I'm still quite a green DM. I've run Dragon of Ice Spire Peak, and I'm starting Storm Lords Wrath next week. Both were pretty straight forward and seem written to allow ther DM to balance freedom of choice with making sure the party aren't put in a ridiculously hard fight.
However, I've started reading the Curse of Strahd source book so I'm ready to go after Storm Lords wrath. It looks fantastic and I can see why it's so well regarded. However as a lot of you will already know, it's a lot more freeform. How do you handle a situation where the party might pick a fight that is well above their level? The night hags for example on the way to Valaki.
I have ran CoS many times and its different every time. Let the players make decisions, let them tell the story. Its an Open World MMORPG like Elder Scrolls if you let them just have fun. BUT! Make sure you punish them when they overstep their boundaries. Think of Strahd as a Controlling Boyfriend allowing his lovers to play in his sandbox and when others look at them the wrong way, either punish the players or the NPC's.
Allow decisions to have consequences if needed, also have fun and don't worry about sticking to the book 100%. Also if you want a streamlined experience, try Curse of Strahd: Reloaded (Google it). I am about to start running this version because of how streamlined it is, with a few homebrew changes, but it makes running Strahd super easy.
CoS is fun, and doesn't take an expert, just takes someone willing to listen to the players at the table. Describing what the book or module tells you too and how it is written will do a good enough job to bring a sense of fear to the players.
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I'm still quite a green DM. I've run Dragon of Ice Spire Peak, and I'm starting Storm Lords Wrath next week. Both were pretty straight forward and seem written to allow ther DM to balance freedom of choice with making sure the party aren't put in a ridiculously hard fight.
However, I've started reading the Curse of Strahd source book so I'm ready to go after Storm Lords wrath. It looks fantastic and I can see why it's so well regarded. However as a lot of you will already know, it's a lot more freeform. How do you handle a situation where the party might pick a fight that is well above their level? The night hags for example on the way to Valaki.
Thanks
I have ran CoS many times and its different every time. Let the players make decisions, let them tell the story. Its an Open World MMORPG like Elder Scrolls if you let them just have fun. BUT! Make sure you punish them when they overstep their boundaries. Think of Strahd as a Controlling Boyfriend allowing his lovers to play in his sandbox and when others look at them the wrong way, either punish the players or the NPC's.
Allow decisions to have consequences if needed, also have fun and don't worry about sticking to the book 100%. Also if you want a streamlined experience, try Curse of Strahd: Reloaded (Google it). I am about to start running this version because of how streamlined it is, with a few homebrew changes, but it makes running Strahd super easy.
CoS is fun, and doesn't take an expert, just takes someone willing to listen to the players at the table. Describing what the book or module tells you too and how it is written will do a good enough job to bring a sense of fear to the players.