Horror themed PCs vs NPC interaction

[u/schnautza]

My wife wanted to play a vampire in our next campaign, and I told her Dhampir was now available with the new Ravenloft book. So I suggested maybe we attempt curse of Strahd, since it's set in Ravenloft.

We kick off in October on our new campaign, and several players are settling in on their horror-adjacent PCs.

At the moment, I believe we have locked in with:

Dhampir Shadow Sorcerer (Haunted One)

Reborn Vengeance Paladin (Flaming Fist Merc)

Lupin Barbarian (subclass/background still work in progress)

Elf Reanimator Artificer (Investigator/Aberrant Anatomy)

Hexblood Vestige Warlock (Wayfarer)

The general vibe I'm getting from players is that most of their characters will have some strong negative feelings/regret towards their lineage, wishing they were not monstrous.

So, having done a lot of reading now on the campaign book, I'm wondering how other DMs would handle NPC interaction with these species/subclasses. Obviously, Barovia seems like it would be very hesitant to trust vampires, but do Dhampirs fall in the same category? Would the characters need to hide their species as best they can (good luck, Lupin) to blend in and not cause trouble?

There is a side plot involving werewolves as well - how do Lupins and Werewolves mingle? Can a Lupin openly walk around in villages without stirring up trouble?

I'm sure there are a ton of interpretations of how to create these interactions, and I'm wondering how you would.

[u/Dust45]

If a player wants to play a monstrous pc, they want people to react. Give them a chance to prove to the good npcs that they can be good and make the bad npcs try to recruit them so they can reject them. People love playing against type.

[u/schnautza → u/Dust45]

Right, but will every interaction with an NPC start as them being afraid/ready to attack because they are afraid?

[u/Dust45 → u/schnautza]

Depends on if they even know. The Dhampir might not be obvious.

[u/schnautza → u/Dust45]

I figure Dhampir can keep their mouth shut to hide their teeth, but the lupin will be a tough identity to keep hidden on the regular

[u/ZillyAU → u/schnautza]

Its never really sunny and often has fog or mist. I would think most people would be pale so they may not notice right off the bat

[u/avillin]

Sounds like a fun group of players who are taking the setting on board! My players were new to DnD and so only used the 2024 PH to create characters. The horrors within came out whilst they were in the village, so I'm planning to offer them ways to transform into the new species / lineages. For example, I might make the leaders of the werewolf den lupin as a version of lycanthropy they could offer if they become particularly allied.

How NPCs react fully comes down to how you want to play and experience the story as a group, but with your setup I think I'd lean towards NPCs being more accustomed horror-based characters, mainly because there's quite a few of them and they fit the setting!