I'm goind to have a Curse of Strahd adventure with 4 heroes.
1. In adventure is written "this adventure is for level 1-10 characters".Does it mean that characters can have 1-10 lvl in the start, or that characters should start with lvl 1 and level limit is 10?
2. Do you recommend using extra beginning "death house"?
3. What should I do if the low level group will meet deadly random encounter(6 scarecrows for example)?
2. Yes, it's an adorable starting adventure that sort of sets the tone pretty well.
3. Simple, don't use the encounter if you think it is too hard. You are the DM and you don't have to follow what a random table tells you to use. Alternatively, if you do use a deadly encounter like that, make sure to give your players lots of hints that maybe they are outmatched and afford them opportunities to flee.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
2. Yes, it's an adorable starting adventure that sort of sets the tone pretty well.
3. Simple, don't use the encounter if you think it is too hard. You are the DM and you don't have to follow what a random table tells you to use. Alternatively, if you do use a deadly encounter like that, make sure to give your players lots of hints that maybe they are outmatched and afford them opportunities to flee.
I wish my DM had followed 2 and 3. We had 3 level 1 PCs against a vampire spawn.
For number 3, it is also possible to run the encounter and adjust the numbers. For example 2 scarecrows shouldn't be too hard for 4 level 3 players. They could probably easily handle 4 if fought 1 at a time.
2. Do you recommend using extra beginning "death house"?
Assuming you are a relatively new DM, I think you can use "death house" to help yourself craft what type of horror you want in your Strahd game. You can use it as a way to introduce it to your players and see how they react, that way you can help figure out what both you and your players want from the campaign.
With regard to "random encounters", I rarely use them. I may pregenerate some encounters to use, but I like trying to connect things, or to have the ability to use one of my pregenerated encounters to either expose the players to something new, or to test balancing out from my side.
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"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
So Hi my DM told some of us to make One shots to get us to understand what DM's go through since he deals with a lot of...stressful moments. I have tried making a One shot influenced by Ps2 game Nocturne...cause i love the game. A dark other worldly journey were people are summonded to a "man" made plane. waking up trapped in the dungeon of a cult, I'm having a hard time with a couple things.
1.starting lvl to keep it interesting (lvl 3 or 5)
2.qty of mini bosses and minions
3.And what to allow them to have after getting their stuff back magic items and all.
I've made npc's, the story, and layout of the cult lair. I dont want to make any thing to difficult or dull. Any tips?
I'd break it into about four or five "encounters."
Encounter 1 (The Jail Break): This can be a bit of a social encounter mixed with some light combat. There are two guards, each equipped with a weapon, but light or no armor, that the players have to contend with after they find a way to break out of their cell. Maybe Cultist stats for the guards and maybe lower the AC to 10. If one of the guards has a key to the cell, then the party will have to use social skills or some other plan to trick the guard into coming close enough for someone to use Sleight of Hand to attempt to get the key. Or maybe they just trick the guard(s) into the cell somehow and beat them up to escape?
Encounter 2 (Finding the Goods): Now that they are free, the party has to sneak around the cult's lair to find out where their stuff is. Chances are, it is piled up in some secure location that requires stealth and trickery to access and maybe is secured by a trap or puzzle/riddle. Once they have solved the security issue, they can get into the room and get their stuff back.
Encounter 3 (The Brawl): Now that they are equipped, chances are good that some innocent cultist just happens by the area to drop something off and finds them, triggering an alarm and a fight. This should probably either be an easy fight with a handful of enemies, or maybe it starts out easy, and then a huge wave of enemies approaches ad the party has to do some sort of retreat where they find a door they can block off or iron portcullis they can drop, stopping the advance of the bulk of the cultists. For the main fight, I might use a Thug and maybe a few Grimlock. Maybe the thug has a pet Diseased Giant Rat?
Encounter 4 (The Boss): Having staved off a bulk of the cult for now, the party makes its way to the main cathedral space within this lair and confronts the boss. For this fight, for a level 3 party, I'd use maybe a Cult Fanatic as the boss and some mix of four or five Cultist, Kobold (flavored as some devil or demon), Giant Weasel (flavored as some demonic monster).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
I'm goind to have a Curse of Strahd adventure with 4 heroes.
1. In adventure is written "this adventure is for level 1-10 characters".Does it mean that characters can have 1-10 lvl in the start, or that characters should start with lvl 1 and level limit is 10?
2. Do you recommend using extra beginning "death house"?
3. What should I do if the low level group will meet deadly random encounter(6 scarecrows for example)?
1. Start at level 1 and end around level 10.
2. Yes, it's an adorable starting adventure that sort of sets the tone pretty well.
3. Simple, don't use the encounter if you think it is too hard. You are the DM and you don't have to follow what a random table tells you to use. Alternatively, if you do use a deadly encounter like that, make sure to give your players lots of hints that maybe they are outmatched and afford them opportunities to flee.
I wish my DM had followed 2 and 3. We had 3 level 1 PCs against a vampire spawn.
For number 3, it is also possible to run the encounter and adjust the numbers. For example 2 scarecrows shouldn't be too hard for 4 level 3 players. They could probably easily handle 4 if fought 1 at a time.
Assuming you are a relatively new DM, I think you can use "death house" to help yourself craft what type of horror you want in your Strahd game. You can use it as a way to introduce it to your players and see how they react, that way you can help figure out what both you and your players want from the campaign.
With regard to "random encounters", I rarely use them. I may pregenerate some encounters to use, but I like trying to connect things, or to have the ability to use one of my pregenerated encounters to either expose the players to something new, or to test balancing out from my side.
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
So Hi my DM told some of us to make One shots to get us to understand what DM's go through since he deals with a lot of...stressful moments. I have tried making a One shot influenced by Ps2 game Nocturne...cause i love the game. A dark other worldly journey were people are summonded to a "man" made plane. waking up trapped in the dungeon of a cult, I'm having a hard time with a couple things.
1.starting lvl to keep it interesting (lvl 3 or 5)
2.qty of mini bosses and minions
3.And what to allow them to have after getting their stuff back magic items and all.
I've made npc's, the story, and layout of the cult lair. I dont want to make any thing to difficult or dull. Any tips?
I'd break it into about four or five "encounters."
Encounter 1 (The Jail Break): This can be a bit of a social encounter mixed with some light combat. There are two guards, each equipped with a weapon, but light or no armor, that the players have to contend with after they find a way to break out of their cell. Maybe Cultist stats for the guards and maybe lower the AC to 10. If one of the guards has a key to the cell, then the party will have to use social skills or some other plan to trick the guard into coming close enough for someone to use Sleight of Hand to attempt to get the key. Or maybe they just trick the guard(s) into the cell somehow and beat them up to escape?
Encounter 2 (Finding the Goods): Now that they are free, the party has to sneak around the cult's lair to find out where their stuff is. Chances are, it is piled up in some secure location that requires stealth and trickery to access and maybe is secured by a trap or puzzle/riddle. Once they have solved the security issue, they can get into the room and get their stuff back.
Encounter 3 (The Brawl): Now that they are equipped, chances are good that some innocent cultist just happens by the area to drop something off and finds them, triggering an alarm and a fight. This should probably either be an easy fight with a handful of enemies, or maybe it starts out easy, and then a huge wave of enemies approaches ad the party has to do some sort of retreat where they find a door they can block off or iron portcullis they can drop, stopping the advance of the bulk of the cultists. For the main fight, I might use a Thug and maybe a few Grimlock. Maybe the thug has a pet Diseased Giant Rat?
Encounter 4 (The Boss): Having staved off a bulk of the cult for now, the party makes its way to the main cathedral space within this lair and confronts the boss. For this fight, for a level 3 party, I'd use maybe a Cult Fanatic as the boss and some mix of four or five Cultist, Kobold (flavored as some devil or demon), Giant Weasel (flavored as some demonic monster).
Thats more helpful than i thought from the first reply. thx for the tips