D&D 5E CoS: Ireena as a PC?

[Sunseeker]

2: You could screw this up, but your ability as a GM is only half the story. The other is the player's attitudes and expectations. It could be that the players love the story, and are looking for a retelling from a different perspective - a reboot if you will. If the players come in with an open mind and are looking for the "same but different" feel, this could work great! If they somehow expect you to do it "just right" ... then that will never work.

Very much this. If the players are open to a new experience, perhaps a new take on an old favorite then the OP should not worry. However and the reason I so boldly went there and said to decline DMing is that starting off with "that's what I did in the other game..." bodes ill for being open to new experiences.

 

[jayoungr]

Just to clarify about my attitude, the main reason I'm a little nervous about it is because I'm going to be the least knowledgeable person at the table (about the setting, in this case). But that was true when I first started running games for this group as well. And the fact that I'm not as big a fan of horror as they are means that I'd actually prefer running to playing; at least this way, I can know what's coming and be in control of the "horror level." Anyway, apart from a slight feeling of intimidation, I'm actually sort of looking forward to this as a way to stretch my DMing repertoire.

Also, I don't know if this makes a difference in people's recommendations, but it's very likely that the player who wants to play Ireena will be running two characters. I'm not worried about that part; this will be the fourth adventure I've run for this group, and the player has run two characters in all the other games with no negative effects so far.

As for what the players want, it's not a bad idea to have that conversation with them, so thanks for the suggestion. But my guess is that they just want to revel in the gothicness of it all, as they all eat that stuff up with a spoon.

 

[hawkeyefan]

[MENTION=6702445]jayoungr[/MENTION] I wouldn't worry about the two PC thing if it hasn't been an issue before.

I think the main thing to focus on is how familiar these players are with Ravenloft, and to set their expectations accordingly. Let them know that some things might be different than what they know and all of that. It's pretty basic advice, but I think that would be my biggest concern in this situation.

My players are very familiar with Strahd and the adventure overall, so that's why I took what was in the book and tweaked it a good deal. That may or may not work for everyone, but whatever route you take, I would just talk about it beforehand to make sure any possible issues are known.

So let them know that if Ireena is a PC, that could change how the game plays. The last thing you want is the players to get mad when Strahd's minions attack Ireena just as readily as they do the other PCs. If you understand their expectations ahead of time, you can either adjust the adventure to fit those expectations, or try and adjust their expectations to fit the adventure.