What sort of character will you build for Curse of Strahd?

[Cascade]

So as an old Ravenloft fan, my first toon will be a Warlock with the Undying patron. He'll be a Far Traveler background from Darkon with Azalin as a patron. The mists have recently allowed him to escape into Phlan which shouldn't have happened and they have moved him back but into Barovia. I'll plan to only take wizard levels as I've lost direct training with my lord.

I think the undying protection will work nicely as "Azalin's charm" helps protect me from undead. Of course Darkon is very different from Barovia so I'll have plenty of stories and a strong dislike for Gypsies.

 

[Eltab]

Update:
Lacking any information on Ravenloft-specific races or cultures (3e Half-Vistani -sigh- ) I'm creating a half-elf Bard with the Spy or Entertainer background. He will be proficient with con artist tricks. (Prestidigitation helps.) I'm trying to generate my own 'gypsie' feel. I want to avoid being the comic relief, or a Scooby-Doo clone.

 

[kalani]

So as an old Ravenloft fan, my first toon will be a Warlock with the Undying patron. He'll be a Far Traveler background from Darkon with Azalin as a patron. The mists have recently allowed him to escape into Phlan which shouldn't have happened and they have moved him back but into Barovia. I'll plan to only take wizard levels as I've lost direct training with my lord.

I think the undying protection will work nicely as "Azalin's charm" helps protect me from undead. Of course Darkon is very different from Barovia so I'll have plenty of stories and a strong dislike for Gypsies.

From what I understand:

A) There will be no natives of Ravenloft this season.
B) This adventure is a remake of I6 Castle Ravenloft, and as such - predates the creation of other Domains of Dread (it is set in a time when Barovia is the only domain within Ravenloft).

 

[Cascade]

From what I understand:

A) There will be no natives of Ravenloft this season.
B) This adventure is a remake of I6 Castle Ravenloft, and as such - predates the creation of other Domains of Dread (it is set in a time when Barovia is the only domain within Ravenloft).

Not to be "too" defensive...is that in print from an AL admin? "My understanding" for D&D 5e is that all the realms are tied together. Heck, I even ran into some servants of Kyuss at WF. I thought the Far Traveler background fit well for that premise.

It also might work well that the mists sent me back so "lack of contact" is more than just plane shifted but pushed in time. It can be role-played various ways.

As such, I already played the first adventure at WF with him and the admin that ran at my DDXP table thought it was an interesting theme...

...and if it turns out that I can't, I will adjust accordingly. It's just role play (which I think this game still supports).

 

[Rhogar_Rarr]

This season we decided our party was a little too optimized, so we vowed to do something a little more wacky and unusual next season. We came up with the idea to make Dragonborn clerics of Tiamat. There are five of us, so we have all the colors covered. I imagine it as sort of a party of evil Power Rangers.

My particular Dragonborn is going to be a green war cleric with rather low wisdom (10 if you're curious). He's so unwise he can't even multiclass into a better class. Fortunately, plenty of cleric spells don't require any modifier and wisdom will definitely be covered in our party. He is definitely wacky and sub-optimal, so mission accomplished. It'll be interesting to see how long he can survive.

 

[Pauper]

A) There will be no natives of Ravenloft this season.

Since at this point being a 'native' of Ravenloft is largely a role-playing rather than a mechanical benefit, it doesn't seem like this would be a big deal. The Far Traveler background from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide would work to justify such a background, though so, in my opinion, would many backgrounds from the Player's Handbook -- Darkon, for example, is much more similar to the Realms than it is different, and someone from that domain would likely fit into the Realms without too much difficulty (though if they were faithful to one of the Ravenloft faiths rather than a Realms faith, that might be both interesting and challenging).

B) This adventure is a remake of I6 Castle Ravenloft, and as such - predates the creation of other Domains of Dread (it is set in a time when Barovia is the only domain within Ravenloft).

This is a comment I would absolutely take with some pretty hefty doses of salt until we get guidance from the designers -- Perkins, Crawford, and Mearls have, when asked, given variations on "Ravenloft/Barovia is where it's always been", which suggests that Ravenloft as a setting still exists in 5th Edition D&D. It may not be exactly what you think it is** (for example, traveling to another domain is almost certainly outside the scope of both the Curse of Strahd hard-cover adventure as well as the Season 4 AL module series), but that doesn't mean the other domains don't actually exist.

--
Pauper

** - For example, based on what's been previewed regarding the hard-cover adventure, it doesn't appear that the Barovia of 'Curse of Strahd' borders any other Ravenloft domains. While this may mean the other domains don't exist (yet), it may also mean that the 'Core' has been dissolved and every domain is now an Island of Terror, accessible only via the Mists. My guess, if I had to make one, would be the latter -- Darkon and Falkovnia and Bluetspur are all still out there, if you're playing in a home game and are foolish enough to go looking for them. It's doubtful you'll have the time in either CoS or the AL Season to do so, though.

 

[skerritthegreen]

Not to be "too" defensive...is that in print from an AL admin? "My understanding" for D&D 5e is that all the realms are tied together. Heck, I even ran into some servants of Kyuss at WF. I thought the Far Traveler background fit well for that premise.

Its not really intended, but I'm sure you could make it work with some RP. The first two adventures of the season (DDEP4 and DDAL4-1) take place primarily in FR, so if you play those you'll need to say why you are there, and how you know what's going on with FR and Phlan (and why you care). When you hit Barovia, you'd need to come up with why you don't actually know whats going on there, even if you are from there. Then at some point I suppose when you get a chance to leave again, you'll have to choose to either say no and retire forever, or say yes and work out why you leave your home and family forever.

 

[kalani]

Also, Robert Adducci himself has said on several occasions on FB that there are no Barovian natives this season. There is no hard rule prohibiting this however, but still - the intent is clear that everyone is from FR. You can however, play a Rashemi or Gur if you are interested in playing a nomadic gypsy people.

 

[Cascade]

Its not really intended, but I'm sure you could make it work with some RP. The first two adventures of the season (DDEP4 and DDAL4-1) take place primarily in FR, so if you play those you'll need to say why you are there, and how you know what's going on with FR and Phlan (and why you care). When you hit Barovia, you'd need to come up with why you don't actually know whats going on there, even if you are from there. Then at some point I suppose when you get a chance to leave again, you'll have to choose to either say no and retire forever, or say yes and work out why you leave your home and family forever.

My initial intent was that I was from Darkon (not Barovia) and recently stuck in Faerun (i.e. the Far tarveler background) and then pulled back into the mists because I shouldn't have been in Faerun anyway, just ending up in the wrong Realm.
What happens at the end of the season in Barovia clearly depends...

<I didn't intend for such a backlash on what could or couldn't be role played as a background - it just seemed a different role play story>

 

[Jabborwacky]

I just wanted to play a rogue baker. I mean a baker that happens to be a rogue, as opposed to a baker who has gone rogue.

The lack of a rogue option makes me sad.