Curse of Strahd: Monster Hunters Wanted! - D&D 2024
Enter a land of darkness, shrouded in mists, governed by a cruel master. Can you escape with your soul - and your sanity - intact?
$30.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Saturday - 11:00 PM UTC
May 30 / Session 9
Session Duration / 3–3.5 hours
4 / 6 Seats Filled
Top Game Master
One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
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Schedule
Meet your party members
4/6
About the adventure
You will enter a land of darkness, shrouded in mists, governed by a cruel master. Can you escape with your life and limb, or will you fall, like so many others, before the might of the Vampire Count? Only the bravest adventurers dare to oppose the dark forces hidden within the mists of Ravenloft. The campaign runs from level 1 through 10. Curse of Strahd is an open-ended, sandbox-like campaign in which players struggle to solve mysteries, acquire lost relics of power, and - if they can - survive long enough to thwart the Dark Lord Strahd himself. The campaign will have a balance of exploration, roleplay, dungeon crawling, and combat. We will be using the D&D 2024 rules. I enjoy working with players to build fun and effective characters with motivations that are tied into the main plot, and I encourage players to work together in and out of character. The table is welcoming to beginners and veterans and can accommodate a variety of playstyles. The campaign is LGBTQIA+ friendly and inclusive to all. I have been playing and running D&D games for over 25 years, and running games online for about three years. I use FoundryVTT and Discord (voice only or voice and video, depending on player preference). Please feel free to message me with questions.
Game style
Hexcrawl / Exploration
Roleplay Heavy
Sandbox / Open World
Tactical / Crunchy
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(34)
4 years on StartPlaying
741 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Teacher, Storytelling
Average response time: Under 1 hour
Response rate: 50%
About me
Hello! I'm Neal, and I've been playing and running RPGs since high school. I love roleplaying and entertaining, and I've pursued a career in adjacent fields such as theatre and education, but with the rise of online gaming I've decided to take my hobby to the next level. I was born and raised in New York, where I worked in the theatre industry throughout my 20's until I decided it was time for a more radical change in scenery. I moved to the country of Georgia and became a teacher, drawing on my theatre experience to teach subjects such as Design and Drama. After more than a decade teaching, the pandemic showed me that remote work was definitely my jam. I've been running games online since 2020 and I love the experience. I've set up a discord server and a cloud-hosted Foundry VTT installation, which I've tailored to my DMing style using a variety of add-on modules. My games are designed to be approachable and beginner-friendly and to foster meaningful roleplaying experiences in which player characters have an important place in the setting and players have the opportunity to add to the world with creative input.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Characters start at Level 1. They will be created on Dndbeyond, where I have all official options unlocked. New players who arrive after session 1 will start at the same level as the rest of the party. My Discord server will have a dedicated channel for the group and all relevant links (the Beyond campaign, VTT, Google Doc with campaign info, etc.) will be pinned to the channel.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Players should have a mic. Webcam recommended for RP but optional. Players should be reasonably familiar with their own characters and what their actions do, but as DM I will keep track of rules and help players with the mechanical side of what they want to do. Foundry does not require any download except a web browser (Chrome and Firefox are the usual recommendations) and provides online character sheets and dice. Players will need access to Discord (you can use the Discord app or visit in a browser).
What Neal Z brings to the table
I bring my Discord server and Foundry cloud service, access to character creation options from all published sources and some homebrews, maps, modules, and homebrew materials, and occasional dad jokes.
Homebrew rules
Fast Combat Rules: 1. Act quickly - stay engaged and be ready to act when called on 2. Limit table-talk - Once initiative is rolled, your characters don't have time to debate strategy and tactics anymore 3. Commit to your decisions - once you've done something it usually won't be retconned, unless it was based on an out-of-character misunderstanding. 4. Mob Attack Rule - when rolling multiple identical attacks, I'll combine them into one roll for the sake of speed and threat (mechanically, this is similar to MCDM's minion/group attack roll). Crunchy Crits: critical dice are always maximized - e.g. a crit with a longsword does 1d8+8, rather than 2d8 Healing Potions: Full action, Full heal. You can drink a healing potion as a Bonus Action per standard rules, or drink it as a regular action to get maximum healing.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Headphones
Internet
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Neal Z creates a safe table
The game will start once three or more players have signed up. Players will need a computer with decent internet, a microphone, and a quiet background. Video camera recommended but optional. Players will have access to my cloud-hosted Foundry server and Discord server. Characters and backstories will be created during downtime (before/in between game sessions). I will arrive a bit early to each session to assist with technical onboarding/troubleshooting, and just for pre-game chats with players.
Content warnings
Safety tools used