areolas: (dragon)
3/10/23
So after the events at the death house and still reeling from the shock of Lord Bane's death and transformation into a woman and knowing that there will never be an explanation for that happening, the newly united group wanders onward, away from the house and toward a small village they see just nearby.

The weather is cool and misty, lingering fog visible on the outskirts. It's clear that it's late day outside, but it's so overcast and grey there is no trace of sun to be seen. The muddy path transitions into an old cobblestone road as they follow it into the village. The village itself seems... deserted. There are some signs of life, some of the houses have flicking candlelight visible through the windows and as they enter into the village the sound of distant crying can be heard.

A warm looking tavern comes into view, flickering fireplace light in the windows and smoke from the chimney. They let themselves in and order from the quietly absent bartender. The tavern isn't exactly bustling. There's a man sat alone at the bar, and three women share a table near the door. Off to one side is a bard quietly playing a lute who looks like he doesn't really fit in with this locale...

Read more... )

On the way to Ismark's mansion, they heard the distant sound of a woman crying He told them it was Mad Mary, who has been crying like that for the past several days. This is a side plot hook they could have looked into - Mary's daughter has been taken by Strahd and is in his castle, preparing to join his group of brides. They asked why Ismark hasn't helped her, and he explained he's been busy with personal dramas (his father, the attacks) and they didn't investigate further.

I remember having an annoyance bc I really wanted them, for this first real game session to hit that point at the encampment and meet madame eva who will give them a card reading that is pivotal to the entire game and the entire plot and as they approach I felt like I was pretty clearly building toward wrapping up the game & one of the bad players interrupted to be like "I think we should quit soon" & I was like, yeah........... I'm building up to the end point..... like it was so mild but I was Annoyed lol
areolas: (dragon)
So I've been playing dnd since 2016/17ish and in that time was dm for a handful of encounters and oneshots to try things out. During the depths of covid I got into dming curse of strahd for a group of new players where we initially started out playing old school RP forum style with text based, but for a bunch of reasons that group fell apart. A bummer bc I had an absolutely delicious twist laid out for several of the players based on their backstory that I simply won't get to ever use now lol (I'll share it at the end of this post)

Anyway I've since started dming curse of strahd for a different group of friends I've known longer and are generally more stable (not mentally i mean like, relationship wise) & I want to recap those in a more narrative style than my hastily written notes in my campaign notebook. Note that there are full spoilers in here if you ever plan to play this game.

So here's the story of the Death House! (from 2/17/23 and 2/24/23)
Read more... )

I have some thoughts about Poppy, but I'll bring those up later in another update I make, this one is beyond long enough & I'm sure no one will read it anyway but since I'm writing it mostly for myself, it'll be good to brainstorm a little bit....

So about those twists I had in mind for the first group of CoS that has long since dissolved.
PC1's father abandoned them with their mother and left them destitute. Driven to desperation, their uncle (iirc) killed their mother and cannibalized her. PC1 killed their uncle in revenge & is out to do the same to their father, who they blame for the entire thing.

PC2 was raised with a sister by parents who were collectors of rare items. In childhood, their house was broken into for a robbery and her sister was killed when she fought back. The killers fled and were never seen again.

CoS is kind of uniquely difficult to work in character backstories because Barovia exists in sort of a pocket dimension in a way, cursed land long since separated from the greater continent. There are a handful of NPCs who are plot-important, but also relatively easy to assign your own needs to if you want.

Kasimir is one of only a handful of wood elves left in Barovia, treated poorly and borderline held hostage because of a complicated history with Strahd directly. I rewrote this history a bit so that, when my players met him, things were roughly the same as written in the book. He wants to resurrect his sister and needs help gaining entrance to the Amber Temple to do so.

In the process of gaining their trust, it comes to light that he used to be able to leave the land of Barovia, but after he got caught having an affair out in the world that privilege was taken away from him violently. He had a family he loved and he regrets that he doesn't get to see them. His child must barely remember him now blah blah blah. It wouldn't take a particularly high insight to spot that he looks a bit similar to PC2. He didn't abandon them, he was stolen away from them.

Ideally this wins some sympathy. It's entirely possible PC2 isn't swayed and is driven so wild by a need for revenge they kill him anyway, but I don't think that's how it would have gone. I wanted them to bond and find interest in him on the way to Amber Temple, which is a long hike up into freezing mountains.

Again, ideally, along the way they get to talking about themselves & Kasimir mentions his own burdened past. He isn't just out to resurrect his sister, he wants to atone. He is one (of many) who killed her (she had an affair with Strahd). It's one of his many mistakes. In his time of freedom in and out of Barovia, he was working with the Vistani, who ultimately work for Strahd. He's not proud of this. He conned people, robbed from them. He even broke into a house once and, by accident he swears, killed a little girl when she attacked him. Yep! PC1's sister.

It takes a lot of things lining up so perfectly for this idea to come out the way I hoped, but now it never will because that group doesn't play anymore lmao. But I was proud of this one!

Anyway I'm writing this during the work day when I should most certainly be working on both my job and also my classwork o well o well

Profile

areolas: (Default)
areolas

April 2025

S M T W T F S
  12345
6 789101112
13141516171819
2021 2223242526
27282930   

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 12th, 2025 04:57 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios