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I convinced someone of something on the internet, yay! First time for everything. :) Ooo, now that is a very cool idea. I'll have to ponder that as well. I feel like it overall lowers the difficulty (since they'll likely be able to get the skull sooner) but it also makes logical sense and...

The AD&D Ravenloft was published in 1983. That module's 33 years old. It has a spouse and kids in school. And it is not the story of the new 5.0 Ravenloft, which is an entirely different beast (pun intended) and rightfully so. So I stand by my statements: I'm not personally interested in...

Pffewf, that's a tough one. It fits the narrative just as well, but it leaves even fewer allies for the party, and no one with any real power who opposes Strahd in the land. I don't think I will personally use that one, just because it could start to feel too hopeless: it turns up the...

Gah! I totally did. Perhaps a coincidence that I haven't been paying much attention for the last three months or so... :)

I'm pretty sure jayoungr caught it at some point in the thread (wow, is this thread 6 months old?) but here it is again if you'd like: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?485367-tweaking-narrative-structure-in-CoS-(spoilers-also-really-long) Although I have to say again that I wish I...

What I did was once they met Ismark, he "drew a map on the back of a napkin" and then I handed them a map. :) I figured he was a decent source. There's a copy of the map without markers floating around... but it may not be legal. You can buy it from the original artist as well, which is...

I'm going to start with a big tweak, and throw smaller ones in as well. Anything used to tie the campaign together has to encompass every disparate area. So far, the best idea that I can find (which isn't mine and I'm sorry to whoever suggested it because I haven't looked you up to cite you)...

In this thread, I made a rough outline for Curse of Strahd to show the general narrative structure of the story in case it was (reasonably) overwhelming or you'd rather have a more linear plot. It looks like this: Outline Opening Quests I. Intro/hooks a. receive fake burgomaster letter...

How about this for a general outline? Then you can explore areas in more depth as you get to them. If the sandbox nature of the thing is overwhelming, feel free to make it more linear. And feel free to cut out huge sections that don't add directly to what you're trying to do, or you don't...

Wooooooooooow. That is so cool! That is about 100% the opposite of how we play (and how we'd want to play), but seeing it all laid out like that I love it! What a great way to cut to the chase. Your D&D games are more like action movies; ours are more like dramas. I love that it all works...

I've also thought a lot about this. My solution for my group is that I am going to tell the players: this reading is EXTREMELY random and it can increase or decrease the difficulty of the campaign substantially. I (Madame Eva) will present them with the deck and offer them a choice: if they...

Ezmerelda is another one who can specifically do the reading, and she's a possible encounter in several places (tower, Krezk, castle), so they'll likely run into her eventually. Or put her on the random encounter table. Or just have some important Vistani refuse to work with them until they...

What is the gist of that adventure hook?

Quick oddity: the church in Barovia has an undercroft which has a "fortunes of Ravenloft" location - but there is no actual fortune for this location! I can see why they might cut it - it's a place where there's a very good chance you will have already visited, so it wouldn't follow very well...

Personally, I find the "collect every last one" achievement quests in video games to be torture. :) I think they're included in video games because it's an easy way to reuse assets and pad the length of the game - neither of which are really concerns in D&D. But if the idea sounds fun to you...

This is an excellent link and the person in that link presents a very reasonable opinion. It's worth a read for anyone who dismisses this case out of hand. Here's what I think is the most important quote, although it's a bit biased in its presentation: "These are not friendly times for...

A lot of responses are bringing up or indirectly hint at the common misconception that most lawsuits are frivolous. You always tend to hear about those, so people tend to overestimate how often they happen - but remember, like shark attacks and airplane crashes, you hear about them so much...

I thought that one group would be identical to the PCs in many ways - wearing the same sorts of armor, seemingly similar classes, etc. Basically like several of the other places in the game where the PCs see themselves dead in some way. In the 3.5 game, Sasha (one of the brides) was a pretty...

I can share some of the ways I've changed CoS for our group as well. Most of these are based on suggestions throughout the various linked threads, or other ideas mentioned here and there. 1. Amber Temple. Gone. Serves no purpose, it's a long dungeon right before the long dungeon, it's...

I totally should have read this thread sooner! :) Awesome write-up. Also, I just have to say: this is one of the best backgrounds for a PC ever. :) Also, sorry for all the threads - I was separating the topics! Totally stealing that, too. The "Scrying spell manifests as a shadow" idea is...