Former D&D designer Chris Perkins has spent decades dwelling on Strahd von Zarovich. From running his first Ravenloft module at age 15, to penning fifth edition’s most successful adventure, Curse of Strahd, Perkins has fallen in love with the vampire over and over again. Strahd may be, in Perkins’ words, “an irredeemable, monstrous figure”, but Dungeons and Dragons players are cyclically drawn back to him.
Curse of Strahd is testament to that. 10 years after the campaign’s release, we’re still playing it, still talking about it – and Perkins says Strahd is a major reason why.
The original 1983 Ravenloft module was “the first D&D adventure that was villain-focused rather than location-focused”, Perkins explains. Strahd von Zarovich, an aging lord who murders his brother to steal his betrothed, is doomed to vampirism, trapped in a hell of his own making where he is forced to repeat his actions for all time.
It’s a dramatic, tragic tale, even before the heroes appear to end the suffering Strahd causes. “It really speaks to people”, Perkins says. “There’s obviously something very primal about the story for it to resonate on that level.” “I can’t take credit for that”, he adds. “That’s all Tracy and Laura [Hickman, creators of Ravenloft] – and Bram Stoker, frankly.”
Anyone who’s read Dracula will know that Strahd is part of a rich tradition of literary vampires. We can read our fears into them, but there is pain and desire there, too. “One of the hallmarks of a good Gothic story is that there are hidden depths beneath the surface”, Perkins says.
“Vampires are an easy sell for people, because we can relate to them as human beings”, he adds. “We can see something of ourselves in these monsters that were human but have descended and basically become the embodiment of hell in the mortal world.”
“Strahd’s no different”, Perkins tells me. “Here you have this tragic figure who literally cannot see himself in a mirror.” “He can’t see himself, so he keeps making the same mistakes, because he doesn’t know who he is.” “There’s a psychological turmoil that broils within him and exudes from him.”
“He’s a stand-in for every abusive, power-driven human desire”, he continues. “He’s possessive, obsessive, and he embodies all the worst traits of humanity – so he’s relatable.”
The original Ravenloft was rich in such characterization, despite (as Perkins calls it) an “economical” writing style. With Curse of Strahd, it was Perkins’ goal to stay faithful to the module’s villain-first nuance, even as he built up the world around the original module’s castle.
“If I was going to dare expand the setting around Castle Ravenloft, it should feel like those places had always been there, waiting to be explored”, he tells me. “My guiding principle was the villain-centric nature of the story.” “Everything I added had to be tied directly to Strahd the vampire – either to show some new layer or evil present in him or reflect something horrible he did.”
Perkins tells me it was “exhilarating” to spend so much time inside the mind of the monster. “I was not surprised how much creative space there still was to delve into”, he says. “I could peel back the layers of Strahd’s backstory and still find new things – that land was super fertile.”
10 years after Curse of Strahd (and 43 years after Ravenloft), Perkins still thinks there could be new ground to cover in Barovia. “Strahd is entwined with D&D forever at this point”, he tells me. “Because it’s so resonant, I think there’s certainly an appetite for more.”
“I don’t know if it would be a refresh of the original, a sequel, or something parallel”, he says. “Because we were very careful with the 2024 rulebooks, you don’t really need a new Curse of Strahd for compatibility reasons, but you could certainly do it.” “Any business after 10 years would look at it and say there’s probably room for a revision”, he adds.
Perkins, now a creative director at Critical Role’s Darrington Press, is no longer working with Wizards of the Coast. That means he can’t say for sure if a remake is on the Tarokka cards (plus, he tells me his crystal ball is broken).
Still, D&D has just announced a new Ravenloft book. Wizards of the Coast loves a nostalgia trip, and with Ravenloft’s 50th anniversary just a few years away….
Whatever happens, Perkins wishes the next steward of Strahd “the best of luck”. “I’ve rarely had as much fun playing in a setting the way I got to play in Barovia.”
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Source: Wargamer
