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Darker Gifts - Curse of Strahd Expansion (9420412)
Darker Gifts - Curse of Strahd Expansion (9420412)
Darker Gifts
Curse of Strahd Expension
Supplement for players and dungeon masters of the world’s
most famous RPG containing rules for new dark gifts for the
Curse of Strahd storyline.
Illustrations by Brian Lee and Michael Wolmarans
Cover utilizes stock art
All the text from this ebook is released under OGL 1.0
written by Igor Moreno
#FAOC02-E
version 1.0
Mikhael Schroeder (order #9420412)
Curse of Strahd Expansion
Darker Gifts - Curse of Strahd Expansion
The current season of the D&D Adventur- As I started my own Curse of Strahd cam-
ers League has just started, with the Death paign with Death House I decided to adopt
House introductory adventure. the dark gifts mechanic even it’s a home
My favorite feature of the season so far campaign and not part of the Adventurers
however was not the adventure - a great League. But I wanted more, much more.
location-based crawl in its own right - but a I came up with 16 extra dark gifts that
nice little feature referred to in the Adven- players may acquire by being brought back
turers League Dungeon Master’s Guide as to life by the mists. The first four however
Dark Gifts. are not reproduced herein, so check out
The rules there state that any character the Adventurers League Dungeon Master’s
under 5th level may be instantly brought Guide for those.
back to life by the dark powers of the mists The rules are as follows: a character who
of Ravenloft, acquiring some horror-theme dies in Barovia can be revived with full hit
trait, such as becoming blind as their eyes points and spells on their next round if they
melt off their faces or developing gills for accept a dark gift. The traits that come
underwater (or should I say Black Lagoon?) with it remain until the character receives
breathing. However there was a prob- a remove curse spell. For added tension
lem with this feature. however I recommend making these
And the problem is that there effects permanent, or at least im-
are only four of them. Players possible to remove while the char-
get to roll a d4 each time acter remains in Ravenloft for the
they are resurrected in duration of the Curse of Strahd
this fashion, which may adventure.
easily cause a particular
unlucky character to
possess all four dark gifts
in no time.
3
Mikhael Schroeder (order #9420412)
Darker Gifts
d20 Dark Gift
1-4 See the Adventurers League Player’s Guide for these dark gifts.
5 The character develops claws with sharp talons where the hands and feet once were and
fur-like hair grows on the character’s body. The claws can be used as unarmed strikes (1d3
slashing) and climbing doesn’t halve the character’s speed anymore. Any time the character
encounters a hostile creature there is a chance a beastly personality will take over, causing
the character to instantly attack the creature if he or she fails on a DC 10 Charisma saving
throw. The character’s smelling sense also becomes heightened, granting him or her advan-
tage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smelling.
6 Ears similar to those of a bat grow on the character, heightening their hearing. The charac-
ter has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sound and acquires tremors-
ense up to 60 feet. The improved hearing however causes the character to have vulnerabil-
ity to thunder damage and loud noises can likewise stun the character for 1 round if he or
she fails a DC 10 Constitution saving throw, at the DM’s discretion.
7 Creatures of filth start to follow the character around, drawn to him or her by some super-
natural force. Once per long rest as an action the character can summon a swarm of insects
or rats, which appear instantly on any space up to 60 feet from the character. The swarm
instantly attacks any creature on that space or adjacent to it and cannot be commanded in
any way. As a collateral effect the character is more susceptible to disease, failing any saving
throw to resist infection, and also acquires vulnerability to necrotic damage.
8 The character’s mouth is magically sewn shut, preventing any form of speech – which also
makes it impossible to cast spells with verbal components. As a bonus action the charac-
ter can use a dagger or similar weapon to rip the seams open, becoming therefore able to
speak for a full round before the mouth is magically shut again. Doing so causes the charac-
ter to suffer 3 (1d6) points of damage.
9 A permanent catatonic state starts to afflict the character, causing disadvantage on Wisdom
(Perception) checks of any kind and therefore also a -5 penalty to the character’s passive
Perception score. Because of that any spell or similar ability that relies on the target’s atten-
tion – such as hearing a command or looking at the caster – has a chance of failure, granting
the character advantage on the saving throw to resist such an effect.
10 The character’s heart ceases to beat normally and must be made to function again through
electric shocks, which also grants the character immunity to lightning damage. Every 24
hours the character must be dealt an amount of lightning damage (which will not actually
affect the character’s hit points) equal to his or her Constitution score – cumulatively or all
at once – or drop instantly to 0 hit points. If this happens the character is dying and can only
be saved if he or she is dealt lightning damage within 3 rounds, which instantly revives
the character.
11 Whispers and ghostly apparitions start to haunt the character, who gains disadvantage in
any saving throw made to resist fear. During a long rest the character must also succeed on
a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw at the DM’s discretion as horrifying visages and dreams tor-
ment the character in his or her sleep. Failure in this save cancels the effect of the long rest.
The character also becomes less likely to fall for illusions as he or she starts to believe only
in the ghosts in their head, having advantage on saving throws and ability checks to discern
illusions from reality. The whispers and apparitions are real however and cannot
be dismissed.
12 The character’s spine bends and twists causing the character to assume a hunchback pos-
ture. Difficulty of movement reduces the character’s speed in 10 feet. Also, the character’s
bones become brittle, causing vulnerability to bludgeoning damage. The character’s climb-
4 ing speed is doubled however and falls up to 20 feet do not cause damage to the character.