CURSE OF STRAHD Is Out Today (In Some Stores)

For those of you near a preferred store, today's the day - the Curse of Strahd is upon us! The rest will unfortunately have to wait another 11 days until March 15th. But to help with the wait, here's a look at the amusing disclaimer in the front of the book (courtesy of Derek Myers on Twitter).

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For those of you who have the book, it is now available for review in the reviews area.

 

[MNblockhead]

It's the 4th or the 15th depending if your store is a preferred store or not. Next week is neither of those things, though!

I just picked up the book that I pre-ordered, but they said they don't have the cards yet. The card release dates are not the same as the book release dates.

 

[skotothalamos]

Okay spoil me.

* what are the other hooks besides the Mists sweep you up?
* what does it say about magic in Barovia?
* what is the racial tolerance look like? Can elves, tieflings and dragonborn go around unmolested?

[sblock]other hooks:
- A Vistani messenger delivers a request for help signed by the Burgomaster
- A Vistani caravan invites the party to come help them free their lord form his curse
- Werewolves on the prowl. Includes hooks for the 5 Adventurer's League factions. I haven't read it.

Magic:
some planar nerfs and some themey bits (your Mage Hand is a skeletal hand) but not a lot of changes except to keep you from escaping Barovia

Non-human outsiders are to be scorned, feared, and shunned.[/sblock]

 

[KahlessNestor]

I have my copy!

 

[EthanSental]

Picked up a copy at the FLGS in Marietta Ga today. Looks good thumbing through it and look forward to reading it more thoroughly this weekend.

I believe the gf9 website has the cards with preorder and date of April. I would have thought they would have to closer to the game release date of mid March.

 

[Ted23]

My copy had two duplicate copies of the fold-out map. Are other people seeing the same thing?

 

[Winterthorn]

I looked over a copy in my FLGS but need to wait: payday is next week, lol. Oh what a lovely, gothic, delightfully gloomy adventure. Looks grand enough to earn an Ennie Award! It will be my first adventure purchase for 5E after the Starter Set.

My brief look at the book:
For levels 1 to 10.
Specifically states it is designed for sandbox adventuring.
Unfortunately the handouts don't appear to be removable, and the lovely map may be difficult to pull out, so be careful folks.
Excellent production quality, printed in the USA.
Wereravens!
In the DMG, page 51, it speaks of Barovia, Strahd, and the Dark Lords in the Shadowfell, I did not see in CoS specific reference to the Shadowfell. Nonetheless there are rules for the Fog, so I guess the connection is left open for DMs.

That's all I remember beyond what others have mentioned.

 

[Queer Venger]

double post my kind sirs ;-)

 

[HonorBoundSamurai632]

Just got home with my copy. I pulled the map out at the store and opened it up. My buddy (who owns the store) and I were all shocked by the map. The picture that was posted showing the backside of the map (the side with map of Castle Ravenloft,) didn't really impress me at first. Now seeing it up close, (I can't believe I'm about to say this) but I really need to give WoTC some credit. It's very beautifully done! On the front side, the map of Barovia and the little close-ups of the adventure sites, are equally as beautiful. Hopefully maps like this will become the norm. Strahd is wonderfully adapted to the new edition. So far, from the little bit that I have been able to flip through I can already tell, this is the best adventure released for 5th edition so far.

On a side note, at my store, I was told that the Tarokka Deck wouldn't be available until April. They are $10. My store pre-ordered decks for all of us who pre-ordered the book, so I just need to have patience. The same info is on the Gale Force 9 site, (which is who is making the cards.)

 

[Queer Venger]

Not at all surprised that GF9 has not delivered on the deck in tandem with the release. Its likely they'll be out on the 15th or in a few months. Im lucky to be near 3 WPN's so I'll pick up my book tomorrow.

I love the smell of D&D 5e in the morning...

 

[Barachiel]

It really sucks that WotC won't invest in full campaign settings anymore with ongoing supplemental material. Heck, new people to these settings wouldn't have any clue about their history unless WotC actually advertises their old stock to them, and then they have to be willing to purchase old edition material to supplement the new edition. Which I do not believe many will want to do.

They should go back to licensing. Let them make the core rules and material and let others continue their settings. I don't understand why they won't work with that model, it worked well before. As long as they have consultants helping out, I wasn't entirely keen on White Wolf's Ravenloft because of how much material they avoided for whatever copyright reasons, which make no sense, but Dragonlance turned out pretty good.

I just don't get it. I miss the days of 2E. 2nd Edition was the Golden Age of campaign settings.