The cowards won’t hire me.
Rule #1 of Horror writing is ADD SOME FUCKING HUMOR! If your story is doom and gloom all the time, it stops being scary and dark and becomes insufferable and boring.
A tale that is perpetually dark in tone becomes tiresome very quickly. It needs to feature the occasional ray of light for contrast and to create a sense of hope. Monsters and other terrors must be offset with creatures that are kind and lovable, giving the characters even more reasons to stand against the darkness. Here are a couple of ways to add glimmers of light to a tragic tale:
- In a land as dreary as Barovia, take the time to describe the occasional scene of beauty, such as a pretty flower growing atop a grave.
- Make sure that the heroes have contact with NPCs who are honest, friendly, and helpful, such as the Martikovs in Vallaki or the Krezkovs in Krezk.
-Curse of Strahd, Introduction. Marks of Horror. 2016.
Sounds like Icewind Dale - Rime of the Frostmaiden to me.
This was drawn while I was running Rime of the Frostmaiden, and is loosely based on that, but changed to give no spoilers.
What is this meme referring to?
WoTC’s schizophrenic writing quality.
The adventures are always product of many people. You speak with confidence of someone who doesn’t know how creative process actually looks like.
You can achieve tonal consistency with a large team though - it’s a case of having a writing lead who’s invested in that and checks through everything.