Since it is the first visit, Strahd only wants to play and scare them, ultimately he’s letting them escape, albeit not easily. They could also break their way out from the chapel windows in K15 or go up to the third level and climb down the inner wall of the castle. Unfortunately the only other way out of the castle from the first level is in area K23, but it’s only accessible from the first basement or from the second floor if they find the secret door in area K20. They probably won’t look for a way out in the basements. Depending on the party level they will be half confident or scared, but will try to get out. I recommend to have the main entrance closed up and guarded by the 4 red dragons, so the party will have to look for a different way a out. However if they end up fighting Strahd, they will have to escape the castle. After the meeting with the count, if they respected Strahd’s hospitality and had a civilized dinner, they could be free to go they same way they came. The party sees the main entrance, are received by Rahadin and then led to the dinning room.

Odds are that the party visits the castle for the first time to comply with Strahd’s invitation. Of course this is not an exhaustive list, but these are the main objectives in the module that would have a party visit Castle Ravenloft. These are the most common reasons for visiting the castle: Depending on where you are in the campaign, the party will have clear objectives when visiting the castle and thus, the exploration will not be so overwhelming since it will be focused to a certain area inside the castle. Normally, the party will get in a situation where they have to visit the castle with a clear objective in mind. It is improbable that players will come on their own just to explore, or that someone wishes to explore most of it. The better approach to Castle Ravenloft comes from the player’s intentions for visiting it.

The party will have to come and go several times during the course of the module. A party might have some exploration in mind or a feeling of curiosity, but in reality, Castle Ravenloft is a place where the party will run out of resources sooner or later, and they most probably won’t long rest inside the castle.Īdditionally, Castle Ravenloft is not a dungeon crawl to visit all in one go. It’s important to have in mind that it is unlikely that the castle will be explored completely. With over 40 pages describing the different 88 areas inside, it is a daunting task to get ready for. The GUIDE index for Curse of Strahd and other related articles can be found here !Ĭastle Ravenloft is the biggest chapter in the book.

Ravenloft castle maps