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The Real Devil Strahd! - A CR27 Version of the DevilClick to magnify
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The Real Devil Strahd! - A CR27 Version of the Devil

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This supplement is part of Van Richten's Encyclopedia of Darklords & Domains. 
Get a discount on both Volumes of the encyclopedia by purchasing them as a bundle! Click here!

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What is this?

This is a realistic take on the Vampire Strahd Von Zarovich. 

I made this file because the CR15 statblock that can be found in the official campaign book of curse of Strahd seemed pretty weak in contrast to the lore and the descriptions of the real powers Strahd possesses. 

I have collected information about the "Devil's" power through the lore of all the previous editions and novels and created this version that will most likely kill your players if they are not ready for him.


But why would I need a higher CR Strahd??? 

For many reasons. When your party has created min-maxed optimized characters from all kinds of resources including homebrew when they have hoarded magic items, when they have multiclassed OP combos, when they have drawn a powerful NPC as an ally from the reading, when they are a party of 6 players, when they got imagination and good strategies, when there are both paladins and clerics in the party, when you roll shitty for initiative and they can one-shot him before he can move or when you want to play a high-level game, that's when you need a higher CR Strahd. Other reasons can include a DM that is less experienced than the players, or a DM that wants lore accurate powered Strahd. The Strahd that was written by PN Elrod and other authors in their books can just obliterate the Strahd of CoS. Finally, also "because you want to" is a perfectly valid reason too. 

Inside you will find:

  •  a new statblock for Strahd Von Zarovich which contains:

  • -New legendary actions!

  • -New Lair actions!

  • -New combat adjusted spell list with 4 NEW spells made by Strahd!

  • -Monstrous form! ( Never anger Strahd! You don't want to see his true self! or maybe you do?) 

  • -New magic Equipment for Strahd!

  • -The fanes of widlerness!

-WARNING-

The statblock in this file should only be used at the final fight and never before the characters are ready to face the devil himself! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

What is the Encyclopedia of Darklords & Domains?

A huge project of dread! That's the best description I can give in a single sentence. 

If you want to know what it really is though, let it be known that this project aims to translate all 100+ Darklords and their Domains (including former ones) to the 5th edition. All statblocks are made with the lore and deadliness that each darklord is portrayed in older versions and novels in mind! Unique B/W artwork, new spells, new items, maps, and important NPCs and monsters will also be included.

Fancy what you see?

Click on the checkbox on the left side of the webpage to be informed on George von Zarovich's & Mistfactor's next releases on DMsGuild!

Check out the Dreams of Solitude Ravenloft campaign!

A full Ravenloft campaign that is consisted of 30 unique Ravenloft adventures that can be played as one! For levels up to 12. 

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Reviews (7)
Discussions (20)
Customer avatar
Alexey N September 04, 2022 6:10 am UTC
PURCHASER
Hello. Firstly, thanks for the brilliant product. Secondly, Two questions.
1. I can’t see why his skills are +14 (Arcana, for example). This would have been true for CR20, not 27. Because at CR27 proficiency bonus is 8, and Arcana should be +16. The same with spell save DC. It should be 24, not 22.
2. Has any party ever managed to defeat this devil?
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Customer avatar
Mist F September 04, 2022 8:52 am UTC
CREATOR
Hello! Strahd's real CR is 20. The only reason he goes to 27 is because he is boosted by the fanes and his special equipment which can be deactivated as described in the product (quests) to bring him down to CR 20.

Plenty of groups have managed to defeat the real devil. You may look for them on facebook groups such as Mists of Ravenloft and DMs of CoS and Ravenloft. I am sure they will love to discuss their experience with you.
Customer avatar
Andrew S May 16, 2022 2:41 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hey I love the product and am going to use it, but I just wanted to say that this PDF still has lots of spelling errors, specifically you say "StraND" instead of "Strahd" quite a bit. Just something to fix up!
Customer avatar
REBECCA S April 21, 2022 6:30 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Does this now include a printer friendly version?
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Customer avatar
Mist F April 21, 2022 11:15 pm UTC
CREATOR
Are you looking for just the text without any pictures? There is no printer friendly version for the 7 pages yet but if you are looking for text only I can prepare it.
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Customer avatar
REBECCA S April 28, 2022 5:34 pm UTC
PURCHASER
That would be wonderful if you wouldn't mind.
Customer avatar
Márcia M November 29, 2021 6:34 pm UTC
PURCHASER
foda
Customer avatar
Sarah H October 12, 2021 7:42 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Thanks for this! my players hopefully wont tpk when they meet this statblock at levels 15-17
Customer avatar
Italo I May 24, 2021 8:09 am UTC
Glad you changed cover, this one is much more inspiring.
Customer avatar
James L December 08, 2020 9:11 am UTC
PURCHASER
Nope. Strahd can't be that high of a level. At that level, he could plane shift at will, and would be making interdimensional friends and allies. The Dark Forces keep him and the other Lords grounded from that sort of thing, so he simply CAN'T be that high of a level.

I agree with Sam below. a 13 / 9 / 14 multi class Strahd makes a WHOLE lot more sense for a vampire lord who's been grounded to a hole-in-the-wall like Barovia for uncounted millennia. You REALLY really ought to do a bit more research in to the subject, and draw up a fresh new Strahd based on all of the previous works and abilities attributed to him. Then you could call this one 'Strahd unchained' or some such thing, and toss in some plane shifting abilities that make sense, slap a sticker on it and call it done. I absolutely agree that a higher level, nearly undefeatable Strahd has a place, but slapping a silly level on him like 27 and calling it real does not make it so. ;)

You could even make a case to grant Strahd a...See more
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Customer avatar
Gary N January 05, 2021 3:54 am UTC
Strahd most likely wouldn't leave his own demiplane nor would he bring in outsiders like interdimensional beings into his demiplane.That goes greatly against strahd character and stated lore of his demiplane works. Then the idea of such a proud arrogant ruler to planeshift and try to bring in allies that might try to take his spot as the only true ruler of Barovia seems out of the question even if he could do it.
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Customer avatar
James L January 09, 2021 12:15 pm UTC
PURCHASER
That's kind of my point, Gary. A level 27 Strahd WOULD be able to explore those options. That's why a significantly lower level multi-class Strahd makes more sense. :)
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Customer avatar
Ismail E February 09, 2021 2:35 am UTC
that still makes 0 sense, just because he can doesn't mean he would/will DO these things you are saying, Strahd is content with being the ruler of Barovia, it actually is the other way around, all the fluff makes Strahd seem damn near invincible then the CR 15 statblock is just disappointing
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Customer avatar
James L February 13, 2021 9:06 am UTC
PURCHASER
OMG.. Ok, I'll try to simplify this as much as possible.

Let's say that the 'unchained' Strahd listed here is a level 27 evil cleric. That gives him an instant bus pass to travel the planes, something that neither Strahd (as far as we know) or his host gods want. As a matter of fact, level 27 makes him literally a hop, skip, and a jump away from being a demi-god himself.

If instead, Strahd was a multi-multiclass NPC (being practically immortal) with level (random level examples): 16 evil cleric, 13 magic user, 15 fighter (with multiple specialties), 9 rogue... THAT would make more sense. Obviously you'd have to tailor fit him to give him all of his inherent abilities, but a multi class character like this would make him the ancient Strahd that you would realistically expect.

IN MY HUMBLE OPINION.. level 27 just makes him an inter-planar creature that has had his flight privileges revoked. That's all I'm saying.

The one exception might be to give him a high enough...See more
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Customer avatar
Mist F February 13, 2021 10:17 am UTC
CREATOR
Your comments suggest that you have not read the product and just make assumptions based on the CR system of DnD 5e (which is highly dysfunctional). I recommend that you read the supplement first and some lore too. Also, CR 27 is NOT level 27. Also Strahd is not a cleric and even if he was, he is chained by the domain itself and cannot leave even if he could cast planar travel spells (he and azalin tried to leave with such a spell in the war against Azalin written by P.N. Elrod, they both failed). Lore states that Strahd is a lvl 6 fighter lvl 14 necromancer that would make him lvl 20. All of his powers combined + the fanes + magic equipment and lair make him CR (that is short for challenge rating) 27. Most of your statements above are unfounded and detached from lore or 5e mechanics. If you would like to discuss this further please contact me on any of my channels (discord, FB or even email). Have a good day.
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Customer avatar
James L February 13, 2021 2:26 pm UTC
PURCHASER
HAH!! You got me there, I was indeed reading it as 'character level' not 'challenge rating'. THAT was my mistake.

My quoted levels were just examples to try to make my point. Pretty sure I said that. I wasn't saying that he WAS a cleric, I was making an example.

Again, I do believe that the official version is seriously lacking, so a more realistic version of an ancient Strahd would be nice, especially if it actually accounted for everything the official literature states about him.

I'm not exactly sure how everybody keeps misunderstanding me on that point. I do like the idea you have here of a bigger badder Strahd.

I don't see any contact links for you above.. and since DMsGuild has a handicapped 'favorite' feature, I'm not even sure how to find your profile page. I would be interested in that discussion you mentioned. :)
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Customer avatar
Mist F February 13, 2021 2:58 pm UTC
CREATOR
I admin the Mists of Ravenloft group on FB, you can find me there :)
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Customer avatar
James L February 13, 2021 3:07 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Uck. I hate Fakebook with a passion. I didn't even know there WAS a Ravenloft group on there. Ok then, I suppose I'll troll you there.. if I remember next time I dust off my Facebook account. ;)

Thank you for the quick responses, and for straightening me out. :)
Reply
Customer avatar
Edward W March 15, 2022 5:55 pm UTC
James L is the worst kind of D&D nerd. Sadly, there's always at least one of him sanctimoniously shouting from the rooftops about how wrong everyone else and how right he is.

This updated stat block needed to happen because the existing block in the official adventure is incredibly anticlimactic for players.
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Customer avatar
James L March 18, 2022 9:40 am UTC
PURCHASER
Thanks for sharing your opinion. You realize that that was over a year ago, right? I misread the term "Challenge Rating as "Character Level" ..somehow. If I wasn't clear in my last post, I retract everything I said. The CR27 Strahd is a desperately needed edition, considering what a crappy job CoS RAW did of it. Furthermore, I recommend the CR27 Strahd AND the CR32 Baba Lysaga to anyone and everyone that might need it.
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Customer avatar
Mist F March 18, 2022 9:57 am UTC
CREATOR
CR 32 lysaga? Where can I find that? :P
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Customer avatar
James L April 08, 2022 1:55 am UTC
PURCHASER
I was remembering it wrong.. I was referring to this one, of course:
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/245440/The-Devils-Mother-Baba-Lysaga-A-CR-25-Version
Customer avatar
Miroslav B July 09, 2020 1:36 am UTC
PURCHASER
Why is this 199$, I mean I already bought it long ago, but I just saw it right now for this price.
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Customer avatar
Mist F July 09, 2020 1:55 pm UTC
CREATOR
Lol that was a bug it was supposed to say 1.99$ thanks for letting me know. Its fixed now.
Customer avatar
Jonathan H May 11, 2020 11:30 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I am having a issue downloading this product. I doesn't show up at all actually to download but I did purchase it.
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Customer avatar
Mist F May 12, 2020 8:32 am UTC
CREATOR
Hey Jonathan, I am sorry for the inconvenience, have you tried downloading from a PC? Mobiles are used to getting bugs and issues such as this. If the problem persists I would recommend that you email the support.
Customer avatar
David H May 08, 2020 10:06 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hello! I just downloaded the updated file, and I have to say that the new color, background, and font themes make it incredibly difficult to focus the eyes and read. I was very surprised to see it did not appear more in-line with the previous file, which had the look-and-feel of the regular D&D rulebooks and statblocks. Thanks for a great product, though, which I am nevertheless very excited to unleash on my players!
Customer avatar
Edoardo P April 10, 2020 10:29 am UTC
PURCHASER
Hello, I've just purchased the item, but the download keeps failing. Any idea how to fix this?
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Customer avatar
Mist F April 10, 2020 2:10 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hey Edoardo, I am facing the same problem with more than one title too. I guess its a DMsGuild error that the IT staff will fix (hopefully soon). Have you been successful in downloading other files? If yes, I would suggest you message the customer support.
Customer avatar
Austin P June 22, 2019 5:35 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Wonderful purchase! Any chance at a printer friendly version?
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Customer avatar
Mist F June 25, 2019 8:58 am UTC
CREATOR
I can try making one when i get back home in some days :D
Customer avatar
ethan L April 12, 2019 2:19 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Thank you, my players will quake in fear of the true majesty of Strahd Von Zaravich.
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Customer avatar
Mist F April 13, 2019 12:43 am UTC
CREATOR
Teach them, terror!!
Customer avatar
Edward O January 12, 2019 6:31 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I was reading through the stats and noticed that the necrotic damage from his unarmed strike went from 4d6 to 2d8. Why the decrease since 4d6 statistical will do more damage.
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Customer avatar
Mist F January 12, 2019 7:53 pm UTC
CREATOR
I have increased the slashing damage and decreased the necrotic to make it somewhat more balanced. You can change it back if you want.
Customer avatar
sam J December 26, 2018 10:27 pm UTC
I have not played with a group RPG in close to eight years now. Started Ravenloft back in the 1990's AD&D2e and went with D&D3e. I played Ravenloft close to around ten years. So Strahd started out around a 4th-level fighter/ 13th-level wizard there abouts. Some argue that the AD&D Strahd should be a 9th-level fight/ 13th-level Mage Dual Class Character with single class 14th-level fighter or wizard allies. That being said here is the main point.
Anyone who is taken in by Strahd politeness by shaking hands with him and get patted on the shoulder recives a hard shoulder slap suffers "Two Energy Drain" from their character class. Also Strahd has the class abilities to use a bow while invisible, playing 'hide & seek' with him sucks.
---Monstrous Form ? spell " polymorph self" into an orge with red dragon scales & wings. In the " Black Box" Strahd had a 6th-level mage spell for "Day Walking" or "Limited Wish" so that village cleric...See more
Customer avatar
Enric C October 14, 2018 10:45 pm UTC
PURCHASER
What would be the CR once removing the fanes?
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Customer avatar
Enric C October 14, 2018 11:11 pm UTC
PURCHASER
The first level spell "puppet" doesn't seem to exist in any 5e source book, could you include it on the last page?
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Customer avatar
Mist F October 14, 2018 11:13 pm UTC
CREATOR
Each fane increases the CR by 1 so if you remove them Strahd will be CR 24. You can further decrease the CR to 22 by removing the Heart of Sorrow.
Reply
Customer avatar
Mist F October 14, 2018 11:14 pm UTC
CREATOR
http://dnd5e.wikia.com/wiki/Puppet its a spell from UA. You can see it at the given link.
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File Last Updated:
April 04, 2020
This title was added to our catalog on April 08, 2018.