Thinking about it now, I guess a shower would be running water... Make sure to check out WORLD ANVIL: www.worldanvil.com/ And some of the art in this video was made by JAMES' RPG ART: www.patreon.com/jamesrpgart
You should read the vampire book for RIFTS. It not only suggests that a shower is running water, it also includes weapons like squirt guns and super soakers, and even includes a magic item that is basically a backpack mounted garden sprinkler.
• You cause the water to form into simple shapes and animate at your direction. This change lasts for 1 hour. Shape Water might count as running water too.
I use rainy days in Curse of Strahd as a respite for the party, as long as it is raining they don't have to worry about him showing up. (He always has minions though)
I think the logic with running water is that it cleanse your soul. Stagnant water that stay on the body or lay still doesn't work because it wont transport away the impurities in your soul. I'm not completely sure about this thou.
Ravenloft was my first serious campaign and will always be close to my little cold blackened heart. I wish everyone could witness it in all its Glory during the 2nd Ed AD&D days , it really could be a terrifying slaughterfest if not played correctly.
I made it so that van Richten had stolen the Tome of Strahd before the players got there, giving Strahd a reason to want to hunt him down. When Strahd first met the players he gave them the task "find me Rudolph van Richten" as a test of sorts
In the game I currently run the people just found the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind in van Richten’s tower; that’s a really good motivation for Strahd to ask the party about him. Thanks!
See, I'm gonna run it with the "Strahd cant die without severing the dark power" homebrew on reddit. So for Richten, I'm planning on him having tried to kill Strahd in his youth to give him some more plot relevance. Maybe he succeeded but Strahd just came back the next day
@@garulia17 How would Van Richten have tried to kill Strah'd in his youth when Strahd is hundreds of years old? I like the idea, but I dont think it can be in the youth.
As a general rule for BBEGs in 5th ed bring some minions to the table. Most high CR monsters can be beaten just using the action economy. For Straud (a CR 15 monster) I would bring 2 or 3 vampire spawn, a dozen zombies or skeletons, and maybe something weird like a dire wolf or a dire bat. You can always scale back the number of minions at the start and trickle them in as the fight goes on.
@@connorhennessey1316 TBF, I was doing that before I saw Matt's video(s) on the topic, but yes, I do enjoy his perspective on the hobby quite a bit, and did also enjoy the sense of validation when he recommended the idea.
One of the more entertaining things I plan on doing is using a homebrew concept and making Strahd a "Paragon Boss" with 2 or maybe 3 phases to make the final encounter a lot more interesting. But running it vanilla, as you should always do at least once IMO, abuse that turn economy to make the encounter interesting for your party!
did any of you even read strahd's statblock completely? he can summon minions, if your players are really unlucky he could even summon 18 wolves in one turn. please show me how 4 players defeat 18 wolves while also fighting strahd. by the way, strahd can willingly just walk through walls and disappear, not to mention that he regenerates HP every turn and additional HP when he bite attacks someone. if you know how to play vanilla strahd there is nearly no level 10 party that would defeat him, unless one of the players cheated and read up on his stat block.
One of. It's up there with Storm King's Thunder and Waterdeep: Dragon Heist in terms of overall quality. Considering the extremely gloomy, depressing, and disturbing atmosphere the game has (or is *supposed* to have) though, it's not to everyone's liking.
It's one of the most dynamic modules that really gives both the players and the dm the ability to stretch their legs and explore. Strahd is a static villain will clear goals and limitations that make it easier for dms to play him and Barovia is more of the same.
@@SCI-FIWIZARDMAN Did it really fall flat because of the characters, or because you as a DM were not willing to play to the first parties strength and stop taking the Module seriously.
@@TNTLLYftwVery turnaround, much wow. I'd never considered that. Thank you for showing me the light random commenter who decided to take issue with my post. In all seriousness, sure, we can say it was a mutual failure if that makes people comfortable. But this is why Session 0 exists, to set the expectations for the campaign. It's one thing when a DM fails to adapt to a party's preferred playstyle. It's another when the DM tells you that the game you're gonna play is set in a serious, gloomy, hostile setting, and you decide to bring Fluffelbutt the Halfling Jester who loves to run around putting ice into people's pants.
I know you showed some panels from the comic, but "Shadows of the Vampire" was an excellent source of inspiration for featuring Strahd within my campaign. His dialogue, appearances, and attitude, were all used when I ran the game and he still remains the most memorable villain I have ever had the pleasure to play. Highly recommend the comics if anyone is looking for inspiration. "I, Strahd" also highly recommend.
Our DM shifted the focus to Ireena during our campaign. In our run, Ireena was the BBEG, along with other female NPCs that became his vampire brides. Strahd scattered the Sunblade and Symbol of the Ravenkind into other Planes so we won't be able to use it against him, we had to seek the help of Mordenkainen in order to get them back. It was really fun!
Emily Madison Hart that’s why I did for my campaign. The players resurrected her and she manipulated them to defeat Strahd, only to rule Barovia in his stead. She gave them an option to leave and not face her and they took it lol. It was a bittersweet ending that was probably appropriate given the setting.
I think a DM should still use the invitation weakness of Strahd. Sure, he is the ruler of the land, but he isn't a property tycoon who owns every single piece of land, house and shop on all Barovia. It doesn't make sense making him immune to his weakness just because he is the ruler of the land. It would be the same as, let's say, removing a undead's weakness to Radiant damage because he was a paladin in life. The catch is that this weakness must be used to stop him from reaching his objective, not to defeat him. For example, he could Alter Self into an old lady and reach to the party's room in a tavern. She explains a problem that it is happening (it can even be something real from the game, the Wine Factory being a pretty good example of that) and asks if she can come in to explain more details. If the party has Strahd's diary or if they are paranoid, they could not let her enter and just gain a small clue. But if they let her in, Strahd reveals himself, defeats the party and kidnaps Irenna. You plant seeds of paranoia into the players, after all, it is a horror story.
I did something similar. I had a wounded “Ezmerelda” show up after they finished the Wizard of the Wines. I had “her” tag along for the rest of the session as Strahd gathered info about the party. His goal in doing this was to find the location of Van Ricten because he knew the party had been in contact with him. Once he had achieved this end by organizing a meet up, he revealed himself with an ambush and ended up killing him and turning him into a spawn. The party attempted to rules lawyer me by exclaiming, “how did he enter the winery if he needs permission??” They had forgotten the first thing “Ezmerelda” said when they opened the door: “Mind if I come in?” Mind you he was faking a wound so it came off as a sarcastic question. 😈 Set up for some good moments later because the party couldn’t trust any of the other allies they had made without intense vetting. Good times, I had more fun doing it that way than I would have just letting Strahd go wherever he wanted.
I agree, but for a different reason. I think Strahd should be able to enter houses and shops without invitations, however, I don't think he would do so. In my head, since Strahd sees it as.. a challenge to himself, he would give himself this rule to really test himself. He's also a noble, and it is quite rude to enter a house without an invitation. I also think it would also be a "oh shit" moment for the players if Strahd just straight-up walked into a house once he began getting serious. It is up to interpretation though, I suppose.
@@Misappropriation I love doing this for the sunlight too. I mentioned a few times that Barovia's sunlight was really dim and weak. However, Strahd always tried avoiding it, when he found out that one of the players had the Sunblade, he stepped out in the sunlight, marking one of the best moments in my campaign.
Well I understand your point I think the reason is that he doesn’t own the land he is the land maybe he can’t control it physically but on a magical level there is no beginning and end to where his soul and land meet
Game went fine, legit nearly killed a lv 2 because he thought as a lv 2 monk he could take on 5 dire wolves at once. Two hits and he died. Cleric ran in and spared the dying, then healing word as a bonus action.
I remember watching this and getting inspired to add a lil something to Strahds goals as fuel for his hatred of Richten. I added an addition where Sergei and Tatyana had a secret child before marriage, and Madam Eva took it with her when she escaped. The only one who knows of this secret continuation of the line is Madam Eva. A tarroka card reading later in his reign revealed to Strahd that "a great hunter of the vampire will come to these, one who holds the blood of Sergei. They will seek an end to your reign." While Strahd does want an end to his reign, and to that extent his curse, he abhores the idea of a true heir to his throne, much less that of a product of the union he despised. Upon hearing of any vampire hunter, he makes them his top priority. He believes Richten to be that descendant, while the true descendant is Esmeralda.
With van ricten, i always thought of him like the van helsing of this world. A famous and renowned vampire hunter who is taking on the godfather of vampires, strahd defeating van ricten would send a message to all of the forgotten realms of his power
The piano piece played throughout the video is called Mysterious moments by Eneide and is perfect for Curse of Strahd so eerily sophisticated and haunting, it really encapsulates the overall tone of the module, another good song is Waltz for the wicked by the same artist, all of it its just *chefs kiss* C'est Magnifique
Im playing Strahd rn. And my party did a thing that they gave him Ireena. So now they kinda wanna stop the wedding. What I do, to keep things interested, is having some extra vampire spawns around him. So the action economy is a bit more balanced (also makes scense to me, that he would not be alone) Anyways, my tip if you gonna play CoS ;]
I feel like Jacob should read I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire (which is what Ravenloft is based off of), as the setting stuff misses some fun bits and pieces. For example, Strahd was into Tatyana, but she viewed him more like a father figure due to the fact that he was in his early to mid-forties, and his bargain with the dark powers was specifically to cease aging, plus he also had to kill his best friend and trusted lieutenant as part of the bargain, not just Sergei, and drinking blood was not part of it and he did not do so for that. It wasn't his own guards that shot him, the reason his whole plan went to shit is because a traitor in his ranks allowed remnants of the Tergs (the army he reclaimed his family's land from) into the wedding of Sergei and Tatyana to turn it into a bloodbath. They sort of weaken Strahd's connection to the land in the setting to make Strahd less terrifying too. For example, Strahd can't commit suicide by sunlight, since he tries this and the land itself moves him to safety before sunrise (he's unconscious while it happens, having leapt off of a cliff). Another aspect is that he is the land, so invitation isn't really a thing he needs, as all of the dwellings are his property.
"I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire" came out in 1993, 10 years after Strahd was introduced in Ravenloft in 1983. The book is based on Ravenloft, not the other way around
If I was to make a movie about Strahd, his soldiers trying to kill him and his act of slaughtering them would be portrayed as the most tragic part. Strahd was a military man in life, he built his army up from nothing and likely won their loyalty by leading them to victory in the valley of Barovia. It’s likely that Strahd’s relationship with his soldiers was the only real connection he had in his life. They see the man they followed to hell and back transform into a monster and attempt to strike him down in fear and disgust. And Strahd in turn kills them in a blind rage.
Van Richten is well renown monster hunter through multiple worlds, and is a recurring character throughout Raveloft’s lore. Strahd is the father of all vampires. Of course their fates are intertwined. The events of the novel “I, Strahd” are introduced in its first pages as being the contents of Strahd’s memoires as encountered and read by Van Richten as he snoops through Castle Ravenloft while Strahd is napping. The two have a long-running game of cat-and-mouse, and Strahd is too smart to ignore the old saying, “fear the old man in a profession where everyone dies young.” He wants Van Richten dead.
Bump up the challenge by having Strahd wearing his own animated armor, effectively giving him two turns to move around with and an external pool of hp to draw from until the armor is destroyed. Make his sword an animated sword as well for another turn worth of attacking.
I ran a Halloween one shot of curse of strahd, specifically the one on D&D beyond. Basically you get 5 hours to explore the castle and defeat strahd. All of the items are in the castle, as well as a few (potentially) ally npc’s. Strahd was supposed to be inside of his tomb as per the card I drew for his location, and party literally got to the gate at the end of their time limit, so strahd began fighting them. One character outright died, another was charmed, the third and fourth were knocked unconscious, and the fourth was able to roll a natural 20 on a death saving throw, which game him the opportunity to attack strahd from behind and roll natural 20 for his attack to kill strahd. The charmed character knocked the fourth character out, which allowed strahd to reform in his coffin before the two unconscious characters woke up, and he killed them as well. In an outright combat scenario, the party fared alright considering they had magic items, the campaign specific items, and an ally assisting them in the fight. He’s definitely not as bad as you make him out to be, but maybe a slight buff to his numbers would make him last longer. His big weapon against the party is his charm. Over the campaign he should definitely learn who is the weakest link mentally, and he should target them in the big fight with his charm. This will help the dm by not having to add a lot of minions to the turn order while still letting strahd be more of a danger.
Thanks for this, I'm running this right now, actually, and any tips would be great. I'm glad to know that I've been using him right so far, though I think I need to hit the brakes on his appearances. Thanks again!
Hey Jacob I gotta know the name of that piano music at the part where you talk about how you can make Sthrad more challenging. It's so good and fitting!
If anyone here hasn't read the book "I Strahd: Memiors of a Vampire" you should. It really expands on the character of Strahd and others. The book also makes Strahd more of an evil man with ambitions and logic rather than a woman craved lunatic.(Despite him being one) Also, let a character play the unearthed arcana rogue archetype the undying. It works really well with the Barovia setting.
Sadly I can't watch this video as I am about to play Curse of Strahd for the first time ever somewhen around March this year but I heard leaving a comment helps UA-cam channels that I really really like and so do likes I guess. I'll gladly leave both here. Bye
I played CoS a few months ago with my groupe and it was one hell of a ride! Lots of fun locations, a great villain and tons of opportunity for your players to do heroic/crazy stuff. (Sometimes even too crazy, I just say blowing up Strahd from the inside and yeeting yourself through the air like a galleon figure while immobilized...)
The biggest difference, IMO, is that the Ravenloft setting was much larger in those days, with a number of realms that were (relatively) easy to get to. Not that they were any better; each centered on a powerful undead monster trapped in their own failure.
I, Strahd was the backstory. Curse of Strahd is more like current events. I recommend reading all the past novels cause you can really get into Strahd's personality when you run CoS.
They are the same except for the fact the CoS book makes him seam more like an uncaring arbitrary sociopath who does things for no other reason then a whim. You might want to adjust this if your aiming for a strahd closer to the books
@@irontemplar6222 Yeah when this video was describing Strahd, that's not how I read it in the Ravenloft books. I ran Strahd from the books and my players had a blast.
Running water hurts vampires because it weakens the magical binding that allows them to be the inverse of alive. It's unique to vampires amongst undead just like how drinking blood is. Wooden stakes hurt vamoires because they represent life and usually are made out of a wood that symbolizes life specifically. Have a conversation with a local (not in Barovia) druid (google) about what woods symbolize life best. Also threshholds work because the inhabitants of a home instil a form of hedge magic into the threshold and creates a barrier that fragile undead like ghosts and vampires can't cross without permission. The same rule technically applies to devils, celestials, and fey.
Minor nitpick: His ancestors don't lock him up in Barovia; He is a Shadow Lord and that's just one of their abilities. Borovians think that his ancestors lock him up there, but that isn't true. Other than that, great video!
Played Strahd in 4 hours Mordenkainen Lasted till planar midnight Friend goes first Misses attack My turn Time stop Max amount of turns *ungodly amoints of lightning bolts* 179 damage And that's how I 1-shot Strahd
I’m definitely a year late, but for most if not all of those moments where he basically said he didn’t know why strahd or rules were the way they were, to my knowledge it’s all rooted in the inspiration for strahd, being clearly Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. In that book all the presented weaknesses are weaknesses for Dracula, as well as a professor named Van Helsing (the inspiration for Van Richten) was a vampire hunter so to speak, and therefore would be included as an antagonist to Strahd. I’m not sure if this explanation helps or was necessary, but it seemed to me that the creator of this video and viewers may not have known that this stuff was in Dracula.
Going to be running Curse of Strahd this summer so super excited for this series since it is so much time to watch your play through of it. Thank you and keep up the amazing videos!
Hahahaha our player had the light sword and when Strahd invited our party to dinner he saw the sword and asked to hold it. Us being scared and only like 5th level in HIS castle the player gave it to him. Strahd gave it back to the player because he said he would but not after he STABBED him self in the chest! Needless to say we were scared and then Strahd was like “ Ok bye now” afterwards 😂😂😂
To make Strahd stronger and cooler, I've gave him a powerful sword and an animated shield that orbited around him (It matches the theme of his armor and gives him a cool arcane warrior vibe). To fight at his side I gave him 2 strong minions his animated armor and a Sword Wraith Commander from Mtof. The Sword Wraith was Strahds 2nd in command and bodyguard a undying soldier that fought alongside Strahd since his days as a mortal military conqueror. They were brothers in arms in life and he still serves him in death.
Actually, giving Strahd/Strahdanya their own posse sounds like a cool idea. They could be trusted commanders in Strahd's own army, or previous adventurers that they defeated. OOOOH, that actually gives me a great idea! Have your players give you their Character Sheets from previous campaigns. Then, when the party reaches the throne room to fight Strahd/Strahdanya, have them snap their fingers and four coffins open that are standing in the corners of the room. Whip out four of those character sheets and have those characters emerge from the coffins as vampiric versions of themselves under Strahd's control. Faced with their old PCs, your players will go nuts!
@@CL30 In the event he would need to defend his castle, likely. But he's got lots more gross and old vampire spawn down in the lower levels of the castle. He'd likely send them before his "prizes"
I agree with you, if Strahd gets in a boxing ring and tries to fight the characters 4v1 he will lose every time. But this is not Mike Tyson it is Strahd Von Zarovich, INT 20 Vampire Wizard. He is as smart as you can be without it being considered literally super-human. I would argue that you do not need to buff him at all if you are making use of his lair action to phase through the surroundings of the castle. That combined with his legendary movement and regeneration makes it almost impossible for the party to pin him down and wear him down unless they do something to force him to come to them, like threatening Ireena. DON'T underestimate how strong the no-clip power is, I saw a friend DM Strahd Must Die Tonight for a party of other people who have all DM'd CoS before and he TPK'd them by optimally using that lair action to attack them with guerilla tactics. Again, I cannot overstate how strong that ability is, if you plan to make full use of it you do NOT need to buff Strahd.
I'd argue that dawn is still useful, because it controls how Strahd uses his legendary action. Anything that takes away from the enemy's action economy IMO is more effective than something that does hit point damage. When you're a DM running a creature, your ability to challenge the players is hinged on how much you get to do in a few turns, not how many hit points the creature has. The hit points are going to come down anyway, that's the easy part.
Van Richten is the D&D equivalent to Van Helsing. Not just a legendary monster hunter, but THE legendary monster hunter. Van Richten's son was turned into a vampire after he was kidnapped by the Vistani. Since that event, Van Richten has hated all monsters and all Vistani so, yes Van Richten has a damn good reason for why he wants to kill Strahd. Strahd is Vampire filth that deserves to be exterminated, it is an unhealthy obsession on Van Richten's part. The only good monster is a dead one kind of thing. As for why Strahd would want to eliminate Van Richten, your point about breaking the morale of the people in Barovia holds weight. However, Strahd is not stupid. He is very much aware that Van Richten can be a genuine threat to him. Despite being only CR 5, Van Richten has canonically killed a full vampire lord by himself.
I think this is a tought one if you are really completely new, but it is really really fun as a DM to see your players become more and more puzzled and paranoid as the story moves on. 🤣 If you need inspiration on how to storytell and roleplay the NPCs I suggest the Strahd campaign videos by YouLARP here on UA-cam. Their DM is doing a great job and it helped me a lot. Good luck!
I’m legit running this module for some friends this semester, excellent timing. I’m also lowkey basing some of Strahd’s mannerisms after Dio because he seems like the perfect example of a cold, insane, OP vampire lord.
Also i think Rudolf wants to kill Strahd because his son was turned and hes a vampire hunter thats what they doooooo also since hes hiding as Rictavio i dont think all of borovia knows hes there as hes from Darkon
I would do a horcrux system. If you can find the objects holding his soul and destroy them he becomes weaker. But the longer you take to find them, the worst stuff Straud will do to the people of Barovia making it a moral delema. Also he would send bounty hunters after the group promising them freedom from Barovia.
This may be considered dumb but personally, if I ran this I think I'd make Van Richten have the soul of Sergei, it would explain why strahd doesn't just want to kill him but break him, crush his spirit, or in other words, his soul. If he blames his brother for everything perhaps he feels he didn't do enough to punish him and now he wants revenge. It would also be fitting that Sergei's soul came back in a form that seeks to destroy the monster his brother has become.
I mean rain or throwing a bucket of water should count as running water because running water is simply water in motion. And just because it rains in Barovia doesn’t mean Strahd should be dead already, he can just use an umbrella or any other form of shade, heck even a cloak is probably sufficient enough to keep him safe from rain. If you think that these things could be an issue just don’t have it rain when you fight Strahd or have the fight take place indoors or with ample amount’s of cover from the rain. Try force the players to think creatively on how to use his weaknesses against him. I think create or destroy water is an interesting spell allowing the player to try an use the ten gallons water as an attack, but it should force and attack roll from the players or save on Strahd’s or the other vampires’ end, and since it’s improvised they shouldn’t have proficiency unless they took tavern brawler. Also Druids would be a good class take against Vampires to use spells like Control Water and Tidal Wave against as ways to deal extra acid damage.
Rich and sociopathic intense mommy issues quick to jealousy and anger becomes obsessed with an average woman and showers her with gifts in expectations that she'll love him.......strahd is just Christian Grey
Vampires and vampire hunters tend not to get along, go figure. Do they really need a SPECIFIC reason to hate each other? Aren't their mutually exclusive goal enough of a reason?
I'm currently running the game there trying to defend the winery, also our female tiefling Bard had adopted the children from the bone-grinder and successfully started dating Ireena
I'm going to play him as a bored, lonely old man, going through a mid century life crisis. He's just going to be all like, "Hey what's good bros and hoes? What time should we go to Burning Man? I got the portal all fired up! Speaking of fire, I brought my fire poi set!" Then when the characters can't stand him anymore, he quickly gets mad and literally slips to his death. I'll make it nice and high. Just imagine a snobbier Bruce Wayne.
He slips to his death? Like the party doesn't kill him? I feel like the party should always be the ones to kill the boss, otherwise it's super anti-climactic.
Our group just finished this Monday night and my friend was a druid and use a water elemental to slam him she got from a item and she wild shape to a python and grapple him, so the monk, rogue and me stabbed with everything.
@Natasel Good point, only thing I remember after that is we destroy a heart in a tower. My friend that was dming told us he didn't like running the book so kinda just winged it so we could just end the game.
As a DM, I would allow it. Maybe the priest Donavich tells the party that he knows of a spell that can kill vampires with the light of the sun, but he is too low level to actually cast it. Perhaps another NPC adventurer left it to the church years ago? Anyway, Donavich gives this scroll or book to the highest level spellcaster (Arcane or Divine), and well, well, looky here, the PC has just enough spell slots to memorize it tomorrow morning! (So prep the adventure knowing your player's maximums) All they have to do is defend the church tonight from some random Strahd zombies, like in a rip-off of "Return Of The Living Dead". The DM can fiddle with the exact spell stats to make it effective, but believable.
Hey, what a coincidence, a friend of mine is going to be running Curse of Strahd for us this Saturday. I'm going into it with a Wizard, so I'd better take my notes on Strahd to be ready! Or just pull a Coulton and get our Barbarian to suplex him.
The stake to the heart is less about “Power of Christ” and more about something that was done historically in Romania since some people were buried alive by accident and when the coffins were reopened people would find out that the one they buried was alive and died from suffocation while trying to claw their way out. Mythologically, the stake was used to make sure that the body of a sinner did not become a Strigoii (zombie vampire)
A dark shadow looms over the forest. Everything falls silent, and you feel a dark presence. A chill runs down your spine. You see a tall, looming figure standing there, covered in a shadowy veil. He takes a step forward, then speaks: "hey what's up I'm strahd. meeleeeleeleeh" And then he leaves
I am currently DMing this adventure and I definitely agree that you should have sporadic encounters with Strahd but don't have them too often. Strahd always goes for the most advantageous moments and also having some undead friends helps give the characters a feeling of hopelessness. Thank you for this video on the Curse of Steve-- oh wait Strahd xD
Thinking about it now, I guess a shower would be running water...
Make sure to check out WORLD ANVIL: www.worldanvil.com/
And some of the art in this video was made by JAMES' RPG ART: www.patreon.com/jamesrpgart
Vampire lizard folk sounds miserable. Bonus action bite and healing. Make them a totem warrior bear with maybe some fighter.
You should read the vampire book for RIFTS. It not only suggests that a shower is running water, it also includes weapons like squirt guns and super soakers, and even includes a magic item that is basically a backpack mounted garden sprinkler.
• You cause the water to form into simple shapes and animate at your direction. This change lasts for 1 hour.
Shape Water might count as running water too.
I use rainy days in Curse of Strahd as a respite for the party, as long as it is raining they don't have to worry about him showing up. (He always has minions though)
I think the logic with running water is that it cleanse your soul. Stagnant water that stay on the body or lay still doesn't work because it wont transport away the impurities in your soul. I'm not completely sure about this thou.
I know no one will believe me, but my very first session on DND EVER was Curse of Strahd with Jacob. If you see this, love ya man. -Carson
Carson! I remember. Love ya too.
Do you still play d&d?
Ravenloft was my first serious campaign and will always be close to my little cold blackened heart. I wish everyone could witness it in all its Glory during the 2nd Ed AD&D days , it really could be a terrifying slaughterfest if not played correctly.
The Living Skit if you’re asking me, yes
josephskiles You are completely right my friend, especially the Winery
I assume you meant that, when playing Strahd, I need a...
Strahdegy? *AIRHORN* *AIRHORN* *AIRHORN*
how does this vampire drink blood?
he uses a strahd
@@XPtoLevel3 *aggressively unsubs*
@@XPtoLevel3 aggressively subs
Curse of Steve would possibly be a lot more terrifying.
Leave Steve alone.
Yes... That radroach has scary amount of connections.
@@J--12 a subtle and underappreciated reference
Invisible STEVE
I made it so that van Richten had stolen the Tome of Strahd before the players got there, giving Strahd a reason to want to hunt him down. When Strahd first met the players he gave them the task "find me Rudolph van Richten" as a test of sorts
In the game I currently run the people just found the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind in van Richten’s tower; that’s a really good motivation for Strahd to ask the party about him. Thanks!
Well in actual canon, that's exactly what happened. Back in the days of THAC0, Dr. van Richten was essentially written to be Strahd's van Helsing
An idea worthy of stealing.
(small stealing noises)
See, I'm gonna run it with the "Strahd cant die without severing the dark power" homebrew on reddit. So for Richten, I'm planning on him having tried to kill Strahd in his youth to give him some more plot relevance. Maybe he succeeded but Strahd just came back the next day
@@garulia17 How would Van Richten have tried to kill Strah'd in his youth when Strahd is hundreds of years old? I like the idea, but I dont think it can be in the youth.
As a general rule for BBEGs in 5th ed bring some minions to the table. Most high CR monsters can be beaten just using the action economy.
For Straud (a CR 15 monster) I would bring 2 or 3 vampire spawn, a dozen zombies or skeletons, and maybe something weird like a dire wolf or a dire bat. You can always scale back the number of minions at the start and trickle them in as the fight goes on.
I like to borrow an old 4e concept and use a gaggle of 1hp minions to harass the party while the BBEG does its thing.
@@Dyundu I see you too are a fan of Matt Coville :P
@@connorhennessey1316 TBF, I was doing that before I saw Matt's video(s) on the topic, but yes, I do enjoy his perspective on the hobby quite a bit, and did also enjoy the sense of validation when he recommended the idea.
One of the more entertaining things I plan on doing is using a homebrew concept and making Strahd a "Paragon Boss" with 2 or maybe 3 phases to make the final encounter a lot more interesting. But running it vanilla, as you should always do at least once IMO, abuse that turn economy to make the encounter interesting for your party!
did any of you even read strahd's statblock completely? he can summon minions, if your players are really unlucky he could even summon 18 wolves in one turn. please show me how 4 players defeat 18 wolves while also fighting strahd.
by the way, strahd can willingly just walk through walls and disappear, not to mention that he regenerates HP every turn and additional HP when he bite attacks someone. if you know how to play vanilla strahd there is nearly no level 10 party that would defeat him, unless one of the players cheated and read up on his stat block.
Isn't this considered the best module in the game?
One of. It's up there with Storm King's Thunder and Waterdeep: Dragon Heist in terms of overall quality. Considering the extremely gloomy, depressing, and disturbing atmosphere the game has (or is *supposed* to have) though, it's not to everyone's liking.
It's one of the most dynamic modules that really gives both the players and the dm the ability to stretch their legs and explore. Strahd is a static villain will clear goals and limitations that make it easier for dms to play him and Barovia is more of the same.
@@SCI-FIWIZARDMAN Did it really fall flat because of the characters, or because you as a DM were not willing to play to the first parties strength and stop taking the Module seriously.
@@TNTLLYftwVery turnaround, much wow. I'd never considered that. Thank you for showing me the light random commenter who decided to take issue with my post.
In all seriousness, sure, we can say it was a mutual failure if that makes people comfortable. But this is why Session 0 exists, to set the expectations for the campaign. It's one thing when a DM fails to adapt to a party's preferred playstyle. It's another when the DM tells you that the game you're gonna play is set in a serious, gloomy, hostile setting, and you decide to bring Fluffelbutt the Halfling Jester who loves to run around putting ice into people's pants.
@@SCI-FIWIZARDMAN
That's a good point. Some players enjoy brighter and happier campaigns and there's nothing wrong with that.
LITERALLY STARTED THIS GAME YESTERDAY AS A DM AHHH
I'm literally starting it next week for my players. I hope the second part comes out before then!
You will love it. I've been running this campaign for a few months and love telling this story to my players ♡
I know you showed some panels from the comic, but "Shadows of the Vampire" was an excellent source of inspiration for featuring Strahd within my campaign. His dialogue, appearances, and attitude, were all used when I ran the game and he still remains the most memorable villain I have ever had the pleasure to play. Highly recommend the comics if anyone is looking for inspiration. "I, Strahd" also highly recommend.
Thanx I was actually looking for someone who knew the name of the comic. It looks really cool
@@devilsadvocate6381 They're also all on amazon and IDW if you end up wanting to give them a read
Our DM shifted the focus to Ireena during our campaign. In our run, Ireena was the BBEG, along with other female NPCs that became his vampire brides. Strahd scattered the Sunblade and Symbol of the Ravenkind into other Planes so we won't be able to use it against him, we had to seek the help of Mordenkainen in order to get them back. It was really fun!
I would've expected Patrina to have been the BBEG, then. She actually wanted to be a vampire like Strahd.
Emily Madison Hart that’s why I did for my campaign. The players resurrected her and she manipulated them to defeat Strahd, only to rule Barovia in his stead. She gave them an option to leave and not face her and they took it lol. It was a bittersweet ending that was probably appropriate given the setting.
In ours the GM made the sunblade suck. So we took him down with a flametongue.
“She *YEETS* herself off of the balcony!”
OMFG I am CACKLING!! 🤣
I died 🤣🤣🤣
I think a DM should still use the invitation weakness of Strahd. Sure, he is the ruler of the land, but he isn't a property tycoon who owns every single piece of land, house and shop on all Barovia. It doesn't make sense making him immune to his weakness just because he is the ruler of the land. It would be the same as, let's say, removing a undead's weakness to Radiant damage because he was a paladin in life.
The catch is that this weakness must be used to stop him from reaching his objective, not to defeat him. For example, he could Alter Self into an old lady and reach to the party's room in a tavern. She explains a problem that it is happening (it can even be something real from the game, the Wine Factory being a pretty good example of that) and asks if she can come in to explain more details. If the party has Strahd's diary or if they are paranoid, they could not let her enter and just gain a small clue. But if they let her in, Strahd reveals himself, defeats the party and kidnaps Irenna. You plant seeds of paranoia into the players, after all, it is a horror story.
I did something similar. I had a wounded “Ezmerelda” show up after they finished the Wizard of the Wines. I had “her” tag along for the rest of the session as Strahd gathered info about the party. His goal in doing this was to find the location of Van Ricten because he knew the party had been in contact with him. Once he had achieved this end by organizing a meet up, he revealed himself with an ambush and ended up killing him and turning him into a spawn. The party attempted to rules lawyer me by exclaiming, “how did he enter the winery if he needs permission??” They had forgotten the first thing “Ezmerelda” said when they opened the door: “Mind if I come in?” Mind you he was faking a wound so it came off as a sarcastic question. 😈 Set up for some good moments later because the party couldn’t trust any of the other allies they had made without intense vetting. Good times, I had more fun doing it that way than I would have just letting Strahd go wherever he wanted.
I agree, but for a different reason. I think Strahd should be able to enter houses and shops without invitations, however, I don't think he would do so. In my head, since Strahd sees it as.. a challenge to himself, he would give himself this rule to really test himself. He's also a noble, and it is quite rude to enter a house without an invitation. I also think it would also be a "oh shit" moment for the players if Strahd just straight-up walked into a house once he began getting serious. It is up to interpretation though, I suppose.
@@Misappropriation I love doing this for the sunlight too. I mentioned a few times that Barovia's sunlight was really dim and weak. However, Strahd always tried avoiding it, when he found out that one of the players had the Sunblade, he stepped out in the sunlight, marking one of the best moments in my campaign.
Well I understand your point I think the reason is that he doesn’t own the land he is the land maybe he can’t control it physically but on a magical level there is no beginning and end to where his soul and land meet
I am legit about to run this at 3:00 est for my schools D&D club. Amazing timing
Heh, same
Game went fine, legit nearly killed a lv 2 because he thought as a lv 2 monk he could take on 5 dire wolves at once. Two hits and he died. Cleric ran in and spared the dying, then healing word as a bonus action.
@@BenRW54 now that's awesome. Wish schools here in my country had those kinda things...
I remember watching this and getting inspired to add a lil something to Strahds goals as fuel for his hatred of Richten. I added an addition where Sergei and Tatyana had a secret child before marriage, and Madam Eva took it with her when she escaped. The only one who knows of this secret continuation of the line is Madam Eva. A tarroka card reading later in his reign revealed to Strahd that "a great hunter of the vampire will come to these, one who holds the blood of Sergei. They will seek an end to your reign." While Strahd does want an end to his reign, and to that extent his curse, he abhores the idea of a true heir to his throne, much less that of a product of the union he despised. Upon hearing of any vampire hunter, he makes them his top priority. He believes Richten to be that descendant, while the true descendant is Esmeralda.
Our group did a shortened 15-sesh run of this module. Loved every second of it. It's a wild, wild ride.
With van ricten, i always thought of him like the van helsing of this world. A famous and renowned vampire hunter who is taking on the godfather of vampires, strahd defeating van ricten would send a message to all of the forgotten realms of his power
Too bad he is only CR 5....
The piano piece played throughout the video is called Mysterious moments by Eneide and is perfect for Curse of Strahd so eerily sophisticated and haunting, it really encapsulates the overall tone of the module, another good song is Waltz for the wicked by the same artist, all of it its just *chefs kiss* C'est Magnifique
Im playing Strahd rn.
And my party did a thing that they gave him Ireena. So now they kinda wanna stop the wedding.
What I do, to keep things interested, is having some extra vampire spawns around him. So the action economy is a bit more balanced (also makes scense to me, that he would not be alone)
Anyways, my tip if you gonna play CoS ;]
I feel like Jacob should read I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire (which is what Ravenloft is based off of), as the setting stuff misses some fun bits and pieces. For example, Strahd was into Tatyana, but she viewed him more like a father figure due to the fact that he was in his early to mid-forties, and his bargain with the dark powers was specifically to cease aging, plus he also had to kill his best friend and trusted lieutenant as part of the bargain, not just Sergei, and drinking blood was not part of it and he did not do so for that. It wasn't his own guards that shot him, the reason his whole plan went to shit is because a traitor in his ranks allowed remnants of the Tergs (the army he reclaimed his family's land from) into the wedding of Sergei and Tatyana to turn it into a bloodbath. They sort of weaken Strahd's connection to the land in the setting to make Strahd less terrifying too. For example, Strahd can't commit suicide by sunlight, since he tries this and the land itself moves him to safety before sunrise (he's unconscious while it happens, having leapt off of a cliff). Another aspect is that he is the land, so invitation isn't really a thing he needs, as all of the dwellings are his property.
"I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire" came out in 1993, 10 years after Strahd was introduced in Ravenloft in 1983. The book is based on Ravenloft, not the other way around
Got it. Strahd dies from waterboarding
If I was to make a movie about Strahd, his soldiers trying to kill him and his act of slaughtering them would be portrayed as the most tragic part. Strahd was a military man in life, he built his army up from nothing and likely won their loyalty by leading them to victory in the valley of Barovia. It’s likely that Strahd’s relationship with his soldiers was the only real connection he had in his life. They see the man they followed to hell and back transform into a monster and attempt to strike him down in fear and disgust. And Strahd in turn kills them in a blind rage.
Van Richten is well renown monster hunter through multiple worlds, and is a recurring character throughout Raveloft’s lore. Strahd is the father of all vampires. Of course their fates are intertwined. The events of the novel “I, Strahd” are introduced in its first pages as being the contents of Strahd’s memoires as encountered and read by Van Richten as he snoops through Castle Ravenloft while Strahd is napping. The two have a long-running game of cat-and-mouse, and Strahd is too smart to ignore the old saying, “fear the old man in a profession where everyone dies young.” He wants Van Richten dead.
And if I remember correctly, if you read Richten's stat block section, it states that Strahd is why his son and wife are dead.
"Tony... It's not the piece of plastic..."
Your savage meme game is strong...
Bump up the challenge by having Strahd wearing his own animated armor, effectively giving him two turns to move around with and an external pool of hp to draw from until the armor is destroyed. Make his sword an animated sword as well for another turn worth of attacking.
I ran a Halloween one shot of curse of strahd, specifically the one on D&D beyond. Basically you get 5 hours to explore the castle and defeat strahd. All of the items are in the castle, as well as a few (potentially) ally npc’s. Strahd was supposed to be inside of his tomb as per the card I drew for his location, and party literally got to the gate at the end of their time limit, so strahd began fighting them. One character outright died, another was charmed, the third and fourth were knocked unconscious, and the fourth was able to roll a natural 20 on a death saving throw, which game him the opportunity to attack strahd from behind and roll natural 20 for his attack to kill strahd. The charmed character knocked the fourth character out, which allowed strahd to reform in his coffin before the two unconscious characters woke up, and he killed them as well. In an outright combat scenario, the party fared alright considering they had magic items, the campaign specific items, and an ally assisting them in the fight.
He’s definitely not as bad as you make him out to be, but maybe a slight buff to his numbers would make him last longer. His big weapon against the party is his charm. Over the campaign he should definitely learn who is the weakest link mentally, and he should target them in the big fight with his charm. This will help the dm by not having to add a lot of minions to the turn order while still letting strahd be more of a danger.
His charm doesn't allow him to make people attack their friends, it just means the charmed aren't allowed to hurt him and are friendly towards him
Thanks for this, I'm running this right now, actually, and any tips would be great. I'm glad to know that I've been using him right so far, though I think I need to hit the brakes on his appearances. Thanks again!
Hey Jacob I gotta know the name of that piano music at the part where you talk about how you can make Sthrad more challenging. It's so good and fitting!
ua-cam.com/video/9kWAMCpT8TY/v-deo.html
@@XPtoLevel3 thanks a lot!
If anyone here hasn't read the book "I Strahd: Memiors of a Vampire" you should.
It really expands on the character of Strahd and others.
The book also makes Strahd more of an evil man with ambitions and logic rather than a woman craved lunatic.(Despite him being one)
Also, let a character play the unearthed arcana rogue archetype the undying. It works really well with the Barovia setting.
The war against azalin is a great sequel to it as well really expanding on his goals other than Tatiana
Sadly I can't watch this video as I am about to play Curse of Strahd for the first time ever somewhen around March this year but I heard leaving a comment helps UA-cam channels that I really really like and so do likes I guess. I'll gladly leave both here. Bye
I hate that the Curse of Strahd campaign book is just so poorly organized.
4:27 Bruh did you just show the 2nd main boss of that game as if it was the final boss?
I played CoS a few months ago with my groupe and it was one hell of a ride!
Lots of fun locations, a great villain and tons of opportunity for your players to do heroic/crazy stuff.
(Sometimes even too crazy, I just say blowing up Strahd from the inside and yeeting yourself through the air like a galleon figure while immobilized...)
I just had to quit a Strahd game I was running because there was just too much going on in life for me
Are the events of the Ravenloft novel "I, Strahd" mostly the same for Curse of Strahd, or is it different for 5th edition?
The Ideas and the backstory are the same/so similar I didn't notice any changes. 5th ed, as a rule, plays pretty fast and loose with previous cannon.
The biggest difference, IMO, is that the Ravenloft setting was much larger in those days, with a number of realms that were (relatively) easy to get to. Not that they were any better; each centered on a powerful undead monster trapped in their own failure.
I, Strahd was the backstory. Curse of Strahd is more like current events. I recommend reading all the past novels cause you can really get into Strahd's personality when you run CoS.
They are the same except for the fact the CoS book makes him seam more like an uncaring arbitrary sociopath who does things for no other reason then a whim.
You might want to adjust this if your aiming for a strahd closer to the books
@@irontemplar6222 Yeah when this video was describing Strahd, that's not how I read it in the Ravenloft books. I ran Strahd from the books and my players had a blast.
Pleeaaase make one for Ghosts of saltmarsh and so many other
this can be very useful to alot of DM's that dont understand the story
thank you so much OuO someone bought me the sourcebook and was like "please run this for me."
problem is. . . ive never run a prewritten game.
Yay! More how to :D
This is great i wouldn't mind at all if he did the other pre written books as well.
*cough cough* eberron... >_>
Running water hurts vampires because it weakens the magical binding that allows them to be the inverse of alive. It's unique to vampires amongst undead just like how drinking blood is.
Wooden stakes hurt vamoires because they represent life and usually are made out of a wood that symbolizes life specifically. Have a conversation with a local (not in Barovia) druid (google) about what woods symbolize life best.
Also threshholds work because the inhabitants of a home instil a form of hedge magic into the threshold and creates a barrier that fragile undead like ghosts and vampires can't cross without permission. The same rule technically applies to devils, celestials, and fey.
Minor nitpick: His ancestors don't lock him up in Barovia; He is a Shadow Lord and that's just one of their abilities. Borovians think that his ancestors lock him up there, but that isn't true.
Other than that, great video!
"oh look, hanging corpses"
Logan Paul: * chuckles *
Played Strahd in 4 hours
Mordenkainen
Lasted till planar midnight
Friend goes first
Misses attack
My turn
Time stop
Max amount of turns
*ungodly amoints of lightning bolts*
179 damage
And that's how I 1-shot Strahd
I'm literally just starting curse of strahd for my players
I’m definitely a year late, but for most if not all of those moments where he basically said he didn’t know why strahd or rules were the way they were, to my knowledge it’s all rooted in the inspiration for strahd, being clearly Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. In that book all the presented weaknesses are weaknesses for Dracula, as well as a professor named Van Helsing (the inspiration for Van Richten) was a vampire hunter so to speak, and therefore would be included as an antagonist to Strahd. I’m not sure if this explanation helps or was necessary, but it seemed to me that the creator of this video and viewers may not have known that this stuff was in Dracula.
Oh hey Jacob released a new video!
Oh it's about the campaign I'm about to start playing in.
never mind
What was that comic you kept showing?
Going to be running Curse of Strahd this summer so super excited for this series since it is so much time to watch your play through of it. Thank you and keep up the amazing videos!
Now this is amazing! I need this for Descent into Avernus!
Was considering running a Curse of Strahd game. Looking forward to the rest of this.
If you had a Decanter of Endless Water, and sprayed it on him, would that be "running water," given that it's a flow that lasts until your next turn?
Yes, more of these how to play campaigns. I love this already please do more of these.
literally was about to run strahd for the first time next week, really helpful
Hahahaha our player had the light sword and when Strahd invited our party to dinner he saw the sword and asked to hold it. Us being scared and only like 5th level in HIS castle the player gave it to him. Strahd gave it back to the player because he said he would but not after he STABBED him self in the chest! Needless to say we were scared and then Strahd was like “ Ok bye now” afterwards 😂😂😂
Can You do how to play out of the abyss im gonna. Take a part from It and need Some understanding
This video was such perfect timing, becouse I’m about to start Curse of Strahd in a few nights.
To make Strahd stronger and cooler, I've gave him a powerful sword and an animated shield that orbited around him (It matches the theme of his armor and gives him a cool arcane warrior vibe). To fight at his side I gave him 2 strong minions his animated armor and a Sword Wraith Commander from Mtof. The Sword Wraith was Strahds 2nd in command and bodyguard a undying soldier that fought alongside Strahd since his days as a mortal military conqueror. They were brothers in arms in life and he still serves him in death.
Actually, giving Strahd/Strahdanya their own posse sounds like a cool idea. They could be trusted commanders in Strahd's own army, or previous adventurers that they defeated. OOOOH, that actually gives me a great idea! Have your players give you their Character Sheets from previous campaigns. Then, when the party reaches the throne room to fight Strahd/Strahdanya, have them snap their fingers and four coffins open that are standing in the corners of the room. Whip out four of those character sheets and have those characters emerge from the coffins as vampiric versions of themselves under Strahd's control. Faced with their old PCs, your players will go nuts!
I never understood why Strahd locks his mistresses away. Can someone explain this to me?
I talk about it at 5:13, basically he's a bad person.
It just seems so short-sighted! Since he controls them as his vampire spawn, he could use them to defend his castle (or something), right?
@@CL30 In the event he would need to defend his castle, likely. But he's got lots more gross and old vampire spawn down in the lower levels of the castle. He'd likely send them before his "prizes"
Ah okay. Makes sense: gotta keep his trophy mistresses safe! Thanks for replying :D
Omg, what if you played curse of Strahd as a family of tourists in Hawaiian shirts with Minnesota accents
I love this idea
I agree with you, if Strahd gets in a boxing ring and tries to fight the characters 4v1 he will lose every time. But this is not Mike Tyson it is Strahd Von Zarovich, INT 20 Vampire Wizard. He is as smart as you can be without it being considered literally super-human. I would argue that you do not need to buff him at all if you are making use of his lair action to phase through the surroundings of the castle. That combined with his legendary movement and regeneration makes it almost impossible for the party to pin him down and wear him down unless they do something to force him to come to them, like threatening Ireena. DON'T underestimate how strong the no-clip power is, I saw a friend DM Strahd Must Die Tonight for a party of other people who have all DM'd CoS before and he TPK'd them by optimally using that lair action to attack them with guerilla tactics. Again, I cannot overstate how strong that ability is, if you plan to make full use of it you do NOT need to buff Strahd.
I'd argue that dawn is still useful, because it controls how Strahd uses his legendary action. Anything that takes away from the enemy's action economy IMO is more effective than something that does hit point damage. When you're a DM running a creature, your ability to challenge the players is hinged on how much you get to do in a few turns, not how many hit points the creature has. The hit points are going to come down anyway, that's the easy part.
Van Richten is the D&D equivalent to Van Helsing. Not just a legendary monster hunter, but THE legendary monster hunter. Van Richten's son was turned into a vampire after he was kidnapped by the Vistani. Since that event, Van Richten has hated all monsters and all Vistani so, yes Van Richten has a damn good reason for why he wants to kill Strahd. Strahd is Vampire filth that deserves to be exterminated, it is an unhealthy obsession on Van Richten's part. The only good monster is a dead one kind of thing.
As for why Strahd would want to eliminate Van Richten, your point about breaking the morale of the people in Barovia holds weight. However, Strahd is not stupid. He is very much aware that Van Richten can be a genuine threat to him. Despite being only CR 5, Van Richten has canonically killed a full vampire lord by himself.
*I just got Curse Of Strahd*
*Wish this new DM luck fam squad*
Good luck
I think this is a tought one if you are really completely new, but it is really really fun as a DM to see your players become more and more puzzled and paranoid as the story moves on. 🤣 If you need inspiration on how to storytell and roleplay the NPCs I suggest the Strahd campaign videos by YouLARP here on UA-cam. Their DM is doing a great job and it helped me a lot. Good luck!
I’m legit running this module for some friends this semester, excellent timing. I’m also lowkey basing some of Strahd’s mannerisms after Dio because he seems like the perfect example of a cold, insane, OP vampire lord.
You thought you it was going to be the Sunblade, BUT IT WAS ME! STRAHD!!!
Just look out for any Astral Self Monks, lest they be your undoing.
@@TheCornerCaseMan We actually have an Astral Self Monk, he's easily been the most effective against Strahd in combat
@@johnstarinieri7360 Ah. Just like the simulations.
0:18 Logan Paul be like
Also i think Rudolf wants to kill Strahd because his son was turned and hes a vampire hunter thats what they doooooo also since hes hiding as Rictavio i dont think all of borovia knows hes there as hes from Darkon
I would do a horcrux system. If you can find the objects holding his soul and destroy them he becomes weaker. But the longer you take to find them, the worst stuff Straud will do to the people of Barovia making it a moral delema. Also he would send bounty hunters after the group promising them freedom from Barovia.
This may be considered dumb but personally, if I ran this I think I'd make Van Richten have the soul of Sergei, it would explain why strahd doesn't just want to kill him but break him, crush his spirit, or in other words, his soul. If he blames his brother for everything perhaps he feels he didn't do enough to punish him and now he wants revenge. It would also be fitting that Sergei's soul came back in a form that seeks to destroy the monster his brother has become.
I mean rain or throwing a bucket of water should count as running water because running water is simply water in motion. And just because it rains in Barovia doesn’t mean Strahd should be dead already, he can just use an umbrella or any other form of shade, heck even a cloak is probably sufficient enough to keep him safe from rain. If you think that these things could be an issue just don’t have it rain when you fight Strahd or have the fight take place indoors or with ample amount’s of cover from the rain. Try force the players to think creatively on how to use his weaknesses against him. I think create or destroy water is an interesting spell allowing the player to try an use the ten gallons water as an attack, but it should force and attack roll from the players or save on Strahd’s or the other vampires’ end, and since it’s improvised they shouldn’t have proficiency unless they took tavern brawler. Also Druids would be a good class take against Vampires to use spells like Control Water and Tidal Wave against as ways to deal extra acid damage.
Rich and sociopathic intense mommy issues quick to jealousy and anger becomes obsessed with an average woman and showers her with gifts in expectations that she'll love him.......strahd is just Christian Grey
Vampires and vampire hunters tend not to get along, go figure. Do they really need a SPECIFIC reason to hate each other? Aren't their mutually exclusive goal enough of a reason?
Well this is perfect, I'm literally in the planning stages for this very campagin. Thanks in advance!
I'm currently running the game there trying to defend the winery, also our female tiefling Bard had adopted the children from the bone-grinder and successfully started dating Ireena
@Natasel Oh gods
Does anyone know the name of the backgroung piano song at 8:55?? It's killing me not knowing it
Started last Thursday as a player.... I was hoping that I could get pointers... Then i see the spoiler warning :(
So strahd is Dio from JoJo's?!
Dio is Strahd* There fixed that for you xD
@@williamtorres4140 Well Dio is technically older, give it a google.
I'm going to play him as a bored, lonely old man, going through a mid century life crisis. He's just going to be all like, "Hey what's good bros and hoes? What time should we go to Burning Man? I got the portal all fired up! Speaking of fire, I brought my fire poi set!"
Then when the characters can't stand him anymore, he quickly gets mad and literally slips to his death. I'll make it nice and high.
Just imagine a snobbier Bruce Wayne.
He slips to his death? Like the party doesn't kill him? I feel like the party should always be the ones to kill the boss, otherwise it's super anti-climactic.
Our group just finished this Monday night and my friend was a druid and use a water elemental to slam him she got from a item and she wild shape to a python and grapple him, so the monk, rogue and me stabbed with everything.
@Natasel Good point, only thing I remember after that is we destroy a heart in a tower. My friend that was dming told us he didn't like running the book so kinda just winged it so we could just end the game.
I really like this idea for a series. Are you planning on doing this for any other campaigns? I’d love to see a tomb of annihilation one.
3:45
AS Strahd stares in horror, watching Tatiana commit suicide, he thought to himself
"damn, I really need to learn this feather fell spell"
I have yet to play this campaign but I’ve been DYING to! 🖤
You don't understand why the vampire wants to get rid of the region's most successful vampire hunter?
You can also find some amazing audio created specifically for CoS here on UA-cam. Each town has its own sound check it out!
When is a how to play water deep dragon heist coming ?
I could swear the daylight spell was also considered sunlight.
It is not. Surprisingly.
The spell kind of makes it sound like it does, but it doesn’t specify that it is, whereas dawn does.
you would think that a spell named DAYlight would... but no... it doesnt...
As a DM, I would allow it. Maybe the priest Donavich tells the party that he knows of a spell that can kill vampires with the light of the sun, but he is too low level to actually cast it. Perhaps another NPC adventurer left it to the church years ago? Anyway, Donavich gives this scroll or book to the highest level spellcaster (Arcane or Divine), and well, well, looky here, the PC has just enough spell slots to memorize it tomorrow morning! (So prep the adventure knowing your player's maximums) All they have to do is defend the church tonight from some random Strahd zombies, like in a rip-off of "Return Of The Living Dead". The DM can fiddle with the exact spell stats to make it effective, but believable.
Instructions unclear. Now wandering GreyHawk. Halp plz.
Hey Jacob you should do a series on how to use World Anvil
THIS IS WHAT I NEEDED TYSM
Where was this when I was literally running the damn game.
I love Logan :)
Hey, what a coincidence, a friend of mine is going to be running Curse of Strahd for us this Saturday. I'm going into it with a Wizard, so I'd better take my notes on Strahd to be ready! Or just pull a Coulton and get our Barbarian to suplex him.
I got this for Christmas. Thank you for making this. It really helped
Literally about to DM this. Thanks so much for the content.
The stake to the heart is less about “Power of Christ” and more about something that was done historically in Romania since some people were buried alive by accident and when the coffins were reopened people would find out that the one they buried was alive and died from suffocation while trying to claw their way out.
Mythologically, the stake was used to make sure that the body of a sinner did not become a Strigoii (zombie vampire)
I planned on revealing strahd for the first time tommorow... so thanks for all the tips
Guess you need to make a Simon Belmonth chapter to beat the living shit out of this guy
My DM got bored and turned Strahd into Thanos at the end
A dark shadow looms over the forest. Everything falls silent, and you feel a dark presence. A chill runs down your spine. You see a tall, looming figure standing there, covered in a shadowy veil. He takes a step forward, then speaks:
"hey what's up I'm strahd. meeleeeleeleeh"
And then he leaves
I’m working on my notes for a Curse of Strahd campaign I’m going to do and this pops up, perfect timing.
I am currently DMing this adventure and I definitely agree that you should have sporadic encounters with Strahd but don't have them too often. Strahd always goes for the most advantageous moments and also having some undead friends helps give the characters a feeling of hopelessness.
Thank you for this video on the Curse of Steve-- oh wait Strahd xD
What music is playing during James' art around 1:30?