Curse of Radiance Chapter 3, Episode 3 - Torunn Hates the Sewers

It's another Flashback episode!

In this week's Curse of Radiance, the party continues on through the ancient crypt beneath the Cracked Crown tavern in Phlan. They've got an ominous riddle instructing them along their way, and have to wade through waist-deep muck in order to find the Guardian's Guardian in their search for two keys needed to get through the dungeon. Can they find what they're looking for, or are they going to face the long shadow of defeat?

I mentioned in the disclaimer at the start of this episode that I learned an important lesson about dungeon crawls when making these episodes; another lesson that goes hand-in-hand just has to do with pacing. I'm not going to give myself too much crap since this was my first real outing into the Actual Play space, but the pacing of this adventure leaves a LOT to be desired. (When I first wrote this adventure, I really expected it to be over in one session, two tops. It ended up being four sessions just for the dungeon, let alone the aftermath.) So if nothing else I hope listeners might be able to see how different this adventure is from what the podcast will eventually become; I really learned to pace things better as we went. Or, at least, that's what I hope people will think!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one, because we've got a couple more like it coming up!

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Chapter 3, Episode 3: Prologue - Bones

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Curse of Radiance is a member of the Uncharted North podcast network. For more of their shows, check them out at UnchartedNorth.ca! 

Curse of Radiance Chapter 3, Episode 2 - Titles Be Damned

We're taking a brief detour, back to the beginning: when the three adventurers met, before being branded with cursed tattoos, in a town called Phlan. Come join Torunn, Fennec, and Ildana as they delve into an unearthed crypt and receive ominous warnings of the dangers lurking behind every corner!

It's already explained in the disclaimer at the beginning of the episode, but in case you haven't listened yet, I'll briefly explain it here: this episode (the next five episodes, actually) is a little bit of a diversion from the plot. These next few episodes were actually recorded before the podcast began (before the party woke up in Tilverton with five unwanted tattoos), as a little test/practice before we got into the campaign proper. It's mostly unrelated from the story so far, but now that I've found a good opportunity to slot these episodes into the main plot of the show, expect elements from these to show up later on!

It definitely felt risky including these episodes in the main show (especially when placed after a plot-significant cliffhanger like at the end of last week's episode) but I think it'll pay off in the end. So please bear with me, stick with us for a few more episodes, and soon enough the party will be right back on track and you'll all be better for it!

Oh, one more thing: this episode marks the unveiling of what was originally going to be the theme music for the whole podcast- a piano rendition of the title music from the computer game Curse of the Azure Bonds (as well as its predecessor, Pool of Radiance). We didn't use this music at first because we weren't sure who owned the rights and obviously hadn't gotten permission to use it- but there have been some recent developments on that front (expect some sort of related announcement in future weeks)! The music as you're hearing it was arranged and performed by Jay's sister Erin, based on the original music composed by Dave Warhol. (Some day I'll get around to finishing the music credits page on here, so expect some links whenever that day comes.) We're using this new (old?) theme music for these five prologue episodes, but expect the music to return to the regular theme after that.

Thanks for listening, and please let us know what you think!

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Chapter 3, Episode 2: Prologue - Ghouls

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Curse of Radiance is a member of the Uncharted North podcast network. For more of their shows, check them out at UnchartedNorth.ca! 

Curse of Radiance Chapter 3, Episode 1 - Gabe Does a Passable Accent

And a new chapter begins!

In this week's episode, the party leaves Battledale on their way to their next destination. But along the way, they take a detour towards Shadowdale- a town famous for the adventurers that frequent it, as well as the Archmage Elminster, whom the party hopes to entreat for aid dealing with their cursed tattoos. Once there they stay at a colorful inn and learn about an artifact of Lathander- but then a ghost and a goatherd point Fennec towards an unlikely reunion with someone from his past, and it seems the plot has begun to thicken...

This was an interesting episode to make, and listening back to it (a year and a half after it was recorded) I'm impressed with all of the little details and easter eggs I managed to sneak in here, both referencing other things in Forgotten Realms lore as well as other things that are coming up later in the campaign. (There's even a tiny easter egg I hid in here that ties back to a previous iteration of this campaign, that we recorded three years ago and then scrapped before I started over with the current group of players, that I don't think anybody will ever notice. But it's there for me.) 

This episode is likely to be a bit confusing for listeners (which will... hopefully start to make sense as the next few episodes roll out) but I knew that going in. I'll explain a bit more next week.

Anyway, thanks for listening, and we'll see how it goes!

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Chapter 3, Episode 1: The Old Skull Inn

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Curse of Radiance is a member of the Uncharted North podcast network. For more of their shows, check them out at UnchartedNorth.ca! 

Curse of Radiance Chapter 2, Episode 7 - Good Adventurers Use Every Part of the Dragon

Hello everybody!

In this week's episode of Curse of Radiance, the party has defeated Dracandros the Mad and removed the second of their tattoos. But this curse is still weighing heavily on Torunn, who seeks help from the local priest Mumford & Sons Mumfrey Mimly for guidance. Fennec studies the remnants of Dracandros' destroyed helmet, as well as the mad wizard's journals. Ildana gets a sweet cloak. And, most importantly, they all level up!

This was a fun episode to make, and utilized some things we hadn't done before (like Torunn's dream sequence). One thing I really liked about this campaign is that the players were really in control of where they went for each story arc- and of course, they always went in the direction I didn't expect them to. But that's D&D for you!

Thanks for listening, and see you next week!

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Chapter 2, Episode 7: The Light on the Horizon

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Curse of Radiance is a member of the Uncharted North podcast network. For more of their shows, check them out at UnchartedNorth.ca!