Well, if there's no objections...
But, fair warning to anyone, expect a lot of spoilers.
Starting Thoughts:
I set my expectations for Curse of Strahd low going in. Between its nature as an I6 revamp, WoTC's track record in regards considering the need for appeasing grognards, and the fact that the Hickmans, who are noted for their disapproval of the very existence of "Ravenloft the setting", were involved in writing it, to do otherwise seemed to me to be a recipe for folly.
Consequently, I probably have a much higher opinion on Curse of Strahd than many others will. Especially since I don't revere many of the setting's "sacred cows".
This is not a "guidebook to Ravenloft; 5th edition". It doesn't try to be. Taken on its own merits, though, I think it's quite an excellent piece of work. I've never actually bothered picking up adventures before, and if 5e hadn't started slipping in important new additions like races and spells into their adventures, I probably never would have started. But I'm glad I did. Out of the Abyss and Princes of the Apocalypse were great, but this is even better.
Also, it's been a long, long time since I directly read the I6 module, so I'm not sure just how accurate specific areas are to the I6 version. I can't tell you if they kept every crypt in exactly the same place or not.
The Nature of Barovia:
Barovia in Curse of Strahd borrows elements from the Ravenloft campaign setting, but is closer to the I6 version. This is not "the domain of Barovia, in the Northern Core of the Demiplane of Dread". This Barovia is a demiplane, all its own right, a mist-veiled land that has an affinity for the Shadowfell, but which otherwise exists beyond any known world. It is a prison, a place that entraps Strahd, his victims and all of the other doomed souls in it.
Literally so. The native Barovians are spiritually stagnant people; the souls of the dead are trapped in Barovia forever, until they manage to be reborn again, something that's used to explain why Tatyana's reincarnating is A: so visibly obvious, and B: why Strahd expects it. This makes the small population of Barovia even smaller, as apparently 9/10ths of the population are actually soulless shells, homunculi born into the domain out of Strahd's need to have servants around. Their emotional stuntedness is also further justification for why the Barovians so passively tolerate their misery.
The "ring of toxic fog" surrounding Strahd's castle and the village of Barovia and the Misty Border have been made one in the same; now, the only thing keeping players in Barovia is the mists surrounding the domain. Rather than relying on poisoning effects, the mists of Barovia sap the energy from those inside of it, inflicting a level of Exhaustion each turn unless a DC20 Con check is passed, and even if you survive it, you still end up just walking right back out of the mists where you started.
The misty border's resilience has been amplified intensely; now, absolutely nothing can get you out. Not wishes, not miracles, not artefacts, nothing. There's no mention of "outsider reality wrinkles" anymore, so presumably they're also useless. Also, Strahd has the ability to interfere with spells that normally contact and communicate with beings on other planes, letting him "take the call" himself if he wishes.
To further add a level of power to Strahd, the sun in Barovia is muted by the demiplane's aura of darkness; although vampires are still leery of it, it doesn't actually hurt them (nor does it affect any creature with traits like Sunlight Vulnerability, Daylight Sensitivity, etc). This makes adventuring in Barovia even scarier, as it cuts you off from the one certainty you previously had; that the daylight hours would be a reprieve. In this Barovia, if Strahd wants you, he can take you. At any time.
The Adventure Proper:
Curse of Strahd is massive, with seventeen chapters and seven appendixes spanning 256 pages. Much like Out of the Abyss, it's a fairly sandboxy adventure, with given chapters devoted more to specific areas and their sub-stories than to any linear progression. Indeed, making use of a tarokka-reading generated randomized path akin to the classic I6 module, it's expected that players will wander all over, perhaps even visiting Castle Ravenloft several times before finally taking on Strahd.
The introduction is fairly short and basic. It covers the story overview of the adventure, and gives some tips on both mechanically and thematically running the adventure, with a whole page, "Marks of Horror", dedicated to tips on keeping the mood spooky. Strangely, it has an entry on "humor", which may explain why the adventure retains the classic goofball names in the dungeon. Anyway, this is vanilla stuff, but useful for rookie DMs.
Chapter 1, "Into the Mists", examines Strahd's backstory as established for this rendition of the continuity. It then proceeds with the explanation on how to run the tarokka reading from Madame Eva, explaining both how to lay out the cards and establish which of the 5 elements they correspond to, and what a given card actually means for its intended role (for example, the 1 of Swords card determines that the given treasure is in the possession of Vladimir Horngaard in Argynvostholt, whilst the Artifact card establishes that your ally is Rictavio or that Strahd is in the Chapel). Finally, it ends with four adventure hooks for getting the players into the adventure proper; Plea for Help (you are lured into Barovia by one of Strahd's vistani agents), Mysterious Visitors (the party is invited to join a vistani caravan and is brought into Barovia), Werewolves in the Mist (the party is hired to find some werewolves that have been making raids from a nearby forest, which becomes linked to Barovia) and Creeping Fog (the party is swallowed by the mists in mid-travel). Although I do have some complaints with Strahd's backstory, those go in the Old vs. New section below. All in all, this is a pretty helpful chapter, particularly as the tarokka reading can be rather complicated for somebody who's never run Ravenloft before.
Chapter 2 examines Barovia as a whole. It details the lay of the land, details on how being in Barovia affects magic (complete with options for creepy side-effects to assorted spells), the futility of escape, the effects of the mists, examines the Barovians and Vistani in detail, lists random encounters, and most importantly, covers the players' encounter at the Tser Pool Vistani Encampment, where they can receive their essential tarokka reading from Madame Eva. Although I do have some minor issues with lore here, mostly, I think that there's a lot of good stuff here, but that's mostly stuff for Old vs. New.
Chapter 3 focuses on the village of Barovia, the players' first stop after entering the realm of Strahd. Houses can randomly contain nothing, Barovian villagers, swarms of rats, or even Strahd Zombies, which rather discourages exploring too greatly. That said, there's still some places to check out. Bildrath's Mercantile is the only shop in town, with marked up prices. At the Blood of/on the Vine tavern, one can meet the Burgomaster's son, Kolyan Indirovich, who can point the party towards his father's mansion and wants to fight the devil Strahd to save his adoptive sister. Three vistani also hang out in the tavern - in fact, they own it; see below. They'll point the party towards Madame Eva. Other notable locations include Mad Mary's Townhouse (where an insane woman weeps over her stifled daughter, who has wandered over to Castle Ravenloft), the Bugomaster's Mansion (where one can find Ireena Kolyana, who refuses to leave until her father is buried), and the church. Aside from a sidequest involving the priest's vampirized son, this is where you can bury Burgomaster Kolyana and a potential source of the treasure. The priest, after burying the burgomaster, will suggest to the Abbey of Saint Markovia in Krezk. There's also the "Death House", a mini-adventure covered in one of the appendixes, and two special events; a midnight parade where the ghosts of all the adventurers who have failed to slay Strahd march silently from the graveyard to make a failed attack on the castle, and the Dream Pastries, where a disguised night hag wanders into town from her lair at Old Bonegrinder, looking for victims to peddle her foul concoctions to. There's a lot of stuff here, and it's a great way to introduce rookie players to the game, especially with the Death House mini-adventure.
Chapter 4 is the meat of the game; this describes Castle Ravenloft itself, in all its glory. Recommended for level 9 and up PC parties, this is extremely challenging. As far as I can tell, it's incredibly faithful to the original description of the castle, but with an abundance of new tricks. For example, if you go to the Dining Hall and pass a DC 15 Charisma (Performance) check to play the harp, you'll summon the ghost of Pidlwick, the jester, who will offer his help by revealing a fully charged Deck of Illusions hidden in his crypt. It's almost certainly where you'll face off against Strahd, has the Icon of Ravenloft in its chapel, and potentially houses one or more of the treasures you need to find.
Chapter 5 examines the town of Vallaki. In this rendition of Ravenloft, the town's burgomaster has gone insane; delusionally faithful in the idea that hope and happiness can repel the malevolence of the rest of Barovia, he stages festival after festival in an effort to bring his people joy. Of course, as 9/10ths of his people are soulless shells incapable of feeling the emotion, his efforts are futile, which drives him into a foul-tempered rage. A lot livelier than the village of Barovia, there's all kinds of things to do here, from finding the stolen bones of Saint Andral to reconsecrate his namesake church to earning the aid of the Keepers of the Feather, dealing with the local chief priestess of the resident infernal cult to going amongst the local Vistani camp or interacting with the dying tribe of dusk elves.
Chapter 6 covers an entirely new, yet horrifically appropriate, area for Barovia; Old Bonegrinder. A crumbling grain mill that has become home to a coven of three night hags; although stranded in Barovia, they've come to enjoy it. They use the mill not only as a home, but as a business; they feed on children, taking only those with souls, and grind the bones up to make a key ingredient in their "dream pastries". These enchanted treats offer an eater a trance-like state, in which they escape to a heavenly place filled with joy, laughter and hope. This is incredibly addictive for Barovians, and they sow great corruption in Barovia with them; when they have adults hooked and bankrupt, they offer them more - if they'll give the hags their children. This is mostly a grotesque little side-quest, but there could potentially be a treasure here, if the cards are right.
Chapter 7 covers another entirely new addition to Barovia; Argynvostholt, the desecrated stronghold of an order of noble knights who once guarded the Amber Temple. Destroyed by Strahd before his fall to darkness, the Order's champion, Vladimir Horngaard, was so incensed that he and his followers returned as revenants, damning their souls to make Strahd pay. By recovering the dragon's skull from Castle Ravenloft and placing it upon the beacon here, the adventurers can create a pillar of holy radiance that will dispatch the revenants and grant increased defenses to those who oppose Strahd.
Chapter 8 covers the village of Kresk, another hotbed of intrigue, connecting to various miniquests throughout the game. The pinnacle of it all is the Abbey of Saint Markovia, ruled by a fallen angel who has been driven insane; he now reigns over a huge and fractuous clan of Mongelfolk - this module's replacement for calibans, with lore better suited to what old school Rvlft fans will know as Broken Ones - and strives to fashion a female flesh golem in hopes that he an present this to Strahd as a new bride, one that will compel him to leave the Barovians in peace. It's actually surprisingly gothic in flavor, even if one's instinct is to initially recoil at the Abbort's nature as an angel who sought to bring some comfort to the souls of the natives. Some of the quests tied here include being forced to find a bridal gown for the Abbot's creation, or earning Strahd's wrath by helping Ireena escape; if brought to the pool here, Sergei's spirit can manifest and help her flee Barovia forever.
Chapter 9 examines Tsolenka Pass, which may potentially house a treasure, but is mostly just some random flavor and encounters. There's a chance for a battle with a Roc or with Sangoz, a magical and malevolent giant goat.
Chapter 10 covers the Ruins of Berez, an abandoned village that mostly serves of interest for being the home of Baba Lysaga, a powerful new face in the area.
Chapter 11 covers Khazan's tower; once the lair of an evil wizard turned lich, it has been abandoned since a failed attempt at demilichdom destroyed Khazan. Now, Ezmerelda d'Avenir has chosen this place as a hiding ground whilst she makes her plans against Strahd. This isn't a place to go poking around; the caravan and the tower are both heavily guarded by an explosive booby trap and a lethal array of magical wards and guardians, respectively.
Chapter 12 details the Wizard of Wines vinery, an area sheltered by magical gems that keep the soil filled with life and goodness. Originally run by benevolent wereravens who used their produce to provide comfort to the Barovians, the vinery has come under attack. One of those life-gems was stolen by persons unknown, a second was recently stolen by Baba Lysaga to animate her crawling hut, and the third as been taken by the cult of malevolent druids who worship Strahd, who have likewise destroyed the vinery extensively. The party will almost certainly be brought here as part of their ongoing quests through the domain, and it's a tough place; there's no fewer than thirty-five needle blights, twenty-four twig blights, two vine blights, and four druids still roaming the grounds. Shy of any clever plans or sheer luck, the party's best hope for survival might be to sneak in and find the master druid; if they can kill him and take his Gulthias Staff (see below), they can eliminate all of the blights at once.
Chapter 13 covers perhaps the most contentious part of the adventure for purists; the Amber Temple. As this is not the Ravenloft Campaign Setting, WoTC felt no need to adhere to laws established for that, and here they slaughtered the most sacred cow; they gave a definition to the Dark Powers. The Amber Temple is a secret tomb for evil vestiges, the near-mindless fragments of deceased gods of evil, arch-devils, demon princes and other entities of darkness. These are the beings who gave Strahd his damnation, and who forged the domain of Barovia after he fell into their clutches. This is the toughest area in the module, bar Strahd's castle; multiple flameskulls, an arcanaloth, feral cultists and a mad lich reside here. Most unique are the various amber sarcophogi; by touching one, a player can choose to accept a pledge to the dark power within, gaining a mystical ability at the cost of a serious flaw or physical deformity.
Chapter 14 covers Yester Hill, a region on the very edge of Barovia that is home to a mad cult of druids who worship Strahd as the literal heart of the land. This area is home to a Gulthias Tree, and unless the party can destroy it, the druids can potentially unleash Wintersplinter, a tree blight, to destroy the Wizard of Wines or even go after the players. This area is also where one can find the Blood Spear of Kavan.
Chapter 15 covers a den that has been claimed by the domain's resident pack of werewolves, which may tie in to the party's reason for being here in Barovia.
The epilogue covers what happens depending on what the players manage to do. If they can destroy Strahd, and avoid being killed in revenge by his mad chamberlain Rahadin, then the curse of Barovia dissipates. People may leave it freely, and the land becomes bright and peaceful again... for a time. Months later, after the Barovians have found a chance to discover hope again, Strahd will be restored by the Dark Powers, and Barovia will become his again.
Appendix A, Player Options, covers a new character background, the Haunted One, and a list of Gothic Trinkets which are... honestly, more dark fantasy than gothic, in my opinion, but still pretty creepy awesome; a pocket watch that runs backwards for an hour on midnight, a winter coat stolen from a dying soldier, a bronze-backed mirror with a depiction of a medusa on the back, a lantern with a black candle that produces an inexhaustible green flame, or a black wooden pipe that creates smoke-puffs shaped like skulls, for example.
Appendix B is a mini-adventure, Death House, which was released individually online. It's a fun but deadly little adventure, and a good way to introduce players to the fact Barovia isn't like other settings.
Appendix C covers the unique treasures of this adventure; the iconic Tome of Strahd, Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, Icon of Ravenloft and Sunsword all appear here, but there's three new ones as well. The Blood Spear of Kavan is an enchanted spear that grants 2D6 temporary HP when you use it to kill a target, the Gulthias Staff is a darkly enchanted staff that protects the bearer against evil plants, can grant vampiric healing and be used to kill all blights within 300 feet by snapping it, and the Thighbone of St. Markovia is a relic that functions as a mace of disruption that is destroyed if ever used to attack a vampire. Pretty flavorful stuff, really.
Appendix D, the largest one, covers the various unique monsters and NPCs in the setting.
Appendix E covers the tarokka deck's meanings, use and provides images for each card that can be scanned to make your own.
Finally, Appendix F is the DM's handouts.
Old vs. New:
As touched upon above, there's a lot of differences in this module when one compares it to the setting, and doing so is asking for disappointment going in. Many of these changes will probably alienate people, especially those with very heavy emotional investment in the old lore. Personally, I find it varies in quality from actually pretty good to disappointing, and I'll touch upon those opinions now.
The nature of Barovia is one area I'm kind of eh on. The soullessness of the majority of the Barovians and the spiritual damnation of its residents I can kind of accept, but it feels a little hamfisted at the same time. Mostly a matter of some elements I like, some I just don't get.
The Vistani are one change I actually really liked. I have never enjoyed the use of vistani as blatant plot devices, and honestly thought they were born of the same hamfisted, pretty racist attitudes that gave us the Aperusa in Spelljammer. They just... bugged the hell out of me. This module's rendition of them is a lot more appealing; although they still have some inherent magical abilities, in the form of their daily Curse bestowment and encounter-use Evil Eye, they're not mysterious demi-god figures anymore. Indeed, a lot of their reputation is purely xenophobia and their own hype. I could actually see these vistani serving as a player race, eliminating the always-awkward need for Half-Vistani. I particularly liked that their ability to leave Barovia is part of Strahd's curse, not their own powers; it makes them far less dickish than they have canonically been. Even their willingness to serve Strahd is given an explanation that makes sense, rather than the hamfisted "the vistani are beyond good and evil!" treatment of old.
On a related note, the change to Madame Eva - that she is actually Strahd's half-vistani half-sister, operating under her own magical curse as a way to bring her cursed little brother down - is one I actually like. Madame Eva in the classic setting is... well, she's basically everything that bugs me about the Vistani all wrapped up into one package. She's frankly not much better than the Ravenloft equivalent of Elminster. This new version of her feels like an actual character, rather than a clumsy mouthpiece for the DM to hammer the players over the head so they'll go where you want them to go.
Baba Lysaga is one of the best new additions to the Ravenloft lore, I feel. Strahd's midwife who became obsessed with him, selling her own soul to become a hag-like being so that she could watch over and guard him for all eternity. She's a hag who actually feels like she has a Gothic backstory, whereas normally they're more... side-characters. They don't often have a lot of depth to them. Her obsession with Strahd is a nice reflection on Strahd's own obsession with Tatyana, though Lysaga is sane enough to realise Strahd won't accept her maternal love for him, so she pines over him from afar and tries to win his respect instead.
Old Bonegrinder, as I mentioned above, is a location I really approve of. It just feels so... darkly fantastical, I think it's a wonderful idea. It may be too fantastic for some purists out there, but I think it works well for Ravenloft.
The Amber Temple... I'm going to be in the minority here, but I actually like this locale. Scream and rant and rave all you like, but really, the Dark Powers have never been "mysterious" so much as they've been "flat". They are pricks, and the setting just doesn't want to admit it. Honestly, my biggest complaint about the Temple isn't its existence, but that it feels too constrictive. The Dark Powers being literally the vestiges of evil feeding on the corruption of mortal souls to try and restore themselves is awesome lore, and having a place where you can directly make bargains to them much as Strahd himself did is pretty neat, but... it feels underwhelming with how it's presented here. I'd happily adapt the Amber Temple as the literal Heart of the Mists, but I'd make it much, much harder to find - practically a demiplane within a demiplane, the secret beating heart of everything. All in all, nice ideas, but rather disappointing for greater integration. Taken on its own merits, though, it actually works for the setting of the module proper; indeed, I would have zero difficulties or problems with the idea that a post-module "epilogue campaign" could be devoted to both destroying Strahd a second time and then destroying the Amber Temple, so that Strahd will stay dead.
Strahd is one of the few areas I can say I'm disappointed. His backstory is basically the same in broad strokes, but... I don't know, the finer details kind of feel like they've undercut his Gothic pathos. He feels more blatantly villainous to begin with, rather than a world-weary soul just fell to his own inner darkness. I mean, I've always suspected that Strahd was kind of a dick to begin with, and his autobiography is probably pretty self-serving, but still, this is just a little clumsier in comparison to the lore we've seen before.
Van Richten just... confuses me. The disguise makes a lot of sense; you're not going to run around in Strahd's domain as an openly known vampire hunter if you're smart, and Van Richten is smart. Weirdly, one of the things that stuck out for me is that he didn't massacre the vistani who abducted his son, yet he still picked up his legendary "curse of companion's doom" from a Vistani seer. Also, in probably the most contentious part of his description here, he's perfectly willing to kill vistani, to the point of having a preserved vistani's head he used to consult for secrets about Strahd and a trained sabertoothed tiger he plans on deploying as a weapon against a vistani camp. I mean, it kind of makes sense, since in this module many of the vistani actively serve Strahd and are his willing agents, so you're probably going to fight quite a few of them yourself. Intellectually, I know it's justifiable, they're willing allies of Strahd and actively in league with his evil, but still, there's a little emotional turmoil there. It lessens when I remind myself that he's going after the evil, vampire-worshipping vistani and not all vistani as a whole, but still, there's that kneejerk "the hell?" response.
