We got to have a Curse of Strahd campaign session the day before Halloween! That was super fun. The party met a powerful new ally and ventured inside the werewolf den to recover the sword of sunlight.

In these session prep posts, I go over what I did to prepare for my monthly CoS sessions. I also talk a bit about what happened and what I need to prep for next time!

What I prepped:

  • Recap

Here’s the recap I wrote for this session—

Last session, Sirya escaped the Abbey of Saint Markovia and Krezk, successfully avoiding Sir Alexander’s searching, for now. The party reconvened at the winery, and Kara dispelled the geas placed on her by the witch of Berez. Sirya has recovered the holy symbol of ravenkind, you have Ismark, Ireena, and Korina at your side, and you know the location of the “sword of sunlight”– a werewolf den north of Krezk.

  • Werewolf den

The werewolf den needed a couple of tweaks. I wanted it to go quicker than the version in the book did. I had already progressed the subplot with Zuleika and Emil past what is presented in the book. At this point, the subplot has reached an end. I did this to hopefully make the pacing of this part of the campaign move more smoothly. It also allowed me more room to introduce Ezmerelda this session.

  • Maps and stat blocks

Pulling the map links and stat block links beforehand is super useful. That way, I can have them all pulled up ahead of time, which makes referencing them during the session easier.

What I improvised:

  • Meeting Ezmerelda d’Avenir

The party decided to return to the tower on Lake Baratok. They visited here a few times before. In their previous visit, they explored the inside of the tower and exploded Ezmerelda’s wagon that she had parked outside.

I decided that Ezmerelda would return to the tower soon, and the party came in right after she did. They noticed blood on the ground and found her, injured, within the tower. She believed that they were adventurers from elsewhere, and after Kara helped heal her wounds, she agreed to help them out.

A lot of the NPCs the party have spoken with are either friendly but not very powerful, or powerful but not friendly. Ezmerelda is a rare combination of friendly (willing to help the party) and powerful (able to help the party). I hope the party enjoys having her around!

What I’ll prep for next session:

  • The kidnapped children who were saved

The party successfully retrieved the Sunsword and saved the children who were kidnapped by werewolves. Now, they need to figure out a safe place for these children before they continue on.

  • Encounter with Sir Alexander

Sir Alexander continues to search for the party. He hasn’t found them yet, but I need to get his final encounter worked out for when it comes.

  • The curse

Because of where the Sunsword ended up, whoever took it (Ireena Kolyana, in this case) suffers a curse. I want to write up some read-aloud text for the scenes where this curse comes into effect. I’m still learning how to make things spooky, so I hope this helps…!

  • Adding the Sunsword stats to stat block

Ireena Kolyana wields the Sunsword, so I’ll need to modify her follower stat block (we’re using the follower rules from MCDM’s Strongholds & Followers) to reflect this change.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!