Curse of Strahd Reloaded Update: Into Ravenloft

Although an ill-timed cold laid me out for a solid week, I'm still making steady progress on Arc P: Ravenloft Heist. I'm a little more than two-thirds done with the arc's narrative content so far; once that's done, I still need to tinker with some statblocks, finish area maps, make any necessary edits to older arcs, and so on. Due to the cold, I'm not so sure whether I'll be able to hit an end-of-May release date, but I'll see what I can do.

If you'd like to read a more in-depth walkthrough of what I've finished so far, check out the Reloaded Preview section below! I've also got some exciting recent/upcoming other projects, so feel free to keep scrolling if you'd like to see what else I've got in the works.

Reloaded Preview

Since my last update, I've made the following additions to Arc P: Ravenloft Heist:

• Designed encounters with a (relocated) guardian monster in the False Treasury and Treasury

• Reworked the contents of the Treasury, as well as the means of access

• Wrote an encounter with Escher in the Guest Suite

After this, my next stops are the Coven's Quarters, the Garrison, the Dungeons, and the Catacombs. Almost there!

For now, here's a quick sample of the players' exploration of the Treasury:

This area is largely as described in K41. Treasury (p. 67). However, the command word to the Daern’s instant fortress is the same phrase as for the Tome of Strahd: “I come in Dostron’s memory.”

Speaking the command phrase aloud doesn’t cause the door or trapdoor to open. Instead, once the command phrase is spoken, the adamantine door (on the ground floor) and trapdoor (on the roof) become reflective, mirror-like surfaces for the next 1 minute. Read:

The door’s surface shimmers, its dull-grey sheen becoming a reflective, mirror-like surface. An ornate door handle, floating disembodied in the air, appears reflected in the mirror. Though it seems to be approximately two inches beyond the mirror’s surface, no physical door handle appears to cast such a reflection.

The door handle opens the door (or trapdoor) leading inside the fortress. However, any creature whose visage is reflected in the mirror is unable to reach inside the mirror to use the handle. A creature that touches the mirror in this way notices that the surface is warm, not cold, and feels similar in texture to the extremity or object that touched it.

Creatures that don’t cast a reflection (e.g., because they are invisible, because the room is completely dark, or because they are a vampire) can reach into the mirror and open the handle normally.

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.

Other Projects

Vecna: Eve of Ruin Review. I didn't write a review of the entire new campaign, but I did write a (needlessly thorough) review of Chapter Five, which takes place in Death House in Barovia. You can read my full (spoiler-filled) review at my Substack blog here.

Dungeon Master's Guide: Reloaded | Chapter 5 (Structure). I've published the draft of Chapter Five of my forthcoming textbook on narrative design, game design, table performance, and more. This chapter discusses using tension curves to build tension and create emotional catharsis, distinguishing and using the different types of narrative segments, and identifying which level of narrative agency is right for your game. Paid members of the Patreon can access it via this post.

DMing Workshop Recordings. Since the Patreon began, I've routinely given live DMing workshops to paid members via the Patreon Discord server. Although those workshops have recently been discontinued to allow me to refocus on the DMG Reloaded, I've uploaded the final four recordings of those workshops, covering (1) making players care about NPCs ("resonance"), (2) creating tension via dramatic questions, (3) providing player agency through choice and challenge, and (4) voice-acting NPCs (actual voice-acting, not affects or accents). You access these recordings by becoming a paid member of the Patreon and visiting this post.