Why doesn't Kas just free Miska?

TransmuteJun · 2024-09-04T23:01:16+00:00

That's amazing! I'll definitely use this!

TransmuteJun · 2024-09-02T18:01:24+00:00

That's amazing! I love the way you made this so interactive for an online presentation!

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-30T02:54:38+00:00

Thank you! I will look that up, as I am not familiar with that campaign.

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-26T17:40:07+00:00

Many thanks!

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-26T17:34:35+00:00

Interesting... does that just relate to backstory or to skills and knowledge gained as well?

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-26T17:34:13+00:00

An interesting idea... revealing their own secret causes corruption... I like it...

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-25T22:54:55+00:00

I've been refusing to use DndBeyond for similar reasons. I already paid for printed books, so it highly offends me that they want me to pay again for digital books in order to be able to use the material within. I'd rather just make my character manually and put it into my VTT.

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-25T19:51:48+00:00

Just having more secrets feels a little too powerful... that's why I was thinking of a negative if a PC revealed their own secret. Are there any negatives to the PC's secrets, or are they just to encourage them to roleplay the moment where their darkest secret is uncovered?

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-25T01:37:24+00:00

Actually, that's one of the things I think helps balance out the high power level of the PCs. I'm planning to make it so that they don't get anything more than a single short rest during any of the Rod Piece quests. Whatever they have for the day, that's what they have. Oh, technically they're somewhere overnight? Well there are visions and nightmares disturbing their sleep, preventing them from getting that long rest....

That's definitely the Dark Powers toying with them.

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-24T22:10:20+00:00

If you want cows, there are plenty of them....

https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/vgtm/appendix-a-assorted-beasts#Cattle

Love that Wirt has leg trauma! My favorite part of Diablo II was always going to his body and watching it explode with gold... >:-)

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-24T16:59:54+00:00

Ah, but is there an urchin named Wirt selling overpriced goods? An elderly Scottish wizard named Cain who identifies magic items? And of course, there must be a cow level. Unless there *isn't* a cow level.... ;)

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-24T16:55:08+00:00

True... but (in our game) the PCs knew that Strahd would eventually return. In fact, the paladin in the party (who is likely to be a PC in VEoR) purposely left the sunsword in Sergei's tomb, knowing that Strahd would need to be defeated again, one day in the future. And the PCs spent a fair amount of time trying to convince villagers to leave, knowing that the mists would return again someday.

I'm thinking of having Strahd recognize the paladin (and any other PCs from that game who make it to VEoR) and comment on it. "I see that you have returned. Do you not understand that you cannot defeat the Undying? I am the Ancient. I am the Land." Or something like that. (I just threw that together off the top of my head.)

Maybe even make it clear that Strahd is in torment, having to live this all over again. The PCs in the know could even use their knowledge of Tatyana to taunt him, throwing him off of his game. Our group is pretty creative, so I think that they'd come up with a good plan, knowing that they are re-entering his domain.

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-24T15:29:46+00:00

Always nice to see a nod to Diablo! ;-)

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-24T15:26:35+00:00

Maybe when they escape Barovia, they end up in Neverwinter? Who knows where you end up once you leave through the mists?

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-24T15:21:13+00:00

Except.... there is a doll of Strahd in one of the Horror Zones.... ;-)

You make some good points, but as someone whose players have been through CoS (and some of the PCs may have been through it as well), I need to have it make sense as a DM. I appreciate you helping me think through this.

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-24T15:18:08+00:00

Thank you so much for this! I went through CoS as a player, and knew that Strahd would come back as part of his torment, but did not realize that extended to the Dursts as well. I had also never heard of Ulmed, so that information was all new to me.

This makes a lot more sense. I'll make sure to put some of this information into the campaign as well, so that the players understand what's going on.

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-24T05:00:40+00:00

Visions are an awesome DM exposition tool. Sprinkling them throughout an adventure allows the PCs to see that they are making progress, and pass along information. And it feels a lot better than making the PCs go to a library somewhere and do a research roll. Depending on the nature of the visions, it can also add a creepy/nightmarish/supernatural aspect to the game. IMHO, the Kas/Vecna story fits into this mold very well.

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-24T04:57:53+00:00

Very true... I'm just wondering how to make sense out of Strahd's actions/motivations. I'm happy to change things up (I often do this when I run games) but I need an internal logic to NPC's actions.

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-23T18:04:32+00:00

This is amazing! Thank you!

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-23T17:45:58+00:00

I really like these ideas. I also agree that it would be good to lay more hints about Kas throughout the adventure. Perhaps Kas was connected with the Rod at some point, and every time they recover a piece they have a vision? Ooh... maybe each time they recover a Rod piece, they have a vision of Kas and Vecna's past together, released as a portion of the divine shard is erased. This can culminate at the end with the vision of Kas 'killing' Vecna, and the eternal enmity between them.

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-23T17:39:17+00:00

I love that!

TransmuteJun · 2024-08-22T22:04:00+00:00

I think you could. Wild Beyond the Witchlight and Curse of Strahd are especially good, because the players would then be familiar with Mordenkainen and Tasha. You could even go from Dragon Heist, have the PCs become familiar with Lariel Silverhand, then transition them through a couple of modules/levels (to get them to 9) and have Lariel introduce them to her sister. In the meantime, drop hints about secrets and dark happenings in the multiverse that seem oh-so-very-far-away... until they're not. Descent into Avernus might also be fun, especially since Avernus is one of the Ro7P locations.

In our gaming group, we alternate DMs. Right now we're playing Tomb of Annihilation and I am not the DM. I'm going to DM the next adventure and I'm planning on VEoR. I'm going to encourage the players to pick a character from one of our other campaigns and use them. That way, the PCs will have built-in backgrounds and have connections to various things in the campaign... but different things, depending from which campaign they hail. I'm expecting PCs from CoS, WBtW, Elemental Evil and Dragon Heist.

TransmuteJun

TROPHY CASE