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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MostlyHarmless42" data-source="post: 7062965" data-attributes="member: 6845520">Fortunely I read ahead on places like here and realized quite quick Strahd is a squishy individual. I planned for this type of thing by doing a couple things. First, being well aware of his capabilities and making sure to swap out some spells to better suit a hit and run monster. One pet peeve of mine with Wizards and their monster stat blocks for casters is they always seem to use the same damn spells prepared for a "wizard" caster, regardless of if it makes sense. Strahd is more a guerilla fighter, which means he should have spells to support this. Likewise, he is scrying and spying on the party the whole adventure, which means he should prepare spells to counter the party.I also made a slight tweak to the heart in that it kept him from being destroyed while the heart still beats. It's a classic trope and effective makes him a pseudo-lich, but it keeps him from being steamroller outside his castle, and explains why he's so confident about winning. I basically have set up with the players the idea that they have to find the heart (which will be at 1 HP when they find it if they do 49 damage to strahd first). ...that all said, to help with your immediate problem, the wraith idea has merit, though as others have said, the Dark Powers are the real baddies of Ravenloft. Perhaps you could use the arcanaloth from the Amber Temple, but I would suggest tying in the Lichtenstein of the Amber Temple, or Madame Eva herself. Yes, the prophecy mentions a "he", but you could have her be a more powerful being in disguise. Perhaps a powerful devil here to claim Strahd's soul? Maybe even use the Abbot from the monastery. He is a fallen angel and could play into that. Perhaps he has been sent here to redeem the land itself from the dark powers, and he's miffed the party messed up his plans by offing Strahd? Remember he thinks the key is to give Strahd his bride. Sure he's by the book a Deva (and therfore weaker), but he could easily be upgraded to a powerful devil stats or even a Solar angel.You can even play more into the Castlevania route. Barovia must always have a lich king...err, Strahd / Dracula. The players get to the final place, only to realize the lands themselves are disappearing into the mists. The people they've met are ceasing to exist. The players then have a choice, do they flee through a means to escape the land, or one of them attune to the land, and thus being the next Strahd? Madame Eva, The Lich, or The Abbot could present this choice, either as a representative of the dark powers, or just as a third party.You have a lot of options, pick the one that best represents the version of Barovia you have conveyed so far.</blockquote>

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