooh, a darklord ruled by his basest appetites, and another darklord from a recent episode; The rich narrative poss...

In which we learn one of the non-Warlock cantrips D picked up with Pact of the Tome and what it looks like when it crits. The in-character fiction from the episode without the in-depth out-of-character discussion of the domain. Content Advisory for D's Journal (details on content advisories can be found on  Facebook,   Tumblr , and  Patreon ) Body horror (major), vomit (moderate), blood (moder...

Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords! While superheroes and D&D are staples of geek culture, they don't necessarily go together; the occasional Sorcerer Supreme notwithstanding, superheroes are more associated with sci-fi than high fantasy. Luckily, not only is there a D&D setting that lets us embrace the technowizardry of Big Hero 6 without throwing all the fantasy tropes out the w...

In which D becomes apocalyptically cross. The in-character fiction from the episode without the in-depth out-of-character discussion of the domain. Content Advisory for D's Journal (details on content advisories can be found on  Facebook,   Tumblr , and  Patreon ) Mind control (major) All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licensed through  https://musopen.org : Chopi...

On a Disney podcast, dear, Why is there live theater here? Why this Broadway musical? It ain't right, and it ain't natural. Listener, it's Hadestown. Regardless of how long anyone was gone and how lonesome we were or weren't, we couldn't resist such a perfect darklord and domain--especially since we're just coming off another domain with Hades as a darklord. Topics discusse...

In which D has strong opinions about Hades. The in-character fiction from the episode without the in-depth out-of-character discussion of the domain. Content Advisory for D's Journal (details on content advisories can be found on  Facebook,   Tumblr , and  Patreon ) Fire (moderate) All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licensed through  https://musopen.org : Chopin N...

Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords! In this episode, we're going from talking tigers to literal freaking gods with what might be our most powerful darklord to date: Hades. (We don't know whether we'd back Hades, Elsa, or Maleficent in a fight, and we don't want to be anywhere in a hundred-mile radius if that ever happens.) Making the god of the underworld a darklord was a tric...

In which D wishes she had the secret of man's red fire. The in-character fiction from the episode without the in-depth out-of-character discussion of the domain. Content Advisory for D's Journal (details on content advisories can be found on  Facebook,   Tumblr , and  Patreon ) Corpses (major), death (major), mind control (minor) All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and...

Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords! Second edition already did a Jungle Book-inspired domain with the Wildlands, but it didn't make the jump into 5e and it had some key differences from its source material, which means that this movie is as ripe for picking as a pawpaw or a prickly pear (as opposed to classic Disney movies that are already covered in 5e by certain Dementlieus we can name)...

Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords! Well, a sign pointing you toward Wonderful World of Darklords, anyway. As mentioned in our Home Alone episode, the Tower of Doom episode of Book Club of Dread was so ear-scorchingly filthy that we can't stand to have it appear on our main feed where some new listener might find it and think that's what we're all about, so we're making the st...

In which D yearns to snap off Kevin's cojones and boil them in motor oil. The in-character fiction from the episode without the in-depth out-of-character discussion of the domain. Content Advisory for D's Journal (details on content advisories can be found on  Facebook,   Tumblr , and  Patreon ) Mind control (moderate) All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licens...

Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords, ya filthy animal! While it's not animated, Home Alone is technically Disney now that they've bought 20th Century Fox (and let's face it, we're eventually doing Hocus Pocus and Haunted Mansion, so "not animated" isn't a dealbreaker). What's more, in a world where a magical wish really can make your family disappear, Kevin is a...

In which D gets snarkier than she's been all year The in-character fiction from the episode without the in-depth out-of-character discussion of the domain. Content Advisory for D's Journal (details on content advisories can be found on  Facebook,   Tumblr , and  Patreon ) Child endangerment (moderate), corpses (minor) All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are license...

CONTENT ADVISORY: The in-character fiction for this episode involves children being held hostage and threatened with harm. They escape completely unharmed, but please proceed with caution if images from current events are fresh in your mind. (We're so sorry! We wanted something that connected to D's back story and didn't make the connection.) Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords! In...

D tries to send Yensid the most expensive and least useful gift she can buy. The in-character fiction from the episode without the in-depth out-of-character discussion of the domain. All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licensed through  https://musopen.org : Arabian Dance, from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite , via the European Archive Dialog for Yensid was written...

Happy Halloween, and welcome to the Peddler's Tales! Today, in honor of the holiday, we present the greatest horror we have ever faced for this podcast: Home on the Range. Don't worry, you don't have to watch the movie to listen to the episode. In fact, we beg you not to. Kris Newton joins us to explain his bizarre fixation with Alameda Slim (the only good part of this godawful movie)...

In which D either gets a mystical vision or goes on a wild goose chase. The in-character fiction from the episode without the in-depth out-of-character discussion of the domain. Content Advisory for D's Journal (details on content advisories can be found on  Facebook,   Tumblr , and  Patreon ) Familial abuse (moderate) All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licensed t...

Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords! Since we release on the 13th of each month, our Coco episode was either going to be early or fashionably late for Day of the Dead, and we decided on early. Ernesto de la Cruz is a phenomenal darklord, and you can't go wrong with skeletons for a domain aesthetic, but getting the PCs to the Land of the Dead without an elaborate setup involving the theft o...

In which D...IS...A...TOY! The in-character fiction from the episode without the in-depth out-of-character discussion of the domain. Content Advisory for D's Journal (details on content advisories can be found on  Facebook,   Tumblr , and  Patreon ) Mind control (major), body horror (moderate) All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licensed through  https://musopen.or...

Welcome back to Wonderful World of Darklords! Our summer hiatus has ended, and we're coming back with a franchise that was our white whale for months: the Toy Story trilogy. (Yes, trilogy. We're so glad they didn't make any more movies after Toy Story 3, the perfect ending to the series, la la la we can't hear you.) Lotso is a perfect darklord in so many ways, but how can the PCs i...

The first of our Peddler's Tales side series, in which D learns about Mist Wanderers who can't support an entire domain (because Cruella is living her best life). The in-character fiction from the episode without the in-depth out-of-character discussion of the domain. All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licensed through  https://musopen.org : Arabian Dance, fro...

Welcome to Part Two of the Wonderful World of Darklords' Dog Days of Summer! Tom and Rachel have finally finished their summer travel and will be returning to regular episodes next month, but for now, we're experimenting with a bonus episode format proposed by the incomparable Kris Newton: The Peddler's Tales, in which D learns about various Mist Travelers who are beloved characters bu...

Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords' Dog Days of Summer! Tom and Rachel have just finished driving thirty hours in the span of two weeks and their summer travel isn't done yet, so in lieu of regular episodes, we're going to be airing bonus episodes in July and August. Luckily, that gives us the chance to premier the long-awaited Book Club of Dread! If you thought that Hocus Pocus 2...