Tips for Running Sandboxes Like Vallaki in D&D

[@yurigazzonirezende1935]

Vallaki was actually one of the most memorable moments in my CoS campaign! I, as the DM, had a lot of work, but it was really worth it. My players helped Lady Watcher take the city in the 'sun festival', by killing Izek and the burgomaster. It was devastating for them, because they were being manipulated by her, but in the end, it was a very awesome end to the Vallaki arch. They are planning now to go back and retake the town, after they got some dark gifts from the Ambar Temple!

[@theDMLair]

Awesome! I feel the same. Vallaki has been one of the best parts of cos yet.

[@bar0nger]

I'd recomend watching the Puffin Forest, animation of his play through. It helped me put the entire module in context, and how you can put the entire thing in context. I wouldn't run it the same way, but it clarified all of the seperate points. I like the idea of bleeding future adventures and hooks into the current campaign and, see the module as a whole and not a series of this then that, I am just getting back into the game. I did original and 2nd edition, and the modules from that game and the ones now were intimidating.

[@WladcaPodziemia]

Persnally, I let things go step-by-step and let few things... fester. Start them in Vallaki with 1 thing, while they are takeing care of it - prepare another. For example, while they solved Vine-issue, Sthrad orchistrated stealing of bones - they could see bones at first, see its protection and be motivated more to do something about - they knew without it, tey will bbe dead meat. As for which should be first - tailored to my players and their PCs. Also, few things could be cut, replaced with more backstory-related things.

[@theDMLair]

Yes, festering. I have a list of complications and future to dos based on things my players do or don't do. 😀

[@RavenSelenite]

Thank you for putting this up. Currently running CoS and my players have just arrived in Valleke and I was really struggling with how to manage it

[@WolfmanXD]

So, I'm actually playing in curse of strahd right now as a player. We took ireena from little barovia to Vallaki super early in the game, like as we were leaving after the death house. So she's been in Vallaki this whole time. The burgomeister just died because strahd decided to send one of his henchmen (my first character who ended up betraying the party for power) to Vallaki with a group of zombies to capture him for whatever reason. We were unable to protect him, and now there's a void in power. We haven't really thought about it yet because it JUST happened, but my character would likely throw his vote in with the burgomeisters son because it's the simple and orderly thing to do. No messy politics, no power struggle. Nice and simple.

[@thunderbitez5063]

I haven’t watched one of your videos in a while but I’ll never turn of that bell you are doing great for yourself keep it up

[@theDMLair]

Thanks!

[@johnsmith3085]

I love the city of Vallaki. I think new and newer DM's should be encouraged to fill in the blanks and be creative rather than have every possible detail laid out for them. One of my few gripes bout 5E is that it's not really explicitly said in the modules that there are things that aren't fleshed out but that is so a DM can make it their own. I also think the CoS book is laid out so well. The problem is that the players are encouraged to meta game regarding class and race or risk a TPK. They also know that they need to bounce around the realm and "level up" before going to Ravenloft itself. I tend to introduce the invitation to Raveloft relatively early in the game and have it always hang over the PC's heads. Strahd show's up every once in a while and is essentially like "are you guys coming to dinner or not?"

[@Kayledon777]

How are they encouraged to Meta game?

[@mineflameblade8788]

My dm. Dio. Does a wonderful job dming Vallaki, so I haven't had much issues with the town.

[@marcelohomenxmacaco2557]

Kono Power! This must be the work of an Enemy Stand!

[@expertionis794]

Yare yare

[@adamkaris]

lol

[@albjovy8934]

My players actually kinda went through Vallaki pretty well. I hooked them in by having it start with Izek kidnapping Ireena while they were in the Blue Water Inn. Just burst in through the window and yoinked her away.

[@melanclock]

I love hearing stories about how different player groups handled things in curse of strahd

[@curtiswatkins2581]

I completely did the same type of sub plot in Vallaki. Lady Wachter was in play after the bones were retrieved and working directly with Strahd. Vallokovich then was dispatched after the party witnessed his brutality during the latest festival, and made the inn keeper who is the son of the wereravens in charge of the winery the new burgomaster. So all this tied into the winery quest, and pretty much made the party the heroes in contrast to the warring factions of Vallaki

[@Princesspuppies77]

I literally just gone done DMing Vallaki intro just now. I added in a few of my own characters to help them navigate the first part of town. But I am worried about remembering everything going on all the time.

[@Piqipeg]

Notes... lots of notes...

[@JaeOnasi]

Love the background cat video. I enjoy your take on Vallaki. Consider having a list of main characters in a given module handy before streaming. :) Reading the entire Vallaki chapter ahead of time is essential. Re-reading it is essential.... I've also used the Curse of Strahd Reddit/Discord Server (wonderful resource!) to help with fleshing out that area. Agreed that it takes a LOT more prep. I have a binder of notes/handouts and Dragnacarta's flowsheet handy. I've also given my players a heads up that I might need to retcon a few things from time to time since this is my first time DMing this module, and this area has so many moving parts. The players are super understanding (helps that 3 of the 5 players are family and have to be understanding if they want mom to a. cook dinner for them and b. keep DMing). Thanks for sharing your method of running this challenging area.

[@insobrietivemagic3934]

Lol, Bismark

[@zreyon]

I can't watch this because of spoilers, my DM would like to run it sometime, but here's a friendly comment for the algorithm

[@rowdyparks6770]

I'm ok with malicious unhappiness 😆

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

AND... what if I'm "Maliciously Happy"??? ;o)

[@rowdyparks6770]

@@gnarthdarkanen7464 then your Santa lol

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

@@rowdyparks6770 Or maybe Malevolently Happy Satan Clause? ;o)

[@rowdyparks6770]

@@gnarthdarkanen7464 lol Krampus it is!

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

@@rowdyparks6770 "AAAANNND WE'RE ALL GOING TO HELL TOGETHER!!! YEEEEEHAAAAW!!!!" ;o)

[@GordonFan]

This is what I like most about sandboxes so I can do thing like set up cultists that know how to hide a trace and get players to think "What pattern is going on here"(since I have to give them something to go off of and this case was a country clockwise pattern centered on a country named Maflana) and just see how things unfold... unfortunately with my current version of that they blamed me for "Not giving them information" when the cultists knew to leave as few survivors as possible and try to not leave much of a trace because otherwise they would be crushed and without player involvement... helped by (since I doubt my players would see this as they still haven't thought of this or if they have never stated it) being "magical girls" like the players

[@kodaoda7772]

It was fairly easy for me to introduce the Burgomaster's hook in Vallaki, basically as written. They went to shop for a Bride's Dress for the Abbot and stumbled upon the captured "criminals" (including children) and the festival publicity. It was an immediate red flag for them, specially after talking to Izek (who I portraited as an a-hole) and realizing those people were very injustly imprisoned (and again, freaking children were among them). So they are basically all up against the burgomaster. I believe lady Wachter will most likely hear about the characters defiance and plan to use them against the burgomaster. Thing is they want to JUDGE the burgomater in a tribunal, however, He is literally the only one in power, there is no one above him in Vallaki (except Strahd, who obviously doesnt give a crap), that probably wont play out well for them, but we'll see.

[@aliceofspades]

Chonky cat zoomies make everything better. :)

[@articusramos808]

Something about Blinski, after reading about him makes me think he just wants to make this town happy. A bit of dark humor yes but the man does his best. He does in fact make me happy to know someone is doing something in Braovia. Except for the Vistina. They come and go as they please......

[@masonchapple7669]

For Blinsky, Strahd, and many other key characters, I see them as being cursed with Into the Woods style Agony, where the one thing they want is the only thing out of their reach. All Strahd wants is Ireena, nothing else will satisfy him. Yet every time she is reincarnated, either someone offs her or she offs herself before Strahd can transform her. The Abbot wants to bless and protect the people of Krezk, but he is cursed to produce "solutions" that are ineffective and cause misery. Blinsky wants to make children happy, but the only toys he is successfully able to make are creepy. Etc., etc..

[@articusramos808]

@@masonchapple7669 he would love a nightmare before Christmas. Maybe make a few toys inspired by the movie but makes em more nicer.

[@jesternario]

To be honest, I avoided the whole "getting through Vallaki" thing by simply not having it in my game when I ran through Ravenloft. In fact, I simply ran only the stuff in the original game, Just Barovia and Ravenloft, using Curse of Strahd and a conversion guide to make sure the game had a proper feel of the original module while maintaining the fun of 5th edition. It worked pretty well, and my group had a lot of fun.

[@simeonmcadams3450]

Ya I usually follow the dungeon dudes advice of setting up a bunch of interconnected tangled problems that don't have a single way of solving and let the players fix what they can.

[@KaineVillante]

Watchter is pronounced Vocter its German... I was corrected by a player on my first game ever lol. Also barovia naming tends to be very Russian/Romanian so you pronounce every letter in the name unlike English. Vallaki which is Named after the Baron's family Vallakovitch would both be Va- la- kee and Va- la- Ko- vit- ch. But you are consistent with your pronunciations so just ignore me being a Nazi about it lol.

[@ronhulmaggot6134]

You are great!

[@theDMLair]

Thanks! 😀

[@Ragnarok222R]

Cat box! Cat box!

[@Wolfphototech]

🌟 *The Moment the person that asked to question is "where do you point the players first" .* *Yeah leading the player's around in a adventure is a path to arive at dieing games .* *The best thing to do is to figure out a where the plot hooks can exist .* *Then let the players wonder around .* *Then if they happen to wonder into a spot that they can get a plot hook .* *They might take it or not .* *But let them decide .* *remember entry points to Plots ( plot hooks can exist in multiple places ) .* 📝 *Note , i normally don't use modules adventures .* *I just use monsters , mechanics , classes , items , spells & ect. .*

[@curtiswatkins2581]

Meanwhile, I can have something happen to Ismarck and Ireena while they are holed up in the church while the party teamed up with Rictavio and going to take on Baba Lysaga, seek out Argynvostholt, and finally leading to the Amber Temple before they go to confront Strahd

[@agsilverradio2225]

Your thumnail be like, "sandbox, or litterbox?"

[@diegochiko]

How would you run Dinner with Strahd?

[@FireofOne]

Yes this one was my question boys a few weeks ago!

[@KaineVillante]

I made my Version of Vallaki realistic. Like I didn't make anyone obviously evil and downplayed the abuse in the town. There was still some corruption and fear but I made everything subtle and horrific. That way when they fight the really bad guys it stands out rather than just being bland. Like one guy that ended up being super fucked up was the dude that throws a child into the lake. Like the players didn't know what to do with this guy lol. They ended up during him over to Izek who almost just killed him right there but the players stepped in and convinced Izek to just arrest him. It was beyond fun to me. Which is why I like Vallaki as a grab bag because the point if it is for the DM to choose what to include and what to just ignore.

[@kirkbrown1267]

1. Make a list of NPCs then 2. a timeline of events and how they will resolve if no action is taken. 3. Next decide how you want to foreshadow, then 4. drop your hooks. Let the players engage with the content organically. If you did your reading you will have no problem improvising the flow. READ the book "I Strahd, Memoirs of a Vampire." The background for the Wachter family and the trapped Ghost of Leo Dilysnia will bring a whole new understanding of how to run this town. Also, consider having the party see Strahd execute an NPC Thief and witness the townsfolk react agreeably to the execution yet remain in terrified awe of their Lord.

[@knight907]

Everything my wife and I read said CoS was the best of the 5ed modules, and when we mentioned that to our game group, one of the other guys decided he wanted to run it. The problem is that modules aren’t meant to be a kit. They’re meant to be a picture of something cool and a pile of materials that could be used to build it, and you’re supposed to supply your own hardware and elbow grease to turn them into something cool, but nobody tells you that. So instead people just start smashing the materials together trying to make them look like the picture, nothing works, and you end up with a mess. Unfortunately that’s what our DM did, so it wasn’t much fun for any of us. I don’t know where this needs to be said, but modules aren’t game kits. Read the module, use it for inspiration, then create a game and pepper the materials they provide into it where they’re useful. Do that and you’ll cut down on your work load and end up with an amazing game. Try to run it as written and your players will beg you to TPK them so they can play something else.

[@navidryanrouf441]

If you want to run vallaki or even the entirety of curse of strahd, go to r/curse of strahd on reddit. I can guarantee you it will be the best thing you will find ever.

[@theDMLair]

𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐎𝐍 - Monthly high-quality D&D 5e adventures and DM resources ▶▶ www.patreon.com/thedmlair 𝐊𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 - Pre-Order my level 1 to 5 adventure module, Into the Fey, here ▶▶ www.kickstarter.com/projects/thedmlair/into-the-fey CURSE OF STRAHD - Watch my Curse of Strahd games here ▶▶ kzbin.info/aero/PLzmFNHcgMkXH2RwttKZ1xs0Yrwc3ZC6WG

[@marathuzula9024]

This video: The one guy, who played in that movie. No no, the movie that starred that woman. She's really important... No like she was the main star of that movie that she won that award with. Seriously, it was a great movie, no there was another guy who took part in this other movie and they showed up in that one city for the scene with that one thing... I forget what kind of... it was um, Yeah, that about sums it up.

[@BlackPhillip666]

The Priest didn't reward us for returning the bones. We acquired payment from the Church's crypt independently.

[@wraithreaper22]

We got Strahd to completely destroy Vallaki so it didn't matter for our run. Zombie Town. We later came back and killed all the zombies, moved the survivors to Kresik.

[@thecoryharrell]

Actually the module does give you a timeframe of events, regardless of PC interaction. All events happen within 3-4 days of the part arriving. Bones, politics, festival, tiger, feast. Then you decide if Rictavio and Vasili get mixed in

[@sgtscot658]

I ran Vallaki as a dungeon kind of.

[@cipheragent9]

WAK-tur

[@agsilverradio2225]

Your players may have found the good ending for Vallaki.

[@cipheragent9]

vuh-LAH-kee

[@linus4d1]

Hey, Luke, I love your channel but I think you missed the mark this time. You didn't really answer how to run a sandbox game. You explained how to turn a sandbox into an adventure. In a sandbox, the GM doesn't set up the story hooks or plots. The way you ran it was more event-based like you admitted. A sandbox does take more experienced players. They make up the story and what they want to accomplish. You as the GM just runs the setting and NPCs in response to what the PCs do.

[@wait4tues]

Dude, I like your videos but this rambly style of talking is hard to follow. I'd like to see a more comprehensive take on how you run vallaki. I'm just having a hard time deciphering what you're saying.

[@KavaryKabuto]

Some spoilers... hope my players don't watch this xD

[@martinbriggs3629]

I'm sorry, I just can't go on. The way you pronounce Vallaki. I'm just... Its me... I'm sorry.

[@karlgredona1651]

Not sure if this guy just choses to mispronounce every name juat to make it sound different. Ih-zek Val-ya-ki Wak-ter Ih-rina iz-mark Val-ya-ko-vitch

[@kristijanmehun2382]

9:53, and then literally 37 second later 10:30 ...... ....oooookkkkk..... sorry guy, but 9:53- yes you did, you apsolutely manipulated the plot, you've been pushing the Burgomaster as a villian the whole game. You've been practically saying it the whole video... You've set up this "Lady Wachter is framing The Burgomaster" scanario and and very much guiding the players down a certain path... It's like you forgot to present Lady Watcher as an equally sketchy (albeit in a different way) character. because you had an agenda, and wanted the wachter's plan to work. You even say you presented 3 plot hooks to the players: 1 was the missing bones and the other 2 were the missing shoemaker and, you even directly admit railroading here (10:30), "constantly painting the Burgomaster as this really bad guy....", so 2/3 plot hooks were how the Burgomaster was a bad guy? Where's the Lady Wachter creepy shit? She may not be openly psyhotic, but some people do find her offputting- there is something strange about her and that house of hers... ..... so yeah dude, you obviously DON'T know how to run a sandbox... and i know i'm a nobody and you have all this followers, so my words have little to no meaning but this kind of self endulging BS really gets my blood boiled

[@MrMasquime]

Vallaki is a mess

[@VeggiesOutFront]

Is there a way to not have ads in the middle of your videos? I understand marketing yourself and revenue but you self advertise ever video multiple times including intros and tangents and asides. Perhaps we can do without the corporate brainwashing as well?

[@experiment8230]

I can't stand the way he always mispronounces stuff 😅

[@Finniganmydog]

Not giving the DM any guidance at all. Seems like the WOTC 5e mantra.

[@michaelnelson8618]

vuh - LOCK - ee. vuh - LOCK - Oh - vich. it's east European flavored dude lmao