Discussion on the Darklords: Strahd von Zarovich

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Sareau
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Discussion on the Darklords: Strahd von Zarovich

Post by Sareau »

It has been proposed before that someone start a thread focusing on various darklords, just as a monthly thread exists on each domain. To start the ball rolling, I will start a discussion on the First Darklord, Strahd von Zarovich.

Strahd debuted in the 1983 module Ravenloft and was the strongest heavy produced by TSR. Vampires in pop culture had been given a goose by Dark Shadows, and Interview with a Vampire made them a very hot property. Thus, it was perhaps inevitable that a vampire would be *ahem* revamped and brought to the forefront as a major villain.

Strahd did not disappoint-with multiple motivations and personalities, he was as flexible as any PC, and no two runs of Ravenloft were ever quite the same. Strahd’s backstory was fairly stock, very similar to that of Barnabus Collins, who Strahd was most likely modelled on. The portrayal of Dracula by Christopher Lee for Hammer Films was an influence, but mostly in appearance. Of course, these were the two major pop culture vampires at the time, so a comparison is perhaps inevitable.

Strahd could be involved in many dire goings-on, but his personality we always determined by where he could always be found, reflecting his inner demons at the time:

STUDY (If Strahd is there, he is sitting back in the overstuffed
chair, staring into the blazing fire.)
This location meant Strahd is beginning the depressive cycle of his mindset-introspective and brooding, this Strahd is also jaded and succumbing to ennui-he’s done it all so many times, been there, done that, hated it...

TREASURE ROOM (If Strahd is there, he is counting his ill-gotten gains) Conversely, this is Strahd still in the game-at least enough to keep score. Covetousness is his hallmark at this level-he’s running Barovia if he’s here, and doing it at a profit. This Strahd is the one pulling the strings on the burgomasters and playing silly buggers with Core politics just because he can. This is really Strahd at the top of his game.

CHAPEL OF RAVENLOFT (If Strahd is there, he is standing in the
center of the room — a dark shape in the vast hall)
Strahd here is beginning his penitential phase-where he is introspective enough to take the first steps towards redemption. This Strahd is terribly preoccupied and philosophical, possibly destroying clerics with a few well-chosen Faith-destroying arguments, then wondering if he has gone too far. This Strahd may also harbor suicidal thoughts, though he’s more likely to be an extroverted suicide.

HIGH TOWER ROOM (If Strahd is there, he is at
the window, looking over his lands) This Strahd is recently revived, carefully watching his lands for what he must do to preserve it against the horrors of the future. This Strahd has most likely been shaken out of his depressive cycle by events, and is establishing power-or re-establishing it. The local burgermasters have likely been running roughshod over the land if Strahd is here, watching his lands as if he can see the corruption-or perhaps the peasants are right, and the wind carries the Devil Strahd word of the land-especially disloyal thoughts and plots...

CRYPT OF SERGEI VON ZAROVICH (If Strahd is there, he is
lying across the marble slab, weeping) Strahd at his most remorseful, and consequently most likely to try and redeem himself. This is the noble Strahd, the vampire with a soul.

CRYPT OF RAVENOVIA (If Strahd is there, he is in a frenzy of rage and despair) Strahd at his most manic, he’s decided he’s right and the whole damned system is out of order. Often the recently revived Strahd who’s seen the land gone to hell, this Strahd can be very impetuous to his own detriment, but is more physical and likely to use his vampiric gifts over his spells.

KINGS AUDIENCE HALL (If Strahd is there, he is sitting on the throne) This version is really dangerous-he’s expecting to rule, or he wouldn’t be in the throne room, and this being the spot where he can always be found he is most likely playing politics left and right, probably just after establishing himself as top dog in Barovia-he’s on top of his game still, but a little complacent.

CRYPT OF STRAHD (If Strahd is here, he is within his coffin, ready to attack at the first sign of someone opening the lid) This Strahd is so far sunk in the depressive end of his cycle he can’t even bear to move outside of necessity. In White Wolf’s Vampire:the Masquerade, he’d be ready to go into torpor and rest for a century or two. In many ways, this is the most fortuitous Strahd to encounter, since he rarely cares much after you’ve left Castle Ravenloft, at least not enough to pursue.

Now, Strahd’s goals were also variable, but one couldn’t glean as much information from them-a new identity(only possible before the Domain of Dread trapped him forever, and somewhat reminiscent of Dracula in the way it plays out, possibly Face-Off if you’ve the time and energy), a magical sphere of darkness (probably the single most common goal I encountered Strahd doing-sometimes to feign an eclipse to prove his power, sometimes to allow him to operate by day-it was all good), winning the love of “Tatyana” (ironically, I was the only DM who used this plotline-however, I twisted it, noting the only vampiric encounter outside Castle Ravenloft was a single “maiden vampire”, I changed the vampires inside the castle to all female groups, and had Strahd deciding any woman he saw was his “lost love” and dragging her into Barovia’s glamorous nightlife. I got the idea from Dark Shadows, since Barnabus’s affections for his dear Josette would flicker from actress to actress as they left the series and the new actress would even play Josette in flashbacks, so old Strahd would have a damsel catch his eye, vampirize her, then decide she wasn’t Tatyana, or that Tatyana’s soul would flee to a new vessel from the vampiric, depending on how sane I wanted Strahd to come off. (Quite frankly, I enjoyed the idea of a lecherous vampirizing count convinced every woman he hadn’t vampirized was a vessel for Tatyana, and the female characters were suitably worried at that point) Strahd’s last possible goal, the seeking of the Sunsword , was a simple preservation plot, since I doubt he could wield the thing, so a good one for Strahd in his more depressed modes, since the Sunsword was a big enough threat to require his attention no matter what.

Anyway, this is my starting discussion on Strahd-I’ll probably expand to include the vastly different Strahd in Ravenloft II after I’ve reread it to familiarize myself with that module before adding in Expedition to Caste Ravenloft, and rationalizing that with his various fiction appearances.
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