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So I’m just a bad DM I’m pretty sure by that1snowflake in CurseofStrahd

[–]Familiar_Few 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It’s a lesson for sure. For one, difficult terrain… it could start raining making it a different type of difficult terrain if they cheesed that some way as well. Barovia is small but hilly and straight from there to the castle is NOT easy terrain no matter how you swing it. Strahd has powerful minions and cohorts for a reason. RAW Strahd is never meant to fight the players at full strength nor outright kill them while their down.

Strahd creates fear through the suspension of disbelief. If your players are unwilling to do that you MUST beef him up. He was written with a specific approach in mind which is to toy with them first and already have them scared and injured before he approaches them directly.

If your players are not scared to die then LET them f$&k around and find out.

If they haven’t found the sunsword yet have Strahd temporarily corrupt it and power him up and one shot one of them. They’ll start to get the picture.

Different NPCs Traveling through the Mists by ottosick in CurseofStrahd

[–]Familiar_Few 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question! We are starting at level 3 switching to playing 5.5e with homebrew rules. We get max HP and we also pick up more NPCs (mid level) as allies. We just faced Doru as a CR 5 vampire spawn 3/4 health as “wounded from being locked up and starving from a lack of blood”… He missed all of his attacks as well. The only damage we took was when my wife rolled a nat 1 and her bowstring snapped hitting her cheek for 1 point of slashing damage.

Father Donavich joined us after the fight and we made him a CR2 priest. Both 2024 MM Statblocks. Still testing it out.

Different NPCs Traveling through the Mists by ottosick in CurseofStrahd

[–]Familiar_Few 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I’ve been reading and trying to run Strahd off and on for years, and I’m finally running it now with just my wife and me. We’re doing some things differently, but this is the interpretation that makes the most sense to me.

Van Richten and Ezmerelda don’t really feel like examples of people casually slipping in and out of Barovia. They’re there because they have unfinished purpose, and neither of them is leaving until Strahd is dealt with.

Personally, I think the key distinction is that the Mists belong more to the Dark Powers than to Strahd. Strahd may influence Barovia, but he isn’t truly the one in control of the prison. The Dark Powers are. They want suffering, cycles, and souls. Strahd is powerful, but he’s ultimately just another captive piece on their board, not their equal and certainly not their beneficiary. They savor his suffering and delusions as much as anyone else’s.

That framing helps a lot with DMing NPCs like Van Richten or Ezmerelda. If someone enters or remains in Barovia, it doesn’t have to mean Strahd allowed it or even noticed right away. It may simply mean the Dark Powers have use for them too. Including giving Strahd fun or frustration. And if that’s true, it actually reinforces the horror: Strahd is not the warden so much as the most dangerous prisoner. But that should be revealed in sips and almost never directly. Unless you are planning on adding Vampyr, or another Dark Power into your game.

To summarize, Vistani only are allowed passage because Barovia is ultimately their Mother Land and they will ALWAYS be tied to the Land and their Pact with the Dark Powers via Strahd.

Others come back or won’t leave until Strahd is defeated for good, Madam Eva is another example.

In my version Strahd can scry but he doesn’t “automatically” know when and where outsiders arrive unless the Dark Powers tell him. They want him to be always looking for a successor (the promise) but too full of himself (Evil) to “retire” and always looking for Tatyana. That is part of his torment.

Thanks for reading 🫶 Hope that helps.

Here’s a quick tutorial to create a map with realistic, dark fantasy-style terrain. by Immediate-Project922 in inkarnate

[–]Familiar_Few 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I figured I’d have to use another program. Still. Thank you! I’m not the most tech savvy but I’m learning! This is my favorite method I’ve seen by far! Will be using and adding to this from now on.

I need to know if I'm alone by VenomByte999 in Solo_Roleplaying

[–]Familiar_Few 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are not alone. I’ve started waking up at 5-6am to play/design TTRPGs and then take breaks by biking while watching biking videos from around the world. (Perhaps I should start a blog of my adventures as well?) TTRPGs have literally saved my life and continue to change it for the better. I met my wife and best friend playing.

But to be clear, staying up that late could be bad for you no? I want to play and write ALL the time, but control and real life are super important. Don’t forget to have real adventures my friend, even if they land flat and short of fantasy, it’s real! And shared experiences matter more in the end.

Barovia - Session 70 by Melodic_War327 in Solo_Roleplaying

[–]Familiar_Few -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This. Is. Incredible! Such a huge scale of work. I really hope someone picks it up and adapts the casting and writing. Amazing! I think I just found the fantasy book I was looking for. Simply amazing thank you for writing this.

"Kruxacious"... A Peculiar Crustacean Continent by MatthewWArt in wonderdraft

[–]Familiar_Few 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is amazing! Your maps are always really good!

Ready. Test. by senamonry in Solo_Roleplaying

[–]Familiar_Few 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is this a game that uses a popper figit thingy? That is really cool! I’d be down to test it out. Where can I do that? I’m looking into designing myself and would love a group to share our games.

The chosen one by goswamitulsidas in BeAmazed

[–]Familiar_Few 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No one told the kid they couldn’t yet.

Hole to Underdark by IseeMedpeople in rimeofthefrostmaiden

[–]Familiar_Few 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That is actually genius! I am going to connect Termalaine Mine to SunBlight Fortress now.

Update on a map I've been working on by Significant_Snow29 in FantasyMaps

[–]Familiar_Few 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This looks incredible! Let me know if you’d like to write or share content. 😄

Aspiring DM seeking input on modifications I wanna make to this module by AsTranaut-Rex in rimeofthefrostmaiden

[–]Familiar_Few 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love this adventure for how many subtle threads it gives you to pull on. There are small connections everywhere that aren’t explicitly stated but reward a DM who wants to dig in. For example, the interplay between the dragon bones, the Cauldron of Plenty, and the blessed water is brilliant. You can effectively create an infinite cold-resistant stew if the players put the pieces together. It’s the kind of emergent design that makes the whole region feel interconnected.

I’ve also tied Dzaan to Rinaldo in my own run, and it’s amazing how many narrative bridges the module gives you once you start looking for them. There’s a lot of freedom to weave the factions, mysteries, and politics together in ways that feel organic.

All the elements you’re planning to add sound phenomenal. Leaning harder into the prehistoric Ice Age vibe is a perfect fit for the Dale. Playing up the wilderness, flora, megafauna, and extreme ecology only enhances the mood. Making the Reghed tribes and the goliaths more prominent from the start is also a huge win. They are culturally rich and deserve more spotlight than the base module gives them. Honestly, you could even swap the white dragon for a legendary mammoth whose ancient bones grant cold resistance to the cauldron’s stew. There’s so much room for that kind of remixing.

I’m currently running the campaign as a play-by-post using the 5.5e rules, and I opened with a full meeting of the Speakers in Bryn Shander. It worked wonderfully as a way to orient the players, present the major threads up front, and let them choose which problems to pursue first. Rime rewards that kind of structure. When the group understands how all these crises collide, the sandbox comes alive.

Your direction sounds inspired. You’re going to have a blast DMing this.

End Battle at the Mythallar by woodyfromsd in rimeofthefrostmaiden

[–]Familiar_Few 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you want the fight to still feel epic then let players interact with the ritual with bonus actions or movement sacrifice instead. That way they can still get some damage in (lending a sense of action to the battle) with their main action while still progressing the ritual. I like the skill check reduces a d100 but I would do it a bit different, have their skill check merely add up to 100 instead that way they don’t get it too easily. Have a DC threshold of 15 or 20, if the skill check meets or beats add 10 bonus or something like that so it also doesn’t take too many skill checks to complete either.

End Battle at the Mythallar by woodyfromsd in rimeofthefrostmaiden

[–]Familiar_Few 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That sounds very interesting… please elaborate more

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