Strahd (Vampire from Ravenloft) has dominated my PC party. Help?

[Elvencloud]

Strahd, the BBEG of Ravenloft, has successfully dominated my players' characters. Three out of the four PC's are under his mind control, and I want to send them as his minions on a separate mission.

At the beginning of Ravenloft, there's a fortune telling- he's constructing an artifact of darkness, one that will allow him to walk in sunlight without any issue, and protect him from good aligned spells and creatures. In order to complete it, he needs a black opal, one of significant value.

Any ideas of where I can send them to retrieve it? A dragon horde, perhaps?

Party is fifth level, and this is the perfect opportunity to level them up a bit before they come back and slay their "master". What is a vampire's enemy that won't cause my party to lose their good alignments?

[ZamielVanWeber]

A lot actually. Evil tends not to be team friendly if it isn't LE and LE organizations are perfectly capable of working against each other. A hag coven (try to pick some unusual hags to surprise PCs) can be a decently long time to fight, since you need to cut through their evil giant allies first. Advance the hags and have the work up to defeating the coven and stealing the opals they have been hoarding for the sole purpose of messing with Strahd's plan.

[Honest Tiefling]

Presumably somewhere along the line, they're going to break free of this control to murderilate the vamp. But as you don't want them to kill some good aligned people, so what if a group of good aligned people aren't the ones they are sent after, but stumble upon the party?

Depending on the flavor of mind control, they might not need to bother with anything other then their target as directed. Or if the mind control is more rigid, Strahd probably doesn't want collateral damage so even MORE people show up on his doorstep or becoming aware of his plans. Hrm, a vampire attacks a place known for a black opal, I wonder...

I don't know the setting, but Mistipedia lists a bunch of enemies for him, including the Lich Azalin Rex and his own Grandneice. One of those in a stronghold (or a lieutenant) might be a nice nod to the setting, and give plenty of minions to wade through for the levels needed...Or as a twist, be given power by an enemy of Strahd's just to kill him.

[NevinPL]

Well, onyxes by default are used in creating undead, so make them "acquire" it from a necromancer\undead (undead necromancer is fine too).
Could be one of counts (ex)allies who rejected his "offer he can't refuse", and he wants deniability. During the quest the unaffected member of the party learns about vampire domination, puts two and two together, which helps him free the others.

Or if you don't want to tax their delicate sensibilities, you could come up with almost anybody evil. Like it was said - evil doesn't really stick with evil.

[DrKerosene]

Well, onyxes by default are used in creating undead, so make them "acquire" it from a necromancer\undead (undead necromancer is fine too).
Could be one of counts (ex)allies who rejected his "offer he can't refuse", and he wants deniability. During the quest the unaffected member of the party learns about vampire domination, puts two and two together, which helps him free the others.

Or if you don't want to tax their delicate sensibilities, you could come up with almost anybody evil. Like it was said - evil doesn't really stick with evil.

There is a Dragon Mag that elaborates on the region of Sithicus. Lord Soth was a potent enough necromancer than he could give others the ability to animate dead without cost (according to the fluff for the dwarf werebadger Azreal Dax).

I wouldn't be surprised if the ruins of Nedragaard Keep still has treasure, including an opal of immense value. Possible complications are caused by the ruined Keep no longer having a bridge over the Great Chasm, which is expected to be home to the real Dark Lord of Sithicus, and other shadowy abominations. However, there appears to be a white knight version of Lord Soth (who walks across a spectral bridge from the Keep) that may be very inclined to really help the PCs (you know, with fixin' the mind control).

[daremetoidareyo]

strahd has a longterm melodrama between himself and a lost love that belonged to the travelling Roma that live in his domain. This quest for the onyx should totally have the PCs cross by yet another re-incarnation of this woman. Maybe she could help dispel the domination?

The idea of the onyx belonging to a coven of hags is a nice one.

[Velaryon]

Stealing from a rival necromancer is still a good possibility. Strahd is a canny foe with several centuries of experience, so he would definitely rather send catspaws to mess with his rival than go after another necromancer himself. If he went after his rival directly, he would be at a disadvantage since his opponent (and minions) are likely immune to the vampire's dominating gaze and the necromancer would have a good idea what he's capable of and what his weaknesses are.

Are you running the adventure set in the full Ravenloft campaign setting, or are you using the adventure module as part of a different game world? I would answer differently based on which way you are using Ravenloft.

If you're using the Ravenloft world: My first suggestion is to have him send the party to steal it from Azalin Rex. Azalin is the wizard king of the land of Darkon, though most of the populace there doesn't know he's a lich. He and Strahd hate each other, so sending dominated adventurers to steal from and generally annoy Azalin is a thing that Strahd should do. Plus, due to the nature of how that world works, Strahd and Azalin are never able to confront each other face to face because they're unable to pass the borders of their own lands, so they have to fight each other through proxies.

If you're not using the full Ravenloft campaign setting, and have taken the route of plunking Barovia, Castle Ravenloft, etc. into whichever world you're using, then Azalin isn't really there (unless you add him, I suppose). You'd probably not want to use a lich with lower level characters, but the necromancer idea is still a good one.

[atemu1234]

If you're being dominated by that level opponent, your DM probably has plans for you to do something. It's a little bit railroady, though, tbh.

[Psyren]

Y'all don't have 1st-level spells?

And yes, this is likely a (rather railroady) plot hook.

[morkendi]

Protection from evil would be a spell every caster would put on his list every day in that setting. Even evil casters would use it to protect them from other evil things. It should be standard operating procedure, especially at 5th level. First time it is cast interrupts the domination.

[Ruethgar]

I find it odd that he can't afford a level one spell to protect himself from the sun.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

I think this counter monkey (http://spoonyexperiment.com/counter-monkey/counter-monkey-die-hero-die-long-enough-see-become-villain/), on a paladin cajoled into working for Strahd is relevant in this case.

[Inevitability]

Well, you probably have to do something he can't do himself, which means it is probably related to his vampiric weaknesses.

Maybe there's this almost-abandoned castle he cannot enter because the few remaining residents never show themselves? The residents themselves could range from evil necromancers to holy priests.

Are there any seas in Ravenloft? The gem might be located on an island.

[ZamielVanWeber]

I find it odd that he can't afford a level one spell to protect himself from the sun.

Spells can be dispelled. Artifacts can only be disjointed and at risk to the caster.