Candela Obscura
| Candela Obscura | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Created by |
|
| Directed by | Steve Failows |
| Starring |
|
| Composer(s) | Colm McGuinness |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 1 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
|
| Camera setup | Multi-camera[1] |
| Production company(s) | Critical Role Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | |
| Original release | May 25, 2023 |
| External links | |
| [{{#property:P856}} Website] | |
Search Candela Obscura on Amazon.
Candela Obscura is the name of both an American actual play web series and a tabletop role-playing game system.
The Candela Obscura show is a horror series in which actors play a tabletop role-playing game of the same name. It was created by Taliesin Jaffe and Chris Lockey, directed by Steve Failows and produced by Failows and Maxwell James for Critical Role Productions. It is Critical Role's first series to use a game and a system owned by the company. Over the course of a few episodes, different casts of characters join the secret order Candela Obscura and form a circle to investigate several supernatural phenomenons, guided by a Lightkeeper. The chapters of Candela Obscura are mostly conceived as self-contained miniseries, following a different set of characters within the same fictional universe called the Fairelands. It premiered at 19:00 PT on May 25, 2023 on Twitch and YouTube and will air on the last Thursday of each month, while the video on demand will be uploaded two weeks after the first broadcast.
The Candela Obscura game system is based on the – yet to be released – Illuminated Worlds system. A quick start guide for Candela Obscura was published to coincide with the start of the show; however, the Candela system has yet to be published in full.
Series[edit]
The series takes place in the Fairelands, a coastal valley found in the country of Hale, which is plagued by several types of magical horrors that bleed in the world through thinnings of The Flare, a boundary that separates the different realms that comprise this universe. After a cold wave, named the Shiver, hits the region, Hale is attacked by the Otherwhere, who wish to seize their resources. Following a six-year conflict, Hale ended up winning the war thanks to new military equipment created after the invention of the electricity. In 1907, the city of Newfaire is enjoying a period of prosperity, but mysteries that threaten the newfound peace lie under the city, in the ruins of the dead civilization that inhabited Oldfaire. A secret order, Candela Obscura, has dedicated centuries to the study and containment of these phenomenons, which are examined by different circles of investigators guided by a Lightkeeper.
The first two chapters are standalone from each other and feature different casts.[2][3] During the first chapter, an inexperienced group of investigators, guided by Lightkeeper O'Neill, form the Circle of the Vassal and the Veil to investigate a new phenomenon in the district of the Steel.
Production and format[edit]
The concept for the game was created by Critical Role cast member Taliesin Jaffe and Chris Lockey, while the series was directed by Steve Failows and produced by Failows and Maxwell James.[4][5][2] The series is divided in chapters, representing various story arcs guided by different game masters and composed by several episodes, which will each feature a distinct investigation.[4][6]
Casting[edit]
The first chapter stars Jaffe as the Lightkeeper[lower-alpha 1] and fellow Critical Role regular cast members Laura Bailey and Ashley Johnson, alongside Anjali Bhimani and Robbie Daymond, who previously appeared on Critical Role's spin-off series Exandria Unlimited.[4][5][2] The first chapter is composed of three standalone episodes led by Critical Role dungeon master Matthew Mercer as the chapter's game master.[4][6] Bailey plays as the medium Arlo Black, Bhimani as the magician Charlotte "Charlie" Eaves, Johnson as the criminal August "Auggie" James, and Daymon as the professor Howard Margrove.
The second chapter, also composed of three standalone episodes, is led by the Candela Obscura game designer Spenser Starke as the game master. Zehra Fazal joins the cast along with Critical Role regular cast members Marisha Ray, Travis Willingham and Exandria Unlimited: Calamity cast members Brennan Lee Mulligan and Luis Carazo.[3] Carazo plays as the medium Marion Collodi, Fazal as Doctor Jinnah Basar, Mulligan as the soldier Sean Finnerty, Ray as the criminal Beatrix Monroe and Willingham as the journalist Nathaniel Trapp. Jaffe is the only returning cast member from Chapter 1; reprising the Lightkeeper role.[8]
Broadcast[edit]
Candela Obscura premiered at 19:00 PT on May 25, 2023, on Critical Role's Twitch and YouTube channels and it will be broadcast on the last Thursday of each month. For the first chapter the video on demand (VOD) was uploaded two weeks after the episodes' first broadcast.[4] With the second chapter, the VOD schedule was changed to the Monday following.[9] The second chapter's premiere is scheduled to be simulcast live in Cinemark Theatres along with the regular Twitch and YouTube livestream on August 31, 2023.[3]
Episodes[edit]
| No. overall | Part | Title | Original air date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | "The Cold Embrace" | May 25, 2023 | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Ravage of Red Lamp" | June 29, 2023 | |||||||||
| 3 | 3 | "The Collectors" | July 27, 2023 | |||||||||
| Part | ||||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | "Eye For An Eye" | August 31, 2023 | |||||||||
Game system[edit]
| Designer(s) |
|
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Darrington Press |
| Publication date | late 2023 |
| Genre(s) | Horror |
| System(s) | Illuminated Worlds |
| Random chance | Dice rolling |
| Skill(s) required | Role-playing, improvisation |
Search Candela Obscura on Amazon.
Candela Obscura is a role-playing game using the Illuminated Worlds role-playing game system, which was designed by Stras Acimovic and Layla Adelman for Darrington Press. The D6-system is best suited for short cinematic story arcs and character-focused narratives. Candela Obscura was created by Jaffe and Lockey, and designed and written by Spenser Starke and Rowan Hall.[4][5][2] The show is titled after the game. Mercer, who is the Critical Role Dungeon Master and Candela Obscura show's first gamemaster, commented that "as a GM who's grown up on D&D, having a system that requires me to roll pretty much no dice at all allows me to be entirely present with the players. I wasn't sure if I would like that at first, but it turns out that having the players define the action gives them an extra aspect of immersion".[10]
Polygon reported that the design of Candela Obscura takes "inspiration and some key mechanics from John Harper's beloved heist RPG Blades in the Dark as well as Free League Publishing's Nordic horror game Vaesen".[1] In May 2023, Harper wrote, "it's very cool to see this iteration of Forged in the Dark design from the team at Darrington".[11] On the development of the game system, Strake said he and Hall inherited the Illuminated Worlds system from Acimovic and Adelman, so for them "it was more about marrying the Candela Obscura concept in Taliesin's head with the scaffolding Stras and Layla had already developed".[12] While it has "hallmarks" of the Forged in the Dark system due to Acimovic's design background, Strake commented:
I love so much of what he and Layla crafted specifically for us here. To just hit on one aspect of that, the drive economy is such a player-focused mechanic that really lets you make decisions about when rolls are important to you. I also am really excited about the marks and scars system that Rowan and I developed for Candela specifically, which lets the impacts of the damage you take live with you and, quite literally, change you.[12]
Publication[edit]
Darrington Press released the Candela Obscura Quickstart Guide on May 25, the show's premiere date, which introduces both the Candela Obscura setting and the game system. Darrington Press also announced that they are scheduled to run gameplay sessions of Candela Obscura at Gen Con and will release the Candela Obscura Core Rulebook in 2023.[2][13][14]
As of August 2023,[update] the Candela Obscura and Illuminated Worlds game systems have yet to be published in full.
Reception[edit]
After the first episode, Polygon's Em Friedman compared Candela Obscura to actual play series such as Kollok and Dimension 20's campaign Shriek Week, which are all series based on systems with a single dice that allow smoother gameplay and shift the focus on characters and world-building. Friedman also noted how the narrative presents clear phases, controlled by Mercer, and considered the series a good visual representation of the game. Friedman commented that "while Darrington Press is not branding Illuminated Worlds as a system nor Candela Obscura as a game specifically intended for performed play, it’s clear that the rules are designed to get out of the way, avoiding lengthy rules lookups that can bog down live play".[1] After the release of the second chapter's first episode, Tara McCauley of CBR commented positively on the transition between chapters – "the shift in tone and thematic exploration between the two parties showcases the enticing anthological capabilities of Candela Obscura".[15] McCauley highlighted the "format and production" of the series which has led to "a more immersive, almost radio-play style, experience for audiences" and that the costuming of the cast in each arc adds "a theatrical dimension to the series' performances".[15] McCauley also emphasized the impact of the set's lighting and sound design especially in scenes focused on a character's PTSD.[15]
Linda Codega, for Io9, stated that upon evaluating the "quickstart edition of Candela Obscura, it feels necessary to critique the game and the AP [actual play] in conversation, as it is clear that the production is the point".[16] Codega commented that while "Mercer is an incredible Game Master", they felt Mercer's "style of play" made them feel that the "guardrails" in this first episode are "a little too high" – "rarely are there questions of difference raised between character decisions and GM intention, because in this episode of Candela Obscura the players and the GM are working in near-perfect sync. [...] While this gameplay style can be conducive to a collaborative storytelling process, in Candela Obscura, the result is a gaunt game that is, at best, just good".[16] Codega wrote that there's "nothing wrong" with either "Candela Obscura (the game)" or "Candela Obscura (the performance). But both are, disappointingly, not doing anything particularly novel".[16] Aaron Marks of the ENNIE Award nominated website Cannibal Halfling Gaming commented that "at the end of the day, we have a Forged in the Dark game, distilled for Actual Play use. Many of the setting principles of Blades in the Dark and Vaesen are there but dulled down, lightening up the darkness and removing any allusions to actual capitalist exploitation or actual commentary on Christian expansion and hegemony as existed in Vaesen".[17] Chase Carter, for Dicebreaker, felt "ambivalent" that the ability of the Candela Obscura actual play to create a bridge that would allow "the colloquial Critters an avenue into the rich vein of tabletop titles beyond Wizards of the Coast’s shadow" after reviewing the Candela Obscura Quickstart Guide.[18]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Friedman, Em (June 1, 2023). "Critical Role's new RPG is a whole cabinet of curiosities — and familiar mechanics". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Hoffer, Christian (May 9, 2023). "Critical Role Announces Candela Obscura, New Ongoing TTRPG Series and Game". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Hoffer, Christian (July 23, 2023). "Critical Role Announces Candela Obscura Chapter 2 Cast". ComicBook.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Anderson, Julia (May 9, 2023). "Critical Role's Candela Obscura Spinoff is First to Use Its Illuminated Worlds System". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Hall, Charlie (May 25, 2023). "Critical Role launches new tabletop RPG with a free quickstart guide". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 Corbett, Noelle (May 25, 2023). "Taliesin Jaffe & Laura Bailey Talk Candela Obscura, Horror & the Future of Critical Role". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Durham, Madison (May 16, 2023). "Critical Role's Candela Obscura series, explained". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Eye for an Eye". Candela Obscura. Series 2. Episode 1. Critical Role Productions. September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
- ↑ Hoffer, Christian (August 24, 2023). "Critical Role Changes YouTube Release Schedule for Candela Obscura". Gaming. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ↑ Russell, Laurence. "'Candela Obscura' Stars on Magic and Play in an Oppressive World". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
- ↑ Harper, John [@john_harper] (May 25, 2023). "It's very cool to see this iteration of Forged in the Dark design from the team at Darrington -- Candela Obscura looks great!" (Tweet). Retrieved June 14, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Hoffer, Christian (August 28, 2023). "Candela Obscura's New Game Master Previews Season 2". ComicBook.com. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
- ↑ Stretch, Andrew (May 9, 2023). "Critical Role Announces Horror Series Candela Obscura, First To Use Illuminated Worlds System". TechRaptor. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Announcing Our New TTRPG: Candela Obscura". Darrington Press (Press release). May 9, 2023. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 McCauley, Tara (2023-09-12). "Critical Role Tackles PTSD in Candela Obscura". CBR. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Codega, Linda (May 26, 2023). "Critical Role's First Non-D&D Campaign Makes the Production the Point". io9. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Marks, Aaron (2023-05-31). "Candela Obscura Quickstart Review". Cannibal Halfling Gaming. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
- ↑ Carter, Chase (June 5, 2023). "Candela Obscura's first mystery will be solving the horror RPG's identity crisis". Dicebreaker. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
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