New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Results 1 to 8 of 8
  1. - Top - End - #1
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    EvilClericGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2013

    Default Strahd dark powers thoughts

    I'm running a group through the CoS and I want to do something with the dark powers that the players can benefit from earlier in the game than going to the Amber Temple so I am going to do small boons and pacts that if taken 3 times have a twist in their character epilogue for the campaign

    I have good ideas of for most characters but I have a warforged cleric/wizard of mystra who wants to know everything and is pondering on if he/it has a soul or what souls ARE. I am drawing a blank on good ideas on how to make tempting gifts or a way that the character might have their narrative twisted in their epilogue.

    Any thoughts or related stories?

    good character epilogues that had a twist flavored by the campaign?

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Imp

    Join Date
    Feb 2017

    Default Re: Strahd dark powers thoughts

    Quote Originally Posted by JungleChicken View Post
    I'm running a group through the CoS and I want to do something with the dark powers that the players can benefit from earlier in the game than going to the Amber Temple so I am going to do small boons and pacts that if taken 3 times have a twist in their character epilogue for the campaign

    I have good ideas of for most characters but I have a warforged cleric/wizard of mystra who wants to know everything and is pondering on if he/it has a soul or what souls ARE. I am drawing a blank on good ideas on how to make tempting gifts or a way that the character might have their narrative twisted in their epilogue.

    Any thoughts or related stories?

    good character epilogues that had a twist flavored by the campaign?
    I would have the PC meet a soul-trading devil who offer knowledge and powers to the Warforged in exchange of him helping collecting the souls various people in Barovia promised to the devil.

    It fits the theme of the character and also the gothic horror aesthetic of CoS.
    Last edited by Unoriginal; 2020-08-10 at 07:49 AM.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    EvilClericGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2013

    Default Re: Strahd dark powers thoughts

    Quote Originally Posted by Unoriginal View Post
    I would have the PC meet a soul-trading devil who offer knowledge and powers to the Warforged in exchange of him helping collecting the souls various people in Barovia promised to the devil.

    It fits the theme of the character and also the gothic horror aesthetic of CoS.
    I like that

    I could him asked if he wants to never miss any knowledge written down. If he says yes then he gets Eyes of the rune keeper as a warlock. maybe identify as a spell that he no longer has to identify but still takes a spell slot.

    Eventually maybe something like being in service of a dark power or a devil soul taxonomy experts, learning how to weigh them as quality or cannon fodder? I just want a little more "demiplane of dread" feel if they continue to take boons in the plane. how can that be a hollow victory for the players epilogue? if it isn't already one he could sell his own soul just to learn how to measure others

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Imp

    Join Date
    Feb 2017

    Default Re: Strahd dark powers thoughts

    Quote Originally Posted by JungleChicken View Post
    I like that

    I could him asked if he wants to never miss any knowledge written down. If he says yes then he gets Eyes of the rune keeper as a warlock. maybe identify as a spell that he no longer has to identify but still takes a spell slot.

    Eventually maybe something like being in service of a dark power or a devil soul taxonomy experts, learning how to weigh them as quality or cannon fodder? I just want a little more "demiplane of dread" feel if they continue to take boons in the plane. how can that be a hollow victory for the players epilogue? if it isn't already one he could sell his own soul just to learn how to measure others
    Well, after the warforged has completed a couple errand, the devil could declare him trustworthy and give him the power of making deals in exchange for other people's souls in the devil's name, while getting a commission each time a deal is signed (with how big the reward depending on how big the devil's benefit from the deal is).

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    EvilClericGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2013

    Default Re: Strahd dark powers thoughts

    The druid will continually be asked to be a champion of a Fane of a nature spirit and if they become the champion then they will forever be the champion of the land, stuck in the demiplane to defend the Fanes from future corruption (credit to puffinforest for that idea)

    Goliath fighter will keep having dreams of a person in advancing stages of life overcoming an attack from a monster and asked if they think they could do better, if so then they eventually meet the person that they dreamt about, but that person knows who they are and blames them for a life of hardship, of constantly having monsters sent after them and is out to kill them. This will happen over and over again until the proud noble Goliath admits defeat or becomes a blood thirsty tyrant eager for the next dream of who he will face and the challenges that they overcame. (might be a little lame sauce but I like it so far)

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    EvilClericGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2013

    Default Re: Strahd dark powers thoughts

    I think I have thought of a better idea for the Goliath. He is an adventurer because when his clan brothers were all coming of age and talking of the trials that they overcame his father boasted that his son had bested each ones story. He didn't feel this way so he left that night in secret to slay a beast that was as big, strong, quick, and cunning as his father had talked about

    So the same scenario but the dreams are of CR appropriate monsters fighting a goliath whose obscured by mist, maybe more than one, but the Goliaths fall to the creature each time in his dream and a voice asks if he thinks he can best it. Randomly in Barovia the same beast will attack the party and if the boon from this dark gift and dream sequence happens three times then he eventually gets back only to learn that the Goliath that fell in his dreams were his clansmen, wittled down to all but a few left, his father amongst them, having been given a dream of what his boast had cost the night before his son returns

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2017

    Default Re: Strahd dark powers thoughts

    The question actually ties into the lore of Barovia really well since most of its inhabitants don't have souls. This is actually a big question that comes up in several places in CoS. Babies who don't cry at birth, people wear grey plain clothing, live lives without color or spirit as part of the background of CoS but the ones who do things, the ones who wear a colorful ribbon or display any passion for life, these are also the ones who have souls. Finally, Strahd can tell whether a creature in his realm has a soul or not.

    This could all be tied into the dark powers or Strahd himself, offering the character the answers they seek, for a price.

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    NinjaGirl

    Join Date
    May 2018

    Default Re: Strahd dark powers thoughts

    Quote Originally Posted by Keravath View Post
    The question actually ties into the lore of Barovia really well since most of its inhabitants don't have souls. This is actually a big question that comes up in several places in CoS. Babies who don't cry at birth, people wear grey plain clothing, live lives without color or spirit as part of the background of CoS but the ones who do things, the ones who wear a colorful ribbon or display any passion for life, these are also the ones who have souls. Finally, Strahd can tell whether a creature in his realm has a soul or not.

    This could all be tied into the dark powers or Strahd himself, offering the character the answers they seek, for a price.
    Strahd may not be able to tell if creatures coming in from outside Barovia have souls, he is only explicitly stated to know if Barovians have souls. The reason this would be the case is pretty simple, Barovians without souls are created by Strahd to feed his ego, therefore he knows about all the Barovians without souls.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •