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Message: <blockquote data-quote="touc" data-source="post: 7492893" data-attributes="member: 19270">Yikes, some of your players are fighting to become eternally cursed? Well, you came for help, so remember the entire backstory (Strahd's journal) and hopefully the building horror story here, especially if you get the Argynvostholt version. [sblock] Wherein they are willing to suffer eternal unrest just to see Strahd suffer. If they get wind any player is trying to ease Strahd's suffering, including by destroying him, you're going to have a nasty force coming your way.[/sblock]First, remember that Barovia [sblock]isn't real. It's a facsimile of the real Barovia. That's why most people in there don't have souls. The land populated the area with drones to supplement the real people it took in, and occasionally travelers caught in the mist (who must be permitted a method to return home).[/sblock] So killing Strahd means nothing to the land. It may or may not let that happen. IF the land feels it has a soul whose damnable acts are equal to or greater than Strahd's, it won't let them take away their favorite subject. It'll create a new land for that damned soul, and that soul will be cursed with wondrous power but the tantalizing inability to ever achieve its darkest desire.We're talking bad stuff. Lord Soth let his wife die, betrayed his knightly oaths, committed adultery, and murdered innocents. Lords of the Lands aren't just killers. They're horrors. Some later Dark Lords are fairly minor in power relative to others, but the Land loves their cursed evil. And each one gets to suffer in some twisted way. Soth can never have what he truly wants - the soul of the only woman he ever came to desire and commanded his respect. Strahd doesn't get to have Lady T., and it's his fantasy that he can get her and leave this land as long as there's someone to replace him. The land doesn't let go. Ever. It never has. It loves that their cursed subjects are so blind with their power that they miss the curse itself.Okay, history lesson aside, I'd find it awkward to run a game where I've got two people who appear heroic and (at least) one who is seeking out pure evil. But, here's how the Land damns folks. In the Ravenloft books, there's a deciding moment for the bad guy. A chance at redemption, to not take that final step to damnation itself. These Dark Lords don't take that step. You could create such an event, tailored specifically to what darkness your player has done, and you want to make sure the player, if they take that damning step (and it has to be horrific, after all, you're dealing with souls whose crimes offend even the gods so that there's a place like Ravenloft), knows their folly. If they are to rule Barovia, everyone who has a claim must die. (Make it all an illusion, you never want player vs. player in D&D, trust us on that. It ruins groups). And that includes children. Once that's done, the mists rise, and they get a land of their own. One that sucks. One that is full of drones. One they can't leave. And they get to know Strahd's just fine. And there's an eternal reminder of their sin somewhere. Forever. And then you retire that character as an NPC, and we get a feel for the horror that is Ravenloft.As a bonus, if you reach this event, and you can get all the other 3 players to play along, even better. But I'd be leery, very very leery, about people coming back to the table when there's people playing heroic and there's someone playing selfish evil. It doesn't lead to longevity. Good luck.</blockquote>

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