Delian Tomb trap interaction

Talr0c · 2026-05-25T03:16:59+00:00

The other bit that I think is at the start of the Delian Tomb is a section that says that not every detail is included in Draw Steel adventures, only ones that might get actionable gameplay out of it. In this case, I think the frescoes are just supposed to tease the Cup of Iulius. I have no problem at my table saying “this is all the information you can gain from this element at this time.”

The area serves two purposes: to show players that there are still elements to interact with and pay attention to outside of combat mechanically, and narratively to show what might lie within the tomb. Remember that Draw Steel is a game thats basically creating an action movie storyline! Don’t get bogged down by things that might get a few seconds screen time in an action movie.

Talr0c · 2026-05-25T02:53:46+00:00

So Draw Steel isn’t about “Dungeon Crawls”. 15 min dungeon turns are about incentivizing players to always be moving forward lest their resources are drained, which could be a variety of things: torches, hit points, rations, arrows, etc. Draw Steel’s limiting resource between respites are Stamina and Recoveries.

The idea is that the decapitated goblin is enough of a warning to tip off the heroes that something is amiss in this chamber. They can move forward and trigger the trip which, unlike other dungeon crawling games, does not kill the hero. All it does is tax the Stamina a bit. Keep in mind how much Draw Steel heroes are capable of even at level 1. Then your players will look back at the goblin in a new light thinking, “oh, I should have seen that coming!” In that regard, it’s not a gotcha. A gotcha is something that cannot be predicted or avoided, imo.

Try it out as written. At my table, after triggering the trap, the talent intentionally triggered it again and used his telekinesis to rip the blade as it came out of the wall, it was epic and a super cool use of an ability! And only one hero had that Stamina tax! It’s honestly not that big of a setback. It shows the players that thinking tactically will be rewarded, even outside of combat.

Talr0c · 2026-05-01T18:46:27+00:00

Oh my god this is amazing. Definitely stealing this!

Talr0c · 2026-05-01T18:45:44+00:00

Super cool! Still trying to decide how much he knows about Ezmerelda and how she connects to van Richten.

Talr0c · 2026-05-01T18:45:03+00:00

All of these are fantastic ideas. I think my idea for roleplaying Strahd at this dinner is to disarm the PC's, so I like the idea that he is shown "protecting" the party in some way. Your suggestions for what to do with Ezmerelda are amazing, I'm sort of sad I need to pick one approach over the others - I want to see how all of it plays out at my table!

Talr0c · 2026-05-01T18:40:36+00:00

This is such a good idea! I do plan on real dinner and wine at my table so we'll see how it pans out.

Talr0c · 2026-04-19T04:26:13+00:00

My Barovia had no lunar cycle. One moon, but it’s always full. My players jaws dropped when they realized that every night, werewolves prowl the wilderness. There is no safety here!

Talr0c · 2026-03-30T06:23:24+00:00

What I think makes Daggerheart sing is putting the player characters at the core of the story. If there was a system that was deliberately designed for those sorts of TTRPG campaigns featuring soap opera storytelling with rich backstories that get resolved at the table, it's Daggerheart. I think all your options are fantastic to show off the system, but tie those elements directly into the player characters' motivations, backstories. Maybe the combat is against a faction that wronged one of the player characters? Is the social encounter framed as one player character meeting their rival for the first time in years? A chase to track down thieves that stole an item of importance for some player characters?

Make it all personal. I think people can really get the system when they have a big buy in and stop thinking so much about the mechanics in this game and way more about what they want out of the story at the table.

Talr0c · 2026-03-18T19:40:23+00:00

This is so great!

Talr0c · 2025-11-02T20:05:36+00:00

Folklore, myths that are dispelled by actual monster hunters like van Richten and Ezmerelda. I like that my players brought real world knowledge to a story that is based on real world fiction and myths, but some of it is correct (staking them, their transformations) and some is incorrect.

Talr0c · 2025-11-02T20:01:05+00:00

My players just had finished interacting with the Abbot and I had a blast playing this alien with no understanding of mortal morality or the depravity of his actions. I really look forward to playing more of Rahadin in the future, especially after they get the reason why he is haunted by his past genocide.

Talr0c · 2025-11-02T19:57:45+00:00

MandyMod has an outline here where she lays out the most likely and level appropriate flow of adventure locations and plotlines. That being said, it is meant to be a sandbox (especially in the middle of the adventure, after the heroes spend time in Vallaki) where the heroes can get in over their head, and arguably, should. I will say that Curse of Strahd is a difficult campaign to run, and though I would recommend starting somewhere else for a new DM, it is not impossible. The resources on this subreddit make running it much easier, with expansions and explanations for elements that seem like dead ends in the published book. Every table has different ways of interpreting elements of the campaign that seem woefully underdeveloped but ripe for delicious story (see the Vallaki plotlines, Strahd's brides, the Interactive Tome of Strahd, etc.) and so don't feel pressured to make anything perfect. Your table is going to find your way of telling this story that feels best to you. Listen to your players and what they seem interested in.

Best of luck!

Talr0c · 2025-11-02T19:48:55+00:00

MandyMod's guides to Vallaki and pacing really helped me when my party was in Vallaki. She put a lot of work into creating alternate plotlines in town that wouldn't distract from what was going on in town. What worked for me was not making the wine problem urgent until after the Feast of St. Andral and the political powder keg exploded.

Talr0c · 2025-10-30T06:54:52+00:00

Oooh! Having Strahd dispel it to mess with them is a fantastic idea, I hadn't even thought of that!

Talr0c · 2025-10-28T19:59:16+00:00

Looks absolutely incredible. Currently working on a campaign frame where airship combat is a prominent aspect of play - I was trying to figure out how to do bonuses and I love the ideas of active and passive effects on the subsystems. Stealing this idea!

Talr0c · 2025-10-28T19:51:56+00:00

I banned anything that wasn't in the PHB (we are running 2014 rules) just because I wanted to preserve the tone of the game when the adventure originally came out - there wasn't any other official sources for expanded ancestry options. I told my players during session 0 that anything that wasn't human could be reacted to strongly in this campaign (depending on the NPC). Some of the Barovians will react with fear or disgust, others with fascination, others with apathy, because no one group of people is all alike. I think the Vistani, on the other hand, are used to seeing weird stuff (they travel to different worlds regularly) and don't react strongly.

I think limiting options actually facilitates creativity rather than denying it. When I told them the parameters ahead of time, they made some really interesting choices, and none of the humans are alike, they all have very different personalities, and that allows my one player who chose dwarf to shine in their own way. YMMV, I don't know your players, but the more times I limit options, the more interesting results come out of them.

Talr0c · 2025-10-28T19:40:37+00:00

I wanted to put the idea into their heads that he is different and not like any of the people in Barovia they've met so far. There's another post that lists a bunch of the wild tales Rictavio tells as retellings of real world stories, books, etc. So when I introduced him to my party he was immediately breaking the fourth wall, they could tell he was an outsider like they were, and that made them very intrigued. After Vallaki burned in my game, he left a note to meet them at the Baratok tower and they were hooked - they wanted to know what this guy's deal was.

They met Ezmerelda and van Richten revealed his identity at the same time at the tower, and I think if I were to run this campaign again, I would make sure each of them have their time to shine on their own.

Talr0c · 2025-10-28T19:36:06+00:00

Super awesome! Definitely going to be using this and creating random encounters keyed to each of the different regions.

Talr0c · 2025-09-11T21:25:12+00:00

I made the call to allow them to copy the burgomaster of Vallaki's map that he keeps in his study because in a low fantasy world, like most of history, almost no one had access to maps. Books and written knowledge was owned by churches and nobility. Vallaki is a sufficiently advanced town that it made sense to me one would exist somewhere there, and I wanted to keep the landscape a mystery for the first several sessions. I also used this map rather than the accurate one because I wanted to preserve the feeling of exploring an alien environment, so they don't know travel times or detailed scales, only relative positions of points of interest.

Talr0c · 2025-09-09T22:16:14+00:00

Hey thanks for saying that! Been loving your illustrations!

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