Line #20 TabletopGame/CurseOfStrahd


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wallpaper_2560_x_1600_wallpaper.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} Bound by fate.]]]]
3
4	->''"I am the Ancient, I am the Land. My beginnings are lost in the darkness of the past. I am not dead. Nor am I alive. I am undead, forever."''
5	-->-- '''Strahd von Zarovich'''
6
7	A remake/reboot of the original ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' adventure module, ''Curse of Strahd'' is an adventure module for the [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition fifth edition]] of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. It was written by Christopher Perkins, with story help from the original Ravenloft authors, Tracy and Laura Hickman. It was released in March 2016.
8
9	The story sees the adventurers being transported into Barovia, a land of mystery and horror ruled by the vampire Strahd von Zarovich. With the entire land surrounded by a deadly mist that prevents its inhabitants from escaping, the adventurers are forced to scour the dreaded domain to obtain powerful artifacts and trustworthy allies before taking on the vampire himself.
10
11	!!This work contains examples of:
12
13	* AchillesHeel: Besides your standard weakness' a vampire would have, Strahd has another one in the form of Ireena. The book explicty states that Ireena is one thing that can make him go off rails, and a careful group can use this to their advantage.
14	* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: {{Justified\|Trope}}. Most of the shopkeepers are apathetic or fully aware of the hell they are stuck in it. Thus they either charge at such ridiculous prices, or just don't bother to really price fairly because they have no reason to. Many of them are willing to bargain because they expect the players to die, allowing them to get money, and their goods back.
15	* AdaptationInducedPlotHole:
16	** In the original ''Ravenloft'' lore, Strahd became a vampire through making a deal with an entity called Death. In this version, he made a deal with one of the vestiges in the Amber Temple, but the text in his Tome referencing Death is unchanged. The book also mentions Strahd making a deal with the Dark Powers for his powers, but also says he became a Vampire thanks to one of the vestiges from the Amber Temple. The module never actually clarifies what the Dark Powers ''are'' beyond the name; as written it could just be an alternative name for the vestiges.
17	** Ezmerelda d'Avenir's fluff claims that she was part of the clan that kidnapped Van Richten's son, but that van Richten spared them after interrogating them, since he had gotten the information he needed. Van Richten's journal, on the other hand, claims he killed them all. There is no implication that van Richten would be an UnreliableNarrator, and the fluff text obviously won't lie.
18	** The Death House module is written in such a way that it can be done outside of Barovia, while also being able to be done in the module. However, if included in the module, it causes problems with the setting because it states that the Durst family met Strahd ''after'' he became a Vampire, yet the module also states the house is located in the Village of Barovia and has been around for a while, which doesn't make sense since they would have needed to known Strahd existed in some way to even be part of the village.
19	* AffablyEvil: The lich in the amber temple can be quite friendly to the characters, and isn't even initially hostile. His alignment is even LawfulEvil to reflect this. %%invoked
20	* AnimalMotifs: Ravens. Ravens everywhere. Curiously raven imagery shows up supporting, opposing and being neutral to Strahd. Barovia in general just seems to love ravens.
21	* AnimatedArmor: In Castle Ravenloft, there are several pressure plates where stepping on them will cause the nearest suit of armor to fall towards it, potentially causing damage to the tune of 7hp. However, the armor is not actually animated, and won't intentionally do anything to the player. [[spoiler:There ''is'' an actual animated armor in the tower, though. It activates at a command word, and since this is Strahd's armor in Strahd's house, odds are that he ''will'' use it against you.]]
22	* AntiRegeneration: [[spoiler:Strahd can regenerate his health at the start of his turn unless he is in running water, direct sunlight, or hit with radiant damage, necessating the search for at least one of the two {{MacGuffin}}s that can do radiant damage (or having a paladin or cleric along).]]
23	* AristocratsAreEvil: Most of the noble families encountered in the module are horrible people, with Strahd himself being at the top. Many of them are Vampires or allies of Strahd out of promises of power. Ireena, however, is also a noble, and certainly presented as a moral character, and her brother likewise.
24	* AwesomeButImpractical:
25	** One of your potential allies against Strahd is a young Vistani named Arabelle. She's descended from Madam Eva and has similar abilities in foresight like she does, which makes her possibly useful against Strahd as thanks to it, she can offer predictions to help plan strategies. She's also a seven year old girl, meaning she has almost no health to speak of, no combat abilities, and will get taken out by most things she comes across. Due to this, she has very limited viability and can be a detriment to use.
26	** Many of the gifts given by the [[spoiler:Vestiges at the Amber Temple]] are either really strong, or very unique and potentially fun to use. They all come with a steep price however, ranging from your character physically changing, to your character having to do specific things daily to even live, and all give you a personality flaw. They're a fun concept, but incredibly impractical.
27	** Saint Markovia's Thighbone. It has the properties of a mace of disruption and can be acquired reasonably early in the campaign. The catch? If used on any Vampire/Vampire Spawn, once battle is over, the weapon crumbles and is no longer usable. Compared to the other unique weapons like the Blood Spear and Sunsword, it isn't too useful.
28	* BewareTheSillyOnes: The Vistani are cheerful and love to party, with many of their camps being very lively in comparison to the rest of Barovia. Despite this, they're no less dangerous than anyone else, and almost all are loyal to Strahd. They also pack powerful curses that are able to seriously hurt anyone who they inflict them on.
29	* BigBad: Strahd von Zarovich himself. He is considered a deadly challenge for the player characters, and could easily wipe an unprepared party. He has near god-like rule of Barovia, and the characters cannot leave until he is defeated. Combine those with his habit of dropping in on the characters unexpected, and the module's namesake becomes clearer.
30	* BigBrotherInstinct:
31	** Ismark looks after his adoptive sister, Ireena. He is in fact the QuestGiver for escorting her somewhere safe from Strahd.
32	** Izek [[spoiler: is Ireena's brother-by-blood, and he will kill anyone who tries to separate them again, implying that he would fight Strahd to defend her. However, unlike Ismark, the book states that he is not motivated by brotherly love. Rather, he [[IncestSubtext "covets her in an unwholesome way"]]]].
33	* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: Whether as a result of Dark Powers' meddling or of a map editor's mistake, Castle Ravenloft has some AlienGeometries going on in its layout. Most egregiously, the upper exit of the King's Apartment Stair (K33) in the Rooms of Weeping (Map 5) is located a full 20' (~6 m) to the west of where it is placed in the Court of the Count (Map 4). More subtly, Map 2 suggests that the Royal Tomb (K88) pokes out of the bedrock directly underneath the Overlook (K6) and should therefore be aligned with the east-west axis of the Castle, which also includes the main gates and the chapel; however, on Map 12, it is actually aligned with exit of the High Tower landing ([=K18a=]), which is offset 20' south of the main E-W axis[[note]]the Tower is 40' wide, its outer north wall is adjacent to the 20' wide hallways on multiple floors aligned with the E-W axis, so the Tower's center is offset 30' south from the main E-W axis; however, the crypt exit of the tower is itself offset 10' ''north'' from its center, meaning that the ''crypts''' E-W axis lies 20' south of the main one[[/note]], so the roof of the Royal Tomb should be visible directly below from the southern parapet of the Overlook. To be fair to ''[=CoS=]'', the exact same issues have been present in every map of the Castle since 1983.
34	* BlessedWithSuck: The Tarokka reading might be this, depending on what you get. It's not actually a blessing, but in terms of gameplay, it works in a similar way.
35	** Donavich and Piddlewick II can be this, depending on how the party feels. Donavich is an Acolyte, and is thus supremely useful in Barovia, where almost everything is weak to the divine, but to a roleplaying party, he's pretty boring because his primary motivation is to free his vampire son Doru. He also is very weak long term and would require serious adjustment to be a long term ally. Piddlewick is a fun character for role-players due to his quirk personality and backstory, but pretty useless for actual gameplay. Generally speaking, allies like Van Ricten and Ezmerelda are more desired for being both useful and fun to interact with.
36	** Arrigal is the only ally is that is a sure-fire TokenEvilTeammate. He is an Assassin Rogue, making him very strong and a potentially useful stealth asset, but he also is a Vastani that is loyal to Strahd, and only helps the players because Madam Eva informed him of her tarot card reading. This means he's only helping because he owed her, so he has no reason to help the players and may even actively sabotage them. If he survives and helps defeat Strahd, he'll go on to betray the party after, making him a very big liability. Due to this, he tends to be one ally that the community advises to never make the Destined Ally because of how much trouble using him brings the party.
37	** Darklord is objectively the worst card for the Ally reading, since it doesn't give the party any ally. Most dungeon masters reread the card or make up something new if they get this.
38	* ByronicHero: Strahd is a {{Deconstruction}}; he is introspective, dark, brooding, and isolated, with an air of Romanticism. But these don't change the fact that, at his core, Strahd is an abusive monster who hides behind these qualities to elicit sympathy.
39	-->'''Tracy Hickman''': For Laura and me, those were the elements that truly defined Strahd von Zarovich—a selfish beast forever lurking behind a mask of tragic romance, the illusion of redemption that was ever only camouflage for his prey.
40	* CainAndAbel: Like in the classic adventure, Strahd was the Cain to his brother Sergei. Sergei is a cleric and was engaged to the beautiful Tatyana, whom Strahd lusted after. She, however, did not return his affections. Strahd, convinced that Tatyana liked Sergei because he was younger, made a deal with Vampyr to become a vampire, thus giving him eternal youth, and sealing the deal with the blood of Sergei.
41	* TheCameo:
42	** [[spoiler: Mordenkainen makes an appearance, and might be the party's ally.]] Assuming, of course, you can restore his memory.
43	** While not named directly, Vecna indirectly appears in the Amber Temple. There are shrines there to a nameless god of secrets. These two cameos are the first references to the Greyhawk setting in Fifth Edition, which up until ''Curse of Strahd'', was focused largely on the Forgotten Realms. Although if it ''is'' Vecna there's a massive ContinuitySnarl or retcon involved, since the Temple predates Strahd's birth by many centuries and Strahd was centuries old when Vecna achieved godhood.
44	* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: {{Downplayed}}. Strahd doesn't ''need'' the player characters for anything, they merely offer a fun diversion from his normal routine. That said, Strahd doesn't want them dead right away because of this, and hopes they bring about some amusement, so if he does send his minions at them, he does so to test them. He doesn't mind putting them in peril though, and once they do become a big enough threat, he will do all he can to kill them.
45	* CannotCrossRunningWater: {{Zigzagged\|Trope}}: [[spoiler:Strahd ''can'' cross it if he chooses; however, if he starts his turn in running water, his HealingFactor won't trigger, making it easier for the heroes to whittle him down. Under normal circumstances, if Strahd drops to 0hp, he turns into mist and makes his escape back to the casle; however, if he is in sunlight or in running water, he can't transform into mist and is killed instead.]]
46	* CatDogDichotomy: The main political tension in Vallaki is between the Burgomaster Vargas Vallakovich, who is accompanied by a pair of trained mastiffs everywhere he goes, and Lady Fiona Wachter, who has not one but ''eight'' cats of all stripes living in her home. Since [[EvilVersusEvil both of them are thoroughly evil]], however, HeroicCaninesVillainousFelines does not apply.
47	* ClassicalMovieVampire: Strahd himself doesn't deviate too far from this formula. Despite being a reboot, the module doesn't really make any attempt to "modernize" his character. In the foreword, it's stated that was on purpose.
48	--> '''Tracy Hickman''': But the vampire genre has taken a turn from its roots in recent years. The vampire we see today exemplifies the polar opposite of the original archetype: the [[Literature/TheTwilightSaga lie that it's okay to enter a romance with an abusive monster]] because if you love it enough, it will change.
49	* CharacterSelectForcing: The campaign is heavily skewed in favor of Paladins and Clerics due to the sheer amount of enemies weak to Radiant damage, alongside the benefits brought by both classes. Without either, a group playing can seriously start to fall behind in strength, and several important items can only be used by them. The module also is specific in that only characters of certain alignments can wield some of the items found.
50	* ChildProdigy: Victor Vallakovich, the son of the mayor of Vallaki, is the equivalent to a lv. 9 wizard, despite being a teenager.
51	* ContinuityReboot: Curse of Strahd is a retelling of the original module I6: Ravenloft. This new version uses rules from 5th Edition D&D, alters some elements of the original adventure, and significantly expands upon the lands surrounding Castle Ravenloft. Later additions, such as the sequel modules and the Ravenloft campaign setting books, aren't acknowledged. It should be noted that many of the party's possible allies are references to characters from later additions to the Ravenloft setting, so the older Ravenloft modules aren't ExiledFromContinuity.
52	* TheCorrupter: Strahd enjoys twisting good individuals into evil, with several characters in Borovia already victims and good aligned players likely to be his next target.
53	* CosmicPlaything: Although Strahd has all the power he wants, he still is a puppet of the Dark Powers, who love to make him their plaything. Due to this, anytime Strahd seems to have a chance at being happy, he is cursed to have it taken away by their will. [[spoiler:Notably this even includes if he gets Ireena. If he somehow gets her and makes her a Vampire, he will end up either killing her, or potentially making her an enemy and thereby robbing him of her]].
54	* CrazyPrepared: Van Richten knew what he was doing in infiltrating Barovia. He brought along a hat that lets him magically disguise himself at will, a spell scroll that can raise the dead, and his ring not only blocks mind reading, but can also [[spoiler: possibly be used by friendly Vistani such as Esmerelda to smuggle his soul out of Barovia should he die.]]
55	* DamselInDistress:
56	** Ireena is targeted by Strahd, so she is at risk of being snatched by him and stuffed into a crypt with his other brides. Protecting her is an early quest for the party. However, she has the stat block of a Noble, and so she has some ability to defend herself, which might shift her into BadassInDistress.
57	** A vistani girl named Arabelle is kidnapped by the fisherman Bluto. He ties her up, stuffs her into a sack and intends to sacrifice her to Lake Zarovich in the belief that it will improve his luck fishing. The players can save her if they act quickly.
58	* DarkerAndEdgier: Even more so than ''Ravenloft'' already was, which is saying something. Previous editions made it clear that, while a world of horror, Barovia was still a beautiful, vibrant land where Strahd rarely interfered with day-to-day goings-on and most people enjoyed relatively peaceful lives. Far from the case here, where the sky is constantly dark, the woods are dying and blighted, the people are constantly miserable [[spoiler:and a good number of them literally soulless]], and Strahd's true threat is felt constantly.
59	* DeathWorld: Barovia is only missing something that kills you just for being there, which the mist can easily take care of. Whether it be wolves, zombies, vampires, hags, etc, there is something always there that will try to kill you.
60	* DemonicVampires: The titular Count Strahd von Zarovich WasOnceAMan who made a DealWithTheDevil. He became the tyrannical ruler of his own demiplane and was referred to as "the devil Strahd".
61	* DissonantSerenity: Invoked by the Burgomaster of Vallaki. Everyone in town is required to look happy and put on a smile as he fears that if the town does anything suspicious, it will draw Strahd's wrath. Doesn't matter what happens around you, you have to smile or else be punished for it. In his delusions, he thinks that if he can make ''everyone'' happy, then the town will somehow escape Barovia.
62	* {{Druid}}: There is a fairly powerful circle of druids operating in the wilds of Barovia. [[SubvertedTrope However]] they are not the wise, usually broadly benevolent figures of most D&D worlds; given how strongly Strahd is linked to his land since the curse set in they have taken to worshipping him as an embodiment of the land. He uses them and the twisted perversions of nature they create as just more minions.
63	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Not that it makes him any better. Strahd's obsessive love for Tatyana was what brought him and his land into this mess in the first place and his affection for his adoptive brother Rahadin does neither any favours as they are as evil as each other.
64	* EvenEvilHasStandards: The lore behind the Death House provides a moment for surprisingly enough Strahd. At some point before the campaign starts, the cultists at the Death House captured a group of adventures Strahd brought in to Barovia in the hopes of sacrificing them and taking their goods. Upon learning this, Strahd was furious and went to the house and slew all the cultists inside for daring to take his guests captive like that. Say what you will about Strahd, but if he invites to be his guest, he does at least try to be somewhat respectful, and doesn't take kindly to that respect being broken.[[labelnote:Granted...]]Since the cultists killed his guests, that also meant Strahd didn't have time to play with them[[/labelnote]] He had also repeatedly tried to get them to stop making sacrifices to him before this; not for ethical reasons, he just finds them so pathetic it's embarrassing.
65	* EverythingTryingToKillYou: The amount of things ''not'' trying to kill you is easier to count. {{Justified\|Trope}}, since almost everything in the land works for Strahd, and thus will actively do so because you are a threat. The things that won't try to kill you are either a small number of allies, or apathetic to you.
66	* EvilVersusEvil: Essentially what the political plotline of Vallaki boils down to. The current Burgomaster is a tyrant who enforces a HappinessIsMandatory policy to avoid Strahd's wrath, and is close to losing his shit, but is doing his best to keep the town safe. The opposing party is the Wachter family lead by Fiona Wachter, who is AffablyEvil and wants to open the town up more, but is a firm supporter of Strahd. Both parties hope to remove the other to gain power, with the player characters being stuck in a tough spot as neither are good options but one may be better than the other.
67	* FantasticDrug:
68	** An old lady in the first village travels from door to door selling "dream pastries". [[spoiler: They are made from ground up human bones.]]
69	** The Vistani camped near Vallaki sell potions that protect against the mists. [[spoiler: The Vistani lie, and are working for Strahd. The potions do nothing.]]
70	* FantasticRacism: Because Barovia has been trapped in a cycle and thus is cut off from the rest of the world, its mentioned that non-human races are heavily looked down at by people in the land. It's specifically compared to you in real life meeting members of those races; even if people aren't actually hostile they'll find the non-humans exotic and strange.
71	* FantasyCharacterClasses: Naturally, since it's D&D. Of particular note, a paladin or cleric is nigh-essential for success. [[spoiler:Their ability to deal radiant damage can save the party in tough situations against vampire spawn or even Strahd himself, and only a good aligned member of one of these two classes can wield the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, one of the artifacts the party is meant to gather before fighting Strahd.]]
72	* FisherKing: Strahd appears to control Barovia's climate, and keeps the land perpetually dark and misty. [[spoiler:If the party manages to kill Strahd, the mists fade away and the sun begins to shine.]]
73	* FogOfDoom: Barovia is surrounded on all sides by a wall of mist. Attempting to enter the mist will cause characters to get turned around, forcing them back into Barovia. If characters persist in wandering into the mist anyway, [[spoiler:it will drain the life from them, with fatal results.]]
74	* ForTheEvulz: The entire module goes to great lengths to subvert this, as most of the evil factions have some understandable motive (although how sympathetic it is varies): Strahd is doing it for the love of a woman who doesn't love him back, Vargas Vallakovich just wants everyone to be happy, lady Wachter believes the mayor is a tyrant and idolizes Strahd, the werewolves serve Strahd out of fear, and even the lich Exethanter won't go against the players since he has no interest in their quest. The only ones to play this straight are the Dream Pastry Hags, but even they seem more interested in giving the people a means of escaping their troubles, they just go about it in an evil way.
75	* TheGhost: The Dark Powers, even more so than in standard Ravenloft continuity. Whereas they were occasionally mentioned in Ravenloft sourcebooks, they are mentioned quite often in Curse of Strahd, but no explanation of what they are is ever given. They ''might'' be connected to the slivers of slain gods sealed within the Amber Temple, but this is not made clear.
76	* GiantSpider: An entire nest of giant spiders can be found in the ruins of Argynvostholt. They also are among many random encounters the player can have in their travels.
77	* GoMadFromTheRevelation: It is actually in the game mechanics. If a character dies but is brought back to life after being dead for more than 24 hours, they might gain a level of madness [[spoiler: from realizing that their souls are trapped in Barovia and cannot make it to the afterlife.]]
78	* GoodIsNotNice: The knights of Argynvostholt are opposed to Strahd and generally to the other monsters of Barovia but they are also undead, very dangerous and quite insane from the curse on their home.
79	* GothicHorror: The book contains most of the genre's standard tropes, including vampires, Eastern European themes, dark castles, and a sky that's perpetually overcast. Notably a lot of the more HighFantasy elements of D&D settings are absent (very few non-humans among the population, magic users and magic items are rare, pantheon variety is reduced to just two gods[[note]]Morninglord and Mother Night, producing a [[CrystalDragonJesus pseudo-Christian dualism of good/light vs. evil/darkness]] (though [[HaveYouSeenMyGod neither answers prayers directly anymore]], due to Darklord Strahd's interference)[[/note]], RandomEncounters tend to be undead, wolves and the like rather than orcs, trolls or similar etc).
80	* GreaterScopeVillain: The Dark Powers. They are responsible for Barovia being stuck as it is, and essentially help maintain it while also helping the heroes through their allowing of magic to be used. Despite this, they never appear, are mentioned in passing, and don't appear to care about the adventurer party or Strahd's EvilPlan. The whole lure-travelers-into-Barovia thing is entirely Strahd's doing.
81	* GroundhogDayLoop: Strahd's curse is a variant of this. To him, Tatyana's endless incarnations give him infinite do-overs to attain her love. The Dark Powers keep him trapped by ensuring that she dies every time he is close to success. Technically, he could escape any time he wanted, but he knows for certain that her incarnation loop puts him in the only position where failure is impossible...if he can just hatch the right scheme.
82	* GuideDangIt:
83	** In the crypts of Castle Ravenloft, the players can obtain an incredibly useful Staff of Power. The only problem is that they have no way of knowing it is there.[[spoiler: Someone in the party must stand on a very specific spot and speak the name of the dead wizard buried there, which will cause the staff to appear for a single round. Grabbing it will trigger a lightning trap, not grabbing it will cause it to disappear forever.]]
84	** The tarot card readings can be very vague and confusing if the dice are not fortunate, and there are several cards that outright can be detrimental to allowing the players to decide what to do. A DM is encouraged to actually redo the card readings if they end up this way to avoid confusing players or making blatantly unfair situations, such as something like the Enemy of Strahd being someone like Piddlestick.
85	** The ruins of Argynvostholt, and the Dragon Knights who fell there, can be redeemed and a fight with them can be avoided if the players go out of their way to light the beacon on the ruins. Doing so can potentially get you Godfrey as an ally and allows you to mostly avoid fighting in the ruins. However, there is little indication this is possible until a large part of the ruins are explored, meaning its possible players will miss it simply because the location is fairly large. Also, the fact that the item needed to light the beacon, the skull of the dragon, is not located in the ruins but instead [[spoiler: ''Ravenloft Castle'', aka, Strahd's castle, means most players will not know where it is, and when they do, it will be possibly too difficult to attempt]].
86	** A few of the plotlines in the campaign are very hard for a DM to hint towards and for for players to discover or complete because of the difficulties in doing so, or how out of the way they can be. For example, it is possible to free Doru, the son of the Village of Barovia's priest who was made into a vampire, without killing him, but it requires going far out of the way to try and fix, and many will instead kill him because of the difficulties of trying to save him. One of the more infamous ones is the side quest with Arabelle; [[spoiler:she is captured by a random fisherman and taken to the lake to the north of Vallaki to be drowned]]. Nothing in the book gives a good way to hint towards the players to go to the lake, as the only hints it provides are that she is missing, so players will just have to guess and head there to even find her.
87	** Its entirely possible to screw over Strahd before players are ready to fight him if they take Ireena to Krezek, thereby earning his wrath. [[spoiler:In the city is a magically blessed pool of water. If Ireena approaches it, she will see visions of Sergei from her past life as Tatyana, and, if the players do not stop her, will enter the water and AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence with Sergei, allowing her to essentially escape Barovia forever. If the player does so, Strahd essentially has a VillainousBreakdown at how the heroes have removed the one thing he wanted, and will target the players now for ruining everything]]. ''Nothing'' in the campaign hints this is at all possible, and you'd have to have Ireena go to the spot on a whim to even find this out, with most likely avoiding it due to how it can come across as a ViolationOfCommonSense.
88	** The Mad Mage, aka [[spoiler:Mordenkainen]], can possibly be a major ally against Strahd, even if he doesn't chose to fight alongside the players. However, getting him to be an ally is tedious and frustrating for how obtuse it is. To elaborate; the Mad Mage openly attacks the players thinking they're a threat, and even though he doesn't have his full Spell List, has more then enough power to possibly wipe out an entire party with no trouble. If the players manage to subdue him and try to restore his mind, it fails because he [[spoiler:casted Mind Blank]] on himself to prevent himself from being found by Strahd. If the players don't pass a high enough Arcana check or use a spell like Detect Magic on him, they'll not learn what is going on and have no way of fixing it. Even if they do, they have to wait 3d6 hours for it to wear off so they can restore him (meaning he cannot be restored from anywhere as short as a mere 3 hours, to as long as ''18'' hours). Nothing hints that this situation occurs or can be done except for maybe if players assume the Mad Mage is the same Mage who attempted to defeat Strahd a year ago, but this is hard to put together as well because all the rumors imply he died.
89	* HauntedCastle:
90	** Castle Ravenloft, which is perhaps the most iconic haunted castle in the history of tabletop gaming. Here you may find a vampire lord who has literal skeletons in his closet (and zombies in his basement).
91	** There are other examples as well, such as Argynvostholt which is haunted by the undead members of the slain knightly order.
92	* HaveYouSeenMyGod: It's off-handedly mentioned that the gods have no power in Barovia, and Warlocks, Paladins and Clerics get their power from other, darker sources. Dungeon Masters are encouraged to make this part of the role-playing experience. The local goddess Old Mother Night is still somewhat active, but her counterpart The Morninglord has disappeared.
93	* HealingFactor: Strahd can recover some HP at the start of every turn unless [[spoiler:he is in running water or direct sunlight, or radiant damage was dealt to him the previous turn]].
94	* HeartOfTheMatter: One tower in Castle Ravenloft features a giant crystal heart. At no point in the module is it explained what it is or how it got there. [[spoiler: It is in fact the Heart of Sorrow and while it exists it can absorb 50 points of damage for Strahd. Destroying it before taking him on is therefore a very good idea but again, nothing in the module ever suggests its existence or effect so players will only find it by random exploring and are likely to only destroy it on the general principle of "It looks important." There is also no official lore on how Strahd came to possess the thing.]]
95	* TheHeavy: Baba Lysaga. She helped raise Strahd, gave many blessings and even the gift of magic to him before she was kicked out, and uses her magic to directly support him. Its also implied she had a hand in the death of Queen Ravenovia, which helped walk Strahd down his dark path. She's one of the main threats to the heroes stopping Strahd, and directly attempting to stop the Wereravens from assisting those who would stop Strahd.
96	* HellishHorse: Beuceaphalus, Strahd's Nightmare steed.
97	* HolyGround: Vampires, Strahd included, cannot enter consecrated spaces. This is not a huge problem for them however, as only two such places even exist in Barovia, [[spoiler: the church in Vallaki (which relies on a relic to stay holy and Strahd is working on destroying said relic) and, likely much to the Count's annoyance, the chapel inside Castle Ravenloft itself.]]
98	* HolyHandGrenade: The Icon of Ravenloft [[spoiler: inside the chapel of Strahd's castle. Touching it while having an evil alignment is possibly fatal but it is a valuable weapon in the hands of a good aligned character.]]
99	* HopeIsScary: The Baron of Vallaki and his wife. They've turned nuts because of their desperation for giving the townsfolk hope as well as trying to avoid Strahd's wrath. As a result, they tend to be paranoid of newcomers and will often jump to believe the player characters work for Strahd if any vague allusion to being drawn into Barovia is made.
100	* HopeSpot: Even if you manage to defeat Strahd, [[spoiler: he will return within a year. There is no way to ultimately kill him.]] Lampshaded in the disclaimer.
101	-->Disclaimer: Wizards of the Coast cannot be held liable for any lingering side effects of venturing into the dread realm of Ravenloft, such as lycanthropy, vampirism, a fear of dead things, a fear of living things, an inability to sleep without a nightlight and a +5 holy avenger under your pillow, and the unsettling suspicion that Strahd is too clever to be so easily defeated and that this is all just part of some grand scheme of his to extend his power beyond Barovia. You didn't think you could escape unless he wanted you to, did you?
102	** The son of the Baron of Vallaki is trying to create a Teleportation Circle to escape Barovia. Even if he succeeds, the circle won't take him out of Barovia.
103	* IDoNotDrinkWine: Seems to be averted. Strahd is depicted holding a glass of wine on the cover. If it is wine, that is.
104	* ImmortalityBisexuality: Although Strahd has had a number of female consorts, it's implied that his current consort is a handsome young man named Escher who he turned into a vampire spawn. Additionally, it's possible for him to take an interest in Player Characters with a high charisma, and seek to take them as his consort. The book takes great care in not specifying a particular gender.
105	* KarmicDeath: While it might not be permanent, it is possible and quite likely that when Strahd is beaten, it will be [[spoiler: with the Sunsword that his brother Sergei had forged before Strahd killed him.]]
106	* KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge: The lich Exethanter, who oversees the Amber Temple, a tomb of dead evil gods whose vestiges can still be tapped for power, [[spoiler: one of which being responsible for Strahd's vampirism.]] An unusual example as he is currently a ScatterbrainedSenior that has forgotten almost his entire memory and that, if his memory is restored, far from keeping people away from the temple's secrets he is happy to share and explain them, good and bad, as he believes all knowledge should be available to everyone, regardless of consequence.
107	* {{Laserblade}}: The Sunsword was a sword of crystal wielded by Strahd's brother, Sergei. Though the crystal blade was destroyed, the hilt remains, now given a blade of sunlight that the wielder can manifest at will. It is also sapient and has a burning hatred of Strahd.
108	* LethalJokeCharacter: One of the first combat encounters in the entire module is an animated broom. This broom, more than any other monster in the module, is responsible for countless player deaths, thanks to the players' low level when fighting it and it having a ridiculously high armor class for its level.
109	* LogicalWeakness: Inverted. Strahd has all the typical vampire weaknesses. He's hurt by sunlight, can't enter a home unless invited, and is weak to the holy. However, he's leveling it out by using his ''other'' powers. He's hurt by sunlight, but Barovia is covered in mist, and there is thus never direct sunlight. [[spoiler: With one exception]]. He can't enter someone else's house, but as the sovereign ruler of Barovia, everything within its borders, including private homes, belong to him. He's hurt by the holy, but there are no gods in Barovia (the citizens worship Lathander and Shar, but they have long since stopped answering prayers due to their inability to). This last one is zigzagged, since Clerics or other classes with Divine spells can still cast them, but it's implied that the prayers of the player characters are answered by the Dark Powers, someone Strahd wouldn't expect to be working against him.
110	* LoveMakesYouEvil: Strahd was never really a good person but it was becoming obsessed with his brother's girlfriend that drove him into true villainy and vampirism.
111	* MacGuffin: The three emeralds from the farm part are not at all related to Strahd. Finding them and returning them is a long-term side-quest to preserve the Barovians's only past-time, getting drunk. Returning them makes peacefully entering Krezek easier, because the players can offer wine shipments to the shut-in people. However, they're mostly just excuses to enter other areas.
112	* MadameFortune: Madam Eva can tell the player's fortunes. This is a game mechanic, as the locations of treasures, identities of allies, and where to find Strahd, are determined by the [=DM=] through this card reading.
113	* MeltingPotNomenclature: Barovian [=NPCs=] primarily have Slavic names, but there are many Germanic, Romanian, and Hungarian ones as well. [[RealityIsUnrealistic This is actually not too far from the truth]], as Barovia is based on medieval Transylvania, which had sizable populations of all those groups.
114	* MissingReflection: Used as an EasterEgg in the character art. Below his stat block at the back of the book, there's a picture of Strahd von Zarovich. Looking at it closely will show a mirror to the left of the image, reflecting the glass of wine Strahd is holding but not the rest of him. The trope is not called attention to in the actual game, but it's implied by all the intact mirrors of Castle Ravenloft having been taken down and moved to one specific room that it still applies.
115	* MorePredatorsThanPrey: The food chain seemingly consists entirely of humans and wolves eating each other.
116	* NoobCave: {{Defied}}. The Death House is the closest example of this in the campaign, and it does not mess around. Players have to be careful and serious exploring it, treating it like an entry level or training area is a good way to get yourself killed.
117	* ObliviouslyEvil: The Abbey of Saint Markovia is led by The Abbot, [[spoiler:an angel who doesn't realize he is a fallen angel]]. He wants to protect the people of Krezk by [[spoiler: creating a "bride" for Strahd out of reanimated body parts.]] Despite this, he's a useful ally if you get on his good side, as he can [[spoiler: use Raise Dead on recently deceased party members.]]
118	* ObviouslyEvil: Strahd. Even if the party somehow doesn't put it together from the 30+ years of history on the net or his appearance on the book's cover, everyone in Barovia knows he's evil and make no secret of it. Strahd himself doesn't bother hiding it when he meets the party. The Abbot in Saint Markovia believes he can redeem Strahd, but ultimately this is impossible; Strahd ''loves'' being evil.
119	* OrcusOnHisThrone: {{Defied}}. Part of what makes Strahd such a fearsome enemy is that he literally can be anywhere. He might not actively try to kill you early on since he is more interested in letting you amuse him, but make no mistake about it; Strahd is not an idle threat at all. In fact, every single encounter roll has a chance of being Strahd if you end up unlucky.
120	* OurAngelsAreDifferent: [[spoiler:The Abbot]] is a normal Deva by D&D standards, with the exception that [[spoiler:he's completely insane]].
121	* OurLichesAreDifferent: Exethanter is the typical D&D lich, with one crucial difference: He has no reason to fight the party. They are no threat to him, he has no interest in stopping their quest, and they might even restore his memory. He's still LawfulEvil, but puts more focus on the Lawful part since, by their nature, a Lich has to be evil. It helps that he's chosen to spend eternity as an Evil Librarian, so aiding the heroes in their search for potentially corrupting knowledge and power is just indulging his hobby.
122	* OurSoulsAreDifferent: Souls in Barovia work a bit differently then normal modules. [[spoiler: This is because Barovia is trapped in its own domain, meaning that when a person dies, their soul does not move on, and essentially remains stuck in the land, eventually reincarnating into a new person with the same soul and look, but without their past memories. As shown with Ireena being Tatyana's reincarnation, it is possible to awaken those memories, but they require specific situations that can do so. Those without a soul are living beings but are noted to be dour and lack the ability to express themselves the same way those with souls can; these make up 9/10 of the population. Strahd also does not feel his hunger satisfied unless he drinks the blood of a person with a soul]].
123	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Averted. The eponymous villain is more of a ClassicalMovieVampire, or even more accurately a direct {{expy}} of {{Dracula}} as he appears in Bram Stoker's [[Literature/{{Dracula}} original novel]]. However, there is a distinction between being a full powered Vampire like Strahd, or a Vampire Spawn, the later being lesser in power who are bound to the will of Strahd and lack the raw power a true Vampire has. Mind you, they are incredibly strong still, and a single one is capable of being able to nearly kill a low level group.
124	* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent:
125	** Averted with a pack of werewolves living in Barovia. They're fairly standard, as far as D&D werewolves go.
126	** Played straight with [[spoiler:a secret fraternity of good-aligned wereravens operating throughout Barovia. They will readily agree to help out adventurers who oppose Strahd.]]
127	* PostFinalBoss: [[spoiler: Rahadin can potentially serve as the final confrontation for the party provided he isn't killed before Strahd is, due to being incredibly grief stricken at the loss of his master.]]
128	* PowerAtAPrice: You can accept Dark Gifts from the vestiges in the Amber Temple. Doing so [[spoiler: requires a Charisma saving throw to avoid an immediate alignment shift to Evil, and grants an additional character flaw regardless of whether you succeed]].
129	* PreserveYourGays: [[spoiler:While the module's only two gay characters, the knights Vladimir and Godfrey, are dead when the module starts, they still hang around their old castle as revenants.]]
130	%%** Escher. --ZCE (if you add context, please correct indentation, too)
131	* PutOnABus: Ireena can be this in Krezk. [[spoiler: The ghost of Sergei shows up and can take her to a safe place away from Strahd.]] It requires ViolationOfCommonSense from the players, though.
132	* RailRoading: One of the more infamous aspects of the module. The players can only slightly affect the world most of the time, as any major victory they may achieve will either quickly be undone by some unforeseen event[[note]]you can make a drinking game out of how many times it turns out someone was secretly working for Strahd or was Strahd in disguise[[/note]] or [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose turns out to have worked in Strahd's favor]]. Even the best ending as per RAW will end with the looming threat that Strahd will eventually return and things will go back to square one. While the intent is to create a bleak atmosphere, it's often recommended that people running it ''not'' stick too strictly to the plot of the book to allow the players more breathing room to have their actions actually mean something.
133	* ReducedToRatburgers: Because Barovia is lacking in wild game and all the farms have been abandoned, the people rely on wolves for meat. 5E has the only farm be a vineyard, which isn't producing grapes anymore due to sabotage.
134	* ReincarnationIdentifyingTrait: [[spoiler:Because the souls of those who die in Barovia are trapped, they reincarnate after a certain amount of time. Those who do look the exact same as they did in their previous life, hence how Strahd learned Ireena was the reincarnation of Tatyana]].
135	* ReincarnationRomance: A dark example in Strahd's constant pursuit of Tatyana whenever she reincarnates. He is obsessed with having Tatyana for himself, regardless of what her current reincarnation may think of it, even though [[spoiler:she rejected him twice over in her original life, and jumped to her death to get away from him]].
136	* RetCon: The amount of lore changed from the original version of Barovia at the end of ''TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons2ndEdition'', or even its semi-official ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition'' update, is staggering.
137	** The size of the domain has shifted. Whilst larger than the original realm seen in the original ''I6: Castle Ravenloft'' module, which consisted of a single village (Barovia) with the castle looming above, this iteration is much smaller and less populated than the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting version of the domain,
138	** The widespread famine and crop-failure did not exist in past iterations of Ravenloft. Whilst the majority of the Barovians were peasant farmers, they still lived decently well, with fertile forests full of wild game and plentiful flocks of sheep, goats, pigs and even cattle to feed themselves with.
139	** The idea that the vast majority of Barovians are soulless and the minority with souls are trapped in a cycle of reincarnation are both completely new to this module.
140	** The existence of the Amber Temple and all things within completely retcons everything established about the Dark Powers throughout Ravenloft's history.
141	** All the details of Strahd's relationship with the Vistani were made up for this module:
142	*** Strahd didn't originally know the Vistani before his damnation; they were some of the first people to emerge into his Domain of Dread ''after'' he was taken by the Mists.
143	*** Madame Eva being [[spoiler:Strahd's half-sister]] is completely new to this module.
144	*** Madame Eva had no particular interest in Strahd's fate at all in original Ravenloft canon
145	*** The Vistani traditionally would "help" Strahd in various low-key ways, but they never ''liked'' him and they certainly weren't his willing servants, ala Dracula's Romani henchmen in the original Bram Stoker novel. Madame Eva largely ''existed'' to be a quest-giver who would point the party on the right path to slaying Strahd in the original I6 module.
146	** The dusk elves are retcons of a retcon; they never existed in older editions of Ravenloft, and were added into the domain in the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFourthEdition'' adventure "Fair Barovia". When introduced, they were a ghostly pale subrace of cursed elves with an affinity for shadow magic, and with a small but thriving population. In this module, they are the dying remnants of a clan of dark-skinned wood elves who suffered a {{Gendercide}} at Strahd's hands.
147	** Ezmerelda d'Avenir never existed in earlier editions, and her relationship with Dr. Rudolph Van Richten comes with the retconning of Arturi Radanavich, a Vistani man who was responsible for persuading Van Richten to make peace with the Vistani by proving they weren't an AlwaysChaoticEvil race of thieves, kidnappers and {{Evil Sorcerer}}s.
148	* SchmuckBait: [[spoiler:Early in the Amber Temple is a corpse with a Staff of Cold that is perfectly intact and can be picked up. Doing so will make the user desire power above all else and make them more greedy]].
149	* SealedEvilInACan: [[spoiler: The Amber Temple]] was built to serve as a secure vault where plenty of cans of sealed evil [[spoiler:including about a dozen slivers of slain evil gods trapped in amber blocks]] could be safely stored in one place. [[spoiler: It went about as well as you'd expect. All the evil contained here eventually corrupted its guardins, and they killed each other. Then evil people moved in]].
150	* TheSoulless: Approximately ninety percent of Barovia's population. [[spoiler: Any person with a soul, including any party members who die, is doomed to reincarnate forever.]]
151	* StalkedByTheBell:
152	** In the town of Vallaki, the wards surrounding the church have recently gone down. Should the party fail to find and complete this miniquest within a few days of entering the town for the first time, [[spoiler: Strahd and several vampire spawn will storm the church during a sermon and murder the priest.]]
153	** Another example occurs at Yester Hill. [[spoiler: The druids there are conducting a ritual to awaken the Gulthias Tree. If they are not defeated in time and the tree killed, it will transform into a Tree Blight, which will run off to attack the Wizard of Wines winery. The loss of allies there might make getting into Krezk difficult. If you fail to stop it, you can still at least fight it, but doing so it very difficult as it can still destroy the winery during the fight.]]
154	* StatusQuoIsGod: {{Invoked}}. Strahd enjoys the company of the player characters, but at the end of the day he still wants to maintain his control over Barovia, and thus will inevitably seek to slay the players or corrupt them to his side. As a result, Barovia is maintained in a state of fear and control by Strahd, anything that goes against his rule or desires will be taken care of the moment he feels compelled to.
155	* StrongerWithAge: InUniverse this is why Strahd is so powerful. As either the first true Vampire or simply one of the oldest, he has many years of knowledge and experience that allows him to use his full might against his enemies.
156	* TalkingWeapon: The Sunsword. It wants nothing more than to kill Strahd.
157	* TheTeamNormal: Strahd's entire inner circle are all immortal vampires except Rahadin, his still entirely mortal adopted brother. Being an [[LongLived elf]] Rahadin hasn't needed vampirism to keep up with Strahd and the others so far and is in fact older than Strahd by a small margin.
158	* TotalPartyKill: Many games will likely end this way. It is Gothic horror, after all. In particular, this seems to be the design intention behind the Death House intro module. [[spoiler:The starting module is very deadly for low-level characters even though it's meant for levels one to three. Of particular note are the Shambling mound and the house's dangerous traps, which it springs if characters don't play ball. There's also the fact that Strahd is very likely to appear, and if the player is not careful, they might piss him off.]]
159	* TheTragicRose: The roses motif is associated with at least three different women of beauty and/or virtue who suffered tragic fates:
160	** The most prominent is Marina, a beautiful peasant girl from Berez and [[spoiler:Tatyana's reincarnation]], who was seduced by Strahd, but killed by her own villagefolk before he could turn her. Madam Eva describes her as a "rose of great beauty plucked too soon" and her gravestone in Berez depicts her clutching a rose.
161	** Tasha Petrovna, priestess of the Morninglord and an ancestor of Vallaki's Baroness, has two graves: the one under Castle Ravenloft is haunted by a ghost who tells the party of another grave "to the west, with roses that never die"; this second one is located near the Abbey of Saint Markovia and is, indeed, adorned with roses, albeit only [[ExactWords as stone carvings]].
162	** Saint Markovia herself, the Abbey's founder who lost her life leading a rebellion against Strahd, is also buried under Ravenloft, and her crypt is filled with the scent of roses.
163	* TreasureRoom: It takes some finding [[spoiler: including several secret doors, some traps and magical protections]] but Strahd's treasury is reachable in Castle Ravenloft, with some useful magic items, gems and frankly obscene amounts of money. Even if the party can't permanently kill the Count at least they can rob him blind...
164	* {{Troperiffic}}: The module quite intentionally draws on just about every piece of vampire media out there, from the very dark to the very silly.
165	* UnwittingTestSubject: The butler and lady-in-waiting of the Baron and Baroness of Vallaki. The son of the Baron "enlisted" them to test out his teleportation circle, which burned them to crisp. The reason? Well, take your pick: His knowledge of the ritual was too limited to perform it properly, he doesn't have any proper destination sigils, or it's the magic of Strahd.
166	* VampiresHarem: Strahd has three women and one man who he has turned into vampires and uses as his consorts. Given his only real romantic focus is Tatyana, though, they are pretty much just amusements and high ranking minions for him. He is also always on a lookout to add to his harem, so he may end up pursuing a high-charisma PC to turn into his next consort if they impress him enough.
167	* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: {{Reconstruction}} with Strahd. Strahd is insanely powerful, even high level players with weapons, gear, and allies that are specifically geared to stop him will not be able to beat him with ease. Strahd has lived for hundreds of years, he has no reason to get stronger since its the players who need to get stronger.
168	* VillainousCrush: While Strahd only has his eyes set on one person for his true love, he can develop something like this towards the player characters if they interest him enough. This largely is based on the personality and how charismatic a player character is, and you really don't want Strahd going this way, as he will attempt to win you to his side and make you a vampire spawn.
169	* VillainTakesAnInterest: Whenever newcomers enter Barovia, Strahd takes an interest in them in order to determine whether any of them is worthy to be his successor. [[SubvertedTrope However]], he eventually decides that none of them are worthy as a successor, but he doesn't arrive at this conclusion immediately.
170	* ViolationOfCommonSense: One of the happiest resolutions to the adventure (and ways to quickly expedite it wrapping up) are to take Ireena To Krezk, and then approaching a certain pool of water with her. The party will see a ghostly apparition appear and talk to her in a suspicious manner, she will walk towards the pool in a trance, and everything about the encounter just SCREAMS "This is a bad idea, you need to stop her from walking to her doom!". And then the [=PCs=] find out that doing nothing to hinder the seemingly possessed woman they've been protecting all of this time will be the one way she can find happiness, and doing anything at ALL to interfere with the scene happening in from of them dooms her to never be able to escape Barovia. Notably, the only guidance in the adventure is for having the [=PCs=] escort her (and her brother) to one of the two towns, so how she is supposed to be handled from this point on if the ghost is thwarted is left entirely up to the DM.
171	* WeAREStrugglingTogether: The main plotline of the Werewolf Den revolves around this: the Werewolves are unsure who their leader should be due to disagreements about the current leader Kiril, and are stuck arguing among themselves. The players arrival is designed to shift the playing field around to determine the fate of the pack. [[spoiler:A good aligned party will likely just kill them all however, as they all, regardless, want to continue spreading out]].
172	* WeHelpTheHelpless: The Keepers of the Feathers act as a variation of this. They do their best to help the people of Barovia against Strahd and his allies, but do their best to make sure the people they help actually are trustworthy.
173	* WellIntentionedExtremist: The Burgomaster of Vallaki is a cruel man who will jail people for daring to go against the status quo of the town, and is a paranoid nut-job. However, he's doing his best to protect the town from the threats outside the cities walls, and enforces a DissonantSerenity to avoid Strahd's wrath. He isn't a good person, the book gives him an Evil alignment, but he is still trying to do his best in a terrible situation, even if a part of his reason is selfish.
174	* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Played straight and justified. Strahd typically has two modes: boredom and searching for Tatyana's latest reincarnation. The rare newcomers to Barovia represent a diversion he'd rather not end too quickly. Even then, however, the moment he's convinced the party might present a threat to him or his plans, he becomes a CombatPragmatist who will do everything he can just shy of personally killing them to stop them.
175	* YourMagicsNoGoodHere: {{Downplayed}}. Your party is capable of using all their magic without issue while in Barovia for balance reasons, but Paladins and Clerics find their connection to their deities strained because of the nature of Barovia as a pocket in the world. As a result, typical mechanics like praying to your God for guidance don't work, or worse, are intercepted by other, more sinister parties.
176	----
177	->''[[TheStinger DISCLAIMER:]] [[Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast Wizards of the Coast]] cannot be held liable for any longterm side effects of venturing into the dread realm of {{TabletopGame/Ravenloft}}, such as [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent lycanthropy]], [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampirism]], a fear of dead things, a fear of living things, [[NeverSleepAgain an inability to sleep without a nightlight on and a +5 holy avenger under your pillow]], and the unsettling suspicion that [[BigBad Strahd]] is [[TheChessmaster too clever to be so easily defeated and that this is all just part of some grand scheme of his to extend his power beyond Barovia]]. You didn't think you could escape unless he wanted you to, did you?''

Context TabletopGame / CurseOfStrahd