Do NOT run Baron Vargas according to the book
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- Опубліковано 18 гру 2022
- Baron Vargas should be terrifying in his own right, but maybe not in the way you think. This video goes over an amazing change to Vargas' character that will leave your characters hating him more than ever before.
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#rpg #dnd #dungeonsanddragons - Ігри
I tried to play him as a coward last time. I think I missed the mark and made him sympathetic though. The party found him in his study, and when he realized he was outmatched, he begged for mercy and wailed about "Do you know how HARD it is to keep so many people feeling safe with the devil at the gates ALL the time! Woe is me!" Etc. Party decided he wasn't worth sneezing at and left him groveling.
As a Christian who grew up in Texas, I love and am terrified of this. 100% adding “Father” Vargas next time I run a campaign!
Follow-up then, how would you run Lady Watcher? I feel like it's a little too on the nose to have her playing an out in the open supporter of Strahd. As awful as the Baron is, she's the greater of two evils by many characters' standards.
My group had a serious issue with Vallaki... they just couldn't be bothered with anything in it except for the inn (and an eatery/black market magic shop). In their shenanigans one of the players got arrested which coincided with a new player joining the campaign. So basically they met in the stocks. Baron agreed to let them out if one of them (the storm cleric) had agreed to lend him a hand with something. That something was an experiment that was a giant zombie made of zombies (Grave Behemoth) that they just needed an electrical charge strong enough to bring it to un-life. The cleric aided in this and was released-- but so was the beast. Long story short Baron was more of a short-sighted savior through questionable means. He wanted to use the Grave Behemoth to protect Vallaki from the recent surge in werewolf and vampire attacks that were ruining his attempt to "keep the commoners appeased", instead when it activated it destroyed his house from the basement up, which killed him lol It really gave them something to sink their teeth into due to the potential for moral conflict. I think that if I ever run COS again I'm 100% keeping that in. The player acting a fool and getting arrested wasn't really in my plan, moreso a happy accident that allowed it to happen naturally. 😅
I love the deep dives into individual NPCs and their psychology. I wish I had come across this idea earlier! but hey, next run of COS.
That's a cool and very different idea. I almost want to expand on it. Everywhere the characters go, the citizenry sees them as "Good Ol' Boys". Take the encounters as a darker side of "The Dukes of Hazard" with Father / Baron Vargas as Boss Hogg. It leads to more encounters and opportunities with having the characters foil Vargas' plans and then escaping to the Hills.
" Baron Vargas as Boss Hogg. " is quite the comparison I could have never expect to see, but it works really well for this version.
I run Curse of Strahd entirely as a southern gothic horror so this would fit right jn
I ran him like you suggested oh my players hated him and feared him. Anastasia ripped his head off at the Festival of the Sun
Oh this one is gold, i usually only take bits and bobs from your videos as i like playing my own interpretation closer to the book as written, but this burgomaster is great! thank you!
Great video! I also altered the Baron's story, cranking the darker elements up to 11!
In our campaign, the fortune readings placed the holy symbol of raven kind in the Baron's house in the attic full of what the reading quotes as "Still Ghosts". The module has it that the attic is basically filled with old furniture and nonsense covered in white sheets which look like ghosts. I thought this was a little underwhelming so I changed things up. In my Vallaki, people occasionally go missing. Trouble makers and the like. The Baron has Izek dispatch of them. Where he then, instead of collecting dolls of his long lost sister (a thread which I cut because I felt it added absolutely nothing to the game) is keeping a collection of trouble maker taxidermy in the attic. These are covered over with sheets when he is no longer there giving us the still ghosts from the reading but in a much more gruesome and intriguing way! The Baron supports this because he treats Izek like his own son, and it allows him to get rid of a few of the towns more problematic individuals😅.
The players have just started to uncover this plot as I made Heinrich one of the victims after the Baron wasn't best pleased with him hiding the forces of darkness in his shop.
Now I want Strahd during the Feast of St. Andral’s giving Vargas the “This is an empty box” speech from Castlevania!
As soon as the voice came up I was sold and it fits Vargas' role in the story so well, makes me want to work in an Immersion baptism scene in either the Luna river or lake Zarovich where in order to be allowed to stay in Vallaki the player characters need to get baptised in the name of the Morninglord (Similarly to Booker's Baptisms in Bioshock Infinite)
Kinda feels like Baron Vargas would be the plantation owner from Django Unchained. "Southern Charm" characters are my favorite villains
I was running Curse of Strahd and I had Fiona invite the party to dinner. When they were there she was trying to pursue them to overthrow the Baron and put her in charge (they didnt know she was loyal to Strahd at this point) the party wizard asked to go to tge bathroom in game and when he left he said he went outside. Where then he proceeded to run to the Baron's house, use disguise self to look like a guard, get into the Baron's house by saying he had news about Strahd and once they were in his private study he sent a lighting bolt straight through his forehead, killing him instantly and catching the room on fire. When he tried to run out his wife tired to stop him he tried to deceive her but rolled low so he put a firebolt through her skull and then ran all the way back to her house all before dinner was over.
I dig it, ran him like this and it's going well. Subversive compared to the locked jawed Vargas you talked about before lol. The party has just met him and he is already recruiting them, they think to be local heros but he just needs more muscle. It's SUCH a great angle. The paladin is ALL in board for what Vargas keeps referencing as divine justice.
Half my party went to a private Southern Baptist high school. They will immediately recognize a southern religious leader as a villain
All the better
My baron is mindfeebled by his son, driveling in a corner in his home. I'll have to use this version in a new campaign :D
in my current campaign am running him as homelander pretty much. All nice and polite around the public but when 1 on 1 with the player he's a massive asshole trying to get rid of them
"I really can do whatever the *fuck* I want."
@@LunchBreakHeroes That's funny - in my group, Strahd is Homelander. I've already introduced Father Lucien, but this gives a pretty open door for Father Vargas to step right in and make himself at home.
In my game the Dark Powers bring new lands into Barovia when it pleases them. So Vallakia was brought in only 100 years ago. The Baron grew up on his grandfather's tales of a sunny land with no vampire ruling them. The Baron believes what he says, that all will be well, as long as they keep trying. If the players give him hope, he will be a strong ally.
I love running Vargas like this and I'm finding it effective with my group.
I also want to express how much I love ALL of your videos. I am a new DM and running COS for my group and I am basically using the module as a loose guide and kinda homebrewing other parts. However I have been following your videos like crazy and they are making my players experience phenomenal. Durst Manor was a blast with the changes you suggested. The Dream Pastries? Ahem, Scones? My players bought the entire freaking cart. And the chaos that ensued when my kind players decided to hand the scones out to anyone who looked like they could use a yummy pastry... And then the addiction... and finding out what they were. And now they are in Vallaki, they met Vasili on the road and he is traveling with them along with Ireena... They suggested that Ireena stay with Vasili because they think she will be safe with him. muwhahaha.
Thank you so much for the content you create. I picked up your Deck of Many Quests and it is awesome. One of my players is using the Belt of the Grappler and it works so well with his fighter. Apologies for the rant!
Wow! What an awesome and original take on both Vargas and Vallaki! Amazing video, as always!
Old God's is amazing! I've been listening for quite awhile. So glad to hear that you were inspired by it.
I had Vargas and Fiona both invite the PCs to dinner at the same time, the idea being that Ernst took the letter to Fiona before delivering it and she had her own dinner at the same time to piss Vargas off. The party ended up splitting and attending both at the same time.
"It's amazing how he has this uncanny ability of making everyone in the room hate him." They said about him. I included hints that Izek and Viktor both weren't the happiest with him while Lydia resorted to the smile-and-nod strategy. They also hate Viktor because Fiona showed them Stella and told them he used his foul magic on her and shattered her very mind. I think they'll be very surprised when they find Viktor's journal, which explains how he and Stella were in love and tried to escape Barovia together but the circle fucked up and broke her mind instead and he's been trying to figure out a way out of Barovia so that he can escape with her and find her a cure elsewhere.
But pretty much everyone agrees that Vargas is an unlikable asshole. He made several racist remarks towards the elf in the party and about Vistani in general, and at several points the cleric noticed Izek and Viktor clearly pushing down their negative emotions towards him.
I also foreshadowed him being absolutely delusional through the orphanage. Claudia had hung up posters around town but the players never saw them, and when they asked her why she didn't tell them about the missing kids, she brought up the posters she'd placed all over town. Later, they learned that Vargas had them taken down because missing children aren't very good for keeping up the morale of the town. He proudly said so himself, claiming that the kids are probably dead anyways.
I love this version of Viktor so much more than the book version. Sure, he can still be a moody teenager without perspective, but especially combined with the stuff in this video, he'll have an actual reason to hate his father, there will be a reason why Stella went into the personality of a cat, it makes sense that he'd try using guinea pigs next, and his desperation in wanting to save not just himself but also his love justifies him throwing not one but two servants into his teleport death trap - he needs to get Stella out of here to cure her so they can be together.
This might also just be the push necessary to get Viktor to approach the PCs of his own accord instead of sitting in his attic sulking, as written. Yes, yes... yoink!
Edit: After some more thinking, I think I'm going to give Viktor a shriveled-up leg or something as a result of the accident. If Viktor and Stella entered the circle together in their haste to get out of Barovia, it wouldn't make sense Stella was the only one negatively affected, but we do need Viktor to be in his right mind, so Viktor got necrotic damage and Stella got psychic damage (and the reason why the guinea pig servants died was because there was only one of them each time, so they got the full damage). The question is: does Vargas know? On the one hand, I'd expect Viktor and Stella to have been found by someone, Viktor should have needed some nursing back to health, Stella would've needed to get home, Fiona would've had questions as to what the hell happened. On the other hand I kind of like the idea of Viktor going behind his father's back, getting a brace for that leg, and making sure his father never finds out. It would show him as a person who is capable when it's absolutely necessary.
@@trishapellis In my game, Vargas doesn't know his son is a wizard. He keeps his scars under wraps (quite literally) along the arms, which is also meant to be a visual allusion to but not a depiction of self-harm. I had the portal incident give him a streak of aged, grey hair.
I've actually written a journal that my players got that eventually starts to retell the events of Vallaki from his perspective.
I also had a friend of mine guest-star as Viktor. He had the Tome and negotiated with the party, but he negotiated a little too well and now they're taking him to the Dinner. We were both hoping they'd push back on that a little but, oh well.
Man, Light of Xaryxis needs some love like this from the community. Goodness knows I need a hand fleshing it out more.
Old Gods of Appalachia also has a TTRPG in the works, its Kickstarter is still working to finish I believe
Great Video! Merry Christmas!
Running first Vallaki session this weekend, incorporating your twist, and man, your southern Baptist accent is incredible! Question though-if I’m also running the orphanage, how do you kick off the St Andral’s bones quest line without Petrovich informing PCs that the sanctity of the church is compromised?
I see you are back to the Barovian cash cow!! Excellent!
This is divine. I LOVE this take!! Much more fun 💜
Wow! This is an amazing idea! I've always had a little bit of a problem with Vargus as written. Was he just a bumbling guy born into his position but really meant well for the town? No way. THIS is absolutely the way Vargus should be. I'm running 2 campaigns right now, the first group has already killed Vargus when he tried to have them arrested for not reporting to him everything they had found out about Wachter. 2nd group will absolutely be getting the southern Baptist Vargus from here. Love this idea!
Legit think Lunchbreak should start making his own adventures. Sure Castle Ravenloft is cool, but it ain't his. Plus it's a strait jacket. Really think he should move into his own dark realm story. Make an original Vampire. Or a Lich or something. Then populate it with cool stuff. Make it more plug and play for the viewers. Like this evil swamp can be anywhere. Or this dark alley is just off the road of your adventurer's watering hole.
You should check out LunchBreakHeroes.com
Your cat feels very differently about your statements here. Lol
Oh I love this change. You are a genius my friend.
Thank you!
excited to play this character like this as the new group is almost at valakki
Funny fact about southern accents: in Florida, southern accents aren't based town by town, region by region. Their based house by house. I have an accent. My neighbor, who I literally grew up with and have known 40 years, has no accent. That same story is repeated throughout the state without any rhyme or reason. Florida.
I'm toying around with the idea of making Vargas seem like a mix between near-parody of the politician stereotype and Joseph McCarthy. I've been practicing giving impromptu speeches with 1920s word choice about safety and how it can only be found through his methods, while also planning on introducing public kangaroo courts in the town. I'm also debating if I want to make him genuinely believe his own BS or if he corruptly uses it to maintain power. A bunch of my players dabble in political philosophy, so I wanted to appeal to that bit of their personalities.
Im gonna run Vallaki on wednesday. Talk about timing! Thank you so much!
Great ideas. Shame my Vargas got shot with a crossbow an hour ago :/
Amazing idea
I'm definitely using this, and I'm adding an orphanage encounter to Vallaki so having poor Yeska sent to the orphanage when his adoptive father doesn't come home will add a little something.
I actually ran him as a possessed form of himself and killed him off when the PCs brought Iryna to him leaving Iryna back in Strahds hands basically stating to the PCs that Vallaki was not so safe.
I needed this.
How would you have Father Vargas react to Izek's Demonic arm?
I've been mulling it over and right now I am torn between Izek having a mechanical arm made by Blinsky
or him having the Demonic Arm, granted to him by a deal he made with Taar Haak when he was bleeding out after his arm was bitten off (Taking years for him to actually seal the pact for the arm to grow out) and Father Vargas praising the arm as being a gift from the morninglord, but then I have to consider if that would fit Father Vargas because the arm looks demonic, or if I would have to describe the arm as looking holy instead (With the Vestige trying to fool Vargas)
Like any good practitioner, he tells Izek it’s fine… just keep it to himself.
As long as Izek remains useful, that is.
Question: how would you run the feast of st. andral with the father to kill and desecrate the ground?
If that’s how Father Vargas goes out, that’s how he goes out
@Lunch Break Heroes I had the similar thought and love it. This would draw out Ireena even more and bring more chaos to the town. Fiona is already gone, so that leaves Victor...oof, haha. Too brilliant
Your Frank Underwood is spot on!
I did have a question about this, as module and Raising the Stakes states. After some time Strahd or an Emissary kills Petrovich, would they instead kill Vargas if he’s still Acting Priest?
Yesss! I’ve been waiting for LHB to finally release a Ravenloft related video again!
Ive missed this!!
My players was just about to meet good old Vargas. And then BOOM! There was a new LBH video. I now think that my players are up against an ever-preaching maniac!
I played Vargas almost like a Mathis boss, first encounter with him was him threatening the party with izek in the room
Boy! This is nice...
Well I shall play him like this on the 3rd run through it ^^
Yeah but if you put father Petrovich imprisoned in the burgomaster's home, what about the stolen bones of St.Andral and the "feast" that's supposed to happen 3 days later if they're not returned?
If that’s how Father Vargas goes out, so be it.
some changes I would suggest
Viktor is not a wizard, his father would have him burn those books.
Fiona vs Baron is decided by the dirt on them being given to the other. (the priest or that box Fiona has in her bedroom)
Maybe make Izak more along the lines of Perriwimple and have his arm be attributed to a blessing of Vargas. (whether it is, a dark blessing, or some other horror)
A question: can Baron Vargas drived insane to the work of Vampyr? It can be a right thing?
Sure
@@LunchBreakHeroes Thank You for the answer.
Great stuff! But, isn't that why we're all here, after all? Your spins and takes on NPC development is unparalleled, especially in CoS. I really like this idea of the Baron as you portray him. I'm inspired to make a whole new Vallaki for my next CoS campaign in that deep southern baptist style. Maybe even expand it to the entire region in varying degrees. It really is the perfect place for something like that. Kudos! And happy holidays to you and yours!
Great video! About 3 years too late for me tho lmao
Am I the only one that heard a cat, I might be going crazy, but I swear I hear a cat. 🤣
Listen here, meow. I won’t have you spreading felies. Recant, right meow!
Meow. 🐱
If you did to international I bet you that you would get at less 5x the vallid entrys.
And pay 5x the shipping 😄
My Vargas was based on the Mayor of Halloween Town from Nightmare Before Christmas; absolutely filled to the brim with fear that the slightest mistake could lead to catastrophe but putting on a smiling face and shouting platitudes to cover it up. To give it more horror vibes though, he'd have dissidents mind-controlled into a loyal elite guard, incapable of negative emotion and with a permanent grin on their face. Anyone with a smidgen of wisdom could see through the Baron's vibe, but they in turn were terrified of being remade into one of his Mirth Enforcement Officers (colloquially referred to as "The Gringuard").
I've also always been kinda irked that the description of Vargas in the book is "a bear of a man" in gleaming breastplate but the picture is an emaciated cretin in a bathrobe. I definitely leaned on the book description for my interpretation.
I saw the Nintendo switch contest, I didn't enter because I didn't want the prize.
I cant like the video since it is on 666, I hope you understand
My Baron Vargas is Trump. The players love it.
Tremendous