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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Koren" data-source="post: 6862307" data-attributes="member: 6802236">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.</blockquote>

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