D&D 5E CoS/Ravenloft Replacement Characters

[Lauguz]

Hello Gamer Nation,

I'm considering running Curse of Strahd, however I'm concerned about character death and about how to replace dead PCs. I've never run Ravenloft so I'm hoping some vets can chime in.

I absolutely want character death to be a possibility but I can only imagine using "another PC dragged into Barovia from outside" to replace a dead PC once before it broke suspension disbelief.

One of the things I like about CoS is that the PCs are outsiders, so players don't need to ingest a ton of setting information. I wouldn't want to start with native Barovian characters, but maybe one the players familiarize themselves with Barovia it wouldn't ruin the mystery and outsider nation to allow them to play natives who are inspired by the PCs to take up arms against Strahd?

Thoughts?

-R

 

[pkt77242]

Hello Gamer Nation,

I'm considering running Curse of Strahd, however I'm concerned about character death and about how to replace dead PCs. I've never run Ravenloft so I'm hoping some vets can chime in.

I absolutely want character death to be a possibility but I can only imagine using "another PC dragged into Barovia from outside" to replace a dead PC once before it broke suspension disbelief.

One of the things I like about CoS is that the PCs are outsiders, so players don't need to ingest a ton of setting information. I wouldn't want to start with native Barovian characters, but maybe one the players familiarize themselves with Barovia it wouldn't ruin the mystery and outsider nation to allow them to play natives who are inspired by the PCs to take up arms against Strahd?

Thoughts?

-R

It could be someone who has been stuck there for a short period of time already (longer than the PCs but not a native) but hasn't been able to find a way out and sees the PCs as the best way for them to escape.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Hello Gamer Nation,

I'm considering running Curse of Strahd, however I'm concerned about character death and about how to replace dead PCs. I've never run Ravenloft so I'm hoping some vets can chime in.

I absolutely want character death to be a possibility but I can only imagine using "another PC dragged into Barovia from outside" to replace a dead PC once before it broke suspension disbelief.

One of the things I like about CoS is that the PCs are outsiders, so players don't need to ingest a ton of setting information. I wouldn't want to start with native Barovian characters, but maybe one the players familiarize themselves with Barovia it wouldn't ruin the mystery and outsider nation to allow them to play natives who are inspired by the PCs to take up arms against Strahd?

Thoughts?

-R

I'm running with half native Barovians and so far so good - Barovia is such an insular place full of half-truths and outright lies that natives are pretty clueless, too (I've given the natives the bit of lore that Barovian natives know, but it's not much). So it's not too bad.

Another element: remember that one of Madam Eva's draws is a potential ally. You could use that as a replacement character pretty easily.

Ismark and Ireena might make good replacements (though the latter might be taking an ESEPCIALLY big risk!).

Also consider folks who aren't local, but who've been brought in and maybe held captive or driven into hiding by local antagonists.

 

[Sunseeker]

Well, "another character sucked in" could easily have been someone who was sucked in a while ago, thus explaining why they are close in level to the rest of the party. Maybe they see the party as hope for their escape, or at least continued survival.

There's also nothing against playing a skilled Barovian, there are some just they are few as Strahd is quick to move against them before they become too powerful, perhaps this one is simply one he played cat-and-mouse with long enough that the new person ran into the party.

 

[hawkeyefan]

You could have some NOCs make reference to another group of adventurers who had recently arrived through the mists. You can drop hints or rumors that bad things may have happened to that group.

Set it up ahead of time so that way if you need another PC, you can say they were a part of that group. What happened to the rest of the group could still be a mystery. You can use it as a story element, or continue to use it as a source for replacement PCs.