D&D 5E Curse of Strahd help (lots o’ spoilers)

[tglassy]

Curse of Strahd help (lots o’ spoilers)

Hello all,

I’ve been DMing Curse of Strahd for my family, including my mother, father and two brothers. I’m 31, and my brothers are in their 20s.

Anyway, I got them all into DND with Mines if Phandelvar, and they continued their characters on to Curse of Strahd.

I made a few changes in order to make things a little more interesting to my players.

1. I deleted Ireena and made my mom’s character into the reincarnation of Tatyana. She loved that. She loves those old romantic ghost stories and such. And since her character didn’t know where she came from and was found by a Wizard and raised in a tower, it worked.

2. My dad is a Human Noble Fighter, and I made him descended from Strahd’s family. As in, Strahd is a cousin or some such to one of his ancestors. He recognized Strahd’s crest as an ancient version of his own family’s and a few other things. He also looks a lot like Strahd’s brother.

3. My brother, the older one, wound up becoming a werewolf and taking over the werewolf clan. He then took every single gift from the Amber Temple. Including becoming a Vampire if he can find someone to love him and then kill them and then be killed by people who hate him. I don’t mind evil characters.

4. My other brother has declared that it is his goal to take over Barovia.

They are currently in Castle Ravenloft, level 10, and trying to find Strahd. Oh, one of them had a Staff of the Magi. It got stolen from him, and now Strahd has it.

What I want to do is make it so that it is possible to replace Strahd. I’ve already laid the groundwork, suggesting that Barovia must have a ruler. This made them all think of Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean, which to be honest, makes sense. Whoever strikes the killing blow has to take his place.

However, I’ve got two players who WANT to take over Barovia, and two who don’t, but the only one that makes sense to replace him is my Dad’s Fighter, who is related to Strahd. And he doesn’t want it.

But I’m not sure if that’s what I want to do. I think it would be interesting for them to have to make this decision, but I’m not sure how to accomplish it.

Thoughts?

 

[epithet]

I wouldn't base the inheritance upon the killing blow, since that's too random and doesn't provide the agency you seem to be looking for. Instead, I would base it on drinking Strahd's blood. As written, Strahd can't really be killed--he will reform eventually. To accomplish what your objective seems to be, you can change the things so that once a character drinks Strahd's blood, then that character can actually destroy Strahd (as one would any other vampire lord) and assume the mantle of the Master of Ravenloft and Lord of Barovia. A character can get Strahd's blood by persuading him to provide it (your mom's character might be able to do this,) tricking him somehow, or taking it by force.

So, for example, your mother's character (Tatyana reborn) could persuade Strahd to take her as his immortal bride, binding them together with his blood, then betray him using the holy symbol of ravenkind to kill him in sunlight thereby destroying him. Or, your other brother could stake him in his crypt, immobilizing him, then take his blood before cutting off his head and destroying him.

The blood is the life.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

One question I might have that could help answer things is this: do your players want to continue playing their characters beyond Curse of Strahd, or do they intend to retire them?

Barovia is almost a living entity of its own, along with the Dark Powers that initially chose Strahd to rule Barovia. As [MENTION=6796566]epithet[/MENTION] said, Strahd cannot truly die so long as he remains in the favor of the Dark Powers. Thus, taking over from Strahd may be more about pleasing the Dark Powers and making them see that you are a better instrument to further their plans than Strahd.

Alternatively, the successor of Strahd may slowly lose themselves, eventually becoming Strahd in time. Their body and mind slowly changing.

Either way, Strahd's successor is likely to be just as stuck in Barovia as he was, relying on the Vistani to draw key people in and furthering the influence of the Dark Powers until they can reach beyond the borders of Barovia. This means any character to take Strahd's place will have to retire from adventuring.

So hopefully that gives you a better idea of how to handle things. Let your brother know that taking over from Strahd will force them to retire their character. If both still want it after that, then could become not just about killing Strahd, but which can most please the Dark Powers.

 

[MNblockhead]

First, there is a rich amount of material on raven loft and the demiplane(s) of dread. But I ignore them. It is just too much and I want to run Barovia in AD&D I6 sense, which is what the 5e book closely models. It is its own cursed land, not part of some larger plane. Also the lore on Strahd's family may contradict what you are trying to do with your brother's character, so my recommendation is to ignore it. Stick with the book and your own homebrew.

As for taking over Strahd, I would recommend:

1. They must accept "the dark gift of the Vampyre" from the West Sarcophagus in the Amber Vault (area X42 in the Amber Temple)

2. They must destroy Strahd (keep in mind that he must be in his resting place to finally destroy him, if they defeat him in the area of his final encounter as foretold by Madam Eva's reading he turns to mist and returns to his coffin).

3. The beneficiary of the dark gift of the Vampyre must slay another humanoid that loves or reveres him or her, then drinks the dead humanoid’s blood within 1 hour of slaying it.

4. The beneficiary of the dark gift of the Vampyre must die a violent death at the hands of one or more creatures that hate it.

More than one family member should be able to obtain the dark gift of the Vampyre. But any other who do become Vampire Spawn under the control of the first person to meet the four requirements above.

Whoever becomes the new Lord of Barovia can let other come and go at his well, but can never leave Barovia him/herself.

 

[epithet]

I definitely agree that the Master of Ravenloft is a prisoner of the mists. Once you take up that power, your campaign is necessarily limited to consolidating your power in Barovia.

I respectfully disagree with @MNblockhead with regard to the dark gift, however. While the dark gift of the Vampyre is currently necessary to rule the cursed land of Barovia, I think it is something that can be taken by charm, guile or force from one who currently possesses it, rather than strictly requiring the recipient to return to the original source. It just fits much better with vampire mythology in my mind. As I consider it, I would also require a special ritual casting of the 1st level cleric spell ceremony for the investiture of the new Master of Ravenloft, involving the shedding of the new Master's blood upon the soil of Barovia (as mentioned in the novel I, Strahd.)

One thing I've been wondering is the possibility of freeing Barovia from the curse altogether. It seems that it should be possible to, for example, plane shift each amber vessel and its resident dark power to Carceri, or the astral plane, or somewhere removed from Barovia. If the Amber Temple were then hallowed, that should, in theory, completely break the grip of the "dark powers" on the land, right?

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Make it a "cinematic" killing blow. Basically when Strahd finally "dies" and down he is laying there coughing up blood and cursing them all for daring to challenge them. At this point whomever wants to can drive their weapon through the heart of Strahd and actually kill him thus claiming Barovia and the throne.

 

[MostlyHarmless42]

So, for my version of Curse of Strahd, I had similar ways of working in the characters. The Paladin who started as an Oathbreaker and ended up by the end an Oath of the Ancients (I'll get into it in a minute) I implied over the game was the reincarnation of Sergei and had a backstory tailored to be implying that Strhad was grooming him since childhood through Rahadin to replace him. The other players included a half-elf ranger whom I made the daughter of the dead eleven consort of strahd and a human from Faerun, and I made the change that Rahadin and Kassimir were twin brothers and that Rahadin was impersonating his brother to falsely lure the party. It tied the ranger and paladin together in a way they didnt expect and made Rahadin a more prominent character as a result, as he was bother the ranger's uncle and the paladin's mentor/betrayer. Also in the group was a tiefling warlock who I made the half-sister of Izek and made the creepy dolls about her instead, a cleric of Thor was was basically a glorious fish out of water compared to the rest of the group (who were from Faerun) with amnesia from hitting his head too hard when he fell from the sky, and a cleric of Amunator who ended up going full local and fell into temptation of a hand and eye of Vecna.

The paladin was the one who ended up replacing Strahd after he and the warlock (who took a handful of dark gifts) sort of competed for it without telling each other. I ended up making the druid stones in the three places (the windmill, the hill with the blight tree and the ones near the village with the witch), and I let them "bind" themselves to the land, granting minor effects over weather, beasts, etc., and taking the phrase about strahd being "ancient, and the land" somewhat literally. The thing to remember is that Strahd is NOT the master of barovia, but its prisoner. Barovia is his prison and the dark powers are his sadistic wardens. I basically had the Abbet (a fallen angel) out right tell the party that there was a somewhat cyclical nature to Barovia and that killing Strahd might let them escape but who still doom the souls trapped there to oblivion. Best part? He explained this to the party *while* betraying them by helping Strahd capture Ireena and after they sort of got an insane vibe from him.

For the actual ritual of replacing strahd I made it clear that the title of Dread Lord and the ruler of barovia were not necessarily one and the same. Strahd himself explained this to the party after getting back his journal, which I chose to make the literal pact item of the ritual, and tied it with the Heart of Sorrow in the castle. The party struck a bargain with Strahd for letting Ireena go if they a) found a replacement ruler he deemed acceptable, and b) found a new dread lord to allow him to escape. For the ruler strahd was the decider, while the dread lord needed to be a power undead (i.e. any of the three main stone pacts, as I was ruling the ancient resurrection stone would turn the bearer slowly into a powerful ghast). You may not like this divide, so use what you will, though if you haven't had it destroyed yet, tying the heart of sorrow to binding someone to barovia is appropriate. Alternatively they could drink strahd's blood or marry someone in a symbolic gesture of tying themselves to the land; there are a few eligible candidates for this: Ireena, Fiona Wachter, the girl charmed in the castle, any of Strahd's brides (including the male one), Ismark/Izek (for the ladies), or if you are particularly cruel the corpse golem bride with the abbet. After all it *is* the dark powers choice of this ritual should be allowed to happen.

For my game? The paladin became both the dreadlord and the ruler (who later went on to become a reincarnation of strahd) but that was after the warlock and him fought to the death after she killed Izek and we ruled that her death qualified for other "loved one" part of the pact. His other option for that was to kill Ireena, whom he had sworn to protect. 3

 

[toucanbuzz]

Yikes, some of your players are fighting to become eternally cursed? Well, you came for help, so remember the entire backstory (Strahd's journal) and hopefully the building horror story here, especially if you get the Argynvostholt version. [sblock] Wherein they are willing to suffer eternal unrest just to see Strahd suffer. If they get wind any player is trying to ease Strahd's suffering, including by destroying him, you're going to have a nasty force coming your way.[/sblock]

First, remember that Barovia [sblock]isn't real. It's a facsimile of the real Barovia. That's why most people in there don't have souls. The land populated the area with drones to supplement the real people it took in, and occasionally travelers caught in the mist (who must be permitted a method to return home).[/sblock] So killing Strahd means nothing to the land. It may or may not let that happen. IF the land feels it has a soul whose damnable acts are equal to or greater than Strahd's, it won't let them take away their favorite subject. It'll create a new land for that damned soul, and that soul will be cursed with wondrous power but the tantalizing inability to ever achieve its darkest desire.

We're talking bad stuff. Lord Soth let his wife die, betrayed his knightly oaths, committed adultery, and murdered innocents. Lords of the Lands aren't just killers. They're horrors. Some later Dark Lords are fairly minor in power relative to others, but the Land loves their cursed evil. And each one gets to suffer in some twisted way. Soth can never have what he truly wants - the soul of the only woman he ever came to desire and commanded his respect. Strahd doesn't get to have Lady T., and it's his fantasy that he can get her and leave this land as long as there's someone to replace him. The land doesn't let go. Ever. It never has. It loves that their cursed subjects are so blind with their power that they miss the curse itself.

Okay, history lesson aside, I'd find it awkward to run a game where I've got two people who appear heroic and (at least) one who is seeking out pure evil. But, here's how the Land damns folks. In the Ravenloft books, there's a deciding moment for the bad guy. A chance at redemption, to not take that final step to damnation itself. These Dark Lords don't take that step. You could create such an event, tailored specifically to what darkness your player has done, and you want to make sure the player, if they take that damning step (and it has to be horrific, after all, you're dealing with souls whose crimes offend even the gods so that there's a place like Ravenloft), knows their folly. If they are to rule Barovia, everyone who has a claim must die. (Make it all an illusion, you never want player vs. player in D&D, trust us on that. It ruins groups). And that includes children. Once that's done, the mists rise, and they get a land of their own. One that sucks. One that is full of drones. One they can't leave. And they get to know Strahd's just fine. And there's an eternal reminder of their sin somewhere. Forever. And then you retire that character as an NPC, and we get a feel for the horror that is Ravenloft.


As a bonus, if you reach this event, and you can get all the other 3 players to play along, even better. But I'd be leery, very very leery, about people coming back to the table when there's people playing heroic and there's someone playing selfish evil. It doesn't lead to longevity. Good luck.

 

[tglassy]

Hmm. I like the Argynvostholt angle. They never went to that castle, despite my prompting. They did destroy the Heart of Ravenloft already, so I could say the Death Knight at Argynvostholt felt that Strahd was in being attacked, and is leading his men to destroy them. That would be interesting. "You killed Strahd! Yay! Oh wait, now you have to kill these guys." After fighting Strahd, that should be difficult.

But besides that, I'm thinking that if nobody takes Strahd's place, Barovia is destroyed and the Dark Powers leave and go into the world, which would be a great start to another adventure as they all try to figure out how to seal the Dark Powers again.

I'm seriously thinking of making Tatyana the key to everything. it was because of her that Strahd made the pact. I'm thinking that I might change the Pact somewhat, in that Strahd made it to get Tatyana, and he never got her. So technically, the Dark Powers have never fulfilled their side of the bargain. I'm thinking that the Pact has a caveat, similar to Angel from Buffy, where he cannot know happiness or it is broken. The Dark Powers feed on Strahd's torment, and on the torment he inflicts on the land. If he had Tatyana, then he would know happiness, which, perhaps, would break the Pact and the Dark Powers would no longer have their nourishment. This would depower them, and force them to stay in the Amber Temple, awaiting some other dupe to take their bargains and give them power.

But it only works like that if the Pact is completed. They orchestrated a way for Tatyana to leave Barovia, and have been feeding on Strahd and Barovia ever since. This ending requires my mom's character to make a sacrifice, resulting in the end of Barovia and the freedom of Strahd to wreck havoc on the real world in all his glory, starting a whole new quest line where Strahd is conquering the real world.

Of course, my dad would never allow that, and neither will my brothers if they have a say, so more than likely they'll just kill Strahd. If they do that, though, and Barovia has no ruler, the Dark Powers are freed from their prison instead of being quelled, which releases them on the world. Which means the only way to keep them down is for someone to accept rulership of Barovia, and accept the Curse of Strahd onto themselves.

Maybe I'll just make it simple and have the Dark Powers offer a new pact, different for each person, and if they want it they can have it and if not they can leave Barovia. If more than one wants it, they'll have to fight for it.

 

[tglassy]

Not sure if anyone cares, but I have written out the ending of CoS, and have gone a little more simple than what was above.

Basically, I'm going with Barovia needs a King or else the Dark Powers are freed. Strahd can leave if Tatyana's soul goes with him, leaving Barovia without a King, freeing them and allowing Strahd to go out into the world.

When Strahd dies, the Dark Powers will appear and inform the players that either one of them takes his place, or they are loosed on the worlds. In order for one of them to take his place, they must kill one of the others, which makes them turn into either a Lich or a Vampire, or Death Knight, they're choice, and they become the new Lord of Ravenloft. At that point, the other two are allowed to leave, so long as the new Lord of Ravenloft allows them to.

I'm doing it this way because Curse of Strahd is a horror book, and it should have hard consequences. Becoming the Lord of Ravenloft shouldn't be just some willy nilly "Oh, I perform this ritual" or "Oh, I kill this random NPC." I want it to be hard. If my brothers want the throne, they're going to have to pay for it.

What I expect to happen is for my two brothers to look at each other and say "Duel to the death?" And the other to answer, "After you, old chap." And this would be after fighting Strahd, so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

But if they DON'T, and it's likely they won't since I will make it clear that being the Lord of Ravenloft is just as much a curse as anything, then the Dark Powers are freed, and I'm considering running Tomb of Annihilation next, with the Dark Powers being responsible for the Death Curse, and they have to find a way to stop it. I'm really hoping they take this option, but knowing my brothers, probably not.