Severed Threads Shows Anyone Can “Direct” The Black Ballad

The Storyteller running an adventure is the Director. They can coach their players on the tone they are seeking with any campaign, whether it’s a grim and sorrowful Mike Flanagan-Directed Black Ballad, or a whimsical low-stakes Tim Burton take on the same source material. Life can be hard enough as it is, and sometimes a group might worry that a particularly serious and immersive game, ran in the classic World of Darkness style, might add to their stress level rather than taking away from it. That doesn’t mean that the starker adventures like The Red Opera or The Black Ballad need to be off the table for them, simply that the Storyteller might choose to direct them with a more lighthearted flare.