D&D 5E CoS: Running Strahd without relying on Charm

[toucanbuzz]

In my experience, in every incarnation of the module, once the PCs have both the sword and the holy symbol, fighting Strahd is a cakewalk. I would expect the PCs to pretty much ROLF stomp all over Strahd at this point unless he can somehow arrange to steal those particular items.

If Strahd sticks around, it's supposed to be a cakewalk. These are bane items to him.

I prefer to modify my bosses to be like puzzles, with layers to solve and defenses to strip away, rather than just another battle, as a few lucky dice rolls can render what should be an epic finale into a joke. Hence my suggestion that no-way, no-how, would he ever stick around to face anyone with those bane items...unless he's lost all reason and self-control.

 

[Quartz]

Lots of good points already so I'll take a different tack. This is the end of the campaign, right? Strahd dies tonight, right? All the players are pumped, right? So it's your job as DM to ensure that either the PCs win or they lose. No "We'll continue this next session." because that's anticlimactic. How you do that depends upon your group.