CURSE OF STRAHD: Here's The Official Announcement & Cover Image!

WotC just officially announced Curse of Strahd, and unveiled the cover art. In this post, I'll cover whatever coverage appears around the web (such as the art items sent to some sites) so you have it all in one place. Curse of Strahd is "... a new Dungeons & Dragons adventure set in Castle Ravenloft and the surrounding land of Barovia. Written in collaboration with Tracy and Laura Hickman, the authors of the original Ravenloft adventure published in 1983, Curse of Strahd pits players against the vampire Strahd von Zarovich. Curse of Strahd will be available to everyone on March 15, 2016." The adventure is for character levels 1-10 (including a "starter adventure" from 1-3) and was written by Chris Perkins, and original Ravenloft authors Tracy Hickman and Laura Hickman. WotC's Jeremy Crawford says "Curse of Strahd focuses on the lands of Barovia, a D&D mini-setting filled with gothic towns, NPCs, and tales."

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Continued coverage - check back to this page for links to coverage around the web. I'll keep updating this as Strahd Coverage Central.

• Art previews sent to Geek & Sundry and The Escapist.
• Title and other details scooped.
• The official announcement from WotC.
• Geek & Sundry's interview. "What we’ve done in Curse of Strahd is given you a bigger sandbox. The land of Barovia is more detailed than it has been previously, and there are more cool places to go and more cool people to meet, and a mechanism to guide you." - Chris Perkins.
• Polygon interview. "This new version of the story will be more than 250 pages long, and include everything Dungeon Masters will need to get their players situated in the kingdom of Barovia. The centerpiece will be Strahd's castle, Ravenloft, but Perkins says the entire play area is roughly the size of half of Rhode Island and contains many new locations and characters."
• Collecting the Tarokka cards. As they're revealed, they'll be posted in this thread.
• iO9's coverage. Includes a new art piece.
• Chris Perkins mentions that "Curse of Strahd is 256 pages. Same size as OOTA and POTA."
• You can already pre-order it on Amazon.
• Pre-order Tarokka card deck (54 cards) from Gale Force 9 soon.
• Mike Schley has worked on the maps, like he did for previous adventures.
• Here's what Curse of Strahd means for s4 of the D&D Adventurer's League. "As befits a gothic storyline, for season 4 we are releasing fourteen adventures (in addition to new DDAO and DDEP adventures and some other surprises), but unlike previous D&D Adventurers League seasons, where adventures were somewhat more episodic while adding to an overall meta-plot, this season is a tight, continuous story. For maximum enjoyment of this season the intent is that you start 4-1 Suits of the Mist with a 1st-level character, then play 4-2, the 4-3, and so on following in order until your character is 8th-level at the end of the fourteen part series."

Click on the image to see the full set of 54 Tarokka cards, which will be available from GF9


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A classic Dungeons & Dragons villain rises from the grave in the new storyline, Curse of Strahd.

Today, Wizards of the Coast announced Curse of Strahd, a new Dungeons & Dragons adventure set in Castle Ravenloft and the surrounding land of Barovia. Written in collaboration with Tracy and Laura Hickman, the authors of the original Ravenloft adventure published in 1983, Curse of Strahd pits players against the vampire Strahd von Zarovich. Curse of Strahd will be available to everyone on March 15, 2016.

“Revisiting the land of Barovia with the creators of the original Ravenloft adventure has been a highlight of my professional career,” said Chris Perkins, principal story designer at Wizards of the Coast. “Tracy and Laura Hickman created a timeless villain whose faults reflect the darkest traits of humanity. I can't begin to describe what it's like to walk through the halls of Castle Ravenloft with its creators as your guides.”

Heroes from the Forgotten Realms and other D&D worlds can easily be drawn into Strahd’s cursed land. Once there, they must contend with the horrors of Barovia. Its people are melancholy, misshapen and grotesque, living in fear of the wolves and other creatures that serve Strahd’s evil will. The only hope for the trapped adventurers is to heed the warnings of a mysterious fortune-teller named Madam Eva. Drawing random cards from her tarroka deck, she directs adventurers to search Strahd’s domain for artifacts and allies to help the master of Castle Ravenloft. That is, before he orchestrates your demise for his amusement and feasts on your terror.

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.

• A fantasy-horror adventure for characters levels 1 – 10, Curse of Strahd™ provides everything a Dungeon Master needs to create an exciting and memorable play experience.
• Fans of the Dungeons & Dragons® Roleplaying Game can have additional adventures in Ravenloft by participating in the D&D Adventurers League™ organized play program.

Curse of Strahd is produced by Wizards of the Coast. It was written by Chris Perkins, Tracy Hickman, and Laura Hickman, edited by Kim Mohan and Jeremy Crawford, and art directed by Kate Irwin. The adventure incorporates material from the original Ravenloft adventure as well as new story content created by Tracy and Laura Hickman, Chris Perkins, Adam Lee, Richard Whitters, and Jeremy Crawford.

[h=3]ITEM DETAILS[/h]Price: $49.95
Release Date: 15 March, 2016
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780786965984
Pagecount: 256 pages
Pre-order on Amazon

Heroes from the Forgotten Realms and other D&D worlds can easily be drawn into Strahd’s cursed land. Once there, they must contend with the horrors of Barovia. Its people are melancholy, misshapen and grotesque, living in fear of the wolves and other creatures that serve Strahd’s evil will. The only hope for the trapped adventurers is to heed the warnings of a mysterious fortune-teller named Madam Eva. Drawing random cards from her tarroka deck, she directs adventurers to search Strahd’s domain for artifacts and allies to help the master of Castle Ravenloft.

While waiting for the adventure, experience the power of Madam Eva for yourself each day. Head to Twitter and retweet the official @Wizards_DnD Twitter account using the hashtag #DNDFortune. Madam Eva’s fortunes are based on which random card she draws from her tarokka deck and displays for each reading. Check back each day with Madam Eva to see what your #DNDFortune will foretell.

Players will also love to get their hands on a physical tarroka deck of cards produced by Gale Force 9 and available with the release of the adventure. The tarokka deck is a powerful tool for both Madam Eva and for Dungeon Masters running Curse of Strahd. By using the tarokka deck to randomize locations within the adventure, Dungeon Masters can customize each party’s exploration of Barovia, allowing Curse of Strahd to be replayed for years to come.

Strahd is waiting for you … What are you afraid of?

 

[dave2008]

Then why take issue with it only going up to level 10?

This is exactly what it seems to encourage.

The issue is that I don't think they will do what I want. They will take you to level 10 and have you fight a level 13/14/15 Strahd. Maybe I am wrong and the end game is not killing of Strahd - I hope I am.

I would like to see a level 10 party be challenged with a level 18/19/20 Strahd. A challenge they can't yet defeat. I realize this seems very similar to the previous AP (at least in terms of fighting the end villain), but those had ways to bring the villain down to your level so to speak. I don't want the PC's to fight a nerfed Strahd - I want them to feel they must escape or perish.

 

[Weird Dave]

I'm almost more excited for the quick line about the Adventurers League tie-in scenarios:

Fans of the Dungeons & Dragons® Roleplaying Game can have additional adventures in Ravenloft by participating in the D&D Adventurers League™ organized play program.

Perhaps the AL scenarios dive into other realms outside of Barovia? I'm sure someone knows, and I'm sure they're not telling just yet!

 

[ad_hoc]

The issue is that I don't think they will do what I want. They will take you to level 10 and have you fight a level 13/14/15 Strahd. Maybe I am wrong and the end game is not killing of Strahd - I hope I am.

I would like to see a level 10 party be challenged with a level 18/19/20 Strahd. A challenge they can't yet defeat. I realize this seems very similar to the previous AP (at least in terms of fighting the end villain), but those had ways to bring the villain down to your level so to speak. I don't want the PC's to fight a nerfed Strahd - I want them to feel they must escape or perish.

Why does ending at level 10 make you believe that the goal is to fight Strahd where if it ended at level 15 or 20 you would think it wasn't about fighting Strahd?

That doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Kramodlog]

The Polygon article linked in the article stated (emphasis mine):
"This new version of the story will be more than 250 pages long, and include everything Dungeon Masters will need to get their players situated in the kingdom of Barovia."

Seems Amazon's page was mistaken or it was given innaccurate info.

 

[neobolts]

It could be that the exact location of Barovia is left ambiguous by the module. Traditionalists will place it in Ravenloft, other DMs will put it somewhere in their homebrew world, while the Adventurer's League will place it in a quite corner near the Moonsea, etc.

From the io9 article:
"Curse of Strahd will find adventurers drawn into the magical mists that transport people to the nightmarish land of Borovia, the domain of the Vampire Lord Strahd von Zarovich"

I definitely take that to mean you start in your setting of choice and then get spirited away to Barovia.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Nothing outside of Barovia, but if I were going to re-launch an RL campaign setting, I'd absolutely focus on Barovia, for much of the same reason that 5e's FR releases have focused on the Sword Coast. The adventure is in the land of Barovia, not somewhere else, so it is in the RL setting, as much as any of the adventure paths have been in any setting. And it is gothic in tone, which indicates it has an RL setting vibe to it - it's likely not going to be "A party of tieflings, dragonborn, and half-orcs smash up Castle Ravenloft, kill Strahd, and take his stuff."

I think for me a big questionable factor is if it allows for/encourages/offers options for Barovia-native characters. Playing heroes born under Strahd's reign who know of the often deadly fortunes of the Vistani will offer a very different vibe from heroes whisked away from the road near Neverwinter whose main interest is in getting back. If there's some rules help for doing the former (It doesn't need much...perhaps some Barovia-specific factions or subclasses?), we'd have all I really need in an RL reboot.

 

[dave2008]

Why does ending at level 10 make you believe that the goal is to fight Strahd where if it ended at level 15 or 20 you would think it wasn't about fighting Strahd?

That doesn't make sense to me.

Fear need not make sense!

It is the other way around. I assume the goal is to fight Strahd (it was in the original and each 5e AP so far that was an option at the end), so I fear it is a less powerful or nerfed Strahd that will be fought. I don't think increasing the level changes the outcome, I think it would be WotC goal regardless, it just changes the CR of the end game threat.

To be clear, I think this is what WotC is doing, not what has to be done. I would like a 1-10 AP with a CR 19/20 threat that can't be fought without a 99% chance of a TPK. The goal is something different because you can't kill Strahd. Of course you could have a different goal and still possess the ability to kill Strahd, I guess I prefer the more blunt and punishing choice.

 

[Mirtek]

I think it was expected, but it is interesting that the adventure is for levels 1-10. I assume you face Strahd in the end, but maybe not. I would have like to see him in the high teens or maybe even lvl 20, but with the PCs only hitting level 10 I guess that is not to be.

I don't think he ever was that tough. Given how 5e is stating deities, demigods and archfiends, anything beyond 15 would be too high for him in this edition

 

[Jester David]

I'm excited. And worried. Ravenloft is my favourite setting. Curiosity over the setting helped get me interested in D&D. The Ravenloft Red Box was the fourth D&D product I ever bought.
As much as I enjoy the adventure, it has a lot of problems and is really just a giant dungeon crawl. First and foremost I love the world and what as built upon the adventure.

It's a different look for Strahd. Okay, it works. It keeps the pendant and black cloak and the red vest adds a splash of colour. He still has longer hair, but it's not quite so Louis de Pointe as in 3e.

I'm a little worried about the plot.
I have Castle Ravenloft. And the campaign setting retelling House of Strahd. And the 3e mini-campaign Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. (There's also the board game, Silver Anniversary reprint, and video game.) Do we need it again? A re-re-retelling. Does it need a bunch of filler at the start designed to get people from level 1 to level 5 where they can actually begin the true adventure?
I hope they'll surprise us and Strahd's schemes will be grander and different, the climax more than just roaming through the castle hunting Strahd. Acknowledging that the first adventure happened, Strahd survived, and his ambitions now are beyond seeking the reincarnation of his lost love.
(That said, one improvement would be a complete overhaul of the castle to make it designed like an actual castle, with a logical layout. The original really doesn't seem like the place a vampire has lived in for 300 years, and is somewhat of a nightmare to navigate.)

It's neat that they brought in Hickman, a nice nod like involving Ed Greenwood on Realms changes. But… part of me also remembers Hickman has a so-so hit:miss ratio and was not a fan of the setting. It sounds like they're going with his ideas for expanding Barovia and the countryside. But… the Ravenloft campaign setting already did that over multiple products with the licensed 3rd Party Gazetteer I being an excellent compilation with 30 pages on the nation of Barovia. I'll be really upset if they just dump that content, jettison the entire established campaign setting.
I can't imagine the reaction from fans if they did that to the Realms or Eberron. If they didn't just nuke the Realms but erased everything following the Grey Box from canon...

But we'll see. Maybe they'll expand on the Barovia of the campaign setting and give us a twist on the Strahd story. I could be concerned for nothing...

 

[variant]

Finally, an adventure I may actually pick up. I wonder if we will get some player options to go along with it.