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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Irda Ranger" data-source="post: 7205554" data-attributes="member: 1003">I just finished running Curse of Strahd, and below are the things I changed about the module that worked out really well, and things I would do differently if I ever ran it again--THINGS THAT WORKED:Fanes. If you want to leave mysterious why Strahd can do all sorts of things that most vampires cannot, that's fine, but I worked into the game the concept that there are Fanes; magical places of power that if a powerful spellcaster takes control of (which requires a Ritual with a 1 year casting time), they gain special powers. There are a number of such Fanes around Ravenloft, and Strahd controls all of them. They are well defended.The neat thing about this is you can make Strahd even more super-powerful at the beginning, but the PCs have a strategy for cutting him down to size. Take out the Fanes and he loses his special abilities like controlling the weather or seeing through the eyes of beasts.Dusk Elves. I personally thought it made no sense that the setting history had Strahd murdering tons of dusk elves when he conquered the valley, but then when the PCs encounter them they are allies of the Vistani. I created a ruined elven city just south of the Vallaki Vistani encampment, and the few remaining dusk elves live among the ruins. Raven Secret Agents. I liked the were-ravens that operated in Barovia, but thought they needed to be a little more grim-dark. I asked myself "What kind of people could survive for centuries as a secret society under Strahd's very nose?" My personal answer was "Only some very calculating, ruthless spies." I bumped up the head of their order to a high-level Druid and for some time the PCs only knew of him by the name the children of Barovia had given to the rumors of his existence - the Raven King.For at least the first 2/3rds of the campaign the PCs seriously hated the Raven King, because he never revealed himself, but did leave them clues and provided aid when it suited him. Often they didn't know it was him until long after. My players understood that they were pawns in a twilight struggle between Strahd and the Raven King, and that the Raven King would sacrifice them as instantly as a Chess Grandmaster would sacrifice any piece on the board if it got him closer to defeating Strahd. This situation continued until the PCs were about 8th level, when the started becoming too powerful for either side to challenge directly. New Locations. I made two entirely new locations. There was a castle at the bottom of Lake Zarovich, which was completely flooded except for a single tower that stuck out of the middle of the lake. The Lake was dark as night and the castle was guarded by a bunch of Rusalka that Strahd had created by drowning pregnant Barovian peasant girls. They were reskinned Wights for stat block purposes, but with a good swim speed and a preference for grappling and drowning people.There was also a temple at the top of Mt Baratok. It was one of the Fanes of Barovia; the one that allowed Strahd to control the weather. Control of that Fane was why Mordekainen had come to Barovia in the first place, and once the PCs helped cure his madness he helped them clear the temple. It had a Greek theme and was defended by Medusa, Gorgons, and number of powerful skeleton warriors. The hard part was ascending the vertical cliff face while being buffeted by Air Elementals, especially since many of the paths up the mountain had drops of over 1000' hidden by illusion spells.THINGS I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY:Gimp the Sunsword. Honestly, once the Sunsword was in the game, Strahd really wasn't that hard to beat. He could be killed anywhere, had Disadvantage on all his attacks and Saves, couldn't turn into mist to escape, and didn't regenerate. My vengeance Paladin killed him in single combat. (I'm not kidding; his only buff from another member of the party was a Haste spell, but otherwise he was on his own) A vampire like Strahd should need to be killed in his own coffin, and Disadvantage on all rolls was too much.Make the Heart of Sorrow more powerful. A 50 HP buffer really isn't that much. My PCs could chew through that very quickly by the time they were 5-6th level. I would make the Heart of Sorrow give him 50 HP/turn regeneration. Make the woods/night scarier. The Svalich Woods should be a house of horror for anyone that isn't Vistani. There's already an aggressive random encounter table for the woods at night, but I'd make the mists swirl so enemies always have advantage on stealth and surprise, and the PCs have a real chance of getting lost. More will-o-wisps. More witches.Witches of Mother Night. I would build this up more. Make the witches of Mother Night a type of Warlock (with a new Mother Night patron), and have more of them. The Hags all through Barovia can be a big part of this organization, but I'd allow the witches to operate independently too.</blockquote>

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