Image by Myself!
Curse of Strahd // Level 3+ // Freshly Reanimated & Reshuffled
Drawn into the mists of Barovia, the party must find a way to free themselves from the vampiric grasp of Strahd von Zarovich with their lives in tact.
$30.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Saturday - 12:30 AM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
4 / 5 Seats Filled
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Schedule
Meet your party members
4/5
About the adventure
The mist encompassed your camp unnaturally fast. The locals advised against travelling these woods, but now it's too late to turn back. Short on supplies, you wandered, lost, until the trees turned warped and bare, and the mists released you into the accursed dread domain of Barovia. You're trapped here now. Everyone is. All under the playfully cruel eye of this land's lord; Strahd von Zarovich. The players must press every advantage to survive in this cruel domain. Resources are scarce, allies are few, and the horrors vastly outnumber the party. Huddle around the torchlight, and hope that you can survive long enough to escape Strahd's domain! This game will be ran like a normal campaign of Curse of Strahd, with some added material and rules to enhance the experience of surviving in this scenario - like adding unique encounters and content based on player backstories. Some elements of the original material can (and likely will) be adjusted or shuffled around to allow for a fresh experience for all players - even those who may have already played Curse of Strahd before! This will be using the 5.5e 2024 rules, and the player's handbook can be provided via dndbeyond.
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(7)
1 year on StartPlaying
30 games hosted
Highly rated for: Storytelling, Voices, Teacher
About me
Hi there, I'm Max! I have a HUGE passion for storytelling, and playing RPGs has allowed me to share it with tons of amazing people! I've been running RPGs since I was 13 years old, and continue to hone my craft and skills to this very day! Creating art, doing silly voices, creating props and hand-writing letters are just a few of the many elements of myself I love to put into my games. I love going that extra mile to make my players' games memorable and most of all: fun! Revealing the fabled monster omens have been pointing to, calling back to an element of my players' backstories, showing the antagonist's true intentions, discovering a new ally to bolster the party. Seeing the joy, terror, and elation in my players as I enhance their stories is a feeling like no other, and I constantly seek to deliver that. Some of my best memories are creating these moments for my friends and family, and I've realized that I'd love to share this passion and excitement with others! I'm well-versed in running 5th edition D&D, and in recent years I've also begun to branch out to other systems that will allow my games to be enhanced that much more. I've found a place in the OSR community, and love to replicate that pure feeling of D&D that's captured in systems like Old School Essentials and Shadowdark. I've even branched into Sci-Fi horror with Mothership as well! I'm constantly taking in influence, concepts, and gameplay mechanics from a wide variety of game systems to enhance my own, and am more than happy to branch out and learn new systems!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
🧙♂️ Have a level 3 character made as well as a concept for a backup. A backstory is reccommended - and joint backstories are even better! Additionally, have a greatest desire and fear(s) thought up if you'd like to enhance your character's horror experience that much more! 🎲 Rolling stats: standard array, or my home method - 4d6 (drop the lowest) for 7 stats (drop the lowest). Then, if you want some extra spice, make the highest stat a 18 and lowest stat an 8. 🔮 Each player is allowed one magic item (uncommon rarity is preferred), which must be discussed and approved during session 0. I'm happy to talk it out if you want a stronger magic item as well, like allowing a modified version that grows stronger as you level.
Nearing the 30th session! The party consists of light cleric, oath of ancients paladin, assassin, and moon druid. Spooky stuff is happening, indeed.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
🗣 Have a discord account (https://discord.com/), a functioning microphone for voice chat, and a webcam for video feed (optional). 📕 A general familiarity with the rules is advised, but explanations for more obscure mechanics can be provided. 🧙♂️ Characters should be created & approved by session 1. Questions comments and concerns can be shared before during and after the session 0 interviews. 📚 Books required to play the game can be provided in the event a player doesn't have one. Any other core books or non-official material must be ran by me and approved if you wish to use it.
What Knight Maxwell brings to the table
🔊 I always love to bring character voices to each game, making the NPCs as memorable and unique as I can muster. Additionally, I constantly strive to curate a good collection of ambience and music for my games to help enhance the mood. ⚔ My combat encounters are always tense and tactical, utilizing a variety of foes, tactics, and environmental considerations to allow for more engaging encounters whenever able. ☠ I like to encourage creative solutions to problems, and reward intuitive players for clever plans. I will improvise rulings in the event of clever ideas during combat. Using the environment, improvised weapons or moves, and heroic last stands in moments of death are always amazing moments to forgo rules and allow for something special to happen! 📖 I will provide PDFs if necessary, and also have access to the 2024 D&D rules on DnDBeyond, and have all the maps, tokens, and resources necessary to run the game. Additionally, I have homebrew rules to tweak the experience in favor of player agency and fun.
Homebrew rules
Brutal Crits: Upon a hit, weapon damage is Maximized, then rolled again. Spells and sneak attacks get 1 additional damage die on crits. Potions: Bonus action to drink yourself, action to feed to another Rests: Long rests may only provide benefits when done in a safe place (like a town) Player-based inspiration: In the event of the GM missing a good time to award inspiration, players can propose a character choice or interaction should award inspiration to the participating players, upon which the GM can approve.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Headphones
Internet
Microphone
Physical Dice
Platforms used
Safety
How Knight Maxwell creates a safe table
We will hold small session 0 as a group to iron out any topics that the players would like to explore or avoid, as is custom with all of my games. I also will hold debriefs after each session to make sure each player is enjoying the game, no boundaries were crossed, and to help fine-tune the experience for the following session. Character death is a real possibility. This is, for lack of a better term, a survival horror scenario. While heroics are more than welcome, know that foolhardy actions can lead to consequences, and death is a very present threat. This game contains many horror elements. Assuming the players are fine with it, I would like character details such as their desires, dreams, and fears to allow for a more personalized horror for them to overcome. Keep them on their toes! ✨Homebrew rules!!✨ -Drinking potions as a bonus action, and a full action to feed it to someone -Multiple levelled spells can be cast in one turn -Brutal crits - MAXIMUM damage plus dice roll on critical hits -Variant human is allowed -If it's cool or clever enough, I'll find a way to allow it! -a number of other small tweaks for general smoothness of play and player fun!
Content warnings
Safety tools used