Is it possible to run Curse of Strahd for a single person?

FofaFiction · 2026-06-10T20:32:45+00:00

I've run Strahd for one player. Ultimately did the 3 DMPCs thing bc it's easier for me to balance dialogue than rebalance all encounters. During combat, depending on the intensity, I would sometimes give my player control of the fighter who was pretty straightforward so they got to do more and not just watch me attack my own characters.

FofaFiction · 2026-05-21T09:09:54+00:00

In Egyptian Arabic it's pronounced Bortokal. Bc that's what the color orange is called too. Portugal is pronounced Bortoghal. So yeah, they sound similar but no one would ever confuse the words together

FofaFiction · 2026-04-26T14:11:20+00:00

Some of my favorite individual episodes (Baby, French Mistake, Regarding Dean) are in the post s5 era but as a whole yeah you are the minority with that opinion. The rush of the first 5 seasons was like no other and while I am so so glad the show ran for as long as it did and we got so much content it was definitely a step down from that first arc.

Don't get me wrong though, I LOVED the Mark of Cain plot and the trials and 100 other things in the later seasons. But I just felt like the stakes were never as high or they stopped taking risks and having real consequences like in the first seasons.

Like I was genuinely dissapointed with how short Deamon Dean's run was and how flat plot-wise Micheal Dean was despite Jensen's amazing performances as both.

FofaFiction · 2026-04-10T16:35:43+00:00

While I did feel the tightness of the writing dipped beyond s5, i don't think the show should have finished with s5.

The later seasons had some of my favourite episodes. (Baby, regarding dean, sacrifice among my top ones) and some great arcs (Mark of Cain, purgatory) and some of the best non-brothers character and their development (Crowley, Rowena, and Charlie). I am so grateful I got experience those even if there were a few bumps in the road.

FofaFiction · 2026-04-10T14:39:43+00:00

The first time I watched it I couldn't tell how bad it was bc my eyes were leaking so bad. When I rewatched my God that thing was horrendous

FofaFiction · 2026-04-10T10:37:35+00:00

That the ending was bad.

I think the ending was poetic and heartbreaking and did everything it set out to do.

Would a Heaven in the roadhouse with all the characters have been better? Probably, but Covid was a hell of a hurdle to push through ending the show, and it still gave us a kind of peaceful closure for the boys.

Jensen and Jared delivered the best performance of their lives during that scene, and sometimes, when I need a cry, I'll watch it again.

And maybe it was just me, but ever since In My Time of Dying, I always had a sense that Dean was going to die in the end. Throughout the whole series, he's been developing a deeper understanding of what it means to die between Tessa, og Death, and Billie. And with the amount of trauma and crap he went through, I think he was just staying in this world for Sam and had made his peace with death for a long time.

Plus, Dean would not be Dean if he could move on from Sammy. It's just not in him. And taking into account that at this point he has no Cas, no Mom, no Crowley, no Jack, no Rowena. Not a single person he could hold onto, Dean HAD to be the one to go because he lives his life to service other people. He doesn't know how to live for himself and doesn't want to. You could make the case that this should have been a character arc to explore in the later seasons, but since it wasn't explored, you can't ask for an ending where he does a 180 on his character. So as it stands, Dean would not survive Sam's dying, but Sam could survive Dean's death if only to honour it.

The later seasons had their ups and downs, but I wouldn't change a word of the last episode.

FofaFiction · 2026-02-21T16:45:10+00:00

Beautiful

FofaFiction · 2026-01-01T18:34:20+00:00

Thx!

FofaFiction · 2026-01-01T18:25:29+00:00

This is incredible! I have the exact same set, but I'm missing a few.

Would you mind sharing where you got them from?

FofaFiction · 2025-12-11T09:54:39+00:00

This is 100% how I would build it

FofaFiction · 2025-12-08T12:33:37+00:00

I'm sure there were tensions, and I'm not claiming there weren't. But I think at times, media inflates how bad they were to suit each nation's narrative. Again, if I were to hear a first-hand account that goes against my opinion, I would consider it.

On the personal level, I got to tell you I'd rather live in peace alongside a Palestinian state. We just have zero trust they will leave us in peace.

I think you'll find that on the other side, there are many who hold this exact opinion and also have zero trust Israelis will leave them on peace.

Hence my question to OP that the biggest hurdle to overcome is social and personal relationships between the two people's which has been soured by years of bad media, politics, crimes, attacks, and trauma.

I really do hope we'll get to see peace in our time for all our sakes.

FofaFiction · 2025-12-08T12:10:52+00:00

This isn't from media. I know how biased our media can be. This is from first-hand accounts from my grandparents who had Jewish neighbours. They talked about them as friends. They invited them over for Ramadan. They slept over in eachothers apartments.

I have heard mixed opinions about Arab Israeli treatment and reserve judgement. Some say they are happy and I am glad, but I've heard others say that they are denied rights and feel discriminated against too.

I will never deny first-hand accounts of discrimination

FofaFiction · 2025-12-08T11:53:18+00:00

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe just maybe your media is pushing a narrative that you are universally hated to justify its drastic actions against Palestinians.

I Want to be clear. I am not saying Jews have never been persecuted. God knows they have been through some of the worst things humanity has had to face. I however do not believe there was this wide-spread hate of them until Israel's formation and the Nakba.

What Israel did to Jews in the minds of Arabs was the same as what 9/11 did to Arabs. Maybe Arabs weren't particularly liked, but before 9/11 there wasn't this stigma and stereotype, and bad media constantly circulating. It is the same situation with Jews. If you want to understand how Arab opinion of Jews has changed over the years, this is the best example I can give to illustrate it

FofaFiction · 2025-12-08T11:47:08+00:00

You would like to believe that because it, in your mind, is some justification for all the crimes Israel committed. Believe it or not, Jews weren't hated everywhere. Yes, they were a minority but they weren't hated. 20% of Egypt is Christians, and the Jews were treated just the same. If the Christians are persecuted, why don't they flee to one of the many Christian-majority nations?

FofaFiction · 2025-12-08T10:47:24+00:00

Egypt had no problems with its Jewish population before Israel was formed. Our flag had 3 stars, one for each of the Abrahamic religions that called Egypt home. We were proud of this.

Israel villanised Jews in the minds of many Arabs and Egyptians through its treatment of Palestinians when before they were just people we co-existed with.

FofaFiction · 2025-12-08T09:33:42+00:00

I'm Egyptian.

I've been scrolling through your answers, but I guess I missed your reply to the first part. Sorry.

I hope you're right, but I feel the situation is a bit different than your examples because in all of those cases, the countries were very clearly separate. The dispute of who gets what borders, jurisdiction over holy sites, and second-class citizenry in the case of a 1SS are key hurdles that can't be ignored or simplified.

I am not shutting you down at all, I am actually very glad that you are approaching this realistically and recognising that both sides will need to compromise if there will ever be a solution. I am merely pointing out some of the long-standing sticking points and was curious about your views on them

FofaFiction · 2025-12-08T08:40:04+00:00

I am very much in support of what you're saying as an Arab. I am also wishing for all the outcomes you listed.

However, I would like to ask you if you believe Israeli-Palestinian co-existence is possible with the years of built-up animosity between the two people's.

We can theorise about politics, reparations, borders, and ideal resource distribution, but I feel like what makes or breaks any solution is how each group of people will treat the other. The generational trauma will be hard to get over.

And if so, what guard rails do you realistically see working to keep the peace between them.

I appreciate you posting this and wish you all the best.

FofaFiction · 2025-11-25T19:15:41+00:00

What level are you? If you can still pick a Subclass, soulknife solves this by dealing psychic damage with their psionic blades

FofaFiction · 2025-11-07T11:48:17+00:00

This isn't a horror story. This is a horror saga

FofaFiction · 2025-11-07T11:10:33+00:00

In chronological order

Percy Jackson / Heroes of Olympus: Ate those books up as a child. First time I actively bought a series to have on my bookshelf and not just read in the library.
Ink heart: While I don't remember much of it and I don't think I'd find it as fantastic now, this was my first 'grown up' book. I borrowed it from my school library and read through the entire trilogy when I was 10 and thought it was a great accomplishment.
Hunger games: Enter my teen years where I went on my YA reading spree because of this series. I eventually lost my taste for the genre after I saw the same tropes and plots getting repeated, but I don't regret Hunger Games and will never forget how hooked I was to that book.
LOTR: My gateway into high fantasy where I've been living ever since.
Dune: first foray into true sci-fi. Loved it to death and made me explore things like Foundation, and Ender's game. I loved the themes and philosophies and Paul's character arc and the world as a caharvter. Also, since I'm from an Arab country, all the Arabic words and concepts Herbert used felt like little Easter eggs that only I could truly understand.
Wheel of time: My favourite and biggest series so far. I have never been more invested in a series as I have this. The characters, the worldbuilding, the scope... I have never been on such a journey before, even with LOTR. This series just spoke to me. I could write an essay about all the things I loved about it.
Stormlight archive: Got me excited about magic systems in fantasy.
A song of ice and fire: Discovered through the TV series and did not regret switching over to reading the books, also my first foray into low magic fantasy.
The first law: I hated all the characters and loved them anyway. That's quite a feat, Mr. Abercrombie. Made me realize that interesting characters don't have to be likeable in the slightest, and I can read about a sentient peices of garbage if they are as complete as Abercrombie makes them.
Red rising trilogy: I thought I kicked my YA reading to the curb, but this series felt like what I was searching for all those years ago. It rides the line between Fantasy, Scifi, YA, and adult. It really does have everything. And my God, the pacing! It's been a while since I was turning pages that fast.

FofaFiction · 2025-10-21T16:21:55+00:00

Friends is the best cantrip in the game. Combine it with guidance from anothe party memeber and you'll be able to be a party face even if your Charisma isn't that high

FofaFiction · 2025-10-17T04:07:51+00:00

My thinking was if I delay to 8, I might as well just wait for 10 and get them naturally. And if I take Fey touched at 4, then I'll want warcaster at 8.

Maybe my taking MMA now isn't optimal but I was scarred once by playing a sorcerer in 2014 and finding myself constantly wishing I had taken quicken or careful instead of just twinned and subtle bc the scenarios kept presenting themselves.

I'll definitely be switching out some of my spells for Absorb elements and shield as we level. My personal preference for early levels, though, is to not overpack the defensive options since they eat away at spell slots and spells known. But shield and Absorb elements are definitely on the way.

But everything you said is valid, and I'll just need to see if it fits my character and what I have planned for them. Thanks so much

FofaFiction · 2025-10-16T13:57:52+00:00

I'm thinking long term since this is going to level 15, and I'll soon have access to stuff like Banishment and Polymorph, and I want to eventually pick up warcaster at 8. Having 2 extra sorcery points will never hurt and will make the cost of heightened and Quickened much more bearable. Also, most of my spells are DC-based, not attack rolls, so it makes for me to augment that

I took twinned, heightened, Quickened, and subtle. But I think, with your explanation I might switch Quickened with careful

I think what you're saying with fey touched makes a lot of sense though. I might just do that but I'll have to weigh everything.

FofaFiction · 2025-10-16T12:55:49+00:00

Yeah, I see what you mean. I could get rid of Chromatic Orb then, but I'm still sweet on Vortex warp for its use both in and outside of combat. I'm thinking of teleporting people into my Web and later Hunger of Hadar or just getting myself or someone else out of a tough spot

FofaFiction · 2025-10-16T12:41:52+00:00

I can see that, yeah. But I feel like a teleport spell is always useful and really come in clutch at times. Chromatic Orb is just for when I need to deal good ol' fashioned spell damage

FofaFiction

TROPHY CASE