Curse of Strahd

[PallentisLunam]

Has anybody picked up this module?

Is it any good/worth the price tag?

[pwykersotz]

I've enjoyed reading through it. The areas are fantastically detailed and it's tremendously flexible. Also, having re-read the original Ravenloft, I think this is an excellent rewrite/expansion. I like a lot of the character detail that went into it.

That said, I do expect to need to put a great deal of work into converting it for my table. It's actually a bit too expansive for my gamers, who do not appreciate a sandbox. But your mileage may vary.

[PallentisLunam]

As always, but I find playgrounder reviews to be far more reliable than amazon reviews. :smallbiggrin:

[Grey Watcher]

Running it (got it early by pre-ordering).

So far, so good, though my players have only this far gotten into town and begun poking around the intro dungeon.

Lots of content that can be pulled our and used in other con texts (Old Bonegrinder, for example).

Definitely very sandboxy. If you players need "The Plot Is This Way" signs, you'll have to embellish a bit. (Basically, very few NPCs are, as written, going to approach the PCs out of the blue.)

Lots of dead, dying, or in danger of dying children. Whether this is a plus or a minus depends on your tastes.

No new PC options to speak of. The one background option is available online for free.

[PallentisLunam]

How does it do as far as the creepy aspect?

[pwykersotz]

How does it do as far as the creepy aspect?

It excels at creepyness, but it's hard to detail without going into spoiler territory.

For example, there are scarecrows that are stuffed with dead ravens. Curses that get inside your mind and mess with you just enough to be freaky (give you alternate flaws), and just enough people who are helpful to keep you suspicious of everyone but unwilling to act prematurely in case you might have an ally. But can you trust them? Maybe.

There's the creature that reminds me of Chucky too. That picture alone gave me the creeps.

But really, it gives lots of advice on how to properly horrify. There's an opening paragraph that details the aspects of a horror game and how to prevent it from becoming a drag. It also gives multiple options to the GM at several points, allowing them to choose what will best fit the current tone. Lots of secrets kept in shadows. Just enough dangers hidden to encourage paranoia, and just enough help hidden to not extinguish hope.

Of course, since I haven't run the game yet, I'm not 100% sure of how it will play out, these are just my impressions from a full reading.

[EvilAnagram]

I started as a player this week. It does a good job at being creepy, though the halfling paladin and I undermined that when he rode around on my shoulders and we called ourselves the holy totem pole of doom.

It was pretty effective.

[PallentisLunam]

As a tactic or at undermining the tone? :smalltongue:

On a serious note that is one of my primary concerns with my group and this module: will it hold up to a table full of clowns?

[EvilAnagram]

As a tactic or at undermining the tone? :smalltongue:
Yes.


On a serious note that is one of my primary concerns with my group and this module: will it hold up to a table full of clowns?
I certainly hope so.

[Oramac]

I've done a couple modules (or whatever they're called) as a player.

Overall, I'm not a huge fan of the Ravenloft setting in general. That being said, they seem to have done a fair job setting a creepy tone to the adventure.

The downside is, there's a lot of places that seem incredibly overtuned and likely to cause a swift TPK if the party isn't careful.

[PallentisLunam]

Well ideally a horror setting would inspire a healthy level of cation in the party.