Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
CoS: frequency of going to the Castle (minor spoilers)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="hastur_nz" data-source="post: 7065983" data-attributes="member: 40592"><p>When I ran it, the sun sword was in the castle, and so the players just got all the other items sorted first, then early on in the castle they went for the sword. Most players assume that the castle is a one-way trip, although in my game one PC did run away for a session then come back.</p><p></p><p>As written, the designers didn't do a great job of re-working the Castle (it is virtually unchanged from the original in I6), with all the new materials that hugely expand the surrounding areas and quests etc. In I6, there wasn't a lot to do before you went into the castle, and it was pretty much assumed to be a "do or die" mission once you enter. The fact that the new book includes a couple of random draws could require you to enter then leave the castle, in order to get the mcguffin, makes it even more complicated, because you get no real guidance on how to make the castle (and Strahd) dynamic.</p><p></p><p>So you really have to just have a go at giving it some thought as you go along - every session from when the PC's first entered the castle, I spent some time thinking about what Strahd, Rahadin etc might be up to, what changes the PC's could expect in the castle, etc. But I had to do a lot of that with the whole adventure, especially for example in Vallaki. The adventure as written is full of great ideas (starting points, not all of which will ever get used), but you need to keep thinking about how to adapt it as you go along, to keep it interesting and relevant.</p><p></p><p>Also, I'd say definitely "stack the draw", if you want to use a random draw but also avoid some choices you'd not like to see. For example, just remove cards that need the PC's to enter the castle then leave again to get a key item; remove ones that use locations you're not keen on. No-one will know or care. Personally I didn't think about that before hand, but was pretty happy with what we got. However I did "force" one card draw on one player (using an old card trick), to ensure that Rictavio was the Ally, because that player had a good back-story I wanted to tie into van-Richten's, to be revealed half-way through the campaign. No-one knew at the time, or cared when I told them at the end. The important thing is that everyone has a good time playing it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="hastur_nz, post: 7065983, member: 40592"] When I ran it, the sun sword was in the castle, and so the players just got all the other items sorted first, then early on in the castle they went for the sword. Most players assume that the castle is a one-way trip, although in my game one PC did run away for a session then come back. As written, the designers didn't do a great job of re-working the Castle (it is virtually unchanged from the original in I6), with all the new materials that hugely expand the surrounding areas and quests etc. In I6, there wasn't a lot to do before you went into the castle, and it was pretty much assumed to be a "do or die" mission once you enter. The fact that the new book includes a couple of random draws could require you to enter then leave the castle, in order to get the mcguffin, makes it even more complicated, because you get no real guidance on how to make the castle (and Strahd) dynamic. So you really have to just have a go at giving it some thought as you go along - every session from when the PC's first entered the castle, I spent some time thinking about what Strahd, Rahadin etc might be up to, what changes the PC's could expect in the castle, etc. But I had to do a lot of that with the whole adventure, especially for example in Vallaki. The adventure as written is full of great ideas (starting points, not all of which will ever get used), but you need to keep thinking about how to adapt it as you go along, to keep it interesting and relevant. Also, I'd say definitely "stack the draw", if you want to use a random draw but also avoid some choices you'd not like to see. For example, just remove cards that need the PC's to enter the castle then leave again to get a key item; remove ones that use locations you're not keen on. No-one will know or care. Personally I didn't think about that before hand, but was pretty happy with what we got. However I did "force" one card draw on one player (using an old card trick), to ensure that Rictavio was the Ally, because that player had a good back-story I wanted to tie into van-Richten's, to be revealed half-way through the campaign. No-one knew at the time, or cared when I told them at the end. The important thing is that everyone has a good time playing it. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
CoS: frequency of going to the Castle (minor spoilers)
Top