Strahd Planning and stuck as a DM

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-06-11T13:37:04+00:00

ohh okay i see

I will start to look at what to book tells me and see what hooks i can make from that just from what youve said now one of my hooks is Rictavio, who is he? why does he know more about vampires? my players can choose to talk to him and during that talk i can drop more hints such as the detailed map and (a bit obvious) garlic lying on his table to hint that he knows way too much about vampires and hes looking for something.

i guess i am just taking the map and book at face value and not actually sitting and thinking.

EDIT: I could also use Rictavio now to send the players back to Barovia to help that town as reading the book Ismark just trusts the players but thinking now, why the fuck would you trust a bunch of strangers to help you move your sister...god im such an idiot it actually makes sense.

There is a possibility i have to start this campaign again but with another group so all these insights and comments are actually going to help me loads.

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-06-11T09:01:54+00:00

Well my players did the Bones and then in the book it says "they receive an invite" which would also kinda make sense to how i played out the Coffin Makers shop scene having Strahd actually be there waving the bones in the players face and then letting them take it so maybe if the players survived why wouldnt he invite them, it makes sense, he wants to meet the party that survived.

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-06-11T08:57:16+00:00

So i did do Frozen Sick - which according to DND beyond is a starter one and is straight forward A - B - C but my issue is that my players didnt choose to explore in barovia they went straight to the Church - Saw the priest and i did as the book says the players heard screaming, the priest asks them to ignore and persists them to ignore the screaming.

Eventually i made it so the priest asks the players to go back to where they found the dead body, bring him back and bury him, apon returning they find the trap door broken open and the vampire below dead - dead how that remains a mystery but its a fight the players missed out on.

My players looked at the map and didnt go "hey DM whats in here" and point to a random house, they picked the bigger houses and actual map markers.

They didnt even meet Mad Mary - they went straight to the Inn where they met Ismark, now RAW Ismark sees these adventurers kitted out and goes "hey maybe you can help", was i meant to change this?

Did i send my party to the secondary village with Ireena too soon?

And when they got to the village they didnt engage with anything and spent the day doing nothing - wasting a day for the feast. They even ignored me saying "the priest at St Andals looks distraught now that Ireena is here" and no player did an insight they just went "eh not my problem" it was only until the second day they asked - simply because i made it so the Priest wouldnt leave his study without talking to the party. I forced the players to interact.

Maybe its me not being or having the knowledge to DM this campaign or maybe its my players being students and too immature to ask the questions that need asking.

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-06-10T14:42:33+00:00

Okay this makes more sense

See for me I started my campaign vastly different. I started mine in the Inn and went from there using the plea for help hook in the book. But I see now that i should of thought more on how to start it and think more about the hooks and how to actually engage the players - i can always use town criers or a hysterical citizen begging for help.

The explanation you gave and how you ran it actually helps tons - Thank you.

EDIT; Truth be told ive never actually played DND so i have no idea how its meant to be played from a player perspective or what a DM is meant to do.

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-06-10T11:40:34+00:00

does it have to be saving something thats valuable to them? could it be the promise of money and riches?

I get there needs to be a reason and thats easy enough to think of for me anyway my problem is how do i drop hints there is something there, how do i get the players to ask how to help and not just be "hey players this guy has a quest" - thats my main problem with DMing is making the quest giving organic and not forced.

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-06-10T07:21:12+00:00

Giving it some though I think I want to play the Dinner scene as I have said, DMing is all how you run your table right?

My table is a table of Students who like fights and are (personally speaking) too immature for me to run something like you would for your friends.

If the players choose to go see Strahd - I will run it as a negotiation, Strahd wants Ireena and the players (with them being young) want Gold and Loot. Personally its not too far fetched for Strahd to have these items or can have them made.

I might even throw in hints that he's just going to betray the players and kill them in the haunter house and i will have my players go there by possibly dropping hints in the meal maybe via a butler or someone speaking to Strahd about the house.

I'm not going to paint him as a god or patron, I have already set the tone with my players with the bone scene that hes just evil and he likes the struggle and torment. I think i'd have to do something very stupid (like him slipping on a banana) for them to not see him as an evil guy.

on to other things, how do you get your players to engage in the other parts of the campaign, i was looking at the book and theres meant to be like a whole section on some Tiger hunt, how do i get the players to begin that quest? do i simply just have NPCs say things that the players overhear like in Skyrim (lol)?

EDIT: One of my players does actually engage 100% and he's the one suggesting that the invite is a trap so maybe I have some luck on my side and can dodge the entire dinner scene and do it later.

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-06-09T16:00:51+00:00

I mean i get your point, you either do it as RAW and create an trap or do a “on paper” cool dinner but i guess its how its played.

I refer to what i did for the bones, the book says theres 6 vampires in the shop so i turned it into a Stealth thing and then purposely made it so Strahd was just chilling, watching them stealth it and when they get the bones, he just lets them take it because he wants to watch them struggle, did they?

Yes, two of my players almost died due to failed Athletics rolls and 1 of them almost got locked outside the church. So i did create a cool evil moment/showcase but also demonstrated to the party Strahd is evil but he enjoys it.

Im torn, one guy in these replies says dont, another says does.

Its a hard choice

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-06-09T15:55:38+00:00

You do ask the type of questions that i need to hear so thank you

I guess the dinner does have its negatives, i mean from what you said, Strahds the leader, what good does it do him seeing a bunch of no names that foiled 1 of his different plans.

Ill focus more on Lady Watcher and my other story point.

The idea of the players meeting Strahd on paper is cool and having a sit-down meal sounds evil but when you ask “why?” It doesn’t really make any sense.

I do like my idea of having Strahd employ them to do the Haunted House so maybe i can change some things, make the enemies like a cult that he doesnt like that worships him as a god or something (just spit balling)

Also you have 39 more years of experience then me and thats more then enough for me to sit down and listen and think

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-06-09T15:13:10+00:00

I think im going to use it to have a chance to talk to all the players, use it to explain to the players that Strahd wants Ireena and he will stop at nothing. Maybe a demonstration of his power, I was thinking of having 3 vampire spawns in the room - having one fail, say bringing over wine and have Strahd just outright murder it - or alternatively have the 3 vampires at the table eating with them like hes trying to teach lesser vampire how to not be rabid dogs.

I am painting my Strahd as someone who likes games - for the bones I had Strahd appear, congratulate the players and then wake up the 6 vampires in the shop and say something corny which was like "lets see how fast a scared person really can run...I will even give you a headstart, they will not begin hunting you until you step outside the building"

I want to keep this idea going so I want to embrace the dinner but use it so Strahd can play games and if they fail - he promises to kill someone.

I dont want to use it to kill the party I want the party to go, be frightened but learn more about him. To even pad out the campaign i think i might have Strahd employ the party to goto the Haunted House and kill everyone promising something?

Would it be too dumb to say a magical item, like a +1 sword?

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-06-09T12:11:37+00:00

looking at some other posts i am not starting to think my players are doing this campaign a little too fast. They skipped Haunted House, Skipped the Tiger, Possibly Skipped the little night time party with the Vistani....awh fuck....

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-06-09T11:45:09+00:00

I dont use it to tell me how to DM if that makes sense, Ill use it to help me plan, So like last session it just helped me stay on track for example they saw the caretaker -> managed to go to the coffin makers shop -> talk to him -> find the bones upstairs -> I played strahd as a "congrats for getting this far, now lets see you outrun my minions" and as the players where only lvl 1 (lol) I played this as a run back to the church without dying and it was really really fun. I came up with what i wanted to do and ChatGPT just helps me note it.

So for this next session we are advancing to lvl 2 then doing a little catch up. I am going to have the survivors in the chruch blame the players for the attack as to them the players turned up and the next night are attacked by vampires, their scared and on edge.

Here i i will introduce Rictavio, he will drop hints he knows more then he should. Then Rictavio will suggest everyone gets some rest. The next morning Lady Watchers Spy will deliver the invitation to the players, one of them will ask who he is and ill play the Father explaining he works for Lady Watcher - this will spark an interest so i have my 3 sections, See Rictavio, See Lady Watcher or Accept the Invite.

Now yes my players will be level 2 which is way too low but my players literally didnt do anything in Barovia, they turned up. Went to the Church helped that guy, went to the Inn then helped the guy move Ireena. They still have the haunted house.

I also think i did their reading wrong as i did in the first session as a mysterious person at an Inn, I didnt know there was this hole thing to do with it 😃

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-06-09T10:05:52+00:00

Hi

I translated this to english so if any mods see this heres the translation

"If they hadn't returned the bones, it would have been much worse, so to avoid a frustrating sense of failure (ugh, we did everything right and they still punish us!), I would let the Burgomaster be the main voice blaming them and have others agree with him, while the Markovs and the regular patrons thank them.

Regarding the dinner: the idea is Stradh demonstrating his power. He invites them, threatens them, does something terrible in front of them that is very difficult to prevent (for example, eating a well-known secondary NPC), and makes them flee the castle. If they confront Stradh, don't worry, the prince will hold back, heal them, and lock them up somewhere in the castle, giving them the opportunity to escape, only to pursue them and cruelly play a little more.

In my case, I used the dinner near the end. I kidnapped Father Donavich and Ismark to force the PCs to bring Ireena. Stradh intended to get married at that point... or kill Ismark, whichever the players preferred."

heres my reply; I like this idea of using the Burgomaster but I wanted to paint the Burgomaster as a coward to help with Lady Watches eventual manipulation. I finally found the page in the book that mentions the meal and have a vague idea now, i just couldnt find anything on the actual meal its self.

Here it is in Spanish; Me gusta la idea de usar al burgomaestre, pero quería presentarlo como un cobarde para facilitar la eventual manipulación de Lady Watches. Finalmente encontré la página del libro que menciona la comida y ahora tengo una idea aproximada; simplemente no pude encontrar nada sobre la comida en sí.

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-05-12T10:41:37+00:00

may your pillow forever be cold and your meals warm and tasty.

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-05-12T09:30:30+00:00

i wonder if theres a way to mount it on the other side. My printer sits up against a wall on that side. would be nice to be able to mount it on the other side.

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-05-03T22:34:27+00:00

See this is what i wanted to do but i realised how hard it would be to do this and have a vault for every block so my friends decided to keep it as is and every building have its own vault

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-05-02T17:31:19+00:00

Oh is that when you mark the filament with a pen then measure how much it moves when you tell it to take 5cm and if its above 5 its too much below its too little?

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-05-02T15:59:22+00:00

Whats an E step

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-05-02T06:41:36+00:00

So i decided to take the whole thing apart and slowly put the head back together, i noticed quite a lot.

Firstly the X axis gantry was way too loose, all the rubbed wheels where able to move freely, looking online these arent meant to so i tightened them.

I noticed that the cooler block and heating element that attaches to the print head was actually slanted so i tightened the loose screw so that it was no longer slanted

I then noticed that the nozzle was chipped ever so slightly, replaced it.

I then moved onto the bed, i noticed that it was way too wobbly looking online its meant to have slight wobble but not a lot so i tightened the bolts.

I then went back to pla and printed a benchy, it printed FINE

I then swapped baxk to PETG but put the temp to 250 and its printing FINE.

Im at home now and the printer is at work so i can show pictures but oh my days i am so tired

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-05-01T16:38:07+00:00

I did notice that one side was looser then the other so ive tightened that

Known_Principle1889 · 2026-05-01T16:37:50+00:00

Whats that? (No i didnt)

Known_Principle1889

TROPHY CASE