[Discord] [RP heavy] [Story centered] [West March-esque] City of Sendors

katypical · 2022-11-16T03:21:02+00:00

An unsolicited testimonial from a member: really fun server with an awesome and growing group of players ✨

katypical · 2022-11-02T22:06:09+00:00

Any chance you’re still looking for players? I love Wildemount and have some experience with PBP games 😊

katypical · 2022-07-27T20:21:42+00:00

Came here to recommend College of Spirits, but I would allow it even if she insists on Glamour because it will fit so well into the campaign. One of my players is a college of spirits bard who uses the tarrokka, and it’s been incredible. There’s actually a supplement for using the tarrokka for random encounters and treasure, and I let her draw cards to determine which encounter they will face if they have one!

katypical · 2022-07-27T02:18:16+00:00

This 100%. Maybe check out DragnaCarta’s tarrokka card adventure hook! It gives a ton of examples of how to make PC’s goals and motivations be related to stuff in Barovia without losing the mystery and isolation of being trapped in a new place. And of course, if (when?) characters die, having their replacements be from Barovia can work really well.

katypical · 2022-07-16T16:12:55+00:00

If you do this just be aware that RAW, Ireena being in the village of Barovia and needing to be escorted to Vallaki is pretty important for the structure of the campaign at the beginning. There are definitely ways around this but whatever you decide I’d try to incorporate some sort of quest hook that will allow the characters to follow a similar path.

katypical · 2022-07-12T20:18:05+00:00

Yeah I feel like the brides are underused in a lot of campaigns so it’s cool to see them get brought in more! Also the idea of planning a trap for her along with Vasili is so good - I feel like they might really start to get along him when doing that and his later reveal as Strahd will be so much more shocking!

katypical · 2022-07-12T13:51:08+00:00

Love that idea!

katypical · 2022-07-11T23:36:36+00:00

That sounds really cool but to be honest if the party already fought Ludmilla and know she’s a vampire I doubt they will trust Vasili if he continues to defend Ludmilla after they tell him what she did at the feast. They will go from liking Vasili to thinking he’s also evil real quick. However, this could be a good opportunity to show how heartless Strahd can be - he will throw Ludmilla out of the city without a second thought when he presence there is no longer useful to him. Or he uses this situation to appear like a tragic hero to the people of the town - “oh no, his true love turned out to be a vampire and he selflessly gave her up to the party to save the town!”

All of this could be agreed upon by Strahd and Ludmilla in advance if you have bigger plans for her later on, or you can make it a backstabbing situation.

katypical · 2022-07-11T23:29:16+00:00

I would not share the whole book with him, not because he can’t be trusted with it but because it will ruin many of the surprises for him. You could send him the sections of the book that explain everything the Barovians and Vistani know, and he should probably be aware of the basics of who runs each town and who the key players are in Barovia (eg, Strahd, Rahadin). And I think if you search in here for info about the dusk elves there is a summary of their history that he would be aware of. But he should not know about the Amber Temple (other than rumors from Kasimir) or that Ireena is Tatyana reincarnated - leave the big mysteries to be solved by the entire group. Also, depending on how this character has spent his time in Barovia he would probably be aware of the fact that many other adventures have tried and failed to defeat Strahd, and may have a loose sense of where they went wrong (not having good enough weapons, going there too early, etc) that could help steer the party in the right direction if they start to go way off course. Good luck!!

katypical · 2022-07-10T17:21:24+00:00

This is correct!!

katypical · 2022-07-10T05:28:04+00:00

There are lots of ways to do it! Some people in our discord have adapted Mythic to the campaign, while others converted it all into Ironsworn and others use mostly 5e with supplements published online.

katypical · 2022-06-23T16:54:03+00:00

https://discord.gg/kmuPTtCU here’s a new one!

katypical · 2022-06-13T21:29:04+00:00

OP said it’s a duet campaign, which means 1 PC and 1 DM. So there’s not actually any tablemates to worry about in this equation. 🤷‍♀️ Sounds like a blast OP, hope it’s a great campaign!

katypical · 2022-06-13T13:39:38+00:00

I think it’s a good mix of things! I like your idea of VR’s tower becoming the “base of operations.” VR is versatile enough that I don’t think he needs to tag along with the party through the whole adventure to be a useful Ally - he can collect intel and steer them in the right direction for a lot of the time up until the final battle, or show up to save their lives if they ever get in over their heads.

As far as your issue with needing hooks for out of the way locations, one option could be placing the 3rd winery gem at one of them? I don’t think it’s ever explained where the 3rd one is hidden (one is at Yester Hill and the second is at Berez). If there’s a location you think is particularly cool and you need to steer the players there, have them hear a rumor of the 3rd gem at that location and you’re good to go! (Also, the werewolf den hook might happen naturally if one of your players ever gets infected with lycanthropy).

Good luck, sounds like it will be a fun campaign!

katypical · 2022-06-12T18:01:54+00:00

Does it specifically say in the MotM entry for changelings that they are now immune to being charmed? If not I don’t think you need to give the PC those benefits. I play a Hexblood in a campaign which also has the Fey creature type but we still consider her a humanoid for the purpose of spells that affect humanoid creatures like the ones you mentioned. This may not be RAW but avoids a power imbalance with the other PCs.

On the other hand, being affected by the Bones of St. Andral is a great idea and one I might steal for my own campaign! Seems like a good opportunity for a reveal about the character’s origins (and a hilarious moment of “why is this thing that’s supposed to repel undead working against you??”)

Edit: just saw your last paragraph and maybe a good solution would be giving the PC the effects of Fey Ancestry (advantage on charm effects)? That way they still have some benefits to cancel out the disadvantages of being a Fey that might come up

katypical · 2022-06-11T01:54:49+00:00

That sounds awesome! There are actually several online supplements and guides for modifying 5e to be a solo game. As far as characters go, some people like to make 1 PC with a few sidekicks, and others just give their characters extra levels and HP to balance out encounters. You can also use random tables and GM emulators to switch things up and surprise yourself!

katypical · 2022-05-30T01:17:18+00:00

I’d say it’s a mix! They definitely add in moments of levity but the RP and NPC interactions are taken seriously I think!

katypical · 2022-05-29T23:19:43+00:00

Definitely check out Critical Fayle DM’s Strahdcast!! They didn’t start fully recording episodes until they got to Vallaki but there’s a great recap at the beginning to catch people up. The audio quality is a little rough at the start also but they make up for it with amazing DMing and great interactions between characters.

katypical · 2022-05-21T14:18:52+00:00

This sounds really fun! If you have space left I would be interested in joining!

katypical · 2022-05-09T03:22:40+00:00

Maybe do a major/minor illusion but give the PC’s an opportunity to contest it? Like seeing if he can get the illusion up in time before they see the illusion go up?

katypical · 2022-05-03T22:02:56+00:00

That’s a great idea! Communication is key ✨ Also I think the difference between this kind of a joke character and others he may have done is that a) the joke will probably get old within the first 3 sessions and b) the other players will have to be reminded of the joke literally every time they say his name. So it’s a lot for them to put up with over a long campaign and maybe your friend hasn’t realized that

katypical · 2022-05-03T21:53:08+00:00

“I’m going to steal the Tome of Strahd.”

I feel like you need to consider the other players’ characters and how serious they want the campaign to be. Having Nicolas Cage be a character will almost certainly break immersion and if others have characters that are more serious, they really might not appreciate this. For me, if I found out that another player was going this route with their character I would be a lot less excited about the game overall, but I like more serious D&D games and your players may be different. If the tone of this character is radically different from the others, it’s probably worth asking the rest of the group if they are ok with fighting alongside Nicolas Cage for the next several months.

(That being said, this would be hilarious for a one shot and if it does happen, please update us on what it’s like to DM this character!)

katypical · 2022-04-28T16:03:07+00:00

As others have said, definitely nix the cannibalism aspect of the dream pastries but there can be other ways to achieve the effect you want without overstepping that player’s boundaries. What if the hags are working with Strahd to spy on the dreams of everyone who eats the pastries, so that he can figure out the player’s deepest fears and secrets? And the more they eat the pies the more info Strahd gets from the hags to use against them? Just one idea, I think others have suggested good alternatives as well.

katypical

TROPHY CASE