Curse of Strahd: Keepers of the Feather

Creating your character

Character creation for this campaign happens across two stages - a pre-session zero survey and then session zero itself - and it's one of the most important parts of the whole experience. The characters in this campaign are woven together before play begins, and that work happens as a group. Before session zero, you'll receive a short questionnaire asking about your character concept, your wereraven origin (born to the bloodline, turned young, or inducted as an adult), your family situation in Barovia, and your personal history with the Keepers. You don't need a finished character - just a direction. Bring ideas, not a sheet. During session zero (free, approximately 2 hours), we'll finalize everything together. Stats are built using a standard 4d6-drop the lowest method of assignment - and yes, you CAN use your dice in real life! The campaign starts at level 3 and goes to at minimum level 10 (with a significant chance for higher play). Approved sources: Players Handbook, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, and Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse is fine for race options. Anything outside these books needs DM approval before session zero - just ask. Wereraven Curse: everyone at the table with the wereraven curse will receive the same benefits (raven form, hybrid form, fly speed, mimicry) which will be discussed at session zero. Birds of a feather stick together! Class: All classes from approved sources are open, with homebrew allowed in moderation. The game skews toward roleplay and investigation, with combats being dangerous and semi-regular. Characters with social, utility, or survival tools tend to shine here. Backstory requirements: Your character must be a Barovian native with an established connection to the Keepers of the Feather - either by birth, induction, or debt. You should arrive at session zero knowing one thing your character wants, one thing they're afraid of, and one person in Barovia they would not leave behind. Everything else we build together. One final note: ability scores can be raised during downtime through the table's training system, so don't agonize over an 12 versus a 13 at creation. The character you start with is not the ceiling - it's the foundation.

Preparing for the session

Roll20 - free account required at roll20.net. No purchase necessary. The campaign is hosted on my Pro account; you'll receive a join link once your seat is confirmed. All maps, tokens, and character sheets live here. D&D Beyond - free account at dndbeyond.com. You'll be added to the campaign so shared content unlocks automatically. No sourcebook purchases needed. Build your character here and add the Inspiration Token magic item to your sheet before session one - it tracks your token count using its charge system. Discord - where we handle voice, video, between-session communication, session recaps, lore documents, and scheduling. Invite link is included in your welcome message. Please join before session zero. Headphones are strongly recommended. This campaign uses layered ambient audio throughout, and you'll miss a lot of the atmosphere on speakers. Once your seat is confirmed you'll receive: a welcome message, Discord invite, the pre-session zero questionnaire, and the Wereraven lycanthropy document. Complete the questionnaire at least 48 hours before session zero. Bring character ideas - not a finished sheet. Sessions are booked through StartPlaying. Please cancel or reschedule at least 24 hours in advance. Repeated no-shows without notice may result in removal - this is a long-term campaign and your table is counting on you.

What Vax brings to the table

I run a theater-of-the-mind-first table with battlemap support for large-scale combats. Exploration, investigation, and social scenes play out in the theater. When combat starts, we move to Roll20 so positioning, flanking, and area effects are visible and fair. Every named NPC has a full character voice. Strahd has a voice. The frightened stable boy has a voice. It's the fastest way to make a world feel inhabited rather than described. Ambient music runs throughout every session - custom playlists per location and tone, from the firelit warmth of the Blue Water Inn to the silence of Ravenloft. Volume stays low enough to support atmosphere without competing with conversation. My style sits between rulings over rules and earned cool moments. I'll always ask what you're trying to accomplish before resolving it, and I'll find a way to make interesting choices mechanically possible. What I won't do is soften consequences - failure matters here, because it's what makes the wins feel real. After every session I post a recap document in Discord - what happened, what was learned, open threads worth remembering. I also send occasional in-character raven messages to individual players when the story calls for it. Invest in your character's world and I'll invest back. Session zero is where the real game begins. Every player leaves with a secret only they and I know.

Homebrew rules

At session zero, we will discuss my most-commonly used homebrew rules, and decide as a table what we like and dislike!

How Vax creates a safe table

Curse of Strahd deals in real darkness - grief, control, gaslighting, body horror, and the particular dread of a world that doesn't want you to win. Before session zero you'll receive a detailed content survey covering the major themes present in this campaign. You'll mark what you're comfortable with, what needs handling with care, and what stays off the table entirely. Your responses are private. They shape the game before we ever roll a die. Lines and Veils are established collectively during session zero and documented in a pinned Discord post every player can access and update at any time. Lines are hard - those themes don't appear. Veils happen off-screen without detail. Neither requires explanation or justification. If something needs to move after the campaign starts, message me privately and it moves, no questions asked. After sessions that go to heavy places I check in with the group in Discord - a low-key "how is everyone doing" rather than a formal debrief, but the door is always open for longer conversation privately. If a session hit something unexpectedly hard, we talk before the next one. This is a campaign about people protecting something they love in a world designed to break them. It should feel dangerous. It should never feel unsafe.