I have been reading through the book Curse of Strahd in preparation for being the DM to the module in a few months. I’ve used the Tarokka Cards and drew 5 cards just to set up a story line example. I drew the 3 of Spades/Swords ‘The Soldier’ C9T6 for the Tome of Strahd, 9 of Diamonds/Coins ‘The Miser’ C4K41for the Holy Symbol, the 5 of Clubs/Stars ‘The Elementalist’ C13K41 for the Sunsword, the King od Diamonds/Coins ‘The Broken One’ for Strahd’s Enemy and the Queen of Clubs/Stars ‘The Raven’ C4K88 for Strahd’s location. I cross-referenced the Chapter/Locations with the suggested Character Level chart and came up with Level 8, 9, 9, 1-3, and 9 for that card order. If most of the characters are starting off at Level 1 and they decide to go looking for the Tome in Chapter 9 then ideally their character levels should be close to Level 8. That sounds like a recipe for TPK. More than likely we will start off with the Black House minigame and that is designed to get characters up to about Level 3. I assume as DM and storyteller we do not have to do the cards in 1-5 order. Based on the cards drawn example earlier the party could do Black House then go on to do Card 4 – Strahd’s Enemy (Donavich) since that location is more for characters 1-3 and then later on revisit Donavich before moving on to card 5 – Strahd. Ideally the party would want to do some side quests and gain some levels before they set out for the Tome if that Chapter/Location is geared more for Level 8 characters. For the most part am I on the right track to set up this adventure? Suggestions and corrections if I am on the wrong path. Also, sticking to what I laid out above if the party needed to gain levels (say Level 4 thru 7) what side quests would you recommend to fill in that gap?
Separate questions – I have been working on the story hook aspect and kinda want to deviate from what the book options are. I thought running a party for dwarves, gnomes and halflings (i.e. all small people) with the idea that “the Lollipop Guild” are going to save the day would be a good idea but then I realized that the group of guys that play together are going to be more like “Time Bandits”. OMG that’s an idea! We have a group of adventurers (criminals, let’s face it) that have stolen The Map again. They see on The Map this mysterious house that has a lot of loot just ripe for the plundering. The house turns out to be the Black House and truly there is a lot of loot to be plundered. The group plunders and survives Black House but in the process they attract the attention of Strahd. Strahd is all kinds of evil and comes up with the idea of playing on the greed of the group for them to steal the Tome, the Holy Symbol and the Sunsword and take them out of Barovia. Strahd could easily impersonate Madam Eva and through her manipulate the group into thinking that great treasure is to be had in Barovia. Once the group obtains the three treasures Strahd could appear again as Madam Eva to congratulate and show them how to leave Barovia. Ultimately, Strahd plays on the greed of the party at no risk to himself, they take the treasures out of Barovia thus no future risk to himself and the group is happy with their spoils. Sure I have some details to work on but how does it sound?
There is a really good sub-reddit (r/CurseofStrahd) which has a plethora of CoS material - including a guide (CoS Reloaded) and a roadmap (LINK).
In short they suggest;
Level 1-3 - Death House; I have seen people suggest that this is hard for level 1's (depending on the group) and that it might be worth levelling them up beforehand. If they meet Ireena / Ismark they can always escort their father's coffin / hold a funeral for a milestone level-up.
Level 4 - Old Bonegrinder / Tser Falls; I reckon this content can equally be done at level 3 (depending on the group)
Personally I like having things a lot more free-flowing. If you want to send PCs to Krezk early then think of some good filler quests that might hint at some of the storylines that will be resolved at a later level - in that example you might be able to hint at the Abbots identity / storyline.
I would not be put off or dismayed that many of the cards you drew are for higher level areas. It might be worth contemplating how you can allude to a future area in a lower level quest - Strahd for example, should be encountered well before the final battle in mostly non-confrontational ways, he might occasionally turn up to thwart the party or the party might see some of his handiwork without directly experiencing the event.
As to your other points. Playing with timelines (time travel) can be hard but rewarding, Ravenloft is a strange place (put mildly) where you can have all sorts of fun with time - things decaying quicker, or not at all, individuals turning up from the past. I quite like the idea of PCs finding out they are from a diverse mix of planes / times / etc. I like the idea with Madam Eva; you could even play upon the family link between her and Strahd.
I like the idea with the group being 'allowed' to leave Barovia but it is for Strahd's ends; I am ALWAYS for repercussions for PC actions and love it when something that looks like a positive turns to a negative (or vise versa). It looks like you are giving the right level of thought to how to run the campaign; I would say try and implement what you think is 'cool' and to not feel restricted by the source-material, let it inform you but not restrain you.
I have been reading through the book Curse of Strahd in preparation for being the DM to the module in a few months. I’ve used the Tarokka Cards and drew 5 cards just to set up a story line example. I drew the 3 of Spades/Swords ‘The Soldier’ C9T6 for the Tome of Strahd, 9 of Diamonds/Coins ‘The Miser’ C4K41for the Holy Symbol, the 5 of Clubs/Stars ‘The Elementalist’ C13K41 for the Sunsword, the King od Diamonds/Coins ‘The Broken One’ for Strahd’s Enemy and the Queen of Clubs/Stars ‘The Raven’ C4K88 for Strahd’s location. I cross-referenced the Chapter/Locations with the suggested Character Level chart and came up with Level 8, 9, 9, 1-3, and 9 for that card order. If most of the characters are starting off at Level 1 and they decide to go looking for the Tome in Chapter 9 then ideally their character levels should be close to Level 8. That sounds like a recipe for TPK. More than likely we will start off with the Black House minigame and that is designed to get characters up to about Level 3. I assume as DM and storyteller we do not have to do the cards in 1-5 order. Based on the cards drawn example earlier the party could do Black House then go on to do Card 4 – Strahd’s Enemy (Donavich) since that location is more for characters 1-3 and then later on revisit Donavich before moving on to card 5 – Strahd. Ideally the party would want to do some side quests and gain some levels before they set out for the Tome if that Chapter/Location is geared more for Level 8 characters. For the most part am I on the right track to set up this adventure? Suggestions and corrections if I am on the wrong path. Also, sticking to what I laid out above if the party needed to gain levels (say Level 4 thru 7) what side quests would you recommend to fill in that gap?
Separate questions – I have been working on the story hook aspect and kinda want to deviate from what the book options are. I thought running a party for dwarves, gnomes and halflings (i.e. all small people) with the idea that “the Lollipop Guild” are going to save the day would be a good idea but then I realized that the group of guys that play together are going to be more like “Time Bandits”. OMG that’s an idea! We have a group of adventurers (criminals, let’s face it) that have stolen The Map again. They see on The Map this mysterious house that has a lot of loot just ripe for the plundering. The house turns out to be the Black House and truly there is a lot of loot to be plundered. The group plunders and survives Black House but in the process they attract the attention of Strahd. Strahd is all kinds of evil and comes up with the idea of playing on the greed of the group for them to steal the Tome, the Holy Symbol and the Sunsword and take them out of Barovia. Strahd could easily impersonate Madam Eva and through her manipulate the group into thinking that great treasure is to be had in Barovia. Once the group obtains the three treasures Strahd could appear again as Madam Eva to congratulate and show them how to leave Barovia. Ultimately, Strahd plays on the greed of the party at no risk to himself, they take the treasures out of Barovia thus no future risk to himself and the group is happy with their spoils. Sure I have some details to work on but how does it sound?
There is a really good sub-reddit (r/CurseofStrahd) which has a plethora of CoS material - including a guide (CoS Reloaded) and a roadmap (LINK).
In short they suggest;
Personally I like having things a lot more free-flowing. If you want to send PCs to Krezk early then think of some good filler quests that might hint at some of the storylines that will be resolved at a later level - in that example you might be able to hint at the Abbots identity / storyline.
I would not be put off or dismayed that many of the cards you drew are for higher level areas. It might be worth contemplating how you can allude to a future area in a lower level quest - Strahd for example, should be encountered well before the final battle in mostly non-confrontational ways, he might occasionally turn up to thwart the party or the party might see some of his handiwork without directly experiencing the event.
As to your other points. Playing with timelines (time travel) can be hard but rewarding, Ravenloft is a strange place (put mildly) where you can have all sorts of fun with time - things decaying quicker, or not at all, individuals turning up from the past. I quite like the idea of PCs finding out they are from a diverse mix of planes / times / etc. I like the idea with Madam Eva; you could even play upon the family link between her and Strahd.
I like the idea with the group being 'allowed' to leave Barovia but it is for Strahd's ends; I am ALWAYS for repercussions for PC actions and love it when something that looks like a positive turns to a negative (or vise versa). It looks like you are giving the right level of thought to how to run the campaign; I would say try and implement what you think is 'cool' and to not feel restricted by the source-material, let it inform you but not restrain you.
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)