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Latest revision as of 14:15, 10 July 2018


Act 0: Evil Toils Long Into the Night

Act 0 Accomplishes

Establish the conflict's (Grindelwald vs. the wizarding world) origin, often building over many years. Revealed only in flashbacks or brief explainers because this part is boring.

Determine in Character Creation how the hero came to occupy their spot in the world when the plot begins? A lot has already happened in the setting.

This is the first five minutes of a TV show, always briefly summarized.

[[File:]]

[1]

Act 0 Timeline

Ancient History

Before even getting your players together, there are a few background things I’d like to cover. While the printed book gives you a fair amount to work with, I found the general outline/goal for the entire story to be a bit lacking. So here’s some general info you should know before getting started.[2]

The Demiplanes of Dread

Once upon a time, there was an entire dimension called the Core as big and wondrous as Faerun. But, over the course of time, this dimension was split into a multitude of small, isolated dimensions. Demiplanes, to be more precise. Barovia is one of these demiplanes.[3]

Click here for a nice map of the Core, complete with misty borders. Barovia is near the middle bottom.[4]

Ravenloft World Map.png

[5]

The Dark Powers

Why did the big dimension get split up? Because of the Dark Powers.[6]

The Dark Powers are essentially a pantheon of old, dark gods. They’re very powerful, usually sinister beings.[7]

Each demiplane has a ruling Dark Power. That god basically owns that particular mini world. However, these gods cannot actually own a plane just by wanting it. Instead, they choose a champion amongst mortals and form a sort of pact with them. That mortal becomes the Dark Power’s anchor to that particular demiplane.[8]

The Dark Powers are always at war with one another, essentially fighting for real estate. It’s possible for one Dark Power to supplant another as ruler of a particular demiplane, provided they too have a chosen champion in that plane.[9]

In CoS, the Dark Power that rules over Barovia is named Vampyr (original, I know), and it is currently trapped within a vestige at the Amber Temple. Strahd is Vampyr’s chosen champion to rule over Barovia, therefore giving Vampyr dominion over this demiplane.[10]

1897: Newt Scamander born

Mother bred hippogriffs (Fantastic Beasts Bestiary)

1898: Grindelwald begins

Grindelwald expelled from Durmstrang at age 16

1899: Grindelwald and Dumbledore's stormy relationship

Dumbledore and Grindelwald fall in love, duel at age 17 at Dumbledore’s hometown, Godric’s Hollow

Dumbledore’s sister Ariana killed

Dumbledore’s brother, Aberforth, almost killed

Grindelwald steals Elder Wand from European wand maker Gregorovitch

Grindelwald builds Nurmengard fortress and prison (Voldemort only person ever known to have broken in)

Grindelwald has been at Nurmengard, somewhere in Europe or North America, laboring long into the night to reclaim the Deathly Hallows.

Has Elder Wand, suspects Dumbledore of Invisibility Cloak, unsure of the resurrection Stone

1912-ish

Newt Scamander kicked out of Hogwarts for unknown reason. (Fantastic Beasts Bestiary)

1915

Newt Scamander begins working at Ministry of Magic's Department of Regulation & Control of Magical Creatures, Office of House Elf Relocation (Fantastic Beasts Bestiary)

==== 1917 ==== Age 20 when Mitsuko Ellen Takagawa enrolls at Ilvermorny. Promoted from Department of Regulation & Control of Magical Creatures, Office of House Elf Relocation to Beast Division. Detached to Dragon Research & Restraint Bureau on the eastern front of World War 1 (Fantastic Beasts Bestiary).

World War 1 ends in November.

1917: Party arrives to Ilvermorny

Ellen Takagawa arrives from Canada to matriculate at Ilvermorny as a Thunderbird

1917: Prelude Session: Snakewood Wandwood

Ilvermorny Inner Courtyard, Spring, Introductory Tour

Eulalie Hicks says: “…It was there that President Elizabeth McGilliguddy presided over the infamous ‘Country or Kind?’ debate of 1777. Thousands of witches and wizards from all over America descended upon MACUSA to attend this extraordinary meeting, for which the Great Meeting Chamber had to be magically enlarged. The issue for discussion was: did the magical community owe their highest allegiance to the country in which they had made their homes, or to the global underground wizarding community? Were they morally obliged to join American No-Majs in their fight for liberation from the British Muggles? Or was this, simply put, not their fight?”

“The arguments for and against intervention were protracted and the fight became vicious. Pro-interventionists argued that they might be able to save lives; anti-interventionists that wizards risked their own security by revealing themselves in battle. Messengers were sent to the Ministry of Magic in London to ask whether they intended to fight. A four-word message returned: ‘Sitting this one out.’ McGilliguddy’s famous response was even shorter: ‘Mind you do.’

“While officially the American witches and wizards did not engage in battle…

1917: Prelude Session: Sorting Ceremony and Uniforms

There are four houses at Ilvermorny: Horned Serpent, Wampus, Thunderbird and Pukwudgie. When a student starts their education at Ilvermorny, they step onto a Gordian Knot on the floor in the centre of the entrance hallwith large wooden statues of the mascots for the four houses facing them. The carved statues react if they want the student in their house. The older students watch in silence from a circular balcony on a floor above them as the new students are sorted. The carvings react in different ways: the crystal in the Horned Serpent carving's forehead glows, the Wampus carving roars, the Thunderbird carving beats its wings, and the Pukwudgie carving raises its arrow.

However, sometimes more than one carving will try to select the same student and so the student is then able to choose the house they prefer. This happens very rarely. Sometimes— as rare as once a decade or even a generation as in the case of one student — a student will be selected by every house.

The robes of Ilvermorny are blue and cranberry. The colours honour Isolt and James: blue because it was Isolt's favourite colour and because she had wished to be in Ravenclaw house as a child; cranberry in honour of James's love of cranberry pie. All Ilvermony students' robes are fastened by a gold Gordian Knot, in memory of the brooch Isolt found in the ruins of the original Ilvermorny cottage.

1917: Prelude Session: Pukwudgie and Wampus

A number of Pukwudgies continue to work at the school into present day, all grumbling, all of them insisting that they have no wish to remain there and yet all of them mysteriously present year after year. A single, enormous Wampus pads around campus silently from time to time as well, mostly sleeps by the fire and looks irritable at the cold.

There is one particularly aged creature who answers to the name of ‘William’. He laughs at the idea that he is the original William who saved Isolt and James’s lives, rightly pointing out that the first William would be over 300 years old had he survived. However, nobody has ever found out exactly how long Pukwudgies live.

William refuses to let anybody else polish the marble statue of Isolt at the entrance of the school, and on the anniversary of her death every year he may be seen laying mayflowers on her tomb, something that puts him in a particularly bad temper when Ellen mentions it.

1918: Newt Scamander commissioned to write manuscript of Fantastic Beasts

1922: Grindelwald's Murderous Ascent

Grindelwald begins horrific string of Muggle murders across Europe 

   * Becomes Wizarding world’s most wanted man

   * Ministry of Magic and MaCUSA create Auror task force to hunt Grindelwald, including Theseus Scamander (eventual World War II hero) and Percival Graves

1924: Party graduates from Ilvermorny

Ellen Takagawa graduates from Ilvermorny

1925: Grindelwald escapes to America

Grindelwald steals Percival Graves’s identity and fingertips to use MaCUSA to search for Obscurials and useful magical beasts

1926: Fantastic Beast & Where To Find Them

1926
Newt Scamander age 29, the events of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie. (Fantastic Beasts Bestiary)

...later events probably beyond the scope of our campaign.

1947
Age 50. Helped create Werewolf Registry, founded Werewolf Capture Unit. (Fantastic Beasts Bestiary)
1965
Age 68. Helps create & pass the Ban on Experimental Breeding. (Fantastic Beasts Bestiary)
1979
Age 82. Awarded Order of Merlin. (Fantastic Beasts Bestiary)

Act 1: Establishing Shot/Opening Image

Act 1 accomplishes

  • Clearly answers the basic setting questions: High magic modern fantasy? Sci-fi? Dark and gritty? Gothic horror? Light and whimsical?
  • Time period in history: 1925-1926/present day/futuristic? In your backyard/recognizable city/faraway galaxy?
  • What's the story's theme? The theme gets little nods and reminders everywhere across the story from this point forward.

‘“Welcome!” he said. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!”’ — Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling

Example Act 1: Luke watches the twin sunset on Tatooine.

Example Act 1: Bilbo's eleventieth birthday party in The Shire of Middle Earth.

This is the second five minutes of a TV show.

Act 2: Something Bad Happens/The Hook

Act 2 accomplishes

The story leaps into irreversible motion with an event that we cannot ignore [The Mists]. Often a henchman, rarely the Big Bad.

Crucial: the goal implied by the end of this scene [protect Ireena] is the wrong one for the hero. Avoid a boring slow start with a great hook!

Example Act 2: The rebel blockade runner is boarded by Darth Vader (but not the emperor).

Example Act 2: The Ringwraiths enter the Shire (but Sauron doesn't).

This is the third five minutes of a TV show.

Act 3: Enter the Hero/Heroine

Act 3 accomplishes

  • We meet the naïve proto-hero and his/her friends.
  • We get attached/invested into them [they're identifiable/recognizable/empathetic]
  • The hero gets three increasingly strong nudges out of normal life and into the epic plot

etc.

Example Act 3: Luke Skywalker is bored on Tatooine, gets shut down on joining up as a stormtrooper, goes to visit Obi-Wan Kenobi. We meet Luke, Obi-Wan, Leia, Han Solo, and Chewie.

Example Act 3: Frodo chats with Gandalf, Bilbo gives Frodo the Ring, Bilbo disappears completely. We meet Aragorn, Frodo, Samwise, Gandalf, Pippin and Merry, and mention the rest of the eventual crew (Boromir and Faramir, and the Dwarves).

This is fifteen minutes/several scenes of a TV show.

Act 4: Commitment

  • Accomplish: the hero/protagonist gets an irreversible shove into the epic plot.
  • There's no going back and it cannot be refused by the hero.
  • This choice is Better Than The Alternative/For Your Own Good/A Trap/An Outright Lie.

a. Uncle Owen and Beru are killed, Luke finds their still-smoking bodies; he must flee to space and leave everything he's known once he uncovers Leia's message. b. Frodo must run for his life out of the Shire and everything he's known, to the Inn of the Prancing Pony. This is usually a single scene in real-time, about five minutes in a TV show.


Plot Hooks

Creeping Fog

Creeping Fog (page 22): The heroes are camping, the mists take them to Ravenloft. [11]

Plea For Help

Plea For Help (page 18): A gypsy gives the group an invite to Ravenloft. These people are scum (check out the whipping scene on page 121). [12]

Mysterious Visitors

This hook seemed the best way to introduce the PCs into the atmosphere of the CoS module. Stanimir's tale at the Vistani bonfire did a great job of setting the scene and the players' expectations. However, given that this was the first session of the entire campaign, I'd recommend making a few modifications to the hook as written: (reddit)

Start the PCs off on a mission for Duchess Morwen. The dinner where they are ordered to remove the Vistani comes as a celebration for their previous heroic deeds, which can feel strange due to the fact that the players haven't actually done anything heroic yet. I'd recommend starting them off just outside an adapted form of Cragmaw Cave from LMoP (minus Silar and the bugbear leader) on a basic "remove the goblin bandits" mission. This way, they can get practice working together as a team and get a feel for one another's characters. (reddit)

This is personal preference, but I'm always a sucker for RP. During the celebratory dinner, toss in some RP-challenges, like "Who can tell the most heroic tale from their backstory?" In future campaigns, I'd also likely make 2-3 entertaining NPCs to accompany the Duchess, and may make one of them into a spy for Strahd to set some plot threads down earlier on. (reddit)

Instead of the Vistani leading the PCs straight to Tser Pool, I had the caravan abandon them in the night, transitioning to the Creeping Fog hook. The PCs awoke in the clearing where they'd camped the night before, but without any sign of the Vistani caravans, and no trail of their guides arriving or leaving. I made sure to play up the dying of the bonfire; when lit, I had one player perceive the shadow of Strahd upon his nightmare while the bonfire swelled to a magical inferno. I used a few other suggestions from this sub, including whispers and illusions that only single PCs could observe. This went a long way in establishing a sense of paranoia and discomfort in the party. (reddit)

Instead of having the PCs flee from the wolves as-written, I took a commenter's suggestion to have Strahd in direwolf form (upgraded from his statblock) direct a pack of wolves to attack them as a test. Strahd himself stayed on the sidelines, though his glowing red eyes and prepared Shield and Counterspell slots made it clear that he was no ordinary beast. I made the encounter too deadly, though, which left the players feeling patronized when Strahd had the wolves spare their lives. If you're going to do this, I'd suggest making it tough, but winnable, with a few more wolves circling in the fog in case the PCs are having too easy a time. (reddit)

If you can, I absolutely recommend using the Svalich Vista and Gates of Barovia pictures when your players arrive at those locations. They do a great job of setting the scene and scale of the module, and players always love a visual component. There are plenty of other CoS-specific artworks, so I'd recommend googling for whatever visual aids you can find while prepping for your session. (reddit)

Entering Barovia The book already gives you some decent options for introducing characters to the world of Barovia. But I’ll give you my thoughts all the same. (reddit)

Know your Players’ Characters

Whether or not your characters know each other before the beginning of this campaign will definitely influence how you run session 1. After all, a group that’s well acquainted would be better off jumping right into the mists than a band of strangers. I’ve seen more than once where the DM takes their players through a minor encounter in Faerun before whisking them off to CoS. Some bandits, perhaps? Or maybe throw in those werewolves that flee into the mists with the characters hot in pursuit. Something like this might provide the initiative characters need to trust one another. (reddit)

Straight into the Mists

That being said, I would not personally recommend that minor encounter at all. While I recognize that it can work and some DMs will prefer that kind of intro, I’m totally for taking your group and throwing them straight into the Barovian woods. Here’s why: (reddit)

One, it doesn’t matter whether or not the characters know/trust one another in the beginning. This is a horror story, so the more thrown off people are, the more scared they’ll be. You’ll automatically be more on edge if you suddenly find yourself lost in the woods with a bunch of strangers than some people you just fought together with or know intimately. (reddit)

Two, players often want to get straight to the story. Think about it. When you play a video game, long tutorials can become super annoying very quickly. Players don’t generally want to waste time with an event that isn’t story relevant. (reddit)

So skip the introduction and send them straight into the campaign! (reddit)

Vanishing Caravan

My characters, for instance, were traveling with a merchant caravan. Two were on the run and one was on the general hunt for knowledge and they all ended up in the same group by coincidence. I told them this as exposition. As the caravan settled in for the evening, groups of people split off around a few different campfires and the characters all grouped around one fire in particular. I used this opportunity for them to go around the circle and describe their characters’ appearance as well as have a little role-play where they awkwardly introduced themselves. I made sure to keep this short and let my players’ characters’ all have their time. (reddit)

The next morning, they wake up and the caravan is gone. Not only that, but the forest around them is not the same forest that was there the previous night. And a thick fog surrounds them. Ta da! My players were in Barovia. (reddit)

When your characters are officially in the Svalich Woods, there are a few things you should describe to emphasize the atmosphere. (reddit)

This is not the same forest they came from. (reddit)

It’s very quiet. The normal, lively sounds of the woods are noticeably absent. Not only that, but the thick fog seems to carry every sound they make much farther than usual, making them all feel loud and exposed. (reddit)

Even though it’s morning, the light is dimmer than usual. The mist gives the whole world around them a hazy feel, illuminated by the sterile, white light of a sun far beyond their reach. (reddit)

THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO TAKE AWAY THEIR STUFF

Remember, the more desperate the situation, the more the horror shines through. When your characters wake in the morning, tell them that not only are their bedrolls gone, but the actual campfire itself is missing. They should be able to figure that this isn’t the work of some thieves with that information. (reddit)

Also, the armor that they doffed before bed is gone. They’re traveling backpacks are gone. Their lanterns are gone. Their weapons are gone. All your characters should have on them at this point are their clothes and a few choice items they wouldn’t take off. For instance, the super paranoid rogue character probably sleeps with a dagger in his pocket. Would one particular character sleep with their coin pouch on? Maybe. Or maybe they would have put it in their backpack which is now gone? Would everyone have taken off his or her shoes before bed? Little details like this will seriously stress your players out and make them feel that much more vulnerable. (reddit)

Don’t worry too much about this though. Death House has a good deal items and weapons to help make up for the loss. The point is to make them anxious enough to scavenge. This will also bring out their resourceful side. (reddit)

At this point, your characters can probably have a nice little role-play experience, panicking together. They’ll eventually come to the conclusion that they can’t stay where they are and start walking in some direction. The heavy mist prevents them from knowing North from South, but it really doesn’t matter which way they walk. Eventually they’ll come across an old dirt road that will lead them in the right direction, towards the Village of Barovia. (reddit)

What if your players decide to stay put?

Unfortunately, this is a little railroad-y, but you’re going to have to herd them a bit. To be fair, most of the beginning of this campaign is railroaded. But it is the beginning. We’ve got to give our players a direction somehow. Because your characters are quite defenseless at the moment, don’t throw anything horrible at them, though. (reddit)

What I had in my back pocket in case this happened was a wall of sinister mist that gradually got closer and closer to the party. I would tell them that this mist was far too dense to see through and their characters felt an overwhelming primal fear of it; felt that being swallowed by the wall of mist would most certainly be the end of them. (reddit)

Getting Into Ravenloft:

Straight up, I don’t want to use the letters. I don’t actually think the hooks are bad, but none of them really struck me when reading through them. Instead, I’m leaning heavily on the lore around Van Richten from older editions, combined somewhat with the “strange visitors” hook from the book. It works like this: (reddit)

Each PC has a “tragic backstory” that they drew from a hat. These are vague but provide hooks into the CoS module. A werewolf raid, a Vistani curse, a run in with the undead, etc. These are left vague so that the players can adapt them, but the intent is to have some event of great upheaval in their life that prompted them to look into the darker aspects of the world. (reddit)

During their unfortunate encounters, each character found scraps of Van Richten’s writings. Each of these was placed into the mortal realm by the ghost of Strahd’s brother Sergei (more on that later) and contain part of a secret message that will lead the party to him once they’re in Barovia (reddit)

Each PC receives a letter (delivering these IRL as props before the first session) from the sister Laurie and Gennifer Wethermay-Foxgrove. The sisters have founded the Van Richten Society for Paranormal Inquiry, and have invited the PC’s to attend a meeting. (reddit)

Attending this meeting, the players find that Van Richten has been missing three years, last seen in the company of a vistana woman (Ezmerelda). (reddit)

The sisters are aware of Van Richten’s past with the vistani and fear for his safety, they do not know he is currently in Barovia (reddit)

There is currently a band of visatni outside of town (Daggerford), the sisters would like the PC’s to enquire after Van Richten, as they are unknown to the vistani. The sisters Foxgrove, known protoge’s of Van Richten, are unlikely to be welcome (reddit)

The vistani say they cannot help the players (they actually can’t) but that their seer, Madam Eva, may be able to assist them (reddit)

When the carrivan enters the mists it is beset by werewolves in human form, who are also returning. They smell outsiders (reddit)

A vistana woman sneaks the party away as they hear something of a confrontation between the lead wolf and caravan leader, to the effect of “the only reason I don’t tear out your liver right here is the ancient promise of our Lord…” etc (reddit)

The vistana woman takes them into the mists, and then directs them down the road, here she leaves them to return to the caravan. She tells them to seek Madam Eva near the Tser Pool, past Barovia village, and urges them not to stray from the road (reddit)

The Party enters Barovia, cue Death House

Act 5: The First Goal Is Wrong But Fun

  • Accomplish: The hero goes after the obvious/wrong goal created in Act 2 (Something Bad Happens). The hero goes for the right goal for the wrong reasons or the wrong goal for the right reasons.
  • Plot proceeds via three complication "whammo" scenes: complications, blunders, narrow escapes. Mysterious strangers, backstory reveals. The three whammos finish with
  • a short, critical rest period with the hero battered into his/her lowest moment. The Hero is facing death and defeat. Basically the darkest hour before dawn is now.

a. Luke Skywalker battles his way out of Mos Eisley on his way to Alderaan with the Death Star's vulnerability, and then Alderaan is blown up. Oh shit moment. b. Frodo and Sam fight through Moria, then escape the Ring Wraiths with Aragorn, then run out of gas after entering Mordor, convinced they'll fail. Oh shit moment. In a TV show this is about 30 minutes, 8-12 minutes for each of the three complications/battles/sub-quests/

Sources

http://www.jordandane.com/writers_9.php http://fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue%2015/websitereview.htm https://gideonsway.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/the-nine-act-structure-of-screenwriting/ https://killzoneblog.com/2011/05/9-act-screenplay-structure-novel.html http://www.ibiblio.org/cdeemer/wright/9act.html The Nine Act and Three Act Screenplay Structure

Act 6: Reversal Moment

  • Accomplish: the hero reaches the critical reveal (the True Villain gives a history lesson/Help From a Friend/Awful Realization) and now knows the real goal hidden by the obvious wrong goal.
  • The hero must redefine their goal instantly. In an epic this is usually switching focus from the henchman onto the real villain.
  • This short scene explains Act 2 and sets the true goal in front of the Hero, but
  • the true goal will cost him/her everything (risking or agreeing to death). Nothing exists outside this moment: the story is laser-focused on this critical transition.

a. Sam convinces Frodo that Aragorn, the Rohan riders, and Gondor itself will be obliterated unless the One Ring is delivered, even though they probably will not survive the journey. b. Luke can't reach a destroyed Alderaan anymore so his focus shifts now to defeating the Emperor's Death Star directly once the plans reveal the Death Star's vulnerability, even though they probably will not survive the journey. c. In a TV show this is 5-10 minutes, usually a single scene.

Sources

[13] [14] [15] [16] [17] The Nine Act and Three Act Screenplay Structure


Act 7: Go For The Real Goal

  • Accomplish: The hero faces a ticking clock, some deadline to doom.
  • Now the hero and the true villain battle it out, each gaining and losing the advantage.
  • Favors Repaid/Magic and Divine Intervention/Help From All My Friends. The hero is uncertain but must follow through!
  • Eventually, the Hero plays whatever trump card he/she gained in the previous Act (6, Reversal Moment) to
  • defeat the True Villain, but it comes at a terrible cost. Maybe even death.
  • The True Villain is killed/judged/banished and their evil empire crumbles.

a. Aragorn lays the armies' lives on the line to distract Sauron while Frodo tosses the Ring into Mount Doom. Gandalf defends Helm's Deep then sends the eagles to rescue Frodo. All in parallel, all in real-time. b. Death Star rebel fleet assault, trench run, Millenium Falcon assist, Force-guided torpedoes. Kabewm. All in parallel, all in real-time. In a TV show this is 20 minutes.


Sources

http://www.jordandane.com/writers_9.php http://fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue%2015/websitereview.htm https://gideonsway.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/the-nine-act-structure-of-screenwriting/ https://killzoneblog.com/2011/05/9-act-screenplay-structure-novel.html http://www.ibiblio.org/cdeemer/wright/9act.html The Nine Act and Three Act Screenplay Structure


The Wedding Ceremony

Wedding Invite Handout

Strahd's Wedding Invite.pdf

reddit

A Bride (or Groom) Ceremony is a method by which a vampire can turn a mortal into a full-blown vampire--skipping the 'Spawn' stage, not altering their bride's personality, and forging a powerful magical and telepathic bond between the two of them. On the downside, a bride-turned vampire does not acquire the instinctive knowledge of a normally-turned vampire (they don't automatically know the sun will kill them, or that they need blood to survive, or how strong they now are, etc) and doesn't necessarily provide the immediate alignment shift that may be necessary for the bride to do the things they must in order to survive (though Hunger may override Morality eventually). Unlike a created spawn, the creating vampire has no real control over their new spouse...though they may invent lies to make their new bride/groom think they have some power over them. Additionally, if either side of a Bride ceremony is destroyed, it creates a psychic backlash that harms the surviving partner. (Source)

Nurturing a bride is a lot of work...you have to ease them into the idea that they have become a vampire, teach them all about their limits and abilities, hope they don't completely lose their crap at you for what you did to them or collapse into a well of despair at having just murdered someone in a blood-craze, and if it all goes wrong--you get a nasty heap of psychic damage if your 'bride' dies. Or, perhaps worse...now you have an enemy with a psychic bond with you. On top of all of that, a vampire can only ever have one bride at a time. (Source)

Naturally, vampires do NOT do this lightly. Sucks if you put in all that work, then your bride just walks out into the sun to destroy themselves rather than become a monster.(Source)

The way a bride ceremony works is always purely intentional. A vampire cannot start the process by accident. First, the vampire feeds on a mortal, nearly to the point of death, on three separate occasions. Once the vampire is done with the third feeding, they immediately cut themselves open and press their intended's mouth to the bleeding wound so that they drink vampiric blood. In this state, the vampire's blood is intoxicating, and the bride(or groom)-to-be latches onto it with adrenaline-fueled strength (treated as Str 18). The vampire must moderate how much blood they let the bride-to-be consume so that they themselves are not drained dry...and if the bride-to-be drinks too much of the vampire's blood, it shatters their mind and they will die in excruciating pain (and not turn into a vampire) within 24 hours. (Source)

This is complicated by the fact that all of the feedings of a bride ceremony feel extremely good for both partners...and the last feeding (the bride feeding on the vampire) is the best of all. The vampire will need to physically force his bride-to-be to stop drinking, after making an effort of will to overcome the desire to let them continue.(Source)

If the bride-to-be does not get enough blood quickly enough after the third feeding, they die from having been drained--but will not rise as a Spawn.(Source)

If the ceremony works as planned, the bride falls into a coma for anywhere from 20 minutes to 4 hours, then dies. 1-3 hours later they arise as a new vampire. Strahd has lost at least one incarnation of Tatyana because she was staked during this period. Additionally, feeding their bride-to-be inflicts damage on the vampire--they suffer 3d8 unresistable damage that cannot be recovered until the next sunset after the ritual was completed. (Source)

Act 8: Back to the Beginning

  • Accomplish: peace restored! Kiss in the sunset!
  • Back to normal yet Nothing Is The Same anymore since the hero has been transformed by destiny/gods/magic/technology/sacrifice.
  • Indications of Something Accomplished. They get the guy/girl.
  • You send the audience home feeling whatever emotion you want the story to show.

a. Frodo retires to live with the Elves now that evil is defeated. b. Luke is a Jedi now and must train with Yoda. In a TV show, this is only 5 minutes since you can predict what happens easily, but you gotta give fanservice!


Sources

[18] [19] [20] [21] [22]

Aftermath

It's Always Cloudy in Barovia: Remember that it is always raining or cloudy. The sun does not come out until the very end of the adventure, once Strahd is defeated. [http://thecampaign20xx.blogspot.com/2016/03/dungeons-dragons-guide-to-curse-o

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