This one had a LOT of false starts - I initially wanted Neferon to look rather sinister or in the midst of casting something awful, but I held back in order to, hopefully, give you a chance to roleplay a revealed arcanaloth (or give the players a chance to see what their characters just slew before it melts away into nothingness).
Enjoy!
2025-10-15 15:01:37 +0000 UTC View Post
"If you're good at something, never do it for free." - The Dark Knight, (2008)
Yugoloths are an easy concept to describe in D&D terms - devils are lawful evil, demons are chaotic evil, and yugoloths are neutral evil, but what does that mean exactly? Entirely motivated by self interest (they were created by powerful night hags, after all) , they are among the most brutal and mercenary beings in the universe, negotiating and scheming the great Blood War so that the engines of...
2025-10-15 15:00:18 +0000 UTC View Post
A great shadow blocks out the moonlight—and Strahd looks up, his eyes widening slightly.
Above, a gargantuan raven as tall as the Blue Water Inn, with a wingspan twice as long, descends upon the mountainside. Great gusts of wind blow from each errant twitch of its wings, sending eddies of powdered snow whipping across the ice. With grace that belies its massive size, it alights onto the jagged crags below, its cart-sized talons crushing and gouging the stone beneath them....
2025-10-08 14:47:36 +0000 UTC View Post
These magic items figure heavily in Arc H - The Lost Soul of Curse of Strahd: Reloaded's second act. When I was doing the research into hag's heartstones, I didn't know that there was a real thing as a witch stone, also known as a hag stone o...
2025-10-01 15:01:54 +0000 UTC View PostLess of a wizard from a foreign world, and more of a vagabond conman, but fun all the same. Enjoy!
2025-09-24 18:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
An elderly, wizened man steps onto the overlook. He wears a pale, white robe decorated with numerous colorful patches, each depicting a different object. A pair of gold spectacles with pink crystal lenses rests atop the bridge of his nose, just above a long, white beard that descends past his chest.
"Good day," he says cheerily. “Might I ask why you are trespassing upon my property?"
Heinrich Stolt was a tricky one. He's rarely been depicted in fanart, as his a...
2025-09-24 15:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post
The Wachter Brothers are described as "brash drunkards" in the RAW module, unwilling to start a scuffle with the PCs, but more than happy to listen to tales of heroism or trash-talk the current Burgomaster of Vallaki. I've depicted them here as bleary-eyed but relatively harmless-looking young men with lots of coin and time on their hands, a bit flashier than their village neighbors to the east, but with little responsibility beyond not embarrassing their aristocratic mother...
2025-09-09 15:12:43 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello again, everyone! I appreciate that you've chosen to follow my artistic journey here on Patreon. I especially want to thank those of you who have supported me—whether now or in the past—by contributing in any way to encourage my work. I know many of us are navigating chaotic times, so I want you to know how much I value even the smallest patronage. I hope the art I creat...
2025-09-01 14:25:41 +0000 UTC View Post
"...fifteen feet up the wall, the mass of roots seems to form an enormous face: bearded and wrinkled, with an ancient, wizened visage. It’s only when you see the roots just beneath it—rising and falling like a mighty chest—that you realize the face isn’t made of roots at all, but framed by them, its dark, gray-blue skin blending with the stone of the wall behind it.
The face’s eyes open, revealing glittering emerald eyes, and an ancient, resonant voice spills fort...
2025-08-27 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post
"...Following the players’ victory over the Forest Folk in Arc J - The Stolen Gem, several druid naturalists journeyed to the ruins of Berez, seeking the aid of the swamp witch Baba Lysaga in empowering their magic. The rootspike triads were the end result: trios of druid naturalist...
2025-08-20 16:00:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Greetings, Faces in the Mist!
The past few weeks have been very busy and the ones ahead prove to be as well, but before summer comes to close I thought I’d share a glimpse of what’s to come. Two monstrous inventions of Dragnacarta’s for Curse of Strahd: Reloaded: the horrific rootspike triad and the ancient storm giant Burebis. Hope they supply your players with some memorable sessions!
Have a great game,
Caleb
2025-08-17 16:00:15 +0000 UTC View Post
The module states that the slopes of Mt. Ghakis are the home of bloodthirsty berserkers and creatures loyal to Strahd, and that a crew of these (and a dire wolf) have taken refuge in the Amber Temple, led by a barbarian named Helwa. Curse of Strahd: Reloaded renames her Diona, and makes her the daughter of Chief Diegia, staying in the Temple as a rite of passage, all while her companions are being picked off by the Temple’s many dangers.
I tried to give Diona a “final girl” look, ...
2025-08-06 15:08:54 +0000 UTC View Post
The Tsolenka Pass has turned into a harrowing journey in Curse of Strahd:Reloaded, with much more structure and planned obstacles to test the mettle of your adventurers. It also gives a lot more history to the "berserkers" who, fleeing invasion and war and, finally, supernatural curses, struggle to find a life on the inhospitable slopes of Mt. Ghakis.
Diegia is the chief of Soldav, the last crumb of respite the adventurers will find before the Temple, and she...
2025-07-24 04:25:55 +0000 UTC View Post
"...claws emerge first, then a serpentine torso half as long as the manor is tall, curving into a long, elegant neck crowned by a noble, horned head. Mighty wings extend from strong, stalwart shoulders, their ghostly scales shimmering with an ethereal silver light as they fill the sky above..."
There isn't any real art for the ghost of a great wyrm silver dragon (go figure), so here's my attempt to fill that particular void. Argynvost's spirit only appears briefly in Co...
2025-06-23 15:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello, Faces in the Mist!
Apologies for the silence, but the past few weeks I've been occupied with a number of new and exciting ways to make myself very tired.
The biggest news is that, in addition to providing you lovely Patrons with Curse of Strahd:Reloaded art, is that I'm also providing artwork for 2025-06-22 19:47:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello everyone!
First off, I wish to thank all of you for encouraging me to continue chasing my artistic goals, whether by contributing here or simply by using and enjoying the illustrations I make for your games - it all makes a big difference and I’m grateful. Also, I wish to offer a big welcome to all our newer friends - hope you enjoy the ride.
Dragnacarta’s massive undertaking is wrapping up with his completion of Curse of Strahd - Reloaded, but mine’s still well-unde...
2025-05-27 19:42:53 +0000 UTC View Post
"A brilliant cascade of divine light shines from the Abbot’s form, and towering wings unfurl from his shoulders, each massive feather snow-white and perfectly formed. His mortal vestments fall away, revealing white, luminous flesh that seems chiseled from marble itself. Golden gauntlets inscribed with celestial runes encircle his forearms, and a golden sarong wraps gently around his waist, its fabric whipping in a rising, churning wind.
The Abbot’s hair grows until it r...
2025-05-10 16:31:51 +0000 UTC View Post
Anna and Dmitri are another tragic couple in the module - as written, they are the victims of recent and tragic loss; in Curse of Strahd - Reloaded, they're desperate to keep from reliving that horrible loss again, and the villains are a little more immediate. For this version, I just gave them a little more cohesion to their design and dressed them in a bit more protection, as befitting their noble stat block. I hope you enjoy this take on the loyal family t...
2025-04-25 15:00:17 +0000 UTC View Post
It's a little wine-stained, but this chart can help players and GMs figure out the recent genealogy of the Martikov family (Accurate for CoS- - Reloaded). Hope you find it handy.
Have a wonderful day, you Faces in the Mist!
2025-04-12 17:44:50 +0000 UTC View PostMy process video of the creation of both images for Doru's redemption arc. Trickier than it looked! Hope you enjoy the results!
2025-04-09 15:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Many players (and game masters) see something in certain non-player characters that resonates with them, and they get attached. The village priest's son Doru, whom Strahd sent back home to bedevil his father, is certainly one of them. PCs either see him as a symptom of a plague of evil and "cure" his affliction by slaying him, or they see him as a victim, recognize his torment, and attempt to enlist him. I'll let you guess which my players chose.
SPOILERS: Curse o...
2025-04-09 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostHello again, my dear Faces.
As I mentioned before... Dragnacarta, in-between writing and editing his dragnum-opus Curse of Strahd - Reloaded, is pondering the great questions of the cosmos. One of these questions is, of course, what sort of rewards or perks would CoS-R gamers want out of a Kickstarter?
Please, if you have a moment, visit the link 2025-04-09 13:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post
EDIT April 4, 2025 - You can now download individual images of each of the Martikov family members in hires, lores, and transparent .png (except for Yolanda, who doesn't want to leave her mother). Enjoy!
The Martikovs of the “Wizard of Wines” winery are a family of Barovians that figure prominently, if briefly, in the module, and sadly have no official art. This is my take on the large, secretive family of vintners that make their home and whose estate seems to...
2025-04-02 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
(SPOILERS AHEAD) In the 5E module, the staff that appears in Khazan's crypt is a staff of power - a very rare magic item with many offensive abilities. Dragnacarta retooled the staff for CoS - Reloaded, but it's still very powerful, if more a defensive item that boost's the wielder's existing spells and skills instead of adding new ones. He describes it as elegant and decorated with platinum, but a I gave it a bit more of a brutal, angu...
2025-03-27 16:19:46 +0000 UTC View Post
Yeska is a young (around 9yo), orphaned Vallakian adopted by the local church, in training to be an acolyte of the Morninglord. As such, he's rarely seen except when the PCs go to the church of St. Andral. He's given menial tasks, such as cleaning, lighting candles, learning medicine, and bell-ringing, but he also plays a small part in the mystery of "The Bones of St. Andral" section of Curse of Strahd. As such he couldn't look too fearful (as he does in the initial ske...
2025-03-25 17:26:51 +0000 UTC View PostHello, dear Faces in the Mist.
My friend Dragnacarta could benefit from your experience playing or DMing Curse of Strahd - Reloaded in any of its many iterations. He and his comrades are soon to launch an exciting new enterprise devoted to retooling and launching exciting, low-prep adventures and scenarios for gamemasters of all stripes. All he needs from you is your insight! What would you like to see?
Being very organized, he's arrange...
2025-03-23 00:47:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Strahd's castle accountant Leif has been counting the castle treasury for a long, long time. SPOILERS AHEAD: To account (sorry) for his longevity in the module, Dragnacarta has, for Curse of Strahd: Reloaded, transformed the long-suffering Barovian clerk into an undead wight whose hatred for mortal life is kept in check by his even greater hatred for u...
2025-03-19 15:00:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Cyrus Belview began in Ravenloft i6 simply as the vampire's mad butler, and in 2016 became the paternal head of the Moreau-esque mongrelfolk, all transformed by the mad Abbot of St. Markovia. I like the 5e version of Cyrus, but I felt he could be more expressive and his character design made more exaggerated. This is my attempt to remedy that. Hope you like it.
Also, in Curse of Strahd: Reloaded Cyrus can task the characters ...
2025-03-13 15:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
"A monstrous, black-scaled, reptilian head pushes into the suite, its skull alone just as wide and half as tall as the doorframe itself. Horns resembling pointed, elfin ears thrust up from the sides of its head, and its eyes glimmer with cruel, malevolent purpose."
Rahadin appears briefly but memorably in the Verushka's Nightmare portion of the PC's overnight stay in Ravenloft, symbolically represented as a great dragon whose breath is meant to en...
2025-02-22 20:03:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Probably the most important event in the first third of the module, and one of the most agonized over, is the Tarokka Reading that dictates the location and situation of much of the rest of the game. Madame Eva is a mysterious character, and she's been portrayed in a number of different ways - sinister, beneficient, even yassified and sexy. This is my attempt. Hope you and your players enjoy!
2025-02-09 17:02:49 +0000 UTC View Post