Come, strangers, in to a tale of woe... You are but a small, frail
handful of flickering lights set against great darkness. Many such
embers have been consumed over the centuries but perhaps your tale will
differ. Perhaps you have a unique destiny in store. It takes but a
single strong spark to set the world on fire. Are you that flickering
mote of hope? Perhaps... Then again, perhaps not... Time will tell.
Enter the land of Barovia. A land of greys and shadows where light
struggles against eternal darkness. An
ideal player for this game, first and foremost, is someone looking for
an experience that is very different from the heroic fantasy seen at
most D&D tables. For you will be heroes, but Ravenloft is decidedly
not a heroic story. It is a story of survival. It is a story of human
frailty and the agony of choosing the least-bad choice, for often there
are no truly good choices to be had. Additionally, if you are the kind
of person that loves to live and breathe the characters they build and
truly try and dwell in the imaginary reality we, as a group, will be
creating, this is a story for you... Theater geeks, fantasy fanatics,
and lovers of web series like Critical Role, who are looking for that
kind of immersive, character driven experience, will fall in love with
the story we are telling. So come, forge ahead in to the mists... Who
knows what hides in it's darkest depths... This will be a game
built on the terrors of things that go bump in the night and the human
spirit that fights or fails to fight against the inevitable. The
overwhelming presence of a bespoke hell, created for one soul but
trapping thousands. Gothic horror at its best! Curse of Strahd is the
most popular official 5th Edition adventure for Dungeons and Dragons.
And Ravenloft, in general, has been one of the all-time most popular
settings throughout D&D history for good reason! The story
and realm lends itself exceptionally well to a role-play heavy,
character-driven campaign and that is what I intend to bring to the
table. While combat will play a significant part in this campaign, there
may be many occasions where physical conflict is the least likely
option to guarantee you meet the goals set before you. This world is not
the domain of adventurers, it is the domain of those that prey upon the
stout of heart and many of the creatures roaming it's misty darkness
will take great delight in destroying any that seek them, or simply find
themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. This will be
the beginning of the Curse of Strahd campaign, taking characters through
the first major story beats of this epic campaign. We will be playing
with a number of modifications to the basic rules to help ratchet up the
sense of risk and dread that truly makes Ravenloft sing, and character
death is a VERY real possibility...though...there could be ways to
circumvent such a permanent end, if the price is not too rich... The
story will continue in future chapters which will always be open to
returning players as well as new players who fit the group dynamic well. As
a story of dread and gothic horror, many such themes and tropes may
come up, though I always complete a thorough session zero to ensure that
we do not dig too deeply in to any subjects that clear no-go zones for
any of my players. Benefits of playing in a Leonidas Games Campaign:
*Most importantly, you will always be guaranteed a safe place to be who
you are. Everyone of every stripe is welcome at my table and I will not
put up with any personal attacks or derogatory language toward any
real-world person. It's a horror game, and bad things happen *in-game*
but it will never be allowed to flow out of the game. * Professional quality soundscapes and music through Syrinscape.com * GORGEOUS Hand drawn isometric map and token assets, many created/kit-bashed together specifically for this campaign
* Experience. I've run this campaign already. I have researched it
exhaustively, and I know what it needs for an epic story to be told
* Voice acting and descriptive story-telling. As a theater geek and
improv enthusiast, I will bring many voices to our table and do my
utmost to tell this story as immersively as possible. * A Discord Community for campaign tracking, chat during the game and between session, and making new RPG friends * Full access to every official WOTC D&D book published for 5th edition character creation * Premium accounts on both Roll20 and DNDBeyond * Creative and challenging combat scenarios. In this world, the things that go bump in the night know what they are doing.
* Significant homebrew improvements and changes to the story. Even if
you've played this adventure before, I will likely bring quite a bit of
new material to the story for you. * An open line of
communication with me as the DM. Feel free to reach out to me any time
via Discord direct message and I will get back to you as soon as
possible. I am always happy to talk shop, character ideas, answer
questions, and discuss any concerns that come up during the game. This
game contains the following themes and safety tools will be in place to
handle any no-go areas from the first session onward: This game is 18+
and contains child abuse and neglect, emotional and physical abuse
towards vulnerable adults, murder and attempted murder, including that
of children, kidnapping, stalking, gaslighting, abuse of power, racism,
sexism, cruelty, torture, references to colonialism and genocide,
mutilation, mind control, the desecration of the dead and of places of
worship, cannibalism, including involuntary cannibalism, mercy killing,
situations paralleling sexual assault, parental death, child death,
reference to stillbirth/miscarriage, partner death, mental illness and
the mistreatment of the mentally ill, possible exploitation of physical
disability, mal-adaptive grieving behaviors, starvation and food horror,
cruelty to animals, prolonged and painful deaths, body horror,
transformation against ones will, insects and infestation horror,
abandonment, including child abandonment, decay, betrayal, including
partner and parental betrayal, consumption of alcohol including
portrayals of alcoholism, portrayal of hoarding behavior, potential
incest, involuntary homicide, graphic depictions of death and violence,
implied necrophilia, self harm and suicide, forgot victim blaming. Tools in place for player comfort: *Thorough
Session Zero to discuss expectations for players and DM alike. Clear
establishment of soft-stop (veils) and hard-stop (lines) subjects. *
During active game play we will be using the X-card method to establish
if the story is moving in an uncomfortable direction (a veil or line is
on the horizon) when ever a player would like to take a moment to
discuss, gather themselves, or request a specific change. You can see reviews from folks I have run paid games for here!: <a href="https://startplaying.games/gm/leonidas-games" rel="nofollow">https://startplaying.games/gm/leonidas-games</a> The Roll20 Game is listed here: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/313602/enter-the-mists-a-roleplay-focused-curse-of-strahd-campaign" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/313602/enter-the-mists-a-roleplay-focused-curse-of-strahd-campaign</a> Reach out to me at StartPlaying with any questions or interest! <a href="https://startplaying.games/adventure/618ed14f8a1b530008bb742e" rel="nofollow">https://startplaying.games/adventure/618ed14f8a1b530008bb742e</a>