Why Strahd is my favorite villain. 1: His demiplane leaves him immune to like, 90% of a vampire’s traditional weaknesses. 2: He was strong enough to solo, not only a CR34 silver dragon with Paladin levels, but also said dragon’s ENTIRE PALADIN ARMY. 3: This is more of how I play Strahd, but Strahd isn’t a villain who’s convinced he’s in the right, he’s a guy who makes the most of a terrible situation and knows he’s beyond redemption. 4: His presence and actions stains ALL of barovia.
tbh, Strad could actualy go against AO if the "dark powers" of dread found it funny, but they are more about funny in the way of ennoying him^^ Since the demiplanes of dread actualy do not complie with the rest of the crystal sphere's rules
I'm just imagining the immortal guardians of Barovia: an elf warlock if undying with a several thousand year lifespan, an elf druid with the same lifespan who routinely casts reincarnate on the human fighter, a Wizard who has some clones stored somewhere, and an oath of ancients paladin who doesn't age. They meet up every 200 years or so to kill Strad again, and then split up to search barovia for a way to break the curse, or an enemy worth killing.
it would probably work out a cople of times, but if the dark powers got bored of it, they could just make the party dissapear, the dark powers of the demiplaines of dread could litteraly flip the bird to AO, since they are written like the lady of pain, aka the DM's ultimate fiat/veto (they can do annything, even the things that should not be possible, the lady of pain is beholden to sigil, while the dark powers are beholden to have funn tormenting the lords of dread
a man is a very unfortunate creature that everyone else accuses him of piles and piles of endless lies he never committed in his cursed life. everyone expects from him everything and he is to expect nothing in return, just a slave working in a world that sees him as a disposable pile of trash and nothing else. he's just an investment for his parents that he'll never be able to please, he's nothing more than free meals and drinks dispenser for his so called friends who truly never cared for him and never will, he's nothing more than a wallet of cash before his woman if he choose to marry anyone, who had he not had the money she would never even look his way, he's nothing more than a toy machine for his kids who won't look at him without something in return, and when death comes him way a man's worth is only based on his money and how much he left for the wolves and the predatory snakes you call relatives and wife, kids, and grand kids, for them to burn to dust mere moments after he's gone. a man is a creature of no value. disposable in wars, wanted for free or labor, and just wanted as a stick with balls for female's pleasure, and to make sure he's always under control he's taught from his youngest years to obey and obey and obey, and nothing else. don't fight back don't disobey the law, spoil your relatives, MAKE HER HAPPY so she can control your will with sex that she's already getting it elsewhere and being paid for it as well! a man is just a worthless pawn for wars, everyone wants you dead so that they get money after you are gone, your living value as a man is to die. nothing else. so tell me , is a man needed in this hell? that doesn't pay anything back to him, doesn't respect him, doesn't look at him, or help him out? if a man is just here to serve and die, when does this hell end then? if he decides to go away and develop himself he'll become a cursed forsaken by everyone creature; because he went out of the circle to serve himself for himself and build himself up, everyone will hate him for standing for himself and doing for himself for once something. everyone will become his enemy; because how dare he think of himself as a living being worth of anything when he's nothing but disposable garbage? but when he builds himself up and goes where nobody had ever gone, and then he's rediscovered by the others after he got his success, or failure, he'll either be treated as a god whose worth is demanded by everyone only so they strip him naked again and steal all he had ever achieved. or just to be laughed at and shat upon because he thought he could be something and he ended up being nothing. a man in short is the the society's toilet, worthless, needless, valueless, until needed. and only needed for labor, pleasure, finance, and power. that's all. a man is literally nothing than a slave. that is trying to break free of his chains and flip the bird in the face of his cursed existence, and the hell that he was unfairly born in. a hell that had he had the power he'd had burned to cinder the same way it burned him into cinder countless times, and is still repeatedly burning that cinder into more cinder. that is what a man is.
@@WaltRBuckso a man can never have both? the world and his soul? what a misery designed existence of cruelty is this? a world designed by misery driven by cruelty, and ruled by unfairness, and given to tyrants who enslaved all who is beneath them. a world like this should not be allowed to exist. it should be burned with hell's cursed flames. endlessly
Funny CoS story with super tiny spoilers. When we played through it, we got 2 allies to help us: the wereraven and another guy (not the wizard). We did adventures for them, went from one place to another, jumped through hoops for at least 6 weeks to get these guy's to help. Great. We go in. The Wereraven flies us over the moat and we land within the walls. Go in through the gate: theres 4 statues that breath fire on you as you come in, Dex save. We all make it. The NPCs didn't. Dead. Both of them. Gone. We jumped through hoops for 6 weeks and they didn't survive the first god damn room! lol
@@amir5198 Not British either, but I enjoy watching the ideology of Sadiq Khan and those like him being rejected across the world. Brexit is only the beginning.
I pair y'all's videos up all the time! I pit my players up against the environment just as much as the monsters, and I've gotten 90% of my ideas in my Eberron Campaign setting from them. Chief among them was having was the Mournland Mist originating from Phlogiston do to a crack in Eberron's Cristal Sphere, and Dyrrn abusing the Dragonmark of Handling to eventually create the first Gith within it. If y'all could tag team on some Lore > Ecology > Tactics format videos it would make fantastic content. And, if you just so happened to make aberration the first few videos, my Tentacled Hand of Doom campaign would be a cakewalk!
They really hit the nail on the head making this campaign. It's just the right balance of sandbox - the mist defining an enclosed playground, filled with interaction and fleshed out characters - while still having an inevitable end - you have to deal with strahd one way or another. Of course there are other elements like the general dread, the feeling that you have to do something, you can't leave things as they are and hook up with barmaids and pickpocket patrons... plus the universal european folklore of witches that cook kids, vampires, werewolf and so on that are instantly recognizable and can instantly trigger in players a response.
Also I like seeing you in this call relaxed state it’s almost like critical rolls fireside chat, just something that’s just a unscripted slice of life.
Cole24 It is not scripted it is played in real time they have been playing Dungeons and Dragons for many years. To even say that it is scripted is an insult to fate at least, and an insult yelled directly at the players faces at most. You are at the stage of “Most.”
@@BardicProductions hey relax, i think cole its asking "¿do you think that CR its scripted?" because you comparing it to a separate program that its (by definition) not scripted. Dont asume things like that, read the question.
You should consider reviewing every official adventure in 5e. I just love to hear your opinion. You are a dm with great experience and excellent knowledge of the lore, as you have proven. So YES your opinion matters!!
I love how open ended this module is. In my game we had this huge adventure to extend the time limit for resurrection in order to raise Sergei for the final battle but instead of fighting Strahd, we at the last moment convinced Sergei and Strahd make up and that PISSED the Dark Powers. We then had an epic final boss rush with the Dark Powers. Best game of my life so far
I think the most hallarious part of the demiplains of dread is the story where one of the lords of dread just gave upp long enogh to ennoy the dark powers, to the point they just tossed him out of the plaine xD
I barely could belive in your Storm King's Thunder video, I'm currently playing SKT and to great credit of my DM he made this adventure epic if compared to the normal SKT, every place has something going on, either being the local giant group doing things, people taking advantage of the situation, player backstory and choices (Our dwarf fell in love and we spent a lot of time trying to find his love, in the most funny and weird way) or when he is out of ideas he asked us. This is a unique experience of a group and campaing, once we finish STK we are going to Ravenloft.
Strahd is kind of the perfect villain for this type of game. Practically untouchable at the beginning, but personable enough to not instantly kill the party as soon as they show up.
Yes and his random check ins with the party are always a source of supreme delight for the players. They all constantly tripped over themselves to talk to him. Players love to hate the First Vampyr.
I really like all the information you give, i end up creating a loot of honebrew for my campaign based on the content you share. So thank you very much!! Greatings from Argentina
I *LOVE* the idea of Baba Lysaga as the actual big bad! I love the twist that the PCs would wind up sympathizing with Strahd & his suffering under her curse, and that the quest would become freeing him from her curse so that he could then be freed from Barovia. No one would see it coming!!
I'm starting this in a few weeks, as a player for the first time in a few years. With the DM who taught me everything in a duo campaign. I know he could make something decent out of anything, but always good to hear that it's just good quality to begin with. I agree with you on flow. nothing kills a game like the players feeling like thier wheels are spinning. and that's all I'm going to actually listen to so I don't spoil myself, BUT I will mute this and let it finish so the algorithm doesn't punish you for me leaving early.
Literally reading Curse of Strahd for my first time currently, a real breathe of fresh air watching this xD I have never DM'd a premade campaign before, but this was my parents first in 2001 and is pretty highly recommended. Despite that I was still a bit nervous. It's reassuring to know that other DM's think it's worth it, cause I'm only 31 pages deep and I've already bought the Tarokka deck for it xD thanks for giving me more inspiration and motivation MrRhexx
@@natanoj16 I have a friend who is our current dm and owns all the books for first edition. So I am probably gonna stick with that. Personally I came from 5e so I am still learning pathfinder myself, and I am already loving it so much. I haven't touched 2e yet and unless I hear something awesome enough that I gotta switch I am probably gonna stay 1e for quite a bit.
@@dereksmith8385 Taking this literally for a moment, I'd pick videos that you enjoy a lot and put them in a watchlist type of thing. Running with the joke, Sir yes sir. I have compiled a personal list of favorites. They are favored in terms of information, as they all sound soothing. 1. What they don't tell you about Dragonborn. 2. ...
Kinda reminds me of Northerend levelling banck in WoW Wrath of The Lich King. Many of the main questline of the various regions were connected in a way with the LK, you knew that in the end you ha to face Arthas, but he was a constant presence in all the quests you did. It was absolutely awesome.
I'd love a video like that where you just talk about a custom campaign you've done, it's always great to get an insight on how people approach DMing their own ideas for a plotline.
One of my first dnd podcast’s I got into was Dice Camera Action and they started in curse of strahd and Chris perkins (the DM) wrote the module pretty much so he did an epic job with it. Great module but now I can’t run it for my friends that I’ve recommended the show to...
Commenting to boost up my boy, you know man you singlehandedly inspired me to get back into dnd, start playing again and now I've been dming my own games for nearly a year and it all started with me listening to your videos during long boring ass shifts at Amazon. Thank you!
I've been running CoS for nearly a year and a half now, and my party is finally ready to venture to Ravenloft and confront Strahd for the finale. The worst part about the adventure path is the feeling that you have to live up to legacy of the story of Strahd and Ravenloft. My players have reassured me I've done a fine job but the openness and depth to the world leaves me thinking I could have done more to immerse my players and flesh out this incredible world.
That's hilarious knowing there's only 1 planned npc to help you by the deck. When I played my group had Victor as the deck helper but we went out of our way to recruit Esmerelda and we spent a lot of gold to get Sir Godfrey to bond with an animated armor so he could leave the castle. Not to mention a shambling mound our druid managed to rear from "birth". It was quite the squad.
Thanks for being awesome, MrRhexx! You were the one who got me into the lore of a game I've never played and that I now play weekly. Or used to until the virus popped up. Anyways, thanks again!
I'm sorry to hear you are facing tough times and I hope you'll get over everything, thank you for your amazing content and all the work you put into it. Once the situation has cleared up for me I'll be sure to help you out best I can.
I'd like to see a PDF of all the possible endings and how they add up. That part of the video fascinated me the most, though the whole thing was great!
I am about to run C.O.S. and this was a lot of help, along with being really fun to listen to. Thank you for all the hard work you put into your videos!
Just wanted to say thanks for all you do and all the hard work you put into all your videos. I don’t have money, but I like every video (when I remember that’s a thing) and fall asleep every night to your DnD lore playlist so hopefully 8-12 hours (I listen when awake too 😅) helps your numbers out a bit!
Man, I'm currently running Curse of Strahd and I am loving it for all these reasons and more. Please keep doing discussion videos like this, a really great format and has really helped! Maybe do ToA next since you've mentioned it quite a bit
I have 8-10 players and I'm running a SUPER hyped up Strahd Campaign. It isn't going to be easy for them, they just got done with the Funeral and met him for the first time. they made quite the impression. I'm hyped.
I really like these longform videos. The things you value as a DM are just about identical to mine, so it's very useful to get information about these adventures from you. It makes me more inclined to run them.
Thank you for going over this. I am running CoS, because I played it a few years ago and loved it. Even playing it and reading the campaign over again, I missed some of the insights you brought up in this video and they are going to help me structure some of how I have the players encounter the campaign. Good shit.
I fucking love these videos of yours. They're the reason I started watching you in the first place, and you don't know how happy it makes me to see you make another one
Thanks for this video. I've been running CoS for about 4 sessions now, and I am just having a really hard time getting into it. You talking about the NPC's and their motivations helps a lot. I could watch a whole video just on that.
One of the campaigns I'm in right now is CoS (playing a female Tabaxi barbarian named Problems Look Like Nails, she uses a rather large warhammer), we just got to the Amber Temple. So far it's been fantastic, with a few really memorable moments (saving Arabelle from the fisherman who wanted to sacrifice her involved some alternating lucky/unlucky rolls that made it very much like something from an action movie, getting headbutted off the side of the mountain by that giant goat, to name a few). It's really cemented my love of the game, considering I've only been playing D&D for about a year and a half now.
I'm right there with you Rhexx, Curse of Strahd is probably my favorite adventure I've ever run as a DM. It's the first published campaign book I ever ran, and I'm still running games with it to this day. Gothic horror is my favorite genre to play around with in D&D. I hope things get better for you soon, your videos have given be a ton of inspiration for my own games.
I've been listening to Puffin Forrest's campaign recap and even in that one campaign, there's a lot of room for things to be done differently. I had no idea the complexity was so in depth.
While I haven't read through all the documentation etc of the Curse of Strahd adventure/campaign, one of the possible reasons that this adventure, the locations/setting, all the places and so on are so filled out is that in the past there was (and I actually owned it) a whole box set campaign setting for Ravenloft.(I know you're aware of that, but just in case some viewers didn't know about it) Which was sort of a bigger version of all this, if I'm understanding it all right. And so , you have all of that information from that full campaign setting that can picked from and crammed into this one adventure/campaign. To be clear - that may not what they did exactly, but I'm just saying that to me, that could have been an option and an explanation for why the setting for Curse of Strahd is lavishly filled out with great descriptions of locations and characters and so on. I agree with what you've explained in past videos as well - such as the fact that the setting for the adventure is a much smaller physical area than something like Storm Kings... that takes place over much of the map of Faerun (sp?). The smaller area then allowing for more detail on fewer locations and so forth (this was what you included in the video evaluation of Storm Kings Thunder). So, I was just offering a supplementary explanation to go with yours - that they condensed the entirety of the Ravenloft campaign setting down to the Curse of Strahd adventure and so that left them with tons of great information to pack into the adventure.
I loved this video! I only discovered your channel maybe a week or 2 ago and with being inside nearly all the time due to covid have really gone through them. I really enjoyed this on a level beyond just the lore they don't tell you (which as someone who's been playing since 2nd edition is awesome, I often don't realize how things changed between editions or what got left out because its like still there in my knowledge about the creature as I gloss over the updates) and you always manage to give me new stuff (especially the pre 2nd edition info). This however was incredible. I haven't used an adventure book since I was DMing second and was just so underwhelmed by the level of detail and found myself building just as much if not more onto the foundations that they gave. I didn't hate them but just viewed it as "something to get ideas from" but it seems like at least with Curse of Strahd they've really come a long way and have planned it in a way to make it re playable, and make it interesting, in a way that I'd often find in a tabletop board game but not in a D&D adventure. I would love a campaign like this for many of the same reasons you listed, especially the often morally grey and complex characters which were the type of thing I'd try to write for my own players. When its too black and white it feels like players really have one correct choice or an obvious route which the game is leading them but by the sounds of it this really could change with a group of players or even just the mindset they were in playing this campaign, where they'd actually be likely to take some of the other forks when the campaign gives them choices, and choices that lead to new endings and don't just circle back to some inevitable conclusion that feels forced.
Oh my... I gained the best insight for my campaign with this video. Thanks for your opinion on what makes a good campaign. This might have been a "campaign saver" video for me
We have a plan for our run of CoS that will result in a character being bound to Strahd’s curse accidentally, to set up for a Homebrew I have in mind taking place over 1000 years after our run of CoS. The character trapped with him will point out a loophole in the “Trapped in Barovia” part of his curse. Why not just expand the borders of Barovia? Strahd was a conqueror in life after all.(if there are any actual reasons why he COULDN’T we can just create homebrew lore to explain that away) And our semi-homebrew setting will take place in a Steampunk-futuristic worldscape in which Strahd has risen an army of the damned to conquer over half the continent.
I once played this book... Sadly the party broke up because of 2 players. But i always felt drawn to it, i'll try to make it my next campaing if possible because i really loved how it was developing. Been enjoying your videos the last couple days, you are doing amazing content, thank you!
I just finished my first game of Strahd, my first time DMing too. Though I am happy with how I managed to portray him, I do wish I could go back and do it all over again. I felt I made him perhaps too human. I know I'll miss him and I expect I'll return to Barovia once again in the future, hopefully as a player as well as a DM.
I can't share as a Patron but I'm always liking and trying to leave a comment if I have something worthwhile to say. I'm a new longtime fan, I found the channel a month or two ago and didn't mind sinking an hour or two into the videos. Great content and best of luck Rhexx.
In my run of Dragon's Heist, I just allowed them to choose a season and then used ALL the villains anyway. :D Their choice was only relevant to select the main antagonist, but all of them were in the way.
It was already 40Mins?!!!!! O_o It realy feel to short! I'd just so love to speack about D&D like that for hours! Every videos you do are just so perfect!!!! I could listen to you for days! Thank you so much for all that incredible content!!!! MOOOOOOOOOOORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Curse of Strahd was my first introduction to proper DnD, and out of everything else I've experienced, everything else I've read, played, ran, etc, it remains my absolute favorite piece of DnD. Dragon Heist came so very close to it, but CoS is just such a beautiful love letter to so many things about DnD as a whole. Curious to know, what are your thoughts on Dragon Heist, from both the perspective of running it, and from the minds and methods that went into creating it?
Thank you for making these videos. The passion you have for the game really shows. All of your videos inspire me to dive deep into the lore and make interesting adventures for my players. So again from me and my players, thank you.
This was a lovely video man. I really wanna run curse of stradh when I am a little more skilled at dming. This really is eye opening for me as a dm and I thank you for it. Much love to you and have a good day MrRhexx. 😃
I am currently running CoS and was about to listen to another podcast of it for inspiration while I prep when I saw this. Looking forward to what you have to say.
If you haven’t watched already, Puffin Forest is currently on Episode 9 of his Curse of Strahd replay series. He’s a great storyteller and I highly recommend that you guys check it out - after you finish this video, of course.
Would like to see you review Tomb of Annihilation, that's my favorite because it's sandbox done right. You really can go anywhere, with several approaches to your end goal, and similar to videogame progression if you don't explore and do extra things you're probably going to get rolled when you reach the end game
I love listen to you telling lores since skyrim, when a new viseo comes I know that it will be my time to just relax and go to a far land, thank you for that S2
I never played this module to the end. I ran a mini-campaign based upon Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Isle of the Dead homebrew that was close to this... now I wish I read that module further than the proto version of the Ravenloft dungeon module.
Hey man are you feeling ok ? I've been watching your videos for about a year . I don't always catch every upload but I really appreciate the content you make . You actually have helped me start my playing DND with friends that I can't see anymore . I hope you stay safe and take care of yourself . Thank you for everything you do !
Your content is fun because you really seem to like the material. It's not just an intellectual exercise, you have fun with it, and that's why your videos keep me coming back. You don't tell us what we should think or do, just point out the possibilities! So have fun, that will make it fun for us, and we all win! How often does that happen in real life? :)
As someone DMing this module right now, god, this is the best module/setting wizards has released, it’s been my best d&d experience I’ve ever had and multiple players say the same :) it’s awesome man
Why Strahd is my favorite villain.
1: His demiplane leaves him immune to like, 90% of a vampire’s traditional weaknesses.
2: He was strong enough to solo, not only a CR34 silver dragon with Paladin levels, but also said dragon’s ENTIRE PALADIN ARMY.
3: This is more of how I play Strahd, but Strahd isn’t a villain who’s convinced he’s in the right, he’s a guy who makes the most of a terrible situation and knows he’s beyond redemption.
4: His presence and actions stains ALL of barovia.
tbh, Strad could actualy go against AO if the "dark powers" of dread found it funny, but they are more about funny in the way of ennoying him^^
Since the demiplanes of dread actualy do not complie with the rest of the crystal sphere's rules
@@gampie13 lol what are you talking about? Ao is basically the Dungeon Master
I'm just imagining the immortal guardians of Barovia: an elf warlock if undying with a several thousand year lifespan, an elf druid with the same lifespan who routinely casts reincarnate on the human fighter, a Wizard who has some clones stored somewhere, and an oath of ancients paladin who doesn't age. They meet up every 200 years or so to kill Strad again, and then split up to search barovia for a way to break the curse, or an enemy worth killing.
i was going to say something about it but i dont think reincarnate has the restriction of not working on those that dies of old age.
it would probably work out a cople of times, but if the dark powers got bored of it, they could just make the party dissapear, the dark powers of the demiplaines of dread could litteraly flip the bird to AO, since they are written like the lady of pain, aka the DM's ultimate fiat/veto (they can do annything, even the things that should not be possible, the lady of pain is beholden to sigil, while the dark powers are beholden to have funn tormenting the lords of dread
"What is a man but a miserable pile of secrets!!"
“Have at you!”
a man is a very unfortunate creature that everyone else accuses him of piles and piles of endless lies he never committed in his cursed life.
everyone expects from him everything and he is to expect nothing in return, just a slave working in a world that sees him as a disposable pile of trash and nothing else.
he's just an investment for his parents that he'll never be able to please, he's nothing more than free meals and drinks dispenser for his so called friends who truly never cared for him and never will, he's nothing more than a wallet of cash before his woman if he choose to marry anyone, who had he not had the money she would never even look his way, he's nothing more than a toy machine for his kids who won't look at him without something in return, and when death comes him way a man's worth is only based on his money and how much he left for the wolves and the predatory snakes you call relatives and wife, kids, and grand kids, for them to burn to dust mere moments after he's gone.
a man is a creature of no value. disposable in wars, wanted for free or labor, and just wanted as a stick with balls for female's pleasure, and to make sure he's always under control he's taught from his youngest years to obey and obey and obey, and nothing else.
don't fight back don't disobey the law, spoil your relatives, MAKE HER HAPPY so she can control your will with sex that she's already getting it elsewhere and being paid for it as well!
a man is just a worthless pawn for wars, everyone wants you dead so that they get money after you are gone, your living value as a man is to die. nothing else.
so tell me , is a man needed in this hell? that doesn't pay anything back to him, doesn't respect him, doesn't look at him, or help him out? if a man is just here to serve and die, when does this hell end then?
if he decides to go away and develop himself he'll become a cursed forsaken by everyone creature; because he went out of the circle to serve himself for himself and build himself up, everyone will hate him for standing for himself and doing for himself for once something. everyone will become his enemy; because how dare he think of himself as a living being worth of anything when he's nothing but disposable garbage?
but when he builds himself up and goes where nobody had ever gone, and then he's rediscovered by the others after he got his success, or failure, he'll either be treated as a god whose worth is demanded by everyone only so they strip him naked again and steal all he had ever achieved. or just to be laughed at and shat upon because he thought he could be something and he ended up being nothing.
a man in short is the the society's toilet, worthless, needless, valueless, until needed. and only needed for labor, pleasure, finance, and power. that's all. a man is literally nothing than a slave. that is trying to break free of his chains and flip the bird in the face of his cursed existence, and the hell that he was unfairly born in. a hell that had he had the power he'd had burned to cinder the same way it burned him into cinder countless times, and is still repeatedly burning that cinder into more cinder.
that is what a man is.
"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? -Matthew 16:26"
"Huh?"
@@WaltRBuckso a man can never have both? the world and his soul?
what a misery designed existence of cruelty is this?
a world designed by misery driven by cruelty, and ruled by unfairness, and given to tyrants who enslaved all who is beneath them. a world like this should not be allowed to exist. it should be burned with hell's cursed flames. endlessly
@@TrueInvisible Not sure where you're quoting from. I was thinking about "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night."
Funny CoS story with super tiny spoilers.
When we played through it, we got 2 allies to help us: the wereraven and another guy (not the wizard). We did adventures for them, went from one place to another, jumped through hoops for at least 6 weeks to get these guy's to help. Great. We go in. The Wereraven flies us over the moat and we land within the walls. Go in through the gate: theres 4 statues that breath fire on you as you come in, Dex save. We all make it. The NPCs didn't. Dead. Both of them. Gone. We jumped through hoops for 6 weeks and they didn't survive the first god damn room! lol
“Vampire attacks are part and parcel of living in a big city”
-Strahd, probably
i see what u did there.
ah yes the good ol misrepresented quote, very funni
@@amir5198 hey man how was the British election, you have a good time watching the north go Tory?
@@angrygardengnome8383 not brittish, but go ahead and enjoy brexit, its fun to watch you guys
@@amir5198 Not British either, but I enjoy watching the ideology of Sadiq Khan and those like him being rejected across the world. Brexit is only the beginning.
This is my favourite format of yours, you have a deep understanding of the campaigns and convey it really well.
You two need to collaborate! You both do in depth lore but in different ways and I think would compliment each other tremendously.
I pair y'all's videos up all the time!
I pit my players up against the environment just as much as the monsters, and I've gotten 90% of my ideas in my Eberron Campaign setting from them.
Chief among them was having was the Mournland Mist originating from Phlogiston do to a crack in Eberron's Cristal Sphere, and Dyrrn abusing the Dragonmark of Handling to eventually create the first Gith within it.
If y'all could tag team on some Lore > Ecology > Tactics format videos it would make fantastic content.
And, if you just so happened to make aberration the first few videos, my Tentacled Hand of Doom campaign would be a cakewalk!
@@fezanater agreed. These two and Jor(ph)dan.
@@sagesheahan6732 3 legends with great voices
They really hit the nail on the head making this campaign.
It's just the right balance of sandbox - the mist defining an enclosed playground, filled with interaction and fleshed out characters - while still having an inevitable end - you have to deal with strahd one way or another.
Of course there are other elements like the general dread, the feeling that you have to do something, you can't leave things as they are and hook up with barmaids and pickpocket patrons... plus the universal european folklore of witches that cook kids, vampires, werewolf and so on that are instantly recognizable and can instantly trigger in players a response.
Also I like seeing you in this call relaxed state it’s almost like critical rolls fireside chat, just something that’s just a unscripted slice of life.
^anime.
R u saying regular critical role is scripted. 🤭🤭🤫
Cole24 It is not scripted it is played in real time they have been playing Dungeons and Dragons for many years. To even say that it is scripted is an insult to fate at least, and an insult yelled directly at the players faces at most. You are at the stage of “Most.”
@@BardicProductions hey relax, i think cole its asking "¿do you think that CR its scripted?" because you comparing it to a separate program that its (by definition) not scripted.
Dont asume things like that, read the question.
Gastón Melchiori I did read the question but I answered late at night and I wasn’t thinking straight. Also I can’t read emojis and never use them.
You should consider reviewing every official adventure in 5e. I just love to hear your opinion. You are a dm with great experience and excellent knowledge of the lore, as you have proven. So YES your opinion matters!!
Yes, 100%!
I love how open ended this module is. In my game we had this huge adventure to extend the time limit for resurrection in order to raise Sergei for the final battle but instead of fighting Strahd, we at the last moment convinced Sergei and Strahd make up and that PISSED the Dark Powers. We then had an epic final boss rush with the Dark Powers. Best game of my life so far
That sounds really awesome.
I think the most hallarious part of the demiplains of dread is the story where one of the lords of dread just gave upp long enogh to ennoy the dark powers, to the point they just tossed him out of the plaine xD
"300-400 years is, like, not enough time to do anything."
- Lazy smolbrain angel
I barely could belive in your Storm King's Thunder video, I'm currently playing SKT and to great credit of my DM he made this adventure epic if compared to the normal SKT, every place has something going on, either being the local giant group doing things, people taking advantage of the situation, player backstory and choices (Our dwarf fell in love and we spent a lot of time trying to find his love, in the most funny and weird way) or when he is out of ideas he asked us. This is a unique experience of a group and campaing, once we finish STK we are going to Ravenloft.
Honestly, you have been such a valuable resource for helping me learn about lore and monster of D&D as a younger DM. Thank you MrRhexx
I really look forward to DM'ing Curse of Strahd with my group
I could listen to these reviews for hours.
I DO!!!! Lol
I do!
I have listened to these reviews for hours.
same
Me too.
Strahd is kind of the perfect villain for this type of game. Practically untouchable at the beginning, but personable enough to not instantly kill the party as soon as they show up.
Yes and his random check ins with the party are always a source of supreme delight for the players. They all constantly tripped over themselves to talk to him. Players love to hate the First Vampyr.
Ah yes, I remember the first time we encountered Strahd, I spent multiple persuasion checks to educate him on the concept of consent
Could you please elaborate?
Hey man this is my favorite content on the tube. Learned damn near everything I know about the lore from your channel. Thanks man keep it up
I really like all the information you give, i end up creating a loot of honebrew for my campaign based on the content you share. So thank you very much!! Greatings from Argentina
dnd Beyond's "Strahd dies tonight" one shot articles are fun.
MrRhexx, another UA-camr named AJ Picket he said he would like to do a collaboration with you, but he has trouble getting in contact with you.
I not only watch your videos for the sweet sweet lore, i watch them because your voice is so smooth, its like asmr Rhexx
I *LOVE* the idea of Baba Lysaga as the actual big bad! I love the twist that the PCs would wind up sympathizing with Strahd & his suffering under her curse, and that the quest would become freeing him from her curse so that he could then be freed from Barovia. No one would see it coming!!
I'm starting this in a few weeks, as a player for the first time in a few years. With the DM who taught me everything in a duo campaign. I know he could make something decent out of anything, but always good to hear that it's just good quality to begin with. I agree with you on flow. nothing kills a game like the players feeling like thier wheels are spinning. and that's all I'm going to actually listen to so I don't spoil myself, BUT I will mute this and let it finish so the algorithm doesn't punish you for me leaving early.
Literally reading Curse of Strahd for my first time currently, a real breathe of fresh air watching this xD I have never DM'd a premade campaign before, but this was my parents first in 2001 and is pretty highly recommended. Despite that I was still a bit nervous. It's reassuring to know that other DM's think it's worth it, cause I'm only 31 pages deep and I've already bought the Tarokka deck for it xD thanks for giving me more inspiration and motivation MrRhexx
I've been listening to Puffin Forest's story adventure on this module and it is super depressing but yet awesome
I was about to say that oh yeah puffin Forrest is talling about it
YerrowNeenja between puffin forest and deminsion 20’s stories it’s getting me through this pause.
When I am done playing in our current campaign I want to try Dm'ing. and I am gonna convert this for pathfinder, because damn is this module good.
@@lordderppington4694 2e Pathfinder or 1e?
@@natanoj16 I have a friend who is our current dm and owns all the books for first edition. So I am probably gonna stick with that. Personally I came from 5e so I am still learning pathfinder myself, and I am already loving it so much. I haven't touched 2e yet and unless I hear something awesome enough that I gotta switch I am probably gonna stay 1e for quite a bit.
I love falling asleep to Rhexx talking with this specific background music
You know, that sounds very peaceful actually. I'm pretty tempted to try this sometime now. Thank you.
@@copycrow4486 i need a compilation, stat! Lmao
@@dereksmith8385 Taking this literally for a moment, I'd pick videos that you enjoy a lot and put them in a watchlist type of thing.
Running with the joke, Sir yes sir. I have compiled a personal list of favorites. They are favored in terms of information, as they all sound soothing.
1. What they don't tell you about Dragonborn.
2. ...
That would be a nice one as a joke for Rhexx to have on his channel, thanks
@@copycrow4486 honestly most of his videos with soothing music are long enough for me to doze off to
Kinda reminds me of Northerend levelling banck in WoW Wrath of The Lich King. Many of the main questline of the various regions were connected in a way with the LK, you knew that in the end you ha to face Arthas, but he was a constant presence in all the quests you did. It was absolutely awesome.
I'd love a video like that where you just talk about a custom campaign you've done, it's always great to get an insight on how people approach DMing their own ideas for a plotline.
One of my first dnd podcast’s I got into was Dice Camera Action and they started in curse of strahd and Chris perkins (the DM) wrote the module pretty much so he did an epic job with it. Great module but now I can’t run it for my friends that I’ve recommended the show to...
Sadly, the show ended and never finished the adventure... 🤷🏽♂️🤷🏽♂️🤷🏽♂️
Perkins always changed many things in the DCA shows, so the module the season was based on isn't spoiled completely.
I literally just started a Curse campaign on Fantasy Grounds and this was an awesome surprise!
Commenting to boost up my boy, you know man you singlehandedly inspired me to get back into dnd, start playing again and now I've been dming my own games for nearly a year and it all started with me listening to your videos during long boring ass shifts at Amazon. Thank you!
I've been running CoS for nearly a year and a half now, and my party is finally ready to venture to Ravenloft and confront Strahd for the finale. The worst part about the adventure path is the feeling that you have to live up to legacy of the story of Strahd and Ravenloft. My players have reassured me I've done a fine job but the openness and depth to the world leaves me thinking I could have done more to immerse my players and flesh out this incredible world.
I'm not entirely sure which I like better. A video about my favorite modular or hearing that audible butter you call a voice.
That's hilarious knowing there's only 1 planned npc to help you by the deck. When I played my group had Victor as the deck helper but we went out of our way to recruit Esmerelda and we spent a lot of gold to get Sir Godfrey to bond with an animated armor so he could leave the castle. Not to mention a shambling mound our druid managed to rear from "birth". It was quite the squad.
The shadow fell and the far realm(s) are very overlooked in my humble opinion. Thanks for the review!
Thanks for being awesome, MrRhexx! You were the one who got me into the lore of a game I've never played and that I now play weekly. Or used to until the virus popped up. Anyways, thanks again!
Yes! Finally a video on my fav character from the multiverse!!!! Thank you Rhexx much love and respect!
I love seeing a MrRhexx video as soon as I wake up.
Ideals conditions for a morning wank
Is 5:04 for me
I'm sorry to hear you are facing tough times and I hope you'll get over everything, thank you for your amazing content and all the work you put into it.
Once the situation has cleared up for me I'll be sure to help you out best I can.
Your voice is wonderful when you aren't trying to act excited and reading from a script. So smooth and silky
Two years later and this video is still super informative to me as a GM. Thanks, Rhexx
You and AJ are TOPS when it come to lore. I watch no other more. Hang in there bud. We need ya!
Thanks NPC 🧙🏼♂️
Haven’t play this campaign before but I’m interested to try it now
I'd like to see a PDF of all the possible endings and how they add up. That part of the video fascinated me the most, though the whole thing was great!
Currently running CoS. Players are in Barovia and are wrapped up in dream pastries. Looking forward to see where they go. Thanks for the vid
Mista Puffin Forest has his own story series going on with the Curse of Strahd lol! Glad to hear that you love it as well!
I am about to run C.O.S. and this was a lot of help, along with being really fun to listen to. Thank you for all the hard work you put into your videos!
Just wanted to say thanks for all you do and all the hard work you put into all your videos. I don’t have money, but I like every video (when I remember that’s a thing) and fall asleep every night to your DnD lore playlist so hopefully 8-12 hours (I listen when awake too 😅) helps your numbers out a bit!
I'm just finishing up my second run through of CoS, it's on my channel
Man, I'm currently running Curse of Strahd and I am loving it for all these reasons and more. Please keep doing discussion videos like this, a really great format and has really helped! Maybe do ToA next since you've mentioned it quite a bit
I have 8-10 players and I'm running a SUPER hyped up Strahd Campaign. It isn't going to be easy for them, they just got done with the Funeral and met him for the first time. they made quite the impression.
I'm hyped.
I really like these longform videos. The things you value as a DM are just about identical to mine, so it's very useful to get information about these adventures from you. It makes me more inclined to run them.
Thank you for going over this. I am running CoS, because I played it a few years ago and loved it. Even playing it and reading the campaign over again, I missed some of the insights you brought up in this video and they are going to help me structure some of how I have the players encounter the campaign. Good shit.
I fucking love these videos of yours. They're the reason I started watching you in the first place, and you don't know how happy it makes me to see you make another one
Thanks for this video. I've been running CoS for about 4 sessions now, and I am just having a really hard time getting into it. You talking about the NPC's and their motivations helps a lot. I could watch a whole video just on that.
Your my favorite D&D lore sharer. Thanks for giving me so much help in getting set up as a DM!
This was the first campaign I played. And my DM added extra that made it harder, more blood curdling, and horrifying.
Of all the forgotten realms books I've read since I was a kid Stahd has always been my favorite vampire character.
One of the campaigns I'm in right now is CoS (playing a female Tabaxi barbarian named Problems Look Like Nails, she uses a rather large warhammer), we just got to the Amber Temple. So far it's been fantastic, with a few really memorable moments (saving Arabelle from the fisherman who wanted to sacrifice her involved some alternating lucky/unlucky rolls that made it very much like something from an action movie, getting headbutted off the side of the mountain by that giant goat, to name a few).
It's really cemented my love of the game, considering I've only been playing D&D for about a year and a half now.
I'm right there with you Rhexx, Curse of Strahd is probably my favorite adventure I've ever run as a DM. It's the first published campaign book I ever ran, and I'm still running games with it to this day. Gothic horror is my favorite genre to play around with in D&D. I hope things get better for you soon, your videos have given be a ton of inspiration for my own games.
I enjoyed the “discussion mode” review.
Please consider doing more content in this format?
Well done.
I've been listening to Puffin Forrest's campaign recap and even in that one campaign, there's a lot of room for things to be done differently. I had no idea the complexity was so in depth.
I don’t remember a whole lot of the campaign but it was my first introduction to DnD and I’ve been hooked ever since so it clearly did something right
He sounds so soft and calm. Soothing.
While I haven't read through all the documentation etc of the Curse of Strahd adventure/campaign, one of the possible reasons that this adventure, the locations/setting, all the places and so on are so filled out is that in the past there was (and I actually owned it) a whole box set campaign setting for Ravenloft.(I know you're aware of that, but just in case some viewers didn't know about it) Which was sort of a bigger version of all this, if I'm understanding it all right. And so , you have all of that information from that full campaign setting that can picked from and crammed into this one adventure/campaign. To be clear - that may not what they did exactly, but I'm just saying that to me, that could have been an option and an explanation for why the setting for Curse of Strahd is lavishly filled out with great descriptions of locations and characters and so on. I agree with what you've explained in past videos as well - such as the fact that the setting for the adventure is a much smaller physical area than something like Storm Kings... that takes place over much of the map of Faerun (sp?). The smaller area then allowing for more detail on fewer locations and so forth (this was what you included in the video evaluation of Storm Kings Thunder).
So, I was just offering a supplementary explanation to go with yours - that they condensed the entirety of the Ravenloft campaign setting down to the Curse of Strahd adventure and so that left them with tons of great information to pack into the adventure.
I will be running curse of strahd for the first time very soon (as in this week) and this video has helped a lot thank you so much :)
I loved this video! I only discovered your channel maybe a week or 2 ago and with being inside nearly all the time due to covid have really gone through them. I really enjoyed this on a level beyond just the lore they don't tell you (which as someone who's been playing since 2nd edition is awesome, I often don't realize how things changed between editions or what got left out because its like still there in my knowledge about the creature as I gloss over the updates) and you always manage to give me new stuff (especially the pre 2nd edition info). This however was incredible. I haven't used an adventure book since I was DMing second and was just so underwhelmed by the level of detail and found myself building just as much if not more onto the foundations that they gave. I didn't hate them but just viewed it as "something to get ideas from" but it seems like at least with Curse of Strahd they've really come a long way and have planned it in a way to make it re playable, and make it interesting, in a way that I'd often find in a tabletop board game but not in a D&D adventure. I would love a campaign like this for many of the same reasons you listed, especially the often morally grey and complex characters which were the type of thing I'd try to write for my own players. When its too black and white it feels like players really have one correct choice or an obvious route which the game is leading them but by the sounds of it this really could change with a group of players or even just the mindset they were in playing this campaign, where they'd actually be likely to take some of the other forks when the campaign gives them choices, and choices that lead to new endings and don't just circle back to some inevitable conclusion that feels forced.
Oh my... I gained the best insight for my campaign with this video. Thanks for your opinion on what makes a good campaign. This might have been a "campaign saver" video for me
We have a plan for our run of CoS that will result in a character being bound to Strahd’s curse accidentally, to set up for a Homebrew I have in mind taking place over 1000 years after our run of CoS.
The character trapped with him will point out a loophole in the “Trapped in Barovia” part of his curse. Why not just expand the borders of Barovia? Strahd was a conqueror in life after all.(if there are any actual reasons why he COULDN’T we can just create homebrew lore to explain that away)
And our semi-homebrew setting will take place in a Steampunk-futuristic worldscape in which Strahd has risen an army of the damned to conquer over half the continent.
I once played this book... Sadly the party broke up because of 2 players. But i always felt drawn to it, i'll try to make it my next campaing if possible because i really loved how it was developing.
Been enjoying your videos the last couple days, you are doing amazing content, thank you!
I just finished my first game of Strahd, my first time DMing too. Though I am happy with how I managed to portray him, I do wish I could go back and do it all over again. I felt I made him perhaps too human. I know I'll miss him and I expect I'll return to Barovia once again in the future, hopefully as a player as well as a DM.
I can't share as a Patron but I'm always liking and trying to leave a comment if I have something worthwhile to say. I'm a new longtime fan, I found the channel a month or two ago and didn't mind sinking an hour or two into the videos.
Great content and best of luck Rhexx.
In my run of Dragon's Heist, I just allowed them to choose a season and then used ALL the villains anyway. :D Their choice was only relevant to select the main antagonist, but all of them were in the way.
It was already 40Mins?!!!!! O_o It realy feel to short! I'd just so love to speack about D&D like that for hours!
Every videos you do are just so perfect!!!! I could listen to you for days!
Thank you so much for all that incredible content!!!!
MOOOOOOOOOOORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Curse of Strahd was my first introduction to proper DnD, and out of everything else I've experienced, everything else I've read, played, ran, etc, it remains my absolute favorite piece of DnD. Dragon Heist came so very close to it, but CoS is just such a beautiful love letter to so many things about DnD as a whole. Curious to know, what are your thoughts on Dragon Heist, from both the perspective of running it, and from the minds and methods that went into creating it?
I just got a burst of youtube notifications, you're the first on my list.
Had no idea it was so rough for content creators. Keep up the good work, my man.
Thank you for doing DnD lore on your channel! You have given me so many ideas for my campaigns! I hope you eventually cover all of DnD.
Thank you for making these videos. The passion you have for the game really shows. All of your videos inspire me to dive deep into the lore and make interesting adventures for my players. So again from me and my players, thank you.
My group has spent a majority of the last six years in Ravenloft. Always have a rogue, always have a healer, forest terrain rangers are bonus.
Im always looking foward to your next video, hope things get in line for u as soon as possible!
This was a lovely video man. I really wanna run curse of stradh when I am a little more skilled at dming. This really is eye opening for me as a dm and I thank you for it. Much love to you and have a good day MrRhexx. 😃
I am currently running CoS and was about to listen to another podcast of it for inspiration while I prep when I saw this. Looking forward to what you have to say.
Curse of Strahd (and Ravenloft in General) is my favorite module for 5th Edition, and I'm glad you enjoy it too!
If you haven’t watched already, Puffin Forest is currently on Episode 9 of his Curse of Strahd replay series. He’s a great storyteller and I highly recommend that you guys check it out - after you finish this video, of course.
CoS is the module that shows the quality of the DM.
The DMs I had so far decided to make it as depressing and dangerous as possible...
Would like to see you review Tomb of Annihilation, that's my favorite because it's sandbox done right. You really can go anywhere, with several approaches to your end goal, and similar to videogame progression if you don't explore and do extra things you're probably going to get rolled when you reach the end game
This is a great video! Thank you for sharing! Hit the nail on the head on what drew me to the campaign. :)
I love listen to you telling lores since skyrim, when a new viseo comes I know that it will be my time to just relax and go to a far land, thank you for that S2
Been here for 6 years and still loving your content
I never played this module to the end. I ran a mini-campaign based upon Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Isle of the Dead homebrew that was close to this... now I wish I read that module further than the proto version of the Ravenloft dungeon module.
Hey man are you feeling ok ? I've been watching your videos for about a year . I don't always catch every upload but I really appreciate the content you make . You actually have helped me start my playing DND with friends that I can't see anymore . I hope you stay safe and take care of yourself .
Thank you for everything you do !
youre my favorite youtuber. im always super excited to see new posts. you have inspired my dnd campaign im writing a ton.
Your content is fun because you really seem to like the material. It's not just an intellectual exercise, you have fun with it, and that's why your videos keep me coming back. You don't tell us what we should think or do, just point out the possibilities! So have fun, that will make it fun for us, and we all win! How often does that happen in real life? :)
You are awesome and the videos on High Magic have set my Drow Necromancer on his next dark journey🕷🕸👍🏼👍🏼💯
Been wanting to play this for while, having more information helps a lot
As someone DMing this module right now, god, this is the best module/setting wizards has released, it’s been my best d&d experience I’ve ever had and multiple players say the same :) it’s awesome man
This was a genuinely great video, really chill and fun to listen to. Keep it up!
You've been popping off with the videos. It's been awesome to see them so often