Has there been a module written that is set in the time before the fateful events of Strahd's wedding day?
My group just finished CoS and I thought it would be hysterical to take them back in time when Strahd was good, a general of the army, his mum and dad still alive.. etc.. Has this been written?
I don't recall a [official] module ever being written that would cover all of the events leading up to that fateful wedding day between Sergai and Tatyana. There was the book I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire by P.N.Elrod that covers a lot of the history and events. While not an adventure module per se, it wouldn't be terribly hard to convert some of those stories points into scenes with which players could interact.
I've run a few side adventures along these line in some of my Curse of Strahd campaigns, where the players were present in an illusory replication of past events (such as the wedding). Gave the players a chance to interact with Strahd as well as other historically important NPCs and gather information that might not have been gleamed otherwise.
In CoS there was a forgetful Lich in the Amber Temple (Exethanter)..
I am thinking of an adventure where in much earlier time, he was against the wedding, and the good general Strahd gets the party to do something to stop the lich (and his cult of followers) from interfering. There has to be a reason why the party, having just destroying Strahd in CoS, does not want destroy him now.. Some moral dilemma where they know in some small part, that allowed Strahd to become the monster he became.. I've not worked this out yet. But i digress.
In my CoS game Exethanter even said to the party "I know you all, from somewhere". But he could not remember..
Of course Exethanter will not be destroyed.. But when Barovia is formed, Strahd stripes the Lich of his memory to stop him being a future threat.
That's what I have so far. Was hoping there was pre wedding setting to put this in.
There has to be a reason why the party, having just destroying Strahd in CoS, does not want destroy him now.. Some moral dilemma where they know in some small part, that allowed Strahd to become the monster he became.. I've not worked this out yet. But i digress.
The immediate concept that came to my mind would be something along the lines of having to choose what the lesser evil of the future would be... If the players decide to defeat/kill Strahd before his dark decent, then Exethanter does NOT lose his memory, which allows an even more powerful entity to rise to power. Where Strahd becomes a vampire that terrorizes Barovia, a mentally stable Exethanter not only devastates all of Barovia but also causes much more damage to the lands beyond.
Plus, the lich didn't make the Faustian deals with the Dark Powers, so Barovia was never sealed away. By never becoming a demiplane, many more evil things would be left free to spread out and terrorize the world on the whole.
Players need to answer the question about what action serves the greater good... Do they prevent the suffering of Barovia? Or do they unleash a mighty lich upon the world?
Of course Exethanter will not be destroyed.. But when Barovia is formed, Strahd stripes the Lich of his memory to stop him being a future threat.
Yes, Exethanter would need to ultimately survive to save the continuality of the timeline, but it should be an easy thing to accomplish if you're having him be a lich at the time of the "Wedding Day" encounter. Since the lich would have his phylactery, he would just need to go back to that and wait for a bit to restore himself. Actually, this approach would work well with the idea that he lost his memories as well... If players destroy his current form, then Strahd does something that prevents the lich from regaining all of his memories when he reforms a new body. Could be an ongoing curse as well... Each time Exethanter's current body is destroyed, he loses memories when he reforms the new body.
In fact, Exethanter might have even divined this problem through some magical spells. Not wanting to be trapped in a perpetual cycle of amnesia, the lich wants to kill Strahd before that possible future ever comes to exist. However, he didn't see the PCS traveling back in time to intervene in his attempt to change the timeline.
I love it Javier. Been thinking about it. Need to place the whole area, Village of Barovia to Abbey of St Markovia in the 'real' world (for want of a better term).. Forgotten Realms perhaps.
Strahd, the General and champion and only son of much loved King Barov and Queen Ravnovia. The village a quaint and friendly spot and the Blood OF the Vine a great place to stop over for lunch or a late night were they have bands and dancing girls etc etc.
They are at war with the nearby ?????????. Forces there lead by the Lich Exethanter..
Argynvost is alive and well.. That battle that the PC saw in ghost form, happens in for real in this adventure as Argynvost sweps down and destroy a line of Exethanters forces.
So much planning to do.. The Amber Temple is a place of learning. Berez is a quait village that is prone to flooding, but they do provide the area with rice.
This could to be fun.. Feel free everyone to add your 2c. :)}
Barovia was a small and ancient kingdom in Faerûn, located inland from the Sword Coast, where the river Iblis met the Svalitch wood. The kingdom's border was about two and a half days ride from Waterdeep.
I can't find the Svalitch Wood or Iblis river on a map of the Sword Coast.
Barovia was a small and ancient kingdom in Faerûn, located inland from the Sword Coast, where the river Iblis met the Svalitch wood. The kingdom's border was about two and a half days ride from Waterdeep.
That's interesting to read, since I always thought that Tracy and Laura Hickman had purposely intended that Barovia was supposed to be from an unspecified world. Then again, when they wrote the original Ravenloft adventure, everything wasn't having to be tied to Faerun and the Forgotten Realms setting. Personally, I prefer the idea of not having Barovia tied to Faeurn, but that's mostly because I'm tired of feeling like Forgotten Realms tend to monopolize D&D. It's a good setting, but there's other worlds out there...
I can't find the Svalitch Wood or Iblis river on a map of the Sword Coast.
Well, I wouldn't expect either of these locations to be located on the Sword Coast map for two reasons...
As I stated above, I don't believe that the lands of Barovia was originally intended to be a part of Faerun, so it makes sense that the Svalich Wood and Iblis River wouldn't be a part of the official map.
Going beyond the metagaming concept in point one, Barovia and its surrounding lands were literally taken away when the Mists pulled them into the Ethereal plane and made it a demiplane of its own. The planar shift would have pulled those areas off of the Prime Material Plane where the rest of the world eventually filled the gap(s) left behind. Plus, after hundreds of years, memories fade and the old names would have been forgotten... So, I suppose in some ways Barovia may truly have been a "Forgotten" realm.
Strahd, the General and champion and only son of much loved King Barov and Queen Ravnovia. The village a quaint and friendly spot and the Blood OF the Vine a great place to stop over for lunch or a late night were they have bands and dancing girls etc etc.
All good idea's, Tufnell, and I love the direction that you're going with the pre-demiplane Barovia. I'm not going to add too much more to what you're doing, since I don't want to derail your plans and ideas, but the one suggestion that I would make would be to definitely play up on the positives of the current places within Barovia. In fact, I would make sure to even overemphasize these positives a bit just to help demonstrate just how far everything fell after Strahd (and Barovia) was cursed. Just as a couple examples of what I mean:
Village of Barovia: Village is filled with life and vigor. Most villagers are in good health and high spirits. Doors and windows are left open, since nobody fears their neighbors or that anybody would try to harm them.
Village of Vallaki: Village is a hub of commerce between Barovia, Krezek, and Berez. The burgomeister is a wise and fair leader, who moderates the day-to-day affairs of the village to ensure that all is well.
The reason that I'm making this suggestion is to help build the tension of picking the "lesser evil" between Strahd's curse and Exethanter's potential tyranny. Players should want to stop the lich from succeeding, since it should be a fairly obvious greater evil that needs to be thwarted... However, since Ravenloft is about gothic horror, I would want to emphasize the fact that good life of Barovia is being sacrificed by defeating Exethanter and allowing Strahd's damnation to occur.
I guess then I can drop Baroiva any place I like in Forgotten Realms, even if it stomps all over some political, regional, story all already told in some other module. Not like any group of players will see all of it anyway. It's a blank slate to drop Barovia any place.
I have found a spot on the Sword Coast to plop Barovia. Will take a little tweaking..
Around Dalelands and Thunder peak.. I will need modify the Sword Coast map. Of course, over centuries of time, the shape of lakes can change, forests can appear and disappear.
I think officially Barovia has been part of the demiplane of Ravenloft for about four or five hundred years. Personally I put Barovia on Exandria in the lands that later became the Dwendalian Empire, but putting it near the Sword Coast works too.
I think officially Barovia has been part of the demiplane of Ravenloft for about four or five hundred years.
If we're going by the D&D 5e Curse of Strahd adventure, then I believe that you're correct, Penelope. I recall the book mentioning a few centuries have passed, but I don't believe that it ever gives an exact amount of time. Then again, with as many pieces of backstory and history that they include in the various chapters, there might be something more specific that I'm not remembering.
If we want to go beyond the material included in this most recent adventure module, Barovia has been part of the demiplane for over 750 years. However, if we're looking at the full history of Barovia and the Demiplane of Dread, then we'd also be looking at all the other domains and darklords that have joined Strahd in their own lands (and personal hells) during all of those centuries.
Personally I put Barovia on Exandria in the lands that later became the Dwendalian Empire, but putting it near the Sword Coast works too.
I love seeing that you tied Barovia to Exandria (and within the future Dwendalian Empire area)! Having the freedom to tie Barovia and its history to your own campaign world and/or history is why I personally don't like having somebody canonically make Barovia a part of an official world. Yes, I completely understand that a DM can always make whatever changes that they want to have it fit in their own set-up, but sometimes it's just nice to have something left vague than having to rewrite published history.
I've no experience with Exandria or the future Dwendalian Empire.. Will hit Google.
I agree Javier. I really don't want to change published history either. Would be horrible if one of my players have previously adventured in some place i am about to change..
Then again, if it has been 750 years there would be no sign of it even been on the Sword Coast or any other place.
I would think that when it, an it's surrounding land was pulled to the demiplain of dread, the land left behind repaired it's self, like Barovia was never there.
There may be some who remember stories of King Barov, the beautiful castle on the hill, the gaming night at the Blue Water Inn.. Myth passed down through generations.
There may even be legend of the leaders of different groups who were invited to the wedding, and never came home.
I agree Javier. I really don't want to change published history either. Would be horrible if one of my players have previously adventured in some place i am about to change..
Then again, if it has been 750 years there would be no sign of it even been on the Sword Coast or any other place.
I have no qualms with you wanting Barovia to have originated in Faerun around the Sword Coast area if that works for your game, Tufnell. In fact, I'm rather impressed with how well you matched up the two maps to be a potential area that Barovia may have once existed. Yes, it could mess around with Faerun history a little bit, but I'd agree that enough time has passed that any linger connection that Barovia might have had on the area would be mostly washed away at this point.
My earlier comments were mostly that I don't want to see WotC officially declare that Barovia was a part of a specific world. I think that the Ravenloft concept would lose quite a bit if everything was suddenly being retconned to fit with one particular D&D setting (such as Forgotten Realms). Suppose it doesn't really matter in the grand schemes of the multiverse, but I like it being intentionally vague... Makes it easier for both you and Penelope or whoever else to create prehistory without having to rewrite and rationalize "official" material.
I would think that when it, an it's surrounding land was pulled to the demiplain of dread, the land left behind repaired it's self, like Barovia was never there.
I usually view the idea of the Mists absorbing a new domain (such as Barovia) in much the same fashion. The area basically gets cut out from the Prime Material plane, and reality seals the gap shut or fills it in with something similar to the surrounding area. Yes, the area might be obviously different due to landmarks changing or just being gone, but memories fade and change over time until most people don't recall the difference.
It's kinda like how in Eberron, when the plane of Mabar devours part of a world, the mists sweep in, leave behind a barren wasteland, and about 60% of the people outside the area forget it was ever anything but a barren wasteland, with 39.9% having their memories weakened to the point that they can rationalize away their knowledge of the area that was devoured by Mabar. I made up the numbers, of course. After this process happens, the plane of Irian will generate a planar seed which will, after some time, take root in the area that was devoured by Mabar, turning the barren wasteland fertile, populating it with the appropriate nonsentient life, potential resources, and causing sentient creatures living nearby to suddenly realize that it might be a good idea to populate this new land.
As for Strahd, the only source we have for him ever being "good" are his own words, and that's not worth much. If the players do go back in time to meet him as a mortal, keep in mind that his mother took Sergei away from the battlefield so the young man wouldn't become like Strahd, and also keep in mind that Strahd butchered a silver dragon and his followers for sheltering refugees who he considered enemies.
But it does beg the question. Was King Barov really a king of such a small patch of land?
No, King Barov was ruler of an unspecified larger area. The land that eventually became Barovia was just an area that Strahd conquered as he gained more lands to add under King Barov's rule. Barovia became a capitol point with the building of Castle Ravenloft, but I would always considered that it was just a smaller piece to the entire kingdom.
Plus, it makes sense that only the small part of land was pulled in by the Mists (versus an entire kingdom of multiple lands). If Strahd is supposed to be cursed for an eternity, the curse becomes all the more painful when he also loses all of the other lands and subjects that would have fallen under his rulership. Less people to feed on as a vampire, but also less people to serve him as the ruler he could've/should've been.
Perhaps I'll just put the realm of Barovia in the patch of desert just above the maroon area.. 750 years ago this was lush and fertile land. But when time after the wedding ripped Baroiva out to the demi plane of dread, it just took the bits we now now as Barovia.. The rest of of Baroria on the Sword Coast had it's heart ripped out in a sense. Trade routes ended, and the force the ripped Barovia apart left the area infertile, and everyone moved out.
Centuries later very few but the most dedicated scholars know of the existence King Barov and realm of Barovia. All that is remembered is they were at war with a Lich etc etc etc..
Bit like what we know of the Mayan empire now.
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Has there been a module written that is set in the time before the fateful events of Strahd's wedding day?
My group just finished CoS and I thought it would be hysterical to take them back in time when Strahd was good, a general of the army, his mum and dad still alive.. etc.. Has this been written?
I don't recall a [official] module ever being written that would cover all of the events leading up to that fateful wedding day between Sergai and Tatyana. There was the book I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire by P.N.Elrod that covers a lot of the history and events. While not an adventure module per se, it wouldn't be terribly hard to convert some of those stories points into scenes with which players could interact.
I've run a few side adventures along these line in some of my Curse of Strahd campaigns, where the players were present in an illusory replication of past events (such as the wedding). Gave the players a chance to interact with Strahd as well as other historically important NPCs and gather information that might not have been gleamed otherwise.
In CoS there was a forgetful Lich in the Amber Temple (Exethanter)..
I am thinking of an adventure where in much earlier time, he was against the wedding, and the good general Strahd gets the party to do something to stop the lich (and his cult of followers) from interfering. There has to be a reason why the party, having just destroying Strahd in CoS, does not want destroy him now.. Some moral dilemma where they know in some small part, that allowed Strahd to become the monster he became.. I've not worked this out yet. But i digress.
In my CoS game Exethanter even said to the party "I know you all, from somewhere". But he could not remember..
Of course Exethanter will not be destroyed.. But when Barovia is formed, Strahd stripes the Lich of his memory to stop him being a future threat.
That's what I have so far. Was hoping there was pre wedding setting to put this in.
The immediate concept that came to my mind would be something along the lines of having to choose what the lesser evil of the future would be... If the players decide to defeat/kill Strahd before his dark decent, then Exethanter does NOT lose his memory, which allows an even more powerful entity to rise to power. Where Strahd becomes a vampire that terrorizes Barovia, a mentally stable Exethanter not only devastates all of Barovia but also causes much more damage to the lands beyond.
Plus, the lich didn't make the Faustian deals with the Dark Powers, so Barovia was never sealed away. By never becoming a demiplane, many more evil things would be left free to spread out and terrorize the world on the whole.
Players need to answer the question about what action serves the greater good... Do they prevent the suffering of Barovia? Or do they unleash a mighty lich upon the world?
Yes, Exethanter would need to ultimately survive to save the continuality of the timeline, but it should be an easy thing to accomplish if you're having him be a lich at the time of the "Wedding Day" encounter. Since the lich would have his phylactery, he would just need to go back to that and wait for a bit to restore himself. Actually, this approach would work well with the idea that he lost his memories as well... If players destroy his current form, then Strahd does something that prevents the lich from regaining all of his memories when he reforms a new body. Could be an ongoing curse as well... Each time Exethanter's current body is destroyed, he loses memories when he reforms the new body.
In fact, Exethanter might have even divined this problem through some magical spells. Not wanting to be trapped in a perpetual cycle of amnesia, the lich wants to kill Strahd before that possible future ever comes to exist. However, he didn't see the PCS traveling back in time to intervene in his attempt to change the timeline.
I love it Javier. Been thinking about it. Need to place the whole area, Village of Barovia to Abbey of St Markovia in the 'real' world (for want of a better term).. Forgotten Realms perhaps.
Strahd, the General and champion and only son of much loved King Barov and Queen Ravnovia. The village a quaint and friendly spot and the Blood OF the Vine a great place to stop over for lunch or a late night were they have bands and dancing girls etc etc.
They are at war with the nearby ?????????. Forces there lead by the Lich Exethanter..
Argynvost is alive and well.. That battle that the PC saw in ghost form, happens in for real in this adventure as Argynvost sweps down and destroy a line of Exethanters forces.
So much planning to do.. The Amber Temple is a place of learning. Berez is a quait village that is prone to flooding, but they do provide the area with rice.
This could to be fun.. Feel free everyone to add your 2c. :)}
A google search revealed this
Barovia was a small and ancient kingdom in Faerûn, located inland from the Sword Coast, where the river Iblis met the Svalitch wood. The kingdom's border was about two and a half days ride from Waterdeep.
I can't find the Svalitch Wood or Iblis river on a map of the Sword Coast.
That's interesting to read, since I always thought that Tracy and Laura Hickman had purposely intended that Barovia was supposed to be from an unspecified world. Then again, when they wrote the original Ravenloft adventure, everything wasn't having to be tied to Faerun and the Forgotten Realms setting. Personally, I prefer the idea of not having Barovia tied to Faeurn, but that's mostly because I'm tired of feeling like Forgotten Realms tend to monopolize D&D. It's a good setting, but there's other worlds out there...
Well, I wouldn't expect either of these locations to be located on the Sword Coast map for two reasons...
All good idea's, Tufnell, and I love the direction that you're going with the pre-demiplane Barovia. I'm not going to add too much more to what you're doing, since I don't want to derail your plans and ideas, but the one suggestion that I would make would be to definitely play up on the positives of the current places within Barovia. In fact, I would make sure to even overemphasize these positives a bit just to help demonstrate just how far everything fell after Strahd (and Barovia) was cursed. Just as a couple examples of what I mean:
The reason that I'm making this suggestion is to help build the tension of picking the "lesser evil" between Strahd's curse and Exethanter's potential tyranny. Players should want to stop the lich from succeeding, since it should be a fairly obvious greater evil that needs to be thwarted... However, since Ravenloft is about gothic horror, I would want to emphasize the fact that good life of Barovia is being sacrificed by defeating Exethanter and allowing Strahd's damnation to occur.
I guess then I can drop Baroiva any place I like in Forgotten Realms, even if it stomps all over some political, regional, story all already told in some other module. Not like any group of players will see all of it anyway. It's a blank slate to drop Barovia any place.
I have found a spot on the Sword Coast to plop Barovia. Will take a little tweaking..
Around Dalelands and Thunder peak.. I will need modify the Sword Coast map. Of course, over centuries of time, the shape of lakes can change, forests can appear and disappear.
These are some great ideas guys.
I think officially Barovia has been part of the demiplane of Ravenloft for about four or five hundred years. Personally I put Barovia on Exandria in the lands that later became the Dwendalian Empire, but putting it near the Sword Coast works too.
If we're going by the D&D 5e Curse of Strahd adventure, then I believe that you're correct, Penelope. I recall the book mentioning a few centuries have passed, but I don't believe that it ever gives an exact amount of time. Then again, with as many pieces of backstory and history that they include in the various chapters, there might be something more specific that I'm not remembering.
If we want to go beyond the material included in this most recent adventure module, Barovia has been part of the demiplane for over 750 years. However, if we're looking at the full history of Barovia and the Demiplane of Dread, then we'd also be looking at all the other domains and darklords that have joined Strahd in their own lands (and personal hells) during all of those centuries.
I love seeing that you tied Barovia to Exandria (and within the future Dwendalian Empire area)! Having the freedom to tie Barovia and its history to your own campaign world and/or history is why I personally don't like having somebody canonically make Barovia a part of an official world. Yes, I completely understand that a DM can always make whatever changes that they want to have it fit in their own set-up, but sometimes it's just nice to have something left vague than having to rewrite published history.
I've no experience with Exandria or the future Dwendalian Empire.. Will hit Google.
I agree Javier. I really don't want to change published history either. Would be horrible if one of my players have previously adventured in some place i am about to change..
Then again, if it has been 750 years there would be no sign of it even been on the Sword Coast or any other place.
I would think that when it, an it's surrounding land was pulled to the demiplain of dread, the land left behind repaired it's self, like Barovia was never there.
There may be some who remember stories of King Barov, the beautiful castle on the hill, the gaming night at the Blue Water Inn.. Myth passed down through generations.
There may even be legend of the leaders of different groups who were invited to the wedding, and never came home.
I have no qualms with you wanting Barovia to have originated in Faerun around the Sword Coast area if that works for your game, Tufnell. In fact, I'm rather impressed with how well you matched up the two maps to be a potential area that Barovia may have once existed. Yes, it could mess around with Faerun history a little bit, but I'd agree that enough time has passed that any linger connection that Barovia might have had on the area would be mostly washed away at this point.
My earlier comments were mostly that I don't want to see WotC officially declare that Barovia was a part of a specific world. I think that the Ravenloft concept would lose quite a bit if everything was suddenly being retconned to fit with one particular D&D setting (such as Forgotten Realms). Suppose it doesn't really matter in the grand schemes of the multiverse, but I like it being intentionally vague... Makes it easier for both you and Penelope or whoever else to create prehistory without having to rewrite and rationalize "official" material.
Just my two coppers on that concept, though.
I usually view the idea of the Mists absorbing a new domain (such as Barovia) in much the same fashion. The area basically gets cut out from the Prime Material plane, and reality seals the gap shut or fills it in with something similar to the surrounding area. Yes, the area might be obviously different due to landmarks changing or just being gone, but memories fade and change over time until most people don't recall the difference.
It's kinda like how in Eberron, when the plane of Mabar devours part of a world, the mists sweep in, leave behind a barren wasteland, and about 60% of the people outside the area forget it was ever anything but a barren wasteland, with 39.9% having their memories weakened to the point that they can rationalize away their knowledge of the area that was devoured by Mabar. I made up the numbers, of course. After this process happens, the plane of Irian will generate a planar seed which will, after some time, take root in the area that was devoured by Mabar, turning the barren wasteland fertile, populating it with the appropriate nonsentient life, potential resources, and causing sentient creatures living nearby to suddenly realize that it might be a good idea to populate this new land.
As for Strahd, the only source we have for him ever being "good" are his own words, and that's not worth much. If the players do go back in time to meet him as a mortal, keep in mind that his mother took Sergei away from the battlefield so the young man wouldn't become like Strahd, and also keep in mind that Strahd butchered a silver dragon and his followers for sheltering refugees who he considered enemies.
Just doing some early work scaling Barovia into Forgotten Realms.
Baroiva is about 23 miles across. On this map of the sword coast that is about as big as the maroon box i added.
In other words, it is tiny enough in the scheme of things to put anywhere.
But it does beg the question. Was King Barov really a king of such a small patch of land?
No, King Barov was ruler of an unspecified larger area. The land that eventually became Barovia was just an area that Strahd conquered as he gained more lands to add under King Barov's rule. Barovia became a capitol point with the building of Castle Ravenloft, but I would always considered that it was just a smaller piece to the entire kingdom.
Plus, it makes sense that only the small part of land was pulled in by the Mists (versus an entire kingdom of multiple lands). If Strahd is supposed to be cursed for an eternity, the curse becomes all the more painful when he also loses all of the other lands and subjects that would have fallen under his rulership. Less people to feed on as a vampire, but also less people to serve him as the ruler he could've/should've been.
@javier_phenergan thanks. This helps clarify a lot of stuff I didn’t know about Barovia. Looking forward to Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft in May.
Perhaps I'll just put the realm of Barovia in the patch of desert just above the maroon area.. 750 years ago this was lush and fertile land. But when time after the wedding ripped Baroiva out to the demi plane of dread, it just took the bits we now now as Barovia.. The rest of of Baroria on the Sword Coast had it's heart ripped out in a sense. Trade routes ended, and the force the ripped Barovia apart left the area infertile, and everyone moved out.
Centuries later very few but the most dedicated scholars know of the existence King Barov and realm of Barovia. All that is remembered is they were at war with a Lich etc etc etc..
Bit like what we know of the Mayan empire now.