Curse of Strahd Companion 1: Into the Mists

The Curse of Strahd Companion is your comprehensive guide to running 5th Edition's greatest and grimmest campaign. This guide arms you with advice, tactics, dialogue, flavor text, and a heap of variants and revisions to revolutionize your campaign. The Companion is built to lead up to Wyatt Trull's mithral-bestselling module, The Wedding at Ravenloft.

This chapter of the Companion concerns campaign-wide changes and advice, including:

Dramatis Personae. An outline of the campaign's major characters with advice on how to use and roleplay them, from Strahd von Zarovich to Sir Godfrey Gwilym.

Fortunes of Ravenloft. A new artifact: the Ba'al Verzi Dagger wielded by Leo Dilisnya as he murdered Strahd in I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire. This sentient, bloodthirsty dagger hungers for Strahd's death and will not rest until its wielder sates its thirst for revenge. Unlike other artifacts, the dagger's location is fixed: the adventurers must make an early foray into Castle Ravenloft to acquire it.

Evil's Bride. Battle-tested advice on how to handle Ireena Kolyana all the way from the Village of Barovia to the Commune of Krezk and up to the Wedding at Ravenloft. Each chapter of the Companion addresses what Ireena would say and do, as well as particular events that pertain to her. Ultimately, Ireena ought to die in Krezk, resurrected by the Abbot (at a price), and then adbducted by Strahd, who then announces the Wedding at Ravenloft.

Into Castle Ravenloft. The Companion makes it very clear how necessary and rewarding a secret foray into Castle Ravenloft is for your campaign and provides you with the means to achieve it: teleportation. Whether it be by Victor Vallakovich's malfunctioning teleportation circle, Kasimir Velikov, the Mad Mage of Mount Baratok, or even the hags of Old Bonegrinder, the adventurers must be given access to the catacombs and dungeons of Ravenloft around 7th level.

The Redemption of Godfrey. Sir Godfrey Gwilym is one of the campaign's greatest characters. I believe he is best rewritten as Strahd's reluctant servant: in return for six centuries of service as the Devil's executioner, Strahd has promised to restore the skull of Argynvost and thereby put the revenants to rest. Godfrey thus acts as a mid-level boss (who can safely be killed) and source of dread for your adventurers.

Argynvost the Reanimated. The Companion solves the obstacle in restoring Argynvost's skull to its rightful crypt *before* the campaign's end. Strahd has animated Argynvost's wingless skeleton in the depths of Ravenloft! This adventure also requires an early foray into Castle Ravenloft and ties into the redemption of Godfrey.

The Destined Ally. My advice on selecting Strahd's Enemy. Ultimately, I believe Arabelle should be the name drawn by Madam Eva; however, Arabelle is a false lead. Saving her gets the adventurers' on Ezmerelda's, Arrigal's, and Van Richten's radar. All three are considered the adventurers' Destined Ally until at last Arrigal betrays the party, and Strahd forces a confrontation that sees Ezmerelda so endangered that Van Richten must come out of hiding. Whomever survives this encounter graduates as the adventurers' Destined Ally.

Publishing Schedule

It is no secret that Curse of Strahd's chapters are organized counterintuitively. The Companion will be publishing chapters with a more narrative focus in mind: