#ch: tam mantigieri

[curseofthebloodcountess]

One of the underrated changes I've made to my Barovia, just because it fits some of the themes and narrative better, is with Ez and Van Richten. He's still her mentor and foster father figure, but instead of Van RIchten being secretly racist and leaving Ez behind because he is cursed, it's more heartbreaking. Van Richten is dying in my game. He doesn't want Ez to have to witness it (or, worse, die with him). His stint as Rictavio is a coping mechanism that is not working and his goal is to kill Strahd or die trying.

Ez just found him again and she's hoping he'll reconsider sentencing himself to death like some martyr. She doesn't want him to reconsider killing Strahd. She just wants him to not throw himself at Death (in Barovia, no less!). She wants to be included in the greatest hunt Van Richten has undertaken. There is a heartbreaking drama unfolding between them.

And it's all background noise. Rictavio traded his horse for information on Castle Ravenloft with the warlock (who has a celebrity crush on Rictavio). He just offered to arm the party's fight against Strahd. Ez took the ranger aside and said, "Hey... he means well, but he will be reckless. Coming from me, that means something."

Except... coming from her, it means nothing because as much as she likes and wants to support the party, they hate her for stealing a horse from Arrigal's camp. They don't like Arrigal, either, but Arrigal and the ranger were formerly business associates, so saving Ez's life had a financial cost. More to it, the cleric hates Ez for "embarrassing his family's name" or something. I do not understand my player's logic there, but Alistor generally hates most people so it doesn't shock me.

Sometimes I think about party roles. Theo, our warlock, is definitely the heart of the party. She certainly is the one who wants to make connections with NPCs the most.

I just don't get it with Ez. Ez saved Victor Vallakovich from Castle Ravenloft, and the entire party's lives from pissed-off druids in the woods this past session and it didn't move the needle. Maybe her stint as "Rictavio's Lovely Assistant" will be humorous enough (or productive enough) to impress them. If not, I'm going to have to reevaluate. She doesn't show up often or in every life-or-death scenario. The two times she has shown up were to first give the prophecy to the ranger (who is a replacement for a dead bard PC) and reunite Victor with the party after a teleportation circle went wrong, and second because Van Richten promised the party a ride home from Castle Ravenloft. It made more sense to send Ez than Van Richten, who wouldn't have been able to resist a vampire hunt.

My GF said she wished Alistor (her cleric) liked Ez better because it seems like a fun little drama and that she wishes everyone had insight checked the NPCs more. I agree but I don't know what to do about it. I know what plot beats to hit with my players that they generally enjoy. I have not cracked the code on NPCs. And it's weird because they adored Ez last game!

I think one of the things I'm going to try to do is pare down the number of NPC allies they take with them to Krezk and Immol. Right now, they have Ireena, Ismark, Victor, Stella, and Doru. Stella died and was brought back by Theo during the druid fight. At other times, they've traveled a little with Godfrey and the revenants, the Durst Siblings, and they have plans to travel with Patrina Velikov. I guess they don't really need more NPC allies but like... wild choices, I think.

And I still have NPCs to finish designing for Krezk and Immol.

I'm not mad about it. The game is going really well and we're having a great time. I'm just stumped! The party wants to spend a day or three in Vallaki before shipping out west to search for prophesied items. I have to have Immol ready for them! I'll probably try posting more here as I prepare!

[curseofthebloodcountess]

First, let me say that Bird is phenomenal. Exceptionally kind and professional, she made this art something that I will treasure (and that my players) will treasure for years to come. I have spoken to my partner and we want to get a framed print of this for our home. This exquisite piece captures the essence of the Blood Countess campaign - dark, with threads of amber warmth and striking beauty. It's perfect. I have had so much trouble expressing to Bird how perfect it is, in part because the holiday season is upon us and I have been pulled in a thousand directions and in part because there is nothing more to say than this is perfection. Bird, thank you for your hard work, artistic vision, and warmth throughout this process. I imagine it was no small feat to create this. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Top Right: Sister Theodora "Theo" Abotchers Petrovna is one of the Abbot's many, nearly identical "children", but she was imbued with the spark of a soul upon her creation... and a strange, strengthening connection to the Morning Lord. Theo fled the Abbey of St. Markovia after two years and was adopted in the town of Vallaki by Father Lucian Petrovich. She thrived there, but when her father sent her on a mission to the village of Barovia, she underwent a trial by fire. Theo had once thought her only purposes were to serve the Morning Lord and marry the Countess, but now she knows there is more out there and her eager, curious nature wishes to pursue it. (Celestial Warlock)

Bottom Right: Ismark and Ireena Kolyanovich have lost everything except each other in the last year. Their home, their village, their childhood dreams... But they remain strong and kind in a world that is almost unfailingly cruel, if only to keep the other one's belief in something better alive.

Bottom Left: Tam Mantiegri is a simple hunter and a Vallaki native, who would swear there was nothing all that special about him. However, Tam has always been a little more alive than his neighbors and he's had a longer memory than most. His soul is old and twined with the history of the valley. He recently learned that he is the reincarnation of Sergei von Zarovich, fallen prince of Barovia, son of the Lady of Shadows, and brother to Countess Strahd von Zarovich. Tam has strange dreams of a life as Sergei and of countless deaths at his "sister's" hand. Upon Theo's return to Vallaki, he met her strange new friends, including the Kolyanoviches and despite his better judgment, he agreed to help them out. Now, he and Ireena Kolyana share a bond they couldn't sever if they tried and their fate is inextricably linked to that of Strahd's and the whole valley. (Monster Slayer Ranger)

Center: Alistor Gwilym is a soldier, not a priest. He has always known war, always known how to fight, and can scarcely recall a time before his life was marred by loss. As a child, Alistor and his twin brother, Godfrey, were raised by their grandfather, Lord Argynvost after their father's mysterious disappearance and the isolation of Barovia. However, as a teenager, Alistor escaped the Mists and has only just returned. Four hundred years have passed and everyone and everything Alistor loved and knew is dead or forever changed. (Grave Domain Cleric)

Top Left: The Countess Strahd von Zarovich is cursed to relive the greatest failures of her life. This time will be different, she is certain. This time, her brother's spirit, her lover's champion, and her youngest son have banded together to protect Ireena Kolyana, the reincarnation of the woman that she loved. This time will be different as they quest to bring light back to Barovia and end Strahd's reign one way or another.

Let's take a break from one horrible man (Douglas) and talk about another horrible man (Strahd), this time - the female version of him. SheStrahd campaign poster for @curseofthebloodcountess's and @troubledtimeinravenloft's campaign, starring Her Grace herself, three party members, and Kolyan siblings. Boi, this one almost cost me my sanity.

More info about commissions here, more details in close-ups under the cut

You can only guess how long it took us to set up the whole flower thing.

[curseofthebloodcountess]

What's the biggest curveball your players threw at you? Or just something wild/funny they did?

I talk about both of my campaigns, but in reverse order here. First, Blood Countess (ongoing) and then Remix (completed). Spoilers ahead!

The party was ambushed by Anstrasya and some of her lieutenants in the Barovian army. It was in the Svalich Woods. We have three PCs (Tam the ranger, Theo(dora) the warlock, and Alistor the cleric) and they were traveling with two NPCs, Ireena and Ismark. The Barovian soldiers effectively cut off Ireena and Tam (the pair they are trying to kidnap) and surround Alistor and Theo. The only one remotely safe was Ismark (who suffers from Ismark Curse: failing his rolls and being forgotten by the DM). 

Madi (Tam’s player) goes, “Can I pick up Ireena as my item interaction?”

I thiiiiink there was a roll involved (Athletics) but verbally, Tam turned into Aladdin. “Do you trust me?”

I need y’all to know he and Ireena have just found out they are the reincarnations of Sergei and Tatyana. They aren’t lovers (they still aren’t. They’re trauma-bonded besties.) The only person who Ireena trusts more is Ismark. He scoops her up.

“For my bonus action, I cast Zephyr Strike on myself. For my movement, I run with Ireena as far as you’ll let me go.”

Okay, sixty feet.

Except, based on where they were on the map, I didn’t have enough space. I didn’t have more enemies lurking and it felt like a dick move to add more. Bewildered, I watched as Madi, Tam’s player, yeeted Tam and Ireena off the board to safety. Meanwhile, the others are embroiled in battle. That means that as they are resolving this, on his turn, Tam is going double his speed with Ireena in his arms. I had him make a survival check or perception check, but he’s in his favored terrain. Nothing is stopping this man. He is aware of all the dangers. 

Alistor is downed at one point. Theo brings him back from death. The two of them and Ismark flee.

Tam and Ireena? Already at Argynvostholt, which was supposed to be a big reveal for Alistor because it’s his childhood home. Oh, well. Tam and Ireena are there alone until the others lose the Barovian soldiers in the woods, now trying to figure out what to say to Alistor about the state of said childhood home. I’m trying desperately to get the party back together. Oof.

I should know better.

This is actually the second time I’ve run CoS for Madi (Tam) and Clare (Alistor). I know the two of them. In our last game, they lassoed the roc’s leg, and anchored the other side of the rope to a boulder and the fighter (Madi’s character, Dorinn) ziplined down it while the paladin (Clare’s character, Victor Trevor) climbed up it because even though the players were talking to each other (and playing all four PCs) the characters weren’t and the characters were big of heart and dumb of ass. They crashed into each other and fell into the ravine, but it wasn’t as far a fall as I anticipated after the three of us deliberated over the map. 3d6 of bludgeoning damage isn’t all that much for a fighter and a paladin at level 9. 

Originally in that game, a third friend had been playing a druid and the thing that stymied me about her character was the moment she gave away all of her husband’s blood to Doru (aka some random vampire kid the party just met). It inadvertently shone a light on some out-of-game issues I’m not about to blast on here, but I worked tirelessly to make it work out in a way she would find interesting and favorable for a month and it still went to hell. There were out-of-game conversations, spoilers provided, you name it. Her playstyle - and that of the rest of the party - didn’t end up jiving. 

My players seldom stump me and more often than not, when they do, they surprise and delight me and it makes for a better game for everyone involved. Even when it doesn’t work out, I try very hard to communicate and keep things fun. 

[curseofthebloodcountess]

Tam: But why do you have two identities? Van Richten: Do you think people would trust their doctor if they knew he had gone to clown college? Tam: Fair.

[curseofthebloodcountess]

We just wrapped up a GLORIOUS session of Blood Countess. My best one to date, s2g. I sent the cleric and ranger on a wild chase through the woods surrounding Vallaki, in search of Rictavio's tiger... who they still have to find before he finds (and kills) Doru.

But just as importantly, our warlock got kidnapped by Izek Strazni, who has been trying to marry her for years. She rejected him in favor of Doru and he didn't take it well... tried to force her to marry him. She and Victor ended up taking him on. He attacked Victor, but never the warlock, and he told her to kill him with the knowledge that he never raised a hand to her in this fight. It was epic. She walked away... so he killed himself. I have so many feelings. More on it in the morning. I'm going to get some sleep.

[curseofthebloodcountess]

One of the important changes to my Blood Countess game, just as important, imo, as changing Strahd from a cis man to a cis woman, is what I have done to Alek Gwilym. Alek, as in my last game, was Strahd’s lover. Unlike my last game, Alek’s family and heritage are important. Alek is the son of Argynvost in Blood Countess, hence Sir Godfrey Gwilym: one of his two bastard sons with Strahd. Godfrey and his twin brother, Alistor (our party cleric) were devoted to their father and grandfather, so much so that Godfrey has become a paladin, devoted to Argynvost’s memory and Argynvostholt. Strahd never knew her lover’s draconic heritage during his lifetime and only learned of her children’s relationship with Argynvost after Godfrey’s death and Alistor’s disappearance. 

Another important change is that Strahd is a half-elf. Her mother, Ravenovia, was a full-blooded Dusk Elf. Rahadin is Ravenovia’s son from her first (failed) marriage. Ravenovia and Barov had three children of their own: Sturm, who died as a teenager, Strahd, and Sergei. Ravenovia used her children as political pawns and weapons of war while working to ascend herself to godhood - something she achieved around the same time Strahd made her deal with Vampyr. The result is that Ravenovia trapped all three of her children in Barovia, changed half the Dusk Elf population into the Shadar Kai before they could be massacred, and created Ravenloft… as in the Domains of Dread. She has since punished other Dark Lords as she punished Strahd and serves as a goddess of vengeance, loss, and crusades against the undead. She is not kind or loving and is, in fact, the reason her children are all so messed up. Barov was bad; Ravenovia was worse. 

Our cleric and Godfrey, then, are mechanically half-elves, but are genetically one-quarter elf, one-quarter dragon, and half human. Alistor is also Ravenovia’s Chosen One and she “rescued” him from the Mists, even though he was happy there, so that he could one day take down his mother. Our ranger, meanwhile, is the reincarnation of Sergei and has learned oodles about his past life and his family during that life, which has been emotionally scarring. Our warlock, who is sworn to the Morning Lord, just made contact with the avatar of the Morning Lord: a forever undying Alek Gwilym, who is trapped in the Amber Temple, living in hope that he can get back to his children and make things right. 

It’s all so delightfully twisted. 

[curseofthebloodcountess]

What would your PCs bring to a Thanksgiving meal?

Oooh! My PCs or my players' characters?

I'll do both and if @morpheoussilvercreature, @knightinkosherarmour, and @thelostbarovianroyals want to correct me on their characters, they can!

My Characters

Lenore Davenport: Lenore swears up and down that there isn't any blood in this year's cranberry sauce. She doesn't know why it congeals, it just does. She also is trying her damnedest to replicate a cornbread recipe she got from Cedric's sister and it's actually pretty good! Maybe not quite the way anyone on Coldstones' Ranch would make it, but she did remember to bake it at just the right temperature and everything.

Percy Brightstar: Sweet potatoes with candied walnuts? Check. Macaroni and cheese that tastes like heaven? Check. Look, it's all fantastic, right? And you'd think he'd been cooking for Human Thanksgivings all his life. Not pictured: the hours Percy has spent reading human cookbooks, practicing recipes, and testing batches of food on Guild members. He also brings a shitton of board games and dad jokes, but he didn't need to practice those.

Gisele Domencyzk: Gisele probably brings some fruity baked good like apple pie and veggies from her garden - a salad, a couple sides. She's not a bad home cook, but most of her dishes are Very Barovian, so the new ingredients she's gathered from across the Domains probably add a pop of life into old staples.

My Players' Characters

Alistor Gwilym: The booze. It's good booze! Like, he's a Gwilym. He's gonna bring the good shit. Don't ask this man to cook. Just don't. I don't think he's above peeling potatoes, but he's not much more help than that in the kitchen.

Tam Mantigrei: Tam hunted, killed, and roasted that turkey himself. Or the wolf steaks. Or whatever other game is on the menu for a Barovian Thanksgiving. He's the hero of the feast.

Theodora Petrovna: Theo wanted to bring Swan's Eye Pudding, a traditional gelatin dish in Krezk, but swans on this side of the valley don't have enough eyes for that, so hopefully these mashed potatoes and this experimental casserole using ingredients sourced in Vallaki will be good enough. She also brought a ladle for Ismark. Of course.

[curseofthebloodcountess]

UPDATE: My GF told me why Alistor hates Ez. It's fascinating because Ez has no idea about it.

When the party met Ez, they were at Argynvostholt, our cleric's childhood home. Ez had stolen a horse from the Vallaki Vistani in order to make a quick escape from Ravenloft. She was there to gather intel and track down Van Richten. When she made her quick escape, she rescued Victor Vallakovich (Theo's cousin, Tam's "little brother", and Alistor's "son"), so I thought that would endear her to the party. It didn't and I was perplexed. Here's what I didn't realize:

The party was supposed to be quiet during all this, so they did not disturb the corrupted revenants. Godfrey, Alistor's twin brother, gave them explicit orders. They failed. During their conversation with Arrigal, Arrigal called the party/Alistor "disappointing" representations of Argynvostholt, which chafed Alistor's pride. Shortly after making their deal with Arrigal, the party made too much noise and Godfrey forced them out of the castle so they wouldn't have to fight revenants. The party was level 4 at the time. Ez shared the prophecy with them and departed. They evaded a TPK fight.

I didn't notice that Alistor blames Ez for being embarrassed in his family home and getting (temporarily!) kicked out of it. I am also pretty sure Ez did not notice either. This means Ez has great admiration for Alistor, who hates her fucking guts (and he hates Rictavio, too, because his goddess has been using his performances to perturb Alistor, that I get). I think his hating her only makes Ez find him funny.

You are a sad, strange little man. You have my sympathies.

Honestly, it's lowkey a shame. It's high-key hilarious.

One of the underrated changes I've made to my Barovia, just because it fits some of the themes and narrative better, is with Ez and Van Richten. He's still her mentor and foster father figure, but instead of Van RIchten being secretly racist and leaving Ez behind because he is cursed, it's more heartbreaking. Van Richten is dying in my game. He doesn't want Ez to have to witness it (or, worse, die with him). His stint as Rictavio is a coping mechanism that is not working and his goal is to kill Strahd or die trying.

Ez just found him again and she's hoping he'll reconsider sentencing himself to death like some martyr. She doesn't want him to reconsider killing Strahd. She just wants him to not throw himself at Death (in Barovia, no less!). She wants to be included in the greatest hunt Van Richten has undertaken. There is a heartbreaking drama unfolding between them.

And it's all background noise. Rictavio traded his horse for information on Castle Ravenloft with the warlock (who has a celebrity crush on Rictavio). He just offered to arm the party's fight against Strahd. Ez took the ranger aside and said, "Hey... he means well, but he will be reckless. Coming from me, that means something."

Except... coming from her, it means nothing because as much as she likes and wants to support the party, they hate her for stealing a horse from Arrigal's camp. They don't like Arrigal, either, but Arrigal and the ranger were formerly business associates, so saving Ez's life had a financial cost. More to it, the cleric hates Ez for "embarrassing his family's name" or something. I do not understand my player's logic there, but Alistor generally hates most people so it doesn't shock me.

Sometimes I think about party roles. Theo, our warlock, is definitely the heart of the party. She certainly is the one who wants to make connections with NPCs the most.

I just don't get it with Ez. Ez saved Victor Vallakovich from Castle Ravenloft, and the entire party's lives from pissed-off druids in the woods this past session and it didn't move the needle. Maybe her stint as "Rictavio's Lovely Assistant" will be humorous enough (or productive enough) to impress them. If not, I'm going to have to reevaluate. She doesn't show up often or in every life-or-death scenario. The two times she has shown up were to first give the prophecy to the ranger (who is a replacement for a dead bard PC) and reunite Victor with the party after a teleportation circle went wrong, and second because Van Richten promised the party a ride home from Castle Ravenloft. It made more sense to send Ez than Van Richten, who wouldn't have been able to resist a vampire hunt.

My GF said she wished Alistor (her cleric) liked Ez better because it seems like a fun little drama and that she wishes everyone had insight checked the NPCs more. I agree but I don't know what to do about it. I know what plot beats to hit with my players that they generally enjoy. I have not cracked the code on NPCs. And it's weird because they adored Ez last game!

I think one of the things I'm going to try to do is pare down the number of NPC allies they take with them to Krezk and Immol. Right now, they have Ireena, Ismark, Victor, Stella, and Doru. Stella died and was brought back by Theo during the druid fight. At other times, they've traveled a little with Godfrey and the revenants, the Durst Siblings, and they have plans to travel with Patrina Velikov. I guess they don't really need more NPC allies but like... wild choices, I think.

And I still have NPCs to finish designing for Krezk and Immol.

I'm not mad about it. The game is going really well and we're having a great time. I'm just stumped! The party wants to spend a day or three in Vallaki before shipping out west to search for prophesied items. I have to have Immol ready for them! I'll probably try posting more here as I prepare!