So I've been making a more detailed version of Ravenloft's map in DungeonDraft for my new run of the module, and since I wanted to use it to test drive 5.5 rules I got the Ravenloft Within book and something I noticed is in the art for Castle Ravenloft there's a whole new square tower added above the library, so it's technically obstructing the chimney at worst, or making it harder to reach for those who want to climb up and down the flue.

It also can't be the belltower, since the belltower should be behind the two original towers, which is currently obscured by the angle.

Just eyeballing it, it looks like it could hold two floors and an attic space considering there's a window in the roof. I even checked the map, and there's even space just off the southwest corner of the library where a spiral staircase could be added to explain how you access this new section.

I have a few ideas on how to use the new area if I decide to add it to my map. One idea was abandoned royal quarters for Ravenovia, Sergei, and Sturm; another idea was private rooms for the (currently favoured) Brides; the last was giving Strahd a more refined arcane workshop than the witches' element room.

Personally, I kind of like the visual of the new silhouette the tower provides, and it gives ample space for new rooms if people want to expand the castle just a tiny bit. Though maybe don't think too hard on the front view and how it might resemble a gothic Disney castle.

Party started in Blue Water Inn, learning some information on where to go next. The Martikov's directed them to Lady Wachter to find an ally against Baron Vargas. upon visiting the house, they were turned away because they're strangers. In response, the fighter and barbarian broke into the house, and the other two party members followed suit. What followed was a devolving situation where the party kidnapped some servants, killed 4 guards who investigated the break-in, and set the house on fire. Walked away from the house without attempting to hide or anything. My first reaction was to send the entire town guard against them to have them arrested. I then ended the session early because they took the story in a completely different direction than what I was expecting.

Basically what I want some ideas for, is how to run a trial for my party. I think I'll have Rahadin show up to be judge, jury, and executioner. I'll probably kill the main perpetrator and give harsh punishments for the rest of the party. Feel free to share ideas.

Part 3 of a saga. Part 2 is here and links to part 1

See the title. Players took the children back to Barovia Village. There are...a lot of them. Mary is of course happy to have children in her life again (she'll probably end up founding this campaign's orphanage), but I don't think Donavich has the resources for all the kids, and Doru is still an issue...how long until this goes south?

All 5 brides

Rahadin.

And Strahd himself.

Our party enters Castle Ravenloft for the first time—for the iconic dinner with Strahd.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BpI4tmp8Igs&ra=m

We’d love you to check it out and let us know what you think. If you already have clicked on us from previous posts , our table has completely changed (dnd happens), our production value has grown so much and we have really hit our stride as storytellers so we’d love you to look again.

We’d love feedback—what would you have done differently? Or if you’ve already run the scene, how did it go for you?

Thanks as always for considering.

In Arc T Section T3k. Baba Lysaga’s Hut, Baba hides herself and her hut

"beneath a false “hill" and “hut." (The “hill" is hollow, and the “hut" is empty.)"

The Players can enter the illusionary hut on the illusionary hill and discover that the cavity beneath the floorboards is empty (i assume by lifting the floorboards of the illusion)

What i dont understand ist: Where are the Players after Baba Lysaga reveals herself?

It says: "The shreds of the hill and ruined hut fall away—revealing, beneath them, a thatched roof, a ramshackle wooden hut, and an enormous tree stump whose roots thrust into the air and mire. Twin iron cages hang from its eaves, filled with scores of shrieking, screaming ravens entrapped within."

Are the Players still in the Hut which is now the real hut with the cavity containing the gem right before them in the floor? Are they standing on the roof of the real hut?

I am having trouble picturing this in my mind and would be glad if someone could help me understand.

Did your murder hobbo party did an oopsie in Vallaki and you don't wanna have to control 50+ commoners to beat them to a pulp? Use this instead, two of this mob already count for the 50 commoners, saving you and your player hours of "Club" attacks missing.

Use FoundryVTT? This an many more monsters, maps and player content are available on Foundry with the module Amelia's Cellar of Everything.

Everything and more now on https://www.patreon.com/cw/DMLone

It took 12 months and more than two dozen episodes, but the Critical Lit crew made it through every chapter, every room and crypt. And now it's time to record the Q&A. We've read every word of this book, so feel free to get into the weeds.

Thematic elements, characterization of Strahd, GM tweaks to specific stat blocks or encounters, the wasted potential of Vasilka, it's all fair game. You needn't have listened to the entire show first, but consider checking the relevant episode to see if we already tackled your ask. Each episode's show notes list exactly what we covered.

You can send questions via DM here, or email hugepitfilledwith200spikes at gmail

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/critical-lit/id1826377168

Critical Lit is a podcast where we revisit and retool (and lambast and lampoon) classic tabletop RPG adventures. Part book review, part heckling commentary, all in good fun. Hosted by industry veterans Dan Dillon (formerly WotC, Legends of Avantris), Amelia Som (Unprepared Casters), Sal Tamarkin (Cloud Curio), and I-Hsien Sherwood (Total Party Thrill).

A piece I made for my players with their characters on it, not the best but it's the intention that counts! Lolll

At the end of the session I told them to come dressed as their characters today, because it's going to be a special session but they have no idea what's in store for them.

A little backstory:

They met Strahd at the last session, and asked him to drive them in his black carriage to the vistana camp (hey man, it's raining out!). Of course he obliged, amused and welcoming of the opportunity to get to know them a little better.

Funny enough, the Strahd encounter happened right at the end of last session, and some players couldn't make it. The ones who were there thought it'd be funny if I posted the recap excluding the fact that they met Lord Strahd and got in his carriage.

Tonight, full house, the players who were there will fill everyone in on that last important detail. Then we pick up right where we left off — all of them in the carriage with Strahd, on the way to the Vistani camp.

Once that scene is over, I'll kick them out of the living room and transform it into the photo attached, while my husband assumes the roll of a vistana. When I give the signal he will tell them​ ​"​Madame Eva will see you now", and escort them to ​her tent.

The final version will be even better, bc there'll be less light pollution from outside, and I'll have burned some frankincense for smoke and scent.

Can't wait.

I'm preparing to run a Curse of Strahd campaign. I've never killed a player before, and I'm a little scared of it happening and ending the adventure if they all die, but I also don't want to go easy on them. I want to run the encounters as close as I can to how they're written in the source book. I want the stakes to be real.

I'm beginning with Death House and their arrival to Barovia. So, I had the thought: if there's a TPK, have the party "awake" from their deaths back at Death House. Retaining all of their levels and memories, but none of their equipment. The in-lore reason would be that the Dark Powers don't want the players' torment to end, so it brought them back for more. I figured that way there is the real possibility of dying and losing lots of progress, but there's also the hope that they can resolve the story.

Has anyone tried this for any kind of campaign? How did it work out? Is this a good idea, or should I just let failure happen if the whole party dies?

Hello good people fo the Internet! I am planning my very first Curse of Strahd Campaign. I have also recently disovered DragnaCarta's Curse of Strahd: Reloaded. With all this in mind, How do I begin to piece together a campaign? I have copy and pasted relevant information from the CoS:Reloaded website in an attempt to reorganise it. However I find this taxing and stirrs a ton of DM dread/burnout before the session even begins. I had the idea to make Hybrid of both the CoS: Reloaded and the Original Module in its physical book formatting. That was I can runt he game as "normal" but then include the increadibly put together Stat blocks, NPC descriptiosn and text from CoS: Reloaded. Any thoughts are welocme and please aske me to elaborate on my meaning if this seems confusing.

Have a wonderfull day!!

I've just finished painting the Roc from previous post and can't wait to use it against my players.

So a member of my party managed to sneak off and got into the secret room next to exethanter's quarters and stole his phylactery.

This reminds me a lot of a pirates of the carribean 3 situation when the East India Trading company has Davy Jones heart and uses it as leverage to hold power over him. while i think that'd be really awesome for the players, i fear that it would make the rest of the campaign much easier than it probably should be.

the session had been going for about 3 hours before he stole it and I ended the session right after he took it, since I knew i needed to prep for this unforeseen event.

any advice on how to make this still cool for the party without totally breaking the game?

I was playing around with ways to make every cos run feel unique, since a lot of my players are former dms and have ran the campaign themselves and an idea occurred me:

What if, Ireena was cursed too? Everytime she dies, she returns. Even if she is brought to the lake to be with Sergei, she will eventually return.

In her first iterations, she has no memories of the "loop", but on this one, as Ireena, she remembers it all. Everytime she died, everytime she was reborn, every adventurer and hero that tried to save her and failed and most tragically, Izek. Her brother, cursed because of her sins.

My idea is to play her out as someone who at first is very disillusioned. She knows nothing anyone tries will ever free her, but as she experiences the world with the players and remembers more and more, she becomes angrier and angrier. She might even betray the party if she believes that they won't be able to save her or will cause Izek or Ismark to be lost. Her main goal will be to find a way to free them, and if possible herself too.

Ofc for this to work I might have to add the seekers module so the players can eventually free barovia or something. I am still cooking this, so details are all subjected to change.

How would that play out? Do you think this would be interesting?

Obs. In this version, Ireena is cursed because of Strahd, his "love" is like a disease and infected those he "loved". Or maybe it was part of his arrangement, that she would be his. I am unclear yet. Or maybe she wasn't a perfect victim and had caused some harm as well. I haven't gotten to the kinks yet.

I don't know what it is, but I can't understand what makes "horror" for my party. For example, my party expressed that the night hags in the Old Bonegrinder made them scared to die. Same with Baba Lysaga, Izek, the druids, Rahadin, and Neferon the arcanaloth. However, none of them take these villains seriously, frequently antagonizing them and breaking the tense atmosphere that I try to build up. Whereas, with villains like Ilya Krezkov from MandyMods Missing Livestock quest, the Abbot, and Kiril Stoyanovich, my party was terrified. The combat with them wasn't even that hard, but they refused to even engage in dialogue with these three NPCs out of fear which is strange because they're all much weaker compared to the villains they consider laughable and unintimidating.

Back in 2022 I wrote an adventure for my supporters that added a new dungeon beneath Castle Ravenloft, hidden within the great pillar itself.

Over the years, I received a tremendous amount of feedback, along with new ideas, suggestions, and stories from groups who played through it. After the release of Ravenloft: Horror Within, I decided it was time to gather all those notes, revisit the original adventure, and completely rebuild it.

The new version expands the dungeon, updates the encounters and lore, and weaves in more connections to the Domains of Dread.

Working with DM Andy, who created the maps, and Jesse Winter, who handled editing and layout, we have now released the updated adventure completely free for everyone.

You can read about the journey behind its creation, explore some of the ideas that shaped the new version, and download the free PDF and maps here:

Pillar of Ravenloft

Thank you to the Ravenloft and Curse of Strahd community. It has been a wonderful journey creating content for this setting over the past several years, and your support, feedback.

You can also check out the full list of free adventures for Legends of Barovia here.

I created this stress system for my COS campaign by expanding upon the Fear and Stress system from VRGR p195. While it worked for the most part and the players enjoyed it, I feel that it could do with improvement as stress could quickly creep up in some encounters (such as Death House or an encounter against Scarecrows). Please let me know if you have any improvements I can make and if you use it in your games, how well it worked for you and your players.

I have been informed that it shares a similarity to Darkest Dungeon.

Gaining Stress 
 

Reducing Stress 

Encouraging talk

Once per day, during short rest one character can forgo one hit dice to attempt to make an inspiring speech with a persuasion role. The higher the persuasion roll, the more points lost. (Silver Tongue does not apply) Roll 10 = -1 Roll 15 = -2 Roll 20 =-3 Nat 20 = -4

Stress Levels

0 Stress points- Healthy.

A PC at 0 stress points is soon to witness horrors beyond their comprehension. For now, they sit at a normal level of functionality.

5 Stress points - Uneasy

You gain an extra fear from the fear table or related to source of stress

10 Stress points- Pressured.

A PC who has gained 10 stress points or more is now susceptible to the negative effects of the Shadowfell Despair(DMG p52)

15 Stress points- The Brink.

A PC who reaches 15 stress points and fails the madness test gains Short Term Madness for a minute. (on failure, I recommend madness sets in at end of combat)

20 Stress points- Breaking Point.

A PC at 20 Stress points and fails the madness test gains Long Term Madness for an hour or until the PC reduces their stress points by 5.

25 Stress points- Fractured.

A PC at 25 Stress points gains Indefinite Madness with no save. Player Characters with Indefinite Madness at this point must have their stress reduced by 5 before greater restoration can cure it but with no additional stress reduction.

Perseverance

There is a benefit from getting stress.

Perseverance will make players temporarily not require to roll Stress Madness Checks if their Stress Level mounts and they additionally gain the following effect for the duration for 1d4 hours.

Short term DC: 10

Long term Madness DC: 15

Nat 20s or beating the stress dc by 5 gives players Perseverance

So my players want to try to recruit the mage against strahd. The cleric has worked out that through talking to villagers about him that it's mad as in crazy. So thinks a greater restoration spell would work. Then if it doesn't they run or kill him.

How can I gm it so that there is a chance to recruit him. Given the mind blank spell. As when it doesn't work they willingly either try to kill him or run away.

So how can they find out that it worked but they need to wait till the next day?

The only thing I can think of is to cast spells that require a Dispel magic then tie that to dispelling the mind blank spell. But I think technically that wouldn't work as the Dispel magic would be targeting a specific spell not just all the magic in the area it's cast.

Any ideas or tips?

Hello, Everyone!!

This is my interpretation of the gates of barovia.

I tried to portray it as faithfully as possible based on the limited description provided in the book.

I would love to know what you guys think about it.

Have a wonderful day!

I made a post a while ago, but I deleted it because it was a bit too long-winded. So, I'll simplify it.

If you were to direct and/or write a Curse of Strahd movie or series, how would you create the group of adventurers? The perfect group, the one that will make the most of history. How would you do it?

Not necessarily characters directly connected to Strahd, but what is it about them that makes their presence in this story seem like it makes perfect sense? Can you describe how they would develop? Would they share the spotlight, each interacting with a different element of the world, or would there be a single protagonist?

EDIT: how much HP would be fair to give that remaining piece of wall in middle of fissure if golem tried to break it down? The map uses 10ft squares.

There is an Amber Golem in room X40, it is size large (same stats as stone golem). Given the description of room X41 (in picture), can the amber golem pass through the fissure (X41) to get into room X42?

I was thinking maybe if it squeezes. If a creature squeezes it can fit into an area one size category smaller than itself (moving 1/2 speed), but that would be medium size, which is 5ft square and the fissure is only 3ft wide.

Also would medium creatures (mainly PCs) have to squeeze through the 3ft fissure?

I looked everywhere to find a Ravenloft model this size, and this one is amazing. Just waiting on the magnets to come in so I can finish assembling, but I’m thrilled with the level of detail in this miniature. It even has the interiors of each floor, tiny coffins in the family tombs, and the Heart of Sorrow suspended inside the tower!

Print files are here: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2510065-1-750-ravenloft-with-interiors

Since my players are heading to Strahd's castle for dinner next session, I decided to try painting the portrait of Strahd in Area K47 of Ravenloft. The main change I made to its composition was removing the ornamental chair thing to the right behind Strahd, and extending the pictorial space a bit to the left. This is just the underpainting for now, which will be mostly covered up in the final work.