Top Tips for Curse of Strahd
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- My best advice for running the 5e D&D adventure Curse of Strahd.
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4:22 Strahd uses other names and guises .....
PC -- "I can see you are a gentleman, and a noble. What is your name, sir?"
Strahd -- "Ah, you may call me .... Steve Von Zarovich."
(DM -- Nailed it!!)
paul coy I might say a: Vy how rude of me to not introduce myself, Von Zarofísh, the pleasure’s mine I’m sure.
There are some who call me........Tim.
@@juliangines6764 "Ah, Tim Von Zarovich, a long lost cousin, from Lady Penelope's side of the family."
As a first time DM, I’ve only been running a homebrew weekly for almost a year. About to shift us into COS. It’s so iconic that I want it to be eerily EPIC. I’m glad to hear both reinforcement of some of what I thought, as well as some new ideas from a veteran DM; this video is sublime!
Thank you and good luck! I think you wont be dissapointed with CoS, its still my favorite of the 5th edition adventures.
@@DungeonSmith Thank you! That's awesome to hear!!!
Would LOVE to see a UA-cam playlist of the music you used. I've used some moody music in my adventure, and now I use the CoS official soundscapes, but without music I think it's missing something.
My adventurers are in Vallaki currently, and at the end of our last session, they came back to the inn to find Ireena gone. Can't wait for our next session!
There is quite a bit of music that might not be on UA-cam, but I did a breakdown on my tumblr with more specifics on what music I used. Ill throw you a link here: dungeonsmith.tumblr.com/post/182869263048/hey-there-first-of-all-thank-you-so-much-for-the
My group just started playing D&D this past summer and we're almost done with Phandelver. I'm actually excited about running Curse of Strahd but I also found a free homebrew horror adventure called Army of the damned that takes place in Innistrad (from MTG). I figured if I took my players thru that first, it might make going thru CoS a little more interesting story wise.
I think I’m at the point your campaign was when you wrote this. They are about to enter Wave Echo Cave. I’ve played it that Black spider has been working for Strahd and after the last encounter they will have to go to Borovia for (McGuffin). How did your campaign go?
Great video! Thanks a lot! Will be checking the encounters
This is amazing i Subbed 🤘🤘 im sooo pumped to run this
Thanks!
For my players i had each of them somehow attacked by members of strahd's faction either directly or indirectly such as kidnapping someone close to them or turning others to vampires and so on. Then when they escaped via hte mists the party members got caught in it and found eachother in a vistai caravan.
Awesome video. Only criticism is be mindful of your lip smacking. I had to go back and relisten to parts because it was all I could focus on. Not an attack, just a suggestion. Again, nice video!
What if say the 3rd gem was used for the heart of sorrows
That could definetly be the case.
Running in a week, it's gonna be a lot of fun.
I think you said you'd link your playlist? I can't seem to find that link, mind helping a brother out?
Otherwise, great video. I won't be using all of your tips, but the ones about having Strahd appear often and making him a hard fight, I will be using.
Here is a link to a spotify playlist with some of my music. open.spotify.com/playlist/3NvaplTKO01kDByDgpdSNh?si=i9jUU_xlSwK3G73Xk8ixRA
I unfortunetly do not have a complete playlist of my curse of Srahd music anywhere right now.
What if you jam the gems into strahd? Will he become alive again instead of undead?
No, I doubt it. If they had any effect at all I am guessing they would function like power-batteries, super-charging Strahd.
Do you have a spotify playlist with the songs you mentioned? Thanks
Heres a list with some of the music. Not all of its available on Spotify unfortunetly. open.spotify.com/user/1112016497/playlist/3NvaplTKO01kDByDgpdSNh?si=ysoCNQgLTV2fzplHXWNZbw
@@DungeonSmith thank you my friend!
When you prepare for a session. Do you translate the text, names and so on, or do you play in english?
I usually have several groups running at one time, at the moment Ive got three, but I will soon be cutting down to two groups to free up some time. We use English in one of my groups, as there is an american in that one, the others I run in Swedish. Most of the time I don't translate names and such, but it depends a bit on the situation. I have sometimes translated names on certain locations if they have very generic names such as "The Moor" or "The Old Woods". I generally prefer to play in English when I can, but I tend to default to the language the group feels the most comfortable with, whether it be English, Swedish or Icelandic.
Are they really people arguing that those cards should be randomized? Then dices can replace them as DMs
I have talked to several people who think they should be. To each there own I suppose.
It's a good video, just the tongue clicking is off putting
Been trying some things to reduce that in my latest videos. There should be far less of it in the future.
@@DungeonSmith new mic?
@@royromero9195 been working more on editing and adjusted some settings.
I’m reading through it for the first time trying to prep for running it. Thank you for the tips.
Its a great adventure, you have a lot to look forward to
For the final fight against Strahd, you should use Bloody Tears from Castlevania, preferably an orchestral version
I also recommend WOW's OST from Drustvar, it has strong Barovia vibes
I would recommend sprinkling in much slower/more eerie or even very different bombastic types of versions of Bloody Tears from the start of the game here and there, that way when the theme does finally play at Strahd’s battle, the leitmotif will be all too familiar to the players and make them more excited, as if you’d conditioned them to react to the song hehehe.
@@ryedj707 This ended up being a fantastic idea! Thank you so much! There are like 14 versions of this song out there. We do our campaigns over discord voice calls, and so it's easy for me as the moderator to play music off youtube into the voice call.
Austin that’s awesome! I would also recommend using those discord music bots like rythm bot, which lets you play UA-cam music straight to everyonenin the voice call.
@@ryedj707 Oh yeah, that's exactly what I meant. I always set up a rythm playlist for a session, but so far it's just been general ambiance for the overall mood and I'd never thought to do a theme for a specific character like Strahd.
19:40 from here he talks about ambient music. Just placing the marker for me so i can comeback later to this soundtrack suggestions. Thank you for this video man, found a lot of things here helpful
Thank you for watching.
Thankyou so much❤
My advice for anyone running curse of strahd - don't stop there. Ravenloft is an amazing setting that goes far beyond Barovia and relatively easy to adapt to 5e. I've been running a ravenloft campaign for the last year or so and the party has not and will not see Barovia. There are so many just as interesting and equally sinister domains and darklords...
I wholeheartedly agree. Currently running a 5e Ravenloft game with my last Curse of Strahd Group. Started out in Invidia and they are now heading towards Nova Vaasa and will continue on to the nightmare lands. There are so many places to explore in the Ravenloft setting.
What do you think now that the new book of Raveloft is coming? Are you excited?
@@zmanattacksyou I kinda am but I’m still running my campaign so I’m hoping none of my players buy the book and start pointing out the inconsistencies between my “lore” / Ravenloft rules and the now official lore / Ravenloft rules. I’m sure they won’t do either though.
@@revelationmd Right! Sometimes the creators just have different ideas to what they may want in the lands and lore changes. I hope the game is going well though!
@@revelationmd Don't think in terms of in/consistency. You bust metagaming, spoilers and the like. There will always be those who spoil the book ending/show finale for themselves. Your game is your INTERPRETATION of the lore.
You can always explain this as, the only lore about the place. Comes from those who've escaped it. They never come away, unchanged. Thus any foreknowledge; could be erroneous, due to unreliable narrators/narratives or direct misinformation from Strahd himself. Or whichever Dark Lord/Realm you choose.
Music notes: The Tarokka card reading, I used the Firelink Shrine theme from Dark Souls 3.
my fav music to use for spooky stuff is the Fable OST - Witchwood, as well as Lychfield Cemetery.
Those are sort of playful but still spooky in my opinion. Actually know of a spot or two in my last campaign those would have fit in nicely.
Re: the missing gem from the winery, I like the idea of giving it to the abbot but I'm thinking that he used it to power up his flesh golem, and he's very open with the party that he took and used the gem. Then the pcs have the horror of the flesh golem, and also the decision to make to attack the abbot and kill this construct (I play her as very creepy and pitiable) or allow them to keep it. This is my second time running cos - love this module ! My group just got to Vallaki and are hunting down St. Andral's bones. Thanks for the video, really useful tips !
I made it so Strahd put the third gem on Argynvost's skull, leading to a zombie dragon encounter when they the players went to recover the skull.
Better yet, make it super sexy and hot and if you take the gem out, you kill her.
The Abbott is a deva. That's a very deadly encounter for a group of adventurers of the appropriate level to be run by the book. Like a no win scenario especially with the other creatures that live in the abbey.
I have a Reborn race player that is powered by the 3rd seed and doesn't know it. lol. Can't wait for him to get near one of the others.
Thanks very useful especially the preparaction for the tarokka
Strahd could always be playing his harpsichord on the balcony of castle Strahd after a certain fight, off in the distance they hear sorrowful beautiful classical sounds.
Kinda old school style but more subtle.
Subtlety is often underrated
One of my best results in tying my party into the story better was by changing some things about the story- particularly when and how they meet Ireena and how they get drawn to The Mists. In one of my most successful runs, I changed Ireena's backstory to having been spirited out of Barovia by Vistani after Kolyan Idronovich received a portent of doom about his daughter's fate. She was then dropped as an NPC in another adventure that my party started, working with them as a knight/fighter, becoming a friend and a great member of the group. When the Vistani come to town to visit, they recognize her as a native Barovian, and convince her, and along with her, the party, to come to Barovia to reunite with her real family. Upon entering the cursed lands, the Vistani ditch them, leaving them to the mercy of the oncoming night.
Dropping Ireena into the party early made her already close and important to them. This meant that when she was finally attacked by Strahd and became his target, they were completely invested in keeping her safe, and getting her back out of Barovia. If you can make the party care, make them really want to help someone, then having them develop that relationship prior to throwing them into Strahd's domain is a great tactic.
I'm in the middle of running curse of strahd and this was super helpful, thank you so much and keep making videos like this. I enjoyed it a ton!
I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. If there is any topic you think of you would like to see covered, just let me know. I just might make a video on it in the future.
6:40 I am planning to have the Champagne du la Stomp gem as Vasilka the flesh golem bride of Strahd’s heart. The party must make a choice to tear out her heart and give it back to the Martikovs or have a powerful ally against evil
Another great soundtrack for the game is Wolfman suite by Danny Elfman, from the movie
For the soundtrack, Sigmund Krahe, awesome youtube channel with all kinds of dark organ and orchestral music that is pitch perfect for ravenloft
My hint is to let the players pull the cards at the end of a session so they are random, then Eva can do the card reading next session. This allows you to research the cards and do the reading smoothly.
Bit of a strange reading. Cards are typically read as they are laid so it doesn't exactly lead to a smooth reading and in fact is a lessor version of just looking at them before the session.
I did the drawing myself beforehand and wrote down the results. I set those five cards aside. Then, during the game, I handed my players the tarokka deck (while keeping the cards I drew hidden) and had them shuffle the high deck and the common deck. Then, I took the "shuffled" cards back and, behind the DM screen, added the cards I drew to the top. Then, I had another player draw the "top five cards", which were the cards I had picked. I then had each player flip a card over in turn and had Madam Eva read the meanings of the cards.
Behind the screen, I pretended to flip through my notes as if looking for the meanings of each card. This way, the players still got the theatrics of the cards, but it allowed me to plan my readings and notes ahead of time.
I have four PC's; two good, two evil. The two good PC's had just finished Phandelver and I tweaked one of the plot hooks, having the 'mayor' of Phandelin show concern about Vistani travelers camped outside the town. The good PC's got drawn into Barovia this way, responding to a call for help and becoming friends with the Vistani. The evil PC's used the Werewolves In The Mist hook, having taken the job simply for need of coin and good, sturdy, werewolf hide. They get lost in the woods after trailing the werewolves and emerge in Barovia, where they come across Strahd who gives them a ride in his carriage. He treats them well and welcomes them in an affable and friendly way to Barovia before dropping them off to see 'his followers', the Vistani. So now the evil and good PC's know about Strahd and despite having differing opinions about him, they know they can't leave without his death or his say-so.
Sounds to me like your of to a good start.
@@DungeonSmith Thank you man, I really appreciate that.
I think my players will watch the illusionists hands during the tarokka drawing
I’ve already run the original Ravenloft adventure and these are lovely pointers for nearly any horror campaign.
I need advice on this campaign. So... Initially, I was going to go with Strahd greeting the party early like DungeonSmith stated, establishing his presence quickly as he toys with the party members and evaluates their capabilities. But... there is one problem. The party, led by a cleric of Selune, was quick to catch on to Ireena being predated upon by Strahd, and have agreed with travel with her adopted brother Ismerk after receiving advice from Father Donavich to take her to Kerkz for safety. The party has been fairly gungho about doing this. They have made it through the Death House, traveled without running into any major encounters, and are in Vallaki. They are becoming more familiar with the situation there.
So... The party has Ireena with them. And Strahd's tome. They got lucky (Or very unlucky depending on how you view it) and actually drew the card for the tome at Madame Eva's tent. They also drew the card stating that no ally will go with them to Castle Ravenloft to fight Strahd.
The festival is coming up, and I believe the party has already figured out the conspiracy to... Disrupt the celebrations afterwards. Once they fix that problem, I think Strahd, in addition to everything that is going to happen, may take a much more active role realistically. I considered him showing up to dominate the party, whether they frustrate his plans or not while in the middle of the Vallaki... Sparing them only because Ireena begs for him to do so, offering herself knowing that is what Strahd really wants. Her. Which changes the direction of the campaign some. There is also the complication of the burgomaster's thug minion Izek, and at any point that he sees Ireena, that will complicate things for both the party AND Strahd.
I was wondering what people thought of this. Party is level 4 right now. Any advice or direction would be appreciated.
Izek is a pain in the hump. If he and Ireena are brought in to contact it just sets of so many events and problems. I usually let my players hear about his obsession and let them meet him beforehand, and so far my groups have been smart enough to keep Ireena hidden from him.
I’m prepping to run CoS, and while reading the book I’ve been listening to “Haunting Pipe Organ Music” on Spotify. It feels perfect, at least for Castle Ravenloft. I’ll probably look for some other music/background sounds to fit different areas, but I think this will also work well for a few of the other places like Barovia village, the amber temple, and Argenvostholt
It feels like it could be the soundtrack to an old silent vampire movie like Nosferatu
For the Third Gem, I combined it with Argynvost's heart to be the the actual ingredients for the Heart of Sorrow... Destroying it frees the gem, and allows the party to celebrate in style
This is perfect.
I freaking love your music selection, You don't know how much I wanted to find a perfect soundtrack to use to evoke a gothic feeling.!!!
Always glad to hear it when my experiences are useful to others.
@@DungeonSmith Any chance you could post the full track listing you used with reference to the locations? I would love to follow your soundtrack to the T
@@tomdlmurphy I could try to see if I have any of them saved somewhere. I know Ive been asked for them before. Unfortunetly it was a while since I DM´d Curse of Strahd and I have switched computers since then, and although I transfered all my songs, I did not transfer all my playlists.
I find random encounters to be the perfect time to test some characters and do some character development. For instance a paladin of Bahamut could be tested by his deity. (Though I am still unsure if a deity could influence things or even access Barovia.) And I am currently writing a random encounter for a sorceror with 3 witches, a la Macbeth.
"Play this fight to win" - a rare sentence when it comes to DM tips, but on this occasion, in this particular campaign, it's a great advice. I'm yet to run this campaign, been having it on my shelf almost since it was out, but finally I will be DMing it for the first time (had an other homebrewn campaign going on for the past 3 years). I am just preparing for the first session, and these advice come in handy, especially the one about the battle with Strahd. I would have loathed myself for letting this fight become a breeze for the party! The other things you're talking about are also great tips for DMs with less experience, actually they are a treasure for them! :) For me, they are great reminders how to think about as I make my notes for running the game, perfect focus points, congrats for this video!
Thanks for the kind words. I think you will have a lot of fun with Curse of Strahd. Its still my favorite 5e campaign.
Good advice! I just started and my players are still at Death House. I am going to make the third gem be the force powering the shambling mound and the house itself. They won't know what it is, but it will hopefully help encourage them further to go to the Wizard of Wines.
That's an interesting place for it. Not one that I have heard suggested before. Ive always had the impression that the writers intended the party to try to run away from the Shambling Mound and that is what makes the harrowing escape through the altered upper floor so stressful. Never seen it happen though, pretty much everybody stands their ground against it. So should work out fine
@@DungeonSmith Yes I'm going to nerf the mound a bit since I only have three players, and they're all beginners. I'm also going to have the house a bit less deadly on the way out because I want them all to survive.
The deadliest thing in the house are there cr 1/2 shadows, no joke.
Philip Glass! Great choice. I also suggest picking through the Only Lover's Left Alive OST. Perfect fit!
Edit:
No One:
Here's my CoS playlist. ua-cam.com/play/PL19tDugpJRL-kl3EvgsWUgzNTN-tbeFNQ.html
Ill have to give that a look
Midnight Syndicate is a fantastic choice for music in Curse of Strahd or any gothic horror setting really.
Yeah, I have been using them a lot in my current Ravenloft campaign.
Hi and thanks for another great video. Will you be writing up the third gem side-adventure för DMs Guild?
I will. Been working a while now on a module for DM´s guild that will expand on locations in Curse of Strahd and that will include my third gem side-quest. Can´t say when it will be out though. Sort of became a bigger project then I initially intended.
I just stumbled onto this video & this channel. excellent find. Subscribed. Thanks for the great video!
Thanks!
Here is a playlist I've made for Ravenloft:
ua-cam.com/play/PLDFpsj3ULMb3ZrEM8O1NBd-FTNTxQxdMI.html
This is by no means complete, but you can have a look at it and give feedback.
Starting Strahd right now and just did the first card reading for the players.
There is a magic trick with a wooden box where you can hold cards on the lid, hidden until you want them to drop.
Did it, they never noticed, everybody happy
Nice. I saw that being recommended by Matt Collville as a way to rig the deck of many things, but I havent tried that particular trick myself.
Is there a video of this? I’m a little interested in seeing if I could do that
Just ordered this off Amazon. I'm relatively new to Dungeons and Dragons but I love the atmosphere of CoS so much!!! People have advised against a newbie running it but I don't care. my players all have told me multiple times they want to run a gothic/horror/vampire adventure and I'm gonna make it work for them! :)
it is a great campaign that's well laid out: divided into digestible chunks, getting more complex over time. it's overwhelming if you read everything once but good for foreshadowing. you can easily do 8 sessions without moving beyond getting to and the starter town of Barovia so don't over prep.
I had pass the parcel quest for the third gem. A thief stole it, traded it to the hags for dream bread, who traded it to the burgomaster for a fat kid, who traded it to the vistani to break a curse who then traded it to the warewolves to track down a traitor and finally got traded to "some mad mage" that used it to pay a theif to steal from the winery again... The theif had it the whole time. We found him at the hags again. Fight ensued.
Long time dark fantasy (2e AD&D Ravenloft Campaign Setting) consumer. I am also prepping to run this module. I appreciate all wisdom you have acquired and share friend.
For anyone who wants a slightly different or more human like strahd, I recommend reading I, Strauhd: Memoirs of a Vampire. It really approaches his past in a interesting way and from the perspective of Strahd himself. I felt it gave more explanation for his actions and allows you to better understand his way of thinking. It might help to make him more interesting for your players when they encounter him other than “he’s a vampire, he’s a count” There’s also a ton more information in there, but it’s best to read for yourself. You can find a pdf of the book online, or you can buy it for like $7 if you want a hard copy
Its a great tip. I always assume though that Strahds memoirs were highly skewed, especially considering what the Hickmans have said about him. Anything that helps in understanding him is good, but I find it important to remember that he is supposed to be irredeemableand despicable.
DungeonSmith From what I’ve read it’s more an understanding of him as a human and a vampire, I never said he had to be redeemable
Awesome man.
Specially the ost tips. Thanks!
18:40 another tip is if you are absolutely wiping the floor with the players (which you should be since strahd is an absolute beast if you use his abilities right) let his personality shine, let him make mistakes because of his huge ego, and when the players start making a comeback have him get frustrated and make even more mistakes. Really good way to cement this guys personality and character.
Any suggestions about where to find books without paying crazy prices? Edit the fact that a month later i have not received a single response speaks volumes about the sudden commercialism of what was once a relatively inexpensive hobby.
Amazon. It's usually 20$ cheaper and if you watch for sales you can get a book any where up to 30$ off
@@josephtanner5327 u must live in the US. Canadian prices are routinely $45 to $50 which for books is imo ridiculous....
@@bruggeman672 canadian my man. You just to have to watch and wait. Also 45 is twenty dollars cheaper then the usual price on Amazon. Also still cheaper then 60$ to 75$ cheaper then going into a shop.
@@josephtanner5327 i check prices daily. Cheapest i have got a module was $43 Canadian, which i do not consider an inexpensive price, hence why i ask. Also just because other places charge even more doesn't make these prices better. One of the reasons this game was great originally was because it was relatively cheap to get into but this is no longer the case and not surprisingly this occurs at the peak of a resurgence in popularity. I suppose we just differ in what each of use considers inexpensive.
I know this is 7 months later but if you dont need a physical copy 5etools has all of the adventures on their website. Its a very good tool for DMs and players and very easy to use and find whatever you need
Concerning the Tarokka Deck -- unless the players have memorized all the cards themselves, they should not know what each card stands for. When they shuffle the cards, take them and place them on the table in full view. When you later pick cards, you can ignore what they are written as, and choose to give the cards a new explanation. The Characters don't know the difference, they shouldn't be able to say the 4 of Swords represents anything other than what the illustration shows. You're the DM, make it up. Or maybe you feel more comfortable reading from your notes. Either way, remember to pair up the old cards with their new definitions, in case somebody asks about it later.
I know in the Tarot deck that how the illustration is presented (upside down or inverted) makes a difference in the fortune telling, maybe you want to incorporate that aspect. just a thought.
Great guide, thanks! Only addition is make is that it’s best not to have Strahd fight the party head-on. Guerilla tactics within the castle work beautifully. A quick attack and then disappear into the floor, etc.
Great video! This has helped me a lot with planning out my campaign!
Thanks. Always nice to hear
Excellent tips! Thank you.
Would love to read the adventure you wrote on the third gem 😊
For dinner with Strahd Toccata and Fugue in d minor.
On the subject of music i would recommend Ravencrest ambient music from World of Warcraft!
Try searching for Waycrest Manor OST - it suits so well, because it has been deeply inspired by gothic horror of Ravenloft
That is a good song, definetly adding it to my music pool
Really good tips vid - thank you
Really excellent advice. I especially appreciate the point to expand on the mystery of the missing gem from the winery, as well as the tips on the tarroka reading. I wanted to fix that reading for my first time, so I can create the illusion of Mme Eva knowing the meaning without me having to flip through pages, but as a new DM sometimes I just need to hear from someone more experienced that it's acceptable to rig the game.
Subscribed!
Excellent Top Tips. I appreciate your work and explanations.
Thank you for this video and the most helpful tips! I'm planning to run CoS campaign in a few months or so and I'm devouring helpful materials. Your video was really nicely made, informative in a very clear way, I absolutely love it and once again - thank you for splendid work!
Thank you! Always nice with positive feedback. Good luck with your campaign, Its still my favorite one of the 5e ones.
Thanks so much for taking the time to help us other DMs. A++ :)
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.
Some good ideas there
Cryo Chamber ( I think that is what they are called) has some very creepy and heavy feel to them.
The Witcher 3 OST also seems to fit VERY well with Ravenloft
Been using the Witcher 3 OST a lot in my latest Ravenloft campaign, especially for some more relaxed scenes and action scenes.
Didnt strahd have a dragon at one point? Or was the not canon pretty sure ol lord soth slayed one.
He had one in the boardgame and in later editions he slew the dragon Argynvost.
love this. Thank you. Last year I saw Kronos Quartet and Phillip Glass perform the music from Dracula live. It was awesome.
That sounds amazing, would love to hear that music live.
Great advice! Watched quite a few YT videos on strahd after reading cover to cover 5e's Curse Of Strahd and will say this is good advice for running the things the book doesn't tell you. I'm sure you know many people just run this game... awkwardly haha!! I can't wait to run this for my players and hopefully one day I can throw in my own 2 silver pieces as well.
I gave the third gem to Arrigal and his brother Luvash. I never said where they found it but I gave it as a reward for finding Luvash's daughter. It never came up how they got it which was sad but it kind of showed they had no idea what they had. Their next stop was Wizard of Wines so they got a pay off for a seemingly useless item. It also led into the little arc there and an encounter with Strahd though he did nothing in the fight other then be menacing and show they weren't ready for him.
I should have spiced up the random encounters more but it was my first time running it.
An interesting choice. Arrigal and Luvash ended up having some great interactions with the parties in some of my run throughs of Curse.
@@DungeonSmith Luvash had better relations with the party. Arrigal and one of the players were openly hostile. They did get killed off after helping with a take over in Vallaki but my druid resurrected them.
I ran an abbreviated Curse of Strahd campaign as part of a re-write of the Pathfinder Reign of Winter Adventure Path - the group is searching for one of the keys to Baba Yaga's prison (in the form of a matryoshka doll) and her betrayer daughter has scattered the keys to her enemies across the worlds she uses her Hut to travel to. In this world I had her play the role of 'Mother Night' who sealed the realm off at Strahd's behest after Ireena killed herself rather than be his - he wanted her spirit trapped there and himself made immortal so that he could find her in every lifetime she lived. Baba Yaga agreed and Strahd helped her overthrow the Morninglord, in part by killing the Silver Dragon who led the Knighthood (the dragon is now an undead creature who sends the spirit of slain knights every night to assault their remaining brothers until he has collected them all). Anyway, I have a whole series of events that will lead the group on a not-so-merry chase to find Van Richten, save the Knighthood and eventually face and defeat Strahd in order to earn the key they need. I put together a fantastic 'foretelling' that they experience early on which lays out the path for them, though they have to figure it out:
Seek you the Hidden,
the Lost, the Found,
the Last, the Next,
the Soul unbound.
Seek you the House of Foreign Blood,
it’s Master lost, but gone?
Hunter now seeks a younger brood,
that Knight be claimed by Pawn.
Seek you the House of Chaos Moon,
by tracks of twos and fours;
alone, He wept, then lost Himself
amidst those misty moors
Seek you the House of Darkened Wood
where Daughter of Night resides;
Howling wolves and darker things
dare not where she abides.
Seek you the House of Empty Smiles,
where love is naught but a dance,
its tune no more than memory held;
If released, perhaps a chance.
Seek you the House of Orphaned Brothers,
counted once as starlit sky;
Yet night claims all and none remain,
Save the One to help them die.
Seek you the House of Ancient Blood
To see the night undone;
Still the Heart, release the Soul,
and gain what shall be One.
Seek you the Hidden,
the Lost, the Found,
the Last, the Next,
the Soul unbound.
About how many hours or gaming sessions do you think this module requires to finish?
It varies. You can actually get through curse of Strahd fairly quickly if your a bit lucky and you rush. But usually its taken me a little over six months of weekly sessions to run through it. So I would say around 24-25 sessions or so.
it says in the module that the gem is in yesterhill in Wintersplinter the tree blight that the druids are trying to ritualistically summon to attack the Wizard of the Wines (pg 200)
eric murphy, The first and second gems were stolen. One is in Baba Lysaga’s hut and the other in Wintersplinter. The third is no where to be found. I gave it to my Hermit Druid, though he doesn’t know what it is.
Would you recommend doing the card reading before the beginning the adventure infront of the party so they have some guidance?
No, let them feel a little lost and overwhelmed the first couple of moments in Barovia. After all, its supposed to be a scary place. It is not hard to get the players to meet madame eva (or Esmeralda if they avoid madame eva) and have them get the card reading early on. Besides you would miss out on a great scene by presenting the information before hand, the meeting with the fortune teller doesn't have the same impact if the players are already in the know. Also, there is another point in presenting the information in the story itself, and that is that then the information is being given by a mysterious woman whose intentions and motives might very well be suspect, and not by the DM. If you do it before hand in front of your players, they can take the information as facts given out of character and that kills the mystery and just gives them a list of objectives to do.
I've had a scenario where Strahd finds out very early on that the party has the tome, but instead of just forcing them to hand it over or killing them, he decides that
a) This is a great chance to spread the truth of his story (ie that he is the victim), and he has confidence that his ciphers regarding the more sensitive information could never be broken (they can, with RvR's help),
b) He can use this is a chance to turn the party against one another, making secret deals with each of them (or just one) to return the book to him in return for a "reward"
Thank you, I am about to run the curse of Strahd in a few days and this was very helpful
Your welcome. Happy to help.
I thought the castle was the main villain. The castle is like a druid groove. He gets pissed when you start destroying the castle. The castle is cursed so you can't destroy Strahd unless you destroy the castle. Otherwise the castle brings him back.
My best tip: change the name of the village of Barrovia to Barrow. Its a nod at 30 days of night, but mostly its to avoid confusion about the village name being the same as the entire regions.
1:02) place them on top of your what?!? What kind of game is this?! Lol sorry couldn't resist
One of the best videos regarding Strahd out there. Very well presented and interesting
In regards to Strahds wolves, in my game I've changed them into worgs. And here is why: wolves are both boring and unchallenging (unless they significantly outnumber the players and running a combat with a large number of week monsters kinda sucks). Worgs on the other hand are stronger and more importantly far more intelligent, the wolves become another race that serves strhad and gain personality! They are now a faction of monsters with tactics and goals, they change from simple animals to cruel, cunning man eating monsters! My players really feared Strahds man eating wolves, and their ability to only kill for strahd, but to spy, kidnap and terrorise the land of Barovia.
Also in the game I've never called them Worgs, to my players they were just these terrible monstrous servants of Strahd. His "dark hounds" they called them. I almost never tell my players the names of monsters, only what THEY know about the creature. Keeps the enemies mysterious and far more terrifying.
Edit: Also the worgs had a leader, I used the stats of a winter wolf and just bumped his int to 8, and gave him language proficiency, to reflect his status as the alpha of the pact. And amongst the regular worgs I've sprinkled in some zombie worgs to amp up the dread.
I threw in some worgs in my second curse of strahd game when the players were a bit tougher. Wolves on their own arent really a challange, but they can soak up some hits and be a nuisance when acting as minions to tougher foes.
You could always throw in alittle of the personality of "the great evil one" from timebandits and have some dark humor and interesting diolage for strahd von zoravich.
Have him play the shitty neighbor and have him be the quest giver under dire duress you must invade stitcher enclave and bust it up.
I want to play as a player in your next curse of strahd game! Let me know when u might run one!
Thanks for all the Cool tips! But a question for the Card Reading: What is the best way to Guide your players to the artifacts? The book gives the vague descriptions, but i don't see how they would find them as they are in well and strange hidden places?
lvl 8 Tabaxi monk way of the open hand, punch much?
Great video, one of the best I've seen on running CoS. Definitely going to use those random encounter tips and Strahd buffs in my game. Thanks so much!!
Hello i was wondering where the link for the playlist is. I enjoyed all the recommendations but i want to pad out my playlist to just have more than 30 minutes worth of music. You got a sub and thanks in advance.
Thanks for the tips! it will be useful. would you have a list of the music mentioned in your video?
Im guessing you are the same person who asked me this on my tumblr? If not, I just answered that question on there. So give it a look. dungeonsmith.tumblr.com/
@@DungeonSmith It wasn't me on tumblr, but thank you for the link :)
Thanks for this video. Really helped with my prep as DM, lots of great pointers.
So I am currently running it, and I ended up pulling the Abbot's creation as their ally. I have been racking my brain as to how I will run her. What would ye suggest? Making her be more sentient and being about to talk, being more like a construct blindly following the characters? I'm open to whatever ye think would work.
Van Richtens Guide to the Created is a really interesting book that was released to 2nd edition D&D that talks a lot about flesh golems. In it they describe a few things, such as the fact that all golems sooner or later come to resent and hate their creators. I would play her as being naive and childlike and easily frustrated at the start and gradually grow more mature and perhaps even harsh and jaded if exposed to enough horrors, oh and dont forget that Flesh Golems have a tendency to go berserk in certain situations. Not necessarily able to talk. Not at first at least, but eager to connect with others and communicate. She would very much be her own person, but have the occasional flash of memory or skill from one of the many women she was made from. Van Richtens also brings up the concept of telepthy and golems. Essentially, in Ravenloft, it used to be that golems had a unique psychic connection with their creators, able to see through their eyes and such. When a golem´s creator dies, it can sometims transfer this connection to someone else. Could be a potential way for her to talk to one of the players, making communication between the group and the ally easier. Dont just play Vasilka as a mindless destructive beast, make her tragic and use her as a dark mirror to show how cruel people can be to someone who is different. Dont forget the prophecy, "A woman who is more than the sum of her parts", yes, this is a literal statement, but it can also be made to be a metaphoric one. She is more than she appears at first glance.
Great insight thanks. Now comes the next issue. My players are B lining to the Abby with Ireena in tow and they have only done the death house. Getting the Golem this early on might make a lot of the mod too easy. What ye think?
@@christiangroller3927 not necessarily. If you play her more naive and innocent at the start and let her gradually realize her strength, then she wont necessarily unbalance combat early on. She is meant to be their greatest ally against Strahd, not their greatest weapon in general. She might even be a bit of a bother at times. Also, you can always let the players run in to Strahd somewhere between Vallaki and Krezk, might make them think twice about travelling so openly with Ireena in tow. It can backfire, but it worked for me in my last game when my players were doing something similiar.
DungeonSmith they are at least trying to be covert. Well good advice, thanks a lot man. Would love to be able to direct E-mail ye with other quandaries I may have if that would be cool?
Being an ally doesn't necessarily mean carrying the party to the castle.
The ally will appear again, like Han Solo; when the party needs them the most.
Jilted bride golem sounds pretty legit
thank you soo much this was causing me so much stress
Happy to help
Prepping Ravenloft for my first time right now. Great help, thank you.
I liked.
I love this, and I love this channel, but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. I don't even play D&D, but for some reason I find it fascinating and mesmerising. Maybe I'm a weirdo, or maybe I just really want to get into it and I don't know it yet. But anyway, love you and the whole community.
Thank you. All are welcome, even those who aren't players themselves.
Hey! Good tips. Im just about to start a Curse of Strahd campaign and was intrigued by your music tips, do you have a spotify playlist or something of that sort? =)
I DM an online game with my buddies using Maptools.. I built a map with the entire Tarokka deck, with the back of the card covering every card. I had an Info note next to each card to it's meaning.. I let the players pick any card they wanted, and I selected it with it still covered over to the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 formation. I then removed the back of each card and had the info on hand for what it meant.. Took me about 4 hours to build, but the players loved it.
Sounds like it was time well spent then. Been doing some online games myself lately, and it does open up for some interesting ideas.
Awesome video! Also, check out the band Nox Arcana for good gothic style instrumental music :)
Good video! And the extra encounters are excellent! Really useful