Inverse Ravenloft

I've been reading Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. I know I'm late to the party, but I'm probably writing a review soon. If you want the TLDR: it is better than I thought. The art is not great (everything lookss a bit grey and computer-generated for my tastes), but the writing is above-average for WotC.

Anyway.

I got me thinking about an old idea I've read somewhere about "Inverse Ravenloft". 

Ravenloft is located in the Shadowfell, the depressing plane of shadow, nightmares, etc. It's inverse is the Feywild, the brightly-colored home of the fairy, dreams, and fairy-tale logic. Ravenloft is repetitive, predictable, still, while the Feywild is the opposite. 

Both are dangerous in their own ways. It wouldn't be much fun otherwise. 

I haven't read The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, and I'm not sure I'm going to, but it seems to have a structure that is somewhat similar to Curse of Strahd. 

In any case... what would an direct inversion of Curse of Strahd? Can we do this and still make it dangerous, scary and fun? 

Let's try. 

Vallaki. The village of Vallaki is ruled by a tyrant that wants to force everyone to look happy. Its reflection might be a place ruled by a "benevolent" ruler that needs everyone to be sad and depressed to make sure it can cheer them up. "Natural" happiness will cause suspicion. How could they be happy if not for the tyrant's interference?

Krezk. In Krezk, there is an abbey that houses the deformed, but mostly helpless and marginalized, "mongrelfolk". Its reflection is a place ruled by the sick and deformed. Ordinary people are institutionalized (and maybe eventually modified) for their own good. Instead of the isolation of the original Krezk, its mirror-Krezk welcomes strangers, as long as they are willing to conform. The original Abbot is an insane angel in disguise; its reflection is a subtle, scheming devil.

Village of Barovia. The original village of Barovia lies in the shadow of Castle Ravenloft. Everyone is afraid of being kidnapped by vampires at night. Its reflection suffers under the light of Castle Fey-something. They look at the castle and hope every day to be kidnapped and raised among the beautiful fairies, through endless parties, banquets, and no responsibility, forever.

Castle Ravenloft. Castle Fey-something is a beautiful place; maybe a stranger version of Castle Neuschwanstein. Instead of a nightmarish place full of undead, it is a dreamy place full of beauty, dance, and apparently harmless play. People want to get in but are rarely invited. Everything is always changing, even the truth, maybe even the past. Every time you open a new door, it might take you to a different place. Come to think of it, that's what I wanted Castle Ravenloft to be in the first place.

Argynvostholt. Originally a castle ruled by undead enemies of Strahd, now the last bastion of ugly, smelly, stubborn humans who insist on keeping their independence and their rudimentary ways. Probably located underground.

The Amber Temple. The evil temple is replaced by a warm summer grove. The Dark Powers are replaced by Powers of Light. They will offer you various gifts, and only ask good things in return. For example, you might never tell another lie again (and especially not badmouth the queen - that is a lie regardless of any other considerations), never harm an innocent (and all fey are innocent, even when they're trying to kill you), never show dissatisfaction with your beautiful surroundings, etc.

Lord Strahd. The Fey-queen is not a tyrant like Strahd; most of her subjects follow her willingly, and since she only wants the greater good, her minions are happy to imprison the recalcitrant for re-education, or even slay them if they can't appreciate the Queen's beauty. Someone has to rule the place, after all; left to their own devices, the humans might harm themselves or others. 

She is not admired for her immense power; instead, she is seem as a frail, delicate thing, who succeeded against all odds, and reluctantly accepts power to protect her subjects. If you doubt her best intentions, she might even shed a tear. She doesn't need an iron fist; she will strangle you with a silk rope, sincerely hoping you would just thank her for ridding the world of your miserable existence.

A (minimalist) d20 hexcrawl... and dungeoncrawl

I ran a couple of D&D 5e campaigns (Curse of Strahd, Tomb of Annihilation) which were basically hexcrawls (although neither were particularly good as hexcrawls).

One thing that bothered me was the amount of dice rolling I had to do whenever the players moved around. Scouting, getting lost, encounters, weather. etc. Also, there were no particular rules on how the encounter happens - what's the distance? Can one party hide from the other? etc.

I wanted to reduce the thing to one single roll (or, at least, fewer rolls).

Anyway, here is the minimalist d20 hexcrawl. Written for 5e D&D, Dark Fantasy Basic, or any other version if you adjust the numbers.

Source.

First, the chance of encounters is baked in the d20. So, if the chance is one in 5, an encounter happens if you roll 5, 10, 15 or 20. One in six, and it happens on 6, 12, 18. One is three, and it happens on a 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, or 18. And so on. Not perfect, but really close.

(Notice that, in some cases, you could add another layer here; for example, you could have 1-in-4 chances of encounters and 1-in-3 chances of bad weather; if you roll 12, you get both; but that will occasionally create strange results if you don't change the numbers a bit).

Now, roll you also use this d20 to make a Survival (or Perception etc.) check for whoever is leading the party. The DC is 15, or more for a place that is hard to navigate (desert, fog, thick woods, etc.).

Fail, and something bad happens (you get lost, surprised, delayed, trapped, exhausted, distracted, tracked, etc.). You can add some critical failures on margins of 5+ (or a natural 1; see below).

Succeed, and you're in the right path. If you get 20 or more, you also get a perk. 25+, two perks, and so on. Some examples:

- Perceive a foe before it can see you.

- Find food.

- Find valuables.

- Find a secret passage or shortcut.

- Move 50% faster.

- Etc.

If more than one perk would be appropriate, the PCs get to choose.

Let's take Curse of Strahd as an example. Start with a roll every couple of hours (test Perception the roads, Survival in the woods, Insight in the castle or temple). You have a 1-in-5 chance of encounters (1-in-4 at night or in the woods, 1-in-3 if both). Fail in the woods, you get lost or surprised. Fail in the roads an you get ambushed (if there is an encounter) or... nothing. Walking through a road should be easy if there is no encounter.

I'd probably make something nasty/awesome for natural 1 or 20. No matter how skilled you are, exploration will often be dangerous... or rewarding.

You could get lost inside Castle Ravenloft, for example ("Was this room here before"?), giving the whole thing a nightmarish twist. Or let Strahd appear on the road for some hit and run on a Natural 1, if appropriate. Or a giant goat, Roc, etc. (see Curse of Strahd).

Notice you can use the same reasoning for dungeons, mazes (use Insight), caves, etc. You can replace rolling for encounters, treasure, and surprise with a single roll.

Of course, if you want everybody to roll, they can roll with disadvantage, etc. Say, the party gets ambushed, but with a good roll some PCs can avoid surprise.

Curse of Strahd Guide, VII - Fast combat

Okay folks, since we are getting a new Ravenloft book, let's make this a "Strahd week". I'll change subject soon, I promise!

I wrote lots and lots of posts about making combat quicker; this is just a small recap. My problems with D&D 5e combat may have peaked while playing this campaign. There were three main reasons: 

1 - Standard combat is too complex.

2 - There were too many creatures in each fight

3 - The Icon of Ravenloft (plus invisibility and other disadvantages).

Let's briefly tackle each one of these. 

Source.

1 - Combat is too complex already

This is not a CoS issue. It is an issue I have with 5e. So here is something I wrote about that.

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2020/09/minimalist-d-vi-super-fast-5e-combat.html

I eventually tested all of that. It made combat chaotic and fun. Maybe too chaotic; I'm undecided.

But if you were to pick one thing to make combat faster, just use average damage unless you have a reason not to - especially for monsters. A natural 20 is maximum damage, and an exact hit is a glancing blow (half damage).

2 - There were too many creatures in each fight

The problem with CoS is that you're often accompanied by allies. Ireena, Ismark, eventually Ezmeralda, Van Richten, etc., and maybe someone decided by the card reading. At the same time, you're fighting groups of monsters. That's a lot of creatures to keep track of.

Again, here is something I wrote before:

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-three-strikes-rule-for-fast-combat.html

There are some neat ideas in the comments, too.

Another way of making this faster is letting your players control all NPCs on their side. Seems like an obvious solution... but not all players are up for that. And, TBH, most of mine were confused (like me) when trying to keep track of all the powers, spells, magic items and features you have at, say, level 7, even before they had additional NPCs to control. 

So the solution outline in the link above is probably better. You still ask the players to roll for "their" NPCs, but they do not choose actions, spells, etc., only roll 1d20 per round.

3 - The Icon of Ravenloft (plus invisibility and other disadvantages)

The problem with the Icon of Ravenloft is that it gives disadvantage to undead attacking you. There are other effects that could have a similar effect (invisibility, for example), but the Icon was the most common issue in my game.

In one scene, the PCs faced six vampire spawn. Each had two attacks. This meant that, in theory, I'd have to roll 24 d20 each round, in groups of two, only to discard half and see how many PCs were hit.

We had at least three or fours fights with groups of vampire spawns in the campaign... and many more against other undead.

There is a simpler way: instead of disadvantage, just give these vampires one attack instead of two (on a natural 20, they claw and bite!). Now you're rolling 6 dice instead of 24.

It works reasonably well if you do the math (if they hit on a natural 11+, giving them disadvantage is nearly identical to halving their damage output. BTW, if they only have one attack, just halve damage and you're good to go)..

Here is my bit:

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2021/02/d-5es-strange-obsession-with-rolling.html

In conclusion...

As you can see, I've become a bit obsessed with CoS. I'll probably finish this guide with a dozen posts. I'm not sure if you're enjoying this, but there is no stopping at this point! 

However, I will take a small break to talk about other subjects. Will come back to Strahd in one or two weeks.

:)

"Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft" for 5e D&D announced!

We are getting a new D&D 5e book.... and it's "Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft"!

Just thought I'd share the news with you, since I've been writing about Curse of Strahd a lot lately...

It's coming out may 18! From the amazon description:

Explore the horrors of Ravenloft in this campaign sourcebook for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.

Terror stalks the nightmare realms of Ravenloft. No one knows this better than monster scholar Rudolph Van Richten. To arm a new generation against the creatures of the night, Van Richten has compiled his correspondence and case files into this tome of eerie tales and chilling truths.
 
  •  Travel (perhaps even by choice) to Ravenloft's expanded Domains of Dread—each domain with its own unique flavor of horror, thrilling story hooks, and grisly cast of characters
 
  •  Craft your own D&D horror settings, add tension with optional rules, and get advice for running a game that's ghastly in all the right ways
 
  •  Create characters with lineages tied to vampires, undead, and hags, horror-themed subclasses, the Investigator background, and "Dark Gifts" that may be a double-edged sword
 
  •  Unleash nightmarish monsters from an expanded bestiary, and browse a collection of mysterious trinkets
 
  •  Explore Ravenloft in the included Dungeons & Dragons adventure—play as a stand-alone adventure or drop it into your current game for a bit of sinister fun

TBH, I think I'm obsessed with CoS (despite some perceived flaws) and I'm probably getting this unless the quality is horrible. Heck I might even run it. 

And I haven't been buying 5e stuff for a while, mostly because I don't have enough time to play everything, and 5e is still too complex for my group. 

We'll see...

Stay tuned!

Curse of Strahd Guide, VI - Expeditions in Barovia (day, night, and bloodlust)

Here is part V.

I mentioned about organizing a Curse of Strahd campaign through expeditions more than once. Here's how I'd do that. 

(This has nothing to do with the book "Expedition to Castle Ravenloft", by the way...)

First, fix the distances. They are too small, for several reasons. The valley feels crowded, there is a settlement every couple of hours in the road (if you count encampments, ruins, etc.). The distances also allow you to move freely between villages without ever risking spending the night outside. I'd prefer something a bit scarier...

(BTW, make sure the PCs know that sleeping outside in Barovia is dangerous. Villagers are afraid to go out at night, etc.)

The method of checking for encounters is inefficient; you check every 30 minutes, UNLESS you already had 2 in the last 12 hours. So, in theory you would roll 24 times (a complete waste of time) but in practice you will always get 2 encounters every 12 hours, no matter if day or night, IF you ever spend 12 hours outside (because probabilities). What's worse, if you DO have a couple of encounters in the afternoon, you wouldn't check for encounters when sleeping outside? 

So you could just roll a couple of d12s to find the time of the next encounter... But the game makes you count hexes, convert distances to time, and then check for encounters. 

What about doing this, instead?

- Make the distance between the village of Barovia and Vallaki about 8 hours though the encampment, 10 hours if you avoid it. So, if you make a short rest, you must perform a forced march and risk exhaustion... or make camp and spend the night outside.

- To make things easy, travels between Vallaki, Krezk, Berez, Argynvostholt, Van Richten's Tower and Wizard of Wines take about 6 hours, with two exceptions: it takes 8 hours from Vallaki to WoW, and also 8 hours from Berez to Argynvostholt. Six hours? This means we don't have to sleep outside, right? Well, yes... but consider the way back!

- It takes 2 hours to get from WoW to Yester hill, or from Krezk to Werewolves' Den (through the woods).

- The road to the Ambler Temple should be an expedition unto itself; let's make it sixteen hours. Divide this as you see fit; the last few hours should be a hard hike on the cold mountains...

Now, how we deal with encounters? Roll 1d6 every couple of hours. Add +1 if you stray off the road, +1 if you're travelling at night, +2 if both. You get an encounter if the result is 4 or more (amke that "natural 6" especailly nasty if you want to).

In some cases, especially during the day, you can avoid this encounter with a successful Survival (etc.) check, if you want to. And some monsters might avoid you... but not always (see below).

Source.

Day, night, and the moon-induced bloodlust

The second step in our journey is making travelling during the night very scary. This accomplishes a few things. 

It forces characters to look for shelter when they sleep outside. Places such as the Old Bonegrinder, the Tser Pool Encampment, and the tower near Tsolenka Pass are ideal for that. In addition, makes villages and their inhabitants (and leaders, etc.) a lot more relevant - if you make lots of enemies, you cannot find a safe place to rest...

It also makes them consider transportation more seriously - now they need some Vistani as allies, intead of considering the whole people their enemies.

Nighttime encounters are already harder than the ones you have during the day... but I'd spice things up even more. Maybe let the first round of attacks against the PCs have advantage (or double damage, crit on a 19-20, etc.) during the night, as the evil creatures of Barovia are taken by some kind of bloodlust... most will attack immediately and fight to the death. Werewolves get a couple of rounds like that in the full moon, and so on.

Playing around with the phases of the Moon is another advantage of having greater distances, since characters will take  at least a few weeks before defeating Strahd. But this is the subject for another post.

Curse of Strahd Guide, V - The Web (taking Barovia)

Continued from part IV. It might be a bit redundant.... but worth reading if you're going to run CoS.

If you like the idea of taking Barovia before defeating Strahd, here is one way to do that. I discussed this on reddit before and another user added some great ideas (check the link!).

The entire land of Barovia feels evil, as the PCs arrive. The whole land is thrown into despair. The very air feels heavy. You would leave... but the feeling is even worse when you get closer to the mists.

The reason for this is that the land is cursed. 

Every notable location lays upon an important arcane intersection, like nodes on a web.

In the middle of the web, lies Castle Ravenloft. Strahd (and the dark powers) walk over the web like spiders.

The sites are Barovia, Vallaki, Krezk, the Amber Temple, Argynvostholt, Wizard of Wines Winery, Yester Hill, Berez. Let's leave the other sites for now and keep these nine for now.

Source.

As you can see from the book, all of these places are in a bad shape - but things could become even worse. For simplicity's sake, let's call them "neutral" if they are bad but do not belong to Strahd's allies, "taken" if they do, and "free" if they are, well, free from Strahd's grasp.

An empty place is neutral. Kill all the mosnters in Berez, for example, and the place becomes neutral. A place filled with hopeful enemies of Strahd is free.

To turn a place from neutral to "taken", all the PCs have to do is... nothing. They are the good guys. If they choose to do nothing, things will naturally (and gradually) become worse.

To "free" a place, you'd have to destroy Strahd's allies... but occasionally you'll need YOUR allies to stay there for a while. That's why they don't accompany you all the time - you NEED Ismark to rule Barovia or it will fall into despair.

Remember - not all barovians have souls, and certainly many are not fit to be leaders.

But it gets worse. Maybe you need LEGITIMATE leaders to rule the inhabited parts of the land. You need to convince Dmitri Krezkov to turn things around in Krezk. You need a Vallakovich to rule Vallaki (or the Wachters will) - the villagers will not resist Strahd under a foreigner, elf, innkeeper, etc. Unless... you give them enough reason to trust you. Find a missing child, deliver a dress, clean a desecrated church or reason with a crazy abbot.

Ultimately, you have to restore HOPE to the valley. How do you do that? Here are some ideas:

- Barovia - save Ireena so that Izmark can rule in peace. If you cannot do that, maaybe helpíng the priest and defeating the nearby witches will restore hope so a new leader might emerge.

- Vallaki - convince Vallakovich to stop his insanity. Defeat him if you need, but you'll also need to defeat the Wachters or the city will turn from neutral to taken. Calling Vallakovich to reason will take a lot of effort, maybe a few errands. Maybe his wife or son could do a better job.

- Krezk - help the burgomaster with his family. Do what the abbot says - calling him to reason is nearly impossible. Maybe defeat nearby werewolves (or at least the current pro-Strahd leader).

- The Amber Temple - this is a complex one, probably deserving of an entire post.

- Argynvostholt - return the dragon's skull to its former place... and do not destroy the ghosts who opposed Strahd.

- Wizard of Wines Winery - give them back to the owners and restore the three gemstones (one of them is missing from the module... put it where you want).

- Yester Hill - defeat the druids and the Gulthias tree. On a second thought, combine this one with Wizard of the Wines.

- Berez - defeat the witch.

Violence?

As you can see, pure violence is only a viable answers against places completely taken by monsters. Causing carnage in any village will not restore hope - on the contrary. Cause chaos, and Strahd will only laugh... and wait. Desperate villagers will soon turn to another tyrant for protection.

Hope?

The characters should be able to perceive that something has changed if they "liberate" a place. Maybe the mists open, allowing the sun in... making things even harder for the vampires. Maybe the leaves seems brighter and stronger, the people hopeful, and so on. 

Conversely, if they fail, it will be obvious the next time they arrive. People are desperate, trees are twisted, etc.

Blowback?

Strahd will not sit idly after a few places are taken. He does not care enough that if a couple of places are liberated - he knows they'll fall back into despair eventually. However, if the "integrity of the web" is compromised, he will take action. This is a subject for another post.

A dark twist?

It occurs to me that if you want your campaign to be really dark, some "liberations" might require a dark twist to work properly. Suffice to say some crimes cannot be forgiven, some people cannot be reasoned with, and occasionally you need justice (or even injustice) before peace. For example, maybe some good-aligned ghosts must be destroyed to "clean" a place. In Barovia, some souls are too far gone.

I don't think I will pursue this line of thinking right now, or recommend it; the module is dark enough as it is. But it is somethign to consider.

Curse of Strahd Guide, IV - Hitting Strahd in the allies (Strahd is the land; the land is Strahd)

Here is another quick idea for Curse of Strahd (and here is part III if you haven't read it).

The book's "proposed plot"* seems to be: you go around the valley looking for info, items and allies, maybe trying to save Ireena, until you get enough XP to kill Strahd. 

(*I'll write an entire post on the subject next)

In my campaign, the (slightly murderhobos) PCs became paranoid (not entirely unreasonable), managed to save Ireena and find the sun blade, but the rest of the items were in the castle and, according to the cards, they got NO allies (which obviously made them more paranoid). 

They seemed no reason to explore the valley further or to "make things right". They wanted to face Strahd immediately (before completing 30% of the module). Which is okay. They'd fight Strahd and be killed or, with some luck, run away.

But "you don't have enough XP to fight Strahd" sounds like a bad reason not to face him - even after the PCs are beaten. Here is a different idea.

Strahd is the land; the land is Strahd; his power is intrinsically tied to the actual lands of Barovia. He rules the valley because he is powerful, but this is a two-way street: his power also comes from the fact that he has allies all over.

Curse of Strahd has about a dozen relevant locations, each tied to Strahd in some way. Three of four locations are NOT directly under Strahd's influence, but there is some kind of struggle going on, which could make things take a turn for the worse. Maybe Strahd only NEEDS half a dozen sites to be ruled by pure evil, while the rest can be left in the hand of petty tyrants, independent monsters or the insane.

Most of these sites can be "redeemed" somehow, and the way is often obvious: save Ireena, topple a tyrant, help an angel, destroy an evil tree, protect a church, kill the leader of the werewolves, reestablish wine production, replace a dragon's skull, etc.

[This also serves as a decent explanation on why most of the "good" NPCs will NOT act as allies to the PCs; they must protect their sites from being lost entirely].

Now, the reason the PCs must "save" these locations is not to get XP or out of the goodness of their hearts, but to weaken their powerful foe.

[The specifics are up to you - I find Strahd a bit weak anyway, so each of his "sites" could give him a small boost unless "redeemed"].

This also gives the campaign a certain rhythm: after a couple of sites have been "turned", the vampire will send some allies to find out what's going on. 

Four or five, the PCs might invited to the Castle for questioning, intimidation or even neutralization. 

Six or seven sites conquered means the PCs are a real, immediate threat: now they've got Strahd's full attention. A whole faction (werewolves or druids) might attack the PCs directly. On the other hand, any resistance against Strahd will back the PCs.

Strahd will do everything to lure the PCs to the Castle (terrorizing civilians, kidnapping innocent victims, 'hitting and running", etc.) - the only place he can be destroyed, but also where he is more powerful now that his grasp on the land is weakened.

Of course, now there are TIME LIMITS to consider. Wandering around foolishly will not do, and the PCs might consider attacking with partial information and only some of the items.

The final showdown becomes inevitable - again, not because the XP is right or because they have a magic sword, but because the moment has arrived.

Curse of Strahd Guide - Part III - Minimum resources

The third part in the series (here is part II) would originally be a rant about how curse of Strahd is somewhat incomplete and badly organized, and that you need additional resources (and not jut the book) to run it without a headache.

However there's already a huge trove of fan-produced stuff for the campaign online, for free. Because of that I have little to add, other than a few links and comments. 

In fact, there is so much good material out there that's what I thought it would be more useful to do the opposite: tell you the bare minimum additional resources you need to run this campaign. Because there's so much decent stuff online bet you could run this company forever, but I'm guessing this is not your goal.

Some of the essential stuff you need is in the official DM's screen. Now, I don't use or recommend using DM screens, but that's the subject for another post. The material contained in this screen, however, is very useful to have in hand. One might even guess that some of this was left out of the book on purpose... But they wouldn't do that, right? I mean, you can find some of this stuff in the book, but it is badly organized. See this rant if you want to know what I mean. 

Anyway... Let's take a look at this. 

Source.

It contains: 

* Lists of random encounters for Barovia and for the Castle, with page numbers.
* A few maps of the castle. 
* A map of Barovia. 
* A list os locations in Barovia, in alphabetical order, with page numbers. 

Half of the screen is useful whenever you are traveling outdoors through Barovia, from one settlement to another - which means, almost always. The other half it's only useful when you're within the castle- which means, in a small aprt of the campaign.

Other than that, you need a good player map. There is no reason the characters wouldn't know the geography of the valley after talking to a few people, so there's no reason to hide the map from them (although you could certainly rip the edges of the map to make some locations  more mysterious). 

There's a map in the book, of course, but it is big and unwieldy. It is also too beautiful and detailed - doesn't look like a map you'd find in Barovia -  and in divided in hexes, which is not useful (see below).

Here's a better one (if you know the author, please give him credits in the comments): 
https://mists-of-shadow-moor.obsidianportal.com/items/barovia-region

The last thing you need is a guide to the distances in Barovia, so you don't have to count hexes. The map of Barovia makes the campaign look like an hex-crawl, but there is no reason to look at it this way. The characters will not be exploring unknown locations (like they would on a hex-crawl), but the only traveling through roads and trails, and going to cities, castles, ruins, etc. 

This should be organized as a point-crawl, but apparently they were not familiar with the concept. Going "off road" is possible but not expected and should carry explicit consequences.

You can find this in many forms, even a detailed spreadsheet, but the most useful would be some kind of map with the distances written down. Here's one example, although the distances are off I (they should be one third of that). However, you can play with the distances as you want. 

Here's my suggestion (click here for the full map): 

Each marking represents one hour of travel, AND one check for random encounters (yes, I tweaked things a bit). Of course, you could also number and describe in advance each of these places... But this is not necessary. 

Why do distances matter? Because you should never be out at night in Barovia. But that's the subject for another post.

But anyway, this is enough to get you started:

• Two good maps - one for players, the other for the DM. Notice that the map can include the next two bullet points.
• An alphabetical index of locations, with page numbers (or write them down in the map).
• A guide for distances in Barovia.
• A copy of the list of encounters; add a copy of pages 29-33 (encounters) to avoid flipping back and forth.

If this is not enough... well, the sky is the limit. Here is that trove of resources I mentioned earlier:

https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/hbjrs6/resources_tips_for_curse_of_strahd_dms/
http://thecampaign20xx.blogspot.com/2016/03/dungeons-dragons-guide-to-curse-of.html
https://www.elventower.com/curse-of-strahd-guide/
https://slyflourish.com/running_curse_of_strahd.html

https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/9bpzbh/curse_of_strahd_reloaded_compilation_thread/

If this is useful, let me know in the comments!

Strahdtroopers (Curse of Strahd Guide, II)

In part I, we discussed a few subjects, including character creation. But my suggestion in this part comes even before that. In the next part, I'll try to organize the trove of awesome advice you can find online about this campaign (you can start here, and take a look at the source of the picture below).

In order to make this easy, I'll use a "problem/solution" format for my ideas.

Problem: nobody cares about the metaplot. 

Curse of Strahd has an amazing story about Strahd's rise and fall in Barovia - it is the background for the whole campaign. This one one of the best bits of the module - everything is there for a (more or less) explicit reason.

The problem is that, usually, PCs don't seem to care. Strahd is just a monster to be defeated. Yes, ti might be cool to realize that the vampire-killing sword was one used by his brother, but in the end the important bit is that it is a vampire-killing sword and the PCs are trying to kill vampires.

Anyway, the book does a half-decent job of throwing bits and pieces from the story to the PCs, but sometimes this is done through talking NPCs, which isn't a great way to tell stories or to draw the players attentions.

My idea is doing things differently. I haven't tried that yet... But hear me out.

Source.

Solution: in session one, you are Strahdtroopers.

Session one is about a group of young, brave soldiers (premade characters). They are loyal to the glorious King Barov until the king is slain by a rival lord - a man, many claimed had a pact with dark powers.

Now the king's son, the young Strahd, only twelve or thirteen years old and a but traumatized but full of bloody vengeance, is eager to bring justice to the villain.

Of course, the PCs are enlisted to help.

Though a series of very short scenes, the PCs help Strahd to defeat the villain and conquer his lands. They infiltrate the lands with the help of the benevolent Vistani - although they soon realize that the righteous one among this people shy way from Strahd bloody methods and eventually leave the valley.

But the killings do not bother most of Strahd's soldiers. They are fighting some kind of monster, someone who made Strahd and his (even younger) brother (now protect in a convent) orphans. Someone who eats bones or bathes in the blood of virgins, or something. His soldiers are certainly showing no mercy, and he even has some strange creatures on his side!

This first party of the adventure is bloody... slain PCs might come back from the dead, but they might as well take a new PC on part two.

In any case, the villain is defeated. Strahd wins the day. He builds/names a castle in honor of his widowed mother. He is popular among the people - they seem to be happy to ignore the harsh treatment of criminals and suspect foreigners. At least Barov is avenged and there is no more war in sight.

In the second part of the adventure, though another series of short scenes, the PCs (now respected veterans) go around Barovia hunting monsters looking for threats. But there are few threats, and few monsters, in this time. A few barbarians in the mountains, evil druids, starved wolves who sent strangely adept at attacking people. Except for the Amber temple - no one goes there, and if they do, they die.  Just little hints of what's to come.

Strahd, however, becomes increasingly somber and more cruel. He visits that damned temple from time to time, and nobody knows why. If your players are like mine, they will quickly come to hate Strahd.

Finally, a wedding is announced. Strahd's brother, Sergei, is about to marry Tatyana - even though everyone can see how Strahd looks at her. The soldiers might even joke at this, very discreetly. But everyone is optimistic.

In the final scene, the PCs discover Sergei slain by Strahd, who immediately goes after Tatyana. when they reach the monarch, Tatyana is already jumping from a balcony.

Strahd's soldiers (and probably the PCs too) turn against him and kill him. But he refuses to die. He is a vampire now. Everyone that keeps attacking is slain.

There is no winning this battle. Surviving soldiers that manage to flee get to see the mists growing thicker while the sun seems to disappear forever. There is no escape. Everyone dies.

Or, at least, this is how I see it.

If you want to change some details. it doesn't matter - this will become legend, and there will be no way to tell which parts are true. Eventually, the PCs will hear this story from someone in Barovia - maybe a descendant from one of the soldiers?

Of course, this all sounds very railroad-y. If a way of "showing, not telling" Strahd's story. PCs are doomed, but maybe they can accomplish something that will change Barovia for centuries - albeit in very small ways. Or maybe it is THEIR sword who becomes a vampire killer after it kills Strahd for the first time? And they could came back as undead, of course - maybe HELPFUL undead?

Make sure your players are up for this type of adventure before beginning. With premade PCs, you can run this in less than two hours. But I cannot say for sure, since I haven't tried.

What do you think?

Rant - the BAD HEXCRAWL in Tomb of Annihilation

As you know, I finished running CoS and now I'm probably starting Tomb of Annihilation.

Again, CoS is "a great campaign, with many AWESOME ideas, but also confusing as hell, badly organized, and full of problems."

And now I'm reading Tomb of Annihilation

Oh well. I won't even... 

Look, it is basically the same thing.

But why? 

WotC modules are FULL of great stuff - Ravenloft, Chult, Acererak, the Tomb of Horrors... But this stuff is DECADES old. Admittedly, the put this stuff together in a cool way. I LIKE these modules. Mostly.

But why do I prefer 5e to, say, AD&D or 2E? Well, it is a bit EASIER. The rules make more sense. There are fewer exceptions, but more character options.

But the supplements are all VERY HARD to run. 

The maps are horrible for navigation - they give the DM no clue on where to go. 

The map on CoS in an HEX map... but there is no reason to use it for an hexcrawl. All the significant locations are on roads. Either they've never heard of point-crawls, or they... what? They make it hard on purpose? You have to CALCULATE the distances??? Why doesn't the book just give them to you?

On how are these maps supposed to work, anyway? They are BIG - great for putting in your wall, but not that great for hiding behind a DM screen!

ToA comes with a big map... NOT for players, but for DMs. Players get a small map with blank hexes to fill. Oh, most hexes have NOTHING on them, BTW. Okay. At least is is an hexcrawl.

How do you organize hex-crawls? 

Well, let's see one example from Hex Crawl Chronicles, issue 1:

Easy, right?

The design is really simple, but efficient. 

There are a couple of apparent imperfections - the relevant hexes should be marked on the map, the contrast could be better - but other than that, we always know where to look for. 

The numbers are in the ToC, and even if they weren't, it is easy to see that 1418 comes before 1522, and both com before 1602 , etc.

If you're looking for a particular hex int he map, this is also easy - if you start in 606 and go north, you're in 605. South, 607. East from 606 is 706 (or 705). West, 506 (or 505.

And this is a 24 page product.

Now let's look at my OSR adventure, The Wretched Hive (an hex dungeon, not an hexcrawl, but anyway):

Hexes are marked A, B, C, D... Each color represent one thing. This distinction is marked in the (hyperlinked) table of contents. also, numbers (1, 2, 3) represent another thing.

Just choose the room, click on the ToC, and you're there. Or turn to the relevant page.

And if you open in a random page (page 21, above), each room is color-coded, and in alphabetical order.

Now let's look at Tomb of Annihilation.

Do you see the problem?

First, if you're looking for a place in the map, you have to look all over to find the place in the map. North, south, east... just go look for it.

Try it - click on the map and look for Kir Sabal.

I'll wait. Bear in mind that the actual map is four times larger or more.

Found it?

Okay, let's say the PCs arrived there...

Now you have to find it in the book. Let's see... chapter 2. 50 pages long.

Oh well:

So, we have 50 PAGES with no reference in the ToC. 

Oh, but that's okay - they are in alphabetical order! So let's look for "Kir Sabal"... Open the book somewhere between page 41 and 91 and... 

In which letter are we???? I have no idea. 

Coincidentally, Kir Sabal is in this page... But you have to flip back and forth until you find what you're looking for.

See the letters A, B, C, D and E on the right? I made this in Microsoft paint to show how easy it is to make things easier.

They even made it in the Monster Manual! See the red circle:

And it was even LESS necessary there - since you can easily see which letter you're in (blue circle).

How does WotC get away with this?

Well, other people FIX THE MODULES for them.

There is a numbered hex map of Chult someone made for free. Empty hexes? Well, here is 100 different encounters. Certainly online forums have better solutions for ToA than being TELEPORTED to a big PORT in the begging of the campaign, or better motives to fooling around with dinosaur races and side-quests on a strict time limit. I'll find them.

Just look at this!

BTW, it is the same for CoS. Somebody calculated the distances in Barovia for free, with page numbers (MAN do I wish I had found this BEFORE running the campaign!). There is good map of Barovia to give to your players (although I didn't find one for Chult and I might have to draw something myself).

And there are dozens of guides to 5e modules in the DM's guild (well, as you've seem, I'm writing my own guide to CoS). This are bestsellers. People NEED this stuff.

The problem is - these are things that should be included in the modules. You shouldn't need to find a SEPARATE GUIDE to run a campaign, let alone make your own.

And, of course, these days I'm running games online... But I cannot find a LEGAL PDF of Tomb of Annihilation, which would me me immensely. At least I could ctrl+f the locations.

In short...

D&D is a gateway RPG for many people who have never played before. It shouldn't be unnecessarily hard to run if there is no added value. Heck, NO module should be hard to run for no reason!

The ideas are awesome. All this IP that Gygax, Arneson and others invented years ago are very cool, and there are good creative people in WotC that know how to use this stuff (mostly). The maps LOOK great. The art in ToA is BEAUTIFUL. 

But the books are terrible to USE. Do people actually PLAY this stuff before publishing it? Or do they just expect the fans to organize it for them?

It bums me out. I bought all these 5e books and I want to USE THEM, not look at them. These books got positive reviews online. WotC has lots of fans that will defend this stuff and I know a few people will get angry at me for pointing these errors (fortunately, not many people).

Oh well. I'll do my best. Continue writing my own adventures, I guess. Try to use the books I bought the best I can. 

I might try to put a guide to CoS in the DMs guild. It might sell more than some of those "third party" products out there, since I'm sure there are many people trying to make sense if this stuff. Potentially, a lot more than are looking for books that are not "official D&D"".

Anyway, I'm sorry if this sounds too negative. Back to helping you guys with CoS and finding someone to help me with ToA. Rant over.

Curse of Strahd Guide - Part I - Getting started

There is a lot to be said about Curse of Strahd. The good, the bad, the ugly... even the beautiful.

I won't bother you with long reviews. In short, it is a great campaign, with many AWESOME ideas, but also confusing as hell, badly organized, and full of problems. The atmosphere is top-notch - some of the best I've ever read. The execution is flawed. Many people consider it 5e's best campaign - and, from what I've read so far, I am inclined to agree.

So, if you want something cool, read on. If you want something EASY - skip this one, probably (or read on, and I'll make it easier for you!).

But anyway - I had lots of fun playing it. If you want to play it to, I'm sure you could use some help (I certainly appreciated all the help I could find!). If this advice is useful, this will become a long series. Otherwise, I'll probably write about something else.

So, here is a bit of information and advice to getting started on CoS. I might expand on this bit as I write the series and remember more stuff, or as people make suggestions and corrections (well, it is a popular campaign!). Anyway:

---

* READ THE WHOLE THING before starting. Its easy to get lost when GMing this thing for the first time.

* BAROVIA IS HUMANOCENTRIC. If your players want to create dragonborn, tiefling, goliath or lizard-people characters, they'll seem out of place. everyone in Barovia is human, elf, os some kind of gothic monster (vampire, werewolf, were-raven, golem, etc.). My advice: re-skin everyone as some gothic trope. You want to be a goliath? Fine, you are just a big human with some form of gigantism (you can still use a goliath's stats). Tiefling? You are a human whose parents made a pact with devils. Your eyes are slightly different, but that's it. And so on.

* CERTAIN CLASSES/ALIGNMENTS ARE EXPECTED. The book assumes you'll find certain items during the game. But, if you're playing by the book, you´ll need a cleric or paladin of good alignment to make some of the most powerful items to work (maybe too powerful, but that's another post). Other item requires good alignment only. So, decide if you're going to change these rules, or tell your players right from the start that "good" heroes - especially paladins and clerics - have the best change in this campaign.

BTW, a WIZARD is also expected... kinda. There are some instances in the book that seem to require specific spells to solve (or at least there are not many explicit alternatives). I ran the campaign just fine with a druid and a warlock, but I felt a wizard would do better.

Maybe the best party would be something like paladin / cleric / wizard ... and maybe rogue or fighter. The rogue needs a magic weapon to fight effectively and these are not that easy to find. Maybe he gets the sunsword instead of the paladin. A fighter might get better magic items (mace, spear, heavy armor). An undead-fighting ranger could work.

The cleric is probably the most important one here, because of healing, resurrection, turn undead, etc.

(BTW - if you want to start with "dark" characters to fit the gothic feel of the campaign, take a look at my Dark Fantasy Characters, it is full of ideas).

* MATURE THEMES. This campaign contains mature themes. I've never worried about this stuff before, since my players like gritty and violent games - but in this case I think this is worth mentioning. The atmosphere is depressing, if you play it right. You can play it for laughs if you prefer, but CoS has some awesome horror fodder and it would be a waste not to use it. Anyway, you've been warned.

* YOU DO NOT NEED THE TAROKKA DECK. The deck is just a gimmick. Use a common deck of cards instead. A deck of encounters (and maybe items) would have been a lot more useful.

Hey, WotC - if you end up making a lot of money based on my advice, consider giving me some of it ;).

---

There's more, a lot more. Do a "foreshadowing" session - a prologue of sorts. Get a decent map. Then, ignore the map. Rethink the whole list of encounters. Divide the campaign in three acts. Tie Strahd to his allies. Make him more powerful. Keep track of NPCs and factions.

But that's after the campaign begins. AND there are a couple of sessions to make before that happens... This advice are enough to get you started.

For now, I'd appreciate to know if you're interested in this. Please let me know in the comments.

UPDATE: here is part II.

LOSTLORN - teaser for a dark world

This is what I'm hoping to be the "next big thing" in terms of third-party 5e products.

LOSTLORN™️ is a dark fantasy roleplaying game by Mark Rein-Hagen (creator of the World of Darkness franchise), where you play the monstrous denizens and rulers of a mythical land filled with existential horrors and surrounded by an eternal storm trapping all souls there.

Will you thrive to the Star-Courts or be defiled to the depths of Abysma? Will the Tempest rip your eternal essence apart?

Forge your own destiny in Lostlorn!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/storytellerlostlorn/

In short, a new 5e setting by Mark Rein-Hagen (of "Vampire, The Masquerade" fame, among other games). The setting is being discussed "in the open", on Facebook, somewhat similarly to how 5e was created, but a bit less secretive.

I am participating in the creation of game mechanics: races, maybe classes, and soon monsters and (I hope) weapons.

What is interesting about this setting?

Here are some things I think readers of this blog will appreciate.

First, it is not that similar to your traditional faux-medieval setting. It has a renaissance, even Shakespearean vibe, in a dark, mythical setting. The "reincarnation" aspect is somewhat reminiscent of Ravenloft and Dark Souls but much more complex.

Like Dark sun, it takes common tropes and subverts them; there are no elves, dwarves, or halfling, for example, but there are other people that fill similar niches. There will be entirely new classes, divided in guilds.

What is more, the setting is low in magic, unlike traditional 5e. the action is of the swashbuckling type. The game will focuses on intrigue and social interaction more than combat.

As the setting expand, new characters are creates. In addition to mortals, you'll be able to play vampire knights, demon knights, and so on, each with their own culture, traditions, etc.

The art is looking awesome so far (artists: Derek Stevens, above, and Adam Craft, below‎ - not sure these are the final versions).

Join the group on Facebook, or stay tuned to this blog see how this goes!

If you want to support this blog, check my books on DriveThruRPG! Almost all are included in the site's July sale!

DARK FANTASY: SETTINGS, MAGIC ITEMS, and SALE!

So here are my two newest books: Dark Fantasy Magic Items and Dark Fantasy Settings.

They are on sale for US$ 0.95 and 50 cents for a limited time!

 

These are collection of tables and short essays to inspire the creation of dark fantasy settings and magic items. As always, the focus is on dark fantasy tropes: flawed heroes, terrible villains, corrupting magic, ominous ruins and damned wastelands.

Here are some examples from each book.

Settings:

d20	What is missing?
1	Gods. They died, left, became corrupted, etc. (see the “Dark Fantasy Religion” book for more ideas)
2	Water. In this deserted world, human life is cheap and water is expensive.
3	Food. Everyone are starving, and the number of cannibals is growing.
4	Sun. The sun is dying. It might have turned red already.
5	Light. It is always night, and torches are scarce.
6	Heat. This winter is harsh and lasts for decades. The whole world is covered in snow.
7	Civilization. Civilization has fallen, and barbarians live amongst the ruins.
8	Technology. The primitive humankind cannot tell the devices of the ancients from magic.
9	Sight. The whole world is surrounded by fog. Hard to see, easy to get lost.
10	Magic. The slow death of magic will bring doom upon the world.
11	Metals. Metals are scarce. Wood, bone and obsidian are used in its place.
12	Memory. Everyone seems to be forgetful, and the old ways are falling into oblivion.
13	Empathy. It is every man and woman for themselves now, and the devil take the hindmost.
14	Order. Nobody is in charge, and everything is permitted.
15	Transport. There might be peace somewhere, but no ways to get there.
16	Sanity. Everyone is crazy, but each in their own way.
17	Stability. Everything changes rapidly. Cities move around. Buildings grow and collapse like trees.
18	Souls. Most common people are born with no soul, although this isn’t always obvious.
19	Exit. No one can leave The Great City. Beyond the walls is hell, or worse.
20	Hope. Everything is going downhill, and nobody cares.

Magic items:

d20	Appearance
1	Deep and dark like the night sky. You cannot see the stars move, but they do.
2	Looks as if it was made of contained fire, without heat.
3	A sea of desperate faces float around with open mouths, making no sound.
4	Its parts seem to flow slightly within, like water.
5	Luminescent. It glows in the dark but provides no light for you.
6	It contains one or more eyes that occasionally seem to blink.
7	Made to resemble flowers and plants, with a sweet, slightly narcotic smell.
8	Reflective, like a perfect mirror.
9	Ultrablack – darker than your pupils, and makes the light around them a bit weaker.
10	Beautifully prismatic, like a cross between a rainbow and the aurora borealis.
11	Old bloodstains that can never be cleaned.
12	Incredibly fancy. Decorated with precious stones or metals.
13	Resembles (or contains the image of) an animal, demon, monster, child, etc.
14	Has small pulsating protuberances that resemble cists.
15	Made of living, flayed flesh, or human skin. Might bleed if damaged. / Made of bones.
16	Smooth, squishy and wet, resembling octopus’ skin. / Semi-transparent, like hardened glass or crystals.
17	Covered in scales of a dragon or great lizard. / Engraved with glowing runes.
18	Decorated with large feathers of extinct birds. / Perfectly polished metal.
19	Rubbery and flexible, but still very resistant. / Radiant, like a beam of light or “laser sword”.
20	Covered in the strangely colored fur of an unknown beast. / All bent and twisted.

I think the series is now complete! I'm really happy on how things turned out. And I still have other stuff up my sleeve...  Stay tuned!