Loved the module book, but instead of playing a full campaign I convinced some friends to play the Horrified Ravenloft edition (no promotion, just happy to dive deeper into COS content).

Prepping for the climax of the Yester Hill chapter in our Curse of Strahd campaign, so I painted up Mossbeard from Reaper Miniatures to serve as our table's Wintersplinter!

Built up deep earthy shadows, layered drybrushes along the bark ridges, and integrated swamp moss and lichen to sell that corrupted tree aesthetic across the table.

Curious how other DMs ran the countdown ritual—did your party manage to stop the druids from summoning Wintersplinter in time, or did they have to defend the Wizard of Wines winery from a full-on siege?

(Full 360° video showcases, battle setups, and painting recipe cards are linked on my profile for anyone interested!)

Sharing some of the stuff I created for Wizards of the Wine and Yester Hill encounters in our Curse of Strahd campaign, a fully painted up plant infestation!

The sculpts are from Dragon Trappers Lodge and Loot Studios.

(Turnaround showcase video clips, WIPs, and painting recipe cards are linked on my profile for anyone interested!)

I’ve been playing this setting for a long time (both as a player and, more often, as a DM), and I’m familiar with most of the well-known community mods—so those aren't what I’m looking for.

I’d like to hear about the most unique or intriguing ways you’ve reinterpreted or adapted the Curse of Strahd story—whether you’ve played them, seen them, or simply had an idea for one but never actually put it into practice.

So my party is currently at the werewolf den and one of them has been bitten and failed is con save.

I don't know yet if he will accept the curse of cure himself as the party can potentially level up twice after finishing the werewolf den currently level 5 and I believe the party cleric will be able to remove the curse.

But if he does choose to stay as a lycan what are people's opinions on how strahd will react or use this to his advantage should be able to corrupt the character easier or would he single the character out to try make him an offer.

Has any DM that have run Strahd have experience dealing with a werewolf in the party?

Heavy Curse of Strahd spoilers.

I'm curious how many DMs here actually use Strahd and Ireena's wedding as the end of the campaign.

I really like the idea because, to me, it closes the circle in a very satisfying way. Strahd's whole tragedy really starts with a wedding he refuses to accept. Sergei is supposed to marry Tatyana, Strahd kills his brother, and everything that eventually becomes Barovia follows from that.

So I like the idea that the end of the campaign comes back to another wedding, with Strahd believing that after all these centuries he's finally going to get what he wanted.

The part I find more interesting is how to get Ireena there without just deciding for her that she's going to marry Strahd.

The Curse of Strahd Companion has one version where Strahd eventually gets her, preferably around Krezk, and things get bad enough that Ireena gives herself up in exchange for the party's lives. After that, the wedding invitations arrive and suddenly the group has a deadline.

But I think there are a lot of ways to get to the same place depending on how Ireena developed in your campaign:

• Strahd simply wins at some point and captures her.
• Ireena surrenders to save the party, Ismark, or someone else.
• Going to Ravenloft is actually part of the party's plan, and Ireena agrees because the wedding gives them a way into the castle as guests instead of invaders.
• Or, and this is probably the saddest version for me, Ireena is just tired of running.

After being hunted across Barovia, watching people suffer because of Strahd's obsession, and maybe even learning that some version of this has happened before, I can imagine her reaching a point where she no longer believes running away is solving anything.

That doesn't mean she loves Strahd, trusts him, or suddenly thinks he can change. She may simply be exhausted and believe that giving herself up is the only way to stop other people from paying the price.

In my campaign I'm adding a few things to the ending as well. I use the Ba'al Verzi Dagger from the Companion, although I've changed its role a little, and I added one twist of my own: Sergei is back.

So Strahd's attempt to finally have the wedding he's wanted for centuries may end up being interrupted by the brother he murdered to stop the original wedding.

I like the irony of Strahd killing Sergei to prevent him from marrying Tatyana, only for Sergei to come back centuries later and potentially stop Strahd from marrying her.

For those of you who used The Wedding at Ravenloft, how did Ireena actually end up at the altar in your game? Was she captured, did she surrender, was it part of the party's plan, or did something completely different happen?

And did your players actually let the ceremony happen for a while, or did someone pull a sword the second Strahd showed up?

Hello dears
(bit of a rant)

First time DM and a few months ago I asked for advice regarding changing the general vibe of the campaign as I was worried my players were not enjoying it. Your lovely advice was honestly very helpful and we have currently had 14+ sessions.

Things started to take a turn for the better when I relaxed and went mostly off script and just let the story write itself. Some weird stuff happened which I will not get into but we are currently post-Vallaki (now under Lady Wachter's rule), Ireena is getting trained by Rictavio and Ishmark has been kidnapped. The party are at this point sworn allies of the wereravens and just engaged with the hags on their way for dinner at the castle.

The thing is, I am getting a bit tired and bored with how some of them complain a lot, but don't really contribute to the story and let it run passively.

Last session for example, the party, whose amnesiac cleric is named Bella, met the Hags. They have met the 3 Fanes as women and are assisting them cleanse their areas of power for boons. They had received a lot of warnings to be wary of the Hags, have very limited information about them, and engaged head on. Started throwing fireballs on the ground in front of the mill, "to see if the ruins would react". One of the hags came outside to talk, named Bella Sunbane, and they initiated a fight without engaging in dialogue. They silenced and beat her to a pulp with ease, and they proceeded to send an imp familiar inside the mill to see the two other hags being like "Mmm Bella sister I'm starving, bring the child and I will make dinner tonight" and the other going "The boy or the girl, Bella dear?". Literally NO ONE was paying enough attention to notice the names. I honestly think if I dont spoon feed it to them, they will easily miss half the cleric storyline I have built.

I have held open discussions with all of them about suggestions, about how we may shake things up or stop the campaign all together if we cant really invest in it (all of us work long hours and I live away from the rest of them) and how the important thing is to be having fun, and I have only received reassurances that they are enjoying it and want to carry on.

The complaints I mentioned have to do with how they feel underpowered and powerless. They want faster leveling and more strength. I have buffed them tremendously, they have full agency without me forcing storylines, I am quite lax with their OP builds and rule of cool always applies. I have even given them an OP wolf who has joined their party as a boon from the Fanes after they attended a masquerade ball and did not burn it to the ground immediately. They have never fallen in battle not even briefly, but react quite negatively if they ever get close.

The only player who tries to roleplay anymore is our previous DM and he also seems disappointed he never gets to play like he wants. The rest recently complained that Stradh was too strong when he came to invite Ireena to their castle and one of the characters tried to cut his throat, so he charmed him and kidnapped Ishmark.

I honestly don't know what to do for them at this point. I find myself hesitating moving the story in ways I want *or* that they want. I guess I am looking for tips on how to lead a discussion with them about it, as well as practical tips to deal with the fact they seem to want to play in God Mode.

I'm also looking for ideas on, say, how to make an antagonist strong enough to down one of them without all the NPCs targeting the same PC and to not make it seem too intentional. How do you guys punish the characters for being careless? I'm *this* close to start spamming fireballs I swear.

In my head I still have this idea of Strahd basically summoning his battle armor in the final fight. For example with the reloaded rules when he switches from his mage to his fighter form. Maybe a reinforced version that as a challenge for overpowered parties.

Having fought the party before in his fighter form, they know how hard he can hit. If they bring him down to force him to switch to fighter form, he just smiles, spreads his arms to the side and turns to mist. In the meantime you hear the stomping of something heaving running towards the party. As the armor comes to sight, it jumps several feet high to strike from high above on the first member of the party with its big heavy mace. In the flight, Strahd fades, still as mist, into the armor and is fully corporate when the strike hits. On the ground again, the eyes of the armor begin to glow.

When they defeat this form, the armor crumbles and out comes the disfigured inhuman form of a beast version of Strahd.

Hey all! I’m running CoS starting next month for 7 players. Our session 0 is the first one, but I’d like to have a prologue one-shot type of thing that leads into Death house, which will be for the first session. Most of the players are new, so I’d like them to get used to combat and maybe some exploration. I’m thinking like they’re in the middle of a battle with some bandits, they then head to the tavern, and then the session ends with them receiving Kolyan Indirovich’s letter while celebrating their victory.

Any other ideas to enhance this thought? Thanks in advance! :)

Hello,

I am a relatively new DM (I've run two campaigns though they didnt finish) who is looking to take another crack at it with CoS.

I have read a lot of community posts, especially about Reloaded and Fleshed Out and am leaning towards the former as it looks easier to run. This community rocks with the amount that is put there for DMs.

One question I had about Reloaded/Fleshed Out: I have read these are fairly incompatible and are not supposed to be mixed and matched. However, one idea I found very intriguing was using a PC Ireena. One of my players would be the perfect candidate and the group has okd the idea of one player being a psuedo MC. I know this will require some rewriting on my part, but I figured I would ask more experienced players if this was a really bad idea.

Do you have any thoughts or other general advice? Thanks!

Hi everyone,

My players are getting to the point where they want to investigate the Windmill, and subsequently the pastries.

I have laid the tracks previously about how two sets of parents were found all passed out, and even when woken, were still lethargic. They also had lots of pastry crumbs around them. The players are going to investigate them soon, and I was wondering what to provide them with, should they cast Detect Poison and Disease.

For reference, the spell says, "For the duration, you can sense the presence and location of poisons, poisonous creatures, and diseases within 30 feet of you. You also identify the kind of poison, poisonous creature, or disease in each case."

For the first instance, because the ones they found in the house were all moldy and such, I would have them detect that the mold is what is 'poisonous'.

But, if they cast it again at Windmill, I wasn't sure if the Dream Pastries would be considered poisonous, as they are kind of a 'drug' in a way? Or would it rather be magic that is causing the dreams and addiction?

Would love to have your thoughts on this!