[UPDATED AGAIN!] CURSE OF STRAHD Will Be Available March 15th

The new Dungeons & Dragons storyline will be called Curse of Strahd. I'm hearing that Tracy and Laura Hickman, who wrote the original 1983 Ravenloft adventure, have some involvement, and it will be set in Castle Ravenloft. The PCs will be sent to Strahd's realm by Madam Eva (using a tarokka deck). While the Ravenloft name is being used, I don't know if it's actually set in a demiplane or if it's set in the Forgotten Realms, but the land of Barovia certainly exists. More if I hear it!

Ravenloft was originally an adventure in 1983, and later became an entire campaign setting set in a pocket dimension called the Demiplane of Dread. The original adventure, for AD&D 1st Edition, has Strahd von Zarovich, master vampire, as its main villain. The land of Barovia is surrounded by a magical fog, and Strahd rules the domain. The adventure featured an interesting card-based random generation process which determined the locations of items, NPCs, and Strahd's motivation, making the adventure replayable. Strahd was an intelligent villain who loomed over the entire adventure, taunting the PCs throughout. Strahd is probably one of the most well-known D&D characters, after Drizzt and Elminster, and possible some Dragonlance characters.

I don't know how much of that old adventure matches the new storyline. I hear that Strahd's love story is at least cited, if not part of the adventure, and that it is shorter in scope than the previous adventure paths. WotC has sent some preview images to various outlets, as I reported yesterday, and the announcement is coming on Monday.

Personally? I am really excited about this. I can't wait to run it! Out of the storylines so far (and I really liked the Underdark whimsy), this one probably hits me right in the sweet spot. I was hoping for this.

The book is on Amazon already, albeit with no cover image, and is available for pre-order. 224 pages, $49.95, March 15th , 2016. With these 'placeholder' Amazon pages details sometimes change; but here's the product description:

Unravel the mysteries of Ravenloft® in this dread adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game

Under raging storm clouds, the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of Castle Ravenloft. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind’s howling increases as he turns his gaze down toward the village of Barovia. Far below, yet not beyond his keen eyesight, a party of adventurers has just entered his domain. Strahd’s face forms the barest hint of a smile as his dark plan unfolds. He knew they were coming, and he knows why they came — all according to his plan. A lightning flash rips through the darkness, but Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind fills the midnight air. The master of Castle Ravenloft is having guests for dinner. And you are invited.

Some more snippets of info:

• There's going to be a twitter campaign hashtag thing called #DNDFortune during the lead up to the adventure. You can get a 'reading' each day from Madam Eva using her tarokka deck.
• The tarokka deck will be produced by Gale Force 9 and should be available when the adventure releases. It can be used to randomise locations in the adventure.
• ​The adventurers are trapped (I assume in Barovia by the mists, but maybe in the castle itself; not sure).
• Mike Schley has strongly hinted that he worked on maps for the adventure, as he did for the previous 5E adventures.

 

[mach1.9pants]

I think you guys will be pleasantly surprised by this adventure. I certainly am very much looking forward to running it for my group.

Tease

Also all the old quote tick marks have stayed enabled, so I get the same quotes in the quote box everytime I do a quote. Weird

 

[DMZ2112]

It's good to have this confirmed, although after Tyranny of Takhisis and No, the Other Temple of Elemental Evil it shouldn't come as much surprise. Wizards hasn't been shy lately about appropriating non-FR IP to promote FR, and Strahd is one of their big names to drop. Doing vampires without him would have been crazy.

My money is still on this adventure being set in a D&D4-style Shadowfell "Domain of Dread" off the Sword Coast, containing just enough Barovia to contain Castle Ravenloft. Not that I am complaining (loudly) -- I understand the economic reasons for doing this sort of thing and I'd much rather D&D be fiscally sound than cater to my unreasonable wishes. Plenty of time to split the fanbase later on.

Brace yourselves, though, we are totally getting young, hot, tormented, sparkly Strahd von Zarovich.

 

[Morlock]

I'm jazzed about this. Not as jazzed as I would have been sans the SRD/Guild announcement, but, still jazzed.

I feel about Ravenloft almost exactly the same way I feel about Dragonlance. For me, Ravenloft is about Castle Ravenloft and the vampire therein. I have zero interest in the setting that exploded in the wake of the original. For me, Dragonlance is about The War of the Lance. I otherwise have zero interest in the setting that exploded in the wake of the original. I want to play Ravenloft the way I want to play The War of the Lance: run through the AP, enjoy the hell out of it, and then move on to some other setting.

Blah. I'd be looking forward to this if I had finished Rage of Demons already. Or felt I would be close to finishing it by mid-March.

This is one of those good problems.

Dark Sun for 5th, Wizards of the Coast ... that's what I'm waiting for.

I'd buy Dark Sun for 5th, few questions asked.

I think it is overwhelmingly likely that this book will BE the campaign info you will get for the foreseeable future.

All their "adventures" are not just adventures; they're part campaign material too.

I think this is a solid strategy. APs are like a "killer app" for a region book. You have an AP you can just plunk down and play, and you get enough setting info to start fleshing out the region for your own purposes, if that's what you want to do. This method provides a built-in answer to the question "yeah, but what do I do with this setting?" And it throws a bone to people who want setting stuff, when WotC isn't really sold on the economic viability of setting-only material.

 

[pukunui]

It's good to have this confirmed, although after Tyranny of Takhisis ... Wizards hasn't been shy lately about appropriating non-FR IP to promote FR ...

Sigh. One more time: Tyranny of Dragons is *not* Dragonlance dropped into the Realms. There's actually a lot of Realmslore behind it, going back at least as far as the 90s, if not even farther. The *only* thing ToD has in common with the War of the Lance is the plot to bring Tiamat/Takhisis into the world. In all other particulars, the former bears no resemblance whatsoever to the latter.

 

[Xavian Starsider]

I know. I still find it interesting that a block is "missing" compared to the other APs while it is still the same price.

The fourth Game of Thrones novels is over 200 pages shorter than the third one and 300 pages shorter than the fifth one. Yet Amazon still sells it for the same price.

I don't base my purchasing decision based on how many page signatures are contained in it. It's the content that matters .

I used to work typesetting fantasy and science fiction novels. If the book was a couple pages over an intended count, we just changed the spacing to shorten a chapter or two by a page. If a book is several pages shorter than the intended count, it gets excerpts of another book or a bunch of ad pages in the back. .

Would it make you feel better about the book if it had extra lengthy author's forewards, concept art, and ads for Neverwinter and Sword Coast Adventures? Granted, some of those may already be in. But they neither add nor subtract from my perceived value of the book.

 

[Xavian Starsider]

I still have the tarokka deck that Arthaus put out for third edition. I wonder if the GF9 one will be different.

Seems likely. Given that the two promotional images that were released were described as being Tarokka cards, I'd think it likely that they represent the cards that will be coming in the new set. Possibly early versions of the finished art, but I would definitely expect them to be indicative of the style we'll be seeing.

I highly doubt they'd just reprint an old deck.

 

[Xavian Starsider]

Who's affected by this? Shelly Mazzanoble. She's the D&D marketing person. This was her hype. She planned the reveal, the teasers, the interview with Geek & Sundry. Will as many people tune into the interview now?
This was her moment.

To be fair, a lot of people here wouldn't even know there was something being announced on Monday if it wasn't for the news being posted here on ENworld. I don't think I would have known.

A lot of the people in these forums are biting at the chops for more information. If you think the people posting here aren't going to be racing to the interview and the announcement to analyze every word in detail, then you don't know ENworld very well.

Also, Shelly Mazzanoble is no dummy. She's not sitting at home crying that someone is giving the product free promotion. Like you said, she's a MARKETING person. Turns out most people who work in marketing think that getting people talking about your product is a good thing. There's no such thing as bad publicity.

 

[RandomCitizenX]

Seems likely. Given that the two promotional images that were released were described as being Tarokka cards, I'd think it likely that they represent the cards that will be coming in the new set. Possibly early versions of the finished art, but I would definitely expect them to be indicative of the style we'll be seeing.

I highly doubt they'd just reprint an old deck.

I have no doubt that the art of the cards and whatnot will be new. What I am wondering is if the actual composition of the deck will be the same.

 

[Mirtek]

Holding back for two days isn't toeing the party line, it's a courtesy.

No, it's not doing their job. News sites are not there as parrots repeating corporate communications, but to bring news preferably before everyone else, even the compoanies themsleves.

Just repeating what they announced snd hoping to occasionally be thrown a bone by being chosen by them ti receive some tidbit of news first, you're foing a very poor job.

Companies are free to blacklist you, but if you're dependant in their goodwill you're doing a poir job already.

Getting it out first doesn't win anything.

It wins clicks which it what pays bills, not WotC's happiness or good will.

Just ask car companies how happy they are about prototype hunters getting pictures of the veiled new models into the magazines. The magazines are very happy though and pay premium for pics if the new BMW before BMW unveils it

 

[Kramodlog]

I don't base my purchasing decision based on how many page signatures are contained in it. It's the content that matters .

Indeed. And now there is less of it for the same price. Considering there weren't a lot of quality content in the first place with the other APs, this reduction isn't a big selling point.