Obsidian Portal enables you to create campaign websites for tabletop roleplaying games. They can oppose Strahd without being anyone's ally or friend. Use the human racial traits from the Player’s Handbook. He merely allows them to use their abilities. Although it could really be anywhere. In 346, he inherited his father's crown, lands, and army. A Vistani cursing a deserving individual to balance the world and give good helps to direct the true meaning of a curse into your game world without villainizing the people. The character thinks she’s in an arranged marriage with. The Vistani are connected to Strahd's story, and are also generally his spies in the valley. Ismark is recruiting the players to help him kill Strahd. The entire concept of needing to go track down the different items to defeat Strahd gives the heroes a reason. Ezmerelda was capable of placing a curse on others and of casting a wide variety of wizard spells. Obviously, this brings up questions of racism, how a minority group tries to survive without losing its identity, assimilation, etc. In the Mysterious Visitors hook for the module, Stanimir and his followers have been raising. A personal connection to the Vistani isn't necessary, they are kind of the "other" people in the valley. attending the festival in the town square. They could have turned him in for a kings ransom. Dame Jarnvalda was a sticky-fingered assassin that worked for Strahd. She was killed after falling into a trap set up by the vampire. I plan on having the death. . I thought I'd make good ol' Stanimir be telling the story of the Mad Mage, as it happens around the Tser Pool Encampment campfire. Long answer, nope. A wooden throne with gold inlay and decorative stones. Website: video guide to Campaign Prep for Curse of Strahd,. Those who still do jobs for Strahd are typically younger and view the older Vistani as too weak and do nothing to improve the conditions for the Vistani. About Strahd, the Vistani believe the following: Strahd comes from a royal bloodline. I would love to get that feeling back and give them something to look forward to. Van Richten came to learn the terrible truth of the Vistani curse that haunted him. Queue the performance with the Vistani and the fire from "adventure hook" section at the start. Vistani's Shroud: 200gp: 3 lb. I've had that issue as well when using the Mysterious Visitors hook; my players didn't trust any Vistani until Ezmerelda, and even she was the target of some skepticism at first. 3. Strahd von Zarovich In the halls of Castle Ravenloft, Count Strahd von Zarovich clings to ancient obsessions In life, Count Strahd von Zarovich was a ruthlessly effective conqueror. He gets most of his pleasures from reading, interacting with. The placement of three important treasures that can be used against Strahd von Zarovich, including the Tome of Strahd,. If you are named Igory, Amy, Kejt, Jakub or Kryspin - do not read this. System: 5e D&D. Compendium - Sources->Curse of Strahd. The wind’s howling increases as he turns his gaze down toward the village. this camp by the Vistani, their escorts remain at the camp and don’t accompany the adventuring party any farther. (Thank you. Have something attract them to the camp, like happy music, or they meet one or two friendly Vistani on the road to Vallaki/Tser Pool. The following timeline has been taken from Curse of Strahd: Reloaded and is a good way of traking time and events even if the players don’t intervene. A stranger with pointed ears is staying there. Men wear their scarves either around their necks or on their head, while women wear them around. Madam Eva has given the characters clues as to what they need to defeat Strahd von Zarovich. Quests that have been unlocked by the players will be listed below on this page. The Vistani should also seem skeptical of the chances that a request from someone non-Vistani would be granted and warn the players as such. The Vistani are renowned travelers of the Mists which does not seem to hinder. I know that’s what I’m doing with it. I love Curse of Strahd, but I'm not wild about the adventure hooks. To doom himself, that is his curse. Strahd himself finds these three pretty deplorable by their Mortu status and actively refuses to use them as his allies. I used the Plea for Help adventure hook in the beginning, in which one of the Vistani (namely Arrigal who lives at the previously mentioned camp) gave the party a fake letter to draw them to Barovia. Not even Strahd can get out, that is his curse. We also have a. I thundered across the land like the wrath of a just god, but the war years and the killing years wore down my soul as the wind wears stone into sand. 13th level challenges just kind of beggar belief in Barovia - if the PCs weren’t here, nobody in the. Then the Vistani recommend the PCs camp there for the night, and decide where to next in the morning. I know that’s what I’m doing with it. They meet the Keepers of the Feather and Rictavio. He stirred them with thoughts of revolt and bore them to the castle en masse. Other ideas include Strahd turning her before the team can rescue her and having her attack them. “NE male and female hu-mans” is now “NE male and female human thugs. He can be encountered through the Plea for Help adventure hook and/or at Vallaki’s Vistani camp, alongside his brother Luvash. Vistani are a unique culture with strong traditions, rooted in their unique position as travelers between Barovia and the other planes. I really like this idea, since I think the Abbott in Krezk is a very interesting character, and I would like the party to interact. The Vistani aren't really evil in the first place, but that won't keep players from going. There are three types of humans living in Barovia, the average Barovians, which live mostly in the villages of Barovia, Vallaki and Krezk, the Vistani, and the wild folks, which are divided in two tribes, the forest folks and the mountain folks. 2. The Vistani trick the towns best and brightest heroes into entering Barovia and away from their home. Wizards of the Coast stated that "the adventure includes the latest errata and a revised depiction of the Vistani" who are based on stereotypes about the Romani people. The burgomaster of Vallaki owed his father a debt from their youth, and he has offered. Without divulging too much of the dreams sent to him by Patrina, Kasimir informs the characters that the secret to breaking Strahd’s pact and freeing Barovia from its curse might be hidden there. Last session, our party of three: Jihyo the half-elf fighter, Therean the half-elf bard, and Aashuri the aasimar sorcerer, had just entered the tent of the mysterious Vistana fortuneteller, Madam Eva. During their stay, a Vistani traveler delivers a letter that, well, pleads for the party’s help. They formed an unlikely alliance between the wereravens and Vistani who were not allied with Strahd, driving out the last of Strahd's minions and finally giving the people a sense of safety and peace. g. With little else to do, the party proceeded toward Blinsky’s Toyshop. With some pretext and clues, perhaps characters will realize the value of this item. I play them as very forgiving people, especially because, living in Barovia, they have seen the absolute worst of people and strongly believe that they must be better. Legends of Barovia is an expanded campaign for Curse of Strahd, weaving together lore, locations, and NPCs through quests and mysteries. 1. The information here will allow you to create a playable character with a Vistani background for use in your game. Jeny owns a mysterious apothecary shack outside of Vallaki visited only by desperate townsfolk. Unfortunately, Vistani got a pretty terrible reputation over time for being swindlers and cheats. Curse of Strahd is an adventure book for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. In my Barovia, Strahd and Tatyana both committed atrocities, so the mysterious Dark Powers drew the Mists around Barovia, keeping them together. I reserve the worst curses—those that are especially debilitating, harmful or sadistic—for evil Vistani. The Mage's Rebellion. You can use Vistani tales as a natural way of seeding the locations of the fated items in your players' minds. Posted by u/eulergrrrl - 1 vote and 5 commentsLuvash †. As they dance and sway, a dark shape appears in the bonfire’s core. smallestmatryoshka. devil Strahd. Set in the Ravenloft campaign setting, the module revolves around the vampire Strahd von Zarovich and the Demiplane of Dread that serves as his prison. Blinsky Toy Shop - from CoS discord / Reddit Blue Water Inn - included with the campaign Burgomaster's Mansion - included with the campaignThese werewolves have been instructed that only Vistani are allowed to bring in horses, since Strahd wants to make the isolation of each town feel as oppressing as possible. Its tough for anyone but the vistani to navigate safely enough to make a map. I'm having the players traveling on a caravan, that just so happens to be a Vistani caravan, though this will be unknown to the players. He doesn't want his successor to be better than him. Second, it is offered up for players who. They have to be in a hostile enough state of mind, but they can curse you with nearly any doom they can think of. A group of Vistani rescued Strahd after he was wounded in battle. Great place to dump lore. " She flips the first. Barovians refer to him as "the. Vistani mage who brings the pcs into Barovia, in the mysterious visitors plot hook. 224-page softcover printing of the most up-to-date edition of Curse of Strahd, complete. A group of vistani visitors try convince the party to follow them and help. Although Strahd gave the Vistani the "gift" of being able to leave Barovia, he did not originally give them their ability to traverse planes. He died centuries. Crypt contains a Staff of Power. Vengeance. 78K subscribers in the CurseofStrahd community. This curse can only be removed Arrigal. 99USD, comes in a coffin-shaped box with Ravenloft-inspired etchings and contains. Rudolph van Richten. Finally began session one of Curse of Strahd, and it went so well that I actually managed to get some scares off during the session! The first five players started on the Sword Coast, split into two different groups who went through their intros separately. Of note in the original Ravenloft module Barovia wasn’t a Demiplane of Dread, but a valley Strahd cut off from the world with magic mist, and Madam Eva was one of the only people he. My players aren't leveling to 3 via death house, instead I'm doing my own thing until they reach level 3 and then springing vistani escort on them. 5 edition as Expedition to Castle Ravenloft), but with a. Pros: Curse of Strahd is the quintessential horror adventure for 5e and features one of D&D’s most infamous villains. This section contains canon info from officially published sources : Stanimir is an NPC from the 5th Edition module Curse of Strahd. In VRGtR, there's precedent at least for them adopting people. Vistani Camp. He's not gonna attack her or do anything to make him look like the bad guy. Curse of Strahd is a 257-page adventure for D&D 5e that transports players into a horrifying pocket dimension called Barovia. Forcecage is a spell that either straight up wins you the game or does nothing, haha, you wasted your 7th-level slots, bad feelings either way. Ezmerelda has this capability--for using it, consider these guidelines: Curse should be in response to a significant wrong. This is a long video, with lots of locations and information. The warlock in particular. The Tome of Strahd joins the Sunlight Sword and Holy Symbol of Ravenkind as the three artifacts needed to make actually winning a conflict with Strahd manageable. 1. The Vistani have sent message of this to Strahd, so he just appeared again at the end of last session. Although it could really be anywhere. Around one thousand years ago, the dusk elves were engaged in a war against Strahd and his people. in Barovia, the younger von Zarovich and a local villager named Tatyana fell in love. And we encountered the Mist of Ravenloft which raised quite a few red flags between PC's on how it was intended to function. Major Curse: any open hostility caused by the party. One: Strahd hasn't openly visited Vallaki in over a century. The Vistani who came to Barovia discovered this dish, where they mixed the Nish with their spices to make the delicious Onishny, and it fed them in this valley and kept them well. that's still no guarantee they're all friendly (and the vistani still spy on them for strahd) but they can usually avoid a fight at leastStrahd is the Baron of Barovia, and in Curse of Strahd he is able to control the mists that allow or prevent entry at will, which separates Barovia from the rest of the worlds. As much as they feel at home in Strahd’s dreary land, they know they can leave it whenever they please and. The Vistani - there are wagon camps all over the domain, so don't hesitate to drop one alongside the road where players cannot help to find it. And whatever the object is they touched, whether or not they took it, is laying on the ground in front of them. Martikov Journal. There had to be another way…. Presenting the largest collection of ambient sound design that faithfully follows the 'Curse of Strahd' DM's handbook, from The Guild of The Black Crow. He is the only ally who will expressly betray the party. In 2020’s Curse of Strahd Revamped, Wizards fleshed out the Vistani and imbued them with a greater sense of free will. As an aside, there are members of the Vistani who would be well aware of Strahd's intentions for Ireena. This can be in Curse of Strahd or any other adventure of your choosing. In this hook, Death House serves as a portal to Strahd's domain: the players enter Death House in their own world, and—upon defeating or pacifying the cult—emerge into the land of Barovia. So, if Strahd goes and the other Barovians get their way, then the Vistani would be just as unwelcome there as anyone. Rictavio has to flee Vallaki, so he tells the group to go to Van Richten's Tower. Calling Vistani evil is not racist, it doesn't imply all gypsies are evil it's just saying the ones in strahds domain are. One to the Material plane and one for back. I was planning on doing the "Mysterious Visitors" hook, where Duchess Morwen sends them off to get rid of a band of wayward travelers. There are three now Vistani camps in Barovia There already are three (As written, although many more pass in and out of Barovia). This time I wanted to contrast sad and bleak portraits of Barovian Commoners with the color and joy of Vistani. When they escape, they’re in Barovia. Maybe it wasn’t Strahd himself that cast the curse, but the spell could have made. This is discussed in the Curse of Strahd book on page 24. Dreams and Destiny Adventure Hook. Not be forced to love him, actually choose him. For an extra challenge, try drawing random cards from the deck, arranging them in one of the patterns, then try to piece together a 'reading' based off the cards. Curse of Strahd is a re-tread of the original plot of I6 Ravenloft (later revised for AD&D 2nd edition as RM4 House of Strahd, and again, but more heavily so, for the revised 3. The way I see it, the Vistani are loyal to each other more than anyone else, and it's primarily Arrigal and Luvash who are Strahd loyalists, and the rest of their camp says that their word goes. To doom himself, that is his curse. Then the Vistani recommend the PCs camp there for the night, and decide where to next in the morning. The adventure is firmly rooted in the horror genre and pits the players against ghosts, werewolves, and the titular vampire himself: Strahd Von Zarovich. Vistani Treasure Wagon, there is an item that fits this description. So it worked because it was the "first and the last time" someone escaped. Curse of Strahd expands, updates, and re-imagines the classic I6: Ravenloft. In this letter, Kolyan begs the PCs to help cure Ireena’s wound and protect her from a menace. Party wanted to investigate the scene of the disappearance. To help any other DMs who might be interested in emulating it, I've pasted my Tarokka reading script below! You can also find the animated flipping Tarokka cards that I used here, and the VTT background I used here. Curse of Strahd Level Guide. Strahd invites your party members as guests to his wedding and as escorts for Ireena. Guide to Curse of Strahd: Arasek Stockyard Detailed Guide to the Vallaki Vistani - including two special events: The Chingary Challenge (knife fight) and the Dordi Doosta. Mostly these are portraits that I curated after reading the RAW book. Come nightfall, the campfire story plays out. These spells included the. I suppose you could easily do the vistani escort thing and then do the death house as a separate dream sequence during the escort. One to the Material plane and one for back. The first sentence after the boxed text has been replaced with the following text: “These Vistani servants of Strahd march through the Barovian wilderness, laughing and telling ghost stories. gravediggeres. Or, rather, discovered her existence in Strahd's past. "all Vistani are Strahd's spies," or "all Barovians are craven and worthless. The best the players can do, by RAW, is to reunite Ireena with Sergi in the afterlife, and provide a window of opportunity for the Barovians, those with souls at least, to escape before Strahd inevitably revives. ago. When the Wizard and peasants confronted Strahd, Kolyan and Ismark slipped into Castle Ravenloft and retrieved Ireena. The other reason they might not trust them is if townspeople have mentioned they're in league with the devil Strahd. “A mighty wizard came to this land over a year ago. Illumina came to Barovia as a child with her parents in an effort for her parents to break off from a patron and get Illumina's voice back. It’s important to justify how Strahd knows to adapt to the player characters’ strengths and plans. Van Richten's Tower: The heroes obtain the tome and meet Ezmerelda. Leo fell in love with the daughter of a. In brief, you get pulled into the demi-plane of Barovia, run by the mad demigod – and vampire – Strahd von Zarovich. Vani is a term loosely meaning, "someone brought back from death. Strahd got reports from Vistani of this vampire’s activities and learned of the vampire’s demise at Van Richten’s hand. I am a serious world-builder of a DM so, when I went to run Curse of Strahd, I decided to go digging about and see what I could find that would expand the world, so to speak. 2. With some pretext and clues, perhaps characters will realize the value of this item. We start diving into each and every location in the village of Vallaki!My Discord Link: Link: is a human noble of the Von Holtz family. I’ve completed the campaign as a DM three times, and I’ve reflected on those campaigns in. The specifics depend on the character's goal, needs, etc. Vistani Bandits (p. ” Chapter 2 [New] Vistani Thugs (p. Leaving an Impact. Eva gathered the Vistani and called upon Mother Night to help her find a solution. One of the dusk elves, named Rahadin, betrayed them. A happy Strahd is bound to be a good ruler and never ever hurt his people, after all. Strahd CAN surround a party with the mists and pull them to Barovia intentionally. In exchange, he offers all of his wealth as Burgomaster. When you were young, a pack of feral werewolves emerged from a mysterious fog and laid waste to your village. Random Encounters (A-C) Compendium - Sources->Curse of Strahd.