Curse of Strahd: Thoughts and reflections

I was fortunate enough to play in a year long campaign for Curse of Strahd that recently wrapped up. I wanted to share some of my thoughts on this module from a player and DM perspective. I played a human paladin in this campaign, he was pretty stereotypical for paladins, the uptight lawful good-doer. 

Brennan Tattersall in all his glory

My DM was a first-timer, but he really did a great job for his first go at refereeing a campaign. Our group was a mix of players and classes, with some playing remotely as the rest of us gathered at the table, which seems to be an increasing phenomenon these day. Thank you internet!

So Curse of Strahd is essentially a rewrite of the original I6: Ravenloft from the Hickman's. The updated version (written by Chris Perkins of WoTC) expands upon the original opening a more sand-box type feel for the land of Barovia and can be run for PC's level 1 - 10. Their are numerous adventure hooks seeded throughout the adventure, but the primary driving point is the obtainment of items required to do battle with Strahd himself and possibly free yourself from the lands of Barovia.

Overall, I think this is one of the better releases put out from the 5E D&D line. The intro adventure "Death House" which our group did not play is one of the highlights of the entire module, it sets the tone and feel for Ravenloft. Horror and oppressive atmosphere are tough things to pull off in any published adventure, but the book does a great job adding tidbits which help with this like changing the flavor and use of certain spells to represent this feel.

Again with other 5E releases, the book is bloated with information on NPC's and locations which based on your groups decisions may require a lot of page flipping, but thankfully there is an excellent set of maps included with this book unlike previous releases. Any perspective DM's will definitely need to give it a good read through before showing up to the table. There is also the borrowed mechanic from the original I6 that randomly assigns the items used in the fight against Strahd to various locations throughout the map, this is done from the initial encounter with Vistani and Madame Eva's tarot card reading.

I was fortunate enough to play in a group and with a DM that presented us with lots of roleplay interactions as we worked to establish a home base of sorts in the town of Vallaki. As I mentioned previously, there is a lot going on in this town which could lead your PC's to go in a myriad of different directions. Our DM, did a great job of seeding these tidbits of information as we went along. Some of the highlights included the encounter with the druids while assisting the local winery outside of Vallaki, inter-political drama within the town with the current Burgomaster and those more aligned with Strahd, and the gonzo of the Amber Temple.

Throughout the adventure, Strahd will harass and test the players in various ways, but the culmination of the adventure of the adventure is the final show down with Strahd within Castle Ravenloft itself which is a fairly large dungeon by 5E standards. By the time my group had finally made our way to Strahd we were are armed with an assortment of powerful relics and powers, but also allies, this led to an easier than expected final showdown. Again, I still think the power-creep of 5E is way out of hand and this is just another example. If I was running this adventure, I'd continue to scale back the magic items and additionally buff the encounters presented, which my DM did.

All that being said, I had a great time in this adventure. Like most sessions, it comes down to the players and DM in regards to fun and I was lucky in that regard. I do have one complaint that is not related to the adventure itself, but a mindset / actions from another player who joined the group remotely. You may know this type of player, because I have seen many over the years. Since this player was playing remotely and rolling his own dice, he was held accountable to those results through trust. The same player who rolled up his character with 4 starting abilities over 16, one of which was an 18.....and seem to always land a success when needed.

Guys and gals out there, you don't need a super hero character to have a good time at the table. Those flaws make your character more fun and enjoyable to play, trust me. I have seen this a lot with new players and I'm not sure where it stems from, but his actions and rolls caught a lot of eye rolls from the other members of the table. This type of mindset is why I'm moving more and more to the OSR and running my own games.