Aftermath of a Strahd Encounter

[Ender]

Well, I did a thing that I regret doing, but have no recourse except to work with it now. I've been running Curse of Strahd relatively differently than the module suggests. The key factor being that I haven't ever had Strahd directly attack the party. He's sent minions and has been seen observing at a distance, but never straight up assaulted the party. This is specifically because he's been meeting with them regularly as Vasili von Holtz and wanted to build up the impression that Strahd isn't as bad as people say.

And then, last session, I felt my players need a bit of a kick in the pants for dawdling so much. And so, I had Strahd arrive (as a shadowy figure obscured by the Mists) while they were in Van Richten's Tower. I broke some of my normal rules here. He had, up until this point, been a patron of the semi-unwilling party. But here, he attacked, remotely charming Ireena and nearly taking the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind from the party. The only thing that stopped him was one of the players putting a literal gun to Ireena's head and threatening to kill her if Strahd didn't leave. He immediately burst into a cloud of shadow, mist, and bats, and departed.

Now, it was a very interesting scene and I'm still glad I did it... but I have, once again, written myself into a bit of a corner. There's little way to keep up the charade that Strahd is a good guy. I doubt the players will even want to converse with Vasili von Holtz anymore. It also makes it more difficult to get them to Castle Ravenloft once invited to dinner, which is an event that was supposed be coming up within a session or two.

So really, I'm looking for general advice on how to handle it from here. My Strahd has, until now, been a manipulator, but specifically chose not to get his hands dirty until necessary. And it wasn't necessary. But I did it. I'm thinking one course of action is to have Vasili Von Holtz apologize on Strahd's behalf for his rudeness and use the invitation as a formal apology. What else should come of this, do you think?

[Mistmaster]

MMm, the safest route would be to blame someone other; Von Holtz needs to convince the players that someone tryed to set up Strahd, maybe using a powerfull vampire minion with shape shifting abilities.

[Ender]

You know, I did consider that. But here's one major catch that I didn't include above: during the encounter, on of the PCs was dead, so she took up playing Ireena for some time so that I could build up Ireena's narrative in a way that more directly impacted the characters. So when Strahd showed up and remotely charmed her, I had her recognize the sensation and that she could feel Strahd's presence. More over, her connection was momentarily broken by a memory of Sergei. So I certainly could attempt to blame someone else, but I think it would only serve to increase their suspicions. I'm uncertain if it's worth it in the long run when Von Holtz will soon be revealed to be Strahd.

[Joël of the FoS]

Don't be mad, that was a cool scene a a cool moment for the players, I'm sure.

Nothing changes the world as an apology... here's a few ideas to change their perception of Strahd (from bad guy to a more neutral pov).

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Hide Vasili Von Holtz from them, but let it known that he made a big donation to an orphanage, or whatever good cause.

Have Strahd send flowers to Ireena and an apology "things should have been different, I'm sorry for my behavior that day"

Then later have Strahd invite them for dinner "to discuss their past dispute, make peace, and look for the future".

[Ender]

Have Strahd send flowers to Ireena and an apology "things should have been different, I'm sorry for my behavior that day"

I like the directness of this. It also helps directly tie Ireena to Marina as I had the players find a recent set of flowers at the statue in Berez.

[The Lesser Evil]

The question I have is how Ireena reacts to having a gun pointed to her head. That might be pretty traumatizing, even with Strahd weirdness. Has she become comfortable with the fact she might be used as a sacrifice? (Or is this all for show- if so, does Strahd have reason to doubt their sincerity. If he does, he might come along with a Detect Thoughts or similar spell prepared to test their authenticity.)

I think an apology might work for a charmed Ireena, but as a player I'd be a lot more skeptical. Flowers and crocodile tears wouldn't make me go into the lair of an enemy who has demonstrated he could almost wipe the whole party out without a home advantage. I would require some kind of conciliatory gesture of good faith. Devious Strahd might throw in a couple of minor magic items he might be able to use against the party later. (Like casting locate object to find their location in his castle later.)

Another option to manipulate them is by proxy, charming or even killing and impersonating NPCs they have favored. Or if things really come to a head, Strahd might kidnap somebody and then start sending the party fingers and other body parts mafia style.

[Ender]

Flowers and crocodile tears wouldn't make me go into the lair of an enemy who has demonstrated he could almost wipe the whole party out without a home advantage.

Indeed this is my biggest dilemma. While my players are great actors and can get into character, I just can't see them accepting the invitation unless there's some serious benefit for them that is unlikely to be suspect. And boy I don't see a way to get at that.

Some other options I see:

1. Van Richten or Esmerelda suggest using the invitation as a way into the castle, as they've recently realized the Tome of Strahd is inside.
2. As above, one of the PCs is dead. They've recently acquired the scroll of raise dead in the module and are heading back to Vallaki to bring her back to life. Maybe Strahd steals the body and brings her into the castle, forcing the party to accept his invitation if they want her back. The downside to this is that I'd intended to send each PC an individualized invitation, which the dead PC then wouldn't get.

[The Lesser Evil]

I think you might be able to get a way with a little more if you suggest (or maybe even better, imply) that they (at least at first) should meet on some place for neutral grounds or even a place where Strahd might seem to be a disadvantage, but perhaps in truth would not be (I seem to recall some desecrated standing stones somewhere in the module, perhaps you could have a meeting there?) The tricky thing would be to frame things in such a way as to make them believe such a location was their idea. If you wanted to, you could have a number of innocuous or even beneficial meetings in neutral territory before he calls them to the castle.

As for the corpse, its theft might fit nicely with the "and here's that finger I believe you were looking for", if he left that in a meticulously wrapped gift box for them in place of where the corpse was. That might make them afraid and/or angry, which might make them act without thinking. The dead PC would also give them a time deadline, as raise dead only works within a limited amount of time after death, IIRC. If you wanted to craft a personalized invitation for the player of the dead PC, they could introduce a friend/relative of the deceased and receive the invitation on behalf of the departed PC.

[Spark]

Given that Strahd is aware that the rest of the group want to raise this character from the dead, perhaps he could simply leave their personalized invitation at the spot where he stole the body... with the RSVP box already checked off.

[DustBunny]

So I certainly could attempt to blame someone else, but I think it would only serve to increase their suspicions. I'm uncertain if it's worth it in the long run when Von Holtz will soon be revealed to be Strahd.

Hmm, depending on the time frame and how much 'side questing' you have available, you could make it a bit more personal for the PC's and ally their suspicions that someone else is actually faking Strahd.

*Warning: typed from brain to keys without much filtering*

Have a vamp/doppelganger/shapeshifter mimic one of the PC's for a while. The 'copycat' gets up to all sorts of naughty things while wearing the PC's face, which forces the local guards of course detain the PC.

Fairly quickly inconsistencies start popping up - the PC's has an ironclad alibi, someone raves how he saw 'the PC' turn into someone else, whatever. Released on bond the PC's are commanded by the local burgomeister to track down the copy. When they finally catch the copycat, the copy turns into the likeness Von Holtz and laughs at them, how easily manipulated they are, etc. Maybe even shifting into copies of the PC's, Van Richten, etc - driving home the face that there is a 'fake' around and it could be anyone... even themselves.

This should get the players to take that there is a shape shifter out there who is copying people. And on death it turns into it's real form.

Then have the 'real' Von Holtz show up and save them/congratulate them. His excuse is that he couldn't contact them directly to warn them of the copycat is because he needed to know the PC's weren't the copycat tarnishing his good name and infiltrating the halls of power. He thanks them for getting rid of the impersonator who was obviously a Darkonese/Falknovian spy and then drops the invitation for dinner for a job well done....

[Joël of the FoS]

You said your players are good role players (a little metagaming needed). So what to do next for you the DM depends on what your intents are.

They come at the Castle as (uneasy) guest (which is I think the goal of the adventure?), or as angry invaders looking for revenge?

To my proposal, you can indeed add looking for the Tome of Strahd or other side goal.

[Ender]

Depends on what your intents are. They come at the Castle as (uneasy) guest, or as angry invaders looking for revenge?

I'd prefer uneasy guests, but have no issues if they're out for revenge, as long as they're kept somewhat in check. I'm not looking for them to fight Strahd. They're not ready for it and I've told them out of game already that when they choose to fight Strahd, I will not pull my punches. Now, I think they're understanding of that and have enough self-preservational instinct to not just attack him, but they may simply avoid the castle until they want a final showdown unless they have a reason to be there.

As a sidenote, one of my hopes with running this is to give the players the opportunity to explore some of the castle before they fight Strahd. My intent has been to use the dinner as an opportunity. I'd have him called away at the end of dinner to deal with something (Van Richten presents himself as a distraction, Azalin has some plot, etc.) leaving the players either in the castle or just outside. It doesn't have to happen, but I think it's ultimately beneficial for the module.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

You could have the party be invited by a different nobleman, one who 'shares their concerns and wants to offer his patronage'. In truth, the Boyar in question is in Strahd's pocket, and the location the party is invited to is the ruin of the estate of a nobleman long dead - a ruin temporarily dolled up with illusions. Arrange for the party to be invited into the catacombs under the ruin, 'where they can learn something interesting about Strahd', and use some kind of trickery to seal them in. If they follow the tunnels, they eventually come out in the dining hall of Castle Ravenloft... and the table is set.

"Welcome, my dear friends, to my home. So kind of you to accept my invitation to this intimate little soirée."

And the tunnel slams shut behind them.

[The Lesser Evil]

As a sidenote, one of my hopes with running this is to give the players the opportunity to explore some of the castle before they fight Strahd. My intent has been to use the dinner as an opportunity. I'd have him called away at the end of dinner to deal with something (Van Richten presents himself as a distraction, Azalin has some plot, etc.) leaving the players either in the castle or just outside. It doesn't have to happen, but I think it's ultimately beneficial for the module.

If I were playing this, I'd be a little suspicious as a player if Strahd found "something just came up" and left us to our own devices. Perhaps if a third party puts them up to infiltrating the castle, that same third party would arrange a distraction for the party?

[Ender]

If I were playing this, I'd be a little suspicious as a player if Strahd found "something just came up" and left us to our own devices. Perhaps if a third party puts them up to infiltrating the castle, that same third party would arrange a distraction for the party?

Certainly. I assume they'd be a bit suspicious, but I also use "cutscenes" in my game, showing them events that are happening outside their character viewpoints, to make the story feel more natural. It wouldn't be difficult for me to show Strahd legitimately doing something else when he is forced to leave. Choosing what, precisely, he is doing is different, but I would certainly make it important. And yes, if a third party such as Van Richten wants to use the dinner as an opportunity for the party, said third party would also assuredly set up the distraction.