Title: City Council of Darkness
GM: Brennan Lee Mulligan
Players: Emily Axford (she/her) as Vesper Childers (she/her). Zac Oyama (he/him) as Zaeth Bondana (he/him). Siobhan Thompson (she/her) as La Contesse Madelaine (she/her). Lou Wilson (he/him) as LaVonte Worthy (he/him). Ally Beardsley (they/them) as HJ Wingstreet (he/him). Brian Murphy (he/him) as Mitch Frederick(he/him).
Streaming Service: Dropout

Hunger rises in our Intrepid Heroes as our vampire coterie as they awaken in their banishment. Zaeth immediately attempts to escape, running into movers and making a bad impression. As Vesper and LaVonte explore the house, HJ heals himself, The house isn’t entirely theirs. The group meet humans employed to be live-in meals; however, HJ quickly shuts down killing them. Madelaine clearly expresses a desire to kill Tevin, one of their live-in blood bags, and take the house’s main bedroom.

These snack pack humans are part of the Herd. Some do it for free, like Ethel, while others receive passive income for it. HJ suggests that they each claim their own person. LaVonte takes Ethel while HJ claims Tevin. After lowering his hunger and mediating the group’s egos, HJ works to help find food for Vesper and Mitch as he plots their return to power. Quickly joining his partner, LaVonte brainstorms with HJ, seeing what resources they can bring to aid them as they fully figure out how much their prior lives exploded around them. They come across a corner in Purpee with three senior living facilities. Seeing the aging population, LaVonte and HJ quickly pivot to focus on taking over the city council.

Zaeth claims Deepak sight unseen, but it seems the chill podcast editor is exactly what the 80s-styled vampire is looking for. Calm and relaxed, Deepak is my immediate favorite, and while our Intrepid Heroes are protective of Ethel, I’m going to riot if anything happens to Deepak.

Unfortunately, the most irritated of the group is Madelaine who refuses to drink from anyone but nobility. The fourth member of their Herd is hot but not blue-blooded, leaving him currently unclaimed as Vesper and Mitch head out into the night and Madelaine rejects him in hopes of finding someone more to her tastes. Zaeth and her team up, convincing their neighbors to drive them to the nearby university. They end up at a bar called Mike’s.

Vesper and Mitch hunt for injustice, coming across a man who yells out insults at his wife, and they rationalize his murder to feed Vesper’s thirsts; however, his wife calls the cops. They rush off into the night, leaving a hole in Beth’s room after swallowing her husband’s corpse into Vesper’s abyss.

Meanwhile, Madelaine and Zaeth are determined to turn things around as rest of the group join them in the dive bar. Whatever happens next, they all agree that they need to take over the town to bring life back to Purpee.

Highlights

Madelaine’s horror at the sheer boringness of Purpee may be my favorite bit, and I sincerely hope the buddy comedy of her and Zaeth continues throughout the series. While not as obvious at first glance, it’s clear they both try to lean into seeming harmless and endearingly rebellious in a youthful fashion which is truer for Zaeth in age but true for both of them in personality.

I am extremely tempted to create a Vampire Trope Bingo Card. There are a few Vampire: The Masquerade (VTM) ones out there already (e.g. here, where we’d already have a square checked) or Curse of Strahd (e.g. here, so many squares), but I’m thirsting for something more media savvy, referencing our Intrepid Heroes’ source materials. If anyone whips one up or has a good bingo card on standby, share it in the comments below, and if I see one that scratches that itch, I’ll share it in the next review.

Final Score (5 out of 5 Stars)

I always love a Lou and Ally team-up, but we don’t get a Siobhan and Zac buddy comedy despite how well they often play off each other in every season. Zaeth and Madelaine are elitist in completely different ways, demanding the world conform to entertain them, but while one is the stereotypical princess-styled noble vampire, the other is the grunge 80s vampire with a mullet and a rebel without a cause attitude. With Emily and Murph as Vesper and Mitch, the duos solidified this episode, and they absolutely smashed it.

On the other hand, while the group does have a joined end goal to take over the town, this three-way split involves three very different approaches. HJ and LaVonte are in it for the power and money. While Madelaine may tie into the desire for power, she and Zaeth are more interested in inciting excitement and finding ways to ensure their own entertainment to avoid a stagnation. However, Mitch and Vesper want their superhero moment, but fighting for justice may align with HJ and LaVonte’s goal if there is an evil underbelly. That being said, it seems just as likely that we’ll see the group get split apart along these same dividing lines. Our Intrepid Heroes generally avoid player versus player turns, but ever since we had Siobhan and Lou get taken over by Baron, that’s all I’ve wanted.

Let us know what you thought in comments below or go over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.

Featured Image: Dimension 20

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The Boss Rush Podcast: The Flagship Podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network

The Boss Rush Podcast – The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, Stephanie, LeRon, and their friends from around the internet come together with other creators, developers, and industry veterans to talk about games they’ve been playing, discuss video game and entertainment based topics, and answer questions solicited on social media and the community Discord. 

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