Worlds Beyond Number: WWW #001 Recap and Review

Welcome to the first recap and review of Worlds Beyond Number's main campaign! The Wizard, The Witch, and The Wild One is a campaign dear to my heart with performers I adore and love. I'm excited to write about this podcast for YEARS to come!

If you haven't listened to it, this piece will contain spoilers! Fortunately, WBN's main campaign can also be found on your favorite podcasting app or YouTube:

Let's dive right into the first episode.

We Have to Start in a Tavern

The first episode of WWW begins at a tavern. But it's not the dry trope of people who start their adventure in one. It's where we hear a hedge mage tell a group of kids about the different types of magic users and their relationship with the spirit world - The Witch, The Wizard, and The Wild Ones or Honored Friends.

I loved when Brennan mentioned, "You have to know the genre to subvert it," because the adventure doesn't really begin in the tavern. It's just where we see Eursolon, our honored friend, disguised as a Human for the first time since the children's campaign.

And Eursolon is in trouble because the people with the power to see through his glamour are hunting him. One was the Hedge Mage, who told the story to the kids. The interesting bit I'm curious about is that the mage seems to be using Imperial writing on his cards, which suggests the imperials are behind this.

Eursolon escapes with all his most important belongings while leaving behind a young girl's love, and five years go by.

Suvi and The Citadel

As we transition from Eursolon, we find Suvi in the wizard's citadel. A beautiful place where all the young minds studying magic gather to further the human race's ability to cast spells and learn more about their source.

Suvi, the "nurse" of an old sage, is forced to look as her friend Silver returns from war, and a celebration is held for the returning warriors. She also wants to get out and see the world.

When she finds Steel, her mother's closest friend and sort of an aunt to her, she pleads with her to let her out.

While Steel is reluctant to speak on Suvi's behalf because she believes Suvi doesn't see the great honor placed upon her, she does have some bad news for her - Grandmother Ren is very ill.

As such, Suvi is allowed to visit as long as needed.

Aside from the quirkiness of Suvi, which is an amusing character, I LOVED the citadel. It's a fantastic tower, and if I were visiting this place in a computer game, I would absolutely try to interact with anything for more worldbuilding bits instead of just the main quest I'm working on.

Suvi leaves through the portal to Silbury and goes to Grandmother Ren's house.

Ame and Grandmother Ren

Ame has grown and is a full Witch since last we saw her. As we transition from Suvi, we find her tending to her visitors - Arin and Melia - who are trying to conceive.

They step outside, where Ame's connection to the spirit world tells her that while Melia will indeed have a child, Arin will not stay faithful to her. And Ame is doing something hilarious here, giving them a very intimate ring that Arin must wear during intercourse. But what would happen if he decided to be unfaithful? Well, the ring will be tough to take off.

After they leave, Ame feeds Grandmother Ren, who has become weak and frail. We see that Grandmother Ren's memory is not as it used to be. She thinks the kids who visited her for one summer about ten years ago still live in her house. And then Brennan asked a terrifying question.

Aabria, do you think Suvi will make it in time?

That question propelled the story toward Grandmother Ren's passing. I felt for the players as I know how many hours of fun they had with that character in the previous campaign.

I was glad when Aabria decided Suvi would make it in time. It made for a better story arc because imagine if she arrived just after Grandmother Ren passed. That would have been much sadder. But being there with Ame to support Ren's passing was also a good way to segway into Grandmother Ren's last wishes and the unspoken words she was tricked into concealing.

Ownership Curses and Friendship

As Suvi and Ame spoke to Grandmother Ren on her deathbed, they both, through careful Arcana and perception checks, realized something was very wrong. Grandmother Ren has been cursed. Not only was she cursed to believe she passed secrets on to Ame, but her entire house was also cursed because as she transferred ownership to Ame, that curse was Ame's to bear.

Grandmother Ren uses the last bit of her power to defeat the curse but fails and passes on, but not before she asks the women to find the unique sword Suvi found in the attic and gifted to Eursolon many years ago. That sword is a vital part needed to lift the curse. Hence they needed to find Eursolon, who we know is not doing very well in the mortal world.

That death scene killed me. As Brennan made Suvi realize that time was flowing faster and faster until it was nighttime, I believed something terrible was about to happen. Instead, it was a visitor.

Visitor In The Night

The episode ends with a visitor knocking at the door of the cottage. Night time has arrived.

Grandmother Ren is dead, the house also seems to have lost its vitality, and my heart is sadder for her passing. I'm intrigued to see what this person at the door is all about next episode! I'm not sure if it's related to her death, but the timing seems to indicate it is. What did you think about this episode? I just love this podcast so much already!

Read the next episode's review right here.