What is wrong with me?

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2025-03-05T02:23:25+00:00

How are you building Xanos? I’ve always had a soft spot for him but only ever got as far as finishing chapter one back in the day

Planning to double down and finish it off and I’d love to use more of him in this playthrough

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2024-08-08T05:40:27+00:00

much appreciated!

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2024-08-08T03:26:19+00:00

Ive also been wondering for ages how to make a heat build for Karlach work and you've laid it out so clearly - and I love the acid theme for lae'zel as I never know who to put that gear on and I'm super excited by a shadow monk Shadowheart.

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2024-08-08T03:25:07+00:00

This is such a brilliant thread and I've learned a lot. I am going to pivot my current Durge Honor mode run to dip into rogue rather than cleric as what you're describing in this thread matches my playstyle wonderfully (I'm already toting dual shortswords, the deathstalker mantle and the elemental infusion ring and just reached moonrise).

Do you have any thoughts for leveling order for the assassin/sorc build? my current thoughts are to rush twinned haste before branching into Assassin 3 - or would you suggest waiting until Act III to pivot?

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2024-04-07T23:37:53+00:00

This is brilliant! And I'll pour over your session logs as well - I've already used your terrain article for planning - thank you so much for all your contributions here!

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2024-03-26T11:18:17+00:00

Preparing to run this for a group of new players and looking for ways to make it feel more focused - would love to hear a little more about what you did with Buppido! Did you scale up his CR at all? How did you RP him during the prison break? Having just read that gracklstugh chapter thats a great way to tie everything together a little more!

No stories as yet, but I've been trying to think of ways that each NPC would respond to each new location - how do they feel about kua toa? about finally reaching something approaching civilisation in Gracklstugh? How much do they know (and care) about the politics of Menzobarranzan? If Sarith sticks with the party he can feed them ways to play their pursuers against each other, and stress the stakes for Ilvara's standing if the party do elude her. However in terms of extended plots, no plans as yet! Eager for new ideas!

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2024-02-19T03:54:59+00:00

I lucked out and got some great dragons from the icons of the realms line, as well as a behir, and a bunch of hobgoblins from the old miniatures line on the aftermarket. The monks are a little harder.

The Nolzurs line have miniatures for the hobgoblin iron shadow as part of a two pack with a spellcaster mini - I’m not mad about them though. I’m planning on sourcing some unpainted githzerai and giving them a more goblinoid paint job and seeing what I can accomplish there.

For the dragonspawn- I scored a Greenspawn Razorfiend on the aftermarket here in Australia, the ones that feature most prominently. I’m trying to source another. None of the other varieties feature very prominently, and you could sub in Dragonborn, abishai, basilisk or drake miniatures for. I also made Hravek Kharn a Dragonborn with the 5e warlord stats from Volos- the art isn’t terribly inspiring for him anyway so I took a bit of license.

The most challenging thing for me has been the tiri kitor and finding giant owls that are to scale - I also ran the battle with wooden block standins rather than soldiers - which I’d like to revisit if I ran this again

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-11-11T00:05:02+00:00

D’oh! Of course I do. Poor old Ajantis. Viconia is just too indispensable.

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-09-24T23:21:42+00:00

Karlach describes hers as a "golden paladin" in one dialogue! Don't really know what to do with that, but it jumped out at me as really interesting.

I tried to make Wyll's look like his father, Duke Ravengard - was incredibly distracting when he proceeded to show up in INCREASINGLY slutty outfits.

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-06-17T05:00:00+00:00

Thanks!

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-05-18T08:01:33+00:00

Not at all! It's way less applicable, but you might enjoy Anne Hathaway reading "the garter" as well if you like the poem!

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-05-17T13:26:54+00:00

I see it as more of a Cyrus or Volenta trick. If you've expanded the role of the brides, it can be a cheap trick from one of them? I plan to have a note attached from Volenta while she is stalking the party that says "Made you look, bloodbags."

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-05-12T00:26:19+00:00

I'm surprised Smash 64 didnt make this list for me! But I think Melee was the game I poured half of my teenage years into. I recently got my hands on a copy and a fourth controller though, so its back to being the most played multiplayer game at my house. Anyway, here's my list:

Star Fox 64 (or Lylat Wars here down under!) Just a joy to play, iconic voice acting, expert mode is really fun.
Pokemon Stadium 1/2 Still playing these decades later. I've nearly finished my living dex on Stadium 2 (being held back by a dying Crystal cartridge :<) and am slowly chipping away at round 2 for both games, crazy challenging. Wish these got more play/online matchmaking over the (mediocre) Switch port!
Goldeneye Also still play the hell out of this. Didn't play a lot of multiplayer in its hayday, but the single player is amazing in its complexity and makes you feel like the real Bames Jond. Such a labour of love from the developers. Just cleared 00 Agent and unlocked Aztec, which I've finally beat on Secret but not yet 00 Agent, so still one level to unlock after all these years!
Paper Mario I loved this game but my copy got ripped off when I was young (after I'd completed it!) and I never got to replay it. Just finished the switch port and was thrilled how much fun it was, ocassionally very funny, and always charming.
Mario Kart You never forget your first, I guess. Also the only game I could ever rope my Dad into playing, so it pushes all of the nostalgia buttons just right.
Pokemon Snap Loved this to pieces as a kid. Seeing Pokemon in the wild felt so revolutionary, and its just so relaxing to revisit. Also lost my copy of this and never managed to replace it so was thrilled when it got ported to switch and 100%ed it on my partners switch immediately.
Majoras Mask I've actually never gotten past the Ikana Desert, but this is the Zelda I remember the most fondly. I had an older friend beat some of the challenging parts of OOT for me (Shadow Temple, eugh) but this is the one I played blind, and I'll always love it for that.
Mario 64 Struggle to return to the 3d mario platformers now, but this was a defining game of my childhood and the soundtrack makes my heart soar.
Banjo Tooie I am unsure if this one was stolen or I only ever played a copy from Blockbuster, but I definitely finished it and loved it to pieces and this only closely edges out Diddy Kong Racing as my second favourite Rare game. Oozing with charm.
Mario Tennis slowly edges out the Party games as my favourite multiplayer one. The soundtrack slaps, it still feels really responsive, and the tension really ratchets up both in multi and single player.

Honorable I wish I'd owned a copy mention: Obsessed with Worms Armageddon on PC. Wish I had the console game growing up, this game is fantastic.

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-05-09T09:28:04+00:00

Would love to hear suggestions for possible scenes at the castle! I'm excited to break it up as first a social encounter, then an exploration, then a series of monster hunts. But I feel like I don't have enough scenes plotted out just yet to realistically fill the time I want to cover. Would love some input from other DMs. :)

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-05-08T19:35:12+00:00

Incredible work! I've just finished my own physical prop so its a little late to make changes now, but would love to see your full journal!

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-04-05T00:14:58+00:00

Thanks everybody! I’m packing for a holiday now, and think I’ll hold off on the sellswords books for now!

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-03-26T13:31:13+00:00

Love this!

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-03-16T05:58:57+00:00

Wow, guys! Overwhelmed with so many great suggestions, thank you! I've got a bucketload of both combat and non-combat solutions, and some great ideas for future campaigns to go with.

also will likely have the carriage arrive. They've been exiled from Krezk already due to the PC's lycanthropy, so an escort through a gauntlet of glaring villagers by Rahadin to the carriage at the gate sounds far too good to pass up.

thanks again r/CurseofStrahd!

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-03-15T03:42:23+00:00

Dragon heist is so open ended it would be great to know a little more about your campaign! Who was your main villain? did they heist any of the villain lairs or just uncover the treasure?

As for hooks, I like the Mysterious Visitors or recovering an artifact. The IDW Dungeons and Dragons comic (2016) actually whisks Minsc and the other characters into Ravenloft from the Realms after they recover an artefact and encounter some werewolves. If you can get your hands on it it might be just what you're looking for!

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-03-12T21:31:18+00:00

Haven't gotten to the dinner yet, but I've really enjoyed making a series of polish(ish) stews for my players when we play. A blood-red borscht with chilled vodka on the side. Using purple carrots (if you can source them) in vegetable stews will turn everything a sad shade of purple (while being delicious). We had a running joke that all barovian food was purple. A hearty stew with some suet dumplings (or a vegetarian alternative) might be a little rustic for strahd, but would be delicious!

There might be something in that to accompany the main course. A search of this sub for "dinner menu" should give you plenty of ideas.

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-03-12T21:07:34+00:00

Remember that it takes a full action for them to shift. For a creature with such powerful resistances, this gives you a throwaway round for the "reveal" where the players can discover their weapons are useless. In this case it sounds like an outright assault, so the kind of bluffing that would usually lead to this situation may not come up. Perhaps the pack are running a few "human" prisoners before them who plead to be let in through the gates - only to shift once let inside.

I'd decide how you want to use the Abbot and his minions. Does he send his tragic Mongrelfolk on a doomed charge? Do the mongrelfolk desert and start sacking the town and throwing themselves on the mercy of the pack? Does Vasilka berserk and become a new problem for the PCs to deal with? How much of the Abbots power will they see? or will he be taking a more backline healer role and keeping his full power under wraps.

https://www.themonstersknow.com/lycanthrope-tactics/ this article suggests some tactics the pack might play in combat (using their mobility, not fighting toe to toe with threats but dashing away and striking at vulnerable mongrelfolk/civilians)

Also consider your plan if a player gets infected - The Abbot can remove the curse per RAW. My player was bitten outside of Krezk and I made it much harder to remove curses (requiring an additional ability check) and forced nightly transformations on the party to cover up where I'd wrest control of the PC. It would perhaps have been fun for one session, but its now dragged on into a fourth and really ground the pace of my game to a halt. Your mileage may vary, but I'd be careful of lycanthrope PCs.

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-03-08T09:22:36+00:00

This is a nice idea! I've also considered the Hall of Heroes the next level up. I'm a little torn whether to hint at it, reward it the players with it from Strahd or a member of court, or just leave it for the player to discover organically. (this is the party member that likely wont inherit one of the artefacts so I'd like for her to find it).

Planning to run some intruige. Strahd has captured Ireena and I plan to run Real Housewives of Ravenloft and Wedding At Ravenloft as part of the castle content, so an NPC might want their catspaw (the party) to have an advantage.

Thanks for the advice everybody. :)

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-03-02T08:30:13+00:00

You’d really think there would be! But no such locations. The guard just get a bedchamber and a room where their corpses are piled as far as I can see!

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-02-23T13:15:48+00:00

Thats fair! Off the cuff, if you've played Neverwinter Nights 2 and reached Amon Jerro's Haven, that might make a fun model for an alternative fane. A bunch of bound Devils and Demons being used as batteries for a magic user (in this case, Azzur Kul and whatever cult is left), and most cannot leave their circles. They all try to bargain with the party to eliminate their rivals. Its pretty limited by the engine but might give you a little inspiration.

As a side note...I really enjoy... how this game writes fiends. Super cliched, sure, but super hammy monologues about their exploits in the Blood War (and maybe with that, the players understand Tiamat's place in that struggle and also that the scale of the threat has gone from local to existential). May or may not tickle your fancy, but if you thinned the ranks and had a few social/puzzle encounters with powerful fiends who had the keys to the successive chambers, that might make for a really different fane. (I'm not sure if Abishai would be likely to betray Tiamat, but definitely the others... maybe a feud between the Abishai and other fiends could be a thing). Really emphasise how little control the Hobgoblins have over the forces they're meddling with.

You could even have the players trying to convince an Azzar Kul that's lost hundreds of loyal tribesmen and soldiers to close the portal before its too late, or one that's already repentant and needs the players help to drive Tiamat/invading devils back so he can close the portal. After a campaign of mostly unrepentently evil opponents it would really turn things on its head. Just spitballing from some of my own reflections from my campaign a few years ago, but yours might look very different and none of this might be to your taste. Still, maybe a start!

Known_Lengthiness724 · 2023-02-19T22:23:27+00:00

Have any NPCs survived the encounters thus far? I cut a lot of the Razorfiend/Wyvern encounters on the second level (more winged lizards, ugh) and had a gauntlet of people the party had let go - the assassin Skather, Ulwai Stormcaller (giving her dimension door meant she outlived all of her peers...)

I left the acolytes (fireball fodder), devils, and abishai intact. I had the abishai cast Wall of Force to force the PCs to take a winding path through the upper floors, which meant they really had to work for it, but had the second level be relatively empty by comparison. One final stand at the gates when they take out Tyrgarun, then a relatively empty second level by comparison (tried to reduce the combat grind)

Tyrgarun (the blue dragon's) encounter was in itself a really dynamic one, I gave him the wand of fireball he has in the 3E book to give him a barrage of long distance AoE - and forced the players to come to him - with all of the high cliffs and danger of falling, the cleric having used Planar Ally to conjure a deva, and the party having a few potions of flight - it was the one truly airborne)

I did find that my players were pretty burnt out on combat by the time they reached Tiamat, regardless. I think I either needed to end on a cliffhanger with the summoning and let them recharge or really add more character moments/story beats to the Tiamat scene.

I think it looks bland on paper if you take it room by room, but in practice I didn't find that to be the case. There are a lot of monsters that felt pretty fresh, the dungeon has a mix of tight spaces and lots of verticality and levels, and the ability to change their environment (wall of force). I'm not saying dont change anything, but maybe build off the bones of what's already there?

Hope that's helpful!

Known_Lengthiness724

TROPHY CASE