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?

 

[Valmarius]

Here's the announcement from GF9 about the cards.

http://www.gf9-dnd.com/Home/tabid/56/entryid/253/return-to-ravenloft.aspx

Not much new info here, and no release date yet. But they shouldn't be far off.

 

[lyle.spade]

Anyone see a page count in any of that?

Found an answer: according to the Polygon article it'll be 250+ pages.

 

[darjr]

Rounded corners ftw

 

[Morrus]

Found an answer: according to the Polygon article it'll be 250+ pages.

Chris Perkins says in the OP that it's 256 pages.

 

[lyle.spade]

Thank you, sir. If it's 10 levels of story plus setting fluff, that'd make for a hefty amount of extra information. I have to admit that, despite having played DnD since the 1978 Blue Box, which I proudly still own, I have never played nor do I own the original Ravenloft modules. I'm looking forward to this.

 

[CasvalRemDeikun]

Very exciting! They even got the original authors involved. I am thinking the reason it is the same size as the other adventures but only lasts ten levels is because the adventure will likely have more sidequests, or it will function similar to a campaign setting by giving the DM a lot of space to write their own adventures using the book.

 

[Barantor]

This is the first adventure I'm actually excited for because it isn't directly linked to FR.

Might have to preorder!

 

[Kramodlog]

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.

What are there reasons?

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Interesting that WotC waited until now to announce this. It looks like they are only announcing products 2 or so months in advance of the release date, which is definitely a change from previous editions. Personally I'd prefer a bit of a longer lead-in (say 3-4 months), but WotC are obviously taking a different path with their marketing of 5E products.

 

[Jester David]

Well, while I have had all prior incarnations of Ravenloft and Strahd's appearances in the past, I don't have any of them now, and know that pretty much none of my players (even the old vets) played Ravenloft in the past, so a new book on the subject...even if it's a retelling...has a lot to offer the contemporary crowd. Ironically I have only ever used Strahd and Barovia in my own games, and never run any of the modules "as-is." So even for me this will be "new."

They're available on D&D Classics - including Expedition to Castle Ravenloft and used book stores carry I6 or the Silver Anniversary reprint for reasonable prices. They're not hard to get ahold of. We don't need a full reprint for something we can update outself.

I think the White Wolf content for Ravenloft was incredibly elaborate and also not half as useable as I would have liked it. This is likely just my own preferences, but most of what WW did for Ravenloft when they had it was taking 300 pages of content and seeing how they could expand on it into 3,000 pages of additional content that was soundly milked for cash at the expense of useful product. So my hope is that the new book is very efficient at presenting Barovia as a useful domain, one which is easy to use in play, and to stay away from dozens of pages of elaborate background detail that is incredibly difficult to expose in actual play. (Yes, I am a fan of Domains of Dread and other editions of Ravenloft which provided very concise, easy gazetteers with lots of room for DM interpretation and expansion).

It was only published by White Wolf (under their Swords & Sorcery line). The first few years of products were written by the "Kargatane", the fans who ran the Secrets of the Kargatane Ravenloft website. It was really a labour of love.