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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ccs" data-source="post: 8288702" data-attributes="member: 6803664">The current campaign has come to an end & Strahd has escaped "Barovia" and is now loose in the real world.So a victory for team Evil!Our heroes:  A human wizard, a human vengeance paladin, a human UA monster-hunter ranger, a halfling monk, an elven pirate, and a 1/2orc (revenant) barbarian (who's purpose is the destruction of Strahd).   Two sessions ago:Things were going fairly well for the heroes.  They infiltrated Castle Ravenloft, caught up to Strahd as he was in the middle of prepping the final step of his current master (escape) plan {use the Apparatus from I10/Mordentshire to permenantly transpose himself into the real world), and beat the bat guano out of him.  Damned near put him to 0hp.  To escape he turned into mist & fled in order to regenerate.And thus the hunt was on for him....  Well, the PCs found him by accident though via a wandering monster check.  (CoS says to check for an encounter everytime the PCs enter an otherwise empty area)And I'd been keeping careful track of the rounds - so I knew how many HP Strahd had regained.   He wasn't topped off yet.This time the PCs DID knock him to zero HP.End of session. 1 session ago:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A new player joined the game.  We randomly determined what room they were starting in & they explored from there.  The assumption was that they'd eventually link up with the other characters.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Now at zero HP & in mist form Strahd has two hours to get back to his crypt.  Moving at '20/round.  And so began a slow speed chase - the party strolling along after this cloud of mist....  And being kited into encounters aimed at slowing them down, separating them, or killing them.  They always managed to keep one PC on his tail though.</li> </ul>Until he slid under a door in the "Larders of Ill Omen" lv & blended into the 3' of mist & fog the description says covers this hall.With no way to tell where he was & 5 exits the PCs began searching.  Two triggered an elevator trap & shot themselves to the near top of the one tower.  The other two encountered Cyrus & coerced the poor mongralman into leading them to Strahds coffin.Cyrus of course then attempted to lead the Paladin & Wizard as far away from the crypt & through as many new encounters/traps as possible.  He succeeded in getting the Paladin killed & the Wizard was running low on both HP & spells. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Meanwhile the other two a barbarian polymorphed into a giant ape & a tiny 1/2ling monk riding on his shoulder, were having great fun in the upper towers playing D&D Rampage.  Climbing about the outside of the towers, punching through windows to crush/eat witches, chucking a vampire spawn to the courtyard far below, hurling the Clockwork Jester clean into the chasm that surrounds the spire Ravenloft occupies....They DID run into the new players hero though!  An Elven Pirate.Strahd of course easily made it to his crypt & now only has to survive another hour of helplessness.....About 3/4 of the way through the session both groups linked up, found their way into the crypt lv., & started systematically tearing open crypts searching for Strahd.Assuming they're onto a critical countdown, they proceeded straight down the widest path in the catacombs (because of the giant ape) demolishing crypts & monsters and burning HP/resources until they reach the crypt of the King/Queen.Creative use of a tiny hut spell got them past the "trap" that guards this crypt.  They proceed to trash this crypt.  And then?  They decide that - since they're all extremely low on HP/spells/resources - to take a short rest.End of session.*???These are not inexperienced 5e players.  They know how long a short rest is.  And they know that's likely going to exceed the clock they're on.Turns out their reasoning seemed to be that they'd simply return to where they'd interrupted Strahd initially & disrupt his plans again.Last session:Too bad for them Strahds not stupid.After his refreshing nap + regening to full HP he simply followed the trail of destruction, determined where the PCs were holed up (and why) - and summoned every monster still in the crypts + hoards of Strahd Zombies to lurk outside his parents crypt & attack anything exiting it.He then went back to finishing his Bon Voyage prep, confident that the idiots wouldn't be interrupting him this time.  The only thing actually standing in his way was a very small (11%) chance of actual failure caused to the Apparatus by unnoticed damage during the initial fight with the party.So, having completed their short rest, the party heads up the stairs back to the catacomb lv.  And finds a virtual wall of monsters blocking their way & extending out of sight into the darkness.In the front ranks there were Hellhounds, a wraith, a ghost, a spectral warrior, 3 vampiric brides, 3 giant wolf spiders, and a Nightmare.Behind these were numerous whites & ghouls.Behind those were the hoards of Strahd Zombies barely visible in the gloom....Press play on my phone & :"And the man in the back said everyone attack & it turned into a ballroom blitz....""ROLL INTIATIVE."Only 1 player picked up on the fact that I used this exact music clip/quote waaaay back in the 1st session of the campaign. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Bonus xp to her.6 rounds later Strad activated the Apparatus & the fight abruptly ended.I had one of the players roll me a %.  They rolled 19%.  Looking at my notes.....  Transference works, Apparatus + tower explodes, and the entire remaining population of Mordentshire is swapped into Barovia in exchange for Strahd + an equal # of monsters*.  And echoes of evil laughter.All the monsters fighting the PCs suddenly became very confused/frightened townsfolk.The surviving PCs + a bunch of villages are now trapped in demi-plane Barovia & Strahd plus hordes of monsters* (mostly undead) are free in the real world.  *That revenant 1/2orc Barbarian?  Yeah, he was counted as a monster.  He's the only PC to get out of demi-plane Barovia & now his 1 year clock has started (it was suspended while in the demi-plane).</blockquote>

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