Episode 17: Home Alone

The Wonderful World of Darklords

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 perfect darklord trapped in a hell of his own creation--and ready to put your PCs in that hell, too. Topics discussed include:

• How to get your PCs to go into Kevin's little funhouse so they get all tore up, even though they presumably won't be tempted by promises of stereos, VCRs, and toys;
• Suggestions for translating Kevin's sadistic traps into their equally sadistic D&D equivalents (with some inspiration from the master of "up yours" traps, Gary Gygax);
• Alternate versions of Kevin and his house with a variety of different tones, from "heartwarming holiday special about family" to "cathartic beatdown of a spoiled, hateful man-child;"
• The challenges of adapting a film where the wish-fulfillment power fantasy character is the darklord and the hapless victims are the PCs;
• And more!

The full writeup for the McElminster house is available for free on DM's Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/461188/The-McElminster-House-A-Ravenloft-Domain-of-Dread?affiliate_id=241770

The official WotC Home Alone-inspired stream we mentioned is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DssYPINaF9E&t=2s

Book Club of Dread absolutely will not be ready December 20th (very optimistic view of your editing powers there, Past Rachel), but we're going to move heaven and earth to make sure it's out by Epiphany so the Christmas Bellringer is still appropriate. For the Christmas Bellringer, you want roughly equal parts ginger beer and orange juice OR roughly equal parts gin, ginger beer, and orange juice; adjust the proportions to taste. Please, we beg you, go slow if you add the gin. The ginger beer will hide the flavor of the gin, you will forget you aren't drinking a mocktail, and your bell will get rung if you pour yourself a big ol' glass with the intention of nursing it over a couple hours. This stuff makes Hocus Pocus Punch look like chocolate milk.

All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licensed through https://musopen.org:

Chopin Nocturne in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9 No.1 (main theme), performed by Eduardo Vinuela

Chopin Etude Op. 25, No. 12 in C Minor: “Ocean” (darklord theme), performed by Edward Neeman

Chopin Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55 No. 1 (land theme), performed by Luke Faulkner

Rachmaninoff Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3 - 2. Prélude in C sharp minor (Dread Possibilities), performed by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Chopin Nocturne in E Minor, Op. 72 No. 1 (parting thoughts), performed by Luke Faulkner

Dialog for Yensid was written by Azalin Rex himself: http://www.tumblr.com/darklordazalin

The Wonderful World of Darklords logo was designed by Halite Jones, whom you can find on Tumblr and Instagram: https://www.tumblr.com/halite-jones and http://www.instagram.com/insta_halite

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