[UPDATED AGAIN!] CURSE OF STRAHD Will Be Available March 15th

The new Dungeons & Dragons storyline will be called Curse of Strahd. I'm hearing that Tracy and Laura Hickman, who wrote the original 1983 Ravenloft adventure, have some involvement, and it will be set in Castle Ravenloft. The PCs will be sent to Strahd's realm by Madam Eva (using a tarokka deck). While the Ravenloft name is being used, I don't know if it's actually set in a demiplane or if it's set in the Forgotten Realms, but the land of Barovia certainly exists. More if I hear it!

Ravenloft was originally an adventure in 1983, and later became an entire campaign setting set in a pocket dimension called the Demiplane of Dread. The original adventure, for AD&D 1st Edition, has Strahd von Zarovich, master vampire, as its main villain. The land of Barovia is surrounded by a magical fog, and Strahd rules the domain. The adventure featured an interesting card-based random generation process which determined the locations of items, NPCs, and Strahd's motivation, making the adventure replayable. Strahd was an intelligent villain who loomed over the entire adventure, taunting the PCs throughout. Strahd is probably one of the most well-known D&D characters, after Drizzt and Elminster, and possible some Dragonlance characters.

I don't know how much of that old adventure matches the new storyline. I hear that Strahd's love story is at least cited, if not part of the adventure, and that it is shorter in scope than the previous adventure paths. WotC has sent some preview images to various outlets, as I reported yesterday, and the announcement is coming on Monday.

Personally? I am really excited about this. I can't wait to run it! Out of the storylines so far (and I really liked the Underdark whimsy), this one probably hits me right in the sweet spot. I was hoping for this.

The book is on Amazon already, albeit with no cover image, and is available for pre-order. 224 pages, $49.95, March 15th , 2016. With these 'placeholder' Amazon pages details sometimes change; but here's the product description:

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.

Some more snippets of info:

• There's going to be a twitter campaign hashtag thing called #DNDFortune during the lead up to the adventure. You can get a 'reading' each day from Madam Eva using her tarokka deck.
• The tarokka deck will be produced by Gale Force 9 and should be available when the adventure releases. It can be used to randomise locations in the adventure.
• ​The adventurers are trapped (I assume in Barovia by the mists, but maybe in the castle itself; not sure).
• Mike Schley has strongly hinted that he worked on maps for the adventure, as he did for the previous 5E adventures.

 

[Lidgar]

I like Strahd.

View attachment 73239

 

[M.L. Martin]

For a lot of us, Ravenloft IS the setting, as we didn't grow up playing modules from way back in the 1980s.

Report for Old School Re-Education.

Ravenloft is the setting that holds my heart, and it's most of the reason I've paid attention to D&D over the years. But this sounds like Yet Another Return to the Castle, which they've done every edition (albeit only as a boardgame in 4th, although a Barovia-centric setting relaunch was planned before the Great Panic and Mearls' seduction by the Dark Side of the OSR ).

I'll keep an eye on it, but I'm not sure whether or not I'll buy it right away--and I doubt that even this will be enough to get me to buy into 5E instead of relying on the SRD and my friends' copies for playing.

On the bright side, Accursed for Savage Worlds is scratching a lot of that same itch. Check out the current Kickstarter today!

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Ravenloft is the setting that holds my heart, and it's most of the reason I've paid attention to D&D over the years. But this sounds like Yet Another Return to the Castle, which they've done every edition (albeit only as a boardgame in 4th, although a Barovia-centric setting relaunch was planned before the Great Panic and Mearls' seduction by the Dark Side of the OSR ).

I'll keep an eye on it, but I'm not sure whether or not I'll buy it right away--and I doubt that even this will be enough to get me to buy into 5E instead of relying on the SRD and my friends' copies for playing.

I loved the board game, and the White wolf version before that was okish, the 2nd edition stuff was my favorite...Domains of Dread hardcover was my PHB for the last 3 or 4 years of 2e.

Having said that I hope this isn't just expedition again...

 

[Jester David]

Quieting down upon request. But just answering a question.

You really come across as painfully naive. "It doesn't hurt to let them"... Really?

What says this isn't EXACTLY the kind of planned leak the PR geniuses at WotC have come up with to incite excitement and buzz?

Did you read the WotC magic piece in my first post?

Your reference to some kind of video game controversy reeks of FUD. What are you specifically referring to?

As for video games, there are a number of incidents, most recent was this:
http://kotaku.com/a-price-of-games-journalism-1743526293
http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2015/...-blame-for-their-blacklisting-but-themselves/
http://www.gamezone.com/originals/o...ren-t-blacklisted-for-speaking-the-truth-jxh2
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkai...deo-game-publishers/#2715e4857a0b37a22849423e

 

[epithet]

On the one hand, I loved the original Ravenloft. On the other hand, I anticipate this product will stick Barovia somewhere in the Forgotten Realms, unless Wiz just does away with Barovia altogether and places the castle and story somewhere along the Sword Coast.

 

[I'm A Banana]

If it's a shorter adventure, but still 50 pages (on the presumption that the Amazon page is right, though it might not be), there's a chance that the book is like, half "Here's Barovia and some rules for playing adventurers from there," and half "Here's the adventure."

That would be exciting!

 

[ad_hoc]

Except that Raveloft isn't just a campaign setting, it's a different world than Faerun, is it not? I find it really hard to have an adventure based on say, Athas, without having a book with its own monster manual and game rules.

Granted, Ravenloft is easier to pull off because the majority of monsters are undead and stuff which are already covered in the basic monster manual - less conversions are necessary. But I'm really skeptic about the adventure having enough material to play a non-forgotten worlds campaign setting. Out of the Abyss and Tyranny and Dragons and whatnot can be campaigns, but campaigns mostly based on Forgotten Realms lore. How would a Planescape or Dark Sun adventure book work as *also* a Player Guide / Monster Manual / Campaign Setting?

Not saying it cannot happen, I just find it hard to see.

The majority of antagonists in Ravenloft are just humans. It probably has the fewest amount of monsters of any D&D setting (maybe except for Birthright?).

 

[Maggan]

I'm very excited. I loved I6. I enjoyed I10. I became engrossed in the Ravenloft setting, although I never managed to get a game together. The feel, the atmosphere, the gothicness, everything appeals to me. So this will make me a WotC customer again.

/M

 

[Nikosandros]

I'm very excited. I loved I6. I enjoyed I10. I became engrossed in the Ravenloft setting, although I never managed to get a game together. The feel, the atmosphere, the gothicness, everything appeals to me. So this will make me a WotC customer again.

/M

Curiously enough, I10 is one of the few 1e and one of the few Ravenloft PDF still missing from DnD Classics.

 

[jayoungr]

...unless Wiz just does away with Barovia altogether and places the castle and story somewhere along the Sword Coast.

The Amazon blurb mentions Barovia, so they haven't done away with it, at least.