Argynvostholt | Curse of Strahd | DMs Guide

[@leedsmain3105]

The players figure this is where Baba Lysaga lives. They're probably going to run, but I like your idea for the spiders.

[@dustinodell1]

Just gotta say, I love the way you do this video. Going through the area room by room makes it super helpful for reviewing the area before I run the session. And I love how you mention the changes you suggest whenever they come up, rather than unloading them all at the beginning.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Thank you so much!

[@roastedbeans2244]

L lol p lol l o lo M lilpl😊ll OP😊😊

[@omnishangout747]

My first time playing I was a Dragonborn paladin named Argen son of argenvost (the dm chose the parent lol). I was so pissed when I saw why they did with my fathers legacy

[@calebhall5927]

When the reborn race was released from Vanricthen’s guide to ravenloft one of my players decided they wanted to be one of the reborn and I tied them into barovia by making them a knight of the Argonvostholt. So far it’s been a lot of fun. They tried taking the skull already when rescuing new members of the party, but Strahd put a stop to that for the moment.

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha awesome stuff!

[@maoriwargamer]

Prepping this for the weekend with my party of 3. They have explored half of Vallaki and the Cleric is interested in investigating the Fortress after hearing about it from the Revenant random encounter - Vladimir also holds the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind so will be very interesting when they encounter them. This party has had a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later so I’m sure Vladimir will teach them humility. Thanks for your in depth discussions on each chapter!

[@NoFunAllowed]

Thank you and no problem!

[@antonisderembeis2861]

The extra 4d6 dmg in Vladimir stat block is if the target is a creature against which Vladimir has sworn vengeance, the target takes an extra 14, 4d6 dmg. As all Revarants Vlad has sworn vengeance against Strahd. So this extra 4d6 applies to all of them against Strahd. I am thinking of applying this extra dmg to my players if they kill any reverants and they come back to haunt them. As well as the Vengeful Glare ability! So the first time they fight them they are not such a big deal. Only 2d10 with each attack. But after they come back to life and swear vengence on them, then they are much much stronger and agrier.

[@handzmcgee]

I'm sending my players here because the tarokka reading left one of their items here. They're level 7-8 at the moment, so I think they're coming here at about the perfect time. I'm treating Raven River Crossroads as an area where they can rest, grab a drink, and hit a general store. This is where they'll find a path that takes them to Argynvostholt. I'm very excited to navigate through here, but I will admit that it's somewhat intimidating as a first-time DM. Thanks to your video, I have a bit more sense of direction now, and this will be a fun place to navigate. So many interactions possible, and plenty of room to add my personal flair to with the boring rooms. Thanks so much for the video, it'll be revisited constantly as I prep for this weekend' session!

[@BlueRonin44]

I'm gonna go ahead and run this

[@NoFunAllowed]

i swear i got better about saying that!

[@stevesteinfeld149]

My players will be headed here after they deal with Baba. They are level 6 and they will love this type of play. They are a crazy group and I have been having just as much fun running it as they have playing it. This is my first time DMing so your videos have been a lot of help.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Heck yeah haha!

[@DrPapillon]

You: Your players aren't going to randomly stumble on Argynvostholt. Me: So while you guys are walking to Kresk (the place they told me they wanted to go) Rogue: Does the party want to explore some of these road branches, it might be fun Party: goes to argynvostholt before half of them are even the right level for it Me: has to improvise by quickly refreshing my knowledge of the chapter on a "bathroom break"

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha ive been proven wrong!

[@MorrisMeynolt]

I'm going to go ahead and say that I appreciate you and your content a lot.

[@clownsoftheearth]

Man this is so helpful! I'm running a campaign with only 2 players, and they're already in their way here at level 3 :( (they did recruit an npc to go with them but. . . I see tpks in my future. . .) I love the idea of godrey blowing in like a bad ass if they need him though! And the knights staying too defeat strahd

[@NoFunAllowed]

For 2 Player games, I always suggest hirelings/henchmen/retainers/ etc to help flesh out the party! It helps them out, and makes them feel awesome having people under their command. The knights duking it out with strahds forces while your players fight the big bad can be a totally epic conclusion to this camapign!

[@ajmacewan7285]

Really love your content my man. I'm running a homebrewed version of Curse of Strahd for my completionist friends whose experience ranges from brand new to years of DMing. I've changed alot about the core module to fit with my players' need to do pretty much every side quest. But I really appreciate these breakdowns of the core material to give something to build off of. Keep doing what you're my dude, it's good stuff!

[@NoFunAllowed]

thank you and will do!

[@mattfisk7695]

I listen while I’m at work and it helps me run the game…THANK YOU… I know this takes a lot of work

[@NoFunAllowed]

Haha oh ya. Thank you!

[@pallenda]

When trying to investigate the missing bones in the church in Valaki, a player found a silver dragon trinket. Jep I randomly rolled that. Now they are set on going to Agrynvostholt..... at level 4.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Sounds like a disaster in the waiting!

[@pallenda]

@@NoFunAllowed They went for the Tower near Lake Baratok instead. Tiefling bard went for the wagon, mainly survived to high dex roll and fire resistant. 10d10 no joke at level 4, anyone of the other chars would have died. RIP Bards mustache.

[@Chumblechap]

I'm about to run this and your video was a massive help. Thank you!

[@bumpleGrumpGames]

My players are about one chapters worth of xp shy of being capable of defeating Strahd. Strahd actually HIRED the party to eliminate the revenants for him during dinner with Strahd and paid them in magic infused weapons & Barovian gold to carry out this task. Man he’s one diabolical bbeg.

[@thisguyorthatguywhoknows960]

Man I love it I wish I thought of that. I had strahd hire/blackmail the party to overthrow the valkian government and as Vasili Van Hotlz he positioned lady Wachter as a great successor. Rewarding them with his armor. But yours is diabolical!!

[@bumpleGrumpGames]

@@thisguyorthatguywhoknows960 That's epic! It's such a unique campaign because it actually encourages you to tempt the player characters with such schemes. Nice work btw! That is definitely classic Strahd! My party actually murder hoboed both the mayor/mayor's wife AND Lady Watchter. My friends are a wild party lol. In the end, they paid off Lady Watchter's butler and had him installed as the new Mayor through a series of Charisma checks. His campaign promise was "No More Festivals" lol

[@orlandodiciccio2748]

Great help for dm, such a great asset. Thank you good sir!!!!

[@NoFunAllowed]

thank you so much!

[@indig0forest]

I had Adrian the one Martikov son tell my party of its whereabouts when they asked about Baba Lysaga, this put the Ruins and this location on the map for the party since they are relatively close. I’m excited for when they actually get here and I’ll drop more bread crumbs in the future. We have a Paladin on the Path of revenge in our party so I’m interested in setting up a dialogue between him and a Revenant. Should make for some interesting storytelling. Thanks for all the info! Really comes in handy when I can’t stare at the book for hours in contemplation.

[@NoFunAllowed]

thank you and no problem!

[@fungithefungi3331]

In my case the players were driven out of Vallaki after a half succesful robbery of the major. They have decided to take a boat across that river nearby and they dont want to be outside during the night theyve said.

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha its a great set up!

[@theadventuresguild6514]

My players are heading here this week. I put in some additions to the game, there are gold plated revenants stationed atop Tsolenka that have been launching themselves across the continent to fight my paladin player 1 on 1 to test his worthiness. He died a few sessions ago, and after being revived and letting go of his anger towards the vampires,, one of these Talons of Argynvost showed up, gave him a suit of plate armor, and told him he was chosen and to meet them at Argynvostholt.

[@NoFunAllowed]

thats gonna be a shining entrance haha!

[@R0omwithoutawindow]

You’re fun to listen to, thanks for the info!

[@NoFunAllowed]

thank you so much!

[@emmiegriffith3220]

Oops, sir Godfrey is my party’s ally but I didn’t realize he could go with the party without the skull. That’s unfortunate.

[@123thebigdog]

So I’m running a modified version of argynvostholt. One of my players a night wing inspired character has gone there alone. He just got there while the rest of the party is couple hours away from his location. So it’s going to be interesting.

[@1stloftus265]

On the subject of Savid, my players got “the wounded elf” as their reading. Now that of course means the dude in the Vistani camp( I forget his name now). But if they find a dusk elf messed up, they are going to think he has something for them. That’s a cool furphy just quietly

[@NoFunAllowed]

its always fun to have those switcheroos!

[@piploo]

I'm commenting in so many of your videos but they are so helpful! When I initially played we were a party of absolute dumbasses (and I had an 18 intelligence) and decided that the revenants were going to immediately murder us and we needed the sunsword so we climbed onto the roof and dropped down and murdered the revenants 🤦🤦missed all of this wonderful lore and being a party of queer people we were so upset we missed out on the lovers. However in my game that I'm running for my friends I have made a personal tarroka reading to our wildmagic sorcerer leading her to Argonvostalt and making her wildmagic be because of her ancestors being related to Argonvost. Hopefully if things go well and my friends can fulfil this subplot. Thank you for the AWESOME videos they are really helpful for laying out my thoughts on the RAW locations

[@NoFunAllowed]

Thank you! Thats an awesome tie in to this incredible location!

[@BramLastname]

When rooms have long descriptions but no content, I usually simplify the description and ask anything you want to look at? This way it looks like I prepared a lot more than I actually did.

[@oguzhanozgenc7843]

Thank you! thats very helpful

[@NoFunAllowed]

thank you and no problem!

[@Krug27]

I absolutely have been loving your series on CoS as I am running it for the first time with my group. This location seems awesome! By any chance will you be doing a character guide on Rictavio? He’s one of the coolest NPC’s I’ve ever done but he’s very complex. Cheers!

[@NoFunAllowed]

I will be doing a whole series on all the potential allies, with Rictavio getting some major spotlight!

[@Krug27]

@@NoFunAllowed awesome! I’m so excited for those! Keep it up! These have been an absolute treasure to watch! I plan on running Icewind Dale next so I’ll be watching those as well!

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@Krug27 heck yeah! thank you, and I know youll kick ass DMing!

[@Krug27]

@@NoFunAllowed thank you!

[@savorwyy2825]

“Revenant on ‘roids” xD

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha hes stronk!

[@sesameseed83]

I’m about to run Strahd for my first time. I love this event and want to encourage my players to try to get the skull. How are they supposed to know to get the skull from Ravenloft before getting to the study room and reading the journal. Seems like by that time there is already the chance that they have killed the Revenants?

[@deni140492deni]

So... Our dwarf barbarian REALLY hates elves, the only thing he hates more than an elf is a vampire elf. I'll need to rework that elf

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha fair enough!

[@momqabt]

My methodology: If the paladin is the ally I'll swap him for a female, making it a little less goofy for people in my culture, and the paladins remain until Strahd is defeated. At that point the spirit of her husband...and the spirit of their child will appear near the players looking into the dawn. Also...avoiding tpks? Bruh who do you think you're talking to?! XD If after all this DMing for them they fail to realise how lethal most of my encounters are...it's on them. I do leave diplomatic options open as well but of they poke the bear they'd best be ready for AAAALL the hugs I'll give them.