EDIT: I had a wonderfully overwhelming response from the community to my post. I am so thankful for everiwho took the time to reach out. However, I am closing submissions for now and will review all applications. I will reach out to a few people for interviews. There's no way I can let everyone who filled out the application know that they weren't chosen but I will wish them good fortune in finding a great game.
Hey everyone,
I'm a GM looking for a group of 4-5 new-to-experienced DnD players for a long-running Curse of Strahd campaign.
I plan to start in approximately 2 months from now (May), with players beginning at Level 1. Due to my schedule, I plan for a late evening game (9:00 PM CDT) on Wednesdays every 1-2 weeks that lasts 3 hours. The exact date is TBD. I plan to run sessions if at least 2/3 of the players can make it.
I have GM'ed twice previously (Strahd once) but never online so this will be a new experience for me. I plan to use a combination of Roll20, DnDBeyond, and Discord. My hope is to bring this gothic horror adventure to life, with music, maps, art and lore. Due to some of the mature elements in the official module, I ask that all players be 18+. I generally try to rule everything RAW or RAI but welcome player creativity. I ask that my players have some knowledge of the rules too (ie. first-time player but has read the PHB).
If you have never played CoS before, my strictest rule is to not read the module or look up online information and bring it into the game. Spoiling the game for others or metagaming can get you removed from the group. If you have played or DM'ed CoS before, you are welcome to join if you feel you can separate player knowledge from character knowledge and avoid spoiling it for others. Either way, please read the campaign overview below if interested.
If you are interested, post here or DM me a request!
As a heads up, I will ask potential players to answer a few questions about past experience and talk via video chat at least once before any selections are made.
Campaign and Character Creation Overview
Welcome to Barovia!
Curse of Strahd is one of the most loved and played modules for DnD 5e. It is an all-time classic and presents an exciting, tense, fast-paced adventure. It is a vivid exploration of classic gothic horror tropes and monsters, from werewolves to vampires, ghosts, and more. After the first 2-3 sessions, it becomes a true sandbox, providing players with the freedom to make their own choices and build the kind of adventure they enjoy. It is an unabashedly character-driven campaign, giving player-character an incredible chance to shine and make their mark on the story our group tells.
However, it can be brutal. You will be trapped in a bleak, gothic land quite different from the world you know. The adventure contains several encounters and areas that will likely be far beyond you capabilities when you first encounter them. It does not provide routine or readily-available "loot" or magical items.
For a player who’s not expecting it, Curse of Strahd can feel different than other high fantasy adventures. Combat and exploration have potentially deadly risks. I won't pull punches. Likewise, if you are triggered by horror themes or if you prefer a D&D campaign that features only victories, you might want to try a different module.
You should play Curse of Strahd if you:
Want to engage in a character-driven story that pushes you to develop relationships with multiple NPCs and factions, as well as set your own deeper goals as a character.
Enjoy roleplay, investigation, relationship-building, and deadly combat.
Enjoy facing an active, powerful, and personally antagonizing villain.
Love gothic horror tropes, as well as themes of temptation and corruption.
Want to participate in a tense, adrenaline-fueled experience that will create memories to last a lifetime.
If, after reading this far, you think Curse of Strahd may be the campaign for you, awesome! You’re in for a fantastic time. With that said, here are a few pro-tips to succeed in the course of this campaign:
Fearless adventurers and sadistic murderhobos don’t last long in Barovia. Don’t tread from the beaten path unless you have good reason to, and don’t alienate or antagonize NPCs if you can avoid it. Make more friends than enemies. Don’t go searching for treasure, fortune, or fame - because you will probably die a horrible death.
Remember that you are not your character, and invest real time in developing their thoughts, personality, and motivation. Externalize failure, and use setbacks or defeat as an opportunity to explore your character’s perspective and personal growth.
Play smart. Many of the enemies in this adventure cannot be overcome easily in direct combat. Use research, preparation, guile, subterfuge, and diplomacy to achieve your goals.
Spend time engaging with the other characters, even when not discussing plans, tactics, or objectives. Learn about their fears, their perspectives, and their experiences. Build meaningful relationships, not apathetic battle teams.
Goals external to Barovia are hard (if not impossible) to achieve during the campaign (Barovia is isolated from the material plane). It can be worth working with me to create a character driven to Barovia for some purpose that can only be fulfilled within its borders. We can shape your backstory into something that can be relevant in the world of Barovia.
Try to remove yourself from the “XP and loot” model of progression in traditional campaigns and video games, and instead try to enjoy the narrative progression of winning allies, fulfilling objectives, and advancing the story of the campaign and player characters.
Create a character that will be a supportive team player and engage the story. Seriously. You don't need to play a knight in shining armor, but you definitely shouldn't play a villain. Lone wolves and characters that don't play well with others will not last long.
Disclaimer: Curse of Strahd, as-written, is full of potentially triggering horror and mature themes. Elements can be very dark. My personal aim for the "level of darkness" is something in the realm of Bram Stroker's Dracula or Mary Shelly's Frankenstein; the game Darkest Dungeon, the Dark Tower book series; the movies Van Helsing, The Shining,The Lost Boys, or Poltergeist; the Netflix shows Castlevania or Haunting at Hill House/Bly Manor/Midnight Mass. That said, the game requires trust between the players and the DM. I will never do anything to harm, traumatize, or rob my players of agency. To help me maintain this trust, please let me know in advance if you have known triggers. I do not need details and will keep anything shared strictly confidential (like patient information). I will do everything in my power to avoid player triggers. We will have a built-in "Red Light" immediate stop, no questions asked.
Character Creation
If the campaign seems to be a good fit for you and you seem to be a good fit for the group, I will send you a link to DnDBeyond where we can create characters and have access to all options via content sharing. Below are the "initial set-up" instructions.
DnDBeyond Character Initial Set Up. We will go over these at session 0/1 and make sure everyone is on the same page.
Sources
Allowed: Homebrew Content; Critical Role Content; Magic: The Gathering Content
Not Allowed: Eberron Content, Rick and Morty Content; Noncore D&D Content
Enable optional class features, Enable customized origins
Advancement Type: Milestone
Hit Point Type: Fixed or Manual (table choice; will be discussed in session 0/1)
Enable Feats
Disable homebrew
Enable Multiclass Requirements
Enable Show Level-Scaled Spells
No encumbrance (we'll use common sense...no you can't carry the 2 ton sarcophagus)
Ignore coin weight
Races. Due to the setting, it is recommended to first consider using standard races found in the Player Handbook (humans, half-orcs, half-elves, halflings, gnomes, elves, etc). The average Barovian is easily frightened, very superstitious, and incredibly mistrusting of outsiders. Races that are very foreign (like a minotaur) may be shunned and have a harder time with NPC social interactions.
Disable "Show Legacy Content"
All players must be Creature Type "humanoid" races.
Custom lineage is allowed but should be well-crafted into your backstory.
Classes. All classes and subclasses are available, including the 2020 Blood Hunter.
The Bloodhunter Order of the Lycan subclass is not allowed
Playing a "summoner" subclass like Circle of the Shepherds or Necromancy wizard is completely allowed but we'll have to work together to find ways to not slow down combat.
Level. Players will start with new characters at level 1.
Abilities. We will use Point Buy or rolled stats. Players choice. Rolls must be witnessed at Session 0.
Description. Flavor is free. Choose the background, personality, and backstory that works best for you. You will spend a lot of time in this character's headspace, so think carefully about who you'd like them to be and what story you would like to tell.
No Ravnica backgrounds due to balance issues (includes Golgari Agent; Gruul Anarch; Izzet Engineer; Orzhov Representative; Rakdos Cultist; Selesnya Initiate; and Simic Scientist)
Character flavor/personality/descriptions are up to you. Invest real time in developing their thoughts, personality, and motivation.
Please feel free to bounce ideas off me. I love to work in background flavor ideas into mechanical elements. If you have a backstory idea but are unsure of race and/or class, hit me up as well if you'd like suggestions. If you're having a lot of difficulty coming up with a backstory, feel free to text or message me.
When you're done please send me a draft of your backstory. I will likely send it back with questions for my understanding, so I can better work it into the narrative. Keep the background appropriate for a level 1 character but have fun and be creative.
After you have an established character but before the first session, we will meet individually to roleplay a recurring dream based on your backstory. More info to come.
Alignment. All alignments are viable, but I would prefer that player characters do not start the game with an Evil alignment. Evil alignments are allowed during the course of play and in-theme. However, if that's something you're interested in, it would work better as a shift than a starting point.
If you wish to start evil, we'll likely need several discussions about how it'll work with the group dynamic and your character's motivations. It needs to be pretty well thought-out before I agree.
Note, this doesn't mean your character can't turn evil; the setting, themes of the game, and events that may transpire can certainly make this logical/reasonable if it's the direction you want your character to head in.
Equipment. Choose from the standard equipment.
If you would like to swap out the standard kit for something of equal value, let me know.
All players can start with one low-level common magic item (i.e. Ruby of the War Mage, Wand of Smiles, Horn of Silent Alarm). Please let me know if you'd like suggestions.
All magic items need to be approved by the DM for balance. Homebrew is allowed but only after careful consideration.
For martials, feats like Sentinel, Polearm Master, Crusher/Piercer, and Great Weapon Master can increase your damage/power
For ranged builds, Crossbow Expert and Sharpshooter are excellent.
For magic users, Resilient(con) or Warcaster are solid. Metamagic adept is fun for non-sorcerers.
For everyone, you cannot go wrong with Telekinetic, Lucky, Fey Touched (gift of alacrity or silvery barbs), Skill Expert, Alert, Observant, Inspiring Leader, or Tough.
If you'd like advice on how a feat would work with your build or for recommendations, feel free to ask!
Once your character sheet is ready, you can add your free feat on DnDBeyond by going to the character sheet "Features and Traits" tab > "Manage Feats." We can do this at session 0/1 as well.
Progression. We will use milestone leveling. The campaign will take us from levels 1-10ish. We will quickly progress to level 3 over the first few sessions.
Please have your future build planned out to at least level 3 at the start. I am very happy to help with the mechanics of character creation.
Please feel free to ask, text, or email with questions.
Good resources can be found here:
Rpgbot (breakdown of optimization - check out the spell lists for casters)
Tabletop Builds (flagship or basic builds - level-by-level optimized builds)
Home Rules Note: Due to the significance of curses to the plot and themes of the campaign, the remove curse spell has been removed entirely. It is not available to be learned, nor prepared, nor will spell scrolls of it exist. However, bear in mind the greater restoration spell is still available, including its ability to target/remove "One curse, including the target's attunement to a cursed magic item".
If you are still looking I wouldn't mind throwing my hat in to the arena. I've only heard tales of Barovia but never visited. Can message me at Audiomagus#6593 on discord or DM me here. I have been playing for over 20 years but still would say I'm more of a intermediate then veteran
I'm very interested. I'm fairly new to dnd but I've run other roleplaying games before. I'm currently playing a campaign right now in dnd so I have at least a decent amount of experience to get going. Ive never played CoS before so no risk of spoilers. My discord is OneEyedTimmy#2378
Would you allow someone who can't access VTTs due to technical limitations? (Discord and D&D Beyond work fine and well, and I'd only need screenshots of the map during my turns of combat). I can make everything else work no problem.
Hi there! I am very interested in joining. I have about 7 years of experience playing and have always wanted to play the COS campaign. Although I live in EST, I have no problem playing in the evenings. I love a good story and from what I've read it sounds super exciting. Looking forward to hearing from you! :)
My name is Dana, and I would love to join your campaign. Reading through the post, it's clearly apparent that you've put a lot of thought into the campaign. You've been very thorough with the rules and stipulations. Having read through all of it, I believe this campaign is the perfect fit for me :)
My only experience with COS has been only a couple of sessions of the campaign that had unfortunately been canceled. I've been looking to join another Curse of Straad campaign ever since. Hopefully, if you consider me, I would love to get to experience the rest of Barovia.
My Discord is Dana O'Harah#0103
Thank you for your time. I look forward to your reply
I am interested in your campaign. I love dark themes in stories. I am prepared (thrilled even) for challenging combat. The meeting time works for me since I work weekends. I have a little bit of experience in dnd. I have done a few campaigns in the past. If you need more players my discord is NinjaBlu#5208
If this is still open, i would love to join! I just wanna talk to you about character ideas and whaatnot to see if it would work. my discord is Lance EBF5#8195
Hi there! I am very interested in joining. I have about 7 years of experience playing and have always wanted to play the COS campaign. Although I live in EST, I have no problem playing in the evenings. I love a good story and from what I've read it sounds super exciting. Looking forward to hearing from you! :)
My name is Dana, and I would love to join your campaign. Reading through the post, it's clearly apparent that you've put a lot of thought into the campaign. You've been very thorough with the rules and stipulations. Having read through all of it, I believe this campaign is the perfect fit for me :)
My only experience with COS has been only a couple of sessions of the campaign that had unfortunately been canceled. I've been looking to join another Curse of Straad campaign ever since. Hopefully, if you consider me, I would love to get to experience the rest of Barovia.
My Discord is Dana O'Harah#0103
Thank you for your time. I look forward to your reply
I am interested in your campaign. I love dark themes in stories. I am prepared (thrilled even) for challenging combat. The meeting time works for me since I work weekends. I have a little bit of experience in dnd. I have done a few campaigns in the past. If you need more players my discord is NinjaBlu#5208
If this is still open, i would love to join! I just wanna talk to you about character ideas and whaatnot to see if it would work. my discord is Lance EBF5#8195
I’m happy to hear you all are interested! There were many people who replied to my post, so I’m working through responses now to form a group that will be fun for all. If you don’t mind, I have a few questions to help me better understand your experience and expectations (I’m not looking for essays, but thoughtful responses are welcome). Please fill out this Google Form (https://forms.gle/hSJmk5itbfQv67Jn9) . Don’t worry. It’s not first come, first serve.
hi!! i’m rain and i’ve always wanted to play strahd and you seem like an amazing dm so i’d be honored to campaign under you anyways here’s my discord!!!
im interested as well if you have room i will work on form now, and I Don't know much of the Castle of Straud module, only thing i know is just some funny horror story's I heard from some friends about it
I would like to play. As well as my husband.
I haven't played Curse since it first came out in past editions.
We're both veteran players.
My discord is Ack_Zombies#1689
Hi, I am new to D&D and saw your campaign. I am really interested and would love to join.
here is my discord: PlasmaStar#7254
New to Curse of Strahd but wanna join. Seems fun af
Sush#3884
If you are still looking I wouldn't mind throwing my hat in to the arena. I've only heard tales of Barovia but never visited. Can message me at Audiomagus#6593 on discord or DM me here. I have been playing for over 20 years but still would say I'm more of a intermediate then veteran
I'm interested! Haven't ran Curse of Strahd yet.
AncientsLegacy#8360
I'm interested.
I'm very interested. I'm fairly new to dnd but I've run other roleplaying games before. I'm currently playing a campaign right now in dnd so I have at least a decent amount of experience to get going. Ive never played CoS before so no risk of spoilers. My discord is OneEyedTimmy#2378
Hi, my husband Beau_Starheart messaged you earlier for both of us.
My discord is elrex76#7556.
If there is still place left I would LOVE to finally play CoS
Enderia220032#2891
I'm interested
my discord is MC#4047
Would you allow someone who can't access VTTs due to technical limitations? (Discord and D&D Beyond work fine and well, and I'd only need screenshots of the map during my turns of combat). I can make everything else work no problem.
Hi there!
I am very interested in joining. I have about 7 years of experience playing and have always wanted to play the COS campaign. Although I live in EST, I have no problem playing in the evenings. I love a good story and from what I've read it sounds super exciting. Looking forward to hearing from you! :)
This is my discord. LieutenantWedgy#1357
Good evening!
My name is Dana, and I would love to join your campaign. Reading through the post, it's clearly apparent that you've put a lot of thought into the campaign. You've been very thorough with the rules and stipulations. Having read through all of it, I believe this campaign is the perfect fit for me :)
My only experience with COS has been only a couple of sessions of the campaign that had unfortunately been canceled. I've been looking to join another Curse of Straad campaign ever since. Hopefully, if you consider me, I would love to get to experience the rest of Barovia.
My Discord is Dana O'Harah#0103
Thank you for your time. I look forward to your reply
Hello!
I am interested in your campaign. I love dark themes in stories. I am prepared (thrilled even) for challenging combat. The meeting time works for me since I work weekends. I have a little bit of experience in dnd. I have done a few campaigns in the past. If you need more players my discord is NinjaBlu#5208
If this is still open, i would love to join! I just wanna talk to you about character ideas and whaatnot to see if it would work. my discord is Lance EBF5#8195
I’m happy to hear you all are interested! There were many people who replied to my post, so I’m working through responses now to form a group that will be fun for all. If you don’t mind, I have a few questions to help me better understand your experience and expectations (I’m not looking for essays, but thoughtful responses are welcome). Please fill out this Google Form (https://forms.gle/hSJmk5itbfQv67Jn9) . Don’t worry. It’s not first come, first serve.
hi!! i’m rain and i’ve always wanted to play strahd and you seem like an amazing dm so i’d be honored to campaign under you anyways here’s my discord!!!
rain cloud!!#5717
I did the form.
im interested as well if you have room i will work on form now, and I Don't know much of the Castle of Straud module, only thing i know is just some funny horror story's I heard from some friends about it