Strahd von Zarovich
Count Strahd von Zarovich is a fictional character originally appearing as the feature villain in the highly popular Advanced Dungeons and Dragons adventure module I6: Ravenloft. Later, this character and his world would be explored in follow-up modules, novels, and the Ravenloft campaign setting. Within this setting, Strahd is the first and best-known of Ravenloft's darklords. He is a powerful ancient vampire. He is also a master necromancer, a skilled warrior, and the unquestioned ruler of the domain of Barovia.
Creative origins
In 1978, Tracy and Laura Hickman wrote adventures that would eventually be published as the Dungeon & Dragons modules Pharaoh and Ravenloft. Strahd was created by the Hickmans "after Tracy returned home from a disappointing session of D&D. Back in First Edition, the game was less of a storytelling game. It mostly involved charting randomized dungeons on graph paper and fighting whatever creatures were inside for their gold and experience points. In one of those random rooms was a vampire, which immediately stood out to Tracy. It didn't make sense to him why a creature like a vampire was just sitting around in a random dungeon with oozes, goblins, and zombies. So he and his wife set out to create a vampire villain with fleshed-out motivations and history". When the Hickmans began work on Ravenloft, they felt the vampire archetype had become overused, trite, and mundane, and decided to create a frightening version of the creature for the module. They play-tested it with a group of players every Halloween for five years on their own game system with the adventure titled Vampyr. However, the Hickmans kept being asked about their "Ravenloft game", and so the "Ravenloft" name stuck. The duo eventually caught the attention of D&D's original publishers. They were hired to adapt it into the First Edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and was released as Module I6: Ravenloft in 1983 by TSR.When creating Strahd, the Hickmans' vampire research started with an image of Bela Lugosi from 1931 before they explored older stories such as Bram Stoker's Dracula, John William Polidori's The Vampyre, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. "What the Hickmans found was that the romantic vampire of the earliest years of the genre was not just a spouse beater but a spouse killer, the archetype of abuse in the worst kind of destructive codependency". In 2016, Tracy Hickman said, "Strahd came directly from the roots of vampire lore. The origins of the modern vampire spring from feminine cautionary tales warning women away from the 'bluebeard' archetype. It was essential to understand this in order to properly construct him".
Publication history
1st edition
The adventure module I6: Ravenloft introduced Strahd von Zarovich, and centers upon the efforts of the player characters to help a young Barovian woman, Ireena Kolyana, escape the dreadful fate of so many others on whom "the devil Strahd" has cast his eye over the generations. The setting includes not only castle Ravenloft itself, but also the nearby village of Barovia, and a camp of gypsies led by Madame Eva, who had formed a kind of alliance with the vampire. Through the course of the adventure, players have the opportunity to learn Strahd's backstory and discover that Ireena is herself the reincarnation of Tatyana. Strahd himself is noted as being the first truly well-developed villain to appear in the AD&D game system, being fully capable of changing the course of events to suit his own evil ends.The immediate popularity of Ravenloft proved sufficient to warrant a sequel, I10: Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill, again casting Strahd von Zarovich in the central, villainous role. Set in the quiet, seaside town of Mordentshire, players of this adventure are confronted by two Strahds—the same monstrous vampire from Ravenloft, and a very human counterpart, known as the Alchemist. Shannon Appelcline, author of Designers & Dragons, highlighted the confusing continuity of Strahd's return in this module and that the second module suggests "the original 'Ravenloft' could be a dream. Or maybe this one is. Or maybe they're alternate realities. Combining them into one chronology doesn't seem possible". Additionally, "the original 'Ravenloft' has been the favored background for Strahd in more recent appearances".
The plot of Ravenloft II requires the players to discover the true nature of the vampiric threat afflicting Mordentshire, and then to discover the secret identity of the Creature and destroy him. Nothing of note is added to original nature or history of Strahd von Zarovich in the course of the adventure, though a number of characters of lesser importance, including the lich Azalin make their first appearance in this publication as well.
2nd edition
Though Ravenloft II did not enjoy the wide acclaim of the original, the phenomenon of Ravenloft proved sufficient for TSR, Inc. to place it and Strahd von Zarovich at the heart of a new product series released in 1990, Ravenloft: Realm of Terror — an entire campaign setting based on the Gothic horror theme of Ravenloft. After being featured in the Ravenloft setting, Strahd became one of the most popular villains appearing in Dungeons & Dragons. Game designer Rick Swan commented on Strahd: "A high-level necromancer of incomparable cunning, Strahd holds his own with Count Dracula as one of horror's most memorable bloodsuckers." The designers of Ravenloft: Realm of Terror decided to focus on campaign atmosphere which resulted in the Ravenloft setting becoming the "demiplane of dread". This demiplane now "included many horrific lands, including the lands of Barovia and Mordent from the two 'Ravenloft' modules. Strahd's backstory from the original 'Ravenloft' was even incorporated into the story of how Ravenloft, the demiplane of dread, came to be".In 1991, Strahd was a main character in two novels: Vampire of the Mists and Knight of the Black Rose. His official "autobiography" has been presented in two novels by P. N. Elrod: I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire and I, Strahd, the War Against Azalin. There are many similarities between the character of Strahd von Zarovich and that of fellow fictional vampire Barnabas Collins from the American 1960's-1970's soap opera Dark Shadows, as P.N. Elrod mentions on her personal Livejournal blog.
Strahd appeared in multiple adventure modules set in the new campaign setting and received "special attention in the final adventures of the Grand Conjunction sequence — RQ3: "From the Shadows" and RM1: "Roots of Evil" ". Roots of Evil added additional details to Strahd's background; such as, the introduction of the arcanaloth Inajira with whom Strahd "made a pact in far-gone times". The tenth Ravenloft adventure, RM4: House of Strahd, was a revamp of the original Ravenloft module with the following changes: it was updated to the AD&D 2e ruleset, Barovia lore was brought in line with the lore of the campaign setting, and Strahd was given a power boost "to reflect his status as a Dark Lord".
In 1994, Strahd returned in the second edition Ravenloft Campaign Setting boxed set which was a revision of the Ravenloft: Realm of Terror boxed set. Strahd was a main character in the DreamForge Intertainment video game Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession. Strahd also appears in the PlayStation game Iron & Blood: Warriors of Ravenloft and can be unlocked as a playable character via a secret code.
3rd and 3.5 edition
In 2001, White Wolf published the 3rd edition Ravenloft Campaign Setting which included a detailed timeline of Strahd's history. Dragon #315 featured a 3rd edition stat block for Strahd. Expedition to Castle Ravenloft was released after the Ravenloft publishing license reverted to Wizards of the Coast. This 3.5 edition update of the original Ravenloft module featured Strahd "front and center in the first chapter".4th edition
In 2010, Strahd made his board game debut in Castle Ravenloft Board Game. While a 4th edition update to the Ravenloft setting was announced at Gen Con 2010, the product was never released. Strahd's appearances were limited to official magazine articles, such as, Dungeon #207 "Fair Barovia" and Dragon #416 "History Check: Strahd and Van Richten".5th edition
Strahd returned as the featured villain in the 2016 adventure module Curse of Strahd for D&D fifth edition. On Strahd's role as the module's villain, Chris Perkins said, "in Gothic horror fiction, the villain's torment is often self-inflicted; the villain becomes, ironically, a victim of their own monstrous nature and horrible acts. He is a malignant narcissist trapped by his malignant narcissism – forever alone, forever feared and unable to change. He must be destroyed because salvation is beyond him. In horror fiction, the villain is framed as inhumanity personified, often serving as a cautionary tale: once you lose your humanity, you can never get it back. Other fantasy villains aren't usually burdened with that kind of terrifying reality".On the module's development process, Perkins said, "the Hickmans envisioned Strahd differently than he's depicted in the original Ravenloft adventure. Their image didn't match the Bela Legosi vampire quite so much. Tracy found an old daguerreotype that captured the look of Strahd in his mind, and we used that image as a reference to create a new look for the vampire". One of Tracy Hickman's objectives when working on Curse of Strahd "was to bring vampire folklore back to its roots". Tracy Hickman said, "Vampires have strayed from their original role in cautionary tales, which warned women about monsters and thereby empowered them. Strahd is a classic abusive monster who is, at his root, selfish. The tale is timeless and has nothing to do with some of the recent and harmful versions of glittering romance that vampires have appeared in". Strahd is then the villain in the limited series comic Dungeons and Dragons: Shadows of the Vampire written by Jim Zub, and illustrated by Max Dunbar and Nelson Daniel.
Strahd is included in the Barovia section of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, a campaign setting book which is focused on the various Domains of Dread. However, his stat block from Curse of Strahd is not reprinted in this book. He then appears in the novel Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd, by Delilah S. Dawson, which is the first Ravenloft novel to be published in 17 years.