Reworking Krezk in Curse of Strahd *Unmarked Spoilers!*

[NRSASD]

Hey Playground!

My Curse of Strahd playthrough has been going swimmingly so far, but I hit a bit of a snag. The party finally limped their way into Krezk after several big fights and multiple NPC deaths, so I felt like throwing them a bit of a bone.

When they arrived in Krezk, the party met Anna and Dmitri Krezkov, the local leaders, who were mourning that their last surviving child of 4, Ilya, was dying of a terrible disease. The party investigated it and discovered that he was actually suffering from multiple diseases, brought on by a terrible curse they were unable to lift. They treated him as best as they could, and by expending all of their magic they were able to briefly stabilize him. Anna revealed that their last 3 children had died of this curse as well, and that all their previous attempts at curing it had been unsuccessful.

According to the book, Ilya is already dead by the time the party arrives in Krezk, but the Abbot comes down from the abbey to resurrect him (which drives Ilya insane). The Abbot demands that Anna and Dmitri fetch him a wedding gown in payment, or he threatens to destroy Krezk.

My question for the playground is this: Who put the curse on the Krezkovs? And why?

I feel that the Abbot is probably responsible, hoping to leverage the Krezkovs into assisting him. That said, that makes the Abbot a very manipulative character, which I'm not sure is in character for him.

What do you think?

As always, thanks for any and all help!

[Unoriginal]

Strahd probably did it. As to why, well, he's Strahd. Rocking the boat and seeing how people react is his hobby.

[NRSASD]

That's also probably true, but it needs a bit more of a motive. Strahd definitely messes people up because he finds it funny, but also because it feeds his ego. He corrupted an angel into believing the best way to defeat him is to find him a bride. He persuaded an order of revenant knights, sworn to kill him, that the worst thing they could do to him is fight his enemies for him.

It doesn't need to be that grand or sweeping a motive, but there should be some reason why he's raining on the Krezkov's parade specifically, rather than just general malevolence.

[Raynor007]

I'm running Curse as well, and am about to get the party to Krezk, and I was wondering about this exact problem. My thoughts are that, perhaps, the Krezkov family stood against him in the past, a generation ago. Tatyana's previous reincarnation fled to Krezk, and Dmitri's father, then a very young man, fell in love with her, and she with him. He tried to keep Strahd from her, somehow, which obviously resulted in her death (rule that as you like, but I imagine it was a heartbreaking suicide). In vengeance, Strahd cursed Dmitri (then an infant) to punish his father, and end the fmily line in the most devastating way possible.

[NRSASD]

I'm running Curse as well, and am about to get the party to Krezk, and I was wondering about this exact problem. My thoughts are that, perhaps, the Krezkov family stood against him in the past, a generation ago. Tatyana's previous reincarnation fled to Krezk, and Dmitri's father, then a very young man, fell in love with her, and she with him. He tried to keep Strahd from her, somehow, which obviously resulted in her death (rule that as you like, but I imagine it was a heartbreaking suicide). In vengeance, Strahd cursed Dmitri (then an infant) to punish his father, and end the fmily line in the most devastating way possible.

Oooo I like that! While it definitely works, it's also the same plotline about Berez. How's this for a twist:

What if Dmitri's father gave refuge to someone Strahd was hunting, like an adventurer, by sheltering them in Krezk somehow. While there, Strahd's prey committed suicide and denied him the pleasure of torturing/corrupting/murdering that person. Strahd got very annoyed by this, and got revenge on Dmitri's father by cursing Dmitri to be the last of his line. Strahd, being miffed that a Barovian's act of generosity denied him his fun and being a twisted weirdo, let slip that he might be willing to lift the curse on Dmitri if they never gave sanctuary to outsiders again.

Though they are good people and it breaks their hearts to do so, Anna and Dmitri have kept Krezk a closed community in the hopes of saving Ilya from the curse; turning away anyone, no matter how pitiable and bedraggled, no matter how hard they plea. A young adventurer, who begged them for mercy from Strahd and was refused, only to be killed right in front of Krezk, haunts Anna's thoughts in particular. In fact, the only reason they let the PCs in at all is because Ilya is already dead/basically dead and they have nothing left to lose, since they're past childbearing age.

What do you think of that? Anywhere it could be shored up?

[djreynolds]

The land has twisted even a Deva, the abbot is now evil.

He may wish to destroy strahd and the whole bride business, but he has now gone to far.

The abbot is definitely evil, that's what this land does to its inhabitants

I would play the abbot with lots of subtext.

[Raynor007]

What if Dmitri's father gave refuge to someone Strahd was hunting, like an adventurer, by sheltering them in Krezk somehow. While there, Strahd's prey committed suicide and denied him the pleasure of torturing/corrupting/murdering that person. Strahd got very annoyed by this, and got revenge on Dmitri's father by cursing Dmitri to be the last of his line. Strahd, being miffed that a Barovian's act of generosity denied him his fun and being a twisted weirdo, let slip that he might be willing to lift the curse on Dmitri if they never gave sanctuary to outsiders again.

Though they are good people and it breaks their hearts to do so, Anna and Dmitri have kept Krezk a closed community in the hopes of saving Ilya from the curse; turning away anyone, no matter how pitiable and bedraggled, no matter how hard they plea. A young adventurer, who begged them for mercy from Strahd and was refused, only to be killed right in front of Krezk, haunts Anna's thoughts in particular. In fact, the only reason they let the PCs in at all is because Ilya is already dead/basically dead and they have nothing left to lose, since they're past childbearing age.

I love it! I did not realize that mine was already the story of Berez. The cool thing about yours is that it applies only to adventurers, really, so you could even have the PCs hear about how safe Krezk is, only to have entry denied them due to them being outsiders.

Quick aside: what other edits have you made to the setting/campaign, because I've had to edit mine extensively, and I'd love to compare notes. Happy to make a new thread or PM you if it would turn into a longer discussion.

[Trustypeaches]

I would recommend taking a look at this revision to Kresk: https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/8w8488/fleshing_out_curse_of_strahd_kresk/

It has a lot of interesting ideas for what to do upon arriving in Kresk.

[NRSASD]

I love it! I did not realize that mine was already the story of Berez. The cool thing about yours is that it applies only to adventurers, really, so you could even have the PCs hear about how safe Krezk is, only to have entry denied them due to them being outsiders.

Quick aside: what other edits have you made to the setting/campaign, because I've had to edit mine extensively, and I'd love to compare notes. Happy to make a new thread or PM you if it would turn into a longer discussion.

That sounds like a great idea! I'll start a thread, but it may be a bit before I'm able to post all the changes I've made. You're looking for all the changes I've made, not just the ones in Krezk right?

[Vekon]

I would recommend taking a look at this revision to Kresk: https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/8w8488/fleshing_out_curse_of_strahd_kresk/

It has a lot of interesting ideas for what to do upon arriving in Kresk.

Came here to post this as well. There is a huge reddit community with an active discord that works on expanding Curse of Strahd and fleshing it out. Would highly recommend you check it out.

[NRSASD]

Having taken a look at it, I'm quite impressed! Will post more once I've read it more thoroughly.

@Raynor007- Regarding rumors about Krezk as a safe haven, I played up that they will let people in, but only if they renounce all ties to the outside world and become villagers in Krezk. People outside Krezk thought this was because of the Abbey, and that maybe the Krezkites were religious weirdos. But in actuality, it was Anna and Dmitri trying to help out people while exploiting a loophole in their curse. After all, someone who renounces all ties to the outside world and lives in Krezk for the rest of their lives isn't really an outsider are they?

@Vekon, Trustypeaches- Hilariously, I invented my own version of Ilya completely by accident and independently :P. I'll elaborate further in the other thread.