Stakin' Strahd

[ewancummins]

I'm curious as to how many of you guys have either played or run a game in which Strahd got destroyed or defeated.

It could be the first or second Ravenloft module, Expedition, Curse, original home campaign adventure, whatever.

I've never used him!

[Lord_Pruitt]

Out of all the times I've ran Ravenloft (I6), in any of it's variations- there has never been a time when the PCs have ever achieved that monumental feat. And we're talking about from the late 80's til 1999. I would always (if I was part of any gaming group) would run a version of Castle Ravenloft as a one shot for Halloween.

[RavensCall]

No, can't say my groups ever did. I've only pitted 2 groups against him. The first time was playing through House of Strahd in second edition. Using the ending in this update to the original adventure, they got him down where they thought they had him, but as the setting granted him so many safety nets (and he is a planner and tactician so it makes sense), he was basically put into hibernation for a time. I think it was one of my "weekend in hell" games. So you decide whether that counts. The second time was a few years later when my group was playing a full campaign with native player characters. I combined Ravenloft I & II modules using the dream/fugue state. But I played the two adventures more to give the players back story as we were going through the grand conjunction/requiem story lines. Azalin was a more active participant in Ravenloft II and I know the ending was more story based, having the two Strahds in a final battle that ended with them going over the cliffs and one of those "is he dead or isn't he?" endings so def. no wins there.

[ewancummins]

Ah!
You did the Fever Dream RL/RL2 combo, Ravenscall. Cool! I've always thought it might be cool to do that.

[RavensCall]

Yeah the fever dream actually worked out well. I don't remember all the details its been awhile but I remember liking how it turned out. I know Ravenloft II can be a hot mess to run, but I didn't leave anything to chance, unlike the tarroka reading I just role played out the mesmerism scene with my predetermined answers. Using the fever dreams also worked out because as a DM I could control the game/time swapping when I wanted to. This way the game didn't lag too much. Once the players got in a rhythm and kinda caught on, I was able to speed things up and skipped certain things and make the pacing go the way I wanted. Meanwhile I was pretty fair with most things and the players didn't feel cheated, they were intrigued as to what was going on. I had them even meet Azalin and due to some of the plot that was going on the main campaign when they returned to present time, he couldn't remember everything just like in canon RL but he always knew that he met up with them and it made for interesting dynamics later on.

[Jester of the FoS]

Run I6 a few times.
Once in 3e using updated stats from Dragon Magazine. The sunsword proved his undoing. He got cornered and dusted.

I also ran I6 in a 5e playtest. The party fled before facing Strahd. They found the Tome of Strahd and left.

I used Curse of Strahd for a one-night of gaming to introduce people to 5e as well. Strahd got crit hard by the paladin who hit him with a devastating smite. He lived and fled... but just barely.

[Chess Lane]

I literally DM'ed House of Strahd last night. They popped his contingency spell after being harried by him and his minions for hours. It was somewhat unsatisfying for them after one of the characters died to a Horrid Wilting an hour before and another had been turned to stone twice. House of Strahd can be downright deadly even to a very strong and well prepared group. The four gargoyle golems at the entrance to the castle really are a bit much for a party of 6 11th level PC's.
When I ran it back in the '90's, I believe the heroes just used brute force to take him down. His HP's aren't that great and I'm surprised he doesn't have Stoneskin.

[kourkenko]

i ran the second edition several time, at each halloween, strahd never died but has been defeated two times. And this two times only cautious veterans managed to thrives.

[nothri]

I've killed him in Expedition. We had like twice as many players playing as recommended and defeated him in an encounter and drove him back to his coffin. We raided it in daylight and somehow found him. He had no defenses or anything enacted. So we killed him. It was anticlimatic. Our DM kinda sucked.