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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 8284456" data-attributes="member: 6785785">It depends on what the scenario calls for, I think. I absolutely may itemize such things in some cases, and not in others. Part of the challenge in Curse of Strahd is, I think (or perhaps this was just how I ran it) that you cannot effectively remove all of the spheres of support he has available to him. I don't think you're harping. I don't think I've summarized my CoS play sufficiently to paint an entirely clear picture, nor do I think I've actually spent a lot of time analyzing play and what we did....and it was a few years ago now, so my recollections are a bit fuzzy in spots. I do think that there was skilled play in what my players did. And they did set about removing certain strengths that Strahd has (he has a right hand man, there is a witch who is like a mother to him, and he also had Ireena as a hostage, and they ultimately rescued her). But all of these were crafted more to present an interesting scenario and to see what the players would have the characters do. Yes, there were challenges they had to face and overcome, but that wasn't the focus of play the way it may be in some other scenario.Sure, that's absolutely understandable. I think the fact that it was Ravenloft was also a factor in that there were horror themes, and the overwhelming darkness reinforced that theme. Maybe. I think that the idea of "GM Driven" is sometimes mistaken as synonymous with "Railroad" which is unfortunate as I don't think that's the case. As written, 5E D&D is very much GM driven. Different things may be done to shift that to different degrees, but that's what it is at it's core. The published materials support that, the vast amount of actual play examples support that. People rail against it needlessly because they're mistakenly viewing it as "bad" or that there are others who view it as "bad". You've likely shifted away from that default based on what you describe....and I think my prep is similar in scope to yours. But then I wonder about your mention of something like defining Strahd's resources more clearly....that implies more prep than what you're mentioning here, don't you think? D&D largely requires the DM to prepare elements ahead of time....a map, monsters and traps, etc. These things being set is what makes this a test of skilled play. Can the players manage the characters resources such that they can face all the challenges and make it through. Not committing ahead of time like that would shift focus from skilled play to a more story- or narrative-focused play.</blockquote>

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