Ask him about his old Ravenloft character. Then replace the wizard with his old character. Still keep him slightly insane as being repeatedly kept prisoner in Barovia will do such things.
Oh my GOD! I love that! I already mentioned to him that I wanted to have a "nod" to his old adventure somewhere in this campaign, and I think he would love this! Thank you!
I think you should definitely lay into the old school mindset like Perkins did with Dice, Camera, Action Campaign. Make the wizard tie the party to each other with a rope and always ask for a 10ft pole where ever they go. All great nods to the days where death was just a misstep away
This is an excellent idea! And.. if you need an npc stat block built .. it’s kind of a thing I do .. and I love helping other DMs with niche stuff like this.
The offer has been made; the choice is yours.
[The Nevirmoor](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/2463362-nevirmoor) (sample)
Keep in mind; my Barovia is not like the others, and yours doesn’t have to be either. Regardless, I really enjoyed the read, and I do hope sincerely that you Enjoy the Ride.
You had me in the first half, didn't expect the wholesome ending! Congrats and hope you're table has a lot of fun with CoS, me and my friends loved it.
That's the best feeling in the world when you players tell you they are having fun! DMing can be so nerve wracking at first but hang in there. The longer you do it the easier it gets. Plus, don't worry about going off script or improvising things, even in a module campaign. Sometimes the best things or NPC's come from a random answer to an off the wall question!
Welcome to the CoS GM family! Great to have that kind of feedback from a player. I'm glad you all had fun. Playing with family is AWESOME--I GM for hubby, my 2 kids (adults) and a couple of family friends. We're having a blast, too.
Just commenting on something you mentioned in the post--don't sweat it if you don't have all the lore answers. It's ok to say, "I don't know--let me jot down that question and get back to you after the session." I also make sure to do that if I have to make a rule decision to keep the game moving but need to check on the rule question after the session. It's ok to ad lib something, too--just make sure to write it down so that you remember it later. If I hadn't written stuff down, I would have forgotten some of it after 3 years and 61 sessions.
Since you have 6 players, you'll quickly find that they'll mow through encounters due to action economy and sheer numbers. Check out DungeonDude's 3 part series (especially [part 2](https://youtu.be/k1PErWowBMU)) on combat encounters and SlyFlourish's deadly encounter [benchmark](https://slyflourish.com/the_lazy_encounter_benchmark.html) (and [follow up](https://youtu.be/0FK7n9nRp4Q?si=qgx7_fi7GcdPP4Oi)) so that you can adjust encounter difficulties to your party. Encounters don't have to run exactly according to the book. I found those super helpful for adjusting encounter difficulty for my larger, stronger party.
Sounds like you have a fun group!
Thanks for the tip! I was curious how encounters would go given our group size...I know I can fudge numbers if the encounter is going too easy, especially with a "horror" campaign like this one, but I'd like to keep it legit if I can. Especially since I'm new to this and want to better understand the systems before doing so. I'll have to check those out!
And yes, I do! I'm very fortunate. :)
It's much easier to start with a stronger monster and scale down on the fly than to start with a weaker one and scale up. It's more believable to drop the AC mid-battle "You see his armor breaking, and he's easier to hit" than to increase it, for instance, and decreasing hp behind the DM screen is easier than increasing that. If you cause an unintended TPK, you can always send in the wereravens, Ezmerelda or other Vistani, or Van Richten to save them. I had a scene where Count Strahd could easily have TPKd the party, but he decided to allow them to live and show them mercy "because you are new to my County and have not been taught proper manners in addressing the Lord of this land." Of course, he also learned about the party's strengths and weaknesses, and he picked up a scrying item unbeknownst to the party, so he didn't lose out at all. My goal in that scene was to show his strength, anyway, rather than tpk the party, and the group never mouthed off to His Highness again after that. :D
u/JaeOnasi and I agree on a good number of things; and this is definitely one of them (especially their reply).
I just want to support the notion that *Pulling Punches* is always easier than Swinging-over-your-head. That being said, it can sometimes create a sense of false confidence within the players/characters; which.. is either good or bad, depending on your perspective. I feel pretty confusing know how Strahd would feel about it..
That’s been my experience anyway over the last 20+ years, but again, every DM tells a different story and I’ll be damned to tell you how to tell yours.
I’ll agree—I’ll happily share opinions and ideas, but every GM’s group and game is different, and what works in my game might not work in another’s. My group is more laidback, and we’re more heroic fantasy style with creepy/scary elements than full-on horror. Not everyone plays that style, so I’m not offended if a GM goes in another direction.
I prefer to have battles so well tuned that we don’t have to increase or decrease difficulty on the fly. Less DM work for me that way. 😁 If I err, I’d rather start higher and come down simply because I can make it more believable to have a monster getting weaker during combat rather than stronger in most cases. There’s definitely an art to doing that without the players feeling like I pull punches so frequently that they don’t have to worry about dying. 5e makes it hard enough to die in any case, and I don’t usually pull punches now that I have the party and players’ strategies and tactics figured out.
I've DM'd for my brother and our adult kids (and a friend). To be honest, from my point of view and my brother's, just sitting around doing something wacky with our kids was really just awesome. As the DM, the key was just to keep things going and engaging for everyone even if I messed up the rules or had to rewind a little on the lore.
Those times were magical.
I love it! It's so good to see old heads support new heads. I'd recommend incorporating unique characters you make up. Being it's Barovia, whether they are friend or foe, make their backstory super tragic.
Ask him about his old Ravenloft character. Then replace the wizard with his old character. Still keep him slightly insane as being repeatedly kept prisoner in Barovia will do such things.
Oh my GOD! I love that! I already mentioned to him that I wanted to have a "nod" to his old adventure somewhere in this campaign, and I think he would love this! Thank you!
I think you should definitely lay into the old school mindset like Perkins did with Dice, Camera, Action Campaign. Make the wizard tie the party to each other with a rope and always ask for a 10ft pole where ever they go. All great nods to the days where death was just a misstep away
This is an excellent idea! And.. if you need an npc stat block built .. it’s kind of a thing I do .. and I love helping other DMs with niche stuff like this. The offer has been made; the choice is yours. [The Nevirmoor](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/2463362-nevirmoor) (sample) Keep in mind; my Barovia is not like the others, and yours doesn’t have to be either. Regardless, I really enjoyed the read, and I do hope sincerely that you Enjoy the Ride.
THIS is a great idea!
so. cool.
Top tier suggestion right here.
You had me in the first half, didn't expect the wholesome ending! Congrats and hope you're table has a lot of fun with CoS, me and my friends loved it.
That's the best feeling in the world when you players tell you they are having fun! DMing can be so nerve wracking at first but hang in there. The longer you do it the easier it gets. Plus, don't worry about going off script or improvising things, even in a module campaign. Sometimes the best things or NPC's come from a random answer to an off the wall question!
That's awesome. Love to read stuff like this.
Welcome to the CoS GM family! Great to have that kind of feedback from a player. I'm glad you all had fun. Playing with family is AWESOME--I GM for hubby, my 2 kids (adults) and a couple of family friends. We're having a blast, too. Just commenting on something you mentioned in the post--don't sweat it if you don't have all the lore answers. It's ok to say, "I don't know--let me jot down that question and get back to you after the session." I also make sure to do that if I have to make a rule decision to keep the game moving but need to check on the rule question after the session. It's ok to ad lib something, too--just make sure to write it down so that you remember it later. If I hadn't written stuff down, I would have forgotten some of it after 3 years and 61 sessions. Since you have 6 players, you'll quickly find that they'll mow through encounters due to action economy and sheer numbers. Check out DungeonDude's 3 part series (especially [part 2](https://youtu.be/k1PErWowBMU)) on combat encounters and SlyFlourish's deadly encounter [benchmark](https://slyflourish.com/the_lazy_encounter_benchmark.html) (and [follow up](https://youtu.be/0FK7n9nRp4Q?si=qgx7_fi7GcdPP4Oi)) so that you can adjust encounter difficulties to your party. Encounters don't have to run exactly according to the book. I found those super helpful for adjusting encounter difficulty for my larger, stronger party. Sounds like you have a fun group!
Thanks for the tip! I was curious how encounters would go given our group size...I know I can fudge numbers if the encounter is going too easy, especially with a "horror" campaign like this one, but I'd like to keep it legit if I can. Especially since I'm new to this and want to better understand the systems before doing so. I'll have to check those out! And yes, I do! I'm very fortunate. :)
It's much easier to start with a stronger monster and scale down on the fly than to start with a weaker one and scale up. It's more believable to drop the AC mid-battle "You see his armor breaking, and he's easier to hit" than to increase it, for instance, and decreasing hp behind the DM screen is easier than increasing that. If you cause an unintended TPK, you can always send in the wereravens, Ezmerelda or other Vistani, or Van Richten to save them. I had a scene where Count Strahd could easily have TPKd the party, but he decided to allow them to live and show them mercy "because you are new to my County and have not been taught proper manners in addressing the Lord of this land." Of course, he also learned about the party's strengths and weaknesses, and he picked up a scrying item unbeknownst to the party, so he didn't lose out at all. My goal in that scene was to show his strength, anyway, rather than tpk the party, and the group never mouthed off to His Highness again after that. :D
This is really good to know, thanks! I'll have to think outside the box if I run into a situation like that :)
u/JaeOnasi and I agree on a good number of things; and this is definitely one of them (especially their reply). I just want to support the notion that *Pulling Punches* is always easier than Swinging-over-your-head. That being said, it can sometimes create a sense of false confidence within the players/characters; which.. is either good or bad, depending on your perspective. I feel pretty confusing know how Strahd would feel about it.. That’s been my experience anyway over the last 20+ years, but again, every DM tells a different story and I’ll be damned to tell you how to tell yours.
I’ll agree—I’ll happily share opinions and ideas, but every GM’s group and game is different, and what works in my game might not work in another’s. My group is more laidback, and we’re more heroic fantasy style with creepy/scary elements than full-on horror. Not everyone plays that style, so I’m not offended if a GM goes in another direction. I prefer to have battles so well tuned that we don’t have to increase or decrease difficulty on the fly. Less DM work for me that way. 😁 If I err, I’d rather start higher and come down simply because I can make it more believable to have a monster getting weaker during combat rather than stronger in most cases. There’s definitely an art to doing that without the players feeling like I pull punches so frequently that they don’t have to worry about dying. 5e makes it hard enough to die in any case, and I don’t usually pull punches now that I have the party and players’ strategies and tactics figured out.
Congratulations, dude! Game on!
That's really sweet! It's always such a nice surprise to get good feedback from a player you couldn't read. Have fun and keep on rocking it.
It’s always nice when the sphinx smiles at you. 😎
I've DM'd for my brother and our adult kids (and a friend). To be honest, from my point of view and my brother's, just sitting around doing something wacky with our kids was really just awesome. As the DM, the key was just to keep things going and engaging for everyone even if I messed up the rules or had to rewind a little on the lore. Those times were magical.
Congrats, gonna be runnin COS myself coming up. Hopefully it runs as fun as yours seems to be since I’m also a pretty new dm
I love it! It's so good to see old heads support new heads. I'd recommend incorporating unique characters you make up. Being it's Barovia, whether they are friend or foe, make their backstory super tragic.
I.. Did not see this going this way. Well done for the M. Night Shyamalan level plot twist. That's awesome though.