The WORST Curse of Strahd Players Ever

[@discordicgamer7465]

The amount of times I herd "I can fix him" in my campaign was too high.

[@Grimlore82]

This is the exact reason I tell my players the expectations and what is NOT allowed at the table 😂

[@KarlMarkyMarxx]

"How many of these gifts can we have at one time?" Oh, boy 😅

[@sesgel]

when i ran it for my group i started out with the thirsty one, the metagamer, one too into his paladin role, one too into his rogue roll and one who blamed the others for not doing it their way. in the middle of it the metagamer got into a fight with the rogue and both left and the thirsty one just stopped showing up. man was i done by the time they killed strahd.

[@Mearmar]

I can actually feel myself getting second hand rage from players like this

[@NalutM]

No laptop at your table? That's it buddy, you getting a cease and decease letter from hasbro

[@janedoe71253]

You forgot the put the guy who brought a half vampire kenku joke character who murderhobos their way through all of Barovia! Honestly surprised there weren't any murderhobos in this group though.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

There's only so many spots at my dining room table!

[@aaronborok8398]

*half were-raven

[@SlyIfrit]

This was very good. I like the player archetypes you went with. I felt like the bro bringing dinner steaks to Strahd's castle should have been looking down at his phone half of the time and not paying attention.

[@DJWidget]

7:53 Hey, stop watching my party's sessions!

[@hatsikmaroukian4111]

Hugh Jackman as Strahd ? Damn, that's hot!

[@rooter6]

I thought he was Van Richten xd

[@Hewhowantstoknow]

This is my party, and I love them for it. Our Campaign went to places few CoS campaigns go

[@kurtmoore90]

I tried running Cos 5e to a group of boomer 4e players. They quit after 3 sessions because 5e is for kids.. They're not completely wrong, but at the Dalvan corpse encounter they almost TPKd because they totally thought they should take on the 5 dire wolves because I didn't make it clear enough that they're not just regular wolves. Of which apparently there should've been a pack leader to take out first to finish the encounter! That's not all, I was accused of pulling a deus ex when I only made the dire wolves drag their unconscious bodies back onto the path and not killing them outright! It was really awkward when I gave the power gamer a dressing down about my motives in that encounter, especially since in session zero I warned that there's fights your best off running away from.

[@kurtoogle4576]

Wow! I hope you never have to experience anything like that again!

[@kurtmoore90]

@@kurtoogle4576 oh, that was only in session 1, in session 2, a player just up and left because she couldn't handle me using Foundry as a VTT to present combat grids as she "doesn't have a minds eye".... Don't get me started on that sentence in a game about ROLE PLAY! She specifically needed her own physical grid to relate what was going on, but her final straw was that during the grick encounter in the Death House basement, I was "controlling their characters, so what's the point in playing" did I mention that I had only asked for initiative at that point? Complete head case that was also the only other person at the table who claimed to be familiar with 5e rules as a DM herself for teenagers. Constant nitpicking my style midgame as to how she would do things. Anyway rant over. I've been wanting to tell this story for weeks now.

[@kurtoogle4576]

@@kurtmoore90 Gack!!! Damn, Kurt - I hope you've recovered! Your story is a great example of why I am so happy to have such a wide gaming group that I could get picky and pick my dream teams of players! Of course it also means that I need to bust my ass to keep up with them! ;)

[@jimmybrook7119]

Ha! You Sethskorkoskied it. Love it.

[@alliedn5266]

And the metagamer is exactly the reason I'm rewriting the module 😂 (ok my players are nothing like that, bless them, but they do have already played CoS 3 times with different groups so)

[@solosietastar]

Plus there’s so much there to tweak to heighten the tension if you/they have already played it. I ran it for a friend who had already played and it was a good time

[@kurtoogle4576]

Yeah. I heavily rewrote it too, and continued tweaking when players would occasionally slip and indicate that they thought they knew facts about the setting.

[@fumbulz60]

I watched all of your CoS videos to prep for running the module for my party. I don't think I should have told them it was going to be CoS because they all showed up as clerics or paladins and power gamed their way through the whole thing.

[@James-lu2jn]

That's where you just gotta slam half the party with a near tpk, and recommend the dead players make characters that flush out the party a bit more than a bunch of holy men

[@PaigeMustang]

Yep my “laptop guy” is annoying the crap out of me by playing a paladin on purpose

[@selthafour6948]

The players are taking the opportunity to play a class with enemy specific abilities in an environment where they are likely to get to use them? How DARE they! They should have all gone ranger with celestials as their favored enemy so that they feel like they are playing a classless character. Better idea, why even have them pick classes, they can all just sit around while you read the module aloud like a book.

[@dezopenguin9649]

Honestly, the only difference between this video and almost every CoS Actual Play is that the DM here actually wants a Gothic horror campaign. 😇

[@thedisappointedoptimist6916]

"I can fix him." XD

[@jasonhawkins6798]

I mean technically he can get pie

[@KaiserAfini]

I imagine this party having a very different experience when sitting to have their fortunes read. *Madame Eva:* Your futures are full of struggle and anguish. Most of it self-inflicted. *The party:* But you haven't even done a tarokka deck reading yet. *Madame Eva:* I don't have to, its written all over your faces.

[@Nemo12417]

So, uh, regarding your opening joke. For July 4th, I went on vacation to Frankenmuth in Michigan, and we of course ate at the Bavarian Inn. I was constantly thinking in my mind about what the atmosphere would look like if it were the Barovian Inn. But I think the party and DM were both at fault here. Expectations should have been made clear, and they should have been made collaboratively. Curse of Strahd can be a very grimdark campaign, but if the party wants to run Van Helsing starring Hugh Jackman and you don't mind running it like that, there's no reason you CAN'T. I can't imagine reading through any module, no matter how well written, and then playing it exactly as written. We are all watching this video series specifically because we like to share ideas on modifying adventures. If you run Strahd as a more lighthearted Van Helsing starring Hugh Jackman campaign, that is completely counter to what the writers probably intended, but if you enjoy it and the party has a good time, you did your job right. And most parties I've played with have had at least some friendship between members such that this scenario (one member randomly wanting to hit on an NPC in a dire situation) wouldn't be super likely.

[@Nemo12417]

Personally, when I run it, I'm going to start by having the party meet up in the Domain of Borca (each will be from a different world, but they won't know that) and do House of Lament alongside Detective Alanik Ray and Doctor Arthur Sedgewick. The detective will explain some basic facts about the Shadowfell and Domains of Dread to the poor adventurers, while assuring them that some who are abducted often return. A randomly chosen party member will have been taken aside beforehand and will have actually received the invitation from the Mists via Arrigal, that way they recognize him later. When they complete the House of Lament, the Mists will separate them from the two investigators, and all they will be able to find will be a bottle of Red Dragon Crush that Alanik enjoyed having alongside his meal during a rest. This will function as a Mist Talisman that will take them to Barovia. Should the party for some reason investigate "Rictavio's" room at the Blue Water Inn, they will find an opened letter to someone named "Rudolph" from the two detectives they met earlier.

[@selthafour6948]

Wdymmmmmm the meta-gamer was annoying but the other two were upstanding citizens. Just add some potential food n romance to tie their motivations into the plot. Ez.

[@arifike]

I’m about to do the finale session of our game of Strahd today and holy shit, I wish my party was this engaged. lol It’s my first campaign and just hoping next time I can figure out how to get them invested. At least I was able to get them to really hate Strahd and that’s the main goal anyway.

[@robertmcginty4146]

Least believable thing here is that the group even met and didn't have schedule conflicts.

[@MrSilvUr]

My man has been running Curse of Strahd for five years.

[@andydamato5357]

This was fantastic!!

[@abracadabra77700777]

This sounds like my CoS right now 🤣🤣

[@jtdavie9466]

Is this not how a DnD game is meant to go? How do you guys have fun 😂

[@lujio5361]

I mean... they dont get a map? Nor a quest log? like in Baldurs Gate!?

[@PaigeMustang]

I’m now playing the curse of strahd for the fourth time, 3rd time running as the DM after being a player the first time. I have encountered almost every single problem in this video 😂 tonight I’m hoping to end the game of the min/maxed meta player with the laptop and the other two with the multiple dark gifts from amber temple 😂 the first two play throughs were more an issue of the DM flirting with another player as Strahd, and then another game of my friends getting drunk and flirting with everything and not caring about the story at all. Now I’ve got a friend spoiling the game for himself by playing neverwinter on stream for a few of our other players to see as well 🙃 and my friend who has an elaborate backstory that I now have to work into the campaign

[@mrSift27]

Bless you got me.

[@adolfoanaya6731]

This is a nice parody... of my party! 😂🤣

[@thailine75]

Just a run of the mill group of players... and why I quit GMing.

[@xfoxgames]

haha this is great!

[@Frederic_S]

A very impressive job!

[@bayushiteishiru6291]

Mimes. Mimes are the worst.

[@ringo2715]

The best way to make a campaign scary is to have actual threats, if you have a group that likes to RP being scared or if status conditions are enough then CoS works but outside of that you really need to Amp up the stat blocks. Death House has decent dangers but it fades quickly after that. I would say if a player wants to seduce strahd he would likely take them up on the offer, kill the PC turn them into a thrall and have them show up later, though the character will become a monster and therefore under the control of the GM. I don't mind meta gaming, as long as the player can explain how the character has the knowledge, they have a map? OK some of it is likely out of date as the land of barovia can be altered by the dark powers, surprises are still possible. Someone falling into every food based trap will likely die or worse so they'll likely wise up while still maintaining the character quirk of being easily swayed with promises of food. Sounds like great GM bait for hooks. I don't run a "serious game" I just react to the players and make rulings. Sometimes players just want to see what happens when they dunk their head in water until they drown. I don't save them, I don't stop them, I merely clarify and sometimes explain likely outcomes so they are aware of the danger.

[@Mih-df5uz]

Oh Curse of Strahd have a pie)

[@marahsoore6452]

Funny story. Two of my players want a gothic romance in my game. I sat one of them down and explained if she wants a romance in Barovia, she's going to have to earn it. My players are fantastic at complicated roleplay and she agreed to all the horror involved before she can have her propper romance. The other player wanted a possibility of romance, I told them the same rules. All of them have to suffer before they can have happiness. Mind I'm also running Curse of Strahd as everyone has to suffer through therapy before they can save Barovia. Each character is going to have something horrible they need to work through. One has to come to terms about his former life. One character is Ireena and has to work through her anger and resentment of being the source of Strahd's pain. The last character is a descendent of Strahd and they have to come to terms with their family history and accept themselves for who they are now. It's going to be a blast, and I'm ready for the psychological horror along with the horror Barovia is going to give them.

[@knaz7468]

I wish i could do even 1% of those accents. My players have to hear deep voiced women left and right. Although i must have done a pretty convincing Granny ... many pies were had.

[@ZnNcreativearts]

This is glorious. Finally i can watch someone else feel my pain😂😭

[@goldenalt3166]

The game lasted 3 months and the same players attended every session. Not the worst.

[@shybard]

So, should I bring my spreadsheet or not?

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Only if you wanna get beaten with a laptop

[@PatRiot-le7rd]

OMG!

[@jonathonellis5604]

seems like the real worst player was the DM, insted of rolling with the players shanagins (with a few exeptions) he tried (and spertacuraly failed) to force the dark tone over the campagin, im sure he would have had MUUUUUUCH more fun if he went with it insted of being a winey ass about it

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Oh for sure!

[@bretsheeley4034]

Highly agreed. Though he should had killed the meta-gamer's b.s. earlier. Him strategizing was great. You want that. Him having a blueprint of Strahd's castle in his backpack and effectively a copy of every bestiary before the adventure started... no. Also, go ahead, lady. Try to hit on the worst incel D&D has to offer. Let's see how this goes.

[@coachski74]

Did the fact this is a parody fly over your head?…

[@blanesherman5434]

He shouldn't have had to force the dark tone; it's set in Ravenloft. If we are trying to collaborate in telling a story, the players running characters should have worked with the player running the game instead of ignoring the point of the session.

[@blanesherman5434]

@@bretsheeley4034 How is a vampire an incel?

[@Yekrep]

Frustrated writer, desperate to tell his story, ignores problem players. You deserve what you tolerate.

[@Miskatonic1927]

Terrible players. I know this is a comedy sketch but it is also a terrible GM with those hoaky old Hollywood Romanian accents. If a GM actually sounded like that I dont think I would take it serious. Exactly why I dont do accents in my gaming. 🤷

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Damn, going for the low blows.

[@Miskatonic1927]

@@LunchBreakHeroes I apologize. it was not intended as a low blow. 😧 I assume that the accent you were using was just for the comedy effect? I have had 1 player and 1 GM in my life that liked to use accents and they all just sounded weird and the same... and in my opinion, really made the game less serious. Now if it was intended as a lighthearted comedy game then that can work well. 🙂

[@selthafour6948]

Cap, you got to do a voice no matter how bad u r. As long as ur doing a voice u get an A.

[@GuildOfTheBlackCrow]

Hey, stop copying Seth Skorkowsky