Curse of Strahd Review ENG Version - Chapter 5&6

Chapter 5 brings the party to the town of Vallaki.

If you're reading all of my review you might have noticed that last chapter reviewed was the 3rd.

Why don't you post about chapter 4 you might ask?

The answer is quite simple. Chapter 4 describes Castle Ravenloft, so that should be the last chapter for the party, unless they want to die early in the adventure.

You can always give a sample of the Castle, if you want. You'll raise higher the anxiety level, which is one of the main goals in a Ravenloft campaign.

Vallaki is considered safer than Barovia, so it's likely party will shelter there, expecially if Ireena has joined the group.

In Vallaki PCs can explore:

- Church of St. Andral. Where PCs can be engaged in a nice sub-quest.

- Blue Water Inn. in my opinion the main place of the chapter. PCs can earn help of some minor NPCs or of a group of weravens known as Keepers of the Feathers.
The party can also meet an half-elf bard, one Rictavio.

Urwin Martinkov, the innkeeper, can send the party to a winery to resupply the Inn with wine. That leads directly to chapter 12.

Rictavio, in truth, is the famous Rudolph van Richten, legendary vampire hunter. According to Tarokka reading he could be the ally that PCs are looking for. leggendario cacciatore di vampiri.

In the inn there might be some items essential to defeat Strahd.

- Burgomaster's House, Baron Vallakovich. Where the PCs can find useful informations about the past of Burgmaster's right hand, Izek Strazni and another item foretold byTarokka.

- Watcherhaus. The mansion of Watcher's, a rich, influent family, rival to Baron's. There PCs might find proofs that the family leader i PG Fiona Watcher is plotting to overthrown the Baron and she's the leader of a diabolic cult.

You'll find also minor places (stockyard, the coffer, Blinsky's Toys, the town place). There party may find some clues leading to big town mysteries or items foretold by Tarokka.

A Vistani camp is south-west to Vallaki.
There you'll find some Dusk Elves too.
In Ravenloft they are as Wood Elves for game statistics.

Dusk Elves leader, Kasimir Velikov, can guide the party to the Amber Temple, chapter 13.

Capitolo 6

The chapter describes Old Bonegrinder Mill, in the surroundings of Vallaki.

Party can come here because has understand that 3 night hag stay there and that those hags make dream pastries for some inhabitants of Barovia.

The secret ingredient of those pastries is powder of children bones, created at the Mill. Hags kidnap them in the villages of Barovia.

Morghanta, one of them, gave her hag eye to a Strahd's servant, Cyrus Belview, and she's regularly spying of Castle Ravenloft's activities. Therefore she knows a lot about the castle and her information can lead the adventure before some moral dilemma; do PCs bargain for those informations, sparing an evil to destroy a much dangerous one? Or do they simply kill the hags, losing an opportunity to have upper hand against Strahd?

Again in the Mill might be another item.

Next post will be about chapter 8 (Krezk) and chapter 12 (Wizard of Wines).

As already told, we follow level and difficulty progression, not the numerical order.

Bye.

The DM.