You could also subvert your players expectations. During a Curse of Strahd session my groups dm did this by taking an NPC who had previously wanted to kill the party and reintroducing him as an ally and a fiancé to my character in an arranged marriage. We naturally didn’t trust him and I actually made it clear that, at least for the moment we were not allies. A few hours later he shows up dead in the woods and we go to investigate. We learn that Strahd wants to settle a score with this guy and others because the NPC turned out to be helping the party. When emotions were high and some of us were overwhelmed who would show up but Strahd himself! It was like a perfect storm. We were trying to get out of the initial shock of the revelations the new ally NPC brought to us and trying to figure out what to do next when Strahd shows up in Vallaki during a festival and says “I look forward to seeing you all very soon.” Let’s just say the whole session was cathartic.
@@gameon_ct It was crazy! The whole session felt like some messed up Game of Thrones episode with my character backstory at the forefront. Basically my character, a half elf cleric noblewoman, was sent to Barovia to establish a political alliance through an arranged marriage to someone in Strahd's court. I did not know anything about this guy for a while and the rumors I heard were not good. We end up dealing with Strahd at level 3 and have a few years of peace. The party decides to stay in Barovia because we hear that Strahd might return. Eventually a new king of Barovia rises up and invites the party to dinner at the newly constructed castle. Note: Our two fighters blew up the first castle Ravenloft. We go to the dinner and the king is polite but there is something off about him. Eventually a death warrant for the party is in order for some stuff that went down that night. I manage to persuade the king to expunge the order only to have the drunk sailor in the party burn down this castle too. The king escaped in a cloud of mist and at this point there is another death order out for the party. Six in game months later the king shows up at Van Richten's tower claiming he wants to help the party and there is an awkward conversation where the king is trying to convince my character that he was trying to protect her and my character just doesn't buy into his story. After that point he tells me that he was my fiancé and the one following the party. Keep in mind that during this session I was the only mortal as both of our fighters could not make the session and three of the party members are vampires, one of which is Strahd's second brother. So on top of the information we received, I was basically surrounded by five vampires in the session if you include the new king of Barovia and Strahd, who showed up shortly after. Yikes!
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Thanks!
Watched it all the way through! Awesome first video, sir!
Thank you! :D
You could also subvert your players expectations. During a Curse of Strahd session my groups dm did this by taking an NPC who had previously wanted to kill the party and reintroducing him as an ally and a fiancé to my character in an arranged marriage. We naturally didn’t trust him and I actually made it clear that, at least for the moment we were not allies. A few hours later he shows up dead in the woods and we go to investigate. We learn that Strahd wants to settle a score with this guy and others because the NPC turned out to be helping the party. When emotions were high and some of us were overwhelmed who would show up but Strahd himself! It was like a perfect storm. We were trying to get out of the initial shock of the revelations the new ally NPC brought to us and trying to figure out what to do next when Strahd shows up in Vallaki during a festival and says “I look forward to seeing you all very soon.” Let’s just say the whole session was cathartic.
Good call!
@@gameon_ct It was crazy! The whole session felt like some messed up Game of Thrones episode with my character backstory at the forefront. Basically my character, a half elf cleric noblewoman, was sent to Barovia to establish a political alliance through an arranged marriage to someone in Strahd's court. I did not know anything about this guy for a while and the rumors I heard were not good. We end up dealing with Strahd at level 3 and have a few years of peace. The party decides to stay in Barovia because we hear that Strahd might return. Eventually a new king of Barovia rises up and invites the party to dinner at the newly constructed castle. Note: Our two fighters blew up the first castle Ravenloft. We go to the dinner and the king is polite but there is something off about him. Eventually a death warrant for the party is in order for some stuff that went down that night. I manage to persuade the king to expunge the order only to have the drunk sailor in the party burn down this castle too. The king escaped in a cloud of mist and at this point there is another death order out for the party. Six in game months later the king shows up at Van Richten's tower claiming he wants to help the party and there is an awkward conversation where the king is trying to convince my character that he was trying to protect her and my character just doesn't buy into his story. After that point he tells me that he was my fiancé and the one following the party. Keep in mind that during this session I was the only mortal as both of our fighters could not make the session and three of the party members are vampires, one of which is Strahd's second brother. So on top of the information we received, I was basically surrounded by five vampires in the session if you include the new king of Barovia and Strahd, who showed up shortly after. Yikes!
Excellent job Justin. I love Curse of Strahd!!! My favorite, can you run that for us someday?
You know it
Have you tried Delta Green?
(Justin) I Have! But I've played CoC much more! Thanks for watching!