D&D General Do I need an attitude adjustment? (They're gonna nova the BBEG)

[jayoungr]

Are you sure you're more concerned about Strahd going down like a chump or that they've basically not showed up to what you think was a really cool story point?

Both? I kinda jumbled multiple concerns together in the OP. I'm focusing on the final battle because that's where all this is ultimately leading, and it's the thing I'm most dreading having to do. Not doing something is just a missed opportunity, but actually having to play the losing half of a curbstomp is really not making me enthused about doing the prep, etc.

 

[billd91]

Both? I kinda jumbled multiple concerns together in the OP. I'm focusing on the final battle because that's where all this is ultimately leading, and it's the thing I'm most dreading having to do. Not doing something is just a missed opportunity, but actually having to play the losing half of a curbstomp is really not making me enthused about doing the prep, etc.

Did that stop Basil Rathbone from prepping for his fight with Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood? Did that stop David Prowse from lining up against Mark Hamill in Return of the Jedi? Does that stop the Washington Generals from prepping for every game against the Harlem Globetrotters? Heck no!
When you go out, go out with aplomb and elan!

 

[tetrasodium]

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but is it really a question of them taking control or them using what control they had to not take the hook you presented (and thus not coming to your big reveal and avoiding your control)? Are you sure you're more concerned about Strahd going down like a chump or that they've basically not showed up to what you think was a really cool story point?

Sometimes the players take the bait, sometimes they don't. If they don't, you let it go and adapt to what they choose to do.

I think it's more than that. 5e's overly effective rest/recovery system can pretty easily result in a setup that plays out not too different from a video game with too many cheat codes enabled if the campaign is not structured to enforce an extremely specific encounter acing that doesn't work well with many adventures & trying to change the problem rather than the campaign causes a host of problems in a system structured to fight against those attempts.

edit: On that note, getting rid of full heal on long rest & spending hit dice on short rests to roll back towards 3.5 style recovery

Spoiler: normal & faster healing recovery

It's a whole different ballgame when it might take a week or so of strahd screwing with the party while they are trying to recover... the huge percentage of classes who can gain access to heal spells complicates & waters down things though

Of course, dndbeyond doesn't even support 5e's official variant recovery options so expect to draw a hard line banning it if you go that route

 

[Charlaquin]

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but is it really a question of them taking control or them using what control they had to not take the hook you presented (and thus not coming to your big reveal and avoiding your control)? Are you sure you're more concerned about Strahd going down like a chump or that they've basically not showed up to what you think was a really cool story point?

Sometimes the players take the bait, sometimes they don't. If they don't, you let it go and adapt to what they choose to do.

I think this is quite a salient point. It seems like the players have rejected the notion of facing Strahd on his terms. They’re not interested in going to the wedding, and instead want to traipse around the castle looting it. Rather than trying to force the game back onto the rails, or throwing up your hands and saying “fine, I guess you win, take all the loot and curb stomp my villain if that’s what you want!” I would recommend accepting that they’ve decided to forge a new narrative path, and to walk it with them. The players have made their goals clear, now it’s your role to place obstacles in the way of that goal, and the story will emerge from the players’ attempts to resolve the ensuing conflicts. Consider the natural consequences of the players’ actions and follow through on what those consequences might be. It will definitely be a different story than the one you had in mind, but it will be a story you and the players created together.

 

[nevin]

Or Strahd lets them loot the castle goes off and does something else and ambushes them later when they think they've gotten away with. If they choose not face him on his terms, he may not show, He is very smart and thinks long term. Whatever they take from him he can take back, as long as he isn't destroyed.

 

[Charlaquin]

Or Strahd lets them loot the castle goes off and does something else and ambushes them later when they think they've gotten away with. If they choose not face him on his terms, he may not show, He is very smart and thinks long term. Whatever they take from him he can take back, as long as he isn't destroyed.

I mean, that’d be one potential set of consequences for the players’ actions. There’s lots of ways to go with it, but the important thing is to not try to force the original narrative, and not to just give up and let the campaign end with a whimper.

 

[nevin]

I wonder how many cursed Items and evil artifacts would be in Strahd's castle.....

 

[Oofta]

I wonder how many cursed Items and evil artifacts would be in Strahd's castle.....

I'd hazard a guess to say all of them.

 

[Helldritch]

Loot the castle and Strahd will simply kill the PC. He will stop playing with them. A noble does not like to be robbed. I would throw a few encounters spaced between 3 to 5 minutes each. Each encounters in ascending order of difficulty. After 8 such encounters, Strahd appears.
Strahd: "Getting tired yet, guests? You know, a guest does not steal from his host. You behave badly, now, would you care to comeback to the castle and put everything in place. You know, I can keep this up all night long. You will either play by my rules, or become my next minions. You will not rest. You will not win. You will be here forever. That is unless you decide to behave. I am a generous man. You have this one last chance. I give you one minute to start coming back to the castle. I have a wedding to attend. The bride is waiting, but I need a good audience you know. And you will be there. Alive or not. Your choice!"

And if they still do not come, I'd send them waves after waves of difficult to deadly encounters with Strahd safely in the back. They would die, a total TPK. You don't mess with a lord of a domain of dread. You play by his rules or at least, you try to appear to play by his rules.

 

[jayoungr]

Or Strahd lets them loot the castle goes off and does something else and ambushes them later when they think they've gotten away with. If they choose not face him on his terms, he may not show, He is very smart and thinks long term. Whatever they take from him he can take back, as long as he isn't destroyed.

What about the tarokka reading and the location for the fated encounter with Strahd, though?