So last Thursday one of my players in Curse of Strahd who had taken the dark gift of Zhudun at the Amber Temple, decided to use the power to resurrect Argynvost when they found his skull in castle. I didn't see it coming and had to really improvise. Argynvost came back to life, I rolled on the indefinite madness table and he got the one where he can only trust one person, and he's the only one who can see this person. I had him fly around Barovia trying to get through the mist, then he came back and flew around the castle exterior looking through the windows for Strahd when he realized he was still trapped in Barovia. Then he calmed down a bit and landed back near the player characters and transformed into human form.
He doesn't trust them and I think they know that they can probably heal his madness with a greater restoration spell but the Cleric doesn't have it prepared. They tried a lesser restoration spell and that brought Argynvost back to his senses for a couple minutes where he let slip that since his spirit was no longer haunting Argynvostholt that he was sure the spirits of his men at the mansion had now been freed. Then when the madness kicked back in I had him fly up to the tall tower and follow the bats down to the catacombs looking for Strahd.
This was mainly just to get Argynvost away from the party while I figured out what to do with him. Any suggestions?
One thought I had was that he triggers one of the teleportation traps outside of Strahd's tomb and ends up in one of the coffins in crypt 14. Then when the players find the catacombs they hear him trying to escape the crypt. When they get him out, if they're able to restore his sanity, he'll say he recognizes that he's still no match for Strahd and decides the best thing he can do for the party is to light the beacon and maintain it until the party is able to destroy Strahd.
This party drew the Darklord card for Strahd's enemy which says that they have to face him alone. So I've been pretty stingy with NPC's joining the party. I did let Ezermerelda join them when they met her at the tower. So I know they really want Argynvost to stay and fight with them but that seems way overpowered.
Am I thinking about this the right way? I think it's cool that they resurrected him but I really don't think having an adult silver dragon walking around with them is going to keep them very balanced against Strahd. I worry that the final battle will be anti-climatic.
I think that that was a really clever use of the dark power. I like the way you are handling it. Having him clear out the crypt from the trap could save the party from having to deal with its worse side effects later, which is too their benefit. Having him light the beacon will also be a huge help. I think you are making the right choice trying to steer him away from fighting Strahd with the party, as too many friendly NPCs can make the encounter much easier.
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Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
I have DM'd CoS before. But the experience I am sharing is from a recent go through as a player with a good group of friends...we've all done a bunch of d&d together. I played as a Silver Kobold Devotion Paladin. The way that our DM (a dear friend) presented Argynvost, inspired me. The plan took real shape when we finally explored the Amber Temple and some of the players took Dark Gifts. My Paladin refused gifts, but after learning that one of the sarcophogi offered the power to bring someone back from the long dead...it hit me. I started scheming to bring the Noble Silver back to life. I worked with my DM and we had an understanding...I was not trying to "break" the game, but it really made for a great story. I actually came up with the idea for >here's were I offer a suggestion for your question: Have Argynvost show up at the end to help in the final fight, and then have Strahd summon a mighty Dracolich. The two can fight a scripted battle in the background while the party faces Strahd. If the party wins the game...then Argynvost wins...if Strahd wins, then Argynvost dies again.
This happened in my campaign too. The party voted NOT to resurrect him using Dark Powers for fear he would be evil, but the player snuck off and used his Dark Gift anyways. I built up the suspense but ultimately had him resurrect as an ally. He lit the beacon and it summoned all the allies they made in Barovia.
The final battle was the party and their allies attacking Castle Ravenloft. While the party was infiltrating the castle, Argynvost led an assault against Strahd's army of evil. His main opponent was a giant undead bat (dragon sized) that served as Strahd's mount at some point in the campaign. All the NPCs they convinced to fight Strahd were dealing with the undead/werewolf army, while the party fought Strahd in the castle.
Arguably argynvost cannot be resurrected as he is haunting argynvostholt as a ghost and then as a beacon. I don't think he is intended to be able to be resurrected but he is now so you have to deal with it.
Firstly when I want to buff a boss encounter I give them down time. I roll on the tables for shopping and crafting ect... then give them scrolls, items and alike based on it. I also let the party know they are doing this if they bother to gather intel so they can intercept the money or the items. Otherwise the big bad slowly builds up an arsenal built to defeat the players. That means he can pick any spell he likes, any item he likes what ever if the party tips their hand and fails to respond to his efforts to do so. It adds some urgency and value to stealth or keeping secrets.
Here are my suggestions:
High alert: People who can scry now scry for the party and argynvost, if they find them their rests will be interrupted by that figure local minions. Cultists in vallaki, werewolves around krezyk ect... The party will not be able to go unnoticed easily
Eliminate allies: If the they haven't already the druids attack the winery, the werewolves chase ezemerelda into the tower where she must hide and strahd asks the abott to lock out the party and refuse to assist them in any way.
Weaken the party: figure like the hags of the bone grinder an werewolves likely don't want to live under argynvost, any peace between them and the party is gone now. The hags use their nightmare haunt to harass the party and or argnyvost. You may also decide that baba lysaga or the hags attempts to curse the party in some way like a geass spell
Alliances: Groups that oppose the party may team up. Perhaps in the final battle if still alive baba lysaga from some where hidden dispels important spells of the party or stuns them at an inopportune time.
Reward for coming up with a good plan: Argynvost being free should give some benefit but not too big, I'd say that he might lock Strahd in his castle and give the party easier access to it while there. Say Argynvost cannot kill strahd as he has no source of radiant damage and struggles to enter the castle himself. Take strahd out of events while argynvost flies around the castle. At the same time have people working to slowly weaken argynvost, whether its the hags, some spell of baba or the corruption of the plane slowly turning him into a shadow dragon. Eventually the dragon dies, becomes too sick to fight or turns evil. They get a temporary reprieve from strahd in person in return for becoming public enemy number 1.
So last Thursday one of my players in Curse of Strahd who had taken the dark gift of Zhudun at the Amber Temple, decided to use the power to resurrect Argynvost when they found his skull in castle. I didn't see it coming and had to really improvise. Argynvost came back to life, I rolled on the indefinite madness table and he got the one where he can only trust one person, and he's the only one who can see this person. I had him fly around Barovia trying to get through the mist, then he came back and flew around the castle exterior looking through the windows for Strahd when he realized he was still trapped in Barovia. Then he calmed down a bit and landed back near the player characters and transformed into human form.
He doesn't trust them and I think they know that they can probably heal his madness with a greater restoration spell but the Cleric doesn't have it prepared. They tried a lesser restoration spell and that brought Argynvost back to his senses for a couple minutes where he let slip that since his spirit was no longer haunting Argynvostholt that he was sure the spirits of his men at the mansion had now been freed. Then when the madness kicked back in I had him fly up to the tall tower and follow the bats down to the catacombs looking for Strahd.
This was mainly just to get Argynvost away from the party while I figured out what to do with him. Any suggestions?
One thought I had was that he triggers one of the teleportation traps outside of Strahd's tomb and ends up in one of the coffins in crypt 14. Then when the players find the catacombs they hear him trying to escape the crypt. When they get him out, if they're able to restore his sanity, he'll say he recognizes that he's still no match for Strahd and decides the best thing he can do for the party is to light the beacon and maintain it until the party is able to destroy Strahd.
This party drew the Darklord card for Strahd's enemy which says that they have to face him alone. So I've been pretty stingy with NPC's joining the party. I did let Ezermerelda join them when they met her at the tower. So I know they really want Argynvost to stay and fight with them but that seems way overpowered.
Am I thinking about this the right way? I think it's cool that they resurrected him but I really don't think having an adult silver dragon walking around with them is going to keep them very balanced against Strahd. I worry that the final battle will be anti-climatic.
I think that that was a really clever use of the dark power. I like the way you are handling it. Having him clear out the crypt from the trap could save the party from having to deal with its worse side effects later, which is too their benefit. Having him light the beacon will also be a huge help. I think you are making the right choice trying to steer him away from fighting Strahd with the party, as too many friendly NPCs can make the encounter much easier.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
I have DM'd CoS before.
But the experience I am sharing is from a recent go through as a player with a good group of friends...we've all done a bunch of d&d together.
I played as a Silver Kobold Devotion Paladin. The way that our DM (a dear friend) presented Argynvost, inspired me. The plan took real shape when we finally explored the Amber Temple and some of the players took Dark Gifts. My Paladin refused gifts, but after learning that one of the sarcophogi offered the power to bring someone back from the long dead...it hit me. I started scheming to bring the Noble Silver back to life. I worked with my DM and we had an understanding...I was not trying to "break" the game, but it really made for a great story. I actually came up with the idea for
>here's were I offer a suggestion for your question:
Have Argynvost show up at the end to help in the final fight, and then have Strahd summon a mighty Dracolich. The two can fight a scripted battle in the background while the party faces Strahd. If the party wins the game...then Argynvost wins...if Strahd wins, then Argynvost dies again.
This happened in my campaign too. The party voted NOT to resurrect him using Dark Powers for fear he would be evil, but the player snuck off and used his Dark Gift anyways. I built up the suspense but ultimately had him resurrect as an ally. He lit the beacon and it summoned all the allies they made in Barovia.
The final battle was the party and their allies attacking Castle Ravenloft. While the party was infiltrating the castle, Argynvost led an assault against Strahd's army of evil. His main opponent was a giant undead bat (dragon sized) that served as Strahd's mount at some point in the campaign. All the NPCs they convinced to fight Strahd were dealing with the undead/werewolf army, while the party fought Strahd in the castle.
Arguably argynvost cannot be resurrected as he is haunting argynvostholt as a ghost and then as a beacon. I don't think he is intended to be able to be resurrected but he is now so you have to deal with it.
Firstly when I want to buff a boss encounter I give them down time. I roll on the tables for shopping and crafting ect... then give them scrolls, items and alike based on it. I also let the party know they are doing this if they bother to gather intel so they can intercept the money or the items. Otherwise the big bad slowly builds up an arsenal built to defeat the players. That means he can pick any spell he likes, any item he likes what ever if the party tips their hand and fails to respond to his efforts to do so. It adds some urgency and value to stealth or keeping secrets.
Here are my suggestions: