D&D 5E Curse of Strahd help

[pukunui]

According to the rules of Ravenloft, Strahd can't destroy the Sunsword or permanently conceal it.

Where does it say that?

Throw it into the lake

One of my players commented after the fact that that's where it'll probably end up ...

Although the Mists would obviously take matters into their own "hands" at that point.

What do you mean? Would the Mists stop the Vistani from taking the sword through?

 

[Wepwawet]

... but I decided to combine the Heart of Sorrow with the 3.5 Expedition adventure's Dayheart, so as long as the heart exists, Strahd is immune to the effects of sunlight ... and he is thus not as afraid of the sword now as he once was.

Oooh I like that! From what I read around the internet the fight with Strahd can be prettyu easy with the Sunsword. That'll give the players a reason to bother with the Heart of Sorrow Thanks

I agree with you that him and Rahadin shouldn't be able to wield the sword, being sentient and all. I think it makes sense to hide it in the Werewolf Den, guarded by the werewolves. Another interesting place to take your players!

They should be able to ask a Vistana to throw the cards to tell them where it is.

I don't really have much to add, just reading great ideas to steal for my game

 

[Wepwawet]

From Expedition to Castle Ravenloft:

The Dayheart: This massive crystal, fed by dreadful energies, grants vampires linked to it immunity from the effects of sunlight. The Dayheart occupies the highest part of one of the castle's spires.

No HP buffer, just sunlight immunity... Is it too powerful?
I mean, at level 10, the players would whip out 50 hp of damage in less than one round, the Heart of Sorrow won't help much...
Any randiant damage (from the word or spells) would hurt Strahd as normal, but would it still stop his vampiric regeneration? What are the consequences regarding the Sunsword?

 

[Savage Wombat]

Ravenloft <> Curse of Strahd. Ravenloft generally refers to the campaign setting as a whole, and as such uses tropes and themes designed to enhance the gothic theme. You don't have to ever use anything from these old boxed sets, but when people talk about canonical Ravenloft they refer to them.

I'll bet that somewhere in some writing it specifically says Strahd can't destroy the Sunsword, but that's not the point. The Sunsword exists to be a threat to him, a potential check on his power that he fears. And the Dark Powers won't let a Darklord live without fear and doubt - it wouldn't be fun. So Strahd would never be allowed to permanently eliminate a true threat to him.

Similarly, the Mists of Ravenloft are notorious for making decisions for people in the Domain of Dread. Adventurers crossing through the Mists sometimes find themselves clear across the world - and it's usually not random. So if you enter the Mists carrying something that the Dark Powers would rather see show up somewhere else - it just might not be there when you come out again.

 

[pukunui]

No HP buffer, just sunlight immunity... Is it too powerful?

I'm keeping the HP buffer, and, on top of that, I've pumped Strahd's HP up to his max (204). The Dayheart aspect allows him to ignore his Sunlight Hypersensitivity weakness, as well as enabling him to use his Misty Escape, Shapechanger and Regeneration traits even if he is in sunlight.

Any randiant damage (from the word or spells) would hurt Strahd as normal, but would it still stop his vampiric regeneration? What are the consequences regarding the Sunsword?

Yes, since the sunsword deals radiant damage, it would still inhibit his regeneration. The only difference is that, as long as the Heart of Sorrow/Dayheart is still around, Strahd can actually stand in the presence of the active sunsword and a) not take any damage from its sunlight and b) still use all his traits as above.

Similarly, the Mists of Ravenloft are notorious for making decisions for people in the Domain of Dread. Adventurers crossing through the Mists sometimes find themselves clear across the world - and it's usually not random. So if you enter the Mists carrying something that the Dark Powers would rather see show up somewhere else - it just might not be there when you come out again.

Would you, perhaps, recommend that I have Strahd give it to the Vistani and ask them to take it out of his domain, only to have it randomly reappear somewhere else within his domain. That way Strahd wouldn't know where it was either, never mind the PCs (who can get Ezmerelda or Madam Eva to draw a tarokka card to tell them).

 

[Savage Wombat]

Would you, perhaps, recommend that I have Strahd give it to the Vistani and ask them to take it out of his domain, only to have it randomly reappear somewhere else within his domain. That way Strahd wouldn't know where it was either, never mind the PCs (who can get Ezmerelda or Madam Eva to draw a tarokka card to tell them).

That's certainly my first thought. Unless you have a particular desire to have Strahd hide the sword in a particular place.

 

[pukunui]

That's certainly my first thought. Unless you have a particular desire to have Strahd hide the sword in a particular place.

Well, as I said before, I thought it would be cool (in an evil DM kind of way) for him to put it in the shrine to Mother Night in the werewolf den, so that they'll suffer the curse for taking an item from her hoard. It might also get them to actually go to the den, as they haven't bitten any of the other werewolf-oriented hooks I've tossed in their direction.

However, it could be just as fun for me to not know ahead of time where they will find it next.

 

[Helldritch]

Oooh I like that! From what I read around the internet the fight with Strahd can be prettyu easy with the Sunsword. That'll give the players a reason to bother with the Heart of Sorrow Thanks

I agree with you that him and Rahadin shouldn't be able to wield the sword, being sentient and all. I think it makes sense to hide it in the Werewolf Den, guarded by the werewolves. Another interesting place to take your players!

They should be able to ask a Vistana to throw the cards to tell them where it is.

I don't really have much to add, just reading great ideas to steal for my game

Fully agree with you except for the "easy fight" with Strahd. So far, I have had one group in 5ed doing CoS and they almost died. It's been a few months and they still talk about it. I ran that fight for an other DM and wiped the group without modifying a iota to Strahd (and they had previously killed him in quite an easy manner.)

And now my second group is going after Strahd themselves. They just met him outside the Death House (from which they almost died) and they were quite impressed by him. Maybe the fact that the other group discussed with them about their fight with Strahd is having a bigger impact on them than I have anticipated...

Again I must stress that Strahd will not fight fair. He will send spawn, zombies, skeletons and even Vistanis against the players. Nothing prevents him from going out and getting some help. Gargoyles, wolves, more Vistanis, ghouls and god... DM knows what else! Strahd will not stay in place waiting to be killed. He will move, hide, come back, strike once or twice, charm if necessary. Strahd is as easy as you make him.

An other DM asked me on how I ran Strahd. I showed him how I ran him and he said:" No way my players can beat that guy with your aproach..." They are four level 12 PCs... Yes in a white room situation, Strahd is weak. I mean really really weak. But in his own turf he's not that easy to beat. He will use everything in his arsenal to beat the players. Players must somehow force Strahd into his coffin and they must kill him there. The best time to kill Strahd is during the day. And yet, searching the castle will take a lot of time. Unless the players are lucky, it could even take two forays into the castle to do that. The second foray might not happen as Strahd will learn of it and prepare his defenses with traps and additional guards/minions. He will even hunt the players up to where they sleep. And if they sleep on hallowed ground, Strahd is not above throwing a fire ball or two at a church to set it ablaze. He will send in his minions (vistanis, wolves or other) to disrupt the players efforts to quench the fire. Strahd is deviousness impersonated. Drows could learn a thing or two from him.

So far all those that I have heard saying Strahd was an easy kill had caught Strahd alone in a room waiting to be killed. Yes there is a room in which you can always find him. That does not mean that he will stay there to be slaughtered like a lamb...

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=6855114]Helldritch[/MENTION]: Maybe [MENTION=40592]hastur_nz[/MENTION] was just going easy on us, but I found him to be fairly weak. We were all level 10 when we finally cornered him. The sword and the holy symbol are pretty useful, but they become even more so when you've also got the icon from the chapel. Its 30-foot protection from evil and good aura is nasty. Strahd can't charm anyone in the aura, and he and all of his undead minions have disadvantage on all their attacks against anyone in the aura as well.

 

[bgbarcus]

On a different note, Sir Godfrey Gwilym is their assigned ally. I've been pondering making it so he won't help them against Strahd unless the beacon is lit. This might be a bit harsh, but I feel it gives them more reason to go into Castle Ravenloft and then leave again once they've found the dragon's skull. Otherwise, there's not as much incentive to make multiple trips to the castle.

If you roll random encounters in the castle as suggested in the book, I suspect your players will be forced to make multiple trips to the castle because they'll be escaping to recover. My group of six 10th level PC's just exited the castle for the fourth time. First was after the found and rescued Gertruda, second was because the found the dragon skull. They were pretty beat up after the second and ready to find a safe place to rest. Third trip they found Strahd in his library as a random encounter. One PC died in the fight and the others pretty much exhausted their resources just surviving. Strahd left the fight when he hit half HP and the PC's escaped to get the dead one raised by the Abbot. Fourth trip they started by flying to the top of the wall to enter the high tower. They met a bunch of vampire spawn as a random encounter. The vampires did a lot of damage by grappling and jumping off the wall with the captured PC for a very long fall. So far this fairly powerful party has explored about a third of the castle and been beaten back by random encounters multiple times.