I would appreciate some help brainstorming an idea as to deal with Ireena during the aftermath of the Festival of the Blazing Sun. To make a long story short; Shortly upon arriving at Vallaki and failing to consecrate the church, Ireena had gone missing from the party for several sessions. (Captured and held by Izek, the Guard Captain.) Fast forward to the Festival, the players decide to kill both The Burgomaster and his Wife, and Fiona Wachter, and leave the burning town to it's fate, setting out towards Yester Hill in hopes of capturing the first of three gems.
The Problem: Izek still had possession of Ireena, and had taken control of the remaining town guard for a final stand at the Burgomaster's Mansion. Due to the parties choice to just abandon Vallaki, the mansion is seen up in flames soon after. It seems that throughout this campaign so far, the party has little care for Ireena and her fate, and I would imagine dying..would force Strahd to remove the kiddie gloves once and for all.
I'd appreciate some advice as to handle this as I want to respect the player's choices, but also institute consequences, both good and bad. Thanks!
To me it just feels like one of those times where the Players will have to pay for their own actions. If Ireena actually did die in the fire then, Strahd's wrath is the price you pay. I don't really have any idea why they decided to do that, or even why, but that's the choice they made and now they'll have to pay for it. At this point, it is likely Strahd will not stop until the characters are dead, which means get ready to give the characters the invitation to the dinner party.
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"Uh, I have Illusory Script. I think I can read that."
Please consider that Ireena is part of Strahd's curse. Even if she dies, she eventually will always come back under another form. I suggest to have her off screen for a few sessions and then have her coming back in an unexpected way. For example, they could meet a Vistani woman who resembles her 100%.
As IhanShade says Ireena (or more accurately her soul) dying and being reborn is part of Strahd's curse, but more accurately the curse is that she dies each time before Strahd can get to her so her dying in a fire would actually feed into that quite neatly. However it definitely needs to have consequences for the players so consider increasing the number of Strahd's minions that attack the party when they rest, make sure that by the time they reach their next safe place they're all suffering levels of exhaustion because they've not slept for a week. I'd favour the Brides for this, I've always felt they're underused in the campaign and either individually or all three at once it'll give the players an idea of just how dangerous a full vampire can be
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Hello gang, first post. :)
I would appreciate some help brainstorming an idea as to deal with Ireena during the aftermath of the Festival of the Blazing Sun. To make a long story short; Shortly upon arriving at Vallaki and failing to consecrate the church, Ireena had gone missing from the party for several sessions. (Captured and held by Izek, the Guard Captain.) Fast forward to the Festival, the players decide to kill both The Burgomaster and his Wife, and Fiona Wachter, and leave the burning town to it's fate, setting out towards Yester Hill in hopes of capturing the first of three gems.
The Problem: Izek still had possession of Ireena, and had taken control of the remaining town guard for a final stand at the Burgomaster's Mansion. Due to the parties choice to just abandon Vallaki, the mansion is seen up in flames soon after. It seems that throughout this campaign so far, the party has little care for Ireena and her fate, and I would imagine dying..would force Strahd to remove the kiddie gloves once and for all.
I'd appreciate some advice as to handle this as I want to respect the player's choices, but also institute consequences, both good and bad. Thanks!
"Spaghettios."
Burning down Vallaki seems like a ... dubious decision, for reasons unrelated to Ireena. Good luck getting a successful long rest in the wilds.
Entire town is not burnt to the ground, now a sizeable portion? Wrecked.
"Spaghettios."
To me it just feels like one of those times where the Players will have to pay for their own actions. If Ireena actually did die in the fire then, Strahd's wrath is the price you pay. I don't really have any idea why they decided to do that, or even why, but that's the choice they made and now they'll have to pay for it. At this point, it is likely Strahd will not stop until the characters are dead, which means get ready to give the characters the invitation to the dinner party.
"Uh, I have Illusory Script. I think I can read that."
Please consider that Ireena is part of Strahd's curse. Even if she dies, she eventually will always come back under another form. I suggest to have her off screen for a few sessions and then have her coming back in an unexpected way. For example, they could meet a Vistani woman who resembles her 100%.
As IhanShade says Ireena (or more accurately her soul) dying and being reborn is part of Strahd's curse, but more accurately the curse is that she dies each time before Strahd can get to her so her dying in a fire would actually feed into that quite neatly. However it definitely needs to have consequences for the players so consider increasing the number of Strahd's minions that attack the party when they rest, make sure that by the time they reach their next safe place they're all suffering levels of exhaustion because they've not slept for a week. I'd favour the Brides for this, I've always felt they're underused in the campaign and either individually or all three at once it'll give the players an idea of just how dangerous a full vampire can be