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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MostlyHarmless42" data-source="post: 7515797" data-attributes="member: 6845520">I've spoken on this subject at length in other threads, though to elaborate on what toucanbuzz has said, a other factor to consider is that Strahd is NOT the true master of Barovia, the dark powers are. They will not let him die or leave willingly. Even *if* he is slain, Strahd will eventually reform in some fashion in Barovia after a time. It may be as a reincarnation, or perhaps the lands will warp someone (say a do-gooder player who would be king after strahd). The powers will corrupt any attempt to do genuine good if they can.Another great source for narrative purposes if you want to showcase this cycle of corruption and despair is the Abbot in the monastery. He is a fallen angel and is described as being driven mad by the powers of Barovia. In my game I had his motive for betraying the party and for making the corpse bride be related. He was convinced in his madness that the only way to truly save the souls of those trapped in barovia is to ha e Strahd win, and to do that he must accomplish the one thing he is fated to fail over and over again with: ending up with Ireena. The powers are his jailers and Strahd is a prisoner. Even if you don't like the fate angle for Strhad to fail with Ireena, the Abbot can still be a great source to help showcase the futility of pointlessness of killing Strahd: the players may succeed (I even had the Abbot say that he *did* succeed at killing him once, though the players weren't sure if he was just mad or not), and may even escape, but Barovia and Strahd will always be out there...lurking.</blockquote>

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