Curse of Strahd: Reloaded's guide to the Fanes is now available!
Added 2025-05-08 12:31:00 +0000 UTCI'm excited to share the twelfth public installment of my revised Curse of Strahd guide, Curse of Strahd: Reloaded. This new release contains Arc T: The Three Fanes, which includes:
Communing with the Ladies. A rite of communion with the Ladies of the Fanes to learn how the Fanes can be reconsecrated.
The Third Gem. A journey to the peak of Mt. Ghakis to retrieve the third enchanted gem from the Roc's nest.
The Final Trial. Strahd's final trial for the players before their ultimate showdown in the finale.
Baba Lysaga's Revenge. A fight through a Berez-turned-dungeon to defeat Baba Lysaga and rescue the kidnapped Martikovs.
Van Richten's Curse. A quest to help Van Richten and Arturi Radanavich lift their curses.
Fiona's Faith. A quest to help rescue Fiona Wachter's children and restore her hope for a brighter future.
Cleansing the Fanes. The rites to reconsecrate the three Fanes and cleanse Barovia of Strahd's corruption.
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!
-Dragna
Comments
Thanks Retroire! And there are a number of clues throughout the module suggesting it (e.g., Katarina's note, the silhouette Urwin saw when the gem was stolen), but it'll all be basically confirmed in the epilogue - Madam Eva dies, leaving behind a note confirming her identity as Katarina, and the players later catch a glimpse of the Ladies Three in the woords - including one who vaguely resembles Eva.
DragnaCarta
2025-06-12 12:40:30 +0000 UTCHi Dragna! First off, absolutely adore your guide! By expanding all the characters and making the story stronger, I've been able to weave my players own backstories and motivations into Barovia when i found it incredibly difficult with the core book! Secondly, and forgive me if I missed this, but how are the players ever meant to find out that Madam Eva is a reincarnation of the Seeker? The only clue I've seen in the entire guide (once again, might have missed something) is the vision from the Hunter and Weaver, but that could easily be misinterpreted as being a wereraven. Would love your input on this, since I believe that Madam Eva in your canon is amazing and I want players to learn this.
Retroire
2025-06-12 02:11:38 +0000 UTCNot a silly question at all! You use the first-listed statblock, and then move to the second phase when the first phase "dies." The first phase should have a feature that describes how it works :)
DragnaCarta
2025-05-23 13:21:36 +0000 UTCI have a question - Baba Lysaga has two different stat blocks that I see in the guide, and so do a bunch of other NPCs. Are we supposed to use both? Like when the first one is reduced to 0 hit points, the players then have to fight the next 'version' with the second stat block? Sorry if this is a silly question - this is my first time DMing and I'm using a lot from your guide! It's making it a lot easier to plan things with how much work you've put into this :)
Alisha
2025-05-22 23:44:30 +0000 UTCIf the puzzle is unsolvable, that's a bug (and one I thought I'd already fixed) - it's meant to be solvable.
DragnaCarta
2025-05-19 12:03:05 +0000 UTCI have a question about the puzzle that Strahd sends in the carriage to Arc O. I assume that the violin is an analog of the five-way, I made a handout with a visualization of this game after unsuccessful attempts to solve it, I asked chat gpt and he confirmed that it cannot be solved in this way and there are variants of the starting position that can be solved. But I decided leave this "bug", perhaps as a feature, but add a mechanic that players can change any pair of tiles with each other by passing a skill or tool check with the risk of breaking the box in case of a big failure. It seemed to me to be in the style of Strahd. I wonder if this is a mistake in the original or if it was intended to be, in any case, it's worth writing about it, or if I didn't quite understand the original concept of the riddle
Yura Gal
2025-05-19 06:01:38 +0000 UTCI'll certainly keep it around!
DragnaCarta
2025-05-11 16:26:24 +0000 UTCCould you please keep Arturi in the deprecated material section after you've done all the changes. My group have just started Act III. They have met Arturi and Van Richten, and they have realized there is some unspoken tension between them.
Aleksander Hiller
2025-05-11 11:10:13 +0000 UTC
