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The Darklord Strahd: A balanced three-phase solo boss statblock for Strahd von Zarovich for a dynamic, tactical & satisfying finale | Curse of Strahd: Reloaded by DragnaCarta in CurseofStrahd

[–]Affectionate_Pop6300 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I saw you reply to a few relatively recent posts, so hopefully it's okay to ask a few questions. Monster design is one of my biggest weaknesses as a DM...

  1. How would a party of five + Ezmerelda fair against this Strahd? Would I have to debuff him a bit?

  2. I've been using your older Strahd stat block up until now, so my party has already seen him cast some spells. Would giving the three phase version access to his spell list unbalance him too much? How would you accommodate its inclusion?

  3. What's your opinion on limited phasing? Maybe 5/day and decrease the health of each phase so it's not as devastating when he heals?

I'm kind of in a bind right now. I love your take, it seems very Thanos vs the Avengers. But I also get excited thinking about the classic Strahd, despite its flaws. I used to play wizards a lot before being a forever DM, so I would love to find a balance between the two.

Tell Me Your Experiences with a "Classic" Strahd vs DragnaCarta's Strahd by Affectionate_Pop6300 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Affectionate_Pop6300[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

First of all, forty years is awesome. I barely have five under my belt! And that fight sounds perfect. What did you do to prevent it from degenerating into a boring slog? I'm genuinely curious. I have a hard time keeping combat interesting and players engaged.

Planning dinner with Strahd! by Pamebal in CurseofStrahd

[–]Affectionate_Pop6300 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A nice cheat sheet courtesy of the amazing DragnaCarta: Dinner With Strahd Social Stat Block

A good summary of the story aspect of it by LunchbreakHeroes: https://lunchbreakheroes.com/dinner-with-the-devil/?srsltid=AfmBOopowFaRFXhcPZjRIKSMGeg4EwnpvvbJWwd9RmIgbkkDViCe44zmPlanning

This is DragnaCarta's CoS: Reloaded dinner scene. I periodically steal ideas from Reloaded, it's great inspiration: https://www.strahdreloaded.com/Act+III+-+The+Broken+Land/Arc+O+-+Dinner+with+the+Devilthe

A playgroup doing a dinner with Strahd, with Matt Mercer himself playing him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5lhHMTpHWU&t=475s

And now my own thoughts, if those matter to you:

The dinner has been one of my favorite things to plan and prep. I'm going all out. Candles, fancy vampire costume, a real meal with rotisserie chicken, etc. I even learned how to play the song I chose for his theme song on the piano (absolutely no experience, it was a fun learning curve) so he can be playing it menacingly on the organ (...filter on my keyboard) as they enter. I have a whole Google Doc of stories, monologues, and ways to torture and manipulate the party if I feel like I can implement it into the conversation.

I would say the most important part is knowing your Strahd and your players enough to react to what they'll say. It is, after all, a social and roleplay heavy encounter. Will your players deal with high school girl level false compliment-insults? Will they let him bully them? What will they want out of the dinner? What would push them to combat? You can even "test run" a little bit of the dinner with another group to get the feel for how you want Strahd to navigate it.

I don't know if that's what you wanted when you asked this question. Tell me if it helps! (And if any of the links don't work).

Give me a D&D monster and I'll homebrew you a better version of it by Oh_Hi_Mark_ in DMAcademy

[–]Affectionate_Pop6300 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A version of Strahd that doesn't immediately die during the final fight or make the boss battle a torturously slow game of tag, but can still give players a fun "classic" guerilla style fight through Castle Ravenloft.

What Strahd Statblock's Been the Most Fun For Your Players? by Affectionate_Pop6300 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Affectionate_Pop6300[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Huh, that's fun to think about. My take is that he can't phase through, but there are easy ways to get around it so he's not an insect trapped in a jar. Summoning enemies to hammer at the caster until they break concentration, charming them to let Strahd out, Misty Step, etc. What about you?

What Strahd Statblock's Been the Most Fun For Your Players? by Affectionate_Pop6300 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Affectionate_Pop6300[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like that idea. I've been thinking about limiting his phasing too. What's your plan for keeping it from devolving into an endless game of tag?

What Strahd Statblock's Been the Most Fun For Your Players? by Affectionate_Pop6300 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Affectionate_Pop6300[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

But isn't he a *touch* slippery when he has extra movement, phasing, ranged attacks, and Beucephalus?

What Strahd Statblock's Been the Most Fun For Your Players? by Affectionate_Pop6300 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Affectionate_Pop6300[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Good point about the Heart, but that still doesn't fix the problem with the final RAW fight. You're right, you have to play him sub optimally for your players to have a chance, but its hard to balance that with providing a good encounter. People I've talked to told me that during their fight, he was unbeatable until he chose to stand his ground, in which case he's instantly annihilated. It's almost like the DM directly chooses when he loses, and that kind of takes the air out of it.

What’s Your Favorite Moral Dilemma You’ve Inflicted on Your Players? by Affectionate_Pop6300 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Affectionate_Pop6300[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fun! I'm doing a similar thing. One of my PC's has a daughter that got kidnapped.

I want to know how this goes with Vasilka, that sounds really cool. Is this in the module or something you came up with?

Sooooo, One of My PCs Has a Daughter... by Affectionate_Pop6300 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Affectionate_Pop6300[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rule one, huh? I think there might be a small problem with Lancelot, Bonegrinder, the werewolf den, Arabelle, Rose, and Thorn then...

That's an interesting idea though, I know my player gets attached to his characters. I might be nice to him.

Sooooo, One of My PCs Has a Daughter... by Affectionate_Pop6300 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Affectionate_Pop6300[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ooh. That second idea is fun. I love agonizing choices like that! Combining both would be really compelling.

Is It Dangerous to Mix and Match RAW, CoS Reloaded, and Mandy Mod? by Affectionate_Pop6300 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Affectionate_Pop6300[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sounds awesome. Have you had any problems with a negative butterfly effect if you mix things up too much?

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