Curse of Strahd Reloaded Update: Oops, I Rewrote Arc B
Added 2024-07-08 00:50:38 +0000 UTCGood news: Arc P: Ravenloft Heist is complete!
Bad news: To fix an issue with the Tarokka reading, I wound up rewriting almost the entirety of Arc B: Welcome to Barovia. (Yes, I know the Tarokka reading is in Arc C. TL;DR: In order to provide a clear inciting incident and impetus for the players to seek out Eva's foretelling, I now have the players arrive on the last night of the siege—and the first night that Ireena is bitten—which should hopefully create a much stronger motivation to seek out and follow the Tarokka reading.)
Good news: The Arc B rewrite is almost (95%) done, with only minimal tweaks remaining!
Bad news: I still have a massive number of edits to make to existing arcs, and I'm not sure how long it'll take me to make them (though I'll do my best to muscle my way through).
To try and expedite things, I'm officially pushing back my Castle Ravenloft map diagrams to v2.0.9 (sorry), which, thankfully, is looking to be a smaller and quicker update than the rest (since it'll only include the fights with Kiril, the Abbot, and Vlad, who already have either completed statblocks or pre-outlined statblocks).
I wish I had a more concrete publication date to share, and sincerely apologize for the delay in new releases. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to get through these edits as quickly as possible!
As always, you can get full access to my in-progress drafts by joining the Patreon as a paid member. All working drafts and outlines for future arcs, as well as a changelog and Trello board of upcoming edits, can be found on the Patreon Bronze Masterpost.
Thanks for your patience, and I'll do my best to keep you updated as things move forward!
Cheers,
Dragna
Comments
Yep! All NPCs present fight; they're defenders just like the PCs.
DragnaCarta
2024-09-25 02:58:59 +0000 UTCI included them and it worked well.
Ashley Quiggle
2024-09-23 12:19:42 +0000 UTCIs Bildrath and Parriqimple included in this encounter to aid the party or is it just the party v the waves?
Jeff Costales
2024-09-23 08:10:57 +0000 UTCHi, was just looking for an eta of when you would finish the guide, and honestly getting it by October sounds Amazing! Thank you so much for your and your team's (if you have one) amazing work!
Emmanuel Chan
2024-08-29 16:28:35 +0000 UTCThank you very, very much; you've just made my morning. Best of wishes for the sessions to come! :)
DragnaCarta
2024-07-21 15:02:33 +0000 UTCHey, sorry for the delayed reply! And welcome to DMing! I hope to finish the guide by early autumn of this year. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to stay on schedule!
DragnaCarta
2024-07-21 15:02:02 +0000 UTCHello, the material is truly unmatched. The details it contains and the fact that it is organized in a sequence of events that players must follow make it much simpler and more enjoyable. My players have also enjoyed it a lot. Thank you very much for all the work involved in creating this material.
Craftalgames México
2024-07-21 03:05:27 +0000 UTCHey! The siege is a wave encounter, not a single encounter - it's three separate waves of monsters which, separately, are mathematically far less than the sum of their parts. (You can double-check the math using challengerated.com.) Plus, don't forget that the players will have a wall in between them and the zombies (which the zombies can't attack through), plus cover against the wight's ranged attacks - their defenses are substantially higher than they appear on paper.
DragnaCarta
2024-07-18 15:05:25 +0000 UTCWe'll be starting the seige next week. 8 zombies, 2 ghouls, a wight, and a plague bringer (even with the adjusted stats) seem like an impossible scenario for a lvl 3 party. Am I missing something?
Ashley Quiggle
2024-07-18 15:03:06 +0000 UTCHell yeah Tysm for all the work you do
Joshua Anderson
2024-07-15 04:12:44 +0000 UTCSorry, I'm a new DM and wanted to play CoS together with my friends. Then I saw ur guide and I really liked many of the changes u did! Is it still possible to play the entirety of CoS while still using ur guide (because the guide isnt finished) or when will it finish? Thank you very much for the content!
Random Channel
2024-07-14 14:26:48 +0000 UTCNo prob! Looking forward to sharing 'em :)
DragnaCarta
2024-07-14 01:40:28 +0000 UTCThanks for the quick reply Dragna. I look forward to the heist and revised arc b :)
Mikkel Hartvig
2024-07-14 01:39:07 +0000 UTCHey! I've removed Eva's dream altogether - I'll update the working document now with the new content at the end of Arc B (which I just added today).
DragnaCarta
2024-07-14 01:30:25 +0000 UTCHey! The only shard currently available to the players is Izek's. The others will likely appear in Tsolenka Pass.
DragnaCarta
2024-07-14 01:30:02 +0000 UTCThank you! And fantastic - welcome to DMing, and I'm glad the guide has helped you! Very excited to release the Heist, so I hope you and your players have fun with it when you get there!
DragnaCarta
2024-07-14 01:29:38 +0000 UTCHas the new dream moved to a different night other than the March of the dead. Going to try running the working document tonight and wondering if I need to insert something there. Tysm!
Joshua Anderson
2024-07-13 19:27:37 +0000 UTCHi Dragna, I have a Quick question regarding the Amber Shards. It's stated that players can obtain them to get access to the dark powers. It's also stated that players have different oppurtunities to aquire sand shards, however only a few are specified as to how to aquire them. My question is, is it already planner as to how to aquire them, or is it in the works? Thank you, and great work with reloaded!!
Mikkel Hartvig
2024-07-13 09:39:39 +0000 UTCSo excited for the Heist, thank you for all the hard work! This has made DM'ing curse of strahd (my first time DM'ing too) so much easier. My group is about to save Stella but they have dabbled in the Act III arcs so the Heist is quickly approaching, I think.
Alex Jazyk
2024-07-11 22:39:53 +0000 UTCHey! I do have a rough outline for the lategame, but it's available only to paid members of the Patreon currently. I see you just joined as a paid member, so I'll follow up with you there! :)
DragnaCarta
2024-07-11 02:06:43 +0000 UTCAh, yeah; I need to remove that (the VR arc is getting pushed back to Act IV). Thanks for reminding me!
DragnaCarta
2024-07-11 02:05:14 +0000 UTCHey! Thank you so much for this. Can't wait to read the Heist. I was wondering if an outline exists anywhere of the long term end of game? I'm trying to give one player a corruption arc, but I'm having trouble mapping it out because I don't know when they'll be going to the temple. A general outline would also super help with when they should be taking on the Fanes and killing the Abbot.
Lindsey Alterman
2024-07-10 23:16:48 +0000 UTCHopefully not. 😉 We do knock out an arc about every 2 sessions.
gr4v3dgr
2024-07-10 00:27:19 +0000 UTCOh ok, got it, thank you so much! I was curious because in the milestones there is the check for lifting Van Richten's curse but in the "calendar" in the section there was no event for the arc N
Simone Stellin
2024-07-09 22:29:23 +0000 UTCHey! D'you mean the Tales of Vallaki arc? It's unfinished, but the concept for now is that it's meant to be a sandbox downtime arc that the players can complete piecemeal while they're waiting for the Dinner in Act III.
DragnaCarta
2024-07-09 22:26:05 +0000 UTCThanks Richard! Regarding the Heist - I can't give a firm date due to the sheer number of edits that have piled up for past arcs, but I'm hoping to have it out by next week or the following week. Regarding Arc B - it'll be almost fully backwards compatible with existing campaigns, and I'll be making notes to help ensure a smooth transition for anyone who's already used the existing version.
DragnaCarta
2024-07-09 22:25:29 +0000 UTCDoing my best to keep moving forward; we'll have a better view of how the schedule looks once the Heist is out. I'd be surprised if a party that just started Act II caught up to me, though!
DragnaCarta
2024-07-09 22:24:02 +0000 UTCAwesome! Hope they enjoy :)
DragnaCarta
2024-07-09 22:23:15 +0000 UTCCan't wait for the rewrite, i'm curios about arc N in Vallaki: when is that supposed to be played? Before dinner with strahd and the heist? Thank you for the amazing work!
Simone Stellin
2024-07-09 07:39:08 +0000 UTCHey Dragna, great stuff. My group is currently embroiled in Arc D-G simultaneously and they move slowly. My question is two fold. 1. When are you anticipating Arc P to be in strahdreloaded dot com? I am unfamiliar with how you do your releases/updates. 2. With you having rewritten Arc B, how will that affect us who have already done that part? Will we have to retcon our story to be true to your rewrite or is it something we can ignore and continue forward as we were? Sorry for the newbish questions. I started CoS before I knew about your version and tried to mod the beginning to fit what I had already done, but I have slowly turned things to be more in line with Reloaded. Just trying to figure out how much adjusting will be needed. Thanks.
Richard fortin
2024-07-08 23:21:12 +0000 UTCHow will this impact the schedule for Arcs after Arc P? We just started Chapter 2 and expect the group to move at at decent pace, so I'm concerned about running out of content direction in a few months.
gr4v3dgr
2024-07-08 15:36:08 +0000 UTCJust checked out the new draft - it's great! My players will really appreciate the combat.
Ashley Quiggle
2024-07-08 12:25:19 +0000 UTCIt's currently in the patron-exclusive Working Document, which is linked in the Bronze Masterpost!
DragnaCarta
2024-07-08 11:56:39 +0000 UTCThe new draft! It's available in the Working Document via the Bronze Masterpost
DragnaCarta
2024-07-08 11:55:12 +0000 UTCMy group is starting Arc B this Wednesday. Should I use what you have on the website or should I look for the new draft on Patreon?
Ashley Quiggle
2024-07-08 11:54:41 +0000 UTCYes! The new release will be backwards-compatible.
DragnaCarta
2024-07-08 11:22:28 +0000 UTCYes! The new release will be backwards-compatible.
DragnaCarta
2024-07-08 11:22:24 +0000 UTCGlad to hear! And I'm hoping to have the new release out before the 26th, so fingers crossed.
DragnaCarta
2024-07-08 11:22:06 +0000 UTCOK, I thought so! Thank you for the link.
IntoTheFray
2024-07-08 09:09:26 +0000 UTCWhere and when will I find Arc P? I can't seem to see it on strahdreloaded.com yet.
IntoTheFray
2024-07-08 06:43:41 +0000 UTCOh, my group is already in Vallaki, they just finished their fight against Volenta- I hope I can still use the guide with some adjustments!
Cookie Chemist
2024-07-08 06:07:40 +0000 UTCMy group is currently finishing up arc C and are about to reach vallaki, will I still be able to use the guide with the revisions?
Blaze
2024-07-08 02:02:54 +0000 UTCLove it! Writing sequentially does that. Pros are that you can release increments over time and people can follow along. Cons are that a pivot in later arcs can have drastic changes to the branches that got them there. About to start Arc B on the 26th. Will it be released prior or should I plan to run via your working draft? Really excited and definitely want to run the new arc since it’s going to change a lot of stuff!
Kory Bailey
2024-07-08 01:36:43 +0000 UTCWoohoo! Hope you enjoy running it when they do :)
DragnaCarta
2024-07-08 01:27:17 +0000 UTCThank you! Looking forward to sharing it <3
DragnaCarta
2024-07-08 01:27:01 +0000 UTCLol, perfect timing! The group I'm DMing is heading into Arc B not long from now.
riakaula
2024-07-08 00:59:04 +0000 UTCLooking forward to reading the rewritten arc b! Love ya Dragna
Orna Cosplay
2024-07-08 00:53:08 +0000 UTC
