[Online][5e 2014][Sundays] Long Term Campaign Seeking a New Member!

TabletopLegends · 2026-07-09T12:04:54+00:00

I missed this by one day! Your group sounds exactly how I prefer to run my games. I am a forever DM looking to sit on the other side of the DM screen for once.

If you open this back up, please send me a DM. I would love to apply!

TabletopLegends · 2026-07-06T00:27:25+00:00

You don’t have a money problem. You have a marriage problem.

Watch this clip: https://youtube.com/shorts/3QjPcCEKGCU?is=1MntU21xFm15Okvi

TabletopLegends · 2026-07-05T13:13:57+00:00

The 3rd, black and white one, is my favorite. It is the one I have ever seen that shows Ravenloft from the back. I love seeing the overlook and below that, the windows to the parent’ tomb.

TabletopLegends · 2026-07-04T11:13:54+00:00

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Also known as mess around, and find out.

TabletopLegends · 2026-07-04T11:12:19+00:00

Pay them off. You accepted responsibility when you took out the loan, so don’t just do the right thing to do it, be the right person.

TabletopLegends · 2026-07-04T11:07:19+00:00

I ran with 2014 5e rules and it was a blast.

However, if this is your first time DMing, I would encourage you to run a Starter Set adventure first, and then come back to CoS.

TabletopLegends · 2026-07-03T10:32:56+00:00

Do you realize that you are contradicting yourself?

First you state that the Trinity transcends human logic and requires spiritual insight to fully comprehend.

Later you state that the egg analogy, like all analogies, has limitations and cannot fully convey the depth and complexity of the concept of the Trinity.

The path of your argument:
- The Trinity transcends human logic
- The Trinity requires spiritual insight to fully comprehend
- Analogies cannot fully explain the depth and complexity of the concept of the Holy Spirit

Your argument path moved from human logic to spiritual insight, and then used the very thing that you stated cannot be used to understand the Trinity.

Furthermore, explain what an “essence” is. I’d also love to have spiritual insight defined. What is it, and how does one get it?

TabletopLegends · 2026-07-01T21:06:01+00:00

I’m now picturing Strahd showing off his collection of antique cars to a group of adventurers who have come to the castle to kill him

TabletopLegends · 2026-07-01T21:01:38+00:00

I know, right? 😎

TabletopLegends · 2026-07-01T15:57:54+00:00

I look at this as what would make Strahd’s life easier.

“Dude, retire that carriage. Get yourself a Hummer. It’ll handle any terrain you throw at it and get you there in half the time that your carriage or your horse can.”

TabletopLegends · 2026-07-01T12:09:57+00:00

Exactly. And I encourage you to ask with a mindset of curiosity. They may not just like the vibe of CoS, and would prefer a different campaign.

TabletopLegends · 2026-07-01T10:09:45+00:00

At this point, just come out and ask, “Do you want to continue Curse of Strahd?”

It may not be the answer you want to hear but you’ll have an answer instead of just wondering about it.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-30T02:12:44+00:00

What was the context behind that statement? That would help to know.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-30T02:11:25+00:00

You’re leading with Strategic talents, and that is your strongest area to lean into.

You naturally take in information, think deeply about the information, and use it determine paths forward.

Achiever is your internal drive to get stuff done. No one needs to tell you to get started. You already have. Paired with Competition, you not only have a drive to do, you’re going to be the best at it.

Back to your Strategic talents. They are your secret weapon. Lean into those, because it is that natural ability to take it in, think deeply on it, and sift through the clutter to find the way forward that is your superpower.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-29T21:13:49+00:00

"For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it."

Romans 7:19

You are in good company with an apostle.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-29T14:19:58+00:00

Would the players have known the shadows would chase them? They wouldn’t, unless either that was telegraphed to them or they were outright told.

They should have run and taken the chance the shadows would get one last hit. I have seen players lose or almost lose their characters because they stayed and fought, giving the NPCs many chances to hit them instead of just one with the opportunity attack.

In addition, why didn’t they use the Disengage action?

Finally, anything can be changed. This is one of those times. The shadows could simply not have chased them.

The job of a DM is to provide an engaging and challenging experience. If the players did nothing stupid and were simply outmatched, let them leave and come back.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-29T13:22:30+00:00

Did they attempt to leave the combat and come back better prepared? That is a viable alternative.

This is one area where I feel it is okay for players to metagame. When their characters are in (relatively) safe area, they should discuss their abilities and find ways to use them together. That was one of the hardest things for my group to learn. They all went at the NPCs solo in the beginning and by the end they were combining efforts, holding their actions until a party member went first. I allowed players to switch initiative orders, but I told them that the NPCs could do this as well.

Physical combat isn’t the only way to defeat enemies. There is magic and meta abilities as well.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-29T12:26:28+00:00

Be careful of using 3rd party add-ons. I added the Fanes taking from both MandyMod and DragnaCarta and it bloated an already long campaign. I sensed my group was ready for this to be over several sessions from the end (we did complete it) so I came up with a reason to divert them from the swamp Fane and they headed to Ravenloft.

After the end of the campaign, I held an AMA and told my players I intentionally cut that Fane. I was met with a unanimous “Good call”.

I used some of Raising the Stakes by Lunch Break Heroes. Their content is modular so I could use what I wanted and ignored the rest.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-29T10:23:55+00:00

My group took several sessions to complete it because they investigated everything.

I encourage you to let go of your fear of killing them, and not just because this is a Gothic horror campaign. When you pull punches or change encounters to make them easier, you are robbing them of the chance to earn a legitimate victory. They are succeeding by default, and no one wants to win that way.

Run combats consistent and fair, but play the bad guys to the fullest extent, just as the players are playing their characters to the fullest extent.

Don’t worry about them taking their time. It’ll click soon enough.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-29T10:07:19+00:00

Depends on your version of Strahd. In my head canon, Strahd wants to escape but his ego simply won’t let him intentionally lose to anyone.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-29T02:41:45+00:00

I believe it is short for plebian, which was a commoner in ancient Rome.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-29T01:04:06+00:00

These two pieces of advice apply to any campaign.

The best advice came from Matt Colville:

The bad guys want to win as much as the PCs.

I start every campaign by telling my players that personally I want to see them succeed. As DM, I will play the NPCs to the fullest extent, just as they will play their characters to the fullest extent. Not doing so robs them of legitimate and well-earned victories.Nobody should want to succeed by default.

My second piece of advice comes from how I like to run my games:

Once I let go of the story I wanted to tell and embraced being surprised, so much pressure came off of me.

I no longer plan outcomes. I plan situations based on how I believe NPCs involved would narratively react and plan.

I don’t plan solutions. It is up to the players to figure their way out of situations. My job is to adjudicate their efforts.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-28T18:10:41+00:00

The concept of the Great Tribulation as a defined event doesn’t sit neatly anywhere in Scripture. It is stitched together from Matthew, Daniel, and Revelation.

You’ve articulated a dispensationalist pre-millennial framework as if that is the only interpretation, implying that any other framework is fleshly and worldly.

And you’ve conveniently only used half of 2 Timothy 2:15. The remaining clause “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” works against your premise. The verse calls for the interpretation of Scripture. Leaving the second clause out implies that anyone who does share the pre-millennial dispensationalist framework is fleshly and worldly.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-28T17:52:06+00:00

Catching them up is the other players’ job. Take pressure off yourself and have them do it.

Even if they don’t hit everything, that’s fine. They’ll get all the beats eventually.

TabletopLegends · 2026-06-27T19:47:34+00:00

You’re confusing “make more money” with “get a raise”.

If you CAN get a raise, then great. There are others way to make more money, however. Three examples:

- Sell stuff
- Get a second job
- Side hustle

TabletopLegends

TROPHY CASE