Strahd Must Die! | One-Shot

About the adventure

Upon landing at Castle Ravenloft through mysterious circumstances, Strahd will appear before as you enter the castle and declare that you have “four hours until planar midnight,” which sidesteps the issue of game time passing differently than in real-time. Once the four hours are up, Strahd immediately appears before the party and attacks. Come life or come death, the hunt ends here. To battle Strahd in a single night, all you need are 3 to 6 friends to play with. If you like a 4-hour game of D&D, then “Strahd Must Die Tonight” has a four-hour real-life time limit (plus the half hour or so it takes to fight Strahd). At the end of every real-life hour, Strahd appears before the party and mocks the party, pitying their inevitable defeat. He offers to bestow a random gift upon one of the characters-- if that character allows Strahd to bite them and drink their blood first. These gifts are designed to speed up play by goading the players into rash action. Why does Strahd give these gifts? The same reason he’s set a time limit at all: he’s toying with the characters like a cat toys with a mouse. He believes himself invincible… until any character finds the Sunsword. Once he knows this item has been found, his hourly taunting visits are replaced with hourly surprise attacks against the character wielding the blade.

Additional Details

How to prepare

Please at least have a mic! I won't require anyone to use a camera. Please have your sheets and dice ready for each session! I will ask that you read the rules ahead of time, so that we can hit the ground running (so to speak). Character creation will also need to happen before the actual one-shot starts, and I'd be happy to work with you beforehand if I have the time, free of charge! D&D Beyond should have everything you need should you not have access to software, dice, or a physical character sheet. Most importantly: Bring your characters to the table! Dress up, use some fake blood, grab a sand dial and get whimsical about it!

What I provide

I will provide illustrations for each NPC, as well as top-down maps of Castle Ravenloft, I have plenty of physical dice should I need to roll for you, and I will bring as many character voices as I can!

Gameplay details

Gameplay will consist of getting to Castle Ravenloft, encountering Strahd, and being given four hours until "planar midnight". Strahd will then allow you to attempt to arm yourself, exploring the many halls of Castle Ravenloft and trying to discover it's secrets-- and maybe a way to defeat Strahd himself. I'll have a timer set so that you can expect when Strahd will strike on the hour, and combat will be primarily at the end-- whether you find the Sunsword or not. Whether you're a newcomer or a veteran, I can offer some consultation (for free) on how to prepare yourself for the one-shot!

Content warnings

(none)

Safety tools used

Aftercare
Breaks
Debriefing
Lines and Veils
Open Door

How will character creation work

I typically ask each of my players to provide a short description of their character and how they imagine they arrived to Barovia/Castle Ravenloft. Were you magically whisked away? Did you hear a voice in the dark? Were you already en route? You can make this adventure easier or harder by changing the level of your characters. Strahd may be a CR 15 vampire, but the legendary artifacts of Ravenloft possess incredible power. If your party is skilled (or lucky) enough to find all three artifacts, it’s possible that with good strategy, even a party of 5th-level characters can defeat Strahd. A party seeking a hard adventure should play 6th-level characters, a medium adventure caters to 8th-level characters, and an easy attack on the castle can be accomplished by 10th-level characters. Start from this baseline, and adjust according to party size and time limit. This adventure is balanced around a party of 4–5 characters. For every character you add to the party above 5, each character starts 1 level lower. For example, a party of 6 characters on a medium-difficulty adventure should each be 7th level. Likewise, every character you remove from the party below 4, each character gains 1 level. This adventure is balanced around a 4-hour time limit (plus the time it takes to fight Strahd). For every 2 hours you add to this time, each character starts 1 level lower. For example, a party of 5 characters on a medium-difficulty adventure with a 6-hour timer should each be 6th level. For every 1 hour you detract from this time, each character starts 1 level higher.

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.