The Curse of Strahd is the newest (5th Edition) revision of Dungeons & Dragons' classic vampire adventure and it does not disappointment. Despite this defeat, the Ravenloft adventure and its terrible villain, Strahd von Zarovich, would be the highlight of many future discussions of adventures past.
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Alas, (like many others I'm sure) they failed in their quest (the closest they came was an epic session that ended with a failed attempt to destroy the vampire by holding him down submerged in the nearby river). Nearly three decades ago my Ranger character, Jerrak Kreene, and his band of adventures were pulled into Barovia by the mists and sought to rid the land of its vampire lord, Strahd.
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Plus I get a chance to do my Transylvanian voice without feeling like I'm shoehorning it in so that's always good. It's probably not as combat heavy or magic item filled as some of the other modules (I've peeked through Elemental Evil and there's a lot of enemies!) but it's a nice shift from the usual D&D expectation and allows plenty of interesting roleplay/talking segments. But for every dull encounter due to health bloat there's five neat things which lure players in and spark their interests. An encounter with some hags at the start seem near likely to kill every party (so much so that the designer of the campaign nerfed them for the game he streams on ), and certain areas do have a bit of an overload of enemies which can make something a bit dull. There's a few odd design choices at times.
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All the locations have lots of hidden details and backstory to give you, the DM, an idea of how to flesh out whatever needs fleshing out, even if the players are never going to see it. I've never felt like I would have to handhold my players through the adventure to get to somewhere fun or interesting. Once your players break through the initial phase, which I'd say is getting to Vallaki, things open up a lot.
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There's plenty of detail given for every area as well as some nice looking maps, NPCs are nicely described (though I think there could be a little bit more information on how the DM should go about role playing some of the characters), and it's just a very well made sandbox adventure.
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It's the first time I've run a full campaign module and I've got to say, I think I would struggle to find one that I would enjoy to run more as a first adventure.
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The one caveat is that most of these 5E Adventures are not especially geared towards Newer DM’s with such a sandbox environment, the DM really has to be prepared for anything, AND have a flair for the dramatic, both to kepe the adventure running and to portray the many NPC’s available in all the major locations.ĭoesn't really count as a "proper" book but I've been doing plenty of reading through it as I'm currently running a Curse of Strahd campaign so I figure I should say something about it. This sourcebook maintains those memorable elements, and expands the surrounding environs to intrigue and challenge the players, and give them measurable milestones to strive for throughout the adventureĪfter a shaky start ( Hoard of the Dragon Queen/ The Rise of Tiamat), the 5E D+D Adventure line has begun to come into it's own ever since Out of the Abyss and now this. It also featured a fully fleshed-out antagonist in Strahd Von Zarovich, complete with specific (but variable) goals. "Ravenloft" was a module that was ahead of it's time in many ways, including being much more open-ended and "Sand-Boxy" than other adventure modules of the time. That said, this is a surprisingly decent adaptation (and homage to) the classic 1st Edition AD+D module "Ravenloft." Open disclosure: I'm an avowed "Ravenloft" fan, from the 1E module, to the 2E and 3E Setting line, and everything in between.