Castlevania II: Dracula's Curse (IC)

[J-H]

You make camp for the night. It is a dark night, and surprisingly quiet. The wind rustling in the dry treetops of fall makes intermittent noise, but you're all also tired. Thanks to magic, you're all dry, and warm enough to pass, despite the lack of a fire. If anything is hunting you this night, it does not find you.

At least, not physically.

During the night, each of you has a dream... a vision of Dracula lounging upon his throne. You recognize him from the books you've all studied. The rest of the room is full of shadows, but the tall, sharp-fanged vampire with pale skin, red eyes, and black armor is clearly visible. He smirks at them. “Did you really think that being dead would stop me? I am the Prince of Shadows, and my reach extends beyond mere flesh. My agents have worked to kill off those who can oppose me for decades, and now move to bring me back to the land of the living. This land is mine, and none who oppose me will find no rest here.”

The dream is unsettling, but your courage and grit sees most of you through. You're pretty sure that it's not directed just at you, but probably everyone in the area that he has claimed and cursed.

Dracula's Curse
Anyone who wishes to gain the benefits of a Long Rest must succeed on a Constitution save. The DC begins at 10, and increases by 1 for each night that passes. On a failed save, a character only gains the benefits of a short rest, plus enough downtime to prevent accumulating exhaustion.

Only sacred and holy places such as temples provide an aura of shelter against this effect.

Most villages do have a temple that would be Hallowed ground, assuming they survive.

DC 10 Constitution save to benefit from a long rest: Only Vidrik fails this time.

As scions of the Order, you have studied enough to recognize that Dracula is likely on the Plane of Shadows, an intermediate plane between death and the living world. You have no means of planar travel, but as Dracula is “dead,” resurrecting him would force him back to the material plane, where he could be fought while weak from being restored to flesh. This would kill him, banishing him for another century. Bringing back him against his will would require gathering things to act as a material focus. You know that the remnants left behind last time were placed in sealed containers, soaking in holy water, and were dispersed to various locations around the area (the different towers and castles) specifically to make bringing him back difficult. You even know where to find them. Of course, you would also need a more powerful spell than Raise Dead to bring him back.

Or you could wait until whatever plan he has in motion brings him back to the Material Plane on his own terms...

Spoiler

Show

Not a huge fan of what I've seen of Netflix CV, but it was the best picture I could find.

Long rest 8 hrs + 2 hours meals/camp set up = 10 hrs. Starts at 9pm, ends at 7am (or maybe my chart is 1/2 hr off in numbering). 1 hour of darkness remains. It's late fall, so days are only 11 hours long, and nights are 13 hours.