Curse of Strahd (Dungeons & Dragons)

I mean, do I really need to write a review? This is one of, if not the best 5e module I have run as a Dungeon Master. The whole feeling of the story if nice and dark, which is a nice change of pace over the normal heroic fantasy adventure many adventures provide. The big bad here is cunning, evil, and very well fleshed out. The cast of characters all make sense and are also fleshed out. Overall, this will always be my favorite adventure to run!

I have now run this adventure 4x. Once as a player and 3x as a DM. Everyone of my games have been a far different experience. Like all the 5e Pre-made adventures, there is quick introductory one-shot adventure before the campaign starts, called Death House, which alone is one of the best adventures available in 5e. After the introduction, the land of Barovia is open to the players to explore. This is both good and bad. The Good is that the players have complete freedom to explore and pick their battles. The book is well crafted to accommodate most any off the cuff player decisions. The Bad is that the players can easily find themselves well over there head. There is one particular early encounter that is well above the players level and 100% deadly if the players are not discerning. The most unique part of this adventure is an early encounter that randomly determines the location of 3 story items, which will then determine some of the locations the players explore and even the pacing of the overall game. This allows room for repeat sessions without retreading too much. There is still a good bit of retread for return players, but a DM will find freshness with multiple play throughs. Additionally, there is a lot room for DM improvisation. In the 3 runs I have DMed, I have added a great bit of content of my own. In my 2nd game, I even had the players working directly for Strahd to rid his land of rivals. The biggest grip is that there are parts of the land that will likely go unexplored if the players do no draw the properly random adventure hooks. Another small grip is that there little reason why escorting a vampire victim to a neighboring town is safer than where she is. This is doubly a problem considering this adventure is the hook that sets the adventure. This can be reasoned when its presented in a later chapter that the church in the town has a permanent protection against evil that repels vampires. Overall, Curse of Strahd is a very dynamic adventure that can easily serve as a Campaign setting with near endless potential for DM expansion and creativity.

I honestly can't recommend this adventure enough!!! We are about 1/3 of the way thru the campaign and it's seriously one of the best I've ever seen. Here is my list of suggestions....some SPOILERS AHEAD. 1. I would recommend waiting until the characters are 3rd level or so. That way your players are really starting to gel as a team, caring about each other and their characters. The reason for this is the adventure will scare the stuffing out of them because death is literally everywhere. I've never seen my players so freaked. 2. I would also highly recommend anyone who runs the campaign spend about a week reading it and then do yourself a HUGE favor and map out all the possibilities. Take note. PREP PREP PREP. 3. Use the Ravens to move your characters along when they get stuck on what to do or if they head somewhere WAY over their head. 4. Use the Dream Pastries. Anyone who eats one give them madness/depression where they feel like they will never get out of Barovia and they are going to die. Additionally anyone who eats on is hooked/addicted and can't sleep (short or long rest) because it's all they think about, which means they can't heal except through the use of magic. A remove curse should take care of this. Also have beggars, who beg in the streets, beg for pastries or coin to buy pastries but only after your players are hooked. Finally, once hooked give the hint what's in them. Fabulous! 5. If anyone gets bit my a werewolf DO NOT ROLL the save right away!!! Take notes who got bit. Wait until the 2nd or 3rd rest and THEN make them make the save. Anyone who fails turns during the night and OH BOY THE FUN REALLY STARTS!!! 6. Finally, I suggest playing Strahd like a bad ex boyfriend. Have him pop up a few times, beat the stuffing outta of the party, and leaving them crying. Good luck! It is awesome!

I'm new to D&D. I've always wanted to play (I'm 32) but didn't start playing until 5th edition. I'm DMing a "Hoard of the Dragon Queen" campaign for my friends and that's all the experience with D&D I have. Now that being said, I am so excited to run "Curse of Strahd"! The book looks great, the cover is slick, I love the textured patch on the back of these books, they are very satisfying to hold, easy to flip through, The art is beautiful in this book, and It's concisely laid out. It was easy for me to read, The story is deep and so compelling. As a new DM, I found all of the information I could need within, there are lots and lots of read aloud text boxes, advice on setting moods, information about Gothic horror tropes. This book feels so complete to me. I really feel like I have everything I need to just run it, having read this module I feel like I don't have much else to prepare. Did I say I cannot wait to run this? Strahd himself is such an interesting villain. I love the evilness and coldness of this vampire. I know my gaming group, who regularly play games like "Arkam Horror" and "Betrayal" are going to love this.

Quality is good

Inspired to dm

Fantastiskt bra äventyr till världens bästa rollspel - Dungeons & Dragons. Eftersom det är en så kallad kampanj kan man plocka delar om man så vill eller köra hela paketet och ha många timmars kul rollspel tillsammans.

Una formidable campaña para personajes de niveles bajos de D&D 5a edición. Está diseñada para iniciar con personajes de 1-3 niveles de experiencia. La aventura transporta a los personajes al mundo aislado de Barovia y el libro cumple muy bien la tarea de impregnar al Dungeon Master o narrador del juego con los elementos necesarios para exaltar la experiencia de juego de los jugadores en sus aventuras en este mundo donde los contrastes de desolación y romance se mezclan perfectamente en un ambiente en decadencia bajo la sombra de miedo puro. El libro es de pasta dura y su contenido está dividido en capítulos de contenido que SOLO deben ser leídos por el Dungeon Master, NO por los jugadores. Al final también se incluye unos apéndices y mapas muy bien detallados e ilustrados que podrán ser compartidos a los jugadores llegado el momento. El contenido debe ser leído por completo por el Dungeon Master (DM) antes de iniciar las sesiones de juego pues se trata de una campaña (serie de aventuras) de estilo "sand box", es decir, el mundo estará completamente libre de explorar y abierto a las desiciones que tomen los jugadores en el juego. El DM debe estar preparado para esto y muy posiblemente deba leer algunas secciones dos o tres veces conforme vaya avanzando la campaña. Para jugar la campaña en este libro, el DM necesitará además tener una copia del libro de Player's Handbook, el Dungeon Master Guide y el Monster Manual. Todos estos libros en su 5a edición. Una vez iniciada la campaña, los jugadores pueden esperar terminarla exitosamente en mínimo 12 sesiones de 2 horas cada una. Pero en mi experiencia, estarán aquí un largo tiempo... y si el DM lo desea, podría tener a los personajes de los jugadores atrapados en Barovia el resto de sus vidas. Conclusiones: Después de leer y jugar las otras que han salido hasta ahora (excepto Dungeons of the Mad Mage publicada recientemente), Esta es quizá la mejor campaña/aventura publicada por Wizards of the Coast en 5a edición. No puedo mas que recomendarla para todos los estilos y gustos de juego. No se desepcionaran!

Great book. Excellent adventure