The Dice, Camera, Action team has off this week. I figured I would take this opportunity to make a guide to Dice, Camera, Action. This page will give you basic information on the Curse of Strahd
series, the characters, and each episode. I'll update this each week until the campaign is complete.I went through my summaries and changed the links from Twitch to youtube. Twitch archived videos vanish after about a month, I guess. Changing all of the timestamps will be a long term project. For now, most of the old ones are broken.
What is Dice, Camera, Action?
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| The Strahd Puppet |
Chris Perkins: He has been in the D&D business for decades. He's written classic adventures and has risen to become known as the greatest dungeon master in the world. He runs the extremely popular Acquisitions, Inc. games which are held in jam-packed theaters at PAX conventions that occur every 6 months or so.
The Heroes
- He was given a key ring from a mysterious person long ago. He eventually learned that the keys unlock the Tome of Strahd.
- On the road, he came upon a body hanging from the gallows. The corpse looked exactly like him.
- Also known as "Diath, Windmill's Bane" because of his performance in the battle at the Old Bonegrinder.
- He was arrested for killing a guard in Vallaki. They hung him and he died.
- Diath became a disembodied spirit and inhabited Paultin's body for a time.
- While he possessed an undead golem lady, he gave a speech to an abbot and convinced the Abbot to resurrect.. himself.
- He has been referred to as "The Hanged Man" by creepy people on at least one occasion.
- Strix tried to heal him with a potion she took from the hags, but it was a potion of youth. Diath de-aged and is currently 18 years old.
- She has a pet mouse named Juniper.
- In episode 1, Strahd appeared in a campfire and gave her a long, meaningful stare.
- She has a magic axe called Lightfall. It is double-bladed, has the symbol of Lathander on it and it is gold-colored.
- Evelyn has a crush on Paultin.
- Madame Eva told her that she is the key to everything that is happening.
- The vistani loaned her a horse. She named it Valentina. Valentina died and Evelyn ended up with an undead horse named Mourning Glory.
- She contracted lycanthropy and was a werewolf.
- She sometimes didn't pay attention in paladin school because she was drawing horses.
- She once hugged Strix into consciousness.
- She has a second special axe called "Treebane." She pulled it out of the Gulthias Tree.
- She once turned into a werewolf and the group thought she ate a baby.
- He plays the lute and the bagpipe.
- Paultin has a magic item: Eyes of charming. He can charm people with them.
- Paultin agreed to go look at a windmill with Evelyn once the adventure is over. I think it's a date in Evelyn's mind.
- He has the power to give people a vistani curse.
- He knows that Van Richten killed his parents. He doesn't know why.
- He was replaced with a simulacrum for a short time.
- Paultin's shadow has been seen moving in impossible ways.
- Paultin agreed to be Strahd's ally. His job is to spy on the party.
- She has a pet cranium rat named Stinky.
- She is from Sigil, a city at the center of the multiverse.
- She carries snacks covered in pocket lint.
- She was a member of The Dustmen faction.
- She has an aunt, a brother and three cousins.
- Her brother is Izek Strazni, an evildoer with a demon arm.
- She accidentally killed Ireena, who she was trying to save from Strahd's clutches.
Words and Phrases
These are the terms that amuse me the most on this show:
- Butthander: This is the group's pet name for the god Lathander. Strix coined it when she theorized that Lathander wasn't helping them because he was busy picking his butt.
- Strix's horse was once described as a "moth-eaten heap of sadness."
- Burgermaster: Ruler of a settlement. Also known as a Burgomaster.
- Corpse Burrito: When you wrap up a dead body in a blanket and carry it around for days as it rots.
- Light-Touched Folk: Diath referred to the group as this when he gave his epic speech to the Abbot.
- 25 Units of Well-Being: A very positive way of saying 25 hit points.
- Ass Smear: A delicious pun and the nickname of Kasimir, an NPC that the group doesn't trust.
Episode 1: The group was camping, on their way to get some waffles. Mists surrounded them and sucked them into the cursed lands of Barovia. They explore the village of Barovia. They met a man named Ismark who needed their help.
Episode 2: The heroes met Ireena, who Strahd was obsessed with and was trying to turn her into his vampire bride. Ismark was her brother, who was trying to protect her. They joined the group.
The group fought a vampire spawn, who ended up impaled on a blade but ran away with it still stuck in him. The group agreed to bury Ismark's dead dad in the cemetery nearby. A pack of wolves surrounded the group...
Episode 3: The wolves backed off. In the graveyard, the group sees the tomb of someone named Escher. The group decided to bring Ireena to the town of Vallaki, thinking she could hide there. On the way there, the group came upon a camp of vistani (gypsies). Madame Eva did a tarokka reading. This reading is extremely important in the adventure. It determines many major details. The results:
- (Diath's card) The Tome of Strahd: Bishop - They'll find it "..beyond the amber doors."
- (Evelyn's card) The Holy Symbol of Ravenkind: Abjurer - The symbol is in "a fallen house guarded by a stone dragon."
- (Strix's card) The Sunsword: Anarchist - "Wall of bones - remains of enemies long forgotten."
- (Paultin's card) Strahd's Enemy: Mists - "A vistana searching for her mentor at St. Markovia's Abbey."
- (Chris's card) Strahd: Raven - "Look to the mother's tomb - the mother of evil." Madame Eva straight tells them that the mother of evil lies under Castle Ravenloft.
Episode 4: The group had a sprawling battle with the hags that lived in the windmill. They rescued two kids (Myrtle and Freek). This episode ended when Paultin and the kids were facing two hags while the rest of group fought the mother hag.
Episode 5: The heroes defeated the hags after almost getting pushed off of a very high ledge. Ismark took the kids and brought them back to Barovia. The rest of the group went with Ireena to Vallaki.
Episode 6: The group arrived in Vallaki. They met Ricavio, who interpreted Madame Eva's reading:
- Evelyn: The Holy Symbol of Ravenkind is in Argynvostholt.
- Diath: The Tome of Strahd is in The Amber Temple.
- Paultin: Ezmerelda is in St. Markovia's Abbey.
- Strix: The Sunsword is in a bone ossuary in Castle Ravenloft.
Episode 7: Lady Wachter showed Strix around her devil-house. Lady Wachter urged her to accept Strahd as her lord. Diath killed a guard, so he was put in the stocks. Then he was brought to the gallows and hung!
Episode 8: Diath died! Evelyn prayed to Lathander and had a really weird experience where time slowed down. Only Paultin saw a strange skull in the clouds. They traveled to Krezk to see if the mysterious Abbot could bring Diath back to life.
Episode 9: Diath's spirit possessed Paultin's body. The group didn't believe him when he tried to tell them. They got to the abbey, but there were all these mongrelfolk there. The group hid from them in a courtyard. They heard a dinner bell..
* Episode 10: As the group made their way to the Abbot, Diath possessed a mongrelman and a flesh golem lady. The Abbot brought Diath back to life. Ezmerelda was watching - she was the person described in Paultin's Tarokka reading.
Episode 11: Werewolves attacked Krezk. The heroes fought them. Strahd showed up on his nightmare (evil flying horse) and grabbed Ireena. Trying to save Ireena, Strix cast hold person on her. This sent Ireena falling to the ground. Ireena died!
* Episode 12: Strahd beat up the group. They regrouped in a house. Strahd killed Walter the horse. Evelyn cast find steed and summoned a hideous undead horse she named Mourning Glory. Strahd bit Ezmerelda. As her dying action, she cursed Strahd. Both of them were swallowed up in a fog. Paultin later had a flashback that he was a vistani and that Van Richten killed his parents.
Episode 13: Strix found a Strahd doll. When noone else was around, Strahd spoke to Paultin through it. Strahd wanted Paultin to join him. Evelyn turned into a werewolf overnight but the group had tied her to a tree. A crazy kid from Krezk attacked them, but Diath killed him. The heroes ended up at a winery overrun with evil tree-monsters controlled by druids. The wereraven owner begged the heroes to help. They group went inside and killed a druid. Strix looked at his evil staff...
Episode 14: The evil staff put Strix into a sort of coma. She had a vision of Yester Hill. Evelyn snapped her out of it. The group killed another druid, which eliminated the threat. The winery was saved. The group agreed to go to Yester Hill to get a magic gem that would get the winery working again.
Episode 15: The group got into a huge battle with druids and an animated tree. They came out on top and obtained the magic gem.
Episode 16: The group rested in a cellar at the winery. They chained Evelyn up. During the night, someone cut her free and werewolf Evelyn went on a rampage. The group thought she might have killed the baby of the guy who owned the winery. It turned out that Evelyn just killed some goats. A creepy guy named Kasimir saved the baby. He handed over the baby and eventually convinced the group to come with him to the amber temple.
Episode 17: The group had to travel through Tsolenka Pass to get to the amber temple. There were some vrocks here that really beat up the group badly. They barely survived. Strix finally used magic to convince them she was a demon lord and they left the group alone. They rested for the night there at the pass. They heard wings flapping outside.
* Episode 18: The group never found out what made that flapping noise. The group made it to the amber temple. They encounter a huge hooded statue that fires off a bunch of spells that just about killed the whole group. Strix realized Kasimir is an ally of Strahd and tricked them into going in the amber temple. Kasimir caused a collapse that trapped the group in the temple. After a long rest, the group tried to fight some flameskulls, but they hit the group with fireballs. Paultin... melts!
Episode 19: It turns out that the Paultin in the temple was a simulacrum. The real Paultin was imprisoned in Castle Ravenloft. He escaped his cell and ultimately decided to meet with Strahd when he could have escaped through a portal. In the temple, the group fought an amber statue.
Episode 20: Paultin met with Strahd and after much indecision, he agreed to be Strahd's spy. In the temple, the group befriended a lich who had lost his memory. The group got a look at the vestiges trapped in amber. Evelyn remembered that according to the tarokka readings, one of the items they needed is "beyond amber doors."
* Episode 21: In the temple, the group found the Tome of Strahd. Evelyn prayed to Lathander, but Strahd responded! He tried to get her to get dark gifts from the vestiges, but she figured out what was going on. In the castle, Paultin tried to escape by having a wereraven ally fly him out through a window. The wereraven was killed by crossbow bolts and Paultin plummeted to the ground far below. The assassin was Ezmerelda, who was last seen being killed by Strahd as she put a curse on him.
Favorite Moments
Here are some of my favorite moments from the show, in no particular order: