Dragon Heist as a prologue for Ravenloft?

MockingBird · Mar 10, 2019

For those who have DMed or read Dragon Heist could this or should this be used to level up players that will eventually play Curse of Strahd? I know theres a small adventure just for this in Curse. I'm kind of interested in Dragon Heist and I'm not sure if I'll run Mad Mage (it seems to require loads of prep but please correct me if I'm wrong.) The good and easy thing about Ravenloft is it's fairly easy to pull players in (mists). My group is fairly combat focused so I'm not entirely sure they will enjoy Dragon Heist and I'm not the greatest at intrigue type adventures. What is the combat/noncombat ratio in this adventure?

UngeheuerLich · Mar 10, 2019

Yes, why not?
Any adventure for level 1-5 or actually 1-7 would do. Curse of Strahd is surprisingly level independent. I would go as far and say that it makes even more sense to play it with a little higher leveled adventurers because the storyline takes place over just a few days. My players literally leveled up every other day.

robus · Mar 10, 2019

Why run dragon heist at all? the Death House intro adventure for Strahd is cool and has lots of combat opportunities.

I’m actually no fan of the mists conceit because I think it would be much cooler to create characters thematically suited to Barovia.

Arilyn · Mar 10, 2019

robus said:
Why run dragon heist at all? the Death House intro adventure for Strahd is cool and has lots of combat opportunities.

I’m actually no fan of the mists conceit because I think it would be much cooler to create characters thematically suited to Barovia.

Death House is a great adventure but it does have very quick levelling. Some groups might not like that, so Dragon Heist could be a great alternative.

I agree that having characters native to Barovia, however, is more thematically pleasing.

robus · Mar 10, 2019

I’ve actually been quite intrigued by this 1-5 adventure which could most likely be resituated in Barovia and is a much slower leveling than death house: https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/3c42sr/5e_army_of_the_damned_my_free_dd_adventure_set_in/

MockingBird · Mar 11, 2019

robus said:
Why run dragon heist at all? the Death House intro adventure for Strahd is cool and has lots of combat opportunities.

I’m actually no fan of the mists conceit because I think it would be much cooler to create characters thematically suited to Barovia.

My only reason is because I am interested in the adventure and I'd like to follow it up with another that recommends starting at higher levels. Honestly I havent thought about using PCs native to Barovia. I wished Cures of Strahd would have included race option for half vistani like the Domains of Dread source book had.

robus · Mar 11, 2019

MockingBird said:
My only reason is because I am interested in the adventure and I'd like to follow it up with another that recommends starting at higher levels. Honestly I havent thought about using PCs native to Barovia. I wished Cures of Strahd would have included race option for half vistani like the Domains of Dread source book had.

No too hard to cook up I imagine? Races (along with backgrounds) are the easiest things to homebrew. Find a race that’s similar in the PHB (half-elf?) and tweak to suit?

GlassJaw · Mar 11, 2019

robus said:
I’m actually no fan of the mists conceit because I think it would be much cooler to create characters thematically suited to Barovia.

No way. The best part about Ravenloft is that the players get pulled into a dark and harsh world without their knowledge or consent. And when they arrive, they have to figure out where they are and how to escape.

Having prior knowledge of Ravenloft when starting the campaign really waters down the experience. The players are meant to feel trapped and hopeless and a place where survival is hard.

MockingBird · Mar 11, 2019

robus said:
No too hard to cook up I imagine? Races (along with backgrounds) are the easiest things to homebrew. Find a race that’s similar in the PHB (half-elf?) and tweak to suit?

I havent dabbled in home brewing but I may make that my first attempt at it if I cant find anything anyone else has done. Thanks for the suggestions!

robus · Mar 11, 2019

GlassJaw said:
No way. The best part about Ravenloft is that the players get pulled into a dark and harsh world without their knowledge or consent. And when they arrive, they have to figure out where they are and how to escape.

Having prior knowledge of Ravenloft when starting the campaign really waters down the experience. The players are meant to feel trapped and hopeless and a place where survival is hard.

We’ll have to agree to disagree

Dragon Heist as a prologue for Ravenloft?

MockingBird

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UngeheuerLich

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robus

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Arilyn

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robus

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MockingBird

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robus

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GlassJaw

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MockingBird

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robus

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