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Fleshing Out Curse of Strahd: Mysterious Secrets
Fleshing Out Curse of Strahd: Mysterious Secrets
Mysterious Secrets
T
he following list of mysterious secrets were
3
Secrets .......................................................................................
other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos
are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries.
and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the
T
he following list of mysterious secrets were
seemingly benign.
cards and cut them out individually, allowing your players to 1. Crimson Beginnings
draw a card randomly from the deck. If a player is unsatisfied
In your earliest memory, you are lost in the woods and
with the result of their roll or draw, the Dungeon Master can
covered in blood. The memory still haunts you and colors
choose to let them redraw their secret.
your dreams in red.
Once the campaign begins, the players have full authority
Optional Feature: Countless restless nights have better
over when they share their secret, if ever. Some players will
enabled you to stay up without sleep. When you take a long
delight in guarding their secret as long as possible, while
rest, you can choose to roll a DC 12 Constitution saving
some will decide to share them right away.
throw. On a success, two additional hours of your rest may be
Mysterious Secrets
3
2. Silver Blooded 8. Demonic Heritage
You are the descendant of an ancient silver dragon, who’s You have an infernal heritage, though you don’t know where it
blood and/or magic still manifests in your family line. You originates. If you are not a tiefling, you have an unusual
know little of your distant relation, except that the dragon marking that represents your evil ancestry, such as a patch of
Optional Feature: You know the ray of frost cantrip and use Such physical signs of your heritage appear in every
You died once. You would have stayed dead if it weren’t for
some otherworldly entity that made you a deal. One day, it 9. Arcane Mystery
will give you a single command that you must follow, no You have obtained an unfinished spell scroll written by the
matter the cost. You agreed to the price and rose from the legendary mage, Mordenkainen. It seems to be an unfinished
dead. The entity has been completely absent from your life prototype for a new spell. You have been searching for a mage
Optional Feature: Once per long rest, when you make a purpose.
death saving throw, you may add 1 to the roll as this entity Optional Feature: From your time pondering over the spell
continues to pull you away from death. scroll, you have a better understanding of the arcane. You
4. Prophetic Nightmares
One of your parents had the gift of foresight. Sometimes, you 10. The Moon s Curse'
have strange dreams that come true, but only in the worst You and your family are werewolf lycanthropes. However,
ways. your curse is quite weak and none of your family can spread
Optional Feature: Once per long rest, you can roll 1d4 and it through bite. Instead, it is passed on genetically.
add the result to a single attack roll or saving throw in order Unfortunately, though you and your family members lived
to prevent one of these terrible futures. You can use this peaceful lives, a hunter came through your town and
feature after the initial roll but before knowing the results of murdered many or all of them. You've been tracking this
the roll. hunter ever since. Speak to your Dungeon Master for
You own a necklace with a small amber pendant. Within the Wisdom (Survival) skill.
pendant lies a dormant, evil entity and you are its guard. With
each passing year, the entity grows stronger and you know 11. Host
that one day it will escape from its prison unless you stop it. At one point, you came in contact with a small, living black
Optional Feature: You may use the pendant to cast the vine of unknown origin, about the size of a piece of thread.
spell, detect evil and good. Once you've used the pendant 3 When you touched the vine, it pierced your skin and crawled
times, it is destroyed and the entity released. into your veins. That little vine lives within you still and
6. A Holy Calling Optional Feature: This vine lives by drinking your life blood,
You recently received a holy vision from a god of light - bolstering you against necrotic damage. When you take
perhaps Lathander or Pelor - featuring a fallen angel. Though necrotic damage, you can reduce the damage taken by 1d4.
you were unable to identify the god contacting you or this You may use this ability once per long rest.
angel's face, the message was clear: Kill the fallen angel
Optional Feature: You know the sacred flame cantrip. The You are haunted by the memories of your past lives. But the
saving throw DC for this cantrip is 8 + your proficiency bonus only memories you receive are of the moments before your
+ your Wisdom modifier. previous deaths. You remember being stoned by a village, the
7. A Strange Elf impossible height only to feel your bones shatter on the
Prerequisite: You must be elf or half-elf to have this secret. If impact. Of all the deaths you remember, not one has you
you don't meet this prerequisite, draw a different card. dying old in your bed.
Your elven blood is dubious. With physical traits of both Optional Feature: Your intimate knowledge of death gives
wood elves and drow, you have black hair and charcoal you advantage on any Wisdom (Medicine) check to determine
colored skin, but don't quite fit into either subrace. These a creature's cause of death.
and many believe you were touched by the Shadowfell as a 13. A Verdant Treasure
baby. See your Dungeon Master for guidance on your A mysterious, hooded individual once appeared on your
Optional Feature: You have a permanent +1 bonus to your gemstone. As soon they gave you gem, they dropped dead.
Dexterity (Stealth) skill. Though you don't know the gem's true purpose or origin, it
revivify spell without material components. You cannot use evil Dark Powers that shroud the Domains of Dread. At one
the gemstone again in such a way until 3d6 + 5 days have point, the Dark Power may ask the player character to
You once knew an old herbalist named Jeny Greenteeth who Prophetic Nightmares. The player character may have
told you crazy stories of the Feywild. Though you originally Vistani roots or heritage. You might send this player
thought that this woman simply lived in the Feywild for a time ambiguous dreams of events to come in the campaign. These
to have such knowledge, you now have reason to believe she dreams all assume those events all end in the worst way.
was actually a powerful archfey. Before you could discover Guardian. This player character holds a sliver of a vestige
the truth, she vanished. from the Amber Temple, which was chipped away from a
Optional Feature: You know the druidcraft cantrip. larger sarcophagus. On finding the sarcophagus, the vestige
'
15. Hunter s Scion the vestige by breaking the sarcophagus.
After a monster hunter saved your town from some terrible A Holy Calling. Pelor bids this player character to kill the
threat, you became a student of this hunter. The two of you Abbott in the Abbey of St. Markovia. If the Abbott finds out
are close friends and the hunter holds you in high regard. about this calling, he tries to convince the player character
However, your mentor left under mysterious circumstances that this message is from a false and evil god, like the Dark
Optional Feature: One weapon of your choice from your A Strange Elf. This player character is a dusk elf. Finding
starting equipment is silvered. their kindred should inspire them to either fight Strahd or
You do not have a soul. You are desperately afraid of death long-lost sibling and wholly replaces Ireena for the function
and have been searching all your life for a way to earn a soul of this relationship.
of your own. Arcane Mystery. The spell is a 9th level wizard spell that
Optional Feature: You are immune to all resurrection plays with time magic. If restored, it allows the caster to alter
magic. Once you accumulate 3 failed death saving throws, a single moment in time up to ten years prior.
you cannot be revived except by the wish spell. The Moon's Curse. The hunter that killed this player
You are the descendant of an ancient and powerful witch that take the time to try and hunt them down to finish his work.
discarded her only child for being born a girl. Though that Host. The vine is from the Gulthias Tree. Killing the
baby girl, one of your several times great -randparents, Gulthias Tree - or restoring the Fanes of Barovia if you are
survived, remnants of that evil magic still courses through her using other Fleshing Out guides - kills the embedded vine.
Optional Feature: You can cast the infestation cantrip. The reincarnation and completely replaces Ireena's functionality
saving throw DC for this cantrip is 8 + your proficiency bonus in the campaign.
+ your Charisma modifier. A Verdant Treasure. The gemstone is the third winery
Shell. This player character might earn a soul by
Mysterious Secrets
5
Crimson Beginnings Prophetic Nightmares
In your earliest memory, you are lost in the woods and One of your parents had the gift of foresight. Sometimes,
covered in blood. The memory still haunts you and colors you have strange dreams that come true, but only in the
your dreams in red. worst ways.
Guardian
Silver Blooded
You own a necklace with a small amber pendant. Within
You are the descendant of an ancient silver dragon, who’s
the pendant lies a dormant, evil entity and you are its
blood and/or magic still manifests in your family line. You
guard. With each passing year, the entity grows stronger
know little of your distant relation, except that the dragon
and you know that one day it will escape from its prison
was a paragon of good.
unless you stop it.
A Deal Struck
A Holy Calling
You died once. You would have stayed dead if it weren’t You recently received a holy vision from a god of light -
for some otherworldly entity that made you a deal. One perhaps Lathander or Pelor - featuring a fallen angel.
day, it will give you a single command that you must Though you were unable to identify the god contacting
follow, no matter the cost. You agreed to the price and you or this angel's face, the message was clear: Kill the
rose from the dead. The entity has been completely fallen angel before it is too late.
absent from your life since.
You have an infernal heritage, though you don’t know At one point, you came in contact with a small, living
where it originates. If you are not a tiefling, you have an black vine of unknown origin, about the size of a piece of
unusual marking that represents your evil ancestry, such thread. When you touched the vine, it pierced your skin
as a patch of red skin, pointed teeth, or claw-like and crawled into your veins. That little vine lives within
fingernails. you still and sometimes you can see it moving beneath
your skin.
Such physical signs of your heritage appear in every
member of your blood family.
You have obtained an unfinished spell scroll written by You are haunted by the memories of your past lives. But
the legendary mage, Mordenkainen. It seems to be an the only memories you receive are of the moments
unfinished prototype for a new spell. You have been before your previous deaths. You remember being stoned
searching for a mage talented enough to finish the spell, by a village, the clench of a wolf’s teeth around your
or at least understand its purpose. throat, and falling an impossible height only to feel your
bones shatter on the impact. Of all the deaths you
remember, not one has you dying old in your bed.
Mysterious Secrets
7
A Verdant Treasure Shell
A mysterious, hooded individual once appeared on your You do not have a soul. You are desperately afraid of
doorstep and handed you a glowing, fist-sized, green death and have been searching all your life for a way to
gemstone. As soon they gave you gem, they dropped earn a soul of your own.
dead. Though you don't know the gem's true purpose or
origin, it brims with life-giving magic.
You once knew an old herbalist named Jeny Greenteeth You are the descendant of an ancient and powerful witch
who told you crazy stories of the Feywild. Though you that discarded her only child for being born a girl. Though
originally thought that this woman simply lived in the that baby girl, one of your several times great-
Feywild for a time to have such knowledge, you now have grandparents, survived, remnants of that evil magic still
reason to believe she was actually a powerful archfey. courses through her bloodline.
Before you could discover the truth, she vanished.
'
Hunter s Scion Strange Romantic
After a monster hunter saved your town from some You once fell in love with a vampire, but they were only
terrible threat, you became a student of this hunter. The using you for your blood. You found out their true
two of you are close friends and the hunter holds you in intentions and managed to escape the relationship before
high regard. However, your mentor left under mysterious it was too late. However, the experience has left you jilted
circumstances and you've been trying to find them ever towards romance in general.
since.
In your earliest memory, you are lost in the woods and One of your parents had the gift of foresight. Sometimes,
covered in blood. The memory still haunts you and colors you have strange dreams that come true, but only in the
your dreams in red. worst ways.
Optional Feature: Countless restless nights have better Optional Feature: Once per long rest, you can roll 1d4
enabled you to stay up without sleep. When you take a and add the result to a single attack roll or saving throw in
long rest, you can choose to roll a DC 12 Constitution order to prevent one of these terrible futures. You can use
saving throw. On a success, two additional hours of your this feature after the initial roll but before knowing the
rest may be used to take watch or perform light activities. results of the roll.
On a failure, you gain 1 level of exhaustion which that
long rest cannot remove.
Guardian
Silver Blooded
You own a necklace with a small amber pendant. Within
You are the descendant of an ancient silver dragon, who’s the pendant lies a dormant, evil entity and you are its
blood and/or magic still manifests in your family line. You guard. With each passing year, the entity grows stronger
know little of your distant relation, except that the dragon and you know that one day it will escape from its prison
was a paragon of good. unless you stop it.
Optional Feature: You know the ray of frost cantrip and Optional Feature: You may use the pendant to cast the
use your Intelligence modifier to cast it. spell, detect evil and good. Once you've used the pendant
3 times, it is destroyed and the entity released.
You died once. You would have stayed dead if it weren’t You recently received a holy vision from a god of light -
for some otherworldly entity that made you a deal. One perhaps Lathander or Pelor - featuring a fallen angel.
day, it will give you a single command that you must Though you were unable to identify the god contacting
follow, no matter the cost. You agreed to the price and you or this angel's face, the message was clear: Kill the
rose from the dead. The entity has been completely fallen angel before it is too late.
absent from your life since.
Optional Feature: You know the sacred flame cantrip.
Optional Feature: Once per long rest, when you make a The saving throw DC for this cantrip is 8 + your
death saving throw, you may add 1 to the roll as this proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier.
entity continues to pull you away from death.
Mysterious Secrets
9
A Strange Elf The Moon s Curse'
Prerequisite: You must be elf or half-elf to have this You and your family are werewolf lycanthropes. However,
secret. If you don't meet this prerequisite, draw a your curse is quite weak and none of your family can
different card. spread it through bite. Instead, it is passed on genetically.
Unfortunately, though you and your family members lived
Your elven blood is dubious. With physical traits of
peaceful lives, a hunter came through your town and
both wood elves and drow, you have black hair and
murdered many or all of them. You've been tracking this
charcoal colored skin, but don't quite fit into either
hunter ever since.
subrace. These physical abnormalities make you an
outsider to most elves and many believe you were Speak to your Dungeon Master for guidance on your
touched by the Shadowfell as a baby. See your Dungeon race.
Master for guidance on your subrace.
Optional Feature: You have a permanent +1 bonus to
Optional Feature: Optional Feature: You have a your Wisdom (Survival) skill.
permanent +1 bonus to your Dexterity (Stealth) skill.
You have an infernal heritage, though you don’t know At one point, you came in contact with a small, living
where it originates. If you are not a tiefling, you have an black vine of unknown origin, about the size of a piece of
unusual marking that represents your evil ancestry, such thread. When you touched the vine, it pierced your skin
as a patch of red skin, pointed teeth, or claw-like and crawled into your veins. That little vine lives within
fingernails. you still and sometimes you can see it moving beneath
your skin.
Such physical signs of your heritage appear in every
member of your blood family. Optional Feature: This vine lives by drinking your life
blood, bolstering you against necrotic damage. When you
Optional Feature: You know the firebolt cantrip and use
take necrotic damage, you can reduce the damage taken
your Charisma modifier to cast it.
by 1d4. You may use this ability once per long rest.
You have obtained an unfinished spell scroll written by You are haunted by the memories of your past lives. But
the legendary mage, Mordenkainen. It seems to be an the only memories you receive are of the moments
unfinished prototype for a new spell. You have been before your previous deaths. You remember being stoned
searching for a mage talented enough to finish the spell, by a village, the clench of a wolf’s teeth around your
or at least understand its purpose. throat, and falling an impossible height only to feel your
bones shatter on the impact. Of all the deaths you
Optional Feature: From your time pondering over the
remember, not one has you dying old in your bed.
spell scroll, you have a better understanding of the
arcane. You have a permanent +1 bonus to your Optional Feature: Your intimate knowledge of death
Intelligence (Arcana) skill. gives you advantage on any Wisdom (Medicine) check to
determine a creature's cause of death.
A mysterious, hooded individual once appeared on your You do not have a soul. You are desperately afraid of
doorstep and handed you a glowing, fist-sized, green death and have been searching all your life for a way to
gemstone. As soon they gave you gem, they dropped earn a soul of your own.
dead. Though you don't know the gem's true purpose or
Optional Feature: You are immune to all resurrection
origin, it brims with life-giving magic.
magic. Once you accumulate 3 failed death saving
Optional Feature: You can use the gemstone to cast the throws, you cannot be revived except by the wish spell.
revivify spell without material components. You cannot
use the gemstone again in such a way until 3d6 + 5 days
have passed.
You once knew an old herbalist named Jeny Greenteeth You are the descendant of an ancient and powerful witch
who told you crazy stories of the Feywild. Though you that discarded her only child for being born a girl. Though
originally thought that this woman simply lived in the that baby girl, one of your several times great-
Feywild for a time to have such knowledge, you now have grandparents, survived, remnants of that evil magic still
reason to believe she was actually a powerful archfey. courses through her bloodline.
Before you could discover the truth, she vanished.
Optional Feature: You can cast the infestation cantrip.
Optional Feature: You know the druidcraft cantrip. The saving throw DC for this cantrip is 8 + your
proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.
'
Hunter s Scion Strange Romantic
After a monster hunter saved your town from some You once fell in love with a vampire, but they were only
terrible threat, you became a student of this hunter. The using you for your blood. You found out their true
two of you are close friends and the hunter holds you in intentions and managed to escape the relationship before
high regard. However, your mentor left under mysterious it was too late. However, the experience has left you jilted
circumstances and you've been trying to find them ever towards romance in general.
since.
Optional Feature: You have a +1 bonus to any saving
Optional Feature: One weapon of your choice from your throw to resist being charmed by a vampire or their
starting equipment is silvered. kindred.
Mysterious Secrets
11
using GM Binder.