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Engine of the Blood Tyrant | Victorian Steampunk Curse of Strahd
A thousand years have passed, and now the realm of Emperor Strahd Von Zarovich expands over a continent, Zarovia. It's time to end his Vampiric rule.
$17.00
/ Session
Details
2 players following this game
Weekly / Saturday - 9:30 PM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
1 / 5 Seats Filled
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Meet your party members
1/5
About the adventure
A Thousand years have passed since the slaughter of the village of lesser Barov, the foolish priest Doru awakening Strahd von Zarovich from his slumber. A thousand years of Strahd's reign have left Barovia a grim land. His continent spanning conquest, stopped only by deserts and oceans. The Newly Established Empire of Zarovia suffers under the rule of it's Emperor and his undying caste of servants. Ushered in was a new age after the conquest, Pax Zarova, where distant lands were now connected together in peace, ruled over by Vampiric Dynsaties, that although abused them and taxed them of their riches, blood and wives, provided an iron order and peace that allowed the lands to flourish. Populations boomed and magic was mixed with science to create an industrial Vampiric Dystopia. Free trade and commerce was allowed to boom, factories were risen by human tycoons, and airships took to the skies while trains rumbled across the cities and the land. It was at this point that the Nocturn Engine was constructed, the engine that used the life force in blood to cast Zarovia into an eternal night, so that the Demi-Damphyric Aristocracy and the few Vampire Lords that existed could finally have no fear of their most fatal enemy, the sun. Little did they know, the Engine would at some point become powerful enough to pierce through the mists of Ravenloft, exposing the material plane and all the worlds within to the Tyranny of the First Vampire. But as always, where there is oppression, there's always the desire to be free of it. A resistance is brewing, both from within and without the ancient chains of the First Vampire. A ray of sunshine may yet fall onto the domain of mists and steam, yet, it may also be sundered as all before, for for the first time in millennia, the Land Itself stirs. And this is where you come in. Locals to this world, you are dragged into a story of a brewing revolution, aided by a mysterious old man with a strange pet, claiming to be a Wizard from another world, to buy your freedom and indeed save all other worlds from tyranny. Ride on gothic airships and disrupt the infrastructure of the Nocturn Engine, face Vampire aristocrats in elaborate ball rooms, fight Strahd's Clockwork golems on skyscrapers, hijack blood trains and drive them off-rail! End Strahd's Tyranny and perhaps turn the Nocturn engine into a tool of prosperity and peace. Return the daylight to the realm, and swipe the Vampiric taint from the land. What To Expect: Strahd, Grim and Hopeless - Taking what makes the vampire lord of Barovia great, and adding to it, making it bigger and better! Steampunk Twist - Rather than a small land covered in mists, in "The Blood Tyrant" you'll be toppling a giant vampiric empire! Taking down supplies of blood, secretly swaying Stradh's court against him, and of course, fighting the darkness with torch in hand. D&D But Better - Using custom rules that can allow Vampirism, special weapons and other ways to fight the darkness.
Game style
Sandbox / Open World
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Roleplay Heavy
Puzzle / Mystery Focused
Meet the Game Master
4.9
(18)
1 year on StartPlaying
85 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Rule of Cool, Storytelling
Average response time: 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
Greetings Unfortunate Adventurers! My name is Ash and I am known as Ash the Mad/Insane/Unpredictable. You are most welcome at my table, and I will promise you fun and surprises, if nothing else! I started writing my own books and creating my own worlds since I learned how to write. I love fantasy and Sci-Fi settings and the moment I understood the possibility of being a Game Master -Creating a world then allowing my friends to play around in it-, was a new awakening for me. I have been running since 2016, usually with my own homebrew systems for my own novels. My tables are: - Welcoming and chill: No tryharding, armchair gaming or rules lawyering allowed. We're here to play a game and have fun. - Friendly: Players will solve conflicts cheerfully and in a friendly manner, and if there ever is PVP, it should be for the purpose of a great story. - Considerate: Everyone gets their own time in the spotlight, I actually keep track of how much each player is a time grubber and which player has been just watching. Don't be surprised if something comes up that only your out of spotlight character can react to/solve. - Creative: Everyone gets to unleash their creativity and fantasy, I will make room in the system mechanics if I have to to fit your ideas in. Enough about me though, let's talk about you. So you wanna be in a story huh? Strap in bucko, we're going on a wild ride. You're starting the campaign with the funny idea of consistency and going through a neat plot? That's really cute. Unfortunately, Man plans and God laughs. But fortunate for me, as it offers me endless entertainment. The quest is to kill the dragon and you decide to join it as thralls and turn around and flip the script on the king? That's amazing, didn't see that coming! I'll allow it. Escaping the Orc Chief's gladiator pens by seducing one of his wives instead of going through the 10 boss gauntlet I've prepared for you? Duck it, it's funny, go for it. Starting a Kingmaker campaign only to end up in the deserts of Qadira chasing a flying, talking spellbook of particularly bad manners? Baby I had laid an offramp rail aside the main rail all along and it excites me! I put in a ton of effort to engineer a possible scenario? I will allow you to ignore or circumvent it completely if you wish so and use a creative way to go around it. One shot the boss? You will have no salt from me. I will pat you on the head and give you a special loot, because it's endlessly funny to me. Afraid you won't be able to pick a different weapon at character creation? Not here. I would homebrew an entire class for you on the spot and compliment your creativity and rebellious nature. Rolled a 69 on a d100? There's now a cave on this hex that leads into an underground bioluminescent continent filled to the brim with a whole other campaign's worth of content that I had in a corner of my mind made in 30 seconds. I will reward you thinking outside the box, I will reward initiative and audacity with my invisible hand tipping the scales in your favor. I want an organic story that happens despite what's allegedly supposed to happen. I want to see your characters thrive and grow no matter what direction they decide to go in, and I will never Artificially force you into a choice. Do what you want, go where you wish, talk to whom you talk. I will prepare a whole world for you to explore and adventure in, not just the campaign you signed up for. I will give you dozens of campaigns in a single game because wherever you go, free spirit that you are, there is always a great adventure to be had. If I don't have it ready by the time breaktime is over, I will have it by the time of next week. If you welcome this flexibility, my games are for you. You shall be entertained to no end, in my process to entertain myself with a great story you're making, and I will always help you achieve such great things. Trust in yourself and me, and we will have immeasurable amounts of fun together. You will never go back to the way you played games before after this. I will see you soon my friends! AUDENTES FORTUNA IUVAT!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
I will run everyone through their characters and their backstories as the lore demands some adaptations to the original medieval design of dnd. Me and my helpers will guide you on every step if you require it, and you can be as creative as you want, I am a very open-minded gm.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You need discord and a browser, I use Foundry to run the game.
What Ash the Mad brings to the table
I will provide a unique story you can't find anywhere else, music, voice acting an atmosphere. I will also allow you to be creative and adventurous and inventive, and for every step I will homebrew whatever you need. I will run this game as mostly Rule of Cool, while keeping to the core mechanics outside of content. The table will be open and inclusive to all, new and veteran players of all walks of life.
Homebrew rules
I have a steampunk PDF that is somewhat official for DnD I am looking into using, but for the most part, I will oversee a gradual homebrew of spells and content, and I will add everything that you might need. Hell, you can create your own Clockwork Familiar!
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Ash the Mad creates a safe table
I will ask the players about their lines and veils on session 0, and any other things they want mentioned. I will stay vigilant throughout the game for any issues and fix them as they pop up. I will ask for feedback and all other safety related measures will be taken.
Content warnings
Safety tools used