Curse of Strahd retcon advice?

[GreyBlack]

Hey playground! So I've been running Curse of Strahd for my table and they've finally collected all of the artifacts. They're currently in Krezk and triggered the event to reunite Ireena and Sergei, but they prevented it before Strahd destroyed the pool

I kinda ruled that this jogged her memories of her past life and she's kinda gone catatonic in shock. Which is great watching the Paladin who has been taking care of her this entire time now be consumed with guilt over how badly she's hurt Ireena.

Anyway, that's not where the retcon comes in. In my Tarokka reading, they had the Ally card of the Innocent, who I originally read as Parriwimple However... the recent events have led me to reevaluate this reading, especially because the other option for the reading is the ally being Ireena herself So, in light of this, I'm trying to think of how best to retcon this, and I'm thinking of this.

Characters have a dream where they're confronted by Madam Eva, who tells them about how Ireena could be the ally instead, but she tried to spare the child because she's been through so much already. When told about this, Ireena becomes understandably upset with the party. She agrees, but she asks that she be allowed to wield her beloved's sword, and she insists that the players go to Castle Ravenloft now.

Is this too cheap? Or does it work well? I can write down what I'm thinking would be read out loud as a scene for critique if you'd like.

[Sexyshoeless]

Seems like your players are having a wild ride!

Do they know the innocent is Parriwimple? If not, then its not really a retcon at all to use Ireena! They don't even need to know there was a change at all. As they search for their ally, it turns out she has travelled with them all along!

I would caution, however, against Ireena's demands as you have them written. It would feel really bleh as a player to have one of the artifacts we have worked for (I assume by beloved's blade you mean the sunsword) taken by an NPC who is likely not as good with it as one of the PCs. Also unless the story demands it, why add MORE pressure to go to Ravenloft?

So TLDR no it doenst seem cheap, seems way more epic than using Parriwimple, but I would advise to let the players keep the sword and remain in control of how they proceed.

[GreyBlack]

Seems like your players are having a wild ride!

Do they know the innocent is Parriwimple? If not, then its not really a retcon at all to use Ireena! They don't even need to know there was a change at all. As they search for their ally, it turns out she has travelled with them all along!

I would caution, however, against Ireena's demands as you have them written. It would feel really bleh as a player to have one of the artifacts we have worked for (I assume by beloved's blade you mean the sunsword) taken by an NPC who is likely not as good with it as one of the PCs. Also unless the story demands it, why add MORE pressure to go to Ravenloft?

So TLDR no it doenst seem cheap, seems way more epic than using Parriwimple, but I would advise to let the players keep the sword and remain in control of how they proceed.

Funnily enough, the players were kinda going back and forth and weren't even sure if any of them wanted the sword. The paladin is a 2 handed beast and stopped by Argynhostvolt, the monk is really enjoying being chosen by the Barbarian lords to be their successor, and the Cleric is using his stuff well. I'll admit that did kinda play into my decision making, but if they decide that they do want to keep the sword, I have a plan for that.

That said.... I did tell them that it was a gentle man and kind soul initially, which isn't exactly Ireena. They've had the Tarokka reading. Although.... it would be interesting to make it Ismark now that I think about it but it's not as narratively satisfying.

[Waterdeep Merch]

As a related thought, the last time I ran this, my players had a rather... funny idea when they got into the catacombs of Ravenloft.

They got the Luck Blade down there and used the one wish in it in the northern tomb to resurrect Sergei, Strahd's brother. Also the rightful wielder of the Sunsword; when the party gave it to him, it, too was restored to its original form with its long-lost crystal blade. They aided Sergei in defeating his brother and restoring the light to Barovia, who then met with Ireena and fell in love all over again. This was probably the happiest ending I've ever seen to this story.

Maybe find some way to coax the players into doing the reverse? Beyond the catacombs, they can find the power necessary to do this

In the Amber Temple.

[GreyBlack]

As a related thought, the last time I ran this, my players had a rather... funny idea when they got into the catacombs of Ravenloft.

They got the Luck Blade down there and used the one wish in it in the northern tomb to resurrect Sergei, Strahd's brother. Also the rightful wielder of the Sunsword; when the party gave it to him, it, too was restored to its original form with its long-lost crystal blade. They aided Sergei in defeating his brother and restoring the light to Barovia, who then met with Ireena and fell in love all over again. This was probably the happiest ending I've ever seen to this story.

Maybe find some way to coax the players into doing the reverse? Beyond the catacombs, they can find the power necessary to do this

In the Amber Temple.

I'm kinda averse to that solely because I'm getting antsy to start running Descent into Avernus, and there's no real great plot threads that they've encountered to send them out there. And they've explored _a lot_ of the map; we're all ready to kinda start wrapping this adventure and moving on. And one of the players wants to run Storm King's Thunder, too. Soooooooo... yeah.