How Critical Role’s Matt Mercer Helped Flesh Out Spenser And Hall’s New Game

Spenser Starke and Rowan Hall made an intricately fleshed-out world for players to explore. There’s obviously a supernatural element, but the game takes place in a world similar to the turn-of-the-century United States. Certain technologies and political stratifications resemble our own world, even though it’s entirely fictional. And Starke and Hall were just so happy to watch people want to see what they could do within this new realm. This included an examination of the Last Great War, which is basically the game’s analog for World War I. Starke explained, “Everybody dove into the Last Great War. It was starting with Brennan [Lee Mulligan], who chose to be a soldier, and then from there, it cascaded that everybody else was related to the war in some way as well.”

Such gameplays truly influenced the finished product, as they were in the middle of filling out the lore as the games transpired. They’d consult with what they had just witnessed, and Starke continued, “We’d take what we learned from the show that night and make sure that we’re continually integrating. There’s pieces from the show in the book that are there simply because I was in the middle of it as we were writing it.”

The “Critical Role” games are a good starting point for anyone interested in playing “Candela Obscura” — not everything that’s in the rulebook is there, but the basic pieces exist. The gameplays not only show a roadmap for how to get started with your own group, but you may also gain a greater appreciation of the finer notes of the book.

“Candela Obscura” is available from Darrington Press starting November 14 with standard and limited edition hardcovers.

Spenser Starke and Rowan Hall made an intricately fleshed-out world for players to explore. There’s obviously a supernatural element, but the game takes place in a world similar to the turn-of-the-century United States. Certain technologies and political stratifications resemble our own world, even though it’s entirely fictional. And Starke and Hall were just so happy to watch people want to see what they could do within this new realm. This included an examination of the Last Great War, which is basically the game’s analog for World War I. Starke explained, “Everybody dove into the Last Great War. It was starting with Brennan [Lee Mulligan], who chose to be a soldier, and then from there, it cascaded that everybody else was related to the war in some way as well.”

Such gameplays truly influenced the finished product, as they were in the middle of filling out the lore as the games transpired. They’d consult with what they had just witnessed, and Starke continued, “We’d take what we learned from the show that night and make sure that we’re continually integrating. There’s pieces from the show in the book that are there simply because I was in the middle of it as we were writing it.”

The “Critical Role” games are a good starting point for anyone interested in playing “Candela Obscura” — not everything that’s in the rulebook is there, but the basic pieces exist. The gameplays not only show a roadmap for how to get started with your own group, but you may also gain a greater appreciation of the finer notes of the book.

“Candela Obscura” is available from Darrington Press starting November 14 with standard and limited edition hardcovers.