help designing a specific encounter

[Thac0 Redeye]

Hello all, I am running Expedition to castle Ravenloft. I need help designing an encounter, actually expanding the written encounter to conform to how the campaign is going.
Here are the specifics:
The adventure has the party trying to destroy the BBEG, the vampire lord Strahd. They have to first take down a bunch of defenses to make him weak enough to confront and destroy. they also have to find 2 relics to help in the fight. Once found they have to go to the proper place and preform a ritual to "awaken" the relics. In this encounter they are trying to awaken the sunsword. The ritual is an 8 hour prayer that bonds the character to the weapon. So after the ritual the sword is special to that one character who preformed the ritual. they are in the chapel in the BBED's castle to do the ritual. the campaign is written that the BBEG would attack part way through the ritual to disrupt the attempt and possibly take the sword. However the group I play with has been playing together for over a decade and have great tactics.
The paladin is going to preform the ritual. the warlock is going to encase him in a stone wall spell formed as a 10' dome over him like an igloo without a door. The paladin has ghost touch armor, and an insane AC. (somewhere in the low 30's) The BBEG knows all the plans the group has and does because he dominated the Paladin early on in the adventure. (my players don't at this time know.) I've been waiting for the opportune moment to bring that into play. I'm not sure if this is or not, or even how I would exploit it at this time.

So I need advice on how to run the encounter. Do I go ahead with how the BBEG attacks the rest of the party and have ghost types hit the Paladin or perhaps send in other zombie such with mauls to break the stone igloo, or use the domination.
I think id like to keep the domination under wraps for awhile longer because it keeps BBEG informed at all times without having to scry.
What monsters should I use, which tactics?

books: MM-1-5, Lebris Mortis, BOED, BOVD, all complete, ph, dmg, dmg2, ph2, FR campaign, possible others. (NO Eberron)

All PC's are 9-10th levels consisting of a human paladin, aasimar warlock, human cleric radiant servant of Pelor, and dwarven fighter/cleric.

thank and let me know if there are other specifics you need.
TR

[ksbsnowowl]

I've run EtCR three separate times. Once as a long campaign, once as a long campaign paired with a self-updated version of I10, Ravenloft II: The House on Gryffon Hill, and once as a two-session Halloween "one shot." It is very, very important that you always clearly delineate for yourself what Strahd knows (and what he doesn't know that you as DM do know), what his goals are, and then emulate his massive intelligence by devising plots, ploys, and tactics commensurate with his intelligence (I get that's what you are asking for help with here; just restating it is all).

One big question for you, that will impact Strahd's tactics... What is Strahd's secondary goal in your campaign? If he's descending into madness, his tactics will be different than any other time, for example.

Just to point out a few passages from both EtCR and the original Castle Ravenloft.


Expedition to Castle Ravenloft centers around the vampire Strahd von Zarovich. As Dungeon Master, you must play him as carefully as the players run their characters. Always keep in mind his motives, his activities, and his plans.

When the vampire, Strahd von Zarovich, is destroyed, the adventure is over. You must use every power available to the vampire to keep him (and the game) going.

Use every power available to achieve Strahd's goals. That means spells, items, minions, etc. Strahd should give minions orders to make best use of their abilities. Yes, Strahd has incorporeal minions that listen to his orders; absolutely send them to attack the Paladin inside his stone igloo (by the way... how is the Paladin breathing for 8 hours if he's locked in a stone igloo with no exits?) If the igloo does have a breathing vent, send vampire minions into the igloo in mist form, to attack him while he is alone (Grapple -> Pin -> Con drain, possibly with a domination order to submit). For the incorporeal foes, they should approach through the floor. The first that anyone* knows they are there is when they reach out of the floor at the kneeling Paladin, out of sight of the other PC's.

*Potentially, any present animal companions may start to panic as spectres, and the like, approach.

Strahd should engage in the chapel attack, but he should have minions with orders to harry the party should Strahd be brought to 0 HP's (and thus forced to retreat to his coffin, helpless for an hour). That whole hour Strahd is helpless in his coffin? Strahd's minions should be making it impossible for the PC's to get to Strahd's coffin in time.

The adventure may say that Strahd only attacks once in the 8 hours. If it does, ignore it. Strahd should be doing hit and run tactics the entire 8 hours. He's smart, and he's a mage. Feign a massive attack soon after he learns of their presence; cause them to expend a bunch of buff spells, and make sure Strahd is identifying the spells they are casting, if possible. Then back off, and wait for the buff spells he was able to identify to run out. He's been spying on the party; he knows approximately how powerful they are, and should be able to accurately estimate how long their spells will last.

His minions should be doing hit-and-run tactics, too. Vampire spawn and lesser vampires should be ordered to attack in waves. If they are taken to 0 hit points and revert to mist, 65 minutes later they should be attacking again. (It's possible the Radiant Servant of Pelor might be able to smoke them outright, though.) Every single lesser vampire Strahd controls should be calling upon bat swarms to start bleeding the party dry. Do it in waves, so they have to waste healing resources to stop from bleeding to death.

During Strahd's first encounter with them, he should hit every PC with a fell draining magic missile, so they all have a negative level for the entire 8 hours of the ritual.

I would keep the domination under wraps, until the PC's are within an hour of completing the ritual. Once they have completed about 6:50 of the 8 hours, if all other attempts to stop them have failed, then I would have Strahd exert control through the domination. Simply force the paladin to stop and do something else (cast a spell, etc.). Reset the clock. (You as DM will have to decide if it must be 8 uninterrupted hours, or if interruptions are "survivable." The module is unclear.) Note, if the paladin in still encased in his stone igloo, no one will be able to keep a protection from evil effect, or similar, on him for the whole 8 hours, which is the only sort of thing to prevent Strahd from exerting control over an already-established domination.

Your PC's do have advantages on their side. Waiting until 10th level to do the ritual will make them better able to survive it and actually perform it. An incorporeal touch AC in the 30's? How the heck are they getting that? Magic item availability is supposed to be quite sparse in the module (the village has a 200 gp limit, after all). Time to craft magic items should have been hard to come by as well (not to mention they are incapable of crafting ghost touch armor at their level).

On a more general level, for the whole module, by the time the PC's are 9th and 10th level they should have almost no support or safe harbor. By that point Strahd should have already gone scorched earth. Was his secondary goal Untamed Allies? Then the village of Barovia should have been heavily decimated by werewolf attacks, and many villagers should also be infected, etc. Once the PC's are this powerful, he should make sure every ally of theirs that he can identify is murdered, so they have no aid to call upon.

[Thac0 Redeye]

Thanks for your response ksbdsnowowl. Sorry for the long time responding but I worked all weekend and my Dad came into town for a visit. I wanted to fill in the info gaps, unfortunately we play tonight and I probably won't hear from you until then.
Strahd's secondary was the witches on Lysaga Hill. They fought and defeated the witches and the aspect already. I was able to run the dinner room encounter as a verbal discussion (that is when the Paladin drank the wine and failed the save to be dominated.)
I still don't know exactly how the AC is so high but they have been able to go shopping more than the module allows. I personally don't like playing as a PC when you can't "go back to town and shop". I generally play characters that are chaotic greedy. So I changed the Visanti to be more natural and deal with the PC's as a place to sell and buy with limitations. I rolled a percentage die to determine if they had what the PC's wanted. Also just 2 sessions ago they used the Portal to Anywhere to go back to the big city to heal taint and shop and heal the damage they took from the portal.

At this point I think ill attack as written adding spawn to mist into the igloo and attack the Paladin. Then second encounter sending incorporeal in, then third I'll send Strahd in via dimension door and have the Paladin sleep and take the sword. Ill then have it in the study (where Eva determined Strahd would always be.)

Any other advice? (in the next 3 hours)

[Palanan]

Now I really want to know what happens with the vampire, the paladin and the stone igloo. Be sure to post a synopsis after the game tonight. :smalltongue:

.

[Thac0 Redeye]

ok - here's the plan. 1st encounter : Strahd, casting spells from balcony with bat swarms and 2 mummified rust monsters then spawn misting into the igloo. 2nd encounter: a couple of voidwraiths into igloo only from floor. 3rd encounter: strahd dim door into igloo commanding Paladin to sleep and taking the unfinished sword.

Wish me luck.

I'll post tomorrow what happened.

[Thac0 Redeye]

Here is how the party set it up. The Warlock cast wall of stone in a 10’ Igloo with a 2 ft. hole on the very top center. The Cleric cast Hand of the Faithful around the igloo. The Paladin was doing the ritual inside the igloo the Cleric and Dwarf were inside the hand spell on the ground with the igloo to their backs. The Warlock was on top of the igloo where he could see the room and keep an eye on the paladin.

I had the 2 Voidwraiths attack about 1 hour into the ritual. The Warlock pulled the cleric up to on top of the igloo and he used his greater turn undead twice and destroyed both in 2 rounds.

The hand spell dropped at the 5-hour point. At the 6 and a half hour point I had Strahd attack.

Round 1:
From out of sight on the balcony, he cast Spirt Worm spell on the Cleric using a Spectral Hand spell. The Cleric made his save and all rolled initiative. Strahd went first by casting Cloud Kill into the igloo, and both the Warlock and Paladin took CON damage. The dwarf cast Magic Circle against Evil. The Warlock reached down and grabbed the Paladin and Dimension Door right next to Strahd on the balcony. Then I had 4 Bat Swarms come in and one covered the Paladin and Warlock and the others couldn’t quite reach the other 2. The Cleric cast Ring of Blades, and moved towards one of the bat swarms. The Paladin attacked Strahd and missed both swings with his sword.

Round 2:
Strahd backed up 5-foot adjustment and cast Magic Missile (adding both metamagic Fell Drain and Enervate spell) at the Paladin. At this point the party decided to retreat. ( I never got the chance to bring in my Mummified Rust Monsters .) The Dwarf cast Holy Storm over Strahd who was unaffected because of a previously charged ring of counter spell. Then moved and jumped out the windows in the back of the chapel. The Warlock grabbed the Paladin again and Dimension Door out the windows. The bats moved over the Cleric and one got ripped up from the ring of blades. The Cleric then cast an area effect spell over the other bats and they dropped ( I don’t remember the spell). Then moved and jumped out the windows. The Paladin moved to towards the door to the overlook. (the party plan was to jump from the overlook – they all have feather fall).

Round 3:
Strahd Dimension Door to the center of the overlook area. The rest of the party moved to the door. The Paladin moved the rest of the way and opened the door. Strahd cast Fell drain and enervate spell Darkbolt at the Paladin. Doing much damage. The Dwarf closed the door. The warlock cast Word of Recall with the entire party next to him and they all ended up in the church in the town. ( They had cast consecrate on the church after clearing out the zombie plague, and were using it as a base.)

The next day they decided to go back to the chapel to finish the ritual. I decided that they didn’t have to restart the ritual every time because it would stall the game constantly and become un-fun for everyone.

On the way back I had them encounter 3 owlbears in the forest. They used the secret passage to the crypts and there they encountered a Vileweight. Then they climbed the large circle stair and when they entered the chapel Strahd was standing next to the destroyed stone igloo.

There we stopped for the night.

Next week I plan on having Strahd attempt to parley. He will tell them to drop the sunsword and he would allow them to leave his home with their lives.

Thanks for reading and any suggestions I would appreciate very much.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Thac0 Redeye
...when they entered the chapel Strahd was standing next to the destroyed stone igloo.

There we stopped for the night.

That's a cliffhanger done right.

Sounds like it was a great session; I can imagine there were a few tense moments in there. Are you planning for Strahd to actually parley, or is he just stalling until those rust monsters roll out?