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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9133328" data-attributes="member: 6750502">Curse of Strahd in the Beast World <img src="https://i.imgur.com/8YMGiDN.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 450px" /><a href="https://www.furaffinity.net/view/37949302/" target="_blank">Source: Mourning Robin by DesuBox</a>The Land of Mists is a drifting island in the Multiverse, the cast-off remains of other planes washing up on its shores. In the most common interpretation it is a demiplane, or a group of demiplanes in the Ethereal Plane or Shadowfell, where the Dark Powers carve out chunks of other worlds and create worlds anew to torment their Darklord captors.But what if the Domains of Dread were part of a different cosmology? <a href="https://heartleafgames.itch.io/the-delvers-guide" target="_blank">The cosmology of the Beast World?</a>Cosmic Foundations: The campaign setting of the Beast World is made up of various planes of existence known as worlds floating among the seemingly endless Astral Sea. There are different types of worlds which share similar properties, but the Domains of Dread are a cluster of solved worlds drawn together by some malevolent cosmic force. A solved world is in danger of stagnation, abandoned by deities and unable to fundamentally transform. In the case of Barovia, it is stuck in a cyclical doom, repeating the tragedy of Strahd’s surrender to darkness in his pursuit of Tatyana. While life still persists, most people are either reincarnations rebuilt by foul magic or soulless entities. Without the presence of Divinity, the gaps are filled in by magic hewn from the Fanes of Barovia, acting as a magical net that keeps the existing souls in a trapped state of reanimation.Barovian History: The Von Zarovich family was an old noble line within the Kingdom of Allemance, their ancestral lands sitting within the foothills of the Mantle amid the great forests of Glasrún. During the tyranny of the Howling King, their knights were among the first to invade the lands of Oria. The Allemagnian takeover of this land was a doomed endeavor, yet Strahd Von Zarovich managed to hold onto a valley for some time, naming it Barovia and building Castle Ravenloft as testament to his legacy.But over time, as the decades wore on the support for the occupation of Oria dwindled, with more Allemagnians questioning the purpose of their fighting. When peace was declared between the two lands it seemed as though the world had no need for Strahd the Conqueror. Seeing Tatyana, the woman he was smitten with, going into the arms of his younger brother Sergei, reminded Strahd of his aging nature. When his mother died, he grew fearful that the world would move on without him. He would not let himself be forgotten; turning to the one deity who would listen, he pledged himself to Veronette and learned the ways of necromancy. And later on, he joined a society of vampires to avert the death of ages.The Wedding at Castle Ravenloft was supposed to be a joyous occasion. The Kingdom of Allemance pledged to return seized territory to Oria, and Sergei was proving to be a forward-thinking peacemaker in the negotiations. Castle Ravenloft would still stand, but the lands it sat on would be Oric, the Count an ambassador rather than a baron. Strahd would not let all he worked for slip through his fingers! He murdered his brother in a mad attempt to win the favor of Tatyana, and with Veronette’s aid the land upon which Castle Ravenloft sat was torn asunder from the Beast World to be his and only his to rule. But it was all for naught: Tatyana died, as would many of her future incarnations, and now Veronette would claim it without the competition of the other divinities. But Strahd knew that the goddess wasn’t to be trusted despite making a deal with her, so using the power of the Fanes he called up the Mists to shield even Barovia from her, turning it into a Solved World trapped in an endless cycle of doom.Veronette is angered that a mortal managed to outwit her, and she hungers to break through the Mists and lay claim to Barovia as her own. Her presence can be felt in the Amber Temple, where through mad devotees and rites she finds ways to torment the land and its inhabitants. Be it sending her agents to violently take Tatyana out of Strahd’s grasp time and time again, or offering desperate Barovians a way out of the cosmic cycle, she has many ways of making her presence felt.As for Strahd, his primary obsession is to somehow win back Tatyana's love. But his own arrogance and refusal to admit wrongdoing, combined with the demonic spirit urging him towards violence, hinders whatever attempts at grace he does. No matter how jovially friendly nor polite and regal he may act, buried within is a simmering cauldron of rage. Rage at Tatyana's continued refusal, rage at his domain being a shadow of its former glory, rage at what he gave up for in the pursuit of undeath.Barovia Today: The valley has vestiges of the Beast World, and while its history texts speak of that land’s inhabitants they’ve been separated long enough that the world beyond their mist-shrouded land may as well be a distant tale. They know nothing of the recent Invader Wars, and in terms of Delving culture it is nonexistent save for the lone bunch of travelers whose wagon gets lost within the Mists. Such souls are rare enough that the domain’s Darklord and the valley’s other power-players take interest in using them for their games and machinations.Barovia is a mixture of Allemagnian and Oric culture. Like Allemance, most people live in farming villages near the major towns, the Von Zarovich family tree mentions long-forgotten nobles of the Lupine Throne, and most coinage is stamped with faces of kings and queens from the Tibelle dynasty. But the settlements at the rural level have closer Oric influence, be it the decentralized nature of governance, lodge houses that serve as communal “town centers,” and the sacred nature of summerstones which take on a new prominence in an undead-rich land.Species: In terms of species, Barovia is sparsely-populated but quite cosmopolitan due to its history. Bovines and cervines are a common sight among the Barovian farmlands and mountain villages, while canines (particularly lupines) are prominent in the family trees of several noble families such as the Vallakoviches.  A small community of celerine known as the Dusk Hares live outside the walls of Vallaki, and ovine are the most common inhabitants of the village of Krezk. Other species of the Beast World can be found here to one degree or another.Humans, kobolds, and dragons are by far the rarest species in Barovia, with the former two not having inhabited the land during the Howling King’s invasion. When such beings are found, they have come from lands beyond the Mists. Interestingly, there’s a family of bats living in Barovia known as the Martikovs, and unlike the ones in the Beast World it seems that they have been here for a while. They are rather cagey about their origins, and tend to avoid doing anything that can be seen as (openly) antagonizing Strahd von Zarovich. A group of silver dragon knights fought against the Howling King but lost due to Strahd’s superior forces, and a draconic PC may be one of the survivors or descendants. As for Jackals, they may or may not exist deep in the Svalich Woods, a hidden community shrouded by illusion.Religion: Pirhoua the Beast Mother used to be the most popular deity in Barovia, like she is in most of the Beast World. But centuries of planar isolation, combined with a deep stirring for the lost sun ever since the Mists rose, saw a surge in popularity in Aubade the Sun Bull as the most commonly-worshiped deity. As his faith is already prone to divergent localized traditions, Aubade’s faithful in Barovia encourage their followers to live in order to be remembered. The despair and sapping of hope is seen as a test, and many a traveler or monster hunter sought to call upon Sunblood so that they may go down in a blaze of glory and send a message to monsters that think them easy prey. The most famous of Aubade’s worshipers have been canonized as Saints, their corpses laid deep within summerstone deposits so that their holiness permeates the surrounding land. It is through such rites that the Bones of Saint Andral in Vallaki protect the church with a hallowed aura.Veronette is well-known yet despised, viewed as the source of all undead in the valley. And yet, desperate and power-hungry souls still seek her aid, particularly those who become aware of Strahd’s betrayal to her and mistakenly take her to be an ally against the Darklord. She can be heard most clearly in the Amber Temple, whose trapped vestiges are but former liches she discarded like unwanted playthings when they had no more use.The Vistani: The Vistani are a nomadic ethnic group of various species trapped within the Domains of Dread who found ways of traversing the Mists. Contrary to what some may think, they have no relation to the delver culture of the Beast World, although the recent arrivals of the latter have been met with open arms in both sides talking shop on ways to improve their mobile homes in a dangerous land. Varasta, the Handsome Idiot Dice Fox, has recently begun walking among them in disguise as a tradewind vulpine, and takes a keen interest in the PCs. Barovia’s cyclical nature has become rather dull to him, so he wants to shake things up with a friendly game of Tarokka…Changes to the Module <img src="https://i.imgur.com/UNlFhkP.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 529px" /><a href="https://www.artstation.com/blogs/janrozanski/0GBB/mist-in-the-ruins" target="_blank">Source: Mists In the Ruins by Jan Rozanski</a>NPC Fursonas: Perhaps the largest and most wide-ranging change is turning Barovia’s rather humanocentric NPC cast into various anthropomorphic species. With the abundance of furry art, NPCs can be whatever feels the most appropriate with the right replacement of illustrations. However, some suggestions are listed below:Strahd and the rest of the Von Zarovich family are wolves, in reflection of that species making up the nobility of Allemance.Madam Eva is Varasta in disguise as an elderly tradewind vulpine.Ireena should be of a species of animal associated with typical “heroic” qualities of valor, bravery, and the like. Canines would be the most appropriate. A DM who wants to play up the “hunter and hunted” nature of her relationship with Strahd can make her a prey animal, such as a cervine (elk), celurine (rabbit), murine (mouse), or even feline as a contrast to Strahd’s wolven nature. A tradewind vulpine colored red can be a nice callback to Ireena being a redhead (who are considered bad luck in Barovia).  Alternatively, she can be of whatever anthropomorphic species people in the gaming group might consider attractive, if one wishes to have her as a romance option for a PC.The Durst children of Death House should be species that are considered small and nonthreatening. Celerine (rabbits) are an ideal choice, as are murine (rodents).Father Donavich has a bit of a molelike appearance in his official character art, and his son becoming a vampire spawn (fiend-vessel in the Beast World) lurking in the basement is ironically appropriate.The Martikovs are bats, and their shapechanging nature comes from druidic traditions rather than lycanthropy. Anthropomorphic bird species don’t exist in the Beast World by default, but in terms of winged creatures bats are appropriately gothic.Rudolf Van Richten is a cervine disguised as a feline.Baron Vargas Vallakovich is a dog that is basically an anthropomorphic version of his two pet mastiffs. Lydia Petrovna is also a dog: a hyena, reflecting her laughing at her husband’s every comment. Their gloomy son Victor takes more after his mother’s side for extra irony.Izek Strazni should be a bovine, ursine, or similar species known for having a large and imposing frame. He could even be a dragon, where his demonic arm that throws fire is actually his breath weapon!The Wachter family are all felines. Stella Wachter is afflicted by a curse that is causing her to lose her willful nature, becoming more like the base animal from which the Beast Mother uplifted her kind.Gadof Blinsky is a laetine ferret, given that said species counts many renowned inventors among their kind in the Beast World.Kasimir Velikov and the Dusk Elves are instead the Dusk Hares, a clan of Oric celerine who fought against Strahd’s forces during the Howling King’s campaigns. Their numbers have been all but wiped out, reduced to a few struggling families living in a burrow outside Vallaki.The burgomaster of Krezk, Dimitri Krezkov, and his wife Anna are both ovines. The mongrelfolk in the Abbey are instead regular species of the Beast World who have been warped by the Abbot’s foul magics. Otto Belview is an equine donkey, while Zygfrek Belview is a canine wolf.The Abbot is functionally ovine, but takes the form of a more fierce-looking ram.Vasilka the flesh golem looks to be whatever species the DM chose for Ireena.Ezmerelda d’Avenir should be a species noted for their craftiness and alert senses. Feline or vulpine are appropriate choices.The hags of Old Bonegrinder take the forms of elderly sloths to appear non-threatening.Baba Lysaga is an ancient ursine whose body is as mighty as her mind.The ghosts of the Knights of the Silver Dragon are quite literally, the ghosts of dragons. In this case they’d be renamed the Silver Dragon Knights.Beyond just swapping out Barovia’s humanocentric NPC cast for anthros, some special considerations need to be taken in line with matching up to the lore of the Beast World.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/rInzWRF.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 478px" /><a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/JvOAXn" target="_blank">Source: Werewolf by Antonio J. Manzanedo</a>Lycanthropy is a more recent invention, a tool of biological warfare by the Ferals creating a disease that afflicts only humans in a twisted attempt to make society view them as monsters. In Curse of Strahd, lycanthropes serve two distinct uses: the werewolves are willing servants of Strahd who kidnap children to spread their infection, and the wereravens are part of an underground resistance movement.Werewolves are an important aspect of gothic horror as well as a popular monster among furries, so it feels a waste to just do away with them. In the Beast World, the Ferals are an anti-human hate group who refuse to forgive Brethren as a whole after the Invader War. Finding their organization vilified in many lands, one of their cells conducted research into extraplanar travel both to better stage attacks from a fortified position and also to hunt down the imagined “hidden human bastions” in the Broken World. One such expedition landed them in Barovia, and while Brethren were largely unknown here the Ferals found it an ideal world to be free of humanity’s taint. They entreatied Strahd for an alliance, which the vampire accepted after hearing horror stories of the Invader War and believing that their forces still pose a major threat back in the Beast World.In this change, the werewolves are kidnapped and infected by Brethren enchanted by Ferals. Like their original plan, they seek to use the werewolves as a tool of terror in order to instill hate in the hearts of Barovia’s inhabitants against humanity. In this case, Kiril Stoyanovich and Emil Toranescu are not werewolves, but Feral canine wolf scientists. Their factional split in this case is one of clashing egos rather than the survival of the pack: Kiril has grown content serving Strahd and has no desire to return to the Beast World, while Emil is still an ideological zealot who feels that Strahd’s single-minded pursuit of Tatyana/Ireena is a detriment to the cause. Thus, Emil seeks to murder Kiril and assert control over the Ferals in Barovia. Should Emil be the Ally from the Tarokka result, she hopes to defeat Strahd in order for the Ferals to escape the Mists.As for the wereravens, one idea is to remake the Martikovs into bats. The Keepers of the Feather can be renamed Keepers of the Sky as a metaphor reflecting their connection to the Astral Sea. Instead of being a family of cursed people waging a covert war against Strahd, the Martikovs are outsiders from the Astral Sea who took pity on the people of Barovia and seek to bring down the Darklord. The gems within their winery are astralcrafted magic items that have limited links to their home plane, allowing them to grow and produce food regardless of the climate. They use such gems to grow the grapes for their famed wines.Even so, DMs who want a bit of feather with their fur can still keep the Martikovs as wereravens. Their base forms will still be bats or some other common species in the Beast World.Vampire Spawn face a similar change. In the Beast World, the child of a vampire and one of their thralls is a being known as a Fiend-Vessel Spawn, who don't have a demon seeking to take control of their body. But they still have their vampire parent's thirst for blood. The vamprie spawn in this campaign variant are Strahd's various children, and due to being raised by a cruel man many take after his evil alignment. But this doesn't have to be the case: Donavitch's son, Doru, was wired out of wedlock with Strahd as the father.But What About the Wagons? Beyond its anthropomorphic inhabitants, Beast World is markedly different from Ravenloft. For one, it is a setting where dungeon delving for gold and glory is a new yet thriving industry, and PCs are expected to spend their hard-earned gains on improving their wagons. Curse of Strahd, by contrast, is a very treasure-light game that prioritizes survival in a hostile world where allies are few and far between. The delver community of Littfield and abundant magic doesn’t mix well with CoS’ survival horror.The most simple and straightforward solution is to use the Dungeon Treasure table in Chapter 1 of the Delver’s Guide to plot out expected monetary rewards based on level. Combined with the level recommendations for the locations in Curse of Strahd, treating each place as a dungeon unto its own (Death House and Village of Barovia being 3 in one), we should have something like this:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Village of Barovia (1st-3rd): 4,800 GP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Town of Vallaki (4th): 8,000 GP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Old Bonegrinder (4th): 8,000 GP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Village of Krezk (5th): 8,000 GP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Wizard of Wine’s Winery (5th): 8,000 GP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Van Richten’s Tower (6th): 8,000 GP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Yester Hill (6th): 8,000 GP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Argynvostholt (7th): 8,000 GP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Werewolf Den (7th): 8,000 GP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Tsolenska Pass (8th): 8,000 GP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Ruins of Berez (8th): 8,000 GP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Castle Ravenloft (9th): 16,000 GP</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The Amber Temple (9th): 16,000 GP</li> </ol>All in all, this gives us 106,800 GP. Presuming that the party spent 75% of their earnings on wagon equipment (80,100 GP) and split the loot evenly among a party of 4, they’d have 6,675 GP in savings per PC. Which just squeaks on by the minimum for 9th to 12th level PCs (6,500-15,000 GP per PC). Far beyond any money which can be found in the entire module.Having gobs of coins may feel at odds with the dismal, rural nature of Barovia, but like the treasures in the Tarokka result such ephemeral “money” can instead be converted to upgrades and attachments for the wagon. In its crudest form, PCs who salvage from crypts, ruined towns, and forlorn castles can be justified as getting enough parts to make a new upgrade; doubly so if they have appropriate skill or tool proficiencies or class features! Talented mechanical and magical minds can be consulted as reward for completing relevant quests:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Rictavio should know a thing or two about tools useful in the war against the creatures of the night.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Blinsky’s tinkering aptitude can be used for more than just making toys.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The Vistani know a thing or two about keeping wagons in tip-top shape when on the lonesome road.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Victor Vallakovich or Lady Wachter of Vallaki can call upon their familial funds and personal magical expertise.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The Abbot of Krezk is a powerful entity of divine might.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Vladimir Horngaard of Argynvostholt may know of some hidden treasures of the fortress that Strahd has yet to find.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">PCs who manage to fell Wintersplinter, the blights, or other monsters of the druids may think of reforging their wood into reinforcing their wagon.</li> </ol>As you can tell, there’s many such people in Barovia who can help with wagon upgrades, even if they’re not delvers!But enough about upgrades, what’s the point without getting opportunities to use the wagon? Well, having a mobile home and fortress is a pretty useful thing to have in a place like Barovia. Beyond making travel along the Old Svalich Road just a bit safer, there are certain events and locations in the module that can be spiced up with a wagon:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Fighting skeletal riders as a random encounter</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Searching for Arabelle in Lake Zarovich with a wagon customized for water travel. Perhaps make a lake-dwelling monster the main thread instead of (or in addition to) Bluto.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Fighting Strahd’s carriage on the road, containing one or more of his minions such as Rahadin or his brides.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">A hasty escape out of Vallaki should the PCs outstay their welcome.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Chasing after the fiend-vessel spawn in Vallaki should one of them escape with the Bones of Saint Andral.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Transporting the Martikov’s wines to Barovian communities…and keeping them safe from raiding monsters!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Fighting the Roc of Mount Ghakis in Tsolenka Pass, Wintersplinter in Yester Hill, Baba Lysaga’s Creeping Hut in the Ruins of Berez, or some other massive monster.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Letting Ezmerelda hitch a ride when you (hopefully accidentally) explode her wagon.</li> </ol></blockquote>

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