The best one yet!!! Count Von Zarovich is my favorite D&D character of all time. I first played through the original Ravenloft module back in 1985, and it is still the best published adventure to this day. The 5e version, Cure of Strahd, was so much fun to play through, and I am now preparing to DM an extended version based on several content creators' additions. Thanks again for bringing to life the best BBEG in D&D.
This was so great! it reminds me of my campaign I had hosted. I had Hosted Curse of Strahd for the first time about a year ago or so, it was with a group of about 4 or so players (one was in and out so that's why I say 4 or so). The players where a Tiefling who unbeknownst to him was related to asmodeus and was one of the "Half Soulless" of Barovia his soul was diminished do to the constant reincarnations with ought positive energy He was related to the Vistani but wasnt one himself and was a druid, A human warlock who had the raven queen as patron who had a staff that was given to him that gave him his powers and acted as a link to her even through the veil, A Human Plague Doctor, and an honorable cat warrior who was sworn to hepl Barovia become a land shrouded by light again by a strange power that saved him and his kin in a battle, and a Yuan-Ti who was a actor that played at having emotions they had writen everythingthey could about acting and emotions down in there book and even had ways of faking crying to others at sad moments. Each of the players introductions had them end with looking into a fire while mist surounded them in some way. They arrived as they where staring into a campfire surounded by fog in a Vistani caravan. This was there introduction to the lands of Barovia. It all went crazy, the party had actualy liked Strahd with how I played him being as close to his personality as I could and fallowing the BBEG list or rules. They decided to help Strahd by finding a way to free Berovia and after dying once (I used the dark powers/greater powers rule that says you get 1 extra life with a boon but must do a quest or take a bane as well), eventually as they where going to do a ritual to send Barovia out of the plane it was revealed that the warlock had instead intended the ritual to send Barovia to the Raven Queens Domain (which is planarly close) This was after the Tiefling made a deal with asmodeus who agreed to help him and now has to honor his bargain and help him retrieve all the souls from Barovia and the Raven Queen. It all ended up with Strahd turning Lawful Neutral loosing his vampiric curse after giving up on Tatina thanks to the players help and him getting shunted into the main world with the players aside from the Warlock. It was a long and epic ride took us like I think a good 30+ sessions to get through. I even got to be cryptic with the Raven Queen by giving out prophacies in that cryptic divine manor where its technicaly right if you look at it in a certain way sorta style.
This is excellent work! These “Through the eyes of…” are so much fun to listen to. Strahd has always been such a great nuanced character and you TOTALLY captures that. May I make a request for a Through the eyes of the Moonstone Dragon at some point on the future? Could be fun challenge.
So, sidenote: a primary central character I am building as DM in the Faywild, has recently made a pact with a sorcerous green dragon. She was originally FAY (a fairy, not an elf, important distinction) ~ but, she became a vampire (in a previous LARP, this character has been around awhile LOL) so she is a fairy/fae that was kidnapped by a darkages vampire thaumateurgy coven originally; now she lives in the Faywild as a diviner in a Gypsy Meadwagon Caravan. She already knew the Green Fairy and also recently visited the court of the fay queen (with the mead wagon, they are in the Faywild mountains, mostly bringing trinkets, apple cider, etc to the Centaurs) ~ the Green Fairy is BFF's with this Green Dragon and set it up. So my point Im coming to (I know, its a super long story LOL) ~ is that I find it very intriguing based on the events going on in my own subplot, that the name of Strahd's GF is TATIANA which also the name of the queen of the fay, in the Faywild. There are some strong parallels and co-incidences there. In fact, I am tempted to wonder if somehow the collective consciousness of this is intertwined in authorship, since my vamp / fairy character was LARPED in like the late 90's around the time the Ravenloft stuff came out. There is also an all girls school in the city I live in called "Raven's Croft" which is pretty close to the mark. Its a huge catholic school for girls (witches in training LOL) Anyway: Im just saying that, if in fact Tatiana were the queen of the fay and living in the fay wild, that would make alot more sense, from my point of view, particularly in light of the nature of my own vamp / fay character. Her back story is that she was FAE (LARPED THROUGH CHANGELING THE DREAMING originally) ~ she was kidnapped by a member of the Tremere Clan (LARPED through VAMPIRE DARK AGES, all produced by WHITE WOLF PUBLISHING in the 90's) . In that scenario, the Tremere Vampire clan is one of 13 clans, the ONLY clan of them all that practices any kind of sorcery. So in the current DND situation, everybody practices magic all the time LOL, but in the Changling and the Dark Ages Vampire (and Masquerade, which is the "updated 19th C " version) NOBODY practices magic, its all mostly incidental to charater creation (if that) and the plot is largely carried by story telling alone. There are NO DICE, for example. Its much more of an intense LARP and more of a story telling novella type of thing. A major perk is that rather than combat, it is much easier to tell "romances" in that format (because clearly combat tends to interfere with a romance plot). To that end, the Fae / Vamp character I am describing that made the pact with the Green Dragon through alliances with Tatiana (recently) ~ really does not come into contact with combat, even now. Her strengths have always been those you would associate with the Green Dragon. Thaumaturgy for the Tremere is a coven activity, that has to do with initiations of drinking each other's blood (not those of outsiders) which is why she was adopted by them, rather than eaten by them; they are fairly incestuous, in that way. They advance in rank in a monastic dark ages sort of "Wizard's Tower" sort of format, thtough drinking the blood of other (older) vampires. They then share a blood bond, etc etc ~ They practice "blood magic" but that is t he ONLY clan of the 13 (in the White Wolf version) that does so. My character is now a "dragon rider" (drake warden) to an extent ~ it was all a bit unintentional ~ she and the Green Dragon are more or less soul mates LOL. He went to a school of sorcery, back in the old country of goths / vamps / dragon lairs, and they both are friends w the Head Master of the Mage School he attended, plus they both have secret portals back to the same territory of vamp held lands, etc. Its more of a pact, or alliance of convienance, its debatable how much actual "riding" is going to happen LOL. But: to that end, he wears a "soul bond collar" (NOT a bridle). Besides, how could you put a bridle on a beast that breathes fire? That is patently silly. LOL Some of these illustrations of a bridle on a dragon are ridiculous. Really? LOL So the point I am coming to is: it really doesnt make a huge difference to me whether Tatiana was the queen of the fay then or became that way later, or whatever ~ but there are some strong similarities. The Tremere in particular (from my own back story) covet the blood of the fay, because of the MAGIC of illusions ~ it also gets them high, in a way. Sort of like cat nip, or opiates, or mushrooms, or weed or something. That aspect of 'enchantment' is very real: it makes them HUNT the fay, to an extent that is unusually OCD. Not to kill them, but to keep them sort of like pets, or wives, I suppose. Concubines, whatever, no doubt you can think of a "dark ages" description. What Tatiana could have done to escape ~ is that rather than throw herself off t he balcony (did that really happen? Seems like a good time to summon your dragon and ride him away LOL) ~ she could have given FAY GIFTS in the use of fay magic, to cast illusions over his eyes, blinding him. 'Let his eyes be darkened, that he see not" The fay have control over LIGHT, if you look up the wording of the Cantrips, in about every version there is, including White Wolf. Its interesting to note that this particular character I keep mentioning did a "cross over" into the "Werewolf the Apocalypse" LARP also, on the strength of her fay ability to control illusions / blood magic sorcery. Its a bit complex in that case, since vampires dont project well into the ASTRAL (which is where alot of werewolf stuff goes down), but this aspect of the control of LIGHT is central for Lycans also. The DARK DRUIDS are on board with all that, if you want to look up the Cantrips. If you are wondering why the pact with the Green Dragon? (the Faywild does NOT have dragons, mostly. Just Gryphons and the odd Pegasus, the occasional flying Owlbear, etc ) ~ she needs him as a defender + guide at the moment, to go back to visit a very important Vampre Duke (not Strahd, but relatively similar). The Faywild is heartbreakingly beautiful and her home; but due to unforseen events, she has to go back to the Vampire Covens , castlesand cathedrals of a different plane, for a short time. She needs an alliance that is both out of the Faywild / and also Gothic Vamp planes; with pacts/portals and the whole kit & caboodle, so her passage is more assured. Its sort of like having a driver's license, or a passport. Sure you dont have to have it: but it makes life a lot easier. Its possible the Green Dragon will also come with her further abroad, also. He has been fairly helpful so far. Mostly for counsel and defence (no combat) but if there were a situation where combat arose, he would be at hand. She is fairly concerned about her safety ~ she has been talking alot about this idea of having 7 soldiers and 3 body guards (a total of 10 men) as her own personal retinue. No doubt the Green Dragon can help assemble and garrison the men also. These are uncertain times.
The best one yet!!!
Count Von Zarovich is my favorite D&D character of all time. I first played through the original Ravenloft module back in 1985, and it is still the best published adventure to this day. The 5e version, Cure of Strahd, was so much fun to play through, and I am now preparing to DM an extended version based on several content creators' additions.
Thanks again for bringing to life the best BBEG in D&D.
This sounds like an incel-y stalker crossed with a posh theatre kid. So you did a great job!
This was so great! it reminds me of my campaign I had hosted.
I had Hosted Curse of Strahd for the first time about a year ago or so, it was with a group of about 4 or so players (one was in and out so that's why I say 4 or so). The players where a Tiefling who unbeknownst to him was related to asmodeus and was one of the "Half Soulless" of Barovia his soul was diminished do to the constant reincarnations with ought positive energy He was related to the Vistani but wasnt one himself and was a druid, A human warlock who had the raven queen as patron who had a staff that was given to him that gave him his powers and acted as a link to her even through the veil, A Human Plague Doctor, and an honorable cat warrior who was sworn to hepl Barovia become a land shrouded by light again by a strange power that saved him and his kin in a battle, and a Yuan-Ti who was a actor that played at having emotions they had writen everythingthey could about acting and emotions down in there book and even had ways of faking crying to others at sad moments.
Each of the players introductions had them end with looking into a fire while mist surounded them in some way. They arrived as they where staring into a campfire surounded by fog in a Vistani caravan. This was there introduction to the lands of Barovia.
It all went crazy, the party had actualy liked Strahd with how I played him being as close to his personality as I could and fallowing the BBEG list or rules. They decided to help Strahd by finding a way to free Berovia and after dying once (I used the dark powers/greater powers rule that says you get 1 extra life with a boon but must do a quest or take a bane as well), eventually as they where going to do a ritual to send Barovia out of the plane it was revealed that the warlock had instead intended the ritual to send Barovia to the Raven Queens Domain (which is planarly close) This was after the Tiefling made a deal with asmodeus who agreed to help him and now has to honor his bargain and help him retrieve all the souls from Barovia and the Raven Queen. It all ended up with Strahd turning Lawful Neutral loosing his vampiric curse after giving up on Tatina thanks to the players help and him getting shunted into the main world with the players aside from the Warlock.
It was a long and epic ride took us like I think a good 30+ sessions to get through. I even got to be cryptic with the Raven Queen by giving out prophacies in that cryptic divine manor where its technicaly right if you look at it in a certain way sorta style.
Well done. The party is about to meet strahd and im going to play this on repeat for myself before the session to get in his headspace
“Only 16 summers”
Chris thy handson: “why don’t you have a seat over there My lord.”
Ahh! This was so frickin good! Your videos are always something I look forward to. I can not wait to see what else you have planned. 😊❤
This is excellent work! These “Through the eyes of…” are so much fun to listen to. Strahd has always been such a great nuanced character and you TOTALLY captures that.
May I make a request for a Through the eyes of the Moonstone Dragon at some point on the future? Could be fun challenge.
As a Romania, a monster aficionado and old school DnD lover, that was perfection
Legends of Avantris did a campaign with these characters and a nice take on the devil strahd
AAAAAHHH! A BRAND NEW VIDEO FROM MY FAVORITE UA-cam SERIES!!! You are such an INCREDIBLE voice actor!!!🤩🌟
LOVE THIS SERIES! Make a playlist for Through the Eyes of a Monster please!!
Lmao was not expecting the bane voice for sergei 10:04
Ravenloft has always been my favorite. I've even read most of the novels.
So, sidenote: a primary central character I am building as DM in the Faywild, has recently made a pact with a sorcerous green dragon. She was originally FAY (a fairy, not an elf, important distinction) ~ but, she became a vampire (in a previous LARP, this character has been around awhile LOL) so she is a fairy/fae that was kidnapped by a darkages vampire thaumateurgy coven originally; now she lives in the Faywild as a diviner in a Gypsy Meadwagon Caravan. She already knew the Green Fairy and also recently visited the court of the fay queen (with the mead wagon, they are in the Faywild mountains, mostly bringing trinkets, apple cider, etc to the Centaurs) ~ the Green Fairy is BFF's with this Green Dragon and set it up.
So my point Im coming to (I know, its a super long story LOL) ~ is that I find it very intriguing based on the events going on in my own subplot, that the name of Strahd's GF is TATIANA which also the name of the queen of the fay, in the Faywild. There are some strong parallels and co-incidences there. In fact, I am tempted to wonder if somehow the collective consciousness of this is intertwined in authorship, since my vamp / fairy character was LARPED in like the late 90's around the time the Ravenloft stuff came out. There is also an all girls school in the city I live in called "Raven's Croft" which is pretty close to the mark. Its a huge catholic school for girls (witches in training LOL)
Anyway: Im just saying that, if in fact Tatiana were the queen of the fay and living in the fay wild, that would make alot more sense, from my point of view, particularly in light of the nature of my own vamp / fay character. Her back story is that she was FAE (LARPED THROUGH CHANGELING THE DREAMING originally) ~ she was kidnapped by a member of the Tremere Clan (LARPED through VAMPIRE DARK AGES, all produced by WHITE WOLF PUBLISHING in the 90's) . In that scenario, the Tremere Vampire clan is one of 13 clans, the ONLY clan of them all that practices any kind of sorcery.
So in the current DND situation, everybody practices magic all the time LOL, but in the Changling and the Dark Ages Vampire (and Masquerade, which is the "updated 19th C " version) NOBODY practices magic, its all mostly incidental to charater creation (if that) and the plot is largely carried by story telling alone. There are NO DICE, for example. Its much more of an intense LARP and more of a story telling novella type of thing. A major perk is that rather than combat, it is much easier to tell "romances" in that format (because clearly combat tends to interfere with a romance plot).
To that end, the Fae / Vamp character I am describing that made the pact with the Green Dragon through alliances with Tatiana (recently) ~ really does not come into contact with combat, even now. Her strengths have always been those you would associate with the Green Dragon. Thaumaturgy for the Tremere is a coven activity, that has to do with initiations of drinking each other's blood (not those of outsiders) which is why she was adopted by them, rather than eaten by them; they are fairly incestuous, in that way. They advance in rank in a monastic dark ages sort of "Wizard's Tower" sort of format, thtough drinking the blood of other (older) vampires. They then share a blood bond, etc etc ~ They practice "blood magic" but that is t he ONLY clan of the 13 (in the White Wolf version) that does so.
My character is now a "dragon rider" (drake warden) to an extent ~ it was all a bit unintentional ~ she and the Green Dragon are more or less soul mates LOL. He went to a school of sorcery, back in the old country of goths / vamps / dragon lairs, and they both are friends w the Head Master of the Mage School he attended, plus they both have secret portals back to the same territory of vamp held lands, etc. Its more of a pact, or alliance of convienance, its debatable how much actual "riding" is going to happen LOL. But: to that end, he wears a "soul bond collar" (NOT a bridle). Besides, how could you put a bridle on a beast that breathes fire? That is patently silly. LOL Some of these illustrations of a bridle on a dragon are ridiculous. Really? LOL
So the point I am coming to is: it really doesnt make a huge difference to me whether Tatiana was the queen of the fay then or became that way later, or whatever ~ but there are some strong similarities. The Tremere in particular (from my own back story) covet the blood of the fay, because of the MAGIC of illusions ~ it also gets them high, in a way. Sort of like cat nip, or opiates, or mushrooms, or weed or something. That aspect of 'enchantment' is very real: it makes them HUNT the fay, to an extent that is unusually OCD. Not to kill them, but to keep them sort of like pets, or wives, I suppose. Concubines, whatever, no doubt you can think of a "dark ages" description.
What Tatiana could have done to escape ~ is that rather than throw herself off t he balcony (did that really happen? Seems like a good time to summon your dragon and ride him away LOL) ~ she could have given FAY GIFTS in the use of fay magic, to cast illusions over his eyes, blinding him. 'Let his eyes be darkened, that he see not" The fay have control over LIGHT, if you look up the wording of the Cantrips, in about every version there is, including White Wolf. Its interesting to note that this particular character I keep mentioning did a "cross over" into the "Werewolf the Apocalypse" LARP also, on the strength of her fay ability to control illusions / blood magic sorcery. Its a bit complex in that case, since vampires dont project well into the ASTRAL (which is where alot of werewolf stuff goes down), but this aspect of the control of LIGHT is central for Lycans also. The DARK DRUIDS are on board with all that, if you want to look up the Cantrips.
If you are wondering why the pact with the Green Dragon? (the Faywild does NOT have dragons, mostly. Just Gryphons and the odd Pegasus, the occasional flying Owlbear, etc ) ~ she needs him as a defender + guide at the moment, to go back to visit a very important Vampre Duke (not Strahd, but relatively similar). The Faywild is heartbreakingly beautiful and her home; but due to unforseen events, she has to go back to the Vampire Covens , castlesand cathedrals of a different plane, for a short time. She needs an alliance that is both out of the Faywild / and also Gothic Vamp planes; with pacts/portals and the whole kit & caboodle, so her passage is more assured. Its sort of like having a driver's license, or a passport. Sure you dont have to have it: but it makes life a lot easier. Its possible the Green Dragon will also come with her further abroad, also. He has been fairly helpful so far. Mostly for counsel and defence (no combat) but if there were a situation where combat arose, he would be at hand.
She is fairly concerned about her safety ~ she has been talking alot about this idea of having 7 soldiers and 3 body guards (a total of 10 men) as her own personal retinue. No doubt the Green Dragon can help assemble and garrison the men also. These are uncertain times.
Using this for the tome of strahd