u/ArcaneN0mad

Hello everybody!

TLDR: outside the three provided story hooks, how did you get your game going? Did you do anything exciting during the first session?

I have a few months before starting our CoS journey, mainly waiting for the new Ravenloft stuff to drop then we will start. And I’m just brainstorming how to kick off the campaign.

I am toying around with ideas to get the party to Barovia and while the three hooks provided by the module are great I am wanting to make it a bit more fun. Inspired by the new Dungeon Masters show, I am wanting to introduce the players characters in a fun and exciting way that gets them into the action right away.

One idea I have (ripped from the show mentioned above) is to get the players right into it mid battle with something. They are already a team, they know each other and are seasoned adventurers. Playing around with the idea that they are level 10. As the battle rages and they start to fall, they are enveloped by the mist and appear in Barovia as level 1 adventurers.

So my question: how did you introduce your players to the campaign outside the three provided hooks?

TLDR: looking for reworked statblocks for monsters not found in the 5.5 monster manual (monsters custom to CoS). Also looking for discussion on the daylight spell and how the 5.5 version has changed the dynamic of the module. Please no “just play 2014”. That’s not an option.

Background: been running home brewed campaigns for a few years now. Recently started a new table in person and I don’t have time to run two home brews. Curse of Strahd has always intrigued me and after discussing with my players, they believe they would enjoy it.

I’m sure this topic has been discussed in depth. Im very familiar with 5.5 rules and am not concerned with the rules themselves or how to play out CoS with 5.5 rules. My question revolves around the monsters not found in the monster Manual.

Are there any reworked statblocks for these monsters? I can convert them myself but that increases the amount of prep time.

Second question: how has the 5.5 version of the Daylight spell changed the dynamic of the campaign? It now specifically states it creates an area of sunlight. From my understanding (I have not started reading the module yet) there are a few items the players need (or can) obtain to make defeating Strahd a bit easier but these items are basically not needed which the 5.5 version of Daylight. I don’t have a problem stating we will be using the 2014 version of the spell, just curious how others have handled it. I want to have a for sure ruling on it before we start.

Thanks for your help and I really look forward to continued discussion as we play through the module!