Night of the Vampire, revised - Events
by Patrick SullivanThis post contains the differences in events, listed in Chronological order. Please send me your thoughts on these revisions.
Act I: This section proceeds as described. The action of this act is dominated by Constantina and Strolojca. The only significant change to Act I is that Lady Selena should mention that Laina will be wearing her beautiful old wedding dress. Natasha will try to steer the conversation in a different direction, but if asked directly about it, she will say that it is truly magnificent and insist that everyone stop by her room that afternoon to see it. She will then avoid the bedroom for most of the rest of the adventure, or try to charm anyone particularly nosy into simply agreeing that the dress she shows them (the one she wears to the Masked Ball) is a wonderful wedding dress.
Act II should proceed as described. Natasha plays the part of the ingénue to a tee, but she also carefully dominates the conversation through flattery and fawning, focusing the attention back on the PCs anytime they get too personal.
Act III should proceed exactly as described. Natasha carefully uses her greatest disguise and illusionist abilities to make it appear that she has been attacked by a vampire, because she believes that Andru gave too much away with his riddle. Before Natasha screams she commands Andru via Ventriloquism to kill Iajo.
Act IV: This act should go largely as described in the book. Track 63 should never be played--Laina should simply vanish. In its place, there should be a dangerous fire scene--Natasha waits for an opportunity to sneak out of her room, casting fireball into it as she goes, and flee to her secret lair. The fire serves as a distraction to keep everyone out of her way fighting the fire, and also to explain why Laina is never found. Natasha then give some last minute commands to Andru (be sure to kill Gustav and Selena), quickly writes a fake journal entry and casts Ageing on it, and hides it in Gustav's vault before teleporting back to Mirros, convinced that she has succeeded. If she finds anyone alone, particularly Gustav or Selena, she will not hesitate to kill them herself.
Act V: When the party eventually begins the vampire hunt in earnest, Natasha is long gone, never to be seen again (for at least a decade). Also, bear in mind that Nosferatu are not permanently destroyed by a stake through the heart, but the party is carrying around the instructions for killing a vampire. This should allow them to defeat Andru, but they will likely fail to permanently destroy him. The final CD track may or may not be played, depending on the DM's own desires, but successful heroes should certainly be rewarded. If they offer to stay for a few weeks to help Gustav repair the damage from the fire, they earn his undying gratitude. Gustav will consider asking King Stefan to allow him to adopt one or more of the PCs as official heir if they prove both heroic and generous.
And beyond... Natasha's still on the
loose, back in Mirros. Andru has been staked, but unless he's
properly laid to rest, he can come back yet again, hungry for
revenge. The original Lord Andru hasn't been heard from in more
than a century, but there is no reason to believe that he has been
destroyed. He also poses a threat to both the Vandevics and Natasha
should he ever return. Finally, once Natasha learns that Lord
Gustav survived her plotting, and especially if the PCs become his
heirs, she will dedicate herself entirely to destroying them.