GlassJaw
Hero
I'm prepping to run CoS and run a lot of guides on threads. But one thing I don't have a great feel for is how often the characters will go to (and leave) Castle Ravenloft.
There are a lot of leads and connections to the the Castle and its inhabitants throughout the campaign, never mind the fact that some of the treasure locations might be in the Castle.
My initial thought was that once the characters enter the Castle, it's essentially "act 3" of the story and the campaign will be coming to a climax with the players confronting Strahd. But after reading more and more, I'm not sure that's the case.
So for those that have ran - or played! - CoS, how often did you go the Castle and then leave to continue to explore the countryside? If you did go and leave again, what brought you to the Castle in the first place, assuming it wasn't to confront Strahd?
There are a lot of leads and connections to the the Castle and its inhabitants throughout the campaign, never mind the fact that some of the treasure locations might be in the Castle.
My initial thought was that once the characters enter the Castle, it's essentially "act 3" of the story and the campaign will be coming to a climax with the players confronting Strahd. But after reading more and more, I'm not sure that's the case.
So for those that have ran - or played! - CoS, how often did you go the Castle and then leave to continue to explore the countryside? If you did go and leave again, what brought you to the Castle in the first place, assuming it wasn't to confront Strahd?