Belkinus Necro Hunt
Belkinus Necro Hunt is an online D&D campaign on Twitch and Youtube. Since this D&D campaign is not done by a persistent group, I am going to focus on the campaign only.
The DM is Joseph “JoCat” Catanello. His youtube channel is JoCat Streams.
The backdrop of this campaign is based on Lustrous Expanse.
The world setting
80 years ago, a devastating conflict swept through the world where necromancers had profound effects. Thus, once the conflict was over, necromancy as whole was soundly banned. Any form of necromancy would be dealt with harshly afterwards.
They were mostly successful until recently a cult was born, the spine of death. It grew swiftly and soon became a deadly cult.
Just three days ago before the campaign starts, they launched a terrorist attack on a business district of Belkinus proper. It was largely successful which prompts a hunt on a high ranking figure of the Spine as a retaliation by the viscount.
Thus, Belkinus Necro Hunt.
The players
There are four players in this campaign. The characters themselves do not know each other.
Luna Icewind is played by Shelby. She is a fighter.
Enoch Solamen is played by Yaroshien. He is a gunslinger and an Artificer.
Renee Badeaux is played by Cami-cat. She is a bard.
Nathaniel Gainsby is played by Davvy Chappy. He is a bard. Now Renee and Nathaniel are different kind of bards.
Comments
Mr. Catanello “JoCat” says it is his first time DMing, and it shows although I will say he has done remarkably well for his first ever live-DMing.
They are using an online D&D platform like Roll20.net to organize. The software takes care of dice rolling, basic maps, and character movements which is overall nice to look at. No cheating there, either, since their dice rolls are clearly displayed by the software in real time, not to mention modifiers are automatically handled by the software.
This actually eliminates a lot of time wasting on a traditional D&D tabletop setup where a DM has to explain to new players who things generally work.
At the same time, software taking care of lots of minor stuff does take away the feelings of a D&D session.
Most of issues I had was audio-related where, once more than two people were speaking, the audio was basically becoming inaudible. Also, uneven voice volumes for each person was also an issue. I personally found DM’s audio too low. Basically, on a volume level I was comfortable with, DM’s voice felt like loud whispering while players’ voice volume was fine.
However, those issues are common with any online D&D campaigns, meaning it isn’t really their faults. They are technical issues. You need both high-end equipment as well as a small team behind such equipment to really get rid of it, and I certainly do not expect them to have a budget for that.
So, such issues are understandable and forgivable.
JoCat has also added a fair amount of custom arts into the campaign which translates to a fact that efforts were put into his game to make it stand out.
Indeed, Belkinus Necro Hunt is one of better online D&D campaigns out there which is exactly why I am reviewing it here.
As for the story itself, I’d say it’s strictly average. It’s neither the worst nor the best. If you’ve watched or played D&D for a while, you can fully expect what is going to happen.
The DM sets a goal and a time-limit, and his players do what they can in order to accomplish their goal(s). It’s almost always the same shebang.
In any D&D campaigns, its plot is likely going to be predictable. What differentiates them is player interactions as well as chemistry between them which is why Critical Role is the undisputed champion of D&D as entertainment in my book.
For me, I generally don’t care about rules and whatnot in a D&D campaign unless rules are blatantly ignored and broken in which case it’s no longer a D&D session to begin with.
The rules are taken care of by software here, so there is little arguments to be had. They may have custom rules but that’s their decision. It’s not something for me to discuss about.
Overall, as said, this is one of better organized online D&D campaigns. Their schedule is irregular but you can expect fairly regular streams. Each episode ranges from 2 hours to 4 hours.
Until next time.
