Add ons from other sources for Curse of Strahd

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The Lesser Evil
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Add ons from other sources for Curse of Strahd

Post by The Lesser Evil »

When it comes to other Ravenloft sources, what stuff (piecemeal or in whole) have you added/replaced stuff with/incorporated into Curse of Strahd?
Chronische
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Re: Add ons from other sources for Curse of Strahd

Post by Chronische »

I didn't like Curse of Strahd much, myself. I cut the Amber Temple entirely, had Fear/Horror/Madness be tied to Wis, Int, Cha (in about that order, it's been a while), and cut the the ghost castle as well. There's enough still in CoS to run the campaign start to finish without needing those places, and dungeon crawls are not very Ravenloft to begin with I think!

In general, though, I'd recommend at least reading Domains of Dread and tying Barovia to the greater demiplane. A travelling minstrel from Kartakass, perhaps, would be able to tell them at least a little about the geography and common knowledge of the world. Something to build the feeling of being cut off from home, alone in a strange and haunted land, without any hope of rescue or aid.
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Re: Add ons from other sources for Curse of Strahd

Post by Ender »

Here's the things I've used/done:

1. I used Dungeon #207's Fair Barovia as inspiration to add Leo Dilisnya to the plot.
2. I've used Strahd's disguise of Vasili von Holtz, as portrayed in I, Strahd. Related: I'm considering getting a copy of I, Strahd (sans framing text) printed in a leather-bound journal, to have a physical copy of the Tome of Strahd for my players.
3. I've tried to tie Baba Lysaga, the Bonegrinder hags, and the witches of Barovia all together by introducing the Church of Hala.
4. To foreshadow Van Richten, I've had his Guides show up in different locations, providing the party with some extra info on the creatures they are likely to face soon. The Guide to Vampires is only with Ezmerelda and Rictavio, though.
5. I'm replacing the entirety of Krezk as portrayed in CoS with a version of Krezk that more closely resembles the one in Gazetteer I.
6. I've added the Raven Queen to Barovia and equated her with Mother Night. There's some background involving Queen Ravenia.
7. I've made sure to provide considerable variety in the Vistani, using the VRG for info.
8. The Gundarakite conflict in Zeidenburg was important at the beginning of my game (but I ultimately wouldn't do that again if given the choice).
9. I'm using some of the Verbrek werewolf lore to flesh out the werewolves in Barovia, tying the Wolf God to my creation of Balinok, the Black Wolf.
10. I'm replacing the Order of the Silver Dragon with the Dawnslayers and directly tying the history of the Sunsword to them.
11. The Amber Temple is the Keep of Forgetting in the Dreadpass, but doesn't actually house the Dark Powers. It does contain forbidden knowledge, though, and probably someone who can offer "gifts". The Arcanaloth may or may not be Inajira.
12. Van Richten's tower was formerly Azalin's tower.
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