Page 7 - Curse of Strahd_Neat

The village of Barovia cowers in the shadow of Cas­ is assumed that the characters will gain levels over the
tle Ravenloft, Strahd's home and fortress. The castle course of the adventure, as well as acquire allies and
stands atop a great spire of rock, invincible and ever powerful magic items that can tip the scales in their
watchful. Every night, thousands of bats fly out of the favor. Characters who head directly to Castle Ravenloft
castle to feed. It is said that Strahd sometimes flies with without first increasing their power will likely die.
them. Barovia will never be safe until the evil in his cas­ You can award experience points for the defeat of foes,
tle is destroyed. use milestone awards, or a mixture of both. Given the
Once Strahd becomes aware of the adventurers, he fact that much of the adventure involves social interac­
and his spies watch them closely. When the time is right, tion and exploration, rather than combat, your work will
Strahd invites his "guests" to Castle Ravenloft. He aims probably be easier if you use milestone awards. Appro­
to turn them against one another, torment them, and priate milestone awards include the following:
kill them, as he has done with so many other visitors. Finding Artifacts. The characters gain a level when
Some will become undead thralls. Others will never they obtain the Tome of Strahd, the Sunsword, or the
rise again. Holy Symbol of Ravenkind.
The adventurers' best hope of defeating Strahd is to Defeating Villains. The characters gain a level when
learn his secrets, for he is no ordinary vampire. Guided they defeat the featured antagonist(s) in a location,
by Madam Eva's card reading, they must scour his do­ such as the hags in Old Bonegrinder (chapter 6).
main and his castle for magic items that might weaken Accomplishing Story Goals. The characters gain a
or slay him, all the while trying to stay alive. level when they accomplish something significant,
Although the adventurers can escape by slaying such lighting the beacon of Argynvostholt (chapter 7),
Strahd, he can't be truly destroyed. Barovia is his thwarting the druids' ritual atop Yester Hill (chapter
prison, and not even death can free him from his curse. 14), or forging an alliance with Ezmerelda d'Avenir
The adventure ends when either Strahd von Zarovich (appendix D).
or the characters are defeated. Your goal is to keep
Strahd in play for as long as possible, using all the abili­ Appendix B, "Death House," uses milestone awards by
ties and resources at his disposal. way of example.
Be prepared for the fact that the adventure is exceed­
ADVENTURE STRUCTURE ingly open-ended-one of the hallmarks of the original
Much of the adventure's action is driven by the clash Ravenloft. The card reading in chapter 1 and the adven­
between the adventurers' decisions and Strahd's goals, turers' choices can lead them all over the map, and a
and the adventurers and the vampire are all caught in party can easily wander into an area well beyond their
power. If you'd like to steer them toward places that
strands of fate that are represented by a special card
reading detailed in chapter 1, "Into the Mists." Before correspond to their level, consult the Areas by Level
you run the adventure, you need to conduct that reading table, but beware of undermining the sense that the
to determine the location of several items that are key to characters' choices matter. Sometimes the adventurers
the story, as well as one of the locations where Strahd will simply need to flee or hide when they are out of
can be found. their depth.
Chapter 1 also outlines Strahd's goals, and it suggests If an area of the adventure ends up feeling free of
adventure hooks to draw the player characters into the mystery or danger, consider using tips from the "Marks
cursed realm of Barovia. If the characters are 1st level, of Horror" section to increase the ominousness. If a
the character background in appendix A is available to combat encounter feels too easy, either (a) guide it to its
them, and consider starting their time in Barovia with end as quickly as possible or (b) increase the threat by
the mini-adventure "Death House" in appendix B. raising a foe's hit point maximum to the upper end of its
hit point range, by adding monsters/traps, or both.
Chapter 2, "The Lands of Barovia," provides an over­
view of the realm and includes special rules for it and its
people, including the mysterious Vistani. Chapters 3-15 AREAS BY LEVEL
detail areas that correspond to places on the map of Avg. Level Area Chapter
Barovia in chapter 2. 1st-3rd Village of Barovia 3
The epilogue offers ways for you to end the adventure. 4th Town ofVallaki 5
Appendix C details the special ite.ms -:- magical or oth­ 4th Old Bonegrinder 6
erwise-introduced in the adventure� and appendix D 5th Village ofKrezk 8
.
provides stat blocks for Strahd.arnfvario�sNPCs and 5th Wizard of Wines Winery 12
'.
monsters that can be met in Baro�ia.' Appendix E shows 6th Van Richten's Tower 11
the tarokka cards that 'the Vist'aoi us:e for their fortune
telling, and appendix'F contains' handouts:for you to 6th Vester Hill 14
show the players. 7th Argynvostholt: ... 7 .
7th Werewolf Den .. 15
CHARACTER LEVELS 8th Tsole�ka Pass 9
8th The Ruins of Berez 10
· The adventure is meant for characters of levels 1-10
and includes threats for those levels and beyond. Strahd 9th Castle Ravenloft 4
can be an especially deadly challenge at these levels. It 9th The Amber Temple 13

6 TNTRODUOTION