Hello I need advice on killing off an NPC. My group has elected to add another party member to the group, they are currently at level 7. I have no problem with the add but I was thinking of killing off either Ezmerelda or Van Richten to balance it out. Which do you think would be more shocking? They are currently in Ravenloft after they had dinner with Strahd. I was thinkning of as they exited the castle having the body fall from above and land in front of them or into the ravine. What are your thoughts? TIA
Currently running CoS myself but nowhere near as far on as yourself. Both characters are important and feel iconic but maybe more so Van Richten, who also has a Dr Van Helsing feel. Therefore I’d say his death would be more shocking, although I don’t know your group. Has the party formed a bond with one more than the other? Van Richten and Strahd definitely have history so if Strahd knew his whereabouts then he might target the monster hunter. If the party likes one NPC more than the other, then since Strahd is kinda playing with the party and probably bored he’d probably target whichever character would upset the players most.
one caveat to this might be, who is the party ally drawn in the cards? In my campaign it’s Van Richten, so I’d kill of Ezmerelda
If the NPC has joined the party, then just let them go along with the party, or have Van Richten AND Ezmerelda leave the party to go do some other "important stuff." I wouldn't kill them off while the PCs are around; that then feels like the DM taking control of the group. The PCs are, unusually, supposed to find NPCs to tag along in Curse of Strahd. Of course, it's annoying, they steal a bunch of killing blows, and use up a load of combat time with the DM rolling a bunch of dice that nobody is that invested in. But once they're a party member, they should only die if they die in a fight.
However! Strahd loves turning up and showing the PCs who's boss. How big is your party? A party of 4 x level 7 characters backed by Van Richten and Ezmerelda has a good chance of taking Strahd in a stand up fight (Strahd is actually pretty weak - with just 144 hit points, the party only needs roughly the equivalent of 10 non-saved fireballs to take him out, which a party of 6 level 7 characters can put out in just 2 turns). Ezmerelda is the stronger of the two (Rictavio/Van Richten is pretty useless) so if you want Strahd to be scary for longer, kill her off.
Since your PCs are level 7, they are pretty much ready to go confront Strahd now though. If you let them get to level 9 (as the module allows if you go all the way to the Amber Temple) then expect them to down Strahd in 2 turns of unsatisfying combat. His average damage output, assuming he hits both attacks is just 39 points of damage, not even close to enough to trouble a level 9 or 10 party.
(Strahd is actually pretty weak - with just 144 hit points, the party only needs roughly the equivalent of 10 non-saved fireballs to take him out, which a party of 6 level 7 characters can put out in just 2 turns).
Unless they've eliminated the heart of sorrow, it's 194 (this is..not super obvious in his writeup).
Played to win, Strahd is actually super dangerous in his castle, because he (a) has a lair action that lets him walk through walls, (b) can move, ignoring opportunity attacks, as a legendary action, and (c) has +14 stealth. That combination of traits on a regenerating boss is ... bad.
(Strahd is actually pretty weak - with just 144 hit points, the party only needs roughly the equivalent of 10 non-saved fireballs to take him out, which a party of 6 level 7 characters can put out in just 2 turns).
Unless they've eliminated the heart of sorrow, it's 194 (this is..not super obvious in his writeup).
Played to win, Strahd is actually super dangerous in his castle, because he (a) has a lair action that lets him walk through walls, (b) can move, ignoring opportunity attacks, as a legendary action, and (c) has +14 stealth. That combination of traits on a regenerating boss is ... bad.
Strahd is a hit a run monster. In CR calculations monsters are expected to get a full 3 rounds of regeneration, that means if you want Strahd to act like a cr 15 he will need to retreat at some point in the battle to heal.
I basically never recommend using any legendary action other than just movement unless there is a story reason like he's holding a hostage, he needs to be mobile to survive.
In dangerous locations like his castle he can merely follow the players around and harass them when there's opportunities then flee.
Outside of his castle use greater invisibility to reduce his chance to be hit and to hide for regeneration in combat. Inside the castle he can just walk through a wall or something. During those regen periods activate defences like mirror image.
The module does not actually say that any one goes with the party to the castle to fight other than the person in the tarot cards. I wouldn't bother killing them, they can simply not go for what ever reason. There are also events in the module around van richten and ezmerelda that will not function as written with them dead.
There's also not much impact in killing a character that hasn't demonstrated themselves as powerful or is friendly with the power so for impact you'd have to do it around an event or after they follow the party around for a while.
There are some places to kill either of them which could be interesting
Ezmerelda:
The abbey of st markovia if the players decide to take her up on her plan to try an capture strahd there. Have him break out and kill her.
Van Richten's tower after the were wolf attack, strahd arrives to finish her off
In castle ravenloft if the players need an out she could sacrifice herself in the fight to give them that.
Van richten:
After being discovered if the players cant keep it secret he can flee Vallaki and get killed some where. Either at Van Richten's tower or you can make a treasure hunt for his location and find him dead.
During st Andral's feast he can self sacrifice to defend the town and fight strahd
If the players fail to stop the tree blight or protect the wizards of the wines he may decide to take the fight into his own hands to gain an ally after which he can be discovered an attacked by strahd causing him to flee and or be killed.
(Strahd is actually pretty weak - with just 144 hit points, the party only needs roughly the equivalent of 10 non-saved fireballs to take him out, which a party of 6 level 7 characters can put out in just 2 turns).
Unless they've eliminated the heart of sorrow, it's 194 (this is..not super obvious in his writeup).
Played to win, Strahd is actually super dangerous in his castle, because he (a) has a lair action that lets him walk through walls, (b) can move, ignoring opportunity attacks, as a legendary action, and (c) has +14 stealth. That combination of traits on a regenerating boss is ... bad.
All true, but at some point you just have to have a stand up fight unless you're going to have the finale of the campaign be that the PCs relentlessly chase him through the gigantic castle, frequently losing him, and Strahd escaping every time he gets below 100 hit points. While that IS the 'best' way to play Strahd if you want him to act like a fully realised character, I don't know that it makes for much of a game.
If Strahd really feels that the PCs are a threat he isn't likely to overcome (let's say they do 100 hp damage in turn 1) then he should go through the walls, summon up all the Vampire Spawn and other monsters in the castle, then attack them alongside those monsters. He could even go and gather more monsters from outside and bring them too. Given his immortal lifespan, he could even just go hide and wait for them to die of old age.
The game features Strahd regularly turning up and testing the PCs before leaving them alone again. Really, on one of those occasions, if he senses a threat he should just come after the PCs with overwhelming force. But this would make for a bad game. It's pretty unsatisfying for the players if Strahd just keeps on legging it and regenning to full health every time he's threatened, so when the PCs go hunt him down, at some point you just have to go for a big old fight. An ending of chasing him around to Benny Hill music is a dismal way to end the campaign.
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Hello I need advice on killing off an NPC. My group has elected to add another party member to the group, they are currently at level 7. I have no problem with the add but I was thinking of killing off either Ezmerelda or Van Richten to balance it out. Which do you think would be more shocking? They are currently in Ravenloft after they had dinner with Strahd. I was thinkning of as they exited the castle having the body fall from above and land in front of them or into the ravine. What are your thoughts? TIA
Currently running CoS myself but nowhere near as far on as yourself. Both characters are important and feel iconic but maybe more so Van Richten, who also has a Dr Van Helsing feel. Therefore I’d say his death would be more shocking, although I don’t know your group. Has the party formed a bond with one more than the other? Van Richten and Strahd definitely have history so if Strahd knew his whereabouts then he might target the monster hunter. If the party likes one NPC more than the other, then since Strahd is kinda playing with the party and probably bored he’d probably target whichever character would upset the players most.
one caveat to this might be, who is the party ally drawn in the cards? In my campaign it’s Van Richten, so I’d kill of Ezmerelda
If the NPC has joined the party, then just let them go along with the party, or have Van Richten AND Ezmerelda leave the party to go do some other "important stuff." I wouldn't kill them off while the PCs are around; that then feels like the DM taking control of the group. The PCs are, unusually, supposed to find NPCs to tag along in Curse of Strahd. Of course, it's annoying, they steal a bunch of killing blows, and use up a load of combat time with the DM rolling a bunch of dice that nobody is that invested in. But once they're a party member, they should only die if they die in a fight.
However! Strahd loves turning up and showing the PCs who's boss. How big is your party? A party of 4 x level 7 characters backed by Van Richten and Ezmerelda has a good chance of taking Strahd in a stand up fight (Strahd is actually pretty weak - with just 144 hit points, the party only needs roughly the equivalent of 10 non-saved fireballs to take him out, which a party of 6 level 7 characters can put out in just 2 turns). Ezmerelda is the stronger of the two (Rictavio/Van Richten is pretty useless) so if you want Strahd to be scary for longer, kill her off.
Since your PCs are level 7, they are pretty much ready to go confront Strahd now though. If you let them get to level 9 (as the module allows if you go all the way to the Amber Temple) then expect them to down Strahd in 2 turns of unsatisfying combat. His average damage output, assuming he hits both attacks is just 39 points of damage, not even close to enough to trouble a level 9 or 10 party.
Unless they've eliminated the heart of sorrow, it's 194 (this is..not super obvious in his writeup).
Played to win, Strahd is actually super dangerous in his castle, because he (a) has a lair action that lets him walk through walls, (b) can move, ignoring opportunity attacks, as a legendary action, and (c) has +14 stealth. That combination of traits on a regenerating boss is ... bad.
Strahd is a hit a run monster. In CR calculations monsters are expected to get a full 3 rounds of regeneration, that means if you want Strahd to act like a cr 15 he will need to retreat at some point in the battle to heal.
I basically never recommend using any legendary action other than just movement unless there is a story reason like he's holding a hostage, he needs to be mobile to survive.
In dangerous locations like his castle he can merely follow the players around and harass them when there's opportunities then flee.
Outside of his castle use greater invisibility to reduce his chance to be hit and to hide for regeneration in combat. Inside the castle he can just walk through a wall or something. During those regen periods activate defences like mirror image.
Alternatively keep at long range using ray of frost, fireball and animate objects.
Killing the vampire hunters
The module does not actually say that any one goes with the party to the castle to fight other than the person in the tarot cards. I wouldn't bother killing them, they can simply not go for what ever reason. There are also events in the module around van richten and ezmerelda that will not function as written with them dead.
There's also not much impact in killing a character that hasn't demonstrated themselves as powerful or is friendly with the power so for impact you'd have to do it around an event or after they follow the party around for a while.
There are some places to kill either of them which could be interesting
Ezmerelda:
Van richten:
All true, but at some point you just have to have a stand up fight unless you're going to have the finale of the campaign be that the PCs relentlessly chase him through the gigantic castle, frequently losing him, and Strahd escaping every time he gets below 100 hit points. While that IS the 'best' way to play Strahd if you want him to act like a fully realised character, I don't know that it makes for much of a game.
If Strahd really feels that the PCs are a threat he isn't likely to overcome (let's say they do 100 hp damage in turn 1) then he should go through the walls, summon up all the Vampire Spawn and other monsters in the castle, then attack them alongside those monsters. He could even go and gather more monsters from outside and bring them too. Given his immortal lifespan, he could even just go hide and wait for them to die of old age.
The game features Strahd regularly turning up and testing the PCs before leaving them alone again. Really, on one of those occasions, if he senses a threat he should just come after the PCs with overwhelming force. But this would make for a bad game. It's pretty unsatisfying for the players if Strahd just keeps on legging it and regenning to full health every time he's threatened, so when the PCs go hunt him down, at some point you just have to go for a big old fight. An ending of chasing him around to Benny Hill music is a dismal way to end the campaign.