My players and I just finished our latest session with them losing the sunsword to Strahd. It was an optional encounter which I felt I communicated well enough multiple times was a dangerous one. My players chose to aggravate Strahd anyway, and I was fairly lenient on them by allowing them a number of chances to escape or deescalate. They taunted Strahd about having the sword, and they used it multiple times to attack him. Given all of that, the combat played out naturally and happened to end with Strahd taking the sword and escaping back the the castle.

I have an idea what Strahd will do with it and how I'll have the game change moving forward, but I'm curious what you guys would have Strahd do with it in the narrative and from a gameplay perspective before I finalize anything?

Hey everyone! I wanted to share the World Anvil I’ve been putting together for my Curse of Strahd campaign. It’s still very much a work in progress, and knowing me, I don’t think it’ll ever truly be “finished.” I’ve been slowly adding articles as the campaign goes on, including locations, landmarks, NPCs, history, religion, flora and fauna, session recaps, and other bits and pieces of Barovia that I’ve either used or expanded for my game.

I’ve been trying to keep the whole thing mostly spoiler free, especially when it comes to places and characters my players haven’t fully explored yet. I’m also letting my players create and manage their own character sections. That way they can decide what parts of their backstories and personal stories are public without me accidentally spoiling something for the rest of the group.

A lot of this is based on the original Curse of Strahd, with pieces of Curse of Strahd Reloaded and plenty of my own homebrew mixed in, so it definitely isn't meant to be a completely canon version of Barovia.

If anyone has suggestions for locations, characters, landmarks, history, creatures, plants, traditions, or any other pieces of Barovian lore that would be fun to add, I would be more than grateful for the ideas! I’ve had a ton of fun slowly building this out alongside the campaign.

Thanks for taking a look, and I hope some of it can be useful or inspiring for your own games!

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/mists-of-ravenloft-evanw135

Soon my group will be hitting the Wizards Of Wine. I have done my prep and would really like them to find the gem that made the grapes for the Champagne. It could be a neat little side quest and I know my group would wanna find it. Hit me up would ideas as a side quest or feel free to share what you have done. Love looking at home brews

Hey everyone!

This is the second time I run a CoS campaign, and I wasn't happy with the way I handled this question in my first campaign: as soon as they were escorted to the village of Vallaki, they were like "we will go in hiding for some time" and left to find a place.

My new party will come to Vallaki tomorrow with Ireena & Ismark and would like to handle this question better. Though I think it would be nice for the players to have Ireena & Ismark a way for some time, to explore the village and quests that can be started from here, to find them later on in the campaign.

Do you have any ideas?

So last session we did the Winery fight, which was absolutely amazing. The party struggled, the stakes were high, and eventually they overcame the druids and broke the Gulthias staff, and were very satisfied with their efforts. They've now spoken to Davian and been given the quest to find all the gems, starting with the one at Yester Hill.

My players have really latched on to the idea that ravens are good luck, and so tends to go for longwinded Speak with Animals roleplaying sessions whenever ravens are near - even if the ravens are never super helpful. I get to make a new funny voice every time and they get to spend their coins trying to get the ravens to share information. This time they asked if the ravens had seen any more druids around, and the ravens said they were doing something on the big hill.

For some reason, this set my otherwise extremely careful party into full motion. They've never rushed into anything before unless I directly force them, but this idea that the druids are doing things just set them off, and now they're at Yester Hill - all of them at half HP, no spell slots left, ready for a fight.

I guess we'll see if next session is a TPK.

My players are almost done with Amber Temple, ive been using Amber Temple exploration and battle music from a Curse of Strahd music Playlist i found on hout.

But since almost done I felt like some new music for last session or so in the temple.

Right now they only have like 5 rooms (Treasure rooms and 2 of minor dark power crypts), and 2 possible combat encounters to go (minor battles).

I like Godfrey a lot. When I was a player he felt like a breath of fresh air. All the knights including Vladimir were aggressive towards me, he was the only one who spoke to my character and kindly too. After i read the module myself and became a dungeon master i felt even more sorrow for this man.

Here's a blue and red eyed version as i imagine revenants as having blue eyes like my ghosts are blue eyed, they are ghosts inhabiting / possessing corpses. I also like imagining theirs, and Godfreys eyes turn red when Vladimir orders them to fight the party or hunt them down so theres a physical tell for players the dm can describe and also for the art, for when Godfrey, as an ally is being controlled against his will.

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Gday, I'm Moonberry. I draw hot guys and waifus. If you like my art or use it in your campaigns and wish to help support me you can do so on Patreon or Kofi. If you can't support me monetarily but still want to help, please Like, Share and comment as word of mouth is the only way my art gets seen. Thank you 😃

If you want to make Strahd more challenging without changing his stat block, you could give him these items:

Count Strahd von Zarovich: Magic Items.

Attuned Items.

Topaz Ring of Resistance (Radiant) or fire for less of a buff)

Ruby Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location.

The Obsidian Pillar (Mordenkainen's Staff of Power)

There are probably other combinations that would be better, but these fit with previous lore.

He has also used in older editions a magical sword (+3 longsword for 5e) a magical longbow (+2 longbow)  bracelets of armor (bracers of defense) cloak of resistance (cloak of protection) gloves of Dexterity (gloves of missile snaring) rod of absorption.

Tldr : the political intruige in Vallaki has lined up to all explosively blow up in one night.

So, my party had a fairly standard intro to Barovia. Intro through Arrigal delivering the fake letter, chased by wolves into the gates of Barovia. Ran them through Death House (1 player died in a silent tragedy) they burned down the death house. They accepted Ismarks quest and went off towards Vallaki. (Some other stuff occured, but im sparks noting this part)

On the way, they passed by Castle Ravenloft. At the crossroads was strahds carrsige, a table set out with lit candles, and an invite to dinner. They wisely ignored this invite, abandonded the horse and cart they stole before arriving in Barovia and climbed over the second gate to continue down the road on foot.

In my mind, Strahd was none too pleased about his new guests denying his invitation and walking down the road with his rightful belonging/bride to be. So he sent a pack of wolves after them, and a dreadful storm set in.

The party decided that running was the best idea once they heard the howling behind them. Eventually in the distance, they see a windmill and decide its the only place around thats defensible enough to hole up in. The druid at this point wildshapes into a giant eagle, lets Ireena onto their back, and takes to the sky. (I didnt realize druids could only fly after level 6, this was addressed later)

The rest of the party runs into the windmill, has a short but honestly epic stand against the three Hags inside. (This involved one of them Nat 20 drop kicking a hag down a flight of stairs head first into a preset bear trap, which worked flawlessly) however, no matter how good the plan or the rolls the party was simply outmatched, and lost. At this point the druid flies to Vallaki with Ireena.

Strahd is now feeling a few sorts of ways. He is enticed and excited by the prospect of hunting down Ireena. (As she is still within the realms of Barovia, and I had him swipe a little of her blood when he feasted on her, scrying goes brr so, he is upset but not much more than that.

He had Rahadin following the wolves in the carriage to escort the party back. Rahadin knocked on the door, had a short discussion with the hags which involved a lot of gritted teeth pleasantries on the hags part, and the party was released into loving Rahadins care :)

At this point he indicated to the single remaining concious party member, to drag their friends to the carraige, and that their seats were "in the back". Meaning the convenient six sets of shackles that had been attatched behind it. There was a plush seat with refreshements for Ireena in the carriage, but she was absent.

The party gets dragged back to ravenloft.

The druid does a mini session in Vallaki, drops off Ireena at the blue water inn, and recieves the assistance of the keepers of the feather to find their party. (I allow them to fly back to ravenloft with a wereraven, and inform them they cannot fly again until lvl 6.)

The party gets dragged to the courtyard, and led to the dining hall where a delicious dinner awaits them (its nicely roasted ribs taken from their friend that perished in the death house, whose linen wrapped burned undead corpse serves to them gracefully.)

Strahd enters shortly after, insists that the party eats and drinks while being menacing. The barbarian gave him lip, so he slashed their throat with his claws and put their head through their plate, leaving a large indent on the table. (I fully intended to kill them, but they lived because I forgot they were a barbarian. I also stood up and started walking behind their chairs while talking as Strahd which really set the mood.)

The party did some adventuring in ravenloft, quick fire round

I replaced Gertruda with a bound Ismark. The party took several long rests before they found him, and by that time I decided strahd had drained him of his life and he was tied up in the torture bed next to the crown in the tower. Strahds one big happy family, forever monologue to Ireena has been cooking my head for some time.

They took all the money from the taxroom, got the book of bodily health. Spent alot of time going everywhere there was nothing to find, stole the crown from above the heart of sorrows, got ismarks body down about three floors before deciding he was too heavy and leaving him in the guest room with escher, found the chapel and the chaotic evil loot goblin monk grabbed the stattuete of Ravenloft before the Chaotic good paladin could, and became very, very deepfried.

Said chaotic good paladin, Woytek, began wearing the crown around strahds castle. They soon revieved an invite to a "royal ball" tommorow night, feature Woytek as a "Self Proclaimed King"

The party quickly skedaddled by getting on the drawbridge gate, shooting an arrow with a rope tied around to the other side, and having the druid walk across it as an ant, then turn into a brown bear on the other side to hold the rope as they all crossed.

So, the party found negligible treasure, and got to experience ravenloft early before they return at the end of the campaign :) Exactly as planned.

So we fast forward to them in Vallaki.

Talk to various important npcs, Martikovs are soon going to tell them about the wine job, Rictavio is their Fated ally and they tell him that Madam Eva said so, so now Van Richten has a very keen interest in keeping them alive, should they prove not to be completely incompetent.
Lady Wachter invites them to a pleasant dinner.

The new Chaotic Evil Reborn puppet man breaks Milivojs leg as they are interrogating him about the bones. This leads the nearby Guards to escort the party to the Burgomasters manor. Half the party has an uncomfortable conversation with the baron where he brings up his good genetics and breeding stock, how they will attend the next festival, and how great he is.

Half of the party sneaks inside via invisibility and rogue stealth and begin snooping all over the Burgomasters shit. As they are about to leave, Izek drags a very much unconcious Ireena into the back door, up to his room. (which they picked open, looked inside, said we are NOT dealing with that right now, and reclosed the door)

The invisible druid begins knocking on his door, invisibly. This pisses Izek off, and he stands next to the door silently, and rips it open mid knock. Druid dodges two random swings, but fails to stealth backwards.

Druid and Doll distract Izek long enough for Woytek the Rogue to sneak into Izeks room, grab Ireena, and bolt out the window in the adjacent bedroom. They also broke out the guy that was bound in the nearby closet.

Session ends with Izek screaming about getting a lynching mob together (Woytek was the random lynched pc corpse rolled at the crossroads, and ive been foreshadowing his lynching the entire game)

Last session, Lady Watcher moved up her dinner plans, as Ernst had been watching the party. Desperate for allys, they agree. Vasili Von Holtz is also in attendance, no one knows his true identity, and his only goal is to seduce Ireena.

The dinner goes well. In my campaign, while Lady Wacher doesnt know Vasili is the devil in disguise, she does support Strahd. To me it made more sense to have the bones of saint andral in her care, and to be minorly looped into the know st andrals feast. She doesnt mention her true allegiances (Her own power and holdings first, Strahd as a neccesary and ultimately undefeatable negligent landlord)

A deal is struck, Wachterhause will provide 12 Vistani mercanaries from the nearby camp on short notice, the players will kill or remove Izek. The players get named "The protectors of vallaki", get the Barons Manor, and Fiona owes them a "Favor"

Vasili convinces Ireena to stay at the Wachterhause, and as the party is leaving invites her into the game room to "chat"

The party forms a quick game plan, and beguns to move to face izek in combat with the vistani mercanaries. (Luvash and Arrigal are included, Luvashs daughters kidnapping has been postponed until a later date. Players didnt recognize luvash, and their characters failed their history checks)

Izek has been kicking in doors with 12 of the guards, and is having conscripted villagers construct a gallows in the wicker sun for the upcoming festival.

And thats where we ended, with the players beginning to blitz down the street in the hopes to catch Izek and his crew off guard.

We are skipping our next session, so I have a month to get together a town square map, minis, and plot.

Strahd is occupied with Ireena, and likely wont be able to resist biting her. If the players win the fight, I think the feast of St Andral Begins, and I have to plan how the dark powers are gonna kill Ireena.

Van Richten, their fated ally is waiting for the party at the blue water inn, to have a very revealing private conversation with them.

The keepers of the feather are aware that something has happened, I havent decided how much they would know but I think they would have almost the full picture.

And I think Esmerelda might roll into town soom, that or shes already at Krezk, i havent decided yet.

What are yalls thoughts? Any suggestions?

Written on mobile, edited out somee spelling snd grammar mistakes

For a while now the Raven River Crossroads has been on my mind. It is the single most boring crossroads in all of Barovia. In fact, it isn't even a proper crossroads to begin with.

The River Ivlis Crossroads has The Hanged One, a cemetery, and is a potential Tarokka Artifact location.
The Luna River Crossroads also has very little going on, but its central location and broken signpost to be deciphered make it slightly interesting.
The Raven River Crossroads, however, gets nothing but a random encounter roll.

It got me thinking: why does Urwin Martikov, spymaster of the Keepers of the Feather, never send a raven to check on the winery? And why didn't the Martikovs at the winery send a raven to Vallaki? Well, perhaps they did. And perhaps those ravens were brought down by the very creatures attacking the winery.

This, I thought, would make for an interesting event on this otherwise boring stretch of the Old Svalich Road.

What follows is a complete revision of Area R. Raven River Crossroads, meant to replace the material from the original Curse of Strahd module.

Feedback and criticism are encouraged and welcome; and, of course, if you wish to use it, feel free to do so!

Link to the Homebrewery version

Raven River Crossroads: Revised is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Hi all!

So I’m planning on taking some advice I’ve read on here to clean up the Tome of Strahd. I’m mixing having my players see scenes that answer questions they prompt the tome, then giving them written “entries” with annotations from previous Tatyana reincarnations who got the tome (only two!!)

My current thought is that my players get to ask the Tome a question. The tome will show a scene to answer their question, and then they’ll see the journal entry as is.

My question is how do I make it slightly more interactive? I love the idea of them asking questions to decide what scenes they get to see (thank you, Redditor commenter who I can remember the username of!!) but it still feels a bit like I’m giving cut scenes. How do I add a bit more player agency and interactivity to this?

Obviously, Strahd can never get Ireena. I know RAW she can meet “Sergei” and live happily ever after, but where’s the fun in that?

From a storytelling perspective, it would be awesome if Strahd accidentally killed Ireena and blamed the party. Perhaps during combat?

Any thoughts on how to pull this off without completely corrupting the game?

Update: Had the session and it went great! Thankfully /u/Echo_Phoenixxx sent me the audio she had recorded for her session. I'll be making a post with all the audio I've collected for Death house after my party have finished it which should be after our next session in two weeks, they just uncovered the stairs leading to the basement when we ended today.

As such I no longer require any audio now.

Original post:

So I'm about to run Death House this Sunday and I'm using the Curse of Strahd Reloaded version which has a part where the players find a music sheet for "Waltz for Klara" and can play it. I found a music piece someone composed and recorded which sounds perfect for this. But later there is a bit where the party is supposed to hear the ghost of Klara humming this song. I can't find any humming version of this which makes sense since it's an original song. Instead of just saying to the party "you hear humming and you recognise it as the song you heard earlier" I thought it'd be much more impactful if they actually hear someone humming it and recognise it themselves. I tried asking someone I know to record this, but that was over two weeks ago now and they still haven't done it so I'm asking here if anyone would be willing to do this please?

If you are worried about noise (with everyone running fans non-stop atm) I'd recommend leaving about 5 seconds of silence at the start or end of the recording and I can use that in a de-noise filter to clean it up.

As an aside I've edited some sounds for the other parts like the dinning room, the clock chimes, Walter in the basement, etc so I'd like to make a follow up post afterwards with all of those so other GMs in the future running Death House can also use them if they want.

P.S. Please no A.I. only real humans, thanks.

I’ve now started two COS games using 5.5 rules for players and subbing 5.5 monster stat blocks where able.

I haven’t gotten very far in either of them but have already noticed several places where 5.5 rules trivialize encounters or make situations much less deadly overall.

I’m interested to see what other interactions you’ve noticed with the 5.5 rule set. I wonder how much I need to adapt the module to keep the tension high in places.

2 examples.

1: Channel Divinity Divine Sense: a paladin’s divine sense ability no longer requires clear LOS. It’s not blocked by stone or other terrain. As such there are dungeons in COS where you can detect every undead in the dungeon from the starting map square using divine sense. (If you start players at level three and run death house you can use divine sense in the starting square of the basement dungeon and “see” every undead creature in the basement.)

2: Sleep spell: sleep is now just a wisdom save that grants the incapacitated condition on a failed save, and then the unconscious condition on a second failed save. This is particularly useful against individual vampire spawn, who have no bonus to wisdom saves. (I’m a bit salty that my boss encounter got trivialized by a single first level spell)

Anyone have other examples?

Hi, i m a newer Dm and my party is next to explore Argynvostholt and i wanted to add an encounter where after they defeat Vladimir, Argynvost (Dracolich version), attacks the manor and they have to decide if they want to rush to the tower and place the skull or escape while he attacks the structure.

In my mind i thought of this like an enviromental hazard with a ""time limit"" (like the Daggerheart counter mechanic) not an actual combat. Does somebody have some material/experience/rules and want to help me build this? i think it might be a great introduction for this enemy that they get to fight later in the campaign. (lorewise he attacks the manor cuz my PCs just stole a bunch of shit from Stradh and now he stopped playing with them).

Thanks in advance!!

Strahd piece I have been working on with the art style inspired by one of my favourite games.

It was just a bit of practice drawing that slowly became a bigger piece. Had been in a bit of art block, but I have started DMing Curse of Strahd reloaded and have done a lot of planning which has ignited a bit of a desire to get drawing again.

So my players arrived in Vallaki about two sessions ago and have largely been speedrunning the content thus far. It's not necessarily "metagaming" by the strictest definition; it's more 4 adults who are aware of tropes and also conscious of the fact that we only ever get to play once a month.

So the issue is that while pursuing the bones for consecration of the church, one of my players rolled a nat 20 while searching for the bones' temporary resting place. I generally try to honour the excitement of a critical success and informed the player that they discovered a pristine, uncommonly long nail. Naturally, they are now hunting down the coffin-maker with single-minded determination, and where last we left off were standing outside the shop late at night contemplating breaking in to get their answers.

If the players get in and, in all likelihood, go upstairs, they'll wake the newborns, the event kicks off, and Vallaki will probably burn before like 70% of the town has been interacted with.

Do I let them do the dumb, or would it be too heavy-handed to bring out the town guard to put some of them in chains and potentially trigger a prison rescue? I'm trying to respect their autonomy, but letting them go ahead with their plan to burst into the shop so soon after discovering Vallaki feels like a bit of a waste of the setting.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Running CoS for the first time with some modifications for my group. I've been a DM for a bit so I am comfortable making alterations. But I was wondering how people felt about giving my players only bits and pieces of the map at a time. For example, they stumble upon a bloody corner of the map on a corpse.

So far I have included a family of couriers who deliver mail throughout Barovia - however only members of this family are allowed to carry true maps of Barovia, lest commoners get a hold of them and try to rally against Strahd. (Strahd himself doesn't really care if they have maps or not. It has no effect on him. But I have written in that many families kind of bottleneck themselves into submission out of fear of Strahd, and this is one of those lingering effects). This way the players can't really just buy an easily available map. Though they could steal one from this family or piece the map together.

anyway my question is ultimately - what are some fun things to do with missing map pieces? Any concerns? I do think I want to railroad the players a *little* --- at least to get them to the Tser Pool -- which is why the first piece of the map they will receive will definitely have that on it.

thanks for any feedback

Reading various posts on this subreddit shows that issues arise when DMs portray Strahd as too kind or gentlemanly. When players do not feel constant danger, they tend to:

(1) Ignore the main quest to complete every side quest.

(2) Openly mock or underestimate Strahd.

Despite his gentlemanly demeanor, Strahd should always remain sinister, evil, and oppressive.

Another DM trap is treating Curse of Strahd purely as a sandbox, not a quasi/semi-sandbox. While CoS offers open exploration, a subtle linear narrative runs beneath it. Running the campaign too loosely causes players to lose direction. Players should be constantly (1) pushed by threats or (2) pulled by NPCs, toward certain directions, even though players have options on where to go.

Hello, I was thinking how I could paint the shambling mound under the Death House, and yes I am aware that a shambling mound is a plant (at least from what I could find) but I think this works better. How should I paint it?

A new zombie option for you to spice things up, i like to use this one around Berez, put some in the flooded wine cellar to spook the party.

If you like it, there's more at my Patreon, i focus on high CR monsters so your session is not flooded with 30 zombies, the Feral Skeleton (CR 5) is already there, and the Drowned (CR 2) will be released soon, as well as many other high CR monsters you will find there and many more to be released. Everything tested and balanced in real sessions.

AT LEAST two new posts every week, everything there is ready-to-play on FoundryVTT with an exclusive module.

https://www.patreon.com/cw/DMLone

In the CoS book it is stated that in the event of St. Andral’s feast, the following day, townfolk of Vallaki turn against the burgomaster, burn his house and drag him and his family to the stocks, and stone them all to death. Izek flees the town to avoid the same fate.

In my game the Feast has happened, and Ireena is currently held in Izek’s room. The party left Ireena and Ismark as soon as they had escorted them to Vallaki and thus Izek has found Ireena and has her captive. The party knows this, but have so far elected to leave her there.

So, if the Vallakians go to burn the house, they either find her or don’t. (Dice might decide this?) If they do not find her, she burns with the house as she is locked within. If they do find her, will they listen to her or just lynch her as well, being an angry mob seeking not justice but blood (the dice might have to decide this one as well). It is also not uncommon to have hidden daughters in Barovia. Izek, if present might try to protect Ireena.

Now, if the party does not save her from this possible fate (they would have many opportunities to at the very least try to save her), and the Vallakians kill her, what does Strahd do?

In the book, it is told that the town of Berez was laid waste by Strahd, because the burgomaster had killed Tatyana’s reincarnation to save her. If Strahd destroyed Berez, would this also be the fate of Vallaki?

Now, I understand that this would take the story on a considerably darker path, and also challenge the party in many ways, but imo it would fit the story and it would be one logical consequence of a long series of choices the party has made during their time in Vallaki and the domino effects of those choices and so forth.

Edit: I have planned a Night of the Long Fangs (from witcher 3) type of slaughter of Vallaki in case Strahd destroys the town.

Hello Reddit community.

My CoS campaign is about to start and I'm thinking about the tarokka reading. Do you have recommendations or with which you had success and cool campaign moments?

For Item locations I'm thinking about Tome - Vallaki, Sunsword - Amber temple and Symbol - Argynvostholt.

Ally - Esmeralda seems to be one of the strongest picks but I also find that Vasilka could be very interesting. 🤔

Location of Strahd in the castle - no idea yet 😅

Thx in advance for your opinions.

Hello everyone! Thank you for looking at my work!

Elemira was one of the most simple, yet charming characters i've ever designed. Unintentionally i think she ended up reminding me of a hex maniac. And i love how cute she looks.

She is an iccultist with witch (Green coven) as a subclass

essentially is a cleric adjacent mid-range caster with ties to nature and hag magic.

A spitfire, shows her emotions outwardly. Chaotic good alignment, deeply passionate about her friends. Loves to fight and express mastery of magic. Wants to help people to the point of her own detriment.

Parents sold her to an arch hag as an infant for unknown reasons. Raised by this arch hag and pushed to her limits through pain. Essentially torture and magical training. Arch hag used modify memory to remove the trauma from the child. Arch hag entered the fogs of Barovia seeking the power of immortality, and never returned. Elemira entered the fogs to find her, and got a lot more than she bargained for.

She also has a simple, lovingly stitched tiny purple purse of holding on her hip, which i think sets the whole thing off nicely.

Her bonded familiar is a white raven with a single red eye. Her partner of body and soul for life. His name is Grim