Curse of Strahd: A Roleplay Focused Foray in to Horror - PbP
Dungeons & Dragons 5e | Campaign
About the adventure
💥 Enter a grimdark world, where darkness pervades and survival against evil comes at the highest price. ⚔️ Enjoy creative and challenging combat scenarios. In this world, the things that go bump in the night know what they are doing. 🛠️ Adventure in a world filled with high Role-Play and complex characters like those seen on Critical Role! 🧠 Navigate complex political and personal social encounters in the original Gothic Horror campaign world. ============== This is a play-by-post campaign to be held asynchronously over Discord. The beauty of this format is that participants can contribute whenever they have the time, making it perfect for those with busy schedules or living in different time zones. Each player adds to the story at their own pace, giving themselves time to think on their character's actions and reactions. As your Dungeon Master, I will commit to post at least twice per day, 6 days a week; and encourage you as a player to post at least once per day.
This is a play-by-post game, billed weekly. It is played asynchronously (throughout the week). The GM will post *at least* twice/day 6 days per week. Players are asked to post at least 1/day 6 days per week. Please reach out to me at any time over Discord or email if you have any questions.
5.0
(44)
3 years on StartPlaying
324 games hosted
Highly rated for: Storytelling, Creativity, Sets the Mood
Average response time: 6 hours
Response rate: 83%
Game Master Reviews (44)
Proficiencies
Players say this GM is great at:
Storytelling
Creativity
Sets the Mood
Ryasty
Played 13 sessions
I love playing at Joel’s tables. He really knows how to set a tone and atmosphere. He also is really patient with us and helps us walk through the mechanics of VTT gaming. And the story is role play driven through the campaign story arc.
DarlingAkita
Played 11 sessions
He is a great DM, very considerate of his players and their personal time. Amazing at communication with his players and very fun to be a player for! Highly Recommend as a DM 11/10 great guy!
Jayden
Played 13 sessions
I am currently participating in two of Joel's sessions currently, and they are amazing GMs. They create a very immersive environment. Joel is also very good at working one-on-one to help enhance your character for the story.
Alyson
Played 10 sessions
The absolute best. So kind and considerate. He cares about his players and making sure that they have a good time. I really enjoy playing at his table. He is kind and knows how to play a good game.
jay W (KnewNew)
Played 5 sessions
Absolutely a blast. First time playing DnD and Joel made it very easy and was very helpful. Will definitely be joining future campaigns of his. Thank you Joel.
Joe
Played 1 sessions
Decades playing the game we all love you seldom have an opportunity to meet someone who is a professional at their craft. Games are fun, inclusive and he builds tables you can't wait to join and participate. Highly recommend!!!
Additional tables
3 available
Weekly / Wednesday - 4:00 AM UTC
Apr 8 / Session 29
1 / 8 Seats filled
Weekly / Friday - 4:00 AM UTC
Apr 4 / Session 29
1 / 8 Seats filled
Weekly / Saturday - 4:00 AM UTC
Apr 5 / Session 17
2 / 8 Seats filled
Additional details
How to prepare
A basic computer that can access Discord and Chrome or a similar browser are all you will need! We will go over house rules, character creation, etc. together in chat.
What I provide
💖 Most importantly, you will always be guaranteed a safe place to be who you are. Everyone of every stripe is welcome at my table and I will not put up with any personal attacks or derogatory language toward any real-world person. It's a horror game, and bad things happen *in-game* but it will never be allowed to flow out of the game. 🧠 Experience. I've run this campaign many times already. I have researched it exhaustively, and I know what it needs for an epic story to be told. ⚰️ Significant homebrew improvements and changes to the story. Even if you've played this adventure before, I will likely bring quite a bit of new material to the story for you. 🎼 Professional quality soundscapes and music through VTT. 🎨 GORGEOUS map and token assets, many created/kit-bashed together specifically for this campaign 🎭 Passionate and Descriptive story-telling. As a theater geek and writer, I will bring my A-game to our table and do my utmost to tell this story as immersively as possible. 👨👨👦👦 A Discord Community for campaign tracking, In character and out of character chat, and making new RPG friends 📚 Full access to every official WOTC D&D book catalog published for 5th edition character creation 💎 Premium accounts on both the VTT and DNDBeyond ⚔️ Creative and challenging combat scenarios. In this world, the things that go bump in the night know what they are doing. 👂 An open line of communication with me as the DM. Feel free to reach out to me any time via Discord direct message and I will get back to you as soon as possible. I am always happy to talk shop, character ideas, answer questions, and discuss any concerns that come up during the game.
Gameplay details
Session Zero will be handled asynchronously via Discord Chat, though I am available for a voice session if that will help you with any decision making challenges that arise. Character creation and updates will be handled via D&DBeyond, using my Master Account, which includes access to 17 official Character Creation books. A number of homebrew rules will be discussed and agreed upon before being added to the campaign. Each rule has been curated to drive home the horror aspects of this adventure and allow for the heroic rules of basic D&D 5e to morph in to something befitting the greatest Vampiric Horror Story of any RPG!
Content warnings
• Blood
• Animal Death
• Animal Cruelty
• Animal abuse
• Alcohol Use
• Alcoholism
• Abuse
• Body Horror
• Cannibalism
• Character Death
• Child Abandonment
• Child Abuse
• Child Death
• Classism
• Confronting Abuser
• Death
• Deep or Large Bodies of Water
• Devils / Demons / Fiends
• Domestic Abuse
• Drowning
• Drugs (addiction, use, withdrawal)
• Emotional Abuse
• Euthanasia
• Execution
• Extreme Violence
• Fire
• Forced Blood Draining
• Freezing
• Gore
• Genocide
• Guns
• Hangings
• Hostages
• Illness
• Insects
• Kidnapping
• Language/Cursing
• Lifechanging Injury
• Mass Death
• Medical Issues
• Memory Erasing
• Mental Illness
• Mind alteration
• Mind Control
• Murder
• Mutilation
• Mutilation of Corpses
• Nightmares about Traumatic Events
• Panic Attacks
• Paralyzation
• Pet Death
• Police Brutality
• Prejudice
• Scars
• Self-Harm
• Sexual Predator
• Slavery
• Snakes
• Spiders
• Suffocation
• Suicide
• Suicide Ideation
• Terrorism
• Torture
• Trauma
• Violence
• Violence against Children
Safety tools used
• Lines and Veils
• Monte Cook RPG Consent Checklist
• Open Door
• Session 0
• Stars and Wishes
• X, N, and O Cards
How will character creation work
Starting level is Level 1 for this campaign. Stats can either be 5e standard point buy or you can roll for them in the discord dice channel (Dice rolls are 4d6-drop lowest 7 times). Characters will be created in D&D Beyond. Please avoid reading any of the Curse of Strahd content available in official or unofficial sources. Let this story be revealed naturally so you get to enjoy the surprises!
Players can expect
Combat / Tactics
Medium
Roleplay
High
Puzzles
Low
Experience level
Open to all
Platforms used
• Discord
• Foundry VTT
• Roll20
• D&D Beyond
• Text/Play by Post
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$20.00
/ Session
Each player will be charged when a session starts.
Details
Custom / Tuesday - 4:00 AM UTC
Apr 8 / Session 20
1-1 Hour duration
1 / 8 Seats filled
Schedule
Requirements
Experience required: Open to all
Age: 18+