No Game Last Night

 

 

 

 No Game Last Night

One of the players was out due to work, so we didn't play the weekly Ox Gives Way to Tiger, Etc last night.  I think we'll be back at it next Sunday night.

If you like Ravenloft adventures, maybe you would like to check out my Substack, where I am posting a Ravenloft+Shadowdark+Solodark solo game video every once in awhile.  I call this mash-up Sololoft, and it has been a fun challenge to start working in the video medium.  Several sessions are posted and a new one will release this Saturday, September 5th.

We squeaked Ctyri Ctvrt Session #40 in this morning.  Notes for Session #39 will be on the Substack Wednesday.  If you don't want to visit the Substack, the Session #39 notes will be posted Friday here on the blogger site.

 

Ox --->Tiger --->Rabbit --->Dragon --->Snake --->Horse Campaign Session #234

Vana Boritsi arrives at the Ritter Garden Party.

 

 

 

Session 234- A Return to Barovia Part 84; Borca 11

8/23/2026

• At the Ritter Estate, the Summer Garden Party guests have arrived 

  and the day’s festivities begin with a game of croquet.

• Teams are picked and the game begins.  Team Rams is scattered 

  over 7 croquet teams and able to ask questions of the other guests 

  as the game proceeds.

• Team 1 Tim, Mimsy Ritter, Aurek and Natalia Nuikin

• Tim asked his team questions regarding the 

  Vorpal Sword, Lord Amthor Ocrotire, and what it was 

  like for Natalia to be imprisoned in the statuette.

• Team 2 Victor, Darby Nuikin, Oscar and Roxanne Pretorius

• Team 3 The Abbot, Lemmy Piechota, Barb and Bryce Ivliskova

• Team 4 Elise, Brittany Ivliskova, Dobsen and Patara Olzanik

• Team 5 Shelby, Zorisia Nobriskov, Eckhart Nobriskov, and 

  Carlo Tatenna

• Shelby asks her team who their Darklord is, who the 

  unlikely couple is (Vana and Bertie Tatenna).

• Team 6 Fecus, Tolashara Eris, Antwerp Ocrotire, and 

  Mable Boritsi

• Fecus asks who he should watch out for in Borca, 

  the Noble Family Drama(s), and what their favorite 

  parts of Summer Garden Party are.

• Team 7 Gugula, Anders Olzanik, Nicole Piechota, and 

  Bertie Tatenna

• Gugula asks her team if Vana Boritsi is bad, 

  general gossip, the Ivliskova family, and if there is 

  tension between the 2 Darklords.

• Gugula’s team and Elise’s team tied for 1st place.  Victor’s team loses 

  and 2 of his team mates, Oscar and Roxanne Pretorius, give him a 

  hard time about that.

• After croquet, lunch is served, and then the string quartet begins 

  playing and the dancing begins.

• Vana Boritsi’s carriage arrives during the afternoon of dancing.  She 

  joins the Summer Garden Party and introduces herself to Team Rams, 

  welcoming them to Borca.  She’s excited for them to be here during 

  Summer Garden Party Series.  She singles Fecus out for a dance 

  later, due to his gentlemanly behaviour.

• Gugula receives the “Wore It Best” sash that is always awarded at the 

  Ritter Garden Party.

• The dancing resumes and Vana latches on to Lemmy Piechota, a 

  young cavalier who seems to be her favorite at the moment.  After 

  several dances with him, she dances with several other cavaliers and 

  then takes a dance with Fecus.

• The party ends and the majority of guests depart in their carriages.

• Team Rams and the string quartet spend the night at the Ritter Estate.  

  The first 2 watches are uneventful for Fecus and Gugula, but Elise sits 

  the last watch and is attacked.

• The attacker is an Ermordenung that poisons her to incapacity.  

  Gugula is the first to respond and fights back.  A round later Shelby 

  arrives.  The 2 of them are able to kill the assassin.

• The Abbot heals Elise.

• In the morning, Team Rams decide it’s time to go do city stuff between 

  now and the next garden party.  They will spend a few days in 

  Levkarest before attending the Ivliskova Estate Summer Garden Party.

• Ermordenung killed = 1800 XP

• Tim and Fecus each receive 600 XP

• Gugula and Shelby each receive 300 XP

Pisces Lunar Eclipse, Who Dis?

 

 

 

Pisces Lunar Eclipse, Who Dis?

The imagery that came to mind for this lunation is a seashell or clamshell phone in the 

hands of a mermaid.  It’s a new phone and she’s wondering who could possibly have the 

number and be calling her.  She doesn’t normally answer and her voicemail box is always 

full so you can’t leave a message.

Messages written in sand below the line of surf might be washed away before the thought 

is completed.

This must be a slippery one for me due to my South Node in Pisces.  I have Aries Rising, 

making Pisces my 12th house in the whole sign house system.  I can’t remember where 

exactly the 12th house begins in my chart in the Placidus house system, but that 

South Node is a late degree, so I think it’s in there, the 12th house.  

A misty light rain falls outside, and I’ve been melancholy since yesterday (Friday).  

At some point today, we transition from Leo season to Virgo season.  The Lion passes 

his baton to the Virgin Accountant.  She’s ready to see the harvest’s yield, all counted, 

labeled, and stored properly.

Meanwhile, on Thursday the 27th of August, the Siren will answer her new seashell phone, 

“Who Dis?”  And the caller will have forgotten.  They don’t know why they’re calling, 

they don’t know who they are, maybe it’s because their pet hermit crab isn’t doing well?

Yeah.  This one feels weird already folks.

 

Here is the link to my Substack. 

70 Days Until Halloween 2026!

 

 

 

Haunted Houses of Ravenloft

This is a little exploration into some of the Ravenloft adventure sites that you might adapt 

to a Halloween One Shot or Short Campaign.  It isn’t comprehensive; across all of the 

editions there are probably a number of great locations for a Halloween One Shot or 

Short Campaign.  I myself have run Castle Ravenloft, House of Lament, and Old 

Bonegrinder.  I will refer you to a couple of other articles for Castle Ravenloft, but I think I 

have enough to say about House of Lament and Old Bonegrinder to give them their own 

write-ups later.  Lord Donskoy’s Keep is from one of the Ravenloft novels and I’m thinking 

of adapting that location into an adventuring location.

1. Castle Ravenloft.  The obvious because it was the first.  Pick your version/edition.  

   I6 Ravenloft, the 5e version in Curse of Strahd, or one of the versions from the 

   2e-4e editions.  Two veteran DMs, Mike Shea and James Introcaso, each have a 

   blog article giving advice on how to make this work as a “Halloween One-Shot”.  

   Here are links to their articles:  

https://worldbuilderblog.me/tag/ravenloft/

https://slyflourish.com/running_ravenloft.html

2. House of Lament.  The version I have is in the 5e Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, 

   but a quick google search told me this existed in a supplement in 2e.  I have recently 

   folded this adventure into my wider Domains of Dread arc and my players said they 

   really liked it.  I didn’t change much about the House and its ghostly inhabitants, but 

   I did re-frame the beginning to insert it into my campaign.  Part of the re-frame was 

   swapping out the friendly NPCs from the suggested assortment to some I had 

   already chosen and tying their motivations to the House of Lament situation.

3. Death House.  WoTC 5e might have sold this to you twice if you have both 

   Curse of Strahd and Vecna Eve of Ruin.  It’s intended as an entry level adventure in 

   Curse of Strahd; as a chapter in Vecna Eve of Ruin, the character level suggested is 

   14.  I haven’t run this at either tier of play, but I’m curious to try it.

4. Old Bonegrinder.  Technically not a house, but does anyone else think this is a 

   great adventure site?  I’ve run this in my Curse of Strahd arc and this was another hit 

   with my players.  The PCs saved the children, but the Hags escaped and popped up 

   later in the campaign.

5. Lord Donskoy’s Keep.  This is the setting of the Ravenloft novel, To Sleep with Evil.  

   I’m in the middle of reading the novel and I think this location would be fun to adapt 

   to an adventuring site.  Toad familiars for the win!

So dear readers, what are your favorite candidates for a Halloween One-Shot or Short 

Campaign?

Ox --->Tiger --->Rabbit --->Dragon --->Snake --->Horse Campaign Session #233

 

Guests arrive during breakfast at the Ritter Estate.

Session 233- A Return to Barovia Part 83; Borca 10

8/16/2026

• Team Rams’ tour of Ritter Estate by the stable boy Mickey 

  ends in the afternoon.

• They have a quick dinner with Mimsy and Franco who both 

  have more sewing to do; Mimsy has found her fabric for her 

  own dress and is eager to complete it.  Franco has taken on 

  another project that needs to be completed before the garden 

  party tomorrow.

• Mimsy and Team Rams learn Dmitri has returned to 

  Nuikin Estate, presumably for family reasons.  Mimsy is 

  visibly disappointed.

• Franco tells Team Rams they may entertain themselves this 

  evening while he and Mimsy continue to finish their sewing 

  projects.

• Franco’s suggestion for entertainment is for Team Rams to 

  visit his library/music room where a string quartet is practicing 

  for tomorrow’s party.  Otherwise, they are free to explore the 

  property, now that they have had a tour from Mickey.

• Team Rams have a few music lovers who decide to visit the 

  library and watch the string quartet.  Tim, Victor, The Abbot, 

  and Elise arrive just as the string quartet are tuning up.  The 

  musicians introduce themselves and one happens to be a 

  cousin of Dmitri; she’s wondering where he went because she 

  thought he was traveling with Team Rams.  She jokes about 

  his avoidance of Summer Garden Party Series in general and 

  Vana Boritsi specifically.

• The other 3 members of Team Rams (Gugula, Shelby, and Fecus) 

  poke around outside in the groundkeeper’s sheds.  Pavilion tents 

  have been erected since their garden tour earlier in the day.  

  Their explorations move inside.  They find a “secret” staircase 

  that leads from the portrait gallery to the second floor.  They 

  then visit the kitchen, where cook is finishing up her evening 

  chores.  She feeds them leftover chicken pot pies and 

  strawberry turnovers.  She hints that Franco is working on a 

  gown for Vana Boritsi, who is rumored to be attending the 

  Ritter Garden Party tomorrow night.  They visit the wine cellar, 

  but find nothing of interest.  When they come back up to the 

  kitchen, Mimsy is stuffing her face with strawberry turnovers in 

  her half-finished dress.  She finishes and returns to her room to 

  finish her dress.

• The members of Team Rams watching the string quartet learn 

  some bits of gossip about Mimsy and her cohort of other 

  debutantes and cavaliers (young unmarried men and women).  

  They hear some of the names of other guests who are arriving 

  tomorrow.

• The sneaky 3 explore more of the mansion, finding Charlie 

  Ritter’s old bedroom and workshop.

• Team Rams reunite after the string quartet finishes their 

  practice session.  Watches are set.  Gugula tries her clothes 

  on again during her watch, otherwise no night time encounters 

  happen.

• In the morning, Team Rams find a more crowded dining room 

  for breakfast, as the musicians are at the table.  In the middle 

  of breakfast several guests arrive.  Some are already known to 

  Team Rams: Barb and Bryce Ivliskova along with Oscar and 

  Roxanne Pretorius were “assisted” by Team Rams in defeating 

  a group of thugs on the road the other day.  The Ivliskova’s also 

  include Brittany, another of the season’s debutantes and a dear 

  friend of Mimsy.  We end the session with the friendly faces of 

  Aurek and Natalia Nuikin arriving during breakfast.