New Ravenloft DM, bunch of questions

[TwinStorms]

Hey guys, you can all call me TwinStorms or whatever else you like. I used to browse these forums long ago, and I made a post or two, but my busy life made it impossible to play D&D for a while. But now I am back. I have some experience DM'ing but little with Ravenloft. I have a whole bunch of questions and any and all insight would be great.

I am planning on taking my players through the entire Grand Conjunction campaign. I played as a character for Night of the Walking Dead and Touch of Death years ago and I loved it, it was inarguably the most memorable of any D&D campaign I ever played. Its only natural that I wanted my players to have the same expierence.

We have 5 players, a barbarian, a fighter, a monk, a druid and a paladin. Guys, you know who you are, I don't know if you read these forums but if you do, please stop reading here. (spoiler alert)

My players are currently lvl 3, and are in Marais d'Tarascon, and they are about to finish the adventure. The last game left off on rain beginning, and soon the dead will walk and the players will have to confront Marcel the Zombie Lord in his lair.

The player of the paladin has already played the Night of the Walking Dead with me so his character was taken to a different domain when the mists swept over the party. In the meantime he has been rp'ing some of the stuff going on in Marais d'Tarascon, but I planned for him to come back. This is the first problem I have. Its seems perhaps, TOO convenient after this adventure our Paladin gets lost in the mists and bumps into our party, he's in Falkovnia (I ran a short side adventure with him) I already did this with our Monk, who had to sit 2 games out. But how else could our Paladin character find the party again? I suppose there has to be SOME Vistanni involvement, at least some scrying for where they are, but Touch of Death is next, and in that adventure the first thing that happens is the Vistanni try to take them where they want to go...it just seems too, I don't know, obvious. I suppose I should have thought a little bit more about this before splitting the party up.

Secondly, I am a little bit worried about our Barbarian character. I find it frustrating. He is a killing machine, and even though I boost challenges WAY up he still does it too easily. I realize that I need to put him against more non-combat related challenges, but when there are battle, he kicks perhaps too much ass for his level. He wields a fullblade, takes a feat so he can but still takes the -2 penalty. However, the damage just seems remarkable...I am wondering if should have allowed him to even have it at such a low level. He killed Jean in several hits almost single handedly, Jean fought well and the barbarian still had half her hit points at the end. No major encounter in Ravenloft should feel this easy.

But thats only one of my concerns. He wants to soon multiclass into Sorcerer. This doesn't make sense to me personally role-playing wise, as I see sorcerer as a class you can only start off as, its a talent that is refined (lest the character wants to become a walking poltergeist.) However, he explained it can be dormant, that perhaps the Dark Powers of Ravenloft have awoken some ancient fiendish blood within her, and that her constant practise of the sword have been an intense focus which forced her unusual powers to lay dormant. Some very good explanations but I guess I still just don't like the idea. Would I be a bad DM to say no? I've try to convince him Bards cast from Cha as well, and seeing her as an entertainer, like an acrobat could be very interesting. He wants a familiar though. I think he knows a thing or two about Ravenloft's effect on familiars, and this has influenced his decision.

Also, he is looking forward to becoming evil, slowly. I have warned him that this is a slippery slippery slope in Ravenloft, and he understands this (he read the Ravenloft core book a while ago, and I think he knows how Powers checks work). However, he just wants to eventually see Ravenloft turn her evil. What are things I can do to help curb this or slow this process down? I am not going to tell him how to play his character, but this could be very bad, not only for my story but for his character.

Alright, so thats all I have to say. Ideas on any of my problems would be awesome, and also if you guys have any recommendations on how to make the most out of the GC adventures would also be really cool.

Thanks!

[Dark Whisper]

Secondly, I am a little bit worried about our Barbarian character. I find it frustrating. He is a killing machine, and even though I boost challenges WAY up he still does it too easily.

Target his weaknesses :
- Will saves
- Fear (and Horror/Madness checks) should be not too easy on him - and paired with low WIS/INT, you can justify a bit more frequent Fear checks than for other characters.
- A creature with DR X/slashing
- incorporeal creatures
- a (self-imposed) minor curse that penalizes him slightly when using a weapon (or a blade)

This doesn't make sense to me personally role-playing wise, as I see sorcerer as a class you can only start off as, its a talent that is refined

That would be a houserule. And unless you stated this at the campaign's beginning, it would be unfair, in my opinion, to disallow this. Per RAW, you can multiclass into Sorcerer whenever you want (and maybe he want to go Rage Mage...).

He wants a familiar though

There's a feat (CA or PHBII, IIRC) that allows any arcane caster to obtain a familiar.

Also, he is looking forward to becoming evil, slowly

Tricky; if you don't want to have evil PCs, state it and remove them from the game before they kill it. If you allow evil PCs, state clearly that once he starts down that path, there will come the moment when his character becomes an NPC (maybe even a darklord ?).

[HuManBing]

Welcome to Ravenloft, and we hope you'll enjoy your stay! We're always in search of a few good DMs...

Here's my 0.02 gold pieces:

Reuniting the paladin: The paladin's sojourn to Falkovnia could be ended in a few ways that don't break the "fourth wall". As a paladin, he could simply be ordered back to his party through a divine institution. Perhaps a templar or cleric informs him that his work here is finished, and his skills would be better used in the service of good elsewhere. They wouldn't have to specify the characters by name, but they could simply say "There is a darkness in need of light at [location]. Go there and continue thy good works in the name of [deity]." (And get me a side order of [fast food chain] whilst thou art at it, yea verily perhaps.)

Alternatively, the Dark Powers of Ravenloft have a knack for bringing likeminded people together. The paladin could follow a ghostly voice or apparition calling him for help by name. (This depends much on whether he is a righteous crusader who actively makes it his business to right wrongs.) Perhaps it is possible that, given what you know of the barbarian's internal flirtations with evil, the paladin's new quest is to find her and try to sway her back to the light. (Another possibility is to give him the knowledge that one of his friends is wavering from the path and needs his guidance... but then not to tell him which one.)

Logistically, if you're worried about how to get from the Core to Souragne, which is an Island, then you could get around that by having a ship crew with a half-Vistani navigator who is able to slightly influence the Mists to bring them where they want to be.

If you want to be heavy-handed with it, and you're confident the players won't mind, the Dark Powers could simply summon the Mists of Ravenloft and deposit the paladin not far from the encampment of his friends.

Secondly, the powering down the barbarian. The first thing you have to do is figure out what it is that makes the barbarian so overpowered. Is it the sword? Is it the increased movement rate?

From reading your post, it seems like you are having second thoughts about giving him such a powerful weapon. You could remedy that in a couple of ways.

Taking the weapon away from him is an option. A rust monster could render the weapon useless, as does any enemy that uses acid. A magic user casting energy spells also endangers the weapon. One time a PC brought an adamantine longsword +3 into a level-two campaign. I let this go on for a few combat encounters and then turned the tables by introducing a mage who specifically tried to eliminate that character. In the end it was a situation where the lightning bolt would easily have killed the character or sundered the blade, but not both, and I gave the player a chance to take the spell himself and risk having the mage pick up the sword from his corpse, or have the sword take the brunt and shatter. He chose the latter option. A less extreme option is to have the sword stolen away by a thief with an extremely high set of Move Silently, Hide, and Run skills. In combat, an enemy cleric could cast heat metal and make the sword unbearably hot to hold.

Less drastic is simply to change the choice of monsters. If you're running a 3.5 campaign, you should know that many enemies have 5 points of damage reduction against slashing and piercing weapons, which doesn't sound like much but can make a big difference. Even lowly skeletons would stay alive for a few extra rounds against a blade-wielding hero, and by extension would do a few more hits before they went down. Incorporeal undead can be hit by magical weapons, but not reliably (I believe they have a 50% flat miss chance even if the attack roll hits).

Also in 3.5 you can make monsters more powerful. If you're closely following the 2nd edition NPC and monster builds, you may want to consider taking the (moderately lengthy) time to convert them to 3.5 and maybe giving them more monster HD or even class levels. Just for comparison's sake, Strahd and Azalin (very likely demiplane's two most powerful non-deific undead) had 55 and 54 hit points each respectively in 2nd edition Ravenloft. In 3rd edition, where all undead have d12s for HD, they have more than twice that amount, making them far more powerful in face to face combat.

In terms of plot, make the villains more wily. They can use nets and ranged weapons to lessen the advantage of a single raging barbarian. Also, your PC party seems like it is entirely lacking in any arcane spellcasters, and it has only one person with turning ability (currently on hiatus). Use that to your advantage.

Incorporeal undead could be especially nasty if you make them perform brief raiding attacks. According to the Libris Mortis rules, undead regain 1 hp per Hit Dice if they are reasonably inactive during at least 8 hours a day. The same rules state that undead regain 2 hp if they are totally inactive for a day. (If you choose to place something like a sinkhole of evil or other negative energy anchor nearby, that could heal them much faster.)

If you have a decent number of undead flying in, making sudden surprise attacks, and then scattering the moment they take damage, they may be able to wear down your PCs by attrition. No brute force combat will overcome something that can fly faster than you can run.

In such a scenario, speed in passing through the enemy territory is the only option, unless the PCs can research some possible mystical defenses. (This would reward thinker players rather than hack and slashers.) Perhaps the incorporeal undead are actually elves from a nearby massacred village, so a bit of research would suggest that the PCs can set up a warding perimeter of elven holy symbols.

Finally, if you want to steer away from undead, don't forget that the humblest of creatures can be deadly in large numbers. Conventional advantages go right out the window when you're up against a swarm of angry bees or a tumble-ball of army ants.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Just a few additions to HMB's excellent suggestions:

Reuniting the paladin: ... As a paladin, he could simply be ordered back to his party through a divine institution. Perhaps a templar or cleric informs him that his work here is finished, and his skills would be better used in the service of good elsewhere.

I'd recommend being a little more coy about the source of the message than this, as Ravenloft is a world where the presence and influence of the divine is never clear-cut. That doesn't mean omens are out-of-keeping with the setting, but they should be suitably "spooky"; for instance, the paladin might be healing a badly-wounded Innocent who is delirious, only to have the patient's eyes suddenly clear, as they speak a warning that the paladin is needed in (insert cryptic reference to Har'Akir here). After delivering the message, the Innocent passes out, naturally recalling nothing of the incident upon recovery.

Perhaps it is possible that, given what you know of the barbarian's internal flirtations with evil, the paladin's new quest is to find her and try to sway her back to the light. (Another possibility is to give him the knowledge that one of his friends is wavering from the path and needs his guidance... but then not to tell him which one.)

Fantastic idea! Also another reason not to use a mundane source for the paladin's warning, since Joe Priest NPC would have no way to know of the barbarian's slide into darkness.

Taking the weapon away from him is an option. A rust monster could render the weapon useless, as does any enemy that uses acid. A magic user casting energy spells also endangers the weapon.

Applying a curse to the fullblade would be a more "Ravenlofty" way of toning it down. Perhaps the next time the barbarian goes into hack-and-slash mode against human enemies, one of the defeated NPCs could inflict a curse upon the weapon that strikes them down.

For a short-term fix, simply setting a battle in very close quarters could impede the use of weapons bigger than Light. This could be achieved by a variety of methods, from sending the PCs through narrow passages in an Akiri crypt to half-snaring them in giant spiderwebs to siccing monsters with the Swallow Whole ability on the barbarian.

[Jasper]

My two coppers:

Paladin: In the 2nd ed adventure The Forgotten Terror to keep the party together the disembodied voice gave the PCs shepard rings . These rings only had the power of gently pulling the Pc wearing them in the direction of the other rings. Either a bit of retcon or devine intervention could allow each of the PCs to have one of these rings on thier persons. The Paladin dosn't know right off the bat that the ring is pulling him twords his friends but the draw should be strong enough that he can't ignore it. A few found mist ways later and the party is back together.


Barbarian: Yes she unstopable killing machine but does she know her fish fork from her olive fork? Does she have the lastest tailored dress from Borca? Not all battles need to be against hordes of rampaging undead out in the wildnerness. Place the Barbarian in a socal setting like a banquet or a ball and watch her sweet as they take away her weapons at the door and make her wear a restrictive five piece dress with corsett. Now watch her sweet even more when she finds out the host is a 300 year old vampire and the rest of the guests are his spawn.

The evil Barbarian: Give her something to beleave in- be it a love intrest, a noble mentor.a group of like minded rebles or even a orphined child to lack on to her.

The Barbarians familiar: Is it just the pet she wants or is it the magical bond? If its the first then my all means allow her to have one. A trained wolf or war cat can be purchased for a few hundred gold in any of the western core domains.

[Jack of Tears]

>>He wants to soon multiclass into Sorcerer. This doesn't make sense to me personally role-playing wise, as I see sorcerer as a class you can only start off as<<


Well, your player has some good points and as someone else said, it isn't terribly fair to change the rules half way through the game. However, that doesn't mean you have to make the transition easy. For the purpose of story you could have the characters sorcerous powers manifest gradually and in frightening ways. Remember, Ravenloft natives are a superstitious lot, as should be a barbarian, so the bizarre manifestations should well cause some problems on a social and personal level.

A couple related ideas. Once the character begins manifesting powers in public, perhaps you could have her approached by a secret society of sorcerers. They may offer to teach the player control, though their ceremonies might be disturbingly hedonistic.

Another idea might be to have the sorcerous powers not originate from the character at all, but from a spirit that has attatched itself to the individual. A ghost, benign, malevolent or somewhere in between has created a bond with the character in an attempt to see some task fulfilled. When called upon the spirit may use its powers to assist the character. (either using the character as a conduit or posessing them for a brief time - either of which could be a very disturbing experience) In this case you could treat the spirit like an intelligent weapon and allow it to choose when its powers are actually needed and refuse service if the player angers it.

>>Would I be a bad DM to say no?<<

Sometimes DMs have to say no ... just be careful about how you do it. Consider my suggestions above, but ultimately do what works best for your game.


>> He wants a familiar though. I think he knows a thing or two about Ravenloft's effect on familiars, and this has influenced his decision. <<

Then the player is using his own game mechanics knowledge to influence the decision; don't let him get away with that. If he wants a familiar, give him one - but don't make it a dread familiar. Instead, perhaps it is an old and battered animal that has been familiar to a handful of sorcerers in the past and outlived them all. (I like the imagery of a one eyed cat or raven) This creature has a good deal of wisdom and experience to impart (give it an interesting personality) but will do whatever it can to insure the player does not fall victim to Ravenloft's corrupting influence.


>>Also, he is looking forward to becoming evil, slowly.<<


Remind the character (and player) that Ravenloft is a realm of greys. Not being good isn't the same as being evil. In RL, evil creatures often lose their humanity and become twisted, pathetic shells of what they once were. Perhaps you could introduce him to a figure whom has undergone just such a deconstruction. A fallen paladin might be a good choice; (this would draw the other player into that story as well) a figure who gave into temptation for power but is now a broken and almost impotent reflection of the person it once was. The figure has been "betrayed" by the powers of ravenloft and though he commands some dark gifts, the weight of his curses far outweighs the benefit. (The paladin at this point should make a decision ... does he kill the fallen figure for the good of the land or possibly to put it out of its misery, or does he try to redeam it?)


>>I have warned him that this is a slippery slippery slope in Ravenloft, and he understands this (he read the Ravenloft core book a while ago, and I think he knows how Powers checks work).<<


Does he? Again, demonstrate to the character the true cost of evil in the land and if he thinks he understands power checks, then teach him otherwise. The land doesn't play its games of carrot and hammer with those who willing turn to the darkness - it may only choose to curse the pc, or ignore him completely.

>> However, he just wants to eventually see Ravenloft turn her evil. What are things I can do to help curb this or slow this process down? <<

Make it clear to the player that evil pcs are not an option. Once the individual turns truly evil he becomes an npc, end of story. Again, one can play the anti-hero without succumbing to utter darkness, however, and you might want to strive to keep the player at that point for as long as possible. As someone else suggested, giving the character something to believe in, or defend might help as well. Does the character have family? How would her family react to such a thing? Actually involve these characters and remind the pc that he has ties to the world.

I just had an amusing scene pop into my head where the character - now evil and at least half mad - meets one of the lords, unveiled for what it truly is. The character procliams its evil, only to be broken by the dl (something any dl should be capable of) and left disdainfully at his feet. "Evil?" says the figure "You don't begin to know the meaning of the word. You are nothing but a pathetic child rebelling against the light. Your deeds are laughable, your 'evil' a joke and you ... you are worth nothing but contempt."


>>Secondly, I am a little bit worried about our Barbarian character. I find it frustrating. He is a killing machine, and even though I boost challenges WAY up he still does it too easily. I realize that I need to put him against more non-combat related challenges,<<

Is combat that important an issue in your game? If not, then let the character carve through its challenges with ease; don't even roll dice, just proclaim her the winner. Eventually the character will cease to be interested in battle - as there are none left worth fighting. That may well be an excuse to involve him more in social and political issues. If the adventure is about defending a village, don't make the combat the adventure, but the negotiations, the people, the story. Describe the aftermath of battles rather than the battles themselves ... the raw ache of the character's muscles, the aura of death that hangs in the air, the sounds of scavangers already on the prowl and the empty feeling the pc experiences after such wanton bloodshed. (after all, there is no more thrill for her, so the taskes become so much butchery) During the battle, descbribe the Paladin's actions (if the paladin is involved) and heroics, while glossing over her own. This will create an interesting dynamic, considering the paladin likely fails to see the heroism or glory in its bloody work.

>>He wants a familiar though.<<

Last comment. Is this the only reason the player wants his character to become a sorcerer? If so, there are other ways to work this. Perhaps the character attracts the attention of something, or saves an animal which is actually a spirit or fey in disguise. Perhaps the "familiar" is a manifestation of the players animal self. (in this case it might appear fleatingly at first ... only in moments of stress ... then, slowly, it might become more tangible, though disturbingly stubborn and free willed.)

In the end, though, if you don't want the player to have something, don't give it to them. There is a movement in the dm community recently that has caused it to become much more "sensitive"; which generally means weak willed. Remember, just because a player wants something doesn't mean he deserves to get it. (how many +12 hackmasters would be floating around if it did?)

[Sorti]

Taking the weapon away from him is an option. A rust monster could render the weapon useless, as does any enemy that uses acid. A magic user casting energy spells also endangers the weapon.

Applying a curse to the fullblade would be a more "Ravenlofty" way of toning it down. Perhaps the next time the barbarian goes into hack-and-slash mode against human enemies, one of the defeated NPCs could inflict a curse upon the weapon that strikes them down.

To use a Fullblade you have to spend a feat and take a -2 to all your attacks. A Fullblade deals 2d8, which is 2 damage more than a Greatsword. So you're spending a feat to take a permanent -2 to hit and +2 to damage. Power attack lets you choose every round a malus to hit, and you use double that malus as bonus to damage, so for a -2 to hit you'd have a +4 damage.
What am I trying to say? Don't curse the Fullblade, since it's already a curse

[HuManBing]

Perhaps if your Barbarian spends too much time raged, the fullblade can decide it wants a few conditions of its own... Perhaps the fullblade starts demanding that the barbarian ONLY can use it with the Power Attack set to maximum damage and highest hit penalty. Although this will blow through most low level things, it will cause problems when she goes up against a truly devious or powerful being - especially one with a ranged attack or a high movement rate.

Don't forget that monsters also can use advanced tactics too. A horde of goblyns may not seem that intimidating, but give them a contact poison on their weapons, and they suddenly become an order of magnitude more deadly. All it takes is one successful hit and a failed save and the show could be over. This becomes even more dangerous if you allow them to Aid Another. So say five goblyns are ganging up on your barbarian. If one is designated as the main attacker, and the other four Aid, that can give a hefty bonus to the attacker's one attack. If that little critter is using a nasty contact poison, your barbarian could be in for a humbling experience pretty soon.

Things that ignore armor class are also dangerous. Some spells fall into this category, requiring only a ranged touch attack. Bear in mind also that after the barbarian has come out of her rage, she can't run. This will cause problems if the enemy heavyweights have been waiting for her rage to run out before closing to engage.