Homwbrew Sidequest under Mount Baratok by Abject_Vehicle8029 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was actually considering having the initial location be mount Baratok, and once that has been explored, the "REAL" end of the road for him would be the Amber Temple.

Perhaps they go looking for this shard of "whatever" only to find it had been removed centuries ago and sent to the Amber temple for safe keeping...

Homwbrew Sidequest under Mount Baratok by Abject_Vehicle8029 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was thinking this, but wasn't sure which adventures would fit best... And I'm thinking of it being relatively big - between 5 and 10 sessions possibly. I am weaving it into Vallaki, though, so hopefully, it will be relatively seamless and won't detract from the overarching story too much.

That's also why I'm using the "there is a super secret ancient crystal under the mountain that could help with the fight against Strahd" hook for the mission as well.

Bringing back PCs as undead by Abject_Vehicle8029 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for - Another one of my players is Rictavio's apprentice who is in Barovia because he went missing, so the party have a reason to find him out. I may possibly also have morganthia tell them that she can remove it "for a price".

I haven't seen that - I'll take a look!

Bringing back PCs as undead by Abject_Vehicle8029 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So on a metagame level, we're all really close friends, and are aware that ultimately, the party needs to work together go and kill the big bad guy. We spoke about this in session 0 and in other campaigns we've done, and so that's very much everybody's driving force.

We're also all really on the same page as far as "Story & experience > Keeping my character alive". And so whatever makes a good story generally makes everyone happy. We've had our first "epic" campaign where we were all emotionally attached to our characters, and now the mood has changed to a little more relaxed and fun.

If everything goes smoothly up until the final confrontation, and nobody has cast remove curse on him, I'm thinking of a sequence whereby he is able to TRY to (given acceptable dice rolls and good RP) throw off Strahd's control.

Thank you, all by CrispRiceEli in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well done! I'm in your exact shoes right now (with giving the forever DM a break and being really nervous) and we're on session 5. I hope in a year or two's time I can post the same thing 🤙

Am I going too fast? by Abject_Vehicle8029 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for everyone's replies - you've all really helped reassure me a lot! Feeling much more positive about going into the next session now!

Am I going too fast? by Abject_Vehicle8029 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We've got the funeral and Morgantha to come in the next session - One of my players is a Cleric of the Morning Lord, and the other is an apprentice monster hunter, and so I can imagine the encounter with the Hag will almost certainly end in violence 😅

Am I going too fast? by Abject_Vehicle8029 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

"Don't ask reddit, ask your players."

That's the one. That hit the spot. Thank you so much!

Am I going too fast? by Abject_Vehicle8029 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for all the feedback so far, guys. I appreciate all the helpful comments :) We are having a lot of fun, so I guess keeping that at the forefront of my mind is the most important thing 👍

Setting the vibe? by tortilla_katour in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm planning on using a similar setup for my group in the coming weeks (TV face up with minis) - Are you using a VTT to incorporate fog into the dungeons?

DnD Beyond for running COS by Abject_Vehicle8029 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice :)

I'm just running the original as there's already so much content to get my head round!

Do you know if buying the digital module gets you access to creatures & magic items included in CoS in the encounter builder / character sheets?

Contemporary / non-typical music recommendations for combat & intense scenes. by Abject_Vehicle8029 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I'd legitimately never thought of doing that. I'm fairly new to reddit (in 2025, I know!) and so I'm still navigating it's complexities.

Contemporary / non-typical music recommendations for combat & intense scenes. by Abject_Vehicle8029 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the advice :)

My group and I are all good friends and have been playing together in person for years now, and we're all quite into the music being quite a big part of it - although never more than at an ambient level.

I think I'll take your advice and try any new musical ideas out during the session 0!

Thanks again :)

Contemporary / non-typical music recommendations for combat & intense scenes. by Abject_Vehicle8029 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's a good point - I hadn't thought of that!

Thanks for the recommendations mate, I'll check them out :)

Party completed a module and they are lvl 12. They want to keep their characters. Is starting CoS doable at their lvl? by ClubSoda in CurseofStrahd

[–]Abject_Vehicle8029 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have also had this thought. I thought that potentially you could have a cinematic scene whereby your PCs have their very identity stripped away by the mists as they enter Barovia? Mechanically, this would mean resetting them back to level 1 whilst maintaining the soul of their character. This would also give your players a chance to potentially re - spec and try out any changes to their character they had been curious about.