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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 8688001" data-attributes="member: 7006">Having now run both the original I6 Ravenloft, and Curse of Strahd... the one conclusion I have come to (should I ever run it again) is to NOT have the party go to Madam Eva's for the card reading so early in the adventure.Assuming I have a group that is unfamiliar with this adventure... I think future parties would be better served arriving and discovering what is going on without being told right off the bat "The dude in the Castle is a bad guy, and here are three things you need to go find if you want to kill him!".  Instead, I think the whole thing would be more compelling if the party discovered they were stuck in Baratok Valley and had to deal with a bunch of issues, but have no idea how/why they are happening.  And then perhaps they could go to the Castle and meet the Lord, perhaps having a meal with him, without knowing what is up.  But then going to Vallaki, meeting the revenants from the Silver Dragon Knights, meeting members of the Vistani and exploring the whole area... and slowly learning what is up with Count von Zarovich.Only after the party realizes how screwed they truly are being stuck here does Madam Eva eventually arrive and they get pushed (or they make the decision) to go see her and they find out what the problem is and what they need to do about it.  Because at that point they may have already had a couple meetings with Strahd and have developed a relationship with him (good or bad).  It would give the group more of a chance to establish themselves in the area before finally going on their vampire killing spree.</blockquote>

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