My players are currently set to finish 'Death House' today and finally begin the true adventure of 'Curse of Strahd.' Now, this is my first time running the adventure and while I feel reasonably prepped and familiar with everything, there's two areas I'm less than certain about: First, what kind of reason or hook could I snare a party with to actually visit The Amber Temple? Secondly, do other DM's have tried and true ways of encouraging (subtly) their Players to attempt and explore (loot) Castle Ravenloft prior to any sort of final battle? I haven't done the card reading as of yet, though I'm thinking that one or two treasures (not the Sun Sword) should be located within the Castle (perhaps the Tome and the Holy Symbol, or just the tome).
Any thoughts or recommendations are greatly appreciated. There's a real wealth online, but every bit helps.
Ravenloft is my favorite game setting by far, and I have run it many times. My particular take on it is not very closely aligned with the standard rules and I have a house ruleset that fills several pages. That said, you have many options to you in getting information into your players hands:
The Vistani - there are wagon camps all over the domain, so don't hesitate to drop one alongside the road where players cannot help to find it. In particular, when I need them to divert to a camp for information gathering/sharing, it is very easy to make their trip from where they are to where they want to go be a multi-day trip that leaves them in the wilderness during the night. You never want to camp outside during the night in Ravenloft! The ***** camp is welcome safety and a good way to introduce this invaluable resource to the players. Once there, they can share many and varied rumors, history and recommendations to the players. Feel free to scatter breadcrumbs, direct & specific helpful information, and misleading rumors as appropriate to your needs.
Townsfolk - every person you meet in Ravenloft has a dark and terrible story they are willing to share about something that happened to them, a family member or a friend. These stories are useful for dropping clues and rumors about resources the party can use/may need, revealing potential weaknesses or diverting them from challenges they are not ready to face. In my Ravenloft, everyone (including the PCs) has a dark secret they hide that eats at their soul (if they know about it - my PCs often don't know theirs); use this to your advantage and give the townspeople motivations - some are good, and some are looking to exploit the PCs for their benefit, but townspeople in Ravenloft are a much bigger asset than many settings.
The Dark Powers - the powers that control the Ravenloft setting (not just that domain) have their own agenda and can be capricious. Don't be afraid to use them to aid the story you are trying to tell. If the players need to be somewhere and they aren't seeing the hint or are ignoring it completely or don't know where to go, camping at night might lead to the sentry falling asleep as a cool fog creeps out of the forest, silently rolling over the party like a blanket; only to have them awake in the remains of a ruined druidic circle, just outside the location where they need to go. At the same time, arrogant or unserious players might find themselves laid low by a minor wound that resists magical healing and slowly saps their strength until they seek out the local experts who deal in the kinds of unique trauma that occur in Ravenloft.
Dreams - lastly, Ravenloft is haunted by the spirits of the unquiet dead, heroes long past who failed to achieve their potential, lovers separated by dire tragedy, the mournful cries of parents who had their children stolen - literally - by the night. Many times, this restless, psychic energy manifests by working its way into those sleeping in the Domain of Dread and can either help them with insight or haunt them with the tragedies that have befallen this place.
The Fraternity of Shadows is a wonderful resource for all things Ravenloft and can help you with your flavor. Feel free to ask more questions here.
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First D&D set: 1980 red box. Haven't stopped playing since. :)
Well, when I pregenerated cards one of the treasures was in the amber temple. There's also a plot seed from Kasimir (N5a), though the PCs probably aren't high enough level to have a chance in the amber temple when they reach him. In any case, I don't think you're expected to hit every location in CoS.
I have the opposite problem: there's stuff in CoS that it's easy to hit early on that will absolutely kill lower level parties (e.g. Old Bonegrinder), so have to figure how to direct PCs elsewhere.
Thanks guys! Appreciate all the suggestions @gravedgr, I definitely love digging back into the past editions and history of the setting so I'll keep the site in mind. And you reminded me that one thing may that may lead to them exploring there, would be a search for answers as well as either allies or a way to possibly disrupt Strahd's hold on the Land, both of which could potentially be dound there (the amber temple) but with a high price. And totally agreed @Pantagruel666, I'm already thinking ahead towards ways to clue the group in on the extreme perils some locations may have.
That is a *really* interesting point. I never even looked at all the areas to double check their supposed overall CR, I just nodded along to whatever the book said. And considering that the creatures at that location have a very specific synergy bonus, that's pretty crazy.
Encounter != combat in all cases. I give my players plenty of options to resolve encounters based on what they need to get out of it, and never punish them for failing to gauge the level of threat. If it's a "big oops", the monsters will either make a mistake, lose interest or perhaps mock them as they flee, depending on the situation. If a group (or more frequently, a player) decides to adopt the "if its in the adventure, it must be 'defeat-able'" mentality, they quickly learn their error - but rarely such that they cannot be rescued by their compatriots.
My Ravenloft is particularly deadly - not because I make the encounters harder than normal (or even as hard as normal) - but because I run the game where the world really is, literally, out to get you. Every player who has wandered off alone has learned the inevitability of being alone in the darkness of Ravenloft. :)
My players are currently set to finish 'Death House' today and finally begin the true adventure of 'Curse of Strahd.' Now, this is my first time running the adventure and while I feel reasonably prepped and familiar with everything, there's two areas I'm less than certain about: First, what kind of reason or hook could I snare a party with to actually visit The Amber Temple? Secondly, do other DM's have tried and true ways of encouraging (subtly) their Players to attempt and explore (loot) Castle Ravenloft prior to any sort of final battle? I haven't done the card reading as of yet, though I'm thinking that one or two treasures (not the Sun Sword) should be located within the Castle (perhaps the Tome and the Holy Symbol, or just the tome).
Any thoughts or recommendations are greatly appreciated. There's a real wealth online, but every bit helps.
Ravenloft is my favorite game setting by far, and I have run it many times. My particular take on it is not very closely aligned with the standard rules and I have a house ruleset that fills several pages. That said, you have many options to you in getting information into your players hands:
The Fraternity of Shadows is a wonderful resource for all things Ravenloft and can help you with your flavor. Feel free to ask more questions here.
First D&D set: 1980 red box. Haven't stopped playing since. :)
Well, when I pregenerated cards one of the treasures was in the amber temple. There's also a plot seed from Kasimir (N5a), though the PCs probably aren't high enough level to have a chance in the amber temple when they reach him. In any case, I don't think you're expected to hit every location in CoS.
I have the opposite problem: there's stuff in CoS that it's easy to hit early on that will absolutely kill lower level parties (e.g. Old Bonegrinder), so have to figure how to direct PCs elsewhere.
Thanks guys! Appreciate all the suggestions @gravedgr, I definitely love digging back into the past editions and history of the setting so I'll keep the site in mind. And you reminded me that one thing may that may lead to them exploring there, would be a search for answers as well as either allies or a way to possibly disrupt Strahd's hold on the Land, both of which could potentially be dound there (the amber temple) but with a high price. And totally agreed @Pantagruel666, I'm already thinking ahead towards ways to clue the group in on the extreme perils some locations may have.
Funny thing is, the module thinks that
a coven of 3 night hags (17,400 adjusted xp)
is a level 4 area.
That is a *really* interesting point. I never even looked at all the areas to double check their supposed overall CR, I just nodded along to whatever the book said. And considering that the creatures at that location have a very specific synergy bonus, that's pretty crazy.
Encounter != combat in all cases. I give my players plenty of options to resolve encounters based on what they need to get out of it, and never punish them for failing to gauge the level of threat. If it's a "big oops", the monsters will either make a mistake, lose interest or perhaps mock them as they flee, depending on the situation. If a group (or more frequently, a player) decides to adopt the "if its in the adventure, it must be 'defeat-able'" mentality, they quickly learn their error - but rarely such that they cannot be rescued by their compatriots.
My Ravenloft is particularly deadly - not because I make the encounters harder than normal (or even as hard as normal) - but because I run the game where the world really is, literally, out to get you. Every player who has wandered off alone has learned the inevitability of being alone in the darkness of Ravenloft. :)
First D&D set: 1980 red box. Haven't stopped playing since. :)