Running Curse of Strahd

[Pictogram]

Hey all, i'm about to run a roll20 run through of CoS and i'm looking for any advice or hints on it. Let me know of any grievous mistakes or anything super helpful that happened from your experience. I know this isn't the recruitment section, lol, but i am looking for one extra players as well, so if you want to play DM me.

[Cespenar]

Hey all, i'm about to run a roll20 run through of CoS and i'm looking for any advice or hints on it. Let me know of any grievous mistakes or anything super helpful that happened from your experience. I know this isn't the recruitment section, lol, but i am looking for one extra players as well, so if you want to play DM me.

-Death House is extremely deadly and optional.
-Thinking ahead about Strahd's behaviour, reaction to events, and overall plans is pretty important.
-Building up the atmosphere is also of pretty high importance.

[ProsecutorGodot]

At the start of this year I made a thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?546235-I-m-about-to-run-Curse-of-Strahd) just like this one. My game currently has the party at level 8 and I'm expecting them to storm the castle in 2-3 sessions.

The advice I got has been invaluable and I think it covers most bases.

[PaxZRake]

I found this to be super helpful:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/4hkmut/modules_what_i_have_learned_from_running_curse_of/

[Kish]

Shouldn't potential players in a game you're running want you to DM them, not the other way around?

[Spiderguy24]

I am also going to be running this with my group, and here are some of my suggestions.

-Don't pull the same trick twice when having the group encounter Strahd. The man is a tactician and manipulator as well as a fighter. Get him to try and turn the group against each other.

-Look up extra outdoor encounters to use. You can find plenty to keep the game fresh and creepy. There is one where a player suddenly finds themselves buried in a coffin next to a zombie.

-Have Madam Eva know about their past deeds or even their origins. This will help to draw in the players and get them invested in the story.

-Don't explain everything. Not every supernatural occurrence has a rational explanation. Even if a player rolls really high on an arcana check or similar check on something creepy they find (Hanged man outside the village for example), tell them that they have no idea what is causing it, or that it is power beyond their own comprehension.

[snowman87]

I started this campaign awhile ago, myself. I struggled at first because it's non-linear and there is just so much for the DM to remember. But it got easier as the players progressed and events became locked in place. Here are some things that have occurred to me so far:
-Remember Strahd's personality and goals. How would he react to all the things the characters do? Who among them would draw his attention most, either out of anger or amusement? Would he seduce them, trick them or hurt them?
-Make the consequences for their actions real. My players killed Izek Strazni in Vallaki but left, having done nothing else, really. This meant that Lady Wahcter took over the town and killed the Burgomaster, openly allying with Strahd.
-Strahd is spying on them often. Keep track of what he learns and think of how he would use it. Do the adventurers like a particular NPC? Let Strahd use that NPC as a hostage or kill them as a warning, or convert them into a vampire spawn to further torment them!
-Don't coddle your players. Running away is a legitimate tactic and you should emphasize that. Plus, you'd be surprised how much they can handle.
-Try to determine when Strahd would shift from thinking of them merely as amusements to real threats to his power. What would he start doing differently. The book is very vague about this so get creative.
-Don't forget to play up the creepy atmosphere. I did for the first couple of sessions and it felt too bland. It's a horror campaign. Make them afraid!
That's all I can think of at the moment. Good luck!
EDIT: Oh yeah! Try to think of how you might include your players' backstories in some how! Mine all crafted something distinct so I made little events occur to recognize what would be significant to them.

[Ganymede]

Be aware that Strahd really isn't that tough on his own, especially against level nine characters with powerful magical items.

I'm beefing up Strahd by letting him wear a Helmed Horror as a suit of armor that pops off and acts independently once it takes enough damage.


Also, work hard to ensure the players help with supporting the overall horror theme/tone. Make sure you have a buy-in from them.

[snowman87]

I concur. He has a household full of vampire spawn, zombies, and animated armors. He would have help in a final conflict.

[Corsair14]

I haven't read CoS, does it allow PCs to go to any of the the other Lands of Dread or are they stuck in Barovia? Does the 5e rules follow that summoned minions like familiars and such have a dark bent constantly pushing their master to be number one no matter the cost?

[ProsecutorGodot]

I haven't read CoS, does it allow PCs to go to any of the the other Lands of Dread or are they stuck in Barovia? Does the 5e rules follow that summoned minions like familiars and such have a dark bent constantly pushing their master to be number one no matter the cost?

Spells that move you across planes have no effect, spells that create an extraplanar space (Rope Trick, Tiny Hut and the like) still function properly except for the fact that they are still limited in that you cannot travel across planes from them. You are trapped in Barovia as long as Strahd rules over it.

Optional effects include: Spells that summon minion creatures can be altered at the DM's discretion, Find Steed and Find Familiar can instead summon an undead variant. Telepathic Bonding gives the two speaking a sense of being eavesdropped on, Alarm is changed to be a scream rather than a bell.

Barovia is a dark place and even magic isn't safe from it's influence.

[Corsair14]

No I meant the other lands of Dread like Darken or any of the ones that border Barovia, or Sithicus, the Sea of Nightmares and all the other many lands of Ravenloft. I am aware there are very few ways out of the Lands of Dread and some as Soth discovered aren't exactly even remotely safe.

Yeah one of my favorite parts of RL were the companions like familiars and pets. Even good ones had a tendency to push their masters to reach higher regardless of the cost and would act independently to achieve these goals for their Masters without his or her approval. Assassin Imps were one of my favorite familiars.

[SirGraystone]

No I meant the other lands of Dread like Darken or any of the ones that border Barovia, or Sithicus, the Sea of Nightmares and all the other many lands of Ravenloft. I am aware there are very few ways out of the Lands of Dread and some as Soth discovered aren't exactly even remotely safe.


No, there's only Barovia.

[ProsecutorGodot]

No I meant the other lands of Dread like Darken or any of the ones that border Barovia, or Sithicus, the Sea of Nightmares and all the other many lands of Ravenloft. I am aware there are very few ways out of the Lands of Dread and some as Soth discovered aren't exactly even remotely safe.
The mists form the boundary for the realm that houses Barovia, travelling out of the mists is impossible without Strahd's say so and everything on the other side of the mist is considered a different plane. The Shadowfell itself is considered a different plane due to how demiplanes are defined. There are several realms that make of the whole of the Demiplane of Dread and travel between them is all but impossible because of the Dark Power that uses those realms as a prison for tortured souls.

It's like a weird planar sandwich.

[Corsair14]

While the dark lords have always been able to close off their borders with the mists and/or other mystical means they typically rarely do so seeing as it inhibits trade, although that only really matters to the dark lords of the core. Some Dark Lords don't care at all and as the ones actually imprisoned in Ravenloft by the dark powers that be, constantly try and get out or simply brood in their castles/mansions/asylums and let the mostly artificial inhabitants of the land run it, in fact very few dark lords(there are exceptions) really pay much attention to those who live in their lands. Remember that to the average villager, the world is the normal and most normal people will never see an act of magic or supernatural creature, but they all just "know" they exist, but mostly as superstition.

I say artificial because its canon that when a realm is created, so are the people and they carry on as if they were born there and life has been there for centuries. Black Crusade is a great read if you can find it.

I am surprised with a book as big as CoS that they didn't go more in depth to the demi-plane of RL and expand at least a little on the other lands that compose it, at least with a page or two. I guess I will pass on ever getting and running this one with as little info as it to seems to give, compared to whats out there already in other sources.

The only tortured souls are the Dark Lords themselves that are imprisoned there for their mistakes in the real world. Lord Soth and one other Dark Lord managed to get out although Sithicus remains as a realm without a lord. That Napoleon complex were-badger/dwarf is doing a pretty good job of running the place with a firm hand though, but lacks the tragic evil to be a lord like the other Lords have by simply being inherently evil instead of choosing it.

[SirGraystone]

A few advice:

On the card reading, first I picked which areas I wanted the group to visit, then choose the cards for those locations. The players rolled dice for the drawing that I secretly ignored.

There's several possible hook for the campaign, I used "Werewolves in the Mist" which let them start with silver weapons so they had a chance to survive the "Old Bonegrinder". Once they got to the Vistani camp, I told them Stanimir's story from "The Dancing fire" hook, just because I liked the story.

Make sure the read the part about Marks of Horror and use them.

[SirGraystone]

Curse of Strahd is a 5e adaptation of the original I6 Ravenloft, while I6 only had the village of Barovia and the castle, the new Barovia has been expanded with many more locations. There's no talk of it being a domain or demi-plane, it's simply a land from somewhere lost in the fog. All the rest from the dozens of books wrote about in the Ravenloft line of products doesn't officially exist in 5e.

If you are looking for a gothic horror campaign from level 1 to 10 this is a great product, if you want a sourcebook on the many domains from 3rd edition this is not for you.

[ProsecutorGodot]

Curse of Strahd is a 5e adaptation of the original I6 Ravenloft, while I6 only had the village of Barovia and the castle, the new Barovia has been expanded with many more locations. There's no talk of it being a domain or demi-plane, it's simply a land from somewhere lost in the fog. All the rest from the dozens of books wrote about in the Ravenloft line of products doesn't officially exist in 5e.

If you are looking for a gothic horror campaign from level 1 to 10 this is a great product, if you want a sourcebook on the many domains from 3rd edition this is not for you.

Chapter 1:Into the Mists, The Vampires History:

After slaughtering the guards, Strahd saw the faces of his father and mother in the thunderclouds, looking down upon him and judging him. He had destroyed the family bloodline and doomed all of Barovia. The castle and the valley were spirited away, locked in a demiplane surrounded on all sides by deadly fog. For Strahd and his people, there would be no escape.

I'd give you a page for reference but I only own a digital copy.

[Corsair14]

2nd actually but I get your point. Fluff from those editions still works fine so its still fairly easy to port to 5th and someone already did a RL 5e Monstrous Compendium on DMs guild that is excellent.

A quick run down for anyone who wasn't from the older editions of Ravenloft, RL is a demi-plane and Barovia is just one of many lands bordered by mists that can be opened or closed by that realm's master who in turn can never pass through the wall. The plane itself is run by mysterious entities known as the Dark Powers who find tragically evil people who choose to be truly evil(not born that way) and imprison them in these lands like Strahd in Barovia and Lord Soth from Dragonlance in Sithicus. The lands run the gamut of technology levels from the stone age to the age of steam, it never fully explains why tech never really develops in the undeveloped areas through trade. There is even several Asian lands, a land from Dark Sun, a land that is essentially New Orleans, and a very inhospitable place run by mind flayers which include mind flayer vampires. The Powers are completely unknowns and never really get explained, you never interact with them, you just assume they are behind everything. No real clue why they grab adventurers, townsfolk, and ever a Crusader(Black Crusade) and inject them into seemingly random lands. Vistani are the only ones who have free reign to go wherever they want for the most part. Natives aren't aware there is anything out of the ordinary and for the most part live their lives like any other people on the other worlds although a bit more insular. Some of the lands have no populations at all, and at least one is totally made up of the undead who don't know they are undead. I highly recommend looking up info on Ravenloft, it is easily one of the richest and most unique campaign worlds ever made for Dungeons and Dragons and makes for awesome reading.

Beware smoking hot red heads at the tavern who seem interested in you....