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

[evilbob]

Don't have the book at hand, but I can remember that Strahd turned between 300 and 400BC...

Again: however you want to tell it. Here's what a sidebar in the CoS book says: "Strahd was born in 306." (No "BC" or other markers given.) "Strahd ...finished construction of Castle Ravenloft in 350, and died and became a vampire in 351. The current year is 735." So draw from that what you will.

Also, yeah I was mistaken - it's set ~400 years later, not 200.

 

[evilbob]

Ok now you got me curious. I couldn't find any reference to a year 528 in the original I6, but I did read that the real Burgomaster's letter says, "For over 400 years he has drained this land of the life-blood of its people." So I guess that's where they got the ~400 years from.

 

[Mercule]

Quick Question:
The first Tarokka reading, with the location of all key items/people, do you do that with the players or not?
It'll be fun to keep much of it secret but it could be to hard for player to find some items...

You can do it however you want. IMO, that's a bit too meta. Also, if the PCs don't find someone to do the reading, then the players don't get the info.

My personal plan is to do the reading on my own. Then, I'll stack the deck so that the PCs get the exact same results. My reasoning is that I don't know when the PCs will actually get the reading done and knowing in advance will let me drop some Easter eggs that only make sense after the fact. If something happens that might allow for a new reading (and it sounds like that's possible), all bets are off.

 

[delericho]

My personal plan is to do the reading on my own. Then, I'll stack the deck so that the PCs get the exact same results.

When I ran I6, I found that my not knowing the results of the reading, and therefore not knowing everything about the adventure ahead of time, added significantly to the fun of the session. YMMV, of course, but I'd certainly recommend doing the reading "for real".

That said...

My reasoning is that I don't know when the PCs will actually get the reading done...

Yeah, it's worth noting that in I6 the opportunity for the reading is pretty much the first thing to happen. Without that constraint, I can see not having things fixed could be problematic.

 

[Agamon]

When I ran I6, I found that my not knowing the results of the reading, and therefore not knowing everything about the adventure ahead of time, added significantly to the fun of the session. YMMV, of course, but I'd certainly recommend doing the reading "for real".

QFT. This is why there's dice in the game, the great unknown. Different strokes, and all, so I wouldn't "recommend" it so much as just say that's the way I want to do it.

 

[dead]

Ok now you got me curious. I couldn't find any reference to a year 528 in the original I6, but I did read that the real Burgomaster's letter says, "For over 400 years he has drained this land of the life-blood of its people." So I guess that's where they got the ~400 years from.

I6 doesn't mention 528 BC. It is implied later.

In Realm of Terror it is mentioned that in 528 "Powerful heroes assault Castle Ravenloft and perish."

In Domains of Dread it is mentioned that in 528 "Powerful heroes assault Castle Ravenloft, confront Strahd, and are killed. (House of Strahd)"

If CoS were an isolated adventure, then it wouldn't matter so much, but because there is that link to 5E FR there are continuity issues if it's set in 735 BC (five years before the Grand Conjunction).

Of course we can set CoS whenever we want. I think that goes without saying. And on second thought, if I were using CoS with my 5E FR game, I don't think I'd have the PCs travel back in time to 735 BC. Instead, I think I would set CoS in c. 850 BC and say Ravenloft has gone through it's own "Sundering" like the Forgotten Realms. ie. there is a time of upheaval (say the Time of Unparalleled Darkness). Heroes thwart the worst effects of it but the fall out is that all the domains are fractured and set a drift in the Shadowfell. Then things return back to the status quo for all the domains - so "I6" all over again. This way you don't have to undo all the events that have taken place in the shared FR / RL multiverse. (I picked 850 BC to take into consideration FR's 100 year time advance - not to say time passes exactly the same in both settings but I think "some" time would have passed.)

 

[C-F-K]

Unless there is a Barovian historian among the party, I don't think it'll ever come up. For the purity you can give the players this info but I don't see the added value for the "average" D&D group of players.
And as far as the characters is concerned: I don't think a lot of news is coming from RL into the FR, so what character can know the exact timeline of RL?

 

[I'm A Banana]

Yeah, it's worth noting that in I6 the opportunity for the reading is pretty much the first thing to happen. Without that constraint, I can see not having things fixed could be problematic.

For my game, I'm thinking of having the reading determine the existence of these things - without the help of the Vistani, there's no chance of discovering these items or NPC helpers.

If they want to take on Strahd without 'em, that's fine. Mwahahahahaha.

 

[MrHotter]

You can do it however you want. IMO, that's a bit too meta. Also, if the PCs don't find someone to do the reading, then the players don't get the info.

My personal plan is to do the reading on my own. Then, I'll stack the deck so that the PCs get the exact same results. My reasoning is that I don't know when the PCs will actually get the reading done and knowing in advance will let me drop some Easter eggs that only make sense after the fact. If something happens that might allow for a new reading (and it sounds like that's possible), all bets are off.

There's a chance that two items can be found before the players even get to Madame Eva (that I can recall). The church basement could just have a chest sitting in the corner with an item in it, and the graves at the first crossroads gallows can have one as well. I know it's not likely that the players would dig up all the graves at the gallows, but they are very likely to go to the church and deal with the son in the basement. If they do that and then head to Eva they may find out that they did not notice a chest sitting in the corner in the church.

I really don't want the players to find an item without the card reading (because then the card reading will need to be fudged), so if I end up in that situation I may just make the item harder to find or not be in the location until after the reading.

 

[C-F-K]

There's a chance that two items can be found before the players even get to Madame Eva (that I can recall). The church basement could just have a chest sitting in the corner with an item in it, and the graves at the first crossroads gallows can have one as well. I know it's not likely that the players would dig up all the graves at the gallows, but they are very likely to go to the church and deal with the son in the basement. If they do that and then head to Eva they may find out that they did not notice a chest sitting in the corner in the church.

I really don't want the players to find an item without the card reading (because then the card reading will need to be fudged), so if I end up in that situation I may just make the item harder to find or not be in the location until after the reading.

Doesn't have to be a chest, but perhaps a loose stone brick they missed the first time...

But further I agree, the reading is an important part of the campaign and has the ability of setting the mood.