Curse of Strahd is a pretty difficult adventure to DM. It is a sandbox-style adventure without recommended levels for the individual quests or areas, it does not pull punches, and it often gives the DM a lot of creative freedom - which is great if you have a bit of experience, and pretty harrowing if you don't. Strahd himself is a recurring, in-your-face type of villain, and it's easy to fumble that and have the adventure sort of fall flat because of it. Castle Ravenloft is a fantastic dungeon, but it can also be very confusing even with the whole map right in front of you on the DM screen. I would really suggest starting with an easier to run adventure with more structure, like Lost Mines of Phandelver or Dragon of Icespire Peak.
You have no idea how amazing this link is. Goes to a Reddit page for a guide called ‘Curse of Strahd: Reloaded’ by DragnaCarta and the whole Curse of Strahd community. I cannot emphasize how helpful it was for me.
Like - general tips? How are you running this, is it a round-the-table affair, or play by post?
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Don't over plan or think and don't cut off your player's agency if they are trying to do something you don't like. Let them play out that bad choice to its end - character death. Bad players expect the DM to save them for them rather than think about what is going on. Don't be afraid to kill them. Good players appreciate their DMs time and will treasure their characters so much that they'll avoid death. The risk of death develops attachment for some or for others they can sit out after dying in the first five minutes to roll up a new character while the rest of the group who didn't just toss their characters away after a session continue to play.
-Do you know who your players are? -Do you know any of their preferences? -Do you know what they want to be and want to do? -What is your experience as a D&D Player? Like, what kind of experiences you had and what did you enjoy the most and the least?
You need to know the answer to these questions before diving into DMing.
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Enjoy your slop. I'll be enjoying good products elsewhere.
So I'm new to being a dm and I'm going to run the curse of strahd, anyone got any tips??
Curse of Strahd is a pretty difficult adventure to DM. It is a sandbox-style adventure without recommended levels for the individual quests or areas, it does not pull punches, and it often gives the DM a lot of creative freedom - which is great if you have a bit of experience, and pretty harrowing if you don't. Strahd himself is a recurring, in-your-face type of villain, and it's easy to fumble that and have the adventure sort of fall flat because of it. Castle Ravenloft is a fantastic dungeon, but it can also be very confusing even with the whole map right in front of you on the DM screen. I would really suggest starting with an easier to run adventure with more structure, like Lost Mines of Phandelver or Dragon of Icespire Peak.
You have no idea how amazing this link is. Goes to a Reddit page for a guide called ‘Curse of Strahd: Reloaded’ by DragnaCarta and the whole Curse of Strahd community. I cannot emphasize how helpful it was for me.
Like - general tips? How are you running this, is it a round-the-table affair, or play by post?
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Don't over plan or think and don't cut off your player's agency if they are trying to do something you don't like. Let them play out that bad choice to its end - character death. Bad players expect the DM to save them for them rather than think about what is going on. Don't be afraid to kill them. Good players appreciate their DMs time and will treasure their characters so much that they'll avoid death. The risk of death develops attachment for some or for others they can sit out after dying in the first five minutes to roll up a new character while the rest of the group who didn't just toss their characters away after a session continue to play.
"Life is Cast by Random Dice"
Burn my candle twice.
I have done my life justice
Against random dice.
I have some questions for you.
-Do you know who your players are?
-Do you know any of their preferences?
-Do you know what they want to be and want to do?
-What is your experience as a D&D Player? Like, what kind of experiences you had and what did you enjoy the most and the least?
You need to know the answer to these questions before diving into DMing.
Enjoy your slop. I'll be enjoying good products elsewhere.
Yes the dm is a friend to players irl First always be understanding of real life .