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D&D 5E Curse of Strahd and then?

kasi45

First Post
Hello all!

In two weeks I begin with Curse of Strahd. As the adventure gets the chars to 10th Level I thought of some adventures after that.

My first idea is that i will use old AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft modules (i have a whole bundle at home, incl the complete great conjunction). Also if i dont have it it is no Problem to download it on dungeon masters guild.

The alternative is to use the higher Level dungeons from "Tales of the Yawning Portal" (which means i will get Dead in Thay, The Giants and the Horror-Tomb). But i think it is better if i use the ravenloft modules (because of the mood).

What do you think? Which module is good after Curse of Strahd?

Thanks for advice,
Kasi
 

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CydKnight

Explorer
If you don't even begin Curse of Strahd for 2 weeks, I think planning for what happens after you complete it is extremely premature. By the time you complete it, you and your players may have no desire to stay in the same type setting or "mood" or even play with the same characters. When the time is right, which will be much later after you are well into Curse of Strahd, the input for what happens after that adventure ends should first come from the players in your group.
 

If you don't even begin Curse of Strahd for 2 weeks, I think planning for what happens after you complete it is extremely premature. By the time you complete it, you and your players may have no desire to stay in the same type setting or "mood" or even play with the same characters. When the time is right, which will be much later after you are well into Curse of Strahd, the input for what happens after that adventure ends should first come from the players in your group.

I can't agree with this. If you're planning to continue the campaign after finishing CoS, then you're probably going to want to foreshadow what's coming while playing in Barovia, and otherwise set up things for a smooth follow up.
 

kasi45

First Post
I also think, that it will not harm if i look what could be after Curse of Strahd. It is better to have a plan and Change it as to have nothing and then have to decide what to do...

But maybe I can ask the question different: If you complete Curse of Strahd and then you would continue with 2nd Edition Ravenloft modules, which modules would you prefer?
 

CydKnight

Explorer
I can't agree with this. If you're planning to continue the campaign after finishing CoS, then you're probably going to want to foreshadow what's coming while playing in Barovia, and otherwise set up things for a smooth follow up.
You don't have to. This works for me. Do what works for you.

Personally, I am simply not going to spend time planning ahead 10 levels that may never be completed. I have seen players get a few levels into a campaign and then not be into it for whatever reason. Foreshadowing is a great and I do it but not 10 levels ahead before the current campaign has even begun. I vaguely plan and keep content on hand for maybe 3 levels ahead of the players current level but I didn't even plan that far ahead until they were 4th level in an adventure design for 1st through 5th. It's worked out great for us and everyone is currently happy with the direction of the campaign.

Now if you have lots of time and you are a big D&D nerd (meant as a term of affection), then by all means plan as far ahead as you desire. Even if you don't use that content as planned it may come in handy for something else later.
 

DEFCON 1

Legend
Supporter
What comes after Curse of Strahd? Well, before you can answer that you have to decide what happens at the climax of Curse of Strahd.

Assuming the party kills Strahd von Zarovich... do the mists clear and they return to whatever world or realm they were from previously? Or do the mists not clear and the party is still stuck in Ravenloft (whether that's the Baratok Valley that CoS is based in, or the entirety of the Ravenloft Domain of Dread that the 2E campaign setting was based upon)?

How you answer that question will influence which adventures come next.

If you go with the former-- that the party kills Strahd, the mists clear, and everyone goes home... you can then go into whichever modules or adventures you want, since they're now back in their home realm and mood no longer matters.

But, if you go with the latter... that you are keeping the PCs in Ravenloft even after what you'd consider the conclusion of Curse of Strahd... then you have some issues to deal with. Mainly that you've allowed the party to kill the Big Bad Evil Guy at around probably 8th to 10th level. Which means anything past that if they remain stuck in Ravenloft is going to be very anticlimactic. They ONLY way to avoid that would be for the Barovia demesne to melt away upon Strahd's death, and the party then ends up in one of the other Ravenloft Campaign Setting demesnes and has to now deal with someone like Azalin in the demesne of Darkon or something.

However, if your intention was to keep the party in the Baratok Valley indefinitely, playing even more adventures and Ravenlofty modules past what is in the Curse of Strahd book... then I'd recommend that you NOT END Curse of Strah at all. That you beef up Strahd von Zarovich so that he can't be killed by only 8th to 10th level characters. And you keep Strahd around as an all-powerful overseer of the Valley that doesn't getting involved with the party almost at all, and you compensate for that by putting in all of these additional modules or adventures into the Valley as other things for your PCs to do, and create several more lower-level BBEGs with their own plots outside of Strahd that the party can deal with.

If you really don't want to end the campaign in the Baratok Valley at 10th level and want to keep playing after that... in my opinion I would hold off on Strahd's death until what you feel is the correct end of the campaign. And remove Strahd as a potential antagonist until the party is much, much higher in level so that dealing with the Overlord of the land is in fact the climax. Heck, if I was running CoS this way, I'd probably not even have anyone in Barovia even know that Strahd even exists for the first 10 levels of the party. I'd probably keep the Castle's drawbridge up so no one could enter the Castle, never have anyone talk about having seen the lord of the Castle in decades, add a whole heap of additional modules like you wanted that had nothing to do with Strahd whatsoever so there's even more varied sandboxy stuff to do in the Valley, and even hold off on Madam Eva's card reading until the party reached like 12th level or higher. Only after the party was that high in level would I have Strahd reveal himself to everyone in the Valley, and that's what the machinations of the PCs to destroy him would formally begin. And I'd beef Strahd up so that you'd need to be probably 15th+ level to possibly kill him. Because THEN you have a proper climax to this higher-level Curse of Strahd campaign.

But that's just me. :)
 
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