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Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition – A Return to Ravenloft

Hello Nerdarchists and RPG enthusiasts.  I am sure by now you have heard the wonderful new of the release of the Curse of Strahd.  Players get to be sucked into the evil world of Ravenloft and forced to contend with the evil power that is Count Strahd von Zarovich.  You can read the full article here.

Will You Descend in Ravenloft and Deal with Strahd?

Here is an excerpt.  “Heroes from the Forgotten Realms and other D&D worlds can easily be drawn into Strahd’s cursed land. Once there, they must contend with the horrors of Barovia. Its people are melancholy, misshapen and grotesque, living in fear of the wolves and other creatures that serve Strahd’s evil will.

The only hope for the trapped adventurers is to heed the warnings of a mysterious fortune-teller named Madam Eva. Drawing random cards from her tarroka deck, she directs adventurers to search Strahd’s domain for artifacts and allies to help the master of Castle Ravenloft. That is, before he orchestrates your demise for his amusement and feasts on your terror.”

I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons for over 20 years.  So it is only natural that at some point my character has been pulled into Ravenloft.  Many years ago we played a game that did quite a bit of plane hopping and we spent some time in Ravenloft.

You can also have this cool bit of info. “While waiting for the adventure, experience the power of Madam Eva for yourself each day. Head to Twitter and retweet the official @Wizards_DnD Twitter account using the hashtag #DNDFortune. Madam Eva’s fortunes are based on which random card she draws from her tarokka deck and displays for each reading. Check back each day with Madam Eva to see what your #DNDFortune will foretell.”

If that is not enough for you the same company that produced the Spell cards for 5th edition, Gale Force 9, are releasing a physical Tarokka Deck to increase your immersion into the land of mists. 

So now on to speculation.  The articles I have read talking about this show that it is expected to be 224 pages, most of which will be the adventure.  Nerdarchy rarely runs pre-printed adventures, preferring to write our own.  So will there be any new spells.  In a land full of necromancy I should hope so.  Will there be some new monsters or undead to send against your players, I would think this would be a must.

But will there be any new player options?  Will we get any backgrounds or class archetypes? With just under two months until it releases on March 15th, looks like I need to go pre-order my copy now.

If you are looking to get your hands on this first you can do so here. Also of note this adventure is written in collaboration with Tracy and Laura Hickman, the authors of the original Ravenloft adventure published in 1983. As always thanks for reading and Until Next Time, Stay Nerdy!