D&D General About the goals of Strahd (Curse of Strahd) -Spoilers *Maybe*-

[touc]

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ANYONE WISHING TO PLAY THE CAMPAIGN

.....

I ran COS and read all the books, integrated quite a few of them into discovering Strahd's past as a key to defeating him. I also put a calendar timer into play.

• This is Strahd's curse and why the Land savors its favored child so much. I had events cycling towards the anniversary of the original wedding & Tatyana events. The closer the calendar got to that anniversary (maybe 1-2 years timer, really depends on the pace of your campaign, or disregard and just implement if things seem to grind to a halt on what to do), the more Ireena began to merge with Tatyana.
• As the party delved into artifacts of Strahd's history AND the anniversary got closer, the party would relive, like a daydream, versions of the original interactions with Strahd and Tatyana. I scripted small "plays" wherein the players would act out the dialog.
• If Ireena merged, she would fade away and assume the original role in the castle as Strahd intended. She becomes a vampire thrall under his control. Of course, in true Ravenloft fashion, at some point she'll end her existence and the cycle begins anew with Strahd believing he can overcome the powers that be thanks to his arrogant genius.
• If the party intervened before Ireena merged, they might keep her alive.
• In my campaign, they convinced the Abbott that killing Ireena (to keep Strahd from pining over her) was wrong. He agreed, and when they went off on their next adventure, he kidnapped Ireena, took her face, put it on his doll, healed Ireena so she wouldn't die, and sent her back. He was rather pleased with his "good" solution and thanked the party later for giving him the solution he'd prayed for. Ireena gave up and the whispers of Strahd that her face would be healed, all suffering would end, if she would just say yes to him, worked. She faded away to the Castle and I randomly assigned her an empty crypt.
• My players were getting their arses handed to them in Strahd's castle later when they invaded for revenge (his hit and run should be nearly unbeatable as he can just regenerate like a madman between strafes and keep the party from being able to rest). They remembered Strahd's obsession with Ireena, reasoned he probably turned her into a vampire, went to the crypts, and began bashing them in while fending off attacks. They found Ireena and staked her immediately, which set General Strahd, the in control genius tactician, into a rage he'd not felt since Sergei. When he insisted on going toe-to-toe to rip their throats out, he was easy pickings even for a depleted 9th level party.