Ravenloft (2022–2023)

Pat ran the party through the classic 1980s Curse of Strahd/Ravenloft module (confirmed by Pat OOC as the original 1984 TSR adventure, not the 5e remake) 2023-01-30 @ 05:36:35, 2023-03-18 @ 00:33:00. A mysterious letter and dinner invitation lure the party into the fogbound land of Barovia, ruled by the vampire lord Strahd von Zarovich. After one scene-setting session in the village, the remaining seven sessions are an almost continuous dungeon crawl through Castle Ravenloft itself, with the party never leaving the castle again.

The recorded campaign ends mid-dungeon, unresolved: Strahd is still alive, one former party member is lost in the Astral Plane, and the party’s last on-screen action is splitting up to chase a screaming noise toward a glowing tower. The group’s next recorded sessions move on to a different, unrelated campaign (JakeDM’s), so it’s unclear from the transcripts whether Ravenloft was ever formally finished or simply left behind.

The party

• Todd (Todd Stone) — played by Nutty — human fighter, dual-shield tank, carries the party’s torches. The most consistently-named and stable PC across the whole campaign. See Todd Stone.
• Jacques Luceau (aliases: Woo-woo, Wu, JB) — played by Jake — a Vanara (monkey-folk) monk, flurry of blows, later elemental/flaming fists. See Jacques Luceau.
• Raven / Donovan — played by Donnie — a human witch with a brain-hungry zoog familiar. Dies near Strahd’s coffin and rises as his vampire thrall, later revealed to have secretly betrayed the party before being defeated and lost into the Astral Plane. See Raven.
• Xarthax (heard as Zyrtax/Zarthax/Zarafax) — played by Rich — an android arcane caster, immune to necrotic damage, fear, aging, and mind-affecting effects. Note: session 1 instead describes “Rich’s character” as an unnamed drow bard and a separate absent “Jeff’s character” as a mage; it’s unclear whether either is meant to be Xarthax, who appears from session 2 onward. See Xarthax.
• Alumbra (heard as: Ulumbra, Alhambra, Olumbra, Lulu) — played by Jess — a ninja/rogue with a katana, sneak attack, and a handy haversack (later destroyed). See Alumbra.
• Ozan’s alchemist (heard as: Zendrick, Lobel, Nadi, “Woo”/“Wubu Tang”) — played by Ozan — an alchemist/investigator who disables traps, brews potions, and shares them mid-fight. See Ozan’s Alchemist.

Timeline

1. 2022-12-06 — A shared prophetic nightmare and a forged plea letter draw the party into the mists around Barovia; they meet Ismark and Irina Indirovich, shelter in the village church, get a tarot reading from Madame Eva, and arrive at Castle Ravenloft’s doors by carriage.
2. 2022-12-18 — Strahd greets the party for dinner and vanishes after being hit with a thrown roll; the party fights skeletons, finds the cursed Tome of Strahd, and falls through a trap door into a flooded dungeon level.
3. 2022-12-26 — A poison-gas trap gets set on fire and burns for most of the session; the party meets the pet-murdering armor Bartholomew and Jake claims a shapeshifting magic sword from the flames.
4. 2023-01-30 — The party invents “piss coat” to bypass warded bars, clears the catacombs beneath the castle (killing a banshee wife and a vampire bride of Strahd), learns Strahd’s Tatiana backstory, identifies the Sun Sword’s blade, and loses Donnie’s witch to vampirism at Strahd’s coffin.
5. 2023-02-12 — Donovan (now a vampire thrall) flees as mist; the party opens Strahd’s empty coffin and teleports into a brutal boss fight with Strahd himself, who dominates several PCs before escaping as mist.
6. 2023-03-12 — A riddle-trapped treasure room animates two iron golems; the party nearly loses Alumbra to poison and a critical fumble before grinding both golems down.
7. 2023-03-18 — Donovan is revealed to have secretly turned traitor; the party defeats him and a demon, then accidentally flings Donovan into the Astral Plane while trying to contain his mist form. A later ghost ambush in a dining hall nearly wipes the party.
8. 2023-03-18 — A short continuation: Todd explores alone, the party levels to 7 and handles character-build bookkeeping, and the session (and the campaign’s recorded run) ends early when the battle map breaks.

Major threads

Resolved

• The dinner invitation / tarot prophecy — overtaken by events once the party committed to the castle.
• The basement’s rumored magic item — the shapeshifting sword, later identified as the Sun Sword’s blade — 2022-12-26, 2023-01-30.
• Petrifying wards guarding Strahd’s crypt — bypassed with “piss coat” 2023-01-30 @ 04:25:30.
• The riddle/golem trap room — both golems destroyed 2023-03-12.
• Donovan’s betrayal, as a live threat — defeated and removed from play (flung into the Astral Plane) 2023-03-18.

Dangling / open

• Kolyan Indirovich’s disappearance and Irina Indirovich’s vampiric bite — never followed up on once the party moved on to the castle.
• The “tool of evil” from Madame Eva’s tarot prophecy — never explicitly identified; possibly the Sun Sword, but this is never confirmed on-screen.
• The Sun Sword’s missing hilt — never recovered.
• Strahd von Zarovich himself — still alive and un-fought-to-a-finish as of the last session.
• Donovan’s fate in the Astral Plane — had two hours to find a resting place or be destroyed forever; never resolved on-screen.
• The stolen copy of the Tome of Strahd — taken by a group of ghosts who captured (rather than killed) the party; never recovered.
• The tower with the pulsing red glass “heart” — discovered but unexplored at the very end of the campaign’s recorded run.

Unresolved

Whether this campaign was ever actually finished, abandoned, or picked up again off-mic is not something the transcripts say — the recorded sessions simply stop here and the group’s next recorded games are a different campaign (JakeDM’s).