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dungeonsandblorbos · 1 year

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Campaign Intros: Curse of Strahd

so we're calling this campaign Curse of Strahd, which is an actual dnd 5e adventure book, but what we're actually playing is probably at least 80% homebrew. my husband, the DM, wasn't satisfied with the real book, as its worldbuilding wasn't deep or horrifying or dangerous enough for his gothic horror purposes. so he significantly expanded the lore, made Strahd a whole lot more powerful (as he should be), and even made his own maps and other Dark Lords! he's done an absolutely incredible job and i cannot heap enough praise on him. like, we're only 13 sessions in and this is his first time DMing, but he really makes this campaign something special <3

~anyway~

the setting

if you're familiar with Curse of Strahd as written, you've probably got a decent understanding of the basic setting already. i'm sure there's some major differences, but you'd have to ask my husband what they are lol

for those unfamiliar with Curse of Strahd, it takes place in the country of Barovia, a gloomy gothic nation banished from the material plane about four hundred years ago. now, it exists as its own little demi-plane in the Shadowfell, surrounded by deadly mists. somewhere in those mists are a few paths out to Faerun, but only a select few can walk them. everyone else, even those who wander in by mistake, are trapped. the sun does not shine here. there are no songbirds, only crows and ravens and owls. the dead do not like to stay dead. and it's all ruled over by the undying dread king Strahd von Zarovich, who is charming and cunning and ruthless and bored

the party

Cerris Tempescu: my PC! you know him, you met him here. a human tempest cleric who's basically what would happen if Clark Kent were a classic gothic hero (and also the most bottom to ever bottom). he's depressed. he's a himbo. he has something of a hero complex. he's my sweet baby boy and i love him and want him to eventually get a happily ever after, but first he's gotta suffer a whole bunch

Shalden Broadfist: a (purple) half-orc paladin devoted to the Smiling God, a big desert worm with a very neutral morality. Shalden is charming in a mostly awkward sort of way, and also something of a himbo. waaaaay more chill about the atrocities they've witnessed (and accidentally contributed to) than Cerris. looks good in an apron. can breathe fire. also very good at getting possessed

Valessha: an androgynous (purple) moon elf knowlege cleric. was naturally the smart one of the party . . . until they got yanked into a bag of holding by the Bag Man, where they've since been stuck.

Important NPCs

Ireena Kolyana: the one, the only, Ireena Kolyana. a beautiful and fiery young noblewoman who's handy with a sword and crossbow and throwing knives. headstrong, confident, and intelligent. she likes purple wildflowers, somewhat masculine clothing, and teasing Cerris, among other things

Ismark the Lesser: Ireena's older brother, and the current mayor of Barovia Village. when we first meet him, he's tired. like, only in his 30s and he's already gone silver tired. when we meet him again, he's got a shotgun and he's out for blood and vengeance against the people he feels were responsible for what happened to his sister (read: us!)

Arrigal: one of Strahd's . . . what's the word? henchmen? servants? lackeys? whatever else he is, Arrigal is a smarmy prick. blessed by Strahd with the ability to traverse the mists, he has personally lured many heroes (including our party) from Faerun to their deaths in Barovia, all for his master's entertainment

Luvash: Arrigal's younger but larger brother. big and strong and kind, but not stupid, although i'm sure his brother thinks he is. big dad energy

Madame Eva: a wise old woman cursed with nigh eternal unlife by her half-brother, Strahd. using her deck of tarokka cards, she can read your future—for a price. not money, no, she has no use for that, but a particularly interesting artifact or trinket will do

[redacted]: a horrifying eldritch family who lives in a cute little blue farmhouse surrounded by impossibly vast fields of "corn" and "scarecrows." there's a father who's very tall, a mother who's an excellent baker, and a child who likes to draw. their faces are obscured by a whirling static of color, and their voices have a lovely southern (US) drawl. their diet seems to consist exclusively of baked goods, candy, and other sweets. sometimes their movement sounds odd, like a bug's chitinous carapace rubbing against itself as it moves. sometimes their disembodied voices hover around you speaking in unison. sometimes they paralyze you and prop you up at their dinner table like a doll

Strahd: the man, the myth, the legend. Strahd is tall, dark, and handsome, with a rich voice and surprisingly warm hands. he is elegant, suave, charismatic, bold, intelligent, and many other nice sounding things; but he has been around for a long time, and he has seen many things, and he is bored of it all. despite the incredible power he already possesses, he hungers for more. has a self-professed fondness for religious men, having flirted with both Cerris and Shalden on numerous occasions

the plot . . . so far

after being lured into Barovia by Arrigal, our party finds themselves doing what they can to help the folks of Barovia village. they clear out a haunted and cursed old manor, putting the ghosts there to rest. they help bury Ireena and Ismark's father so Strahd's minions will stop messing with it. they promise a pastor to help him return his vampire spawn son to genuine life

and when they learn that Ireena is believed to be the reincarnation of Strahd's one true love Tatyana, that as a result, he has been trying to capture her and make her his bride for years, they agree to escort her to the temple in Valaki, the last stronghold against Strahd's power

upon arriving in Valaki, they are tasked with finding a missing holy relic as payment for sheltering Ireena. after losing Valessha to the Bag Man, going on a side quest to help Luvash recover his daughter from a family of hags, and playing out the beginning of a sweet little romantic comedy between Cerris and Ireena, they do find it and return it. but it quickly becomes apparent that something is deeply wrong here in Valaki

indeed, it turns out that the whole ordeal was something of a setup. more than a handful of NPCs thought to be good people—or, at least, neutral ones—are revealed to be working with Strahd to bring down Valaki and help him free himself from the confines of Barovia

you see, the curse that ties Strahd to this land and prevents him from leaving is not really a curse on him, but upon his bloodline. as the only surviving member of the von Zaroviches, unable to have children as a side effect of being undead, it remains effective. but if, say, he were to have a little niece or nephew running around, he just might be able to place them on the throne and pass along the curse, leaving himself free to return to Faerun and his conquest

but how could Strahd aquire a niece or nephew when his only sibling, Sergei, has been dead for four hundred years?

well, it should be noted Tatyana was not really Strahd's lover. he did ask her to be his, once, but she refused—and shortly thereafter, fell in love with and married his brother. when the pair died tragically, Tatyana was pregnant; and so the unfinished soul of her unborn child lingered, attached to her own soul as she reincarnated again and again and again over four hundred years. a particularly powerful fertility spell—say, one fueled by the very holy relic our party retrieved—could feasibly impregnate a reincarnation of Tatyana with the ghost of Sergei's child

so, of course, that's what Strahd's minions do. they put Ireena in a deep trance, kidnap her, and, armed with the very holy relic our party unwittingly retrieved for them, perform a ritual for a powerful fertility spell that presumably sticks a ghost baby in her womb without her knowledge or consent. and then she's whisked away to Strahd's castle, the city of Valaki is conquered, and our heroes are publicly blamed for it all

with nothing else to do, they turn to the cryptic reading Madame Eva gave them, hoping it holds the secret to defeating Strahd—and that they can decipher it before it's too late

#campaign intros #curse of strahd #curse of strahd homebrew #dnd 5e #Cerris Tempescu #ttrpg stories #dnd 5e oc #curse of strahd pc #*slaps roof of car*#this bad boy can fit so many dead doves inside it #but would you expect anything else of a gothic horror campaign?#also yes there is a wonderfully complicated and ridiculous love dodecahedron going on here and someday i will map it out for y'all #cw forced pregnancy

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soaring-trash · 3 months

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The bed gets cold without you and cold hands trope, but reversed because Laudna doesn’t produce an ounce of warmth and Imogen is practically a human heater.

#she produces lightning #that stuff can heat up the air around it to 27760 degrees celcius #How do lightning powers even work without the caster being insanely resistant and heat proof??idk #girl failure is indeed a super hero #tried to emulate the intro animation #critical role #critters #critical role campaign 3 #bells hells #critical role fanart #fanart #laudna #imogen temult #imodna #imogen x laudna #southern gothic

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tadfools · 6 months

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I’ve been waiting since episode one for a Bells Hells animated intro

#critical role c3 #critical role #critrole #bells hells #cr intro #critical role campaign 3 #animation

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xxwillowpotatox · 6 months

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SHUT THE FUCK UP THERES IMODNA IN THE NEW INTRO

#LITERALLY SCREAMED DURING THE ENTIRE INTRO #IRS SO FUXJINF COOL #cr Spoilers #cr3 ep76 #cr3 #critical role campaign 3 #critical role #laudna #imogen temult #imodna #laura bailey #marisha ray #bells hells #southern gothic #c3 Spoilers #critical role c3

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theworldbrewery · 1 month

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an adventure set in an industrialized city--

the air is thick with factory smoke, and the traditional craftspeople are being overwhelmed by big business. inchoate guilds and unions are beginning to form, but every day is a struggle for workers' rights.

it's become necessary, in a city where the sky is clogged with smog, for professional wizards to construct towers and spires from which they can track the heavens and maintain a link to the stars. but only the large, monopolistic wizard companies -- and the rare independently wealthy wizard -- have the means to build such a tower.

our heroes have a simple job: help a nascent working-class wizards' union scope out a site for their own tower, raise funds to pay for its construction, and ensure that construction goes smoothly.

why would you need a crew of adventurers to work a job like this? surely the wizardry magnates don't mind a little competition? surely the unionized wizards don't pose a serious threat to the companies' continued exploitation of the working class business model? surely the evocation barons wouldn't arrange a few assassinations or deadly explosion to sabotage this tower and the union, would they?

#i'm picturing an adventure for like 2nd-level D&D characters but you could use other systems too #could segue into a larger plot about corruption in the city's upper echelons #or just be a cool mini-adventure/intro to a campaign that unites the PCs #d&d #ttrpgs

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undead-knick-knack · 6 months

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Someone should've checked her for a warning label 😞

Gif is courtesy of this post from @otterlyart 💜

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eosofspades · 1 month

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godddd thinking about the red war first couple missions and going insane . that was so good and for what

#im being DERANGED about how tragic the fall of the city was #forget titan nessus io whatever this isnt about that this is about how WELL that campaign intro did TENSION and TRAGEDY #insanely bold move to make the intro the tutorial on how to use the light and then immediately rip it out of you and make your next #30 minutes of gameplay fully lightless in a creepy fucking forest being stalked by the fallen #that was SO!! GOOD!!!!#and everything about the attack on the city makes me YELL #the tension was TENSE the cutscenes were CINEMATIC the light being taken was VISCERAL #i will never ever forget stumbling limping and slowed and dying out of the ruins of the burning city #that in fact was what prompted this post #god red war i miss you please come back #destiny 2 #mine #the red war

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adaine-abernantt · 9 months

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I’m playing in a high level campaign for the first time and I got to try for Divine Intervention for the first time last session and it FRICKIN WORKED!!! We’re level 15 and I rolled a 12 and lost my absolute freakin mind.

And then later I rolled a nat 20 persuasion check in an interrogation type deal (real good for my +0 CHA lol)

#this new campaign is so exciting and fun #it’s arc 2 of this party and myself and another member are new additions #it’s been such a cool intro to the world and my dm is awesome #and comes up with the coolest homebrew items and it’s my first not adventures leagues style sorta deal #like backstories are actually getting to come into play and all that #it’s so delightful #dnd #dungeons and dragons #MaryBeth speaks #marybeth plays dnd #yeah I’m playing another cleric who’s gonna stop me

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ludinusdaleth · 6 months

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"Otohan.

Ludinus.

Liliana, all of them.

I will tear down everything they represent. And I will see that they leave no more pain in their wake."

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cringefaecompilation · 6 months

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hey remember when vm beat all the chroma conclave and then vecna decided to show up? hey remember when mn diverted a war and then lucien crawled out of his grave and strangled a karen? uh. guys. there's more shit that's gonna go down after the moon thing is fixed, isn't there? oh god.

#🍃#critical role #critrole #someone pointed out it'd be weird for them to make a wholeass animated intro if the campaign is about to end and uh #the implications alone are frightening. what the FUCK else #IS DEVEXIAN GONNA TRY AND CAUSE A ROBOT UPRISING OR SOMETHING #also keyleth said it was going to be a 'scouting mission' not them bringing to fight to them immediately

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kruemel8 · 5 months

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He is OMR beauty.

#omar rudberg #omr beauty #intro #can’t wait #he’s killing me with this campaign #so well done

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azaisya · 24 days

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FINNELYN ROSELORRE, heir apparent and darling of the Rose Court

Charming and beautiful and gifted in the arcane, Finnelyn is beloved by his peers and remains the most sought-after bachelor in the Auresion Empire. But House Roselorre's vassal lords see a feckless, self-centered young man who will make as poor a Duke as his mother was Duchess, and Finnelyn must take his responsibilities seriously before they're taken from him.

#oc #original character #oc art #character intro #fantasy oc #there he is!!!!! my boy!!#he started as an npc in my campaign (and also got ported over as a pc at one point) so i figured it'd be cute to include the dnd stats #but ive ported him and his story over to an original novel concept! w changes obv bc dnd and a novel are v different mediums #his arc is about acknowledging his own agency and also accepting that vulnerability is necessary for human connection #may or may not do this for the other major characters. we'll see #finnelyn roselorre #catchall wizard tag #finn wip #candlesart

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sunburstsandmoonshadows · 6 months

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i love how my first introduction to jasper william cartwright, ttrpg player extraordinaire, was not d20 or even three black halflings but the oxventure one-shot video where he's a guest to play You Awaken In a Strange Place, a one-shot game developed by jacob andrews from drawfee, a youtube channel i love dearly alongside oxventure.

that video includes the whispers of revolution in the nondescript regency kingdom, everyone having the power to explode people with their minds (the whole body, i mean (not just the head (the WHOLE body, all of it gone, this is very crucial you see))), and jasper playing a naked duke who's allergic to bricks, which is less relevant than you'd think considering the whole thing takes place in a nightclub in a building presumably made of bricks.

#when i started the first ep of burrows end #i was like ''the guy from the yasp video??''#''the one where he plays a naked duke and everyone can explode people with their minds??''#hilarious intro honestly #go watch it #jasper william cartwright #d20 #drawfee #oxventure #i need to get back into oxventure and their blades in the dark campaign #i keep meaning to!! but i think i can only focus on one ttrpg show at a time lol #anyway i watched that one shot again recently and its still good #it was an unintentional crossover of two channel i like i was hype about it

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critterpages · 6 months

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New Bells Hells animated intro!