October is the perfect month for Curse of Strahd! The Friday before Halloween, we were able to hop on and do a CoS session, right as the weather is cooling down and the leaves are changing.

In this series, I’m writing about how I prep my monthly CoS sessions and the results of that preparation. I’ve been able to learn a lot about how I need to prep generally and for this specific group.

What was prepped:

  • Recap

This was a shorter recap, a little above 100 words. I kept it short partially because the party would also hear Korina’s report when they reunited with her. Korina is a vistana, who was formerly (begrudgingly) working for Strahd before the party convinced her to join their side.

  • Korina’s report

Korina was able to get some information about the wider goings-on in Barovia while she was away from the party. I’ve advanced the events in Vallaki, so after the Festival of the Burning Sun, the burgomaster was overthrown by Lady Fiona Wachter. The party also received information about the Krezk burgomaster’s plight, the rumors of werewolves to the north, and information about the adventurers-turned-vampire spawn.

I’m not sure how much the characters will remember of this information, but I thought it might help to get a sense of the general state of the land around them.

  • Microfiction

I also wrote a short piece of fiction and posted it to the campaign Discord and to Twitter here.

This is a scene for the players’ knowledge, not the characters’. The characters could guess that the knowledge of the holy symbol of ravenkind will get back to Strahd eventually, and this scene confirms that for the players.

  • Yester Hill area

The party made it to Yester Hill in their search for the magic gems stolen from the Martikov family. I’ve read over this chapter several times, so I didn’t have to reference the book as much when I was DMing it.

They pried the gem loose from the Strahd statue and promptly booked it out of there when druids and berserkers started rising up out of the ground.

What was improvised:

  • Skill challenge to run away

I didn’t expect the party to run instead of fight the druids, so I didn’t have the chase rules on hand. I’ve also never run a chase scene before and didn’t want to hold up the session by trying to figure it out just then. So instead, I used an idea I heard about from Matt Colville’s Running the Game series: skill challenges.

Skill challenges require the PCs to think creatively about how they’ll use their skills to accomplish their goals in the scene. A player will decide what skill they want to use and how that will help the party escape (in this case), then they will roll the check. Then, the next player does the same thing. Like death saving throws, the goal is to reach three successes before three failures. The players quickly understood how the system worked and the chase was resolved in a quick and fun way, I think!

  • Ireena’s nightmare

The party has traveled with Ireena Kolyana, the NPC Strahd is pursuing, for a while now. But Strahd hasn’t made a direct appearance in a while, so I wanted something in this session to remind the players of that plot point. They’re about to travel to Berez, where Marina (who was the reincarnation of Tatyana before Ireena) once lived.

All that actually happened was that Ireena woke up screaming from a nightmare. The rogue in the party gently suggested that she could talk about it with her when she’s ready, and the bard offered some comfort in the moment, so Ireena’s trust in them has deepened. She isn’t ready to talk quite yet, but I’m excited to see how the party’s relationship to Ireena will grow.

  • Hints at the witch in Berez

They successfully returned one of the magic gems to the Martikovs, and they’re travelling to Berez to find the next one. Baba Lysaga has put a lot of effort into harassing the wereravens, so I guessed that the Martikov family might know a little about her. The party didn’t learn her whole story, but they now know that she’s supposedly a really long-lived person from Strahd’s past.

What I need to prep for next time:

  • Ruins of Berez area

I’ll need to read over the chapter again and make sure I understand how the map works. The party is planning to split up, leaving their NPC friends (Ismark, Ireena, and Korina) behind while they go to speak with Baba Lysaga. I’ll also think of some ideas of what the NPCs might have to deal with while they wait on the PCs.

  • Roleplaying Baba Lysaga

Hoo boy, time to roleplay another big bad villain type. I’m going to try writing out some dialogue beforehand, because I’m not very good at improvising with this character type.

Thanks for reading! Do you have any tips or tricks for running Curse of Strahd, or these specific areas? I’d love to hear your ideas!