Sammael
Adventurer
So, before the Big Crash of 2016, I started a number of threads and replied to an even greater number of threads related to 5E and, in particular, the Curse of Strahd adventure. All my *cough* wisdom *cough* was lost 
but fear not - I'll try to recreate some of that content here. I hope this thread will end up being one part story hour (lite), one part my 5E commentary, and one part me asking for help on running the game.
First a small intro - I have considerable DMing experience (~17 years), mostly AD&D second edition, 3.0, 3.5, and some WHFRP, Dark Heresy, and World of Darkness (old and new). I have my own d20 system variant called Fatebinder, and I've spent thousands of hours on it, but it's far from finished. I generally DM more than I play, though that has changed a bit in the recent years as several of my current players are also good (and willing) DMs.
I bought the 5E core books when they originally came out, read them, found them a lot better than 4E (which was not to my taste at all), and then promptly shelved them. I was in full Fatebinder homebrew mode then, and didn't really need a new system. But then, CoS came out earlier this year and I felt drawn to the mists once again...
After buying CoS in May, reading it and rereading it, I was astonished - I was not used to sandboxy content of this magnitude in official publications. Furthermore, I knew that only one of my regular players had any experience with Ravenloft. So, I decided to make a pitch when one of our standard campaigns was put on hiatus - I proposed to run a one-off based on the Death House to see if I liked DMing 5E. The players agreed and soon I had Rogar the Dragonborn Barbarian, Surly the Dwarf Rogue, Thanas the Human Warlock, and Flick the Half-Elf Cleric of Waukeen.
COS SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Also, my players stay out
Entrance into Ravenloft played out reasonably well. All PCs were asleep on the anchored Rusty Plank, a boat owned by the Cleric. They awoke in the middle of the night to find the rest of the crew missing (with signs of violence) and the boat itself afloat in a sea of fog.
Cleric steered the boat towards what seemend to be a lighthouse, but, as it turned out, was a large campfire on a rocky shore. The boat crashed, PCs rushed out and were greeted by friendly vistani from the campfire who offered them warmth, food, and drinks. Cleric was suspicious, but even he ran ashore after a kraken appeared and started to tear the ship apart. After a long night, Barbarian discovered that vistani were packing and leaving and a teenage vistani girl warned him that she read their destiny and that unless they followed them, they would all meet their doom. This was, of course, all part of...
So, they traveled the road following vistani tracks, had a random encounter with several berserkers (really deadly for a 1st level party!), a non-violent encounter with the skeletal rider, discovered some clues about their whereabouts, and finally made it into the village of Barovia where mists steered them to the Death House. I had them level up to 2nd level after entering the house.
The Death House was a bit weird - I am not sure any of us liked the house itself or the dungeon, but everyone liked the hints of things beyond. At the time, I wasn't sure I was going to continue running CoS, so I didn't tie the house to the rest of the setting. Later on, I made the following retcon:
(the players have not yet met either Inajira or Morgantha, so I haven't had a chance to use this backstory).
I modified the house to include several illusory flashbacks:
In the end, Warlock from the original party got killed and eaten by Lorgoth the Decayer, which allowed the others to retreat and regroup. Warlock's player decided not to raise him and wanted to make a new character instead (which had to wait for them to leave the house). After resting, burying children's remains, and devising a fairly clever plan to drop the portcullis on Lorgoth, they managed to destroy it and then managed to escape the house.
That's the first 3 sessions summed up. Everybody wanted to continue, so we did and are currently prepping for session #14.
As this was my first time running 5E, I was amazed at how easy it was to run. I liked:
I was unsure on:
I disliked:
More commentary to come soon
but fear not - I'll try to recreate some of that content here. I hope this thread will end up being one part story hour (lite), one part my 5E commentary, and one part me asking for help on running the game.First a small intro - I have considerable DMing experience (~17 years), mostly AD&D second edition, 3.0, 3.5, and some WHFRP, Dark Heresy, and World of Darkness (old and new). I have my own d20 system variant called Fatebinder, and I've spent thousands of hours on it, but it's far from finished. I generally DM more than I play, though that has changed a bit in the recent years as several of my current players are also good (and willing) DMs.
I bought the 5E core books when they originally came out, read them, found them a lot better than 4E (which was not to my taste at all), and then promptly shelved them. I was in full Fatebinder homebrew mode then, and didn't really need a new system. But then, CoS came out earlier this year and I felt drawn to the mists once again...
After buying CoS in May, reading it and rereading it, I was astonished - I was not used to sandboxy content of this magnitude in official publications. Furthermore, I knew that only one of my regular players had any experience with Ravenloft. So, I decided to make a pitch when one of our standard campaigns was put on hiatus - I proposed to run a one-off based on the Death House to see if I liked DMing 5E. The players agreed and soon I had Rogar the Dragonborn Barbarian, Surly the Dwarf Rogue, Thanas the Human Warlock, and Flick the Half-Elf Cleric of Waukeen.
COS SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Also, my players stay out
Entrance into Ravenloft played out reasonably well. All PCs were asleep on the anchored Rusty Plank, a boat owned by the Cleric. They awoke in the middle of the night to find the rest of the crew missing (with signs of violence) and the boat itself afloat in a sea of fog.
Cleric steered the boat towards what seemend to be a lighthouse, but, as it turned out, was a large campfire on a rocky shore. The boat crashed, PCs rushed out and were greeted by friendly vistani from the campfire who offered them warmth, food, and drinks. Cleric was suspicious, but even he ran ashore after a kraken appeared and started to tear the ship apart. After a long night, Barbarian discovered that vistani were packing and leaving and a teenage vistani girl warned him that she read their destiny and that unless they followed them, they would all meet their doom. This was, of course, all part of...
So, they traveled the road following vistani tracks, had a random encounter with several berserkers (really deadly for a 1st level party!), a non-violent encounter with the skeletal rider, discovered some clues about their whereabouts, and finally made it into the village of Barovia where mists steered them to the Death House. I had them level up to 2nd level after entering the house.
The Death House was a bit weird - I am not sure any of us liked the house itself or the dungeon, but everyone liked the hints of things beyond. At the time, I wasn't sure I was going to continue running CoS, so I didn't tie the house to the rest of the setting. Later on, I made the following retcon:
(the players have not yet met either Inajira or Morgantha, so I haven't had a chance to use this backstory).
I modified the house to include several illusory flashbacks:
- After the party explores the secret room in the library, they can watch through the library windows as Strahd appears in his coach, scolds and dismisses Gustav Durst and leaves him to rot in the house
- After the party defeats the animated armor on 3rd floor, they see Elizabeth Durst running up the stairs and arguing with the pregnant nursemaid; she then pushes the nursemaid down the marble staircase
- After the party discovers the secret door leading to the basement, they see a procession of ghostly cultists walking to the attic door and chanting (their chanting continues to echo in the dungeon).
- In my second second CoS run (more details later), I added a ghostly ball taking place on the second floor if one of the PCs tries his hand at playing the harpsichord.
In the end, Warlock from the original party got killed and eaten by Lorgoth the Decayer, which allowed the others to retreat and regroup. Warlock's player decided not to raise him and wanted to make a new character instead (which had to wait for them to leave the house). After resting, burying children's remains, and devising a fairly clever plan to drop the portcullis on Lorgoth, they managed to destroy it and then managed to escape the house.
That's the first 3 sessions summed up. Everybody wanted to continue, so we did and are currently prepping for session #14.
As this was my first time running 5E, I was amazed at how easy it was to run. I liked:
- Fast character creation
- Background and personality charts and especially trinkets
- Fast combats
- Advantage/disadvantage
- Inspiration
I was unsure on:
- How deadly the game was (was I doing something wrong, or was the game itself so brutal?)
I disliked:
- That the game was really vague or had no rulings on several issues that arose during the first few sessions
- That monsters had very few abilities beyond their basic attacks
- That a long rest healed everything
More commentary to come soon
