Difference between revisions of "Dark Wizard"

Revision as of 18:48, 6 July 2018

Hooks & Encounters

Frequency

How often Strahd shows up is really important. Use him too much, and he becomes too familiar and not scary. Use him too sparingly and he doesn't appear to be a menace. In my opinion, one Strahd encounter every other gaming session on average is about right. Curse of Strahd can be really heavy on RP at times, and a Strahd encounter is a great way to break that up.

The Set Up

CoS is an interesting module because the best encounters with Strahd will be designed ahead of time by the DM. You have to do more legwork than the previous modules, but it is worth it. I tend to have my encounters occur at the beginning of the gaming session and this is for two reasons: 1. I know where they are so I can craft the environment/layout of the encounter ahead of time. 2. It reminds the players of their goal and jump starts the action right away.

When Strahd is encountered outside Ravenloft, he brings buddies. Don't roll on the table, just choose whatever monsters are level and environment appropriate for the PCs (I do this a lot with the different tables throughout the adventure, and I highly recommend it). I'll detail two example encounters I did for my groups in Vallaki:

Uninvited guests

Setting: Baron Vallakovich's manor at dinner with the PCs

Strahd's monsters: Dire wolves

X-Factor: Izek Strazni is also at dinner

The way it went: Strahd charms Ireena, and she is held back by the party. Izek leaps to his sister's defense as they fight the wolves in the manor. Strahd uses an animate objects spell from the threshold and then backs off to let the party fight the dire wolves. Vallakovich isn't having any of it and wants them out of his home and Vallaki after they beat the wolves. Bonus - The party now has to figure out where to go, and if they like Izek or not.

Blue Water Bats

Setting: The upper floor of the Blue Water Inn

Strahd's Monsters: Bat Swarms

X-Factor: Rain and thunder outside. A flash of lightning allows the PC on watch to glimpse Strahd watching them through the window (I know he can't fly, and they are on the second story, but he could have easily prepared the "Fly" spell that day").

The way it went: The windows all shattered at once and the bats attacked. Strahd makes a quick exit into the night.

It's getting close to time to up the Ante on some of Strahd's psycological warfare. I got a great idea from another poster on this subreddit about using some of the groups favorite NPCs as leverage. My favorite idea I saw was having two NPCs (Probably Urich Martikov and his Wife) astride horses with nooses around their necks. Strahd will ask for whatever he wants (Ireena, or one of the magic items they have found) or the NPCs die - Except they are already dead, and vampire spawn. We will see how that plays out. (reddit)

How to not get Strahd killed too early

One of my groups already got a hold of their Sunblade. Make sure you read up on how the sunblade works and how much sunlight hamstrings Strahd. This weapon really screws our boy. Sunlight does 20 radiant damage a turn if Strahd is in it, it also stops his regeneration of 20 hp/turn (which means it essentially does 40 damage a turn), AND prevents him from taking gaseous form if he is reduced to 0 hp. The Sun Blade sheds light out to 20 to 60 feet - Brutal. (reddit)

So what is an undead dictator to do when faced with such oppression? Strahd is a hard monster to run effectively because he has SO many options and he will get clobbered by a level 10 party in 2 rounds or so. First of all, notice that Strahd is almost ALWAYS going to get the drop on the PCs if he wants. He has greater invisibility and a stealth score of +14, which means he will be most likely rolling his checks with advantage at +14. If you really want to kick the shit outta your PCs with this guy you have to be cagey and smart, like Strahd himself. Use every trick in the book and have a plan. This is my plan for when Strahd is actually trying to kill them: (reddit)

Before fight: Greater Invisibility and Scrying. Strahd needs to know when they are coming, and Scrying lets him do that. He also wants to know if the party has access to the spell "Greater Restoration". He lays out "Children of the Night" before starting the fight so the help arrives soon. Then Invisibility is cast and he is ready. Round one: Roll your stealth check with advantage and compare to PCs passive perception - They didn't beat him? No of course they didn't. Looks like you get a surprise round (It is worth noting that the way surprise works in 5th, I'm pretty sure Strahd will get his full host of legendary actions during his surprise round - I could be wrong) that you are going to use to Dominate the weak willed warrior with the sunblade. Did you get him? You use your legendary actions to move up to some foolish wizard or other squishy and beat on him relentlessly - and don't forget you have advantage because you are invisible. This is where Greater Restoration is important because it will end your charm. (reddit)

Round two and later: Is the sunblade wielder charmed? "Fellow warrior - You wouldn't allow such a blade to harm me would you? Give it to me so that I may prevent this. I'll make it worth your while" The PC uses his move and action to de-activate the Sunblade and hand it to Strahd whenever he becomes visible. Strahd is going to take a ton of damage here because the rest of the party is going to UNLOAD on him. Strahd's AC sucks and his HP is pretty low. Don't forget you have resistance to some damage and you are invisible (until you duff a concentration check). Also don't forget that we can move as a legendary action without provoking attacks of opportunity - and you can run up walls when you do this thanks to spider climb. For Strahds action, you just are going to want to lay into the same squishy PC. Each unarmed strike is going to do 24 damage on average, while the bite is only 17. Unarmed strikes are the way to go if he doesn't need the healing of the bite. (reddit)

Is the Sunblade wielder not charmed? Well crap. Time to go. If Strahd is in his lair, you use the lair action to allow him to move through walls his normal action to fire a level 4 fireball, and his legendary actions to get out and lick his wounds. If he is not in his lair, you are really in trouble. Probably best to turn into a bat and get away ASAP and give it another go later. (reddit)

I think it is important to note that when the party finds Strahd in the area the Tarrokka indicates, I don't think it would be wise to have him prep for the battle with the invisibility and the Children of the Night. This is where the showdown is supposed to happen, and the party should have their best chance to bring him down at this point. (reddit)

I hope this helps other DMs. If you bring nothing else away from this, remember to plan out the encounters (I even write canned descriptions and some Strahd dialog) and have them at the beginning of your session. (reddit)

The Dark Wizard is definitely a lawful individual. He has a zero tolerance policy for dishonesty and banditry. When he first took Barovia, he beheaded every single Burgomaster in the valley because they were all skimming the taxes. Even after he became a vampire, he would actively hunt and slaughter those who violated his laws. In his own words: "those who broke my laws rarely got the chance to repeat the offense." (Source)

The Dark Wizard is a creature of his word. If you can extract an actual promise from him, you can expect him to keep it. (Source)

He has little patience for incompetence and stupidity. (Source)

The Dark Wizard has a sense of humor, it's occasionally a very black sense of humor, but he has it. (Source)

The Dark Wizard is actually somewhat fond of the creatures he controls...wolves and bats get pets from him when he calls them outside of combat. (Source)

If The Dark Wizard needs to travel, he'll load a coffin into a coach so he has a handy place to sleep if he's out too long. During the day, the coach will be guarded by a veritable horde of wolves and anything else he deems necessary. (Source)

The Dark Wizard can be extremely cruel when it comes to taking revenge...the man responsible for the rebellion that happened at the same time he was turned into a vampire was later hunted down, drained dry, then left in a sealed stone crypt to animate as a Vampire Spawn...then was left there to starve to death from lack of blood over the course of about a month. Lady Fiona Wachter's ancestor was present for this, and visited that crypt to listen to the man/vampire spawn trying to get out and suffering for the entire time it took him to die (he was responsible for the death of her parents as well). (Source)

The Dark Wizard has a lingering tolerance for servants of the Morninglord, because a confidant of his was a priestess of that faith before he 'died.' He lets the religion continue to exist in his lands out of respect for her. (Source)

The Dark Wizard does NOT need an invitation to enter a house that is within his domain...as Lord of Barovia, he owns the entire Baratok Valley, so every house within it technically belongs to him. He may, however, pretend that he needs an invitation. (Source)

The Dark Wizard is extremely interested in magical lore of all sorts. He's constantly looking for magical means by which he can secure Tatyana and escape the mists. The lure of spellbooks and other pieces of arcane lore may be sufficient to lure him somewhere. (Source)

Overview

Strahd is smart.

Strahd's combat tactics should adapt to the players. He should figure out the party's weaknesses and target them explicitly. For example, a party with lots of single-target damage but little AoE capabilities will struggle with large hosts of weak enemies. (reddit)

Strahd has long-since figured out that something is sabotaging his efforts to get Tatyana. This is why he doesn't just punch the party's teeth in and snatch her the moment they walk away from Barovia Town. "Grab her and turn her into a vampire" hasn't worked in 700 years, the PCs (as a wildcard not native to Barovia) present an opportunity to try more creative solutions. (reddit)

Strahd is extremely well-informed. Between his spies, ability to Scry, and ability to Charm people for information, it should be rare that he is unaware of something. (reddit)

Strahd should not make stupid mistakes. If he ever lays hands on the Villain Ball, I have done something wrong. (reddit)

Strahd is a General

Strahd's tactical acumen applies to any monsters he is commanding. The party should be able to tell when Strahd is directly in charge of enemies they are fighting because they will be drawn into ambushes and kill-boxes, be outflanked regularly, and have to deal with enemies targeting squishy party members first. (reddit)

Strahd is very familiar with mixed-unit tactics and should use them. Look for tactical synergy between monsters under his control and exploit it. For example: zombie meat-shields backed up by skeleton archers and/or using wolves to run down the PCs and knock them Prone so slower units (like Vampire Spawn or Zombies) can catch up. (reddit)

Strahd is familiar with the effectiveness of Magic as tactical support. The party should encounter Strahd-commanded monsters that have been magically buffed by spellcasters who didn't stick around for the actual fight (reddit)

Strahd is familiar with the role of terrain in combat. The party should never have a terrain-based advantage when fighting Strahd-commanded forces, and Strahd should bring units well-suited to the environment. For example, if Strahd has the druids throw a horde of Blights at the party, they should attack on open terrain with no choke-points. In terrain with significant elevation differences, archers should be positioned on high-ground (reddit)

Strahd is a wizard with access to every single spell in the game (reddit)

If there's a 5th level or lower spell in the books that looks useful to Strahd, he has access to it. (reddit)

Strahd has absurd Ambush capabilities (reddit)

He has the home-field advantage. He may have nests of monsters hidden all over the valley (like the Vampire Spawn in the coffin-maker's attic) that he can deploy. He has also had centuries to familiarize himself with the terrain to pick out good spots for an ambush. It's entirely possible for him to have minions he hid so long ago that all traces of their hiding place are gone (such as burying Zombies somewhere long enough ago that grass grew over their hidey hole). (reddit)

He, personally, has absurd stealth capabilities between a very high Stealth check and the ability to go Invisible (reddit)

Beucephalus allows him and his minions to travel via the Ethereal Plane...which is almost entirely imperceptible and completely intangible to people on the Material Plane and lets them ignore pesky things like walls. Bear in mind that Beucephalus can only move 3 willing creatures back and forth at a time. (Note: 'Charmed' can quickly become 'Willing.') (reddit)

Strahd is Bored

With all the advantages Strahd has, if he wanted the party dead...they'd be dead. But, Strahd has been living in Barovia for centuries and there's nothing native to the valley that actually threatens him. Adventurers are a rare opportunity for him to find some entertainment. Strahd's entertainment primarily consists of terrorizing people and corrupting 'good' things. This all manifests in a few ways... (reddit)

Strahd is not actually bothered when his plans don't work. Instead, he's impressed because it's something novel. He may congratulate the party on their accomplishment. (reddit)

Strahd's plans are not always about achieving a tangible objective. For example, the Feast of St. Andrals is not some rare opportunity to get rid of a thorn in his side. If he really wanted the bones gone, they'd have been gone ages ago. He has lots of minions that are unaffected by holy ground (like cultists, druids, and werewolves) who could steal them and dispose of them much more thoroughly than hiding them in some old dude's closet. Rather, the plan was more about Henrik, Milivoj, and Yeska. Three people who don't serve Strahd that were manipulated into doing something that put the lives of a large number of people in danger and almost destroyed the one 'safe place' in the valley. Even leaving the bones in Henrik's closet was deliberately aimed to taunt him with the fact of "You could fix this at any time, but you are too cowardly to risk it." And they get to deal with the knowledge of what they did for the rest of their lives. (reddit)

Cities provide no actual protection from Strahd. None of them are actually capable of defending themselves against him and his forces. They continue to exist because he wants them to. After all, it's a lot more convenient when your food-stock takes care of itself and tends to its own pens. If Strahd decides a city needs to go, it's history. (The half-dozen Vampire Spawn that Strahd dropped in the coffin-maker's shop could, most likely, take out the entire guard force by themselves. 24 guards and a pallisade really isn't much in the way of viable defenses against a Vampire Lord.) (reddit)

Strahd is trying to draw things out. Until the party reaches the 'too dangerous to let live' stage, he won't actively try to kill PCs. If they just happen to die, then oh well, guess they weren't going to be interesting anyway. (reddit)

Strahd's campaign against the PCs should be psychological warfare heavy. (reddit)

Strahd is a Prisoner

For all his power, for all his might...Strahd is a prisoner in the lands of Barovia. With his permission, anyone can safely leave Barovia--except for him. He is both Lord of Barovia, and the inmate that can never leave. (reddit)

Strahd has an ancient agreement with the Vistani, giving them free passage through his lands. In exchange, they act as informants for him. (Some Vistani serve him directly, but this is not the norm.) This is how he gets news from the outside if he is interested. (reddit)

Strahd is aware that something more powerful than him is toying with him, and is trying to find a way to break their grip on him. (reddit)

Strahd Is The Land

Strahd has an intrinsic tie to Barovia, this has a few effects. (reddit)

Weather conditions conspire to favor Strahd. This can mean anything from him getting Dramatic Cracks of Thunder whenever he wants them, to having a heavy rain or fog obscuring sight and sound when he wants to be sneaky, to just making people he doesn't like miserable. (reddit)

On a grand scale, Strahd can alter the environment. Historically, he used this power to destroy the town of Berez by flooding it and permanently turning it into a swamp. This is part of why you cannot successfully defend a town that Strahd wants to destroy...he can turn the environment against it. (Flood Vallaki, take Krezk out with an avalanche, etc) (reddit)

Strahd technically owns everything in the entire valley; he does not need an invitation to enter a home. This is a trump card for him, though--and not something he reveals lightly. Also, he still maintains some noble sensibilities--it's rude to just barge into someone's home without an invitation. (reddit)

Creative Tactics

Because of Strahd's capabilities, he has tactical options not available to your average enemy...particularly when he is acting as a commander. (reddit)

Fun and Games with Beucephalus

Beucephalus, despite getting only an extremely minor mention in the book, is incredibly useful...as such, I upgraded him a bit in my game. Strahd put forth the effort to acquire Barding for the horse, upping its AC to 18. So, given this, lets look at some options... (reddit)

Strahd is faster than you: With a mount that flies at 90', Strahd is the fastest moving thing in the valley apart from the Rok. He can easily beat the party to any location he wants to beat them to. (reddit)

Perfect Infiltration: Beucephalus can transport Strahd and/or several minions via the Ethereal Plane into otherwise-impossible-to-access locations and drop them off. It is impossible for them to be seen coming. (reddit)

Perfect Ambush: Can move allied creatures into an ambush location, then they all Ready Actions to attack the moment the are shifted to the Material. (reddit)

Tactical repositioning: Beucephalus can pull allies into the Ethereal, relocate them, then pop back into the Material with them on the next round. This allows him to move allied creatures past choke points, barricades, and other obstacles. This can be paired with the 'Perfect Ambush' option to dogpile a vulnerable character. (reddit)

It's raining monsters: This takes some prep-work, but Beucephalus can be used to lead a parade of creatures through the Ethereal to points near the PCs. Beucephalus then goes from point to point, popping these monsters back to the Material Plane, delivering a moderate force to a location without any sign of their approach. Easily usable to fill houses with monsters to all come pouring out to attack the PCs once the time is right. For a bit of hilarity, make this literal. The monsters all stand above the combat point, and Beucephalus starts transporting them back to the Material, allowing them to literally rain down on the PCs. (reddit)

Using Beucephalus is not without risks. If he is destroyed then any creatures presently on the Ethereal are stranded there. This is another good reason for Strahd to have devil-summoning spells, as he may get stranded on the Ethereal and need to temporarily summon up another Nightmare to get himself out. An alternative possibility is to make it that Beucephalus cannot be properly killed...if killed, Strahd can resummon it in 24 hours. Pulling in a magic item from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (Infernal Tack) could be used with this--if you want to get rid of Beucephalus, you need to get the spurs that summon him and bind him to Strahd. Without them, he can't summon the Nightmare (and if you're evil...maybe now you can). (reddit)

Confusion Tactics

If Strahd gets to prepare the battlefield, perhaps he sets some things up in advance. (reddit)

Illusory Terrain to hide natural or unnatural (like pit traps) perils (reddit)

Cast Seeming to disguise creatures as something they aren't. This could be anything from making monsters look like normal people, to making them look like other sorts of monster. Ghouls disguised as Zombies, Skeletons disguised as Vampire Spawn (see how fast the PCs run). Disguising a mob of undead as a mob of bandits may trick the party's divine casters into not attempting to Turn them...or vice versa, getting the divine caster to waste an Action trying to Turn humanoids. (reddit)

Illusory body doubles. Illusion spells can be used to make a minion look like him, or himself look like one of his minions. As a 'cheating to get out of defeat free' aside...in the event that your PCs get off a bunch of lucky crits and 'lay Strahd out,' you could always retroactively decide that they took out a illusion-cloaked body double, not the real thing. Or use it for a bait and switch...throw a Vampire Spawn magicked to look like Strahd at them and let them kill it. While the PCs stand there going 'wtf, that was it?' the real thing pops up and flattens the party. (reddit)

Employ the use of bait--fake and legitimate. Charm, Suggest, or Force random innocents into positions that will draw the PCs into a trap. Or polymorph a monster into looking like an innocent for the same purposes. (reddit)

Playing with Charm

A vampire's charm is very powerful, but has its limits. While you see Strahd as your dear friend and are incapable of trying to do him harm--it doesn't mean you aren't still friends with the other PCs. If he's going to Charm you into betraying your friends, he has to make them not your friends first. However, Strahd does not have to be in humanoid form to use Charm. Charming people as a bat is perfectly functional. (reddit)

Charm the bearer of the Sunsword. Politely ask them to turn it off, as it is hurting him. Then, unleash some sob-story about how that sword belonged to his dearly beloved brother and he has been looking for it for ages and oh wouldn't the PC let him return the sword to his brother's grave. It would give him so much closure to have finally recovered the last of his brother's most precious belongings. (Note: Nothing said in that statement is a lie as long as Strahd takes the sword back to his brother's grave before trying to destroy it.) (reddit)

Pre-Charm some PCs before a fight breaks out. Enjoy the chaos as members of the party are trying to break up the fight rather than trying to kill him. (reddit)

Charm a PC then use Sending or Rary's Telepathic Bond to send them secret messages and instructions. (reddit)

Have conversations with Charmed PCs. Plant ideas in their heads that their other 'friends' don't appreciate them. Or that they don't trust them. (reddit)

Remember that Charm works on NPCs, too. He can Charm an otherwise neutral NPC into trying to break up a fight or fighting on his side so the PCs end up either killing an innocent person, or being paranoid about whether or not any humanoid they are fighting against is actually doing it of their own will and always going for non-lethal. Couple this with Illusions for extra chaos. (reddit)

Making Strahd seem omniscient (without cheating)

One of the scariest things about Strahd, in my mind, is when the players start to believe he is all-knowing. When they start to believe that he truly is the land, and that they can't hide their actions from him. In truth, Strahd is not all-knowing--but he likes people to think he is. While it is fully possible to just cheat and make Strahd know things, I find it more fun to look at how he can actually seem omniscient (reddit)

Use Detect Thoughts to have Strahd finish people's sentences for them. Or have him ask them questions, then he vocalizes the answer to that question if they don't respond. (reddit)

Pair Charm with Modify Memory to interview characters (PCs and NPCs) without their knowledge. Strahd Charms them, asks them questions for less than 10 minutes, then wipes the event from their memory. He could gain some extremely personal information about PCs this way. (reddit)

Spies. Spies everywhere. They don't even have to be malicious or even all that active--they don't need to follow the players around or act suspicious. They might just be some rando Barovian that got an unpleasant visit and offered something (even if that something was "I won't feed you to my wolves") in exchange for reporting anything they happen to learn about Outsiders. Most Barovians are flatly terrified of Strahd--it wouldn't be hard at all for him to press some into service for little things like that. (reddit)

When scrying, choose your targets cleverly. If the PCs are hanging out with someone who serves Strahd, target that person (as they'll auto-fail voluntarily). If your party travels with animals (like horses), target them instead of a PC. It's a lot easier to get hair from the party's horse while it's in a stable than it is to get hair from a PC. Still, try to get a lock of hair (or other sheddable body-part, like scales) from each PC. If the PCs all go down in a fight...perhaps rather than making it a TPK, they all wake up with missing bits of hair. (reddit)

Spies on the Ethereal Plane. Strahd has Beucephalus pop a minion onto the Ethereal Plane and has them follow the party around for a while. Perhaps he always has a spy camping them from the Ethereal, and they just rotate out to go back and report to him. (reddit)

Moles. The book tends to call out that humanoids allied to Strahd are pretty open about their allegiance. This is dumb. Sure, maybe some of them are all rah-rah-Strahd-forever! But some are certainly aware that they can better serve their master if their allegiance is secret. Have individuals who are servants of Strahd be friendly--have them lie about their allegiance (or tell an 'exact words' falsehood where the words they say are technically true, but intended to mislead). Do stuff that aids the PCs but doesn't hamper Strahd (much). Then they can happily report to Strahd all the information that the PCs freely give them, because they trust them now. In my game, I did this with the Vistani near Vallaki. The PCs like them and quite trust Luvash (finding him to be a very entertaining character because he's this massive thug-looking guy who is obviously wrapped around his daughter's finger) to the point of letting him sneak them into Vallaki and watch their horse while they are in there. Naturally, Luvash has acquired some horse-hair for his master's scrying spells at this point. (reddit)

Effects of this

If the party comes up with some sort of pass-phrase or sign to prove it's really them, check to see if they are being observed when they decide on it. If so, Strahd now knows the 'trick' they came up with to confirm their identity. (reddit)

Strahd is not surprised by plans or tricks that the players come up with. If they sit around working out a strategy for fighting him, he knows what their plan is. In fact, he may develop plans specifically to counter them. (reddit)

If a planned deception was discussed out loud by the PCs, Strahd knows about it. The only way to have a real chance at deceiving him is to do it off-the-cuff, or at least never discuss it out loud. (reddit)

There are countermeasures to this, but your players will have to figure them out...if they realize what's happening in the first place. (reddit)

Stages of Interest

In my game, I gauge Strahd's current interest in the party in 5 levels. The more attention Strahd is paying to you, the more dangerous your life becomes. (reddit)

Stage 1: Aware

The party has only recently arrived in Barovia and hasn't done anything of note yet. Strahd is aware that they exist because he is aware of anyone who enters his domain, but isn't paying much attention to them. Basically, they need to prove they aren't just going to bite it the first time a couple zombies jump them before he's going to bother paying attention. At this point... (reddit)

Strahd continues business as normal. If the party encounters him at this point, it's coincidental--he was somewhere doing something, and they just happened to be there at the same time. The Feast of St. Andrals is an example of such a potential encounter. (reddit)

Vistani and other allies of Strahd will report to him anything they learn about the PCs, but Strahd is making no special effort to investigate them. (reddit)

If they encounter creatures Strahd controls, he is not commanding them. (reddit)

Stage 2: Interested

The party has performed some unexpected or impressive feat (thwarting a plan, killing a powerful creature, acquiring a relic, etc.) and Strahd has deemed them worth his attention. At this point, he is primarily gathering information. (reddit)

Spies start trying to steal a personal effect or bit of hair from the PCs to boost the efficacy of Strahd's Scrying spell. Randomly call for Wisdom saves from the party to represent his attempts to scry on them (definitely don't tell them why they are saving). (reddit)

If a PC is isolated at some point, Strahd may attempt to interview them. He approaches them in bat form and tries to Charm them. If successful, he takes humanoid form and has a chat. He wants to know more about them and their companions, and asks questions to that effect. He keeps the interview short, then tries to use Modify Memory to wipe the conversation from the PC's head. In play, simply call for Wisdom Saves from the isolated player and don't tell anyone anything if they fail both (perhaps tell the player outside of the game if you want to let them RP out their (forgotten) discussion with Strahd. Strahd can use the same trick on NPCs that the party is friendly with. (reddit)

Strahd will observe the party in combat while invisible/ethereal/as a bat/etc. He may throw a mixed or buffed unit at them and command it, just to see how they fare. (reddit)

This is when Strahd sends them the invitation to dinner. I recommend having a look at elven tower's guide on Dinner with Strahd, as it is much better than what's in the book. (reddit)

If you plan to plant a Strahd-serving mole in the party, now's the time. (reddit)

Stage 3: Active Interference

Strahd has gathered enough information, and now it's time to have fun. This is the stage that Strahd will be in for most of the adventure. He is seeking to corrupt the PCs, manipulate them into helping him bypass whatever it is that is keeping him from Ireena, break their spirits, or whatever else he deems suitable for a given PC. This will be broken up into two parts... (reddit)

Changes to life for the party

Enemies should behave more intelligently and mixed units should start becoming more common. However, more intelligent creatures may intentionally leave downed creatures alive (deal non-lethal KO damage), because Strahd isn't done with them yet (reddit)

Strahd himself may pick fights with them, just to kick them around a bit. Always have multiple escape plans in mind. (reddit)

Strahd's pyschological warfare goals are primarily focused on sowing distrust and paranoia among the PCs. If a particular PC seems susceptible to betraying their friends, he focuses on isolating that character. Additionally, if he can get them to do something 'evil' then points to him. (reddit)

Example ideas for ways Strahd may interact

Strahd gives the party a quest. The quest is to do something that is objectively good (such as saving children from Old Bonegrinder/Werewolves or restoring the winery). He doesn't really care if they succeed or not, he just wants to see what they'll do. Do they refuse the quest because of its source? Are they second-guessing themselves the whole way? Do they do the opposite of what he asked them to do? (reddit)

Strahd continues information gathering. If he catches a PC or allied NPC alone, he does the same he did during Stage 2, but may also bite them as well. That way, they go back to the party with a bite mark on their neck and no knowledge of how it got there. Which a paranoid party may take as a sign of untrustworthiness or outright collusion. (reddit)

Charm a party member or allied NPC, then use Sending or a pre-established Rary's Telepathic Bond to get them to do suspicious things or things harmful to the party. As Strahd does not need to be in humanoid form to Charm targets, he can establish the Charm as a bat. (reddit)

Use Seeming to 'replace' someone (or multiple someones). For example, sneak into the Blue Water Inn and temporarily incapacitate the Martikovs and some or all of the patrons. Replace them with cultists (for anyone the party needs to talk to) and undead, all masked into looking 'normal' with Seeming. When the party realizes something is off, attack. Seeming doesn't drop just because combat started, so this will cause all manner of chaos. For extra fun, have a few genuinely uninvolved innocents mixed in there, just to see if the freaked out PCs end up killing innocent bystanders. (reddit)

Use Seeming on the party--make them look like monsters or Vampire Spawn. Enjoy the fact that they are stuck out in the wilderness for the night, or getting attacked by allies. Or even other PCs. (reddit)

Alternately, Strahd can use Disguise Self or Alter Self to personally replace an individual for the purpose of talking with the PCs--he may even replace a PC for a short while. For example, if he catches a PC alone he can incapacitate them and hand them off to a minion. He takes their form and returns to the party, and continues along with them for a short while. In a short while, they happen upon a coffin lying in the road...just as they arrive, the actual PC wakes up inside the coffin. Strahd lets the "who is the real one!?" drama play out for a moment, then drops the disguise, thanks the party for their company, and departs. (reddit)

Strahd sends a PC a bag of money with a note, thanking them for some obscure 'service.' (reddit)

Strahd may start making subtle overtures towards a PC he thinks he can corrupt (reddit)

Adopt a disguised 'role' that he plays, and be friendly with the NPCs. (reddit)

Try to get the PCs to dislike/distrust the actual decent people in the valley and make friends with Strahd's servants. (In my game so far, the PCs are very buddy-buddy with the Vistani that live outside Vallaki). In the case of the Vistani, make up some BS about how Strahd has a non-aggression pact with them as part of their 'we can come and go freely from Barovia.' Make them think that their Vistani 'allies' are the only folk in the valley that are 'safe' from Strahd. NOTE: Strahd's servants are smart enough to keep their true allegiance a secret. (reddit)

Stage 4: Break Them

Strahd is ready to start breaking his toys now. Continue anything he was doing in Stage 3, but turn it up to 11. (reddit)

If Strahd has found a PC he can isolate from the rest, his goal with them is to make it so that this person dislikes their 'allies' enough that, while charmed, he can command them to turn on their friends. Perhaps even get them to do it voluntarily. (reddit)

Capitalize on any seeds of distrust and paranoia planted in Stage 3. Make note of what worked and what didn't, and double down on the points that worked. (reddit)

Strahd begins using creative combat tactics (see below) on a regular basis, and many foes will be under his command. He may even directly lead strike teams to harm the party. (reddit)

Additional example ideas for how Strahd may interact

Dominate someone the party likes and force them to attack the party (reddit)

Make offers to the party (such as 'Bring me Ireena and I'll let you leave.'). If possible, manipulate/lie about the results of agreement or disagreement. (reddit)

Allow them to find a suit of armor...either the presently-inert Animated Armor in the Tower of Khazan, or Strahd's Animated Armor. The armor has been throughly worked over with Nystul's Magic Aura to hide its true nature. Let them enjoy the armor...then, in the final battle, activate the armor. (reddit)

Spread rumors to lead PCs to cursed items (such as the Staff of Frost in the Amber Temple) that may corrupt them (reddit)

Manipulate someone (non-evil) into setting the Assassin bound to the magic mirror on one of the PCs. Charm them while in disguise and lie to them about what the mirror does (tell them it will summon a spectral warrior to go to the PCs' aid if they speak the rhyme and say a PC's name.) (reddit)

If the Revenants at Argynvostholt are still around, see to it that they find out the PCs are aiming to kill Strahd. (reddit)

Use Dream to harass a PC, hiding the fact that Strahd is sending the dream. If targeting a Cleric or Paladin, make it seem like a Dream from their deity, informing them that Strahd cannot be killed, they can only seek to redeem him. Or that Strahd must live on and suffer, rather than being killed. Alternately, give them a Dream about Madame Eva sending them an 'extra prophecy' to aid them along their way. In short, give them dreams that give them disruptive/false information. (reddit)

If the PCs have experience with Strahd replacing people, use Suggestion to get an NPC the PCs know well to behave in a way that is out of character for them...see if the PCs' paranoia fires off and makes them harm/kill a friend. (reddit)

Use Seeming to make innocents look like monsters, try to get the PCs to attack them. Drop the spell after about half of them are dead. (reddit)

If the party has acquired any of the Relics, use trickery and other people to try to take it from them. (reddit)

Spread copious amounts of misinformation throughout the valley. Rumors that the sunsword is cursed to gradually overtake the mind of its wielder, that overuse of the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind will turn you into a Raven, that one of the PCs or someone they know was seen conversing with a vampire spawn in the middle of the night (when the rest of the party was in bed), rumors of powerful useful things in the mountains to the North, rumors of a cult in Krezk, and so on. Just make up a bunch of bull-crap and spread it around. The best part with this is that no Insight check can prove these false...because the PCs are hearing this information second or third-hand, likely from someone who believes it to be true...Insight or even Zone of Truth doesn't help you against someone who is simply wrong. (reddit)

Stage 5: Obliterate

The party is too dangerous to be left alive or has enraged Strahd. He wants them dead. The gloves are off. However, Strahd is still a highly intelligent and successful general. He's not going to just hurl himself at them in a wild fury and immediately fight to the death. No, he's going to wear them down and deplete their resources--so that when he goes for the kill, it's easy. This is how you force the final confrontation...the PCs' best move is to go on the offensive as soon as possible--the longer they wait around while Strahd is doing this, the harder their life is going to become. (reddit)

Strahd is done playing. If he thinks a PC can be corrupted, he makes his move. If not, they die. (reddit)

Strahd knows how dangerous the PCs have become and begins using attrition-style warfare to wear them down. Attacks against the PCs are always conducted with a goal in mind: Kill that character, acquire that item, destroy that location, etc. Strahd can always make more undead, he can always turn new Vampire Spawn. If he sacrifices a half-dozen Spawn and a large number of zombies to get his hands on the Sunsword or kill a single PC, that counts as a win in his book. (reddit)

Strahd begins destroying the PCs' network of allies. If possible, he kills these NPCs in front of the PCs (Wall of Force/Drain them dry, for example). Once the PCs realize what is going on and start avoiding their allies, they start getting reports that their friends are all being killed. NPCs with a shakier relationship with the PCs may turn on them to try to protect themselves. (reddit)

If Strahd has a mole among them, now is the time to strike. (reddit)

Strahd seeks to compromise or destroy their base of operations. He wants them isolated and exhausted. (reddit)

Strahd is more careful in combat, especially if the party has Sunlight-producing relics. He may avoid the front lines, using his forces instead of taking the field directly. (reddit)

Strahd's targeting of their allies and safe places is aimed at demoralizing them as well as destroying assets. Killed allies should be killed horribly and/or turned into Vampires/Undead to be used against the PCs. If the resulting undead is capable of speech, then they should be forced to curse and scream at the PCs, blaming them for what was done to them. (reddit)

If the PCs have made 'friends' with any of Strahd's servants, now is the time for a precision-strike betrayal. Attack them in their sleep, poison their food, whatever hurts the most. (reddit)

The Final Battle

So, here we are. The party has gathered their artifacts, rallied themselves, and marched on Castle Ravenloft. So, how do we make this a Battle worthy of Legends? Strahd is...not actually that durable. In the face of the Sunsword, the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, St. Markovia's Thighbone, and the Icon of Ravenloft...if Strahd tries to fight them straight up, he's going to go down like a chump. So, here we go... (reddit)

Disclaimer: if you completely follow my advice here, you're probably headed for a TPK. Pick the pieces you like and implement them (or go whole hog and TPK em, up to you) (reddit)

Prepare for them

Strahd knows they are coming. Of course he knows. So, let's get ready for them. (reddit)

Swap out his spell list. The spells listed in his statblock are what I consider his day-to-day overlording loadout. If he's going to war, he should switch out for more appropriate spells. Consider where your party is set to have their Final Battle with Strahd, and pick whatever spells off the Wizard spell list are the most advantageous. (For example, Gust of Wind is kind of useless in the crypts...but if he's fighting them on top of the castle, punting the party off the side is awesome). (reddit)

If the party includes a Paladin or other caster with a Detect Evil/Divine Sense capability, prepare and Cast Nystul's Magic Aura on himself. Change his apparent creature type to humanoid to confound their spell. (reddit)

Wear the party down. If the party shows up to battle Strahd and is at full strength, he didn't do his job right. You have an army. Use it. (reddit)

Gear up. If you want drama, let Strahd summon it onto himself as a Bonus Action...but if Strahd's Armor is still around, he puts it on. This gives him an even higher AC, immunity to lightning damage, and a lightning-based ranged attack. And a lightning-damage dealing sword, if he wants to use that instead of his claws. (For fun...have him hold off on doing this for a bit...where he just plays with the PCs like a big cat. Then he goes "I suppose that's enough playing around. Time to die." :Snaps his fingers and armor materializes around him:) (reddit)

As DM, study the area he will be fighting them in. What's around it, above it, below it? Where can Strahd go to buy himself a few rounds to recover? Look at the Battle section below and figure out how Strahd plans to tackle this. (reddit)

The Battle

Go time. Note that some of these recommendations may contradict the number of spell slots he has (such as suggesting using Seeming but also suggesting using Wall of Force, despite the fact that he only has the one 5th level spell slot). This is to give options to you. (reddit)

Action Economy disparity sucks. Crowd Control is Strahd's friend. Polymorph, Hypnotic Pattern, Wall of Force, and anything else that takes PCs out of the fight tilts things in his favor. The fewer attacks being leveled at him per round, the better. (reddit)

Kite your enemies. Strahd can walk through walls to put stout stone between himself and sunlight-producing artifacts, and can lure the PCs to chase him...either into other enemies, or into traps. Strahd knows where all his traps are, of course...so why wouldn't he lead the PCs into them? Remember, Strahd has Spider Climb and can go through floors and ceilings. Doing this also gives him time out of sunlight in order to regenerate HP. (reddit)

Abuse Seeming to devour party resources. Strahd can make an arbitrarily large number of minions look like him before the PCs show up. Have decoy Strahds all over the place...use them as sacrificial pawns to lure the party to bad places. For extra evil...when the party finds Strahd at the appointed location, they are likely to open big. Unload on him with everything they've got to try to Alpha him down. So, have the 'Strahd' they find be a Vampire Spawn under Seeming. They nuke 'Strahd' and blow all their best tricks...likely reducing the spawn to dust. The party stands there for a second going "Um...is that it?" Then Strahd's laughter starts echoing through the room and he either suckerpunches someone from behind, or several more 'Strahds' show up (maybe one of them is even the real thing!) (reddit)

Charm people. Pre-emptively, if possible. Convincing the Fighter or Paladin to hand over the Sunsword, or pitch it off the side of the castle is a great way to get rid of a serious hazard to your health. (reddit)

Target Priority. In my experience, it's sort of common for DMs to 'play along' and have the monsters fight the martial characters for the most part. Strahd's not an idiot, though...what's the point of playing around with the walking ball of armor when the squishy wizard is blowing him up, or the healer is undoing his efforts to murder you. Pick your targets based on who it would hurt the party the most to lose. (reddit)

Isolate Sunlight wielders. These are the most directly dangerous foes, as they produce an aura that hurts you, blocks your regen, AND prevents you from going Mist-form if you are defeated. Polymorph them, enclose them in a cubic Wall of Stone, lock them in rooms by themselves, use minions to knock them into traps (reddit)

Separate the party. Strahd can close and lock doors as a lair action. If his lair action comes up and the party is divided between rooms with a door in between them...slam the door shut and lock it, then suckerpunch whichever half of the party is the most vulnerable (or painful to lose). (reddit)

Exploit your speed. If Strahd is going full-out, he can cover 150' in a round. (Move, Dash, LA-movex3). Nobody can catch him when he wants to outpace you. (reddit)

Exploit your absurd stealth check. Given that Strahd can pass through walls and outrun everyone, breaking line of sight is easy. Strahd should be striking from Stealth on a regular basis. The party should not 'catch' Strahd, he should loop around and suckerpunch them while they are chasing him. Of note: Strahd can use Lair Actions without breaking stealth. Go sneaky, then use the Specter and Shadow Lair Actions to reduce HP and Str values across the party. Prioritize with the Shadows, of course...aim for the Str-dependent characters. (reddit)

If you can go outside onto the rooftops or ramparts, enjoy the fact that the weather is on Strahd's side. For a climactic encounter like this, there should be a full-blown thunderstorm on. The rain should limit visibility and make perilous footing (like the rooftops) even more dangerous. Strahd's spider climb lets him basically ignore the perilous footing. (reddit)

Ration your Legendary Resistances. Turn Undead is not a big deal. Accept the turning, activate the 'walk through walls' lair action, then leave the party feeling foolish while Strahd runs off to go regenerate all his hitpoints, and a party member is down a Channel Divinity. You can always flee to regen health as well, so unless it would put him dangerously close to death, don't worry about failing saves vs. damage. No, the big threats are the ones that prevent Strahd from moving. As long as Strahd can move, he can put a solid object between himself and the PCs and can regenerate health. (Tactically, your best option to beat Strahd like this is to pop Wall of Force to make a box trapping him and you in one place.) (reddit)

Bring in allies. If there are still enemies in the castle, call them in or lead the party to them. Certainly Rahadin would spring to his master's aid if he knew Strahd was under attack. (reddit)

Try to lead the party away from your crypt. If Strahd is killed and isn't in sunlight when he dies, he turns to mist and flows back to his coffin. Once he gets there, you have 1 hour to finish him off or he regains consciousness, then rapidly regenerates all his hitpoints (regeneration feature starts working again). And you're back to square one. (reddit)

Ultimately, the final battle with Strahd should range all over the castle. The more the party has explored and cleared the castle before fighting Strahd, the less likely they are to die horribly. Strahd won't have many allies left to lead them to and the party should have figured out where the traps are. You could even have it that allies of the party who have survived up to this point get involved in little ways. As an off-the-cuff example...suppose Strahd convinced someone to pitch the Sunsword off the side of the castle. At a dramatically appropriate moment, one of the Keepers of the Feather (in Raven form) drops the sword in a PC's hands. (reddit)

Conclusion A few specific call-outs for handy spells... (reddit)

Nystul's Magic Aura: Allows Strahd to obscure his creature type from all forms of detection magic. This is critically important if you want Strahd to disguise himself to mess with the PCs directly--especially if you have a Paladin in the party. A lot of PCs forget this spell exists, enjoy how confused they are when their good human buddy Vasili turns out to be a vampire. (reddit)

Wall of X: Battlefield Control is awesome. A special mention goes out to Wall of Force, as a bubble of that spell may let him isolate a single character so he can freely drain them dry in front of others, without risk of being interrupted. Wall of Stone is also useful because it lets him enclose someone generating Sunlight in an opaque box from which they can't bother him. (reddit)

Glyph of Warding: Perhaps the most useful base-defense spell in the game. (reddit)

Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum: For making a prison that hides people from divination magic, or seeding 'dead zones' around the castle that he can hide in if being tracked magically. (reddit)

Negative Energy Flood: Heal undead minions (reddit)

Life Transference: Strahd's resistance to Necrotic damage means this won't be as effective coming from him. But he heals at 20hp per round, which is more damage than the spell is likely to do to him. But, it lets him heal Beucephalus or other minions--particularly useful when he himself is not in combat. (reddit)

Far Step: And you thought he was fast before... (reddit)

Any enchantment spell that makes the target potentially attack its allies (reddit)

Dream: For when you want to screw with the PCs in their sleep (reddit)

Seeming: For disguising squads of undead monsters as perfectly ordinary commoners (reddit)

Disguise Self: Because obviously (reddit)

Mislead: Functional tele-presence. Allows Strahd to directly converse with the PCs while putting himself at no risk. (reddit)

Fabricate: Oh, you fled across a river to get away from my and my spawn? That's cute, here let me magick a bridge up out of nowhere. (reddit)

Fly: Extremely useful for anyone (reddit)

Leomund's Tiny Hut: Why would he not put this up over his coffin every day? (reddit)

Sending: Secure communication. Extra useful on a Charmed target. (reddit)

Seeming: Wait...Strahd can made a 30' radius horde of his minions all look exactly like him? Or like the party's best NPC friends? Awesome! (reddit)

Modify Memory: Sometimes you don't want people to remember something. (reddit)

Rary's Telepathic Bond: Great for commanding a Charmed creature. (reddit)

Polymorph: Only being able to turn into a Bat or Wolf is lame. And turning enemies into newts is always fun (reddit)

Summon Greater Demon: Because dropping a CR 5 demon on someone's head is a great option to have. Especially when you can just drop through the floor to avoid any nasty repercussions of it breaking free of your control. It's a great "Here, play with this for a while while I go downstairs to recover some HP" option. (reddit)

Animate Objects: 10 tiny objects is downright murderous...as a PC, I have completely upended combat encounters by burying my enemies in a swarm of animated ball bearings. (reddit)

Manipulation Strahd is a master manipulator. Why do something yourself, if you can make someone else do it for you, and then thank YOU for allowing them to do it? (reddit)

Here's an example scenario: (reddit)

Strahd 'failed' to secure the Church of St. Andral, and the bones have been returned, and Ireena is currently hiding in the church. Now, Strahd could send cultists, druids or werewolves as OP's post suggests, or, he could send the party. Naturally, the party isn't going to be very keen to hand Ireena over to him just like that. So here's what happened in my campaign, as Strahd manipulated the Hags at Bonegrinder Windmill and the party into conflict, forcing the party to take refuge in the Church, and then kidnap Ireena and hand her to Strahd, all without the party knowing it was Strahd's plan. (reddit)

Strahd invites the party to dinner, after buying all of Morgantha's Dream Pastries. Morgantha returns to the Windmill to make more pastries, completing the coven right as the party passes by on their way to dinner with Strahd. The screams of crushed children attract party attention and a fight erupts. The hags, if beaten, retreat to the Ethereal plane. At the Castle, Strahd plays the gracious host, consoling the wounded and weary party, allowing them to rest in the safety of his home. When dinner arrives, Strahd offers the party a choice between Ireena and something they cannot refuse: they may only choose one. This 'something' must be something the party cannot afford to pass on, up to and including allowing a member of the party to leave Barovia and return home. (reddit)

After the party has made their choice and (most likely) not chosen Ireena, Strahd follows through on his end of the bargain immediately, as the party eats poisoned food (that's been disguised by Nystul's Magic Aura). The poison is a DC 17 Con Save (Strahd's save DC) or after 4 hours, gain 1 stack of exhaustion. Strahd then tells the party to leave. Poison may not be necessary, and the delay in application should make it hazy as to if it really was Strahd who poisoned them. (reddit)

Outside the safety of the castle, the bereaved Night Hags will use their Nightmare Haunting ability to prevent members of the party from sleeping, causing them to gain an additional stack of exhaustion each night. Make sure your players know, mechanically, they die if they reach 6 stacks. Cue party panic as they have no way of dealing with Hags they can't touch. (reddit)

The only solution, other than fleeing back into Castle Ravenloft (the drawbridge is up, showing that's unwelcome), is to seek refuge in the Hallowed Church of St. Andral, where the Night Hags cannot go. (reddit)

Once the party is in the church, Strahd sends an agent to deliver a message:

This was not part of your arrangement with the Dark Lord. You are now instructed to deliver Ireena to the south gate, tonight, at midnight. (reddit)

Now the party has a decision to make. Defy the will of the Dark Lord and renege on their deal, or comply with his demands? Either way, the Night Hags are still out there. (reddit)

My party complied, delivered Ireena to Strahd in the dead of night and dusted their hands of the whole situation. One even said "I think we handled that well." (reddit)

Little did they know, that every step of their journey had been carefully orchestrated by Strahd, from ensuring the Night hags were all present at the Windmill, to the party's entry into a doomed bargain. Why fight your enemies, or do any of the legwork yourself, when you can manipulate others into doing it for you? (reddit)

General Notes Strahd will want to claim a body part from each of the characters at some point. A finger, a section of their skin, something more tangible than their hair. During the final battle, he can 'kill' the characters and then have a minion in the dungeons use the resurrection Dark Power from the Amber Temple, to resurrect the character using this body part. Now, if the party attempts to resurrect their dead comrade, the spell will fail as the soul is already in a new body. Oh, and the new body was resurrected inside one of Strahd's dungeon cells. Make sure to have Strahd vocally reassert his dominance over the souls of the dead within his domain. (reddit)

Speaking of Dark Gifts, much of Strahd's illusory repertoire breaks down once the party has access to True Sight from the Amber Temple. Keep this in mind during the late game. (reddit)

Similarly, be careful turning players into Revenants. The only way Strahd can hide from a Revenant is by using his Nightmare Stead to hide on the Ethereal Plane. The party always knowing where the true Strahd is, is a super powerful tool. (reddit)

Consider allowing each of the 'seeds' from the Winery, to increase the Crystal Heart's HP by 50. The location of the third seed is never disclosed in the module, so I chose to have mine powering the Heart at the start of the game, giving it its 50 HP. Allowing Strahd to collect the other seeds later in the campaign gives him an objective that doesn't directly involve the party (making him seem more 'real') and when he does acquire them, boosts his tankability substantially, which is one of his weak points. (reddit)

Strahd has absolutely crafted a Shield Guardian for himself. (reddit)

Be prepared for the party to use the 'True Resurrection' Dark Gift, to resurrect Argonvost, or Queen Ravenova. (reddit)

The best location for the final fight to occur (for Strahd) is the bone room, in the basement. It's Desecrated Ground, which grants undead in the area advantage on all saving throws (and shores up another of Strahd's weaknesses, namely his susceptibility to magic). He can also wall-phase into the stairwell that adjoins the room, yet has no physical room access. (reddit)

Losing control of your character sucks. As odd as it sounds, try to avoid using Strahd's Charm ability on player-characters during combat, as it drastically impacts player agency. Target NPC companions instead, even if they auto-fail the save as a consequence. (reddit)

Additionally, Strahd never does anything for only one reason. Everything he does is to achieve as much as possible, with as little effort as possible. Harassing the party should be done because he wants to distract them from something else, and expend their resources. It's usually very easy to think up a second reason why Strahd would do something, but it's always worth thinking about, if only to better roleplay a character who has spent the last 500 years perfecting his art. (reddit)

As a final note, always try to fail forward. Strahd is a tactical and military genius. When he plans, he assumes that plan will fail, and so has a second plan for when it does. Out-thinking Strahd should be difficult if not impossible. Take liberties with timing. If it took you a week of thought and planning to come up with a plan, Strahd did it in a few hours. If you need something that's permanently affected by Nystul's Magic Aura, then Strahd thought of this eventuality 29.9 days ago. (reddit)

Strahd is very good at what he does; and he is always in control. (reddit)