D&D5E, Curse of Strahd

About the adventure

Running the acclaimed adventure Curse of Strahd for D&D5E. A dark fantasy tale of intrigue and vampires set amid the gloomy fog of Barovia, leading to an epic and final confrontation with the dark Count Strahd himself, as players attempt to lift the darkness that plagues this world. Under raging storm clouds, the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of Castle Ravenloft. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind’s howling increases as he turns his gaze down toward the village of Barovia. A lightning flash rips through the darkness, but Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind fills the midnight air. The master of Castle Ravenloft is having guests for dinner—and you are invited.

Additional Details

How to prepare

Discord and a microphone are a must. Familiarity with Roll20 and the rules is helpful, but not mandatory. All our sheets and notes will be stored digitally, and I have no qualms teaching you how to use either. We'll do character creation together, so really all you need to bring is yourself, and maybe any fun ideas you have!

What I provide

I have the module on Roll20 and the components you need. I would recommend you bring a reference - or find one, once you decide what your character looks like. I'll edit together some tokens for use during the game. If you don't like/want a reference, I'm easygoing enough that a silly emoji or icon would suffice - so long as we know that's you.

Gameplay details

I typically start with a session zero in which we can go over expectations, create characters and a cohesive party together, and discuss things we might want to see - or not see. Often all at the same time. In an environment like Curse of Strahd, it's a good idea to cover and phobias you might have in advance, due to the horror-adjacent nature of the campaign. Since I typically play purely via voice, and most people are staring directly at a digital map or screen, if you do need to step away, you can do so fairly easily - and if you need to explain what's wrong before coming back, you can do so via text in discord, or another tab away from the game itself. The game itself is a narrative-focused adventure, featuring a wide range of gloomy characters trying to survive beneath the shadow of Castle Ravenloft. And an unwinding story rife with mysteries and secrets that will help with the eventual confrontation with Count Strahd himself. Expect plenty of challenging, often surprising combat encounters, with NPCs that range from helpful, to helpless, to downright hostile.

Content warnings

(none)

Safety tools used

Breaks
Debriefing
Open Door
Session 0

How will character creation work

I try to be fairly generous with character creation. You may roll for stats twice and choose either array. If they are both terrible, you may point buy instead. All published content is allowed, partnered content only by permission. Try to keep it basic. We'll be starting at level 3, however I want to leave room to do the prologue if there is a general consensus that it would be fun - which means starting instead at level 1, and reaching level 3 after that first session. We'll do character generation together - though if we don't finish up, you can either grab me on any other day you're free or finish up yourself if you're confident. I prefer my players to have at least some level of backstory - even just a hook to where they're from. And if you do make that for me, I'll give you a minor magical trinket that reflects that. Multiclassing will be fairly restricted - i.e. I want a good reason you're doing it before you do it, I don't want to see a party full of warlock-fighter-clerics trying to cheese and powergame. A good reason includes where you might have learned that trick and/or why your character wants to learn it. For example, joining a knighthood would be sufficient reason to take levels in Fighter/Paladin.

Players can expect

• Find a game to join solo or search for a professional game master for you and your friends/coworkers/family.
• Book your session and wait for the Game Master to approve you.
• If you don't have a blast with your first game, your next game is on us.