Running Expedition to Castle Ravenloft

[Al'Kelhar]

As of tonight I added EtCR to my Age of Worms campaign as a side plot that I have tied into the main plot on a small level. One of my players knows the original module quite well but for him this is a cool nostalgia replay so I don't mind.

Next bit under spoiler...

Spoiler

So far they have only entered the village and fought their way past a number of tough zombies, rescued the paladin at the well and retreated into the tavern to rest.

They are higher level than expected to start (they are 9th) and have still found the zombies to be rather tough especially onmass.

I might consider giving Strahd SR but I will decide that closer to their encounter with him and after they decide what route they want to take to defeat him.

You're putting this one into Age of Worms, too huh? Like you, my PCs are coming into this at mixed 9th-10th level, after escaping from the Champions' Games (which I'd taken out of Greyhawk City and plonked down in Highport, in the Pomarj).

In my game:

• Strahd is an agent of Kyuss (he continually raves about "the worms" in his head);
  the disease carried by the infected zombies is Kyuss' Gift;
  some of the corporeal undead in the village have a home-made "Kyuss undead" template added to them (grants fear aura, fast healing, and worm infestation, but most other stats remain the same);
  Strahd is tied to the land of Barovia through the three Wilderness Fanes and the slab of sacrifice underneath Castle Ravenloft; Strahd cannot leave Barovia while these links remain intact;
  Strahd needs the PCs to sever his ties with the land by reconsecrating each of the Fanes with the relevant saintly relic (found in the catacombs of Castle Ravenloft), and destroying the slab of sacrifice. Once freed, he can leave Ravenloft through the portal in the King Tomescu's tomb;
  Kyuss "infects" Madam Eva's fortune telling to ensure the PCs are led down the "right" path;
  Strahd uses a greater doppelganger vampire to "run interference" for him with the PCs, with the intention that the doppelganger is sacrificed to the PCs, leaving them wondering whether they've slain the real Strahd.

The idea is that the PCs work to make Strahd weaker, but in doing so give him the opportunity to escape Barovia and expose the rest of the world to Kyuss' wormy-goodness.

Cheers, Al'Klhar

 

[Talmun]

BTW-do you think the Light Bringer destroy undead option is too strong? It certainly speeds up game play rather than waiting for the fighter types to dispatch all the undead critters that were turned...Ian.

That power is indeed on the strong side. The cleric in the first game has Quicken Turning, which makes it a free action so it's even tougher.

On the whole I like the power, but you have to be very careful about letting feats and items add to the d6's of damage. For the second game I told the cleric that any feat/item/ability that added damage dice to this power (other than leveling) had it's effect halved; this keeps the cleric from doing 50+ points of damage to every undead within 30 feet, which is what I'm running into in the first game.