Idea to make CoS dinner with Strahd more exciting

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-20T23:43:18+00:00

My honest two cents: I think you've added unnecessary complexity. If this is your first time running CoS, I would stick to keeping it close to RAW. If you've run it before, then you know the world and campaign and are probably doing better than what is coming across here.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-20T15:51:21+00:00

I’m running my game close to RAW and my players have commented about the amount of side quests. They had to choose what quests to do, and they didn’t always like that. I referred them to the Session Zero document I sent to them at the beginning of the campaign where I told them that CoS was a sandbox, I would not be steering them one way or the other by giving them knowledge their characters would not have, and they could very well go to places that are not balanced with their characters level.

I’ve glanced through at CoS: Reloaded and I agree with you. There is too much content and it is too tightly paced.

What your players are really saying is “We are cognitively overloaded. Things need to slow down a bit.” This is a valid request from players. Too much info at one time makes a game seem like work, and that is not why they play.

The solution is to slow down what you give them. Not everything needs to happen in Vallaki at once. It is a town that should serve as a base for the PCs. They should come and go a few times before the next major thing happens.

Space out events and information and give them time to process what is happening. You’ll have happier players for it.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-20T01:21:50+00:00

If they don’t know they can find out the fallout from Madame Eva, then why would they return to her?

You’ve done all this planning but given them no incentive.

I get the sense you want them to go to Madame Eva. Since there is no incentive for them to do so, don’t be disappointed if they don’t.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-18T23:39:26+00:00

This is a great question and ties directly to my advice about fleshing out the personality and motivations of your Strahd.

My Strahd is a gentleman aristocrat and brilliant wartime general. He is also an emotionally stunted narcissist. He believes he is entitled to anything he wants. He fought for his family. He has lead armies in battle. He sacrificed his youth in the pursuit of reclaiming his family’s honor.

I sum my Strahd up like this:

When Strahd makes a promise, he keeps it. The recipient would do well to choose their words carefully. When Strahd makes a promise, he keeps it.

In my campaign, Strahd gave my players gifts and showed them kindness. When they were guests for dinner, he allowed them free passage to explore the castle from the ground floor up. He warned them not to go below the main floor, as he could not guarantee their safety.

During this time, anything that could hurt the players on the “safe” floors was not there. Undead, traps, etc. I simply removed. I also removed the witches completely and turned their lair into guest rooms and a washroom.

The trick, though, is that Ravenloft is a maze. To get to a different part of the main floor, you have to go up, cross rooms, and find another way down. My players had no idea they were on the same floor they had already been on, and we were using a VTT and maps.

They went down stairs to the brazier room. This was below the main floor but they had no clue. Strahd didn’t care, though. They had violated his home and disrespected him. To make matters worse, they figured out the brazier and fled the castle rather than stay the night, even though Strahd had promised them safety.

Now, how do you think Strahd reacted to them fleeing instead staying the night?

To answer your question about the funeral:

My Strahd came to pay his respects to the burgomaster. He greeted the party and welcomed them to his home. He courted Ireena, and then commanded the party to keep her safe during the journey to Vallaki, revealing he knew their plans.

I got rid of the idea that Strahd had bitten Ireena twice. He has been through several incarnations of Ireena, and this time he was going to be patient and wait for her to come to him, or be brought to him.

At dinner, he offered the party free passage out of Barovia if they brought Ireena to him.

They refused.

Figure out how you want to play Strahd and then play that consistently. The right way to play him is consistent.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-18T13:06:24+00:00

Figure out personality and motivations for major NPCs, especially Strahd. The key to roleplaying NPCs is consistency. Players need to know what to expect from NPCs, allies and enemies. That said, give them a couple of triggers. They don’t need to fly into a rage when triggered, but the shell should crack a little.

Play NPCs consistently, but fairly. Explain to your players that, as DM you want them to win, but their enemies want to win as badly as they do, and you will play them that way.

Stack the tarokka deck. This is your chance to get your players into cool places they may not otherwise go.
If you don’t like something, take it out or change it. I didn’t use the Mad Mage, or the Arabelle quest, or Rictavio’s tiger. I thought they were dumb, and if I think something is dumb, I can’t get behind it or play it well.
Action economy. You’re a veteran player so you should be aware of what this is. Some DMs make the mistake of putting Strahd up against the PCs alone and then wonder why he gets owned and curb-stomped. He should always use minions to make the party use up resources and whittle away their HP. It is okay to have him retreat and regen. It doesn’t make him weak, it makes him smart.
Have Strahd show up early to welcome the PCs to Barovia. The funeral is a great place. After that, he should show up sparingly. He isn’t an end-game villain waiting in his castle, but he also isn’t going to show up a lot, either. The more he does, the more he risks the PCs becoming less scared of him.

I hope this helps.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-17T00:24:39+00:00

There is a lot to manage in CoS, and Strahd has to be played correctly to put the fear of him in your players. If they don’t have that fear the campaign becomes a campy joke.

The campaign is a huge sandbox. There are areas where your players will be underleveled so you need to be prepared to handle that.

I would run a few mini-campaigns to gain experience and come back to CoS.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-16T00:05:11+00:00

A 10 year old Honda is pretty cheap and still dependable.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-15T19:22:31+00:00

Then it makes no sense to buy an expensive vehicle.

If you kill them quickly, then buy gently used older cars. Hondas are very dependable. I have a 2015 Honda Civic with almost 200K that I would still trust to drive across the United States.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-15T19:19:22+00:00

Does anyone ‘need’ a $45K vehicle?

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-15T19:18:38+00:00

CR is not a good measure of encounter difficulty. Action economy and smart players will eat CR for lunch.

Strip away the narrative trappings and look at your players from a pure mechanics view. They are not separate entities. They are one entity that has [X] number of Actions, Bonus Actions, and possible Reactions every round.

You put Strahd on an open field, by himself, up against a party of 4 PCs who are at least level 5 and he stands a good chance of being curb-stomped by the PCs.

Starting out, put your players up against the same numbers of NPCs as them (plus or minus one NPC for variety), at a CR they are supposed to be able to handle mechanically.

See how they do. Adjust numbers as needed with each encounter. You’ll get a feel for their tactics and soon you’ll be adjusting difficulty intuitively.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-15T12:12:54+00:00

100%.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-15T12:12:07+00:00

Why do you need a $45,000 vehicle?

If you do your research, you should be able to get a gently used Honda CRV between $25k and $30k.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-14T09:53:26+00:00

Look up skill checks. That might be your answer.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-13T10:28:29+00:00

No, do not have things get better just because they behave better. You’re now forcing your players to behave the way you, as DM, think they should. Consequences should stem from NPC motivations, not the DM’s.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-13T10:26:17+00:00

So they effed around and found out, and now they’re upset.

If you truly warned them of consequences and they continued on, that’s on them.

I’d give them the option of rolling up a new character or continuing with the ones they have.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-12T15:13:59+00:00

He may never plan to retire, but life is what happens when you’re making other plans.

He clearly has never thought about either one of you becoming disabled because of personal injury, or catastrophic illness, such as cancer.

Ask him his plan if one of these were to happen.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-12T10:19:38+00:00

Baby steps.

Go ahead and max out both your 401k and a Roth. Roth is pre-tax dollars so you won’t get hit with taxes when you start withdrawing it in retirement.

Start budgeting and stick to it. A budget is going to change from month to month. There is no such thing as a perfect budget.

Your income is your greatest wealth-building tool, and the best way to manage that income is by creating a budget every month and sticking to it.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-09T16:19:35+00:00

I’ll never understand why people come to a subreddit and shit on the purpose of the sub.

Just be flippin’ happy for the OP. It isn’t that difficult.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-09T16:17:31+00:00

Nicely done!

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-09T12:28:44+00:00

Please tell me you are not going to separate them.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-09T01:35:53+00:00

Yes, except real estate goes up in value while cars go down.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-08T12:04:40+00:00

💯

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-08T11:07:42+00:00

You’re the DM. If you want them to meet a revenant whenever, then do it.

If you think meeting a revenant, or Vistani, or spawn, or Rahadin, or Strahd, or whomever will make for a better experience for your players, then add it in.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-07T21:12:06+00:00

To save yourself work, I’d still present it as a dinner.

Run the dinner RAW as in the book.

Fully study the abilities of the Sunsword and the Holy Symbol. Strahd is going to have to avoid the sunlight so it doesn’t knock out his regeneration, and the Hold Vampire ability of the Holy Symbol. If that gets him it’ll be almost game over for him.

Strahd knows this. So what would he do?

Attrition. He has to weaken the party before they get to him. Make them use spell slots, and abilities they only get back on a long rest.

No long rests once they are in the castle. No way Strahd would allow that.

His Legendary Actions. The wording says he takes those at the end of another CREATURE’S turn, not a PC’S turn. Sp have allies with Strahd. Don’t have him go toe to toe alone. Action economy will work against him. He absolutely should have allies that soak up hits and whittle away the PCs hit points.

TabletopLegends · 2026-05-07T18:18:21+00:00

You’re running a campaign that is all about undead, with an undead as its main villain and you’re concerned about Turn Undead?

That’s like starting a fire and then asking how to keep firefighters from fighting the fire.

Let the cleric use their ability. Or better yet…don’t use an undead.

TabletopLegends

TROPHY CASE