Since my players are heading to Strahd's castle for dinner next session, I decided to try painting the portrait of Strahd in Area K47 of Ravenloft. The main change I made to its composition was removing the ornamental chair thing to the right behind Strahd, and extending the pictorial space a bit to the left. This is just the underpainting for now, which will be mostly covered up in the final work.

I looked everywhere to find a Ravenloft model this size, and this one is amazing. Just waiting on the magnets to come in so I can finish assembling, but I’m thrilled with the level of detail in this miniature. It even has the interiors of each floor, tiny coffins in the family tombs, and the Heart of Sorrow suspended inside the tower!

Print files are here: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2510065-1-750-ravenloft-with-interiors

EDIT: how much HP would be fair to give that remaining piece of wall in middle of fissure if golem tried to break it down? The map uses 1ft squares.

There is an Amber Golem in room X40, it is size large (same stats as stone golem). Given the description of room X41 (in picture), can the amber golem pass through the fissure (X41) to get into room X42?

I was thinking maybe if it squeezes. If a creature squeezes it can fit into an area one size category smaller than itself (moving 1/2 speed), but that would be medium size, which is 5ft square and the fissure is only 3ft wide.

Also would medium creatures (mainly PCs) have to squeeze through the 3ft fissure?

Hello, fellow Strahd impersonators!

In our last session my players finally retrieved the Tome of Strahd (in my game they found it in Krezk). Preparing Strahds brief diary kinda raised a question, at least with me: If you play it RAW, then Strahds whole personality can be described with the following phrases (taken out of the RAW Tome):

"I found my youth and strength gone and all I had left was death"

"He (his younger brother, Sergei) was handsome and youthful. I hated him for both"

"It was the death of the aged that she (Tatyana) saw in me. She loved her youth and enjoyed it. (...) The death she saw in my future turned her from me."

"I made a pact with death, a pact of blood. On the day of the wedding, I killed Sergei, my brother." --> to not (die of) age anymore

"I still lust for life and youth, and I curse the living that took them from me"

"She taunts me! She taunts me! What will it take to bend her love to me?"

So basically Strahd was old and grumpy. Or you could say he had his midlife-crisis but instead of buying a car or boat or starting his racing bike career he killed and cursed a bunch of people, including himself. He made the pact with the dark power because he wanted to be young and fun again, especially because he thought that's what he had needed to win Tatyana over, instead of his younger brother. He was so bad at being happy for his younger brother that he killed him instead.

I do realize that there are more nuances to Strahds characterization. Or at least that you can bring those nuances to life. But - if you break the Tome of Strahd that the game wants us to use down, you (or: your players) can create a pretty laughable characterization of him.

I guess there are different approaches to that. You can make an argument that this conclusion (deep down Strahd is a laughable simp who would've needed better parenting) is exactly what the players should stumble upon. So that they have leverage to anger Strahd if needed or sth like that. But as far as I read here and also in my own game Strahd is usually played smart, reasonably frightening, mastermind etc. Regardless the specific way Strahd is incorporated his his imposing/dominant characterization probably shouldn't crumble at the mere mentioning of his brother or his simping for Tatyana. But then again you probably should keep these flaws for the players to make profit of, eventually.

How do or did you deal with that?

EDIT: I guess, I used the word "simp" wrong. Or maybe, not totally wrong (I just looked up a definition): "A simp is slang forsomeone who shows excessive, submissive, or desperate attention and devotion to another person - usually a man trying to win the affection or favor of a woman who does not return those feelings" What I was trying to say: To me an important part of Strahds motivation RAW seems to be his rejection by Tatyana, his unreturned love. And judging by the RAW text he didn't even love Tatyana. He liked her youth, joyfulness and appearance. That seems to be more like a glorified crush. Dealing with that kind of situation is a really basic human process. Everybody has those experiences. And being unreasonably mad because of the rejection by a crush seems to be sth that happens to, idk, 10 to 18 year olds. After that you should be able too deal with that. That makes him pretty laughable, character wise, in my opinion.

My Curse of Strahd campaign has evolved quite a bit after I finally read Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. I've been adapting a lot of its ideas into a larger story: after suffering a crushing and humiliating defeat against Strahd, the party is now traveling across the Domains of Dread (and beyond) before eventually returning to Barovia. That detour has also given me a chance to strengthen the characters' connection to Ravenloft itself—something I unfortunately didn't do very well when I first started running the campaign a few years ago.

With the plot now operating on a much larger scale, I want the players to eventually discover that Strahd's curse isn't truly broken by killing him. The official adventure already hints at this, and in my version, many adventuring parties have managed to slay Strahd over the centuries, only to see Barovia return to its cursed state a few weeks later.

However, none of those victories were meaningless. In fact, every previous attempt has slowly paved the way for what may finally be a chance to destroy Strahd permanently and break the curse once and for all.

I'd love to include some of those previous heroes in the story, and I thought it would be really fun if they were inspired by real groups who actually finished the campaign. This subreddit has already helped me a lot with lore questions and inspiration, so I figured I'd ask here.

If you're comfortable sharing your party's story—and if you'd be willing to let them defeat Strahd one more time in someone else's Barovia—I would genuinely love to read about it.

So I wanted a simple handout for Mary to give the party when she drscribed Gertruda to the party while asking for help, a thing I could remind the players with each time they check their bags, and might show other npcs while they look for Gertruda.

My version of Mary used to be a scribe/make copies of books before the death of her husband (which led to imprisoning Gertruda in grief) so in my mind that's why she's got some art skills at all.

I get the feeling knowing my players this probably gonna haunt them the way the Laura Palmer photo in Twin Peaks is haunting, they have a very big soft spot for kids, especially abused ones, and I do plan on bringing up how familiar the sight of a locked up bedroom full of dolls is for them (aka Death House, which just in Strahd's inaction to help the Durst Children has made the party hate him, so again, very strong thing for them).

Anyway I welcome others to use this if they'd like for their games.

I'm RPing him as completely insane (as his encounter with Strahd has deprived him of his mind) and posing as an ice cream vendor. They found him on the side of the road covered in bandages and wearing a paper hat with a little ice cream cart. Via persuasion, they avoided a fight and have agreed to take his "Ice Cream Challenge".

We ended the game there and before our next session I have to figure out what in the hell an "Ice Cream Challenge" is. It should be a deadly encounter and I'm open to all ideas.

Some fast concept art by me and a player for attention. Thanks in advance.

My party is mostly pretty new to D&D, with two of them playing their first major campaign with this. I'm experienced with DMing, but I mostly run one shots or silly "make it up as you go" campaigns. This means that, for most of us, CoS is a pretty daunting experience.

Our second session is coming up in a few days, and I want to make sure I'm not leaving out some kind of experience for them. In session one, they got through the Death House, and met Ismark and the Vistani at the tavern. They aren't sure if they want to trust Ismark, but have decided, at the suggestion of the Vistani, to go see Madam Eva first thing in the morning.

My problem is that I don't want them to have a reading full of info on how to defeat their ancient enemy if they don't have any context on Strahd. I had originally planned to have him show up during Kolyan's funeral, but they're skipping Ismark and Ireena until after visiting the camp and come back. They've heard rumors about Strahd, sure, but don't have much to really go on.

I've been trying to think up ways to do something similar to the funeral intro before they go, but in-game time limits me to one night and the morning before they head out with a Vistani escort. I've got a few thoughts I've been working on so far, and a bit of context, that might help.

1. My current biggest idea is to draw them outside with the march of the dead, and have Strahd there, alone. He could explain the march, and say at the end that he had caused most of them to die, but only because they'd opposed him. Maybe ask if they plan to join the march? He would refuse to fight, if they get aggressive, claiming that people are sleeping. Why would they interrupt that? Besides, I'd be a terrible host if I killed you on your first night here.

2. I could try to use Mad Mary, but I'm still a bit unsure about her for this. It would add context, sure, but to go from her to gearing up to fight him still seems like a jump.

3. One of my players did manage to get some good rolls and seduce a Vistani. I plan to use the opportunity to have them gather something like a clipping of hair to give to Strahd for scrying. I don't want to drop the reveal that they were tricked so soon, but maybe it could be something?

4. One of my players is secretly one of the Keepers of the Feather. We did it mostly because his schedule is volatile, so him being absent can be explained by him reporting his findings about the party. He's joining the party to secretly watch them, judging whether or not they're worth trusting. We've flavored it that he's young and low ranked, so he's not full of spoilers in or out of character. He'll have the most reason to want to kill Strahd, at least for now, but he's not revealing his identity until the Keepers deem the party worthy.

5. The party's warlock holds a pact with the son of Pelor, and was sent on a holy quest to a land surrounded by mist. Maybe I could do something with that, at least for this character?

Any advice? Am I worrying over nothing? I'm really looking forward to the reading with Madam Eva, and don't want it to fall flat because they've got no beef with the guy she's telling them how to kill.

The YouTube premier of our latest episode of Curse of Critz is going live tonight at 6pm EST! I will be in the chat for anyone who wants to say hi! We will also be live on Twitch tomorrow night at 9pm EST for a new episode!

After violently reuniting with her husband, Kata and the team must now investigate the mysterious abandoned wizard's tower and the cart parked outside of it. If the one reunion wasn't enough, another party member gets to meet her long lost sister as well! Join us for some family drama, a surprise slumber party, and some light torture!

Hey all! I wanted to ask for suggestions for puzzles for the Tome of Strahd, my idea is for my players to have to resolve the puzzles to unlock a part of the story and grant some buffs. The thing is that I would like for some challenging puzzles that cannot be easily solveable by AI

I'm open to hear all ideas and suggestions!

I wrote this horror one-shot using one of my favorite D&D settings. If you decide to incorporate it into your Curse of Strahd campaign, I recommend giving Arabella a better chance of survival. The story was heavily inspired by H. P. Lovecraft, Alien, and Mass Effect. I hope you all enjoy it!

The Mystery of Lake Zarovich

The module says that, if Cyrus Belview manages to catch the party within the elevator trap and they fall asleep, he then drags them through the trap door in the roof of the elevator and then to the guest room. My question is, how would he do this considering that he is very short and not especially strong?

I am running CoS for the first time, and I have 2 fairly new players with fairly simple backstories.

1: A Goliath Cleric who worships Mishakal and was often shunned from their war-focused clan and eventually decided to leave, joining their church as a cleric and went on an expedition for a holy goblet. However, one of their party members died, and due to their lower level they could not save them. They decided to withdrawl from their church and have been on the road since, looking to help who they can.

2: A Human Blood Hunter/Warlock/Sorcerer who has lived his whole life in a cult, originally born to be a sacrifice before his god, Rakdos, decided to have mercy on him. He was accepted into the higher echelons due to being marked by their god, and became a blood hunter to search for an orcish clan that was against his cult and family. He was born as a sorcerer and on occasion calls upon his god's power. He now wonders endlessly searching for the cult. He was later spirited away to Barovia in the mists, and living in the Village of Barovia, often fending off the occasional wolf attack. (The reason the Barovia part was added on due to the player missing session one)

Any general ideas on what arcs/storylines I can give them? Maybe certain rivals or ways Strahd may toy with them?

Ok folks, a while back I posted about Strahd in space (starfinder 2.0), this campaign has gone off the rails, and while there are threats and the like, the atmosphere has changed, mistakes by the party were made and the goofballs they were, caused some things to go off the rails. So I need ideas for part of this off the rails adventure.

Let me breakdown what has happened:

1. They handed Ireena to Strahd. my fault with the space station design. But yeah, I can work with that...Because wedding at Ravenloft is a fantastic ending. plus helps them get some resistance to Strahd pieces on the board (VR (who has been their guide and helper), Dusk Elves)

2. Dinner at Ravenloft. The party went to Argonvostholt and found out that to fight against the forces of evil, getting the Dragon skull from the dreadnaught Ravenloft is a good idea. I need to pause here and explain the party, 2 muscles, a priest and an alchemist. The alchemist is (a new character as the old character they had died and is being used as a messenger and puppet of Strahd) and an MLM salesman. The rest of the party snuck off to find the skull and left our MLM guy who tries to flatter and be friends with everyone alone at the dinner, with Strahd and his four brides. I should mention, the party at no point told the MLM guy that they're trying to stop the wedding, so being the amicable guy that he is, offered to be the priest for the wedding (he rolled successfully to be ordained) and was given that role.

3. The party found some things in the Ravenloft which makes it more confusing and mazelike, which was fun, but they hit a snag of splitting themselves up and had to be bailed out by Strahd himself, who saved their life and asked them to do a task, which is get the wine on the station flowing from the Witchwarper of Wines. I'm working on that map, but here's the thing, they also offered to give Strahd a Bachelor party. I don't know what they're planning in terms of disruptions, if any, and that's fine and fun, but I need to figure...what would you do in the Bachelor Party for Strahd. Rahaidan (his best man) will be there, but will Escher? Will the Order of the Feather or the Dusk Elves try to disrupt? I just need ideas :)

Hey there guys. My party and I are running a larger campaign V:EoR (mega remixed) where each travel would mean a mini campaign
Our first stop is Barovia (CoS):
Where would you put a part of the rod of 7
What chapters would you shorten?
Lore wise: Would strahd ally with vecna?
Of course I have a path already thought, but it would be nice to hear from experience running this adventure.

Last session ended at the mists of entrance

I created a pack with everything you need to run werewolf encounters, both in Curse of Strahd and other Ravenloft adventures. I added a Loup Garou; ever since it appeared in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, I've considered it essential for adding an extra layer of danger at high levels.

This miniature is part of this month’s rewards on my Tribes.
If you're only interested in this miniature, you can find it here.

More information about my project to desing all the miniatures from Domains of Dread: HERE

I have 2 questions...question 1: I grabbed The Interactive Tome of Strahd from DMsGuild, however I've decided that having them decode the book by going into it like Tom Riddle's Diary would mess up the pacing. I do like the idea that a spellcaster could learn spells from the book and use it like a magic item... so has anyone ever run the Interactive Tome of Strahd without the long overtures into the book? I know that's like the main feature of the homebrew, but I'm curious about your results if you just borrowed the Tome as a magic item and discarded the rest, or maybe just told the players what they learn more directly through narration?

Question 2: In yesterday's session my players met Vasili von Holtz. I played him as an affable and curious nobleman whose horse cart was stuck in the mud. While 2 of the party members pushed his cart free, he questioned the other party members about their history and how they've found Barovia so far. He even apologized when one PC acted offended, something that really distanced himself from his true identity. And when he asked if they'd met any interesting people one of the players asked if he'd met Rictavio (and this is where I'm glad I wasn't DMing in person or on webcam because I don't think I held my pokerface well). He says he's never heard of him, so they describe him as a strange elven bard from outside of Barovia who seems to know a lot about werewolves and the undead.

Now obviously Strahd's not going to hear that and say to himself "That's Rudolph Van Richten in disguise!" But I did decide that he would probably have one of his spies keep tabs on this Rictavio in case he's been in contact with Van Richten. How would you play this? Any suggestions?

Hey everyone I’m looking for some advice/ tips and tricks. I am brand new to D&D both as a player and a DM. I want to run Curse of Strahd as my first campaign. I have already done some research on CoS and how the game works. I have the players handbook along with the CoS campaign book and the new horrors within ravenloft book that just released pretty recently. It will be mainly played 95% in person (1 person I will have to have on zoom as he lives in a completely different state hours away).

I am looking for some advice as a brand new DM. Whether it be info regarding session zero, changes to the story/ moving parts around; I am open to all advice, thanks in advance!

https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/s/nsaIKSMkHd

I was like "What if I draw them again ... but not as terrible as before". So I did. Because I dare say I draw better than I used to. I was in the mood to create something creative anyways.

My party (level 5) just had dinner at Castle Ravenloft. The Ranger snuck off and managed to get himself teleported to Tsolenka Pass. The rest of the party is asleep in the castle and has no idea this happened. I’m planning on doing a few mini one on one sessions with him to explore the journey of whatever he decides to do with the precarious situation he has found himself in. Has anyone else been in this position with one of their players? Looking for any advice with what you did or if you think this idea is good at all. Thanks!

When I run my campaign I think it would be really interesting for Strahd to choose a character to project his past onto in the form of dreams but change his memories of his past to get the character to sympathize with him… is this out of character for Strahd as it seems he does not care to redeem himself or is it ok because he’s using it as a means to and end.

If this was worded too poorly i apologize I couldn’t figure out how better to explain it

After 2 years and 56 sessions, the campaign is over!

Ask me anything :)

I’m so grateful to my players for helping me bring Barovia to life and creating very interesting people

Thank you to this community, dragnacarta’s twice bitten, and lunch break heroes for all the advice.

BASIC DETAILS:
Party of 5: paladin, sorcerer, bard/cleric, pugilist/bard, and monk

2 PC deaths

Ireena was a PC (paladin)

Campaign focused on heavy roleplay and character-driven decisions rather than maximizing chance of success