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arguskos
2009-01-14, 09:04 PM
So, I recently picked up said adventure, and decided to run it for my group. I figured that I hear a lot about the Red Hand of Doom, but not much about other 3.5 adventures, so I thought I'd toss out my group for your observation.

Notes:
1. This is the beginning of our campaign, meaning that I have an overarching story, which this is only the beginning of, so the premise of the game may be somewhat different than you may be expecting.
2. Said premise goes like so: in this setting, the gods simply HAVE divine power. There is the main pantheon of deities, but beneath them are a plethora of minor gods that mortals don't really know about. Recently, a number of these minor gods died, and their portfolios failed to pass on to a successor. Concerned by this, the main pantheon convened and decided to endow a number of mortals with the essences of these dead godlings, and offer to elevate them to full pantheonic status if they find out why this was all needed to begin with (read: why their portfolios didn't pass to a successor to start with, etc).
3. We are using the Pathfinder classes, so if something seems odd with classes, that's why (for example, the monk managed to jump something like 42 ft on one occasion, thanks to +20 to his Jump check for using a ki point).
4. The players have a few VERY minor special powers, and got to pick their portfolio to begin the game. Further, they are all gestalt characters, in a world of non-gestalt stuff. We started at level 5. Here are the players (names changed to protect the innocent etc), the characters, and their gods:
DM: Me. I've been DMing for nearly 12 years now (since I was 8.5 years old), so I have a little experience. I'm the only dedicated DM in my group, and am the general fount of knowledge on all D&D topics (my know-how is GREATLY bolstered by these here forums, thanks guys!).


Main NPC: Ala al-Din Zahi (CG ghaele eladrin 5//wizard 5) is my personal addition to the party. Note that they ASK me for a NPC, since they seem to love them a great deal. Other than that, she wields a librum (custom weapon from Fax Celestis, really fun so far) and is going into the Astrologer PrC by Pair 'O Dice Lost (also looks pretty damn fun). Zahi hasn't been explored much yet, since the party just managed to meet her, but more should be forthcoming this week.

Player 1: K is a great guy, one of my best friends. Not that great at roleplaying, but he always gives it a good shot, so I can't fault him.

Character 1: K is playing Lameth the Second-Sighted (NE elven sorcerer 5//rogue 5). Lameth's portfolio is divination-aided thieving, and he is currently angling to steal the portfolio of thieving in general from the current god of thieves. Long way to go, but I have faith in him. Lameth is scheming and petty, going to any lengths to steal from those he can get away with. He's direct, and has little appreciation for subtlety in words and deeds, save when he is stealing from someone. So far, he's shown a VERY strong temper, one that almost got him killed once. He also has some pretty bad luck, and did get killed once (more on that later).

Player 2: G is my girlfriend, and is a wonderful person. She's inventive and fun, though she struggles with taking things FAR to seriously sometimes. That said, G really has a blast playing D&D (I introduced her around a year and a half ago).

Character 2: G is playing Fahima the Graceful, lord of all cats (CN human beguiler 5//ninja 5). Fahima, as befits cats, is insanely fickle, smiling upon you one moment, ignoring you the next, and clawing at you the third! Fahima has the power to turn into a housecat at will, something she is making decently good use of so far, since she is, much like Lameth, very much a sneak-thief.

Player 3: P is a new guy, and I don't know him well. See, I recently lost my roommate, who moved home, so the group recruited a new player that G and K know from work. P is pretty fun, and I like him, I just don't know him well yet.

Character 3: P is playing a pretty cool character, Vaijus the Solemn (LN human monk 5//cleric [Vaijus] 5). The idea is that if a PC is a cleric, they have JUST enough divine spark to grant themselves spells, which I thought was cool as all hell. :smallwink: Anyways, Vaijus is calm and collected, and is very much the defensive tank of the party. He just sorta sits there and absorbs damage like no one's business. He can even dish out moderate damage, though DR did mean things to him (more on this later).

Player 4: S is our "mad scientist" guy. Every single character he plays shares his passion for crazy inventions and things (for example, this one decided he wanted to try using a pair of scythes to make a wood chipper, but for zombies... it didn't work). His stuff is always comical, but it takes FOREVER to get anywhere, since he never just says what he is trying to do, and goes after everything one step at a time.... which takes all damn night. :smallannoyed:

Character 4: Retrix the Plague-Ridden (NE human fighter 5//cleric [Retrix] 5) finishes out the compliment of player characters. So far... he's just like every other character S has ever played. :smallannoyed: I'm hoping that changes sooner than later.

So, on to the adventure! Note that S showed up late, so he had to make a character and jump in part way in, so Retrix doesn't get much screen time.


DM Note: For those unfamiliar with the adventure, the main antagonist, Count Strahd Von Zarovich, has a secondary goal, in addition to desiring a particular NPC to be his vampire bride. This secondary goal in my campaign is Undying Legacy, meaning he will be attempting to convert the players to vampires and use them as the first line of offense in his dark new army of daywalker vampires.

The session begins with the characters (not yet divine) meeting Edwin, their godly contact. He gives very little information about himself, and merely offers them the deal to become godlings. They accept, and we make characters (which for this group, takes nearly 3 hours).

Edwin then informs the party (just Fahima, Lameth, and Vaijus right now) that they are being sent to the distant land of Barovia, for the gods believe that the secret to the puzzle of lack of portfolios passing on lies in the mist shrouded valleys there.

DM Note: The secret does not lie in Barovia, but the Count does have a secret that will aid the godlings. This will be revealed later in the journal, as they discover it.

The party appears on a forlorn road in the middle of nowhere, with the Weary Horse Inn just down the road. After a quick experimentation with their new powers (basically, they just fiddle with their stats a little, see how stuff works out). Since it's nightfall, they decide to take a room at the Inn, get their bearings, and then set out for Barovia in the morning. Things go quietly, until a Vistani messenger bursts into the Inn, slams a letter on the PC's table, says "Barovia needs heroes, you'll do as well as anyone", and rushes out again. Luckily, Fahima was outside in cat form, so she shifts back quickly, and confronts the messenger. From him, they manage to glean that the surrounding Svalich Woods are haunted by monsters, and that the village of Barovia is a day's ride to the east.

The letter is from the burgomaster of Barovia, Kolyan Indirovich, who pleads with the PC's for aid. Apparently, his daughter, Ireena Kolyana, has become afflicted with an evil malady that he needs the party to seek out the cure for (which lies with the evil Castle Ravenloft).

In the morning, the party sets out for the village. As they travel, the famous mists of Barovia engulf them, providing a little bit of mystique and alienation to the lands. When they reach the Gates of Barovia and pass through them, the gates slam shut behind the party, further heightening the sense of alienation and strangeness in the wilds of the countryside. As the party passes through the wilds, they encounter an elven ranger, who demands they turn back at once, for the party has invaded his home (the woods). As Lameth and the elf begin talking, Fahima looks around and spots a pair of massive wolves in the trees! She sort of gestures slightly to Lameth and Vaijus to watch out, and with that, the elf and wolves leap to the attack!

DM Note: For those familiar with the adventure, this is encounter C1. The elf and wolves are actually werewolves.

The battle goes poorly for the wolves at first, but they get smart soon, and take out the PC's horses, since the players are trying to damage them and failing, thanks to their damned DR 10/silver. Vaijus quickly becomes a target for the elf due to being human, and being the only person to actually HARM a wolf. Fahima comes under severe attack from the wolves, because she is human too, so she decides to shift into housecat form and run into the woods. Luckily, one of the wolves decides to give chase, but Fahima easily eludes it. As she distracts one wolf, Vaijus (thanks to a well-timed flurry of blows) manages to drop the other wolf. Realizing that his position is bad, the elf ranger squeezes off another shot or two and then flees rather than stand and die. The remaining wolf runs off too. Lameth, desiring the elf's bow, casts a quick Locate Object spell naming "composite longbows". He gets three pings, two in the tree the elf hid behind, and one in the elf's direction in the woods. Telling the others he'll be right back, he plummets off into the woods after the elf.

DM Note: This was clearly a Bad Call(tm). I mentioned that it might not end well, and lo and behold, it didn't.

So, K and I step out into the hallway, and Lameth has his epic chase scene. It goes as you might expect, with him charging through the wilderness after the elf, who eventually shifts into Hybrid form (though Lameth doesn't know that, he just sees the elf's speed increase by a lot) and escapes. However, Lameth is ambushed by another Hybrid form werewolf as he turns back towards the road (note that this is rather far away from the party, so there really isn't a chance to help him). He gets blasted into negatives by a cascade of arrows, and then is whisked away as a prisoner to the werewolves leader. Said leader deliberates for a moment, and then orders that he be healed somewhat, tied up, and left on the road as a warning to the outsiders not to interfere with the wolves of the Svalich Woods. This is done, and he ends up on the road something like 20 minutes after he charged into the forest, feeling rather foolish about himself.

Meanwhile, Fahima and Vaijus manage to find a few minor potions (some cure moderate wounds, a few greater magic fangs (+2), and a pair of haste potions) and some non-magical bows and greatswords. Taking everything, and having waited for a reasonable period of time, they set off towards the village again... only to almost trip over poor Lameth, sitting in the road maybe 30 minutes from the village! They free him, heal him up some, and then continue on their way.

When they enter Barovia, something seems amiss. The stench of carrion and death wafts on the mist cloaked streets, and there is no movement in the fog. As they press into the village, they come across an overturned cart. Understandably wary, they slowly move around it, and suddenly, zombies swarm out of the nearby buildings, surround them, and attack! They would have been fine, except that poor Lameth got hit with a hold person spell from the deathlock that snuck up behind the party. Fahima and Vaijus apologized and fled, letting Lameth get ripped to pieces by a horde of zombies (Fahima used Ghost Step and a quad move; Vaijus used his ability to make super Jumps, and left straight over the damn cart and zombies, taking lots of AoO's, but surviving and then quad moving out of there).

With this death, Lameth's soul was sent back to Edwin, who revealed that the godlings had a limited ability to defy death, and sent Lameth back, alongside Retrix (who's player had arrived by now, so we took a break, made his character, and got right back into the action). The two are teleported into a war zone, since Vaijus and Fahima discovered the main square of Barovia, where Zahi and Ashlyn (a NPC from the book, actually) are defending the town from a horde of zombies led by an Entomber. After a long hard fight, which included Ashlyn (LG female human Paladin 5) lighting two zombies on fire, some absolutely great rebuking from Retrix (he nullified the entomber for the whole fight, not to mention two minor zombies), and another super-jump from Vaijus (36 ft this time), the party emerged victorious, though not without many wounds. They spoke with Zahi and Ashlyn some and agreed to help Ashlyn discover what happened to her comrades (since her friends went to explore the church in town, but didn't return; this was three days ago). Lameth attempted to steal from the shopkeeper in town, a crotchety old man named Bildrath, and... well... let me just show you how this went:

IC
Lameth: "Hey, do you have any magical gear, or anything really valuable?"
Bildrath: "Sure don't have any magic, you damn whippersnapper. As for valuables, I don't think I wanna tell ya that."
Lameth: *begins casting Detect Magic*
Bildrath: "Hey, what're you doing?? You get out now, ya hear?"
Lameth: "Whatever you old coot."
Bildrath: "Perriwimple [Bildrath's cousin], throw him out if he doesn't leave! I won't have that sorcery in my shop!!"
Lameth: "Fine old man, I'll leave."

OOC
K: Man, wtf was that **** about?? He had no right to get pissed off at me!
Me: Uh.... you barge in, demand magic/shinies, start using magic, and are upset he told you to GTFO? Yeah, not seeing that one, sorry. Dude, diplomatic solutions for the win. :smallwink:
K: Fair enough. *laughs*

After that, the party proceeded to talk with the son of the burgomaster, Kolyan. Ismark the Lesser, as he introduces himself, is the de facto leader of this town, and it is to him that all queries lead. As the party talks with him, they discover that his sister, Ireena remains by Kolyan's body in their home to ensure he does not become a zombie. They also find out that the master of the castle, Strahd, had the burgomaster killed for defying his wishes recently. Ismark informs them that if they wish to stop the plague of zombies, they should assault the church, since it is from there that the plague began. Lastly, he suggests that if they can make it out of town, they should talk to Madam Eva, a famous fortune teller to the northeast of town.


That's where we ended this time. Sorry my prose is.... pathetically bad, to say the least!

Thoughts? Suggestions? Advice? Caring? :smallwink:

arguskos
2009-01-14, 09:19 PM
After-Session Notes
-The party was not capable of defeating DR. I need to include some silversheen or something if they go werewolf hunting.

-My god, lots of zombies=OMGSTEAMROLLED. I mean, Vaijus has a +0 Cha mod, so his turning failed really hard, and these zombies have like 6 HD. I might need to watch out for that.

-I am beginning to wonder if I started them out a level too low. The adventure recommends they start at level 6, but everything I know about gestalt recommends you take the level normal characters would play it at, and lower it by one for the gestalt, to represent their breadth of options and ability to endure more. This may be a mistake, since this adventure is rather lethal (I haven't even begun to roll for Strahd's spies yet).

Rei_Jin
2009-01-14, 09:34 PM
I'm currently playing through the adventure as a player, but the DM is very transparent about what we're going to take on, and the resources we have.

DO NOT GIVE THEM A SILVER SWORD OR SILVER SHEEN! Doing so removes a lot of the intrigue and danger in the module.

They're not supposed to be able to easily defeat the Werewolves or Vampires until they get the plot related gear. In fact, odds are that they won't be able to defeat them at all.

We nearly had our ass handed to us by a vampire we encountered on the road after a few days, until I pulled out a Silver Sword and cast Magic Weapon on it. Once I pulled it out, the vampire bit the dust really quickly.

Said DM then asked me if he could take the sword off me and not say anything more about it. Big mistake on his part to give it to me in the first place, as it makes the module too easy.

If you're worried about them having difficulty getting through the module, don't. It's supposed to be hard. Don't stress too much, we're hanging in there and loving it, even without the right gear. Your party will do fine.

arguskos
2009-01-14, 09:42 PM
I'm currently playing through the adventure as a player, but the DM is very transparent about what we're going to take on, and the resources we have.

DO NOT GIVE THEM A SILVER SWORD OR SILVER SHEEN! Doing so removes a lot of the intrigue and danger in the module.

They're not supposed to be able to easily defeat the Werewolves or Vampires until they get the plot related gear. In fact, odds are that they won't be able to defeat them at all.

We nearly had our ass handed to us by a vampire we encountered on the road after a few days, until I pulled out a Silver Sword and cast Magic Weapon on it. Once I pulled it out, the vampire bit the dust really quickly.

Said DM then asked me if he could take the sword off me and not say anything more about it. Big mistake on his part to give it to me in the first place, as it makes the module too easy.

If you're worried about them having difficulty getting through the module, don't. It's supposed to be hard. Don't stress too much, we're hanging in there and loving it, even without the right gear. Your party will do fine.
Interesting. I was thinking I would give them 2-3 doses of silversheen, and never let it appear again. Sorta a "OHSHI- STRAHD!!!" item.

Also, I have been considering giving the rogues some items that will let them sneak attack undead (because my god, they are useless). Fahima's player already told me she'll just abandon the party during combats if I don't give her SOMETHING to work with (which I think is a bit extreme, but that's just me). Maybe a single crystal of truedeath, so one can sneak attack/sudden strike at a time, forcing the other to rely on their magic?

Furthermore, care to share some of your details and thoughts about the adventure Rei Jin? I, as a DM, really love it, and think it's a great adventure. What have your opinions and thoughts been about it so far?

Rei_Jin
2009-01-14, 09:47 PM
It is a good adventure, really challenging, and definitely worth doing.

I'd look at giving your players access to the alternate class features at the back of the book if you're worried about their effectiveness. One of them lets a turning attempt do damage rather than just make them run away, with a will save for half, and the other has the rogue give up trapsense to be able to sneak attack anything that they normally couldn't, but only at 1d3 instead of 1d6.

The encounter in the church with Danovich is wicked hard, we almost had a TPK. Only reason we all survived was good tactics and dwarven suicide jumps.

Oh, and if you decide to use the legacy items as they are, expect your players to not want to pick up the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind. Its a terrible tradeoff. You're better off as a straight cleric just hitting him with holy water.

Our party rogue hasn't taken the alternate class feature, instead deciding to pick up alchemical items to do different things. His current favourite is to throw oil over undead so that the party sorceror can incinerate them better. He also provides a handy and comical distraction.

arguskos
2009-01-14, 09:51 PM
It is a good adventure, really challenging, and definitely worth doing.

I'd look at giving your players access to the alternate class features at the back of the book if you're worried about their effectiveness. One of them lets a turning attempt do damage rather than just make them run away, with a will save for half, and the other has the rogue give up trapsense to be able to sneak attack anything that they normally couldn't, but only at 1d3 instead of 1d6.

The encounter in the church with Danovich is wicked hard, we almost had a TPK. Only reason we all survived was good tactics and dwarven suicide jumps.

Oh, and if you decide to use the legacy items as they are, expect your players to not want to pick up the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind. Its a terrible tradeoff. You're better off as a straight cleric just hitting him with holy water.
How far are you guys? (read: have you fought Strahd yet?)

Also, yeaaaaah, the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind is awful. Not sure what that's about.

Did you guys take Ireena and/or Ashlyn and/or Sir Urik with you? If so, how're they working out?

I was looking at the Danovich encounter, and was thinking it looked really damn hard. He's got death touch (damn, that's a lot of damage!!) and that circle of death scroll... sheesh, I'll need to watch out for that.

Have you lost anyone yet, and if so, how did you guys deal with it? Assume the role of an NPC, or roll up new characters?

Rei_Jin
2009-01-14, 10:05 PM
Ashlyn joined us for the fight against Danovitch, she was really handy because they can't disease her. We've got the others defending the town, although I'll be taking Sir Ulric into Castle Ravenloft with us so that I can spend a night in the chapel there (gotta get into the Knight of the Raven PrC, it's so awesome).

No-one's died yet, we started at level 6 and are now level 8. If someone dies, the DMs told us to take over the part of one of the NPCs and adjust it how you need to, although you get no extra gear other than what's on their sheet, and what was on your old characters sheet (assuming the rest of the party lets you have some).

Haven't fought Strahd yet, but we've spoken with Madam Eva, defeated Danovich and cleansed the church, found Strahds diary and Danovichs diary, and the next step is to clear out the fanes.

I've read through Strahds character sheet and tactics, and unless your cleric casts Deathward on the party, they will probably go down. He's a hard mutha to take on at all, let alone when he's at full strength. I mean, who uses fell lightning bolts? That's just not fair play.

The party for us is a halfling spellthief, a dwarven fighter who's just multi-classed into paladin, a gnomish sorceror, and me, a dwarven cleric. I have a Charisma of 16, and honestly, turning is the thing that saved us in the basement of the church. I managed to make enough of the baddies down there back off that we could defeat the cause of the plague. Without that, we would have all died long before we managed to even hit him, and as it was, two party member went into negatives.

arguskos
2009-01-14, 10:13 PM
Ashlyn joined us for the fight against Danovitch, she was really handy because they can't disease her. We've got the others defending the town, although I'll be taking Sir Ulric into Castle Ravenloft with us so that I can spend a night in the chapel there (gotta get into the Knight of the Raven PrC, it's so awesome).

No-one's died yet, we started at level 6 and are now level 8. If someone dies, the DMs told u to take over the part of one of the NPCs and adjust it how you need to, although you get no extra gear other than what's on their sheet, and what was on your old characters sheet (assuming the rest of the party lets you have some).

Haven't fought Strahd yet, but we've spoken with Madam Eva, defeated Danovich and cleansed the church, found Strahds diary and Danovichs diary, and the next step is to clear out the fanes.

I've read through Strahds character sheet and tactics, and unless your cleric casts Deathward on the party, they will probably go down. He's a hard mutha to take on at all, let alone when he's at full strength. I mean, who uses fell lightning bolts? That's just not fair play.

The party for us is a halfling spellthief, a dwarven fighter who's just multi-classed into paladin, a gnomish sorceror, and me, a dwarven cleric. I have a Charisma of 16, and honestly, turning is the thing that saved us in the basement of the church. I managed to make enough of the baddies down there back off that we could defeat the cause of the plague. Without that, we would have all died long before we managed to even hit him, and as it was, two party member went into negatives.
Yeaaaaah. The Blaspheme seems... sorta nutty.

Hey, good luck with the fanes. The Mountain Fane can be pretty rough, esp if The Green God is there.

Note on Strahd: if you DM mixes up his spell preparation, then you guys are screwed. Fell draining Magic Missiles, Scorching Rays, Lightning Bolts, followed by some Enervations and Cloudkills, not to mention Waves of Fatigue and the ease with which Strahd can escape to hassle you for awhile. >_< Actually, I might need to be careful too, since it is FAR too easy to kill everyone.

So, did you guys check with Madam Eva before you took out the church?

Rei_Jin
2009-01-14, 10:20 PM
Yeah, she was the first stop after we secured the town centre against Zombies.

Of course, the fact that she's working with Strahd, and not against him doesn't wash too well with me, nor the fact that we were jumped on the road into town initially by the Vistani, and yet they're working for Madam Eva as well...

I expect that Madam Eva and her two sisters will die before Strahd does, and at the end of my sword no less.

One of our players actually assassinated Perriwimple as well, causing problems with the only shop in town, and the place where the Sunsword is hidden, not that the shop owner knows that.

We managed to get Madam Eva helpful, but that card turning random-ness made for a lot of hard work for us. We're going to have to dive into Castle Ravenloft itself in order to get the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, and I'm packing multiple Deathward spells in fear of taking on Vampires.

Our first night in town, we actually got attacked by vampires, you know, the random encounter one BEFORE Strahd himself turning up? Yeah, we got that one. And if we'd been in town one night longer, it WOULD have been Strahd.

I'm going to be Consecrating the church and repairing it to ward against him, and hoping that it keeps us safe until we're ready to strike at him.

Expecting a TPK any day now.

arguskos
2009-01-15, 05:25 AM
Yeah, she was the first stop after we secured the town centre against Zombies.

Of course, the fact that she's working with Strahd, and not against him doesn't wash too well with me, nor the fact that we were jumped on the road into town initially by the Vistani, and yet they're working for Madam Eva as well...

I expect that Madam Eva and her two sisters will die before Strahd does, and at the end of my sword no less.

One of our players actually assassinated Perriwimple as well, causing problems with the only shop in town, and the place where the Sunsword is hidden, not that the shop owner knows that.

We managed to get Madam Eva helpful, but that card turning random-ness made for a lot of hard work for us. We're going to have to dive into Castle Ravenloft itself in order to get the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, and I'm packing multiple Deathward spells in fear of taking on Vampires.

Our first night in town, we actually got attacked by vampires, you know, the random encounter one BEFORE Strahd himself turning up? Yeah, we got that one. And if we'd been in town one night longer, it WOULD have been Strahd.

I'm going to be Consecrating the church and repairing it to ward against him, and hoping that it keeps us safe until we're ready to strike at him.

Expecting a TPK any day now.
Damn, with the Sunsword at Bildrath's and the Holy Symbol IN the castle, that's gonna be a pain, esp after someone killed off Perriwimple (why did they do that again?).

Also, I love the "Consecrate the church, hope to ward off Strahd, pray and plead it works" plan. Hopefully, someone thinks of that in my game.

Anyway, I'll definitely fill in more details as my group advances. Always nice to hear from someone else though! :smallbiggrin:

Fax Celestis
2009-01-15, 01:13 PM
Remember, though: Danovich is a mortal and is therefore sneak-attackable. If your two rogues can get the drop on him, they can set up a flanking situation and take him down hard.

The Entomber is also very low intelligence. My party killed it with judicious applications of invisibility and invisibility sphere.

This is, however, also the same party who learned that the beguiler could cast legion of sentinels, and then have other people bull-rush opponents through it to get peppered to death by 1d8+1 attacks of opportunity.

Egiam
2009-01-15, 01:16 PM
I'm planning to DM Ravenloft; what level should the P.C.s start at if not 6?

Fax Celestis
2009-01-15, 01:41 PM
I'm planning to DM Ravenloft; what level should the P.C.s start at if not 6?

6 is a good starting spot, actually, though if you're concerned about them failing, you could start them at 7.

Project_Mayhem
2009-01-15, 02:08 PM
sort of on topic, how the heck does the module end. I think they left the conclusion out.

Matthew
2009-01-15, 03:20 PM
Nice to read a journal about Expedition to Castle Ravenloft; I am looking forward to the next installment.

Shishnarfne
2009-01-15, 03:48 PM
Expecting a TPK any day now.

Ahh... The memories...

I've run Ravenloft (DM) several times, and I believe that this is about where players should be thinking in the module. Of course, the goal of the DM is to have them worry about this, but manage to just barely avoid it.

Strahd is a mean, mean, mean vampire. The biggest reason that the players are usually able to defeat him in the end is that, when he first meets them, his goal is not to kill them.

Silvered weapons do make a lot of fights easier. Also, the werewolves are vulnerable to sneak attack. About half of the foes in the module (perhaps more) aren't. These foes are usually also immune to mind-affecting. I'd recommend, in place of the truedeath crystal, using the alternate class feature for Lightbringer rogues listed in the EtCR book, which gives back some sneak attack against flanked Crit-immune foes.
I think that the first group that I ran it for actually prefered facing the wolves... They weren't undead.

This looks like fun, and I'll be looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

Thurbane
2009-01-15, 08:39 PM
Our old group played the 1e Castle Ravenloft many times. TPK every time! :smalltongue:

...I've got the 3.5 hardcover version, looking forward to running it one day myself. :smallbiggrin:

Rei_Jin
2009-01-15, 09:13 PM
Damn, with the Sunsword at Bildrath's and the Holy Symbol IN the castle, that's gonna be a pain, esp after someone killed off Perriwimple (why did they do that again?)

Well, that would be because the PC went into the shop after having nearly died fighting the zombies outside, to find a guy standing behind the counter, trying to sell him goods.

He got upset that the guy wasn't trying to defend the town, and then has the hide to try and sell goods at double the standard price, without even saying thank you for the work of the heroes. So he attacks the shopkeeper. Shopkeeper calls down Perriwhimple, who grapples the PC and ties him up, throwing him into the basement.

During the night, the PC unties himself (with escape artist), and Coup De Graces Perriwhimple in his sleep with a sneak attack, as pay back.

Of course, the rest of us don't know this IC, so when we find out, there are going to be... issues... to be resolved.

arguskos
2009-01-16, 05:07 PM
Remember, though: Danovich is a mortal and is therefore sneak-attackable. If your two rogues can get the drop on him, they can set up a flanking situation and take him down hard.

The Entomber is also very low intelligence. My party killed it with judicious applications of invisibility and invisibility sphere.

This is, however, also the same party who learned that the beguiler could cast legion of sentinels, and then have other people bull-rush opponents through it to get peppered to death by 1d8+1 attacks of opportunity.
That.... is very true. Danovich though has a number of zombies under his command, along with a deathlock (if memory serves, I'm away from the book). It is definitely a damn hard fight. I hope the rogue/ninja capitalize on the sneak attack/sudden strike opportunities, otherwise, this fight will be lethally tough.


Nice to read a journal about Expedition to Castle Ravenloft; I am looking forward to the next installment.
Yay, Matthew approves!! This makes me most happy. I am pretty sorry my writing fails so hard, but I'm glad folks are liking it. I'll put up my next installment whenever we HAVE it (might not be this week though, since a player isn't going to be available(and we only have 4 players).


sort of on topic, how the heck does the module end. I think they left the conclusion out.
Indeed they did. I'm not really sure how it ends, since the conclusion is indeed missing. I can guess well enough though, and you can probably figure it out too. If Strahd wins, then well, he will continue on doing whatever it is he does. If the players win, they're heroes blahblahblah. :smallwink:


Well, that would be because the PC went into the shop after having nearly died fighting the zombies outside, to find a guy standing behind the counter, trying to sell him goods.

He got upset that the guy wasn't trying to defend the town, and then has the hide to try and sell goods at double the standard price, without even saying thank you for the work of the heroes. So he attacks the shopkeeper. Shopkeeper calls down Perriwhimple, who grapples the PC and ties him up, throwing him into the basement.

During the night, the PC unties himself (with escape artist), and Coup De Graces Perriwhimple in his sleep with a sneak attack, as pay back.

Of course, the rest of us don't know this IC, so when we find out, there are going to be... issues... to be resolved.
Out of curiosity.... how does the party not realize that one player was tied up and tossed into a basement?

Rei_Jin
2009-01-16, 05:33 PM
We knew he was tied up, because we helped him get caught. The sorceror in the party cast Tashas Hideous Laughter on him so that he couldn't run away when Perriwhimple went to catch him. We heard the sounds of fighting and went to investigate, leading to us finding Perriwhimple chasing the rogue and the shop owner screaming about how he was attacked.

When he was tied up, the shopkeeper told us he'd let him out in the morning.

We got up the next morning, and the rogue was there. We didn't ask any questions, because we didn't think we needed to.

Of course, that rogue hasn't gone back into the shop since, and the shopkeeper isn't willing to talk to anyone in our party but me because I managed to smooth things over with him (Diplomacy check). He also hasn't worked out that it was the rogue that killed Perriwhimple, but the DM has already told us that we're going to have to face Perriwhimple as a bad guy some time in the adventure.

arguskos
2009-01-16, 05:39 PM
Ah, I understand. I thought that the rogue was just the sort of guy who vanishes at random, and no one asks where he went and what he does. :smallwink:

Also... resurrected Perriwimple? That's.... odd. Have fun with that there warrior 9. :smalltongue:

Rei_Jin
2009-01-16, 05:42 PM
Oh no, probably Vampire Perriwhimple instead. Much nastier

Project_Mayhem
2009-01-16, 05:44 PM
Indeed they did. I'm not really sure how it ends, since the conclusion is indeed missing. I can guess well enough though, and you can probably figure it out too. If Strahd wins, then well, he will continue on doing whatever it is he does. If the players win, they're heroes blahblahblah.

slow-clap :smallannoyed:

Seriously, I'm sure I heard something about how the final showdown happened, with plot twists and all.

Dunno, might have been someones homebrew.



Side note - I wasn't being hostile or pissed off - theres no sarcastically amused smiley

arguskos
2009-01-16, 06:12 PM
slow-clap :smallannoyed:

Seriously, I'm sure I heard something about how the final showdown happened, with plot twists and all.

Dunno, might have been someones homebrew.



Side note - I wasn't being hostile or pissed off - theres no sarcastically amused smiley
Yeah, I know. The lack of a sarcastic amused smiley is one that must be rectified.

Also, I didn't know there was a conclusion printed for that book. If there was one, and you manage to discover it, PLEASE lemme know! I'd be greatly interested to hear about it!

Matthew
2009-01-16, 06:23 PM
The original ending for I6 Ravenloft was horribly contrived, the game master basically read out the following to the players (or at least so I am told, I don't own the module myself):


Thick clouds are overhead. Through the chilly morning mists the lands of Barovia are visible far below. There is a peacefulness here. Rest has come to the valley for the first time anyone can remember. There is sleep without fear.

A light flashes brilliantly behind you. Wheeling around, you see a shining stately man in white armor and cape. His rugged features show great strength of will, yet the forcefulness of his presence is tempered by his clam, sad eyes. His features are those of Strahd, yet subtly different.

His voice is calm and peaceful. "My name is Sergei von Zarovich." He turns to Ireena. "Tatyana, the time is at hand to rest. Come, my love and wife." He stretches forth his hand.

Ireena Kolyana's questioning eyes suddenly open with recognition and knowledge. Forgotten memories rush upon her. "Sergei!" she cries, springing to him with the grace of a doe. They embrace.

Ireena turns to you. "I am Ireena Kolyana, but in my past I was Sergei's beloved Tatyana. Through these many centuries we have played out the tragedy of our lives. Now, with our deepest gratitude to you, that tragedy is over. It is time for joy to begin again."

Shimmering light surrounds Ireena and Sergei. Hand in hand, they walk east toward the edge of the overlook. Their feet do not touch the ground, they tread a path beyond this mortal world. Their invisible road takes them beyond the eastern precipice, their glow illuminating and thinning the clouds above Barovia. The clouds suddenly break open, letting glorious shafts of sunlight flood through. In the valley below, the strange fog dissolves, loosing its power. Barovia is free once more.

Fax Celestis
2009-01-16, 06:48 PM
/me reads Matthew's post.

lolwut

arguskos
2009-01-16, 07:35 PM
/me reads Matthew's post.

lolwut
Pretty much this. I was expecting that quote to contain something like the following: "The players leave Barovia as heroes, having killed the evil Strahd once and for all....... or have they?" However, what it ACTUALLY said is far worse. :smallsigh:

Project_Mayhem
2009-01-16, 08:12 PM
H'OK, thats it, i'm going with their heros blahblahblah.

Matthew
2009-01-17, 07:25 PM
Indeedy. Now perhaps you have some inkling of why no ending was provided. :smallbiggrin:

An open ended approach is also what they went with for the Ravenloft boxed set (which I do own), though House of Strahd may have taken a particular route (we actually mutinied whilst playing that one, so never finished it; embarassing, but true).

I look forward to reading what you come up with; for what its worth, I thought the end of Bram Stoker's Dracula was pretty anticlimatic (film version, I have never read the book), but I cannot really think of a better ending off hand either.

Rei_Jin
2009-01-17, 08:10 PM
For us, whilst I'm a player in the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft at the moment, when we complete that module I'll be DMing. So I'll be giving the current DM some things I'd like him to work into the end of the module, including the collapse of Castle Ravenloft as a portal opens to the Astral plane, upon the death of Strahd.

Through the portal will come a colossal floating island, built on the corpse of a dead god.

arguskos
2009-01-17, 08:14 PM
For us, whilst I'm a player in the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft at the moment, when we complete that module I'll be DMing. So I'll be giving the current DM some things I'd like him to work into the end of the module, including the collapse of Castle Ravenloft as a portal opens to the Astral plane, upon the death of Strahd.

Through the portal will come a colossal floating island, built on the corpse of a dead god.
So..... you're replacing Castle Ravenloft with a corpse Island> Man, Barovia can't catch a break. :smallwink:

Rei_Jin
2009-01-17, 10:22 PM
Nah, the island will float through Barovia, and the portal will close.

The island itself is the home of the Githyanki, and their Red Dragon mounts. The PCs have to get rid of this menace, in any way they can.

I expect this to take them 10 character levels or so to work through.

arguskos
2009-01-17, 11:32 PM
Yeah, I guessed you might mean that particular corpse. The city's name is Tunath or something like that, right?

Also, I sincerely hope the players enjoy that quest. It'll be one for the record books, for sure!

arguskos
2009-01-21, 07:35 PM
So... my computer crashed and ate my update yesterday, so I'll just give ya'll the SparkNotes version:

-Fahima's player, S, rebuilt her to be a Wizard 5//Ninja 2/Rogue 3.

Day 2
-The party, while moving towards Madam Eva's camp, notices some Vistani tracking them. They wave at the Vistani, who promptly hides and flees.
-The party saved Sir Urik, last living Knight of the Raven at the crossroads from a group of murks (wraith-lite)
-They visited Madam Eva, the fortune teller, and asked her to read their fortunes about Strahd, discovering that they will meet him where his "birth lies dead" and that "the darkness takes warmth from the living."
-They didn't ask about the Tome of Strahd, Sunsword, and Holy Symbol of Ravenkind because they didn't know about them yet.
-While resting at the Vistani camp (it was late by the time they arrived to speak with Eva), they get assaulted by 6 bat swarms. The party manages to dissuade them by diving into the nearby Tser Pool (local lake) and waiting them out.

Day 3
-The party moves back into town to fight the zombie plague, and destroy it. Some worgs tail them, but don't attack, freaking the players out a little.
-They use clairvoyance to scout out the church (they pretty much see nothing, since all the undead are hiding, and Danovich [the fallen priest] is behind the altar and is not visible), and then send in Fahima (in cat form and invisible) to scout it some more. She finds Danovich, sobbing and muttering nonsense behind the altar. She doesn't explore the siderooms.
-They bust in... and Danovich circle of death's them. Everyone makes their save... except for Lameth, who fails it and dies (again). :smallsigh: They deal Danovich a massive amount of damage, and he just barely escapes into the understory. After slaughtering the other undead in here (three zombies and a deathlock), they party goes back to town and gets Ashlyn and Sir Urik for some support. Ashlyn, finally getting the chance to destroy the evil that claimed her friends once and for all, leaps into the pit and attacks the blaspheme down there. Sir Urik, not willing to let her go alone, joins her. The party... mostly follows, save for Retrix, who just sorta chills out up top, finds some rope, ties it to a pew, and THEN jumps in, so he has an escape route. *sigh*
-The battle in the understory mostly goes like this: PC's kill Danovich; Blaspheme ravages Ashlyn, who survives thanks to a potion of cure serious wounds; PC's focus fire on Blaspheme; Blaspheme manages to take Retrix (once he arrived) from 38 to -4 in one attack (crit happens); party finally manages to kill the Blaspheme and stop the plague.

That's it. We ended there. The party is thinking about going to see Madam Eva again, since they read Danovich's journal and talked to Ireena and Ismark some more. Basically, they know about the Tome, Sunsword, and Holy Symbol, and want to talk to Eva about where to find said items.



Personal Notes:
-I am having some trouble creating a solid atmosphere for the adventure. If I overdo it on the descriptions (the only way I can make a good "horror-y" atmosphere), they players ignore me. If I skimp on them, it becomes a hack-n-slash. Not sure what to do here.
-The party cannot stay even vaguely serious to save their lives. I get that D&D is a game, but the best games are made by the atmosphere and feel, not the actual content (though that helps somewhat). Jokes about real life events and internet memes aren't really conducive to the goal of the atmosphere being important. I guess this is really just a personal issue I'm having, but it DOES bug me. :smallannoyed:
-Sidenote: Anything OTHER than combat loses players VERY fast. It it isn't combat, people aren't interested. This... bugs me somewhat, but meh. I guess they just don't care for roleplaying, meaning I should tone it back somewhat.
-circle of death was insane. Multiple players BARELY made their saves. I wonder if a DC 18 was fair (I thought it was). I'm also wondering how Danovich could even cast it (it's not a cleric spell on any list or domain he had). Anyone know how that worked?

Thoughts? This wasn't a great session, but it was alright I guess.

Rei_Jin
2009-01-21, 07:45 PM
I'm amused that the one player has had two deaths in a row. I'd recommend they try out a more hardy character, such as a Monk2/Hexblade3//Sorceror5

You have Mettle, Evasion, Charisma to Save against spells, a good base on all saves, and (if you take the Ascetic Spellcaster Feat) Charisma to AC as well.

In regards to the atmosphere, part of it comes from how freaked out they are at the risk of death, and the other part comes from how immersed they are in the risk to the townsfolk and the people.

For my party, we're freaking out constantly. And we're due to play again this Saturday, we'll probably be taking out the fanes.

Eeep!

arguskos
2009-01-21, 07:50 PM
I'm amused that the one player has had two deaths in a row. I'd recommend they try out a more hardy character, such as a Monk2/Hexblade3//Sorceror5

You have Mettle, Evasion, Charisma to Save against spells, a good base on all saves, and (if you take the Ascetic Spellcaster Feat) Charisma to AC as well.

In regards to the atmosphere, part of it comes from how freaked out they are at the risk of death, and the other part comes from how immersed they are in the risk to the townsfolk and the people.

For my party, we're freaking out constantly. And we're due to play again this Saturday, we'll probably be taking out the fanes.

Eeep!
I actually forgot to mention that he's playing a Duskblade 6//Binder 6 (they leveled and I'm giving him the level too).

As for the feel... *sigh* I know that this is my fault for not creating a more immersive atmosphere, but they just don't CARE about the townsfolk, their characters, or anything really. I feel like I've failed along the way somewhere, and I'm not sure how to fix it, since I like a more immersive game experience. Should I just shut my mouth, and play the way they seem to enjoy? I mean, that's the DM's job, right?

Rei_Jin
2009-01-21, 07:57 PM
Well, you could always just ask them about it.

Some players just want to screw around and quote monty python, others want an immersive experience.

If they don't want it, there's not a lot you can do.

The DMs job is to tell a story, with the players acting their part, however they like to. You adjust the story as you need to. Your job is not to pander to their every whim, nor is it their job to do whatever you want.

Everyone's there to have fun, after all.

Is it that they don't feel any attachment to their characters? Often that's where you need to start if you want them to invest themselves in the game.

arguskos
2009-01-21, 08:01 PM
Well, you could always just ask them about it.

Some players just want to screw around and quote monty python, others want an immersive experience.

If they don't want it, there's not a lot you can do.

The DMs job is to tell a story, with the players acting their part, however they like to. You adjust the story as you need to. Your job is not to pander to their every whim, nor is it their job to do whatever you want.

Everyone's there to have fun, after all.

Is it that they don't feel any attachment to their characters? Often that's where you need to start if you want them to invest themselves in the game.
Pretty much, yeah. The players don't seem to really feel their characters are people. The character personalities are the same as the player's personality. I guess they just aren't interested.

I figure I'll scale back the NPC interaction, and focus more on the action and loot, since that's what everyone seems to be interested in. :smallsigh:

arguskos
2009-01-26, 12:58 AM
Well... session three was... wow. It changed EVERYTHING in more than a few ways.

First things first, the new God joined us: Gildar, the (duskblade/binder) God of Thunder (hammer and all/Thor clone :smallwink:).

The game began simply enough: talk to Madam Eva about the Sunsword, the Holy Symbol, and the Tome of Strahd. The party did this, discovered that the Sword was in the local Ivlis Marshes, the Holy Symbol was at Lysaga Hill, and the Tome was in the Tomb of Sergei von Zarovich (which made me smile more than a little bit).

So, the party set out for the Marches, planning to find the Sword first. With some rather rapid combat against a Bloodmoat Swarm and a Shambling Mound (Gildar was every flavor of "****!!!!" when they encountered the Mound; lol electricity resistance/growth), they were off to the Swamp Fane, where the Drowned Lady and the Sunsword awaited them. The party, through liberal application of Scorching Ray spells, managed to one-round the Drowned Lady, and then wipe her Blood Eel guards off the face of the earth too. They dug up the Fane's artifact (the tooth of St. Bogdan) and the Sunsword, which was the real treasure. Amusingly, the only character interested in the Sword was the god of pestilence, Retrix, which made me laugh to no end, but hey, it made him happy (also, it wasn't any better than his +1 bastard sword :smallbiggrin:).

After this event, the party returned to town for some eventful resting and relaxing. In the following morning, Gildar leaves town to do some binding, so as not to freak out the townsfolk, and as he ends the binding, Kavan the Grim, a daywalker vampire barbarian that serves Strahd, attacks him (since he's on his own, as no one came with him for defense). Before Gildar can rally himself, Kavan knocks him into negatives with a pair of sword blows and a single slam attack, leaving him at a precarious -9.... and he makes it!! The party, luckily, manages to blow Kavan into nice, vampiric cubes. Following this, they heal up poor Glidar (who's been having a seriously bad series of days, to be fair), but the party clerics don't have access to anything to restore his two negative levels, so Gildar and the party decide that he'll hole up in an abandoned house while they go off to Lysaga Hill to uncover the Holy Symbol... and this is where **** goes loopy.

So, if you'll flashback with me, and remember what Strahd's ultimate goal was, you'll recall, dear reader, that it was Undead Dynasty. Strahd wants to create a great daywalker dynasty, and has chosen the player characters as the first of his new brood.

Let's return, shall we? Gildar is all alone that evening, with a mere earth elemental for protection (thanks to his bind that day). Strahd decides that now would be a good time to convert his first new subject: Gildar. He uses a combination of gaseous form, mind fog, and dominate, with the total effect being that Gildar ends up dominated and drained (thanks to failing several Will saves) and serving Strahd as a new vampire. Oh, and the elemental was merely waited out (Strahd had been using scrying to watch the players, and knew about the elemental having a duration of 24 hours, since the bind granted it, and said bind was about to end). Now Strahd has an agent in the party with standing orders to capture other party members and summon Strahd to convert them (by breaking a token Strahd gives Gildar).

Obviously, this is an interesting issue. On one hand, I wasn't sure what would happen. I figured that it would end up that the party would discover Gildar's "betrayal" and slay him in some rather awesome fight. Instead, for the answer, we must flash over to the party, who, after a long, restless night sleeping at the Hill and an early start in the dawn hours, encounter a caller in darkness (pic for the so inclined (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/xph_gallery/33545.jpg)). The encounter begins and ends all at once: the caller uses a death urge power on Retrix, lord of pestilence, who proceeds to put himself at -9 life.... and the caller in darkness then merely uses it's incoporeal touch and Retrix joins the afterlife. To be fair, I said that when it absorbed a godlings soul, the creature was destroyed. Now, since they are two people down, the party decides to head back to town at top speed, pick up Gildar, come back here, and kill anything that might still be around.

Side Note: Retrix comes back, since, you know, godling and all that jazz.

Anyways, they make it back to town and find Retrix in the town square awaiting their arrival, along with Gildar, who is chilling there too. In full force... the party decides to use stealth now, and sends Retrix and Gildar in to scout the tower (using Hide from Undead on Retrix and Gildar [having bound Tenebrous]). Well, you can probably guess how this goes. Gildar and Retrix discover the secret entrance to the understory of the tower ruins, and together, the venture down there. Gildar goes first, and asks for a moment to be sure it's safe (he then uses his token of summoning Strahd). Retrix follows... and is rapidly dominated and converted by Strahd.

The rest of this tale is short (thankfully). Now, with his numbers much bolstered, Strahd risks an attack on the party... and with a lucky dominate on Vaijus (the monk//cleric) and his loyal vampire slaves, he in fact manages to kill off the NPC ally, turn Vaijus, and win the module.

Anyone smart will note that one PC is unaccounted for: Fahima, god of cats. This is an astute observation, and one that brings me to the final event of note. Fahima escaped Strahd's clutches, and the party collectively decided that our next arc in the campaign will be five years in the future, after Fahima and Sir Urik (who also made it out) have recruited some people to come back and help them eradicate Strahd, once and for all.

So...... yeaaaaah. This was amazing and strange and "WTF?!?" all at once, but it was fun. We'll be making characters next week probably, and we'll start the updated game the week after that, so I might just fill ya'll in as it goes.

However, I wouldn't mind some suggestions as to what Strahd will be doing. I'll post my ideas sooner than later. :smallwink:

Shishnarfne
2009-01-26, 03:54 PM
Well, it looks like this campaign may be coming to a rather rapid end....

This seems a reasonable justification for my belief that this particular motivation brings Strahd to his most dangerous

Technically, Circle of Death is a sixth level spell, which, with minimum ability score to cast, puts it at DC 19. That's how I've run it.

In most campaigns, player death is a real possibility. In Ravenloft, that goes at least double.

Regarding seriousness, I think that the players start to take the module seriously, no matter their demeanor around the table, when they start losing faith in their eventual victory. I think they're close to that point.

Fax Celestis
2009-01-26, 03:57 PM
Well... session three was... wow. It changed EVERYTHING in more than a few ways.

First things first, the new God joined us: Gildar, the (duskblade/binder) God of Thunder (hammer and all/Thor clone :smallwink:).

The game began simply enough: talk to Madam Eva about the Sunsword, the Holy Symbol, and the Tome of Strahd. The party did this, discovered that the Sword was in the local Ivlis Marshes, the Holy Symbol was at Lysaga Hill, and the Tome was in the Tomb of Sergei von Zarovich (which made me smile more than a little bit).

So, the party set out for the Marches, planning to find the Sword first. With some rather rapid combat against a Bloodmoat Swarm and a Shambling Mound (Gildar was every flavor of "****!!!!" when they encountered the Mound; lol electricity resistance/growth), they were off to the Swamp Fane, where the Drowned Lady and the Sunsword awaited them. The party, through liberal application of Scorching Ray spells, managed to one-round the Drowned Lady, and then wipe her Blood Eel guards off the face of the earth too. They dug up the Fane's artifact (the tooth of St. Bogdan) and the Sunsword, which was the real treasure. Amusingly, the only character interested in the Sword was the god of pestilence, Retrix, which made me laugh to no end, but hey, it made him happy (also, it wasn't any better than his +1 bastard sword :smallbiggrin:).

After this event, the party returned to town for some eventful resting and relaxing. In the following morning, Gildar leaves town to do some binding, so as not to freak out the townsfolk, and as he ends the binding, Kavan the Grim, a daywalker vampire barbarian that serves Strahd, attacks him (since he's on his own, as no one came with him for defense). Before Gildar can rally himself, Kavan knocks him into negatives with a pair of sword blows and a single slam attack, leaving him at a precarious -9.... and he makes it!! The party, luckily, manages to blow Kavan into nice, vampiric cubes. Following this, they heal up poor Glidar (who's been having a seriously bad series of days, to be fair), but the party clerics don't have access to anything to restore his two negative levels, so Gildar and the party decide that he'll hole up in an abandoned house while they go off to Lysaga Hill to uncover the Holy Symbol... and this is where **** goes loopy.

So, if you'll flashback with me, and remember what Strahd's ultimate goal was, you'll recall, dear reader, that it was Undead Dynasty. Strahd wants to create a great daywalker dynasty, and has chosen the player characters as the first of his new brood.

Let's return, shall we? Gildar is all alone that evening, with a mere earth elemental for protection (thanks to his bind that day). Strahd decides that now would be a good time to convert his first new subject: Gildar. He uses a combination of gaseous form, mind fog, and dominate, with the total effect being that Gildar ends up dominated and drained (thanks to failing several Will saves) and serving Strahd as a new vampire. Oh, and the elemental was merely waited out (Strahd had been using scrying to watch the players, and knew about the elemental having a duration of 24 hours, since the bind granted it, and said bind was about to end). Now Strahd has an agent in the party with standing orders to capture other party members and summon Strahd to convert them (by breaking a token Strahd gives Gildar).

Obviously, this is an interesting issue. On one hand, I wasn't sure what would happen. I figured that it would end up that the party would discover Gildar's "betrayal" and slay him in some rather awesome fight. Instead, for the answer, we must flash over to the party, who, after a long, restless night sleeping at the Hill and an early start in the dawn hours, encounter a caller in darkness (pic for the so inclined (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/xph_gallery/33545.jpg)). The encounter begins and ends all at once: the caller uses a death urge power on Retrix, lord of pestilence, who proceeds to put himself at -9 life.... and the caller in darkness then merely uses it's incoporeal touch and Retrix joins the afterlife. To be fair, I said that when it absorbed a godlings soul, the creature was destroyed. Now, since they are two people down, the party decides to head back to town at top speed, pick up Gildar, come back here, and kill anything that might still be around.

Side Note: Retrix comes back, since, you know, godling and all that jazz.

Anyways, they make it back to town and find Retrix in the town square awaiting their arrival, along with Gildar, who is chilling there too. In full force... the party decides to use stealth now, and sends Retrix and Gildar in to scout the tower (using Hide from Undead on Retrix and Gildar [having bound Tenebrous]). Well, you can probably guess how this goes. Gildar and Retrix discover the secret entrance to the understory of the tower ruins, and together, the venture down there. Gildar goes first, and asks for a moment to be sure it's safe (he then uses his token of summoning Strahd). Retrix follows... and is rapidly dominated and converted by Strahd.

The rest of this tale is short (thankfully). Now, with his numbers much bolstered, Strahd risks an attack on the party... and with a lucky dominate on Vaijus (the monk//cleric) and his loyal vampire slaves, he in fact manages to kill off the NPC ally, turn Vaijus, and win the module.

Anyone smart will note that one PC is unaccounted for: Fahima, god of cats. This is an astute observation, and one that brings me to the final event of note. Fahima escaped Strahd's clutches, and the party collectively decided that our next arc in the campaign will be five years in the future, after Fahima and Sir Urik (who also made it out) have recruited some people to come back and help them eradicate Strahd, once and for all.

So...... yeaaaaah. This was amazing and strange and "WTF?!?" all at once, but it was fun. We'll be making characters next week probably, and we'll start the updated game the week after that, so I might just fill ya'll in as it goes.

However, I wouldn't mind some suggestions as to what Strahd will be doing. I'll post my ideas sooner than later. :smallwink:

I only have one thing to say to this.

ZOMGWTFSPQR

Well, okay. Two things: Your players are awesome for going along with it.

Rei_Jin
2009-01-26, 04:39 PM
Wow, I mean just...

Wow.

We played on the weekend, got the Sunsword, killed Vampire Perriwhimple, killed Madam Eva and all her Vistani (after she pissed us off for the last time), took control of the nearby fane after killing all the guardians contained therein(swamp fane?) and my character got the power of... wait for it.... permanent non-detection. Wooo. The lamest of all the fanes, and yet it somehow increases the power of Strahd enough to increase his CR by 1.

Oh, and we cleared the ghouls out of the graveyard, consecrated the church, and started the rebuilding process. And buried the Burgomaster.

So far, I think we're doing pretty well, but I'm not looking forward to having to fight Strahd for control of the Fanes.

In regards to your party, don't they have a cleric of any sort to remove the negative levels? And why for the love of god did they split up? Splitting up is always the way that the party is killed, in any old school game. I understand that one of the party members was hurting, but it would have been better for him to be with the party than to be alone, if nothing else it means that they can keep an eye on him so that nothing else bad can happen to him.

arguskos
2009-01-26, 06:29 PM
Well, it looks like this campaign may be coming to a rather rapid end....

This seems a reasonable justification for my belief that this particular motivation brings Strahd to his most dangerous

Technically, Circle of Death is a sixth level spell, which, with minimum ability score to cast, puts it at DC 19. That's how I've run it.

In most campaigns, player death is a real possibility. In Ravenloft, that goes at least double.

Regarding seriousness, I think that the players start to take the module seriously, no matter their demeanor around the table, when they start losing faith in their eventual victory. I think they're close to that point.
Yeah, that was my thought. I figured it would be a really difficult damn adventure.... but I didn't even come CLOSE to expecting this. o.O

As for the Circle of Death... it's not a cleric spell, meaning I though Danovich couldn't ever cast it. It's just a random "wtf is this?"


I only have one thing to say to this.

ZOMGWTFSPQR

Well, okay. Two things: Your players are awesome for going along with it.
Yup, that was my reaction. The whole "you're all vampires, have fun with that now" was pretty strange. Definitely NOT the outcome I expected. :smallbiggrin:

Oh, and to be honest, it was their idea to advance things 5 years, and have Fahima, Sir Urik, and the new characters (of the three players turned into vampires) go back and purge Barovia completely. Oh, and the several cities that Strahd has been using the PC Vampires to conquer. :smallbiggrin:


Wow, I mean just...

Wow.

We played on the weekend, got the Sunsword, killed Vampire Perriwhimple, killed Madam Eva and all her Vistani (after she pissed us off for the last time), took control of the nearby fane after killing all the guardians contained therein(swamp fane?) and my character got the power of... wait for it.... permanent non-detection. Wooo. The lamest of all the fanes, and yet it somehow increases the power of Strahd enough to increase his CR by 1.

Oh, and we cleared the ghouls out of the graveyard, consecrated the church, and started the rebuilding process. And buried the Burgomaster.

So far, I think we're doing pretty well, but I'm not looking forward to having to fight Strahd for control of the Fanes.

In regards to your party, don't they have a cleric of any sort to remove the negative levels? And why for the love of god did they split up? Splitting up is always the way that the party is killed, in any old school game. I understand that one of the party members was hurting, but it would have been better for him to be with the party than to be alone, if nothing else it means that they can keep an eye on him so that nothing else bad can happen to him.
1. That was Madam Eva's fane? That's the Forest Fane, and yeah, it REALLY sucks. Nondetection= +1 CR? In the words of a friend of mine, "lolwat?"

2. Yeah, damn, you guys are kicking some serious ass. Sword, Fane #1, Eva dead, church reconsecrated, ya'll are doing really well. Did Ashlyn leave you guys, or did she stick it out to help give you a hand? If so, see if your DM will level her up as you gain levels too (if she's helping you out personally). Same for Sir Urik and Ireena. It might help to have them nearby when you have to meditate at the Fanes, since Strahd IS going to come and attack you. Have you guys figured out what his secondary goal is yet, or still in the dark on that one?

3. As for splitting up the party... you have no idea. I've warned them SOOO many times, but they just never really listen to me. >_> I keep saying "guys, don't break up the party, don't do it, it's a bad idea, guys, listen, seriously now, DON'T BREAK UP THE PART- oh, NOW you listen to me!!" *sigh* Well, I think this really made them realize that this isn't a joke, you split up, you DIE. As for the clerics, I guess no one looked at their spell list (even though I mentioned they might want to check for anti-negative level spells). *cries*

I'm just excited for this next "Return to Castle Ravenloft"-esque adventure. Given that Strahd just won, and has his bride, his dynasty, and everything he wants, I've been thinking about what his next steps are. I figure, he's going to keep expanding his little "family" by having each PCV (player character vampire) go and begin subverting cities in his name. The best part about this is that it gives the new party a clear and present target for their wrath, since Strahd took Fahima's friends and allies, and nearly got her too, and now the PCV's are busily subverting cities in the name of their new master.

I think it's a fun idea, but that's just me. Anyone else have different suggestions as to what Strahd would do now?

Rei_Jin
2009-01-26, 06:43 PM
Ashlyn took the gear of the now buried lightbringers home to let their families know what happened, so she's gone. Sir Urik will be joining us in our trip to the Chapel on the grounds of the castle so that we can activate the sunsword and I can spend a night in vigil for the Knight of the Raven PrC.

In regards to what would Strahd be doing? I would think he'd be looking for a way to reverse his vampyrism so that he can live again with his bride. To that end, he'd be trying to bring people with an interest in negative and positive energy.

It's either that, or he's already turned her into a Vampire, in which case they'd be having Vampire Babies and herding people up like cattle to be eaten at their leisure.

arguskos
2009-01-26, 06:47 PM
Ashlyn took the gear of the now buried lightbringers home to let their families know what happened, so she's gone. Sir Urik will be joining us in our trip to the Chapel on the grounds of the castle so that we can activate the sunsword and I can spend a night in vigil for the Knight of the Raven PrC.

In regards to what would Strahd be doing? I would think he'd be looking for a way to reverse his vampyrism so that he can live again with his bride. To that end, he'd be trying to bring people with an interest in negative and positive energy.

It's either that, or he's already turned her into a Vampire, in which case they'd be having Vampire Babies and herding people up like cattle to be eaten at their leisure.
It actually implies that he was going to turn her into a Vampire and live with her forever, so I just ran with that. :smallwink:

I was more thinking about what Strahd's goals are now, ie. how he'll go about expanding this daywalker dynasty of his.

Rei_Jin
2009-01-26, 06:54 PM
Well, my first thought in terms of creating a Daywalked Dynasty is to expand the borders of Barovia. Within that land, he has ultimate control right? So, if he expands the borders he expands his control.

It starts with small raiding parties into nearby regions. Those towns then respond by sending their own raiding parties.

Which are turned into vampires.

They then send a larger group. Again, turned into vampires.

Finally they mount an army against Barovia.

Barovian army of Vampires attacks under cover of darkness, and turns whole army into Vampires.

Strahd expands Barovia, meaning that his vampires can live in a larger area and still be immune to sunlight.

Repeat ad nauseum?

arguskos
2009-01-26, 07:01 PM
Well, my first thought in terms of creating a Daywalked Dynasty is to expand the borders of Barovia. Within that land, he has ultimate control right? So, if he expands the borders he expands his control.

It starts with small raiding parties into nearby regions. Those towns then respond by sending their own raiding parties.

Which are turned into vampires.

They then send a larger group. Again, turned into vampires.

Finally they mount an army against Barovia.

Barovian army of Vampires attacks under cover of darkness, and turns whole army into Vampires.

Strahd expands Barovia, meaning that his vampires can live in a larger area and still be immune to sunlight.

Repeat ad nauseum?
I was thinking something along similar lines: he can use the PCV's to go and slowly convert whole cities into vampire servants and then expand the borders that way. It's a more sneaky way of expanding things, but it still works. I do like the idea of the forces of good mounting attacks on Barovia and being repulsed by squads of border-patrolling vampires. That seems interesting and fun.