Quote from ninjakittysuperstar >>

Quote from Gengor >>

True. This is one thing i don't like about Cos and Icewind dale. the villains come back, making the whole adeventure you went on pointless. but there are some ways to make it work. mind you i have not read eve of ruin, but this is how i plan on explaining his return. instead of being killed the party seal strahd away somehow. Vecna releases strahd from that binding so that there is another obsticle to stop the party from aquiring the Rod. simple enough and gives the party another reason to hate venca for undoing prevoius acheivements.

also as extra points, if you want to kill Auril just treat her as a Dead Power and have her absorbed into Silvanus :)

 There’s a thought! When in doubt, blame Vecna, haha. Could also maybe replace Strahd with his screamy henchman if he survives? Something like that.

 
When I ran it, players "killed" Strahd, though they were aware of his regenerative abilities with respects to his coffin and tie to the Dark Powers of the domain that prevents his ultimate destruction - due to the nature of his curse and the dark magic that sustains him, Strahd can return to plague Barovia once more - when they "killed" Strahd, a fog appeared that removed them from Barovia. They were removed and Strahd was temporarily vanquished.

Of course, even if your players have destroyed the coffin as part of their final assault against Strahd, ensuring that once he was defeated in combat, he never would be able to return, there are ways to bring him back - for another throw down - with a little imagination.

I don't think your players would mind...as long as immersion isn't skewed, so you'll need continuity to dismiss any angst or skepticism. So, consider these ideas.

Intervention by the Dark Powers: The Dark Powers that preside over the Demiplane of Dread and Barovia might choose to resurrect Strahd. Their motivations are mysterious and often tied to the themes of eternal punishment and sorrow. Strahd is a key figure in their torment of the souls trapped in Barovia, and they might not easily let go of such an effective tool.

Powerful Dark Magic or Rituals: Other powerful entities, like witches, warlocks, or evil priests, might conduct dark rituals to bring Strahd back..

Artifacts or Relics: There might be artifacts or relics capable of resurrecting or reincarnating Strahd. These could be hidden in Barovia or other planes of existence. Players might inadvertently set in motion events that lead to Strahd's return while dealing with these powerful objects.

Fanatical Cultists: Strahd might have devoted followers or cultists who, driven by fanaticism or promises of power, seek to bring him back.

I'll write an article about these possibilities and more, for you.

@NetherlandsGamer That’s a very helpful and thoughtful response. Dank je :)

"Following their excursion to Eberron, the player's next stop is Barovia. Here, the characters will visit a location familiar to many a Dungeon Master: the infamous Death House. Within these haunted walls, Strahd von Zarovich himself, the vampire lord of this realm, seeks to wield the power of the shard found here."

If you are running Curse of Strahd before this campaign and therefore already went through Death House this wouldn't have you run it again right? I love the idea of revisiting it, especially as like a call back but hopefully it won't be like re-doing something the players already did? (I mean I can always change it up if it is doing that regardless but I hope it provides something new).

Quote from Archmagus097 >>

"Following their excursion to Eberron, the player's next stop is Barovia. Here, the characters will visit a location familiar to many a Dungeon Master: the infamous Death House. Within these haunted walls, Strahd von Zarovich himself, the vampire lord of this realm, seeks to wield the power of the shard found here."

If you are running Curse of Strahd before this campaign and therefore already went through Death House this wouldn't have you run it again right? I love the idea of revisiting it, especially as like a call back but hopefully it won't be like re-doing something the players already did? (I mean I can always change it up if it is doing that regardless but I hope it provides something new).

 This version of Death House is different from the one in Curse of Strahd in many ways. If they go in expecting to know all the tricks, they are gonna get surprised.

SPOILERS for Curse of Strahd:

I take it the Lord of Blades might make an appearance? 

Ngl my confidence in wizards has not been the highest as of late. I hope they knock it out of the park with this book but also this seems like just a VERY long fetch quest. Still, I’ll keep an open mind.

It is a very good book aside of few no-s'. First one, its the third or even fourth casino in a 5E product, stop sucking on that theme there are other places for real. My players are already tired of casinos so I guess I'll remake it into a bar or such

Second-kinda anticlimatic, rushed end

Third-they literally forgot Netherese Obelisks they were building up for Vecna content. 

But overall the book is great. Its a fun, fun theme park with enemies, villains, monsters, worlds.

do ya'll remember when there was stuff other than mindless advertisements here?

Quote from beavercheesemaster >>

do ya'll remember when there was stuff other than mindless advertisements here?

Encounter of the Week. That’s when DDB peaked. 

I would like to add a trip to Ravnica to this adventure, can anyone suggest some ways to do this? It would be like, a false tip about a shard that isn't there.

Quote from shiny_gengar >>

I would like to add a trip to Ravnica to this adventure, can anyone suggest some ways to do this? It would be like, a false tip about a shard that isn't there.

Oh, interesting, but let's think of it applying to any campaign setting :)

Maybe, like, the party stumbles upon a portal that transports them to Ravnica (or any campaign setting). The portal is activated by a mistaken incantation or by solving a puzzle, sending them on an unexpected detour.

Or say...mmm, players become entangled in the politics and conflicts of Ravnica's guilds, each promising information about the shard. They eventually realize the shard isn't there, but the experience adds depth to their journey.

Oh, how about this: Vecna himself plants false clues about the shard’s location in Ravnica (or any campaign setting) to lead the party astray, buying himself time to advance his own plans. Oh yeah, that'll work :)

Quote from shiny_gengar >>

I would like to add a trip to Ravnica to this adventure, can anyone suggest some ways to do this? It would be like, a false tip about a shard that isn't there.

 That might be a bit difficult based on how Ravnica works in the MtG cosmology. Each plane (Theros, Ravnica, Arcavios) exists within a formless void known as the Blind Eternities, which is completely and utterly hostile to all forms of organic life except for:

1. Planeswalkers, those with the very rare planeswalker spark, or
2. Eldrazi, eldritch horrors that dwell within the Blind Eternities and have some strange relationship with magic and the planes

However, recently this did change with the opening of Omen Paths; special portals between specific planes left behind by the destruction of a magical inter planar tree slash superweapon. You could have it so some of these Omen Paths lead to Sigil.

But this leads to the second problem, which is that Ravnica doesn't really have a space like the Mournlands for that part of the adventure to be set. You could get away with maybe setting it within a devastated part of Izzet League territory, maybe some steamworks regions that was partially destroyed by a malfunctioning artifact creature.

Quote from beavercheesemaster >>

do ya'll remember when there was stuff other than mindless advertisements here?

 While yes, this article is ostensibly promoting the new adventure, I did not write it "mindlessly". I put a lot of thought into how to share what makes me excited to run the adventure without risking spoiling too much.

But if you don't want to read about upcoming or newly released books, rather than commenting derisively on the articles that don't take your fancy, you could check out some that might, such as:

• How to run high level play
• Heists
• Hexcrawl tips
• Dungeon building using the Deck of Many Things
• Making a changeling character

Quote from Davyd >>

Quote from shiny_gengar >>

I would like to add a trip to Ravnica to this adventure, can anyone suggest some ways to do this? It would be like, a false tip about a shard that isn't there.

 That might be a bit difficult based on how Ravnica works in the MtG cosmology. Each plane (Theros, Ravnica, Arcavios) exists within a formless void known as the Blind Eternities, which is completely and utterly hostile to all forms of organic life except for:

1. Planeswalkers, those with the very rare planeswalker spark, or
2. Eldrazi, eldritch horrors that dwell within the Blind Eternities and have some strange relationship with magic and the planes

However, recently this did change with the opening of Omen Paths; special portals between specific planes left behind by the destruction of a magical inter planar tree slash superweapon. You could have it so some of these Omen Paths lead to Sigil.

But this leads to the second problem, which is that Ravnica doesn't really have a space like the Mournlands for that part of the adventure to be set. You could get away with maybe setting it within a devastated part of Izzet League territory, maybe some steamworks regions that was partially destroyed by a malfunctioning artifact creature.

Thank you for this reply, I will be honest, I have very little experience or knowledge regarding the different realms/planes/settings and I am really hoping that this adventure will help me better understand them, which is why I want to add Ravnica, it is appealing to me and I use the backgrounds pretty regularly for mechanical benefit. So I will definitely continue to research this before DMing the campaign. The campaign is part of a West March, so it will be different players at each section, and I will be using one of my characters as the narrative bridge, and he is a Boros Legionnaire member. All that to say, could you maybe give me a starting prompt for a Boros location that he could take the party to and I will continue to lore-dive from there? Much thanks.

Well this article has me champing at the bit to get this adventure finally in my hands! All these amazing locations and iconic threats are a dream come true as a DM to run. 

This is really interesting. I am a little confused about the timing of it all. In this incarnation I assume that Tasha hasn't become an Archfey? considering that it suggests as a continuation of Wild beyond the Witchlight that is a little odd in my opinion.

Interesting Reddit on this topic: 

https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/s/E13ZSAI4eE

As someone that doesn't like to use fiends in his campaigns I'm a little disappointed that all high level adventures I've looked into rely so heavily on them. Looking forward to the book coming out so I can see how I can substitute where parts of the rod are found, although I suspect it will be difficult to find a suitable substitute for Avernus given that it's towards the end of the adventure.

I know it released on the 21st (tomorrow for me in Canada) but does anyone know what time on that day it will be available?