Watch Well Games #49
Record of Lodoss War: Episode 7. Pocket Quest 2025: Dreams and Nightmares.
Welcome to our RPG community newsletter!
Hi. I’m K.J.
Today:
CJ Weigel returns with his seventh episode analysis for Record of Lodoss War.
Programming change: For episodes 8-13, CJ will be posting future analyses over on his Patreon, so be sure to subscribe.
PocketQuest 2025. How do I feel about this?
Want to connect more with community? I post Notes every 3-4 days to bring us together and share ideas. I hope you’ll join in the conversation.
📖Read
I’m not a Trekkie, but I’m working my way through yet another John Scalzi book. This time: Redshirts.
What book are you enjoying right now?
✏️Record of Lodoss War - Episode 7: The War of Heroes
Special guest writer CJ Weigel
From Crunchyroll:
Drawn by trickery into an all-out battle, the forces of Lodoss and Marmo collide. While Parn and Ashram cross blades, old friends Fahn and Beld face off once and for all, turning the tides of power.
Now that we’ve crossed the mid-way point, the series is starting to get pretty metal. The battle lines are drawn, the PCs have a clear idea of who their enemies are, and things start to get a lot worse. As usual, check out my Patreon for a free one-page large-scale battle inspired by the episode. Let’s dive in!
We start out with some establishing scenes, as Parn, Woodchuck, and Deedlit ride with the Holy Knights to battle. King Kashue and Prince Jester battle against the previous episode’s ambush in a misty valley, and Karla watches the proceedings from a crystal ball, later declaring that “Lodoss will never be united or conquered.” Ashram calmly watches the Holy Knights enter the pass where Kashue is defending himself, clearly setting up a track for King Fahn; a nameless knight reminds the PCs of the personal stakes, as he shows off a locket given to him by his son.
Finally, the action kicks into gear. Parn gets a duel with Ashram, against whom he is thoroughly outclassed; Deedlit tries to help, but Pirotess steps in to draw her away, establishing her character’s foil. Fahn calls for Beld to face him, and the dramatic duel between law and chaos begins! This last bit feels a bit awkward; I don’t care for scenes where two characters battle it out while everyone else watches from the sidelines. It can sometimes be dramatic, but here it just feels like the animation budget was running out. But it does set up some really cool scenes!
First off, the sage Wort reaches out to Parn with magic, and gives us a little exposition dump / quest hook. I thought it was fascinating how Wort’s magic projects an image of his entire castle, not just the sage himself; it feels like it drives home the idea that a well-established magic user is inextricably tied to their abode, which helps to explain why they don’t step in and fix things themselves. Returning to the duel, it looks like a generic ending - at first. Both combatants fall, then Beld stands victorious over his old friend. The forces of chaos have won! Or so it seems, until a spear falls from the heavens, transfixing the dark emperor to the ground; then he’s struck by lightning, apparently just for good measure. Karla doesn’t take chances!
With one threat removed from the narrative, the show wastes no time establishing a new one; five bolts of lightning streak across the sky, striking the lairs of five dragons across Lodoss and waking them. One of them we can recognize as the temptress calling out to Wagnard; another is the red dragon of Fire Dragon Mountain alluded to earlier in the series. So many more threats for the party to sort out, and they haven’t even dealt with Karla or Ashram yet!
Make it weird. This is going to look different at every table, but even in a simple, down-to-earth campaign it can be cool to go completely over the top. A spear falling from the sky, transfixing the BBEG before he’s struck by lightning? More lightning splitting across the sky, waking dragons across the land? That’s pretty metal, and works to highlight the power gulf between the PCs and their eventual goals.
Make it personal. Almost a counterpoint to the above, try to connect the larger themes of your campaign to specific NPCs, even if they’re one-scene throwaways. A nameless knight shows off the locket given to him by his son before riding into battle; in the aftermath, he’s found dead, locket clutched in hand. Weird can make a campaign feel awesome; personal can make a campaign feel emotional.
Keep the pressure on. For a long-term campaign, the party should always have at least two (I prefer three) antagonists challenging them. This gives them options about how they want to play the game, and maintains a constant narrative pressure. It also helps you, the GM, by giving you a larger grab-bag of ideas to pull from when you need encounters. If one of your antagonists falls, introduce a new enemy (or five).
🎨Making…Maybe?
I’m brainstorming on my PocketQuest 2025 entry. This year’s theme(s) is “Dreams and Nightmares.”
Taking part in PocketQuest the last two years was…interesting. Both times, the *insert scatological reference here* hit the fan IRL, and both times I walked away feeling pretty discouraged. (Note: The past two PocketQuests occurred at different times of the year and were both held for different lengths of time. So the time of year had nothing to do with the chaos.) “Pocket” and “game jam” both suggest that this “make a game” experience will be something small and light-weight. That was not true either time for me. It was challenging and exhausting.
Maybe that’s the game designer’s life, which is why I posted this Note at the end of last year.
It may seem like I’m complaining. I’m not. One thing I hope to offer you, dear reader, is insight. Taking a hobby you’ve enjoyed for years and trying to fulfill the idea many of us have had (you know the one - the whole “Maybe I should publish this homebrew game because my players, who are also my friends, really enjoy it! Heck, I might even make money doing this!”) is far more difficult than a lot of us realize going in.
If you’d like to know how it feels to try and create a game in a short amount of time with strict parameters, then check out my design essays for PQ 2024 here and here, as well as my first year’s experience here.
In conclusion, if you enjoy making game content, go for it. Know that life will serve up plenty of lemons whether you’re creating or not, so have a few extra recipes ready besides just that one for lemonade in your back pocket.
💡Random/Just Life
For several years, I’ve studied linguistics and other languages. German is probably my favorite language because of how I initially discovered it. First, I had a cool uncle who would listen to German lessons on vinyl records (when not listening to ultra-cool music, which I thank him for introducing me to). I had never heard another language before (I was five or six years old). Within the same span of time, I found a photo album partially filled with my parents’ pictures and keepsakes from their time living in Germany.
At the end of last year, I gifted myself with a lifetime membership for Babbel. I’m enjoying using this as a tool to continue learning languages - primarily German.
What have you set out to learn this year?
That’s a wrap. Remember:
Newsletters are free.
Our 50th newsletter is scheduled for Friday, March 27th.
Less than 50% of all languages have a written form (these are known as oral languages).
Tips appreciated.
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Great stuff as usual. I agree that having time limits and set parameters don't make it any easier. Good luck with the German language. I'm looking forward to your 50th newsletter. Best wishes