If you're a new DM approaching the Curse of Strahd module for the first time, you may have some

questions about it. Namely: What is this? How do I prepare it? How do I play it? And who is this Strahd,
anyway?

What is Curse of Strahd about?

The Curse of Strahd module is a gothic horror adventure for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. The
campaign provides an atmosphere similar to Castlevania, Dracula, or (if you've played Magic: the
Gathering) the plane of Innistrad. Here, classic horror monsters of all kinds stalk the forests, mountains
and towns of the gloomy, terrified land of Barovia.

As the PC, your players take on the role of adventurers who are new to Barovia, either because they
have been invited there or because they have been lured and trapped there. Throughout the campaign,
you will have the opportunity to help the natives of Barovia fight predatory monsters, overthrow
monstrous tyrants, and collect artifacts to help slay Strahd for good.

The Curse of Strahd module is the latest in a long line of D&D campaigns that take place in the Ravenloft
setting. The first adventure to feature Strahd von Zarovich was created for Advanced Dungeons &
Dragons, and each edition since then has included a campaign, book, and/or other product exploring
Strahd's realm.

Please note that Curse of Strahd is a very role-playing oriented module. Unlike many other published
adventures, the average Curse of Strahd is about 60% role-playing, 20% combat, and 20% exploration.
However, it is not a traditional social intrigue adventure; Instead, a large portion of the module's
content comes from investigating mysteries, exploring character stories, building relationships with
helpful NPCs, and dealing with Strahd as a social antagonist, rather than an enemy combatant. Make
sure all your players agree to this before starting a campaign.

What is the basic history of the module?

Curse of Strahd, focuses mainly on themes of corruption, innocence and abuse. As a PC, your players will
have the opportunity to be heroes of the Barovians or corrupt servants (or victims) of Strahd.

Almost every campaign will begin in the same place: when the PCs find themselves magically brought to
Barovia, or when the PCs accept an invitation to travel there. Upon arriving in the land of Barovia, the
PCs can encounter the Death House, a haunted house-style prologue that aims to take a first-level party
to third level while setting the stage for the lore and atmosphere of Barovia.

After escaping Death House, most groups will explore the village of Barovia (which shares a name with
the kingdom), meeting Ismark Kolyanavich and Ireena Kolyana . Ireena is a target of Strahd von
Zarovich, who secretly views her as the reincarnation of his long-lost girlfriend. Ismark will ask the PCs to
escort Ireena to Vallaki, the neighboring city, to keep her safe from Strahd. Ireena will agree to
accompany the PCs only if they bury her father, the burgomaster (mayor) of Barovia Village, in the
village church. If the PCs accept this quest, they will meet Father Donavich, the local priest , and meet
his son Doru , a vampire spawn and victim of Strahd.

After leaving Barovia and setting off for Vallaki, the PCs are encouraged by various NPCs to visit Madam
Eva at the Tser Pool camp. There, the PCs can receive a card reading from Tarokka that predicts the
location of three artifacts that can help defeat Strahd, as well as the identity of an ally in their fight.
After leaving Tser Pool, the PCs have the option of several stops on the way to Vallaki. They can visit the
Old Bonegrinder windmill and meet the coven of witches that inhabit it; they can (if they're feeling
suicidal) venture down the old road to Strahd's home, Castle Ravenloft ; or they can interact with a
series of random encounters that you, the DM, can choose to place in their path.

Once the group reaches Vallaki , the module opens up considerably into a complete sandbox. The PCs
can stay in Vallaki and interact with its tense political situation . They can go on a quest to sanctify the
local church (and create a refuge for Ireena of Strahd). They can accept a quest to retrieve wine from a
nearby winery , or they can depart Vallaki entirely for the sleepy mountain village of Krezk . They can
also begin searching for the artifacts and allies predicted by their Tarokka reading , which, depending
on what you choose, can take them literally anywhere on the map.

As the PCs visit additional locations and gain allies, artifacts, and information, Strahd begins to take an
interest in them . He may make occasional appearances to draw Ireena away from the party, or he may
attack the PCs to test their skills. Most of the time, but not always, once the PCs have gathered all three
artifacts and their ally, they will choose to storm Castle Ravenloft for a final showdown with Strahd,
killing him for good or dying in the process.

Additional community-created content (e.g. Ex. (e.g., the Fanes of Barovia, the Orphanage of Saint
Andreal, the sealing of Vampyr, etc.) can add more depth, length, and complexity to the narrative.
However, none of these elements are necessary for a complete and successful campaign.

What is Barovia's backstory? Who is Strahd and where did he come

from?
Barovia is one of the Demiplanes of Dread, a territory of the Shadowfell that lies beyond the control of
the Raven Queen. Instead, it is ruled by the Dark Powers: amorphous, nameless beings who capture
“Dark Lords” – powerful villains of the Material Plane – and imprison them in shadowy, mist-filled
realms to torment them for eternity.

Strahd is one of these "Darklords". In life, he was a general and a prince, conquering lands for his
parents, King Barov and Queen Ravenovia.Arriving in Barovia, he conquered its lands for his family,
massacred the Order of the Silver Dragon, an ancient order of knights and paladins, and renamed the
valley "Barovia", in honor of his father.He then built Castle Ravenloft and invited his family, the King
and Queen, and his younger brother Sergei, to join him.

Barov and Ravenovia died before they could make the journey, leaving Sergei alone with Strahd in
their new castle.Strahd soon became jealous of Sergei, who had had an affair with a beautiful
Barovian maiden: Tatyana Federovna . Strahd wanted Tatyana for himself, but became bitter when she
rejected his advances. He became convinced that his old age and impending death were the cause of
his contempt, and sought a means of immortality to restore his youth.

After researching dark magic for a time, Strahd traveled to the Temple of Amber, an ancient prison for
dark and dead gods in southern Barovia, and made a deal with Vampyr , one of the divine vestiges
locked within . Vampyr taught Strahd the secret of vampirism, and on Sergei's wedding day, Strahd
killed his brother and drank his blood. When his castle guards killed him, Strahd rose as a vampire,
killed the guards, and pursued Tatyana until she jumped to her death in the ravine next to Castle
Ravenloft.The Dark Powers took note of Strahd's monstrous acts and sealed him, and all of Barovia,
within a Demiplane of Dread, isolated from the outside world.

Now, Strahd amuses himself by taking consorts, eliminating vampire hunters , and tormenting
adventurers who come to his lands. The closed nature of Barovia has caused souls to reincarnate, rather
than transfer to the afterlife, leading Strahd to seek Tatyana's reincarnation in each new generation .
Today he has found it in Ireena Kolyana, a resident of Barovia, and one of the main focuses of the
campaign.

Which NPCs are the most important?

• Ireena Kolyana – The most recent reincarnation of Strahd's dead love, Tatyana Federovna.

• Ismark Kolyanavich : Ireena's brother and the new burgomaster of Barovia Village.

• Urwin and Danika Martikov: The owners of the Blue Water Inn and secret members of the Keepers of
the Feather , an order of wereravens who oppose Strahd.

• Baron Vargas Vallakovich : the cruel ruler of Vallaki .

• Lady Fiona Wachter – Baron Vallakovich's main political opponent and loyal to Strahd.

• Dr. Rudolph van Richten / Rictavio – A disguised vampire hunter who has come to Barovia to kill
Strahd.

• Ezmerelda d'Avenir - A Vistana monster hunter who has come to Barovia to kill Strahd and find her
mentor, Dr. Rudolph van Richten.

• Rahadin – Strahd's twilight elf chamberlain and enforcer.

• The Abbot – A deva sent to save Barovia who has been corrupted and driven mad by the darkness of
the land.

What areas should I prepare first?

If you are just starting the module, read the book cover to cover before your first session. You don't
need to memorize everything, but you should have a general appreciation of what the campaign
contains and how different areas and NPCs connect to each other.

Before running your first session, prepare (1) your campaign hook, (2) The House of Death (if you are
running it), and (3) the entire town of Barovia. Barovia is quite small, so it shouldn't take too long. You
must also secretly predetermine which Tarokka cards Lady Eva will use in her reading, and decide which,
if any, random encounters you will place on the Svalich Road around Barovia. If you choose to run Death
House, that will also give you an extra 2-3 weeks to prepare Vallaki while you check him out.

Once your PCs arrive in Vallaki, preparing for any individual sessions becomes much more difficult. I
highly recommend using Lazy DM's session preparation method, where you prepare materials based on
the locations and NPCs your PCs are likely to encounter based on their current quests and interests,
rather than worrying about predicting exactly what your group will decide to do. You should also reread
individual chapters (e.g., Werewolf's Lair, Krezk Village) immediately before any session in which you
expect your PCs to travel to that specific location.
How can I avoid common Curse of Strahd DM errors?
• Don't do a random Tarokka reading. Pre-select cards for maximum dramatic impact and to direct your
PCs to interesting, isolated locations. There's nothing worse than a campaign with Clovin Belview as your
ally, the sacred tome and symbol in Ravenloft Castle, and the sun sword three feet away in Madame
Eva's wagon.

• Don't let your PCs convince Ismark Kolyanavich to accompany them to Vallaki. There is a common
problem where the parties gather too many allies, making combat clunky and detracting from the PCs'
achievements. Let Ismark stay in Barovia to look after his father's estate and take over as burgomaster,
and have the PCs escort Ireena themselves.

• Do not run Morgantha and the Night Witches on Old Bonegrinder as an immediate combat encounter.
They're incredibly deadly for a low-level party and are much more interesting as a roleplay encounter.

• Don't treat Ireena like a bland quest item. Give him a personality, his own motivations and his own
active goals. Give him a helpful and resourceful attitude and do your best to make him useful and
enjoyable to the PCs.

• Don't use Vallaki as a huge political sinkhole. You should feel free to space out the time periods
between events like the Feast of St. Andral and Fiona Wachter's rebellion. It's quite common for players
to feel super fatigued and frustrated after five or six straight sessions of Valkian scheming.

• Don't let Strahd, Rahadin, or any other notable NPC take on your PCs in combat alone. The action
economy of 5e will allow your PCs to block and destroy any enemy alone. Use encounter creation tools
like Kobold Fight Club to ensure that no "boss" battle is anything less than a deadly encounter.

• Don't roll for random encounters while your PCs are traveling or resting. Instead, choose random
encounters that complement the atmosphere of Barovia and foreshadow future plot elements (e.g. the
werewolf encounter, the clothing package, etc.)

• Be sure to hold a session zero with your players to clarify what Curse of Strahd is and isn't about. Don't
allow Evil-aligned PCs unless you're comfortable completely rewriting large sections of the campaign
from scratch (as the campaign sets up plot hooks that are only appealing to Good-aligned PCs), and
don't allow lone wolves. or antisocial. PC (as the module relies heavily on teamwork and role-playing).

• Don't radically increase Strahd's CR to compensate for perceived "weakness." Strahd's RAW statblock
has its problems, not the least of which is a huge gap between playing it optimally (almost unbeatable)
and playing it suboptimally (weak punching bag for PC). But while there's an argument for raising
Strahd's difficulty to CR16 or CR17, try to avoid the CR27 stat block and similar "upgrades" floating
around. At the end of the day, Strahd is a four-century-old vampire who rules a backwater dukedom
with three cities in it; he is not (and should not be) a match for the demon prince Orcus of eons ago.

• Don't give your PC maps from the module itself; those directly reveal the locations of the Werewolf's
Lair and the Amber Temple. There are several better community-made maps throughout the subreddit
that can give your players an idea of the geography of Barovia without spoiling the location of the main
hidden areas.
What are some tips and tricks for running Curse of Strahd?
• Don't be afraid of TPK! A total party elimination doesn't have to mean the death of your PCs; Instead,
they may be captured by a powerful enemy, rescued by unlikely allies, or taken to the dungeons of
Strahd. Curse of Strahd is a perfect place to let your PCs fail, rather than ending their stories
immediately because they misjudged the difficulty of a single combat encounter. Instead of making
them bitter and damaging their attachment to their characters, some "non-lethal" TPKs can give your
players a healthy sense of respect and caution.

• Before you begin running the campaign, choose what type of relationship you want Strahd to have
with your PCs in the early stages of the campaign. Should he be a distant and gloomy tyrant? A cruel
monster always lurking? A soft and friendly boss? There are many ways to develop Strahd's relationship
with the party, and you should make sure beforehand that you have a good idea of where you would
like him to start.

• Encourage your PCs to develop flawed or tragic characters, and use your plot hook and/or Madame
Eva's reading of Tarokka to tie the PCs' goals and backstories to the quest lines in Barovia.

• During Session Zero, be sure to check with your players to see if they are okay with some traumatic or
uncomfortable content included in Curse of Strahd. If not, see what you can do to modify the module
and remove the problematic elements, or (if they can't be easily fixed) suggest a different module
entirely. A short (although not complete) list of possible triggers includes: child abuse, murder,
kidnapping, gaslighting, racism, sexism, mind control torture, cannibalism, sexual assault, mental illness,
animal cruelty, body horror, incest, suicide, drug addiction. drugs and alcoholism. This game is 18+ and
contains child abuse and neglect , emotional and physical abuse towards vulnerable adults, murder and
attempted murder, including of children, kidnapping, stalking, abuse of power, racism, sexism, cruelty,
torture, references to colonialism and genocide, mutilation, mind control, desecration of the dead and
places of worship, cannibalism, including involuntary cannibalism, mercy killing, parallel situations to
sexual assault, death of parents, death of a child, reference to death fetal loss/miscarriage, death of a
partner, illness and mistreatment of the mentally ill, possible exploitation of physical disability,
maladaptive grieving behaviors, hunger and horror of food, cruelty to animals, prolonged and painful
deaths, body horror, transformation against will, horror of insects and infestation, abandonment,
including child abandonment, decay, betrayal, including betrayal of partner and parents, alcohol
consumption, including depictions of alcoholism, depiction of hoarding behavior, potential incest,
homicide voluntary, graphic representations of death and violence, implicit necrophilia, self-harm and
suicide. Edit: I forgot to blame the victim.

Are there other resources I should know about?

Absolutely! Some I would recommend:

• My own series "Curse of Strahd: Reloaded", a series of guides and expansions that aim to add depth
and additional content to each segment of the adventure.

• My guide to running Strahd in combat and making use of his allies, stat blocks, and environment to
become a terrifying enemy.
• The "Fleshing Out Curse of Strahd" series by /u/MandyMod, a complete adventure expansion that
adds additional locations, plots, and character discussions.

• / u / guildsbounty posts about Strahd von Zarovich, Ireena Kolyana, Dr. Rudolph van Richten,
Ezmerelda d'Avenir and others.

• Lunch Break Heroes, a YouTube channel dedicated to short videos on how to run and expand D&D
modules, including Curse of Strahd.

• Our Discord subreddit is a great place to get advice, feedback, and guidance from veteran DMs and
newcomers alike. People are always available and happy to lend a hand with any problems or ideas you
may have, so come hang out!

• Our megathread subreddit, which contains almost organized links to all informative posts on any
chapter of the adventure.