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?

 

[Mouseferatu]

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.

Not quite. WW had some of the Kargatane folks work on the line, but they were largely written by professional, freelance writers. The Kargatane/fan-written stuff and the WW Ravenloft stuff were separate projects.

 

[pukunui]

Here's the announcement from GF9 about the cards.

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

"Includes 54 Tarokka cards, as well as Prophet’s Gambit, a card game for 3-5 players."

That's pretty cool. Makes it so the cards are useful outside of the adventure.

 

[Psikerlord#]

I love the art an the deck. I like the ravenloft atmosphere, but not the old 2e mechanics - it was too much of a jar, suddenly half your spells didn't work (detection spells) and summoning spells backfired, curses couldnt be removed, and all sorts of other bad sh*t. As a PC you felt very nerfed. I am very curious about how that aspect will work with the high level of magic in 5e classes.... I don't think it will work well to take an established party from FR and stick them in Ravenloft. It's too... railroad, for my tastes.

On the other hand, a campaign specifically set in Barovia - with PCs made for it - could be very awesome indeed. But I think that would need special rules such as: human only, low magic, horror/madness rules, and so on.

 

[halfling rogue]

From the Geek & Sundry interview:

“The message behind Ravenloft is very important to us,” said Tracy.

“It’s a cautionary tale. As we both think all good vampire stories would be,” added Laura.

On the recent trends of women in horror fiction loving vampires and even becoming them, Tracy said, “We think that very deep female archetype message has gotten lost in recent years. Or at least terribly muddied [by] the idea that it’s okay to be with the monster.”

Laura said, “[Or] become like the monster to make it all work.”

The Hickmans believe the message that women can change the object of their affection if they love them enough is straight up dangerous. “All those ideas are at the heart of spousal abuse,” said Tracy.

I like this. The Hickmans are spot on in their assessment. The culmination is found in Twilight, but the modern idea that vampires are just misunderstood, or worthy of redemption, or are some kind of super human whose abilities we mere mortals ought to be desirous of, is flat out antithetical to what the vampire is and what it represents. Plus, all of those tropes have been played out (and it didn't take very long for it to happen...which is likely why zombies have cropped up as our newest favorite cultural undead) and I think a vampire in its traditional understanding is in need of a comeback.

 

[turkeygiant]

I'm hoping we get to see the rest of the 2nd edition campaign setting come back in some form.

But I don't think anywhere in these descriptions is it mentioning it being on a demiplane, or in Shadowfell or anything like that.

Barovia has actually already been very briefly described in 5e, on pg. 51 of the DMG it is described as being a prison domain within the Shadowfell, so it does already have a "canon" location in the cosmology.

 

[Jester David]

Not quite. WW had some of the Kargatane folks work on the line, but they were largely written by professional, freelance writers. The Kargatane/fan-written stuff and the WW Ravenloft stuff were separate projects.

Check the credits.
The Kargatane were Andrew Cermak, John W. Mangrum, Ryan Naylor, Chris Nichols, Stuart Turner and Andrew Wyatt. Cermak, Mangrum, and Wyatt wrote the 3e campaign setting. With Naylor and Nichols also contributing to the first couple Gazetteers and Van Richten's Arsenal.
While the studio eventually brought in other freelancers and writers, at the start it was all Kargatane. And several continued to work on the Gazetteer line until the end.

 

[Von Ether]

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.

I think that's the "We know for sure it's gonna hit the shelves on that date." Or it could be that some marketing data shows that many ADD gamers cool to the release or get distracted by shinies by 4 months time.

 

[Barantor]

Barovia has actually already been very briefly described in 5e, on pg. 51 of the DMG it is described as being a prison domain within the Shadowfell, so it does already have a "canon" location in the cosmology.

It is also mentioned with Stradh on pg. 296 of the Monster Manual.

 

[mach1.9pants]

The info about this release of raven loft has made me much more interested in it than before, the setting not bring my thing. And the anti sparkly vampire idea should be thoroughly supported. Also please don't make the other faction werewolves, how gauche

 

[Knight_Marshal]

On the other hand, a campaign specifically set in Barovia - with PCs made for it - could be very awesome indeed. But I think that would need special rules such as: human only, low magic, horror/madness rules, and so on.

Not really looking forward to everyone at the table somehow being an anti-undead cleric, paladin, ranger or warlock by some freakin mystical coincidence. Just like every on at the table now was magically set up to fight demons in the underdark, almost like their characters had divine insight into them being in the Underdark with lots of demons to fight. Except for my character who would have been perfect for Ravenloft.

I guess my Ravenloft character will have to be different as were the rest of my characters in the previous seasons.