Court of the Count Guide | Running Curse of Strahd 5e

Get the most out of Castle Ravenloft with this Dungeons & Dragons guide to the Court of the Count in Curse of Strahd! We're adding danger and intrigue to this area of the castle to keep your party on their toes and reveal the history behind Strahd's fall from grace.
🏆 Get the WRITTEN version on Patreon! / lunchbreakheroes
⚔ Sign up to get a FREE copy of RAISING THE STAKES: lunchbreakhero...
🌟 🌟 🌟 Get The Deck of Many Quests today! www.amazon.com...
🗣 Join the official LBH Discord! / discord
--------------------------
The haunting song heard in area K34:
Sergei, my handsome-
Thrill me, darling,
With the words I want to hear-
Call me darling,
Call me sweetheart-
Call me, call me dear!
--------------------------
Sergei's Letter:
My dearest Brother!
We have had the terrible news about the attempt at your
life-my shock and concern could not be greater! I cannot
wait to finally visit you in Castle Ravenloft. Please let me
know if there is anything we can do for you in the mean-
time. I will keep you in my prayers, Strahd, as always!
Your devoted brother,
Sergei
--------------------------
#rpg #dungeonsanddragons #dnd

[@magicastrid]

Oh man, that bit with the dress has me all misty-eyed thinking about it.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Glad you like it!

[@dutch6857]

Me too. That hit me.

[@doinkthetrickster64]

Idk about anyone else but whenever I am RPing Strahd, I try and emulate the same swagger given off by Dracula from the Dracula Netflix mini series

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Just try to wrap up your game better than they wrapped up the miniseries!

[@Joe-uz5fu]

I think he's essentially like an evil version of The Doctor in that show. Very charming, always has a trick or two up his sleeve, always ready to monologue. Sounds like a fun character to RP

[@xaosbob]

Love the addition of the Dance of Death.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Thank you!

[@DstileSK8]

You, MandyMod and Dragnacarta made my life so much easier. You guys are among the divine pantheon of this community, thank you.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Our pleasure!

[@derekjoyce6152]

The unholy trilogy so to speak

[@HAZZATHEBEAST]

The more and more I learn about castle Ravenloft the more I think I know where Capcom got their inspirations from for Resident Evil Village. The assassin thing reminded me of the part where you get the dagger and stab it into lady D and there is a note that talks about an assassination attempt on lady D as well.

[@jesseperry9602]

Another knock out of the park. I'm glad you are going section by section in Castle Ravenloft. It's one of the biggest setting sections in all of Barovia for a reason. Not for nothing, but I can't begin to tell you how much your guide to Vallaki has helped me. I was very daunted by the scope of everything there, and your guide helped me make it manageable so my party didn't feel overwhelmed.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I'm really glad that we could help with Vallaki! And hopefully when you get to the castle, these videos can help make that easier to run as well. :-)

[@jesseperry9602]

@@LunchBreakHeroes no doubt!

[@gabrielhaydar2373]

My Curse of Strahd book, official brazillian portuguese version, finally arrived! Time to rewatch all your videos! I am anxious to start playing in January. I would like to thank you, for I am sure my players will enjoy the changes just as much as I have!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Best of luck to you Gabriel!

[@kyleweir689]

The answer to "why have an audience hall" could be "he didn't build the castle, he took it" lol

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Depends on the lore you consider canon, actually. In 5e, he built it. In prior versions, he took it from an existing force. So flip a coin!

[@kyleweir689]

@@LunchBreakHeroes I actually didn't know that! I've been treating "I, Strahd" as canon for most everything historical

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I go back and forth and use what suits me best. It’s a really good book!

[@stephencortez2125]

I started running COS 2 weeks ago. I have been researching, and watching your videos! I am more of a visual learner. It has helped tremendously. Thank you so much for the work, and time you put into making these! Appreciated!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Glad we could help!

[@stevenhelms8039]

Thank you for posting this when you did! Running ravenloft on Sunday and have followed mandymod's advice on getting rid of gimmicks. But now the castle feels empty...

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Follow your bliss and put those gimmicks back in if you want! Some of them are kinda neat!

[@elzbthlncstr]

I didn't expect to laugh that hard at "apparently this guy's got a...bone...thing going on" lmfao, great work as always and thank you so much for these videos! Your patreon is more than worth it and has saved my ass many times

[@andersschmich8600]

I'm about to run the final battle of Castle Ravenloft tomorrow, these videos have been unimaginably helpful.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Glad we could help!

[@andersschmich8600]

@@LunchBreakHeroes I'm definitely excited to give my Players an exhilarating Finale.

[@elyjahatsizzller]

The ending of this video gave me chills. This is brilliant.

[@jordancoller]

We love you!!

[@joaosol7234]

Man castle ravenloft looks so hard to run, my group has yet to reach Vallaki and I'm already worried about it xD

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Don't worry, we got your back! The map is your biggest enemy. Everything else is pretty fun.

[@MrJojux]

After I started to rebuild a simpler version of the castle in Minecraft it really took much of the fear out of me. It just takes ages. But there is a video on KZbin of some dude walking through a Ravenloft - Minecraft Map for DMs with references to the areas. It really helps to get a feeling where you can go from where to see it in 3D Space. Looking at it again, there are multiple videos like that on KZbin.

[@KevShaw808]

Such amazing inspiration! You really bring this castle to life... or well.. un-life. Great work on putting together so many useful resources!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Thank you, Kevin!

[@TrippyTheShroom]

It'll surprise the players too when they discover that the Ba'al Verzi Blade that the rogue has been using for 4 sessions now is also the same blade that killed Sergei. I tend to run I, Strahd as Canon.

[@TrippyTheShroom]

I'm currently reading the sequel, War Against Azalin, and I think Azalin may make a cameo....depending on how the book ends anyway. I had intended on putting the Ba'al Verzi in my game as well but considering how much time has passed since Strahd became the Strahd we know and love and Curse of Strahd, I dont think it'd make sense for them to still exist.

[@tadhgenright6654]

Love the curse of strahd guides! Made running it so much better for me and my players 😁 death house truly messed with them and im just running the church in Barovia! Keep up the amazing videos my dude 👌

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Will do!

[@wildgavinator]

Wish me luck on session 2!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Good luck!

[@MrSilvUr]

Good luck!

[@bozzhogsett119]

You make my life so easy, thank you so much!!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Happy to help!

[@andrewchen6253]

Honestly I feel like the song I'm always chasing rainbows would work pretty well for the dress as well

[@TheRepublic4]

Ooh Love this video, hope you’re having a nice day. This gave me some of that good old creative inspiration Keep up the good work

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I'm glad it could help! Have a great day!

[@jamesmeaney2208]

Another amazing video! Love the ending!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@xkillrocknroll1]

I am turning K30 into the office scene. Yea....did you get the memo? Cover sheets on the TPS reports. Yea...if you could go ahead and do that next time.

[@Shionbawo]

I am hosting dinner at Castle Ravenloft Today. wish me luck!

[@ashtonolson9085]

So how does your patreon work? Do i get charged for every video and pdf that comes out or do i just do it for the ones i want?

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Patrons are charged for each RPG-related video that we come out with. The vast majority of those come with downloadable guides. In addition, you get access to the entire back-catalog as soon as you sign up!

[@momqabt]

I have a question! What's the song you played during the vid when describing Tatyana's room?

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I'm honestly not sure anymore! I seem to have removed it from my computer. I know it was something that I had gotten off of Epidemic Sound, but I've since cancelled that subscription.

[@momqabt]

@@LunchBreakHeroes #sadface ah well ya win some ya lose some. Wanted to use it specifically for that rewritten scene for my players but it's ages away so I'll head I'll find something by then. Thanks anyways bud, love the amount of psyche damage I'm gonna give my players with your extra content😈😇

[@vonpepper3482]

Thanks for the great guide as usual, also after you finish Curse of Strahd do you plan to start a new series or just focus on frostwind dale? If you do start a new one which one do you think it might be?

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

That's a good question, and not one that we have an answer to quite yet. We might focus solely on another module, or we might come out with some general D&D videos to gauge audience interest.

[@vonpepper3482]

@@LunchBreakHeroes I’ll be happy no matter what dnd stuff u post That being said maybe you should try to fix the tyranny of dragons campaign it’s a mess as written and really needs some polish

[@jackward9970]

Lief is a Scandinavian name. It’s pronounced layff. FYI

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Thanks for the heads up!

[@jackward9970]

Np my guy keep up the good work!

[@WexMajor82]

I am still of the opinion that smart players will lure Strahd out of his castle, to kill him. After all he is an arrogant manipulative sonovabiatch, if you start ridicule him in public...

[@minutemansmonitor]

So the dummy is the dude who's playing another dude who's playing another dude...