cure wrote:Ways to catch lycanthropy besides the obvious getting bitten by a lycanthrope:
Poorly cooked blood saussage with sharp bone splinters.
Eating raw lycanthropic meat generally.
The serum that the Falkovnian Ministry of War is developing.
The serum that Jacqueline Renier is developing (but it only yields wererats).
A blood transfusion.
A blood ritual.
Sharing a knife in the back.
Cutting oneself with one's own weapon while cleaning off the blood of a lycanthrope.
Chasing a lycanthrope through caltrops or (when barefooted) broken glass.
Following a lycanthrope into a spike or needle trap.
A vampire who had just fed upon a lycanthrope feeding on you (and in the case of an interrupted vampire marriage, that is to say a vorlog, the chance of contracting the dread disease should be very high indeed).
A tango with an infected blood elemental.
An organ transplant, administered by Mordenheim (this actually appears in the canon Larmordian adventure).
Unsafe sex.
A cursed magic item (the Ivory Ring of the Wolf from canon, or my Kartakan violin into which an infected lycanthrope bound his lycanthropy).
Teleportation accident (yet another reason to not travel with lycanthropes)
Heretity
A very angry raunie.
Of course once an individual is infected, he can infect the others.
For my money, subjecting the adventurers to a cult's blood ritual, from which they escape, but without realising that they have been infected, would be fun.
Cure, you are magnificent!
I'm going to copy and keep this list, if you don't mind. Soooo maaaaany ideaaaaaaas..... *Said in a "Braaaaaains" zombie voice*
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Well, I don't have the module, so I can't help you tailor it for Barovia, and you've enough advice on how to turn them into woof-woofs, so....
How to get the party to stay in Barovia:
Well, the simplest, albeit rail-roady, method is to close the borders. You don't even necessarily have to explain why. Not everything in the world revolves around the PCs. Or, you might have a thief steal something from Strahd, and have the PCs find out that until the thief is found, the borders are closed (also an adventure hook). Alternatively, have the party find/get something that was stolen from Strahd. He's worse then a dragon regarding his property.
Alternatively, you could snow them in. A bit less heavy-handed then closed borders, and PCs are somewhat less likely to complain (weather tends to be strange). Particularly if they need to get through the mountain pass, having the pass snowed in can make for a very simple blockade. If you really want to arrange something peculiar, blame a wizard with Control Weather, but Barovian weather is bad enough on its own.
For a third idea, and one that doesn't involve essentially placing a wall in front of the PCs, give them something more important that needs to be done in Barovia NOW. Such as, oh, say, curing their lycanthropy. Another idea is to bring Jacqueline Montarri into the business. Theres a very good adventure hook somewhere in the vaults here revolving around an extremely nasty necklace Miss Montarri uses. Stick it on the head of some lithe female PC, and problem solved.
If the PCs are good roleplayers/know Ravenloft well/have met the Vistani, you can arrange for a meeting with some gypsies. Good roleplay session (VRGttVistani), and you can sneak in a Tarokka reading (always fun). If the Vistani pulls the horseman and tells the PCs that leaving Barovia is the worst thing they can possibly do, that should slow them down some.
Another idea is to wave a quickie adventure hook in front of the PCs noses. If the PCs are the goody-two-shoes types, stick a farmer in distress in front of them. (Scarecrow of Jacob Garvin anyone?). If one of the PCs is a greedy mercenary fellow (and one usually is), shove an opportunity for seemingly easy cash at him. Perhaps have one of the Vallaki NPCs call for help?
Okay, this is off the top of my head. I'm sure the local geniuses will have some better ideas, but this should start the discussion.
