For five years before its release, Tracy and Laura Hickman ran the original Count Strahd adventure, Ravenloft, as a Halloween, one-shot tradition. It’s easy to understand why… Count Strahd von Zarovich is one of the most infamous villains in D&D (and beyond), and what better way to get into the Halloween spirit than by exploring the D&D version of Castle Dracula?
My love of our Curse of Strahd campaign has been discussed often on the podcast, and I have wanted to start a Halloween tradition of running Ravenloft, but it wasn’t until this year that I finally got the opportunity. Inspired by James Haeck’s excellent real-time set-up for running Ravenloft in one night, I set about styling it for our table.
So, dear reader, sit back, relax, and enjoy seeing how I turned Strahd Must Die Tonight! into 3WDs “The Doctor’s Blades.” A four-hour, real-time Halloween One-Shot.
A Briefing From Dr. Rudolph van Richten
“Blades, The hour is late and the shadows grow long. Count Strahd von Zarovich tightens his grip on Barovia, but tonight we strike back. I, Dr. Rudolph Van Richten, summon you to join my order – The Doctor’s Blades. Armed with courage and cursed steel, you will scour his castle for the relics that can end him. But beware: every step inside Ravenloft will scar you. Wounds will linger, spirits will break… yet you must endure. For at midnight, there will be no second chance. One night. One castle. One kill. STRAHD MUST DIE TONIGHT!” – Dr. Rudolph van Richten
So began the introductions to the players for this special one-shot. As I said, I based much of this off the framework set up by James Haeck. His basic set-up for Strahd Must Die Tonight! is as follows:
- The adventure is on a four hour, real time schedule (sandtimer is a must for this… you’ve never seen tension like when the sand starts falling!) Once the four hours are up, Strahd attacks for the finale.
- The characters have those four hours to search the castle for the legendary artifacts that can help defeat Strahd: The Tome of Strahd, The Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, and the Sunsword. He uses the Tarokka deck reading in the beginning of the adventure to reveal where they can be found.
- He presents a list of variables that can include permadeath, revival with exhaustion, or lingering injuries.
- He presents a span of level options depending on the size of the party and the difficulty you want to run the adventure. For an average party (4-5 players), Hard mode would start at 6th level, Medium at 8th level, and Easy at 10th level. For every player that you add, above five, you would start one level lower. For each player you remove, you would start one level higher. Obviously, I chose Hard mode, and with six players, I started them at 5th level.
- The players begin with all the equipment that they would start with, 100 gp to buy adventuring gear, and one Rare magic item/weapon/armor (remove the Sunblade from the list!)
Initially, there were to be seven players at the game, which had me starting them at 4th level. Because 4th level is still in the first tier of play, I added one more fun tweak – I allowed them the option to, as a bonus action, spend their hit dice as if they were short resting. Additionally, if they finished one of the Acts with ten minutes or more still on the sand timer (my Cosmic Timekeeper player handled this job), they were afforded an actual Short Rest, with all the benefits it would bring.
This was an excellent primer for the adventure but one thing stood out to me specifically that would be a big hurdle: free-form exploration through Castle Ravenloft. As discussed in our Curse of Strahd campaign, the party spent very little time in the castle itself, which was actually helpful. I’ve heard Matt Colville question what the hell is going on with Ravenloft before. Anyone who has tried to run it understands… It’s a really cool castle, but it’s problematic to prep.
So, how to handle this in our four-hour Halloween adventure? Present Ravenloft thematically, as opposed to a room-by-room dungeon delve.
The March of Hours
The four-hour, real-time setup was what initially interested me in this adventure. But as discussed, Ravenloft is a quagmire for anyone who’s just going to explore. With this in mind, I broke the adventure into four separate acts of one hour each.
Once the adventurers arrived at the gates of Castle Ravenloft, Strahd’s apparition appeared to explain that they had “four cosmic hours until Planar Midnight” to explore his castle and attempt to find the relics.
Dr. Van Richten had provided the character with prophecies and a list of locations within the castle. They had a chance during the carriage ride to deduce where the artifacts would be found. To accomplish the narrative, cinematic exploration of Castle Ravenloft, I utilized our homebrewed Journey System that we debuted in our Dragonlance campaign. Characters would draw a set number of cards for each leg of the adventure, with combat, mishaps, tribulations, and improv providing the backdrop for exploration.
The prophesied location would then hold the artifact and a set of Strahd’s lieutenants: The Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus (hag coven), the Universal Monsters (Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy), and Strahd himself in his study – using animated books and dire wolves to plague the party while he mocked them – saving himself for the big finale.
The final hour would be used to travel to the castle rooftops, where they could find Strahd to defeat him.
Of Blood and Wounds
There’s nothing quite so disappointing as dying in the first hour of a one-shot. While new characters could be rolled up, that takes time. Following Haeck’s options, I decided on using a Lingering Inury table that would come into play each time the players fell to zero hit points. The Lingering Injuries would stack, resulting in consistently diminishing returns for players. The following is the actual Lingering Injury table I used:
- Broken Ribs
Disadvantage on Con saves to maintain concentration. Take +2 damage whenever struck by bludgeoning attacks. - Crushed Hand
Disadvantage on attack rolls made with one hand. Can’t wield two-handed weapons. - Twisted Ankle
Movement speed reduced by 10 feet. Disadvantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks. - Blood Loss
Max HP reduced by 1d6. This effect stacks each time it occurs. - Rattled Skull
Disadvantage on Wisdom and Intelligence checks. Whenever you roll a natural 1 on any Saving Throw, you are stunned until the end of your next turn. - Maimed Eye
Disadvantage on ranged attack rolls and Perception checks that rely on sight. - Dislocated Shoulder
Disadvantage on Strength checks and saving throws. Cannot grapple or shove effectively. - Festering Wound
Any time you regain HP, you regain 2 fewer hit points. (Minimum 1.)
- Torn Muscle
Disadvantage on melee damage rolls.
- Broken Ribs
Disadvantage on Con saves to maintain Concentration. Take +2 damage whenever struck by bludgeoning attacks.
- Blood Loss
Max HP reduced by 1d6. This effect stacks each time it occurs.
- Crushed Hand
Disadvantage on attack rolls made with one hand. Can’t wield two-handed weapons.
The Final Hour
For the final hour of the game, the players had to travel to the rooftop to confront Strahd. Prior to the game, I explained that “at Planar Midnight” (i.e. the end of the final sand timer), the rules surrounding Lingering Injuries would cease, and death would be permanent (aside from Resurrection magic).
At that point, the magic of the cosmic sand timer held by Strahd would culminate in a psychic battle where the characters would be stuck in a vision of their greatest failure (asked for during character creation). I added this to make the finale against Strahd more than just trading blows and took the idea from DM Elizabeth’s discussion of “Seven Knives” in our Call of Cthulhu episode.
Final Thoughts
This game was so much fun to prep and run. It is easily going to become an annual tradition to storm the walls of Ravenloft and save Barovia once again.
After running my prototype, I would make several changes when I rerun it.
- I would have kept the players at 4th level. The power jump that occurs between 4th and 5th level is significant. I would say that I would only adjust this if the party were four players or less. The addition of the rare magic item and the ability to burn hit dice to restore themselves gives the heroic feeling of 5th level, while allowing for a better action economy and character squishiness.
- I would cut the final hour. Three hours to find the artifacts, and then Strahd attacks. This allows the slog of a finale battle not to be so sloggy – as the players are still fresh and alert.
- I would have saved time by having whatever leg of the journey end at the end of the sand timer. I adjusted the game to allow the finish of each battle against the lieutenants, instead of ending it where it was. While this helped to have some really cool fights against the Sanderson Sisters and the Universal Monsters, it added additional time overall to the entire session.
If you’ve ever wanted to get a sense of the gothic vibes of Curse of Strahd or the original Ravenloft, this is an excellent way to play within THE set piece of both of those adventures: Castle Ravenloft.
Until next time, Halloween Heroes… LIVE THE ADVENTURE!
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