To be honest, despite him being the first of Ravenloft's prisoners, Strahd has never really interested me and so I've never really paid much attention to his backstory. However, he is somewhat incidental to a campaign I'm planning, so I figured I should find out a little more about him.
What I'm curious about is where (or how) Strahd learned magic. We know that, in PM Barovia, Strahd was a warrior. We also know that he dabbled in magic. Did he teach himself, or did he have a teacher? Or was he, essentially, a sorcerer and his magical ability was innate?
Strahd's Magic
- Terminusvitae
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Re: Strahd's Magic
Strahd conducted his own magical research when he was first imprisoned in the Mists, which led to his creation of Strahd Skeletons, Strahd Zombies, Strahd's Skeletal Steeds, and a few other projects. It wasn't until Azalin was captured by the Mists that Strahd gained an instructor in finer and more powerful arts, as each recognized the other's necessity if escape were to be possible.
- devilfox
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Re: Strahd's Magic
I'm sure I read somewhere that he dabbled before being claimed by the Mists though...Terminusvitae wrote:Strahd conducted his own magical research when he was first imprisoned in the Mists, which led to his creation of Strahd Skeletons, Strahd Zombies, Strahd's Skeletal Steeds, and a few other projects. It wasn't until Azalin was captured by the Mists that Strahd gained an instructor in finer and more powerful arts, as each recognized the other's necessity if escape were to be possible.
Re: Strahd's Magic
According to canon, he was a low-level necromancer before entering Ravenloft. He only rose to his later expertise after Azalin taught him.
In the novel "I, Strahd" he is experimenting with a love-bind spell (to use on Tatyana) and this leads to him summoning a dark presence that makes a pact with him. This is the thing that eventually causes him to become a vampire. It's not clear whether or not he summoned Inajira in this event.
According to the adventure "Roots of Evil" Strahd did summon Inajira prior to a momentous battle on his way to becoming Count of Barovia, which implies he likely had some magical experience.
In the novel "I, Strahd" he is experimenting with a love-bind spell (to use on Tatyana) and this leads to him summoning a dark presence that makes a pact with him. This is the thing that eventually causes him to become a vampire. It's not clear whether or not he summoned Inajira in this event.
According to the adventure "Roots of Evil" Strahd did summon Inajira prior to a momentous battle on his way to becoming Count of Barovia, which implies he likely had some magical experience.
- Rotipher of the FoS
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Re: Strahd's Magic
He was a low-level generalist mage before his fall, actually; it's the DPs who converted him from mage to necromancer. Before Azalin started training him, Strahd mostly learned his magic on his own, from old books he'd found or bought. (Arcane magic seems to have been fairly rare on the von Zarovich homeworld, BTW.)
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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Re: Strahd's Magic
He may also have learnt some magic from Inajira when he summoned him to help defeat the Tergs.
- devilfox
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Re: Strahd's Magic
Thank you. That's what I was looking for. Now to work out what that means for Strahd in my campaign.Rotipher of the FoS wrote:He was a low-level generalist mage before his fall, actually; it's the DPs who converted him from mage to necromancer. Before Azalin started training him, Strahd mostly learned his magic on his own, from old books he'd found or bought. (Arcane magic seems to have been fairly rare on the von Zarovich homeworld, BTW.)