My fairly high-level group skipped the "Death House" for quite a while out of an overabundance of caution. The third gem ended up having been in there for a century or so and was in the final monster tucked into the mummy of the baby in the monster. They dropped the ceiling by mistake, and good times were had by all.
I also think about Death House as the location. Basically the gem is the thing that made a monster from a mere haunted place. Yet in my version, someone needs to bring the gem into abandoned cultists place, and I haven't figured out who it might be yet. The characters will be very close to the gem right from the start of the campaign. I hope I can manage to lure them into the house.
I just had a great thought when listening to this about why and how Strahd is trapped in this domain. I've only got snippets from watching a few of these videos about Strahd's origins, why he's in the dimension and how he can be killed but I thought these are some interesting ideas. Maybe other evil dieties couldn't get rid of him and move up because when they try to kill him he resurrects in a random location and that's also why he can't be trapped. So they create this pocket dimension and trap those other towns within the monoliths. Magic seals trapping the inhabitants power the dimension, trap Strahd there but also make him more powerful. This way he might not want to leave which would make him weaker or might not know it's also trapping him. He might also be dissillusioned into thinking this seal could be made stronger, giving him the strength to escape. Also, perhaps he likes their suffering and has no motivation to break the seal so has never tried. Breaking the seal would free the people, make Strahd weaker but could also free him from the dimension.
I've always run it such that the three seeds are tied to the three wines and Baba Lysaga is the only one interested in taking them. Baba Lysaga stole the first one long ago, and thus the Champagne du le Stomp could no longer be produced, for her hut. The druids recently stole the second seed for Withersplinter, under Baba Lysaga's orders. If they succeed in this, but fail to destroy the winery, Red Dragon Crush can't be produced. The third and final seed is still in the ground and barely keeps the ground fertile enough to produce the Purple Grapemash No. 3. This is how I've always seen it, but I never see anyone taking about this even being an option.
@@HowtoRPG I didn't intend for that to seem as cross as it did, I am only bothered that something I enjoy so much isn't widely seen the way I do. I'm not discouraging the other options, just trying to promote the one I like and that I don't see get talked about. And because the brain refuses to let me end the comment there, I'm going to say why I run it this way. Feel free to stop reading here. I treat the valley of Barovia as having a climate more similar to Russia than to France or England. So it's colder, more rural, and less fertile. For a winery to grow year round in that climate, they need the seeds. The more seeds, the better the wine. No seeds, no wine. I thought about swapping wine for Vodka and grapes for potatoes, but then it's a more stable environment that can be rebuilt. I prefer the delicacy and care needed for a Vinyard in Russia.
In my current game I'm setting it up so that Rahadin/Strahd have the third gem and Mordy's Staff. They're looking to use them to go the Dracolich/Shadow Dragon route with Argy's remains.
I think I saw the base concept mentioned on Lunchbox's channel and really liked that idea. The way I'm setting it up: A previous group stole the gem a decade prior, but they fell victim to Strahd. Strahd and Rahadin have been trying to figure out the secret to unlocking it's power. Mordy's spellbook is elsewhere, but I rolled some dice and determined the staff was recovered at some point before the party arrived. With both items in hand, Strahd has Rahadin traveling to the Temple to learn what they can do while he's been dealing with adventuring groups. Exethanter suggests a Dracolich/Shadow Dragon (not sure which I want yet). Rahadin thinks this will be enough to appease the Dark Powers and free his Lord. Strahd just wants a new minion he can use to terrorize the land, and further desecrate the memory of The Order of The Silver Dragon. They suspect they also need Mordy's spellbook to "unlock" the staffs power, and are still searching the land.
![[EmpathP] Lullaby of the False Hydra [Original Fan Song]](/img/1.gif)
My fairly high-level group skipped the "Death House" for quite a while out of an overabundance of caution. The third gem ended up having been in there for a century or so and was in the final monster tucked into the mummy of the baby in the monster. They dropped the ceiling by mistake, and good times were had by all.
That's a pretty good idea. Thanks for share with everyone.
I also think about Death House as the location. Basically the gem is the thing that made a monster from a mere haunted place. Yet in my version, someone needs to bring the gem into abandoned cultists place, and I haven't figured out who it might be yet.
The characters will be very close to the gem right from the start of the campaign. I hope I can manage to lure them into the house.
I just had a great thought when listening to this about why and how Strahd is trapped in this domain. I've only got snippets from watching a few of these videos about Strahd's origins, why he's in the dimension and how he can be killed but I thought these are some interesting ideas.
Maybe other evil dieties couldn't get rid of him and move up because when they try to kill him he resurrects in a random location and that's also why he can't be trapped. So they create this pocket dimension and trap those other towns within the monoliths. Magic seals trapping the inhabitants power the dimension, trap Strahd there but also make him more powerful. This way he might not want to leave which would make him weaker or might not know it's also trapping him. He might also be dissillusioned into thinking this seal could be made stronger, giving him the strength to escape. Also, perhaps he likes their suffering and has no motivation to break the seal so has never tried.
Breaking the seal would free the people, make Strahd weaker but could also free him from the dimension.
I've always run it such that the three seeds are tied to the three wines and Baba Lysaga is the only one interested in taking them.
Baba Lysaga stole the first one long ago, and thus the Champagne du le Stomp could no longer be produced, for her hut.
The druids recently stole the second seed for Withersplinter, under Baba Lysaga's orders. If they succeed in this, but fail to destroy the winery, Red Dragon Crush can't be produced.
The third and final seed is still in the ground and barely keeps the ground fertile enough to produce the Purple Grapemash No. 3.
This is how I've always seen it, but I never see anyone taking about this even being an option.
Fair enough, your game is what you decide. That is what I do on the channel, options to fill in the gaps. You could rather than you should ;)
@@HowtoRPG I didn't intend for that to seem as cross as it did, I am only bothered that something I enjoy so much isn't widely seen the way I do. I'm not discouraging the other options, just trying to promote the one I like and that I don't see get talked about.
And because the brain refuses to let me end the comment there, I'm going to say why I run it this way. Feel free to stop reading here.
I treat the valley of Barovia as having a climate more similar to Russia than to France or England. So it's colder, more rural, and less fertile.
For a winery to grow year round in that climate, they need the seeds. The more seeds, the better the wine. No seeds, no wine.
I thought about swapping wine for Vodka and grapes for potatoes, but then it's a more stable environment that can be rebuilt. I prefer the delicacy and care needed for a Vinyard in Russia.
@@dustinrudisill6695 More ideas is fine with me. In the end people will do what they want in their game.
Great ideas Fred, thanks alot
You are welcome Jim.
In my current game I'm setting it up so that Rahadin/Strahd have the third gem and Mordy's Staff. They're looking to use them to go the Dracolich/Shadow Dragon route with Argy's remains.
I feel like there's a lot more to explain Justin. Thanks for sharing what you could.
I think I saw the base concept mentioned on Lunchbox's channel and really liked that idea.
The way I'm setting it up:
A previous group stole the gem a decade prior, but they fell victim to Strahd.
Strahd and Rahadin have been trying to figure out the secret to unlocking it's power.
Mordy's spellbook is elsewhere, but I rolled some dice and determined the staff was recovered at some point before the party arrived.
With both items in hand, Strahd has Rahadin traveling to the Temple to learn what they can do while he's been dealing with adventuring groups.
Exethanter suggests a Dracolich/Shadow Dragon (not sure which I want yet).
Rahadin thinks this will be enough to appease the Dark Powers and free his Lord.
Strahd just wants a new minion he can use to terrorize the land, and further desecrate the memory of The Order of The Silver Dragon.
They suspect they also need Mordy's spellbook to "unlock" the staffs power, and are still searching the land.
@@justintyrrell7057 Thanks for sharing a more details. Steve has a pretty good handle on the Curse of Strahd.
What movie was that idea from? (swallow).
lol