I am running The Curse of Strahd and I have run into a problem. The card reading indicated that Strahd was to be encountered in his treasury. Strahd is supposed to used great tactics and attack from the best position, so what is to stop him from casting spells from atop his tower and then ducking back inside? He might be able to take out most of the characters before they can even get into his tower. I really don't want a TPK at the end boss fight I would appreciate any suggestions. Than you!
I would say the only thing stopping him is that the tarokka deck said he'd be in the treasury. If you're dead set on him attacking from the tower, maybe Strahd takes a couple of shots at range from the tower before hand before retreating to the treasury and setting up an ambush for them.
I am sorry, what I meant was Strahd's admamantine tower in his treasury. The tower has 100 HP immunity to non-magical damage and resistance to magical damage.
So what you're asking for is a good...Strahdegy? ;D
Do the players already know about the tarot reading results? Because if not you could always redo that one card.
I think the point of the reading is so that the players could take Strahd by surprise and sort of negate his tactical intelligence. They can find him in the treasury placed somewhere inconvenient for Strahd, to start him off at a disadvantage. Perhaps the players are in between him and the tower, so he needs to go through them if he wants to use it to his advantage, which at that point might be more trouble for him than its worth.
Besides, if he retreats into the tower, could the players not simply follow him in?
First thought is give the players access to a weapon or scroll that would give them a way to destroy the door. Maybe homebrew something that can deal additional damage to structures or an adamantine weapon? Instead of knocking down the doors they could find some potions or scrolls that would give them the option of entering through the arrow slits or becoming ethereal to go straight through the walls
On the note of damaging the tower, I don't believe the guide says anything about what state it's in. Maybe in your campaign Strahd has relied a little too heavily on his tower to clean up previous adventuring parties. Strahd lacks the ability to cast wish by himself, so he presumably also lacks the ability to keep it well maintained. With this in mind you can say that one or more of the walls or doors have been badly damaged by previous attacks, and only has 10 or 20 hp remaining instead of the full 100.
Alternatively, the guide might say that only Strahd knows the command word but that doesn't have to be the final rule. As it's holding a shield from Argynvostholt, you might get away with handwaving that the fort was also stolen from them. If you do, you could have Godfrey lament the loss of the fort in passing and inadvertently give the adventurers the command word or they might be able to find a note or tome with some information on the fort and its command word (If they haven't already been through Argynvostholt!). Another option is that they might hear Strahd using the command word if he is frequently ducking in and out of the trap door on top. If you call it out in character as Strahd it could reward a player for paying attention and then trying it on the main door (You could also make it a perception check if you'd rather)
On a similar approach, if any of your players know an obscure language like abyssal, celestial, or infernal you could have the command word inscribed into the fort somewhere. It might not make much sense for the keys to be on the wall, but it would reward a perception check and allow a player to use a language that may not have seen much use yet.
The final idea that comes to mind is to have Strahd and the players mimic the fight with Saint Markovia where "A great battle raged from the catacombs to the parapets". With this in mind the thought of a moving fight throughout the whole castle could fit Strahds character, meaning that the tower becomes the start or finish of the final confrontation with Strahd instead of its entirety
Action economy takes care of this. The legendary actions provide a move, not a use objects. So if he opens the trapdoor, it remains open for a full round, and he burns an action every time he interacts with the door. So "ambushing" the players happens on at least a three turn loop, unless they are in melee range, at which point it is a two turn loop plus legendaries.
In addition, the party should have at least some knowledge of how the Sunsword interacts with vampires. If they don't, just throw in a "random" vampire spawn encounter beforehand. If they can't figure out how to get the Sunsword to shine through the arrow slits, it is their own fault.
Ok, Strahd doesn't need to use the fortress for one. Strahd is over-cocky and he's confident in himself to take on the players without hiding in the fortress. Its filled with treasure, he probably would be a little cramped in there. If he does for whatever reason go into the fortress he can just chill in there and have minions attack the party while casting spells through the arrow slits. It does not take a full action to open a door only half way [Hybridfive]. There is no way for the players to find out the words Strahd uses for the fortress. Its a super powerful magic item you don't want your players to have and abuse. SO DON'T GIVE THEM THE COMMAND WORD! Strahds goal here is to get the players out of this room!
Players will have to shift shape to get inside and grab all the items with a bag of holding (if they have one). Mage handwont work well. It will not be able to grab anything but the coins and that will take them forever with just one handful of coins at a time. Players will most likely have to spend time destroying the fortress with magic with resistance. (Strahd will arrive if the players are attacking the Fort.) Once the fortress is destroyed its gone forever.
I agree with @RebeccaTheWizzard. The Tarokka reading is a random element designed to allow the characters to catch Strahd off guard and upset his carefully laid plans. If they think quickly, the PCs should be able to attack first and negate any advantage Strahd might gain by retreating into the fortress. Good luck. I definitely don’t think this scenario will lead to a TPK if your players think quickly and use the element of surprise to their advantage.
Honestly, this isn't any different from any other place to encounter Strahd, because he has a lair action to walk through walls and legendary actions to move (without drawing an opportunity attack). If Strahd fully exploits the combination of regeneration and nearly unstoppable hit and run (btw, +14 stealth) he's going to win unless the PCs figure out how to stop him or kill him before he can flee, which there aren't a lot of ways of doing unless the PCs are substantially over the recommended level (mostly, get him to fail enough saves that he runs out of legendary resistance, then paralyze him or something). This will also be an amazingly unfun encounter so I think the assumption is that you just don't play Strahd that way.
I am running The Curse of Strahd and I have run into a problem. The card reading indicated that Strahd was to be encountered in his treasury. Strahd is supposed to used great tactics and attack from the best position, so what is to stop him from casting spells from atop his tower and then ducking back inside? He might be able to take out most of the characters before they can even get into his tower. I really don't want a TPK at the end boss fight I would appreciate any suggestions. Than you!
I would say the only thing stopping him is that the tarokka deck said he'd be in the treasury. If you're dead set on him attacking from the tower, maybe Strahd takes a couple of shots at range from the tower before hand before retreating to the treasury and setting up an ambush for them.
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I am sorry, what I meant was Strahd's admamantine tower in his treasury. The tower has 100 HP immunity to non-magical damage and resistance to magical damage.
So what you're asking for is a good...Strahdegy? ;D
Do the players already know about the tarot reading results? Because if not you could always redo that one card.
I think the point of the reading is so that the players could take Strahd by surprise and sort of negate his tactical intelligence. They can find him in the treasury placed somewhere inconvenient for Strahd, to start him off at a disadvantage. Perhaps the players are in between him and the tower, so he needs to go through them if he wants to use it to his advantage, which at that point might be more trouble for him than its worth.
Besides, if he retreats into the tower, could the players not simply follow him in?
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First thought is give the players access to a weapon or scroll that would give them a way to destroy the door. Maybe homebrew something that can deal additional damage to structures or an adamantine weapon? Instead of knocking down the doors they could find some potions or scrolls that would give them the option of entering through the arrow slits or becoming ethereal to go straight through the walls
On the note of damaging the tower, I don't believe the guide says anything about what state it's in. Maybe in your campaign Strahd has relied a little too heavily on his tower to clean up previous adventuring parties. Strahd lacks the ability to cast wish by himself, so he presumably also lacks the ability to keep it well maintained. With this in mind you can say that one or more of the walls or doors have been badly damaged by previous attacks, and only has 10 or 20 hp remaining instead of the full 100.
Alternatively, the guide might say that only Strahd knows the command word but that doesn't have to be the final rule. As it's holding a shield from Argynvostholt, you might get away with handwaving that the fort was also stolen from them. If you do, you could have Godfrey lament the loss of the fort in passing and inadvertently give the adventurers the command word or they might be able to find a note or tome with some information on the fort and its command word (If they haven't already been through Argynvostholt!). Another option is that they might hear Strahd using the command word if he is frequently ducking in and out of the trap door on top. If you call it out in character as Strahd it could reward a player for paying attention and then trying it on the main door (You could also make it a perception check if you'd rather)
On a similar approach, if any of your players know an obscure language like abyssal, celestial, or infernal you could have the command word inscribed into the fort somewhere. It might not make much sense for the keys to be on the wall, but it would reward a perception check and allow a player to use a language that may not have seen much use yet.
The final idea that comes to mind is to have Strahd and the players mimic the fight with Saint Markovia where "A great battle raged from the catacombs to the parapets". With this in mind the thought of a moving fight throughout the whole castle could fit Strahds character, meaning that the tower becomes the start or finish of the final confrontation with Strahd instead of its entirety
Action economy takes care of this. The legendary actions provide a move, not a use objects. So if he opens the trapdoor, it remains open for a full round, and he burns an action every time he interacts with the door. So "ambushing" the players happens on at least a three turn loop, unless they are in melee range, at which point it is a two turn loop plus legendaries.
In addition, the party should have at least some knowledge of how the Sunsword interacts with vampires. If they don't, just throw in a "random" vampire spawn encounter beforehand. If they can't figure out how to get the Sunsword to shine through the arrow slits, it is their own fault.
Ok, Strahd doesn't need to use the fortress for one. Strahd is over-cocky and he's confident in himself to take on the players without hiding in the fortress. Its filled with treasure, he probably would be a little cramped in there. If he does for whatever reason go into the fortress he can just chill in there and have minions attack the party while casting spells through the arrow slits. It does not take a full action to open a door only half way [Hybridfive]. There is no way for the players to find out the words Strahd uses for the fortress. Its a super powerful magic item you don't want your players to have and abuse. SO DON'T GIVE THEM THE COMMAND WORD! Strahds goal here is to get the players out of this room!
Players will have to shift shape to get inside and grab all the items with a bag of holding (if they have one). Mage hand wont work well. It will not be able to grab anything but the coins and that will take them forever with just one handful of coins at a time. Players will most likely have to spend time destroying the fortress with magic with resistance. (Strahd will arrive if the players are attacking the Fort.) Once the fortress is destroyed its gone forever.
Make him toy with them. He's over confident, and may get reckless if he feels like he has a sure win.
I agree with @RebeccaTheWizzard. The Tarokka reading is a random element designed to allow the characters to catch Strahd off guard and upset his carefully laid plans. If they think quickly, the PCs should be able to attack first and negate any advantage Strahd might gain by retreating into the fortress. Good luck. I definitely don’t think this scenario will lead to a TPK if your players think quickly and use the element of surprise to their advantage.
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Honestly, this isn't any different from any other place to encounter Strahd, because he has a lair action to walk through walls and legendary actions to move (without drawing an opportunity attack). If Strahd fully exploits the combination of regeneration and nearly unstoppable hit and run (btw, +14 stealth) he's going to win unless the PCs figure out how to stop him or kill him before he can flee, which there aren't a lot of ways of doing unless the PCs are substantially over the recommended level (mostly, get him to fail enough saves that he runs out of legendary resistance, then paralyze him or something). This will also be an amazingly unfun encounter so I think the assumption is that you just don't play Strahd that way.