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Curse of Strahd: Bloodline Hunter (5E 2024), Learn to Play
Strahd didn't trap you in Barovia by accident. He arranged everything, because your bloodline is the only thing he's feared for 400 years.
$25.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Sunday - 6:00 PM UTC
May 10 / Session 8
Session Duration / 2.5–3 hours
Campaign Length / 40–50 Sessions
5 / 6 Seats Filled
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Schedule
Meet your party members
5/6
About the adventure
Most Curse of Strahd campaigns drop you in the fog and wish you luck. This one was built around you before you even showed up. Your ancestor knew Strahd. Maybe they served him. Maybe they betrayed him. Maybe they were the last person he ever loved before he became something that couldn't love anything anymore. Whatever they did, it mattered, and four hundred years later, he still hasn't forgotten it. The nightmares you've been having? Those are their memories. The mentor who died? He arranged that. The opportunity that brought you here? His doing. By the time you stand before Strahd von Zarovich for the first time, he won't introduce himself. He'll say your family name like a man settling a very old debt. Because that's exactly what this is. Every major character in Barovia already has an opinion about you. Ireena recognises your face. Van Richten trusts you because he knew your bloodline personally. Others despise your family name for what your ancestor did, or failed to do, when it mattered most. The world reacts to you like you belong in it, because you do. You were always going to end up here. The only thing Strahd didn't account for is whether you'd be better at this than the last one. Multiple times across the campaign you'll step back four hundred years and play as that ancestor. Make the choices they made. Watch exactly where it all went wrong. Finally understand how a brilliant man becomes an immortal monster, and whether you're actually as different from him as you'd like to believe. Never played D&D before? Perfect. This is one of the best campaigns ever written and you'll experience it with a GM who has helped dozens of first time players fall in love with this game. Character creation happens in a free one on one session before the campaign starts. Every rule gets explained. Every mechanic gets introduced naturally. You'll feel confident before session one even begins. Everything is provided, the virtual tabletop, all rulebooks, all content, voice acted NPCs, original maps, and a story that has been built specifically to make you feel like the most important person in the room. Because in this campaign, you are. Four possible endings. Forty to fifty sessions. One question underneath all of it. Your ancestor stood where you're standing and lost everything. What makes you think you'll do any better?
Game style
Combat Lite
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
4.1
(20)
2 years on StartPlaying
55 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Knows the Rules
Average response time: Under 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
I've been running D&D since I was eleven. Seven years later I still haven't found a reason to stop.What keeps me coming back is the moment a player realises their character's past isn't decoration, it's the plot. That rivalry you wrote in your backstory? It's showing up in Act Two. That debt you thought was flavour? It just knocked on the door. I build toward those moments in every campaign I run, whether that's gothic horror in Barovia, dragon cults tearing across the Sword Coast, or a multiverse unravelling at the seams.I do voices because NPCs deserve to feel like people. I commission artwork for major characters because the details matter even when nobody notices them directly, though I think players feel them. I write session recaps within 24 hours because the story shouldn't fade between sessions. I play in other GMs' games too, because staying on the player side keeps me honest about what actually makes a session memorable versus what just sounds good in a pitch.Six campaigns a week. I genuinely cannot imagine spending my time differently.If you want a table where your choices echo forward and the story belongs to everyone sitting at it, there's a seat here.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
We'll do character creation in a free 45-minute 1-on-1 call before the campaign starts. Your Character: 1. Any official 5e content from D&D Beyond (I share everything, you buy nothing) 2. Standard array, point buy, or rolled stats (your choice) 3. Starting at level 3 4. Choose an Advanced Profession instead of a background: Academic, Aristocrat, Clergy, Criminal, Common Folk, Militarist, Outlander, or Occult. These aren't backstory, they're mechanical progression systems (Rank 1-4) that give you abilities, resources, and story power throughout the campaign Your Ancestor: Together we'll create your ancestor who lived 400 years ago and their connection to Strahd. E.G.s: The Soldier's Line: Served under Strahd, tried to stop him. You inherit the Sunsword's broken hilt. The Lover's Line: Rejected Strahd before Tatyana, murdered on their wedding day. You inherit a torn journal page. The Betrayer's Line: Strahd's advisor who betrayed him. You inherit the holy symbol's broken chain. The Witness's Line: Saw something they shouldn't have. You inherit a map. The Rival's Line: Competed with Strahd for power. You inherit Van Richten's journal. The Tatyana Line: You're descended from her bloodline, you look exactly like her. You inherit her locket. We'll connect your ancestor to YOUR current backstory, that dead mentor, that job offer, those nightmares? All Strahd's doing. By the end of Session Zero, you'll have a complete character whose past is woven directly into the campaign.
Vallaki is in trouble on two fronts and neither problem is willing to wait for the other to be solved first. The Baron and the Council have been at each other's throats for weeks now, each convinced they know what is best for the town while the town quietly starves around them. The druids of the Svalich Wood have cut every supply road into Vallaki, and what started as disruption has become something closer to a siege, shelves are empty, tempers are short, and people are starting to make desperate decisions. The party has ended up in the middle of all of it, trying to figure out which fire to put out first while both keep spreading. Nobody in Vallaki quite knows what to make of them yet, though some of the older residents look at certain members of the party a little longer than feels comfortable. The Party: Four people who probably should not work as well together as they do. The first is a Soulknife Rogue who carries blood that Strahd himself would recognise, a descendant of Tatyana, the woman whose death set everything in motion. Alongside her is a Samurai Fighter, the son of Strahd's former general, raised in the shadow of a legacy he is still deciding whether to honour or bury. Their Divination Wizard comes from the Petrovich family, one of Barovia's oldest and most storied bloodlines, and seems to know things slightly before they happen in a way that unnerves even her companions. Rounding out the group is a Warlock who inherited more than just power from their ancestor, a spymaster who helped Strahd build Barovia from the ground up, and who has a habit of knowing exactly what people are hiding.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Before Session 1, create these accounts (all free): Discord - Voice chat and campaign hub (I'll send the invite) D&D Beyond - Character sheets (I share all content) Foundry VTT - No account needed, just click my browser link
What Davi brings to the table
New to D&D? Good. I run a free 1-on-1 session zero before the campaign starts, we build your character together, explain every mechanic you need, and make sure you feel confident before session one. I've helped dozens of new players fall in love with this game. Everything is provided: the virtual tabletop, all rulebooks, maps, handouts, and voice-acted NPCs so you always know who's talking. You just need a computer and a microphone.
Homebrew rules
Combat Enhancements: Potions as Bonus Action: Keeps healing viable and combat flowing Flanking Grants Advantage: Rewards tactical positioning Critical Hits Hit Hard: Max your weapon dice, then roll additional. A longsword crit = 8 + 1d8 + STR. Crits feel devastating. Heroic Sacrifice: If you take a killing blow meant for another PC, you automatically stabilize at 0 HP (once per long rest). Heroism matters. Profession Abilities Profession Dice Stack: Your profession die adds to checks where your expertise applies. This STACKS with Expertise, Guidance, and Bardic Inspiration. Specialists should feel REALLY good at their thing. Profession Advancement is Story-Based: You rank up by accomplishing profession-specific goals in the narrative, not by XP. A Physician ranks up by curing plagues. A Soldier ranks up by winning battles. Rule of Cool: If it's cinematic, makes narrative sense, and you can justify it in-character, I'm saying yes. Swing from that chandelier. Dropkick that vampire spawn. Make it cool.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Davi creates a safe table
Before Session Zero: I send a private Google Form for Lines & Veils: Lines = hard boundaries (we don't include this at all) Veils = topics we acknowledge but don't describe in detail Common examples: graphic torture, harm to children/animals, sexual content, specific phobias, body horror. I create a master list shared with the group (your individual responses stay private). During Sessions: X, N, O Cards (verbal, chat, or physical): X = stop immediately, no questions asked N = I'm uncomfortable, tone it down O = I'm loving this, keep going Open Door Policy: Take breaks, step away, or leave early anytime. Your wellbeing > the game. Built-in Breaks: 5-10 minutes around the 2-hour mark every session Content Calibration: Curse of Strahd is horror, but I calibrate intensity to what the table wants. Want full dread and gruesome descriptions? I'll lean in. Want dark fantasy adventure with horror elements? I'll focus on action and mystery. Want to avoid specific content? Tell me and we navigate around it completely. After Intense Sessions: Group debriefs after heavy story beats Individual check-ins via Discord if something landed hard Ongoing feedback channel for anonymous safety concerns My Commitment: The story flexes to match your comfort level. If content isn't working, we adjust openly. I'm here to run compelling gothic horror everyone enjoys and feels safe in, not to traumatize anyone.
Content warnings
Safety tools used