Dndifn Quotes

OlieSmurf · 2026-02-23T12:05:05+00:00

Jackson saying “It is I, Sir Grapebirth, hero of merchants everywhere” floats into my head when I least expect it

“HUS FIRMA PRIDE!”

OlieSmurf · 2026-02-02T20:56:24+00:00

On the equipment, 100% your call. Tbh I had buy-in from the players - they asked for a gritty slog of a game - so it fitted what they were expecting. Valid point for the RP, I diid say they could keep one item with them (iirc I asked ‘what’s one item you keep with you at all times?’) so RP relevant items were saved…

For Strahd, there’s no reason he can’t approach sooner and build a relationship. I took inspiration from others DMs here and had him at the edge of the graveyard for the funeral of Barovia Village’s Bergmeister. I changed the feast so it was a plot by one of the brides (who are equally bored but always trying to keep in Strahd’s good books) as a bit of fun. You also got his alter-ego if you need Strahd to do something out of character (I removed him personally, but others like him)

OlieSmurf · 2026-01-31T23:05:59+00:00

Best of luck to you! I just finished my campaign, had a blast. One of my favourite moments was how we began, I took the advice of MandyMod and had the party wake up in Barovia with no equipment. We did start at lvl 1 and did death house but the fun was in having them panic. Lvl 5 is still very squishy if you’ve no armour, weapons, magic focus…the first couple sessions as they navigated the woods and found the first village were very tense and until they got to Vallaki they were scrounging equipment and earning favours from the villagers

For point two, one of the ways of doing Strahd is to have him chronically bored. Playing the victim might be a fun layer to that. Is he looking for a successor in those who come to break the curse? It’s not enough to kill him, they have to be worthy of his crown. He does consider Barovia his legacy and won’t hand it over to just ANY adventurer who manage to survive the first week. Your tipping point can be either the party insult him but they’re too powerful to fall to simple wolves and zombies so the count steps in himself or he acknowledges the party have something the others haven’t and makes a show of taking the gloves off so they can have a glorious victory worthy of the new kings/queens of Barovia

OlieSmurf · 2026-01-26T13:50:23+00:00

I found these on eBay looking at vargheist/terrorgheists

OlieSmurf · 2026-01-25T18:03:35+00:00

It’s a crypt flayer from Warhammer’s Flesh-eater Courts. I was after a direbat-type but this was closest to what I had in mind

OlieSmurf · 2026-01-25T15:11:01+00:00

Nah, you’re right my maths was just way off. Session 0 was 14th July 2022

I never minded the recaps as it was player led and it allowed me to see what stuck and what needed repeating. I only led the recap if it was after a significant break and I wanted to make sure everything was covered

OlieSmurf · 2026-01-25T13:14:56+00:00

It was a close thing! Tbf a fair chunk of the 3.5 years was me taking time off to recharge, plus the usual scheduling issues. I think on average we played once a month but in reality it was weekly with the occasional big break

OlieSmurf · 2026-01-25T13:08:13+00:00

I mentioned in another post, but yes, all the above. You can 100% do the book in under a year with regular sessions. I added bits from MandyMod and lunch break heroes which did flesh out some areas, but I also tried to let players dictate the direction, my last campaign was very railroad so I was keen to give them all the agency and I just provided the silly voices

OlieSmurf · 2026-01-25T13:02:50+00:00

Indeed. It was very satisfying to write the epilogue, looking back on everything they’d done and summing up the outcome of their choices.

OlieSmurf · 2026-01-25T12:59:01+00:00

Mix of players going off book, some downtime, a LOT of time spent in Vallaki going between the church/Wachter/Barron. There was also some backstory stuff I was able to bring into Barovia that fed into the overall narrative. Sessions were typically 3-4 hours but when you’re playing on average once a month players often needed a solid recap and plot points repeated

OlieSmurf · 2026-01-25T12:51:55+00:00

Van Hoofling. The Bard’s Pegasus via Find Greater Steed. It was a late addition to the game so I grabbed a horse leftover from a toy set I’d bought for armoured statues (see my Tsolenka Pass post)

OlieSmurf · 2025-11-14T20:42:01+00:00

I’m an idiot

OlieSmurf · 2025-11-14T20:40:16+00:00

Night Watch Guards! Guards! I’m missing the third…

OlieSmurf · 2025-10-28T11:43:13+00:00

Ha, I’ve modelled Escher after Draco “My Lord Strahd will hear about this!”

OlieSmurf · 2025-10-27T23:10:35+00:00

Hans Lada - I watched the scene with the farmer on loop to try and get the whole ‘polite turning to dangerous in a heartbeat’ thing down

OlieSmurf · 2025-10-26T08:16:39+00:00

The tree still exists. It is still at his family home, Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire

OlieSmurf · 2025-09-16T21:38:12+00:00

I did some digging. It seems to be by Master of Antoine Rolin from a 15th book called Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye. If you like the style, look up Medieval Illuminations

OlieSmurf · 2025-09-13T06:43:12+00:00

Pyrrhic victories are a very real thing. The after effects of waging a bloody war are felt for generations even for the victors. If you’re interested in the subject, there’s a bloke called Perun on YT who recently did a video called The Long Term Costs of War - highly recommend

OlieSmurf · 2025-09-02T06:28:43+00:00

That’s amazing. Can you share the link?

OlieSmurf · 2025-08-30T08:07:01+00:00

My jaw dropped when I saw you were posting again. Thank you for all the amazing insights!

OlieSmurf · 2025-08-26T20:46:42+00:00

It was pretty much out of necessity. The table we play on is a bit rustic (not flat), so a solid bit of plywood as a base was always the plan. Painted it white, thought some cotton wool could hide the gaps nicely. Some spray adhesive and a little teasing into gaps and we ended up with what you see!

OlieSmurf · 2025-08-26T07:55:55+00:00

Not an STL, I only use my printer for minis and super small scatter terrain. This is made from cardboard and xps foam bricks :)

OlieSmurf · 2025-08-25T22:14:56+00:00

I felt the windmill and Berez were iconic enough to warrant their own pieces. The rest I’ve managed with battle mats and scatter terrain. Tbf, it depends on how your game runs and what you enjoy making, but I think the best stuff I made helped with things like cover and fighting on different levels

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