Curse of Strahd: Opinions?

[Zilfer]

Just hit me while playing yesterday, mostly because one of my players is paraniod of smiling people, and the "All will be Well" part of Vallaki did anyone thing of interjecting a little bit of Toben the Many? I feel like I should have cashed in on that a bit more and had a Toben encounter or so but I may have missed my chance since I realized that a bit late into the session Yesterday night.

[Dreamakuma]

After a whole lot of considerations, I've made some changes for my group when I run Curse of Strahd this summer. My group isn't Diehard in the setting, and the changes I've made may seem silly or break canon but I feel like it's more to my liking. Some Ideas were taken from this thread as well. I thought I'd share them at least.

VIEW CONTENT:

- Mad Mage at mount baratok(Chapter 2, Area M) is not Mordenkainen. It’s an archmage Driven Insane to the point of delusion of thinking he is Mordenkainen. Anything related to mordenkainen he may assume to know is conjecture or legend.

- A cloaked man is with Rictavio at the blue water inn(Chapter 5, Area N2). PC’s do not Know who he is or what he is unless Rictavio is told of the fortune telling. If Rictavio isn’t told, he is merely a bodyguard for the bard. The Vampire is Jander Sunstar. He is a Chaotic Neutral vampire that hunts his own kind with a grudge against Strahd.

- A dragon skull is mounted above the eastern doors of room K67 in strahd’s Castle. If strahd is not in this location, a skeletal dragon construct comes to life, a puppet of it's past self gathered together by a jigsaw puzzle of bones and the uneasy spirit of a silver dragon. The skeleton is the remains of the silver dragon Argynvost(chapter 7).

- Exethanter is trapped in the amber temple. The temple itself isn’t the resting place of the dark powers, but a former lair of the lich Azalin Rex During his stay in Barovia. Exethanter was a servant of Azalin and remembers a time when Azalin and Strahd were here, studying foul magics to attempt to escape.

- 70% of the population in Barovia have souls. Soulless beings are agents of strahd. All Vistani have souls. Tatyana’s reincarnation is of unknown origin.

-Gadof Blinsky (Chapter 5, area N7) has a strange marionette he is working on in his shop. He wants the clockwork man from castle ravenloft in order to finish his greatest work: a son he could never have. The marionette is named Figlio.

- Ezmerelda’s family was slain by Van Richten with the assistance of Azalin as revenge for the death of his son after he was kidnapped by the vistani. It’s his deepest darkest secret. She is oblivious to the fact, assuming ghouls killed her family as she slept. A journal on Van Richten’s person tells this tale.

I hope it's not too much blasphemy