D&D General Question on map/ begining of Curse of Strahd

[jayoungr]

Party arrives at first village and can see the castle through the mist however it appears its actually a mile+ away?

The castle is up on a very high crag. It's visible from quite a distance.

Whats unclear to me is whats preventing the party from leaving the road and going North through the woods or south .

Random encounters.

 

[jayoungr]

So while I appreciate that the 5e Curse of Strahd may be a "spiritual reboot" or a different take on Strahd and Barovia, the way the module portrays Strahd and works him in as the antagonist is, I feel, the weakest aspect of Curse of Strahd.

For those who want to give their parties more insight into Strahd's past and motivations, I heartily recommend this supplement:

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

 

[Charlaquin]

As someone who started DM'ing the module before reading I, Strahd (at least 10 sessions worth before I read the book), I really appreciated the insight it provided and how it elucidated the relationship between Strahd, Barovia, and the citizens. I read through the module several times before running the game, and I kept coming back to the same question over and over again. Why is Strahd doing what he's doing? I didn't really understand the way the module set Strahd up. He seemed sooooo one-dimensional. To me at least, the module painted him as evil for evil's sake. Outside of wanting Ireena (and for as powerful a creature as he is, there's nothing stopping him from tearing through the PCs early on to get her at any time he wants) I couldn't understand why he was doing what he was doing. And I didn't feel satisfied with the idea that he just likes to toy with the PCs. So while I appreciate that the 5e Curse of Strahd may be a "spiritual reboot" or a different take on Strahd and Barovia, the way the module portrays Strahd and works him in as the antagonist is, I feel, the weakest aspect of Curse of Strahd. Of course, that is my take and how I read it. As you said, @Charlaquin, either take is valid.

That’s quite reasonable. For what it’s worth, I certainly think it’s valuable to look to I, Strahd, and to Raven loft material from other editions, for greater insight into the characters.

 

[thom_likes_gaming]

I'm a big fan of "making the numbers come to life" as a basis for RP. Thus, no class is inherently more or less "combat focused" than any other. You get what you build.
Want a not-too-much combat focused bard (or rogue, cleric, sorcerer...) then build one and describe and play them appropriately.
Not sure why the rules ought to focus on anything more or less than they do. Then building blocks are all there, what you build is up to you.

Edit: this looks badly as if I accidentally posted into the wrong thread... Sorry.

 

[pukunui]

While I quite like the idea that Strahd being a vampire is a mystery, I think it would only work for a group of players who aren’t already familiar with the story.

My players all know that Strahd is a vampire, so they’d really have to try hard not to metagame if I were to try and make his identity a mystery.

 

[cmad1977]

While I quite like the idea that Strahd being a vampire is a mystery, I think it would only work for a group of players who aren’t already familiar with the story.

My players all know that Strahd is a vampire, so they’d really have to try hard not to metagame if I were to try and make his identity a mystery.

I agree.
My pitch for my current CoS group was basically that a call went out across the land to purge the mysterious valley of Barovia of its ancient evil. In a hall meant for thousands only 5 stood brave enough to accept the task.