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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8982815" data-attributes="member: 6750502">There are 8 different encounter locations in the Crypts regardless of who is the villain, being six mausoleums and two crypts belonging to Strahd and Sergei. The order of encounters is up to the DM, although the book has a suggested sequence, as well as encouraging them to obtain either the Luck Blade or Staff of Power magic items during their sojourn. The mausoleum containing the Staff of Power is a bit of a riddle, where the PCs must say the name of the dearly departed in front of his jeweled skull in order to summon the Staff, which a caster can immediately attune to. Maple has made camp on a tomb dedicated to Patrina (who is still alive), which contains 20,000 gold pieces worth of treasure. The Luck Blade is found in Exethanter’s tomb, and is guarded by naught save a door rusted in place. Sergei’s Tomb is in immaculate condition, and is currently home to the undead of the same name who can communicate in sign language and just wants to sit down and share a pipe with the party. PCs who do so will have a silent but pleasant time to rest with him, and to reward their hospitality he will reward them with a suit of +1 plate. Bucephalus’ mausoleum has a statue of Strahd’s nightmare steed whose eyes are valuable gems and whose tack is made of gold. It isn’t a statue but the nightmare itself, and PCs who try to steal the eyes or tack will have the nightmare animate and shift them to the Ethereal Plane (effectively taking them out of the adventure until they can be retrieved much later) if they fail a Dexterity save.Two tombs of note are Irena and Strahd’s tombs. Both have additional content with respect to whoever is the villain of the adventure. Irena’s tomb is unlocked based on the torch patterns in the Sunlit Shrine Interior’s hallway. If Irena’s the villain then she will attack the party when the PCs unlock it, although she will hold back and not use her legendary and lair actions. A TPK allows the party to reincarnate elsewhere in Castle Ravenloft or the Amber Depths, although PCs who defeat her gain early access to the Tomb of Irena encounter in Act 3, which is intended to serve as an early way to beat One Night Strahd in subsequent playthroughs. Otherwise, if Strahd’s the villain, the tomb has nothing but the old remains of history of a prior age.As for Strahd’s tomb, it is guarded by a magical barrier that requires magical solutions to bypass, such as a Passwall spellbead, Chime of Opening, or an Earth Elemental to burrow around it. If Irena’s the villain then the tomb contains no coffin, but if Strahd’s the villain then breaking the barrier gives them early access to Strahd’s Tomb encounter in Act 3.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/HME0bO3.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The Tower is the location of the elven Archmage Patrina, and is heavily inspired by Neil Gaiman’s Sandman where Dream and Chorozon duel by transforming into weaponized ideas in order to counter each other. As for why the PCs may venture here, they may have learned about the Heart of Sorrow from other characters such as the Misery in Dinner Date or from Burr convincing the party to visit. Much like in Curse of Strahd, the Heart of Sorrow acts as a health insurance policy for Barovia’s Darklord, and destroying it removes their hit point sink in the final encounter. Although not a required section like Crypts or Tome, the book says that it’s one of the most important encounters to complete, and that it will be destroyed whether the PCs win or lose Patrina’s game of concepts. They only lose the opportunity if “things have gone very bad” like the PCs running out of cards and repeatedly dying in a doom spiral where they have too few hit points to effectively take on future encounters.If Burr/Bur is with the party, he seeks to toss the Heart off the side of the tower, using the ring’s telekinesis if not a simulacrum, or if a simulacrum the DM will privately message that player of the goal. As for Patrina, she doesn’t disagree with their goals, but wants to test their worthiness with the game of concepts.Upon arriving in the tower, a magical lift will take the PCs up several floors. It is like an elevator but with no walls, passing through the holes of circular levels containing countless books, and PCs can spend an hour to gain a 3rd level spell scroll (taking any longer causes animated stone women to push them onto the lift to continue the ascent). When the party meets Patrina, she will introduce herself at the top level, where above them in the orrery is the Heart of Sorrow. The Heart takes the form of the Vampire Lord who isn’t the villain, imprisoned as their power is drained by the current Darklord. Then, she will challenge them to the Game of Forms.The Game of Forms in One Night Strahd takes the form of a card-based minigame where the players are dealt Form Cards, and they must use the cards available to counter Patrina’s own form. A card so used is discarded, unable to be used again. Each time Patrina takes a form the PCs must explain how they overcome her form with their own, rolling an appropriate skill check or saving throw. Appropriate Form Cards can grant advantage or even auto-succeed, although inappropriate Form Cards impose disadvantage. The DC and amount of retries varies depending on how far the party has progressed in the Game of Forms. Failing a roll causes PCs who rolled to take damage, 1 success they take half damage, and 2 success they take no damage. Each Form, their results, and their Outros upon resolution of that form (regardless of success or failure) have descriptive italicized text.Patrina does not draw cards: instead she starts out with a pre-selected form, the Stag Goddess. Upon resolution of that form she asks a question of whether they’d venerate her, rebel against her, or steal her secrets which determines one of three forms she takes next. From then on out the DM chooses the next form from a list of limited options depending on what stage of forms the PCs are in in the Game of Forms. Winning against certain forms can grant the PCs unique magic items, such as the cursed Baldor’s Blade that burns the mark of Grazz’t into the wielder’s hand and gives them a form of permanent madness, but can also deal +2d6 lightning damage when electrically charged with a command word. Or Winter Serpent’s Winter Fortress, which is the same as Daern’s, save it doesn’t cause damage when unfolding and is home to a serpent-shaped eladrin that is non-hostile and PCs must bargain with her to use the fortress.However, the final result of the Game always has Patrina taking the form of Ennui.This is a really cool concept, so I’m going to show some of the handouts:<img src="https://i.imgur.com/ewBj945.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> <img src="https://i.imgur.com/VwVWIY4.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Once the game is resolved she will ask them what they look like in victory or defeat as appropriate. If they win, she will give them a book to read that lets them take on her new form for up to an hour, gaining 20 temporary hit points while doing so. If they lost, she will give them a book devoted to dealing with anxiety-related disorders many shapeshifters suffer from, gaining the benefits of a short rest. They will also be transformed into large cartoon spiders (no stat changes) as Patrina shapeshifts into their new bodies to try them out if they stick around to watch.Either way, Patrina will let them do what they may with the Heart of Sorrow.If the PCs are taking too heavy losses such as multiple deaths during the Game, she will stop the challenge, admiring their self-sacrifice but giving them consolation prizes in the form of vouchers that can be used to cast Gate (cannot be used to escape Ravenloft, but can connect 2 points in the plane) and don’t get a chance to destroy the Heart of Sorrow.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/5NpDHLo.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The Tome of Lords is One Night Strahd’s equivalent to the Tome of Strahd, sitting up in his bedroom. Like the Crypts, it is one of the “required” sections for One Night Strahd even though it’s possible for the PCs to end up locked out when running away from a fight. There aren’t any monsters to battle here, but the bedroom is protected by a prismatic wall puzzle, and the PCs encounter it in a library that is the next room over. Searching the shelves can unearth books with colored spines that stick out, containing clues for how to shut down individual colors in the spell. There are some other magic items to be found via searching that can help the PCs dispel certain layers, such as a Ring of Warmth in the fireplace, a puzzle box which can be unlocked with Thieves’ Tools (no check required) containing a Spellbead of Absorb Elements, and a set of blueprints and necessary materials on a desk for building a set of Ventilating Lungs* magic items.*This magic item is in the Eberron sourcebook and not mentioned in the book, meaning DMs who don’t have access to that book may not know what they do. It isn’t relevant to the Prismatic Wall, but lets a character breathe in any environment and has advantage on saves vs gas-based magical effects.If the PCs are stuck, the DM can let one of them find a secret door containing a chest behind a glass panel that if broken contains a Rod of Cancellation that can dispel the entire wall. The Wall’s Violet section will transport a character to the Ethereal Plane, and Gertruda will eventually retrieve them but not before teasing them a little.Gertruda is in the bedroom beyond, and the PCs walk in on her reclining on the bed naked, earning an anime-style shock as the door is slammed in their faces as they can hear her from the other side sounding incredibly embarrassed. Within are books piled everywhere, including hammocks that are also full of books. Gertruda is obviously a vampire by the fangs in her mouth, and is friendly to the PCs. She will reveal her role in summoning them to the Domains of Dread unless they seem upset about their circumstances. Some of the books she is reading are references to the real world, such as Ursula K. LeGuin’s Left Hand of Darkness or Helen in Egypt by H.D. Asking Gertruda about the former will mention that she saw it in a cafe in Bordeaux and she isn’t good at speaking French. If they ask her for help in their quest she will give them 3 Heartseekers, unique +2 dart magic items specialized for fighting vampires. They shed light and deal radiant damage, and can be returned to the wielder’s hand like a boomerang. They can also blind a target once per short or long rest as a reaction if they fail a Constitution save, and once per week can cast Contact Other Plane although this puts the character into contact with the Dark Powers with some restrictions: the Intelligence save is DC 20 if questions are asked about Irena or Strahd, the casting is not affected by Ravenloft’s usual anti-divination measures, and failing a save still provides an answer but the character can’t share it with others.Otherwise the other treasures here are the Thighbone of Saint Markovia and the Tome. As for the Thighbone, it can take the form of a +1 wand or club, and once per short or long rest can restore hit points equal to the damage dealt with an attack or spell. Its other form can be the bone of a formorian giant ending in an eye clenched by the fist, acting as a +1 maul that grants advantage on saves vs being charmed. If the wielder succeeds on such a save they can spend a reaction to make the charmer take 6d8 psychic damage that can be halved with the same saving throw of the charm.As for the Tome, its contents change depending on whether Irena or Strahd is the villain. It is protected by a ciphered code requiring a DC 25 History check, with 8 hours on a failure or 2 hours on a success, or an auto-success if they have a copy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula from the Sunlit Shrine Interior.The Irena version details Irena’s life and then undeath, including her descent into villainy. Through a compilation of writings by different authors, it concludes that Strahd has been imprisoned in the Tower and that Irena is now the Darklord of Ravenloft. Gertruda was using the book as a means of keeping new incarnations of Irena up to speed on her prior lives, but she hasn’t done that in a long time since their falling out.The Strahd version details the OG Darklord’s life and undeath, how souls in the domain are trapped in a reincarnating cycle, as well as two crucial bits of information in defeating him. The first is that he’s been constructing a new tomb on the Ethereal Plane, and that his true death requires both his bodily form and Ethereal spirit to be slain.Chances are the PCs may be distrustful or even cross with Gertruda. If they attack her she is immortal and cannot be harmed, not defending herself but saying that she wishes the PCs would stop. If they continue she will cast Wish to freeze time and drown the world in sunlight, saying she’s not a “convenient roll on some loot table” before leaving them back in the library but without any treasures. PCs who apologize to her later will have her forgive them, as she knows what it’s like to be alone, desperate, and unable to trust albeit will still remain wary of the party.The nonlinearity of ACT 2 ends after the DM has run the desired number of encounters.Thoughts So Far: The locations in Castle Ravenloft are fun and eventful, and each major area has meaningful encounters of some kind along with viable rewards in the form of useful treasure, adventuring companion allies, or some kind of edge against the Darklord such as destroying the Heart of Sorrow. The Dinner Date serves to be an interesting social encounter, and the Tower’s Game of Forms is an awesome concept.I’m a bit concerned about the lethality of some of the encounters; although the PCs have effective infinite lives, the fact they begin reincarnations with fewer and fewer Hit Points and Hit Dice can cause a doom spiral effect like in Dark Souls, and unlike the Act I encounters not all foes will relent once a certain number of PCs die. There are some things that can help even the odds such as the NPC allies or the shared hit point pools of the Erinyes, although not all of them have such limitations, and the battles with all the vampire brides at once can be pretty deadly in that they can match or even outnumber the PCs with Misery/Strahd on their side. The Basilica encounter is perhaps my least favorite; the Abbot in Curse of Strahd never strongly appealed to me, and unlike the other areas there isn’t as much meaningful character or history development of the overall plot.Join us next time as we detail the Final Act in One Night Strahd!</blockquote>

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