D&D 5E when Strahd attacks (spoilers)

[evilbob]

I like the idea of a clearly charmed human (especially one from one of their safe houses) walking up to deliver a letter to the party. (Immediately "waking up" and having no idea where they were, after the party takes it.) It could be the standard invitation they will eventually get from screwing up enough of his plans, or something more personal. It could be to just one of them and say, "Walk into the woods at night alone. Any night will do. ~~S" (Also an intimidation thing: I'm always watching.) If they actually follow through, it's the beginning of a long courtship (about power, presumably, although - also yes). I wouldn't even have him bite anyone on the first visit - that's far too forward for someone who lives for the long game. (More Bram Stoker, I suppose.) It would be a while before he started taking it to that level. I also like the idea of during a Strahd encounter, him using the Message spell to a specific party member to say, "You could rule them, you know." Anything to make them think that being alone with Strahd isn't really the worst idea... that they won't immediately get destroyed. He'd rather have a mole than a minion if he could. Of course, if things go sour - then it's all wisdom saves and grappling checks.

I also like a party member waking up and seeing a gift - like a rose or something - in their bed. It could be an illusion, or maybe even real. (I wouldn't give a perception check to see him - the doubt is better, I think.)

And of course: dreams. Lots of interesting dreams.


As for encounters, the other one I like from the book that I've been trying to write up in my head is the idea of Strahd zombies tunneling up out of the earth while the characters are in a house or something to attack. Maybe the floors in Krezk are just dirt floors?

 

[Koren]

I like the idea of a clearly charmed human (especially one from one of their safe houses) walking up to deliver a letter to the party. (Immediately "waking up" and having no idea where they were, after the party takes it.) It could be the standard invitation they will eventually get from screwing up enough of his plans, or something more personal. It could be to just one of them and say, "Walk into the woods at night alone. Any night will do. ~~S" (Also an intimidation thing: I'm always watching.) If they actually follow through, it's the beginning of a long courtship (about power, presumably, although - also yes). I wouldn't even have him bite anyone on the first visit - that's far too forward for someone who lives for the long game. (More Bram Stoker, I suppose.) It would be a while before he started taking it to that level. I also like the idea of during a Strahd encounter, him using the Message spell to a specific party member to say, "You could rule them, you know." Anything to make them think that being alone with Strahd isn't really the worst idea... that they won't immediately get destroyed. He'd rather have a mole than a minion if he could. Of course, if things go sour - then it's all wisdom saves and grappling checks.

I also like a party member waking up and seeing a gift - like a rose or something - in their bed. It could be an illusion, or maybe even real. (I wouldn't give a perception check to see him - the doubt is better, I think.)

And of course: dreams. Lots of interesting dreams.


As for encounters, the other one I like from the book that I've been trying to write up in my head is the idea of Strahd zombies tunneling up out of the earth while the characters are in a house or something to attack. Maybe the floors in Krezk are just dirt floors?

I wouldn't run that last one too soon after Death House (if you're using it) as there's undead coming from the floors and the walls in that one.

I love the courtship thing and after my group's first session tonight was thinking of something very similar. It's clear from the character interactions that there are two party members out of five that are likely to do anything at this point if they think it can help them to get back to their homelands, including selling out the rest of their party to Strahd.

That may change once they've been in a few fights together, but right now, the general sentiment amongst the party members is "I don't know any of you guys enough to trust you, but we're all from the same place (relatively) and none of us know where we are, so maybe we should stick together and find a way out." And considering some of the strange stuff that was happening to them back in their homelands before they got pulled through the mist, none of them are in a sharing mood about their past or exactly where they're coming from.

But they all seem to trust the villager who was buying them drinks all night, the poor son of the local Burgomaster (recently deceased) with the sister with the bite wounds in her neck hanging back at the homestead, mourning over dear old father's remains. Who didn't quite trust them enough yet to invite them home to meet sis, but spent the evening buying rounds of the cheap wine, and answering their questions about the devil who controls the land and lives in the castle over yonder.

Ismark is going to swear he's never met them the next time they run into him. Ireena will back him up, he never left the mansion on the day/evening the party arrived in Barovia.

Strahd will definitely not make an appearance in his true form any time before average party level 5 or so. No matter how deadly his tactics, or overwhelming a challenge he would be if directly confronted, as soon as he's even peripherally involved in a fight, he goes from being the boogeyman to being a tangible BBEG, which gamers have been conditioned to perceive as a loot-pinata-experience-reward-piggy-bank, no matter how tough the CR.

So far:
They've found out that the guy that likely brought them here is a powerful, ancient vampire (he told them all this as Ismark)
Who holds some mystical control over his land (he told them this as Ismark)
Is capable of insidiously yanking them out of their homelands and dragging them here (they correctly inferred this from the previous two points)
And is insidious enough to disguise himself as one of their potential future allies, and go on to answer all their questions (about himself and his realm) truthfully. (Wait, what!?!?)

Of course, with them not knowing which questions to ask, he ended up getting more out of them than they did out of him.

Interestingly enough, the one character who had a traditional invitation prior to arrival (fake letter delivered by a Vistani) was flat out told the letter is a forgery by Strahd/Ismark, but the few characters that came in along the road that way failed to stop and search for the source of the "smell of death" as they were too interested in finding shelter from an impending storm, so no one has the real letter to compare it with. I have a feeling they'll try walking right back out the gates of Barovia next session, so they'll have at least two more shots at finding it.

 

[evilbob]

Strahd pretending to be Ismark is a good one, too. You could try to make sure to change his speech patterns as well, so it seems more clear that it was a different person and not just a weird dream or something.

Definitely wait a bit for the zombie one. And all I can come up with so far is still the Krezk houses.

One thing that is always a challenge in this sort of thing (pre-writing encounters) is that each group immediately starts to diverge the moment they start playing - the Ismark thing being a good example. Sometimes you just have to have seeds and be ready to pop them in when it comes up.

 

[Koren]

One thing that is always a challenge in this sort of thing (pre-writing encounters) is that each group immediately starts to diverge the moment they start playing - the Ismark thing being a good example. Sometimes you just have to have seeds and be ready to pop them in when it comes up.

Luckily, the descriptions of the buildings in Barovia makes one look quite a bit more inviting than the others (light from the tavern's open doorway cutting through the village square), so my players immediately gravitated to it once they all found their way to the village. Running the Ismark encounter there as Strahd in disguise came to me about halfway through the session. I needed a reason for him to not invite them back to the Burgomaster's mansion right away (they haven't experienced Death House, yet), and thought, "well what if it's not Ismark they meet the first night?"

I'll definitely change up Ismark's speech and mannerisms. Strahd as Ismark was a confident, gregarious chap, much like the real Ismark, but he spoke of Strahd with the same combination of fear and respect that you'd expect from the average Barovian. The real Ismark is going to be much more outspoken and hateful toward Mr Big Bad...the devil is responsible for the death of his father and trying to turn his sister into a vampire, after all. I think he'll be played as the hot-head of the pair of half siblings, while Ireena will be the voice of reason.

The zombies thing...while traveling anywhere along the road, in or near the Svalich woods, you can have the party come across an old hunting/trapping cabin. If they stop to investigate, something (a runaway horse, encounter with some chatty Vistani, inclement weather, etc) delays them to where they have to choose between traveling at night or seeking shelter in the cabin. If they stay, spring the strahd zombies from the ground, remains of the hunters who once used the cabin. If they don't take the bait, then save it for later and throw a red herring/psychological thing at them instead...maybe one of the taxidermied animals in the cabin looks suspiciously like a character's favorite childhood pet, or familiar, or animal companion.

 

[evilbob]

The zombies thing...while traveling anywhere along the road, in or near the Svalich woods, you can have the party come across an old hunting/trapping cabin. If they stop to investigate, something (a runaway horse, encounter with some chatty Vistani, inclement weather, etc) delays them to where they have to choose between traveling at night or seeking shelter in the cabin. If they stay, spring the strahd zombies from the ground, remains of the hunters who once used the cabin.

The Evil Dead house is just dying to be included.