General discussion

Look at that, everyone totally ignored Grizel and crowded up the stairs. Didn't give her attitude, just ignored her hehe!

Oops! Must have missed that. Sorry!

I thought you were still talking to your steed. Though looking back at it now you clearly said you were whispering to us non-Lysanderians. Apologies.

Haha no worries, guys! I'm not offended or anything. Grizel might be though hehe!

Question for Gm (and depending on the answer everyone else in the party). Lysander took a little damage in the wolf fight (6 points if I read all of the posts correctly). Have we had a short rest, in which we could spend Hit Dice and recover some damage. Part of me thinks we've been moving quickly and the atmosphere would certainly have me on edge if I was actually in Barovia as it has been described. If you ruled that we have not had the requisite moments of rest I would accept that answer, but as it looks like we are headed into another fight, I felt I needed to ask the question.

If we have not, Lysander may bring this up to the group. So that's where everyone else can chime in. Do we want to take a short rest?

That makes sense so we can be ready for whatever comes next.

A rest makes total sense to me as a player but right now Grizel (and Katerina as well if I'm interpreting correctly) are too emotional to want to stop. Grizel may be convinced if Lysander or anyone else brings it up. Here's the thing though: are we still in town ir are we nearly at Burgomaster's estate? I posted Grizel activating Divine Sense assuming we're about halfway there and possibly out in the open. I'd wait for Biscuitfiend to tell us exactly where we are at the moment and if there's someplace secure that's suitable for resting.

I'm not an eat-you-alive-everytime-you-rest kind of DM. For example, resting in the open may result in an encounter. Resting indoors is generally very safe. Other than that, I am pretty much following the original campaign's rules it has set out for encounters. You've not currently been resting (travelling through Barovia is hardly downtime). Obviously, the atmosphere of fear and threat is a central element to this module, and this is also an old-school module so character deaths are certainly possible (I didn't get any last time I played it), although 5e is kinder to players than older editions. If you die though, it's either your fault, the dice's fault or the module's fault :p

I have been blamed as a 'combat heavy DM' by my home players, so watch out (I'm really not - they are just rubbish at combat and it takes them hours. You guys are great. I love play by post)

I see from the most recent post that we've arrived at Kolyan Indrirovich's mansion so my decision to activate Divine Sense stands.

In this world what do the PC's know of undead in general and vampires in particular? What do they know and what do they feel when the word "vampyr" is uttered? Do some know more than others or is everyone clueless? I'd like to know so I can roleplay Grizel correctly.

Like I said I'm fine with the idea we have been moving to much to rest...we really have, I just didn't want to waste the chance. I still have plenty of spell slots and 6 HP isn't that much. Its not enough for me to spend a spells slot on yet, so its all good.

Any results on Grizel's Divine Sense yet? What time of day was it when we were attacked by wolves, and what time is it currently? Also, my questions in my previous post on this thread :-)

Apologies. I missed that. I will post the results shortly. Most are aware of undead, even if only in stories, but none are aware of vampires. Strahd is the first vampire. It was early afternoon then but late afternoon now

Oops, cross posted. Didn't see the Divine Sense result. Changing my action, if I may.

For future combats, it might not matter this time, but I have updated my initiative score on my character sheet, to include the 'alert' feat. Not sure why I didn't include the score in there earlier...

Warhorse stats are on Grizel's character sheet in the Items section. Those stats were copied directly from the rulebook. For HP it says "19 (3d10+3)" so should I roll or do we go with 19?

I would say roll for each summon but I'll leave it up to you. Oops! Didn't notice alert. That's quite an advantage

Suits me just fine :-)

Might not be posting regularly for a day or two. Will see

I have a question about spell slots: Grizel's readied action is casting Bane at Level 2 (allows for 4 targets instead of the 3 that Level 1 allows). But now that a single worg has shown itself (triggering the readied action) is it possible to cast at Level 1 instead? Or is it "touch move"? I'm ok with either, just want to know what my options are.

With a readied action like Grizel's spell and Sundar's crossbow shot, is that already our action for round 1 or do we still get to act?

Argh I should have taken a closer look at that battle formation! Then I would have suggested Grizel moving to a position more protective of Faelor! Would that be ok, Biscuitfiend (for next time)? Suggesting changes to the battle formation after you've posted it, I mean?

My guess would be that the readied action was to cast the spell and up until that point nothing is set in stone