Hello fellow DMs i have a few questions I'd like to get opinions on before we start our adventure. I'm a relatively new DM about to run Curse of Strahd Module for a party of 6. Already reading into the module a bit and talking with my players about character ideas a few questions arised for me.
1. One of my PCs wants to do a Yuan-Ti pureblood but as more of a flavor design wants to have some type of fallen wings on her back that she cant use, this is a little off for me and I want her to have the creativity but am confused and worried about this. 2. I have another PC running a shifter Druid which sounds fun and thematically awesome but one question i have related is due to there being the presence of werewolves in Strahd and lycanthropy I was wondering how that would work with a shifter. They are already viewed as were touched with cursed blood. Woukd lycanthropy be resisted by a shifter or more susceptible to the change due to their already animal changing abilities? 3.I want them to have fun in this campaign and obviously i still want it to be a challenge are there any tips for how to adjust difficulty in a module if it feels like the party is having it too easy?
I may have more questions arise in the next few days as more planning and reading is needed to be done but these are the mains questions i have right now after our first group talk and one on ones with PCs.
Fort the first one, I say you can go about it 2 ways. Before explaining those, you are the DM, so you can ask about their background. The first way is being rulesy, which I will occasionally do, because my parties don't play in character much, and use outside knowledge. Second is rule of cool. If you think its cool, just do it, the DM controls everything.
Secondly, I can't answer anything for how people in the world would act, as I've always played homebrew worlds. However, on the case of lycanthropy, the rules would apply as normal, unless once again, rule of cool.
Lastly, there's a few ways. You can give enemies more hp so the party doesn't kill them instantly, give them an initiative bonus, so they get a chance to see the damage that can be dealt to them, and just swapping out enemies for stronger ones that are similar. While I haven't played any official campaigns like I said, that means I'm not sure if you are supposed to do that, or if you are willing to, but it is an option.
1. It's up to you really! If you think her concept is needlessly edgy or anime, or you're concerned about the world's lore (and I personally would be both), feel free to tell her no, and explain to her that "fallen wings" have huge implications in the Forgotten Realms (demon blood, sorcery, etc) and usually only manifest in creatures way stronger than starting characters (even fallen Aasimar only get them at level 3, and then only for a minute). On the other hand, if you're more interested in "epicness" and player control you can let her have them! Either way, not getting the wings shouldn't take away her fun...or if it would you probably don't need that kind of negativity in your game anyway. Oh, and most Barovians are going to either be terrified by or try to kill anyone with demon wings.
2. I personally don't think it has any mechanical effects. Maybe, though, any locals who notice him shift will begin to fear him as a werewolf. Maybe they're right...you could always reflavor the shifter as a lycanthrope...just be sure to discuss it with the player first. Note that shifters aren't usually canon in the Forgotten Realms (again, not sure how much lore matters to you).
3. Knowing Curse of Strahd, difficulty shouldn't be a problem. If it is, I'd suggest adding one or two bonus monsters into multi-monster fights (five specters instead of four, etc). There's really no hard-and-fast rule for this..****y thing I would suggest is not to adjust monster hit points on the fly much or even at all. When I play, I can't stand my DM doing it, even in my favor. :-)
Hope that helps! Good luck, sounds like you've got a fun game ahead!
This is entirely just for fun so sticking true to fogotten realms and the such doesnt mean much to me. she ended up changing design so thats a load off of my chest. I think we are going to say that his shifter heritage is from the dillution of the disease in the bloodline, but he can still be affected by it since over time diseases become more potent or form new strains. as of right now the party is pretty backline loaded so we will see how it plays out. Thanks for the help :D
CoS is not actually in Forgotten Realms anyway. It has its own setting and ways of getting PCs from any setting into that setting.
As for the lycanthropy, shifters don't get any particular resistance, though I would generally recommend avoiding using the attacks that inflict the condition whenever you have alternatives. Turning something that is actively hostile to you and likely capable of killing you into something that's immune to your attacks is a poor idea.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hello fellow DMs i have a few questions I'd like to get opinions on before we start our adventure. I'm a relatively new DM about to run Curse of Strahd Module for a party of 6. Already reading into the module a bit and talking with my players about character ideas a few questions arised for me.
1. One of my PCs wants to do a Yuan-Ti pureblood but as more of a flavor design wants to have some type of fallen wings on her back that she cant use, this is a little off for me and I want her to have the creativity but am confused and worried about this.
2. I have another PC running a shifter Druid which sounds fun and thematically awesome but one question i have related is due to there being the presence of werewolves in Strahd and lycanthropy I was wondering how that would work with a shifter. They are already viewed as were touched with cursed blood. Woukd lycanthropy be resisted by a shifter or more susceptible to the change due to their already animal changing abilities?
3.I want them to have fun in this campaign and obviously i still want it to be a challenge are there any tips for how to adjust difficulty in a module if it feels like the party is having it too easy?
I may have more questions arise in the next few days as more planning and reading is needed to be done but these are the mains questions i have right now after our first group talk and one on ones with PCs.
Thank you for any answers and help
Fort the first one, I say you can go about it 2 ways. Before explaining those, you are the DM, so you can ask about their background. The first way is being rulesy, which I will occasionally do, because my parties don't play in character much, and use outside knowledge. Second is rule of cool. If you think its cool, just do it, the DM controls everything.
Secondly, I can't answer anything for how people in the world would act, as I've always played homebrew worlds. However, on the case of lycanthropy, the rules would apply as normal, unless once again, rule of cool.
Lastly, there's a few ways. You can give enemies more hp so the party doesn't kill them instantly, give them an initiative bonus, so they get a chance to see the damage that can be dealt to them, and just swapping out enemies for stronger ones that are similar. While I haven't played any official campaigns like I said, that means I'm not sure if you are supposed to do that, or if you are willing to, but it is an option.
Also known as CrafterB and DankMemer.
Here, have some homebrew classes! Subclasses to? Why not races. Feats, feats as well. I have a lot of magic items. Lastly I got monsters, fun, fun times.
1. It's up to you really! If you think her concept is needlessly edgy or anime, or you're concerned about the world's lore (and I personally would be both), feel free to tell her no, and explain to her that "fallen wings" have huge implications in the Forgotten Realms (demon blood, sorcery, etc) and usually only manifest in creatures way stronger than starting characters (even fallen Aasimar only get them at level 3, and then only for a minute). On the other hand, if you're more interested in "epicness" and player control you can let her have them! Either way, not getting the wings shouldn't take away her fun...or if it would you probably don't need that kind of negativity in your game anyway. Oh, and most Barovians are going to either be terrified by or try to kill anyone with demon wings.
2. I personally don't think it has any mechanical effects. Maybe, though, any locals who notice him shift will begin to fear him as a werewolf. Maybe they're right...you could always reflavor the shifter as a lycanthrope...just be sure to discuss it with the player first. Note that shifters aren't usually canon in the Forgotten Realms (again, not sure how much lore matters to you).
3. Knowing Curse of Strahd, difficulty shouldn't be a problem. If it is, I'd suggest adding one or two bonus monsters into multi-monster fights (five specters instead of four, etc). There's really no hard-and-fast rule for this..****y thing I would suggest is not to adjust monster hit points on the fly much or even at all. When I play, I can't stand my DM doing it, even in my favor. :-)
Hope that helps! Good luck, sounds like you've got a fun game ahead!
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
This is entirely just for fun so sticking true to fogotten realms and the such doesnt mean much to me. she ended up changing design so thats a load off of my chest. I think we are going to say that his shifter heritage is from the dillution of the disease in the bloodline, but he can still be affected by it since over time diseases become more potent or form new strains. as of right now the party is pretty backline loaded so we will see how it plays out. Thanks for the help :D
CoS is not actually in Forgotten Realms anyway. It has its own setting and ways of getting PCs from any setting into that setting.
As for the lycanthropy, shifters don't get any particular resistance, though I would generally recommend avoiding using the attacks that inflict the condition whenever you have alternatives. Turning something that is actively hostile to you and likely capable of killing you into something that's immune to your attacks is a poor idea.