I'm currently running Curse of Strahd with my group, and my players are amazing. They're creative, funny, and really INTO this adventure. I couldn't ask for more. That being said, I want this campaign to be really special. (It already is.) And so I find myself fleshing out little moments in the campaign to make them more fun and memorable.
That being said, the group is currently level 8 and consists of 5 PCs and 5 NPCs (each player has a character they made, and NPCs we've picked up in game - Ezmerelda, Victor, Stella, Kasimir, and Ismark). Right now, the group is in the Abbey of St. Markovia. The Tarokka prophecy predicted that the Sunsword would be in the nursery in the abbey. And, in the module, there's a one sentence mention of an entity, a white nun, whose reflection appears in the window if they glance at it while standing in the nursery. The group made it to the abbey, met the Abbot, and he granted them permission to "stay the night" if they "promise not to wander" because there have been sightings of the White Nun. (My group got a little freaked out about the white nun - it was fun to watch!)
When the players got to their rooms, they cast "locate object" and discovered that the Sunsword was within 300 feet. They went through the old madhouse hospital and found the nursery and found the hilt of the sword, and we ended the session with them looking up and seeing the reflection of the White Nun in the window.
So in the upcoming session, my plan is to give them a little boss battle to successfully claim the sword. They're going to fight the White Nun.
I've created a "Demonic Nun" to fit the bill and I'm trying to decide the best way to approach the battle. (Here is the link to the nun: https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/178664-demonic-nun.) They have a cleric with 91 hit points, the most in the group, who has a 20 Con and a 20 Wis right now. (He rolled high during character creation. And it was honest. I watched.) I could either have the demonic nun target him and try to take him out (through possession - as he has a low Charisma score - 9 - and would be easy to possess). Or I could target the weakest member of the party, currently Victor, who only has 42 hit points, and also, coincidentally, is the Ally to help them in the final battle against Strahd. If they lose him, the final battle with Strahd will be much more interesting. Or they might try to rez him in the Amber Temple. Or they might have the Abbot bring him back. They're still negotiating the price of the wedding dress with him.
So I guess my question is - should I have this evil nun try to "eat" the weakest members of the party and work her way up, or should I have her try to take out the most powerful members and then chase down the weaker ones?
My group is super creative - and I've designed this monster specifically for them - and I think they're going to love it. I'm just trying to strategize my approach to the battle.
Anything with Possession should start by possessing whichever PC is least likely to resist and then using that body to kill the rest of the party, especially in a horror game. Shadow of moil is also fun.
Question. Regarding Possession. If she possesses a caster, is she able to cast their spells or is she limited to just using the body for melee/weapon attacks?
"The demonic nun now controls the body but doesn't deprive the target of awareness. The demonic nun cannot be targeted by any attack, spell, or other effect, and it retains its alignment, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and immunity to being charmed and frightened. It otherwise uses the possessed target's statistics, but doesn't gain access to the target's knowledge, class features, or proficiencies."
It seems all she can do in the body is melee/range attacks? Does that sound right? Or does she have access to their spellset?
I played the original many moons ago and I’m not familiar with the new source material, so discard this if it doesn’t fit.
Invent a suitable backstory for the witch, if you don’t already have it.
Have the boss fight be against a simulacrum or somesuch while possessing a character and playing the slow game. She possesses one of the characters without the knowledge of the rest of the party (just the player possessed knows). That character is tasked with some goal that fits in with the witch’s backstory (even as simple as killing the despoiler of the sword) over the next few days. Let the player RP it.
Seed the backstory and motivation with the player and perhaps sanction an opportunity to tip off the other players with an out-of character behaviour. Timebound the goal and release the player from possession if they succeed while penalizing their psyche suitably if they fail due to the witch being torn from the possession rather than giving it up intentionally.
I would start by using Circle of Death, or by possessing or using Banishment on the Cleric. That would pretty much force the Cleric to go down to 0, and then when the Nun was forced out, I would use Chill Touch on the cleric to prevent the party from healing the Cleric. If you opted to Banish the Cleric, I would posess a different powerful PC or NPC instead. From there I would try using Call Shadows on one of the more powerful PC's, and then focus down the weaker NPCs with the shadow and Nun.
I would also try to use Darkness and Fear to split the party and really make this a truly scary encounter. If Fear works well, you could also try to focus down one of the players and decimate them with power word pain or Blight.
A lot of what I think would make this encounter threatening would be making sure you use the utility spells the Nun has to great effect. 10 PCs and NPCs combined is a LOT, but if you really milk Possession and Call Shadows (along with the utility spells), I think you can mitigate the damage of the party and make it feel like this Nun has the potential to absolutely shred players.
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Hello all,
I'm currently running Curse of Strahd with my group, and my players are amazing. They're creative, funny, and really INTO this adventure. I couldn't ask for more. That being said, I want this campaign to be really special. (It already is.) And so I find myself fleshing out little moments in the campaign to make them more fun and memorable.
That being said, the group is currently level 8 and consists of 5 PCs and 5 NPCs (each player has a character they made, and NPCs we've picked up in game - Ezmerelda, Victor, Stella, Kasimir, and Ismark). Right now, the group is in the Abbey of St. Markovia. The Tarokka prophecy predicted that the Sunsword would be in the nursery in the abbey. And, in the module, there's a one sentence mention of an entity, a white nun, whose reflection appears in the window if they glance at it while standing in the nursery. The group made it to the abbey, met the Abbot, and he granted them permission to "stay the night" if they "promise not to wander" because there have been sightings of the White Nun. (My group got a little freaked out about the white nun - it was fun to watch!)
When the players got to their rooms, they cast "locate object" and discovered that the Sunsword was within 300 feet. They went through the old madhouse hospital and found the nursery and found the hilt of the sword, and we ended the session with them looking up and seeing the reflection of the White Nun in the window.
So in the upcoming session, my plan is to give them a little boss battle to successfully claim the sword. They're going to fight the White Nun.
I've created a "Demonic Nun" to fit the bill and I'm trying to decide the best way to approach the battle. (Here is the link to the nun: https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/178664-demonic-nun.) They have a cleric with 91 hit points, the most in the group, who has a 20 Con and a 20 Wis right now. (He rolled high during character creation. And it was honest. I watched.) I could either have the demonic nun target him and try to take him out (through possession - as he has a low Charisma score - 9 - and would be easy to possess). Or I could target the weakest member of the party, currently Victor, who only has 42 hit points, and also, coincidentally, is the Ally to help them in the final battle against Strahd. If they lose him, the final battle with Strahd will be much more interesting. Or they might try to rez him in the Amber Temple. Or they might have the Abbot bring him back. They're still negotiating the price of the wedding dress with him.
So I guess my question is - should I have this evil nun try to "eat" the weakest members of the party and work her way up, or should I have her try to take out the most powerful members and then chase down the weaker ones?
My group is super creative - and I've designed this monster specifically for them - and I think they're going to love it. I'm just trying to strategize my approach to the battle.
What do you think?
Thanks,
Wolfgang
aka Singerspell
Anything with Possession should start by possessing whichever PC is least likely to resist and then using that body to kill the rest of the party, especially in a horror game. Shadow of moil is also fun.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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Love it! I know who that is.
Question. Regarding Possession. If she possesses a caster, is she able to cast their spells or is she limited to just using the body for melee/weapon attacks?
"The demonic nun now controls the body but doesn't deprive the target of awareness. The demonic nun cannot be targeted by any attack, spell, or other effect, and it retains its alignment, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and immunity to being charmed and frightened. It otherwise uses the possessed target's statistics, but doesn't gain access to the target's knowledge, class features, or proficiencies."
It seems all she can do in the body is melee/range attacks? Does that sound right? Or does she have access to their spellset?
I played the original many moons ago and I’m not familiar with the new source material, so discard this if it doesn’t fit.
Invent a suitable backstory for the witch, if you don’t already have it.
Have the boss fight be against a simulacrum or somesuch while possessing a character and playing the slow game. She possesses one of the characters without the knowledge of the rest of the party (just the player possessed knows). That character is tasked with some goal that fits in with the witch’s backstory (even as simple as killing the despoiler of the sword) over the next few days. Let the player RP it.
Seed the backstory and motivation with the player and perhaps sanction an opportunity to tip off the other players with an out-of character behaviour. Timebound the goal and release the player from possession if they succeed while penalizing their psyche suitably if they fail due to the witch being torn from the possession rather than giving it up intentionally.
I would start by using Circle of Death, or by possessing or using Banishment on the Cleric. That would pretty much force the Cleric to go down to 0, and then when the Nun was forced out, I would use Chill Touch on the cleric to prevent the party from healing the Cleric. If you opted to Banish the Cleric, I would posess a different powerful PC or NPC instead. From there I would try using Call Shadows on one of the more powerful PC's, and then focus down the weaker NPCs with the shadow and Nun.
I would also try to use Darkness and Fear to split the party and really make this a truly scary encounter. If Fear works well, you could also try to focus down one of the players and decimate them with power word pain or Blight.
A lot of what I think would make this encounter threatening would be making sure you use the utility spells the Nun has to great effect. 10 PCs and NPCs combined is a LOT, but if you really milk Possession and Call Shadows (along with the utility spells), I think you can mitigate the damage of the party and make it feel like this Nun has the potential to absolutely shred players.