An Ally Problem in Curse of Strahd [SPOILERS!!!]

[Kurt Kurageous]

[Spoilers] My party drew the innocent for the ally. The problem is, page 15 says one thing, page 10 goal one left column agrees with it, but on the same page last line of (When...) second to last paragraph completely contradicts!!!
Specific trumps general tells me nothing.

What should I do?

I'm thinking that if the players leave their ally alone and not at home, objective one succeeds. Then should I draw them a new one or just hope they get a second reading?

Permanent fix, I'm pulling that card from the deck if I ever get to replay this. And I hope I do, this thing is a blast.

[dejarnjc]

[Spoilers] My party drew the innocent for the ally. The problem is, page 15 says one thing, page 10 goal one left column agrees with it, but on the same page last line of (When...) second to last paragraph completely contradicts!!!
Specific trumps general tells me nothing.

What should I do?

I'm thinking that if the players leave their ally alone and not at home, objective one succeeds. Then should I draw them a new one or just hope they get a second reading?

Permanent fix, I'm pulling that card from the deck if I ever get to replay this. And I hope I do, this thing is a blast.


I'm not sure what your issue is? First things first though, the Innocent card gives the DM two options to choose from so you can choose whichever one you find more appropriate. Second, if Strahd manages to kidnap or kill their ally then I suppose they can either have a chance to rescue him/her or they simply lose that ally forever.

[Alcibiades]

[Spoilers] My party drew the innocent for the ally. The problem is, page 15 says one thing, page 10 goal one left column agrees with it, but on the same page last line of (When...) second to last paragraph completely contradicts!!!
Specific trumps general tells me nothing.

Play it as you see fit and how the circumstances dictate.
The line "Strahd and his minions never attack Ireena" is probably inspired by Strahd's personality: Yes, he wants to turn Ireena which means he has to kill her with his bite, but he'd much rather charm her, play with her, perhaps even torment her in some way before turning her into his consort than killing her in the street like a common murderer - that's far too plain for his tastes. Strahd's attack might result in Ireena being abducted, but she'd never be killed. Hence, Strahd and his minions will avoid attacking her.

Ireena is scared by Strahd so she will, in most cases, simply seek protection from the party and hide away. She's a brave and strong-willed woman though, so if she's told that she might give crucial assistance in the party's fight with Strahd, she'll gather the courage to join them.

Strahd's exact reaction to Ireena fighting against him is up to you. He could be angry that she resists him, or perhaps he's thankful - in his arrogance - that the party brought her to his doorstep. Maybe it even inspires some respect in him. However, when he's cornered and really threatened by the party and Ireena, he'd probably have no problem doing away with all the theatrics and just straight up turning her.

Edit: All of this is of course just my interpretation from the book.

[ad_hoc]

I also don't understand the problem.

Could you rephrase?

[Alcibiades]

How I'm interpreting his question: (Spoilers were declared in the title, so if you're reading this three posts down it's your own fault)

OP drew Ireena Kolvana as 'Strahd's Enemy'. The text for that sub-chapter describes that Strahd senses the NPC is a danger to him and will try to eliminate him/her. One of Strahd's goals is also killing Ireena to turn her into a Vampire Spawn. However, the book also mentions under 'When Strahd attacks' that he and his minions will never attack Ireena.

To condense my earlier post: (which is just my personal interpretation from the book, ymmv)
- Early on, when the party does not pose any threat to him in Strahd's mind, his obsession with Ireena will hold the upper hand and he will not want to kill her outright when he attacks - he desires a more entertaining death for Ireena than direct violence.
- When the threat from the party grows, either at the last confrontation or earlier, the urge for survival will take over and he'll try to quickly eliminate her.

[ruy343]

My thoughts from how I ran the campaign (please note, your Strahd should be different from anyone else's - that's the role of the DM after all) - the book itself says that the ally grants the characters advantage whenever they see Strahd and the ally is present (see the section on the ally). This doesn't mean that Ireena has to participate in the combat at all - you could just have her helping the characters in combat instead of inflicting damage to anything - and Strahd would never target the party with a fireball if it was going to hurt Ireena! Honestly, that wouldn't hurt their chances in the slightest (Strahd likes to start off his combats with a fireball in my version.

If the characters manage to bring her to the sacred spring in Krezk, and they let her enter the water, she'll be removed from the story altogether, unless you do something. Perhaps have her spirit return to assist the characters when they storm Ravenloft, or have her appear as a benevolent apparition to give the characters guidance when they're lost or overwhelmed with choices. Although mechanically, she's just a "human noble", she can be so much more, depending on how you present her.

[Kurt Kurageous]

I'm not sure what your issue is? First things first though, the Innocent card gives the DM two options to choose from so you can choose whichever one you find more appropriate.

My issue is there are contradictory instructions about this particular ally on page ten.

Thank you for pointing out that the innocent card has two options that are in fact narratively linked. I read the fortune for option B, which creates the conflict issue I'm posting about.

[Kurt Kurageous]

How I'm interpreting his question...

Perfectly correct.

Sorry to others I was not clear. I was trying to be vague and ensure those who answered had access to the text of CoS.

[Kurt Kurageous]

but he'd much rather charm her, play with her, perhaps even torment her in some way before turning her into his consort than killing her in the street like a common murderer - that's far too plain for his tastes.

Strahd's exact reaction to Ireena fighting against him is up to you. He could be angry that she resists him, or perhaps he's thankful - in his arrogance - that the party brought her to his doorstep. Maybe it even inspires some respect in him.

I share your interpretation, especially the "common murderer" thought. I've got him needing to be a Moriarty. His plans cannot be obvious, or if it is, its actually not the plan at all.

Ideally, I want my Strahd to do the deed in private and in a way that implicates the party and makes them feel guilty/responsible. Perhaps they serve her up to him, fail to protect her, ignore a simple warning, commit a wrong which momentarily alienates her, so in the end it's their fault. And it must happen in a way where they thought they were doing good, but their acts in retrospect were mistaken and evil. Just like attacking the revenant from random encounter p31 or buying, eating, and buying more pies from the nice pie lady even after seeing her collect payment.

Yes, they did these things.

[Kurt Kurageous]

This doesn't mean that Ireena has to participate in the combat at all - you could just have her helping the characters in combat instead of inflicting damage to anything - and Strahd would never target the party with a fireball if it was going to hurt Ireena!

Strahd likes to start off his combats with a fireball in my version.

If the characters manage to bring her to the sacred spring in Krezk, and they let her enter the water, she'll be removed from the story altogether, unless you do something.

As wimpy as she is, she wouldn't last long in combat anyways. She's pretty much done what you said - staying out of the fray. The minions will menace her but she will not be harmed unless I have to to make the party defend her. And I think they will, I have to prove this in the next encounter.

I felt my Strahd would open with a fireball only if it was a "fair" fight not of his choosing. To force me to work out details on the fly, I have decided Strahd, minions, or both will always show up every time there is "a most advantageous moment" (CoS 239) to exploit. This makes fireball a likely lethal strike. I want the level 5 fireball to be the thing he does to cover a retreat.

These moments tend to maximize the chance he can charm a PC, allowing Strahd to tell the PC something that is true. If they think it's false and act on it, perhaps they will lose a current or future NPC ally. Strahd told the first PC charmed, "The ravens are your friends now. I told them to watch over you." If they attack the were-ravens, perhaps Strahd will tell them something else to get them to avoid attacking an evil NPC, etc. Just utterly defeat them morally, toying with them and their natural biases and beliefs.

I actually want the scene at the spring to happen. It's just so beautiful. And it's one of a only a few permanent defeats the PCs can actually inflict on Strahd. I want it to be a consolation prize when/if he wipes them out in the end.

"We will always have Krezk..."