Castlevania II: Dracula's Curse (OOC)

[J-H]

IC thread.

Player	Sheet	Race/Class	Legacy Item
Amnestic	Chloe Clement	High Elf Alchemist	Decanter of Holy Water
Infernally Clay	Cassandra Hartdegen	High Elf Bladesinger Wizard	Vampire Killer
BobtheWizard	Vidrik Oakheart	Wood Elf Ranger	Stake Launcher
dangelo	Mustafar the Vampiralgietch	Human Cleric	Mithril Holy Symbol
Dr. Samurai	Sabian Skellegue	Half-Orc Barbarian	Shield of the Unyielding

Copied from the Recruiting thread:

Spoiler

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I am looking for 5 players who can handle an approximately daily posting rate (I have been known to get 2+ combat turns in per day as a DM). This adventure runs from levels 2 to 9 or 10. That could be 70-100 combat encounters! Depending on how fast our heroes blow through things, this could still take a year or more. We will have a Discord for OOC discussions; I have noticed that "Posted." messages there tend to help keep people from forgetting when it's their turn.

I am writing this for publication on the DM's Guild, and strongly prefer people who are willing to write a review on the DM's Guild when it gets published. It'll be a while, as it's about 30% written, but the first few areas you'll encounter are done.

I write the kinds of adventures I like to play in. Expect substantial combat, meaningful decision-making around where the party goes when on the area map, and fairly light exploration/social pillars. There will be time pressure, and you may have some long adventuring days / nights. It's close to winter, and the days are only 11 hours long.

After the initial section, you'll have a map, and you'll have some information about the different places on the map that you need to reach in order to forestall Bad Stuff. It's up to you what route you take, and what order you do things in. You will not be the only ones moving around on the map.

Story
Your characters are young adults, between the ages of about 17 and 24. Your families are members of the Belmonte Order, heirs to a long legacy of fighting against Dracula and other creatures of the night. You're not the only members of your family, although the Order has grown apart over the last few decades. You are people who are being groomed as the eventual next leaders. It's been a decade since everyone last met together at the Order's fortified manor-house headquarters, which stands atop the ruins of Dracula's castle, having been built over 120 years ago when he was last defeated. You're coming to meet other people, visit "cousins" you haven't seen in a decades, and to network and learn from your elders and other people influential in the region.

If some of your family members come along on this trip, don't get too personally invested in their long term survival. It wouldn't be a D&D quest starting at the headquarters of a militant vampire-hunting order without something going badly wrong.

Each character will gain a single Legacy item early in the adventure. Each Legacy item represents an heirloom item (usually a tool) used by past members of the Belmonte order in the battle against Dracula or his minions. Although powerful, the player characters are not yet skilled enough to make use of all of their features. New features are unlocked when player characters gain Proficiency Bonus, at character levels 5 and 9.

Additionally, the bloodline and family tie with each Legacy item means that the character who chooses to be associated with that item gains Proficiency in a listed skill, or Expertise if the character already has Proficiency.

All Legacy items require attunement, and a character may only have one at a time.

1. Since no two characters may have the same item, I am asking for each player to submit two different characters withdifferent legacy items.
2. I've tried to make all of them useful, but in different ways; some are going to contribute less to DPS, but add other features, or have situational benefits. I am very interested in feedback about any items which seem like they break the curve in terms of being excessively powerful or excessively weak. I may adjust some before the game starts.
3. Some of these draw from the source material. At least one is from the Castle Dracula campaign I wrote, and a few others were created to try to make sure every playstyle had, at minimum, one viable legacy item.

Spoiler: Legacy items

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Alcarde Spear
This +2 Pike was wielded by a spearmaster known for his strength and dedication. The blade is inscribed with prayers that further increase the effects of the wielder’s skill.
• At level 1, you deal bonus damage equal to your proficiency bonus when attacking with this weapon.
• At level 5, you ignore cover when attacking with this weapon.
• At level 9, the blade of the spear catches fire, dealing +2 fire damage on hit and casting light as a torch.
Associated skill: Intimidation

Belmonte Order Belt
This broad belt is made of circles of hammered bronze, each 4 inches across. Those who wear it follow the path of leadership and personal skill, rather than reliance on the power of a specific item.
• At level 1, gain a bonus feat from the following list: Actor, Bountiful Luck (if halfling), Inspiring Leader, Observant, Telepathic.
• At level 5, gain a bonus feat from the following list: Lightly Armored, Moderately Armored, Heavily Armored, Medium Armor Master, Heavy Armor Master, Charger, Mobile, Crusher, Piercer, Slasher.
• At level 9, gain an additional bonus feat from the above lists.
Associated skill: Persuasion

Belnades’ Staff
This seemingly ordinary wooden staff had its core carefully bored out by hand and then filled with a core of liquid mithril. Although long-cooled, there’s still a smell of burnt wood about it.
The wielder of this staff may choose to make a warlock pact with the Archfey or Celestial Patrons, and the staff is suitable as a Pact Weapon.
• At level 1, gain +1 to your spell attack roll and DC while holding the staff. You may cast Absorb Elements 3x/LR from the staff.
• At level 5, targets within 5’ of you have disadvantage on their saving throws against your spells.
• At level 9, when you deal damage with a spell, your damage increases by an amount equal to your Proficiency Bonus for one damage roll.
Associated skill: Arcana

Blessed Axe
This +2 Silver Handaxe stays ever-sharp, and casts light as a torch upon command.
• At level 1, the axe gains the Returning property, with a range of 20’/60’. You have advantage on saves vs. Fear while wielding it.
• At level 5, you have advantage on attack rolls against flying targets when throwing the axe, and your move speed increases by 5’.
• At level 9, your strength increases by 2 to a maximum of 20. You may curve the axe’s path when you hurl it, allowing you to strike a target that has total cover as long as you have an unhindered path to attack a square next to your target to curve the axe through.
Associated skill: Religion

Decanter of Holy Water
This large silver flask is permanently blessed. The water inside smells faintly of pomegranate, and is safe to drink. The flask can be used as a spellcasting focus for artificer spells, and infuses some spells with extra blessings.
• At level 1, your spell save DC increases by 1 while holding the Decanter. You may use it to spray a 15’ cone or 5’x30’ line with holy water, dealing 3d6 radiant damage, Dex DC 15 half, to non-Good creatures in the area of effect. This may be used 3 times per Long Rest.
• At level 5, evil creatures that bite you take 2d4 radiant damage. When you cast a spell that deals acid, water, or ice-based damage, you may choose to convert half of the damage dealt to radiant damage.
• At level 9, when you roll damage for any fire, acid, or radiant damage spell, add +1d6 radiant damage to the total.
Associated skill: Religion

Defender
Little is known about the original bearer of this longsword, save that the knight carrying it held a narrow pass for an entire night before falling in battle.
• At level 1, this is a +2 Longsword with the Defender property. The first time you attack with the sword on each of your turns, you can transfer some or all of the sword’s enhancement bonus to your Armor Class instead of using it to enhance your attack and damage rolls.
• At level 5, you gain +2 on all saving throws while holding the sword.
• At level 9, the sword’s enhancement and saving throw bonus improves to +3.
Associated skill: Athletics

Mithril Holy Symbol
This holy symbol is heavier than it should be, despite being made of mithril. Duty and responsibility carry weight. It may be used as a +1 club, although not frivolously.
• At level 1, you count as two levels higher for the purposes of Destroy Undead. When you use the holy symbol to make a melee attack against a fiend or undead, it deals damage as a +1 Club, +1d4 radiant damage.
• At level 5, you gain immunity to charm and domination effects.
• At level 9, when you Turn Undead, you may choose to deal 1d6 radiant damage per character level instead of frightening them. On a successful save, the undead still take half damage.
Associated skill: Religion

Morris Gun If you want to use this, convince me that firearms should be included. The only other guns in the setting would be muskets and pistols (DMG 268)
This firearm is made with a much higher level of craftsmanship than other guns available on the continent. According to the information card, someone on an extraplanar excursion was told it was “The sort of thing they might have a use for” by an old man with a large knife and a drawling accent. It is a 6-shot revolver firing soft lead ball ammunition propelled by exploding gunpowder. Each of the six cylinders takes an action to individually reload with powder and bullet. It has a range of 40/120’ and deals 2d8 piercing damage. It is very loud and generates a buff of black smoke every time it is fired. It requires martial weapon proficiency to use, or three days of use or the Gunner feat to become proficient.
• At level 1, the accompanying ammunition pouch and powder bag magically creates 18 +1 bullets per day, along with the powder necessary to fire them.
• At level 5, you may reroll a failed saving throw 3 times per day. When this ability is used, you have a strange urge to say something about a place or thing called Texas, whatever that may be. You can reload two cylinders with an action.
• At level 9, when you take the Attack action with this gun, you may attack one additional time.
Associated skill: Perception

Rock-Shatterer
This +2 Maul was wielded by a dwarf who helped kill Dracula before. He claimed to have gotten it from an evil dwarf somewhere in the bowels of the earth.
• At level 1, it deals 2 points of bonus thunder damage on hit.
• At level 5, you gain tremorsense 15’ while holding the maul. It gains the dwarfbane property, dealing +2d6 damage to dwarves and dwarf-like creatures.
• At level 9, bonus damage increases to 1d8 thunder damage.
Associated skill: History

Shield of the Unyielding
This +2 shield’s boss is coated in adamantium and inscribed with holy symbols.
• At level 1, you have resistance to fire and necrotic damage while wielding the shield.
• At level 5, when a spell attack roll is made against you, you may use your reaction to make an opposed proficient attack roll with the shield’s enhancement bonus applied. If your roll is higher than the attacker’s, the spell is reflected at the caster.
• At level 9, you have +2 on all saving throws while holding the shield.
Associated skill: Athletics

Silvered Stake
This stake, which functions as a +1 Dagger, is hand-carved, and bears the wear of heavy use. Several grooves cut into it have been filled with silver.
• At level 1, the dagger gains the Returning property.
• At level 5, you may attack with it an additional time as a bonus action when you take the attack action.
• At level 9, the enchantment on the dagger increases to +3.
Associated skill: Sleight of Hand

Spellbreaker Gauntlets
These armored gauntlets protect the hands and forearms of the wearer, and are inlaid with several small diamonds.
• At level 1, you gain +1 to your AC and to your to-hit and damage rolls with unarmed strikes while wearing the gauntlets.
• At level 5, Deflect Arrows class feature(s) may be used against spells and magical projectiles which have attack rolls.
• At level 9, you have advantage on saving throws versus magic.
Associated skill: Arcana

Stake-Launcher
This heavy crossbow +2 launches abnormally large bolts with fire-hardened wood heads.
• At level 1, if you kill a target, the projectile proceeds on and strikes the next creature in a straight line behind the target if your attack roll would hit that creature’s AC, dealing the same damage that was dealt to the first target. This can happen multiple times with a single shot.
• At level 5, it magically summons its own ammunition, removing the Loading property.
• At level 9, the critical hit range of attacks made with the Stake Launcher increases by 1.
Associated skill: Perception

Stolen Sickle
This +2 sickle is cool to the touch. Whatever leather wraps the handle is not from any creature of this world. It was allegedly taken from an avatar of Death.
The wielder of this sickle may choose to make a warlock pact with the Hexblade or Undying Patrons, and the sickle is suitable as a Pact Weapon. It has the finesse property.
• At level 1, you automatically succeed on Death saving throws. You may cast Speak With Dead once per long rest.
• At level 5, creatures struck with this sickle have disadvantage on Constitution saves until the start of your next turn.
• At level 9, you may cast Revivify and Bestow Curse (3rd level, DC 16, no Concentration) once per Long Rest each.
Associated skill: Medicine

Vampire Killer
This +2 whip is made of a cunningly wrought mithril chain, so it deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage. There’s no hard evidence, but it’s rumored to be intelligent enough to reject evil wielders on its own.
• At level 1, the whip deals 1 point of fire damage on hit.
• At level 5, you may add the whip’s reach to your own for the purposes of determining reach for climbing, grappling, jumping, and similar movement checks.
• At level 9, the whip deals 2d6 radiant damage on hit. This replaces the fire damage.
Associated skill: Acrobatics

Spoiler: Big 16

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1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, 7etc.)?
D&D 5e

2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)?
Setting is 5e generic, or Transylvania generic.

3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?
5, and if you don't make it in, don't delete your character sheet.

4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?
Forums, plus Discord for OOC, discussion, clarification, posting notifications

5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?
2nd level.

6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?
You start with a nice set of clothes, the gold in your pocket from your background, and whatever small personal weapon (dagger, shortsword) would be appropriate to wear to a formal extended family gathering / networking event. If you're a caster, you also start with your appropriate arcane focus.

7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?
I do have some houserules listed below, including a few subclasses that are out.
No time for crafting!
MCDM Talent (Psion) is allowed.
Artificer: No Artillerist. I'm not too enthused about Armorer or Battlesmith, either, to be honest.
Warlock: Limited patrons, prefer blade pact with your Legacy weapon involved. Blade pact gives medium armor/shield proficiency.
Not a big fan of Sorlock, Paladorc, etc. type multi-classing.
No Tiny Servant + Magic Stone shotguns please.

The party will have a full arcane caster, a full divine caster, and at least one non-caster.

8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?
No custom lineage or custom racial ability scores.
Human, elf, half-elf, halfling, dwarf, half-orc. This matches the population and NPCs of the area.
Max 1 Fizban's style dragonborn because Dragonborn are fun.

9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?
Build characters with the following stat array before racial modifiers: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 9 (equivalent to 28pb)
Max at 1st level, average after that.

10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?
You're from a family of vampire hunters, and tapped as one of the leading lights of the next generation. You're somewhere on the spectrum from LN to CG.

11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?
I prefer single-class characters and will generally pick them over multiclass, especially over dips into Warlock and Paladin.

12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?
Rolls in the IC & OOC threads. I'll make some rolls (Perception, Insight, Investigation) with real dice so you don't know that you failed your perception check.

13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules.
See below

14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?
It's covered above. You're young and have probably only seen battle under controlled conditions, aside from maybe bandits once or twice.

15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?
Discussed above.

16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?
-Tasha's optional class features are activated.
-Tasha's optional racial rules are not in play.
-Tasha's subclasses subject to approval (Scribe, Twilight, and Peace are out)
-Spells from Strixhaven & Fizban's are not allowed
-Subclasses from Fizban's are allowed.
-MCDM Talent (psion) is allowed. It's a bit off-theme but it looks really fun.

Spoiler: houserules/class changes

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1) Hexblade medium armor proficiency, as well as CHA to-hit and damage with the Blade pact weapon, move from the Hexblade patron to the Blade pact boon.
Blade pact gains proficiency with ONE martial melee weapon only. This makes Blade boon viable for non-Hexblade patrons, and moves any CHA-dependent dips to requiring 3 levels instead of 1.
Hexblade is still the only Warlock with native access to martial weapons (versatility) or shields.

2) Sorcerers get 2 thematically appropriate spells known added to their list automatically, at spell levels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, as with Aberrant Mind and Clockwork subclasses.

3) Rangers get their Proficiency Bonus added to damage rolls against their favored enemies, starting at level 1. The level 20 capstone applies to all attack rolls against their favored enemies, not just once per turn.

4) Dragonborn breath weapons do (Proficiency Bonus) x d8 damage and can be used once per Constitution Modifier per long rest. This helps it not be overshadowed by cantrips, and gives the Dragonborn the ability to use it slightly more often.

5) Tasha's optional class features are approved.

6) Everyone gets a 4th attunement slot at level 11, and a 5th at level 20.

7) If you go to 0 or get insta-killed (bypassing 0 hp) and raised, you gain 1 level of exhaustion.

8) Berserker barbarians get Frenzy once per day with no consequence; the exhaustion penalties only get added with a 2nd and beyond Frenzy.

9) Attacking while jumping/falling from height: Make an acrobatics check and an attack roll, both against the target's AC.
If both hit, the target takes damage from the attack, and half the falling damage.
If the acrobatics check hits but the attack roll doesn't, they split falling damage but the attack misses.
If the acrobatics check misses but the attack roll hits, the attacker takes the falling damage but manages to stab(slash/bludgeon) his opponent right before hitting the ground.

10) Tasha's rules for making all the races boring are out.

11) Eldritch Knights may change the Evocation school out for one other school of their choice. (Notable picks: Necromancy for debuffs, Illusion for miss chances, Transmutation for self-buffs)

12) No Scribe school wizard, Peace Cleric, or Twilight Cleric. Tasha's subclasses subject to approval.

13) Using "An Updated View on Necromancy" (DM's guild/free/I paid) for Necromancer wizards.

14) No flanking. Big crits: Crits are max damage w/ modifiers + normal rolled damage.

15) Soulknife blades stay manifested, and thus can be used for OAs and to gain the benefits of the TWF feat; Feat: Improved Soul Blade: Your blade gains an enhancement bonus equal to PB/2 (rounded down).

16) 4 Element monks get 2 disciplines every time the PHB says they get 1. They get free discipline uses equal to their Proficiency Bonus, recharging upon Long Rest.

17) Sharpshooter and GWM give a flat always-on +1 damage bonus to the respective weapon types, plus their side benefit. No -5/+10

18) Clarification:
The Mage Slayer feat can interrupt spellcasting, rather than taking place after the spell is cast. The caster struck then must make a Concentration check to avoid losing the spell he's in the middle of casting.

19) Spells only from PHB, Tasha's, XGTE. None from Fizban's or Strixhaven.

20) To gain advantage from being an unseen attacker, you must be able to see (blindsight, etc. count) your target.

21) Animating dead, summoning beasts, etc. is limited to the Tasha's Summon X spells plus the Necromancy companion from An Updated View on Necromancy. Note: Necromancers are not welcome in the Belmonte Order.

22) Warlock invocations that say "You can cast X once using a warlock spell slot" instead add it to your spell list and give you one free casting of that spell per LR.

I hope I've covered everything. I have found a few holes in my "starting the game" document where I had things in my head but not on paper yet.

[J-H]

Welcome! I'm excited to get this going, and hope everyone will have fun.

Before you post IC, please take care of the following:

• Be sure you have your spells prepared (vs. known) for the day selected.
• Get a post header (picture/icon with stats) pulled together. It's very helpful to me as the DM in combat; it's optional during non-combat posts.
• Join the Discord
• Check your character sheet's backstory to make sure it includes what your family's tie to the Order is. If you have family members traveling with you, please make sure I know who.

Dialogue colors are optional. I just use italics for my own posts.

I prefer that the party stay together during the first section. You can use Discord polls to quickly determine where you're going next. Best 3/5, or if 24 hours go and we don't have many votes, whatever has 2 votes or was said first will go.

[Infernally Clay]

Well thanks for picking me!



I went back and added some details regarding the Hartdegens. Centuries ago, the matriarch and founder of the Hartdegen family was a powerful wizard who helped fight against Dracula and his forces of evil with a supernatural grace that combined powerful magic with movements that were as if she danced with her foes. Nobody since Astraya Hartdegen has ever fought like that and in the centuries since the Hartdegens have been these big burly types, fighting with pure strength, who always appear when things can't possibly get any worse and it's like a wave crashing against the forces of evil. As such the Order trusts them implicitly to the point where they are not part of the formal military structure... yet here is Cassandra, who looks tiny compared to the rest of her family and is meek and shy when they're boisterous and proud. Others may ask if this is the best the Hartdegens have got, if the family has lost its way, but the truly observant among them would note that Cassandra possesses a supernatural grace that nobody has seen in centuries and there are none alive who could have taught it to her.

Cassandra will have spent a considerable amount of time with Adrian Beltane, the historian of the Order, to uncover more about Astraya Hartdegen but I don't know if he'll have put two and two together or if he thinks she just has a fascination with history.

The only Hartdegen with Cassandra is her older brother, Rudgar. He was the shoe-in to lead the Hartdegen clan but it is a matriarchal one, so as long as Cassandra proves herself strong enough to lead their family there will be no complaints. Rudgar himself is probably Cassandra's strongest supporter, always pushing his little sister to be more personable and engaging, and he seems to know more about or simply believes in Cassandra's potential more than anyone else.

[Amnestic]

Chloé Clement High Elf Artificer AC: 12 HP: 17/17 PP: 10 PIv: 15 PIs: 11 Conditions: -- Concentrating: -- Chloé's sheet.

She's alone, no family members coming with.

[dangelo]

Glad to be along for the ride, everyone.

Mustafar Hanim, the Vampiralgietch.

Spoiler: Background

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Back when Dracula was first defeated, Mustafar's ancestors sent the secondary branch of the family in a suicide mission: To join the Belmont in their crusade against Dracula and protect humankind from ultimate demise. This way, the main branch of the family would get rid of the secondary and enjoy the renown their heroic deed would bring. For their surprise, however, the crusade was successful and Dracula was defeated, and when the secondary branch of the family returned to their palace, miles and miles into the boarders of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Selim II determined that they would be the new governors of their province, and the former primary branch would become their vassals, reversing their roles permanently.

His name is Mustafa Hanim in his homeland, and Vampiralgietch around Romenia and other parts of Europe. Essentially a misrepresentation of the expression "Vampir Avcısı", which simply means Vampire Hunter in Turkish. There's no right way to pronounce this new word, it varies depending on the region and the person's original accent.

Spoiler: Appearance

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(I couldn't track down the original artists of the following pictures. Will include when I do)

[Dr.Samurai]

Reserved for my character info.

[Dr.Samurai]

Perception check for secret door (1d20+3)[10]

[Amnestic]

I've not got access to discord for the next 10 or so hours but just to cover the books, Chloé can slip them into her Bag of Holding just fine so those are covered.

She wouldn't say no to any of the magic armour - shield of fire resistance feels like it'd make the most sense but not really fussed one way or the other. I'll do a more comprehensive equipment-claim once I'm home.

[Infernally Clay]

I just kinda grabbed all the books and scrolls and stuff like that. We can sort it out here who gets what.

Cure Wounds and Mass Healing Word are not on the Wizard spell list but they are on the Artificer and Cleric lists (Cure Wounds is also on the Ranger spell list) so Cassandra will give those to Chloe or Mustafar (or Vidrick in the case of Cure Wounds) when it's reasonable to do so.

Divine Favour is a Paladin spell so none of us can actually cast it at the moment but Gentle Repose, Grease, Magic Missile, Magic Circle and Flaming Sphere are all wizard spells so I would like to save these scrolls to eventually copy them into Cassandra's spell book alongside the Mage Armour spell scroll she got earlier later.

Flaming Sphere and Magic Circle are both especially important to hold onto because Cassandra can't even naturally cast them until she's 3rd level and 5th level respectively.

[J-H]

Init

Chloe (1d20+2)[19]
Cassandra (1d20+3)[22]
Vidrik (1d20+3)[12]
Sabian (1d20+2)[13]
Mustafa (1d20+2)[11]
Skeletons (even) (1d20+2)[21]
Skeletons (odd) (1d20+2)[21]
Z#s (1d20-2)[7]
Zletters (1d20-2)[13]

[dangelo]

3x Healer's kit
Explorer pack
Tent, torch, tinderbox, mess kit, etc
Shield of Fire Resistance
Mithral Holy Symbol
Half-plate

[Bobthewizard]

Oops. coding error

To hit (1d20+9)[11]

[J-H]

Chloe (1d20+2)[10]
Cassandra (1d20+3)[15]
Vidrik (1d20+3)[10]
Sabian (1d20+2)[20]
Mustafar (1d20+2)[12]
Skeletons (1d20+2)[12]
Skeletal Hinderer (1d20+2)[9]
Zombies (1d20-2)[10]

[J-H]

OAs
S2 (1d20+4)[17] for (1d6+2)[7]
S3 (1d20+4)[6] for (1d6+2)[3]

[Infernally Clay]

Con save: (1d20+1)[15]

[Dr.Samurai]

Con Save - (1d20+4)[16]

[Dr.Samurai]

Con Save - (1d20+4)[15]

[Dr.Samurai]

Con Save - (1d20+4)[12]

[dangelo]

Action 1: Drink a Healing Potion. (2d4+2)[9]

Action 2: Drink a Healing Potion. (2d4+2)[6]

Movement: 251-F, right in front of the door.

[Dr.Samurai]

Con Save - (1d20+4)[8] vs DC 13

[dangelo]

Messed up the roll:

(1d20+3)[7]

[J-H]

sneaking
Chloe (1d20+2)[6]
Cassandra (1d20+3)[9]
Vidrik (1d20+7)[14]
Mustafa (1d20+0)[6]
Sabian (1d20+4)[17]

[J-H]

Initiative
Zombies (1d20-2)[18]
Zombie Horses (1d20-1)[14]
Sabian (1d20+2)[9]
Cassandra (1d20+3)[14]
Mustafar (1d23)[7]
Vidrik (1d20+2)[22]
Chloe (1d20+2)[18]

[J-H]

Feedback request
This is a relatively big campaign, and if I wait until the end, the early parts won't be fresh in everyone's minds.

1. How's the area map look? Is everything clear and readable, including the roads and bridges? Any concerns about the pathing and layouts?
(note: the general map layout is very heavily influenced by the actual "map" of Castlevania II)

2. How do you feel about the social / exploration portion of the Belmonte Order? Is there anything that you felt was missing? What was the best part?

3. How do you feel about the attack on the Order? Was it well-handled?

4. How do you feel about the time between the attack and your escape? Was it fun? Did you feel like you had meaningful "no single right answer" options?

[Bobthewizard]

1. How's the area map look? Is everything clear and readable, including the roads and bridges? Any concerns about the pathing and layouts?

The maps are great.

2. How do you feel about the social / exploration portion of the Belmonte Order? Is there anything that you felt was missing? What was the best part?

Exploration and open-ended social is hard in pbp. You did a good job moving it along once we slowed down. Maybe could have sped it up by having a private dinner with the party and the main NPCs, sitting each of us next to the one we might be most interested in. That way, you could run all of the NPCs simultaneously instead of sequentially. Then they take us to the armory and the attack begins.

3. How do you feel about the attack on the Order? Was it well-handled?

It was fun. The fight against the undead was very well done.

4. How do you feel about the time between the attack and your escape? Was it fun? Did you feel like you had meaningful "no single right answer" options?

It felt like we ended with only one option once the zombies from the courtyard started coming into the alchemy lab. Perhaps giving someone a chance to sneak past the courtyard would have given more options. Before that, I think we had lots of choices.

[Amnestic]

1. Maps look good, no complaints.

2. Like Bob said, doing this sort of social stuff in a play by post game is a bit difficult to balance on the pacing. I thought it was fine. For real time games it'd be easier to keep things going and engaged, but play by post might have benefited from being able to split up the party a pit more before coming together for the armoury. I definitely understand why you didn't want to do this though, so I don't think it's a 'negative' to not have that.

3. Suitably tense with us having to pick and choose how we spent our time gathering things and equipping ourselves. I like to think we made the right choices.

4. If I had one 'negative' about it it's that all of the undead weren't recognisable to us. I don't know if it's intentional, but the idea of fleeing/escaping would have been drilled in a bit harder if we'd recognised one of the zombies as the master of arms or the arcanist, since they'd be 'better' than us in life, and so we'd have more to fear from whatever undeadified them. As it stood, we left primarily because of a large dragon - which definitely felt threatening on its own, but part of that was just because I saw its DC19 frightful presence and knew what that meant. For players less experienced or a bit more confident/believing they could help out the others, hearing "dragon" might mean "cinematic combat alongside Order allies" instead of "RUN AWAY, NOW, FAST".

Perhaps there was a cinematic combat that we did miss because we chose to run, but if the intention is always 'run before dragon fight' I think having a few of the Order higher ups among the undead would help hammer that home.

Overall I liked it though, as above. It felt like we were scrabbling desperately, grabbing whatever we could before booking it, and that's pretty evocative.

[J-H]

Survival checks to see if you hide your camp well enough
Chloe (1d20+1)[21]
Cassandra (1d20+1)[12]
Vidrik (1d20+4)[11]
Mustafa (1d20+3)[18]
Sabian (1d20+3)[4]

Long Rest saves (post pending)
Chloe (1d20+4)[19]
Cassandra (1d20+1)[18]
Vidrik (1d20+2)[4]
Mustafa (1d20+2)[15]
Sabian (1d20+4)[15]

[J-H]

5 hours of travel (2 for starting hex/no road, then 3 on the road)
(1d6)[2]
(1d6)[2]
(1d6)[1]
(1d6)[1]
(1d6)[4]

Perception checks for first of ?? encounters
Chloe (1d20+3)[20]
Cassandra (1d20+3)[12]
Vidrik (1d20+6)[25]
Mustafa (1d20+3)[12]
Sabian (1d20+3)[11]

[J-H]

**Initiative**
Sabian (1d20+2)[19]
Cassandra (1d20+3)[19]
Mustafar (1d23)[5]
Vidrik (1d20+2)[14]
Chloe (1d20+2)[5]
PS1 (1d20+2)[6]
PS2 (1d20+2)[15]

[J-H]

Perception for encounter
Chloe (1d20+3)[6]
Cassandra (1d20+3)[13]
Vidrik (1d20+6)[26]
Mustafa (1d20+3)[18]
Sabian (1d20+3)[19]