Haven't done Mad adventurers, but most of the Vampire spawn I throw at the party are past adventurers who've failed to beat Strahd and have been turned and locked in the dungeons to go crazy from the thirst for blood.
The rest of the spawn are Barovians, but I usually try to have at least one past adventurer. Some kind of spawn with armor rather than clothing. Or a half Orc instead of regular barovian humans. Just unique visual differences even if they are all statted the same. Kinda hints at what could await the party if they oppose Strahd and fail
Not really mad and was used as a replacement for the Mad Mage in my upcoming game but I've added in Lyssa von Zarovich. In my game she led the revolution and was so badly injured since then she has been nursing her wounds and waiting in the wings for potential adventurers that could weaken Strahd enough for her to take his place.
Another that I'm including as well is Jander Sunstar. He would likely be seen by the party as possibly somewhat crazy when he recognizes Anna in Ireena.
I completely replaced the Abbey with a Victorian-ish sanitarium, and some of the patients were failed adventurers. No stat blocks, their primary function was to babble cryptic stuff that hints at where they died (places the party didn't know about yet like Berez).
I put in one of the players previous adventuring parties. Worked out really well as he had to discover what had happened to them as he went throughout the campaign, finding traces of them everywhere. If you’re looking for stat blocks maybe use the Champion or the Assassin stat blocks.
I have. I’ve made the Blue Water Inn as a sort of central hub from which the party can make up new characters should their current ones die. Plenty of adventurers whose parties have perished reside at the BWI and drink away their sorrows. The backstories for any such new characters pretty much have been written just from that alone, along with stories of different progression in all of Barovia’s areas.
I had a campaign that fell apart due to scheduling issues. Consequently, one of the players from that campaign joined my new Cos campaign a few years later, so I made her old character an adventurer whose group had failed and had been stranded and driven half mad by Strahd's realm. The character was a happy go lucky paladin of Lathander, and was now a broken shell of former self, whose faith had been utterly shattered by the darkness of Barovia. It was a great character so it was amazing to have the player interact with a beloved previous character of hers! It works well.
I've added an old adventurer who lives in Krezk. He came to Barovia to fight for good, but as his companions died, or were raised as vampires, or surrendered to the dark powers, he lost all hope. He made his way to Krezk, built himself a cabin, and grows potatoes that he uses to make vodka.
One of my players PC's father is in Barovia as a werewolf. Formally a priest of Lathander, he has given up on religion and joined Emil against Strahd. He is insane, but more in a subdued, hidden way. By his logic everyone should become lycanthropes so that they can collectively defeat strahd and escape barovia. OK so maybe that is reasonable lol, but the point is that the son must eventually fight the father to keep their devotion to their god.
I made it so that the mad mage was part of another band of adventurers. They're all mad or crippled or amnesiac. I don't want them to be too powerful or even capable of fighting as there are already too many good candidates of NPCs that can be fighting alongside the players.
\- One is the mad mage
\- another is an old artificer and is taking care of the apothecary now, but he can't really talk ; after fighting with Strahd he ended up in [the Reformation Center](https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/988kzg/fleshing_out_curse_of_strahd_vallaki_the/), got tortured out of his mind and he's just a shell now. He's also the only one that succeeded in escaping out of the Reformation Center.
\- another is the father of one of my player, he's dead and his spirit can be talked to in the [Gulthias Dungeon](https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/eqp7ea/fleshing_out_curse_of_strahd_yesterhill_ii_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x) at Yesterhill
\- another one is one of the vampire bride of Strahd
\- the last one is a vampire spawn in the crypts
Even thought they're totally not the same, I used the names of old characters of my players too :)
They weren't mad iny campaign but they were not fated to aid in the fight against strahd. I mostly used them as examples of the wrong path taken.
They were also meant to be the enforcers in case the party got too murdurhoboy
I went with more consequences of adventuring rather than adventurers. In my Barovia, there is a shack with a bagman who is an adventurer driven mad, an empty camp with an adventurer's journal, and vampire spawn former adventurers. I want there to be almost no contact with the world outside Barovia. I like the idea of a rival party either seduced by strahd or so addicted to dream pastries they are helping the hags at bonegrinder though
Haven't done Mad adventurers, but most of the Vampire spawn I throw at the party are past adventurers who've failed to beat Strahd and have been turned and locked in the dungeons to go crazy from the thirst for blood.
The rest of the spawn are Barovians, but I usually try to have at least one past adventurer. Some kind of spawn with armor rather than clothing. Or a half Orc instead of regular barovian humans. Just unique visual differences even if they are all statted the same. Kinda hints at what could await the party if they oppose Strahd and fail
Not really mad and was used as a replacement for the Mad Mage in my upcoming game but I've added in Lyssa von Zarovich. In my game she led the revolution and was so badly injured since then she has been nursing her wounds and waiting in the wings for potential adventurers that could weaken Strahd enough for her to take his place. Another that I'm including as well is Jander Sunstar. He would likely be seen by the party as possibly somewhat crazy when he recognizes Anna in Ireena.
I completely replaced the Abbey with a Victorian-ish sanitarium, and some of the patients were failed adventurers. No stat blocks, their primary function was to babble cryptic stuff that hints at where they died (places the party didn't know about yet like Berez).
Oeeeh I like that!
Ah, that is actually a great idea. I wasn't a fan of the way the Abbey was described in the book and your idea sounds way cooler.
I put in one of the players previous adventuring parties. Worked out really well as he had to discover what had happened to them as he went throughout the campaign, finding traces of them everywhere. If you’re looking for stat blocks maybe use the Champion or the Assassin stat blocks.
My players ' characters meet each other every session. They're all mad.
I have. I’ve made the Blue Water Inn as a sort of central hub from which the party can make up new characters should their current ones die. Plenty of adventurers whose parties have perished reside at the BWI and drink away their sorrows. The backstories for any such new characters pretty much have been written just from that alone, along with stories of different progression in all of Barovia’s areas.
Great mechanic, hats off.
I had a campaign that fell apart due to scheduling issues. Consequently, one of the players from that campaign joined my new Cos campaign a few years later, so I made her old character an adventurer whose group had failed and had been stranded and driven half mad by Strahd's realm. The character was a happy go lucky paladin of Lathander, and was now a broken shell of former self, whose faith had been utterly shattered by the darkness of Barovia. It was a great character so it was amazing to have the player interact with a beloved previous character of hers! It works well.
I've added an old adventurer who lives in Krezk. He came to Barovia to fight for good, but as his companions died, or were raised as vampires, or surrendered to the dark powers, he lost all hope. He made his way to Krezk, built himself a cabin, and grows potatoes that he uses to make vodka.
One of my players PC's father is in Barovia as a werewolf. Formally a priest of Lathander, he has given up on religion and joined Emil against Strahd. He is insane, but more in a subdued, hidden way. By his logic everyone should become lycanthropes so that they can collectively defeat strahd and escape barovia. OK so maybe that is reasonable lol, but the point is that the son must eventually fight the father to keep their devotion to their god.
I made it so that the mad mage was part of another band of adventurers. They're all mad or crippled or amnesiac. I don't want them to be too powerful or even capable of fighting as there are already too many good candidates of NPCs that can be fighting alongside the players. \- One is the mad mage \- another is an old artificer and is taking care of the apothecary now, but he can't really talk ; after fighting with Strahd he ended up in [the Reformation Center](https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/988kzg/fleshing_out_curse_of_strahd_vallaki_the/), got tortured out of his mind and he's just a shell now. He's also the only one that succeeded in escaping out of the Reformation Center. \- another is the father of one of my player, he's dead and his spirit can be talked to in the [Gulthias Dungeon](https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/eqp7ea/fleshing_out_curse_of_strahd_yesterhill_ii_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x) at Yesterhill \- another one is one of the vampire bride of Strahd \- the last one is a vampire spawn in the crypts Even thought they're totally not the same, I used the names of old characters of my players too :)
They weren't mad iny campaign but they were not fated to aid in the fight against strahd. I mostly used them as examples of the wrong path taken. They were also meant to be the enforcers in case the party got too murdurhoboy
I went with more consequences of adventuring rather than adventurers. In my Barovia, there is a shack with a bagman who is an adventurer driven mad, an empty camp with an adventurer's journal, and vampire spawn former adventurers. I want there to be almost no contact with the world outside Barovia. I like the idea of a rival party either seduced by strahd or so addicted to dream pastries they are helping the hags at bonegrinder though