D&D 5E Dread of Strahd

[77IM]

Problem: Curse of Strahd contains certain triggers which change Strahd's behavior. For example, if the party slays Strahd's nightmare mount, he hunts them down and kills them. These triggers are nice and simple; but they are also very abrupt, and not very well telegraphed, so the changes in Strahd's behavior might come as too much of a surprise to the players!
Solution: Track Strahd's current attitude towards the group in a very visible and suspensful fashion: a Jenga tower.

Dread of Strahd
Whenever the party does something Strahd dislikes, they must take turns pulling blocks from a Jenga tower:

[ ] Spend a week in Barovia: 1 block
[ ] Spend another week in Barovia: 1d4 blocks
[ ] Defy or insult Strahd to his face: 1 block
[ ] Let Ireena die: 2d4 blocks
[ ] Let Ireena's soul escape Barovia: 3d4 blocks
[ ] Ally with Van Richten: 1d6 blocks
[ ] Acquire the Tome of Strahd: 1d8 blocks
[ ] Acquire the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind: 1d4 blocks
[ ] Acquire the Sunsword: 1d6 blocks
[ ] Ally with your Ally: 1d4 blocks
[ ] Light the beacon of Argynvostholt: 1d6 blocks
[ ] Destroy the Gulthias Tree: 1d4 blocks
[ ] Reach Strahd's coffin: 1d4 blocks
[ ] Kill Rahadin: 1d4 blocks
[ ] Destroy the Heart of Sorrow: 2d4 blocks
[ ] Kill Beucephalus the Nightmare: 2d4 blocks

Each event can only occur once, and lists the total number of blocks pulled for that event. If the tower falls, consult the table below, and then rebuild the tower.

• If there are more blocks to be pulled after a fall, pull the rest of the blocks, but don't count any more falls; only count 1 fall per event.
• If the tower falls in between sessions or by accident, rebuild it and re-pull the required number of blocks. Don't count falls that occur during this rebuilding, either.

Strahd's attitude begins as Helpful. Each time the tower falls, consult the table below to determine his new attitude, based on the number of times the Jenga tower has fallen:

Zero falls: Helpful. Strahd will actively prevent a total-party-kill, and may provide resources to raise deceased adventurers. He's either hoping one of them can become his successor, or he finds them useful or entertaining enough to keep around.
One fall: Indifferent. Strahd may occasionally harass the party with monsters, taunts, and trickery, but he means them no real harm... yet. He is too curious about their character and their capabilities to start plotting their downfall.
Two falls: Hostile. Strahd starts plotting the party's downfall. He is no longer amused. He will send them the invitation to Castle Ravenloft. He may personally show up to harass or attack them, if an opportunity arises. He may try to place other obstacles in their path, such as turning NPCs against them or supplying monsters with information about the party's whereabouts.
Three falls: Murderous. Strahd puts all his resources and effort into hunting down the party and destroying them. He fears the party, and will stop at nothing to see them eliminated.
Each additional fall: Located! Strahd has located the group and plots an ambush. At some point in the near future, he will attack the party, with surprise if possible. He is accompanied by 1 vampire spawn per PC, plus: 2d4 dire wolves, 2d6 shadows, 2d6 swarms of bats, 1d6 wights, or 3d6 wolves. Strahd uses his spells to best effect, focusses damage on the weakest members of the group, and instructs his minions to finish off unconscious characters. He and his minions fight to the "death," although, in Strahd's case, he can simply turn into mist and drift away into the mists of Barovia, evading capture.
​

 

[knasser]

Beautiful idea. Do you actually tell the players what the tower represents or do you just leave it as this rising sense of risk that they figure out over time all relates to this mysterious lord of Barovia?

EDIT: Wait! Strahd's horse is named "Beucephalas"?

 

[77IM]

Thanks! This idea is stolen from the game Dread.

I want the players to know, in general terms, what the tower stands for. However, it may be best to show them rather than tell them. So after the first fall, Strahd would appear and announce that they are no longer under his protection (leaving them scratching their heads saying, "Wait, we were under your protection before?"), and then after the second fall Strahd would send them the invitation to Castle Ravenloft. At that point they should get the idea, and become very afraid of the third fall... ;}

EDIT: Wait! Strahd's horse is named "Beucephalas"?

Should I have put "spoiler alert?" ;}

 

[knasser]

I want the players to know, in general terms, what the tower stands for. However, it may be best to show them rather than tell them. So after the first fall, Strahd would appear and announce that they are no longer under his protection (leaving them scratching their heads saying, "Wait, we were under your protection before?"), and then after the second fall Strahd would send them the invitation to Castle Ravenloft. At that point they should get the idea, and become very afraid of the third fall... ;}

I think that is best. Don't tell them what it is. Have them worry and wonder up until Strahd first appears as a result of a fall. It adds to the impact of him if they immediately associate his appearance with disaster.

Should I have put "spoiler alert?" ;}

No, not at all. The name merely surprised me. That was the name of Alexander the Great's horse. Also, for the less classically minded, it was the name of Baron Munchausen's horse in the Terry Gilliam film. I wonder which one Strahd fancies himself as.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Strahd's attitude begins as Helpful. Each time the tower falls, consult the table below to determine his new attitude, based on the number of times the Jenga tower has fallen:

Zero falls: Helpful. Strahd will actively prevent a total-party-kill, and may provide resources to raise deceased adventurers. He's either hoping one of them can become his successor, or he finds them useful or entertaining enough to keep around.
One fall: Indifferent. Strahd may occasionally harass the party with monsters, taunts, and trickery, but he means them no real harm... yet. He is too curious about their character and their capabilities to start plotting their downfall.
Two falls: Hostile. Strahd starts plotting the party's downfall. He is no longer amused. He will send them the invitation to Castle Ravenloft. He may personally show up to harass or attack them, if an opportunity arises. He may try to place other obstacles in their path, such as turning NPCs against them or supplying monsters with information about the party's whereabouts.
Three falls: Murderous. Strahd puts all his resources and effort into hunting down the party and destroying them. He fears the party, and will stop at nothing to see them eliminated.
Each additional fall: Located! Strahd has located the group and plots an ambush. At some point in the near future, he will attack the party, with surprise if possible. He is accompanied by 1 vampire spawn per PC, plus: 2d4 dire wolves, 2d6 shadows, 2d6 swarms of bats, 1d6 wights, or 3d6 wolves. Strahd uses his spells to best effect, focusses damage on the weakest members of the group, and instructs his minions to finish off unconscious characters. He and his minions fight to the "death," although, in Strahd's case, he can simply turn into mist and drift away into the mists of Barovia, evading capture.
​

This is brilliant! And easily adapted to any number of other scenarios. Consider it stolen.

I'll probably adapt it slightly so that a "fall" doesn't get you a fresh jenga tower--you have to re-pull the same number of blocks that were already missing. (Otherwise a 2d4 block penalty is fairly inconsequential.) So once Strahd's patience starts wearing thin, things are likely to go south quite rapidly.

 

[77IM]

Oh, that's an interesting idea. To be honest, I don't have enough recent experience with Jenga to have a good grasp of how many pulls is appropriate. On the one hand, I want to avoid the sort of abrupt changes that the base adventure advocates (oh, you found the Tome? Now you are marked for death). On the other hand, something like "let Ireena's soul escape Barovia" should be infuriating, and I could reasonably see Strahd going from Helpful straight down to Murderous in this case.