The Chains of Barovia | Curse of Strahd

Creating your character

Characters and their backstories should be created before the first session just so I have time to change things or add things that are special to your characters throughout the module! We will be starting at level 3 and skipping the initial dungeon prepared for the introduction of the game, instead a special introduction will be crafted for each character into how they arrive in Barovia. Stats will be point buy or standard array (whichever you prefer) and we will not be rolling for Hit Points each level instead taking the average. I am not familiar with the 2024 ruleset for Dnd 5e so I want to refrain from using that book, but anything from before then I will allow. Just to avoid a feeling of unfairness and unbalance I am also not allowing homebrew in character creation. In terms of backstory, you do not have to provide me with an immense amount of story. Instead I would like specific information on each character that will also help you get into character easier. If you can include the following: - Your character's gimmick: Not telling you to make a gimmicky character. Rather just something that you can fall back onto easily when you may not know what to do or say. An example would be a character that is nerdy, so they always look for information on random things they enjoy. What is your character's want: The motivation driving your character throughout the campaign. And I stress that this is not what your character needs, that is very different and you should discover that through roleplaying in the moment, not writing it in your backstory. I highly encourage tying your want to something in Barovia to intrinsically motivate you throughout the story! - Your character's conflict: What is something that has happened to them in their past that made them an adventurer? Normally, stable people with stable lives do not go out on adventurers risking their lives for nothing, there has to be something making them do that. - Finally, provide me with at least 5 "knives" for you character: Knives are things I can use throughout the story to introduce inner conflict for your character. It can be simple or complex, go wild with it! An example would be something like "my character is insecure about their lack of strength," or something like "my character killed their childhood best friend, and that haunts them."

Preparing for the session

I have my own Discord server, from which we will do the calls through. No videos will be required if you do not wish to do so, but if it is something everyone wants to do then I have no problem doing it myself. I will also be using Foundry as our VTT to run the game, so make sure to make an account to run that. It can be quite intensive for some computers so if it is an issue for a majority of players we can try Roll20 instead. Making characters will be done on Foundry VTT as well, so no need to go through any other sites like D&DBeyond.

What Moon brings to the table

My style of GMing is all about working in tandem with the players to craft a great story together. I love using rule of cool a lot, especially if it makes sense or is thematic in the moment, and overall prefer roleplay to combat. I however don't neglect combat by any means, I mostly try and do a 60/40 split on roleplay and combat respectively. Going into more depth on working in tandem with players to craft a story together, I want to work with you throughout the process of making your character. That way I have a good understanding on who your character is, and what you the player wants out of your character. I never plan a session without first thinking about the motivations of each of the players, cause I never want there to be a session in which the players are lost or not know what they want to do next. There will always be something for your characters to achieve and grow from in my games! For combat, I make sure to keep every combat lively and interesting by introducing dynamic changes throughout fights. What this can mean is that you will never just fight a monster until it's hit points go down, partway through the fight it will get a powerup, or the map will change in significant ways, or some sort of trap is set off etc. This ensures that combat remains fresh and exciting, and you are never just constantly attacking one thing until its hit points go down to 0.

Homebrew rules

Homebrewed rules I use: - Potions can be drunk as an action or a bonus action. If that potion provides healing, drinking it as an action restores the full amount of hit points rather than needing to roll. (Ex. Drinking a healing potion as an action would heal 10 hit points rather than rolling 2d4+2). - You do not need to count or buy nonmagical ammunition, nor does gold weigh anything. - Every time you gain an Ability Score Improvement through leveling up, you also gain a feat. That way you can increase your stats and get something else to make your character more unique!

How Moon creates a safe table

During Session 0, I will go through a list of general expectations and potential triggers to get a good understanding of what players are and are not comfortable. Other than that I like using X, N and O cards which I find to be a streamlined and low pressure way for a player to express their comfort level on any given encounter in game. I also will check in after each game to make sure everyone is feeling good about the session and if there is any problems or issues that need to be ironed out as well!