Candela Obscura: Game Master Roundtable

I have run 6 games so far and really enjoying how easy this is to get into (even with 38 years of playing/running game) but still looking forward to the rest of this video.

I am excited because I get to run a game of this for my mom and boyfriend and (hopefully) dad and sister and we (me my mom and boyfriend) have our first session zero soon and the excitement is overwhelming (dad and sister's is separate annoyingly because it was decided that stupid pictures were more important ugh)

Any time Liam mentions cyberpunk I just wish we could take part of his sci-fi home game (assuming he runs one)

Quite frankly, I'm getting kinda bored of Exandria and it looks like Daggerheart will be high fantasy as well 🫤

On lighting - we were playing 10 candles on the dark, and the peak stress point was ruined by fireworks in the park opposite...

Not Spencer mentioning the park in Denver Colorado that used to be a cemetery👀

Snack
This looks fun to join!

Jason Carl(From LA by Night) or Alexander J Newall(from The Magnus Archives(who also DMed a hprror campaign called Rusty Quill Gaming) are GMs that would be awesome to see have a shot at it.

Now I'm curious as to what the problem with crystal balls is?

I 'd like to see a dual GM run game maybe ran by Khary Payton and Anjali Bhimani. Have Matt, Aabria, Liam, Spencer, Becca, and Brennan as the PCs.

Love the GM tables—more of this please and thank you. 🙏

The story Spencer was telling about the removal of remains sounds like Cheesman Park in Denver. The old cemetery was to be cleared out to make room for a park so they hired someone to move the bodies to the new cemetery. Unfortunately he realized that utilizing child sized coffins would maximize profits on his per coffin contract. Hence the desecration of the the remains.

Nordic Dark Ambient (Atrium Carceri, Lustmord etc.) is awesome to use in dark games.

Liam O'Brien's was the only one I made it all the way through. His style just speaks to me. Plus his cast...mmmmm...divine.

This gives me a great starting point for my own game of Candela. Gives me a lot to think about.

I wonder if there is a way to visit what happened during the war. One of the things I'm interested in is the strange phenomenon that happened during the world wars. Was the Angel of Mons real or a hoax. Can you turn the Battle of Osowiec Fortress in a new terrible horror direction or just leave it as horrific as it actually happened. Did the Red Barron actually see and shoot down a UFO? If so, what happened to it and the creatures inside? There's a lot of those stories.

Shout out to Aabria for mentioning the atrocities committed on Black people in order to create central park. The razing of the land of colored and indigenous people is subject to heavy erasure within American history. You have Central park plus the Tulsa and Lake Lanier massacres among MANY that are barely mentioned, but carry so much weight historically. So it’s a great theme to use as inspiration for crafting a horror story that builds on a world where there’s so much buried and tragic history.

Can we get a Candella campaign where our 4 GMs are the players? With Sam as the GM?

I’m planning on running my first Candela Obscura game in a week, so this could not be better timed. I have adored each chapter and every GM style you’ve shared so far.

Love the insight! Was always nervous about GMing horror

It's really cool! Keep up the good work! R u sure aabria and Spencer will play out as candela investigators in the next chapter? Along with dani carr too?

My favourites moments of CO were the Brennan's character arc and the part one of Liam's sesions as DM.

Concerning go-to soundtracks to get inspired: Check out a French group called "Elend". That is my way of getting into the mood of GMing CO

The VVitch Soundtrack is absolutely great for this! I'm glad Liam feels the same. I listen to it while I'm reading sometimes. Slewfoot by Brom goes really well with it.

So much good GM advice here! ✌🏻🎨☕️

Thanks for the Atrium Carceri mention! 🙏

All over a cool thing to listen to and gather ideas and knowledge from.I am very confused though why is the crystal ball problematic? Spencer mentions it

I really hope for an adventure book! As a GM who mostly follows campaign books and putting my own twists on it, running Candela is quite challenging. An adventure book would be incredibly helpful!

What’s the piano piece which opens the roundtable?

Brennan isn't in this video, I must protest

What's the issue with Crystal Balls?

Man just once id wish Aabria would leave CR alone, but nope

This is amazing advice, thanks so much for putting this roundtable together!

I wouldn't call any of the Candela Obscura stories that have been presented here horror. They were dark supernatural investigation thrillers. The players succeed too much for a horror story. In horror, there are no happy endings, just less horrific ones. "Making it through to the other side" is specifically not the thing that is supposed to happen in horror.

Can someone explain to me what's culturally problematic about crystal balls? I was utterly unaware of any unpleasant history, and my googling is just going on about not leaving them in light because they magnify and can cause fires, which I'm sure is not what he's referring to...

I am starting a new game in just a few months and am so happy to get this out there to help along the thoughts I have been having.

I keep getting unsubscribed…. And I have been subscribed for many years.

Beksinski is my favourite artist and lately I'm finding him mentioned everywhere and that makes me happy

The Beksinski mention YES YES YES 👏 incredible stuff

i kinda wanna play phaseball

the circle of the spooky fritata would be a good Sam episode

Dude these 2v2 and 4v4 games have been great! Sorry about the shit rolling Mikey. You'll get em next time

ohhhhh this could not have been posted at a better time; i'm prepping for a candela oneshot as we speak lmao
thank you for all your insight and suggestions!! ♥

Does anyone know the reason behind avoiding the use of crystal balls?

I'm here to be a better, spookier DM - cheers fam