Leisure
Today’s Hook: A powerful aristocrat, defended by an undefeated champion, regularly relies on Trial by Combat to justify his terrible crimes. Would you put your life on the line for the sake of Justice? For this episode of Adventure Hook, the guys steer a hard right turn away from last episode’s all ages friendly Kid’s Corner and get downright brutal as they thoroughly explore the concept of legally ritualized fights to the death: historically speaking… and then some. From a local-justice style settling of simple property disputes, to matters of honor between “gentlemen”, to accused folks actually exonerating themselves in the eyes of the gods… there are all manner of terrible reasons why some people might agree to settle their disagreements this violent way. Whether we can count on some divine intervention to intercede on our behalf in this fight, or if that’s just something we all tell each other… the one thing we can all agree on is: NO SORCERERY ALLOWED! It’s a good thing we remember to pay our squires/barristers/lawyers to advocate for us! Unless it’s one of those Infernal Barristers using their fiendish powers of Legalese to drawn up (or find the loopholesin) some manner of devil pact or other… Good thing Aaron has had #Hellblazer on the brain all this time. And this episode he even goes on a rant sure to threaten every RPG rules-lawyer out there with a full on coronary… There were above average laughs this episode… including the telling of a historical anecdote from 1446 AD concerning a trial by combat that might very well be the most Scottish thing to have ever happened. Plus… enjoy listening to the guys each shamefully struggle to remember the names of the following iconic fantasy characters: · Qyburn (from Game of Thrones) · Professor Slughorn (from Harry Potter) · Issildor (from Lord of the Rings) Banter Topic: Adapting the historical roots of a concept for gaming is a favorite approach of the Adventure Hook guys, and today is no different as the episode dives in straightaway into a historical review of the idea of Trial by Combat… which turns out was pretty much just a white guy thing to do… LINKS Adventure Hook (on Patreon) Monsters & Creatures: A Young Adventurer's Guide (Dungeons & Dragons)(on Amazon) Adventure Hook Episode 16: The Fool’s Errand Adventure Hook Episode 14: Heretic in the Sanctuary Stranger Things Boxed Set (on Amazon) Music by Kevin MacLeod ofIncompetech.commade available for use under the Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 License. Adventure Meme 8-Bit Dungeon Level Be sure to submit your own Adventure Hook ideas using the hashtag #newadventurehook and they could end up the topic of a future episode! Also you can give us your worst #Critfail ideas to occupy a place on our dreaded Critical Failure Chart... Can we design a great adventure around a terrible hook? Try us! We love a challenge! And please consider supporting Adventure Hook on Patreon where you can now gain exclusive access to the monthly private online Ravenloft “master classes” that Aaron and Rob host. An absolute must for the serious (or aspiring) Curse of Strahd game master! You can even watch the first two hour episode for free first before deciding if the Realm of Terror Redux classes are right for you. Legend Lore: The Realm of Terror Redux Class 1(FREE!!! on YouTube) Blackspire RPG Campaign (Rob’s actual-play podcast)