Strahd's Barovia: A Guide to D&D's Most Famous Horror Setting (2024)

This is Barovia, the most famous horror setting of Dungeons & Dragons. In this article, we'll introduce you to the most important things to know before you begin your adventures in this dark land.Beware! Spoilers for Curse of Strahd lurk ahead!

• Strahd: The First Darklord of the Domains of Dread
• Barovia is a Melancholic Realm Encircled by the Mists
• Fresh Variations of Horror in Olde Barovia

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Strahd: The First Darklord of the Domains of Dread

It’s impossible to talk about Barovia without discussing Strahd von Zarovich, who first made his appearance in 1983’s famous I6 module Ravenloft. He would return in every subsequent edition of D&D. Eventually, Ravenloft became the name for the greater setting of the Domains of Dread, a patchwork Shadowfell realm consisting of Barovia and other kingdoms pulled from various worlds. Each kingdom is ruled by a tyrant who committed sins in life and was awarded the title of Darklord by otherworldly forces known only as the Dark Powers.

A History Lesson on Strahd

Old D&D lore, as outlined in Ravenloft sourcebooks such as second edition’s Realm of Terror, have established Strahd as the first Darklord. The following aspects of this iconic villain are worth memorizing:

Strahd was a warlord who defeated the enemies of his deceased father, King Barov. After slaying them in a remote valley, Strahd was amazed by the region’s beauty and dubbed the land Barovia. His wartime experiences caused him to grow cruel, however.

His mother, Queen Ravenovia van Roeyen, was fearful of him, and she was unappeased by the castle named Ravenloft that he constructed in her honor.

Strahd was envious of the love his mother showered on his brother, Sergei. When the queen died, Strahd’s envy turned to hatred, especially when the woman he desired, a native Barovian named Tatyana, fell for Sergei instead of him.

On the day of Tatyana and Sergei’s wedding, Strahd flew into a rage and murdered his brother. He chased Tatyana until she flung herself from the spires of Castle Ravenloft to her death. Guards littered Strahd with arrows as penance, but the son of King Barov had consumed the blood of his brother and embraced undeath.

Strahd’s kingdom was spirited away to the Domains of Dread, and Strahd became an immortal ruler haunted by untouchable reincarnations of Tatyana. The latest of these incarnations is Ireena Kolyana. Keep this in mind when you portray Strahd. By default, he’s a vile tyrant and the epitome of entitlement, but in many ways he could also be seen as lonely and emotional. Peruse nuanced portrayals of Dracula in film as inspiration for Strahd. Bram Stoker's Dracula and the anime adaptation of Castlevania are superb places to start.

Strahd is as much a prisoner of Barovia as he is its master. If Strahd is killed, the Dark Powers will resurrect him in a matter of months. Whether Strahd truly understands the nature of the Dark Powers that have shackled him to the Domains of Dread is a matter up for debate. But while outsiders can enter the Domains of Dread if the Mists surrounding these lands permit them to, nearly all of the Darklords are trapped in their individual kingdoms. The Dark Powers taunt the Darklords by dashing their hopes time and again. In Strahd’s case, his desire for a life with Ireena is something he can never realize.

Despite being undead, Strahd is still a count who considers the Barovian populace his subjects. He has spies at his disposal, including werewolves and druids who worship him on Yester Hill, a prominent landmark in western Barovia. Strahd even has an accountant named Lief Lipsiege who’s been an intriguing fixture of Ravenloft since the original I6 module. This man isn’t undead, either — he’s just a servant that Strahd keeps chained up in Castle Ravenloft to count his money for him! (Maybe a lifetime in servitude keeping tabs on a vampire’s finances is a fate worse than undeath?)

Barovia is a Melancholic Realm Encircled by the Mists

Barovia is a demiplane bordered by the Mists, which act as living vapors that often seep out into the Material Plane to pull strangers within. Like Strahd himself, locals cannot leave — which means that aside from the occasional foreigner, Barovia is largely a closed ecosystem.

Strahd’s subjects live in three major communities:

• Barovia, which lies in the shadow of Castle Ravenloft and is named after the valley
• Vallaki, which is the closest thing to a city in Ravenloft
• Krezk, a religious town that sits at the edge of the Domain of Dread

What Barovians Are Like

Barovians are superstitious and distrustful, and Curse of Strahd states that only about one in 10 of them truly possess a soul. The others are empty shells bereft of charm and imagination. The original I6 Ravenloft module, however, contains a compelling description: “Barovians are, by tradition, a happy people, though their history and current conditions are not happy.”

To me, this translates as an ability to endure under harsh conditions — for the folks who have souls, at least. In your game, you can communicate this through the day-to-day habits and religious practices of Barovians. They worship deities like the Morninglord and drown their sorrows with wine from the Wizard of Wines winery.

The baron of Vallaki also holds festivals to keep spirits up. He believes that if he can make all of his people happy, then they can escape Strahd. You can draw inspiration from films like Midsommar to emphasize the creepiness of suchcelebrations!

Groups Who Oppose Strahd

There are segments of Barovian society that resist Strahd’s rule. The most powerful of these was a knightly organization— known as the Order of the Silver Dragon— that was destroyed. But the Keepers of the Feather, a family of wereravens hiding in Vallaki, remains a prominent group that opposes Strahd.

The dusk elves — rare nonhuman residents of Barovia — might also be allies to those who oppose Strahd. The Darklord killed all of their women after the death of Patrina Velikovna, a dusk elf female who sought to become his bride but who was stoned to death by her own people.

The Vistani are traveling folk who can pass through the Mists and explore other Domains of Dread and even the planes beyond. How they received such powers has varied over the years, but Curse of Strahd states that the Vistani saved Strahd’s life and remain one of the few groups that he is indebted to and who are allowed to travel freely.

Vistani matriarch Madam Eva also happens to be Strahd’s half-sister — a mind-boggling fact that the vampire himself is unaware of — and regularly asks her people to find otherworldly adventurers who might be able to set her half-brother free. One could easily play Madam Eva as the grand mastermind behind all that happens in Barovia, manipulating both the players and the vampire himself for a benevolent cause.

Mordenkainen of Greyhawk fame also makes an appearance in Curse of Strahd. He is described as a “mad mage” who came to the valley to defeat its ruler but caught a case of amnesia in the process.Because the Mists of Barovia are undiscriminating in who they pull in, Dungeon Masters are free to inject some iconic and unusual allies into this Domain of Dread, from Elminster to Drizzt Do’Urden.

Fresh Variations of Horror in Olde Barovia

Old Svalich Road cuts through Barovia and has been trodden by many adventurers over the years. Whether you’re a Dungeon Master guiding your party along this path for the first time or a grizzled veteran planning a return trip, have a gander at the following thought fodder:

• Reimagine Strahd von Zarovich and his motives. Perhaps Strahd is riddled with grief over murdering his brother, Sergei, and spends his eternity trying — and failing— to save incarnations of his brother from certain death. Or maybe Strahd was turned into a lich by the Dark Powers, and he searches Barovia for a phylactery that is kept hidden from him. The phylactery could be fueled by the emotional torment of those who dwell in Barovia.
• The party ismade up of residents of Barovia. Imagine if the party was composed of Vistani, members of the Keepers of the Feather, and dusk elves. A crew that has grown up together under Strahd’s shadow would be united in their quest to liberate their families from the vampire’s grasp. This tweak would not only make the campaign more personal but also offer up opportunities to utilize the forthcoming lineages expected to debut in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, including the dhampir and hexblood.
• Explore Strahd’s relationship with other Darklords. Darklords are usually unable to leave their respective domains, but the Dungeon Master holds the power to twist these rules for the sake of an epic story. Perhaps Strahd seeks to embrace his warlord roots and take over other Domains of Dread. Or maybe agents of other Darklords have infiltrated Barovia to steal secrets from the Amber Temple, the place where Strahd gained his power.
• Barovia is being invaded.For an antagonist with a personal vendetta against Strahd, look no further than Azalin, a lich who escaped Barovia to preside over Darkon, another Domain of Dread.

Venture Into the Mists

Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloftcontains rules for devising your own Domain of Dread, because while Barovia might be the most famous Domain, the greatest horrors arethe ones you create yourself. Put that eldritch imagination to the test, and remember to tease your players with this iconic line:“The master of Ravenloft is having guests for dinner … and you are invited!”

Jeremy Blum (@PixelGrotto) is a journalist, gaming blogger, comic book aficionado, and fan of all forms of storytelling who rolled his first polyhedral dice while living in Hong Kong in 2017. Since then, he's never looked back and loves roleplaying games for the chance to tell the tales that have been swirling in his head since childhood.