Legends of Barovia - A Curse of Strahd Saga

Creating your character

Characters are built together before the campaign starts, during a session zero over voice/video, not on the fly at the table. Bring a 3rd-level D&D 5e character (2014 rules) built with standard point buy or the array; I'll walk new players through it if needed. Before you build, read the Legends of Barovia Player's Guide (I'll send it over once you're booked). It covers the setting's gothic-horror rules, Fear, Horror, Despair, and Sanity, and four suggested party themes (Dark Fantasy, Low Fantasy, High Fantasy, Medieval) the table can pick from together to keep backstories cohesive. Barovia is a mostly-human world, and nonhuman characters are treated as rare outsiders in-fiction. Some players enjoy leaning into that, others prefer not to, so we'll talk it through at session zero. Every character needs a reason to be in Barovia. Pick one of five ready-made hooks (Vistani Blood, a Missing Merchant, a Sun Blade Relic, a haunted Temple, or the Curse of Lycanthropy) or bring your own concept and I'll help fold it into the world. Multiclassing, homebrew subclasses, and reflavored abilities are all fine, just run it by me first. No specific sourcebooks are off-limits, but let's talk before you bring in anything especially rules-heavy so it can be weighed against the setting's horror mechanics.

Preparing for the session

Before your first session: Join the campaign's Discord server (invite comes after booking). That's where handouts, art, and scheduling between sessions happen. We play on Foundry VTT with voice over Discord. I'll send an invite once you're booked; you don't need to buy anything, just a modern browser. Character sheets live on D&D Beyond. A free account is enough to get started; let me know if you need access to any sourcebook content. Read the Legends of Barovia Player's Guide I'll send you before session zero. It's short and covers the house rules you'll actually use at the table (Fear, Horror, Despair, Sanity, and proficiency dice). Come to session zero with your character sheet, a short backstory, and one of the five campaign hooks chosen (or a concept of your own) so we can weave you into the existing party and story.

What Vvo brings to the table

I run games for atmosphere and story first. Expect distinct NPC voices, read-aloud narration for key scenes, and combat that's dangerous rather than balanced. Retreat is always on the table, and sometimes it's the right call. Outcomes use secret difficulty classes, so you'll know a task is easy, hard, or nearly impossible, but never the exact number, which keeps tension high without me fudging anything behind the screen. Between sessions I write and share no-spoiler handouts tailored to your specific character: things to watch for without giving away where they lead. I also bring expanded lore, side quests, and original NPCs woven directly into the official Curse of Strahd storyline, plus lingering injuries and nightmare mechanics that make both victories and losses feel like they cost something. This is a slow-burn, character-driven table. If you want tight tactical combat balanced for four PCs, this isn't that game. If you want a gothic horror story that remembers what your character said three sessions ago and rewards you for it, it is.

Homebrew rules

This table runs a full gothic-horror rules layer on top of standard 5e (all covered in the Player's Guide I'll send you): Secret DCs: I never reveal exact difficulty numbers, only whether a task is very easy, easy, moderate, hard, very hard, or nearly impossible. Uncertainty is the point. Proficiency dice replace flat proficiency bonuses for added volatility. Fear, Horror, Despair, and Sanity: hopeless fights can frighten you, witnessing something horrific can cause short- or long-term madness, and the valley's oppressive atmosphere can inflict Despair effects during rests. Calm emotions and short rests can clear these. Rest is harder in Barovia: short rests only recover one Hit Die, and long rests behave differently depending on whether you're in a secured location (town, walled city) or an unsecured one (wilderness, dungeon). Going 24 hours without a long rest brings on exhaustion. Nightmares and lingering injuries: resting while hurt or exhausted risks a nightmare effect, and dropping to 0 HP (or failing a death save badly) can leave a lasting injury that magic alone won't heal. None of this is designed to be punishing for its own sake. It's there to make Barovia feel like the place it is: a domain where survival is earned.

How Vvo creates a safe table

Every seat starts with a session zero where we go over the table's Lines and Veils together before any dice are rolled. I send a written Lines and Veils document ahead of time so you can flag anything privately if you'd rather not say it out loud. At the table, anyone can say "pause for a second" at any point to step out of character and flag that something isn't landing right, up to and including "I'm not comfortable with where this is going." Everyone at the table is expected to respect that immediately, no exceptions and no relitigating it in the moment. I check in briefly after especially heavy scenes, and I'm always open to a DM or a quick chat outside of session if something needs a longer conversation. Content warnings are listed below. I'd rather over-communicate what's coming than surprise anyone at the table.