Session recap

Session 0 Session Zero: Curse of Strahd ###### Action Items - [ ] DM to share Dropbox with campaign maps - [ ] Group to finalize scheduling (every other week, start time - 2pm works for everyone) - [ ] Players to complete any remaining character sheet details before next session ###### Character Introductions Grae (Gnome Arcane Trickster Rogue) - A completely deadpan, emotionless character who was kicked out of the temple of Garl Glittergold (god of laughter and trickery) for being unable to laugh or show any emotion. Seeking to learn how to laugh so they can return to the temple. Character is grayscale in appearance. Jables (Paladin) - Inspired by Jack Black, charismatic character who picked up Gray at a tavern and is trying to make them laugh. Considering Oath of Devotion or Vengeance. Iriadel (Dampir/Aasimar) - A half-vampire, half-celestial outcast with an uneasy feeling about their situation. Joined the party because the others didn't hate them. ###### Character Creation Discussion The session focused heavily on character creation mechanics, including background selection, spell choices, and equipment. Key discussions included: - Magic Initiate feat - Multiple characters took this, with extensive discussion about cantrip selection (Toll of the Dead, Thaumaturgy, Mending, Produce Flame mentioned) - Background options - Players discussed Acolyte, Entertainer, and the special "Haunted One" background available for this gothic horror campaign - Languages and proficiencies - The party collectively knows many languages including Draconic, with discussion of how proficiency bonuses work - Dice mechanics - DM explained D100 rolling and basic dice mechanics for newer players ###### Campaign Setup and Resources The DM shared information about campaign resources and previous sessions: - This campaign uses high-quality digitally remastered maps that fans created for Curse of Strahd - The group uses D&D Beyond with shared content purchased by Eric so all players can access materials - Discussion of dice collections, including loaded dice jokes and a D100 die shaped like a golf ball - Brief mentions of previous campaigns including Planescape Torment and a Star Wars homebrew ###### Initial Gameplay: Entering Barovia The Approach - The party found themselves on a road in beautiful mountains and woods, but noticed fog creeping behind them and an eerie silence (no birds or animals). The fog followed at a consistent distance, preventing retreat. The Gate - They reached massive double doors with decapitated statues, slightly ajar. Gray used Detect Magic but sensed nothing unusual. As they entered, the doors closed behind them and fog enveloped the entrance. The Village - Walking through black pools of water and muddy roads with giant trees looming overhead, they reached the outskirts of a small, lifeless village. The fog opened up to reveal a specific house. ###### Meeting Rose and Thorne Two children appeared in front of the house - Rose (age 10) and Thorne (age 7, crying and clutching a stuffed animal). They claimed: - There's a monster chained in their house basement - Their parents (Gustav and Elizabeth) have been gone for a long time - Their baby brother Walter is in the third floor nursery - They hear the monster screaming (though the party heard nothing) The party was immediately suspicious, with perception checks revealing something "off" about the children, though they appeared real. ###### Exploring the House First Floor - Grand foyer with ornate wood paneling showing vines, flowers, nymphs, and satyrs - but with serpents and skulls hidden in the designs. A longsword hung above the fireplace. Second Floor - Covered in cobwebs and ash, appearing abandoned for a long time despite the children claiming to live there. The party found: - A family portrait 50-60 years old showing parents with Rose, Thorne, and baby Walter - the children looked identical to those outside, even down to the stuffed animal - Master bedroom with rotting tiger skin rug and dusty four-poster bed - Vanity with jewelry box containing gold rings and platinum necklace with topaz pendant - Sweet floral perfume scent despite the decay The party realized something was very wrong - the house's age (50-60 years of decay) didn't match the children's appearance. The Nursery - Following the perfume scent, Iradel opened a door to find a nursery with: - Stained glass door leading to a balcony surrounded by fog - The children had disappeared from outside (only Jables' lute remained on the ground) - A single unlit lamp and a crib covered with a black shroud - Inside the crib: a baby-sized bundle wrapped in black cloth ###### The Specter Appears As Jables used their greatsword to poke the bundle, a spectral woman manifested behind the party, saying "Don't touch my baby" and preparing to attack. The session ended on this cliffhanger with initiative about to be rolled. Grace and Travis are having coffee for you guys want a water coffee or anything else? You brought your own water? Water would be amazing. Okay. Thank you. You said something about manual. You said there's a PDF version. Is it something I can just look online and download? So yes, let me, or do you have discord on that? I do not because I just don't even really use it. Easiest way and or you could probably email it to him. You can just go to adventure.vadej.com. Yes, there you go. Vadej, V-A-D-E-J. Yes. Yes. E-J. E-J. Oh, yeah, yeah, okay. And then .anythingelse.com. And that is a searchable version. So whatever you want to look up at any point, and then you can also, there's a navigation on the side and below. Yes. Yes, thank you. If you scroll down, 2024 is below it, and then there's two expansions. I know virtually nothing about how to actually play. I have watched like bits and pieces of some sessions online, and I have watched That's the example of knowledge. See, I haven't watched Stranger Things. It's funny that you're not the first person to bring that up. That was me like a year or two ago. It's also me even though I built the searchable on your handbook. That's part of why I built it. I was like, I'm going to need to be able to look stuff up. I will not know the answer. If you want to send any of those my way, feel free. I'll add them to the repository. We have a huge Dropbox. You can put a lot of this stuff on. I'll just show you the Dropbox with you. Hell yeah. Yes, yes. You said you were a paladin, yes? What is your name? That's the only thing I haven't done. I'm figuring out the name. I have an idea, but I can't figure out. I can't pin it down. Which is crazy, because it's a human. I can't get it. I can't get it. A human paladin. I know, right? Okay. The only thing I will request is if you can formulate what your character would look like. And send that to me before the end of today. I like to custom make the files and print them to be guys. It's what those two are right there as well. That is Travis in the red and that's another character in the blue. I did, there's like programs you can go on with like really awesome free records, but I did like slightly model those, which is nice. Which is very nice. Questions you have, Austin, feel free. What about me? What if I got questions? I know you'll ask me questions. Of course, of course. - It's always really fun. A bit more complex. Very, very fun. - Thank you. - You can have a lot of fun with the martial classes as well. Some of them do javelin magic. - So when I was using the D&D Beyond, it didn't have Danfyr as an option. - Yes, because that's a-- - Expansion. - Yeah. - So I just picked one that was close enough to keep my lore similar enough to feel good. You can also manually add it to kind of quests or racial bonuses you can do as well. You can drag it down on the sheet. Okay. What is that again? It's half vampire. Well, half undead. That is so appropriate. You know this guy made Curse of Stride. It's a vampire campaign. I did not know that. Actually when I just decided to go there, right? This is called cursed strut. It's one of the more well-known D&D campaigns, but it is like a gothic horror campaign a lot of fun I'm very much looking forward to it. Okay. I'm used to like running Travis knows some very kind of a Lot of campaigns tend to be linear. I have done the opposite and this one is a Very nice, because it is linear, but it also has a nice little environment that is good to roam. That's kind of what I had in my head. I just was like, I had a thing in my head, and I was like, I want to make sure that I'm thinking along the same lines. So yeah, this works great, because I've been using Gray Man and gray-related things for a lot of stuff, and it's all gray. You're going to see a lot of fucking gray in this campaign. Yeah, I just clicked on it. Twin? And you're also using Notion. I mean, I literally just... - Clicked on whatever. - Oh, oh, that's my notion. Okay, that makes way more sense. - Because everyone clicks on your stuff and says, "I have no idea what this even is." - Yes. - Yeah, so Notion's a note-taking app, but it allows you to publish stuff so that you can access it on the web. So the 2026 OCR that I did, Because Grace was kind enough to lend me her book for like a month because I kept getting distracted by other things. It was all there, like in order. And then I chunked it and then created the semantic search for that. Yeah. I just honestly like I don't even know anything about the classes that are available like I some of them like I kind of recognize but I don't know the particulars about stuff. So I can walk you through the classes very briefly. I had in my head that along with the name I tend to use things involving just like gray man is like a usual thing that I have and in my head I had it that it would be some sort of like disguising, stealthy kind of guy. Literally just, I'm gray. I fit into the background and you can't find me. You would probably, that sounds like Rogue. That was my thought. And yeah, that's like Rogue was kind of what I was thinking would be it, but I haven't looked into any of the details. Rogue is a lot of fun. Rogue is a lot of fun. In my opinion, you really can't go wrong with the anti-glasses, but like Rogue, and in particular Arcane Trickster Rogue, Like a rogue that specializes in a lot of illusion magic and especially sneaky sneakers and stuff. I was having a hard time figuring out how I wanted to plan some of my things and being Jack Black really helped. Being Jack Black really helped. It's good inspiration. - I also should tell you guys that you have access to one, I don't know if it's gonna give you access to this is, there's like a special background called the haunted. I actually have it right here. So essentially your background is unique. You're haunted by something so terrible you dare not speak of it. You try to bury it and run away with no avail. So essentially it gives you a little bit more gothic flavor to this gothic war campaign. You choose one out of Arcana Investigation, Religion, Survival, one Exotic Language, a Monster Hunters Pack, which is a unique equipment, one Trinket of Special Significance. It's also because I think Eric is bot. This is Eric's, like... campaign because we give him money to buy because these stupid greedy motherfuckers like even if you buy the books you have to buy to access the content of your character sheets like on dnd beyond you have to buy it like visually as well because they just want your money and they suck so we like we've given him money to buy a bunch of the shit so that when we do these campaigns he goes to the mail all the content available to everybody that's pretty nifty dnd beyond yeah for sure next time okay i have no idea what mine is definitely had this one and when i chose the arcana part and now it's like underneath that magic initiate stuff i just don't know what any of this is trying to tell me I've tried, like, I can't even find quick Google that explains that well enough. So, a cantrip is essentially an at-will spell. So, come down here and you'll be able to actually choose these cantrips. Those are good ones. It sucks because if you were the cleric, you would have a list of all your cantrips and be able to read what they are. You had the option of preparing the cantrips and shit like that, which sucks. They don't give you that when you take it through an origin feed. Bastards. At least a lot of the cantrips are pretty self-explanatory. Oh yeah, I actually really like this because a lot of the description makes it extremely ironic for... I'm gonna be kind of like... dead cam a little bit as well. I'm just gonna go all out on the gray thing. And a lot of Garg Littergold's thing is about wit and jokes and... There's a whole ritual on the 13th of the month where they hold a communion of laughter and everything. So I think I'm a four. I remember reading it, but how do you roll a D100? I only have a few guys. I just got this bag. I will let you gaze upon the dice that will determine your fate. I think someone did witness it roll. No, it was my other new set of dice. Also, pink is shady. But it rolled two nat 20s back to back. And then I picked it up and I rolled a nat 20. And then they were questioning me whether it's loaded. I'm like, it's not loaded. It's a piece of shit. I'm gonna know a lot of languages. So, over here, under this... I forget what the... Under the skills category, the investigation... goes off of your intelligence bonus see my hands eight because i'm you know paladin so i got a minus one to it and i'm also not proficient in it so i don't get to add my proficiency bonus so like if i rolled for it boom i'd have just got a three because you get minus one to roll but i get plus one to my roll there right yeah Exactly. And then so like if you're proficient in it as well, you add your proficiency bonus. Which our proficiency bonus is two at level one. It'll go up as we level. I forget what it is. If you are, you can be doubly proficient in something. It's like called an expert in it instead of proficient. And you get double proficiency bonus. And that's one that, yeah. So when you say if you have a proficiency... D20s are important. You'll need a D20, a D12, two D10s, which you'll look for the ones that have like a zero or like two digits and then one digit. And that'll be your D100, your good old D6s, D8s, and then D4s. That should have pretty much all of them in there. Um, there's a lot of places. Oftentimes when I'm doing like-- when I'm reading stuff, I'll screenshot and use the maps. I've made my own maps, um, on like different kinds of websites that let you generate it and like actually do a lot of cool stuff. There's one called Ink Permanent. It has a lot of really awesome, really artsy tools that let you make some really cool maps. These ones in particular, when I was looking up Curse of Strahd, people liked this campaign so much that someone took the time to digitally remaster pretty much every single encounter and every single map. So these are going to be some really high quality maps you're about to see here. They were a delight to find. It took a considerable amount of time to download them all. If I share the Dropbox with you, you'll be able to see all of them. Now that's part of the reason why I'm so excited about this too, because there's a lot of really large castles and stuff you'll be able to go through later on, and each room is just like done very, very quickly. They're developing an entire, like, sci-fi futuristic style of maps, which... I might go ahead and download and get, because Eric wants to do another Star Wars campaign. Star Wars campaign? Yeah, it was one of the first campaigns Eric ever DMed. It was like an entire homebrew Star Wars campaign. It was so amazing. Yeah, the last campaign before this with Derek, Amelia, and Troy, it was very mean early because it spawns you in the basement of a mortuary. And like you literally, if you go straight down the hallway, the next hallway is an incinerator room. Designed if you step in there, there's a zombie on the other side that's going to come and he pulls a lever and he closes the doors and he pulls another lever and he incinerates you. Yeah, like you're caught like a cosmic fracture that prevents you from truly dying. You just reincarnate as another version of yourself. Interesting, okay. And then later on you like figure out what's happening and you're able to like become your true self and like gain a bunch of levels and then you can die. Okay. Interesting. Yeah, that last campaign I did was called Planescape Torment. It was kind of like a multiverse of madness kind of thing because you were in this wacky fucking spot that was like whirling all over the place. And what was your involvement? I was kind of growing up in a temple that worshipped him. And because of my... deadpan literal great nature. - The temple was like-- - I got, yeah, they were like, yeah, get out. You can't even laugh, they have like every month, 'cause every month on the 13th, there's the whole like communion of laughter thing where they get together and they're like reveling in that jumps and laugh. And I'm over there like, they're jumping around, dancing, laughing, and I'm just like-- - Jables keeps this guy around 'cause he wants to try and make him laugh, is what's-- - Well, and actually, and what's funny, my goal is to be able to actually like Learn how to laugh and be so that I can actually go back to my temple. That's it So that actually works, okay that works Literally you picked me up in some bar because I was there alone like basically like out of money because I don't have Yeah, basically don't show any value to anyone That works not sure how you came along to that picture though But we at least have an origin vampire celestial sort of outcast I think probably I'm just heading the same direction that you are we happen to meet at a tavern and you didn't hate me yeah and I'm still deadpan that it literally didn't matter to me so it's like kind of nice to not be that might be it yeah I dig it. So y'all would be traveling the roads in these pretty, beautiful-looking mountains and woods. But as you continue, you would notice, well, everyone make me a perception check. Nice, 19, 23. So Iridel and Gray are going to pretty quickly notice that, you know, the fog seems to be creeping behind you guys, following closely, almost breathing down your neck as it envelops the path behind you as you walk down this road. No, in fact it would be odd the stark lack of like even the sounds of birds in these floors. There's almost like a deathly quiet that's settled along with this thick fog. You are. And you would eventually find yourselves at this Picture right here. An incredibly large set of double doors, slightly ajar with these incredibly huge decapitated statues at each corner. If they're sitting ajar, I'm probably going to absentmindedly start walking towards them, but I think I'm going to stop right as I get to the edge of them, because despite being as deadpan and kind of non- The feeling is I am, I am going to be smart enough to think, maybe I should double check real quick. I am going to use detect magic. Okay, that's a nice ceiling. Is everyone walking in? Okay. You would see the fog, of course, as you're predicting, like, billowing out and swallowing up the doors, and you are going to hear them close behind you. Okay. Very large doors. Yes, yes. You can see black pools of water stemming like dark mirrors in and around the muddy roadway. Giant trees loom on both sides of the road, their branches clawing at the mist. Absolutely. Make sure that was a good difference. As you guys continue down this little road, it would not take you very long to eventually reach the outskirts, should I say, of a village. As you move into the village. Oh. It's going to kind of open up and you're going to be able to see this house in particular fully. - There definitely does seem something off about these children, but no one's able to really see like, oh, this is like an illusion based off of magic. Where are the adults? As you address her, she notices you. She's going to shush the boy and turn to you guys and say, there's a monster in our house. And then she turns and points to the house up there. Its windows are dark, it has a gated portico on the ground floor, and the rusty gate is slightly ajar. The houses on either side are abandoned, their windows and doors boarded up. My dad's name is Gustav and my mom's name is Elizabeth. I don't know. We hear it screaming in the basement. We don't know. It's been a while. A 21. Well, they actually can tell you. Bless you. Baby brother Walter is on the third floor nursery. We are worried about him. Excellent. Everyone would pretty much notice that the wood panels-- or the wood paneled walls are ornately sculpted with images of vines, flowers, nymphs, and satyrs. Everyone who got over a 12 on that perception check, if you like-- Look more closely at it, you'll see serpents and skulls inconspicuously woven into the designs. So there's some kind of very interesting, like almost hidden imagery in some of these ornate decorations in this first room. Nothing like that. So this is a very fancy main hall you're going to walk into. You are going to see, mounted on the wall above the fireplace, is a long sword. Very nice. And there's also a large spiral staircase on the far end and several doors. So I was actually mistaken. You would only see this staircase descend two floors. So you would be on this floor and you would be standing there. The ceiling is 20 feet away. Are the lamps reachable? It does definitely give you bonuses. It just is a different kind of result than being able to get a bunch of damage. But you would be able to see that this painting is probably at this point, if you were to guess, I don't know how you have painting expertise like this, but it is very old, at least 50 to 60 years old. I've been a lot of places. I've been nowhere. I've been everywhere. 50 to 60 years old. And the... Is it... That these kids look exactly like the kids that were outside? Like 100% identical? Look warily at this door trying to decide if I want to open it waiting to hear what he says As you guys bust open this room, it is very obviously a master bedroom You would see of course dusty cobweb filled master beds burgundy drapes furnishings include a four poster bed embroidered curtains tattered glossamer veils Quite a bit of things. And also a rug that is... Everything is just pointing to this house being very old and those kids being very much not alive or something. So... Yep. I wonder, is there something I can do to... Kind of noticed just like pay attention this back. I don't know Can I kind of use a perception check just to kind of put things together a little bit about This being way too old of a place for these kids to be living in Well, you can uh, you can already assume that yeah, y'all are now investigating like what exactly is going on, you know Yeah, so I guess i'll probably just kind of remark on it out loud and be like, okay, so It's looking like this place is definitely, like I'm going to kind of confirm it out loud to myself. I don't know how suspicious you have been of it at this point, but I'm going to confirm it to myself out loud. I was like, okay, so everything's pointing to something being really wrong here. These kids should be way older or something else is wrong here. This place is not the right age for what's going on. Uh, as you open the box, uh, make me a constant. No, I'm just kidding. Nothing happens. Nothing happens. Anything in there? Uh, yes. Uh, It itself was made out of gold and silver. You would see three gold rings, a thin platinum necklace with a topaz pendant. There would be jewelry in that box. Are the kids still there? I'm not going to be able to see the kids. Does he see my loot? Yes. It's just like laying there. - Unlit lamp and a single crib with a black shroud. 50-year-old baby. As you uncover this veil, you will see a tightly wrapped, baby-sized... Bundle laying crib in black blankets. The moment you go to move the baby with your greatsword, you are going to hear this spectrum voice appear behind you guys as a literal specter is going to manifest of a woman. And she's going to say, don't touch my baby. baby brother on the third floor.

Review before next table

• Confirm open clues, NPC promises, loot, and next-scene intent.