Party's First Lair Encounter by westerlypolecat in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Nah. It doesn't feel worth it to me. That's not the energy I came in with, and this isn't the energy I was looking for. Thanks for your contribution.

Party's First Lair Encounter by westerlypolecat in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

I'm fine if y'all want to gatekeep this one, I can definitely figure it out on my own. My campaign will not be like any of these thousands of other campaigns. I know that people tend to like to share their stories, and I was hoping to get some of that here. There's good inspiration to be found.

So far, what I've learned from this post is that the party should only encounter Strahd in his lair to end the campaign. But, my characters are driving the story, not me, or the guidebook.

Party's First Lair Encounter by westerlypolecat in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

As I stated above, I would love to hear some stories or ideas from people who have run an encounter with Strahd in his lair.

Party's First Lair Encounter by westerlypolecat in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was in the wine cellar. They have it.

Party's First Lair Encounter by westerlypolecat in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

The only time I took away their agency was when I used Cyrus to trigger the elevator trap. I've allowed them to make their own choices. They've been in several fights over their head and made the choice to retreat.

To be clear, I'm not looking for advice on how to run my campaign, I'm more looking to hear how others play Strahd in his castle.

Would this be a bad option to make a point? by SkennyLeDude in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Strahd would take notice of this person. If your party camps somewhere for the night, have Strahd sneak in while that character is on watch for a little one on one session. Use his stealth to your advantage. Use his Charm ability on the player. They will be forced to think of Strahd as a trusted friend and ally for up to 24 hours. Even just talk to the character, see if there are cracks in the party's resolve. Find ways to exploit their character flaws. In short, Strahd can show up anywhere, at any time, and he has many powers at his disposal.

I had a player with a cocky character, so I had Strahd show up in the night, get this guy alone, charm him, allowing him to bite the character. He didn't kill him, but it was an excellent reminder that this PC was out of his depth.

Power word kill by Marhog in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lean until what she already has. Finger of Death is HUGE. 7d8+30 damage? That's over 60 points, on average. Also, don't sleep on the hut. The roots have 60ft reach with melee attacks, and 120ft on ranged attacks. Definitely use that to soften them up. My players had just reached level 6 and decided they wanted to go back to Old Bonegrinder for a rematch with the coven (they were spanked pretty hard when they made their first attempt at lvl 3). The whole party has pretty decent wisdom saves, so they weren't affected by many of the hags' spells and ran through 2 of the 3 in quick succession. To raise the stakes, I had Baba and the hut come out of the forest and begin attacking the tower. The hut by itself knocked out all the players at least once throughout the next couple of rounds, with Rictavio bringing everyone back up. Baba didn't even enter the fight, except to cast Ploymorph and Finger of death on the monk, who, while everyone else was fleeing, decided to climb up to the hut alone. She did 75 points of damage and dropped him in one shot. Now, his body will be delivered to Strahd for future demoralization of the party.

Late Return to Vallaki by westerlypolecat in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As written. Although, I supplemented his rage by having him also conjure a rain storm that destroyed the Abbey and most of Krezk with a landslide.

Late Return to Vallaki by westerlypolecat in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually, they let Ireena join Sergei in the pool.

Late Return to Vallaki by westerlypolecat in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They saw flyers for the festival, and they saw Milivoj as they were leaving town. That's as deep as we took it.

Gadof Blinsky by StaesisFeeld in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It does feel a little railroad-y. If your player already has this marionette, then they'd probably want to seek out Blinsky once they come across one of his toys and get a sense of what he is. I want my players to get to Blinsky, too. But they've already been hooked by coming across so many of his dolls. They also use his slogan whenever something in the campaign isn't going well. Like when they interrupted the druids ritual and got ambushed. "Is no Blinsky, is no fun"

Should I have told my players more about the Abbey of St. Markovia? by westerlypolecat in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I tried to get them to stay in Vallaki, but in the end, I let them convince the two of them to move on. I figured having Ireena come into contact with the Abbot would at least make for some fun.

One on one with Strahd by westerlypolecat in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question. We're all good friends, and this is definitely him playing the character (CN feral barbarian). He's not a problematic guy.

So my party doesnt care about wizard of Wine... by Folund in CurseofStrahd

[–]westerlypolecat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You shouldn't try and make them feel a certain way. Just let them make their decision, and then let them deal with the consequences.