Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Discussing all things Ravenloft
User avatar
thekristhomas
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:33 pm

Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by thekristhomas »

I'm planning an adventure set in the village of Barovia and the idea I've had is that the locations where key encounters occur are indicated by the cards of the High deck.

So far I've thought of these

The Mists: not the choking fog, but the mists from the Tser waterfall, the encounter happening in a cave behind said

The Horseman: the gypsy camp

The Marionette: the burgermeisters house

The Raven: not the church of Andral, but the Blood o the Vine

The Broken One: maybe the old Markov house? (drawing some inspiration from the "Fair Barovia" article)

The Ghost: the churchyard

I've deliberately avoided the Darklord, Innocent, Temptress, and Artifact card as they will be the "focus" cards for the encounters, and I don't want the PCs to enter the castle.

Any ideas for the other High cards?
User avatar
thekristhomas
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:33 pm

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by thekristhomas »

the Donjon: thinking this might be the cave where Yagno Petrovna discovered Zhakata

the Esper: could refer to a Medium or a Psionicist, do any reside in Barovia? (Thaani, maybe? actually scrap that the adventure is set before Bluetspur joined the core)

still struggling with others...PLEASE HELP! :)
User avatar
thekristhomas
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:33 pm

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by thekristhomas »

So what am I left with?

The Hangman:

The Beast:

If I change the Raven to the church, would the Blood o the Vine do for the Beast? or does that seem impossible to work out? (actually, thinking about it, it seems impossible for the PCs to figure out that the Blood o the vine is represented by the Raven as they do not know of the Keepers of the Feather, I might have to drop clues with that one)

The Hangman is one I'm struggling with, because the most obvious location would be the town centre where one would expect executions to take place, but I don't think Strahd executes in this manner (because he's a vampire, it would seem a waste of good blood) but perhaps I am over thinking it.

The Beast: I'm thinking I'll just introduce a werewolf NPC lackey of Strahd's and have the card indicate his lair, I can't think of any canon lycanthrope allies of Strahd, anyone know of any?
User avatar
thekristhomas
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:33 pm

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by thekristhomas »

So my reading should go something like this:

"Your focus on this quest is divided, so shall be the focus of this reading. Your story is not new, all stories are the same in one aspect or another, all have a villain,"

she draws the Darklord and places it on the table

"a victim,"

the Innocent

"there's always a woman"

the Temptress

"and the object they all seek"

the Artifact

"and where shall we find these?"

she draws four cards at random from the High deck placing them in front of the focus cards already laid out

"and who shall meet us there?"

she draws four cards at random from the lower deck, indicating the class and alignment of the encounter at the determined locations
User avatar
thekristhomas
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:33 pm

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by thekristhomas »

The Hangman: I can't remember if there is a gibbet near the Gates of Barovia in the description but I might put one here to spread out the encounters.

The Beast: Ivan Koreshov seems like a candidate, if I say that this is before he enters Strahd's employ, maybe he has a lair in the woods

The Esper: I've thought that a medium might be a "witch" living on Lysaga Hill
User avatar
thekristhomas
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:33 pm

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by thekristhomas »

I'll be using this map
Attachments
villageofbarovia.jpg
villageofbarovia.jpg (170.14 KiB) Viewed 3679 times
User avatar
thekristhomas
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:33 pm

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by thekristhomas »

So I'll number each encounter location and mark on map

1. The Hangman: The Gates of Barovia
2. The Mists: The Tser Falls
3. The Horseman: The gypsy camp
4. The Esper: Lysaga Hill
5. The Marionette: The Burgomeister's House
6. The Raven: The Ruined Church
7. The Ghost: The Churchyard
8. The Beast: Werewolf's lair
9. The Broken One: see below
10. The Donjon: see below

I've become unsure about these ones as they both relate to DLs that my players know nearly nothing about, I'd appreciate any alternate suggestions
Attachments
villageofbarovia.jpg
villageofbarovia.jpg (235.22 KiB) Viewed 3679 times
Garudos Celestar
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 279
Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 1:51 pm
Location: United States

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by Garudos Celestar »

thekristhomas wrote: The Beast: I'm thinking I'll just introduce a werewolf NPC lackey of Strahd's and have the card indicate his lair, I can't think of any canon lycanthrope allies of Strahd, anyone know of any?
There was a werewolf who worked with him in Vampire of the Mists (I'm blanking on her name), and even guarded his coffin after he was forced into hibernation. Obviously, she would be long dead now, but perhaps a descendent of her bloodline could be used (or even just use her name if your players haven't read the book).
[i]"I too have begun to wonder about the legendary wisdom of our guardian angel and his pet rock."
~ Evee Beiderbecke[/i]
User avatar
thekristhomas
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:33 pm

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by thekristhomas »

9. The Broken One: again inspired by the "Fair Barovia" article, I've decided that the card refers to goblyns to be found on the islet in Ivlis Marsh

10. The Dojon: On one level, having this card refer to Castle Ravenloft seems like a cop-out, on the other hand, could this card mean anywhere else?
Attachments
villageofbarovia.jpg
villageofbarovia.jpg (235.49 KiB) Viewed 3662 times
User avatar
thekristhomas
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:33 pm

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by thekristhomas »

I changing over to the map from i6 as it makes calculating travel time quicker
Attachments
i6baroviamap.jpg
i6baroviamap.jpg (186.72 KiB) Viewed 3617 times
User avatar
thekristhomas
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:33 pm

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by thekristhomas »

I've added the encounter key, I've moved the location of 8 to make way for the legend
Attachments
i6baroviamap.jpg
i6baroviamap.jpg (187.81 KiB) Viewed 3617 times
User avatar
thekristhomas
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:33 pm

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by thekristhomas »

I'm still not sure what the "focus" cards are about, obviously a narrative has already been suggested by my reading.

A villain, a victim, and a woman all seek/contend for some object, but who are they? do they seek this object now or in the past?

I'm thinking that if it was in the past then maybe the encounter locations mark their graves, and the card from the lower deck represents a potentially opposing NPC who also seeks the graves, does this make sense?
User avatar
thekristhomas
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:33 pm

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by thekristhomas »

The adventure is based around the fabled first meeting between Madame Eva and Strahd.

While, Eva is negotiating with the count, she has dispatched a team of adventurers to attempt to gather the ingredients for the potion which will get avoid the choking fog, she wants a backup.

The ingredients are all to be found at locations related to the creation of the choking fog which while created by Strahd was researched by an "outlander wizard" (actually Drigor) as a power ritual and was interested to see if the DL could perform the fiendish ritual.

The villain therefore represents Drigor.

The victim then is almost certainly the first of the Madrigores

The woman, though, was she the betrothed of the Madrigore? who had to be gotten rid of? or used as part of the ritual (would that make sense what with the Madrigores being a dynasty?)

I'm thinking the artefact might be the goblet or pestle used in the ritual which would be required to mix the potion, but that doesn't quite fit with the already established narrative
User avatar
Le Noir Faineant
Rafe, Agent of the Fraternity
Rafe, Agent of the Fraternity
Posts: 4522
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 12:25 pm
Location: The Wind Isles

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by Le Noir Faineant »

Proceed. :ankhtepot:
User avatar
Le Noir Faineant
Rafe, Agent of the Fraternity
Rafe, Agent of the Fraternity
Posts: 4522
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 12:25 pm
Location: The Wind Isles

Re: Tarokka cards as locations in Barovia village

Post by Le Noir Faineant »

(Meaning, this is pretty cool, mate! More of it!)
Post Reply