Conjure Specter. Set in the Ravenloft campaign setting, the module revolves around the vampire Strahd von Zarovich and the Demiplane of Dread that serves as his prison. This official /r/CurseOfStrahd YouTube channel will be used to store many . What happens in Curse of Strahd if the players destroy Strahd's coffin or prevent him from returning to it? As always, be prepared to tune your preparations to the needs, skills, and expectations of your playersand above all else, make sure that you and your players have fun. If you use this option, leave Strahds CR unchanged. Use this option if you want to provide your players with a simple, traditional boss fight. Use this option if you want to allow Strahd to fight at full strength while within sunlight (i.e., by inflicting the blinded condition against PCs who refuse to look at him) and increase his survivability against damaging attacks and vision-based spells (e.g., hold monster). [6] This module is the first released with the publisher's new focus on diversity and inclusion. You can read our full guide to Strahds history, his personality, and how to run him at the table HERE. Kill, some day, but not today. Curse of Strahd. These include changes like undead familiars and steeds as well as alarm screams and ominous telepathic eavesdropping. Strahd casts the polymorph spell to turn a PC or NPC into a sperm whale (see Rime of the Frostmaiden, p. 309) or killer whale. Id recommendat the leastencouraging your players to long rest. It is intended for 4 players, taking them from level 1 to 10. Bite. Use this option if you want to give your players a clear opportunity to easily kill Strahd with massive damage and/or grapple attempts without giving him an opportunity to react. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? The more details or "clues" you hand out, the more they want to know what is happening. So this is kind of filling in middle space between what they would normally do and what we would normally sell". Which was the first Sci-Fi story to predict obnoxious "robo calls"? In this encounter, Strahds effective CR is 5the minimummeaning that a party of 5th-level PCs attuned to the Sunsword and Holy Symbol will likely face a challenging, resource-intensive final encounter. It's not necessary to copy it word-for-word to explain how it solves the problem. If you use this option and expect your players to make strategic use of such tactics, leave Strahds default CR unchanged if employing No Phasing and reduce Strahds default CR to 7 otherwise. It was released on March 15, 2016 and is based on the Ravenloft module published in 1983. It's fairly easy to tweak encounters, although as a warning it is also not too hard for the PCs to wander off-track and bite off more than they can chew! The events of this module are referenced in the novel Death Masks by Ed Greenwood. You can see more Curse of Strahd resources and commentary by following me on Twitter. Then, because the woman he wanted to creepily possess fell in love with his younger (well-adjusted) brother, he murdered his brother, chased his beloved Tatyana off a 1,000-foot cliff, and made a pact with the mysterious Dark Powers to become the unholy terror he is today. Defenestration. Would love to hear some ideas. Looking at the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind's description in Appendix C (p. 222), it looks like something that a group of adventures wanting to take down a powerful vampire would want to have. Fireball. Curse Of Strahd mentions the dark powers and vestiges a little in the Amber temple. Use this option if you want to incapacitate an isolated, low-Wisdom PC or NPC for easy transport to the dungeons. Before running the hook, establish who the player characters are and how/if they know each other in their initial setting. Use this option if you want to keep the fight short and sweet, with minimal disruptions or slowdowns. Some things to keep in mind to make this work well: (*) I roll my dice in the open (when I can), my players know my monsters may kill the characters and I don't fudge the die for or against them. Just in case someone or something tries to push them down the stairs. I'm looking for more ideas for bosses or minibosses to sprinkle through Barovia. Barovia is an ironic twist of Strahds desires where the people and land itself act out an endless cycle of despair and horror, and by defeating Strahd they may only save Barovia for a short period of time. This module was designed to be inserted into the main Curse of Strahd campaign, in the centralized town of Vallaki. This scenario most closely resembles that run by novice DMs encountering Strahds statblock for the first time. The random nature of the location of magical items in the module also can make some encounters much harder or easier. This article is for first-time Curse of Strahd dungeon masters to act as a sort of Barovia for Beginners to help you build immersion and enable fun for your players in Ravenloft. This is the whole point of an XP system: to make that a little easier to deal with. Only the howling of the wind fills the midnight air. There are four possible adventure hooks designed to draw your players into the mists. Why don't we use the 7805 for car phone chargers? Curse of Strahd runs to level 10, but if you level your characters every time the texts suggest you do (typically at the end of a chapter), theyll be massively overleveled for the titular villain and climactic end of adventure fight. Adventurers are mysteriously drawn to the realm of Barovia which is surrounded by deadly fog and ruled by the vampire wizard Strahd von Zarovich. The short version is that he was a mortal warlord who murdered an entire valley full of people because of his unresolved daddy issues. It should also be noted - I gave them as much warning as possible prior to the encounters, noting the ominous feelings, and a number of other things to give them every chance. Curse of Strahd is an adventure module for the 5 th -edition of Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast in 2016. Use of this option does not change Strahds CR. Why are players required to record the moves in World Championship Classical games? By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. In this encounter, Strahds effective CR is 9, meaning that a party of 9th-level PCs attuned to the Sunsword and Holy Symbol will likely face a challenging, resource-intensive final encounter. The coffin maker (at least under my interpretation) is being kept as an unwilling servant/hostage of these vampires. I'm looking for more ideas for bosses or minibosses to sprinkle through Barovia. If a PC taunts Strahd specifically regarding Sergei, King Barov, Queen Ravenovia, or Tatyana, Strahd prioritizes that PCs injury or death above other competing targets. Use this option if you want to provide your players with a multi-stage boss fight that artificially inflates Strahd's hit points, providing for a longer, more satisfying finale that ends as soon as the PCs successfully grapple or incapacitate him. Strahd uses his Bite attack while he has a PC grappled. The r/CurseOfStrahd subreddit is a community-based resource aimed to help Dungeon Masters run their Curse of Strahd games. Like so many RPG video game sandboxes, the mists surrounding Barovia act as a warning: leaving the playable area that limits the narrative of the game, but they are especially unique in one regard: they act as both barrier and catalyst for adventure. Why does the narrative change back and forth between "Isabella" and "Mrs. John Knightley" to refer to Emma's sister? Welcome to the orphanage. Strahd brings a grappled or incapacitated character to the dungeons, knocks them unconscious, and restrains and imprisons them within a cell after confiscating their weapons and other equipment. The story is set in the pocket dimension of Barovia, a nightmarish domain of dread ruled by a powerful vampire: Count Strahd Von Zarovich. Use this option if your players appear uninterested in using Strahds history against him. Hit-and-Run Phasing. Icovered the Tarokka reading in another article, but it solidifies the structure of your Curse of Strahd campaign from here, and in short, my advice is: rig it. Curse of Strahd is an adventure book for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Open/Unlock Doors and Windows. I completely agree with @ShadowKras. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. It was a rocky start but I had a blast and now, the better part of a decade later, I play, write, and write about tabletop RPGs (mostly5e, but also PBtA, Forged in the Dark and OSR) games for a living, which iswild. The master of Castle Ravenloft is having guests for dinner, Adrian Martikov Alenka Alexei Amalthia Anastrasya Karelova Angrath Woodwise Anna Krezkov Arabelle Ariel du Plumette Arik Lorensk Arrigal Aziana Baba Lysaga Bella Sunbane Beucephalus Bianca Bildrath Cantemir Bluto Krogarov Bray Martikova Brom Martikova Carlon Amoffel Clovin Belview Cyrus Belview Dag Tomescu Damia Danika Dorakova Davanka Davian Martikov Davra Jassur Dmitri Krezkov Donavich Doru Elvir Martikov Emil Toranescu Endorovich Eravien Haund Ernst Larnak Escher Exethanter Ezmerelda d'Avenir Fiona Wachter Freek Gadof Blinsky Gertruda Godfrey Gwilym Gunther Arasek Haliq Helga Ruvak Henrik van der Voort Ireena Kolyana Ismark Kolyanovich Izek Strazni Karl Wachter Kasimir Velikov Kellen Kiril Stoyanovich Klutz Tripalotsky Kolya Kolyan Indirovich Kretyana Dolof Lanniver Strayl Lars Kjurls Lazlo Ulrich Lief Lipsiege Lucian Jarov Lucian Petrovich Ludmilla Vilisevic Luvash Lydia Pertrovna Mad Mary Madalena Madam Eva Majesto Marzena Belview Milivoj Mirabel Mishka Belview Mordenkainen Morgantha Morwen Daggerford Muriel Vinshaw Myrtle Neferon Nikolai Wachter Norganas Offalia Wormwiggle Otto Belview Parpol Cantemir Patrina Velikovna Piccolo Pidlwick II Rahadin Ratka Rudolph van Richten Sangzor Savid Sasha Ivliskova Selvek Serelim Skennis Sorvia Strahd von Zarovich Stefania Martikov Stella Wachter Stanimir Szoldar Szoldarovich Udo Lukovich Urwin Martikov Vargas Vallakovich Varushka Vasilka Victor Vallakovich Vilnius Vladimir Horngaard Volenta Popofsky Wencensia Wintersplinter Yelena Arasek Yeska Yevgeni Krushkin Zelraun Roaringhorn Zuleika Toranescu Zygfrek Belview, Animated object Arcanaloth Baboon Banshee Bat Barovian Black pudding Blue dragon Cat Clay golem Crawling claw Death slaad Deer Deva Dire wolf Dretch Elf Flameskull Flesh golem Gargoyle Ghast Ghoul Ghost Giant goat Giant spider Goat Gray ooze Grick Hell hound Horse Human Imp Invisible stalker Iron golem Lich Mongrelfolk Needle blight Night hag Nightmare Nothic Phantom Quasit Rat Raven Red dragon Revenant Roc Saber-toothed tiger Scarecrow Shadow Shadow demon Shambling mound Shield guardian Skeleton Smoke mephit Spectre Strahd's animated armor Stirge Stone golem Toad Tree blight Troglodyte Twig blight Vampire Vampire spawn Vine blight Vistani Vrock Wereraven Werewolf Wight Will-o'-wisp Wolf Wraith Zombie. If you use this option, increase Strahds CR by 2 for each PC with a Wisdom saving throw modifier of +2 or less. Both the possibilities and the choices are out of the DM's control, resulting in a process akin more to guiding a passenger boat down a stream. So, Strahd has Polymorph. One thing I have noticed is that the challenge ratings seem very high for certain encounters. Here is a hint: If you DON'T want your players to investigate something, do not describe it in details. and our The Dark Powers delight in tormenting villains as much as they do innocents, the Mists equally confound both predators and prey, and Darklords frequently exhibit hubris or other exploitable flaws. Once in Barovia, the PCs are free to explore the entire region in search of aid in their battle against Strahd as well as several powerful relics strewn throughout the land. Why did US v. Assange skip the court of appeal? The module contains everything you need to run Curse of Strahd. I realized later one of the other problems is a lot of the "warnings" are probably just waived off as flavor text, considering the campaign setting. Is Curse of Strahd really hard, or am I DMing it wrong? We did want to make sure that if Beadle and Grimm [a company that specializes in high-end D&D box sets like this one or this one] [sic], for instance, were doing their own version of it, we wouldn't eventually be duplicating what they would do. Thats good advice - I'v been slowly working through the book to make sure I get all the connections correct. What happens to Sergei and Ireena after Curse of Strahd? The Dark Powers are formidable entities that, even restrained in the Amber Temple, still influence the world around them. Weaving queer plotlines into D&D games is not hard to do. After all: their ally or an artifact may be very nearby! It is intended for 4 players, taking them from level 1 to 10. Locations in Barovia include. 1-10. And in fact - both encounters gave them the opportunity to back out prior to the combat, and the option to run away when they realized how hard the fights would be. Is there such a thing as "right to be heard" by the authorities? I'm having the same issue. Curse of Strahd Adventure Summary and Contents, Four Random Tables To Improve Your Next DnD Campaign, Mousefolk Playable Race in DnD 5e: Homebrew Lineage Guide, Feinting Attack - DnD 5e Battle Master Maneuver Guide, Lost Mine of Phandelver DnD 5e Starter Set Adventure Guide, Tales From the Yawning Portal DnD 5e Summary and Guide. If possible, Strahd never begins or ends his turn within 60 feet of the wielder of the Sunsword. What would stop him from turning into a T-Rex 4 times before actually taking on the party in his true form? Curse of Strahd is an adventure module for the 5th-edition of Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast in 2016. In keeping with the logical structure of the original campaign, Curse of Strahd also finds countless ways to intertwine the larger themes of the campaign into its side adventures. Polymorph (Sperm Whale or Killer Whale). Wiki Le Monde des Royaumes Oublis (French), The Blade of Truth: The Uses of Logic in the War Against Diabolist Heresies, as Fought by the Ulmist Inquisition, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. If run deficiently, Strahds CR effectively craters to 5; if run optimally, his CR easily surmounts 20. They survived by sheer luck since I rolled poorly on attack rolls. Dont forget cosmetic spell modifications (outlined in chapter 2). Curse of Strahd, one of the most popular Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game products of all time, split into three parts: a 224-page perfect-bound adventure for characters of levels 1-10, a 20-page Creatures of Horror booklet of new monsters that appear in the adventure, and an 8-page Tarokka Deck booklet. Use this option if you want to separate the character from their allies and tax their health and/or resources before they can reunite with the others. If you choose this option, set Strahds default CR to 8 if Strahd expects to retreat upon taking damage he is unable to fully regenerate, and set Strahds CR to 6 if not. None. [15], In a review of Curse of Strahd in Black Gate, Andrew Zimmerman Jones said "Curse of Strahd is really a mix of setting manual and adventure module in one, with a storyline that is extremely open-ended, with endings that (assuming the players survive) allow for continued adventures centered around the consequences of the players' actions in Castle Ravenloft. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! Vengeful. Curse of Strahd is an adventure book for D&D 5e that is heavily inspired by gothic and pulp horror. In Curse of Strahd, as part of the Tarokka card reading, the party are told the locations of three "treasures"; the Sunsword, the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, and the Tome of Strahd.. Curse of Strahd is a fairly free-form adventure where the characters are drawn into Barovia and must defeat Strahd to . Knowing a few of my players had been through it before, I dec. They tend to go [] in the hundreds of dollars. They haven't yet been to the werewolf cave, the Amber Temple, Ravenloft, or Yester Hill. But Curse of Strahd also involves plenty of exploration and and social interaction, so Bards, Druids, Paladins, Rangers, Rogues, Purple Dragon Knight Fighters, Samurai Fighters, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and anyone with the Prodigy feat can be huge assets outside of combat too. Curse of Strahd has a specific leveling style all its own. In this scenario, Strahd fights like a hit-and-run guerilla, slowly wearing the partys resources down until he is either successfully grappled or somehow incapacitated. Note that the use of a Lair Action other than phasing can allow your players to restrain and/or kill Strahd within 1-2 rounds unless he has a clear escape route and ample distance (60-90 feet) separating him from the majority of the party. Instead, they separated, two distracted the coffin maker, whilst the remainder broke into his house. The specter and the animated armor might seem obvious threats, but the shadows that surround characters, the ghouls in maze-like corridors, the mimic door that prevents escape, and the ghasts guarding needed supplies are even more deadly. Creeping Fog is perhaps the easiest lead into Death House if you deposit your player characters near the village of Barovia, but also the least ceremonious. Reading it you get the impression that the adventure without extra pre-work anticipates a leveling structure based on milestones. Note that each strategy assumes that, before preparing for combat, Strahd uses his phasing ability and/or legendary actions to retreat, waits at least one minute, and attacks again only once the PCs have left initiative. The result was a torrent of ideas for new locations, characters and encounters". Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs. Sure, it's horror, and sandboxed, but if the answer to almost anything the characters can do or encounter when they start the campaign is, "just run away," it's not much of a story. The material components in her summoning spell are an oat milk latte and a high fantasy novel. Hide Action. There was not much room for exploring, they simply followed the road and noted that this was one of the places they were recommended to visit. +1 for that's how sandbox works - this is teaching a whole new generation of gamers they gotta play smart and recon and not bite off more than they can chew. Use of this option does not change Strahds CR. So far, the "bosses" they've fought have been Baba Lysaga, a suped alpha werewolf, and a beast at the Abbey of Saint Markovia I shamelessly stole from Bloodborne. Ashton Duncan started as a Roll20 content conversion contractor with Curse of Strahd five years ago and is now a product manager. Imprisonment. Perhaps if they run into a bad area again I'll pull in some other outside factors to help keep them aware. Curse of Strahd Unravel the mysteries of Ravenloft in this dread adventure for the world's greatest roleplaying game. By using a legendary action to make an unarmed strike instead of moving, for example, Strahd may gain additional damage or a grapple effect against a target, but he is simultaneously sacrificing additional mobility, survivability, and tactical advantage. [] While modifications do fix things like the stereotyping of the Vistani people as 'uncivilized' and heavy drinkers, the module still gives the Vistani abilities to curse and hypnotize players or cast spells like Evil Eye, which, along with unrevised art that heavily conjures stereotyped imagery of the Romani, leans into tropes that suggest the Romani have mystical, dangerous powers, tropes that have been used in the past to target Romani for persecution". Your players likely know to expect monsters and adventure from their Dungeons & Dragons games, but Barovia provides a suspenseful atmosphere for your players to immerse themselves in. And instead of relying on stereotypes or fixating on their sexuality, these characters fleshed-out backstories make them people, not icons". Jeremy Crawford, Laura Hickman, Tracy Hickman, Adam Lee, Christopher Perkins, Richard Whitters. Now, I realize there was some obvious deficiencies on these monsters that make them slightly easier in general - for instance the first boss fight, they could have easily kited him around the room and never given it the chance to attack (his movement was only 20ft per round). If you use this option, leave Strahds CR unchanged if you are employing Cant Use Charm (see above) and not employing Hide Action (see below), and increase Strahds CR by 1 if not. How could the Awaken spell be cast on highly intelligent plants and beasts? Why refined oil is cheaper than cold press oil? Although the ZIP files are now outdated (I have released . and our Use this option if you want to allow Strahd to isolate a grappled PC or keep Strahd away from sources.of sunlight, out of sight of hostile spellcasters, and/or out of range of hostile melee enemies. (Note that, if swallowed by the sperm whale, Strahd has protection from sunlight and can escape through the blowhole by changing into mist). This adventure module is designed to take four to six player characters from 1st level to 10th level. Close/Lock Doors and Windows. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. A place to discuss the latest version of Dungeons and Dragons, the fifth edition, known during the playtest as D&D Next. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Is this homebrew variant of Leomund's Tiny Hut a problem? Make sure to give . Petty. Horizontal and vertical centering in xltabular. The following options refer to Strahds use of his phasing lair action, which permits him to temporarily pass through the solid walls, doors, ceilings, and floors of Castle Ravenloft as if they werent there. If you use this option, leave Strahds CR unchanged. Strahd uses his lair action to close and lock one or more doors and windows. Curse of Strahd is an amazing fantasy-horror D&D 5e campaign set in the demiplane of Barovia which is ruled by the legendary vampire Strahd von Zarovich. Which ability is most related to insanity: Wisdom, Charisma, Constitution, or Intelligence? They did gain two levels after defeating the hags and securing the sword. What's a reasonable Green Hag Coven encounter for a party of 3 level 8 PCs? Curse of Strahd was the first project I worked on as a Roll20 content conversion contractor in 2017 and the first Wizards of the Coast storyline I ever played (my ranger survived Death House in a particularly cutthroat way), so its a sentimental storyline for me. Strahd is a bit problematic as a boss because his optimal combat style, while quite dangerous, is generally frustrating instead of fun; just sneak up on the party (Stealth +14), fight for one or two rounds, then use Lair Action (pass . As such, Dungeon Masters running Curse of Strahd are often encouraged to modify Strahds statblock to increase his offensive and defensive capabilities. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Friendly Reminder: You can get 140+ pages of Curse of Strahd guides for free! Strahd is the Darklord whose dominion is Barovia, but beyond him are the Dark Powers, the omnipotent and immortal beings that control the Mists of Ravenloft and all of the Domains of Dread, each housing its own horrible Darklord. Strahd fails to use his Charm ability, either because the players have the Icon of Ravenloft, the party includes a Paladin with the Oath of Devotion, or the DM has chosen not to use the ability. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. [] Every adventure since Curse of Strahd has included one or several queer characters, and Crawford assured Kotaku that this will be a constant into future adventures []. The module also includes the Tarokka card decks using the Roll20 interface to shuffle and deal, as well as the deck of illusions, which appears in the adventure. It then attacked them back. At least one character is capable of casting wall of force to imprison Strahd and does so successfully on the first round of combat. [8] Beadle & Grimm, a Wizards of the Coast licensee, released a limited run special "Legendary Edition" which included physical props for the Dungeon Master to use such as handouts, maps, props and encounter cards. Strahd casts mirror image before entering combat. Set in the Ravenloft campaign setting, the module revolves around the vampire Strahd von Zarovich and the Demiplane of Dread that serves as his prison. Lured to Barovia by the lands dark master and trapped there by a supernatural mist, the players are forced to travel throughout the realm gaining knowledge and experience before finally confronting the vampire Strahd himself. Strahd casts fog cloud before entering combat. If you use this option, leave Strahds CR unchanged if employing Cant Use Charm (see above), and increase Strahds CR by 1 if not. I've only run it once so far, but that did end in a TPK. The answer would certainly be improve by including an explanation of why it's the solution. Using a deck of tarokka cards, the Dungeon Master can randomize parts of the adventure such as the identity of a powerful ally, the placement of important magic items across Barovia, and Strahd's location within Castle Ravenloft. Therefore, I add some events along the way to give the players a win to get to level 5. An encounter in one of the areas you mentioned resulted in a TPK the first time through. In Curse of Strahd, who's feeding everyone? In Vallaki, the party has the opportunity to run into a nest of vampire spawn whilst investigating a coffin maker's shop.
curse of strahd bosses