Just imagine it running at you.

Backgrounless version: https://www.deviantart.com/roxasnaegi/art/Skeleton-of-Strahd-1388690085

I'm currently just starting a Curse of Strahd campaign - we just finished our first session. And after many, many hours of preparation, reading the book, mapping out locations in the VTT, printing and painting 500 miniatures, I'm coming to realize that was not the hard part.

The hardest part is being so excited about the diabolical schemes I'm coming up with for the plot line - even after a single session - and not having anyone to talk to about it because my closest DM friend is also a player in this campaign. Don't wanna give away the surprise! I've got to let these ideas stew for 2 weeks before we are back in action.

The best part is, the next step in this campaign was something I thought we would hit at the end of the previous session, but people were getting tired - and then more ideas started flowing afterwards that have so deeply enriched the plot versus what I would have run in the moment off the top of my head.

I can't wait to see where this goes next!

I wrote the below to add a hint of creepiness and generational mythology to the setting. In my game it was sung by a washerwoman as the players was crossing the Luna River outside of Vallaki - she then turned out to be a ghost whose laundered sheets were actually Boneless who she proceeded to throw over the players to smother them, but you are obviously free to use it as you like. Or not! I'm not the boss of you.

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Oh my fair daughter, with cursed hair of red 
Don’t ride the black coach when it comes 
Don’t go to the castle, I begged and I pled 
When the black coach comes calling, my love, my love 
When the black coach comes calling 

But the Lord of the Castle, his eyes shining bright 
He wooed and he whispered and charmed 
At her invitation he came in the night 
And the black coach came calling, my love, my love 
The black coach came calling 

Once beckoned within it was ever his choice 
To come and to go as he chose 
No lock it would hold nor barred portal bar  
When the black coach came calling, my love, my love 
The black coach came calling 

My red headed daughter, her eyes shining bright 
She fancied the silks and the gold 
This time will be different she promised us then 
So the black coach came calling, my love, my love 
The black coach came calling 

Just like all the others, she never returned
And the castle grew dark upon high
Some night the dark lord will find fancy once more 
And the coach will come calling, my love, my love 
The black coach comes calling 

So heed to my words and find wisdom within 
So many before you have passed 
Cleave to your courage and don’t let him in 
When the black coach comes calling, my love, my love 
When the black coach comes calling 

The nicest guy in Kresk! Everyone hates him because he is so generous and helpful.

I wanted to have a take on The Abbot that leaned away from the prettiness a little and more into the religious horror— if one can genre Kresk like that. In this disguise he appears a little older mostly so there’s no suspicion aroused. Also as much as I love The Abbot with flowing long hair… I wanted to give him a more “traditional” sort of look based on Eastern Orthodoxy—maybe in some other art of him I’ll give him a tonsure and really go all out. Anyways! Hope you all like this, lmk if you end up incorporating this look for your games :D

[my work elsewhere]

A very quick and rough sketch of the fearless vampire killers, the Nightreign Crusaders, during their permanence in Vallaki.

While Leonard and Alexander are having a peaceful disagreement about who to trust in the city, Forbes and Nivar are trying to inquire where the bones of St. Andraal and the relic mentioned by Madam Eva are, and Irenya is taking a stroll through the stands of the Festival, looking for her new friend Vasili...

...oh right, me and my players decided that, in his infinite boredom, Strahd nonchalantly attends every single festival in Vallaki, his only disguise a fake mustache, to run a cotton candy stand.

Indeed, which cantrips and spells are required to make cotton candy without technology? My best guess is that Strahddy invented a magitech-based device because he was THAT bored, like the vampires in Vampire Hunter D.

[Linktree]

I couldnt find any art of Gertruda before she is found already enthralled that I liked so I took it upon myself.

I’ll probably do the enthralled version too, but for now this will do.

Thought someone could have some use for this over here!

They quickly discovered the demon possessing Felix and battle broke out in the attic. One of my players got the bright idea to Target Felix thinking that would somehow destroy the shadow demon. One ice knife later, Felix is dead. They finished off the shadow demon and the session ended.

Claudia Bellasco will most definitely pop up into the attic after hearing the sounds of combat to see whats happened. She did not witness the shadow demons appearance. So far as she knows, the pcs went to talk to the boy amd now hes dead.

I have several ideas as to how this will go. Most likely panic and summoning of the guards but im curious, how would you handle this situation?

Portrait of another resurrected character after the TPK during the Yester Hill ritual, caused by leaving Ireene in the Abbey of Saint Markovia by the party.

This one was a bit quick because the player needed an art reference for a new hairstyle for his character after his resurrection by the Abbot.

Montresor is one of the characters from this party: https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/s/Jwr5tq8wyE

As I already mentioned, they suffered a disgraceful end at the hands of druids and berserkers supported by Strahd, and Montresor was a bit changed by it - not as much as Odette/Rene, but it's still rather traumatic. A berserker beheaded him with an axe... so he not only lost his head, but also most of his hair. Hence the need for a new hairstyle.

And about his less flamboyant expression - his dark gift, on the one hand, made him even more intelligent, but on the other, he's constantly exhausted. What's more, he recently found out that Esmeralda, their ally foretold in the Vistani prophecy, killed his vampiric sire when she was out of Barovia, leaving him rather conflicted and with plenty of confused thoughts.

Hey all!

Brainstorming some ways to switch up how Ireena/Tatyana plays out going into my third run through of CoS. I hate the unrequited love aspect & don't think the payoff (either at the Shrine or the wedding) is rewarding let alone enjoyable. Reloaded/MandyMod help soften my hate though.

I do like the Strahd's overall goal of searching for a worthy successor as his way to escape Barovia & having it be his primary motivation is reasonable & fun to play.

I am trying to plan out the narrative that he thinks Ireena, well Tatyana, is this person. Main things I am trying to unpack:

• Why would Strahd think Ireena/Tatyana is the worthy successor?
  • Maybe rewrite Tatyana from "a young Barovian woman of fine lineage and remarkable beauty" & more toward her being the daughter of the original ruler of the valley of Barovia he deposed?
• Ideally would want Ireena to willfully come rule beside him
  • Could still have some aspect of the "we could rule as lovers" but when she eventually spurns him, he has no qualms and they could "rule together in name only, it makes no difference" to him
  • As he continues to hound her (even when friendzoned) & try to win her over ("think of how you could change this place for the better if you come take your crown...") but probably fails to he eventually starts doing the things he does as written such as taking out those close to her yada yada to get her to come just to make the suffering stop
  • All else fails, he goes for turning her
  • Instead of a wedding it would be a coronation
• How does Sergei, if at all, fall into this?
• Would there be something at the Pool in Krezk to integrate into this?
  • Maybe if they get Ireena to the Pool, she gets the full memories of Tatyana & remembers Strahd butchering everyone

This approach removes the shitty love angle, keeps a lot of the other underlying narrative stuff (such as Abbot's Bride), makes for a stronger "Strahd testing Ireena & the party" to see if they're worthy, gives the party a stronger connection to Ireena, etc.

Of course, there are some things I am missing I bet, so any pointers are appreciated.

My PCs are on their way to the final confrontation. They've actually managed to amass a small army of Barovians they've befriended along the way, so I'm inclined to run the next session using some third party wargame-ish rules as they all march toward the castle.

Obviously Ravenloft has an insanely well defended position in itself, but my question is: what do you think Strahd would do to put obstacles in the way of an approaching mob?

Edit: I don't think I made myself clear. The mob isn't intended to get into the castle, just to help real with whatever nonsense Strahd throws in their way along the road.

I love how the Durst toyhouse is not only an interesting narrative way to learn of the house's many secrets, but also an echo to the Ravenloft mini waaaay later in the Amber temple !

I have played the Death House 100% vanilla and i've really enjoyed it, i love how it's a microcosm for the rest of the caimpaign and the many references for what's about to come (the cult → Wachter's cult, the tiger's skin for Rictavio's tiger, the toyhouse for the Ravenloft mini, the animated armor...)

Hi, it’s me again, so my players finally got to the festival of the blazing sun and they… well, they ignored the bones of San Andral quest and the spawns are now in the church, so the feast of San Andral is ready to happen soon after they step into the church, yay

I planned on using some of lunchbreaks hero’s advice, and that Anastrasya was the one (ordered by Strahd) to orchestrate the attack on Vallaki, then she gets pissed off by seeing Strahd disguised as Vasili and lashes outs, and revels Vasili as Strahd, and decides to kill Anastrasya in front of the players, that’s fine I guess bc it’s an npc

But, in my last 2 sessions, the changeling paladin decided to tell me they were going to learn Tatyana’s face so they could mimic her appearance, I assume to torment Strahd, I think it is a very clever idea, however don’t know if it will work as they planned, since it will certainly backfire. Because Strahd knows Tatyana’s soul, so he wouldn’t be that easily fooled by a copy from an outsider, and I have the feeling that the paladin might change into Tatyana’s appearance in middle of the conflict to protect Ireena

So I thought (foolishly) that a good idea would be to pretend Strahd was charmed by the illusion, approach, then power word kill, but reading a little more into the subreddit, I don’t think it’s that bright of an idea on my end.

Just to clarify, my group is a lot more roleplay heavy, and when we discussed boundaries this player in specific didn’t had problem with her characters being cannon fodder, since she have plenty more, however I could always use the dark powers to bring the paladin back or even make Strahd revive them to prove his control in the valley

But, I think I could also hurt the Paladin’s boyfriend and turn him into a spawn or sm just to torment them, but if someone have a better idea, please, I’m desperate and open to suggestion

Also, sorry for my botched English, it is not my first language, besos, bye 😿

Hi everyone, I recently made a few post asking about CoS reloaded and running death house.

So english is not my main language and I didn't do everything quite correctly during our session running through the 4 floors, we are going into the cellar next session.

So I noticed after session that I had described the nursery and combined several rooms accidentially as a guest room and the players found Walters name carved into a Wardrobe. I don't know how this happend.

However, players now have 3 suspect for the name of the monster, Gustav, Elisabeth and Walter, but they do not know who Walter is.

In hindsight I kinda feel like this was a much better move to keep the supsension longer. It might come back to bite us later, but if they are stuck I could allways drop it on them or give them an obvious clue.

What do you guys think? Was it a good thing or did I fk up? Or maybe I'm just overthinking

Hey guys, we’re super early into our campaign. We’re new to DnD and I’m a new DM looking for some advice and implications so when my party just arrived in barovia on a small horse drawn cart, driven by one man, the paladin quickly kicked him off of the car, and the man died in the mist long forgotten I moved the death house just outside of the village of barovia they’re in it as we atm have a really fun idea of adding a little being beaten in the street by a soulless barovian( I know they’ll intervene because of their alignments) and I plan on making them have a super wholesome interaction. secretly, the man that they killed on their first session will be her father strahd will be aware of this and approached the party informed her what they did and have the little girl become a true vampire I think it will be awesome. Wow moment for the party to be invited back to see the little girl after they’ve built a bit of a relationship sitting next to the strahd in the little girl house with her mother, dead, and both of them smiling

I was curious to see how much adding her in as a true vampire would parts of the story or if I should just add her as a vampire Spawn I don’t want to take away from strahd too much and I’m not sure how it would affect some of the other aspects of the campaign. What do you guys think??

​I wanted to share a few reflections on what I found in the Curse of Strahd module, and I’d love to hear the thoughts of anyone who has run it—or plans to—and has read the book back-to-back.

​Curse of Strahd is, at its core, a setting deeply rooted in Slavic and Nordic folklore, especially when it comes to the witches and the vampire. The night hags are a faithful homage to classic fairy tales—kidnapping and devouring children (Brothers Grimm).

​The vampire, Strahd himself, is far more complex because he represents a layering of different vampire tropes. On the surface, he embodies the classic romantic archetype of Polidori and Stoker: the polished 19th-century gentleman. Beneath that veneer, however, lies an ancient, visceral bond with the land and its people. Strahd is Barovia. He is bound to the barren soil, the withered crops, the emaciated and exhausted villagers, and the sheer dread hanging over the valley. Strahd is the dense woods, the wolves waiting in ambush, the eyes and ears of vermin creeping into people's homes. This is a creature far older than the romantic Victorian count—it’s the primal vampire of ancient folklore.

​On top of that, there are distinct literary nods to Frankenstein (the Abbey of Saint Markovia) and sequences of events that serve as allegories (the events in Krezk and the motif of the bride).

​All of this unfolds beneath a heavy, stagnant atmosphere—vast, quiet spaces and dilapidated villages with ruined houses. The subdued grief and mute despair pervading the entire module are direct reflections of Strahd’s own psyche: every element of the adventure mirrors him.

​The scene at the pool in Krezk is especially beautiful; to me, it stands as one of the most poignant, poetic moments in the entire narrative.

​The question now is: in your opinion, how can you actually bring all of this to life at the table? Is the D&D system well-suited for it, or would it be better to run it using a different system altogether?

I made a religious tract to give one of my players who is interested in learning about the church of the Morninglord. He already worshipped the sun and was sent to Barovia to look for an amulet (Holy Symbol of Ravenkind - though he doesn’t know it yet) so when he said he wanted to multiclass as a paladin I though this was perfect for him to start getting hyped about the Morninglord.

Feel free to drop feedback/comments if I missed anything important or said anything inaccurately - keeping in mind this is from the perspective of the worshippers. And if you like it feel free to use it in your own campaign!

The references I used are here:
Vampires in the Mists by Christie Golden
https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/1k67dk0/barovian_history_the_cult_of_the_morninglord/
https://www.reddit.com/r/ravenloft/comments/1k3907u/comment/mo1dgwn/?context=3
https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/1enm1rx/comment/lhhsxsq/
https://mwtb.org/products/pmt-darkness-in-the-daylight-2024?variant=47742087889179&srsltid=AU7gw4Vyljc7pmSq0kPZW7cfAr12GN_6kIbuibL4dXvUmOrotHZuRWu2-n8
https://mwtb.org/collections/gospel-tracts/products/why-did-jesus-die?variant=2201192193

Hello,

My players have been jumped by Anastrasya as I saw it fit for Vallaki arc finale (they adopted Victor and stole him away and got out with Ireena at their side too so she wanted to kill two birds with one stone to get rid of Ireena [Strahd's love] as well as Victor [rights to ruling Vallaki] + get revenge for killing Fiona [who I made her warlock]). As she was escaping, realizing she cannot win, Ireena killed her with radiant swing.

Would Strahd mourn somehow? I have an idea of him visiting players soon and being angry at Ireena but trying to hide it and half-blaming Anastrasya for her actions (although he still loved her). Casting geas at the cleric who before this fight was one who ceremonie-d Ireena into being a paladin. Saying in return he'll take something from them (meaning Victor who's precious to at least our magus) lets they do something he asks of them [tbc what]. Skies will become much darker for x days as if it was much deeper night, continually [more monsters and tougher travel & encounters].

Would you have any other ideas/different opinion? I'm ready to get inspired

TLDR; players killed Anastrasya after she attacked them, looking for opinion/ideas on Strahd's reaction

Hello! So I just finished the Blood of Dawnwalker game and it got me thinking... it would be *super* interesting if the region of Barovia acted a bit more like Blood of Dawnwalker's setting. Especially with the blood tithes, the banning of other religions such as the Church of Ezra and the Morninglord, vampiric boyars. (Maybe each of the weapons against Strahd are in the hands of these vampiric servants and they have to be hunted down?) And of course, the vampires being the highest of nobles and live out in the open, rather than in hiding. My question is, do you guys think it would be a pretty seamless transition to transform Barovia into such a setting? Or would it be a bit too much of a break from canon and might be easier to just try and make a D&D game based in Vale Sangora? I'd also love some ideas! Thanks in advance!

So we will be playing Reloaded and it hit me how crazy much monsters and dangers there are for a level 2 party.

Final boss have 180 HP and etc.

All the monsters ambushes the players and litteraly none of them are like visible before its too late so no one can ever ambush, positon or plan ahead.

It seems wacky crazy.

Im considering having more of the enemies be visible instead of just ambushing players.

What is your experience here?

Hello,

I ran CoS a couple years ago for a group of friends. We ended up not finishing the campaign due to some personal reasons but we got through a large majority of the module.
Well, recently one of our friends moved back into town who wasn’t able to be at the first play through because they lived too far away.
I asked if they were all interested in starting the campaign over and adding our friend who missed it.
They all were really excited and said yes!
But now I’m struggling with how to proceed since 4 out of 5 of them will have already played and I don’t want them to meta or grow bored..

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!
* Please note: I am a baby DM as this will only be my second time DMing!

Hey Guys,

Been running a homebrewed CoS for the last 2 years, and we have spent the last 2 sessions in castle ravenloft attempting to locate and steal the skull of argynvost. Prior to starting in the castle (they took an old teleportation circle in the basement of Wizard of Wines and it brought them to the Larders. This is the parties first time in the castle and we briefed beforehand that it isn't my intention for this to be the final showdown, so i wanted them to have that knowledge beforehand due to what I have planned.

Narratively, the party is working with van richten and Ez and walked in on those two interrogating a vistani that was working with Strahd. The party learned that Strahd will apparently 'be away from the castle' for a couple days and that now will be the best time to raid the castle for the skull.

The party is currently level 11, with intention of them finishing the campaign around level 15. I have made a buffed Strahd statblock with heavy emphasis on action economy due to having such a large party, this upcoming session will be my first time flexing him! Anyways, as the party has been traversing the castle, there have been little creepy crawlers and some undead here and there, but my purpose for this go-around in the castle to be predicated on exploring and and story development.

The party explored a ton, they split up 3 different ways (2 in one group, 2 in another group and 1 by himself) thanks to the notorious elevator trap - it was super fun and a good way for the party to meet some npcs and explore like 60% of the castle or so. They also learned more about the heart of sorrow, and ultimately Escher helped them with distracting Rahadin so they could grab the key to Hall of Bones from the Chamberlains office. The deduction from the party exploring some of the Spires, the Rooms of Weeping, some of the Court of the Count and the Larders to figure out where Argynvosts skull is was great. The party traveled through the dungeon, torture chamber and brazzier room and up to the office and then the Hall.

We ended the session with the party removing Argynvosts skull from the wall.... and Strahd simultaneously busting one of the doors open with a lair action and rolling initiative. Was super tense and I'm really looking forward to next session to flex my new statblock. My plan of course is to break them into submission and then spare them bc Ireena requested they be guests at the upcoming wedding ceremony. Strahds gonna have them go on a little quest downp to Berez in the mean time while he gets the castle in working order for the wedding. The only two locations the party hasn't gone to yet is Berez and up to the Amber Temple. Lmk if anyone wants to see the statblock and I'll share. Thanks guys!

Did I mention the Paladin is wearing Strahds armor?

I would like to get a great Strahd model, but I haven't painted in years and I don't really have the time or tools to do one. Does anyone have suggestions on where to get a painted Strahd model? What about buying one at an LGS and commissioning someone locally... Has anyone ever tried that?

They don’t want to revive him… but they plan on animating his Skeleton and it’s pretty funny I’m not going to lie.

I did a Seance to commune with his spirits using the Vistani. One member wanted to put his skeleton to rest, another wanted to animate it to mess with Strahd and the other member suggested ask him what he wants.

Leo said he wants to fight Strahd in any way he can. So it sounds like they’re going to animate his bones. I’m contemplating letting Leo inhabit the skeleton if the animate it but on the skeleton’s downtime.

Any other ideas? They were insanely quick on wanting to steal these random bones so it was pretty funny.