Let's say *House of Strahd* ends with the death of Strahd. What would become of Barovia.
*Assuming that I will play the module in the forseeable future, I wonder which foes my PCs would have to face after Strahd's demise STAYING IN BAROVIA* (IMC, there are no borders between the domains, and thus no traveling.)
I'd like my PCs slowly to take over Barovia and make it a *good* nation...
Strahd kinda stomps on most serious threats to his power...
You'd have Jezra Wagner's spectre up in the Balinoks...
Jacqueline Montarri prowls the area looking for beautiful heads to take...
If, heaven help you, you take Champions of Darkness verbatim, there's Sheriff Von Zarovich...
Go tell the Spartans, thou who passest by,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
Don't forget Inajira, the Ba'al Verzi, and Leo Dilisnya.
But really, killing Strahd is pretty much impossible. He has sanctuaries all over the place, and any DM who runs him even remotely as he's supposed to be run should cream anyone trying to kill him. As for turning Barovia into a good nation? No way. Ever. This is Ravenloft after all. Kill the darklord and another takes over. Perhaps a few years of peace and quiet, like in Gundarak after the death of Gundar, but the darkness will eventually reclaim the land. It might be better than before, certainly, but it won't be good.
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream
I want to play *House of Strahd* as a final for a GE campaign, and so, adjusting it to lvl 10-12; however it turns out, I'd like my characters to leave alive and to be trapped in the mists, at least for a while...
I am pretty sure they will kill Strahd if they get the opportunity, and, in the aftermath of the campaign, would like them to be the paladins of Barovia and rule the country...
Desdichado wrote:I want to play *House of Strahd* as a final for a GE campaign, and so, adjusting it to lvl 10-12; however it turns out, I'd like my characters to leave alive and to be trapped in the mists, at least for a while...
I am pretty sure they will kill Strahd if they get the opportunity, and, in the aftermath of the campaign, would like them to be the paladins of Barovia and rule the country...
Well if its what you want go for it. Allow Strahd to be killed.
I for one can't see Barovia without Strahd. I think the domain IS Strahd and without him (or another big Vampire at least), Barovia will dissolve.
If you want my opinion, I say have Strahd disabled and do let paladins rule the country for a while. But the peasants would never trust them. They came out of Castle Ravenloft alive? That's impossible unless they are agents of Darkness.
And what about the Vistani, they don't act differently except that they look at the PCs as if they are already dead.
Now, it's a little cliché but sometimes clichés work: have Strahd return to claim back his trone. Not like Azalin (who officially needed heroes to help him) but with a big nasty campaign where Strahd is really angry.
THat's just an idea.
Charney wrote:
If you want my opinion, I say have Strahd disabled and do let paladins rule the country for a while. But the peasants would never trust them. They came out of Castle Ravenloft alive? That's impossible unless they are agents of Darkness.
And what about the Vistani, they don't act differently except that they look at the PCs as if they are already dead.
Now, it's a little cliché but sometimes clichés work: have Strahd return to claim back his trone. Not like Azalin (who officially needed heroes to help him) but with a big nasty campaign where Strahd is really angry.
THat's just an idea.
Hehehe... That sounds promising... The Vistani plotting against the PC, the peasants wanting back their old dirty vampire...
I am currently DMing a campaign, where PCs have to face that *dissolving problem* after the disappearance of Azalin... That can be really nasty, too...
Let's see - turning Barovia into a better place? Supposing that a domain can't exist without a Darklord, I'd grant the reigns of the domain to a less dangerous individual with limited resources. How about Lyssa? She is restricted to three hours of waking time per night, though this limitation will dissolve eventually. Lyssa also has the benefit of being a more subtle ruler, so the PCs will have more free ground to go about and changing Barovia.
Note, however, that with the end of Strahd, the domain will face certain problems. Most notably, the Gundarakite rebels are likely to launch a full-scale revolt now that the tyrant is erased from the picture. Then, there's the fact that Strahd was the only linchpin that held the boyars and burgomeisters together. His death will very likely plunge the realm into anarchy, so the PCs should be prepared for that.
The DM should also decide what will become of the Vistani under Strahd's protection - without the Count, they are free game for discrimination once more. How will Madame Eva react (pre-act)? Also, what will become of the fog ring around the Village of Barovia? Don't forget, the only road that links the East Core with the West goes through there. If it dissolves, merchants all around Ravenloft will rejoice. If it remains, most traffic between the two halves of the Core will be cut.
And, if you extrapolate the consequences on an even larger scale, there are individuals in Ravenloft that will no doubt react to Strahd's demise. I already see Azalin sending agents to acquire tangible proof of his old enemy's demise. The Fraternity of Shadows is likely to conduct a similar investigation, if only to measure the consequences of the Count's death on the fabric of the demiplane. Finally, Malocchio will see his main obstacle to exterminating the barovian vistani eliminated, and is likely to launch a military campaign into the domain. Its what he has been itching to do these past ten years, after all.
I'll tell you a secret - I don't like Strahd, either.
Personally, I think Barovia reeks of the old, 2nd edition ideas of trapping players in a tiny space and forcing them to do battle with a domain lord.
Still, Barovia doesn't make sense without Strahd. He is the land, after all. Without the devil Strahd, Barovia remains a backwards pit of ignorant villagers who have no excuse for being so hapless.
Honestly, I just got rid of the ring of fog around the village of Barovia.
Makes it a lot easier to enter and leave without having to deal with Strahd at all. I like him as part of the mythology, but it'll be a cold day in hell when he shows up in an scenario I have any control over.
Go tell the Spartans, thou who passest by,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
ScS of the Fraternity wrote:Don't take it personally.
I'll tell you a secret - I don't like Strahd, either.
Nor do I. He's a bit-too-cheap copy of Dracula, IMO. Now, I'd never used him for a Ravenloft campaign... for GE, his realm seen as a Dreamscape, I like the idea after all...
Then, if that group comes to play the campaign out, I'd like them to start with real RL. - Reason for this thoughts: My current campaign won't take more than three to four session until it is completed, but I want to stick to the setting after that, too.
I'll tell you a secret - I don't like Strahd, either.
Personally, I think Barovia reeks of the old, 2nd edition ideas of trapping players in a tiny space and forcing them to do battle with a domain lord.
Hey I dont like the leech either but lets not pick on 2e..I like 2e
Maraudar[/i]
Blade, fire, pistol or stake it matters not.. Even the undead can become true dead.
Getting rid of the ring of fog around the village of Barovia gets rid of 99% of the domain's problems, IMHO. Take that away, and you have a deliciously crunchy domain filled with all sorts of beasties for the PCs to fight, flavorfully unfriendly citizens, Vistani out the wazoo, and the constant threat of the biggest name in Ravenloft lurking in the background. (If the players know anything about Strahd at all OOC, then I've found there's never any reason to have him actually show up in game. The knowledge that here's there is more than enough to keep them on their toes.)
I personally like Strahd quite a bit, but I have found that he and Azalin both work best as a non-appearing background threat rather than actual NPCs. The players can make both of them far more terrifying in their own minds than I could ever make them in the game.
Getting back to the original topic of the post, though: if Strahd were ever to actually die, I'm not entirely certain about the fate of Ravenloft itself. He was the first darklord, and he's always been portrayed as the one to whom the phrase "I am the land" most applies. While I know the DPs wouldn't completely dissolve the demiplane if he were to die, he's still been painted as something of the linchpin that holds the place together, and I think there would be some major ripples all over Ravenloft if the DPs lost their first and favorite toy.
Frankly, I think that Charney's idea of having Strahd return is the most likely scenario simply because I don't think the DPs would ever actually let him die. Death would be an escape to them, and that's something they can never allow for Strahd.
"I'd really love a cup of tea, but it would be, like, blood or death or evil or something."
~Matteo Brazi, Borcan thief, Day 3 of Bleak House
Ravenloft doesn't have to end with Strahd unless you want it to end. Either way, lots of possibilities emerge.
Here's a few ideas I just had:
-Azalin, or another Darklord who has knowledge about the demiplane, wants to have Strahd killed for good.
On the other hand, heroes native from Ravenloft don't wnat their world to be destroyed. So here we have George Weatherway, Gondegal, Carnival and Larissa Snowmane fighting WITH Strahd against the PCs allied with Azalin and other big baddies.
-Let's say Strahd is killed, it might actually start the Time of Unparalleled Darkness. A theory is that their was ancient domains before Strahd's arrival. I see this as lost domains holding unspeakable and forgotten horrors. WIth Strahd's death, they could emerge from the Mists. Or something like that.
PS: I love Strahd, he's the reason why I bought the Black Box 8 years ago.
The biggest gripe I have about Strahd is that in the 400+ year history of Ravenloft he has done northing more then sit in his casle and mope. The only action he has taken was when he was forced to by the gundarkians and even that was short lived.
Barovia could easly become a major player in the core if Strahd peronality didn't keep in the dark ages.
"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish it's source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings."
Anais Nin
Nor do I. He's a bit-too-cheap copy of Dracula, IMO. Now, I'd never used him for a Ravenloft campaign... for GE, his realm seen as a Dreamscape, I like the idea after all...
