Build Your Own: Curse of Strahd

[WizardOfAus]

Hey guys! Long time fan of OotS, finally caved in and got myself onto the forums, looking forward to being a part of of this great community!

So currently, I'm preparing to run a Curse of Strahd game (still several weeks out) for my friends who are a) all familiar with DND and it's mechanics, and b) aren't super familiar with the lands of Barovia, but they've all been a part of past discussions on the campaign setting so not totally ignorant to it.

What I'd love to get some input on is developing some cool "opening scenes" to introduce them to the setting without giving away the setting straight away - as I said, a few of the lads ears would perk up and get instantly suspicious if I said "so mists...".

Beyond that, if anyone has any experience running the new Strahd module, or has any interesting ideas they've run/wanted to run/would like to experiment with let's hear it! Chuck it below and we'll plug and play :)

Xoxo

Gossip Guy

[Freelance GM]

What I'd love to get some input on is developing some cool "opening scenes" to introduce them to the setting without giving away the setting straight away - as I said, a few of the lads ears would perk up and get instantly suspicious if I said "so mists...".

Beyond that, if anyone has any experience running the new Strahd module, or has any interesting ideas they've run/wanted to run/would like to experiment with let's hear it! Chuck it below and we'll plug and play :)

Xoxo

Gossip Guy

Welcome to the forums!

I'm actually just about to finish my Curse of Strahd game. Here's a few of the tweaks I made:

VARIANT RULES
I used the "Lasting Injuries" variant rules from page 272 of the DMG. Players have to roll on the chart whenever they are critted or reduced to 0 HP. Barovia gets really soul-sucking, really fast when characters are losing extremities. In my game, the fighter, ranger, and druid have all lost legs, the fighter also lost an eye, the ranger got her face maimed, and everyone else has a long list of minor scars.

INTRO
I combined the Plea for Help and the Mysterious Visitors hooks. The weather has been unusually muggy, and rolling fog has made travel difficult. The party, as they are journeying between adventure locations on the way to a completely unrelated adventure, come across a caravan of Vistani, who invite them to join their celebration.

From there, the Dancing Fire encounter (page 20 of CoS) goes off normally, and the players are lead into Barovia by Vistani, or wander in the mists until they arrive.

VALLAKI
IMO, the "Feast of Saint Andral" in Vallaki should be one of the most devastating moments of the campaign, if the party doesn't stop it. Strahd rides in like a Batman-inspired Diablous ex Machina, and once he's done slaughtering innocents in the church, he quickly moves on to the rest of the town. If the party has successfully brought Ireena to Vallaki, he makes a detour to capture her before his presence is made known by the Feast.

STRAHD AND HIS SERVANTS
Strahd can't really take a punch, but he's supposed to be a suave, cunning, and ruthless. Watch the players - any who show either of those three signs should be marked as his "favorites." If they are reduced to 0 HP by one of Strahd's servants, they will do their best to stabilize the character, and drag them off to an improvised meeting with the Lord of Ravenloft. Strahd will interrogate them, Charm them, interrogate them again, take one miscellaneous item (for Scrying) and then leave them tied up, to be found and rescued by their allies, or to escape on their own volition.

Characters like Arrigal do everything they can to lure away characters with artifacts like the Sunsword, then quietly murder them. If possible, they'll also steal those items and throw them in the nearest large body of water, or off a cliff. (It's not like he knows how to destroy them, and Strahd doesn't want them near him.) The party could find them, but it would take time, and time means random encounters.

[WizardOfAus]

@Freelance thanks for the reply mate, I loved all of those ideas! I'm a huge fan of the lingering wounds rule, they're all seasoned players so giving them that extra reason to be careful should really ramp up the tension and stop them from taking levels in the 'Spartan 117' class!

Any other fun things from your CoS you wanted to share?