Image by Abel Schlicht
Dark and Yet Darker - A Curse of Strahd Campaign
An old letter draws you into mist-choked Barovia, a land of tragic souls and a timeless tyrant. You may live, you may escape, but freedom has a costs.
$20.00
/ Session
Details
Bi-weekly / Sunday - 1:00 AM UTC
Session Duration / 3 hours
Campaign Length / 30+ Sessions
0 / 5 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
Barovia is a land swallowed by mist, a place where the dead linger. This is a gothic horror campaign about grief, power, and survival. The story is bleak, but never hopeless. Darkness is deep, but never empty. You will play heroes, or at least people trying to be, drawn from the waking world into a land trapped beneath The Devil Strahd. Here, faith is tested, bonds are forged, and every victory has weight. This campaign emphasizes atmosphere, character-driven storytelling, and meaningful choices. Your actions matter, and NPCs remember everything. This game is beginner-friendly: new players are welcome, rules are explained as we go, and the focus is always on story, not system mastery. Roleplay is encouraged, and players are free to form friendships, rivalries, or even romance, including with major NPCs, if the story leads there. player comfort always come first. Bring a character who wants something, fears something, or believes in something. Barovia will test it all.
Game style
Rules as Written (RaW)
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Roleplay Heavy
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(5)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Inclusive, World Builder, Creativity
About me
Hi, I’m Simon, I’m a longtime Dungeon Master who specializes in dark, atmospheric storytelling and emotionally grounded roleplay. I’ve been running games for years both online and in person, and I have a particular love for Curse of Strahd (and gothic horror in general) I favor immersion, realism, and consequence-driven storytelling over power fantasy — your choices matter, and the world will remember them. I use a minimalist, old-school setup (Google Slides for maps and visuals, voice chat for play) to keep the focus on story, tone, and character rather than technical clutter. If you’re looking for a highly produced Roll20 experience, this probably isn’t the table for you. I’m passionate about crafting games that make you feel something, whether that’s fear, sorrow, or triumph. I aim to make Barovia (and beyond) a place that haunts you long after the session ends.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Character sheets will be created using DNDBeyond before the game starts. if you need help, we can find a time to work on that together (this would be free). starting level is level 2. stats will be standard array OR 3d6 reroll ones. You don't need to do any homework, but I do suggest watching a couple videos on youtube about the rules of dnd if you are unfamiliar.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You need to have a discord account and a working mic of decent quality, and a stable internet connection. you also need access to Google Slides and Google Docs. I recommend using a laptop or desktop as opposed to a phone. I will create a dnd server for the party and send invite links to all members.
What Simon brings to the table
I try to utilize ambient music when I can, unfortunately discord is lame about music bots, but i'm trying to find ways around it. Beyond that, I heavily enjoy giving my characters voices, and giving you guys fun props for the game, this includes PDF's and documents as letters from NPC's, a couple drawings, etc. We generally stick to rules as written but occasionally I will allow rule of cool if its particularly impressive, and i am very generous with inspiration. If its something we discuss and are okay with, I may write a bit of meta or fiction about your character, and im happy to share my AO3 account for anyone interested in my work. I occasionally also do solo mini sessions for players, usually these are dream sequences that are inconvenient to run during the game.
Homebrew rules
drinking a potion is a bonus action, critical hits are max damage + rolled damage, inspiration stacks,
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Simon creates a safe table
I will have each player message me privately to go over boundaries and discuss lines and veils. we will also have a session 0 to make sure everyone fully understands the game. the X N and O's will be messaged to me privately during the game as needed. Aftercare is an open discussion, some joking around if that helps, a friendly conversation and reminder that we're all just trying to have fun.
Content warnings
Safety tools used