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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jabborwacky" data-source="post: 6861077" data-attributes="member: 98608">I'd start with a hidden mentor type situation, and slowly ramp up over time to deadlier encounters, representing the way his predatory urges have warped his noble ambitions. So instead of encountering Strahd, they encounter a helpful "Von Holtz" who pleads with them for aid on the road. Should they help him, they encounter a band of vampire spawn too difficult for them to handle just before sunrise. As the party loses, the vampire spawn withdraw to 'avoid the sun'. Strahd leaves a reward for them with a charmed human who delivers it on his behalf. Should they refuse, they find a mutilated corpse wearing similar, but different clothing to Von Holtz, possibly with a negative message left behind. "A noble man knows when to help others" or something along those lines.Over time, the messages become less positive and more pessimistic of them and their endeavors. For instance, he might set up a situation at an inn where he has switched out the normal food stock with human flesh that has been covered with an illusion to make it appear as pork. So they enjoy a night of feasting only to find in the morning they have partaken in cannibalism, the innkeeper tied up in the attic. All of this punctuated by a carefully scribed letter chastising their lack of awareness.I'm not going to give away the rest of my strategies or I'll run out of good surprises, but the key here is to make sure Strahd starts subtle only to build up into increasingly psychopathic tests to show them their supposed inferiority. He is confident and composed in his assertions, viewing the PCs as curiosities without threat.</blockquote>

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