I'm currently running a Curse of Strahd campaign and my party just had a grueling fight against the night hags at Old Bone-grinder where they managed to kill one of the hags before the other two went ethereal and escaped. the party is pretty beat up after the fight and they decide to barricade themselves in the mill and take a long rest. I know one of my players, who is playing as a blood hunter (Matt Mercer's) and expressed an interest in tracking down the remaining hags.(his class gives him advantage to track fey fiend or undead).
I know the night hags have the ability to mess with people who are sleeping from the ethereal plane and prevent them from gaining the benefits from a long rest as well as reducing max hit points.
Nightmare Haunting (1/Day). While on the Ethereal Plane, the hag magically touches a sleeping humanoid on the Material Plane. A protection from evil and good spell cast on the target prevents this contact, as does a magic circle. As long as the contact persists, the target has dreadful visions. If these visions last for at least 1 hour, the target gains no benefit from its rest, and its hit point maximum is reduced by 5 (1d10). If this effect reduces the target's hit point maximum to 0, the target dies, and if the target was evil, its soul is trapped in the hag's soul bag. The reduction to the target's hit point maximum lasts until removed by the greater restoration spell or similar magic.
Would the hags try it immediately that night? Would they wait it out and spy on the players?
where would the hags regroup?
any other thoughts on this scenario?
I want to let my bloodhunter's tracking ability feel useful for him and i'm not %100 sure where to go from here. thanks in advance.
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Lord of the Dead, Judge of the Damned, Master of the Crystal Spire, the Great Guide.
If the hags escaped the fight, presumably they were pretty banged up themselves. My feeling is that they would want a long rest as much as the adventurers do, but it's dealer's choice.
The natural place for the hags to run is Baba Lysaga. Perhaps Lysaga can revive the dead hag? Perhaps this is the impetus that triggers her to attempt to steal the gems from the winery? If Lysaga can revive their sister, that goal might even take precedence over seeking revenge. Perhaps they need to capture and sacrifice a PC to do it too... So now, they have a reason to show themselves (at the time and place of their choosing, once lysaga has destroyed WoW and gotten the gems) Coincidentally, this also has the added benefit of allowing you to backburner the hags a bit. If they seem pre-occupied with reviving their sister, that's understandable.
On a side note, I don't think the blood-hunter's ability to track fey, fiends and undead will go to waste if, on this specific instance, he were only able to determine that the hags had entered the ethereal plane. The ethereal plane is actually very close to the material plane, so it's possible that he could track them even while they remain ethereal, hypothetically, depending on your interpretation of the rules, and the class. That, however does not guarantee that he could do anything about them. Even so, I imagine that he'll be tracking quite a few fiends and undeads throughout CoS.
Lemme ask you, how would you rule if, instead of a badass blood hunter, he was just a ranger, tracking a fey according to "favored enemy" and the fey vanished from the material plane? You can only track something so far. If you want to be generous, allow him to continue tracking their movements towards berez in the etherial plane. Beyond that, allow the suspense to percolate a little. CoS is a HORROR campaign after-all. What is he? Level 4? And he wants to charge off into the spooky mist filled forests, off the beaten paths? Correct that behavior immediately. 0.o
It says in the adventure that if one of the hags died, Morgantha would devour a human child so that she could have a new daughter to complete the coven.
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Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
Barovia is not a normal land and CoS is not a normal adventure.
The demiplane is formed in part from Strahd's own mind. It is his prison and his playground resulting from his deal with the dark vestiges in the Amber temple. The adventurers are HIS playthings. The hags are fearful of Strahd, do not want to leave Barovia, and would prefer that the status quo continue.
Given all of this, the hags might well decide to ignore the party entirely and let Strahd deal with them as he does with any interlopers. The hags don't know whether the characters have any ability to follow them into the Ethereal plane and may not want to further antagonize the characters. There is no reason for the hags to put themselves at risk when there are so many other threats that could take out the party.
The problem with the nightmare haunting is two fold. If the characters have no way to access the ethereal plane, then the hags can haunt one or two characters for a week or two until they die of exhaustion from lack of rest. If the characters can do something about the ethereal attacks then the hags are putting themselves at risk for little reward AND the haunting won't do much.
The hags are happy selling their cookies of corruption to the Barovians. They probably just want to get back to their cookie manufacturing and distribution.
You might want to have the hags haunt the characters on occasional random evenings, denying some characters a long rest benefit from time to time to add some tension to the plot but I would wait a bit so that the hags have recovered and I wouldn't do it very often.
When I ran this, only one of the hags survived. She ended up being an ally Strahd could call upon during the final fight against the adventurers. If the adventurers find all of the items available in CoS and are ~level 10, Strahd is actually too easy to defeat leading to a bit of a possible let down in the final encounter.
"The hags are trapped in Barovia, but they like it here."
"If one or more hags die, the coven is broken. Morgantha tolerates her daughters only because they help her complete the coven. If one of them dies, Morgantha sets out to abduct and consume a human child so that she can give birth to a new daughter"
"The hags are fearful of Strahd and respect his dominion over this land."
"Far below, yet not beyond his ken, a party of adventurers has just entered his domain. Strahd's face forms a twisted smile as his dark plan unfolds. He knew they were coming, and he knows why they have come-all according to his plan. He, the master of Ravenloft, will attend to them."
"From time to time, strangers from faraway lands are brought to his domain, to play the vampire's game of cat-and-mouse. Strahd savors these moments, for though these strangers offer him no lands to conquer, they aren't so easily destroyed and therefore provide a welcome diversion. Strahd believes that the key to his escaping Barovia lies in finding someone worthy to rule in his stead, but his arrogance are so indomitable that no one is ever good enough in his eyes."
"Strahd slew the priest and the burgomaster, then used his power over the land to swell the river, flooding the village and forcing the residents to flee."
Attacking the hags denies any assistance they might have offered against Strahd in the book that's mainly just intel. It's likely that the other hags dont care much if one of them dies but there is wiggle room.
Bella and Offalia are more likely to care about each others deaths than Morgantha is to care about them.
Its unclear how the daughters would react to Morgantha's death they may want revenge or be happy to try and take the top spot
Morgantha's death may lead to a power struggle between the other two
The coven may split resulting in multiple different plots
Any of the hags could lay low but it's unclear where. They may appear in another location.
One of the daughters may seek revenge in the form of their nightmare curse or otherwise sabotaging the party for example by contacting baba lysaga who is a bit of an attack dog for strahd.
A curse is also an option though this is likely to have the players try to track down the hags.
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I'm currently running a Curse of Strahd campaign and my party just had a grueling fight against the night hags at Old Bone-grinder where they managed to kill one of the hags before the other two went ethereal and escaped. the party is pretty beat up after the fight and they decide to barricade themselves in the mill and take a long rest. I know one of my players, who is playing as a blood hunter (Matt Mercer's) and expressed an interest in tracking down the remaining hags.(his class gives him advantage to track fey fiend or undead).
I know the night hags have the ability to mess with people who are sleeping from the ethereal plane and prevent them from gaining the benefits from a long rest as well as reducing max hit points.
Nightmare Haunting (1/Day). While on the Ethereal Plane, the hag magically touches a sleeping humanoid on the Material Plane. A protection from evil and good spell cast on the target prevents this contact, as does a magic circle. As long as the contact persists, the target has dreadful visions. If these visions last for at least 1 hour, the target gains no benefit from its rest, and its hit point maximum is reduced by 5 (1d10). If this effect reduces the target's hit point maximum to 0, the target dies, and if the target was evil, its soul is trapped in the hag's soul bag. The reduction to the target's hit point maximum lasts until removed by the greater restoration spell or similar magic.
Would the hags try it immediately that night? Would they wait it out and spy on the players?
where would the hags regroup?
any other thoughts on this scenario?
I want to let my bloodhunter's tracking ability feel useful for him and i'm not %100 sure where to go from here. thanks in advance.
Lord of the Dead, Judge of the Damned, Master of the Crystal Spire, the Great Guide.
If the hags escaped the fight, presumably they were pretty banged up themselves. My feeling is that they would want a long rest as much as the adventurers do, but it's dealer's choice.
The natural place for the hags to run is Baba Lysaga. Perhaps Lysaga can revive the dead hag? Perhaps this is the impetus that triggers her to attempt to steal the gems from the winery? If Lysaga can revive their sister, that goal might even take precedence over seeking revenge. Perhaps they need to capture and sacrifice a PC to do it too... So now, they have a reason to show themselves (at the time and place of their choosing, once lysaga has destroyed WoW and gotten the gems) Coincidentally, this also has the added benefit of allowing you to backburner the hags a bit. If they seem pre-occupied with reviving their sister, that's understandable.
On a side note, I don't think the blood-hunter's ability to track fey, fiends and undead will go to waste if, on this specific instance, he were only able to determine that the hags had entered the ethereal plane. The ethereal plane is actually very close to the material plane, so it's possible that he could track them even while they remain ethereal, hypothetically, depending on your interpretation of the rules, and the class. That, however does not guarantee that he could do anything about them. Even so, I imagine that he'll be tracking quite a few fiends and undeads throughout CoS.
Lemme ask you, how would you rule if, instead of a badass blood hunter, he was just a ranger, tracking a fey according to "favored enemy" and the fey vanished from the material plane? You can only track something so far. If you want to be generous, allow him to continue tracking their movements towards berez in the etherial plane. Beyond that, allow the suspense to percolate a little. CoS is a HORROR campaign after-all. What is he? Level 4? And he wants to charge off into the spooky mist filled forests, off the beaten paths? Correct that behavior immediately. 0.o
It says in the adventure that if one of the hags died, Morgantha would devour a human child so that she could have a new daughter to complete the coven.
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
It also takes 13 years for the new daughter to mature.
Barovia is not a normal land and CoS is not a normal adventure.
The demiplane is formed in part from Strahd's own mind. It is his prison and his playground resulting from his deal with the dark vestiges in the Amber temple. The adventurers are HIS playthings. The hags are fearful of Strahd, do not want to leave Barovia, and would prefer that the status quo continue.
Given all of this, the hags might well decide to ignore the party entirely and let Strahd deal with them as he does with any interlopers. The hags don't know whether the characters have any ability to follow them into the Ethereal plane and may not want to further antagonize the characters. There is no reason for the hags to put themselves at risk when there are so many other threats that could take out the party.
The problem with the nightmare haunting is two fold. If the characters have no way to access the ethereal plane, then the hags can haunt one or two characters for a week or two until they die of exhaustion from lack of rest. If the characters can do something about the ethereal attacks then the hags are putting themselves at risk for little reward AND the haunting won't do much.
The hags are happy selling their cookies of corruption to the Barovians. They probably just want to get back to their cookie manufacturing and distribution.
You might want to have the hags haunt the characters on occasional random evenings, denying some characters a long rest benefit from time to time to add some tension to the plot but I would wait a bit so that the hags have recovered and I wouldn't do it very often.
When I ran this, only one of the hags survived. She ended up being an ally Strahd could call upon during the final fight against the adventurers. If the adventurers find all of the items available in CoS and are ~level 10, Strahd is actually too easy to defeat leading to a bit of a possible let down in the final encounter.
"The hags are trapped in Barovia, but they like it here."
"If one or more hags die, the coven is broken. Morgantha tolerates her daughters only because they help her complete the coven. If one of them dies, Morgantha sets out to abduct and consume a human child so that she can give birth to a new daughter"
"The hags are fearful of Strahd and respect his dominion over this land."
"Far below, yet not beyond his ken, a party of adventurers has just entered his domain. Strahd's face forms a twisted smile as his dark plan unfolds. He knew they were coming, and he knows why they have come-all according to his plan. He, the master of Ravenloft, will attend to them."
"From time to time, strangers from faraway lands are brought to his domain, to play the vampire's game of cat-and-mouse. Strahd savors these moments, for though these strangers
offer him no lands to conquer, they aren't so easily destroyed and therefore provide a welcome diversion. Strahd believes that the key to his escaping Barovia lies in finding someone worthy to rule in his stead, but his arrogance are so indomitable that no one is ever good enough in his eyes."
"Strahd slew the priest and the burgomaster, then used his power over the land to swell the river, flooding the village and forcing the residents to flee."
Attacking the hags denies any assistance they might have offered against Strahd in the book that's mainly just intel. It's likely that the other hags dont care much if one of them dies but there is wiggle room.