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tweaking narrative structure in CoS (spoilers; also really long)
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<blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 6891173" data-attributes="member: 7006"><p>Lots of fantastic ideas here, [MENTION=9789]evilbob[/MENTION]... many of which I am or going to be incorporating into my own campaign. And this is exactly what is I think an advantage of this kind of "small sandbox" type of campaign... all these ideas as they come to a DM can be incorporated even if the game is already underway. I hadn't thought of the "signs of hope" / "points of light" idea that was mentioned in another thread and then expanded on here until after my two games were first underway. But as nothing has happened thus far to contradict these ideas, I can bring them in now without any issue to expand my games. All the ideas for Vallaki, Kresk and everything else can be adopted in the same way.</p><p></p><p>Some additional ideas for people to use that I myself have thought of (or adapted from other material):</p><p></p><p>Rictavio / Van Richten can really have a much more important part to play if you want it to and can help introduce other areas of the valley... by having <em>actually be</em> a monster hunter while he's here. That's one thing the book never goes into... what does Rictavio do specifically while he's here? If he's really the famed monster hunter that he is... he should have his own thread of action that goes on while the party does theirs-- he should know or discover info about the Werewolf Den and want to purge it, he should find out about the hags and Baba Lysaga and want to dispose of them, he should easily wish to go to the Amber Temple and want to clear that place out of evil... all of which before heading up to the Castle to take on Strahd. So giving Rictavio a bit more knowledge or drive could also be a great motivator for the party when they finally meet up with him. Not to mention that at some point we should want to see Van Richten and Ezmerelda working together as a pair at some point as well. Yeah, he'll say he's cursed and that if he hangs around with friends they'll eventually be killed... but either his friends tell him "I don't care, you need my help"... or finding a way to break the curse could be in the cards (maybe Madam Eva or even Baba Lysaga herself could be a catalyst for that.)</p><p></p><p>Another thing I'm thinking about doing... and this will play a much more important part if one of my PCs that are going Rogue decide they want to take on the Assassin sub-class... is to reintroduce the Ba'al Verzi assassins that were described in <em>Fair Barovia</em> (if you have access to the 4E Dungeon module, I highly recommend reading it). And in tandem with the Ba'al Verzi... there is their leader, Leo Dilysnia, who served under Strahd during his final days and who tried to overthrow him on the day of Sergei and Tatyana's wedding. Strahd turned Leo into a vampire for this afront and buried him away in a tomb to starve for centuries. In the 4E module, Leo is the Big Bad... but in <em>Curse of Strahd</em>, Leo is nothing but a pile of bones in the home of the Wachter family. To bring the Wachter family more involved in the campaign... having the party find out about Leo, the Ba'al Verzi, and where his bones are (plus whether resurrecting Leo to be a supernatural assist on destroying Strahd in revenge) might be an interesting tactic as well.</p><p></p><p>As I've mentioned before, I'm also reincorporating the <em>Expedition To Castle Ravenloft's</em> "three fanes" idea that were corrupted by Strahd centuries ago and which need to be cleansed before he can be destroyed... which ties in precisely with the "Points of Light" plot concept, and which is another path to get the party to both Old Bonegrinder and the Ruins of Berez (since I'm using the megaliths outside of the windmill and the menhirs outside of Berez as two of the three fanes, and Morgantha and Lysaga as their guardians). Adding EtCR's Lysaga Hill back in as the third one (changed up a bit and renamed with a new guardian) gives me three additional locations all of which will be mentioned in the Tome of Strahd.</p><p></p><p>Lots of great stuff in these threads as always!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DEFCON 1, post: 6891173, member: 7006"] Lots of fantastic ideas here, [MENTION=9789]evilbob[/MENTION]... many of which I am or going to be incorporating into my own campaign. And this is exactly what is I think an advantage of this kind of "small sandbox" type of campaign... all these ideas as they come to a DM can be incorporated even if the game is already underway. I hadn't thought of the "signs of hope" / "points of light" idea that was mentioned in another thread and then expanded on here until after my two games were first underway. But as nothing has happened thus far to contradict these ideas, I can bring them in now without any issue to expand my games. All the ideas for Vallaki, Kresk and everything else can be adopted in the same way. Some additional ideas for people to use that I myself have thought of (or adapted from other material): Rictavio / Van Richten can really have a much more important part to play if you want it to and can help introduce other areas of the valley... by having [i]actually be[/i] a monster hunter while he's here. That's one thing the book never goes into... what does Rictavio do specifically while he's here? If he's really the famed monster hunter that he is... he should have his own thread of action that goes on while the party does theirs-- he should know or discover info about the Werewolf Den and want to purge it, he should find out about the hags and Baba Lysaga and want to dispose of them, he should easily wish to go to the Amber Temple and want to clear that place out of evil... all of which before heading up to the Castle to take on Strahd. So giving Rictavio a bit more knowledge or drive could also be a great motivator for the party when they finally meet up with him. Not to mention that at some point we should want to see Van Richten and Ezmerelda working together as a pair at some point as well. Yeah, he'll say he's cursed and that if he hangs around with friends they'll eventually be killed... but either his friends tell him "I don't care, you need my help"... or finding a way to break the curse could be in the cards (maybe Madam Eva or even Baba Lysaga herself could be a catalyst for that.) Another thing I'm thinking about doing... and this will play a much more important part if one of my PCs that are going Rogue decide they want to take on the Assassin sub-class... is to reintroduce the Ba'al Verzi assassins that were described in [i]Fair Barovia[/i] (if you have access to the 4E Dungeon module, I highly recommend reading it). And in tandem with the Ba'al Verzi... there is their leader, Leo Dilysnia, who served under Strahd during his final days and who tried to overthrow him on the day of Sergei and Tatyana's wedding. Strahd turned Leo into a vampire for this afront and buried him away in a tomb to starve for centuries. In the 4E module, Leo is the Big Bad... but in [i]Curse of Strahd[/i], Leo is nothing but a pile of bones in the home of the Wachter family. To bring the Wachter family more involved in the campaign... having the party find out about Leo, the Ba'al Verzi, and where his bones are (plus whether resurrecting Leo to be a supernatural assist on destroying Strahd in revenge) might be an interesting tactic as well. As I've mentioned before, I'm also reincorporating the [i]Expedition To Castle Ravenloft's[/i] "three fanes" idea that were corrupted by Strahd centuries ago and which need to be cleansed before he can be destroyed... which ties in precisely with the "Points of Light" plot concept, and which is another path to get the party to both Old Bonegrinder and the Ruins of Berez (since I'm using the megaliths outside of the windmill and the menhirs outside of Berez as two of the three fanes, and Morgantha and Lysaga as their guardians). Adding EtCR's Lysaga Hill back in as the third one (changed up a bit and renamed with a new guardian) gives me three additional locations all of which will be mentioned in the Tome of Strahd. Lots of great stuff in these threads as always! [/QUOTE]
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