The Curse of Strahd campaign is going strong, complete with a new ally and a close brush with death. Here, I’ll talk about what I did to prepare for the session and discuss how that turned out!

Here’s what I did to prepare:

  • Wrote a recap of previous sessions

Writing a recap seems to be working, both for me and the players. As the Dungeon Master, the recap reminds me what elements are still up in the air and what the party’s path looks like through the campaign. For the players, the recap reminds them of what they’ve gone through to get to where they are now.

Curse of Strahd packs a lot of events into a relatively short amount of time, depending on how your players progress through it. For my campaign, it’s only been about a week since the PCs arrived in Barovia.

  • Prepared an original NPC

The book notes that Strahd monitors the PCs through a variety of methods, including the use of spies and magic. I wrote up an NPC named Korina, who is a vistana tasked with observing the characters for a short amount of time. My idea was that the party might spot her, but she would escape and only fight if attacked.

This didn’t happen as planned. Korina failed the saving throw against hold person, so the party could restrain and question her. Once they discovered that she had no affection for the vampire lord, the party successfully persuaded her to join them.

Honestly, I should have expected this—the party is both sufficiently perceptive and charismatic enough, and they know they need more people on their side to go up against Strahd. That approach, however, didn’t go so well with the Mad Mage…

  • Prepared to run the Mad Mage

The party had planned last session to find the Mad Mage of Mt. Baratok, so I got ready to run the archmage stat block according to the modifications CoS sets forth. The characters wanted to convince him to join their fight against Strahd.

This isn’t feasible right now, as the party has no means to cure the Mad Mage of his, uh, madness. When Kara, the bard, reaches the appropriate level, she will get access to greater restoration. That’s what is needed to cure the mad Mordenkainen, but we’ll have to see if they think to return and try it on him.

The party almost got completely knocked out when they met him. Mordenkainen is extremely paranoid in this state, and he believes anyone who approaches is an agent of Strahd, despite even the most eloquent of protestations. His magic is no joke, but once he knocked out most of the party, he was content to disappear and leave Kara, the bard, to heal everyone and get off the mountain.

  • Reviewed the map of Barovia

I wasn’t sure where the party would want to go after their encounter with the Mad Mage, so I reviewed the places the party has yet to visit. This was a quick scan of the map of Barovia and the first paragraphs of the chapters we haven’t had to use yet.

This preparation allowed me to improvise some of the session.

Here’s what I had to make up on the fly:

  • Fleshing out the original NPC

I wrote Korina with the idea that she would only have a little bit of dialogue with the party before making her escape. When the party captured her, I had to think on my feet to develop her into more of a fleshed-out character.

I had a pretty good sense of what sorts of characters the party has already met, due to the recap. With that information, I think I did alright in creating a character who was unique but still fit in with the established cast. Korina’s family works for Strahd, but she’s not a villain, so the party was able to convince her to throw her lot in with them instead. She has a lot more information about Barovia and Strahd, so the party will definitely benefit from this success.

  • Running the abandoned tower

The book isn’t very clear on who is supposed to be at Van Richten’s tower when the player characters arrive. At least, it isn’t within the chapter about the tower. Esmerelda, the vampire hunter and Van Richten’s protégé, has parked her wagon out front, but there’s no information on where she’s supposed to be.

The party went here to get shelter after their meeting with Mordenkainen. I ruled that Esmerelda and Van Richten were both elsewhere, so the party only had to contend with the tower’s traps. They weren’t able to enter it in this session, so they camped outside nearby.

So, I’ll need to decide what’s going to show up the next morning.

And here’s what I plan to prep for the May session:

  • Write the recap

The recap has been a valuable tool for my DMing, so I’ll continue to use it. It’s a good way to focus in on what needs to be prepared when I sit down to work on session prep.

  • Develop the NPC

Korina is on the party’s side now, but cutting ties with Strahd isn’t so easy. If Strahd or Korina’s family discover her treachery, she’ll be in pretty hot water. The party has promised to keep them from finding out, so this will be an interesting challenge for the players. I’m looking forward to preparing this plotline further.

  • Prep the fortune reading and Madame Eva

At the end of the session, Korina told the party about Madame Eva’s power to read the fates of those who visit her. They seemed interested, so they’ll probably go to her to have their fortunes read.

I’ll need to reread the tarokka deck sections of the book, and I’ll need to figure out how I want to run the card reading. Unfortunately, we have the sessions online, so there’s not an easy way to show my players the cards, but I’ll figure something out.

  • Establish what’s happened in the area while the party has been away

I mistakenly told the players the wrong location for Madame Eva’s camp, but regardless, the party is going to return to either Vallaki or the village of Barovia. Things have changed in the days the party has been away, so I’ll have to put some thought into what all has happened in the meantime.

I think the players have been enjoying the campaign so far, so I’m happy about that. I want to keep working on enforcing the gothic atmosphere of Curse of Strahd, especially as the PCs have passed the beginning and are in the middle of the campaign. What do you all think?