Don't go out! You might catch a Strahd

[Lawful Good]

**NO SPOILERS, PLEASE!**
**EDIT 2: Thanks for all the responses! In all likelihood, we won't get near to trapping Strahd. That said, there are some great wacky ideas here, that might just be put to use...:smalltongue:**
**EDIT: Please don't just reply saying "You're going to die." We are aware of that. I made this thread looking for ideas to trap a vampire. Thanks!**



Our group is currently running Curse of Strahd (slightly edited). We are a few sessions in, and are around level 2-3. We are attempting to catch and kill/redeem Strahd (obviously), which is where I need the playground's help. Can you help me figure out a way to set a vampire trap?

Our party composition:

We have three characters:
--An aarakocra light cleric
--A winged tiefling divine soul sorcerer
--An avariel celestial warlock

In addition, each of us has an "animal companion" to help with balance reasons. We have a giant snake, a panther, and a homunculus (as an option for Find Familiar).
An all-flying party??? I know, you're gagging on all the cheese :smallbiggrin:


RESOURCES AVAILABLE:
--We have a houseboat on Lake Zarovich (Which we naturally Strahd-proofed)
--We have access to a geothermal vent which could be used to harness energy at the bottom of the lake
--Access to infinite wealth (hopefully)
--A lot of wolves and wood
--Guns (It's a slightly altered setting using MFoV's excellent Firearm Rules)
--Magic Mouth (I'm hoping to take advantage of the ideas in the Arcane Programming thread from about a week ago somehow)

At this point in the story, we know about Strahd's weakness to sunlight and running/holy water, as well as his Forbiddance trait. We have spoken to Madam Eva and are planning on going to the Amber Temple next session.


We are trying to figure out a way to exploit his weaknesses to trap him as soon as possible. Our working plan is to somehow trap him in a room surrounded by residences that he can't enter, cast Earthbind on him, and dunk him in water/squirt him with water guns filled with holy water (It's a work in progress, alright???)

Is there a way to trap him using these resources? How would you kill a vampire?

TL;DR:
How would you kill Strahd using Forbiddance and a lotta water? Or anything?

Thanks! :smallbiggrin:


EDIT: Yes, its probably a bad idea. To clarify, this is just for fun. We're just looking for ideas that we may or may not use in the future. Thanks!

[1Pirate]

I can't quite get past the fact that you're trying to fight a vampire at level 2-3. Strahd's going to wipe the floor with you no matter what kind of "trap" you set up, unless it involves having a lot of higher level characters fight Strahd for you. I think you need to adventure a bit more because there's some important things you don't seem to know about Strahd yet.

A starting point I suppose is to consider Strahd's legendary resistances. Whatever you use to lure and trap him is going to need to work off of ability checks, not saving throws(so forget using Earthbind unless you can get him to use up his resistances before hand for example).

[Twigwit]

As a DM running Curse of Strahd, and without providing spoilers, that plan is very ill advised. I don't know what would be worse, TPKing to Strahd at level 2 or actually killing him, skipping everything and missing out on the best narrative content published for this edition thus far.

[Lawful Good]

I understand this is DEFINITELY ill advised. Our plan is to continue with the adventure and gain a few levels, but we want to formulate a master plan for taking him down eventually. We just want to see where this takes us.

[Unoriginal]

Strahd might be overconfident and dumb enough to let the PCs roam around to provide his entertainment, he's not dumb enough to just walk somewhere his weaknesses can easily be exploited. If he needs something from somewhere he can't go, he'll just send an horde of minions. Or a few dangerous underlings.

The only way to "trap" Strahd is to be way tougher than lvl 3 and to challenge him inside his Castle, where he's so sure he'll win he'll make mistakes.

[Reversefigure4]

You've listed access to infinite wealth as a resource (which is a very, very weird thing to have in any DnD game, let alone Curse of Strahd). Do you also have limitless access to magical items? There's plenty of things you can buy to effectively boost your level higher.

[sophontteks]

No spoilers?
My sweet summer child...

[Scripten]

Also he's not redeemable, just to say.

As a Strahd DM, I request that this be spoilered, please. Strahd being unredeemable may not be something that the players know, either through being new to D&D/Ravenloft or just by virtue of expecting a "softer" Strahd in 5e. The book specifically recommends playing Strahd such that he takes advantage of anyone trying to redeem him.

[Unoriginal]

[SPOILER=Unoriginal (Don't read this, OP!)]


My bad, I thought it was public knowledge.

[Merudo]

Only three things can prevent the Misty Escape ability: sunlight, running water, and Moon Beam.

There is no natural sun in Barovia and the Lake doesn't qualify as running water. In addition, Strahd is quite unlikely to come near an actual river.

If you don't have access to artificial sunlight or Moon Beam and don't want to enter his lair, your best bet is probably to either (1) lure him near running water by stealing something he cares about so he has to go there, or (2) somehow find a way for running water to appear and surprise him.

The timing on this has to be absolutely perfect or Strahd will just move/fly away from the water.

[Scripten]

My bad, I thought it was public knowledge.

Some (likely many) players might know, but I have at least one in my own Strahd group that doesn't and wants to try. Mostly a case of being careful not to undercut anyone's DMing plans. :)

[sophontteks]

Really can't give advice without spoilers. You'll probably understand when you meet him. You know his weaknesses, but you don't know his strengths.

[ruy343]

So, you know that running water is harmful to vampires, do you? Well, if everything goes to plan, and Strahd is a complete idiot (and vulnerable to traditional vampire weaknesses, which he might not be), then the following might work:


Dig a tunnel under the lake
Lure strahd in
Flood the entire tunnel with water such that there is no way for a gaseous being to escape without passing through water (difficult to ensure, but theoretically possible)
Profit?


Note: assuming this works, and that he's weak to the aforementioned weakness you mentioned, this will kill him, not incapacitate him. That said, I sincerely hope that your DM's version of Strahd is smarter than that.

[Ganymede]

Fighting Strahd at this level is suicide.

Definitely go to the Amber Temple instead. :biggrin:

[Lawful Good]

Thanks for all the great responses so far!



You've listed access to infinite wealth as a resource (which is a very, very weird thing to have in any DnD game, let alone Curse of Strahd). Do you also have limitless access to magical items? There's plenty of things you can buy to effectively boost your level higher.

We don't have "infinite" wealth, we just have access to a lot and know where to get more. The magic item point is good. Hmmm...Daern's Instant Fortress on top of Strahd...


Only three things can prevent the Misty Escape ability: sunlight, running water, and Moon Beam.

There is no natural sun in Barovia and the Lake doesn't qualify as running water. In addition, Strahd is quite unlikely to come near an actual river.

If you don't have access to artificial sunlight or Moon Beam and don't want to enter his lair, your best bet is probably to either (1) lure him near running water by stealing something he cares about so he has to go there, or (2) somehow find a way for running water to appear and surprise him.

The timing on this has to be absolutely perfect or Strahd will just move/fly away from the water.


We do actually have access to sunlight via the light cleric's Channel Divinity (our DM ruled it as sunlight) and we also can learn Daylight as we level up more. Stealing something he cares about is an excellent idea.


So, you know that running water is harmful to vampires, do you? Well, if everything goes to plan, and Strahd is a complete idiot (and vulnerable to traditional vampire weaknesses, which he might not be), then the following might work:


Dig a tunnel under the lake
Lure strahd in
Flood the entire tunnel with water such that there is no way for a gaseous being to escape without passing through water (difficult to ensure, but theoretically possible)
Profit?


Note: assuming this works, and that he's weak to the aforementioned weakness you mentioned, this will kill him, not incapacitate him. That said, I sincerely hope that your DM's version of Strahd is smarter than that.

This is fantastic. We were planning on some sort of "castle sieging" technique involving collapsing the foundations of his castle, but I think this would work better. Our DM is playing Strahd a bit recklessly, harassing us every other night or so outside where we're sleeping, which gave me the idea to trap him in the first place.


We've also taken his (We assume) legendary resistance into account. If anyone in the party dies, they will likely roll a diviner wizard to help with it.

[ProsecutorGodot]

There's a method I came up with after a player told me he wanted to parade Strahd around Valaki after they took him out. I told him there's no conceivable way of doing it and that he should focus on not dying to him before trying to come up with plans to torture him.

But, it got me thinking about it, and I came up with an almost workable plan that you could almost make an argument for.

It's got an almost impossible chance of working, requiring setup and items that you might not have access to at all in Barovia and takes a DM's approval on exactly how much they're willing to bend the rules and their patience. It also requires Strahd to be an absolute moron, which he might be with how people misinterpret his "toying with the adventurers" even when the footnote after several key items explicitly mentions "After party obtains X item (or does X thing) Strahd will stop at nothing to kill them". It would be hilarious if it worked though, so here's the plan.

-Secure the location of Strahd's Coffin
-Strap Decanter of Endless Water to a hole made on the top
-Strap a Bag of Devouring to a Hole made in the bottom
-Subdue Strahd and chase him to his coffin after he leaves to regenerate
-Stake him through the heart to Paralyze and not kill him
-Stand Coffin upwards and activate Decanter of Endless Water (Fountain or Geyser effect)
-Take Strahd to parade around Valaki and have the citizens scared witless because they're absolutely sure Strahd has devised this as a clever ploy into luring them to their deaths

The Decanter of Endless water makes sure he cannot shapechange, the stake to the heart makes sure that he can't escape with his absurd vampire strength and the Bag of Devouring makes sure that the coffin is never full of water, ensuring that it is always "flowing water" rather than stagnant. All you have to worry about is whether the DM would allow this absurd plan and whether or not the damage over time from the flowing water would destroy him before you could even get him out of the castle.

[Unoriginal]

Our DM is playing Strahd a bit recklessly, harassing us every other night or so outside where we're sleeping, which gave me the idea to trap him in the first place.




Should I point out the thing OP missed, or...?

[Lawful Good]

-Secure the location of Strahd's Coffin
-Strap Decanter of Endless Water to a hole made on the top
-Strap a Bag of Devouring to a Hole made in the bottom
-Subdue Strahd and chase him to his coffin after he leaves to regenerate
-Stake him through the heart to Paralyze and not kill him
-Stand Coffin upwards and activate Decanter of Endless Water (Fountain or Geyser effect)
-Take Strahd to parade around Valaki and have the citizens scared witless because they're absolutely sure Strahd has devised this as a clever ploy into luring them to their deaths

The Decanter of Endless water makes sure he cannot shapechange, the stake to the heart makes sure that he can't escape with his absurd vampire strength and the Bag of Devouring makes sure that the coffin is never full of water, ensuring that it is always "flowing water" rather than stagnant. All you have to worry about is whether the DM would allow this absurd plan and whether or not the damage over time from the flowing water would destroy him before you could even get him out of the castle.

This is hilarious. :smallbiggrin: Hmmm...If Strahd sleeps in his coffin during the day, I could hide my homunculus in his castle and wait for him to fall asleep ("asleep"), and then stake him with my homunculus...


EDIT: Does anyone have any "vampire trap" ideas involving his Forbiddance trait?

[Finback]

This will end BADLY.

We were level six. My paladin literally punched the Symbol of Ravenkind into Strahd's face and activated the sunlight feature (which my DM said would give the blinded condition, and make him vulnerable to certain attacks for a round), and then shot Guiding Bolt into him (dealing about 35 damage, iirc). He got to put in an opportunity attack too and landed a crit, dealing another 18.

And then Strahd reduced him from 51 to 4 hp in a single round.

Level 2-3?

I'll just point you to this, as a prediction of something your fellow players will say.

Dr. Jones knows the truth. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7iGmwmHePI)

[Coidzor]

There's a method I came up with after a player told me he wanted to parade Strahd around Valaki after they took him out. I told him there's no conceivable way of doing it and that he should focus on not dying to him before trying to come up with plans to torture him.

But, it got me thinking about it, and I came up with an almost workable plan that you could almost make an argument for.

It's got an almost impossible chance of working, requiring setup and items that you might not have access to at all in Barovia and takes a DM's approval on exactly how much they're willing to bend the rules and their patience. It also requires Strahd to be an absolute moron, which he might be with how people misinterpret his "toying with the adventurers" even when the footnote after several key items explicitly mentions "After party obtains X item (or does X thing) Strahd will stop at nothing to kill them". It would be hilarious if it worked though, so here's the plan.

-Secure the location of Strahd's Coffin
-Strap Decanter of Endless Water to a hole made on the top
-Strap a Bag of Devouring to a Hole made in the bottom
-Subdue Strahd and chase him to his coffin after he leaves to regenerate
-Stake him through the heart to Paralyze and not kill him
-Stand Coffin upwards and activate Decanter of Endless Water (Fountain or Geyser effect)
-Take Strahd to parade around Valaki and have the citizens scared witless because they're absolutely sure Strahd has devised this as a clever ploy into luring them to their deaths

The Decanter of Endless water makes sure he cannot shapechange, the stake to the heart makes sure that he can't escape with his absurd vampire strength and the Bag of Devouring makes sure that the coffin is never full of water, ensuring that it is always "flowing water" rather than stagnant. All you have to worry about is whether the DM would allow this absurd plan and whether or not the damage over time from the flowing water would destroy him before you could even get him out of the castle.

Unfortunately you'd need to have someone or something able to burn its action activating the decanter, because they nerfed it for 5e.


RESOURCES AVAILABLE:
--We have a houseboat on Lake Zarovich (Which we naturally Strahd-proofed)

lolwut?


--We have access to a geothermal vent which could be used to harness energy at the bottom of the lake

lollerwut?


--Access to infinite wealth (hopefully)

lollestwut?


--A lot of wolves and wood

u wot mate?


--Guns (It's a slightly altered setting using MFoV's excellent Firearm Rules)

At this point it doesn't sound like you're actually playing Curse of Strahd.

It's mind-boggling that even one of these things is true. Well, other than the guns, I suppose, by themselves. Taken all together and this is just completely bizarre.

[Lawful Good]

It was slightly edited by the DM.



1. We got a boat as a reward from the Vistani for saving one of them. I don't know if this is in the module, but the DM says that they use boats on the rivers running into and out of Barovia for shipping supplies.
2. This wasn't in the module. I think it came from Bioshock, but I've never played it. Basically there's an underwater city of goliaths in Lake Zarovich. It sounds weird, but it was inserted really well (It's hard to explain). There's a geothermal vent down there, which the goliaths have harnessed.
3. We're in the process of driving out the price-gouging merchant from the village of Barovia and setting up our own shop. We also have acquired a lot of wealth from exploring and searching around. Basically, we're so low level because we've been avoiding combat for the most part while we explore.

[Lawful Good]

This will end BADLY.

We were level six. My paladin literally punched the Symbol of Ravenkind into Strahd's face and activated the sunlight feature (which my DM said would give the blinded condition, and make him vulnerable to certain attacks for a round), and then shot Guiding Bolt into him (dealing about 35 damage, iirc). He got to put in an opportunity attack too and landed a crit, dealing another 18.

And then Strahd reduced him from 51 to 4 hp in a single round.

Level 2-3?

I'll just point you to this, as a prediction of something your fellow players will say.

Dr. Jones knows the truth. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7iGmwmHePI)

lol. You're probably right :smalltongue:
That's why we're trying to avoid direct confrontation and attempting to trap him without bodily harm to ourselves.


EDIT: I'm just asking about vampire traps, not looking for suggestions about the game world. Thanks!

[jaappleton]

What the heck are you doing with that kind of party?!

It's for the birds!

.....I'll see myself out.

[Lawful Good]

What the heck are you doing with that kind of party?!

It's for the birds!

.....I'll see myself out.

http://instantrimshot.com/
That got a snort. Thanks

[Unoriginal]

Aside that he's a vampire, what do you know about Strahd, OP?

[Lawful Good]

Aside that he's a vampire, what do you know about Strahd, OP?

I know his general backstory. He was a prince that got cursed. He doesn't really care about the people. He likes being creepy and trying to get into people's houses at night. He can turn into a swarm of bats n' vampire stuff. I know from previous experience the vampire's stats in the MM. I also know I need to find a sunblade to kill him.
I also know that he plays with his food before killing them, and is less careful if he's not afraid of them, which is why we're attempting to trap him at the tender level of 3.


Naturally, as we progress through the campaign and learn more about his strengths and backstory, we'll adjust our plan accordingly.