Another topic discussing the adventure from GM's point of view. Have you had a chance to play it with your group? What were your impressions? Did you like it? What tips and warnings would you give to someone preparing to run it?0
I really hope we can make a series of official adventure tips - there are still some MGs (like me!) who visit these forums and could use it!
You should have a listen to the Reckless Dice Podcast of Mirror of Desire. Not only can you get to listen to them having a playthrough of it, but i'm pretty sure that after the adventure the group have a discussion about it and deconstruct what went on, what went well etc.Unless i'm mistaking it for another of their adventures since it's a while since I listened.
I played it, transporting it to Averheim and swapping families for some Averland ones and characters in my campaign
https://the-awkward-companions.obsidianportal.com/posts/what-to-do-about-a-girl-like-isadora
discussed here with some conversion notes
I adapted strongly, e.g., instead of cross-dressing it's pretending to be a ghost etc.
My players didn't really want to back a suitor and I didn't force them. So how to handle that is the key thing in my view. Then there is the "so what does the daemon do once out"? And of course the "what do you mean a daemon gets out, what about instability, daemons can prance about for long" which is why I switched daemon for a chaos sorceress of near-daemon level of change etc.
I also planned to run it for a bit so had the PC's meet several suitors etc beforehand so they had connections to the adventure and it wasn't a typical RPG "meet strangers with a story you're supposed to care about", and set them up to be living next door to the girl's family and well-disposed to them (the elf using their library to study magic since he wasn't a college mage). The end of the first session post above "puts it on the line" for the Players about how they are involved.
As I say in the thread above, I didn't find it a very well-designed adventure compared to the other ones in the expansion boxes. It took a fair bit of work to make it something I wanted to use but I had fun from there and the bones of the plot were useful to have to re-stitch into my own creation - "IT LIVES", most of us GM's being a bit Dr. Frankenstein.
I made the "play the thing" with the mirror having been sold by the impoverished noble family and being used as a stage prop, with those in audience at a particular performance being the subjects etc. It was after Enemy Within so theaters had been introduced etc.
As Noelyuk said the Reckless dice podcast is great to listen to for inspiration. The adventure is fun, but requires some work as a GM.
I decided to make one of my players fall under the spell of the mirror as well, which turned out great. It made the adventure more personal and more fun for all.