//Updated&Edited as of 7/2/18//

Let’s talk about Strahd. I mean the character/villain, not the campaign as a whole. Strahd is an excellent villain who I love very much. He’s evil to the core but charismatic enough not to show it, which makes him all the more dangerous.

The first time I read about Strahd and his backstory in the written campaign, I took it in stride. It wasn’t until later on, when I really sat down to process the information, that I understood how twisted he really was. So I’d like to give you guys the rundown on Strahd von Zarovich so you’re all the more prepared to use him in your campaign.

Part 1: Background and Prep Work

Part 2: On Strahd van Zarovich

Part 3: More on The Dark Powers

Part 4: Dealing with Character Death in Barovia

Entering Barovia and Streamlining Death House

The Village of Barovia

Extra: Dream Pastry Addiction Mechanics

Tser Pool, Vistani, and Tarroka

Old Bonegrinder

Vallaki NPCs: Vargas Vallakovich and Lady Wachter

Vallaki NPCs: The Church of St. Andral and Hallowed Ground as a Whole

Vallaki NPCs: Blue Water Inn and Izek

Vallaki I: The Overview and the Gates

Vallaki II: Town Square, The Inn, and St. Andrals

Vallaki III: Wachterhaus and the Mansion

Vallaki Extra Location: St. Andral's Orphanage

Vallaki Extra Location: The Reformation Center

Kresk I: Missing Livestock

Kresk II: Fidatov Manor

Kresk III: The Maze

Running Werewolves and Lycanthropes

On Vampires

• Modern media has really warped vampires. Nowadays we have vampires that sparkle and constitute the ultimate teenage romance. However, this is most certainly not where vampires began.
• Vampires are Metaphors for Rapists
  • Yup, you read that right. Things might get a little touchy here, but this is all very true.
  • Sex in Media
    • In the olden days, portraying sex in any way in public media was extremely taboo. Writers didn’t write about it and, later on, filmmakers didn’t even imply it in their work. If you go back and watch some old black-and-white films, even married couples are portrayed as sleeping in separate beds.
    • Creative people had to get crafty in order to talk about sex in entertainment media, and often used subtext and metaphors to convey the idea. Vampires are one of the results of this. If you can’t talk about a man forcing himself on a woman for sex, instead you talk about a man forcing himself on a woman for her blood because he “needs it”. Suddenly it becomes acceptable to show to the mass media.
  • The Ultimate Man
    • If you think of vampires, be they Dracula or Strahd or even Edward friggin Cullen, they all have similar airs about them. They’re all powerful, well-learned, wealthy men and usually have a heavy level of societal influence. Strahd is technically a King, after all.
    • These aspects make vampires the ultimate catch. They’re meant to represent the extreme upper class and therefor the husband that every woman wants. In more modern times, our cultural ideals for romance have thankfully become more fluid and accepting. But when we talk about vampires, this is generally the archaic form of love we see.
• Because vampires are the ultimate man they’re able to get away with quite a bit, and that includes abusing their lovers. Vampires are meant to represent that even aristocrats and kings are capable of being monsters when the sun goes down. All their wealth and cunning doesn’t change the fact that they are abominations. The same can be said of a politician or wealthy businessman who regularly abuses his power to get away with rape. The need for sex is a carnal and visceral desire and so is a vampire’s need for blood. When the powerful give into that desire, the result is monstrous.

Presenting Strahd In-Game

• I, Strahd vs. The Campaign Book
  • I must admit, I had no idea that I, Strahd was a thing before some of you guys mentioned it in the comments to this post. While I saw the excerpts throughout the campaign book, I thought them no more than flavor text, like the post-it notes in Xanathar's. I am delighted to learn that there's more official material on this wonderful bad guy!
  • In essence, I, Strahd is a novel that tell's Strahd's story from his point of view. While I haven't had the opportunity to read this novel, I now know that it provides some key details to the backstory behind the lord of Barovia.
  • The Strahd we see in the novel is a very different person than the vampire in which the campaign book presents. Mainly, he's much more sympathetic and his downfall is more clearly explained.
• Super Evil or Redeemable? You're Choice as the DM
  • As written in the campaign book, Strahd is an absolutely deplorable guy.
    • Firstly, Strahd murdered his brother and drank his blood. Like, at the altar in front of everyone!
    • Then, as panic ensues, Strahd literally chases Tatyana down. Can you even imagine?? You’re about to get married to the love of your life and suddenly your new brother-in-law goes crazy and kills him. Then your brother-in-law, still coated in your dead fiancé’s blood, starts to actively run you down while screaming that he loves you.
    • Finally, when Strahd finally corners Tatyana at the cliff’s edge, he claims that he offered her his love. But let's face it, it's not a great confession when you've just gone American Psycho on the lady. It's no wonder she jumps!
  • However, further background material gives Strahd a bit more life.
    • To borrow straight from the comment by u/MayBeABanana:
    • "Strahd kills Sergei in his room, before the wedding. He then calls the guards and blames an assassin.
    • He then finds Tatyana in the chapel and charms her with his newfound powers. But they get interrupted, and she flees and jumps. Strahd thinks it's an accident, because I, Strahd is from his perspective. His love for her is a twisted mix of obsession and love. She never returns it, outside of a familial sense, but the Dark Powers latch on to his obsession and fuel it. He legitimately believes she returns his affections in the moment he charms her."
  • The question really falls on you as the DM of your own game. Do you want Strahd to be more sympathetic? Maybe your party is super moral and wants to save Strahd, so you start adapting him to fit that play style. Or maybe you really do want the ultimate villain who's true nature only shows itself to the party with time. I suggest having a baseline plan for Strahd from the very beginning of your campaign and then adapting him to suit how your players are handling Barovia.

Strahd’s Personality

• We’ve now established that Strahd is basically a delusional abuser. Whether he's redeemable or not depends on how you present him in-game. So how does that Strahd's personality present itself?
• Collecting Consorts
  • Strahd has a fascination with collecting beautiful and/or interesting people to be his consorts. Biologically, he uses them for their blood. After a while, he turns them into vampire spawn that entertain him mentally and physically. And finally, when they are no longer entertaining, he seals them away in the underground crypt so that no one else can have them.
  • Strahd has had a variety of different consorts. Though it’s made evident that he primarily prefers women, he’s also had a few male consorts as seen in both Escher and Doru. In a way, he probably doesn’t care about gender, but rather about control. The more control and power he has over a subject, the more excited he is.
  • Intellectual consorts are always preferred. If someone is just pretty to look at, Strahd will want to change them into a vampire to add to his collection. But those with interesting minds and behavioral patterns, he keeps around the longest. If a consort manages to surprise Strahd with their actions, he’ll be tickled pink.
  • No matter what he might say to his consorts, Strahd does not actually care about them. They are literally nothing but toys to him, to be used for a while and then placed on a shelf and replaced with a newer model.
  • In Strahd’s mind, he quite literally owns his consorts. If anything were to happen to them, he would be quite angry. Not because he’s lost something he cares about, but because something that belonged to him was taken.
• Tatyana/Ireena
  • Tatyana is the consort that got away. However much Strahd may claim to have loved her, it's really more of an obsession that he confuses with love. Instead, the fact that Tatyana chose Sergei over Strahd was a huge blow to Strahd’s ego and the only way to reclaim his hurt pride is to claim Tatyana as one of his consorts at long last.
  • While this is how Strahd’s psyche thinks about Tatyana deep down, on a more shallow level he really believes he loves her. Strahd doesn’t really understand romantic love, so his obsession with owning Tatyana’s soul is the closest thing he’s got.
• The Egomaniac
  • Pride is, by far, Strahd’s greatest sin. He thinks very much of himself and very little of literally everything else.
  • Stroking Strahd’s ego won’t win him over in the slightest. He doesn’t need proof he’s the best because he already knows he’s the best. Instead, a healthy respect and acknowledgment of his power would please him more. Make sure to act accordingly if your players try to charm him in this manner.

One Last Thing

• I didn't include this information in my first rendition of this post mostly because I thought it'd be considered common sense. But this is the internet. And the internet is a crazy place. So I'll say it anyway.
• Sex in d&d
  • Yes, I just established that Vampires are the fantasy versions of rapists. Yes, I just wrote a whole lot about how Strahd literally keeps a harem to satisfy his own desires. But holy goodness DO NOT have sex/rape actually in your game!
    • It's fine to imply that some awful things are going on behind the scenes. Imply that Strahd might have raped Ireena if he manages to capture her in-game. But don't actually describe shit like that. Don't make your players walk into a rape scene.
    • It's also fine to have the bad guys flirt with your player characters. Strahd and other vampires can make comments with sexual undertones. In fact, these instances can be funny if played right. But under no circumstances should Strahd or anyone else try to rape a player! Ever!
  • That being said, know your players.
    • If you're playing with a group of friends that you're very familiar with, you should know what they will and will not be comfortable with.
    • However, if you're only d&d buddies, err on the side of caution and remember to keep things light with the in-game romance.

And that concludes my analysis on Strahd. He really is an awful person, which is also why he makes such an excellent villain. I don’t know how much this actually helps you guys, but I felt it needed to be said. Thanks again and stay tuned for more!

- Mandy