Critical Role’s Taliesin Jaffe Creates a Ravenloft Domain of Dread - Part 2 - D&D Beyond

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Amy Dallen is joined by Critical Role's Taliesin Jaffe as they continue to create a Ravenloft Domain of Dread! Missed part 1? Check it out here: • Critical Role’s Talies...
Read all about Taliesin Jaffe’s Domain of Dread: Vendamir, a Land of Tomes and Ashes here: www.dndbeyond....
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Amy Dallen is a content producer for D&D Beyond and Fandom Tabletop. She’s a host, actress, producer, streamer, and writer known for her work on Callisto 6, Shield of Tomorrow, and L.A. By Night. Follow her on Twitter: / enthusiamy
Our guest today is Taliesin Jaffe, an American actor, voice actor, ADR director and screenwriter. Taliesin is well known for Critical Role, where he has created Lord Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III of Whitestone, Mollymauk Tealeaf, and Cadeuceus Clay. Follow him on Twitter: / executivegoth
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#DungeonsAndDragons #VanRichtensGuideToRavenloft #DnDBeyond

[@DnDBeyond]

Have you started making your own Domain of Dread? We want to hear about it! Buy *Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft* now: dndbeyond.link/vrtaliesin2 Share your purchased content with your party when you subscribe: dndbeyond.link/subtalieisin2 *Download the new D&D Beyond App!* Download on iOS: dndbeyond.page.link/37sP Download on Android: dndbeyond.page.link/oaYd

[@anecromancersperspective9309]

I am making one based on resident evil village

[@andrewrawlings5220]

So far I've had a couple of ideas. 1. A man who feared/hated death and everything to do with it so much that he sacrificed everything and everyone to extend his life now 'gifted' by the Dark Powers with eternal life ... as a swarm of maggots and flies in a domain that is nothing but a huge necropolis where the graves are never empty so the Darklord never runs out of food for his eternal "life". 2. A pair of star-crossed lovers who decided that, rather than kill themselves, they would kill their family and friends so they could be together. Now they share a body that only one of them can use at a time. Forever together and yet forever apart. Their domain is a copy of the city they lived in and the people all resemble those they killed so they could be together. They also see the other's reflection rather than their own, but only when not looking directly at it.

[@Nexils]

I am deeply inspired by Dementilieu and its Cinerella-inspired Darklord. Absolutely love the concept of the city trying its hardest to pretend to be cheerful and wealthy, while poverty and starvation are on every corner of the street. And yet people are wearing their laughing masks like nothing's wrong. So eventually I'd like to make a domain of my own based on another story.

[@domarvisais6178]

I so want to see Taliesin DM this as a CR one shot after C2 completes. Give Matt an opportunity to play as a PC with the Mighty Nien (minus Cad though).

[@markdurham5062]

But with Amy as a guest player

[@tomesofawesome8041]

I PERSONALLY, am Imagining a version of Amy Dallen walking around wearing a dark denim jean jacket/burned velvet coat. With the personality of Octavia from misspent youths. Maybe she has writing or glyphs on her face & skin like the bad guys in the "Inkheart" film. Chasing people around dark corners of her library fortress, aided by versions of Sam Delev, Gina Divivo, Eric Campbell, Amy Vorphal & others. Their skin completely blackened, yet recognizable as their identities from life. Amy's touch either burns your skin like white ashen paper, or she beats you to death till you, ( "Stop moving" ~ Amy Dallen) Deperately searching through your pockets for missives or other clues. Then desperately calling to her ashen commrads to collect & read them to her when she finds them. What do you think?

[@wanderdragon1075]

@@markdurham5062 or Amy as the Dark Lord

[@tnexus13]

Well, with '22 announced as having 1 off week a month for Matt, chances just got higher.

[@jennabrace9150]

This would be awesome!

[@redbird57]

Donna Noble has left the Library. Donna Noble has been saved.

[@TardisPilot2004]

I was about to comment that.

[@redbird57]

@@TardisPilot2004 It's all I could think about

[@SBM_Photo]

Ready to feel old? Silence in the Library was 13 years ago.

[@esther830]

@@SBM_Photo oh..... oh no.... I’m too young to feel this old

[@incomingbear1334]

@@SBM_Photo I can't believe you would do that to us. How dare you, sir.

[@shannybug666]

Please, please, please take this Domain Tal has created and publish it as a sample domain for players to use! It sounds like it would be such a good time!

[@DnDBeyond]

Wish granted! Link in the description!

[@EzraColdsGarage]

You dont get to tempt us with this BRILLIANCE and not have a one shot of Prof. Dallen being pulled into this world.

[@WardNightstone]

ZOMG THIS!

[@donovanledoux4515]

Seriously!

[@ReadingDave]

I kind of feel we should all create a Prof. Dallen episode and make an anthology.

[@TalesLord]

Someone call Matt.

[@johnwendel702]

I love that this is basically just Amy getting to talk about one of her favorite things with one of her favorite people on her birthday for work

[@mikegould6590]

So she's an origami construct. "The Paper Lady"..."The Story that Walks"

[@postbunnie]

That's a good one

[@mitigatedrisk4264]

You know if you think about it, Aperture Laboratories is basically GLaDOS's domain of dread.

[@snarglblargn4986]

I can just visualize the scene. "Welcome traveler, would you care to read me a story" "Mlady I haven't a book" *a dark shadowy form in the corner upon a chaise lounge snaps its fingers and a servant appears with a tome and hands it to you, upon inspection its covered in runes and its in a language foreign to you* "Mlady i can't read this language" *Dark Lord Victoria Snart sneers and rolls her eyes, and with a deft flick of the Countess's wrist ,your vision begins to sift through these unknown words until all of a sudden they make sense....you begin reading aloud..at some point you try to stop but feel magically compelled to continue....and continue...and continue until the final word of the book leaves your lips(how long has it been??..) and with a thud the tome..and your body collapse on the floor..*

[@tomesofawesome8041]

Oh good lord YES! Or this, I PERSONALLY, am Imagining a version of Amy Dallen walking around wearing a dark denim jean jacket/burned velvet coat. With the personality of Octavia from misspent youths. Maybe she has writing or glyphs on her face & skin like the bad guys in the "Inkheart" film. Chasing people around dark corners of her library fortress, aided by versions of Sam Delev, Gina Divivo, Eric Campbell, Amy Vorphal & others. Their skin completely blackened, yet recognizable as their identities from life. Amy's touch either burns your skin like white ashen paper, or she beats you to death till you, ( "Stop moving" ~ Amy Dallen) Deperately searching through your pockets for missives or other clues. Then desperately calling to her ashen commrads to collect & read them to her when she finds them. What do you think?

[@tomesofawesome8041]

I was reflecting both on your comment Ian Lee, as well as my own last night. It took me to a weird place man. First of all I should say that this whole two part video was giving me some MAJOR "The Mortuary Collection" vibes. BIG TIME. ! SPOILER ALERT ! Okay well for anyone who's seen the 2019 film, the whole ending with the charred dead children crawling out of the books to eat the "Tooth Fairy"? Imagine that but instead it's adult Gina Divivo, Sam Delev, Eric Campbell & etc. Not coming out to eat Amy, but climbing out to stop/devour/kill anyone who's "Stolen a book". If I remember correctly, I think Sam's thing is that they have weak bones or something, as to why they're in the wheel chair, yet can move their legs. So I got this whole HORRIFYING image in my head of a charred Sam Delev with their arms & legs pulled out of the sockets, limbs broken & now stretched out like a spider. Climbing across the ceiling, twisting their head 180* and screaming every ten seconds like the Licher from the first Resident Evil Movie. That or even an image of Evil Amy getting pissed/desperate and having huge spider/tentacles/tendrils grow/extend out of her body or coat. MADE of paper that's folded "Origami" style! Seriously. It took me to a weird scary place. And I LOVED IT!!!

[@snarglblargn4986]

@@tomesofawesome8041 that's weird. Happy to collab

[@tomesofawesome8041]

@@snarglblargn4986 I would Love to. I don't actually have a group to play D&D with. But while I was watching & rewatching this two part series, my imagination just started flowing in the most horrible way. ha ha

[@jcole9739]

This is the most purest form of "Evil Candlekeep"

[@TheNewOcMuse]

"Candlecreep"

[@Samhain_III]

@@TheNewOcMuse I love this name. Now I want to use it in any game where you need to look for information and the players have no easy access to normal forms of information gathering.

[@HS-iw1ed]

The idea of a social faux-pas making everyone in the world stop what they're doing and turn to outright kill you by tooth and nail is TERRIFYING and not good for anyone's social anxiety

[@goth_fraggle]

It's basically just Elder Scrolls if you hit a guard Or if you shoot a wrong glance at a Zelda chicken xD

[@ehcmier]

When wounded, everybody bleeds black ink that cannot be collected and evaporates as rising pale paper ash. Vellum golems. Papercuts.

[@tomesofawesome8041]

Monsterous people from the "Inkheart" film with words tattooed across their skin...

[@huntgor9354]

God help the wizard that brings his spellbook into the library

[@bouboulroz]

I just love how some details cover multiple aspects of the dark lord. The fact that a servant have to read a book to Victoria punishes both her distrust in people and her obsession with privatizing knowledge. Her breath being poisonous is both a reference to the ink that is now part of her and to her social climb through blackmail and manipulation (her words are literally poison). Also, I don't know if the consequence was intended, but the vault being permanently silenced means Victoria has no way to get access to the knowledge inside, as no one can read the books out loud to her while inside. You'd need to get the book out of the vault first. I think I'll use this domain in my own setting, as they are compatible. I'll also weaponize her burning gaze by making her able to burn people with it too, but showing her an open book might force her to avert her gaze, as she doesn't want to destroy a knowledge she hasn't acquired yet.

[@WexMajor82]

I have a nice idea too. In the domain, you CAN'T lit a fire. In any way. No fire spells. And most of the enemies (paper creatures?) have vulnerability to it.

[@FunkyWixxard094]

how about the only way to light a fire is burning a book but the smell of burning paper attracts monsters

[@FunkyWixxard094]

spells that emit light that range is cut in half maybe even null

[@erikrungemadsen2081]

It is a land of secrets all the citisens are marked at birth, they either see no evil, hear no evil, or speak no evil. at birth every child is randomly blinded, deafened or have their tounge cut out. in the cursed library, books are copied by mute scripes, the library is manned by blind librarians and all sevants and guards are deaf so no secrets can ever leave the library.

[@cristiaolson7327]

@@erikrungemadsen2081 That's dark. I'm totally integrating it into a little Domain of Dread now. A domain whose Dark Lord was a zealot leader of a theocratic realm who wanted to ensure none of his disciples could ever sin against their god, so he decided to take steps to "shield them from the influences of evil". Those trapped in the realm with him are his continuously-reincarnating faithful, who are blind, deaf, and dumb, but can hear his commands via "message" and carry out his will with horrifying efficacy, and the unfortunate souls who lived in the citadel who live in segregated ghettos of the blind, deaf and dumb. Oooh. So many ideas.

[@erikrungemadsen2081]

@@cristiaolson7327 Cool idea just i hope you and your players have fun, there is allways the posibility that the dark lord needs a new body with all of their senses intact, maybe adding the strenght of the body he claims to his own. Que your adventurers. I could totally see this as a way of holding a dark mirror up to a good Cleric in the party. Lawfull good turned into a tyrannical teocracy is such a good thrope to throw at your players.

[@AllenChildersArts]

They party members could be hired to be agents to recover a book that was stolen or even seek out new books to feed this ever hungry Library.

[@ForeverDegenerate]

The Quest would be given from a very old Elven Woman who lives in a nearby town that was born out of the ashes of Vendamir. This Elven Woman is the last living survivor of The Burning of Vendamir. She had heard reports of people stumbling across Vendamir itself when travelling by the Ruins of Vendamir, but had no way of verifying the reports until now with the arrival of The Party. The Elven Woman would tell the Party that this town was built by the survivors of Vendamir. She would go on to say that the few survivors, herself included, attempted, multiple times, to write down the history of their home, Vendamir, as they remembered it, but some force would always prevent them. So they had no choice but to create an Oral History of Vendamir. But over time, especially after the survivors began to die off one-by-one, the later generations stopped orating the History of Vendamir, those stories vanishing from their minds as if they never existed. As if Vendamir never existed. Now, only this Elven Woman fully and truly remember Vendamir. The reports of Vendamir itself appearing on the site of its Ruins has given this Elven Woman one chance to attempt to discover the cause of everything: Why couldn't we write down the History of Vendamir? Why were we, the survivors of Vendamir, the only people in this town that never forgot Vendamir? The Elven Woman would go on to posit a theory to The Party. She believes an Ancient Tome once thought lost when Vendamir burned to the ground might still exist and might be the cause of all of this. It was a Magical Tome called The History of Vendamir. This Tome preserved the major events throughout Vendamir's history within itself. This Elven Woman would task The Party with investing The Ruins of Vendamir, ascertain if Vendamir itself did somehow survive The Burning, and if so, investigate Vendamir itself to see if The History of Vendamir also survived The Burning. She would end her request saying that if The History of Vendamir survived and if The Party could retrieve it and bring it back to her, at least, the history of her home, her friends, and her family, would not be forgotten. Her final words to The Party before they choose to accept or decline would be, "Please do not allow Vendamir to die with me." The Party would find, of course, that Vendamir did, indeed, survive; or rather a twisted Hellish version of Vendamir that exists solely to house the vast Tomes that survived. The would discover that the same Dark Magic that corrupted Victoria Snart also corrupted The History of Vendamir the moment it crossed the Mist. This whole time, The History of Vendamir was siphoning any and all memories of Vendamir from the descendants of the survivors (staying with the theme of all information that resides her resides ONLY here). This corruption is also what prevented anyone of the Vendamir Bloodline to be able to actually make written records of the history (it's the same magic that prevents Victoria from actually being able to read anything). If The Party is successful at retrieving the Tome and extricating it from Vendamir, they would find that the now purified Tome would begin to restore the memories of the nearby town, restoring the history once though loss. Upon returning the Tome to the Elven Woman, I would throw in a quick line as show holds the Tome for the first in an age, "Odd... This Tome feels... heavier than I remember..." If The Party were to inspect the Tome itself at this point, I would throw in a small bonus of the fact that the Tome magically added more pages at the end, creating two new chapters at the end of the Tome. The first added chapter would be Victoria's Story (the one written all over her body about The Burning) and the second and final added chapter would be The Party's Story of how they retrieved the Tome from Victoria and returned it to its rightful owner. The History of Vendamir, after all these years, is still doing its one job: Recording the ongoing history of Vendamir for future generations. Yes, I came up with this on the spot. In about a half an hour or so. At work.

[@kid14346]

Talisean or someone please make this an official supplement or oneshot I would love to play in it.

[@DnDBeyond]

Wish granted! Link in the description!

[@kid14346]

@@DnDBeyond HECK YEAH!

[@Honorablediscord2]

would have a Book Golem for sure as a monster. It would also be a cool twist that the library was never the domain, it was always the books. That way the only way the Dark Lord could leave is to let books escape but due to his goals he never will.

[@snorpenbass4196]

...and potentially harm books? No bibliophile would carry out such a vicious crime against books! XD

[@CelticCubby]

I feel like Tal needs to run this as a one shot.

[@jamescanjuggle]

So kind of Taliesin to withhold his other worldly connections for these videos, only saw his power corrupt the video call a handful of times! So humble.

[@postbunnie]

This aged well

[@reinaldorodrigues8425]

When i stop to think, the tale The Beauty & The Beast could really be a Domain of Dredd (imagine if he never have redeemed hinself o.O)

[@Lurklen]

Yeah, it would be super twisted if he just had the story repeat in tragedy each time. I always like the idea of these things being cyclical and cohering to an internal logic over one consistent to the larger world. Like there's always a girl (or a beauty rather), there's always the rose, and a time limit. He can vaguely remember this all happening before, and it fills him with such rage and sorrow that he tries to keep all away from him. Any who enter his castle and stay the night are trapped and cannot leave, and over time begin turning into furniture, or becoming part of the castle, except the beauty (that's why he's such a dick all the time, to keep people away). There's always a village or party of adventurers, who comes for the girl and to slay the beast (stoked on by the many times they've died before). In the conflict the beauty almost always sacrifices their self for the beast, and he kills all the villagers/heroes. Once he's all alone, and the rose dies, the beauty becomes the next rose, and the cycle begins again, everyone with vague memories of what happened before, and will inevitably happen again. If he can't make her love him before the rose falls, he flies into a rage murdering everyone, including her, and she becomes the next rose, and the cycle begins again. The mists force the Beauty and the beast together, altering chance and circumstance to make it happen (be it one of the PC's, or a villager Npc). He's trapped, if he makes the beauty fall in love, they will die when the attack comes, if he doesn't they will die when when he goes berserk. The castle is filled with malice, a haunted place filled with maddened spirits of those who died, and living furniture that are compelled to serve the Beast and his guests/prisoners, and hate them for being trapped in the cycle. There are also incredible gardens of all kinds of flowers, many said to heal or grant wishes, to tempt people to the castle. The west wing has portraits or tapestries that tell version after version of the story playing out, over and over. I have no idea how you solve it or get away lol, maybe you can't save the Beast, or maybe there's something about the castle you can do, something with bells (there was a cool text adventure some time ago that was a puzzle exploration game about this story, it was pretty cool).

[@Dannydarko27]

This is such a great concept. Im new to D&D but Taliesin is one of my favorite players, and creator as well apparently. Lol

[@countwhiskers]

Dread domain of a Kobold that committed horrible acts in hopes of becoming Tiamat's new champion only to be turned into a mutated dragonlike monstrosity far from the visage of a true dragon. Never to become the exalted warrior he dreamed of, forced to cry out to the abyss for her attention and haunted by dreams of a promise for dragonhood never fulfilled. (The ending result of my Kobold fighter/dragon shaman I played in a Ravenloft campaign years ago)

[@carolynwilliams5918]

Huh - that actually happened to a kobold gunslinger in my first run of Curse of Strahd. He murdered his own party after accepting every dark gift in the Amber Temple.

[@countwhiskers]

@@carolynwilliams5918 That sounds amazing and like how an actual ravenloft game would come to an end. In my game my kobold kept getting visions and dreams of dragon shadows passing over him or under him whenever he would commit an act of evil. DM had me convinced he was getting these visions from Tiamat to return dragons to the land. Slowly started to transform and mutate my character. Horns get longer, tail becoming a weapon. At one point he grew in size to medium. I was convinced he was turning into a dragon and that the weird mutations were just part of the transformation into a dragon. We had just finished the campaign and the dust was settling after the final battle and I told my DM that he was going to sneak away and skewer the necromancer that helped us at the end. Ended up dying to her minions during his final evil act and was banished as a monstrosity to a demiplane where he is haunted by mirrors that show the deformed non-dragon he'd become.

[@Lycaon1765]

Tiamat is actually in the 9 hells

[@countwhiskers]

@@Lycaon1765 That's absolutely true but was never Tiamat that was reaching out to him. It was the very taint upon the land and the darkness of the mists that tempted him and lured him into believing that it was Tiamat speaking directly to him. The dm never once proclaimed hat it was Tiamat and let me jump to that conclusion and believe it the whole time right up until the very end. Also, what was the point of 'umm, actually'-ing me? I'm very aware of the structures of the 9 hells as written in canon, that doesn't mean that it can't be changed on a game by game basis at the whims of the DM. Tiamat could have been in the plane of Mechanicus after leading an invasion into the lawful realm in hopes to create a foothold for herself. Or maybe she broke free and entered the Shadowfell in search of regaining control over a number of draco-liches in a plan to wretch control of the second level of hell Dis from Dispater.

[@kahelem6077]

I want Taliesan to take up the DM mantle and bring this story to life for a short critical role series

[@TheToneBender]

Taliesin just recreated Beauty and the Beast. A castle fortress that's the personal prison of someone and the servants are those who once worked there.

[@ForeverDegenerate]

It's the Sequel to Beauty and The Beast. This is what happens to Belle after Beast dies and she's left alone with the castle, the servants, and the Great Library.

[@postbunnie]

I was saying that! When I was thinking of a story that was about a girl who liked to read books and how it connected her with the beast. Like everyone thought Bell was just all snooty and like better than them but it's just because she was operating on a different wavelength

[@GregorifElfeNoir]

As my head cannon for this dread lord : What stops them from leaving is, they can only walk on pages of paper with writing on them that the lord knows of. But as it was stated, every time they touch a book or the page of a book, it burns away Therefore, everytime they move in a room, they need servants to rip pages from a book and make a path for them Their fortress would be lined with papers all the time just so they only replace it after the lord has moved through And if they have enough books, they could escape this domain, right ? They just need one more book. One More Book I hope this would at least intrigue Amy and Taliesin to meet this version of their creation ^^

[@Slamdance24]

Paper monsters: I'm imagining these slivers of paper floating down towards the party then suddenly snapping into 3D. Origami nightmares.

[@catsorelaxo]

I miss the Wednesday club :(

[@madjax6613]

I like the idea that in the vault there is zero sound, unless you deliberately speak in which case all hell breaks loose

[@ForeverDegenerate]

I just imagined that The Vault was a Room of Silence; basically a room with a Perpetual Zone of Silence on it. I do kinda like your idea though. :)

[@WardNightstone]

The Scollar rather then being murdered if they go outside they BURN the instant they cross the threshold they burn to ash

[@notronsivart]

Soooooo...I'm running a Wildemount campaign and one of my players is a Knowledge Cleric (follows all the deities he knows about) and is obsessed with books. And a Celestial Warlock follower of Ioun. This library sounds like a must visit location at some point in the future!

[@TheCyberbard]

I really like this concept... to take the "library" theme even further, the entire domain could have the "rule" that one cannot speak at a volume anywhere above a whisper... or "they" will come (some sort of paper monster). Likewise, the landscape can have a sort of "popup book" paper aesthetic, as though one is actually living in some sort of twisted story, and things are made of paper. Closing down the border could be a wall of fire if we wanted to keep it thematic.

[@mickeyflint6825]

Such great ideas Taliesin ! I would have the original deaths of the burning be represented in the graveyard, but they would be the immortal servants. However, they would also be the original progenerates of the hamlet's inhabitance. They lived a dual existence. They not only had to exist as servants but they were able to "ride along" in the lives of their various decedents, subtlety influencing them but also gifting them with some minor powers. I would also think about what would draw people into the dread domain. Those coveting a secret or hording a secret would be tempted and tormented. The only way they could leave would be to divulge the secret that they most want to keep.

[@busdrivingpony3636]

I just have one question: Does the "no speech in the vault" apply to sign language?

[@thedailydungeon6379]

If i was DMing this, I'd say that was fine, actually. I think the point is to keep quiet, so yeah. :)

[@neokoga]

This was incredible, Love Taliesin and Amy was such a joy :D

[@HS-iw1ed]

Jerry Holkins whispering somewhere: Imagine a DARK library

[@nimbarzentivos1237]

My God, this has been a great build. Taliesin has an amazing imagination.

[@TheGIJew.]

This realm pits Victoria's paranoia against her thirst for knowledge. She's surrounded by knowledge but she can only gain it by trusting someone else to tell it to her. So she's probably never actually going to learn anything because she'll constantly be doubting everyone who reads to her.

[@serenitysilvermoon]

OOo hungry books makes me think of books that devour knowledge. Like you pick one up and it's empty but you fail an INT save and you basically get Feebleminded but now the book is full of your thoughts and feeling and memories

[@mikeyallen6758]

i imagine that the tombstones outside the fortress have the most personal secret that the victim knew about the dark lord on them, i.e. maybe one of their accomplices only knew that they liked apples but their mother knows their darkest fear. maybe some of the villagers were convinced to cover up some of the headstones or just to allow nature to cover them up, out of the dark lords paranoia

[@runefire8127]

This girl is loving every velvety word that comes out of Taliesin’s mouth and geeking out so hard and I’m loving it.

[@postbunnie]

Same

[@chriswerner3733]

I was going to suggest having the books with glyphs of warding, and they trigger when you break the rules

[@DnDBeyond]

oooh

[@stealthington]

Camera glitch at 19.49 that feels very in theme.

[@gorogg_]

This is such a cool Domain! I'm already brainstorming one shot ideas that likely will never come to fruition lol

[@Drolnomed87]

To make it more alluring to steal a book. Maybe nothing can be written down in realm. You memorise the book or steal it.

[@anarkizt]

Ooooh a Wizard in the domain has to steal the pages from other books to add to their spellbook

[@JerodLycett]

I am hoping I get to see them play this out some time.

[@WulfRanger]

This was delightful, thank you

[@anarkizt]

What about words that turn into the definition of the word for monsters. So a manticore or something can show up by opening a book with that monster written in the book

[@professorhalloween]

That's an excellent idea!

[@GreyRonin92]

The amount of sheer glee emanating from Amy throughout this process has been simultaneously adorable but also disconcerting in equal measure!

[@Anzy.99]

He is such a king! I loved this creation, so criative

[@32Loveless50]

Death by paper cuts :D and there are animated books if you take a look in Candlekeep. a lot of this reminds me of candlekeep, but as a dark domain :D

[@MrNickp2300]

For the library, I say that for every word spoken you take 1 damage, and at the end of the turn when you make a noise, you have to roll a wis save or you scream out in pain, taking more damage and causing another save to be required on your following turn

[@TheToneBender]

"I think I'm gonna take up stained glass" Wow... that hit home...

[@PathstriderArt]

Right? I would have our Dread Lord Taliesen know that stained glass is one of the best crafts I’ve picked up in quarantine

[@landonwyndham979]

I was thinking of making a Panopticon Domain of Dread with inspiration from dystopic sci-fi fiction 1984 meets brave new world but D&D-ified. As the name suggests its gimmick is surveillance, you are always being watched and even when you are not you still FEEL like your being watched.

[@benjoe1993]

19:45 WE GOT HIM!!! We finally got a recording of Taliesin using his superhuman powers. This time super speed. No hiding now, Lord Jaffe.

[@dinahfromkabalor]

This was fantastic! Thank you both!

[@copycrow4486]

Tal brought up the point of books coming alive, and yeah there are mimics. But what about spellbooks coming alive? A Wizard's spellbook comes alive and starts attacking the party all of a sudden, being able to cast all the spells that are listed inside.

[@PenDragon-hg1lg]

I have one fun idea for a challenge in this based on Rohan Kishibe from JJBA: if you break a library rule, you have to have pages of your life ripped from your body and placed in a new book in the library.

[@etvspredmisl]

I would love to see some form of fire elemental added to this world. Maybe when defeated The Dark Lords body errupts into flames and she reagins some health, stage 2 boss fight style? Or maybe when the Dark Lord leaves the castle then everyone stops and turns to look at her and their skin begins to darken like coals until they LIGHT in a roaring, screaming inferno which consumes their paper Lord

[@serpentsembrace782]

Elementals or constructs of ink would make excellent beasties to fight. You could also just reflavor Shadows.

[@deboozombie23]

All this talk about books and lords and castles reminded me of one specific thing, I There is a german book called "Town of Dreaming Books" "Stadt der Träumenden Bücher" by Walter Moers - it's about an aspiring writer (Hildegunst von Mythenmetz) who is on a journey to become the best author in the history of his generation. So he is planning to learn in the city "buchhaim" ~"bookhoam" from the best of the best writers he could possibly find, the city is literally built on and partially built out of books, there are adventureres traveling into the cities catacombs to find old or lost manuscripts, again a literal maze out of books. There is a mysterious creature called "The Shadowking" who is said to rule the Catacombs beneath buchhaim, there have been rumours about "Buchlinge" - "Booklings", giant bookworms and the very rare and precious "Gefährlichen Bücher" - "Dangerous Books" For some reason Walter Moers decided to credit himself only as a translator for his fantasy books, while he states the originals had been written by the afforementioned "Hildegunst von Mythenmetz" in the Zamonian language. I deliberately left out some information because Moers world is so dense and rich with ideas, it's so far of the usual track of fantasy, like a less organized and structured version of discworld if you will and if I may say so. Walter Moers is a german author/comic artist that is imho en par with Michael Ende - with a deeper knack for poetry and lyricism.

[@joshuanoon5658]

And some domains are a train full of souls unaware they are all dead that travels between domains on lightning.

[@DnDBeyond]

As you do!

[@d-pod_L]

For monsters section, one thing that immediately came to my mind is bookworm golems. Like actual golems, made of those insects.

[@optimus2200]

it would be fun if the whole domain is in a book ! thats the secret that you get stuck inside a burnt book and the mist would be the bunding closed

[@mi.Dalton]

So there definitely is a librarian that becomes increasingly horrifying and angry if they hear you talking.

[@ailurusfulgens1654]

Calling all my fellow bibliomaniacs You feel called out here don't you?

[@brianjenner8085]

It almost needs a book of holding to steal her story and read back to her in an end loop.

[@ErinWi]

Delicious stuff. A very Gormenghast vibe.

[@natorgator3129]

I feel like the way for the dark lord to break their curse in this realm would be to choose to share the story written on their body. As a person that is trying to hide the one and only secret they have left, Victoria Snart would never deliberately choose to share the secret knowledge of what they've done. It's their redemption that they wouldn't figure out through reading any book, but would have to change their personality so much that it frees them. That's what I would do at least!

[@lasonris8934]

It's Vecna's domain, they made Vecna's Domain of Dread

[@lewissmith5759]

Silence in the library

[@Russianninja956]

I want this domain in print badly. So cool!!!

[@Reoh0z]

I miss this too, when is the next part coming out?!

[@DnDBeyond]

Just a two-parter, but we also wrote up the Domain for use on our website! Link in the description!

[@TylerWx]

The Dark Lord could occasionally get her "reader" to read her things that she has already heard in the past or remembers from her life to check that her reader is reading accurately instead of being dishonest maybe.

[@poptalgia9653]

Moar jaffe!!!!! MOAR!!!!

[@markdurham5062]

Stained Glass Golem ie Young Sherlock. A swarm of flying books.

[@aoiyuureisuru7656]

Ooooh love this! I imagine her in a Damian Gray situation where if someone else read her story she would burst into flames!

[@januzzell8631]

The way that the Library Fortress disappears feels very Brigadoon ^*^

[@user-qq4tk8vr1m]

I want to draw/build this world!

[@DnDBeyond]

Wish granted! Link in the description!l for the write up!

[@sarahkay8436]

His train of thought about the Library reminds me of this... kzbin.info/www/bejne/b52wZYmXmNqSjJY Wonder if Tal knows about Cat Evan and Arc 4....

[@GixtheDragon]

Paper Men? hm... Immune to blunt damage, vulnerable to slashing damage maybe...

[@Patogeno1000]

Wouldn’t it be possible for the Darklord to read a book via touch? Sure, it wouldn’t be Braille, but considering how distinct a written word word be on a thick medium like parchment, I’m sure that this particular Darklord can learn how to easily read via this method. After all, time is something that isn’t in short supply.

[@cristiaolson7327]

So, stealing a book is like attacking a cucoo in Zelda... Got it. Also, what about Books that Read you? If you open them, all your memories and creativity are sucked into the pages, leaving you essentially like an automaton until the curse is broken (the character can follow commands, speak, and understand, but totally unable to act independently because they are unable to think for themselves without creative thought). Destroying the book breaks the curse in that they can begin to learn again, but they loose all their memories forever. To break the curse without loss of self, your party must hold the pages to a mirror and read the entire book to you, which causes the words to disappear off the page as they return to your body/soul. The drawback is the reader also learns literally everything about you in the process of restoring your personality. Both possibilities open whole avenues of interesting character interaction and development.

[@prissguerrero1]

I really enjoyed seeing the creation of this setting, it gave me some interesting ideas. Taliesin is very clever, no doubt about it! And you are very cool, Amy. I didn't know your channel, but I liked it! I'll try to keep up with it more. Even though I'm watching this a year after it was released, it still feels fresh and fun.

[@lover-of-fate]

monsters could be also book golems. some beings that calls out in nonsensical language that horrifies or confuses listeners. Undead guards that have paper armor with runes on them that is damaging or protective. Also books could arbitrarily disappear from the library sending the lord off. An ongoing torment. Perhaps even to the extent that books the lord is reading currently disappearing.

[@Aerix]

Welcome to nega-candlekeep. The price of admission is a unique secret or book. You can check out any book you like, but the knowledge never leaves.

[@Mark-ki7ic]

The most secret inner sanctum of any library is the.......Break Room.

[@JustinGann]

It's not just Silence. It's ADVANCED Silence in the Vault.

[@Drikonn]

At the mention of all the residents turning hostile when someone "breaks the rules" I immediately thought of the musical episode of The Magicians. On further thought, there are a lot of parallels there

[@patlapete3806]

What about a hidden tower within or floating over Candlekeep... And if the lord tries to leave... they wake up with a book in their lap...they read the last paragraph of their own attempted escape and the book engulfs in flame as it is knowledge of all of their attempts to leave.

[@breendart134]

Stargate was a story about a Domain of Dread and Ra was the Darklord. That's today's one thought.

[@JohnDickinson]

And the heart of the dark realm, and the one thing that has power over the dark lord is the Black Tome of Truth. It is sentient and works to share its info of the truth of the realm, but anyone that learns it begins to have all their life experience drain away like sand in a glass. When it is all gone, they are ejected to another realm of dread.

[@Sonics1DiscordKitten]

Cool, thanks for creating a boss for me m'Eldritch Lord

[@DanteCorwyn]

Sounds a bit like the library from The Magicians.

[@timsimenc]

Obviously, the horror in the Vault is the Globglogabgalab

[@juliataylor707]

I see as a total fear for the people, never write anything down or HE will come for you. Lol

[@RoraighPrice]

SOO.. the Domains of Dread are just 'the good' place..

[@scareBro]

Idea: the monster that come from books... "Paper tigers"

[@brianjenner8085]

or a book of nothing can't be read and can't be written in but ant knowlege spoken while open is absorb into it pages and losted to nothingness.

[@laurentdebuyst3941]

There should have been some sort of reference to "The Name of the Rose" in here somewhere... Like naming the dark lord Georgina, perhaps?