Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8980368" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/sxqGdFM.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/product/376774/One-Night-Strahd" target="_blank">Product Link</a>*Product Type: AdventureCoS-Required? No*Note: The Hedra Group's official site has a special discount link where you can get One Night Strahd for 50% off. I can't directly link as the site has some non-sexual nudity, but if you Google "Hedra Group One Night Strahd" you should find it easily enough.If you go on the DM’s Guild and sort by Ravenloft, One Night Strahd is likely to be one of the top-selling items. For a time it appeared quite frequently on the front page of the Dungeon Master’s Guild, too. But like quite a bit of products out there, reviews for it are sparse and brief. And when looking it up on Reddit and elsewhere, there’s often confusion or unawareness about the title, with people assuming that those asking about the adventure are looking for ways to turn the official modules into a one-shot, and not as a unique fan-made adventure in and of itself.One Night Strahd’s stated purpose is to condense the “full campaign experience of Curse of Strahd into a one-shot adventure,” although this is a bit misleading. First off, ONS (the abbreviated form) is very much its own adventure, with the only similarity being that it’s a gothic D&D adventure with Strahd as the villain to slay…or Ireena, but we’ll get into that later. While the PCs do visit Castle Ravenloft and meet other iconic characters of the adventure, it has a rather unique take on its iteration of Barovia. For example, the Vistani of ONS aren’t Romani-counterpart humans ruled by matriarchal diviners, but a race of fire giants who worship the Morninglord and Mother Night, wandering the planes in mobile fortresses. And as for Irena,* she also suffered at Strahd’s hands but became a villain in her own right: a once-proud paladin who fell to evil and resurrected her beloved Sergei as an undead minion.*The book spells it with one “e.”The overall setting feels a bit more otherworldly as well; whereas the official Castle Ravenloft adventures often had Barovia as a seemingly normal yet eerie place where people know about monsters who are lurking in the darkness at the edges, the supernatural taint of the Dark Power’s and Strahd’s reign is apparent, even where there is not but ruin of tragic stories already told. During one section the PCs will be going through an adjacent domain via the giant boughs of Yggdrasil to find a portal to the domain of Barovia. Another section may have the PCs ascending a Tower where they fight an elven archmage in a magical duel where both sides announce their attacks as certain concepts given form. One Night Strahd is very much its own thing in its interpretation of the vampire count’s fall, much like Expedition to Castle Ravenloft and Curse of Strahd are overhauled interpretations of the original I6 module.Another thing is that ONS isn’t really meant to be run as a one-shot unless you make it into a dawn-to-dusk marathon session. Instead it’s meant to be the length of a short campaign or adventure with multiple parts, with recommended game time being 16 hours across 3 or so sessions or 12 hours for a condensed marathon such as at Halloween. It can also be run with one group of players or two simultaneously, with each group taking their own route through the module. The book briefly touches on the adventure format and encounter flows along with the general plot outlines of the three major Acts, but we’ll cover those in their appropriate sections.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/qZ6N1qX.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Dramatis Personae sets us up with the major characters of this tale, as well as some side characters who are likelier than usual to reappear.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/q1LyNim.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><img src="https://i.imgur.com/m9dJjYQ.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The Central Villains are Strahd Von Zarovich and Irena Von Zarovich, and the DM chooses which one will be the main antagonist for their playthrough. The other will have been defeated and imprisoned, their form constituting the Heart of Sorrow in Castle Ravenloft. Strahd’s backstory is much the same, although given the campaign’s briefness the book says to be more dramatic with his negative personality traits given longer campaigns can afford a slower buildup. ONS’ Strahd has become jaded from centuries of boredom, loss, and slumber, and his immortality only makes him act more reckless and narcissistic. His once-charming side has long since given way to a brutal, uncompromising evil.And what of Tatyana and her reincarnation? She is not a damsel in distress nor an ally for the PCs to escort and protect. Instead she was a paladin dedicated to a benevolent god, but was born in a Barovia that had become a cruel empire that was wrought upon imperialism and ethnic cleansing. It was inevitable that a person like Strahd would come to power in such an environment, and his jealousy for her and Sergei’s death played out the same. But while Irena counts Strahd as an enemy, she stared too long into the abyss to be a hero. She turned Sergei into an undead out of desperation, dealt with fiends, and even led massacres that resulted in the deaths of almost all life in Barovia in her campaign against Strahd.  Now she views the PCs as new pawns to continue her fruitless war against her object of hatred. Just as the vampire count pines for Tatyana, so too does Irena pine for the old Sergei back.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/uSmwVYA.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Sv9DuuL.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The Damned are the rest of the major/recurring characters in One Night Strahd, each of whom has their own reasons for visiting this hellish domain. We have Gertruda, who is a vampire messenger for the Dark Powers, the Darklord of the Domain of Desolation where the PCs start. She is the reason why the party has been summoned to the Domains of Dread, and was a former lover of Irena who over time hated what she became, but also hates Strahd for hurting her and is willing to help the PCs fight him up to the point that the Dark Powers let her. Gertruda’s role in the story is that of an all-too-nice and helpful ally who feels too good to be true. She doesn’t outright oppose the PCs, but treats the whole affair as some refreshing chaos in a cycle that’s become clockwork.Sergei Von Zarovich is now a skeletal undead, unable to speak but still possessed of a keen intellect. He is bound to serve Irena, but takes no joy in it, for he knows that her path will just result in more ruin, and the book emphasizes making him a tragic figure the PCs can feel sympathy towards. He is unable to speak verbally but can speak in sign language, and the book provides various language and role-playing means for him to get his points across.The Brides of Strahd were mighty druids in life and now rule the Svalich Woods in Strahd’s name. Four of them willingly entered into his service as vampires. Each Bride has a poetic name relating to the seasons, such as Midsummer, That Was Given; or Autumn, That Was Loved. Winter, That Was Taken, is the fifth bride and the one who doesn’t remember how she became undead. Although she initially fights the PCs in the adventure, it is possible for her to switch sides and aid them, possibly filling in as a replacement PC.Bur & Burr are actually a single being: Burr is an arcanoloth in a similar role as the original Ravenloft’s Inajira, being an arcanaloth trapped in the Domains of Dread, and Bur is his simulacrum. They are encountered in the Amber Temple where they are trapped by powerful magic, and will attempt to bargain with the characters into freeing them in exchange for help in their adventure. This is part of a greater plan to eventually escape the Domains of Dread altogether.For four hundred years ballads were sung of the Vistani Esmerelda, a Fire Knight who became the greatest vampire hunter whose tales are known across the planes. Her last fated expedition was to put an end to Strahd, but she and her party were betrayed by Patrina, an elf archmage who collapsed the tomb they fought inside in a hopeless gambit to ensure that evil would not rise again. The Dark Powers didn’t want to give up such a shining example, and brought back Esmerelda as a ghost caught in the same cycle. Much like Curse of Strahd she can tag along with the PCs as an NPC companion, but only in a playthrough where Strahd is the main villain.Maple is the last free Feypact Werewolf. Barovia’s werewolves marked themselves with brands in a coming of age ceremony to devour any non-branded adult wolf. They served the five druids, but when they defected to Strahd they betrayed the Feypact and now the lycanthropes are a banished people. Maple escaped the branding ceremony via Gertruda helping them* in secret and via a half-giant Dryad known as Sesame. The young wolf has never known a life in Barovia, and can be a potential ally of the PCs, and can join them as an ally in a playthrough where Irena’s the main villain.*Maple is genderfluid and adopts pronouns based on the form they assume. The book uses “they” for general purposes.Omu is one of the lords of the Slaadi. He views his time in the Domains of Dread as something akin to a scenic vacation, having built himself a secure extraplanar bubble to serve as a lair and workshop. Omu finds the tragic cycle of Strahd and Irena’s struggles as a mythos in need of some unpredictable elements. He gets along with Gertruda due to this, and has set up several forms of aid for the PCs such as the Small God statues in the Amber Temple or the Instant Fortress in Castle Ravenloft’s Treasury.Patrina Fireheart is old enough to have taken part in the original wars between Lolth and Corellon Larethian. She served Corellon even as it meant taking up sword and spell against friends and kin. Having lost everything, she wandered until coming upon the kingdom of Barovia, serving Strahd for a time as his court mage. Tragedy struck again when she found herself aiding another violent reign, and formed a resistance movement where she introduced Irena to Sergei as an ally against oppression. Barovia soon grew to become a multiplanar empire, and while off on a hunting trip with Gertruda Patrina arrived too late to save Sergei from being murdered by Strahd. Barovia had fallen into the Mists, and after many more ill-fated campaigns the elf eventually gave up, turning to inaction and retreating to a tower, now neutral in the war between Strahd and Irena.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/0D1Nj6w.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />I don’t know the best term to describe it in a few short words, but One Night Strahd’s adventure flow is closer to a Choose Your Own adventure novel than a traditional module. The major Acts are separated into major areas linked by a series of smaller event and encounter locations. One greater area may involve the PCs being hunted by the five druids in the Svalich Woods, another might have them venturing through the depths of the Amber Temple. These places have their own flowcharts of encounters and events, with the choices the PCs make (and certain resolutions such as the outcome of a skill check or the death/capture of an NPC) leading on to other encounters before an eventual goal that segues into the next location. Group checks are avoided in most cases, and retries aren’t possible save where the adventure indicates they can and how many times a task can be retried, often with penalties of some sort.Here’s an example of what a singular encounter in a greater area may look like:<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Ey53z1K.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Add on top of this the fact that there are certain location-neutral events known as Event Triggers. These include things such as Winter’s death which may not happen in a particular location or battle. While the book has a handy list of cheat sheets for this as well as the major Acts and their events, it’s honestly a lot to keep track of. Honestly I can’t tell if these handouts will make the overall flow of the adventure more of a help or a confusing mess, given the sheer size of the book. DM’s Guild reviews have described them as both, so it’s likely the kind of thing you can only figure out once you run it yourself.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/ppdKcI8.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Character Creation is self-explanatory. One Night Strahd is balanced for at least one group of 4-6 6th level PCs, and it can be played with two groups with their own GMs alternating separate paths or even as a modified West Marches campaign where groups complete a single location per session.* ONS’ guidelines for characters are 27 point buy, no races with permanent flight, no subclasses from the DMG,** some restrictions on what equipment they start with such as the fact they can only carry a maximum of 3 flasks of alchemical equipment per PC. PCs never level up during this adventure, although they increase in power from magic items, possible bargains made with supernatural entities they probably shouldn’t be bargaining with, and the aid of helpful NPCs such as Esmerelda and Maple.*I don’t know how well this actually flows for this adventure, as West Marches campaign are usually much closer to sandboxes than ONS’ tight schedule.**which are the Death Domain Cleric and Oathbreaker Paladin, so pretty much bad guy options.Our last four sections in the introductory part of One Night Strahd are new minor rules. Rites are special narrative actions that PCs can activate by spending Inspiration and a standard action. They’re meant to serve as a crutch for PCs who may have been built weak, lost an important resource, or are feeling options paralysis but still want to contribute with something meaningful. Individual Rites can take a variety of forms, but they all follow a universal guideline: the PC rolls two DC 17 skill checks from a list of 3 sample skills. On a failure they take 2d4 necrotic damage, but on 1 success they deal 2d8+2 radiant damage to a target, 4d8+4 radiant on both successes. Once a PC gains access to a Rite they can use it at any time as long as they have Inspiration. Alternatively desperate PCs can perform a Rite when they’d ordinarily make a death save, being a “Last Stand” where they automatically deal 2d8+2 radiant damage to a target and grant Inspiration to 2 other characters but instantly die. This Last Stand doesn’t cost Inspiration or an action to use.I should note that Rites aren’t available at the beginning: instead they occur after the party encounters the Amber Sarcophagi at the end of Act I, and the Last Stand Rite is available only during the start of Act III, although the book at this point doesn’t explicitly spell this out initially.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/nOEzpDP.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />One Night Strahd is a rather deadly module, and Incarnations are a metagame means of ensuring that players of dead PCs are pulled back into the action. When a PC would die, they are given a handout that runs them through a brief narrative scene in a manner similar to a CYOA section where their spirit returns to the world in a new body and thus a new character sheet. There is still some penalty for coming back, such as losing Inspiration and starting with fewer and fewer hit points and/or Hit Dice every subsequent incarnation. There are times in the module where too many losses and Incarnations by the PCs in a single fight can cause a defeated or Nonstandard Game Over scenario.An exception to these rules is to allow the player of a slain PC to take control of an NPC ally such as Winter, Maple, or Esmerelda when they’d ordinarily reincarnate.Hunt Encounter Rules serve as chase scenes for certain encounters, usually involving the PCs pursuing or being pursued by a hostile NPC(s) or monster(s). It represents the hit-and-run tactics of a longer-term action scenario rather than having initiative be rolled multiple times. A Hunt often has skill checks during mini-encounters that let the PCs outmaneuver their adversary and get in some hits, or take some blows themselves or lose their quarry. In reality they aren’t that much different than the default skill/save challenges with retries save for the fact that success or failure can allow for opportunities to harm or be harmed by the enemy.Finally, Scoring is an optional rule for DMs running One Night Strahd as a tournament module, where groups are judged based on how well they play. There’s a checklist of actions per Act to monitor how many points are accumulated per group.Thoughts So Far: Whatever you may think of it, One Night Strahd certainly has a uniquely different take on the tragedy of Barovia’s MVP. The more high-magic interpretation of the setting, such as Barovia being an empire that spanned multiple Material Planes or the Vistani being wandering fire giants, make it harder to use in conjunction with existing takes on Ravenloft and may not be to everyone’s liking.I’m not as fond of the idea of making Irena a villain. When most people play one of the Castle Ravenloft adventures, they’re expecting Strahd as the main baddie, and a module by the name of One Night Strahd echoes that similar sentiment. The fact that the module plays where only one of them serves as the final boss rather than a chance to take down both may cause a feeling of dissatisfaction for those groups who didn’t get to fight the character whose name is in the title. Then again, this module also encourages replay value for repeat playthroughs, so this isn’t as large a mark against it in comparison to a full campaign.Join us next time as we begin Act I, where the PCs are hired by the Church of Tymora to slay Strahd, fight the count’s brides in the Svalich Woods, descend the branches of Yggdrasil, and make (or break) a deal with an arcanaloth in the Amber Temple!</blockquote>

Verification