What happens in Curse of Strahd if the players destroy Strahd's coffin or prevent him from returning to it? Strahd casts the polymorph spell to turn a PC or NPC into a frog. Use of this option does not change Strahds CR. Reading it you get the impression that the adventure without extra pre-work anticipates a leveling structure based on milestones. Strahd uses his lair action to open and unlock one or more doors and windows. [] It was always my wish that at some point we could put a version of the adventure together that actually had the cards with it, and it's out of that idea that this boxed set emerged. Of course, a highly strategic or well-equipped party will likely face a somewhat easier encounter, while a novice or ill-prepared party will face a correspondingly harder encounter. The Dark Powers delight in tormenting villains as much as they do innocents, the Mists equally confound both predators and prey, and Darklords frequently exhibit hubris or other exploitable flaws. Strahd casts mirror image before entering combat. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. That said, since I want to be a tank in the more traditional sense of supporting the group by enticing enemies to attack me instead, I am leaning toward Ancestral Guardian more than Bear. The following options refer to Strahds preferred means of isolating and subsequently eliminating a grappled (via Strahds unarmed strike attack) or incapacitated (e.g., via polymorph or sleep) PC. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? I tried to give further hints - letting them spot many footsteps around large body sized crates in the dust of the storage room. Privacy Policy. If a PC taunts Strahd specifically regarding Sergei, King Barov, Queen Ravenovia, or Tatyana, Strahd prioritizes that PCs injury or death above other competing targets. No content creator has published a comprehensive guide to customize Strahds Rules-As-Written tactics to perfectly suit a partys preferred play experience and skill leveluntil now. Conjure Specter. Theres too much intrigue to wing your way through this adventure". Knowing a few of my players had been through it before, I dec. The following options refer to the legendary actions that Strahd might employ immediately after a given creatures turn while in combat. The adventure is firmly rooted in the horror genre and pits the players against ghosts, werewolves, and the titular vampire himself: Strahd Von Zarovich. Based on the classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure, I6 Ravenloft, released in 1983, Curse of Strahd expands the original adventure into an entire region complete with 13 adventuring locations, including the Village of Barovia and Castle Ravenloft. If Strahd ever takes more than 21 damage in a single round, or if Strahd ever takes radiant damage, he immediately retreats to a safe location in order to fully regenerate his hit points. I have decided on Barbarian for my upcoming Curse of Strahd game, Im joining at level 3. So far, my players have been most impressed/engaged when fighting a "boss," just a unique enemy they had not seen before who had enough health and hit super hard so they had to really consider their tactics as individuals and as a group. Share them with anyone. In this encounter, Strahds effective CR is either 17 or 21. Polymorph (Sperm Whale or Killer Whale). Both the possibilities and the choices are out of the DM's control, resulting in a process akin more to guiding a passenger boat down a stream. This is what I have so far https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5mgM5oI1_wWjMitfseiljKhUGVZJu_dd Please help, Scan this QR code to download the app now, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5mgM5oI1_wWjMitfseiljKhUGVZJu_dd. Lets also assume that his preferred actions include ray of frost (+2 CR), unarmed strike, and fireball; that his preferred legendary actions include unarmed strike and move; that he cannot use charm (+1 CR); that he primarily uses the phasing lair action; that he prefers to isolate characters via defenestration; that he prepares between consecutive combats by using the hide action (+1 CR); and that his responses to provocation are stoic. Strahd is unaffected by any PC taunts specifically regarding Sergei, King Barov, Queen Ravenovia, or Tatyana unless the PC succeeds on a DC 15 Charisma (Performance) check (made with advantage if the PC has read the Tome of Strahd), in which case Strahd prioritizes that PCs injury or death above other competing targets. Play games anywhere. Just in case someone or something tries to push them down the stairs. What experiences have you had running Strahds RAW statblock in combat? Polymorph (Frog). Tease, taunt, humiliate - Yes. [15], In a review of Curse of Strahd in Black Gate, Andrew Zimmerman Jones said "Curse of Strahd is really a mix of setting manual and adventure module in one, with a storyline that is extremely open-ended, with endings that (assuming the players survive) allow for continued adventures centered around the consequences of the players' actions in Castle Ravenloft. Use this option if you want to allow Strahd to dictate the terms of every engagement before the PCs have a chance to respond, either by casting a spell like polymorph or animate objects or by swiftly grappling and isolating a chosen victim. However, it is entirely possible to run St. Andral's Orphanage as a stand alone adventure or incorporate it into another campaign. Curse of Strahd is an adventure module for the 5 th -edition of Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast in 2016. Set in the Ravenloft campaign setting, the module revolves around the vampire Strahd von Zarovich and the Demiplane of Dread that serves as his prison. Which only now gets them level 5 but they have been fighting CR 5's most of the way, with the occasional CR 1-3. Each heading in this guide will direct the Dungeon Master to either pick one option among several mutually exclusive choices, or to select and prioritize multiple options from among several.competing choices. So far in my campaign they completed Death House (2 levels), and Old BoneGrinder (1 Level), and found the Sunsword (1 level). Strahd is unaffected by any PC taunts specifically regarding Sergei, King Barov, Queen Ravenovia, or Tatyana. In Curse of Strahd, who's feeding everyone? [7] Wizards of the Coast stated that "the adventure includes the latest errata and a revised depiction of the Vistani" who are based on stereotypes about the Romani people. Final Boss Music For Strahd : r/CurseofStrahd - Reddit Petty. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Aarakocra and Flying Players It has also been updated to reflect Wizards of the Coasts June 2020 errata. Then, because the woman he wanted to creepily possess fell in love with his younger (well-adjusted) brother, he murdered his brother, chased his beloved Tatyana off a 1,000-foot cliff, and made a pact with the mysterious Dark Powers to become the unholy terror he is today. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. I realized later one of the other problems is a lot of the "warnings" are probably just waived off as flavor text, considering the campaign setting. Here is the final theme of the CoS soundtrack ! Cookie Notice Two of my players ALMOST sided with Strahd : r/CurseofStrahd - Reddit By contrast, a party of 10th-level PCs will face a slightly easier encounter, expending fewer resources and facing lower risk. And it's especially brutal with Strahd because it's his home base and he fights DIRTY. This is what I have so far https: . Strahd never allows initiative to lapse and reliably attacks or appears to the party at least once every 2 to 4 rounds. The square grid maps will help your players navigate Castle Ravenloft on the virtual tabletop. Mirror Image. 6 of Curse of Strahd under character levels? Curse of Strahd - endgame advice - Dungeon Masters Only - D&D Beyond View Cover Art Contents Foreword Introduction Running the Adventure Marks of Horror Ch. Is Curse of Strahd really hard, or am I DMing it wrong? You can read our full guide to Strahds history, his personality, and how to run him at the table HERE. Strahd pulls a grappled or incapacitated character to an open window and pushes them out, letting them fall down to the castle courtyard below. If at least one of your players knows the spell wall of force, Strahds CR cannot go above 9. DnD 5e Curse of Strahd: What DMs Should Know - CBR They refused to leave so the mother called her two daughters to help her and attacked the adventurers. Note that the use of a Lair Action other than phasing can allow your players to restrain and/or kill Strahd within 1-2 rounds unless he has a clear escape route and ample distance (60-90 feet) separating him from the majority of the party. Use this option if you want to isolate a single PC in a place where Strahd can easily attack them and/or drag them away. Id recommend simultaneously improving Strahds abilities alongside the characters starting at level 7-8, and especially once they have access to magic that generates sunlight. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. If you use this option, leave Strahds CR unchanged. . For a very well-thought-out expansion on the implications of each of these plot hooks, Reddit user u/DragnaCarta has put together this excellent post on the r/CurseofStrahd subreddit, which is probably the single best D&D community subreddit in existence. Use this option if you want to allow Strahd to attack without disadvantage in sunlight and force the PCs to attack with disadvantage in a single pre-defined space. Horizontal and vertical centering in xltabular. Mastering Strahd von Zarovich: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Fierce D As such, Dungeon Masters running Curse of Strahd are often encouraged to modify Strahds statblock to increase his offensive and defensive capabilities. [19], Jon Ryan, for IGN, wrote "the updates to the adventure itself mostly consist of previously-published amendments to the book, such as tweaks to an additional character option or corrections of printing errors, but the most notable updates are to some items that were deemed insensitive or offensive after the original publishing []. Do you have any memorable stories, comments, questions, or critiques? It only takes a minute to sign up. Curse of Strahd - Adventure Lookup Forgotten Realms Wiki is a FANDOM Games Community. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Did the drapes in old theatres actually say "ASBESTOS" on them? The following points apply to any final battle with Strahd, notwithstanding any alterations made by specific tactics below: Strahd prioritizes targets in the following order: the PCs foretold ally; the holder of the Tome of Strahd (if known); wizards, warlocks, and sorcerers; bards, clerics, druids, and artificers; monks, rangers and rogues; fighters, paladins, and barbarians. Why did DOS-based Windows require HIMEM.SYS to boot? Should my party have been doing these encounters or should they have run away? It then attacked them back. By contrast, a party of 10th-level PCs will likely slaughter Strahd within two rounds. The more details or "clues" you hand out, the more they want to know what is happening. Curse of Strahd is an adventure book for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Its easy to see whyunlike easy-to-use bosses in other modules, a single mistake can lead to Strahds near-instant death, while an unintentionally optimal strategy can turn the final battle into an unpleasantly excruciating experience. The r/CurseOfStrahd subreddit is a community-based resource aimed to help Dungeon Masters run their Curse of Strahd games. I'm having the same issue. It's not necessary to copy it word-for-word to explain how it solves the problem. If you use this option on at least one-third of rounds in combat, reduce Strahds CR by 2. A place to discuss the latest version of Dungeons and Dragons, the fifth edition, known during the playtest as D&D Next. Strahd is probably one of the most iconic villains in the Dungeons and Dragons universe. [7], Chris Perkins, Dungeon & Dragons Principal Narrative Designer, in an interview with IGN said, "We don't do a tremendous number of box sets. It also behooves the DM to provide more narrative warning in such cases - signs of danger, direct warnings from NPCs, and (for when it all goes awry) avenues of escape. This gothic horror adventure takes the players on a course through Barovia that culminates with a vampire hunt inside Castle Ravenloft. The book does suggest that milestone-based leveling might be best, but only throws out a few examples of appropriate milestones, leaving the DM to really have to do a lot of thinking about how to award for various things. If you choose this option, set Strahds default CR to 13 if your players know at least one spell of 7th level or higher that can automatically incapacitate Strahd, such as power word pain or forcecage; and 17 otherwise. I've seen a lot of people complain that mechanics-wise Strahd just isn't THAT tough of a villain to be proper end-game big bad and I realized that he's not really supposed to be a standalone final villain. The Dark Lord of Barovia, the master of Ravenloft, the first Vampyre Count Strahd Von Zarovich is a contender for the title of D&Ds most iconic villain of all time, right alongside the Vecna, Acererak, Xanathar the mad beholder crime boss, and Halaster Blackcloak. [] While modifications do fix things like the stereotyping of the Vistani people as 'uncivilized' and heavy drinkers, the module still gives the Vistani abilities to curse and hypnotize players or cast spells like Evil Eye, which, along with unrevised art that heavily conjures stereotyped imagery of the Romani, leans into tropes that suggest the Romani have mystical, dangerous powers, tropes that have been used in the past to target Romani for persecution". No Phasing. The shadows, however, are extremely avoidable and are essentially a consequence of a lack of caution. Sometimes the solution is not a fight; it is their job to know when to fight, when to run, and when to find different solutions, Use foreshadowing and foreboding to warn players. Why the obscure but specific description of Jane Doe II in the original complaint for Westenbroek v. Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity? Strahd uses 1 legendary action to strike and grapple a nearby enemy. Irrespective, he cracked open the crates, triggered an enormous fight and ended up dying. Remember, the raven will be in league with the wereravens of Vallaki and essentially a force of good. As always, be prepared to tune your preparations to the needs, skills, and expectations of your playersand above all else, make sure that you and your players have fun. Why don't we use the 7805 for car phone chargers? If you use this option and expect your players to make strategic use of such tactics, leave Strahds default CR unchanged if employing No Phasing and reduce Strahds default CR to 7 otherwise. Role playing epic skill fails and wins can be fun. Strahd attempts to always maintain a distance of at least 40 feet from any hostile melee combatant who has a Strength (Athletics) modifier of +4 or greater. He repeats this process each time the character returns to consciousness until the max hit point reduction kills them, then directs Cyrus or another of his servants to bury the body in the courtyard to ensure it becomes a vampire spawn. Hit-and-Run Phasing. By contrast, a party of 10th-level PCs will face a difficult, grueling encounter that risks draining their resources dry and killing at least two characters. Sever Shadow. As a result, they defeated every mini-boss and side quest and advanced to level 11 in the first half of the castle before the final encounter with Strahd. Copy the n-largest files from a certain directory to the current one. None. So here's our top four tips for DM's running Curse of Strahd! Why refined oil is cheaper than cold press oil? Like so many RPG video game sandboxes, the mists surrounding Barovia act as a warning: leaving the playable area that limits the narrative of the game, but they are especially unique in one regard: they act as both barrier and catalyst for adventure. Curse of Strahd is a 257-page adventure for D&D 5e that transports players into a horrifying pocket dimension called Barovia. They did gain two levels after defeating the hags and securing the sword. Some things to keep in mind to make this work well: (*) I roll my dice in the open (when I can), my players know my monsters may kill the characters and I don't fudge the die for or against them. [8] Beadle & Grimm, a Wizards of the Coast licensee, released a limited run special "Legendary Edition" which included physical props for the Dungeon Master to use such as handouts, maps, props and encounter cards. The box set definitely will enhance your Curse of Strahd experience, and the box alone makes for a great display piece on top of your bookshelf or in the D&D corner of your room". Also to note. 1. Contrary to the book I would probably not have the shadows pursue the party out of the room, and may have them vanish if (for example) the orb was returned. Id recommendat the leastencouraging your players to long rest. It is intended for 4 players, taking them from level 1 to 10. The following options refer to Strahds use of his phasing lair action, which permits him to temporarily pass through the solid walls, doors, ceilings, and floors of Castle Ravenloft as if they werent there. Van Richtens Guide to Ravenloft, which expands the Domains of Dread for fifth edition, has an excellent sidebar on the importance of cultivating hope in your Ravenloft games. Perhaps if they run into a bad area again I'll pull in some other outside factors to help keep them aware. March 15, 2016. In Vallaki, the party has the opportunity to run into a nest of vampire spawn whilst investigating a coffin maker's shop. I'm currently DMing a Curse of Strahd campaign (slightly modified to fit into an existing world I am slowly building (following core rule books for the most part). [12], In 2016, Henry Glasheen, for SLUG Magazine, highlighted the legacy of the original Castle Ravenloft and wrote "Curse of Strahd carries on this legacy admirably, diving deeper into the bloody past of Count Strahd. They tend to go [] in the hundreds of dollars. Curse of Strahd is an adventure book for D&D 5e that is heavily inspired by gothic and pulp horror. Curse of Strahd sees the player characters transported by the supernatural mists of Ravenloft from wherever they are (the adventure assumes theyre somewhere on the Sword Coast near the city of Neverwinter, but you can start the campaign anywhere) and into the valley of Barovia. Lets also assume that his preferred legendary actions include unarmed strike and move; that he cannot use charm (+1 CR); that he primarily uses the phasing lair action; that he prefers to isolate characters via defenestration; that he prepares between consecutive combats by using the hide action (+1 CR); and that his responses to provocation are petty. Use of this option does not change Strahds CR. In this encounter, Strahds effective CR is 15, meaning that a party of 15th-level PCs attuned to the Sunsword and Holy Symbol will likely face a challenging, resource-intensive final encounter. Attending dinner at Strahds invitation can be a fun and unsettling peek at horrors to come, but consider your players stamina and level before encouraging them to explore further. She's either a Damsel Scrappy who steals much of the module's focus while lacking a compelling personality to justify protecting her, or she's a likeable character with a good amount of characterization, and someone the players can see as . Strahd pulls a grappled or incapacitated character to the Ravenloft drawbridge or overlook and pushes them over, letting them fall a thousand feet to their death below. [6] This module is the first released with the publisher's new focus on diversity and inclusion. Use this option if you want to threaten a particular low-HP target and/or grapple a PC who you plan to separate from the party. Use this option if you want to give your PCs a "breather" round in which Strahd does little-to-nothing of consequence. Pace it well, let them have a victory or two to avoid too much frustration. Players should be made aware of this when starting the campaign and they should note that often discretion will be the better part of valor. If you use this option and expect your players to make strategic use of such tactics, decrease Strahds CR by 1. 13. He Is The Ancient, He Is The Land - Curse Of Strahd - YouTube [19] Muncy highlighted that the errata and the Revamped edition "sought to undo some of the harmful stereotyping of the Vistani people, along with revising the books approach to a specific characters disability to avoid ableist stereotypes. If you expect to successfully use this option to incapacitate a character wielding the Sunsword for at least one minute, increase Strahds CR by 2; if not, use of this option does not change Strahds CR. Sleep. Strahd uses 1 legendary action to corner a vulnerable foe or escape a dangerous situation. Tracy found an old daguerreotype [an early type of photograph captured on a silvered copper plate] [sic] that captured the look of Strahd in his mind, and we used that image as a reference to create a new look for the vampire". Fall damage: a creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet fallen to a maximum of 20d6. Use of this option does not change Strahds CR. Adventurers are mysteriously drawn to the realm of Barovia which is surrounded by deadly fog and ruled by the vampire wizard Strahd von Zarovich. Strahd limits himself to a small number of adjoining rooms, using his phasing ability only to pass through minor walls or other obstructions. Their image didn't match the Bela Legosi [sic] vampire quite so much. Otherwise, use of this option does not change Strahds CR. and our They should have a sense of progress and "next time we'll get em". Now, I realize there was some obvious deficiencies on these monsters that make them slightly easier in general - for instance the first boss fight, they could have easily kited him around the room and never given it the chance to attack (his movement was only 20ft per round). Is Curse of Strahd really hard, or am I DMing it wrong? Combat is unlikely to resolve in 6 rounds or fewer, and may take 10 or more. Curse of Strahd is an amazing fantasy-horror D&D 5e campaign set in the demiplane of Barovia which is ruled by the legendary vampire Strahd von Zarovich. Wrathful. Dynamic lighting and the Jukebox are your best friends in a horror game. So far, the "bosses" they've fought have been Baba Lysaga, a suped alpha werewolf, and a beast at the Abbey of Saint Markovia I shamelessly stole from Bloodborne. With delightfully macabre props and thoughtful changes, Curse of Strahd Revamped is the definitive version of a classic. Which ability is most related to insanity: Wisdom, Charisma, Constitution, or Intelligence? A warforged colossus is designed to carry wizards and soldiers within its body, so they can function as final dungeon and final boss all wrapped up in one. I think you need to add monsters if you aren't using milestones to ensure the PC's are of sufficient level to enter that area. Use this option if you want to lure one of your players toward a particular door or window where Strahd is lying in wait, or away from a pending ambush.