D&D 5E Enhancing "Curse of Strahd" (and DDAL adventures)

[Nebulous]

Was there supposed to be a link here?

You can find it here.
It's quite extensive. The DM who wrote this has gone over and beyond what was needed, even rewriting backstories of some major and minor characters. Still, it's an amazing resource. I am currently in the process of adding an orphanage across the street from the Church, putting the third night hag there as the polymorphed headmistress, and the bones of St. Andral have been moved to Old Bonegrinder and NOT the coffin maker. This is going to give the PCs more time to wander around Vallaki and discover the cool stuff going on there without triggering end game events yet. I still want to use the coffin maker's shop, I just won't have the bones hidden there.

 

[Nebulous]

Also, as advised in the reddit walkthrough, if you can make Izek a relative of a PC, it will have more impact than Ireena as an NPC. This will likely come up for my guys next session.

 

[jayoungr]

Also, as advised in the reddit walkthrough, if you can make Izek a relative of a PC, it will have more impact than Ireena as an NPC.

Heh, well, Ireena is a PC in my game, so it's all one! I doubt they'll ever find out who Izek is, though. They really made themselves persona non grata in Vallaki before leaving to go visit the Wizard of Wines, and the only way they're likely to interact with Izek after this is by fighting him.

Thanks for the Reddit link! When I get a little more free time, I plan to write up a list of the enhancements I'm using for this adventure, from the DM's Guild and around the web.

 

[Nebulous]

there's so many ways to change it up, it's awesome. Actually, I think the Tarokka deck isn't that much fun to randomly pull; just plan your set pieces ahead of time.

 

[Nebulous]

My goal is to get the PCs to most of the maps in the game.

 

[jayoungr]

There are a lot of supplements for Curse of Strahd, on the DM's Guild and elsewhere. For anyone who's interested, here is a partial list of the ones I am using and/or have read and considered. For this first list, I'm going to stick with more mechanical supplements, rather than story-based ones.

3,154,343 Eastern European Names (Free!)

3,154,343 Eastern European Names - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

3,154,343 Eastern European Names - The following is an alphabetized list of Eastern European names, organized by Gender and First/Surname, appropriate for

www.dmsguild.com

I like to have this handy in case a random NPC needs a name on the fly.

Curse of Strahd Quest XP (Free!)

Curse of Strahd -- Quest XP

[FLOAT_RIGHT]

www.enworld.org

A resource from this very site! My group is mixed-level, and we're handing out XP every session, the old-fashioned way. I really wasn't sure how much to give for various story beats, so this guide was a godsend. I don't use every single item, but at minimum I always give them the quest XP for completing major story beats.

Darker Gifts: Curse of Strahd Expansion (PWYW)

- | Dungeon Masters Guild

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www.dmsguild.com

My group doesn't have a lot of deaths, but even so, I wanted to make sure that the possible Dark Gifts were all interesting. I made my own custom list using the ones provided by WotC plus my favorites of what was in this supplement.

Gothic Inspired Agitations (Free!)

Gothic Inspired Agitations - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Gothic Inspired Agitations - A list of 50 random, weird, and spooky agitations for you to inflict on your players. Along with rules for use. Appropri

www.dmsguild.com

I'd love to use this one more than I do. It's a list of random spooky details you can toss into any scene to heighten the creepy atmosphere; some have mechanical implications, and some are just for flavor. I've basically given up trying to get my players to go along with a horror mood (they're just there to crack jokes and enjoy the gothy atmosphere), but for a different table, these could be great for scene-setting.

Monster Loot: Curse of Strahd

Monster Loot – Curse of Strahd - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Monster Loot – Curse of Strahd - I want to loot Strahd von Zarovich! When brave adventurers face the dangers of the world, they want something to show fo

www.dmsguild.com

This one has been super-handy. My players have griped in the past about how 5E monsters never seem to drop loot. This gives me some minor but interesting things that I can list off when they sigh, "I don't suppose that guy had anything on him?"

Shops of Barovia (Free--GM Binder; looks best on Chrome)

Shops of Borvia by

Shops of Borvia by - Created with GM Binder.

www.gmbinder.com

Likewise, my group still hasn't shed their 3E expectations about regularly getting better gear. This supplement offered them something to spend their money on. I didn't use everything in it--just the things that seemed to have drawbacks equal to their benefits, because very little in Barovia should come without a price. Last session, the rogue finally rolled a one, and her Quiver of Venom exploded into a swarm of poisonous snakes at the worst possible moment. Dragomir's Grab Bag was a big hit with my party too!

 

[jayoungr]

Here are some more supplements I'm using in running my game. These are story-based expansions.

St. Andral's Orphanage (PWYW!)

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

Adds an orphanage to Vallaki with a corresponding story of a demon-possessed boy and a link to the werewolf den. The PCs are likely to wind up rescuing some children at some point, either from Old Bonegrinder or from the werewolves, so this provides a place for them to take the kids and something to do besides just dropping them off.

The Interactive Tome of Strahd

The Interactive Tome of Strahd - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

The Interactive Tome of Strahd - Welcome to Barovia - now a Mithral Best Seller! Explore the centuries-old history of the land of Barovia side by side

www.dmsguild.com

A version of the Tome of Strahd with fourteen different chapters that the PCs can actually enter, so they can witness Strahd's past unfolding before them. It covers not just the familiar events with Tatyana and Sergei, but the siege of Argynvostholt, the creation of the Heart of Sorrow, Strahd's relationship with the Wachter family, the events with Marina at Berez, etc. My players really seem to enjoy this, especially since they've played every other Ravenloft adventure from previous editions. (The only problem is that they do have a tendency to mouth off to Strahd or try to attack him in the past.) I'm ignoring the mechanical aspetcts, since no one PC wants to attune to the book, and I may not use all the chapters, but it's practically a mini-campaign all on its own.

Underhill

Curse of Strahd: Underhill - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Curse of Strahd: Underhill - COPPER BEST SELLER! Curse of Strahd: Underhill presents an expanded view of the Yester Hill scenario. All of these evil

www.dmsguild.com

Adds a whole underground lair beneath the Gulthias Tree at Yester Hill, with a couple of mini-bosses and some minor magic items. We're playing over Roll20, so I especially appreciate that the supplement includes not just maps, but tokens for the new NPCs.

The Abbot's Journal (PWYW!)

Curse of Strahd: The Abbot's Journal - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Curse of Strahd: The Abbot's Journal - Expand your Curse of Strahd game with this excellent Dungeon Master's resource - a journal from the Abbot in the Ab

www.dmsguild.com

By the same creator as "Underhill," this is a nice mockup of a moldy old book written by the Abbott of Krezk which details his descent into madness and despair. There is almost no other way for the PCs to learn the Abbot's history, so this is a valuable addition for parties that like to understand the backstory. I think it really helped the group to decide how they felt about the Abbot and how they wanted to approach him. The only thing that caused a little trouble for me is that in my campaign, the Abbot is tied to a custom deity rather than the Morninglord, so I had to do a bit of creative image manipulation to take out the explicit references to that deity. Still, it's a small drawback for a very useful supplement.