A Dungeons & Dragons Sourcebook (D&D Supplement) - Curse of Strahd

One of the classic adventures returns to 5th Edition. This book has high production values, well worth it. A big plus is that the book is "campaign setting neutral", which means that it does NOT depend on being located in some Forgotten Realms or Sword Coast campaign. The writing and content is top notch. But that's not a surprise since this book was co-written by the authors of the original Ravenloft D&D adventure from the 1980s.

I honestly can't recommend this adventure enough!!! We are about 1/3 of the way thru the campaign and it's seriously one of the best I've ever seen. Here is my list of suggestions....some SPOILERS AHEAD.
1. I would recommend waiting until the characters are 3rd level or so. That way your players are really starting to gel as a team, caring about each other and their characters. The reason for this is the adventure will scare the stuffing out of them because death is literally everywhere. I've never seen my players so freaked.
2. I would also highly recommend anyone who runs the campaign spend about a week reading it and then do yourself a HUGE favor and map out all the possibilities. Take note. PREP PREP PREP.
3. Use the Ravens to move your characters along when they get stuck on what to do or if they head somewhere WAY over their head.
4. Use the Dream Pastries. Anyone who eats one give them madness/depression where they feel like they will never get out of Barovia and they are going to die. Additionally anyone who eats on is hooked/addicted and can't sleep (short or long rest) because it's all they think about, which means they can't heal except through the use of magic. A remove curse should take care of this. Also have beggars, who beg in the streets, beg for pastries or coin to buy pastries but only after your players are hooked. Finally, once hooked give the hint what's in them. Fabulous!
5. If anyone gets bit my a werewolf DO NOT ROLL the save right away!!! Take notes who got bit. Wait until the 2nd or 3rd rest and THEN make them make the save. Anyone who fails turns during the night and OH BOY THE FUN REALLY STARTS!!!
6. Finally, I suggest playing Strahd like a bad ex boyfriend. Have him pop up a few times, beat the stuffing outta of the party, and leaving them crying.

Good luck! It is awesome!

The more I read through Curse of Strahd, the more I'm convinced it's probably the best module for D&D 5e currently out there. It even comes with a tear-out map that you can use to help you get a lay of the land. The artwork in the book is fantastic, and the story is laid out in a much better fashion than Horde of the Dragon Queen.

While I would not recommend this as adventure for a newbie DM to run, if you have some experience under your belt as a Dungeon Master, then Curse of Strahd is a fantastic module.

**Edit, Re-Review of this book/module**

After running it since July, I can safely say that this is not a worthy campaign and I wouldn't recommend it, at all, in any format.

This campaign is devoid of the things that make DnD an interesting and fun role playing game. The Grim-Dark atmosphere coupled with the terrible layout, the limited bestiary, the lack of actual, great dungeon crawling and the characters are just not interesting. My group has grown bored of this game, but give me props every session on how creative I try to make the NPC's and quests. I've actually had to create dungeons for them because this game just lacks really great places to explore, and things to see. It wears out it's welcome WAY too soon. I am growing tired of Barovia, and will NEVER go back there, even as a player.

This book is short 5 stars because of the layout.

I think several reviews have gone over the layout of the book being somewhat problematic. This requires you, as the DM, to go through it several times, make extensive notes and ideally create an outline. If you ran this game using the book, you'd never find the right information easily at your fingertips, have to constantly flip through the book, cover to cover and kill the flow of the game.

Luckily there are third party resources on the net that have broken this game down into easier to read outlines to help you run it effectively.

Now the good part is the setting and module itself are fantastic. It's great content and interesting. At my table with three players, I have a YouTube playlist of haunted ambient tracks and gothic horror music to accompany the various areas and set the mood.

The art in the book is great, the quality of the print and quality of build is also good. The layout, again, is troublesome and tricky.

If you are a new DM, get your feet wet first with the Lost Mines of Phandelver first. You might be OK running this after feeling confident you can handle open ended story telling and a book chock full of hooks and sandbox gameplay.

we have heard alot about this module and are getting ready to run with a group of experienced players. Should be fun! The DM says this will be more investigationish vs hack and slash so will be a bit new for this group (typically we attack and ask questions later lol). We have run each of the books published so far and all are excellent! Great for beginners or advanced.

As far as an adventure and not an actual campaign setting, this is the best Ravenloft product yet. It surpasses both the original and the 3.5 Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. Most of the content is all new, not the same old stuff crapped back out in 5e.

Of course you have to read it through before you run it, but that is almost every module. The read is great and the play-through will be even better.

Great content! Lots of fun- your players will enjoy it.
Sometimes the books do come damaged as others have experienced....not always the stores fault. BUT with that being said, the store always replaced the books. They'll send you a new one before you send the other back.

Been reading this. Love the way it's written. Reading it seems to have emersed me in the world where Strahd reins even with the story yet to be told by DMs and Visiting Adventures. I would enjoy this adventure either as a player or DM. Written in a way that can be played more often than once and with player interaction can be different almost every time. The DM can alter encounters with Strahd with each play and more.

Ravenloft is a great setting if you are into Gothic horror. Strahd is a great villain. The only downside is that the interpersonal relationships aren't always easy to figure out unless you read this book cover to cover before starting your game. Get the book, but then make sure you also do a bit of research online about who is connected to who and why they have the attitude they do about Strahd and Barovia.

I quite liked the book. But it appears this campaign was not for my group. They wanted a more lighthearted murder spree. Not a long campaign with a story. Also probably my inexperience of dming didnt help.

Personally, it was a “Back to Nostalgia” with this book. The background of Strahd is full and complete and you have an entire psychological profile of him in the book. A must for those who want to revisit Barovia, but with a whiff of new on it.

While the quality of the maps, campaign, and overall the content of the book is wonderful, I am having a problem with the book itself. The binding is coming unglued. I purchased the book about two months ago, but I am only a few days into my first read through and already it is falling apart. Wizards of the Coast customer support says they will absolutely replace it, no charge, but it does take 3 weeks. As I am running the campaign, I can't really afford 3 weeks without the book!

A great campaign that can however be difficult to run for beginning DM's but the world is immersive and there's never a dull moment, and if there is one it's got plenty of options to spice it up with, action, horror, or humor.