Lord Vasili von Holz. Alias, monster, friendly PC?

[Epically]

So I finally picked up CoS and intend to run it. One of my regular players know a lot of Ravenloft lore and characters and does a lot of OOG, so I proposed the most challenging thing that I've ever done and he's ever done. To have the BBEG as a PC.
One the goals of Strahd is to be on the lookout for a successor, or in the very least a worthy associate. On the DM side of things, the world is constantly reporting back to the him about the deeds of the party - and especially if someone has more evil tendencies he pays close attention to them.
So to me, I read that as he's been doing this for centuries now. Strahd has become bored of watching adventurers and has decided to become an adventurer and watch the party as closely as he actually can.

I've got a ton of ideas and goals for him to have, ways to get around spoilers, changes to the module, etc....

What do you guys think? Ever done something like this and did it work?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I have only one thing to say....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

(love it)

[Epically]

Lol. Thanks.
As briefly discussed with the player, there is going to be a huge amount of outliers to make this possible. I'm actually hoping in this thread for everyone to ask a question, and if I can't answer it then we can discuss how to fix it.

[Mischief]

A lot of people do this.... for the Death House. Once they escape, Strahd dramatically reveals himself, thanks the players for showing him a fun time, informs them they can't leave and to expect an invitation to Ravenloft if they remain entertaining, and then scoots of into the night with a laugh. A coffin awaits the PCs (sometimes one for each), and when they lift the lid they find the exsanguinated body of the character he replaced.

Why not continue the deception after that? Strahd is still replacing the character and the Strahd they saw was someone disguised as him. (Probably a new deception and performance skill-based NPC minion you should design. A doppelganger is a good option. Not that the PCs have a frame of reference for what Strahd looks like anyway.) Instead of killing the victim Strahd replaced, s/he can be an inch from death with a note "I left a little behind, should any of you care for a taste." Or you can just 'kill' the PC (feign death) and add the Adventurer's League character Jenny Greenteeth, a green hag, who can provide early level clericking services, including revival, for a price. There are a lot of weird items to find in CoS like bear's heads and frogs on sticks, and playing her as obsessed with bizarre and morbid trinkets gives these oddities some use.

Whatever you do, don't call Strahd's alter-ego Vasili von Holtz. That name is about as obvious as Bitey von Jugular. Swapping Strahd's gender for his disguise is even more effective.

Play up how suspicious Rictavio is. Perhaps van Richten knows the Strahd PC's identity, but also knows Strahd has woven a conspiracy to make the famous vampire hunter look like an agent of the vampire. Strahd has planted "clues" to make it look like van Richten is actually his ally who has been killing rivals and outing the secrets of other Darklords on Strahd's pay/behalf/blackmail. Rictavio can't reveal his identity to the PC group (Strahd doesn't know who Rictavio is either) but wants to separate the Vampire from the humans, and is especially worried Strahd may discover the wereravens. He slipped them a secret note of warning, but the wereravens have been around the block with Strahd before, and have already taken precautions.

Throw a couple Kargat/agents of another land in the mix somewhere along the line. New Ravenloft players are often curious about the other lands (but unable to see them).

Edit: Some people with no intention of running Ravenloft outside CoS have replaced the lich Exethanter in the amber temple with Azalin, as sort of an in joke. Consider doing that for real, with Azalin usurping a lich's body, puppeting it from a distance, and dressing it up as himself in his old Ravenloft uniform. If Strahd is still with the party by the Amber Temple (and he should be for the temple at least because seeing the PCs corrupt themselves with the coffins is probably going to be the highlight of the show, second to chasing them around and killing them) have Azalin play innocent and just grind the gears out of Strahd. Azalin gives his rendition of Strahd's backstory, helpfully points out the castle model, that sort of thing. Strahd just has to sit there, seethe in silence, and act normal, which is of course why Azalin bothered. The players won't know who Azalin is (and Azalin doesn't use his name) but they can insight check the situation - the lich seems to be having a personal joke at the expense of the party and has such a formidable reputation that by sight alone most other creatures in the temple flee in terror, but who and why? This works even better if Kargat agents appeared earlier.

===

Here is question. How do you handle Madame Eva's card read and the location of the artifacts and Strahd's reaction to them?

Also I assume you are cutting out the "something blue" event? Is Sergei going to make an appearance anywhere else?

How do you plan to pass notes to your player without the other players getting suspicious? Text messages at the table, planning ahead of time, regular breaks? You may want to try this out ahead of time.

[Epically]

The Madam Eva part is admittedly going to be tricky. I haven't worked that out yet.

I pass notes to all my players regularly. Some of them just say things like, "How was your day? Don't answer and continue on.", or "Read this and act surprised but say nothing.". So no notable suspicions there.

I was talking about a few things with my player last night and we thought that instead of pretending to be a party member under his alias guise, perhaps an improved version of possession. We talked about me giving only vital information so he can still experience the story without all the subplot adventure spoilers. Plus whilst he is the Dark Lord and many other things, he differently isn't omnipotent. He doesn't know everyone and every thing.

In regards to the something blue event, I just came up with a great idea just then. I'm thinking once they reach the pool, the character he's possessed feels compelled to drink from the pool. This is Sergei. Once that happens, Strahd is banished from the character and is back in his chamber at Castle Ravenloft. This gives time for the event to happen. I mention above some things I discussed with my player, and one of them was, "At some point in this campaign, you won't be playing as Strahd anymore." And this is the reference. Which is actually where the possession idea came from because he said, "Well whoever he is possessing, just have him retain memories throughout the possession and when the time comes, I just start playing that person instead.".

[Mischief]

The Madam Eva part is admittedly going to be tricky. I haven't worked that out yet.

I pass notes to all my players regularly. Some of them just say things like, "How was your day? Don't answer and continue on.", or "Read this and act surprised but say nothing.". So no notable suspicions there.

I was talking about a few things with my player last night and we thought that instead of pretending to be a party member under his alias guise, perhaps an improved version of possession. We talked about me giving only vital information so he can still experience the story without all the subplot adventure spoilers. Plus whilst he is the Dark Lord and many other things, he differently isn't omnipotent. He doesn't know everyone and every thing.

In regards to the something blue event, I just came up with a great idea just then. I'm thinking once they reach the pool, the character he's possessed feels compelled to drink from the pool. This is Sergei. Once that happens, Strahd is banished from the character and is back in his chamber at Castle Ravenloft. This gives time for the event to happen. I mention above some things I discussed with my player, and one of them was, "At some point in this campaign, you won't be playing as Strahd anymore." And this is the reference. Which is actually where the possession idea came from because he said, "Well whoever he is possessing, just have him retain memories throughout the possession and when the time comes, I just start playing that person instead.".

If you want the player be naive about the setting, why not play it as a lost memory scenario? So Strahd had it out with Mordenkainen not that long before the module starts. What if Mordenkainen got him pretty good, and Strahd has been experiencing bouts of intermittent amnesia? Sometimes he is himself with all his powers and spells, and sometimes he forgets and basically regresses to a lower level state with only a very broken recollection of his past (but still fundamentally the same personality). He has been given advice on how to rediscover himself by redoing some of the actions of the past. He can't be a general and wage war in his tiny little domain, so being an adventurer temporarily is the next best option. Haughty creature that he is, he decided the only worthy opponent in Barovia is himself (and his own forces), so he deliberately hasn't told his own side what he is up to and thus the danger to himself and the party is all real and organic.

You can think of it as the two-strahd scenario but playing out in one body (or one body and one possessed body). The player gets some autonomy in how they run Strahd's character and doesn't have to know too many spoilers, but Strahd the regular is still under your command.

Eventually, if/when the player wants to be his own character, you can split the Strahd PC in two with the Apparatus - and then the plot becomes Strahd not-the-PC wanting to shove his Darklord responsibilities off on Strahd-the-PC who seems to have gotten over himself and thus can leave Barovia.
Run CoS, then detour off to kind of Gryphon Hill (maybe Mordent is conjoined with Barovia at the moment), and then come back to the main show.