Mount Hood

Dungeon Delving for Dummies: “Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything”

“‌Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything” is Wizards of the Coast’s best source book 

Stephanie Moschella |‌ ‌Digital Media Manager

Out of all the sourcebooks that Wizards of the Coast has written, “Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything” is the best. This book is the newest in a series of Dungeons and Dragons sourcebooks that contain narrated passages from memorable characters in D&D lore. It first began with “Volo’s Guide to Monsters,” creating a reading atmosphere that made these characters more accessible and even playable. However, Tasha not only brings a female perspective into a male-dominated world, but also a charming personality that makes the reader feel like they’re scrolling through Tasha’s secret art Tumblr. 

There are a bunch of new subclasses, making this book a secondary guide for dungeon masters and players alike. Alongside the “Player’s Handbook 5th Edition,” it bumps the character creation to a new level, and helps DM’s stuff a lot more tricks up their sleeve. Even though some information has been reprinted into this book, it doesn’t cause too much of a problem. Considering the limited respect towards homebrew material and the lack of acceptance of Unearthed Arcana, making anything canon with a big official D&D stamp is a step towards unlimited options. 

With group patrons and the plethora of new spells, this book feels and reads like an actual guide, accompanying players through tons of optional class features. For someone that has been playing for years, it’s refreshing to create a ranger that doesn’t need to be a beast master (even though I still won’t ever play one).

For DM’s like myself, this sourcebook is a must-buy. It literally gives readers freebies with tons of puzzle options and magic items including magical tattoos. There is even an expanded set of rules for sidekicks that’ll provide entertaining twists at the table. The book also has official safeguards for DM’s regarding boundaries. From Tasha herself, “establish boundaries. And if anyone crosses them, speak up. If they don’t listen, there’s always cloudkill…” 

Overall Review: This article reads like an advertisement for this book, and honestly, I would do it for Wizards of the Coast for free. 10/10 would recommend to players and DM’s alike!

Contact the author at howldigitalmediamanger@mail.wou.edu

Nostalgic spooky movies to watch this Halloween

A list of spooky movies that are sure to please

Cora McClain | Editor-In-Chief

Stephanie Moschella | Digital Media Manager

Halloween is fastly approaching, but with social distancing guidelines, it seems as if the holiday has essentially been cancelled. Since there’s not much to do on All Hallow’s Eve this year, a movie marathon would be a nice alternative. Here are a few nostalgic movies to get comfy and watch on Oct. 31.

Classic

“Beetlejuice” (1988) (Amazon)

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1992) (Amazon)

“Casper” (1995) (Amazon)

“Corpse Bride” (2005) (Amazon)

“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) (Amazon)

“Ghostbusters” (1984) (Amazon) 

“Goosebumps” (1998 ) (Netflix)

“Gremlins” (1984) (Amazon)

“Halloweentown” (1998) (Disney+) 

“Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge” (2001) (Disney+) 

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001) (Amazon)

“Hocus Pocus” (1993) (Disney+) 

“House on Haunted Hill” (1999) (Amazon)

“Matilda” (1996) (Amazon)

“Mean Girls” (2004) (Amazon)

“Return to Halloweentown” (2006) (Disney+) 

“Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” (1969) (Amazon)

“Sleepy Hollow” (1999) (Amazon)

“Teen Wolf” (1985) (Amazon)

“The Addams Family” (1991) (Netflix)

“The Craft” (1996) (Amazon)

“The Haunted Mansion” (2003) (Disney+)

“The Night Before Christmas” (1993) (Amazon)

“Twitches” (2005) (Disney+)

 

Horror

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984) (Amazon)

“Annabelle” (2014) (Amazon)

“Blair Witch Project” (1999) (Amazon)

“Carrie” (1976) (Amazon)

“Child’s Play” (1988) (Amazon)

“Children of the Corn” (1984) (Hulu) 

“Halloween” (1978) (Amazon) 

“It” (2017) (Amazon)

“Monster House” (2006) (Amazon)

“Paranormal Activity” (2007) (Amazon)

“Pet Sematary” (1989) (Amazon) 

“The Amityville Horror” (1979) (Amazon)

“The Conjuring” (2013) (Amazon)

“The Conjuring 2” (2016) (Amazon)

“The Exorcist” (1973) (Amazon) 

“The Nun” (2018) (Amazon) 

“The Shining” (1980) (Amazon) 

“The Sixth Sense” (1999) (Amazon) 

“The Ring” (2002) (Amazon)

“Scream” (1996) (Amazon)

 

Honorable Mention

“The Haunting of Hill House” (2018) (Netflix)

Contact the authors at howleditor@wou.edu and howldigitalmediamanager@wou.edu

Student reactions to the dorm guest policy petition

Western students react to a petition in favor for changing the dorm guest policy

Stephanie Moschella | Digital Media Manager

How many students voted: 68

Students in favor for changing the dorm guest policy: 41 (60%)

Students against changing the dorm guest policy: 27 (40%)

 

Highlighted student responses: 

     Name: Kendra Acker

     Year: First-year

     Major: Education

“Or at least guests from other halls, because there’s nowhere to hangout with friends from other halls except outside, especially when it’s raining and gloomy out. Or now with the freeze, we can’t even meet and hang in Valsetz. Idk *woman with black hair shrugging emoji*”

 

     Name: Erich Muehe

     Year: Senior 

     Major: Political Science

“I voted in support of the petition because I know it would be good for other students as they would be struggling in this time. I currently live off campus but I know many people that would benefit from this change.” 

 

     Name: Robby Scharf

     Year: Sophomore

     Major: Education 

“Considering the depopulation of the dorms that has already happened, and is going to continue to happen until the end of the term and possibly last in some considerable fashion into winter term, the danger of widespread community transmission of Covid-19 continues to decrease with time. The people living in the dorms currently are the least likely to spend considerable time in other communities and bring Covid-19 to campus, as those who live anywhere near WOU are considerably more likely to just live at home or elsewhere off campus. The ethics of the no-guest policy are becoming more and more ambiguous, in my view, daily.”

Opinion: The gentrification of Independence-Monmouth

With the popular food trucks in Indy-Mo gone, it brings up questions on gentrification

Stephanie Moschella | Digital Media Manager 

Gentrification is defined by Google as “the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new business, typically displaying current inhabitants in the process,” but I’m sure a lot of people didn’t catch the underlying racist speech in the definition of this word itself.

Poor, urban, Black, drugs, Mexican, Hispanic, uneducated, streets, hood, slums, the projects. The ghetto. 

The shifting of neighborhoods, the betterment of the community, cleaning up the slums. “We’re doing it for the kids!” “We’re making it more appealing for new tenants!” We’re dusting the streets of the people of color that were once there, and replacing them with a year long process of construction. We’re mixing the color of their skin with the cement being poured to smooth and blend out their edges.

We see this pattern repeatedly against marginalized communities. They’re given unreliable scraps of society only to have the rug pulled under them at any given moment to make room for the wealthy, improved and traditionally acceptable. However, this destruction of culture and revenue to the community is only noticed by those who’ve carved a space for themselves through their sweat and blood. 

These renovations deemed for the “betterment” of society only goes to show that the creativity of young, marginalized groups will always be deemed as lesser and disposable. The black square on your Instagram account will never be enough to make you understand, because you will never understand. 

Those that live in the Independence-Monmouth area probably know that the food trucks that were in The Annex left. Whether or not they were kicked out with only a 12-hour notice or asked to leave months ago doesn’t matter — this community has been stripped of a beautifully unique aspect, only to be replaced by “clean” commercial spaces and unaffordable apartments. 

Gentrification colloquially means the process where a neighborhood garners wealth and where the population becomes more rich, more young and more white. There’s no hiding what Indy-Mo is becoming, forcing its residents further and further out. Sure, it’s just Independence to Monmouth, but this exact thinking is what happens when people get too complacent, and eventually, kicked out. 

Contact the author at smoschella20@wou.edu

 

Student reactions to the presidential election

Western students speak their mind on the results of the 2020 presidential election

Stephanie Moschella | Digital Media Manager

 

“Tbh kind of shocked but I’m not mad”

Name: Kendra Acker

Year: First-year

Major: Education

 

“I’ve cried, cheered, and created an endless cycle of worry in my head.”

Name: Maddie Endicott

Year: Sophomore

Major: Political Science 

 

“THANKGODTHANKGODTHANKGOD”

Name: Abbie Funk

Year: Junior

Major: Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences 

 

“I feel like I can breathe again and I hope for our country. I’m no longer afraid.”

Name: Felicia Martinez

Year: Junior

Major: Communications Studies

 

“Beyond ecstatic, I didn’t know just how excited I was until I heard the breaking news!”

Name: Chris Smith

Year: Junior

Major: Public Policy and Administration

 

“Oh thank god”

Name: Steve Richmond

Year: Senior

Major: Communications Studies

Opinion: WOU students are treated like a joke

WOUmemes is more informative than WOUnews 

Stephanie Moschella | Digital Media Manager

It has been said many times before and needs to be said again: WOUnews is just a PR team that endorses the university. They have a couple of grown a-s adults sitting behind their computer and phone screens telling students how to wash their hands, when they should be informing them about what is actually happening on campus.

Rex Fuller leaving in a crisis, confirmed COVID-19 cases on campus, money being used to shut student run organizations up, upwards to a $1,000 added hidden fee, almost getting rid of the food pantry which feeds whole a-s families and WOUnews has said nothing about it. The only thing students do not have to pay for is the anxiety and depression that they will be too poor to get help for once WOU is finished draining students pockets. They siphon young impressionable students and their s—-y income to pay for their Netflix accounts and Amazon Prime. 

WOUnews is the official Instagram account for the university, but despite idiotically claiming this handle, they do not seem to post a lot of news. One glance at their mediocre feed displays the sheer lack of decency towards the students of Western, as they have posted nothing in regards to IFC, increased tuition, or the godforsaken online course fee. They do not respond to comments from eloquently spoken students expressing their concern and only reply to ones that blindly praise the school (most of them from parents). WOUnews forcibly bird feeds its students with posts about how campus looks during the fall and to bring “your own frisbee (and) try out the WOU disc golf course” all while ignoring the devastated students weeping in its corridors.

WOUmemes on the other hand, should have love letters pouring into their DMs as this is where students actually gather information about what is happening on campus. News about the COVID cases did not emerge until they openly and gallantly posted about it. They always respond to students who comment on their posts with questions — reaffirming and agreeing with their beliefs as well as consoling them in times of need — all while providing a spark of joy in unprecedented times. This student-run Instagram account, which only started a few months ago, has garnered more attraction and respect amongst students than the university’s legitimate account. 

Of course, The Western Howl has its own personal beef with WOUnews, as prior articles by Stephanie Blair stirred up controversy regarding the topic. But I am not talking about previous arguments or petty rivalry the school created to have its way, what I am saying is that this is not the first time this has happened. There has been a first, second and third, yet the school chooses to not do anything about it, to sit complacent and watch the students tick away the days left before they get to leave. A factory of students that is essential to it continuing; yet they act like we are all disposable, expendable, unnecessary.

WOUnews is not providing adequate information to their students. Students desperately need it during these uncertain times because they are already anxious about their livelihood due to COVID. WOUmemes is the one supplying more actual information that students care about whilst maintaining a humorous ease amongst students in comparison to the inadequacy of WOUnews. Right now, anxiety and depression in students are at an all-time high and WOUnews is not fulfilling its purpose at satiating the nerves of young students who have never encountered a worldwide pandemic. 

Anyways, go follow @wou_memes on Instagram.

Contact the author at smoschella20@mail.wou.edu

Review: “The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope”

Good jumpscares, well-written plot and new mechanics makes “Little Hope” a big success

Cora McClain | Editor-In-Chief

Stephanie Moschella | Digital Media Manager

It’s hard to follow up on the explosive popularity “Until Dawn” had on the gaming community, which is why The Dark Pictures Anthology had a lot of hype to live up to. When “The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan” seemingly fell flat as a glorified movie-turned-video game, “The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope” had to blow its audience away in order for Supermassive Games to regain traction. “Little Hope” is an interactive horror survival video game released on the PS4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows on Oct. 30 for $30. 

Watching the trailer for the game, creepy kids, ghost towns and terrifying monsters were a given. However, there was a huge piece of plot that was well guarded and added a mysterious paranormal layer beyond what was already there. For spoiler purposes, we will not be disclosing this plot point, but know that it was a good spin on the “time-traveling” plot. 

Along with this, the ending was completely unexpected, at least for us. While some people might heavily dislike an ending like this, we found it an interesting twist with little clues all the way though. In fact, I would go so far as to say the plot of “Little Hope” far surpassed most horror genre video games and movies. 

Each new piece of information changed our perceptions and theories of what was going on; it was an intricately-woven tangled mystery that the game unknotted organically, without giving away all of the surprises too early. At the same time, the twists didn’t come out of nowhere and were based in the already-established lore and plot of “Little Hope.” For us, the story of “Little Hope” hit the mark.

Another high note for “Little Hope” was the great atmosphere of the game. As a person who played the game all the way through in five hours, there wasn’t a moment where the tense mood or suspension of disbelief was broken. Straight from the get-go, the player is thrown into intense action ⏤ unlike “Man of Medan,” which had a very slow build up. From the moment the characters arrive in “Little Hope,” tensions are high, and it feels as if anything can happen at any moment. 

The real sense of danger begins in act two, after all the monsters have been introduced; there is scene after scene of fighting monsters that don’t let up for about an hour of gameplay. The characters are in constant danger, and this adds to the sense of urgency for them and the players. 

Our consensus on the monsters are that they are some of the best monsters to be featured in a Supermassive Games title, even better than the infamous “Until Dawn” wendigos. They were varied, had a story-driven purpose for existing and were scary as hell — players don’t have a set of rules for them, they have to figure it out and infer along the way.

A main part of horror games are the jumpscares, which is where a lot of horror video games disappoint. But for “Little Hope,” they do an amazing job keeping it not only plot driven but continuously scary. Most games go back to the tropey and cheap jumpscares, but this game really drives it home with their abundance of well thought-out scares that keeps the player on the edge of their seat through the whole game.

As for the mechanics, “Little Hope” followed its predecessors by relying on choices, quick time events, aiming events and investigating the environment. There was a new implementation of warnings that let the player know that a QTE was coming up. It’s a nice addition that helped with the accuracy of making QTEs, but it takes away that constant edge of danger present in other Supermassive Games. 

Along with this, a player could control another character during a scene, in which they could very well kill another player’s character. While it does add to the importance of the multiplayer feature, it can also be quite devastating to lose a character when it is not even that player’s turn.

One new mechanic involved the characteristics featured in previous games; instead of just floating around the character’s head aimlessly, there were “locked” characteristics. A part of this mechanic is that through very specific and certain choices, more characteristics can be locked or broken. This mechanic is not explained at all during the game like all the others, even though it has the most devastating consequences. The fact that this mechanic leads to automatic character death in the third act without being explained in any way soured the game a bit for us.

Another problem the game presents is the obvious lack of diversity. In Supermassive Games’ previous installments, they made an effort in hiring women and people of color. However, in “Little Hope,” there is one throwaway Asian character and a Black man who is perceived as a danger to our white heros the whole game. This doesn’t deter from the plotline, but it does beg the question: why would they go with something like the witch trials and not mention the people of color that were also tortured and killed during them?

 

Overall Review: 

Stephanie: I would recommend this video game to anyone who is ready for some good jumpscares but are okay with mediocre endings. I commend their skill for being able to scare some eager horror gamers with a rating for 8/10. 

Cora: Before the auto-kill mechanic, I would have rated this game a 9/10, but it spoiled the game for me a bit. I would recommend it for any avid fan of the horror genre who doesn’t care too much about a bum ending. Overall, it is a great horror game that I thoroughly enjoyed and want to play again, and it gets an 8/10 from me.

Contact the authors at howleditor@wou.edu and howldigitalmediamanager@wou.edu