Sneak Peek: The Interactive Tome of Strahd: Prologue
Added 2023-11-17 06:17:02 +0000 UTC
Hey everyone, and happy Sneak Peek Thursday! Today, I am showing a bit of my next map to support the incredible third-party supplement: The Interactive Tome of Strahd. This time, I go all the way back to the start and am working on creating a map for the prologue. It is a small start to a grand adventure but a chance to meet a young Strahd.
If you have not yet heard of the Interactive Tome of Strahd, you can check out the PDF over on the DMs Guild written by the incredibly talented The Aciduous Adventurer.
This map will feature a 30x20 castle courtyard exterior surrounded by high walls. I will create a version with a dream-like state effect around the edges to showcase the memory feel of the encounter, and of course, one without so you can use this for more generic use.
I'm excited to be able to get this requested map finished and looking forward to sharing with you all on Monday!
Cheers,
DM Andy
Comments
I'm in the process of running the module (about 2 years deep, level 8, running lots of expanded content, so prob going to level 13/14). To each their own always, but so far my players have loved the Interactive Tome, and I have myself as well. I think showcasing Strahd's descent not only provides them with a more robust knowledge of the history of Barovia itself and the significant historical NPCs (such as St. Andral, which the book gives proper meaning to the pile of bones we see in the module), but it also plays right into the theme of gothic horror. It may remove some mystery from Strahd, but as far as I am aware, there are not a lot of ways they can gain detailed lore about Strahd as a character. The RAW tome is, in my opinion, a pitiful lore dump that doesn't provide much substance to the campaign and once read, may as well be tinder for a campfire. The interactive tome is an actually useful item and has allowed my players to explore the lore of Barovia before the end game, which I am a big fan of because if there's cool lore, I want them to learn about it. Now in my experience at least, my players haven't been rushing through the tome. They attempt to decrypt a chapter usually once a long rest, so between the pacing between long rests and failing to decrypt it, there is still a lot of mystery surrounding Strahd even still. The interactive tome is generally meant to be handled over a longer period of time, whereas the raw tome is a lore dump. Like I said, to each their own in the end. This is just my opinion/experience on it.
Reid Werner
2023-11-17 08:56:05 +0000 UTCI purchased the Interactive TOS when I started planning my COS campaign. I kind of feel that it takes the mystery out of Strahd’s story. As a stand alone module it is lovely, to be sure. And I will definitely use the maps somehow when I run COS (which is 6 or more months away still). So thanks for the maps. Has anyone here already run this module? How did it impact your campaign?
Michael Rozmin
2023-11-17 08:15:57 +0000 UTCAwesome, been waiting for this one!
ZooBoing
2023-11-17 06:30:03 +0000 UTC
