I actually expected the cleric Bonk to Turn Undead but he didn’t, they just went straight at the pair of rotting eyes. Well the effect worked they were certainly engaged, but they did not hesitate to attack it. The little eye stalks on its head swivel toward the players and I put down the color picture of a zombie beholder. Two large orbs of rotting flesh drift out of the wagon’s interior, a large white eye opening in the center.
#ZOMBIE BEHOLDER 5E DRIVER#
I let them prepare any spells or weapons before we rolled initiative as the driver pulls a latch and drops the side of the wagon. As the players watch the Guunt decides to charge forward, hoping to grab the carriage. The vampire women laugh louder this time and the carriage pulls away. “Welcome to Barovia!” The man says, waving his glass of wine. Behind him is a beaten old carnival wagon, with a driver hidden beneath a large hat and long coat. Inside the carriage with him were three vampire women, scantily dressed, a red-head, a blonde and a brunette, who laugh and mock the players. Inside they could only see the hand of a pale man holding what appeared to be a glass of wine. The party gathered together in front of her tent as a beautiful black chariot appeared. Just as the reading was finished, Madam Eva jumped up, sending her crystal ball crashing to the floor. He failed, so all he heard was the sound of wagons approaching down the dirt path. Midway through the reading, I had Thalamir make a perception check to figure out what was going on, as the mood in the camp suddenly took a dark turn. I won’t put the results here, because some of them might read this and know where the clues are pointing to. I did the deck reading before the session, so I had one of them flip the cards that were pre-arranged to fit with the results. Not all of them could fit into the tent, so half the party went in while the others waited outside.
Once this tale was told, they were invited in to meet Madam Eva. This is actually the story used in the “Story Hooks” chapter to get the players to Barovia. Stanimir told them the story of a wounded warrior that the Vistani protected, a warrior who was now cursed. Guunt wanted food, but alcohol was all the Vistani were serving. When they arrived at the Vistani Camp, they were welcomed as friends, invited to join the party, where the wine flowed freely. I think it had a good effect on them and was a eerie start to the session.
As soon as they touched the corpse with their holy hand it faded to smoke, which I described as similar to dry ice. Finally the paladin Sam decided to lay on hands, even though it was clearly a corpse. They could all see it, and described it to her. It was identical to Ombra in every way, even the eyes. Guunt the barbarian cut the body down and held it. Ombra told the party about it and they all gathered around, telling her that it was HER hanging there. She could hear the body swinging and smell a familiar scent coming from it. How do I get a blind character to see their own dead corpse? This is how I did it: As the monk passed the gallows, in the rear of the party, they heard a sudden thud of a weight behind them. Of course I rolled Ombra, the blind Tabaxi monk.
As they passed by the creaking old gallows, I rolled randomly to see which player would see their character hanging there. Travelling to the Tser Pool, they came to the crossroads. Other members of the group picked up winter gear, as it was getting very cold in Barovia, then they rested for the night. No one visited the church and it was haunted by ghosts, so Sir Saggamore and a couple others helped him burn the building to the ground. After laying his son’s destruction, there was no reason for the old pastor to stay there anymore. Ireena’s father was laid to rest in a simple ceremony, after which some of the adventurers helped Donavich burn the church to the ground. I did not want to send them out again without getting a long rest, so they spent the day getting acquainted with the new members of the party. The party had rested earlier that night, in fact they had only just woken up, taken the dead Burgomaster’s body to the church and killed the vampire spawn in the basement. Two new players joined this week, a Paladin dedicated to trade and commerce named Sam and a Viking Barbarian from the Nocturnal Sea who came to Barovia to find meaning to the dreams he was having about places he had never been to. In the end I decided to use two Zombie Beholders, which I felt were “thematically appropriate” to Ravenloft.
A bare knuckle fist fight, surrounded by Vistani, it would have been a scene straight out of Snatch. What monsters could I throw at them that would be a challenge? At first I thought of having Strahd challenge them to a fist fight, teaching the players humility with his own hands.
#ZOMBIE BEHOLDER 5E HOW TO#
For most of the week I tried to figure out how to make their first encounter with Strahd a memorable one. What a crazy session this turned out to be.
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