strahd (creative commons)

Roxas. 25. He/Him. 5e DM & artist. #ATSBB

[dexadin]

If you're still doing Strahd help (please still be doing Strahd help 😰) Can you give a baby GM some advice on romancing the icky vampire man? I made one of my players the new Tatiana and she has really good roleplay with him, so I want to go for that (obviously with her permission) but this is only my second game and I've never done PC on NPC romance

I'm always down for talking about the ivky vampire man <:3c I think it's important when you're letting a player romance Strahd to really think about what you as a storyteller are hoping to get out of it.

I imagine if you're running CoS, your player knows that Strahd is the BBEG and is accepting, if not expecting, the fact that Strahd may betray them. I'd argue that's a good thing--let your players stay on their toes. Strahd is cursed to an eternal existence of misery--forever locked in a cycle of finding and losing Tatyana through her reincarnations.

It's your choice as a DM to decide what Strahd's motivation for pursuing Tatyana is. Does Strahd actually love Tatyana? Did he ever? Or is Tatyana just a prize to be won, something to claim over his brother? Most importantly, how does he feel about your PC!Tatyana? Does he have any interest her beyond being a reincarnation, or does his interest end there?

Despite being a beyond-hopeless romantic, Strahd is still very evil and villainous. Obviously, he's lured your party here to Barovia in one way or another and trapped them there. While your PC!Tatyana might have loyalties to her party, Strahd probably won't. When push comes to shove, Strahd is going to prioritize Tatyana over her companions, in a way that can be really interesting to roleplay, especially if your PC!Tatyana finds herself genuinely charmed by hus advances. There are ways to play a forceful, intimidating Strahd while romancing a PC without entering the Freak Zone that can be super triggering.

Putting the rest under a readmore so ATSBB players can't peep!

In my game, Strahd showered the entire party with gifts and dinners to earn his the approval of PC!Tatyana (who is very loyal to the party) but took every chance to isolate her whenever possible. He wants to genuinely win over this new reincarnation, rather than using magic, force, or vampire charm.

Think of some traits that you think are particularly insidious and lean into those while playing. My Strahd likes to play with his food before eating, likening himself physically to a sadistic predator with every unnecessary bite. He calls PC!Tatyana "my treasure," a constant reminder of his desire to possess. Strahd can be romantic and charming--the moments of sweetness might be more terrifying to your party than constant aggression because they know he's acting "off script". He's not a wolf in sheep's clothing, he's a shark in dark water. You know the danger is present, but there isn't much you can do about it but play along and bide time until he strikes.

I hope this was helpful, and feel free to ask again if I missed anything!

[vanhelsingapologist]

she wants me for my delusional behavior and uncanny mist form btw

[memewhore]

First cat video ever? 1899, colorized & speed corrected.

[ttohrus]

I am always blown away by this. Like. This little girl was alive and laughing and wearing her little hat and in the sunshine over 100 years ago. And her cat was eating little treats from her hands and having a fun little time over 100 years ago. Like. Their existence in history is recorded as so much more than the moody and serious black and white Victorian family portraits. AND WE GET TO SEE IT AND FEEL AS HAPPY AS THEY WERE! I have so many feelings!

[flowerbarrel]

If anybody wants to look it up, it’s called “La Petite Fille et son Chat”.

[teathattast]

💯🙏💛🟨👍

[teathattast]

Worst part about this is I've only ever used that yellow square emoji once and it was just to see how it looked. This isn't who I am. However, in retrospect, I suppose it is

[teathattast]

Reading through the notes is a surreal experience please keep adding more to fuel my effervescent consumption of non descriptive emojis

[achesspiece]

i hope you have a very vampiric and homosexual pride month

[socialmaya]

[voxsecundus]

I wish dnd vampires were effected by the having to count rice bit of folklore.

Strahd: *is evil*

Party: *pocket rice*

Strahd: i hate you all so much, one hahaha, two hahaha, three hahaha

[cryptotheism]

Hear that bud? That's the title track being incorporated under my leitmotif. You are so fucked.

[camelidae]

Somehow he still seems to enjoy basking in the sunlight and the quiet busyness of the birds and butterflies. They say necromancy is a dark art, but whoever reanimated the beast of the black swamp knew what they were doing.

[mirkwoodest]

Hey, fellow fantasy nerds, I invite you to vibe along to this lesser known early 2000s fantasy banger 

[mirkwoodest]

Don’t mind me, I’m just getting emotional about the way trans elder and renn faire musician Alexander James Adams conceptualizes his relationship to his pre-transition self, Heather Alexander: 

“Heather was a changeling. In 2006 she was called back to faerieland and Alec, the child in whose place she had originally been left, was released after beating the faerie queen in a fiddling contest. Thus, Alec now carries on Heather’s musical legacy as her appointed heir.” 

God…. good for him :’) 

[mirkwoodest]

This tag is the highest honor I could ever receive.

[journeyers-scrapbook]

One of my friends is a skilled folk fiddler, and she has remarked that Alexander plays distinctively differently than Heather did. 

[itstimetogo]

what is your holy trinity of fruits

[sixtynineinchnails]

i have decided that i love vampires more than I hate emails

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

the "i definitely do NOT have feelings for them in any way shape or form" while obviously crushing on them trope might be cliché to you. it's about being doomed from the start, the desperate denial of the starved self, the tragic inevitably of love to me tho

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

"i'm not in love with them" oh, honey. you are already so ruined. you have been ruined from the moment you met, and you will be ruined long after you part. your attempts to hide are futile. you cannot escape that which is everywhere and everything. love as a punishment, love as a death sentence. love as god.

[sanguineships-deactivated202408]

seeing a picture of The Character moodboard

[augory]

I’ve been skimming John Francis Daley’s (director on D&D: Honor Among Thieves) twitter and I continue to be so completely blown away by the movie’s commitment to practical effects and/or minimized CGI where feasible. I mean holy shit look at all this

[stele3]

Practical effects mean that the creators were largely unionized.

[ladyshinga]

[allcrush]