$30.00 / week
About the Adventure
Under raging storm clouds, the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of Castle Ravenloft. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind’s howling increases as he turns his gaze down toward the village of Barovia.
Far below, yet not beyond his keen eyesight, a party of adventurers has just entered his domain. Strahd’s face forms the barest hint of a smile as his dark plan unfolds. He knew they were coming, and he knows why they came—all according to his plan.
A lightning flash rips through the darkness, but Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind fills the midnight air. The master of Castle Ravenloft is having guests for dinner. And you are invited.
Dark Souls Variant
This game utilizes the Dark Souls variant for 5th edition gameplay. Become Hollowed, losing your lifespark upon character death. After death, retrieve your souls in order to advance your character level and empower you to take down powerful foes. But be careful, holding on to your lifespark for too long will attract the attention of hunters.
No prior knowledge necessary.
How to Prepare
Consider what kind of character you would like to play, but hold your ideas with flexibility. Together, the group will finalize character concepts and create characters during the first session.
Ensure that you have a working mic/headset and webcam (optional, but encouraged).
Create an account at dndbeyond.com
Please join the Discord server upon registration.
Materials Provided
The GM will provide you with access to all materials on dndbeyond.
Syrinscape will be available for game immersion.
In addition to the game-specific Discord server, you will be added to the EJ RPG server and become part of a growing community of like-minded people.
Who will like this game?
Fans of the Strahd, Van Helsing, Dracula, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne will enjoy this game; players of TTRPGs, and people who want to live an intense and dramatic story of character’s personal development will enjoy this game.
The campaign emphasizes exploration with combat and roleplay falling second and third (in that order); the group composition will help shape the balance in the direction that the players most prefer. EJ typically runs high-exploration games with ample opportunity to roleplay.
If you like contributing to a live and responsive world and the possibility of failure with real-world consequences, you will like this game.
If you would like to explore themes of centuries-long evil and the consequences of evil, you will like this game.
If you would like to find the light in the darkness and enjoy humor despite sorrow, you will like this game.
Character Creation Guidelines
Consider what kind of character you would like to play, but hold your ideas with flexibility. Together, the group will finalize character concepts and create characters during the first session.
All official 5e content is available for use (core, non-core, and Tal’Dorei).
Homebrew content may be used upon approval. Kobold Press materials are pre-approved.
Barovia is a particular realm within the Dungeons and Dragons multiverse, and you may wish to pay particular attention to Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft.
Small backstories (or concepts) are encouraged, 3-10 sentences.
Gameplay Themes/Content Warnings
This campaign explores themes of desolation, genocide, slavery, prejudice, unadulterated evil, and (possibly) torture. Violence is common, described with PG-13, and occasionally R-rated description.
I had an amazing one shot last night and I had a lot of fun. A small group of people but it was still very entertaining and engaging. Answering any and all questions we had and made it very easy to play! Would def recommend!!!
This was my first time playing a full campaign and EJ made it amazingly fun! There were so many things that I wanted to do with my character and EJ was always open to it or found ways to make it even more interesting! He’s very easy to talk to if you have any sort of questions and I always appreciated how comfortable he made the sessions feel! Our campaign lasted for over a year but it never felt boring and there was always something new or interesting happening! EJ also creates such lasting and impactful moments between characters with his wonderful descriptions and narrations. I am so grateful to have been able to play with him and can’t recommend him enough to others!
EJ made my first experience playing with RPG Club welcoming, comfortable and enjoyable. Our mini-campaign was full of adventure, zany characters and had lots of room for exploration and roleplay, balanced with plenty of support for new players as a learn-to-play module. Would highly recommend him for beginning and experienced players, alike. Thanks, EJ! Hope to play with you again, soon!
I had the pleasure of finally getting to join one of EJ’s games last night, and even though I didnt know much about a system that I had barely heard of, all we needed to bring was ourselves and to be ready to relive our lives as curious Kids.
EJ took the time to include every player, ensured we knew a lot about our little band of player Kids, and guided us along a masterful and cute little adventure as we discovered something amiss while we lived our best lives being Kids, siblings, besties and enjoyed each other’s company.
EJ is a wonderful GM. Patient, very engaging. Listens and always happy to help or clarify a rule or situation as we inevitably stumbled into trouble. It was a joy to play, and the time still flew by even as we overran (and he graciously let the one shot play out and not rush us to any finish).
I have been wanting to join a game of EJ’s for a while and it did not disappoint. Time zone differences mean it may not happen too often but I will definitely do my best to keep an eye out. Shout out to my fellow Kids (Lauren, Bethany, Dustin) as we all had a blast (and bought way too much ice cream, worms and crackers lol)
I started playing with EJ after signing up for Call of Cthulhu. It was my first time playing that system & I have had an absolute blast. EJ is great to collaborate with at the table, he really has his finger on the pulse for what players what & he delivers that for them. Some of my favorite people to play D&D with are connections I’ve made at EJs tables. I really wanted to play a few mini D&D campaigns so I could try out new character ideas & EJ made it happen. I had an absolute blast playing them & look forward to more of them in the future. If you want a collaborative GM who will make sure you have a great time play with EJ!
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