Advice for Expedition to Ravenloft? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Advice for Expedition to Ravenloft? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
AaonGraywolf
04-20-07, 02:13 AM Looking for advice on how to give my players at least a fighting chance at getting through Ravenloft alive. For reference, the party is almost entirely damage specialists. The only full caster is a dread necromancer, a specialist with limited versatility. The other casters are all partial (bard, multiclassed duskblade, multiclassed ranger). This, coupled with the lack of support and resources available in Barovia means that the party has no way (other than magic items that rapidly become prohibitively expensive at levels 6-7) of dealing with Energy Drain and Dominate.

As such, it seems pretty clear to me that if Strahd is played intelligently (as he should be), the party is pretty much doomed. The days long duration of dominate and the party's lack of any remedy mean it's basically only a matter of time until they're all under his sway (effectively, a TPK). Alternatively, without any way of removing negative levels, Strahd's Energy Drain quickly turns encounters into a losing battle of attrition for the PCs.

So, it seems I need to find magical items that can help give the players a fighting chance. So far, the one that's been suggested is custom rings of Protection from Evil. However, these are pretty clearly underpriced at 4000 with the DMG formula, but well beyond the means of the party if priced appropriately. Would some wacky custom-brewed relic / legacy item specifically designed to fill in the gaps in the party's defenses be appropriate? Or a tag-along NPC cleric cohort (not an optimal solution, since I feel the party's already big enough at five people)?

How can I give this party a fighting chance against Strahd without handing out blantently undervalued magic items or neutering the Count himself?
Syn_of_Edin
04-20-07, 02:34 AM It seems that you are going to have the exact opposite problem I did when I ran Expedition, my party was composed of two paladins, a damage heavy Cleric, a Malconvoker, and a Swordsage. So I never once was able to successfully dominate a PC, for your problem however I understand not wanting to weigh down the party with more NPCs. However the book includes a few paladins (Ashlyn and Sir Urik for Example) that the pcs could run across who would be potentially useful. Also there are the lightbringers who could offer support (through scrolls, spells, and items) and don't forget that sense motive can be used to pick up on someone acting out of their nature and that they can make saves to resist actions against their nature.

The scenario they are in will also effect how quickly they have to fight Strahd, and in some of them he is not the direct enemy.

my two copper
AaonGraywolf
04-20-07, 02:44 AM It seems that you are going to have the exact opposite problem I did when I ran Expedition

Indeed. I wouldn't actually be surprised if the party could reduce Strahd to a fleeing gaseous form in a single round if he stood toe-to-toe in melee. They dish out damage like no tomorrow, but have virtually no defense against his special abilities.

One thing that got me was that Ravenloft seems to imply the possibility of "stealth" domination (i.e. Ireena is dominated, but unaware of it, and thus, presumably, acting normally until she is commanded by Strahd to do something). The likely scenario I was foreseeing was Strahd "stealth" dominating half or more of the party and not tipping his hand until victory was virtually assured. Sure, asking the dominated party members to attack their friends grants another save, but it seems to me a smart guy like Strahd would just play to the instinct of self-preservation and have the dominated PCs just go sit quietly in another room while he dispatches / blood drains the others one at a time. Suppose it really comes down to the definition of "actions against their nature". One could make the argument that following ANY command of a vampire would be innately against their nature . . . *sigh* . . . bloody vague wording.

The scenario they are in will also effect how quickly they have to fight Strahd, and in some of them he is not the direct enemy.

We're playing Ravenloft as a short adventure (no more than four or five sessions), so no wilderness fanes or secondary goals, and thus facing Strahd will be coming up quite quickly.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
AaonGraywolf 04-20-07, 02:13 AM	Looking for advice on how to give my players at least a fighting chance at getting through Ravenloft alive. For reference, the party is almost entirely damage specialists. The only full caster is a dread necromancer, a specialist with limited versatility. The other casters are all partial (bard, multiclassed duskblade, multiclassed ranger). This, coupled with the lack of support and resources available in Barovia means that the party has no way (other than magic items that rapidly become prohibitively expensive at levels 6-7) of dealing with Energy Drain and Dominate. As such, it seems pretty clear to me that if Strahd is played intelligently (as he should be), the party is pretty much doomed. The days long duration of dominate and the party's lack of any remedy mean it's basically only a matter of time until they're all under his sway (effectively, a TPK). Alternatively, without any way of removing negative levels, Strahd's Energy Drain quickly turns encounters into a losing battle of attrition for the PCs. So, it seems I need to find magical items that can help give the players a fighting chance. So far, the one that's been suggested is custom rings of Protection from Evil. However, these are pretty clearly underpriced at 4000 with the DMG formula, but well beyond the means of the party if priced appropriately. Would some wacky custom-brewed relic / legacy item specifically designed to fill in the gaps in the party's defenses be appropriate? Or a tag-along NPC cleric cohort (not an optimal solution, since I feel the party's already big enough at five people)? How can I give this party a fighting chance against Strahd without handing out blantently undervalued magic items or neutering the Count himself?
Syn_of_Edin 04-20-07, 02:34 AM	It seems that you are going to have the exact opposite problem I did when I ran Expedition, my party was composed of two paladins, a damage heavy Cleric, a Malconvoker, and a Swordsage. So I never once was able to successfully dominate a PC, for your problem however I understand not wanting to weigh down the party with more NPCs. However the book includes a few paladins (Ashlyn and Sir Urik for Example) that the pcs could run across who would be potentially useful. Also there are the lightbringers who could offer support (through scrolls, spells, and items) and don't forget that sense motive can be used to pick up on someone acting out of their nature and that they can make saves to resist actions against their nature. The scenario they are in will also effect how quickly they have to fight Strahd, and in some of them he is not the direct enemy. my two copper
AaonGraywolf 04-20-07, 02:44 AM	It seems that you are going to have the exact opposite problem I did when I ran Expedition Indeed. I wouldn't actually be surprised if the party could reduce Strahd to a fleeing gaseous form in a single round if he stood toe-to-toe in melee. They dish out damage like no tomorrow, but have virtually no defense against his special abilities. One thing that got me was that Ravenloft seems to imply the possibility of "stealth" domination (i.e. Ireena is dominated, but unaware of it, and thus, presumably, acting normally until she is commanded by Strahd to do something). The likely scenario I was foreseeing was Strahd "stealth" dominating half or more of the party and not tipping his hand until victory was virtually assured. Sure, asking the dominated party members to attack their friends grants another save, but it seems to me a smart guy like Strahd would just play to the instinct of self-preservation and have the dominated PCs just go sit quietly in another room while he dispatches / blood drains the others one at a time. Suppose it really comes down to the definition of "actions against their nature". One could make the argument that following ANY command of a vampire would be innately against their nature . . . sigh . . . bloody vague wording. The scenario they are in will also effect how quickly they have to fight Strahd, and in some of them he is not the direct enemy. We're playing Ravenloft as a short adventure (no more than four or five sessions), so no wilderness fanes or secondary goals, and thus facing Strahd will be coming up quite quickly.