D&D 5E Enhancing "Curse of Strahd" (and DDAL adventures)

[MonsterEnvy]

You're right! I did mis-remember why the deva first came to Barovia. I'm still on the fence with the mongrelfolk but it could go either way depending on how I lay out the rest of the campaign.

I am curious how the deva came to the realization that the curse would not end with Strahd's death. If he shares this bit of knowledge with the PCs, and they recognize him as an authority on the subject, wouldn't it derail the campaign?

Somehow the deva realized that any attempt to slay Strahd would be futile-that the ancient curse upon the land meant that the vampire could never truly die, at least not in Barovia.

It appears to have just been divine insight.

Anyway it should be made fairly clear to the party that the Abbot is utterly insane. He has little reason to share his insight as well, as he thinks he has the whole problem solved with his flesh golem bride. Unless he is unable to acquire the wedding dress. Then he takes out Divine Retribution on Kezek. The fact that he is willing to attack a town over not getting a wedding dress in a few days shows just how far this guy has fallen.

 

[Daern]

Whoa, 3 Night Hags at the Bonegrinder is brutal! Green hags will make a tough enough challenge for my games I think. All those Coven spells...

 

[DEFCON 1]

I am curious how the deva came to the realization that the curse would not end with Strahd's death. If he shares this bit of knowledge with the PCs, and they recognize him as an authority on the subject, wouldn't it derail the campaign?

There's a lot of factors that have to fall into place first for this to be something to worry about. First, the party has to believe him. With the amount of crap he's done / doing... them taking him at his word that "killing Strahd won't end the curse!" isn't at all a sure thing. Second though... even if they *did* decide his opinion had merit, the Abbot's beliefs came about for him without the knowledge of what the Tome of Strahd, Sunblade, and Holy Symbol of Ravenkind would add to the situation. So he could easily be making opinions based on incomplete information. It'd be like someone claiming Superman couldn't be killed because the person had no idea that Kryptonite existed. Once the person was then brought up to speed, perhaps his opinion would change.

And of course, the last thing is that even if the party actually comes to the same conclusion of the Abbot and decides that killing Strahd doesn't solve anything (and thus gives up the fight)... why should that derail the campaign? It just means as the DM we'd just need to come up with something else for the party to focus on. Maybe now they're primed to become some of Strahd's minions (can't beat 'em, join 'em!)... maybe they now begin a fight to claim an area of the valley themselves and start clearing it out so that they themselves have holdings (like they take over Argynvostholt)... maybe they start claiming the vestige powers in the Amber Temple in hopes that they too might be granted their own domain. Or maybe they decide they still want to try and put Strahd down even if it "won't do any good", just because it's the right thing to do?

Worrying about "campaign derailment" is only a concern if the DM has no desire or intention of doing anything other than just following along what is in the book. But if that's the case... the DM was probably going to have to push the players in the direction the book tells them anyway... so at that point, just ignore the the part about the Abbot not believing Strahd's death will do any good, that way there's no obstacle for the party to do what the book has lined up as the default direction for them to go.

 

[Jackdaw]

There's a lot of factors that have to fall into place first for this to be something to worry about. First, the party has to believe him. With the amount of crap he's done / doing... them taking him at his word that "killing Strahd won't end the curse!" isn't at all a sure thing. Second though... even if they *did* decide his opinion had merit, the Abbot's beliefs came about for him without the knowledge of what the Tome of Strahd, Sunblade, and Holy Symbol of Ravenkind would add to the situation. So he could easily be making opinions based on incomplete information. It'd be like someone claiming Superman couldn't be killed because the person had no idea that Kryptonite existed. Once the person was then brought up to speed, perhaps his opinion would change.

And of course, the last thing is that even if the party actually comes to the same conclusion of the Abbot and decides that killing Strahd doesn't solve anything (and thus gives up the fight)... why should that derail the campaign? It just means as the DM we'd just need to come up with something else for the party to focus on. Maybe now they're primed to become some of Strahd's minions (can't beat 'em, join 'em!)... maybe they now begin a fight to claim an area of the valley themselves and start clearing it out so that they themselves have holdings (like they take over Argynvostholt)... maybe they start claiming the vestige powers in the Amber Temple in hopes that they too might be granted their own domain. Or maybe they decide they still want to try and put Strahd down even if it "won't do any good", just because it's the right thing to do?

Worrying about "campaign derailment" is only a concern if the DM has no desire or intention of doing anything other than just following along what is in the book. But if that's the case... the DM was probably going to have to push the players in the direction the book tells them anyway... so at that point, just ignore the the part about the Abbot not believing Strahd's death will do any good, that way there's no obstacle for the party to do what the book has lined up as the default direction for them to go.

I consider myself a good DM. My worry about campaign derailment doesn't come from a fear of running a completely off the book treatment (my Rise of the Runelord's campaign turned into a political game about the sovereignty of city states and the spread of slavery). It's more of a concern about managing the balance between hope and hopelessness. CoS is morose and claustrophobic, but it runs lvl 3-10, which is a good stretch of time to be constantly squeezing players with the near futility of their efforts.


The encounter with the Abbot will have a lot of gravity, and it will be difficult for the players to simply discount his opinions as those of a madman, since it would seem his madness is born from experience. I don't see Madame Eva's tarokka reading about helpful treasures as a compelling counter-argument to the the deva's certainties. It could be crushing to the players, not just the characters.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I consider myself a good DM. My worry about campaign derailment doesn't come from a fear of running a completely off the book treatment (my Rise of the Runelord's campaign turned into a political game about the sovereignty of city states and the spread of slavery). It's more of a concern about managing the balance between hope and hopelessness. CoS is morose and claustrophobic, but it runs lvl 3-10, which is a good stretch of time to be constantly squeezing players with the near futility of their efforts.


The encounter with the Abbot will have a lot of gravity, and it will be difficult for the players to simply discount his opinions as those of a madman, since it would seem his madness is born from experience. I don't see Madame Eva's tarokka reading about helpful treasures as a compelling counter-argument to the the deva's certainties. It could be crushing to the players, not just the characters.

You know how your players would react better than we would... but if you're so certain that's the case then I guess its up to you to not make the Abbot's certainties so certain and not so crushing to the players if you want them to continue on with the story.

 

[jayoungr]

Looks like it's time for another roundup of thread links!

Death House (play report)
Where You're Going to Die in CoS
Strahd's Background and Motivation
How Do Outsiders Understand Barovian Writing and Speech?
Starting at level 1 with Death House or level 3 on main adventure
Haunted One Background Question
Amber Temple Vestiges
Replacement Characters (i.e. how to replace dead PCs)
Does Daylight make daylight? (Not specifically CoS, but relevant to fighting vampires)

 

[Savage Wombat]

I just want to say that this is the first time I've been able to discuss a new module with other DMs as we're all running it, and it's been a thought-provoking blast.

 

[Daern]

I just want to say that this is the first time I've been able to discuss a new module with other DMs as we're all running it, and it's been a thought-provoking blast.

Yeah, its one of my favorite things about these WOTC mods. They may be a mess but everybody gets into breaking them down and playing them.

 

[MerricB]

I wrote a small side-trek and put it up on the DMs Guild that could be inserted into the adventure to add more flavour.

And I killed a PC in the windmill!

I'll have a new session report up soon. At some point I'll actually finish reading the adventure - a lot of it I'm running based on previous experience with Ravenloft.

Cheers!

 

[Z. H. Darkstar]

If everyone at the table is okay with it, the clouds from a vape pen make a good practical effect for when someone gets consumed by the mists.