My party got to Barovia at the end of the last session after running through Death House and Morgantha was the first person in Barovia that was willing to give them the time of day. The PCs were starving, cold and soaked from constant rain, and exhausted. So when they met the kind, little-ole granny type who was so much cheerier than the rest of the town, they happily accepted her free meat pie samples. The windmill ought to be a lot of fun...
we're 25 sessions in and the rogue keeps heading back to the windmill for more
he hands them out to npcs
he knows what's in them, he hasnt told anyone
Haha. My PCs are a bunch of goody two shoes. However, none of them have tried the pies yet. Their main goal was to get to the tavern and somewhere warm, so I think I'll have to remind them about the pies.
Has anyone had any experience in making a PC the reincarnation of Tatyana rather than Ireena? I've seen several guides either suggest it or give it as an option and I'm thinking about making the party cleric the reincarnation. If I do, I'm keeping Ireena around as a red herring (she'll just be an interesting Barovian Strahd was interested in making a consort) and making the reveal at the Feast of St Andral.
I had a player playing as Ireena/Tatyana, she switched characters some ways in and the party handed Tatyana over to Strahd "to buy time"
I think my Curse of Strahd party may be the baddies
You need to make sure the player is okay with the very problematic overtones towards their character if they pick the object of Strahd's lust to play as, if they are it can be a great experience for the table and leads to more investment in protecting her
Oh, good point. I think he'll be ok with it, but I'll double check. He wrote in his backstory that he drew the attention of a vampire in the past and she offered him immortality, which he declined (gonna make her one of Strahd's brides that he sent to check up on Tatyana. Maybe developed a crush on him). All of the female players are playing dwarves or elves and the other male player's back story doesn't work for Tatyana, so he's drawn the short straw automatically if he's ultimately cool with it.
In my game last week, I mentioned that I had taken the True Strike cantrip before I realized how terrible it actually was.
My thought was that if I could guarantee my rogue had advantage, I could get the sneak attack damage more often. True strike gives you advantage on your next attack against the target.
I didn't notice that it only has a 30 foot range, and takes you action for the round. To say nothing of the concentration part of the spell which is also moderately annoying (not as annoying as the rest, but just the cherry on top of the terrible spell sundae).
Any thoughts on how to fix the spell without making it game breaking?
My first thought was to make it a bonus action to cast, but that pretty much turns it into "Every attack is now with advantage forever" for any martial class with a cantrip slot (or a feat that gives them magic). That'd take it from being terrible to being a must have for anyone with a cantrip slot.
Maybe increasing the range on it to make it usable for ranged attackers?
Maybe make it a lvl 1 spell with a bonus action casting time and increased range? That'd at least put a cost on it.
The only real application for True Strike, in my view, is if you're about to cast a high level spell with an attack roll and you really don't want to miss. Your once a day Finger of Death kind of thing.
If you're worried about your Rogue getting advantage all the time then check out the new Aim feature from Tasha's (and previously the class options UA), which basically exists as an end run around DMs who cracked down on regular Cunning Action: Hide usage.
The only real application for True Strike, in my view, is if you're about to cast a high level spell with an attack roll and you really don't want to miss. Your once a day Finger of Death kind of thing.
If you're worried about your Rogue getting advantage all the time then check out the new Aim feature from Tasha's (and previously the class options UA), which basically exists as an end run around DMs who cracked down on regular Cunning Action: Hide usage.
In my mind, rogues should be getting a sneak attack misty of the time and not getting it should be an occasional thing because you're dealing with some unanticipated urgency. Otherwise you may as well go with a class that gets multiattack.
Apparently early reports were wrong and the new D&D book only removed alignments from generic creatures, not individual NPCs.
That makes sense. Not all goblins are evil, but this John Q Bastard that happens to be goblin is NE.
Yeah, having it as a generic sort of suggestion as to how an individual NPC acts is fine by me. Same for why I still give my PCs an alignment. I give them a personality, flaws, bonds, etc., that determine specifics of how they act and what they do, but I also use their alignment as a general guide.
In my game last week, I mentioned that I had taken the True Strike cantrip before I realized how terrible it actually was.
My thought was that if I could guarantee my rogue had advantage, I could get the sneak attack damage more often. True strike gives you advantage on your next attack against the target.
I didn't notice that it only has a 30 foot range, and takes you action for the round. To say nothing of the concentration part of the spell which is also moderately annoying (not as annoying as the rest, but just the cherry on top of the terrible spell sundae).
Any thoughts on how to fix the spell without making it game breaking?
My first thought was to make it a bonus action to cast, but that pretty much turns it into "Every attack is now with advantage forever" for any martial class with a cantrip slot (or a feat that gives them magic). That'd take it from being terrible to being a must have for anyone with a cantrip slot.
Maybe increasing the range on it to make it usable for ranged attackers?
Maybe make it a lvl 1 spell with a bonus action casting time and increased range? That'd at least put a cost on it.
this is what we did to True Strike, as a counter to Booming or Green-Flame blade (we also have a ranged exclusive cantrip that allows the attack to be rerolled against another target if it misses, deals same damage scaling as this)
The only real application for True Strike, in my view, is if you're about to cast a high level spell with an attack roll and you really don't want to miss. Your once a day Finger of Death kind of thing.
If you're worried about your Rogue getting advantage all the time then check out the new Aim feature from Tasha's (and previously the class options UA), which basically exists as an end run around DMs who cracked down on regular Cunning Action: Hide usage.
Unfortunately there aren't a lot of high level spells that have attack rolls. There are a few really strong low level spells that have attack rolls but they tend to be for Clerics. (Guiding bolt, Cause Wounds) If you're just attacking, and you can get sneak attack from another source(ally adjacent) then true strike is really bad. You could just attack twice.
That being said. True strike does have some value
1) Its a somatic spell only. So it can be used silently. This means that if you're in a situation where you're concerned you might not get surprise advantage for a particular reason. You can true strike and still have advantage on the first attack.
2) Its somatic component is very simple and easy to disguise. I think this is intentional so i definitely let players do it. Though i don't let it fool anyone trained in arcana. This means you can true strike before a combat even when you've not surprised an enemy. (two people talking and then enter combat generally does not produce a surprise, and no one is hidden. But pointing at a guy isn't going to start combat even if it is going to give you advantage on the first attack of combat)
3) You can use it to transfer advantage when you don't have a good attack for a particular reason. The obvious one is if you have disadvantage for some reason. If you have disadvantage for ANY reason you don't get sneak attack even if an enemy is adjacent to an ally. Now next round you might not have disadvantage but you might still. True strike cancels any amount of disadvantage robbing you of your sneak attack and/or lets you get almost full value out of a turn when you're disadvantaged.
If you're playing an Arcane Trickster, know that you're going to get bonus action free advantage at level 13. So that is kind of the place that the math thinks that works out for "bonus action uncontested advantage". Though you still need to burn an action casting the mage hand (and you must get the mage hand moving where you want it which might be hard) the things that mage hand lets you do are still hella good and you should attempt to have mage hand out a lot in combat*
*especially since you can cast mage hand and control mage hand in the same turn using your cunning action. And so can action: cast mage hand(invisible), item interaction: place object in mage hand, bonus action: have mage hand place object on the person of an enemy (opposed slight of hand) movement: more 30 feet away(though this will unsummon the mage hand). You can also steal from 30 feet away in a similar fashion (use your object interaction to take the object from the mage hand)
Another thing you can do is take a 7 level dip into fighter in order to get War Magic as a 7th Level Eldritch Knight.
If you're not terribly concerned with needing to true strike EVERY round. Getting quickened spell (from a sorcerer dip or metamagic adept) will provide a small number of true strikes as bonus actions each day. 4 levels of sorcerer (3 is possible but you have a max sorcery points of your level and this means that you can only bonus action true strike once per combat without spending more bonus actions to siphon spells again) gets quite a few castings of true strike as a bonus action. A wild magic sorcerer rogue will be able to get tide of chaos to give their attacks advantage (no action) quite a bit depending on the DM's willingness to let you recharge it by rolling on the wild magic table as well. In combination this could be effectively free advantage for most attacks in combat.
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Turns out my Artificer's player has finished her IRL presentation, slept for a day, and when I asked her for her pitch for the upcoming Open House, she has some ideas.
- The main attraction for eggheads, a small prototype of the geothermic energy siphoner, doing double work - one to power up a miniature train set in a miniature Ravnica (use up geothermals to power up the existing magic subway, letting the magic there free for other stuff), and another as a charging station for....
- miniaturized power packs-slash-torches, chargeable from her geo-station. The revolution would either be the speed of charging these, or the capacity/size ratio that they come in
- A mini variant of her energy siphoner - a grill whose legs stab down a bit into the ground to siphon up the.... "ambient geothermal power" and power up the grill: she'll also be grillin' in her booth to entice passers-by.
Looks like she's also factoring in the financial requirements of her long term goals, as she's planning to sell the latter two to the common man if she gets funded. Complications would be a missing piece that needs to be made in unobtainium, and permits / reimbursement forms for her mini-volcano (to siphon geothermal energy from) for the event. I'm also foreseeing weaponizing those power packs into grenades; might need to monitor that closely for gamebreaking shenanigans.
I think the Tasha's Aim bonus action more or less killed any situational use of True Strike
Tasha's aim bonus does however prevent you from moving, at all, during your turn. Which is huge imo. Frankly bonus action hide should be sufficient (so long as your DM lets you use it... as they should since its clearly intended) for most purposes in getting advantage at range
edit: But then again, i don't think ranged rogues are all that good so eh. No melee AoO is a huge deal for rogues.
Asked my player if he's ok with being a vampire's object of lust and the issues that may arise from that, and he said he's comfortable with going that route. So I've got my Tatyana! I kept it vague as to which vampire it would be, so he's thinking it's the bride of Strahd his character met before the campaign began.
Maybe I can get some help or thoughts with something for our next session? I've decided to remove that Strahd had been laying siege to Ireena and Ismark's home and that caused their father to die. The reason is I don't want to telegraph the sieges and make my PCs believe it's something that could happen again, as I'm planning on Strahd laying siege to the house the night after the funeral. When Strahd attends the funeral, at a distance, is when he'll spot the Tatyana reincarnation (the PC) for the first time. He'll briefly get excited and loss his cool and lay siege to the house to get to Tatyana before regaining his composure (after several exciting rounds of fighting zombies and wolves off) and calling the siege off. The problem I'm running into is how to make Strahd still responsible for Ireena's father's death as I still want her to have a reason to hate Strahd. I've run into a creative brickwall. My initial thinking was to have Strahd visit her father a few days before the PCs arrive to ask her hand in marriage and, when her father said no, accidently kill him in a fit of rage. However, I don't want Strahd losing his temper to be a common occurrence so that when it does happen, it means things are about to get very scary and deadly for everyone.
I had forgotten that True strike is explicitly "on your next turn" and not "immediately until you make an attack". That breaks any method besides attempting to game the wild Sorcerer's advantage mechanic untenable.
Gaming the wild sorcerers advantage could work but does take some levels. In order to use it a lot you need both quicken spell and a good number of slots, since you're going to quicken a spell each time you want to get advantage immediately. This has a minimum equivalent spell point cost of 3 per usage. (1st lvl spell + 2 for quicken). Buut you also get a spellcast each round you do this (you need 4 levels of sorc to do this 2x/encounter)
edit: A 4th level sorcerer has 14 spell point equivalent and so you can do this 4 times/day. With 2 first level and 2 second level spells (converting 3 first level and 1 second level into spell points). As you're an arcane trickster this also increases with your arcane trickster level. Additionally you can cast bonus action spells (expeditious retreat, misty step, shadow blade, shadow blade) in order to reduce your spell point cost value. Indeed since this only requires you cast a sorcerer spell and not a sorcerer spell from a sorcerer spellbook you could potentially do this with a one level dip by picking your wizard spells that are also sorcerer spells.
edit: Misty Step and expeditious retreat a particularly Rougey way to do this since it lets you teleport 30 feet(something you were likely to do with your turn anyway) and it recharges the wild sorcerer advantage. With Fey Touched feat you get an extra use of this plus add it to your spell list and so reduce the need to be a 3rd level sorcerer.
That is.
Arcane Trickster x/Wild Mage 1-4.
Wild Mage gets "Tides of Chaos" : Advantage one one attack roll/ability check/saving throw per long rest. When you cast a 1st level sorcerer spell or higher and this is on cool down your DM may roll on the wild magic table and if they do so you regain the usage of your tides of chaos.
Feat: Ideal: Fey Touched -Spell: doesn't matter. This is to get you access to misty step earlier/without being level 3 sorcerer. It also gives you 1 extra cast/day.
Feat Optional: Metamagic adept: lets you cast a 1st sorcerer spell quickened without having to take 2 extra levels of sorcerer.
Ideal Spells: Misty Step and Expeditious retreat. Bonus Action spells that grant movement and are also 1st level sorcerer spells and so trigger Tides of Chaos to be refreshed. This can get you a LOT of advantage if your DM is willing to roll on the table every time you cast a 1st level sorcerer spell. (you can also use reaction spells like absorb elements to potentially get 2/round if you need it for some reason)
Asked my player if he's ok with being a vampire's object of lust and the issues that may arise from that, and he said he's comfortable with going that route. So I've got my Tatyana! I kept it vague as to which vampire it would be, so he's thinking it's the bride of Strahd his character met before the campaign began.
At least you asked. My female Hexblade PC with 20 CHA has been vampire roofied and bitten, twice, with Strahd explicitly telling my PC that I am to be another of his wives whether I want to be or not.
Which, TBH, took me aback at first and I did not appreciate it. But I have the privilege of being a cis-gendered male IRL and can only approximate the outrage my character must be feeling, so I decided to roll with it. Every chance I get I try to damage Strahd in some way. I've sabotaged his fancy organ in his castle, vandalized his carriage and I really tried to kill his horse, but alas it got away. Some of these "rash" decisions have got me in a bit of trouble with my party as the chances for revenge are taken at the detriment of the rest of my party surviving.
Asked my player if he's ok with being a vampire's object of lust and the issues that may arise from that, and he said he's comfortable with going that route. So I've got my Tatyana! I kept it vague as to which vampire it would be, so he's thinking it's the bride of Strahd his character met before the campaign began.
At least you asked. My female Hexblade PC with 20 CHA has been vampire roofied and bitten, twice, with Strahd explicitly telling my PC that I am to be another of his wives whether I want to be or not.
Which, TBH, took me aback at first and I did not appreciate it. But I have the privilege of being a cis-gendered male IRL and can only approximate the outrage my character must be feeling. To wit, I've decided to just roll with it, and every chance I get I try to damage Strahd in some way. I've sabotaged his fancy organ in his castle, vandalized his carriage and I really tried to kill his horse, but alas it got away. Some of these "rash" decisions have got me in a bit of trouble with my party as the chances for revenge are taken at the detriment of the rest of my party surviving.
Oh man, that does not sound fun. I'm really glad I took Override's advice now and checked with my player. Other than the initial siege against Ireena and Ismark's house, my thinking was that Strahd would take a step back from trying to force Tatyana to be with him since that ends up with her/him dead each time. No charming, no nonconsensual biting, instead trying to convince Tatyana to come to him (though still in a very overbearing, possessive, incel way). That just sounds... way too rapey for me to be comfortable running.
I very much recommend Lunch Break Heroes' videos on youtube
His suggestion is to do away with Strahd having bitten Tatyana at all, instead Strahd attempts to sabotage everything and everyone around Tatyana. To gaslight her about things. To make others at fault for the situation in Barovia. To promise that if she were at his side, she could help the people. Make it seem like there's nowhere safe for her to go but in Strahd's arms. This exlains why he doesn't simply take Tatyana, when he very much can
Using proxies like Rahadin, Arrigal, or the Werewolves while continuing to offer her safety in Ravenloft. Trying to "Wear her down"
It's scummy but less rapey
I have run and played COS multiple times with multiple groups, and the most profound experience was the last time I played it, with a tight knight group of friends, where it went really dark. The DM herself has been a survivor of the very things she was describing, and she was perfectly able to convey the level of fucked up that it was. No physical acts (apart from when Strahd finally bit her), but in her portrayal of Tatyana herself as well. I feel like it was probably cathartic for her as well, but she gave Strahd the level of casual possessive misogyny that only someone who's been through it could effectively convey - she says I'm doing a good job currently so I take that as high praise (shes a player in my current game), her only "no no" on the session 0 "content to avoid" was that she does NOT want Strahd to ever make moves on her character
Asked my player if he's ok with being a vampire's object of lust and the issues that may arise from that, and he said he's comfortable with going that route. So I've got my Tatyana! I kept it vague as to which vampire it would be, so he's thinking it's the bride of Strahd his character met before the campaign began.
At least you asked. My female Hexblade PC with 20 CHA has been vampire roofied and bitten, twice, with Strahd explicitly telling my PC that I am to be another of his wives whether I want to be or not.
Which, TBH, took me aback at first and I did not appreciate it. But I have the privilege of being a cis-gendered male IRL and can only approximate the outrage my character must be feeling, so I decided to roll with it. Every chance I get I try to damage Strahd in some way. I've sabotaged his fancy organ in his castle, vandalized his carriage and I really tried to kill his horse, but alas it got away. Some of these "rash" decisions have got me in a bit of trouble with my party as the chances for revenge are taken at the detriment of the rest of my party surviving.
When i ran CoS i had him "seducing" one of the female (irl) party members characters (female kenku). This was after the party had dinner certain events that made Irena no longer in the realm of possibility for Strahd ever. And also Strahd was more about the whole "kenku being taken over by a void force (raven queen shenanigans the player had asked for)" than female. The players had split the party with the kenku going off on her own and Strahd charmes her.
I was very clear on one thing though. The charm was too make her stay instead of trying to escape with the rest of the party, not to seduce, and he had to re apply it daily. The seduction was him doing it the regular way, because he's looking for the challenge of the hunt. He's after all, very very bored, per the book.
They had dinner together. They had a date where he shoved off his sweet carriage to her (even though she had already been in it once, when Rahadin drove the whole party over one time). He took her to the balcony overlooking the village of Barovia for a not-sunset. Steahd's current husband and wives hated the kenku PC and we plotting when they could murder her without Strahd noticing. Then the party got their act together and ran a rescue mission and fetched her out.
The whole Strahd/Dracula/Vampire trope IS rapey. Thats a fact.
The most important thing is to calculate the level of rapiness to the table, you can run the entire thing without Strahd ever touching Ireena/Tatyana, or you can go full on "Tatyana floats out the window and that scene from Ghostbusters 2 happens" or further, depending on level of confidence and the wishes of the players (on things like this it's important the ENTIRE table is onboard)
I very much recommend Lunch Break Heroes' videos on youtube
His suggestion is to do away with Strahd having bitten Tatyana at all, instead Strahd attempts to sabotage everything and everyone around Tatyana. To gaslight her about things. To make others at fault for the situation in Barovia. To promise that if she were at his side, she could help the people. Make it seem like there's nowhere safe for her to go but in Strahd's arms. This exlains why he doesn't simply take Tatyana, when he very much can
Using proxies like Rahadin, Arrigal, or the Werewolves while continuing to offer her safety in Ravenloft. Trying to "Wear her down"
When you say use proxies, how do you use them? As in, they are the ones going around and causing the PCs' lives to be miserable and harming innocents? I like the idea of Strahd dangling in front Tatyanya that he could make it all stop by being by his side. I've also toyed with Strahd blaming any actions he takes on Tatyana and him not being with him. Strahd kills an ally of the PCs? Why it's obviously Tatyana's fault. If he would just see he belongs with Strahd, then he wouldn't need to do what he does.
I very much recommend Lunch Break Heroes' videos on youtube
His suggestion is to do away with Strahd having bitten Tatyana at all, instead Strahd attempts to sabotage everything and everyone around Tatyana. To gaslight her about things. To make others at fault for the situation in Barovia. To promise that if she were at his side, she could help the people. Make it seem like there's nowhere safe for her to go but in Strahd's arms. This exlains why he doesn't simply take Tatyana, when he very much can
Using proxies like Rahadin, Arrigal, or the Werewolves while continuing to offer her safety in Ravenloft. Trying to "Wear her down"
When you say use proxies, how do you use them? As in, they are the ones going around and causing the PCs' lives to be miserable and harming innocents? I like the idea of Strahd dangling in front Tatyanya that he could make it all stop by being by his side. I've also toyed with Strahd blaming any actions he takes on Tatyana and him not being with him. Strahd kills an ally of the PCs? Why it's obviously Tatyana's fault. If he would just see he belongs with Strahd, then he wouldn't need to do what he does.
I had Rahadin poison the water in the village, leading to the zombie outbreak. The water from the burgomaster's well contains one of the Druid's missing life gems, placed there by Strahd, so that when Ireena drinks that water it would nullify any infection. The point isn't to kill Ireena, it's to make the villagers sick, and her continued good health to be something to cause suspicion and fear towards her by her neighbors.
The werewolves attack the mansion every night, they could just burn it down or use tools to tear off the nailed boards, but that's not the point - the point is to make her feel unsafe in her own home.
A certain pie cart makes use of children that Ireena had personally befriended.
The shopkeeper and his minion treat Ireena like royalty, leaving her confused as to why the villagers hate them. They deny overcharging other people.
Her former friends in the village tell her that her brother is lying to her about Strahd, that he's a wise and noble king and protects them all from the encroaching mists, gaslighting her about having previously insisted that Strahd was the devil when she first arrived. (they've been Charmed by Ludmilla, who has been living in a fancy house in the village and is one of the few people Ireena trusts, as she gives generously. Without her, the village would have likely already starved)
I had Doru be a love interest of Ireenas who went missing after visiting the castle Madam Eva's camp. Yes that is where he visited, she doesn't know why she ever thought he visited the castle.
She has dreams of Strahd, unbidden, courtesy of a certain group that lives nearby. Dreams of herself as queen and Barovia prospering. Dreams of passion in Strahd's bed. Dreams of punishing the wicked creatures that torment her. She goes days at a time in restless fits, waking exhausted... only when Strahd's carriage comes through town does she seem to sleep well...
Strahd visits once a week, offers her flowers, a kiss on the hand, and acts the full gentleman. He tells Ireena that her brother has refused his assistance in helping the village (which is true! Strahd didn't even need to concoct anything here)
I have added Modify Memory to Strahd's spell list to provide the maximum level of horror.
Ireena sees through most of this, she knows he has magics, and a secret visit from a certain vampire hunter steels her will, physical evidence in a secret place of Strahd's evil that even Ismark doesn't know about, but she is falling apart psychologically, maybe it would be best just to give in...
Thats how the party found her, and the backstory I gave the player who played her for a time
Since my players dont read this, I can let you all know I plan on Patrina playing Strahd, removing Tatyana from Barovia permanently (she's given the players a quest to do just that), getting Strahd to turn her into a vampire while using her magic to protect herself from his control, and flipping the master/thrall relationship so she can rule Barovia. She has the blessing of some of the dark powers opposed to Strahd's unseen patron, and plans to take Barovia back to Faerun so she can fulfill her end of the bargain by bringing the lands around the Mere of Dead Men (including Neverwinter) into the Domains of Dread
oh and first thing's first: the men who stoned her to death get turned to stone
now she'll fail in her plan, since the players will kill Strahd, so no vampire for her - but that will start the level 12-15 portion of my campaign
Since my players dont read this, I can let you all know I plan on Patrina playing Strahd, removing Tatyana from Barovia permanently (she's given the players a quest to do just that), getting Strahd to turn her into a vampire while using her magic to protect herself from his control, and flipping the master/thrall relationship so she can rule Barovia. She has the blessing of some of the dark powers opposed to Strahd's unseen patron, and plans to take Barovia back to Faerun so she can fulfill her end of the bargain by bringing the lands around the Mere of Dead Men (including Neverwinter) into the Domains of Dread
oh and first thing's first: the men who stoned her to death get turned to stone
now she'll fail in her plan, since the players will kill Strahd, so no vampire for her - but that will start the level 12-15 portion of my campaign
My players brought Patrina's brother to the crypts then left him there (well, specifically one of them that had taken on a "bully" trait in Amber Temple kicked him out of the party) as they went looking for the treasure they were promised so long ago by the card reading. Brother let her out, she killed him, then made her way to Amber Temple for the expected reasons. However my players then went on to kill Strahd before any of that resolved and one of them (she was a dragonborn great-great-etc..-descendant of Argynvost , turned evil in the Amber Temple) decided to rule Barovia "benevolently" as the rest of the party left the land.
My campaign that has been running for just under the last year is getting close to wrapping up a major arc. The party has been working on behalf of the regent of one of two nations about to go to war that has been simmering for some time. The free city they are working for broke away from an empire of kingdoms about 40 years ago and is transitioning from cold to hot war again. Given the history and that they are right on the border, the area is rife with sympathisers, much of which is merchants and traders whose families used to be nobility and they've been aiding the empire under the table.
The lord they are working for doesn't have the troop numbers the other side does, but he believes in bringing in skilled adventurers is going to make a difference, so they've been working on and off with various other companies of NPC heroes along the way (a mostly even group, a trio of very gregarious dragonborn and a helpful kenku assassin who is considerably higher level than they are and keeps entering conversations when they think they are alone. "How does he keep doing it??"
They had a choice of missions to pick from;
Contact an old friend of the regent from the last war (a bronze dragon, which they did not know)
There had been a loss of communication in the southern part of the battle lines, look into it
Chose to investigate some sort of plot being hatched by the empire. (They chose this one)
They've had some run-ins with a group of special forces type rangers on the other side a couple of times, broken into a warehouse for information, won a fighting tournament, foiled a plot to spike the beer at Beer Fest and have all the soldiers get sick, then used Beer Fest as an excuse to raid a tavern of sympathisers by staging a bar brawl with some friendly dragonborn heroes and insulting the quality of the neighbouring kingdom's beer. (Which also led to the pixie mage using Ghost Sound to make the sound of an explosion to cover up opening a squeaky rusted metal door and having to hide inbetween the cushions on a couch because of course people are going to wonder!)
They've just recently discovered the source of the plot and flushed it out which has gotten them to eigth level. They also intercepted communications between the opposing nation and a red dragon it has contracted to show up at the final battle.
The war is going to be a fairer fight than it would have been, their soldiers will be healthy instead of sick, the hidden army of mercenaries they rooted out is still in the field, but is at least known about, and they prevented the lord's son from being captured or killed by the rangers. It's been a while since they've fought anyone who is just a regular group of people, so the actual climax on the battlefield is going to be a bit of a power fantasy for them just cleaving through the opposing army unless they encounter/target specific tougher enemy figures.
And then the dragon is going to show up.
It's not an easy fight, but at some point during it their favourite NPC so far (a mercenary wizard very into his own self preservation they captured who then worked for his freedom and went with the elven group to contact the regent's friend) is going to come in riding with the bronze dragon to help even out the fight.
The three headed dragon token is for the dragonborn group they're friends with, the Goldenscale brothers. (Gram, Garadar and Gorazir)
I'm still pushing them for a name for the party. It's only been eight months, c'mon!
I very much recommend Lunch Break Heroes' videos on youtube
His suggestion is to do away with Strahd having bitten Tatyana at all, instead Strahd attempts to sabotage everything and everyone around Tatyana. To gaslight her about things. To make others at fault for the situation in Barovia. To promise that if she were at his side, she could help the people. Make it seem like there's nowhere safe for her to go but in Strahd's arms. This exlains why he doesn't simply take Tatyana, when he very much can
Using proxies like Rahadin, Arrigal, or the Werewolves while continuing to offer her safety in Ravenloft. Trying to "Wear her down"
When you say use proxies, how do you use them? As in, they are the ones going around and causing the PCs' lives to be miserable and harming innocents? I like the idea of Strahd dangling in front Tatyanya that he could make it all stop by being by his side. I've also toyed with Strahd blaming any actions he takes on Tatyana and him not being with him. Strahd kills an ally of the PCs? Why it's obviously Tatyana's fault. If he would just see he belongs with Strahd, then he wouldn't need to do what he does.
I had Rahadin poison the water in the village, leading to the zombie outbreak. The water from the burgomaster's well contains one of the Druid's missing life gems, placed there by Strahd, so that when Ireena drinks that water it would nullify any infection. The point isn't to kill Ireena, it's to make the villagers sick, and her continued good health to be something to cause suspicion and fear towards her by her neighbors.
The werewolves attack the mansion every night, they could just burn it down or use tools to tear off the nailed boards, but that's not the point - the point is to make her feel unsafe in her own home.
A certain pie cart makes use of children that Ireena had personally befriended.
The shopkeeper and his minion treat Ireena like royalty, leaving her confused as to why the villagers hate them. They deny overcharging other people.
Her former friends in the village tell her that her brother is lying to her about Strahd, that he's a wise and noble king and protects them all from the encroaching mists, gaslighting her about having previously insisted that Strahd was the devil when she first arrived. (they've been Charmed by Ludmilla, who has been living in a fancy house in the village and is one of the few people Ireena trusts, as she gives generously. Without her, the village would have likely already starved)
I had Doru be a love interest of Ireenas who went missing after visiting the castle Madam Eva's camp. Yes that is where he visited, she doesn't know why she ever thought he visited the castle.
She has dreams of Strahd, unbidden, courtesy of a certain group that lives nearby. Dreams of herself as queen and Barovia prospering. Dreams of passion in Strahd's bed. Dreams of punishing the wicked creatures that torment her. She goes days at a time in restless fits, waking exhausted... only when Strahd's carriage comes through town does she seem to sleep well...
Strahd visits once a week, offers her flowers, a kiss on the hand, and acts the full gentleman. He tells Ireena that her brother has refused his assistance in helping the village (which is true! Strahd didn't even need to concoct anything here)
I have added Modify Memory to Strahd's spell list to provide the maximum level of horror.
Ireena sees through most of this, she knows he has magics, and a secret visit from a certain vampire hunter steels her will, physical evidence in a secret place of Strahd's evil that even Ismark doesn't know about, but she is falling apart psychologically, maybe it would be best just to give in...
Thats how the party found her, and the backstory I gave the player who played her for a time
Dang, that is gaslighty as hell. Which kinda gives me an idea on how to handle the death of Ireena's father. Instead of Strahd being responsible for his death, instead Strahd's newest consort fed on him and got carried away. In actuality, he and Strahd were on fairly decent terms and were in the midst of negotiating Ireena becoming Strahd's latest bride (which Ireena is vehemently against). Ireena saw the spawn kill her father, so she knows it wasn't Strahd but still hold him partly accountable. Strahd has locked this spawn in the crypts of Ravenloft as punishment and, when the party and Ireena attend the dinner at Ravenloft, will give the spawn to them as a show of goodwill to do with as they please.
The problem though is the fighter is searching for a close friend of his that went missing a few months ago. This friend happened to wander into Barovia himself a few months ago and attracted the attention of Strahd, who turned him into a consort. So when Strahd brings up the spawn in question during the dinner, I'd imagine there's going to be some drama between the fighter and Ireena as to what to do with him.
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WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
I've heard before (throught some articles / multiple reports) that it's entirely possible to do a whole session without combat. How would you prepare your adventure for such a thing without somehow forcing it (it needs to be organic / throught the players' actions that it become a noncombat encounter )?
Is it really just the same as hashing out a regular adventure session, but just reduce pure combat encounters and add more social / skill check encounters? (I'm preparing the Black Market for the Artificer and her buddies).
My current campaign setting has the equivalent of a magical superstore that the players have visited at least twice, and each time the whole session essentially became a shopping montage. The older character group were able to wheedle their way into an endorsement deal. The owner let them use some magic items they couldn't afford, but they had to wear garish capes with the store's logo on it and talk up the store at every opportunity.
"I wouldn't have been able to save your town, but for the help of Eleanor's Enchanted Emporium! When you next pass through Asl Nalore, you must go to Eleanor!"
Add some NPCs to barter with / hit on, and sprinkle the players with magic items they can't use so that they have a reason to visit shops in the hopes of trading them in.
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I've heard before (throught some articles / multiple reports) that it's entirely possible to do a whole session without combat. How would you prepare your adventure for such a thing without somehow forcing it (it needs to be organic / throught the players' actions that it become a noncombat encounter )?
In our case it's a matter of the players being more than happy to spend literal hours hashing out the details of something that could have been covered in two sentences.
DM> "Does anyone want to do something before I move time forward?"
player> "Oh, I just wanted to bring up that..."
I have a question of my own- I've heard reports that it's possible to have combat every session and not spend half the sessions prepping for combat, how would you condition players into that organically?
My last session was spent investigating a partially-submerged tax office, having a chat with a tree, and freeing a trapped wizard with the help of his familiar
Sometimes sessions just end up drifting through non-combat encounters
My DM is big on player agency, though, so I think he's fine with us just ambling about picking flowers as long as we're all having fun
Strahd continued last night for our group. Recall previously that the Bard had gotten himself completely isolated from the group at the Mill and decided to cast a Sleep spell on the suspicious ladies.
At the end of the first round of combat, with several party members in trouble, a man appears out of an Invisibility spell (AKA DM ex machina). He's the son of the Baron of Vallaki, the town we were heading for, and he admonished the ladies for being inhospitable to newcomers (you know, even though the PC was the one that struck first). Apparently he is dangerous enough that he was able to cow the hags into letting the party flee. He introduced himself, and the Bard immediately explained in detail (he even rolled very well on his Performance check to tell the story) of how we got here and that he was looking for a sword that the fortune teller had told us about, which the man found very interesting. My Warlock intervened and we made up something about how the "sword" was probably a metaphor for the danger in the mill and anyway those fortunes are probably nonsense anyway.
After the man rode off, we admonished the character a second time in almost as many minutes for blabbing about the sword to someone who can turn invisible and whom the hags are afraid of anyway. I fully expect said sword to be gone when we return, and if this keeps up we might just throttle this Bard.
We continued up the road until dark and made camp on a hilltop near a lake. On first watch, some kind of elf dude approached and asked if we'd seen a young girl. Since that was another part of our fortune and the part we were actively pursuing (it did say to hurry because she was in danger) we explained as much and said we'd help the next morning.
After he left, we went back to bed, only to be attacked by a swarm of bats when I rolled a 2 on my Perception check on watch. Otherwise the night passed uneventfully. The next morning we awoke and went down to the lake to aid in the search.
Exploring along the bank of the lake, we happened to notice a single fishing boat out on the lake, as well as a couple more by the shore. The party divided, with one half taking a boat out to speak with the fisher while the other half continued searching the shore. To our chagrin, when the other boat approached, the fisher dumped a moving, child-size burlap sack into the water. The Dragonborn Paladin dived in to save it and the shouting alerted the shore party. Shenanigans ensued, with this fisher guy being mentally afflicted somehow and clearly suffering from alcohol withdrawal. His boat was overturned and he started swimming for shore, but I cast a Phantasmal Force in the shape of the Baron's son we met the day prior and gave it the appearance of grabbing him, so he stopped swimming and started flailing about trying to "escape." We freed the little girl (Anabelle I think?) and captured the fisher. The session ended with us debating what to do with the culprit while my Warlock tried to use Prestidigitation and Minor Illusion to entertain the little girl and calm her down. Supposedly she's going to help us a lot, so best to have her on our good side.
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Haha. My PCs are a bunch of goody two shoes. However, none of them have tried the pies yet. Their main goal was to get to the tavern and somewhere warm, so I think I'll have to remind them about the pies.
Has anyone had any experience in making a PC the reincarnation of Tatyana rather than Ireena? I've seen several guides either suggest it or give it as an option and I'm thinking about making the party cleric the reincarnation. If I do, I'm keeping Ireena around as a red herring (she'll just be an interesting Barovian Strahd was interested in making a consort) and making the reveal at the Feast of St Andral.
I think my Curse of Strahd party may be the baddies
You need to make sure the player is okay with the very problematic overtones towards their character if they pick the object of Strahd's lust to play as, if they are it can be a great experience for the table and leads to more investment in protecting her
My thought was that if I could guarantee my rogue had advantage, I could get the sneak attack damage more often. True strike gives you advantage on your next attack against the target.
I didn't notice that it only has a 30 foot range, and takes you action for the round. To say nothing of the concentration part of the spell which is also moderately annoying (not as annoying as the rest, but just the cherry on top of the terrible spell sundae).
Any thoughts on how to fix the spell without making it game breaking?
My first thought was to make it a bonus action to cast, but that pretty much turns it into "Every attack is now with advantage forever" for any martial class with a cantrip slot (or a feat that gives them magic). That'd take it from being terrible to being a must have for anyone with a cantrip slot.
Maybe increasing the range on it to make it usable for ranged attackers?
Maybe make it a lvl 1 spell with a bonus action casting time and increased range? That'd at least put a cost on it.
If you're worried about your Rogue getting advantage all the time then check out the new Aim feature from Tasha's (and previously the class options UA), which basically exists as an end run around DMs who cracked down on regular Cunning Action: Hide usage.
That makes sense. Not all goblins are evil, but this John Q Bastard that happens to be goblin is NE.
In my mind, rogues should be getting a sneak attack misty of the time and not getting it should be an occasional thing because you're dealing with some unanticipated urgency. Otherwise you may as well go with a class that gets multiattack.
Yeah, having it as a generic sort of suggestion as to how an individual NPC acts is fine by me. Same for why I still give my PCs an alignment. I give them a personality, flaws, bonds, etc., that determine specifics of how they act and what they do, but I also use their alignment as a general guide.
this is what we did to True Strike, as a counter to Booming or Green-Flame blade (we also have a ranged exclusive cantrip that allows the attack to be rerolled against another target if it misses, deals same damage scaling as this)
Unfortunately there aren't a lot of high level spells that have attack rolls. There are a few really strong low level spells that have attack rolls but they tend to be for Clerics. (Guiding bolt, Cause Wounds) If you're just attacking, and you can get sneak attack from another source(ally adjacent) then true strike is really bad. You could just attack twice.
That being said. True strike does have some value
1) Its a somatic spell only. So it can be used silently. This means that if you're in a situation where you're concerned you might not get surprise advantage for a particular reason. You can true strike and still have advantage on the first attack.
2) Its somatic component is very simple and easy to disguise. I think this is intentional so i definitely let players do it. Though i don't let it fool anyone trained in arcana. This means you can true strike before a combat even when you've not surprised an enemy. (two people talking and then enter combat generally does not produce a surprise, and no one is hidden. But pointing at a guy isn't going to start combat even if it is going to give you advantage on the first attack of combat)
3) You can use it to transfer advantage when you don't have a good attack for a particular reason. The obvious one is if you have disadvantage for some reason. If you have disadvantage for ANY reason you don't get sneak attack even if an enemy is adjacent to an ally. Now next round you might not have disadvantage but you might still. True strike cancels any amount of disadvantage robbing you of your sneak attack and/or lets you get almost full value out of a turn when you're disadvantaged.
If you're playing an Arcane Trickster, know that you're going to get bonus action free advantage at level 13. So that is kind of the place that the math thinks that works out for "bonus action uncontested advantage". Though you still need to burn an action casting the mage hand (and you must get the mage hand moving where you want it which might be hard) the things that mage hand lets you do are still hella good and you should attempt to have mage hand out a lot in combat*
*especially since you can cast mage hand and control mage hand in the same turn using your cunning action. And so can action: cast mage hand(invisible), item interaction: place object in mage hand, bonus action: have mage hand place object on the person of an enemy (opposed slight of hand) movement: more 30 feet away(though this will unsummon the mage hand). You can also steal from 30 feet away in a similar fashion (use your object interaction to take the object from the mage hand)
Another thing you can do is take a 7 level dip into fighter in order to get War Magic as a 7th Level Eldritch Knight.
If you're not terribly concerned with needing to true strike EVERY round. Getting quickened spell (from a sorcerer dip or metamagic adept) will provide a small number of true strikes as bonus actions each day. 4 levels of sorcerer (3 is possible but you have a max sorcery points of your level and this means that you can only bonus action true strike once per combat without spending more bonus actions to siphon spells again) gets quite a few castings of true strike as a bonus action. A wild magic sorcerer rogue will be able to get tide of chaos to give their attacks advantage (no action) quite a bit depending on the DM's willingness to let you recharge it by rolling on the wild magic table as well. In combination this could be effectively free advantage for most attacks in combat.
- The main attraction for eggheads, a small prototype of the geothermic energy siphoner, doing double work - one to power up a miniature train set in a miniature Ravnica (use up geothermals to power up the existing magic subway, letting the magic there free for other stuff), and another as a charging station for....
- miniaturized power packs-slash-torches, chargeable from her geo-station. The revolution would either be the speed of charging these, or the capacity/size ratio that they come in
- A mini variant of her energy siphoner - a grill whose legs stab down a bit into the ground to siphon up the.... "ambient geothermal power" and power up the grill: she'll also be grillin' in her booth to entice passers-by.
Looks like she's also factoring in the financial requirements of her long term goals, as she's planning to sell the latter two to the common man if she gets funded. Complications would be a missing piece that needs to be made in unobtainium, and permits / reimbursement forms for her mini-volcano (to siphon geothermal energy from) for the event. I'm also foreseeing weaponizing those power packs into grenades; might need to monitor that closely for gamebreaking shenanigans.
Tasha's aim bonus does however prevent you from moving, at all, during your turn. Which is huge imo. Frankly bonus action hide should be sufficient (so long as your DM lets you use it... as they should since its clearly intended) for most purposes in getting advantage at range
edit: But then again, i don't think ranged rogues are all that good so eh. No melee AoO is a huge deal for rogues.
Maybe I can get some help or thoughts with something for our next session? I've decided to remove that Strahd had been laying siege to Ireena and Ismark's home and that caused their father to die. The reason is I don't want to telegraph the sieges and make my PCs believe it's something that could happen again, as I'm planning on Strahd laying siege to the house the night after the funeral. When Strahd attends the funeral, at a distance, is when he'll spot the Tatyana reincarnation (the PC) for the first time. He'll briefly get excited and loss his cool and lay siege to the house to get to Tatyana before regaining his composure (after several exciting rounds of fighting zombies and wolves off) and calling the siege off. The problem I'm running into is how to make Strahd still responsible for Ireena's father's death as I still want her to have a reason to hate Strahd. I've run into a creative brickwall. My initial thinking was to have Strahd visit her father a few days before the PCs arrive to ask her hand in marriage and, when her father said no, accidently kill him in a fit of rage. However, I don't want Strahd losing his temper to be a common occurrence so that when it does happen, it means things are about to get very scary and deadly for everyone.
even as a bonus action, you give up concentration, and it doesn't happen until NEXT round
in almost all cases, you're better off quickening a a cantrip to do moar damage, outside of the edge cases outlined by goumingdong
Gaming the wild sorcerers advantage could work but does take some levels. In order to use it a lot you need both quicken spell and a good number of slots, since you're going to quicken a spell each time you want to get advantage immediately. This has a minimum equivalent spell point cost of 3 per usage. (1st lvl spell + 2 for quicken). Buut you also get a spellcast each round you do this (you need 4 levels of sorc to do this 2x/encounter)
edit: A 4th level sorcerer has 14 spell point equivalent and so you can do this 4 times/day. With 2 first level and 2 second level spells (converting 3 first level and 1 second level into spell points). As you're an arcane trickster this also increases with your arcane trickster level. Additionally you can cast bonus action spells (expeditious retreat, misty step, shadow blade, shadow blade) in order to reduce your spell point cost value. Indeed since this only requires you cast a sorcerer spell and not a sorcerer spell from a sorcerer spellbook you could potentially do this with a one level dip by picking your wizard spells that are also sorcerer spells.
edit: Misty Step and expeditious retreat a particularly Rougey way to do this since it lets you teleport 30 feet(something you were likely to do with your turn anyway) and it recharges the wild sorcerer advantage. With Fey Touched feat you get an extra use of this plus add it to your spell list and so reduce the need to be a 3rd level sorcerer.
That is.
Arcane Trickster x/Wild Mage 1-4.
Wild Mage gets "Tides of Chaos" : Advantage one one attack roll/ability check/saving throw per long rest. When you cast a 1st level sorcerer spell or higher and this is on cool down your DM may roll on the wild magic table and if they do so you regain the usage of your tides of chaos.
Feat: Ideal: Fey Touched -Spell: doesn't matter. This is to get you access to misty step earlier/without being level 3 sorcerer. It also gives you 1 extra cast/day.
Feat Optional: Metamagic adept: lets you cast a 1st sorcerer spell quickened without having to take 2 extra levels of sorcerer.
Ideal Spells: Misty Step and Expeditious retreat. Bonus Action spells that grant movement and are also 1st level sorcerer spells and so trigger Tides of Chaos to be refreshed. This can get you a LOT of advantage if your DM is willing to roll on the table every time you cast a 1st level sorcerer spell. (you can also use reaction spells like absorb elements to potentially get 2/round if you need it for some reason)
At least you asked. My female Hexblade PC with 20 CHA has been vampire roofied and bitten, twice, with Strahd explicitly telling my PC that I am to be another of his wives whether I want to be or not.
Which, TBH, took me aback at first and I did not appreciate it. But I have the privilege of being a cis-gendered male IRL and can only approximate the outrage my character must be feeling, so I decided to roll with it. Every chance I get I try to damage Strahd in some way. I've sabotaged his fancy organ in his castle, vandalized his carriage and I really tried to kill his horse, but alas it got away. Some of these "rash" decisions have got me in a bit of trouble with my party as the chances for revenge are taken at the detriment of the rest of my party surviving.
Oh man, that does not sound fun. I'm really glad I took Override's advice now and checked with my player. Other than the initial siege against Ireena and Ismark's house, my thinking was that Strahd would take a step back from trying to force Tatyana to be with him since that ends up with her/him dead each time. No charming, no nonconsensual biting, instead trying to convince Tatyana to come to him (though still in a very overbearing, possessive, incel way). That just sounds... way too rapey for me to be comfortable running.
His suggestion is to do away with Strahd having bitten Tatyana at all, instead Strahd attempts to sabotage everything and everyone around Tatyana. To gaslight her about things. To make others at fault for the situation in Barovia. To promise that if she were at his side, she could help the people. Make it seem like there's nowhere safe for her to go but in Strahd's arms. This exlains why he doesn't simply take Tatyana, when he very much can
Using proxies like Rahadin, Arrigal, or the Werewolves while continuing to offer her safety in Ravenloft. Trying to "Wear her down"
It's scummy but less rapey
I have run and played COS multiple times with multiple groups, and the most profound experience was the last time I played it, with a tight knight group of friends, where it went really dark. The DM herself has been a survivor of the very things she was describing, and she was perfectly able to convey the level of fucked up that it was. No physical acts (apart from when Strahd finally bit her), but in her portrayal of Tatyana herself as well. I feel like it was probably cathartic for her as well, but she gave Strahd the level of casual possessive misogyny that only someone who's been through it could effectively convey - she says I'm doing a good job currently so I take that as high praise (shes a player in my current game), her only "no no" on the session 0 "content to avoid" was that she does NOT want Strahd to ever make moves on her character
some great advice in here (7:48 onward for stuff about Ireena specifically)
Edit: rewrote post to be more coherent after I got off the phone
When i ran CoS i had him "seducing" one of the female (irl) party members characters (female kenku). This was after the party had dinner certain events that made Irena no longer in the realm of possibility for Strahd ever. And also Strahd was more about the whole "kenku being taken over by a void force (raven queen shenanigans the player had asked for)" than female. The players had split the party with the kenku going off on her own and Strahd charmes her.
I was very clear on one thing though. The charm was too make her stay instead of trying to escape with the rest of the party, not to seduce, and he had to re apply it daily. The seduction was him doing it the regular way, because he's looking for the challenge of the hunt. He's after all, very very bored, per the book.
They had dinner together. They had a date where he shoved off his sweet carriage to her (even though she had already been in it once, when Rahadin drove the whole party over one time). He took her to the balcony overlooking the village of Barovia for a not-sunset. Steahd's current husband and wives hated the kenku PC and we plotting when they could murder her without Strahd noticing. Then the party got their act together and ran a rescue mission and fetched her out.
The most important thing is to calculate the level of rapiness to the table, you can run the entire thing without Strahd ever touching Ireena/Tatyana, or you can go full on "Tatyana floats out the window and that scene from Ghostbusters 2 happens" or further, depending on level of confidence and the wishes of the players (on things like this it's important the ENTIRE table is onboard)
There's a moment in the Fright Night reboot that always just screamed super rapey to me
When you say use proxies, how do you use them? As in, they are the ones going around and causing the PCs' lives to be miserable and harming innocents? I like the idea of Strahd dangling in front Tatyanya that he could make it all stop by being by his side. I've also toyed with Strahd blaming any actions he takes on Tatyana and him not being with him. Strahd kills an ally of the PCs? Why it's obviously Tatyana's fault. If he would just see he belongs with Strahd, then he wouldn't need to do what he does.
I had Rahadin poison the water in the village, leading to the zombie outbreak. The water from the burgomaster's well contains one of the Druid's missing life gems, placed there by Strahd, so that when Ireena drinks that water it would nullify any infection. The point isn't to kill Ireena, it's to make the villagers sick, and her continued good health to be something to cause suspicion and fear towards her by her neighbors.
The werewolves attack the mansion every night, they could just burn it down or use tools to tear off the nailed boards, but that's not the point - the point is to make her feel unsafe in her own home.
A certain pie cart makes use of children that Ireena had personally befriended.
The shopkeeper and his minion treat Ireena like royalty, leaving her confused as to why the villagers hate them. They deny overcharging other people.
Her former friends in the village tell her that her brother is lying to her about Strahd, that he's a wise and noble king and protects them all from the encroaching mists, gaslighting her about having previously insisted that Strahd was the devil when she first arrived. (they've been Charmed by Ludmilla, who has been living in a fancy house in the village and is one of the few people Ireena trusts, as she gives generously. Without her, the village would have likely already starved)
I had Doru be a love interest of Ireenas who went missing after visiting the castle Madam Eva's camp. Yes that is where he visited, she doesn't know why she ever thought he visited the castle.
She has dreams of Strahd, unbidden, courtesy of a certain group that lives nearby. Dreams of herself as queen and Barovia prospering. Dreams of passion in Strahd's bed. Dreams of punishing the wicked creatures that torment her. She goes days at a time in restless fits, waking exhausted... only when Strahd's carriage comes through town does she seem to sleep well...
Strahd visits once a week, offers her flowers, a kiss on the hand, and acts the full gentleman. He tells Ireena that her brother has refused his assistance in helping the village (which is true! Strahd didn't even need to concoct anything here)
I have added Modify Memory to Strahd's spell list to provide the maximum level of horror.
Ireena sees through most of this, she knows he has magics, and a secret visit from a certain vampire hunter steels her will, physical evidence in a secret place of Strahd's evil that even Ismark doesn't know about, but she is falling apart psychologically, maybe it would be best just to give in...
Thats how the party found her, and the backstory I gave the player who played her for a time
oh and first thing's first: the men who stoned her to death get turned to stone
now she'll fail in her plan, since the players will kill Strahd, so no vampire for her - but that will start the level 12-15 portion of my campaign
My players brought Patrina's brother to the crypts then left him there (well, specifically one of them that had taken on a "bully" trait in Amber Temple kicked him out of the party) as they went looking for the treasure they were promised so long ago by the card reading. Brother let her out, she killed him, then made her way to Amber Temple for the expected reasons. However my players then went on to kill Strahd before any of that resolved and one of them (she was a dragonborn great-great-etc..-descendant of Argynvost , turned evil in the Amber Temple) decided to rule Barovia "benevolently" as the rest of the party left the land.
I some at some point her and Patrina duke it out.
The lord they are working for doesn't have the troop numbers the other side does, but he believes in bringing in skilled adventurers is going to make a difference, so they've been working on and off with various other companies of NPC heroes along the way (a mostly even group, a trio of very gregarious dragonborn and a helpful kenku assassin who is considerably higher level than they are and keeps entering conversations when they think they are alone. "How does he keep doing it??"
They had a choice of missions to pick from;
Contact an old friend of the regent from the last war (a bronze dragon, which they did not know)
There had been a loss of communication in the southern part of the battle lines, look into it
Chose to investigate some sort of plot being hatched by the empire. (They chose this one)
They've had some run-ins with a group of special forces type rangers on the other side a couple of times, broken into a warehouse for information, won a fighting tournament, foiled a plot to spike the beer at Beer Fest and have all the soldiers get sick, then used Beer Fest as an excuse to raid a tavern of sympathisers by staging a bar brawl with some friendly dragonborn heroes and insulting the quality of the neighbouring kingdom's beer. (Which also led to the pixie mage using Ghost Sound to make the sound of an explosion to cover up opening a squeaky rusted metal door and having to hide inbetween the cushions on a couch because of course people are going to wonder!)
They've just recently discovered the source of the plot and flushed it out which has gotten them to eigth level. They also intercepted communications between the opposing nation and a red dragon it has contracted to show up at the final battle.
The war is going to be a fairer fight than it would have been, their soldiers will be healthy instead of sick, the hidden army of mercenaries they rooted out is still in the field, but is at least known about, and they prevented the lord's son from being captured or killed by the rangers. It's been a while since they've fought anyone who is just a regular group of people, so the actual climax on the battlefield is going to be a bit of a power fantasy for them just cleaving through the opposing army unless they encounter/target specific tougher enemy figures.
And then the dragon is going to show up.
It's not an easy fight, but at some point during it their favourite NPC so far (a mercenary wizard very into his own self preservation they captured who then worked for his freedom and went with the elven group to contact the regent's friend) is going to come in riding with the bronze dragon to help even out the fight.
The three headed dragon token is for the dragonborn group they're friends with, the Goldenscale brothers. (Gram, Garadar and Gorazir)
I'm still pushing them for a name for the party. It's only been eight months, c'mon!
Dang, that is gaslighty as hell. Which kinda gives me an idea on how to handle the death of Ireena's father. Instead of Strahd being responsible for his death, instead Strahd's newest consort fed on him and got carried away. In actuality, he and Strahd were on fairly decent terms and were in the midst of negotiating Ireena becoming Strahd's latest bride (which Ireena is vehemently against). Ireena saw the spawn kill her father, so she knows it wasn't Strahd but still hold him partly accountable. Strahd has locked this spawn in the crypts of Ravenloft as punishment and, when the party and Ireena attend the dinner at Ravenloft, will give the spawn to them as a show of goodwill to do with as they please.
The problem though is the fighter is searching for a close friend of his that went missing a few months ago. This friend happened to wander into Barovia himself a few months ago and attracted the attention of Strahd, who turned him into a consort. So when Strahd brings up the spawn in question during the dinner, I'd imagine there's going to be some drama between the fighter and Ireena as to what to do with him.
Is it really just the same as hashing out a regular adventure session, but just reduce pure combat encounters and add more social / skill check encounters? (I'm preparing the Black Market for the Artificer and her buddies).
"I wouldn't have been able to save your town, but for the help of Eleanor's Enchanted Emporium! When you next pass through Asl Nalore, you must go to Eleanor!"
Add some NPCs to barter with / hit on, and sprinkle the players with magic items they can't use so that they have a reason to visit shops in the hopes of trading them in.
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DM> "Does anyone want to do something before I move time forward?"
player> "Oh, I just wanted to bring up that..."
I have a question of my own- I've heard reports that it's possible to have combat every session and not spend half the sessions prepping for combat, how would you condition players into that organically?
Sometimes sessions just end up drifting through non-combat encounters
My DM is big on player agency, though, so I think he's fine with us just ambling about picking flowers as long as we're all having fun
After the man rode off, we admonished the character a second time in almost as many minutes for blabbing about the sword to someone who can turn invisible and whom the hags are afraid of anyway. I fully expect said sword to be gone when we return, and if this keeps up we might just throttle this Bard.
We continued up the road until dark and made camp on a hilltop near a lake. On first watch, some kind of elf dude approached and asked if we'd seen a young girl. Since that was another part of our fortune and the part we were actively pursuing (it did say to hurry because she was in danger) we explained as much and said we'd help the next morning.
After he left, we went back to bed, only to be attacked by a swarm of bats when I rolled a 2 on my Perception check on watch. Otherwise the night passed uneventfully. The next morning we awoke and went down to the lake to aid in the search.
Exploring along the bank of the lake, we happened to notice a single fishing boat out on the lake, as well as a couple more by the shore. The party divided, with one half taking a boat out to speak with the fisher while the other half continued searching the shore. To our chagrin, when the other boat approached, the fisher dumped a moving, child-size burlap sack into the water. The Dragonborn Paladin dived in to save it and the shouting alerted the shore party. Shenanigans ensued, with this fisher guy being mentally afflicted somehow and clearly suffering from alcohol withdrawal. His boat was overturned and he started swimming for shore, but I cast a Phantasmal Force in the shape of the Baron's son we met the day prior and gave it the appearance of grabbing him, so he stopped swimming and started flailing about trying to "escape." We freed the little girl (Anabelle I think?) and captured the fisher. The session ended with us debating what to do with the culprit while my Warlock tried to use Prestidigitation and Minor Illusion to entertain the little girl and calm her down. Supposedly she's going to help us a lot, so best to have her on our good side.