This was the session that the players learnt what the change of threat level meant...
Our dramatis personae:
Ser Alys de Rouge (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral. Imagine a slightly greener take on Grace Jones...
Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.
Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good
Ser Adon of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good.
Break as some minor spoilers...
November 13th
The party rose mid-morning after a night of celebration, drinking and... chess after the announcement of the engagement of Ser Alys and Ser Adon. After breakfast, they set off to Henrik van der Voort's Coffin Making Workshop, intending to intimidate him into handing over the sacred bones of Saint Andral. They arrived to find the workshop still locked up, so knocked. No answer was forthcoming so they cased the joint and eventually decided to enter the workshop through a goods entrance on the first floor. Kelwarin and Gaddock used mage hands to pull the rope down on the pulley, and - after Gaddock struggled with his halfling height - Kelwarin climbed the rope and used the mage hand to open the door, getting into a large storage room full of cases, wood, nails and other stores for the carpenter's workshop. The whole group came up, and Gaddock went ahead, searching a kitchen and then a bedroom that showed signs of habitation. The two warriors and the sorcerer headed down the stairs and found Henrik in the workshop, startling him greatly. Ser Alys and Ser Adon loudly intimidated him to try to find out where the bones of the saint were hidden.
Upstairs, Gaddock found a hidden compartment in the wardrobe, with a sack containing cash and another larger one secreted underneath. As he tugged it out, he sensed a presence and turning, discovered a vampire hanging from the ceiling. It tried to grab him and missed so he ran. As he ran, he cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter on the devil's spawn and incapacitated it. He started down the stairs, yelling to warn the others. A fight developed on the stairs as the warriors and Kel tore into the vampire spawn, only to find more appearing from the direction of the room that they had entered. Suddenly, they were in a deadly battle with three of the creatures, which were coming at them from all angles. The vampires were grappling and trying to bite, but they soon stopped this against the warriors due to their armour. They started to crawl and attack from the ceiling and the battle became increasingly dangerous. Henrik fled.
As the foolhardy adventures felt that they had started to get the edge, two more of the creatures of the night appeared behind them, having crawled over the roof, unafraid of the dull, cloud-covered sun. The battle turned again, and it looked like our brave heroes would die as they had trapped themselves between multiple enemies. Kelwarin was bitten and badly hurt, but managed to disengage and jump out of the window that the vampires had come in. Gaddock took the saint's skull and presented it firmly, and the vampire attacking him was driven back, terrified by the symbols of the faith that it once held. Nearly out of magic, the party agreed to escape. Ser Aly broke the window and shutter open, and jumped lightly to the floor outside. For a moment, it looked like Ser Adon would die, grappled and pulled down by the creatures, but somehow he broke free and jumped out the window. Gaddock turned and fled with the relics of St. Andral, smashing an oil lamp as he left to burn the nest out.
The guard soon arrived, and the two warriors convinced them that there was a nest of the creatures (helped by a pale face at the window about). A cordon was set and the building burned down while the guard waited to make sure that the creatures didn't escape. Henrik was found and arrested. Later that afternoon, rumours started to fly that the Baron had sentenced him to play a major role in the Festival of the Blazing Sun. Ser Adon brought the party together in group hug and laid on hands; they headed back to the Blue Water Inn to heal their wounds and have lunch.
GM Notes: After several sessions of investigation, the game exploded into action and a brutal and desperate battle. I had already decided to play the Vampire Spawn intelligently. For the first time, the loss of Roscoe really showed, as the party's ability to mete out radiant damage was seriously curtailed, which meant that the vampires were regenerating. I also used three dimensions with attacks from above and multiple grapples and bite attacks. I soon realised that the claw damage was more effective overall against the warriors, and getting two rolls over 18 was somewhat unlikely in a row. The sorcerer and wizard were a different matter, and the vampires further boosted their recovery by draining blood. This was a nasty and very dangerous battle. At some points, I thought we could have a TPK, but they sensibly decided to disengage. They've assumed the vampires are dead, only time will tell. There's also the matter of Ser Adon's family relic, the magical and holy javelin, which he threw at a vampire and missed and never picked up. Is it lost forever?
Learnt a lot about dynamic lighting and other elements in Roll20 tonight as well. Overall, a fun session.
Curse of Strahd will return on 16 December 2020.
2 December 2020
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