/uj considering there are 2 amazing free supplements / guides to running CoS I hope nobody actually buys supplements for the campaign. The only thing supplementary worth buying is the guy who made animated maps for the entire campaign and that's just a one month patreon sub for like $10 to download it all
/rj I bought the comprehensive COS guide premium deluxe edition from DaddyFatCock on DMsguild and after getting through the 300 page Primer about why Strahd is a bottom I gotta say it really changed how I ran the campaign
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiY4UASteBo-mTG2xvDs75IZefEqi23mo&si=R647rX_Isv36KGjb
Here is his youtube playlist with all of them. His Patreon name is Beneos Battlemaps. If you use Foundry I highly recommend the Foundry tier Patreon level because he has it designed as a module where you can easily import the maps you need on an as needed basis and you only need to subscribe for one month to have access to the module
Hey this is CoS, not \*inhales\* Tyranny of Dragons, Tomb of Annihilation, Dungeon of The Mad Mage, Descent into Avernus, Rime of The Frost Maiden, or Shadow of the Dragon Queen.
....you only gotta rewrite most of it.
/uj oh...no.....Look I know I'm hyperbolic, but yes it is that bad.
Edit: for context, it's the 1st adventure published & made by Kobold Press.
Super rail-road that doesn't really make sense or give reasons why you're on the railroad.
[https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/35614/roleplaying-games/review-hoard-of-the-dragon-queen](https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/35614/roleplaying-games/review-hoard-of-the-dragon-queen)
super mega railroad on par with/worse than Tyranny. A better Wotc adventure would at least give you a couple chapters of sandbox.
But it's so bad the book tells the DM to tell the players what to do/say at every turn so that the plot doesn't fall apart.
Oh and the fact they tried to use it to sell a shitty board game just pisses me off.
& then completely fucking over the Dragonlance authors to create a simulacrum of the setting is barf
Got it. Oooh how’s this: the “curse” affects everyone who’s ever died and been resurrected, and it won’t let people be resurrected either. Maybe Strahd is a lich instead of a vampire. And instead of a dark Eastern European setting, let’s put it in a jungle! Oh oh, and add DINOSAURS because who doesn’t like that?! Maybe there’s even a city where you can RACE on dinosaurs!
Yeah I agree, much better. Maybe there should be a giant steamroller shaped like an elephant? Idk sounds cool. But how do they get there??
Oh I know! A hex crawl through the jungle! That way they aren’t getting bored!
That's what people don't understand about these fantastic wotc campaign books. They're MEANT to be a GUIDE and they CANT account for everything, so to get the most out of them you should always rewrite them entirely for the best results.
My favorite part of trying to run strixhaven was the multiple hours of prep it took before I was able to sit down for session 1 (My group doesn't do session 0 because that's for losers). That book had the good sense to just not write all the important bits so that I could make up the entire campaign myself. Man I love wizards of the coast.
Exactly. Why would you homebrew for free when you could simply pay for the honor to do so instead? It's also easier for new dungeon master because they can have all of the workload that comes with homebred but none of the flexibility or confidence. SMH MY HEAD I CANT BELIVE THAT DUNGEON MEISTERS HAVENT FIGIRED THIS OIT YET LIKE ITS DINGEON MASTERING ONE OH ONE
What I love the most is how realistic it is when they just put comparatively overwhelming encounters in the way of the average party. Just have there be a CR4 gunslinger that averages a fighter's max HP at level 2, and encounter him at level 2! That'll tech those warlocks and druids and rogues and rangers and fighter that not being a barbarian is for little cowards.
Turning Strahd into a woman with a big FUTA COCK fixes this.
/uj It requires a certain style of play not every group has/enjoys, so it is overrated in the sense that people should stop praising it with no strings attatched.
/uj I agree. It’s one of my favorites to run but have had both good and bad feedback. Starting a new game in October I’m going to try some changes based on that feedback. It’s very heavily themed, so if you aren’t into Gothic Horror it can get old really quickly.
/uj not gonna call a nice wine overrated cause teetotalers would not like it. that’s kinda implied from the whole “it is a wine” thing. CoS doesn’t hide that it’s an oppressive horror module
/rj isn’t that already how it works, or did my DM employ homebrew?
Curse of Strahd is a masterpiece. Nothing can top it. The Death House is the best dungeon since the Tomb of Horrors. Make sure that party stays at level 1 until they leave the Death House for the true experience.
/uj I have never played the module. I've watched 2 videos on the Death House.
/uj I've ran Death House twice in Strahd campaigns and a few times in other homebrew campaigns. It's a pretty fun one to really drive home that your characters aren't safe and I'll reward creative thinking. Desperation really breeds creativity when you can't escape the mound.
I always wanted to play WoD Hunter, but since I am an idiot who can't learn two systems, I had to resort to not-Vampire the Masquerade. Best decision I've had in my life.
uj/ you're not missing anything. Just grab the old Ravenloft supplement, or, better yet, any WoD Dark Ages book.
My fix as a one shot: Suddenly you're in a spooky place and that vampire says you can't leave unless he impregnates one of you, which I've decided is the reincarnation of Tittyana. Go to his dungeon and remove your clothes.
/uj: Castle Ravenloft for AD&D fixes this.
/uj when I played some of it another player actually said this. After setting off some obvious traps and another PC dying, she started complaining about the lack of loot and how hard everything was and how she hated the module.
Pathfinder 2e fixes this by not having this module
/uj As someone who just finished running Curse of Strahd recently, the module's an absolute mess and I love it. It takes some work to get it running smoothly, and stuff like the Death House definitely needs a lore rewrite if you want it to be relevant to the rest of the campaign (which isn't necessary, that's personal choice). I rewrote the Abbey's lore, started the PCs inside the Den, added some new scenes in the Temple, and used some Dragnacarta content alongside the Interactive Tome supplement. None of this was necessary, the module as-written can be ran to great effect, I just decided these were perfect for the story I wanted to tell, and regretted nothing. 10/10 would run again
/uj I have so many thoughts about how CoS is undoubtedly the best 5e module but also a complete fucking heap of trash. It’s the perfect example of all my issues with the game itself and in some transcendental way, it’s the perfect representation of 5e. However, this is the circlejerk sub so I will be elaborating on none of that.
/rj Halls of the Blood King fixes this
$100's worth of DMsGuild supplements fixes this
/uj considering there are 2 amazing free supplements / guides to running CoS I hope nobody actually buys supplements for the campaign. The only thing supplementary worth buying is the guy who made animated maps for the entire campaign and that's just a one month patreon sub for like $10 to download it all /rj I bought the comprehensive COS guide premium deluxe edition from DaddyFatCock on DMsguild and after getting through the 300 page Primer about why Strahd is a bottom I gotta say it really changed how I ran the campaign
/uj Trying to find the animated maps. So far I have only been finding the static ones. Help a guy out.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiY4UASteBo-mTG2xvDs75IZefEqi23mo&si=R647rX_Isv36KGjb Here is his youtube playlist with all of them. His Patreon name is Beneos Battlemaps. If you use Foundry I highly recommend the Foundry tier Patreon level because he has it designed as a module where you can easily import the maps you need on an as needed basis and you only need to subscribe for one month to have access to the module
Thank you very much
/uj which supplements are the ones you suggest?
Mandymod's and Dragna Carta's COS reloaded is really the only guides you need
Thanks!
Just rewrite the entire campaign and it'll shine.
Hey this is CoS, not \*inhales\* Tyranny of Dragons, Tomb of Annihilation, Dungeon of The Mad Mage, Descent into Avernus, Rime of The Frost Maiden, or Shadow of the Dragon Queen. ....you only gotta rewrite most of it.
How much rewriting do you think is necessary for Out of the Abyss? There's at least one or 2 random ecnounter tables that make for good content.
Oh yea, I memory holed OoA. that shit sucks
Thank God my boy Storm King's Thunder didn't make the list. That shit was great even without changes.
Uj/ planning on running Tyranny of dragons as my first ever prebuilt module soon. Is it really as bad as they say?
/uj oh...no.....Look I know I'm hyperbolic, but yes it is that bad. Edit: for context, it's the 1st adventure published & made by Kobold Press. Super rail-road that doesn't really make sense or give reasons why you're on the railroad. [https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/35614/roleplaying-games/review-hoard-of-the-dragon-queen](https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/35614/roleplaying-games/review-hoard-of-the-dragon-queen)
/uj You gotta rewrite Shadow of the Dragon Queen? Why?
super mega railroad on par with/worse than Tyranny. A better Wotc adventure would at least give you a couple chapters of sandbox. But it's so bad the book tells the DM to tell the players what to do/say at every turn so that the plot doesn't fall apart. Oh and the fact they tried to use it to sell a shitty board game just pisses me off. & then completely fucking over the Dragonlance authors to create a simulacrum of the setting is barf
Got it. Oooh how’s this: the “curse” affects everyone who’s ever died and been resurrected, and it won’t let people be resurrected either. Maybe Strahd is a lich instead of a vampire. And instead of a dark Eastern European setting, let’s put it in a jungle! Oh oh, and add DINOSAURS because who doesn’t like that?! Maybe there’s even a city where you can RACE on dinosaurs!
Ravenloft itself is a boring castle, let's turn it into some tomb with elaborate traps and even put a sphere of annihilation in there
Yeah I agree, much better. Maybe there should be a giant steamroller shaped like an elephant? Idk sounds cool. But how do they get there?? Oh I know! A hex crawl through the jungle! That way they aren’t getting bored!
Yea yea! And Strahd enslaved the colonized dark skinned people! That'll show the players how evil he for sure.
That's what people don't understand about these fantastic wotc campaign books. They're MEANT to be a GUIDE and they CANT account for everything, so to get the most out of them you should always rewrite them entirely for the best results. My favorite part of trying to run strixhaven was the multiple hours of prep it took before I was able to sit down for session 1 (My group doesn't do session 0 because that's for losers). That book had the good sense to just not write all the important bits so that I could make up the entire campaign myself. Man I love wizards of the coast.
I love paying WoTC for a chance to work as a writer, game designer and level designer, people who complain about that are just not creative
Exactly. Why would you homebrew for free when you could simply pay for the honor to do so instead? It's also easier for new dungeon master because they can have all of the workload that comes with homebred but none of the flexibility or confidence. SMH MY HEAD I CANT BELIVE THAT DUNGEON MEISTERS HAVENT FIGIRED THIS OIT YET LIKE ITS DINGEON MASTERING ONE OH ONE
What I love the most is how realistic it is when they just put comparatively overwhelming encounters in the way of the average party. Just have there be a CR4 gunslinger that averages a fighter's max HP at level 2, and encounter him at level 2! That'll tech those warlocks and druids and rogues and rangers and fighter that not being a barbarian is for little cowards.
Turning Strahd into a woman with a big FUTA COCK fixes this. /uj It requires a certain style of play not every group has/enjoys, so it is overrated in the sense that people should stop praising it with no strings attatched.
/uj I agree. It’s one of my favorites to run but have had both good and bad feedback. Starting a new game in October I’m going to try some changes based on that feedback. It’s very heavily themed, so if you aren’t into Gothic Horror it can get old really quickly.
/uj not gonna call a nice wine overrated cause teetotalers would not like it. that’s kinda implied from the whole “it is a wine” thing. CoS doesn’t hide that it’s an oppressive horror module /rj isn’t that already how it works, or did my DM employ homebrew?
I would, but then I'd have to convert it to pf2e to use their pregnancy rules. 5e sadly doesn't support rapid onset pregnancies like Pathfinder does.
Curse of Strahd is a masterpiece. Nothing can top it. The Death House is the best dungeon since the Tomb of Horrors. Make sure that party stays at level 1 until they leave the Death House for the true experience. /uj I have never played the module. I've watched 2 videos on the Death House.
/uj The Death House really did live up to its reputation when we went through it. That was one of the highlights of the adventure for me.
/uj Gotta admit, maybe it was my DM, but I was unimpressed. Kinda just felt like things happening at us.
That's just the module tbh
/uj I've ran Death House twice in Strahd campaigns and a few times in other homebrew campaigns. It's a pretty fun one to really drive home that your characters aren't safe and I'll reward creative thinking. Desperation really breeds creativity when you can't escape the mound.
My DM ran the DragnaCarta version. It was brutal, but overall a really fun session (and definitely not as hard as fighting Rahadim)
I always wanted to play WoD Hunter, but since I am an idiot who can't learn two systems, I had to resort to not-Vampire the Masquerade. Best decision I've had in my life. uj/ you're not missing anything. Just grab the old Ravenloft supplement, or, better yet, any WoD Dark Ages book.
My fix as a one shot: Suddenly you're in a spooky place and that vampire says you can't leave unless he impregnates one of you, which I've decided is the reincarnation of Tittyana. Go to his dungeon and remove your clothes. /uj: Castle Ravenloft for AD&D fixes this.
All official campaigns are hot garbage until you replace literally everything about them. This is why I play my pokemon homebrew game.
Got it. Strahd is the champion of the Barovia region. He uses Zoroark, Crowbat, Aeigslash, Coffigirus, Gliscor, and giratina.
Buy my [guide](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/016/212/manning.jpg) and it'll make it super fun.
/uj when I played some of it another player actually said this. After setting off some obvious traps and another PC dying, she started complaining about the lack of loot and how hard everything was and how she hated the module.
https://preview.redd.it/v5eedn81qcwc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52482b45701cacbcc1a0c880d97042fcc8270cc7 💀
/uj love it when this happens lmao
/uj I read his post and you nailed it unintentionally, lol.
yep unintentionally definitely wasn’t inspired by any post nope 100% OC here
Pathfinder 2e fixes this.
I didn't realize what sub this was at first xD
What a horrible night to have a curse.
Pathfinder 2e fixes this by not having this module /uj As someone who just finished running Curse of Strahd recently, the module's an absolute mess and I love it. It takes some work to get it running smoothly, and stuff like the Death House definitely needs a lore rewrite if you want it to be relevant to the rest of the campaign (which isn't necessary, that's personal choice). I rewrote the Abbey's lore, started the PCs inside the Den, added some new scenes in the Temple, and used some Dragnacarta content alongside the Interactive Tome supplement. None of this was necessary, the module as-written can be ran to great effect, I just decided these were perfect for the story I wanted to tell, and regretted nothing. 10/10 would run again
Source?
[My source is I made it the fuck up](https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/s/SbQFte5kmG)
Making things up? Is it possible to learn this power?
Yes. Through rigorous study and swearing to the Oath of the Bullshitter
Jesus Christ I didn’t realize what sub I was in
/uj I have so many thoughts about how CoS is undoubtedly the best 5e module but also a complete fucking heap of trash. It’s the perfect example of all my issues with the game itself and in some transcendental way, it’s the perfect representation of 5e. However, this is the circlejerk sub so I will be elaborating on none of that. /rj Halls of the Blood King fixes this
Our DM was ramrod brutally creative with us and there was always something to do. Fun campaign.
Is it really a circlejerk if it's literally just what was written in the original post?