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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hastur_nz" data-source="post: 7026843" data-attributes="member: 40592">Too many NPC's?  I'm totally with you - no-one wants a gang of NPC's over-shadowing the PC's, especially if there are sufficient player numbers at the table.  Perfect excuse to go all out and kill some of the non-P's.  Don't be overly fair about it, just gang up on one and make sure it dies (as an NPC, you can safely say they are like regular monsters monsters and don't get death saves).Personally I deleted a hook that might have lead you Argynvostholt, as I'd heard it was one of the least-liked sites in the adventure.  However, your players expect to go there now, so I'd say yes, make it as written so they have to go to the castle, find the skull, then go back to Argynvostholt, to get their ally.  As noted above, Strahd loves cat and mouse games, so there's plenty of opportunity to see that he 'allows' them to come visit, then leave, then come back again.  Maybe that's where the excess NPC's all get killed - as I'm sure you remember, it's not too hard to set up an ambush in his castle, where Strahd and some of his allies can kill off your NPC's, then maybe he's had his initial fun and made a point, so he lets the PC's escape until next time...Lastly, as for your players killing Izek and most of the guards... personally I strongly believe that in civilisation, actions should have consequences.  If a group of PC's can march into a town, kill whoever they feel like, and get away with it, then that flouts the idea of logic and/or laws.  So maybe the Baron is *scared* of them, as well as p*ssed off, but they have just killed his henchman and main muscle, as well as half his town guard - if they go back, they should expect to get a very different reception.  Bear in mind he's trying (in his own off-kilter way) to cheer everyone up in town, but he's also in charge of the town.  If it were me, I'd say if the PC's had the audacity to enter town after killing the bulk of the Baron's law enforcers, he'd incite a mob to lynch them, and if that failed I'd have Strahd conveniently appear and run the events that are scheduled for the Church - festival be damned, it's a pretty lame set-piece anyway.  Show your players that murder-hobos get their dues, because if you don't they might as well kill virtually everything that moves in the campaign, which very much misses the point...</blockquote>

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