Strahd’s General Strategy

Overview

Strahd is a planner and a clever tactician.  The PCs will likely battle him many times over the course of the campaign, and his objectives for each of these encounters will likely differ.  These fights should not play out the same way each time, but represent an escalation culminating in the grand finale in his tomb.

In order for Strahd to employ different strategies in accordance with his objectives, I intend to use different assortments of spells, as outlined below, for different purposes.    It stands to reason that his selection of prepared spells on a given day align with his intentions.

Likewise, I’ve added some notes on the equipment he sports, as he “suits up” when he starts to see the need.  I’ve given him a few extra magic items for a little balance and flavor, and considering he’s a very old, very powerful arcanist, it seems reasonable he’d have made a few such simple items.

Spell Selections

Default

The following is his default spell selection from the book:

Cantrips - Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost
1st level - Comprehend Languages (R, d), Fog Cloud (C, d), Sleep (h)
2nd level - Detect Thoughts (C), Gust of Wind (C), Mirror Image
3rd level - Animate Dead, Fireball (h), Nondetection (d)
4th level - Blight (h), Greater Invisibility (C), Polymorph (C)
5th level - Animate Objects (C), Scrying (C)
(R = can be cast as a ritual, C = requires concentration, d = has a long duration, h = can be cast with higher levels slots for more effectiveness, r = can be cast as a reaction, b = is cast using a bonus action)

He can prepare a maximum of 14 spells per day.

In terms of spell slots, he can cast: 4-3-3-3-1 per day, so his choice of 5th level spells is precious, and he’s not likely to prepare many.

Strategy:  Observe

Objective: Strahd wishes to learn about the group, seeing how they fight and learning their strengths and weaknesses.  He will offer them some minor challenge (i.e. set a few minions on them) and see how they react without engaging them directly himself.  If they are otherwise trivializing a situation, he may interfere just to make it more interesting and see how they adjust.

Timing:  first encounter or two.  Possibly an attack at the graveyard in Barovia during Kolyan’s burial, or maybe while resting somewhere overnight.

Cantrips - Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost
1st level - Comprehend Languages (R, d), Sleep (h), Fog Cloud (C,d), Alarm (R)
2nd level - Detect Thoughts (C), Gust of Wind (C), Misty Step (b)
3rd level - Counterspell (r), Clairvoyance (C), Nondetection (d)
4th level - Blight (h), Greater Invisibility (C), Polymorph (C)
5th level - Scrying (C)

Tactics:  Strahd chooses a location where he expects them to go (e.g. graveyard, Ireena’s house).  In advance, he casts Alarm (as a ritual), Nondetection, and Comprehend Languages.  He summons minions and waits.  Once the alarm alerts him to their presence, he sends in the minions and uses Greater Invisibility on himself.  Once the PCs are engaged, moves within 30 feet, preferably somewhere with cover so he can continue to hide, and casts Detect Thoughts (causing Greater Invisibility to drop because of the Concentration requirement).  He begins probing minds while they are busy fighting, and can use Prestidigitation to create minor effects to mess with their heads, possibly in response to something he finds.  If they’re handling things easily, a well-timed Counterspell or Sleep can add some panic and make things more interesting.  If they attack him, he flees immediately (possibly with Misty Step) and leaves them with his remaining minions.  I will have a card prepared to hand a player whose mind is probed, so as to let them know what’s going on without interrupting the flow of the combat.  This should also help sufficiently creep them out.

Strategy:  Harass

Timing:  PCs have first item (Tome of Strahd) or have brought Ireena to Vallaki/”somewhere safe”.

Objective: Strahd has begun to grow annoyed with the group, but still does not see them as a serious threat, so he will toy with them.  He would also like to collect belongings of theirs to use with his spells, and possibly separate Ireena from the group.

Cantrips - Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost
1st level - Comprehend Languages (R, d), Sleep (h), Charm Person (h)
2nd level - Shatter (h), Pyrotechnics, Suggestion (C)
3rd level - Counterspell (r), Clairvoyance (C), Nondetection (d)
4th level - Greater Invisibility (C), Polymorph (C)
5th level - Animate Objects (C), Dream (C), Scrying (C)

Tactics (Direct):  Strahd will summon minions to assault the group, likely while they’re holed up somewhere “safe” (a house he can’t enter).  He will use spells like Shatter, Animate Objects, and Pyrotechnics to demonstrate that being outside doesn’t mean he can’t affect them.  He will use his charm ability as a vampire, his Charm Person spell (with a higher level slot, likely), or Suggestion spell to attempt to get the PCs to give up small personal items (preferably holy symbols) to him, which he can later use for Scrying and Dream spells.  Once he gets what he wants and subjects them to a little terror, or if they provide a strong resistance, he will depart, and leave them to clean up his minions.  If he can separate Ireena from the group by kidnapping her – likely with Charm/Suggestion – he may.

Tactics (Indirect):  Strahd will use Dream to harass characters and prevent them from getting a full night’s rest.  If he has been successful reading their minds to determine their greatest fears, these are the forms that will be taken when delivering nightmare versions of Dream.  As well, if and when he can catch someone alone, he will use his Charm and Suggestion to turn the group on one another, by having them “prank” one another based on what he’s found.  (e.g. if one is deathly afraid of rats, Suggest to another to throw a live rat on them while they’re sleeping).

Note:  The Church of St Andral, with the bones returned, is a Hallowed ground, which means he cannot exert Charm/Suggestion on someone inside.  Houses he hasn’t been invited to do not have the same restriction.

Strategy: Assault

Timing:  PCs have second and/or third item and have leveled up to where they are starting to pose a realistic threat.

Objective: Strahd is losing his patience but recognizes the threat the group poses and has to take them seriously.  He would like to weaken them by stealing one of the items they’ve collected.

Cantrips - Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost
1st level - Shield (r), Fog Cloud (C,d), Charm Person (h)
2nd level - Mirror Image, Misty Step (b), Suggestion (C), Pyrotechnics
3rd level - Animate Dead, Counterspell (r), Fireball (h)
4th level - Greater Invisibility (C), Blight
5th level - Scrying (C), Wall of Force (C)
Note: Bold spells would be cast in advance of engaging.

Tactics:  Strahd will use Scrying to locate the group and determine a good location to surprise them.  He will summon his minions and choose to either have them attack first and distract the group so that he can slip in suddenly to pick off a straggler, or instruct them to wait for the fight to break out so that he can surprise the group himself using Greater Invisiblity to get in close (e.g. if they’re in the open) or open with a bang (e.g. Fireball). Once the fight breaks out, he will attempt to isolate someone (preferably the holder of one of the Tome, Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, or Sergei’s Sun Sword), so that he can use Suggestion to have them hand the item over.  Wall of Force (if he didn’t need to expend his 5th level spell slot on Scrying) can be particularly effective in isolating someone, especially if used as a hemisphere.  (e.g.  protect Ireena in a Wall of Force hemisphere while using Fireball on the party, trap the Sun Sword or Holy Symbol of Ravenkind bearer in bubble).  Misty Step can be used if things get “down and dirty” with Strahd wading in and out of melee.  As Sly Flourish points out, Fog Cloud is the great equalizer if Sunlight becomes an issue.  Pyrotechnics (smoke variant) can be used to the same effect but without requiring Concentration, provided there’s a flame about.  If he’s laying an ambush, the group could come upon a torch lying sputtering in the road.

Strategy: “Act III”, The Castle

Timing:  PCs are likely exploring the castle (and are presumably of an appropriate level to be there).  They likely have the Holy Symbol and Sun Sword and probably some serious burst damage.

Objective: Strahd recognizes the threat the group poses and needs to kill them, but they have grown too powerful to simply overwhelm them.  He has to be very careful to grind them down with hit and run tactics.  He cannot simply stand before them.

Cantrips - Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost
1st level - Shield (r), Charm Person (h), Mage Armor
2nd level - Mirror Image, Misty Step (b), Pyrotechnics
3rd level - Animate Dead, Counterspell (r), Fireball (h), Lightning Bolt (h), Dispel Magic
4th level - Greater Invisibility (C), Fire Shield
5th level - Telekenesis (C)
Note: Bold spells would be cast in advance of engaging.

Tactics:  Strahd will sneak about and locate the group and determine good locations to surprise them.  He will summon minions if he hasn’t already, and attack by phasing through a wall.  He may use Greater Invisiblity to get in close and take someone alone (e.g. if they’ve split up) or open with a bang (e.g. Fireball).  Misty Step can be used if he is getting surrounded, and phasing through a wall is not possible.  Pyrotechnics (smoke variant) can be used without requiring Concentration, provided there’s a flame about.  Note:  in the castle, there will always be candles or torches about.  He will litter the place with them, so as to have Pyrotechnics (obscurity without concentration) available.  He will generally try to confine himself to his first 3 levels of spell slots, to preserve his 4th and 5th for the final confrontation.

When the group reaches the crypt area, he will use Fire Shield in preparation for the final showdown.  He will hold his 5th level slot for the last stand, when he will use Telekenesis to tear the Sun Sword or Holy Symbol away.

Equipment

Note:  updated 17 Feb 2019.

Bag of Holding

I have Strahd wear a Bag of Holding on his belt to carry musical instruments.  When you’re bored for centuries, it reasons that you might pick up some musical talent, and I liked to have him serenade the PCs at the start of fights (near the start of the campaign, when surprise was not important, before he took these encounters seriously).

This is purely flavor, adding nothing to his combat prowess.

Bracers of Defense (Attuned), Cloak of Protection (Attuned)

My campaign has seven players, which means Strahd’s survivability in combat is lower considering the firepower they bring to the table and I need to compensate.

Taking Sly Flourish’s advice:  as a 400+ year old wizard of appropriate level, it seems reasonable he might cast Mage Armor, wear Bracers of Defense, and have a Cloak of Protection +1.  This puts his AC to 20 and gives him +1 on Saving Throws.  Within the confines of the castle, in addition to his Lair actions, I will put his hit point total to max (204).  His reformed Heart of Sorrow gives him a 100hp buffer until they find and destroy it.

When Strahd starts taking the PCs seriously, they’ll notice he starts showing up with golden bracers and a nice new cloak sable cloak.

Ring of Spell Storing (Attuned)

Strahd has a Ring of Spell Storing.  In it, he has a Darkness spell cast at 5th level.  This is capable of overwhelming the sunlight cast by the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind or The Sun Sword, albeit only until it is dispelled or his concentration is broken.

The Feast of St Andral

The Feast of St Andral

For my campaign, I intended to have Strahd attack the church and attempt to kill Father Lucian, regardless of the presence or absence of the Bones of St Andral, and whether some or all of his Vampire Spawn from The Coffin Maker’s Shop still exist or not.  The result of the PCs’ actions – retrieving the bones or not – still has a significant impact on the outcome, of course.

For our play-through, the bones were returned and the Vampire Spawn dispatched, so things are not going to play out in the way Strahd originally intended.  However, he learned of these events the night prior, so he will be able to pivot somewhat to ensure the players don’t go away feeling too satisfied with themselves, and he still hopes to kill Father Lucian.

I highly recommend this sort of approach to other DMs.  Simply returning the bones is not enough to make Strahd von Zarovich put his tail between his legs and slink back into the night with a sad “oh well…”.  It just complicates things and annoys him.  He’s not so easily dissuaded.

His Initial Plan

His initial plan is basically the way it’s written in the book: Strahd expects his Vampire Spawn to meet him there, while he summons four Swarms of Bats and Shapechanges to bat form himself.  Then the swarms enter (he among them) to attack the churchgoers and panic drives them outside to the waiting Vampire Spawn.

The Pivot

When Strahd realizes things cannot go according to his original plan, whether because he learns of this beforehand, some or all of the Vampire Spawn don’t show, or he is unable to fly in through the windows because the church is once again Hallow ground, he gets annoyed but realizes he must change tactics.  How clever those tactics can be (e.g. spell selection?) should be reflected in how much advance notice he had that he would need to pivot.

In my particular example, he found out at Lady Wachter’s the night before (through Detect Thoughts) that the PCs have dispatched his spawn, and can assume therefore that the church is Hallow.  He can have a whole new plan prepared.

I’ve chosen the following spell selection:

Cantrips – Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost
1st level – Sleep (h), Fog Cloud (C,d), Charm Person (h)
2nd level – Mirror Image*, Misty Step (b), Suggestion (C), Pyrotechnics
3rd level – Animate Dead*, Counterspell (r), Fireball
4th level – Greater Invisibility (C), Blight
5th level – Wall of Force (C), Animate Objects (C)

*Cast in advance of attack.

Before engaging, Strahd will charm a helpless commoner and tell him to stand outside the church in the middle of the adjoining graveyard to play solo violin throughout the battle, just to drive home the point that he’s got the PCs clearly outclassed.  He will, of course, look terrified.  Strahd’s instruction is to only begin playing when the windows break.  He will use Animate Dead with a 4th level slot, to summon three Zombies from the nearby graveyard, and then Mirror Image just prior to sending in his bats.

On round 1, Strahd will have the seven (scaled for my group size) swarms of bats surprise the group by crashing through the windows (stealth rolls vs characters’ passive Perception to determine who gets to act) and go after Commoners.  The crowd begins to panic, but they won’t get to move immediately because of surprise.  A bat swarm can kill a commoner fairly easily, but the point is panic not instant death, so in the first round I’ll either fudge some rolls for misses, or have them finish their movement near commoners but not attack (as if it took them a Dash to get inside).

Strahd will cast Pyrotechnics (smoke) on a flame (e.g. altar candle) through a broken-open window (he is Spider Climbing on the outside wall of the church) as they enter in order to maximize confusion.  The smoke creates heavy obscurement in a 20′ radius, which is particularly advantageous to the Swarms of Bats because of their Blindsight.  (Note: unlike Fog Cloud, there is no Concentration required.)  He will then use Legendary Actions to re-position by the exit nearest the most Commoners to lie in wait.  His bats have been commanded to focus on killing Commoners, as he wants Father Lucian for himself.

This creates multiple dilemmas for the PCs:  how to save the commoners inside, how to save the violinist, how to save Lucian (once Strahd’s intentions become clear), and how to combat Strahd rather than be sitting ducks inside the church.

On round 2, the panicking Commoners start heading for the exits.  Unless the PCs specifically try to stop them (even shouting – I will allow Persuasion or Intimidation checks without expending Actions on that player’s turn), these people will attempt to flee outside.  Strahd will likely get to use his Legendary Actions to attack Commoners once they are outside.  Strahd will continue to cause as much confusion and panic as possible, lobbing spells into the church (e.g. Animate Objects on pews or doors) and/or attacking and killing innocents outside.  If Yeska or Millivoj get outside, he will grapple them and offer to trade them for Lucian.

On round 3 and beyond, if the PCs actually start pressing a counter-attack, Strahd will retreat only if they are able to drain away his Legendary Resistance and/or start doing effective damage.  Otherwise, he will stay around until he’s at least killed a few people, hopefully including Lucian.  His legendary actions combined with his Spider Climb allow him to remain very mobile, using movement back and forth across the rooftop to stay out of melee range and possibly split the group.  They’ve not yet struck him, so they’ve not yet experienced the Heart of Sorrow effect.  Hopefully that will add some extra chill to the encounter if one is brave enough to confront him in melee.  Bucephalus is standing by to whisk Strahd away with Etherealness at a moment’s notice if he gets in trouble, such as if Ireena manages to use the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind to paralyze him.  (Note:  Etherealness is an action by Bucephalus, not Strahd, and Bucephalus merely needs to run up to within 5 feet of him for both to simply fade away.  This can be used to provide an escape in very dire circumstances, and presents the need to someday kill Bucephalus before confronting Strahd in the finale as a plot-point all its own.)  This will be their first glimpse of the Nightmare.  (Again, an escalation from previous encounters with The Devil.)  He’d prefer to drain Lucian (so he will rise as a Vampire Spawn, causing further despair in the community), but is willing to use Blight to kill him from range if he must, or turn remaining Swarms of Bats on him.

After he finally retreats, Strahd will head to the Coffin Maker’s Shop to find Henrik.  Unless the PCs specifically included this NPC in people brought to the church, Henrik will be there, and will be found shortly thereafter impaled on a pike in the town square, with some charmed guards (less his pike) standing watch.

Whoever is the most heart-wrenching victim he can reach (and would have had time with) will have a piece of parchment with the words “Tatyana, why can’t you remember our love?  Look what you’ve made me do!” written on it in blood.