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Message: <blockquote data-quote="toucanbuzz" data-source="post: 8157042" data-attributes="member: 19270">If he fights inside his castle, he's virtually unkillable because he can [spoiler] run into walls, wait to regenerate to full, then do a "hit and run" tactic of spells or hits. If you try and rest, he'll simply summon everything he's got to harass you. Want to rest in your force-field hut? Try resting with incessant noise all 8 hours. [/spoiler] Outside his castle, for a group of 8(!) PCs, at the appropriate level, he's cannon fodder. Action economy will win the day. He simply doesn't have enough Actions to make a dent. Tactically, charm is not a viable combat action, especially with 8 PCs. It's wasteful and generally meant for out-of-combat encounters. No clue how the DMGuild product would affect the combat, so no comment there.As a former general who didn't make mistakes, I'd tend to think Strahd has planned his battlefields long ahead. After all, he's had centuries to do so. He's not going to surrender his "high ground" advantage, aka his special ability above. When I ran it, the PCs couldn't beat the tactic. They were being worn down. But, the key to beating Strahd was not in getting better weapons (which is the module's solution). Rather, his journal, an oft-ignored piece, was the beginning to understand him. After all, why was it ever part of the fortune telling if it didn't actually serve any real purpose? [spoiler] His obsession is his undoing. He's patient and eternal. He doesn't need to fight the PCs. He can simply outlive them, wait for another generation of Ireena/Tatyana, and start over. Eventually, he figures he'll succeed. But, that moment of failure historically has enraged him beyond reason. He wiped out an entire village because they hanged a Tatyana reincarnation. He wiped out all the female elves in the land because he was thwarted. In my game, Strahd wore Ireena down until, one day, the Abbott took her face (left the rest of her alive, after all, he's a good guy speaking with the gods) for his Bride, figuring he'd kill two birds with one stone by removing the competition and giving Strahd the looks he wants. At this point, Ireena gave up, and she was Strahd's for a time. Strahd made her his bride and gave her a new spot in his crypts. My PCs reasoned that if he lost Ireena, like all the other times, he'd hopefully lose his mind and stop his cold, calculated tactical approach of hit and run. And, he did. After that, the Sunsword took care of him in a couple rounds.[/spoiler]Don't be afraid to have Strahd use his tactic. Don't be afraid to make this battle a killer one as a result. There's provisions for the PCs to lose and be taken captive. Maybe he needs them to convince Ireena. And remember, right now, that's #1 in Strahd's life. History is repeating itself for him. Nothing else matters, not even these new "toys" the Land has given him. The overlook is where Tatyana threw herself into the Abyss. If the PCs have done all their homework (and the DM has placed nuggets around the land), they'll understand this. Ultimately, he's not a "fight to the death" guy. He doesn't have to. He's seen generations come and go. He'll see them return to the earth and his quest will go on. He controls the Sun, the weather, and all lives in his prison realm. So, treat him like a puzzle with an invincible tactic that needs to be solved first. The PCs need to make him stay. There's only 1 thing that could do that, and it's not taunts from a bunch of nobodies who took off the training wheels a few months ago. It's far deeper. Anyhow, that's how I'd work it.</blockquote>

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