【Curse of Strahd】 | Difficulty: 🩸🩸🩸DEADLY | 🎤Voice Actor
Barovia is a prison of mist and death. Strahd rules eternal. Heroes enter to end the curse—few return, and none escape his gaze unchanged.
About the adventure
**WARNING: This version of CoS is the hardcore version. There will be limited class and species selection, limited magic.** A land of eternal twilight. Mists that follow you everywhere. Shadows whispering secrets you dare not hear. This is Barovia. ----------------------------------------- From haunted villages to cursed forests and the eerie halls of Castle Ravenloft, you'll find your characters fraught with despair, horror, and moments of utter darkness. A prison of misery ruled by the devil Strahd von Zarovich. His eyes are everywhere, his will inescapable, and his hunger insatiable. He plays with you as a cat does a mouse, and yet… could you be the one to topple his centuries-old reign? This is the official adventure from Wizards of the Coast, rated as THE 5e campaign to play! My standard delivery brings a theatrical flair - Grade A voicework for townsfolk, bone-chilling narration for the terrors that stalk you, and immersive music to pull you into Barovia’s cursed embrace. I follow the rules fairly closely while allowing for moments of heroism, deferring to your story contributions and collaboration as much as you'd like!
Game themes
$30.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Wednesday – 4:00 AM UTC
Aug 13 / Session 13
Session Duration / 3.5–4 hours
3 / 6 Seats Filled
GAME MASTER
DM Jarpo
he/him
5.0
(93)
Schedule
Each player will be charged when a session starts.
Report Adventure
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(93)
4 years on StartPlaying
588 games hosted
Highly rated for: Voices, Storytelling, Sets the Mood
Average response time: 5 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
I can guarantee you that at my table you'll experience an unforgettable story personal to you; a narrative that is as much game as it is performance. Utilizing my stage acting experience, voice talents, and improv abilities, I am here to help you build epic memories while you, the player, really tell the story - a tale that you'll be frothing at the mouth to regale to both family and friends for years to come (much to their annoyance)! Lifelong nerd, I rekindled my fervor for TTRPGs after moving back to the US from China. With a desire for unique narratives and heavy roleplay, I embarked on a life-changing decision to start DMing as a hobby. After 3 years of honing my craft I brought my passions to twitch by joining the Fabled42 network and decided to make it a profession.
View Profile →Reviews (93)
Proficiencies
Players say this GM is great at:
Voices
Storytelling
Sets the Mood
Alex Smith
Played 112 sessions
Jarpo is amazing. He has seamlessly combined the normal narrative of the campaign material with character backstory and has made it so that you are so caught up in another players story that you leave yourself thinking "oh yeah we're in hell, whoops"
DM Beardwardo
Played 94 sessions
Wow. I mean, just wow! Chris takes even the mundane and makes it epic!! Every session, be it a combat or an RP session, feels visceral and impactful. Chris remembers player choices and they come back throughout the campaign making the whole experience feel real! My group is amazing in everyway so that helps and with Chris at the helm the adventure just keeps getting better and better!!
Brett Flasch
Played 94 sessions
Really fun, really friendly, really professional, I had a lot of fun with this! He moved things along nicely and was open to all kinds of suggestions and actions from his players. Would definitely play in one of his games again!
Kathleen
Played 84 sessions
Jarpo is the best Dungeon Master I have ever had the pleasure to play with! Exploring a powerful wizard's tower? Watch the background shimmer with stars, etherial tones drifting around as you explore. Bought to face down a big demon baddie? Epic music will stir your soul as you move your Foundry token around a blood-soaked battleground. In all seriousness, Jarpo is a very fun (and fair!) DM. He's an extremely talented voice actor -- ranging from adorable tiny hollyphant to a grumbling guard with a thick English country lilt. Jarpo knows the rules but allows and welcomes player creativity. There's a good mix of role playing, allowing characters to tease out their backstory, while pushing the collective narrative forward. D&D is at it's best when Jarpo's at the helm : )
Paul
Played 66 sessions
Jarpo is the third DM I've played with through StartPlaying, and he has blown all expectations out of the water. Seriously, we're only one session in and he is above and beyond the prior games I have played. His games are exactly what I've been looking for. Character voices, descriptive narrative, finding ways to engage the players through RP, and taking each character's actions in stride and turning it into an engaging encounter/event. I couldn't recommend Jarpo more to both new and experienced players.
Jeff
Played 60 sessions
Soooo, we have a customized hellish 'Mad Max' war machine. Dubbed "The Nipple Ripper". Now we're seeing if we can take over Avernus and rule with a lighter hand (i.e. we only kill some things.). If you believe that, I've got some wet property in Florida that may interest you.... We've survived due in large part to VERY outside the box role playing and a flexible DM. Highly recommend the man.
Character creation
Creating your character
We will have a FREE session 0 and decide together the story we're hoping to share, create the basis of our characters, run onboarding with TaleSpire and other tech, establish house rules and our lines in the sand. If you run the adventure start to finish, you'll go from level 0 - 10* (varies from group to group). For those joining after the campaign starts, you and I will onboard prior to session play in a voice call.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You will need the following basics in order to play: • Mic and headphones to prevent feedback and echoes. • Discord to communicate • Download the TaleSpire Guest Edition [Steam] • Access to a laptop or desktop computer. • Open mind ready to play!
What DM Jarpo brings to the table
About Your Character: 🐦⬛ 2024 ruleset 🐦⬛ 2024 classes, species, and backgrounds only 🐦⬛ No Monk, no Druid, no Artificer 🐦⬛ Start as Level 0 Commoner 🐦⬛ Standard Array or Point Buy for ABI Score Attribution 🐦⬛ No equipment other than the clothes on your back and rations 🐦⬛ We will not track food consumption unless voted to do so 🐦⬛ We will track ammo 🐦⬛ You will 'earn' your class after your first session of play, based on the choices you made during it. You will be given 2-3 options. ----------------------------------------- About The Game Tech: 🐦⬛ We will use TaleSpire as our VTT choice [FREE] 🐦⬛ We will use Discord [FREE] 🐦⬛ We will use Syrinscape [FREE] 🐦⬛ We will use DNDBeyond [FREE] 🐦⬛ Video is optional ----------------------------------------- About Me: 🐦⬛ I'm a voice actor, so my main talents lie in voice acting and narration and sound effects. You can expect immersive and gripping roleplay at a professional level. 🐦⬛ I pride myself on choosing the right music and ambience for each scene and scenario. Music, in my opinion, is a must. 🐦⬛ I follow the 5e ruleset as close as I can, but am open to reasonable requests or heroic moments. 🐦⬛ I adjudicate fairly and consistently, with a few house rules determined by the table as we play. 🐦⬛ I enjoy taking your ideas and working closely with you, as the player, to incorporate it into the overall narrative. 🐦⬛ I always root for your success, however nasty I may be as a monster! After all, if you die, so does the story.
Homebrew rules
Decided by the players and table.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Microphone
Internet
Headphones
Platforms used
Safety
How DM Jarpo creates a safe table
As this is a long adventure, the roleplay and combat per session will vary. There will be sessions of entire combat, there will be sessions where you run into no combat. On average, you can expect about a 50/50 ratio. As this is the Deadly Difficulty version, you will start at level 0, no weapons, and will be rewarded a choice of class based on how you played your character in your first session. The equipment you gain during play is what you are able to use. ----------------------------------------- This game is rated R for intense graphic descriptions, horror elements, and harsh language; it contains the following themes: • Gothic Horror • Supernatural Suspense • Grim Humor • Dark Fantasy • Horror • Psychological Drama • Occult Mysteries The following safety tools are available during play: • X-Card. A tool that allows anyone to edit out any content anyone is uncomfortable with as we play, no questions asked. Since most RPGs are improvisational, we often won't know what could be triggering until it happens; it's possible the game will go in a direction people don't want and this is a means to prevent that during play. • Lines in the Sand. Pre-play establishment of what are "no cross zones" for everyone at the table. These will mostly be confirmed during session 0 and onboarding with potential to add or retract as needed later. • Open and Inclusive Conversation. While the X-Card is useful, it is not a replacement for conversation. If you prefer to talk about an issue that comes up instead of using the X-Card, please do!
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