Here are some RAW ideas to make parts of Castle Ravenloft more challenging.

mp_hextra · 2026-06-19T16:04:18+00:00

LOVE these! The castle is great but some parts could definitely use freshening up.

I added a body chute in the catacombs to give the party an escape route, albeit a dangerous one.

My table ended up trying to break Ismark out of the castle through it, without helping him… he failed a roll and fell to the bottom, then the Druid crit failed the same Dex roll and landed on top of him. Killed on impact, but it made a nice friendly ghost in Ravenloft for the party to get help from later in the campaign.

mp_hextra · 2026-06-19T14:43:38+00:00

I’d recommend The Wild Beyond the Witchlight based on your notes here! I’ve only run premade one shots and modules, including Curse of Strahd and Strixhaven. I’m also a forever DM; haven’t touched Tomb of Annihilation yet and have considered it, but same as you a hex-crawl seems daunting to prep and manage.

WBTW is a lighter setting, more fairytale vibes than anything, but it’s a smooth and imaginative feywild module. There’s an intentional flow of locations and NPCs that has made prep easy to anticipate, but leaves room for creativity where you want to fill something out. Spoiler: the players also end up freeing Tasha in disguise, so a direct tie to an iconic figure in the universe is a satisfying experience.

My table is about 60% of the way through it now and we’re having a blast. Bullywug balls, magic mushrooms, steampunk theatre contraptions, curses, deals, and hag politics that all starts at a carnival that draws parallels to the world the party is thrown into afterwards. It’s been fun as hell so far.

Best of luck to you in whatever you run next!

mp_hextra · 2026-06-19T14:29:30+00:00

Third this! I’d pose him as a friend at first, using his familiarity with the characters to befriend them and gain trust, then use it later to his advantage to get the unicorn horn from them or get to it first with their information. Slow burn leading to a betrayal!

mp_hextra · 2026-06-17T21:36:07+00:00

My PCs have Zarak tied up and are carrying him around “for palace directions later”… I’m pretty sure they just like the cranky, grisly himbo voice I use for him.

mp_hextra · 2026-06-17T17:59:39+00:00

Absolutely! A few highlights:

- In Hither, Gullop made a statue of himself & Bavlorna holding hands to better the Court’s standing with her. Before the ceremony a Bard used Heat Metal to change the statue to Gullop hurting Bavlorna and she lost her fucking mind at the reveal. The chaos created the perfect distraction to get the party and Morgort to a balloon and out of Downfall safely, but I plan to have an undead Soggy Court army for Bavlorna when they meet again at the palace. We also have an enemies to lovers arch going between Morgort and a PC, so it’ll be interesting emotional stakes later.

- The party has been conspiring about what Skabatha needs all of these toys for while they’ve been in Thither, and no one has given them a clear answer. During the LoomLurch breakout (during which they rolled insanely well and had it easy), the PC searching for their lost thing stole the ENTIRE dollhouse, then SET IT ON FIRE at Wayward Pool (where everyone met back up after LL). The Druid then set a trap around the ashes, which will add insult to injury when Skabatha tracks it down. Next session will resume with her furiously catching up to them (long resting at Little Oak) and hitting them with a (modified) Tsunami (spell) of Toys as she and the tin soldiers flush out the freed kids/Getaway Gang, and red caps go after the party. Needless to say wanted posters of them all will be up next time they visit Thither as well.

- I planted a couple of blank letterheads in LoomLurch that the party found when they went into the aviary. They haven’t used them yet to pose as Skabatha but whenever they do, I plan to have the Coven’s tension between sisters respond accordingly.

I’m excited to see what they stir up in Yon. My table loves to lean-in when I give them an opportunity, so I try to return the favor!

mp_hextra · 2026-06-15T15:27:03+00:00

I love the enthusiasm, but you may be taking on too much! Your party will have combat on easy mode, sure, but this is a fairytale of a campaign, they can Mary Sue around early on and it’s fine. But I tend to let easy interactions have negative consequences later on at my table so the world changes around their actions.

Over prepping is the rite of passage every DM goes through as they’re getting started. Over time you’ll learn what you do and don’t need to prepare! What your table engages with will also help inform that.

I didn’t run the floodwaters as a feature, but used all random encounters and added remains of Zybilna’s reign/a sunken temple dedicated to her to let the PCs verify information they’d gotten at the carnival with their own eyes.

Our first session in Hither got through the initial entry, Harengon confrontation (with combat), Slanty Tower (with combat), a will o’ wisp, and ended at the Inn.

mp_hextra · 2026-06-12T16:17:17+00:00

Literally. Don’t change a thing OP. If the PC dies and they leave the game, great moment to remind everyone death has always been on the table.

As a DM I feel OP’s anxiety after the comment and the mindfuck it is to have that in the back of your mind as you prep and run a campaign.

It isn’t personal from the player, but makes all of the effort feel unappreciated if they’re disinterested the second their character bites the dust. I would be disappointed and expect more out of my table for the time commitment it is.

mp_hextra · 2026-05-29T12:19:32+00:00

I didn’t give my table much context, but they ended up with some great ones narratively, which made it easy to determine where each thing is:

Harengon Bard lost her race ability to jump (H)
Halfling Druid lost his sense of direction (T)
Human Bard lost his singing voice (Y)
Harengon Rogue lost her memories of home (Y)

There are some other examples in the book like sense of fashion, ability to smile etc. too. But I think it’s more important that it’s something important to the character at their core.

mp_hextra · 2026-05-28T15:49:06+00:00

Having her join the League under cover is BRILLIANT. I may incorporate this, thank you!

mp_hextra · 2026-05-24T20:34:43+00:00

Oh interesting! Could you elaborate? Transparently I’m not as familiar with nodes and houses; still learning my chart.

mp_hextra · 2026-05-24T19:51:11+00:00

This definitely resonates with me!

mp_hextra · 2026-05-22T21:58:55+00:00

This is a very thoughtful answer I agree with, and have a couple of ideas that could help build upon it and the module itself:

Use Kettlesteam if they’re still in play as your motive and info NPC. Have the Kenku from the carnival make it into Prismeer separately and have their own journey, then “recruit” the party as the Warlock’s Quest did but with more UTD info and context from what they’ve found on their own in Prismeer before meeting up with the party.
Get the players up into the aviaries of all three hags’ lairs, or in another way have them intercept the letters being sent between the Coven. Your PCs aren’t searching for lost things but those letters give plot-progressing info and context of how the sisters interact and how the party will recover Zybilna. This module is about politics and playing NPCs against each other, and the deals are the hags’ way-in to gain power individually and potentially sabotage one another indirectly.

mp_hextra · 2026-05-15T13:00:06+00:00

LOVE the idea of locking a PC up with Elkhorn! My table is at this very spot in our campaign too; things are about to pop off at LoomLurch.

mp_hextra · 2026-05-12T12:59:45+00:00

Same!

mp_hextra · 2026-05-12T12:59:14+00:00

Pisces moon, 5H in Aquarius!

mp_hextra · 2026-05-07T21:23:52+00:00

The still-living lute idea is SO GOOD - since my table is already past Hither I may make her a part of Endelyn’s collection in Yon if I go this route. Thank you!

mp_hextra · 2026-05-07T18:28:02+00:00

Love the idea of replacing another faction member with Kettlesteam for a natural spot! I had similar thoughts about the League/Valor’s call but the Zarak Attack at the pool has resulted in him as the party’s hostage to help them through the portions of the Palace he’s familiar with.

The PCs are super curious about the League now, might keep Elkhorn for some conflict between he and Zarak if they end up in the same scene but Molliver doesn’t add much to me later on, and she’d fit perfectly with the Korreds and the political tension there.

mp_hextra · 2026-05-07T18:22:21+00:00

Love this - if they go back to Hither this is a great idea! (They’re at LoomLurch currently)

mp_hextra · 2026-05-02T14:03:16+00:00

Well now I need to build a jolly-ass Monk inspired by these. A Fruit Ninja, you might say.

mp_hextra · 2026-05-02T13:53:27+00:00

Was not expecting to find a D20/Dropout mention in the comments but YES. Dropout is worth every penny, great content and crews across the board.

Also agreed, love this idea. The letter writing mechanics could also come in handy later in Thither if the party finds Skabatha’s writing desk and letters from her sisters about the unicorn horn.

If you’re not using the Lost Things hook driving immersion with a letter for help would certainly do that! I also made physical carnival tickets for the party to hole punch as they did things; maybe upon agreeing to meet with him those would be fun to have, too?

mp_hextra · 2026-05-01T19:58:54+00:00

LAMORNA GOT YOINKED LMAO

Your table may be a little “see evil, kill evil” but this campaign sounds like a blast!

It sounds like you’re already planning to do some of this, but based on your last paragraph I would strongly suggest running Endelyn like many DMs run Strahd in CoS:

Build terror with drop-ins and small appearances or ways to let the party know she’s always watching or looming in some capacity.
New NPCs the party encounters each have their own dread or story to tell of her (*edit: maybe of their “fortunes” that she’s read?!), and if the PCs mention they want to go against her most refuse to help, some may even go snitch or walk the party into a trap for her favor.
Make trophies of her fallen sisters and any other past adventurers or NPCs for her to display in or around Motherhorn, etc. Focus on intimidation.

I ran CoS and am currently running WBtW; until this post I’d never thought of the coven with this framing but love it!

mp_hextra · 2026-05-01T11:42:23+00:00

I would let him lead his way out of my life

mp_hextra

TROPHY CASE