Here is my attempted CR 17 version of Strahd von Zarovich, which I have adjusted with suggestions and material I took from others including Mike Shea on Sly Flourish. For the final battle against the PC's, Strahd will dawn a Cloak or Ring of Protection +1, and Bracers of Defense (+2), increasing his AC to 20 and his saving throws by 1 each. This is just a starting idea and I was looking for everything the community had to offer, from spelling and grammar checks, general formatting, to the more interesting issues of spell choices, damage, and more, including how folks generally felt it added up to for the CR. I know that I am considering adding the ability for Strahd to call 1d4+1 Vampire Spawn every round as a Lair Action, reskinned as Vampiric Wolves possibly. I'd like to add some sort of ability for Strahd to cast spells while in his Beast Shape, much as a high level druid can, though I'm debating this (he would most likely only use it early on, when he was initially taunting the party and taking their measure). I would like to change around some of the cosmetic effects of his regional presence and expand on them. He will be keeping his Lair Actions from Curse of Strahd, and I am also going to be including a feature for the lair routinely summon a pack of lesser vampires, and/or to summon an absolute STORM of bats (though I am having issues with how to make it work mechanically). I am debating having Strahd's HP total figured out in much the same way as a player's would with a starting 8 + 5 "(his static average)" + 80 (Con Modifier) for a total of 178 HP. He will still be benefiting from the Heart of Sorrow. I'll be adding in some more of my own thoughts on how I came to the numbers and changes I did later on, currently I'm most curious to see what kind of comments this will get. This particular Strahd will most likely be facing a group of six to seven 11th level PCs.
Here is my attempted CR 17 version of Strahd von Zarovich, which I have adjusted with suggestions and material I took from others including Mike Shea on Sly Flourish. For the final battle against the PC's, Strahd will dawn a Cloak or Ring of Protection +1, and Bracers of Defense (+2), increasing his AC to 20 and his saving throws by 1 each. This is just a starting idea and I was looking for everything the community had to offer, from spelling and grammar checks, general formatting, to the more interesting issues of spell choices, damage, and more, including how folks generally felt it added up to for the CR. I know that I am considering adding the ability for Strahd to call 1d4+1 Vampire Spawn every round as a Lair Action, reskinned as Vampiric Wolves possibly. I'd like to add some sort of ability for Strahd to cast spells while in his Beast Shape, much as a high level druid can, though I'm debating this (he would most likely only use it early on, when he was initially taunting the party and taking their measure). I would like to change around some of the cosmetic effects of his regional presence and expand on them. He will be keeping his Lair Actions from Curse of Strahd, and I am also going to be including a feature for the lair routinely summon a pack of lesser vampires, and/or to summon an absolute STORM of bats (though I am having issues with how to make it work mechanically). I am debating having Strahd's HP total figured out in much the same way as a player's would with a starting 8 + 5 "(his static average)" + 80 (Con Modifier) for a total of 178 HP. He will still be benefiting from the Heart of Sorrow. I'll be adding in some more of my own thoughts on how I came to the numbers and changes I did later on, currently I'm most curious to see what kind of comments this will get. This particular Strahd will most likely be facing a group of six to seven 11th level PCs.