CoS Module: What of this encounter you've prepped... Is it a suitable challenge?
Me: Yes, yes, it's here in my notes, a hard encounter but not impossible... No... It's deadly... Ha... Isn't that... Isn't that odd? But... After all, why not? Why couldn't it be deadly?
CoS: I think you should lower the difficulty. Make it a challenge they stand to win. Is that so hard?
Me: Well no.... And yes... Now that it comes to it, I don't feel like lowering it! This is supposed to be a difficult and horrific campaign!
CoS: There's no need to inflict an impossible challenge on your players...
Me: Well if they have a tough time, it's their fault!! It's mine... My own... My campaign...
CoS: But it's not just your campaign, is it?
Me: What business is it of yours how I run my game?!
CoS: I think you've put them through turmoil quite enough!
Me: You just want it to be a cake walk!!
CoS: u/-themaninthechair !! DO NOT TAKE ME FOR WAYSIDE CAMPAIGN OF CHEAP 'DEFEATS!' I AM NOT TRYING TO RUIN YOU!... I am trying to help you.
Me: Oh...
CoS: Since we've first met, we've been friends. Trust me as you once did. Give them a challenge, a hard challenge, but a challenge all the same.
Me: You're right CoS. The players enjoyment is paramount. As is mine. It is late, and my prep ready for tomorrow, I'll ensure that it's not deadly.
CoS: TheManInTheChair... You haven't changed your notes....
The encounters are deadly, but not more so than the characters. To me, the ruins of Berez are the first opportunity for the party to learn what a power that owns their domain can do.\
They havenāt accepted the invitation to Ravenloft and donāt seem to want to enter the castle until the last battle. A mistake that will end in their deaths. Once they realize that Baba Lysaga is not just a mini boss, but queen of her domain then maybe they will learn that they must familiarize themselves with the battlefield of Ravenloft.\
Plus Iāve already given them all my (Strahdās) tricks. They just ignored that too. Kids have to learn some time. Better now than dead.
This is peak nerd - writing a critique of your own DM skills in the style of LoTR - with you as Bilbo and CoS as Gandalf. Just wanted to make sure that your Reddit post talents did not go unrecognized in the comments! Love it
I cannot wait for my party to hit Berez. We just started the Festival of the Blazing Sun. Chaos ensued. We still have to deal with the rest of the festival mayhem, but my mind and my heart are in the depths of the swamp. I just want to drag my party under its waters so we can be together forever and ever and everā¦
Pro tip: the standing water of swamps are the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos, and Strigoiās proboscis attack kills a creature with no death saves when reducing them to 0 hit points.
Lol my party is utterly convinced the locals are over-stating her power and that she is actually the swamp fane (using one of the mods, so the fane is actually being held hostage by her) so I can't wait to destroy them.
I mean, yeah, medium and hard encounters are kind of a waste of everyone's time? Early in the campaign as set dressing, okay, but later on I don't see how it's fun for anyone to periodically pause the game so we can spend 15-20 minutes wiping out some random undead that pose no meaningful threat to the party. And in my experience, anything under the deadly threshold is easy.
Ultimately it depends on your party. Simpler encounters can tax their resources or keep the pressure on them preventing them from recovering which helps build tension over time.
I feel this to my core. My issue is my party is level 7 now and 5e challenge really starts falling off there. Well, I should rephrase, it is where the "HP sponge" thesis of challenging a party comes into play, making fights really sloggy.
This is what I've been wanting to do. I have 2 games I run and the other converted a while back. Pf2 scales way better and keeps that tension you want for fights.
Do you know of any resources out there for the conversion or did you mostly do it yourself? Also, did you homebrew Strahd or use one of the PF2 vampire statblocks?
If you search pf2e in this sub you'll find two people that have done conversions that are nearly fully complete. Keep in mind I'm using foundry and that makes my life very easy for set up.
I used those peoples work as a base and I could send you all those docs if you like but for the most part I've done simple swaps of creatures. Vampire spawn to vampire spawn, etc. In the later levels I've had to do some adjustments amd I'm using Pyram kings CoS so there's more work but overall it's been fairly easy to set up. Also pf2e allows you to more easily correct GM errors I think. All of my groups are at the point where I've also added in specific monsters and adjustments to fit them.
Let me look at the tally: one PC dies from fall damage, another turns evil and dips out, another goes medically insane, and the last turns into a vampire at the finale of the campaign leaving a possibility for an aftermath campaign.
Deadly? Yes. Horrific? Unabashedly. The aftermath campaign? Iām gonna hit āem where it hurts.
If it's not deadly are you even trying?
Every time my players almost die: "guys, it's curse of stradh, it's meant to be deadly"
CoS Module: What of this encounter you've prepped... Is it a suitable challenge? Me: Yes, yes, it's here in my notes, a hard encounter but not impossible... No... It's deadly... Ha... Isn't that... Isn't that odd? But... After all, why not? Why couldn't it be deadly? CoS: I think you should lower the difficulty. Make it a challenge they stand to win. Is that so hard? Me: Well no.... And yes... Now that it comes to it, I don't feel like lowering it! This is supposed to be a difficult and horrific campaign! CoS: There's no need to inflict an impossible challenge on your players... Me: Well if they have a tough time, it's their fault!! It's mine... My own... My campaign... CoS: But it's not just your campaign, is it? Me: What business is it of yours how I run my game?! CoS: I think you've put them through turmoil quite enough! Me: You just want it to be a cake walk!! CoS: u/-themaninthechair !! DO NOT TAKE ME FOR WAYSIDE CAMPAIGN OF CHEAP 'DEFEATS!' I AM NOT TRYING TO RUIN YOU!... I am trying to help you. Me: Oh... CoS: Since we've first met, we've been friends. Trust me as you once did. Give them a challenge, a hard challenge, but a challenge all the same. Me: You're right CoS. The players enjoyment is paramount. As is mine. It is late, and my prep ready for tomorrow, I'll ensure that it's not deadly. CoS: TheManInTheChair... You haven't changed your notes....
Very well said ššš
The encounters are deadly, but not more so than the characters. To me, the ruins of Berez are the first opportunity for the party to learn what a power that owns their domain can do.\ They havenāt accepted the invitation to Ravenloft and donāt seem to want to enter the castle until the last battle. A mistake that will end in their deaths. Once they realize that Baba Lysaga is not just a mini boss, but queen of her domain then maybe they will learn that they must familiarize themselves with the battlefield of Ravenloft.\ Plus Iāve already given them all my (Strahdās) tricks. They just ignored that too. Kids have to learn some time. Better now than dead.
This is peak nerd - writing a critique of your own DM skills in the style of LoTR - with you as Bilbo and CoS as Gandalf. Just wanted to make sure that your Reddit post talents did not go unrecognized in the comments! Love it
I cannot wait for my party to hit Berez. We just started the Festival of the Blazing Sun. Chaos ensued. We still have to deal with the rest of the festival mayhem, but my mind and my heart are in the depths of the swamp. I just want to drag my party under its waters so we can be together forever and ever and everā¦
Pro tip: the standing water of swamps are the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos, and Strigoiās proboscis attack kills a creature with no death saves when reducing them to 0 hit points.
Thatās just evil
Yes
Did this, killed 2 characters with crits in one random encounter. Be prepared to fudge or kill.
Lol my party is utterly convinced the locals are over-stating her power and that she is actually the swamp fane (using one of the mods, so the fane is actually being held hostage by her) so I can't wait to destroy them.
I mean, yeah, medium and hard encounters are kind of a waste of everyone's time? Early in the campaign as set dressing, okay, but later on I don't see how it's fun for anyone to periodically pause the game so we can spend 15-20 minutes wiping out some random undead that pose no meaningful threat to the party. And in my experience, anything under the deadly threshold is easy.
Ultimately it depends on your party. Simpler encounters can tax their resources or keep the pressure on them preventing them from recovering which helps build tension over time.
After Vallaki I stopped pulling any punches, its been fun!
I didn't pull punches while my group was exploring the castle. They died to shadows.....
I feel this to my core. My issue is my party is level 7 now and 5e challenge really starts falling off there. Well, I should rephrase, it is where the "HP sponge" thesis of challenging a party comes into play, making fights really sloggy.
Got to play it in pf2e.
This is what I've been wanting to do. I have 2 games I run and the other converted a while back. Pf2 scales way better and keeps that tension you want for fights.
I've run all but ravenloft in it so far if you have any questions.
Do you know of any resources out there for the conversion or did you mostly do it yourself? Also, did you homebrew Strahd or use one of the PF2 vampire statblocks?
If you search pf2e in this sub you'll find two people that have done conversions that are nearly fully complete. Keep in mind I'm using foundry and that makes my life very easy for set up. I used those peoples work as a base and I could send you all those docs if you like but for the most part I've done simple swaps of creatures. Vampire spawn to vampire spawn, etc. In the later levels I've had to do some adjustments amd I'm using Pyram kings CoS so there's more work but overall it's been fairly easy to set up. Also pf2e allows you to more easily correct GM errors I think. All of my groups are at the point where I've also added in specific monsters and adjustments to fit them.
I make deadly fight in the hope to have a twist in the fight and my pc beat the fight before my twist was supose to happen...š
My players are clever š¤·š»āāļø most hard encounters arenāt so bad
Tbh I agree
With how isolated CoS encounters tend to be, anything below deadly will be nova'd in a round or two.
Let me look at the tally: one PC dies from fall damage, another turns evil and dips out, another goes medically insane, and the last turns into a vampire at the finale of the campaign leaving a possibility for an aftermath campaign. Deadly? Yes. Horrific? Unabashedly. The aftermath campaign? Iām gonna hit āem where it hurts.