Some good ideas in here! I started running Curse of Strahd last week and I have many deviations in the works but the change pertinent to this discussion is the nature of Strahd and Barovia. In my campaign he’s a bestial incarnation of envy, a man-sized smudge of darkness with a leprous snow white face, a lamprey mouth and hands like slick hooks. He wears a serene death mask of his brother Sergei which he only removes when he feeds. He’s less Victorian Dracula and more late Renaissance Nosferatu. Most Barovians, having never seen him, think he looks like the face on their coins. The romantic idea of “The Devil of Barovia” is one that he cultivates to feed his ego.
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Changes and enhancements...
Strahd and his vampire spawn are harmed by the sunlight of Barovia and don’t rise from their coffins until sundown. The villagers who still worship The Morninglord and his saints maintain hope as long as the sun continues to rise each day. This is crucial to the dread-and-release flow of a horror campaign. This means he’s cautious about his travel time, making sure to take his nightmare steed when he journeys near the borders of Barovia. His vampire spawn are less likely to accompany him the further he travels from the castle.
His nightmare steed is not a stallion named Bucephalus (snore). It’s actually a mare named Prana. The mare has the ability to appear as a gentle black riding horse, usually to lure innocents to their death.
Strahd’s Misty Escape ability gives him until sunrise (not 2 hours) to return to his coffin. His spawn still have the 2 hour limit.
His Scrying spell manifests as a shadow. In darkness it’s unseen but in the lamplight of an inn or the glow of a campfire the characters might notice the extra silhouette of a man. The shadow stretches, magnifies and escapes around corners as the mood warrants.
Most Barovians have a soul. They’re numb because they’re terrified and exhausted, not because they’re empty vessels. Handfuls of “silent babes” have been born without a soul in each generation but the cause is unknown, even to Strahd. These children are traditionally sent to the monastery in Krezk to be raised by the Abbot. After centuries of failed attempts to unite them with a soul the disguised deva now considers them little more than golems. These soulless Barovians, of various ages, replace the mongrelfolk outlined in the adventure.
Barovians regularly reincarnate but only the wisest suspect this. They don’t share this information since the prospect is terrifying and sacrilegious: it means they are beyond The Morninglord’s salvation. Déjà vu is common enough that Barovians attribute it to drinking too much wine and call it “The First Cup”. They do not resemble their past lives any more than a small, inbred population would resemble previous generations.
Ireena does not resemble Tatyana nor is she Tatyana reincarnated. She is just the most beautiful woman of her (limited) generation and thus the object of Strahd’s fixation. His crypts contain multiple wives he was certain - at the time - were Tatyana reborn because of their singular beauty. He has no way of recognizing her soul, and he never will, because he never truly loved her or knew her. He simply covets her. It’s a distinction his bent mind will never understand, so he continues to doom generations of women.
The only entities who can recognize Tatyana’s reincarnated soul are Sergei and the Sun Sword, by hearing her (or him) laugh with joy. If events transpire where this happens (Sergei may be reincarnated into a PC from outside of Barovia by grace of The Morninglord, or a PC might have the Sun Sword in their possession) they may feel compelled to keep this information from Strahd at all costs.
Some Barovians are the reincarnated souls of animals. This is a form of lycanthropy unique to Barovia, possibly intertwined with the “silent babes” phenomenon. Offspring born to a lycanthrope are usually, but not always, lycanthropes too (of the same type). A bite from a lycanthrope does not cause lycanthropy.
Zombies in Barovia the remains of Strahd’s army and castle guards whom he cursed for their assumed treason. They’re not miscellaneous undead. Those that weren’t slain and raised in the castle were hunted down in the forest over subsequent nights and executed. Most of them bear the scars of their demise, headless or with deep gashes across their throats. They stay close to where they perished, unless summoned by Strahd, and only attack and pursue armed individuals. They do not randomly congregate in village houses
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Harassment ideas...
He uses Gust of Wind to knock a character off one of the high bridges and has Prana save them at the last moment.
He has a Vistani troop dress as the characters and perform a play in Vallaki wherein they each commit suicide
He has his wolves leave a trail of innocent wounded animals – dogs, deer, raccoons, that the characters have to ignore, heal or put out of their misery.
He has the coffin maker contact them and say their funerals, and plots, have been paid for in advance.
He takes a family hostage in their home and forces them to prepare a fine meal. He invites the PCs to dinner, just to have a long chat, with the implication that he will slaughter the family if the PCs raise a finger against him.
Thassit for now!
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Changes and enhancements...
Strahd and his vampire spawn are harmed by the sunlight of Barovia and don’t rise from their coffins until sundown. The villagers who still worship The Morninglord and his saints maintain hope as long as the sun continues to rise each day. This is crucial to the dread-and-release flow of a horror campaign. This means he’s cautious about his travel time, making sure to take his nightmare steed when he journeys near the borders of Barovia. His vampire spawn are less likely to accompany him the further he travels from the castle.
His nightmare steed is not a stallion named Bucephalus (snore). It’s actually a mare named Prana. The mare has the ability to appear as a gentle black riding horse, usually to lure innocents to their death.
Strahd’s Misty Escape ability gives him until sunrise (not 2 hours) to return to his coffin. His spawn still have the 2 hour limit.
His Scrying spell manifests as a shadow. In darkness it’s unseen but in the lamplight of an inn or the glow of a campfire the characters might notice the extra silhouette of a man. The shadow stretches, magnifies and escapes around corners as the mood warrants.
Most Barovians have a soul. They’re numb because they’re terrified and exhausted, not because they’re empty vessels. Handfuls of “silent babes” have been born without a soul in each generation but the cause is unknown, even to Strahd. These children are traditionally sent to the monastery in Krezk to be raised by the Abbot. After centuries of failed attempts to unite them with a soul the disguised deva now considers them little more than golems. These soulless Barovians, of various ages, replace the mongrelfolk outlined in the adventure.
Barovians regularly reincarnate but only the wisest suspect this. They don’t share this information since the prospect is terrifying and sacrilegious: it means they are beyond The Morninglord’s salvation. Déjà vu is common enough that Barovians attribute it to drinking too much wine and call it “The First Cup”. They do not resemble their past lives any more than a small, inbred population would resemble previous generations.
Ireena does not resemble Tatyana nor is she Tatyana reincarnated. She is just the most beautiful woman of her (limited) generation and thus the object of Strahd’s fixation. His crypts contain multiple wives he was certain - at the time - were Tatyana reborn because of their singular beauty. He has no way of recognizing her soul, and he never will, because he never truly loved her or knew her. He simply covets her. It’s a distinction his bent mind will never understand, so he continues to doom generations of women.
The only entities who can recognize Tatyana’s reincarnated soul are Sergei and the Sun Sword, by hearing her (or him) laugh with joy. If events transpire where this happens (Sergei may be reincarnated into a PC from outside of Barovia by grace of The Morninglord, or a PC might have the Sun Sword in their possession) they may feel compelled to keep this information from Strahd at all costs.
Some Barovians are the reincarnated souls of animals. This is a form of lycanthropy unique to Barovia, possibly intertwined with the “silent babes” phenomenon. Offspring born to a lycanthrope are usually, but not always, lycanthropes too (of the same type). A bite from a lycanthrope does not cause lycanthropy.
Zombies in Barovia the remains of Strahd’s army and castle guards whom he cursed for their assumed treason. They’re not miscellaneous undead. Those that weren’t slain and raised in the castle were hunted down in the forest over subsequent nights and executed. Most of them bear the scars of their demise, headless or with deep gashes across their throats. They stay close to where they perished, unless summoned by Strahd, and only attack and pursue armed individuals. They do not randomly congregate in village houses
----
Harassment ideas...
He uses Gust of Wind to knock a character off one of the high bridges and has Prana save them at the last moment.
He has a Vistani troop dress as the characters and perform a play in Vallaki wherein they each commit suicide
He has his wolves leave a trail of innocent wounded animals – dogs, deer, raccoons, that the characters have to ignore, heal or put out of their misery.
He has the coffin maker contact them and say their funerals, and plots, have been paid for in advance.
He takes a family hostage in their home and forces them to prepare a fine meal. He invites the PCs to dinner, just to have a long chat, with the implication that he will slaughter the family if the PCs raise a finger against him.
Thassit for now!
