D&D 5E Curse of Strahd spoiler-filled general discussion

[Gradine]

I honestly cannot figure out why they would have put that in there. Admittedly I haven't read through all of the campaign yet, but so far I can't see how it adds anything to the adventure or even how it would impact it at all. It seems like a weird thing to put in there when it doesn't have a payoff - almost just a twist for the sake of having a twist. Except that this is a twist that would pay off only for the GMs in a lot of cases because I don't see how it comes up in play in a way that the PCs figure it out.

Having read the whole thing, I can say that I don't see how it adds anything at all, really. More to the point, I don't really see at what point the PCs would ever learn that information, or why it would be shared with them. I've actually given quite a bit of thought to the whole Vistani = Tieflings idea, and presenting Madam Eva as a half-human, half-Tiefling might raise some interesting questions as to her parentage, but there's still little else to hint at it for the players, and even if the players figure it out it still really doesn't mean much, in the grand scheme of things.

I found the Izek/Ireena thing appropriately creepy and I can easily imagine the party, Ireena in tow, wanting to check out Blinksy's shop, which I think would be a fantastic place to introduce the concept to the players, especially since Blinksy would probably be too frightened of Izek to spill the beans on him very easily about it.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I kind of really like the Izek plotline. The players will likly try and get some info on Izek and I intend for the Vallaki priest to share his story.

 

[evilbob]

I'm ignoring the "Strahd's sister" bit. While the Izek thing seems contrived, the idea of Ireena having a creepy stalker other than Strahd seems appropriate for the tone.

I honestly cannot figure out why they would have put that in there. Admittedly I haven't read through all of the campaign yet, but so far I can't see how it adds anything to the adventure or even how it would impact it at all. It seems like a weird thing to put in there when it doesn't have a payoff - almost just a twist for the sake of having a twist. Except that this is a twist that would pay off only for the GMs in a lot of cases because I don't see how it comes up in play in a way that the PCs figure it out.

Having read the whole thing, I can say that I don't see how it adds anything at all, really. More to the point, I don't really see at what point the PCs would ever learn that information, or why it would be shared with them.

Actually, thinking it through, I can think of one reason why they put in the Strahd's sister bit: because they just wanted to have a reason - any reason - for Madame Eva to 1) be in Barovia, 2) help adventurers, 3) have been doing both for a while.

In the original module, she's just there as a sort of set piece with nothing else explained. In 3.5, she's explained as being one of the three creatures with ties to the land. But in this one - especially one that tries to "explain" SO VERY MUCH about HOW Strahd got powers and WHY he's doing what he's doing and all the other needless explanations (like Ireena's actual parents), they would want to explain why Madame Eva is in town as well. And if you think about it... why the hell is she in town? And helping random people try to stop Strahd? And not dead because of it?

Now, I think the sister reason is contrived, but having something sort of helps, even just with motivation and conversation. But I actually think the Ireena one is worse: there's even less need in my mind to come up why Ireena is there, and to me the natural assumption that she's not really from Barovia was more interesting. (Also, it's a pretty non-story - "she's an orphan from the next town over whose brother is evil." You'd think they could have made it better.) Then again, I do remember my players lingering on this question for at least a minute last time we played Ravenloft...

Anyone have any good ideas for substitutions for either? The 3.5 version seemed a bit better: Eva was one of three hags who guarded the three fanes which were ties to the land. She was guarding the "forest" one, and I want to say that she and her sisters were the original holy guardians of the fanes but all three eventually got corrupted into hags due to Strahd's presence in the land (maybe I made that up?), and while her sisters were evil and mad, respectively, she was ok and was trying to get Strahd out. Different take on motivations but ultimately similar enough. But without the fanes this makes less sense.

Ireena was always just there somehow. I think I did some convoluted time-travel thing or something weird last time I ran it (Tatyana fell to her death and was reincarnated by a druid into a baby and then transported forward in time by fairies and anyway it seemed cooler at the time). Other ideas that might fit? (You can always keep the Izek plotline regardless of the family tie.)

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Ireena was always just there somehow. I think I did some convoluted time-travel thing or something weird last time I ran it (Tatyana fell to her death and was reincarnated by a druid into a baby and then transported forward in time by fairies and anyway it seemed cooler at the time). Other ideas that might fit? (You can always keep the Izek plotline regardless of the family tie.)

I honestly think the Ireena and Izek thing is just interesting.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Ireena was always just there somehow. I think I did some convoluted time-travel thing or something weird last time I ran it (Tatyana fell to her death and was reincarnated by a druid into a baby and then transported forward in time by fairies and anyway it seemed cooler at the time). Other ideas that might fit? (You can always keep the Izek plotline regardless of the family tie.)

Why not just use "the Dark Powers keep reincarnating her to torment Strahd" reasoning that was part and parcel of the RL setting? Or am I missing something? (I'm only skimming, so I easily could be. )

 

[Jackdaw]

Anyone have any good ideas for substitutions for either? The 3.5 version seemed a bit better: Eva was one of three hags who guarded the three fanes which were ties to the land. She was guarding the "forest" one, and I want to say that she and her sisters were the original holy guardians of the fanes but all three eventually got corrupted into hags due to Strahd's presence in the land (maybe I made that up?), and while her sisters were evil and mad, respectively, she was ok and was trying to get Strahd out. Different take on motivations but ultimately similar enough. But without the fanes this makes less sense.

Ireena was always just there somehow. I think I did some convoluted time-travel thing or something weird last time I ran it (Tatyana fell to her death and was reincarnated by a druid into a baby and then transported forward in time by fairies and anyway it seemed cooler at the time). Other ideas that might fit? (You can always keep the Izek plotline regardless of the family tie.)

In my campaign Eva isn't related to Strahd nor is she a hag. She's an old Vistani woman who has read the fortune of her own people in the tarokka. It told her that Strahd will withdraw his favor from them in a horrific fashion. The Vistani are free to come and go only because Strahd sees it as an honorable exchange for saving his life 400+ years ago. Eva and the other elders know it's unwise to trust their futures to 1) A vampire and 2) A non-Vistani, but they have to be very careful about how they untwine their fate from his, because either all of them escape Barovia for good or no one does. Ohana means family!

The Vistani sit in Strahd's blind spot. After centuries of service it doesn't occur to him that they could be anything else but ultimately loyal, like dogs (his admiration for them has faded to mild amusement). His chamberlain Rahadin has always been suspicious, though, and is central to maintaining the coterie of loyal Vistani spies. They're servants but also insurance against a Vistani exodus since a handful of them always stay behind. Rahadin knows the Vistani will always return for their kin, not matter how corrupt they are.

So, Eva seeks Strahd's destruction but doesn't want her people implicated in the effort - because she fears that may be what causes him to withdraw his favor. Her aid to the PCs could either be the doom or the salvation of the Vistani. She's got a lot on her mind.

 

[Savage Wombat]

When enough campaigns get to that point, I'll be interested to see how PCs handle Vallaki. It occurs to me that there's simply no one to take the job of protecting the town unless the innkeeper suddenly steps up. (Which seems out of character.)

 

[evilbob]

In my campaign Eva isn't related to Strahd nor is she a hag. She's an old Vistani woman who has read the fortune of her own people in the tarokka.
...
So, Eva seeks Strahd's destruction but doesn't want her people implicated in the effort - because she fears that may be what causes him to withdraw his favor. Her aid to the PCs could either be the doom or the salvation of the Vistani. She's got a lot on her mind.

I like that! My only question then is: how long has she been around? She's just a normal woman who has come along, then, and happens to be exceptionally gifted?

When enough campaigns get to that point, I'll be interested to see how PCs handle Vallaki. It occurs to me that there's simply no one to take the job of protecting the town unless the innkeeper suddenly steps up. (Which seems out of character.)

I know, right? There's a huge power vacuum once you get rid of all the evil characters - which the game just about forces a confrontation since nearly anything you do makes the original guy mad and if you don't annoy him, he'll invite you to the festival where he starts to drag someone around town as punishment for snickering - which no good-aligned party is going to ignore. At the end of the day, you've got the priest and the wereravens and that's about it. And for as bad as the current leader is, at least he's not in Strahd's pocket. No clue what will come of all that.

 

[Daern]

Vallaki will be ruled by a conspiracy of ravens.

 

[Jackdaw]

I like that! My only question then is: how long has she been around? She's just a normal woman who has come along, then, and happens to be exceptionally gifted?

I know, right? There's a huge power vacuum once you get rid of all the evil characters - which the game just about forces a confrontation since nearly anything you do makes the original guy mad and if you don't annoy him, he'll invite you to the festival where he starts to drag someone around town as punishment for snickering - which no good-aligned party is going to ignore. At the end of the day, you've got the priest and the wereravens and that's about it. And for as bad as the current leader is, at least he's not in Strahd's pocket. No clue what will come of all that.

It's expected that each generation of Vistani will produce a girl with "the sight". Some have been more gifted than others, but there's a belief among their people that this girl is essential to their survival and her premature death (before a successor is chosen and trained) represents a time of hardship. Madame Eva suspects that Strahd was nursed back to health during one of these times, that no one was around to say "You must let him die". She is 82 years old now, and the seventh Vistani seer to serve since Strahd's undeath (most of the seers live long human lifespans). She was actually born outside Barovia (her mother insisted) and arrived the first time when she was 5 years old. She started having the visions of foresight when she was 9 but she hid them, not wanting the burden of responsibility, which she sensed would make her central to the fate of Barovia and her people. When she was 14 she began having dreams of Strahd himself, and Rahadin, the two of them conspiring to make her an undead bride (she was was beautiful back then). The terror of it caused her to pour boiling pitch on her own face, to remove her beauty and change her fate. It did: she stopped dreaming of Strahd as a husband and finally admitted to her shocked family that she had "the sight". Her great aunt accepted her as a disciple on her 15th birthday and she's been sinking under the weight of it ever since.

Some of the foolish young Vistani have joked that she is so old that "she's Strahd's sister", but they usually find themselves bedridden with gut fever a day later. Strahd has actually visited her for two tarokka readings in the past, when she was in her 40s, but he bade her to stop each time halfway through, somehow fearful of seeing his fate laid out. She still doesn't know if he knows she lied to him during those readings (she couldn't stomach using her gift to aid him). She fears he's toying with her somehow, and allowing her to disseminate false hope among the occasional adventuring party.

That's an angle, anyway