GHammy26
Explorer
Hello everyone,
Last year I'd DMed the Curse of Strahd campaign for a few sessions before one of my players had to take a break for 'a bit' (it's been nearly 8 months!). As a group we decided to leave the campaign until he was finished with his measly doctorate and ready to do important stuff, such as fight vampires etc...
Fortunately that time is quickly approaching (end of July) and I'm figuratively chewing at the bit to get going again. Unfortunately the length of the break has given me far too much time to come up with silly ideas, most are pretty solid but I've got one that I would like to do and its a bit thin on the ground.
My idea is as follows:
Before we start the session proper, I was thinking about setting the players up as commoners in a small Hamlet that I've made up surrounding the 'Bonegrinder' windmill centuries before the character of the main campaign even arrive in Barovia. My plan is for them to witness from the commoner's perspective how the windmill and hamlet of "Saschiz" (stole the name from wiki of Romania) slowly turns into a place of evil called "The Bonegrinder".
Now there is a bit of history from the "Death House" starter mission that the windmill was owned by the death cult in the basement. What could I do to show the peaceful little Hamlet succumbing to the cult? or how can I have Morgantha (the witch) take over the windmill and get rid of the peasants living there?
I'm looking to make it an hour or so long and to instil a bit of fear, so they know what the Barovians have been going through since Strahd arrived and maybe slow their progress into becoming Murder Hobos (they burnt half of Barovia down to rid the place of zombies, rats and ghost children)...
I'm also wanting them to arrive in the actual game later on to find their commoner's bones and 'eerie sense of what has gone on'.
Anyway, hope you guys can help as I'm a bit stuck on this one... I could upload the map I've drawn if you're interested?
Thanks
G
Last year I'd DMed the Curse of Strahd campaign for a few sessions before one of my players had to take a break for 'a bit' (it's been nearly 8 months!). As a group we decided to leave the campaign until he was finished with his measly doctorate and ready to do important stuff, such as fight vampires etc...
Fortunately that time is quickly approaching (end of July) and I'm figuratively chewing at the bit to get going again. Unfortunately the length of the break has given me far too much time to come up with silly ideas, most are pretty solid but I've got one that I would like to do and its a bit thin on the ground.
My idea is as follows:
Before we start the session proper, I was thinking about setting the players up as commoners in a small Hamlet that I've made up surrounding the 'Bonegrinder' windmill centuries before the character of the main campaign even arrive in Barovia. My plan is for them to witness from the commoner's perspective how the windmill and hamlet of "Saschiz" (stole the name from wiki of Romania) slowly turns into a place of evil called "The Bonegrinder".
Now there is a bit of history from the "Death House" starter mission that the windmill was owned by the death cult in the basement. What could I do to show the peaceful little Hamlet succumbing to the cult? or how can I have Morgantha (the witch) take over the windmill and get rid of the peasants living there?
I'm looking to make it an hour or so long and to instil a bit of fear, so they know what the Barovians have been going through since Strahd arrived and maybe slow their progress into becoming Murder Hobos (they burnt half of Barovia down to rid the place of zombies, rats and ghost children)...
I'm also wanting them to arrive in the actual game later on to find their commoner's bones and 'eerie sense of what has gone on'.
Anyway, hope you guys can help as I'm a bit stuck on this one... I could upload the map I've drawn if you're interested?
Thanks
G
