Curse of Strahd: Reloaded’s guide to Tsolenka Pass is now available!
Added 2024-12-16 22:19:24 +0000 UTCI’m excited to share the tenth public installment of my revised Curse of Strahd guide, Curse of Strahd: Reloaded. This new release contains Arc R: Trials of the Mountain, which includes:
Ascending Mt. Ghakis. The players’ ascent through the treacherous Tsolenka Pass, including dangers from monsters, vengeful foes, and the mountain itself.
The Tyrant’s Trials. Nightly visits by Strahd, who seeks to torment the players with cruel and painful “games.”
Into Soldav. The players’ discovery of the hidden Mountain Folk village of Soldav—and the secrets of the Fanes that lie therein.
Arrival at the Amber Temple. The players’ final arrival at the Amber Temple, which begins Arc S: A Sword of Sunlight.
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!
Comments
Hah; very conniving of them. Love those crazy players. Hope you and they are having fun with it!
DragnaCarta
2025-04-22 12:53:20 +0000 UTCInto this arc now! My PCs have been discussing an odd tactic to avoid Strahd's trials - splitting up before nightfall. They are facing an extra night because inexplicably they decided to go to Madam Eva for advice before taking on the mountain. Players, huh? Always make things difficult...
Matt
2025-04-21 23:34:51 +0000 UTCAwesome, thank you! This is the first time I've been along for a new arc release like this, so I just wasn't sure. Thanks for taking the time to respond to a really archaic question on an older post. Appreciate the work you do!
Carden Crockett
2025-02-11 06:54:44 +0000 UTCHey! They'll be added as they're completed; I get help with those, so they tend to lag a bit behind the rest of the guide. And you can just remove Kasimir's omitted spells without replacing them; the players will never know the difference.
DragnaCarta
2025-02-10 01:56:07 +0000 UTCI know I'm super late to this conversation, but I've noticed other arcs have rebalancing for 4 players, 3 players and 6 players, while this arc doesn't. Are these rebalances going to be added later down the line, or should the encounters be fine for either? Additionally, Kasimir's Spellbook says to remove certain spells, but doesn't suggest alternatives- is the idea that Kasimir is going to be a noncombatant so it shouldn't matter, or does he just not know many spells?
Carden Crockett
2025-02-05 18:45:24 +0000 UTCI believe I am on the Patreon tier, but how do I get to the Discord?
Gray Embry
2025-01-07 19:07:44 +0000 UTCHmmm. Ok. Then I guess mine will be going after they finish rescuing Stella. One of them -has- been infected with lycanthropy, but is unaware, and they won't have any reason to go to Kresk until she realizes she's been infected. I've already altered that to NOT take place on the full moon, there just seems too much happening all at once. They haven't had any down time at all since they got to Barovia, 11 sessions ago.
Gray Embry
2025-01-07 19:07:07 +0000 UTCThank you; glad you like it! And unfortunately not - I won't have the time to have such a PDF put together until the guide is complete.
DragnaCarta
2025-01-07 13:38:36 +0000 UTCthis looks amazing! Solid work brother! any chance there are printable pdf/word doc's of the guide yet?
Zerandise Morgalis
2025-01-07 07:14:13 +0000 UTCJust the Patreon Discord, I'm afraid! Though as to that particular question, Arc I is an optional sidequest triggered when the players decide to go to Krezk before completing Arc J (The Stolen Gem).
DragnaCarta
2025-01-06 22:56:05 +0000 UTCHiya. Is there a forum somewhere to ask general questions, like "How the heck does Arc I even start?"?
Gray Embry
2025-01-06 15:32:59 +0000 UTCSounds good! I've been loving Caleb's renditions of the NPCs and monsters so far. Looking forward to Arc S!
IntoTheFray
2025-01-03 18:33:12 +0000 UTCHey Fray; glad you like it! And I'm chatting with a mapmaker about maps for some of these areas (and I'm sure Caleb might take an interest in Soldav eventually), but I sadly have no mapmaking or artistic skill myself, so I'm afraid that'll be up to any others who want to contribute on their own.
DragnaCarta
2025-01-01 13:31:20 +0000 UTCHey Dragna, this sounds like an epic journey! While reading the descriptions I found myself wishing for some more orientation in the form of maps or at least outlines where everything is since I'm quite a visual person :) Especially the caves and mountain paths... Are you planning any visuals?
IntoTheFray
2024-12-30 09:12:53 +0000 UTCHey Joe! There (usually) won't be a third or fourth trial - the idea is that players can summon the roc in the third trial to drive Strahd away, and that by the time the fourth trial occurs, they have the Sunsword and Strahd runs away. (If they fail to do either of those things, then yes, Strahd will just show up and drink his original target until they die.)
DragnaCarta
2024-12-29 13:36:01 +0000 UTCHello, thank you for all that you've done! This arc is so fantastic, I love the psychology incorporated in it. Just wanted to clarify; Strahd's first trial states he will drink the victim's blood every night. However, in his second trial, he gives them a 'chance' to flip it on everyone else with the rock game. After that game, does he go back to nightly targetting the victim? When do the games end?
Joe Hassan
2024-12-28 08:03:05 +0000 UTCHaha; glad you could find that info! And thank you very much for the kind words and any support; both are sincerely appreciated :) Happy Holidays to you as well!
DragnaCarta
2024-12-26 13:08:57 +0000 UTCHey MythMaker! I don't have anything else designed, but maybe you could have the NPCs participate and have the player decide how each NPC votes in the trials?
DragnaCarta
2024-12-26 13:08:26 +0000 UTCHey, I've been running CoS: Reloaded for one player, which has been great so far with the options for scaling encounters you've provided and some player-facing buffs of my own, but Arc R runs into a problem with Strahd's Trials, which are very inter-party focused and difficult to run for one PC. Do you have any suggestions on alternative trials or alterations I can make?
MythMaker
2024-12-25 13:44:50 +0000 UTCHey Dragna! I started running COS with my group a couple of weeks ago so we are a ways off. We have just completed Death House and I found your guide before introducing them to the Village of Barovia. Your writing style and hand-holding is much appreciated as a first time DM somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of information available. My group and I are a long ways away from finishing any of the content you have created; however, I was just curious if you had any thoughts on when this guide will be finished. It's clear from your updates that you're consistently working through it. Just wanted to know if you had a target timeframe to finish that last encounter. Thank you for all of your hard work. My players and I will greatly benefit from it! Edit: My apologies. Saw the post directly beneath this one. Teaches me to read before asking. Thank you again for your hard work. After this holiday season I'm looking to join your paid members to support your work further. Happy Holidays!
Ryan Mullins
2024-12-19 18:06:02 +0000 UTCHey Matt! Regarding Strahd's bite - KOing a player with a bite doesn't, under the normal vampire rules, turn them into a vampire spawn - they're just unconscious with a reduced maximum HP. He has to wait for them to wake up again and regain their health to start biting again to try to drain their max HP closer to 0. See the Strahd's Bite sidebar under the Strahd's Game heading for more information! Regarding the bodaks - I haven't heard of any issues in playtesting so far, but should they prove to be too dangerous a fight, definitely let me know, and I'll try to push out a patch nerfing them. Thanks very much for the kind words and feedback!
DragnaCarta
2024-12-19 13:58:16 +0000 UTCIt's a fair question! However, in playtesting, a *lot* of players tend to vote for themselves, and even when they don't, it's due to an obvious Schelling point (e.g., a player who's resistant to necrotic damage).
DragnaCarta
2024-12-19 13:54:53 +0000 UTCHi Gypsy! Asked this a few weeks back, none exists at this time, though knowing the Strahd community and their love for Dragna, one will be coming in the coming weeks!
Chris Wooley
2024-12-17 14:30:20 +0000 UTCPeak Cinema! Worth the wait 💯💯💯 Take your time man :D. You're guidelines have been epic. My players are planning on meeting Baba lysaga next week hopefully!
CaptiveCreepa
2024-12-17 13:05:17 +0000 UTCExcellent work as always. Thank you so much for your continued efforts. Just a couple of minor issues/errors I've noticed; some side headers do not show due to an error in the format, eg: The Bat strategy reads as #### The Bat and is lost amongst the standard text. The calculation for Strahds Bite has a typo error; "The player’s 50 maximum hit points are decreased by 10 (the amount of necrotic damage taken), and now equal 30. The player now has 32 hit points out of 40." Obviously, it should read as 'now equal 40.' I'm also confused to the intention of Strahds Trials/Game, as it reads quite contradictory to me. Initially it says, "Strahd will drink the blood of one of their party. He will return each night to drink that player’s blood again, until that player dies and rises as a vampire spawn" and then once a victim has been chosen it says; "Once Strahd or the players have chosen a victim, Strahd then attempts to drink that player’s blood, repeating his bite attack each round until they are reduced to 0 hit points." So is he biting them once, or is he draining them all in one go? When we get to Trial 2, Strahd turns to the previous victim and provides opportunity for another chosen victim so this would suggest the former intention, but the chosen victim description says otherwise. Hence my confusion - am I reading this wrong? I've also got concerns by the 2 Bodaks. Even though only CR6, they are still one of the most deadliest mid level monsters you can get - I appreciate that this maybe the intention and it is terrifying (The Grey Twins is a brilliant name) but what with their combined Death Gaze and Aura, I'm worried a couple of unlucky rolls could mean an easy death spiral, to TPK - Plus you've boosted their HP! This continued encounter could easily wipe most tables playthroughs. Please see my comment as purely constructive. I highly appreciate, enjoy and recommend your work. I really love the retelling. Sorry for the wall of text.
Matt Moore
2024-12-17 11:37:55 +0000 UTCArc R is still quite a ways away for our group but just out of curiosity is there a battlemap somewhere online you drew inspiration from for the Bodak cave, or is it something to figure out once I get there? Otherwise my players and I are loving CoS Reloaded, and can't wait to see what comes next! :^)
gypsy
2024-12-17 10:29:20 +0000 UTCI'm just nervous that the idea of the players choosing which PC is to be killed in R3b feels like it could create problems beyond the game? I think it's one thing for Strahd to sow distrust amongst characters, but this feels like it could create issues between players? Or am I misreading things?
Matt
2024-12-17 05:50:49 +0000 UTCThank you! Very happy to hear.
DragnaCarta
2024-12-17 04:07:18 +0000 UTCOh okay thanks. The new content looks great, well done!
RichardxNB
2024-12-17 03:17:43 +0000 UTCI aim to please! 💖 Hope you all enjoy!
DragnaCarta
2024-12-17 02:51:55 +0000 UTCHey Richard! Arc N will be an optional downtime arc, so it's a low priority - I likely won't write it until the Epilogue is done.
DragnaCarta
2024-12-17 02:51:40 +0000 UTCMy man!!! Also, sorry if you addressed this elsewhere but why is there no Arc N?
RichardxNB
2024-12-16 22:41:12 +0000 UTCYessssss! We are about to start this arc. Perfect timing. Thank you, Dragna.
AaronElWhite
2024-12-16 22:26:47 +0000 UTC
