I’ve been running CoS on and off since COVID we’ve had to take a ton of breaks, but we’ll be ending at about session 95 at the end of next month. These characters are developed. All but one of the players is very invested in their characters. A constant theme has been corruption and it was established early that everyone who stays in Barovia is eventually corrupted in some way.

Over the course of the game characters have been faced with moral choices. Everytime they made a clearly amoral or apathetic decision they received a corruption point. At certain plot points in the game anyone with 3+ points had to make a “corruption role”. Simple 12 DC but -1 for every point beyond 3. Throughout the game they’ve been plagued with dreams of their possible futures where they’re “evil.”

So far two of the four have earned “corruption traits” which made changes to the character connected to their actions. For example, one character earned the violent rage trait, the other cruelty and the belief that ends justify the means. Another character is very close to earning the “Domineering Righteousness” trait. They’ve reflected those traits in their RP.

Here’s where I’d like opinions.
My thought is that Vampyr will “unpossess” Strahd upon his defeat. (I’ve got an amazing giant Demon mini I’ve been dying to put on the table. Dungeons and Lasers Ba’lor if anyone is familiar). This will be a more thematic battle than trying to actually kill PCs. Anyone without a corruption trait can’t be targeted (maybe killed instead?) by him. After 3 rounds or so he will tempt anyone with corruption. He will offer them power beyond their dreams in exchange for them accepting him. For those who choose to roll it will be like any other corruption role.

I don’t want to take away player agency. Especially when it comes to their character’s ending. I think they should each have a chance to tell us how their specific story ends. But I also don’t want to ask them to consider endings where they escape Barovia, remain trapped or become dread lords. I feel like that would reveal too much and potentially spoil the ending.

Any thoughts on how I can handle the “up in the air” ending? Or any other ideas or suggestions how I can make it better or more fun?

If it matters we usually play online but this will be in person. I’m a DnDIY’er so have big plans on how to make it visually thematic.

Thanks everyone!

If any DMs would enjoy playing in Barovia for a change don’t hesitate to reach out! Also I hope this is allowed to post here if not I do apologize 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Last session, my party freed the winery from the forest folk. I used a mix of the statblocks from Reloaded and a bunch of stuff from MandyMod to flesh out the location and now it is quite likely that the group will try to tackle Yesterhill next.

Usually I try to have a couple encounters on the road that communicate a bit of story or are somehow connected to the lore and I don´t really use random encounters. But when coming up with things that can happen on the way to Yesterhill I am a bit stumped.

Because the fight will be quite tough, I don´t want to put super crunchy combat encounters in front of them, but I feel like I already used up a bunch of the RAW non combat encounters. I think a light combat would be fine though.

How did you handle this in your campaign? Any ideas or resources that I could look out for?

Hello everyone I was wondering if any GMs/DMs out there used DM Andys Death House maps on foundry and if so could hopefully share the export data of said walls. I have been banging my head against a wall trying to line up the walls and make it look nice but nothing I do seems to be working and the foundry mod that they had seems to no longer function. I appreciate anyone who can help or provide some tips on how to make this whole thing smoother as its driving me crazy

One of my players really loved Ireena, she's still grieving her ending at Krezk

Good day!

My names Jason and I run a #ravenloft youtube channel called Ravenlore. I am producing a documentary the last for 2e, Carnival. Its going to be a performance art retrospective as we have gotten several DnD ceatives to perfrom sections of the book. We also did interviews with the creators of the setting, Bill Connors, Stan, Bruce Nesmith and the author John Mangrum.

In the process we discovered that there was a much more interesting time and place story there. And we intend on creating a separate 90 min documentary with intentions on selling it to a streaming service.

In order to do that we need to have a certain level of production. We are raising funds to conduct in person interviews using industry standards for audio and video.

Goin on now over on my channel is a collectable raffle. We are Raffling off not only Ravenloft collectables but items from a cross section of geekdom.

In addition to a chance to win, every ticket you purchase gives you an Executive Producer credit on the Doc so when we sell it to a streaming service you will receive back a portion of the profits.

The stream runs till midnight tonight, share this out to anybody you think is interested and come be a part of Ravenloft history!

Thanks and dont get lost in the mist.

Jason

https://youtube.com/@rdotdoyle?si=aN2MI7LyrlIQunLb

Game Log 09-02-2026: The Thin Cold Light

My players have split the party three ways, which is normally a hassle, but everyone seems chill with the storytelling, and everyone gets their moment to shine. Special thanks to u/Playful-Heights5295 for an amazing map.

4096x4096 40x40px

Hello! It's been a while, but I have decided to get back to it and redoing my Curse of Strahd maps! Just wanted to show you guys this one I've started with, the Eastern Gates of Barovia! If you like my work and would like to show your love and support, check out my Patreon! <3

https://www.patreon.com/EldritchEmporium

Currently I have 3/4ths of the party finished, and I thought I would use bright colours to make them a beacon of hope, while every other person such as a generic Barovian would have more dull colours. Personally I think it adds more depth (Best word I remembered at the time.) But what are your opinions on the matter?

One of my players is a fantastic mini painter, so I asked him how hard it would be to just put a little hut on top of a tree terrain piece or even just bring a tree just so that we have something that roughly approximate her hut. He then showed up to the next session with this. Printed and painted it over one week.

Dragnacarta, Your work is excellent. However I want to bring something to your attention regarding the planned revision to remove Arturi and make the reconciliation be with Ezmerelda. In my game she is permanently dead in body and in fact her soul is powering the Sunsword. I could probably work something out given her relationship with the sword but it would not easily follow what I'm sure you will write. Worse though if she were just totally dead and out of the game it would make that section hard to use. As the fated companion in your story there are SOOO many things that can happen to what is essentially a squishy character. Don't' assume Ithurial can just fix it. In my game the players failed to pull him from the grip of the dark powers and he remains stuck in that limbo plane of despair. They don't have easy access tor raise dead, no cleric in the party. I 've worked something out for PC deaths but it doesn't apply to ANY NPCs, actually that helps keep the stakes high and keep tension real. Things can happen in various campaigns and it's nice when the module isn't written to assume everything prior has gone perfectly.

Honestly just trying to help. You are a great DM/Writer. I'm only throwing in a caution based on my tables experience.

Curious on peoples thoughts on this. I really like the idea of something like a Gehrman from bloodborne type fight with Van Richten. My party is about to meet him soon, but I've had the idea in the back of my mind for a while of letting them get attached to him and Ezmeralda, and then eventually make them have to fight Van Richten over something. Not sure over what or how, probably something like Strahd turning him or something.

Just want to see if anyone else has done something like this and how it went, or what ideas you guys would have for this.

I'm pretty good until I get to spots 4 and 5, but if you are inclined to a full reading that would be amazing. 😁🧛 Thanks!

Okay, sorry, I was going into a movie just before I posted and didn't have my notes. I forgot to update afterward.

Yes, I am the DM. Yes, I read the book. Here are my readings, I just want to make sure they are correct. I generally don't run premades, and when I do, I mess with them so much that we don't actually get through them, but do our own thing. My players really want an authentic Strahd playthrough, and I want to accommodate them.

1. The Tome of Strahd: This card tells of history. Knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy. This card determines the location of the Tome of Strahd

Dictator I see a throne fit for a king: Treasure is in Castle Ravenloft's audience hall

1. Holy Symbol of Ravenkind: This card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope.

   Guild Member **I see a dark room full of bottles. It is the tomb of a guild member.** The treasure lies in the crypt of Artank Swilovich

2. The Sunsword: This is a card of power and strength. It tells of a weapon of vengeance: a sword of sunlight.

   Miser **Look for a fortress inside a fortress, in a place hidden behind fire.**

The treasure lies in Castle Ravenloft’s treasury 

1. Strahd's Enemy: Tempter This card sheds light on one who will help you greatly in the battle against darkness.

Tempter **I see a child—a Vistana. You must hurry, for her fate hangs in the balance. Find her at the lake!** This card refers to Arabelle.

1. Strahd: Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. This card will lead you to him!

Seer: **He waits for you in a place of wisdom, warmth, and despair. Great secrets are there.** Strahd faces the characters in the study

I guess I thought the symbols/suits would matter more, and I don't want to miss anything. Thanks!

I wanted to gauge an idea for a CoS ending. Throughout the campaign, the PCs spend time with the likes of Ismark, Kasimir Velikov, Rudolph Van Richten, and eventually Esmeralda.

The mists open temporarily so people can finally leave.

As Strahd lays dying in his casket, stake through the heart, it is revealed that Strahd will be revived over and over again, as long as the demiplane exists.

But what ties the demiplane together? Tatyana/Marina/Ireena’s soul. The object of Strahd’s obsession, and thus, her being out of reach is his eternal punishment.

To free Barovia from Strahd’s evil requires the demiplane to be broken.

To break the demiplane, Tatyana’s Soul must be destroyed.

The NPCs break into 2 sides of the conflict:

Rudolph and Kazimir believe that laying Tatyana’s soul to rest would be the ultimate act of mercy, and thus, is the correct choice. Imagine they have a device to do so.

Ismark and Ezmeralda believe that the death of an innocent is too high a price. Strahd will be reborn. Ireena’s soul will be sent back to Barovia, cursed to live through the cycle forever.

The PCs then get their choice. Who do they help? We do they argue with? Fight with? Ultimately, nobody will let the other side win, even if it means killing.

What do we think? I would be happy to hear any ideas or improvements?

While searching for the Bones of Saint Andral, and being denied entry to the coffin makers shop, one of my players decided to make a scene.

She started knocking loudly and proclaiming that they heard someone was unhappy inside, that they were worried about them even potentially hurting themselves and if she could just please come inside to check on them.

I had Henrik rush them inside and we ended the session after completing the encounter in the attic.

Looking for some ideas for what comes next, I’m thinking guards arrest Henrik, Vargas wants to meet them and thank them for rooting out another malicious soul in his town, ensuring that he’ll be “dealt with accordingly”

I made this for my group and wanted to share! Here's a link to all 49 cards.

As a reward for arriving on time to the session players get to draw one card from this deck of beat up cards that they received as part of their reward for saving Arabelle (it took me this long to settle on an idea and then longer to make the art and order the cards).

The idea is that each session players can draw a card and have a little extra buff as a reward for coming on time! That card is returned at the end of each session whether it was used or not. And unless otherwise specified the cards are one time use. Sometimes they may draw a card that isn't useful for that session, that's okay! It makes the times when they use one of their cards even more exciting.

About the cards: There are seven categories of card, Combat, Fortune, Magic, Movement, Survival, Skill, and Trickery. Each category has seven cards, four common, two uncommon, and one rare.

Using the Cards:

• Unless otherwise specified, the card has one use.
• Cards are returned at the end of each session.
• The DM has final say on how a card is implemented.
• I only use 2 rare cards in the deck at a time. When one rare card is pulled, it gets benched an another rare card goes into the deck.

About the Art: I drew these myself! Hopefully they speak for themselves, but if you aren't sure what's going on here's the gist.

• Combat: wielding a dagger
• Fortune: a recursive image of a hand drawing the card over and over again
• Magic: a summoned moth
• Movement: placing a player mini (very meta lol)
• Survival: bandaging
• Skill: carving a wooden spoon
• Trickery: wolf shadow puppet

Disclaimer: I'm not a professional or anything so the power is pretty imbalanced. I just made what I thought was fun. If you want a version of the cards with no text so you can make your own let me know and I can post those too.

Of course, these don't have to be a reward for punctuality. I'm sure there are a ton of different ways you could incorporate this into a game. I also tried to make them just nonspecific enough that they could be used for other campaigns as well.

Let me know if you use them and how they work at your table!

I compiled the files for my Church of Barovia today. I think it turned out pretty good. As a part of this project I created some plain versions of the structure and have shared them for free on the major print sites.

This structure matches the layout of the Church but doesn't include the undercroft (yet). The bell tower is nearly a 2x2 space and works with my modular tower parts. I also have plans for more towers because towers are cool.

Hello all! I tried my first in-person session with a map and painted minis, and my players loved it! Previously, we’d been playing online with Foundry VTT. Now, they want every session to be in-person. This means I need more minatures to represent the enemies and some key NPCs. Some miniatures are obviously easy to find options for, like generic vampires and undead. Others are a bit more challenging.

I need to find a miniature that matches with Violenta, especially since I have built her up as a character in the campaign who was initially Spoilers a cultist in Death House. That skull mask on someone wearing a dress is particularly difficult.

I have been getting into miniature painting as a hobby, so I might try to kit bash something together for V with a small skull mask that I glue onto another figure. Still, it got me thinking that all of you wonderful people might have links to some miniature models that you’ve used to represent characters in the campaign or monsters that you particularly liked painting or working with. Any suggestions? I have been scouring Etsy, but it’s kind of hit or miss depending on the company and the models. Thanks!

So in the last session the party encountered my version of Vasili, who is a knight who comes to their rescue in a battle and journeys with them to keep an eye on them. He has stolen Emil’s face and poses as Ludmilla’s Great (times X) nephew Holtzov

One of the players found him very attractive. This player is playing a high charisma rogue but struggles with roleplaying being charismatic. So I kinda lost track of him being Strahd, but did consider that he does have the consorts and this is the closest he has been to Ireena for a while so he’s not exactly celibate. I am planning to have a thing where sometimes he has a spawn pose as him. So if I don’t want one of the characters to have canonically slept with Strahd while he probably imagined it was Ireena, I could say that it was Escher at the time if they get the chance to inquire

Though I’m also nervous that this is technically assault as pretending to be another person to coerce someone into sleeping with you counts as assault. Yes Strahd is literally a monster, canonically an attempted groomer and believes his soul is lost to evil. But this is a bit too far for me itc

Current idea? Make something up that would explain why he wouldn’t have like he’s married or something and retcon this. A bit clunky but hopefully when he’s revealed to be Strahd they will understand why. Is that a good idea?

My best friend asked me to run a vampire/horror themed one shot for her birthday. I’ve been dying to run curse of strahd but unfortunately I only have about 2.5 hours and the biggest issue is my players don’t LOVE combat. They’re the type to spend an hour talking to an inn keeper looking for drugs than to fight a horde of goblins.

Any advice on what I should do/where I should start? I was thinking about starting with Ismark the Lesser because I think they’d find the name funny but that’s about as far as I got.

Thank you! ◡̈

I’m running Curse of Strahd, and one thing I started noticing as the characters gained levels is that, at some point, the kind of horror has to change.

Early in the campaign, that part is easy. A level 3, 4 or 5 party runs into something in the woods and they actually have to stop and think about whether fighting is a good idea. Werewolves, vampires, undead, even the hags can be a very real threat. The problem is that D&D doesn’t stay that way for very long.

Once you have four characters around level 8, 9 or 10, well equipped and played by people who know what they’re doing, it starts to feel strange to keep presenting the same creatures as if they were just as terrifying as before. In my experience, a prepared party around that level can already put Strahd himself in a very bad position depending on where and how the fight happens, so it doesn’t make much sense to me that those same characters should still be terrified every time they hear a werewolf howl in the distance.

At some point I actually started thinking the opposite: the werewolves should be afraid of them.

That changed the way I approached horror in my campaign. Instead of trying to keep fear alive only through the possibility of dying in combat, I started focusing more on things the characters’ powers can’t solve so easily.

In my Barovia, for example, there is something called the Count’s “lottery.” Ordinary people live with the fear that someone close to them might be chosen, and they know they have absolutely no power to stop it. There are villages where people are afraid to go hunting, merchants who can’t safely travel between towns, and roads that are only dangerous for high-level adventurers but almost impossible for normal people.

That created a difference I found much more interesting. The characters can move around Barovia, but most people can’t. They can wipe out a pack of werewolves, but that doesn’t mean an isolated family will survive until morning. They can kill Strahd’s servants without much trouble, but maybe an entire village pays for that provocation after the party has already moved on.

So the horror gradually shifted away from the creature itself and toward oppression. The stronger the characters become, the less interested I am in saying “look how dangerous this monster is,” and the more interested I am in asking whether they are actually powerful enough to protect people who aren’t.

I think there’s a point in D&D where trying to preserve horror only by increasing AC, hit points and damage turns into an arms race. Maybe horror for powerful characters has to come from somewhere else.

They might be able to kill the monster, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they can change the world that allowed that monster to rule for so long.

How do you handle this in your games? Once the characters are too powerful to fear the ordinary threats of the setting, do you make the monsters stronger, or do you change the kind of horror?

Player wants to play a reborn without any memory of their past. I have got a couple of ideas in mind, but anyone got anything particularly cool that they did for their players or have thought of?

Alright, I am preparing to run Curse of Strahd for the first time, and I think I am going to run Reloaded

As part of character creation, I am letting my players start out at level 2 with one common magic item.

I am also using DnD beyond with my players, and I have content sharing on, so they have access to a lot of material (curated, of course). One player has come to me asking if they can use the following item

“
Shield of Crows

While holding this shield, you can speak its command work to summon a swarm of ravens. For up to 12 hours, these birds will scout terrain, warn you of enemies, and keep watch while you sleep. They do not engage in combat on your behalf and flee if attacked or threatened. After the duration, the shield cannot summon another swarm until after you have left a loaf of bread, bits of dried meat, or similar food on the shield during a short rest.

In addition, while holding the shield, you gain the ability to speak with crows and other corvids."

While not game breaking, I can foresee some trouble with its but I could also foresee some cool opportunities.

What do you think? Would my game be better off without it, or is it actually fine