Curse of Strahd [Beginner and LGBTQIA 🏳️🌈 Friendly!]
A gritty, gothic horror set around the dreadful Count Strahd Von Zarovich and his tyrannical rule over the mist-choked land of Barovia.
$22.00
/ Session
Details
5 players following this game
Weekly / Friday - 10:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 2.5–3 hours
2 / 6 Seats Filled
Top Game Master
One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
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About the adventure
An eerie wail echoes over the stretching woods ahead. You and your party have found yourselves pulled into the chilling and unknown land of Barovia, a plane plagued by darkness and agony. Ruled in a vice grip by a powerful, mad vampire who calls himself Strahd, the land finds itself in desperate need of aid -- an aid that few brave heroes could provide. Full of tough decisions, bleak settings and a dark and grotesque tone, Curse of Strahd is an adventure for those willing to delve into the depths of Barovia and figure out how to take down the vampire lord himself. Through this, you will be faced with tasks and encounters that challenge your characters and question their humanity. Are you the brave soul that will finally take down Strahd? Or will you die trying? 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 This is a revamped Curse of Strahd campaign meant to run from levels 1-14+ for around 4 - 6 players. 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 Curse of Strahd deals with a lot of heavy material, so please check the trigger warnings! I aim to run a safe and comfortable table for all that join, and I prioritize safety. This campaign is a dark and macabre look at the horrors of Barovia, and though I do want everyone to feel comfortable, with my penchant for horror, I will be providing a creepy and unsettling experience. I don’t accept any kind of bigotry or prejudice at my tables, so I will be excluding any kind of discrimination from the story. I prefer to focus on the horrors of humanity that extend past what we face in everyday life. More than anything, I want everyone to have fun.
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Combat Lite
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
3 years on StartPlaying
249 games hosted
Highly rated for: Inclusive, Creativity, Storytelling
Average response time: 3 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
Howdy! I'm Elliot, I've been a Dungeon Master for about years and I specialize in light-hearted horror. I've experimented with loads of different systems and have been working as a DM in professional settings for four years now. Although I have a strong passion and love for D&D, my background is mostly in the arts and theatre (surprise surprise). I’ve got a degree in acting and have taken numerous improv classes, all of which I use exclusively to run D&D now! I’m currently working on getting into animation, but in the mean time I thought working through start playing would be a nice gig. All of my games are focussed on storytelling with a heavy side of scares, with that, I try to make sure I have a lot of safety tools in place so that everyone at my tables feels comfortable enough to fully immerse themselves in roleplay. I have a 0 tolerance policy for homophobia, bigotry, sexism, transphobia or any other kind of blatant prejudice, as someone who identifies as queer and mixed raced, I am firm in creating a safe and welcoming environment for anyone who wants to play at my table. All in all, I’m a huge queer nerd who loves telling stories with people and wants to ensure everyone has a fun time in my games!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Character creation starts at level 1 and will likely go to 10 (option for past this also available). I don't run with anything banned, I just ask that if you have any homebrew or third-party content, that you run it by me first! Below I've listed a few other character creation notes: 🎲27 Point Buy for stats, no rolling 🎲Average HP 🎲 Free Starting Feat or Dark Gift Further material will be provided upon sign-up, we can discuss character backstory and additional perks as well!
What to expect
Preparing for the session
I run and organize my campaigns majorly through Discord, so as long as you have a Discord account and a decent microphone, I can help you with the rest. Having a Roll20 and D&DBeyond account set up ahead of time is extremely helpful, but I can also help where that's needed. No need to have a fully completed character sheet at Session 0, but having a rough idea of what you want to play and maybe a backup or two, will make everything run a lot smoother! If you're new to D&D, I am also more than happy to help. I can provide access to books through D&DBeyond, or any kind of source material needed. There is no such thing as stupid questions at my table, and I aim to make sure everyone has a good time at the end of the day!
What Elliot brings to the table
We will be using D&DBeyond in tandem with Roll20 for gameplay, combat and dice rolling, with Discord voice and (optional) video for roleplay and theatre of the mind. I most likely will be on camera, but I do not require my players to if they’re not comfortable with it. Discord bots for music will be provided, and I will always have Discord open in a separate area in case of questions or concerns. You can whisper to me through Roll20 as well! If there is any troubleshooting necessary or just general game inquiries, I am usually available throughout the week, namely during evenings (PST), although I will always try to get to any messages as soon as possible. I encourage non-combat solutions to a lot of my in game challenges, and Curse of Strahd is a perfect playground for these kinds of encounters. As a roleplay heavy campaign, there is a lot of room for character backstory to be woven within the story and prior to Session 0, I am fully excited to collaborate on those stories with you! I aim to make your character feel 3-dimensional at the table, and whatever I can do to further immerse my players, I am more than willing to do. I also run with Roll20 scripts that aid in text roleplay for those newer to it that might not be as comfortable vocalizing during session. I love facilitating these kinds of character relationships.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Microphone
Webcam
Platforms used
Safety
How Elliot creates a safe table
Safety tools are very important to me at my table, I will be sending an RPG consent sheet prior to Session 0. I will also be doing a debriefing of the "colour system" I use at my tables as well, both this system and the X-card system can be used either anonymously in roll20 (this will be broadcasted on screen, but the identity will be completely anonymous) or privately messaged to me. I always have a second screen open for any private messages during the game, in order to keep communication clear and concise.
Content warnings
Safety tools used