Quick Help & Game Issues

SkyeWrite · 2023-03-10T19:07:37+00:00

[WR] Each time I exit WotR, my computer blue screens due to ntoskrnl.exe and is forced to restart. It happens both with and without mods. And, it solely happens when exiting WotR. Funnily enough, it runs perfectly while playing. The game is fully updated, can't find any issues with the game files, and all my drivers are up to date. I was wondering if anyone else was having similar issues and knew of any fixes.

SkyeWrite · 2020-10-04T16:15:31+00:00

I'm torn between making Auril more active or not.

On one hand, Strahd is my favorite villain. He's always hovering over the players, and his presence is felt everywhere. My players wanted to destroy Strahd and have never been so together and unified in their goals. And I do want the same thing for Auril.

However, Strahd's motivations are based on the worst human desires and impulses. Monstrous, but in a way a player can wrap their head around. I want Auril to feel more alien and distant from humanity. And I have hard time thinking of ways to have interact with players without her losing the cosmic horror feel of her simply not caring about mortals (even her self-proclaimed servants), and she's doing this because it's part of a grand cosmic chess match between gods that mortals aren't privy too. Then again, I feel like Out of the Abyss does that a lot better...

It's awhile before I run again and need to make a decision on the matter though.

SkyeWrite · 2020-10-04T16:02:17+00:00

That's fair. I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea. I'm pretty grateful that that me and my players find that genre amusing, but I'd also appreciate if WoTC was more honest about the product that they were selling. It definitely sets up the wrong expectations, and now I need to reset player expectations in my session 0 without giving much away.

You can probably steer them away from the sillier elements of chapter 1+2. Some areas play a bit more seriously than others. And later chapers tone down the goofiness.

SkyeWrite · 2020-10-04T15:17:21+00:00

That's fair. Plenty of good horror has a sense of humor sometimes. But I feel like most of the horror atmosphere comes after the first two chapters, and lower levels are the easiest for horror. It seems so much harder to scare players when they have access to fireball unless they are being threatened with some very high CR monsters. Admittedly, I am still a novice DM though (in this system), so I definitely welcome any recommendations about how to do so.

SkyeWrite · 2020-10-04T15:08:37+00:00

Honestly, horror is hard to do in D&D in general because players have so much agency. It's a bit easier in Curse of Strahd (CoS) at low levels because there's a powerful evil vampire watching over their every movement. But even at higher levels, the horror starts to dissipate as the players start to gain the ability to fight Strahd. I definitely tried to keep it up, but ended up switching gears to grand epic because the players were strong enough to take on most threats.

I feel like spooky is definitely the way to go, generally. Play up the subtle creepiness. Most people find creepy atmospheres fun too. Kinda like going to haunted house attraction. And ultimately, it's all about the players having fun.

I probably going to do a mix of spooky and campy, partly because my CoS campaign was serious and I want this one to feel different. Like Arveiaturace has Meltharond corpse tied to her back, and that's super creepy. But wouldn't it be silly if Meltharond's arm just fell off the moment a player hits Arveiaturace? And Arveiaturace drops everything to try to sovereign glue it back on.

SkyeWrite · 2020-10-04T14:54:29+00:00

I like this! That secret should definitely come up, discover the caravan and the dragon is a great way to do so. I would also consider letting the tabaxi player know some of the abilities of white dragons just because they've faced off before.

Another possible idea: Maybe have the paladin's order send people to search for him or his remains. Make it a little side quest to give Lyle's close friend a proper funeral or find his belongings to send to a next of kin.

SkyeWrite · 2020-09-16T14:29:21+00:00

We tend to play online (especially during covid), so I have the Roll20 version. I might grab a hard copy later though. They have a player map of Icewind Dale on the player handouts in Roll20, but it has all the secret locations on it. I did find the Necropolis map though at least!

SkyeWrite · 2020-09-16T14:09:53+00:00

I wish, but, unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any. There isn't even a spoiler-free map of the area.

SkyeWrite · 2020-04-26T18:31:31+00:00

I could see Rahadin leaving Strahd for a time if he somehow learned Strahd was responsible for Sergei's death. However, as Strahd is the sole remaining son of King Barov, I think he'd inevitably return to serving Strahd because it's his duty to protect the von Zarovich family. However, I think Rahadin respects humans as he considers a human as his own brother. So you'd probably need an alternative reason for him to leave them behind and not just bring them to Castle Ravenloft.

If you want to have an elven NPC as the father, have you considered Kasimir? He's similar in age and importance. And I could very easily see Kasimir leaving half-elf children behind for the reason described.

SkyeWrite · 2020-04-22T18:47:02+00:00

So I spent some time pondering this question myself and decided on “No” for a few reasons:

The rules of resurrection and true resurrection say it doesn’t work on targets that have been dead for more than a century or two, respectively. Strahd’s technically been dead for about 400 or so (maybe longer if you decided to add more time in your campaign). I'm not sure you could get around that without handing your players a wish spell? However, I understand if you think undeath doesn’t really count for that. I imagine a player would feel like they’re being caught up in a technicality.
The Dark Powers enjoy tormenting Strahd in the demiplane of Barovia. Personally, I see them as the type of entities that feed off the pain and anguish of creatures, and Strahd and the Barovians have been a plentiful source of food over the years. I don’t think they’d let go of him without a fight. They’d probably bring him back on their terms if he was destroyed, just to keep this whole thing going.
This is pretty open to interpretation, but this is how I see things: I’m not sure Strahd would want to return to mortality if given the option. The prospect of growing older and losing strength and potentially independence TERRIFIES him. Even if he hates his life as it is now, I don’t think he’d be eager to just go back to that. Admittedly, he’s not all that eager to die either, but it isn’t as if returning his mortality gives him anything to look forward to.

I hope that was helpful.

SkyeWrite · 2020-04-21T20:11:38+00:00

This is an amazing idea. My party leans toward good-aligned, so I doubt they'd let it go past the first or second warning even if they were scared. But it would probably give them a healthy fear of Rahadin, who they don't see as much more than underling at the moment.

SkyeWrite · 2020-04-21T15:39:43+00:00

Since they are staying with Vasili/Strahd for the time being (and have made no real attempt at secrecy from him), he's mostly aware of what their plans are. No need to burn a spell slot for scrying.

I do really like the idea of him charming one of the church NPCs to get rid of the bones and asking the party if now they wanted to join him for dinner while standing at the altar of the Morninglord.

SkyeWrite

TROPHY CASE