DragnaCarta
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Curse of Strahd Reloaded Update: Arc K: The Stolen Gem & Arc L: The Fallen Abbey are now available
🕑 Added 2023-12-13 13:16:03 +0000 UTCToday, after an unexpected four-month delay, I’m excited to share the fifth public installment of my revised Curse of Strahd guide, Curse of Strahd: Reloaded. This new release contains Arc K: The Stolen Gem, the first half of Arc L: The Fallen Abbey, and the beginning of Arc P: Dinner with the Devil.
Specifically, this new update contains:
- Wizard of Wines Winery: The players’ journey to and infiltration of the Wizard of Wines, accompanied by new permanent companion Ireena Kolyana.
- Yester Hill: The players’ adventures at Yester Hill, including an alliance with the wereraven Muriel Vinshaw, a pair of new Strahd encounters, a meeting with the spirit of Kavan the Blood-Drinker, and a battle with Strahd’s bride Ludmilla Vilisevic.
- Village of Krezk: New lore detailing the Krezkovs’ secret history and relationship to Ezmerelda d’Avenir and a reworked narrative involving the Abbot and Krezkovs.
- Abbey of St. Markovia: The players’ recruitment of Ezmerelda, a new character arc for Vasilka, and a seance with the spirit of St. Markovia.
- Strahd’s Invitation: Strahd’s invitation for the players to join him for dinner on the night of the new moon, one week after the players’ first full moon in Vallaki.
In addition, this new update contains a number of edits, tweaks, and additions to previously released portions of the guide. You can find a full changelog here.
Click here to read about the new update.
Please note that this update will be followed within the next one or two weeks by a small hotfix, which will (1) add missing NPC profiles; (2) provide encounter calibration for parties of different sizes; (3) reorganize and revise out-of-date design notes; and (4) clean up any typos or editing errors.
Barring unexpected interruptions, I hope to publish the first halves of Arc M: The Den of Wolves and Arc N: Argynvost’s Beacon by mid-January, if not sooner.
Thank you to all of the readers and playtesters who provided suggestions and feedback following the previous public release!
As always, I want your feedback and comments to help make this guide the best it can be. Is the adventure fun? Is the content accessible? Is there anything missing, or anything I can do better? Please let me know any and everything I can do to improve!
Thank you always to everyone who has supported this project, as well as to my incredible patrons for their support.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Cheers,
Dragna
Comments
DragnaCarta
Hey Lennon, and thank you! Regarding Ezmerelda - the only real nerf she received in Reloaded (other than the incidental proficiency bonus) was the removal of her Lightning Bolt spell, which singlehandedly jumped her CR +4 due to its high DPR. I removed it because I felt that (1) her character better fit a ranger spell list than a wizard one, and (2) I wanted her to feel like the players' equal, rather than their permanent superior. (A CR 4 NPC is comparable to a 9th-level PC, while a CR 8 NPC is closer to a 15th-level PC.)
Lennon Bass
Hi Dragna, been reading through everything you've done so far and loving it! I did have a quick question regarding Ezmerelda, though. Even though she is presented as a 5th-level caster, she's only CR 4 in your version (she's CR 8 in the original module). As such, she only gets a +2 Prof bonus. Is this an intentional nerf to her so that she doesn't outshine the players? I was just wondering because Ireena will likely be Level 5 or 6 by now and using the sidekick rules will be a pretty strong NPC.
Raphael Akst
Thank you for the clarification!
