Dinner At Castle Ravenloft: Curse of Strahd: DMs Guide

[@SessionZero]

Really cool ideas! I've run CoS three times for different players and I always invite the the party to dinner super early in the campaign. Strahd is really there (not an illusion) and there are two other adventuring parties there as well, with Strahd treating the evening as an "audition". Later in the story the PCs find corpses of one party every couple days, and they encounter the other party as the vampire spawn in Vallaki's Coffin Maker's Shop.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Awesome stuff! I always love throwing in more adventurers into the lands of Barovia, it makes the party feel like they are in a really rough world!

[@thebard5019]

oOOOH that sounds super cool! Permission to yoink the concept for my game? My players are about to get invited (I pulled hall of bones three times in the reading, so i gotta find a way to get them into the castle)

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@thebard5019 I certainly believe adding more adventurers can be a blast to the campaign!

[@SessionZero]

@@thebard5019 yeah of course, use it and let us know how it goes for you. The first time I did this I didn't make those NPCs stand out enough physically (and/or I just didn't describe them well enough), so I had to beat my players over the head for them to realize these were the other people at the dinner party. Just a head's up LOL

[@WylRobins0n]

Now that’s not a bad idea regarding the “audition” dinner. I like that a lot. Think I’ll probably nab that one.

[@svensidenius7940]

I love the idea about having more dinners, Strahds main goal is to find a successor, first time at the dinner table, he gets to know the pc's, and the following dinners he will see the progress they have made.

[@NoFunAllowed]

heck yeah! gotta check in with that progress haha!

[@bunbun4893]

Friendly neighborhood Strahd! My party was too scared 😂

[@LeetMasterAce]

I plan on running a little secret "Point" rapport system during the dinner whereby the players' actions increase or decrease their rapport with Strahd. If they act rude, paranoid, intrusive, or too squeamish, they lose points. However, if they are engaging, urbane, and act with etiquette, he will like them. Their final score will determine whether Strahd trusts them enough to offer them a little "quest" within his Castle or whether he grows so bored with them that he has them kicked out. I'm kinda hoping they act politely since he's already indicated to them during an earlier fight that he's a stickler for decorum and thus only attacked the two players who gave him lip or refused to introduce themselves when he told them to.

[@NoFunAllowed]

I really like that system!

[@dalerenner5942]

I’m getting a strahd campaign together as my first campaign as dm. Im trying to learn all this stuff and piece it together, all super confusing. I was like “WTF WHEN DOES STRAHD HAVE DINNER WITH THR PARTY?? What the hell is a death house and why isn’t it in chapter 2? Why is The castle chapter 3?? Lol it’s been an adventure of its own just trying to keep these pieces straight

[@93billsmagro]

Some of the things I have changed with my Curse of Strahd campaign and the dinners with Strahd is first that my Rahadin is Lurch from The Adam's Family. I also added different werewolf clans in which the clans are fighting for territory of Barovia. I also added Disciples of Strahd that are of different races and are worshipers of Strahd. I did 2 dinners with Strahd. First one was when my players were at 5th level and one when they were 8th level. During my first dinner I tried to give my player's a different view of Strahd. I played him as if people misunderstood him and his views and the reason he went to war is actually because his father was dying and was losing the war and his father told him to take over control of the army and to do whatever it took not to loose the war. As time went on he realized he couldn't win and was willing to do anything to win for his family's name and castle. Strahd did want to let his father down and without knowing his fate he turned to the Dark Powers for help to end this long bloody war. I tried making Strahd be viewed as a Dexter from the tv show. In which he feeds on people in the lands of Barovia but only ones that deserved it. I had Strahd give them the quests to take out the Disciples during their first dinner because he doesn't want people worshiping him and the sacrificing of people in his name. In actually he just didn't want to deal with them because he found them boring. The reward for doing so that he would no longer look to make Ireena his consort which of course he is deceiving them. I made different bases and hideouts and npc's for the for the Disciples of Strahd. During the second dinner I told them there were three different werewolf clans and that he would reward them for eliminating at least 2 of the clans is that he will reward them with powerful magic items. In which I gave them crappy items like a ring of swimming, boots of warmth items along those means. I named my clans the Wu-Tang and Midnight Fangs. Of course each member of the Wu-Tang were in it and the Midnight Fangs were lead by Creepy Sniffing Joe and his wife Kamala. Thank you for the different videos you have made on the CoS campaign I have enjoyed them all!

[@NoFunAllowed]

Haha awesome stuff and thank you!

[@greennite101]

Had an idea while watching this, we have a warlock with detect magic eyes active like all the time (which has its own challenges), but you could have Strahd cast Disguise self on himself to look like himself so it gives off an illusion aura so they let their guard down, but hes actually there XD

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha the trolliest of traps!

[@robertmcginty4146]

I like the idea of having other characters present. My party just raided the windmill since their card reading had the Tome there. Offalia was the only hag survivor. I think I will have her just casually chilling at the dinner when it happens, under orders to "behave." Maybe showing off her new pregnant belly. Probably have Strahd demand his book back as well.

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha i dig it!

[@pLanetstarBerry]

Yes, this! I plan on having all the consorts there during the dinner, cuz I feel my players would have more fun role-playing some social cat and mouse dynamics, and some of them even have some literary parallels with the backstories I gave the consorts. For instance, one PC is an undead pact warlock and has a much, MUCH healthier relationship with his vampire patron than Escher does with Strahd. Escher will be salty over it.

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha salt and blood dont mix well!

[@jillianh7565]

My group just had our dinner session over Easter weekend. We had just escaped from the Amber Temple and were buying and selling things in Vallaki when a nobleman came up to us and introduced himself as the king of Barovia. (Keep in mind that we had already killed Strahd 3 in game years before so we aren't sure if this new king is Strahd or another dark lord.) He then invited us to the newly constructed castle that evening. We decided to go. Esmerelda came with us too. Everything went well for a bit. Our dragonborn fighter and Esmerelda got into an argument and left the room to sort things out. (They are married with a son at this point.) The human fighter got super drunk. Anthony, the vampire rogue, was mostly silent and I, a half elf cleric noblewoman, tried to play up my charisma. The king seemed to take a strong interest in my character and pulled her off to the side to ask for a favor. He asked if the party could help protect Vallaki as its defenses were weakening. I told him that I would talk it over with my party and get back to him. After discussing it with the party, I go to find the king to accept his request. He is very happy and gives me the title of sheriff of Vallaki. Meanwhile Anthony goes to explore the castle and I do the same. I come across a weird looking door and just wait there till Anthony finds me. We then get inside and within minutes there are guards looking for us and a death warrant is on the party. Anthony tries to protect me by teleporting us into the shadows but unfortunately the castle has hidden cameras now. The cameras manage to spot me but miss Anthony. Luckily I was able to persuade both the guards and the king to expunge the death order by using a guaranteed persuasion ability I got from one of the vestiges in the Amber Temple. However, our human fighter decided to set the castle on fire by shooting arrows into the wine cellar. (He did this to castle Ravenloft once before.) This led to us escaping the castle and Esmerelda dying in the flames. The king also escaped by jumping out a window. We ended the session safe in Vallaki. The dilemma my character has now is whether or not to let the party suffer the consequences for burning the castle or use my charisma to get them off the hook. What do you think I should do?

[@NoFunAllowed]

Burn Butcher Burn!

[@jillianh7565]

@@NoFunAllowed Many people say that I should just let my party deal with the consequences even if that means they are killed or beaten.

[@1stloftus265]

I have my first dinner coming up soon. I have decided Strahd will meet them with Rahadin, give them a walking tour if Ravenloft. He will specifically show my players the bones of Argynvost, offer them warm coats and teleport them to the Vestiges in the Amber temple and explain his pact, and have dinner with the hags, who my players hate. A pleasant role playing opportunity, with lots of information, and a little stick in the ribs to boot. I love your videos Thanks Matt

[@NoFunAllowed]

Thank you and awesome stuff! I dig showing off a ton of things through the bad guys!

[@cl0udyday297]

I started CoS with my friends at home and I’m running the Consorts of Strahd to be more like a rival party that will be more reoccurring (if not all then some of them) will come back around for boss fights throughout. Im also adding an element where they can form an army of followers who all vow to storm Castle Ravenloft with the party once all of Strahd’s underlings are dealt with for a possible big epic final battle.

[@RichardDuryea]

If the revolution had already happened, then Fiona Wachter could be an interesting guest.

[@NoFunAllowed]

absolutely!

[@the_allstar3699]

I'm starting my curse of strahd campaign this Tuesday, and I can't wait! This is great advice, thanks!!

[@NoFunAllowed]

thank you! CoS is a great module, and I hope you kick ass with it!

[@AnimeNPC.]

I’m planning on the party fighting Raeadhm before the invite. So when the door opens there is a little bit of an oh crap moment. “Put your weapons away, my master demands me not kill you, tonight you are his guest”. And Stradh will be there. He isn’t afraid of them, he has no reason to hide.

[@gromlyja]

Man, you don't have nearly enough likes for the quality of content you make. You've been so helpful with all the Strahd stuff. My group is going to the dinner at level 4. They've got the sun sword from Rictavio, but absolutely distrust the guy. (He did murder some Vistani in their presence). They're feeling all bad ass. Probably going to mouth off and show it to the vampires. It's going to be so much fun. Volenta is going to show them her ossuary, containing the skull of Argynvost, which will give a great tie in when they are going to go after the holy symbol... which is in Horngaards possession. Great stuff.

[@NoFunAllowed]

thank you and awesome stuff!

[@tomdutch5418]

This series of vids has been super helpful, keep up the good work... I think I'll bring in a bride per dinner and have them randomly meet at least one of the brides in Vallaki beforehand, where they are at the moment.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Heck yeah. Getting to interact with villains is a ton of fun!

[@theeye8276]

I've been having strahd's brides popping up at intervals in the campaign as bosses to get Ireena for Strahd and I gave them each a special vampire power to make them special; such as one having flight from my little vampire and one having eye Lazer s from Jojo's bizarre adventure vampires. I had Escher head the feast of Saint andral and Violetta trying to get the party to invite her into Ireena's house in the beginning.

[@theeye8276]

Strahd left a fruit basket outside Durst manor with a greeting note, briefly appeared with violet during her intro to see if the party would side with violet or Ismark, and firmly introduced himself during the night after saving them from a demon the hags sent to kill them.

[@theeye8276]

There's also a subplot that one of the characters has his wife held captive by strahd.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Awesome stuff! The brides should certainly be more in the parties faces!

[@raider363]

I was absolutely baffled by how crappy the info on the dinner was in the module. All that leadup for nothing. I appreciate the video for adding extra ideas!

[@NoFunAllowed]

thank you! Dinner with Strahd should be special, and as I mentioned, it was basically a copy/paste job from the original module. I hope your dinner goes well with your players!

[@thiscordd8067]

Don’t forget there’s another reason to try and infiltrate the castle without an invitation. The skull of Argynvost. I personally love this. It creates a sense of danger and “we really shouldn’t be here” feeling.

[@PatrickStewart316]

Bro. You totally just helped me prep for my next session. No idea how I was going to run this. Going to pack this party dinner with faces. Going to be fun.

[@rollersoffatednd5280]

I am doing the dinner next session , thanks for the awesome video 💙

[@NoFunAllowed]

heck yeah thank you!

[@anintellectualclone1475]

I always thought that if Strahd had dinner with the players, he would have dinner with his consorts, Rahadin by his side, maybe Gertruda, since she's a "guest" and the maids serving the players.

[@NoFunAllowed]

heck yeah! the more the merrier haha

[@momqabt]

The master of ravenloft is having guests for dinner...doesn't sound ominous at all xD

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha as long as they arent on the menu!

[@te1381]

I am going to use all of these ideas, thank you.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Thank you and no problem!

[@duncanshaw1256]

Guests for dinner? Are we the main course instead of eating dinner? LOL!

[@66boulba]

thats great and your are so right about bringing PC at low level. The thing that scared me is that at this point (i've just started the campaign) i did not prepared the castle yet. What if they decide to explore ? Of course if stradh do not allowed them to do so, they will all die :-) !

[@NoFunAllowed]

I love the castle, and I love bringing people in, if only to make them more scared haha

[@TheMILFproject]

My group loves to play it safe and avoids Strahd, the castle and all his invitations. How the hell do I get them to attend his dinner party?! Any ideas?

[@NoFunAllowed]

Strahd makes them an offer they cant refuse! That lovable NPC they adore, they get kidnapped by Strahd and will only be released if they arrive for dinner!

[@Nix7c0]

Good tips, keep it up!

[@NoFunAllowed]

Thank you and will do!

[@bobkaminski3782]

I just started running curse of Stradh. My players are in the deathhouse. I'm going to modify it. So it's a little easier. But when they complete it iam going to have Stradh appear and congratulate them For surviving through the house and invite them to the castle for dinner.

[@MrVidau]

What map is this that you're using?

[@skidmoda]

Any ideas how to re-engage Strahd? My players already gave him Ireena, but we aren't ready for the wedding finale yet?

[@NoFunAllowed]

prodding for a successor, trying to push them to the brink of despair, or just getting a chuckle out of their pathetic deaths are all ways to have him pop back up!

[@skidmoda]

@@NoFunAllowed any suggestions on how to have him show up. We are at Argynvostholt. He did make a deal to have them inform him of any updates on Van Richten...so that would be a way but doesn't have any hostile points need to make him the prime bad guy again.

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@skidmoda threatening the lives of npcs around, either killing or kidnapping them to attend the wedding at the end can make them feel like none of their friends are safe!

[@RichardDuryea]

The Dark Powers can't allow the wedding to happen, so Ireena can jump off a tower just like Tatyana did. Then Strahd can blame the players for her death and chase them out of the castle.

[@helmutweiss6025]

Give them a chance to rescue Ireena from the wedding. You could let it fail horribly, with Ireena dying and a vengeful Stradh chasing the party.

[@ADT1995]

I'm here looking for advice as I'm running this tonight I've already decided before watching this video that I am making one change, Strahd will not be an illusion. The campaign seems to be trying to keep either them or Strahd from dying and the campaign ending early, but if they're crazy enough to attack Strahd then I'll let them deal with the consequences.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Awesome stuff!

[@ADT1995]

@@NoFunAllowed thanks for the video, I found it very helpful

[@nickgray8600]

What map of Ravenloft are you using here?

[@NoFunAllowed]

this is the map that comes with roll20. you can purchase it there, or from the DMs guild!

[@ShaneWonderland]

I’m a brand new dm and have never actually played as a player either. Is it cheating or unimaginative of me to be taking so many notes from these videos? Cuz I am note taking like crazy but I don’t want to feel like I’m cheating my players? My players just hit level 4, and I had them start in death house and then fibbed and moved death house near krezck so they did the wizard of wines first. I also moved the tser pool to near krezck so they have met madam Eva and gotten their card reading. That was all my first session (about 8 hours of play). Next session I’m gunna try to tackle krezck and the abbey of saint markovia. The first session was mostly just investigating and combat and not much role play. How can I get my players (who are new to dnd as well) to role play more? How can I prepare myself to role play the village and NPCs? Any tips?

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha its not cheating! for the roleplay, that simply comes down to asking them what they want out of the game. theres plenty of people who dont want to roleplay, and thats fine, so long as everyone is okay with that. for role playing the NPCs, simply put yourself in their shoes and not to think rationally, but emotionally!

[@boxerboss5284]

remember that once you begin an adventure it is yours to change as you please, you are not forced to play the module as written

[@fungithefungi3331]

How do i make my players trust that strahd wont just kill them when they are there? I have doubts believing they would accept the invitation otherwise.

[@NoFunAllowed]

if you make them an offer and they refuse, then you have to make them an offer they cant refuse! threatening npcs the players know and love, or offering juicy insights into something the PCs want is a great way to go!

[@fungithefungi3331]

@@NoFunAllowed thanks for replying! Your guides have helped me a lot. As a new dm it helps alot to not only read but also to listen to others insight.

[@luckyswine]

A round is only approximately six seconds in 5e if the characters are in combat or have rolled initiative. Three rounds of role play could represent the full dinner in a home game.

[@NoFunAllowed]

termanology is always important haha!