Another eventful session in the Curse of Strahd campaign last week! The two player characters have been separated from their NPC allies and find themselves in quite a bit of trouble…

In these posts, I talk about what I did to prep for my monthly Curse of Strahd sessions and the results of that prep!

What I prepped:

  • Castle Ravenloft crypts

I don’t know what it is—maybe the sheer scale of the thing—but Castle Ravenloft has proved challenging to prep. I mostly focused on the areas the player characters would conceivably reach. That means the crypts (where they’d wake up) and the dungeons, plus a few areas they may get to like Strahd’s tomb, Sergei’s tomb, and so on.

We had a rough spot with the maps once they exited the catacombs, because moving between areas usually means moving between maps (and Castle Ravenloft is made of many maps). I don’t have a good solution for map problems other than “read it beforehand and try to figure out any obvious routes they may take.”

  • Dream/visions before waking

Our drow rogue, Sirya, has been wondering whether it’s possible to reach Lolth or get help from her. I decided that just this once, she could speak to the spider goddess and strike a deal with her, but generally deities can’t intervene with Barovia. Sirya took the deal, and she now has a single use “get us out of trouble” that she can use. I wonder when she’ll use it?

For Kara, our half-elf bard, I used the time before she woke up to introduce her to the spirit of Tatyana and remind her of the card readings. This let the party have a clearer picture of Barovia’s past plus ideas for their next move.

What I improvised:

  • Random encounter

Though I rolled for a random encounter once, I didn’t have a good idea in mind for how to run the mob of Barovian commoners storming the castle. So I made it more of an upcoming encounter than an immediate one. Rather than the people appearing in the room the party was in, I told them that they could hear people’s voices moving from somewhere nearby.

The party decided to avoid those voices, but now they’ll return to check it out in the next session (at least, that’s the plan).

What I need to prep for next time:

  • The chapel area

The chapel is where the party is going to investigate, and it’s where the random encounter Barovians are. I’ll need to prepare in case they engage in conversation with these people.

  • NPC locations

The party’s three NPC allies—Ireena Kolyana, Ismark Kolyanovich, and Korina (an NPC I added)—are missing. I know vaguely where Ismark is in Castle Ravenloft, but I will need to decide on what exactly has been going on for Ireena and Korina.

The party is still in a rough situation—they’re level 8 now, but Castle Ravenloft is not kind to unprepared adventurers…

Thanks for reading, and see you next time!