#ch: ludmilla visilvec

[rahadaddy]

Saturday Party Sun Signs

Some PCs and Key NPCs got assigned astrological signs today

Dorinn & Scout Crelmer: Aries 

Urlstra Despund: Sagittarius 

Victor Trevor: Aquarius 

Ireena Kolyana: Gemini 

Victor Vallakovich: Virgo 

Ez D’Avenir: Aries 

Father Lucian Petrovich: Aquarius

Yeska Petrovich: Libra 

Rahadin: Libra 

Strahd Von Zarovich: Scorpio

Finnegan Silverguard: Leo

Ludmilla Visilvec: Capricorn

Anastrasya Karelova: Leo

Volenta Popofsky: Sagittarius

Urwin Martikov: Capricorn

Lady Vallakovich: Pisces

Kasimir Velikov: Scorpio

Tatyana: Cancer

Sergei: Pisces 

[rahadaddy]

character bingo: vasili von holtz

Watch me say I don't have much to say about Vasili and then RANT. Here is the thing: Vasili is such wasted potential in 5e. They mention him and fans have extrapolated upon him for years. So he's Strahd's alter ego? Who gives a shit? It's not like there's a proper section in the module devoted to how to use him, what you should use him for, what Strahd thinks this alter ego should be and how well he pulls it off. Also, Strahd's deception modifier is much lower than it should be to make some con like Vasili work. It reminds me of the part in Dracula where Dracula pretends to be someone else but he wears like, a big, ol' hat and calls it a day. Do better, Wizards.

And you'd think I"d like the ambiguity so I could build on it myself but like, my guy, I'm already building Strahd. I don't have time for this shit as a DM. I almost made the mistake today of introducing Vasili to my teenagers. Glad I didn't. Yikes, babes.

That said, I really love the things you and I are doing with him, @noblehcart. I like forcing Strahd to live as a human (or as close to living as a human as he can) for what he thinks is the long game of winning Tatyana but instead becomes the long game of parenthood he didn't ask for and finally understanding that he's so old it's creepy to hit on Tatyana/Ireena, but that it's okay to feel non-romantic love for someone. I like watching him try to be a dad despite hating children and I like him having to put effort into one of his marriages to make this work and maybe learning to love again romantically. I forget how much I ship Strahd and Ludmilla until I remember this AU and it hurts me because Saturday Strahd has his One True Love back and Monday Strahd isn't really a romance of any kind (thank the gods), so I don't have any other outlets besides fics and Tumblr RP to explore this dynamic and it falls into that category where the DM talks to themselves for a solid ten minutes... romantically. Big sigh.

I just think more could have been done or should have been done if they were going to include Vasili. Like... at least a blurb about him on Strahd's main stats page? Then again, what am I complaining about? At least he has a stats page! #JusticeForIreena

[rahadaddy]

I'm sorry but I'm not going to ever get over someone calling him a henchman. I'm sorry but I grew up on "Kim Possible" so henchmen wear red suits and are functionally stupid af. They pose no legitimate threat and have no names or recognizable faces. Bor-ing.

"Henchman" in RAW is more akin to the brides/consorts, who don't even have canonical personalities, bear general vampire spawn stats, and are worth only the gp of their belongings once you kill them.

I obviously didn't settle for THAT either because Ludmilla can GET IT, Volenta is creepy AF, Anastrasya, and replacing Escher with Finnegan yielded 300% more angst.

If you wanna talk to me about "henchmen", talk to me about random vampire spawn who attack y'all or something. No way is Rahadin a mere "henchman".

[rahadaddy]

Saturday Game: Ludmilla

ICB how much my party loves Ludmilla. I feel like the campaign might turn into a romantic comedy of errors as the party try to set Strahd up with his own wife now that Tatyana’s soul is free. Wild.