One Night Strahd

ACT I: FIGHo nTe Mn iEg h,tI'sMt r aRhIdGHT HERE
SUNLIT SHRINE

COMBAT FLOW

PRE The following is an example of a combat flow, with each part explained.

NAME
Titles

Precombat preparations can be found here, under PRE, along with the relevant lair actions
if they are not varied.

1 M: This holds a movement plan.
M: Move.
A: This covers the suggested action for the first
turn, denoted by the 1 to the left.

B: This lists the bonus action to be used, if any.

R: This holds a suggested reaction.

Legendary actions will be described in red at the
bottom, generally in order of use with causes.

2

As above, for the second turn. Markers may be
used in the timeline to the left as a way to show
other events.

This feature is not used in this encounter.

R: Reaction.

3

As above, for the third turn, and as a suggestion for turns beyond that.

This is denoted by the dotted arrow leading off page.

This arrow will be solid if a second page is provided.

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Brides of Zarovich

The Dryadbreakers and Last of the Druids

PRE

Active Spells: None
Lair Action: None

1 M: Draw back, split party if
A, 2 Brides: possible by separating into
Attack using thornbows, targeting lowest HP.
A, 2 Brides: a 2/3 split.
Attack using thornbows, targeting highest HP.
A, 1 Bride:
Open with Entangle.

2 M: Draw back further, split
party if possible by
A, first 2 Brides: separating into a 2/3 split.
Attack using produce flame, targeting lowest HP.

A, 2 Brides:
Attack using thornbows, targeting highest HP.

A, 1 Bride:
Cast Entangle.

3 M: As needed, bow users pulling
in a little closer.
A, if at low HP:
Tree Stride to exit unless bite is an option.

A, 3 Brides:
Attack using thornbows, targeting highest HP.

A, 2 Brides:
Close for grapple then bite. Target lowest HP.

4 M: At least two Brides are
pulling back to line up an
A, 2 Brides: exit. Others move as needed.
Tree Stride to converge for a kill if possible.
Otherwise, move and attack highest HP.

A, 3 Brides:
Draw back and continue to use thornbows.

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SCENES over the towering pines. Around you, the trackless
woods spread out in every direction. You know this
Below are the narrative components used by the place from legends that the Church of Tymora had
encounter flow. Where possible, each notes down collected: when Barovia appears to feast on a town
the probable next vignettes. LOOT, MONSTERS, and or village, this wildwood is its vanguard. This is its
CONDITIONS are bolded in this section. Content mouth, the trees its teeth, as the cursed land bites
intended to be read aloud verbatim is italicized. at living worlds. There’s always a specific shape,
according to stories: endless forest to the south, a
R I S I N GBINATRDO: NOON great lake bordered by cliffs to the north—and lost
in the mists that shroud the mountains, high above
I F PLAYERS ARRIVE from the Greenhouse the lake, Castle Ravenloft. And there’s something
Dream, read: else. These woods aren’t empty. These woods are
You tumble out to land in the cold and the mist. The owned. Kept.
gate slithers shut above you like a wink.
In unspoken agreement, you pull the compass
Otherwise, read: patch off your robes and begin to head north. This
The Niflheim road ends here. As you step from is not a safe place to dally. You travel perhaps an
stone to grass, you hear a slow creaking behind you. hour through the forest, and gradually you realize
The trees walk! They close ranks. As you watch, that there are no animals here. The breeze never
the ancient seal of Barovia burns itself into those changes. Worse, you have to keep turning as you
conjoined trunks. The road is shut. take compass readings, and it’s not the slight
inevitable error familiar to travelers and trackers—
Continue and read: something is trying to take you off course.
It’s not a stormy night, just a sullen, bitter Eventually, the trees slowly open up around you as
afternoon. The slow, dull breeze is cold, and the mist ferns and moss give way to an autumnal meadow.
makes your bones ache as the cloudy sky looms low
PROCEED TO:

Great Cairn in Locations

Hand out the player map. The hunt has begun.

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SUNLIT SHRINE

WANDERING OFF shall we? Respectively, I mean.” She steps sideways
into a tree, then is gone. The little golden pinecone
THIS SCENE HANDLES CASES WHERE players she was playing with is still sitting on the ground.
opt to ignore the locations of interest in favor Players are now at the Forest Lake. If players did not
of aimlessly wandering the woods. If they’re hunting attack her and do take the pine cone, two players
the Brides instead, use DIRECT CONFRONTATION, gain a point of inspiration and the party now has
not WANDERING OFF. WINTER’S INTEREST.

Read: OEUSTRCO:A P E !
The woods are vast and trackless. Shield ferns,
flowering hellebores, and crackling pine needles are IF COMING FROM THE SHRINE DOOR location,
your only companions among the huge trees. The read:
great red pines murmur and sway, moving when An arrow plinks uselessly into the wall and you hear
you are not looking to block your way. The forest shouts of frustration—and one, maybe, of cruel
hates you. delight. You dive into the shrine.
Players must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom (Survival) You watch as the small wan one leans in too close,
check to avoid becoming lost. Rangers and druids inquisitive. She stretches her hand out, burns for a
make this check with advantage. On a failure, they moment in the sun, and pulls it back. She tries this
return to the location they left from. maybe five times with wonder in her eyes, then
leaves to follow the rest of the fallen druids.
Read:
The woods are steeped in the poisonous power of PROCEED TO:
the fallen druids. You are refused. You’ll have to
find another way. End & Loot

Otherwise, if the players are not at the forest DOUUETSRAOP:TAH RDTO
lake, read:
You thread your way through. Eventually, when THE BROKEN BODIES of the Brides scatter
you look up, you are not alone. The smallest of the the woods around you. The mist clears
Brides walks alongside you, tossing a pine cone slowly as they cool, and the forest no longer
up and down thoughtfully. Frost spreads around fights your attempts to find the shrine. Do you
her, settling wherever she looks. “I’m Winter,” she take any trophies?
says, simply, as though that explains everything.
She continues, eyeing you, “There’s not normally
anyone out this far.”

If players attack her, she will tree stride away
immediately. This does not consume her daily use.
Otherwise, she’ll answer a couple surface-level
questions.

Either way, eventually, read:
The woods open onto a giant alpine lake. Winter
watches you with a certain mixture of glee and
melancholy, then says, “Well, we’ll see how we do,

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Of the things that players might take, only a OMUTUROL:CGOHT ED
THORNBOW or sawing off ANTLERS has an
effect. Players can only get two total items, in any T HE SUN, THE SUN, THE SUN; in your brief
combination, before the bodies are swallowed by time here, you had forgotten the heat of it. The
the thirsty loam. woods seem almost on fire as the old pines and sad
oaks reach upward to the light. The heat of summer
THORNBOW crushes down on you, and you seek shelter, hunting
for the shrine shown on that first cairn.
A THORNBOW is a heavy recurve bow that deals
2d4 piercing damage and can generate one long PROCEED TO:
thorn suitable for use as an arrow per minute,
allowing determined archers to have effectively End & Loot
unlimited ammunition. Thorn arrows count as
magical for the purposes of overcoming resistance DIRECT
and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. It
is otherwise identical to a longbow. CONFRONTATION

ANTLER T HERE ARE WORSE PLACES to make a stand.
You set out your weapons and shape a bit of a
Grants one point of inspiration, once. As a player rampart from the earth as the Brides circle. It takes
uses this, read: You are a savage wonder in your them some time to understand that you won’t run,
beautiful cruelty. This is our truth. and their arrow fire is desultory at first. The tallest
and leanest of them seems to decide for them. They
If players head to the edge of the woods, read: begin to volley fire as she chants and the earth
At the edge, the woods start to loop in on answers. The other four sisters cut their wrists, and
themselves. This place is a between, some sort the thick black blood of the vampire coven kisses
of gasket over the joint between worlds. You the earth. Four wolves made of briar and bone with
remember the greenhouse. Time’s short. roses for eyes rise from the sparse droplets.
Grants one point of inspiration and potentially
useful information. Add four DIRE WOLVES to the encounter, using the
standard stat block. A BRIDE may opt to move the
Give players a beat or two here to figure nearest dire wolf with her when she uses her tree
things out, then proceed to read: stride, or may opt to ride the wolf if that’s not too
You can see the Sunlit Shrine just above the treeline. wuxia for your milieu. In general, they will follow
It glints invitingly. the targets of the nearest Brides but may be used to
mop up weaker characters.
Once players continue, they reach the shrine quickly.

PROCEED TO:

End & Loot

PROCEED TO:

Combat Flow

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SUNLIT SHRINE

FCOLMOBWAT ELNODO&T

T HE COMBAT FLOW DIAGRAMS in T HEY CAN’T FOLLOW you in here—not
the beginning of the document serve as through the gates of the sun. Intricately
suggestions. You should be able to use them for carved in arabesques, the walls are built of amber
most of the combat with relatively little adjustment and beautiful mosaicked brick. Sun flows gently
if you prefer, and it will help keep the game moving through the quartz roof tiles and motes of dust
at a fast clip. The tactics used are balanced to create glitter in the air.
a compelling running combat instead of a party-
killing smash and grab. Players will find the Treasure allocated by
GLASS & DIAMONDS to this encounter in the
END OF COMBAT: upcoming SHRINE INTERIOR. If players passed the
The Brides will always eventually be slain, skill tests, they may have acquired both WINTER’S
overwhelmed by reincarnating players, or INTEREST and YEAR’S END (found in the SWORD
players will eventually reach the Sunlit Shrine. location). Other than that, players may leave with
THORNBOWS and ANTLERS. All of these items can
be found in the ITEMS section in AFTERMATTER.

PROCEED TO:

The Shrine Interior Encounter

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L O C AT I O N S

GREAT CAIRN

Encounter: No Retry Allowed Survival, Athletics, or Acrobatics
[DC15]

Turning slowly around, you see the trees lean away to form a large still clearing. Atop a little hill, there’s
a tall stone spire, with a cairn piled around its base. It rises a bit above the trees and it towers at the
exact center of the meadow, almost like the trees are dodging the slow daily sweep of its shadow. The
stones stacked around the central menhir have been here so long that weathering almost hides the clean
long cuts of the stone blocks. Ahead, past the cairn, the bone-white broken flagstones of an ancient road
run deeper into the cold, still woods.

GERTRUDA hijacks the DM’s narration here, talking directly to players. This is not explicitly called out to
players, but using Gertruda’s character voice if possible, note the changing tenses and read the following:

A little voice like the turning of pages, all cliffhanger sibilants and seductive hum, says, “This was the
Svalich Forest of Barovia. You are not alone, for better and worse. This place belongs to the Brides.” Far
ahead, you can see the suggestion of a break in the mists, and a beam of sunlight to the north. It’s as good
a destination as any, and carved on the side of the cairn’s spire is a giant sun over a shrine that reaches
up like a delicate hand. That’s promising, isn’t it? There’s more written on that monument, but you would
need to get closer to read it.

Dropping Gertruda’s character voice, continue:

The pine forest around you is silent. The few ash and boxelder trees sprinkled among the spruce are
weighed down with the red and gold leaves of autumn. The dim sun is mostly hidden by clouds, and only a
spare ray or two breaks through to dapple the clearing. Time feels short, the sun hangs low, and there’s an
ozone crackle to the air. Thanks to the cairn, it should be possible to find your way back here from a good
distance away if you need to. What do you do?

Players have access to the ANCIENT ROAD immediately. Set a five minute timer, as pacing here matters.
There’s time for a few character beats, but the vampire Brides would be delighted to interrupt a touching
moment. Some groups may opt to proceed immediately to the ANCIENT ROAD, but this should not be
actively encouraged. After five minutes, or if players begin to investigate the cairn, read the following
before running the skill tests:

They come from the trees: five antlered figures in furred armor, skin so pale that it reflects the dull light of
the sun. The clouds break, too conveniently for comfort, spilling hot sunshine across the clearing. These
vampires pull up short, baring fangs in fury. Oddly, the smallest one eyes you with real pity as she draws a
bow of thorns. Arrows slam into the ground around you as the Brides volley fire. As you take shelter, you
have a moment to plan.

Run the skill test. Players need at least one success to inspect the cairn. They may retry the skill test
repeatedly. As players inspect the cairn, read the following:

The cairn is a waymarker and a cenotaph. Five familiar figures with intricate braids and antlers are carved
on it, one on each face of the waymarker. Weathering has robbed the carvings of fine detail over the
centuries, but they are undeniably depicting the Brides.

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If players can read Druidic, read:

Dense writing in Druidic records the history of an ancient druidic order. The last entries describe the rise
of a dark and beautiful king who strides the land as a glorious wolf.

Otherwise, read:

The writing is Druidic. Unfortunately, the secrets of this language are closed to you.

Finally:

You could use the sharp rise of the cairn as a sort of guide. After a bit of experimentation that costs you
some arrow grazes, you find that the woods don’t turn you back until you lose sight of it. Maybe there’s
something secret inside that range?

0 SUCCESSES:

The arrow fire seems endless, volleys of five or ten shots in tight groupings. Some land true and force you
to pull back hard. You might need to get out of here fast.
Players each take 2d4 piercing damage, as they’re pelted with arrows. Only the ANCIENT ROAD is
available to them as they will be harried away from the other routes. Players can retry the tests, but face
another chance to get pincushioned as a result.

1 SUCCESS:

The arrow fire seems endless, but peters out quickly once you take cover. They’ll probably pick it up again
if you stick your head out too much. There are runes inscribed on the cairn. You can study them from here.
The player who made the successful test takes 1d4+1 piercing damage from a glancing shot. Players gain
access to the OSSIFIED DRYAD path if they inspect the cairn. Players can retry the tests, but face another
chance to get pincushioned as a result.

2 SUCCESSES:

It’s like they’re trying to herd your attention as much as harm you. As they vanish into the forest, you
notice there are a number of hidden paths. Inspecting the cairn might tell you more.
Players gain access to the OSSIFIED DRYAD and SWORD paths, assuming they inspect the cairn.
The Brides retreat to plan.

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ANCIENT ROAD

Encounter: Yes 2 Round Skirmish Athletics, Perception, Nature,
Stealth [DC16]

T he ancient marble of this road is broken by roots and pitted by rain. Trees overhang the road and in a
few places have burst up through the center of it. In the distance, you see a curl of unkind mist.

Run skill checks.

Encounter: ROAD RAGE
The Brides will keep distance from the players if at all possible, and individual Brides may tree stride away if
things look grim. They always retreat after 2 rounds, dashing away over difficult forest terrain.

0 SUCCESSES:

You are being paced through the forest. You lose them briefly, but then there is a storm of arrows and teeth.
Start ROAD RAGE. Players place themselves on the map first, then Brides place themselves in response.

1 SUCCESS:

You catch sight of a different route through the woods as you move carefully down the broken road. You
also catch sight of five great wolves closing fast. One bounds up a tree, where she reverts into a tall figure
that is rapidly becoming familiar. Cruelty overcomes indifference, and her eyes burn with stolen light.

Players gain access to the FOREST LAKE path, but must complete ROAD RAGE first. Players and Brides
alternate placing themselves on the map; to do so, first place a Bride on the map, then the players pick who
places their character. This is repeated until all Brides and characters are placed.

2 SUCCESSES:

Stealth, luck, and a canny eye give you a chance to spot not just a hidden route but also the lurking
vampires. You have a moment to decide how this goes.

Players can opt out of ROAD RAGE, and gain access to the FOREST LAKE. If they choose ROAD RAGE,
the Brides place first, then the players. This likely leads to a Bride having to use tree stride or possibly even
a kill. That’s intended; success bears rewards.

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OSSIFIED DRYAD

Encounter: No One Retry Religion, Investigation, Acrobatics
[DC17]

Y ou find your way to something like a sinkhole that drains into a giant forest lake. Stairs lead down to
the lake shore and cliffs form a natural boundary here. Not far past the top of the cliffs, you see the
beginning of a mountain’s rise. Set into the cliffs is a great statue covered in roots, red lichen, and cold-
weather mosses. A dryad has been carved here, perhaps a hundred and forty feet tall. Her rocky shoulder is
pierced with a great steel arrow, slowly rusting away.

Players may not opt to stay long enough to take the skill challenge here. The FOREST LAKE is accessible
either way. If they do opt to take the skill tests, read:

As you linger here, you see one of the wolves trot up thoughtfully. The albino beast sits on her haunches,
examining the statue for a while before letting out a forlorn howl. As she howls, the vampire slowly stands up,
as though only a trick of the light made her look like a wolf. The little Bride is still howling. Better move fast.

If players attempt to interact with the arrow, use magic on the dryad, or otherwise investigate the great dryad
deeply, read the following:

Oh mighty lords of ash, champions of summer. I see you, though I am gone. I know you, though I am dead.
Not all wrongs can be righted, shining ones. She does not speak with a voice. There are images, logograms
made of snowflakes and roots. Silence. Daughters. Parity. Equilibrium. Death. Go.

If the villain is Strahd, read:

A last flashing symbol in fire, the mark of the Vistani, noble giants in their fortress ships.

If the villain is Irena, read:

A final mark, transmitted at great effort. A wolf’s head is drawn roughly in sap. It does not feel like a warning.

This counts as a success.

0 SUCCESSES:

The Brides step into the clearing around the cenote, called by the winter-thin one. They draw their bows.
You could rack your brain longer, but the cost is going to be sharp.

Players can retry the tests, but will face another volley of arrows if they do. To retry, players each take 2d4
piercing damage.

1 SUCCESS:

There’s a little trellised arbor, shaded with roses, near the dryad’s feet. You find shelter there, and it seems
like there might be a path up, but it’s so worn down that it’s hard to pick out. You’ve some time here to
look, though, if you want. The Brides seem unwilling to get close to the dryad statue.

Players can retry the test once, but cannot access the WINDY CLIFFS with just one success. One player
gains inspiration.

2 SUCCESSES:

It’s hard to convince yourself she’s a statue. The rain has carried rust down her, leaving something very
much like a trail of blood from the arrow. You stay hunkered down at the little shrine by the dryad’s feet,
waiting for arrows. None come. There’s a path up from the shrine, almost invisible. The longer you spend in
the shrine, the clearer it gets, like the dryad wants you to come up.

Players can access the WINDY CLIFFS. One player gains inspiration.

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SWORD

Encounter: No No Retries Athletics, Sleight of Hand,
Performance [DC17]

A rim of stone at the top of a small tree-covered hillock. A well? No, it’s the top of some buried
monument, tilted and swallowed by hill and root. Inset in the stone oculus is a disk of amber, with a
sword below its surface. Something calls you to pluck it out.

If players get no successes, there’s no way to get the sword in a timely fashion without expending magical
resources. They can come back if they trigger DEATH DO US PART.

Success nets the players the blade, YEAR’S END. Until they identify it, they’ll have no idea what it can do.

0 SUCCESSES:

The surface of the amber doesn’t yield at all, and you don’t have time to chip the sword out.

Nothing nonmagical will serve here. If a player has shatter, two castings of shatter or one upcasting will
crack it. Other tools may work as well, but there must be a resource cost.

1 SUCCESS:

You reach into, through, past the stone. Strength of self, a cleverness—it’s hard to know what it wanted,
but you have it.

Success nets the players the blade.

2 SUCCESSES:

Easy for you. You tilt your head, see the amber as a kind of very slow water, and pluck the sword out. As
a group, you look up to find the albino vampire watching you. She starts in surprise as you pull the sword
out. “What will you do with that?” She asks, and there’s a deep curiosity layered into her voice.

Players can speak briefly with Winter here. She won’t provide much in the way of detail, and only answers
one or two questions, but this could be very useful for helping players get grounded. This close, it’s clear
that she’s thin almost to the point of starvation. Mark down that they have WINTER’S INTEREST.

Winter does not remember this, but YEAR’S END was her weapon once. Players might intuit this if they
learn her name, but she’s unable to confirm it. Attacking her will cause her to tree stride away, and in fact
she keeps one hand on a tree for the entire interaction. This does not consume her tree stride for the day,
but will tell characters that she’s capable of it. Useful.

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DEEP WOODS

Encounter: Yes The Brides fight until Perception, Stealth, Initiative Check
one of them is destroyed [DC16]

There’s a moment here to turn back, look for another route.
Players can turn back before the skill tests. If they opt to continue, run the skill tests immediately,
noting the results but not reading them. First, read:

The mist bites at you, cold and haughty with dark promise. It’s so cold your lungs ache. This might have
been the path you found, but you suspect with grim frustration that this is the path that sought you—
hunted you. The wood between the worlds is a hungry place.

Now read the result of the skill test.

0 SUCCESSES:

They fall upon you, sudden and cruel, dropping from unexpected angles and with astonishing speed.

The Brides get a surprise round, and will all open with entangle. This is as bad as it sounds. Go to
COMBAT FLOW.

1 SUCCESS:

The Brides dive at you from above, as you step back into a defensive formation. You’ll have to fight through.

The Brides and the players alternate placing themselves in combat. Generally, opponents should not be
closer than 15 feet or the combat will swing hard. Go to COMBAT FLOW.

2 SUCCESSES:

You see them first. You could turn back or throw yourself into combat.

The players can opt to return to the ANCIENT ROAD, or begin combat. If they opt for combat, the Brides
place first, then the players. Generally, opponents should not be closer than 15 feet or the combat will
swing hard. Go to COMBAT FLOW.

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FOREST LAKE

Encounter: No History, Any Seafaring, Survival, Investigation [DC16]

T he forest opens up into a giant alpine lake. The prows of old boats jut from the water, some quite large.
This place is silent as a mirror. The surface of the lake is criss-crossed by stepping-stone paths. There’s
no sign of the Brides, and one of the ruined ships at the shore looks like it might offer enough cover to
catch your breath. On the far end of the lake, backed against rocky cliffs, is a strange shrine. Each of the
seven minaret pillars around the core building is built of quartz, and thin bolts of sunlight dance over them
from tiny breaks in the clouds.

Players have access to the OSSIFIED DRYAD and the SHRINE DOOR. This location is likely to take the
longest, as it’s the least directed. Try to draw out a couple of character moments here. Players don’t need
to run the skill test unless they wish to rest. If they don’t, Midsummer makes only a single attack, picking
the weakest character.

This serves as an unusually well-disguised catch-up mechanic. If players fail, the Brides will likely kill the
weakest characters, they’ll get a potion of healing, and then the players will take a short rest. If players are
doing okay, they get softened up, and if they’re doing really well, they get hit aggressively before they take
a short rest.

If players are really struggling, use the 0 success outcome. It will quixotically help the most.

If the Brides attack, they do so from the strange web of stepping stones. Clever players might manage
to isolate one. If they do, let them. She’s probably dead—maybe she should have stayed near the trees?
Arrogance and immortality go hand in hand, and it’s important that the monsters make prideful errors.
Draw it out in a bit of dialogue if you can.

0 SUCCESSES:

Players find a potion of superior healing in the wreck. The Brides make up to 6 attacks, dealing at most two
hits per character. They may attack the same character up to 4 times. The players get a short rest.

1 SUCCESS:

After the rest is finished, The Brides make up to 6 attacks, preferring the players with the most hit points
and dealing at most two hits per character. They may attack the same character up to 4 times until they hit
at most twice.

2 SUCCESSES:

The Brides make up to 8 attacks, dealing at most two hits per character. They may attack the same
character up to 4 times until they hit at most twice. The players get a short rest.

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WINDY CLIFFS

Encounter: No No Retries Athletics, Acrobatics, Stealth,
Survival [DC17]

Y ou’ve made it up the Dryad’s path, to the narrow windy cliffs. To your right, the granite mountainside
runs up even higher than your precarious perch, up away into mist. To your left, a sheer drop. Ahead,
you can see the minarets of the shrine, each of the seven pulling a thin beam of sunlight from the clouds.

Depending on your milieu and how hard you want to lean into weird horror, you may want to read:
This high and this close to the edge of this bubble of real space, you can see the barest hint of what’s above
the clouds. There’s another world on the far side of them, its ground high above you: a land of featureless
green grass and rolling hills, maybe. It’s hard to make it out between the very limited vantage point and
the vertigo.

Finally, read:
From below, the tallest of the vampires watches you with intent and malice. She begins to chant, working
strange circles in the air. A storm brews above you in the strange clouds and the wind kicks up hard.
Lightning licks out towards you.

Each player must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw. Each character takes 8d6 lightning damage on a
failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Now run the skill checks.

0 SUCCESSES:

You just can’t climb quickly enough. You are blown off the rocky face of the cliff by lightning, and when
you persist, the bolts strike the same spot over and over until an avalanche devours any path forward.

Players must return to the OSSIFIED DRYAD, but two players gain inspiration.

1 SUCCESS:

A cavalcade of lightning savages the cliff. You take a lower route, out of sight, and find yourself at the
entrance to the shrine—staring right at the Brides. If you can get the door open, you’ll be home free. For
now, it looks like a fight.

Players gain access to the SHRINE DOOR.

2 SUCCESSES:

A second bolt of lightning slams nearby. Ozone crackles. The cliff shakes. But you make it to the end of the
narrow rocky ledge. Here, behind the shrine, there are markings. You find a hidden route and stairs that
lead down into the Shrine. You can get a view from the slim arrow slits of the drama below as you head in.

Players gain access to THE SHRINE. Go to ESCAPE! immediately.

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SUNLIT SHRINE

SHRINE DOOR

Encounter: Yes Final Fight Any. DC may adjust +/- 1, given
justification [DC16]

The door of the shrine is intricate, great woven roots and quartz rods forming a strange mandala. In the
center, a handprint. The Brides step gingerly from the woods into the clearing around the door. You’re
trapped here together by your inimical needs. You must get through; they must stop you. They don’t have
time for caution or retreat.

When you rest your hand on the print, the vines begin to slowly unweave. Is there anything that could
speed this up?

Players must keep one character by the door to open it. Each round, they may designate one square to
become sunlight as a lance of golden light punches out of the heavens, drawn to their will. This happens at
initiative 20. Go to COMBAT FLOW after the skill tests. Players can use any skills they wish, provided they
offer some hazy justification. The door responds to force of will more than anything.

0 SUCCESSES:

The players will need five rounds to get the door open.

1 SUCCESS:

The players will need four rounds to get the door open.

2 SUCCESSES:

The players will need three rounds to get the door open.

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ACT I: FIGHo nTe Mn iEg h,tI'sMt r aRhIdGHT HERE

SHRINE INTERIOR
SUMMARY
P R E PA R AT I O N
THE INTERIOR OF the SUNLIT SHRINE serves
as the last gasp of air before the plunge into 1. Print the map and review the labels.
Ravenloft proper. It’s a place for players to get 2. Read THE ENTRANCE, THE HENGE, and the
their bearings, discover a few clues that will be
relevant later, and even briefly rest. As a result, this CENTRAL STAIRS.
encounter takes the form of a traditional map for 3. Review the remaining points of interest.
players to explore. As they move through the space,
they’ll encounter a few points of entrance before DENIZENS
eventually departing through the CENTRAL ROOM.
None, though players will find traces of GERTRUDA
everywhere. This is their first opportunity to
connect with her as a person, by seeing how she
lived and what she cared about. They’ll also find
evidence of their fated ally, as determined by the
current villain.

ACT I: FIGHo nTe Mn iEg h,tI'sMt r aRhIdGHT HERE

GATE

DOWN

Shrine Map

ACT I: FIGHo nTe Mn iEg h,tI'sMt r aRhIdGHT HERE
SHRINE INTERIOR

PINOITNETRS OEFST THE HENGE

THE ENTRANCE Carved topaz and tourmaline form a base, a sort of
hill with abstracted grass patterned onto it. Atop
Warm and quiet. This place is safe. the low hillock, there is a small model of a granite
henge with seven main monoliths. Each is carved
If players came from the SUNLIT SHRINE encounter on the side that faces inward. The iconography is
and did not defeat the Brides, read: abstract. An iron fang, a snowflake, a leaf inlaid in
When you look out again, the Brides are long gone, green jade. A leaf inlaid in ruby and gold. A circle
unwilling to engage in a sniper’s duel. of onyx with a triangle of white jade in the bottom,
corded in. A thundercloud in mithril. Opposite the
If players came from the DOG DAYS encounter, read: fang, a heart in onyx and lapis. Then a gap where an
The little vampire watches you thoughtfully from a eighth stone would complete the circle.
rocky perch just outside the sunlight. You thought
you’d lost her, but she’s here nonetheless. The fallen STRAHD ARC
druid just watches you. Then she leaves.
A mote of light hangs in the air nearby. Touching it
sends it gently sliding along some invisible sphere.
You can move it around the scene but no closer.
The shadows change under the light.

If Irena is the villain, If Strahd is the villain, If players have the SMALL STEEL LANTERN, it fits
read: read: smoothly over the mote, turning it into a spotlight.
There’s a small bloodied You can smell a curious Positioning it so that light just breaks over Strahd’s
handprint here, blood and smoky scent from deeper iron fang monolith will begin unlocking the ethereal
sap, like someone barely inside, like burnt glass gate far below.
made it and leaned hard and sage.
on this wall. Muddied If players have read the Tome, then they know what
pawmarks lead deeper into to do. Any small object with a hole in it will work if
the shrine. they can’t find the SMALL STEEL LANTERN.

MOSAIC WALLS If players have defeated Strahd’s Hate and spend
enough time manipulating the diorama, they’ll pop
The walls along the outer rim of the shrine are a open the compartment on the Henge Room Wall
mix of bricks and amber blocks, forming strange by accident.
mosaics in red, brown, and gold.
IRENA ARC
INNER WALLS
A little grey mote hangs in the air nearby, casting a
Carved in ornate arabesques, you think at first that sad muted light. Touching it sends it gently sliding
these are wholly abstract. There’s some semblance along some invisible sphere. You can move it around
of figure to them, growing more intricate as you the scene but no closer. Nothing changes as you
move towards the back of the shrine. move it.

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SHRINE INTERIOR

HENGE ROOM WALL hearth and sun gods that every village reveres at
some point or another. A few are larger, and among
The arabesques here take on realistic forms, then those you find the Morninglord and a woman in
curve away from the walls to form full sculptural black armor.
pieces. At the center, a titan of a man, armored
in exotic plate mail: sleek and stylized, with sharp Planar travelers will know her as the Night Mother:
long spines that jut from the back like fangs. Eight sometimes lover of the Morninglord, sometimes
rubies decorate his blade. His cape is rendered in absolute jerk, and the last patron of lost causes.
black iron and flows smoothly into a giant wolf, also
worked in iron. Eight rubies decorate a diadem on If Strahd is the villain, read:
the wolf’s brow. The smell of sage and glass lingers heavy in front of
the armored woman. The shrine has been swept of
Clearly, this is Strahd. On the wall behind him, dust and a stack of ghostly coins sit as an offering,
there are five symbols. A snowflake. A leaf inlaid in flickering slightly like a candle flame. The woman’s
green jade. A leaf inlaid in ruby and gold. A circle expression is far softer than you thought at first—
of onyx with a triangle of silver in the bottom. A gentle, even. As you watch, the fine quick rapier in
thundercloud in mithril. the statue’s hand flickers too.

In the Strahd Arc: If Irena is the villain, read:
Two figures kneel before him, an abstracted man A little maple leaf carved in amber sits in front of
and an angular woman. the Morninglord. The floor is muddy here, but both
A DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check the Morninglord and the armored woman have been
reveals that the order of the henges and the carefully dusted.
heraldry behind Strahd is different. In fact,
the henge monoliths can be gently lifted free LEFT REAR ROOM
and moved. Lining them up correctly causes a
hidden compartment in the diorama to pop open, A little monastic bedroom, well-appointed. Books
revealing a SMALL STEEL LANTERN inside. It will cover most of the surfaces, mostly fiction. There’s
just fit over the mote of light. a heap of romance novels by the bed, lightly dog-
eared but well kept.
In the Irena arc:
An angular abstraction of a woman in lapis holds THE TREASURE predicted by the Fortune Teller for
up fists of jade. Between her and Strahd, a plaintive the SUNLIT SHRINE is found here for the group
figure kneels, sword at his side. that completed it. It’s wrapped in a fine red scarf
The compartment is already open if the players and tied with a green ribbon. It sits on the bed in
check it. In the Irena arc, this diorama serves little plain sight. If it’s uncollected, read: A wrapped
purpose except to ground the major characters and bundle sits on the bed, apparently left there in haste.
remind players of the information from the Fortune
Teller. Irena used the hidden lantern to open the Players can take a short rest here if they did not
tomb when she killed Strahd. take one at the Lake. If they have rested already:
There is a deep basso roar from far below. You
INNER RING know, maybe things are a little more urgent than
you’d hoped.
Small alcoves dot the inside wall here. They hold
countless little gods, statues to the various tiny If Irena is the villain, read:
The bed is surprisingly rumpled, but the rest of the

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SHRINE INTERIOR

room’s dusty. The floor looks like someone cleaned it Display the Locket of Sesame illustration.
recently, too. There’s a little bit of fur at the foot of
the bed, and one of the books looks slightly chewed.

If Strahd is the villain, read:
The scent of sage is only barely present here.

Finally, a passive Perception of 15 or higher will
reveal a potion of superior healing tucked in a little
alcove, and a little golden lily.

RIGHT REAR ROOM

A small study. It’s mostly full of books; in fact, CENTRAL ROOM
there are hundreds and hundreds of books here,
some by authors you’ve never heard of with strange The center of the room draws your attention first.
soft-spine bindings. Lush illustrations of men and A pool of molten lead, doused in sunlight, surrounds
women carrying short strange wands astride silvery a staircase leading down. You could reach it by
spelljammers are a staple. There’s an awful lot of crossing a little causeway. Eight sconces line the
books about vampires, too. Inexplicably, there’s a walls, but only five hold torches. A few of them
good amount of crossover between the two genres. burn with a blue light. The causeway is amber,
carved with the Barovian coat of arms. This likely
If Strahd is the villain, read: leads to Ravenloft.
Someone’s been here—someone who left no
footprints, no marks in the dust, but the scent of The five torch settings for the puzzle in Irena’s
charred herbs and salt and glass lingers. Books Cenotaph are found here. The lock combination
on vampire anatomy have been pulled out and varies from run to run, so feel free to leave it
carefully annotated. There’s a little note here. To abstract. The canonical setting for the first run can
you. It simply reads: “I’ll see you below. Be careful: be found in THE CRYPTS encounter in the section
Vampire Lords have few of the frailties of their on IRENA’S TOMB, which details the puzzle. This
lesser kin.” It’s signed with an ornate E. puzzle must be completed to complete the run.

If players spend time reading up on vampires, two When players venture below, go to AMBER
players gain inspiration. DEPTHS encounter if this is the first group to pass
through. Otherwise, go to TOTALLY SAFE GHOST
Inquisitive characters find a locket, a copy of Bram CANISTERS encounter. There’s no other way out,
Stoker’s Dracula, and a tarot deck capable of practically speaking, but players will benefit from
casting augury once per long rest. These are wedged fully exploring and considering the shrine.
in a nook under a copy of Liane The Wayfarer. Give them time.

If players inspect the locket, read the following:
The simple golden locket is etched with what might
have been a lily, but the passage of fingertips has
worn it nearly smooth. Inside, there’s a cameo of a
woman sketched in a tender hand.

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DOG DAYS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUMMARY............................................ 126 COMBAT FLOW..................................... 137
PREPARATIONS............................... 126 BAROVIAN FEYPACK........................ 138
DENIZENS....................................... 126
KEY LOOT........................................ 126 SCENES............................................... 139
TONE & TYPE................................... 126 INTRO: BRANCHING QUEST.............. 139
SCALING.......................................... 126 COMBAT FLOW.................................. 141
THE PLUNGE.................................... 14
SPECIAL RULES................................... 127 SHE LOVES SURPRISES.................... 141
THE DEAD REACHES............................ 128
OUTRO SCENES................................... 142
DREAD DOMAIN OF HUNGER............ 128 OUTRO: HOUNDED TO HELL............. 142
FEYPACT WEREWOLVES...................... 128 OUTRO: DOGGED FEROCITY............. 142
OUTRO: GOT MUNCHED.................... 142
HISTORY.......................................... 128 END & LOOT..................................... 143
NOW................................................ 129 THE WOODS BELOW........................ 143
DESCRIPTION.................................. 129 ENTERING THE SHRINE................... 144
ADDITIONAL TACTICS....................... 129
SESAME, JADESTONE DRYAD.............. 130 LOCATIONS.......................................... 145
WHAT SHE IS................................... 130 CROWN............................................ 145
WHAT SHE WANTS........................... 130 STAVE CHURCH RUINS..................... 146
WHAT SHE KNOWS...........................131 THE VIEW.........................................147
CORE ENCOUNTER FLOW..................... 132 NIDHOGG'S REST.............................. 148
HUNT MAPS.......................................... 133 CONVERSING WITH BRUIN & KER....148
INITIAL PLAYER MAP........................ 134 LAST LANDING................................ 150
RUNNABLE GM MAP......................... 135 THE BENT BOUGH.............................151
MAP...................................................... 135 THE ROOTS...................................... 153
AMBER STAIRS................................. 154

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SUMMARY DENIZENS

S ENT BY GERTRUDA TO cross into Ravenloft FEYPACT WEREWOLVES
proper, players must navigate the Dead Reaches SESAME, JADESTONE DRYAD
as they struggle with mighty feypact werewolves. BRUIN & KER
They also have to decide if they’re willing to kill the
pack of wolves for simply being hungry. This is the KEY LOOT
first point where players have significant choice,
and the HUNT RULES allow the appearance of OPENER
MITHRIL LILY
MASTER TINKER’S KIT

significant latitude. Ultimately, the players must TONE & TYPE
either find a non-combat solution, winnow down
the werewolves, or force their way through. DOG DAYS has a lot of weight to pull. It needs
to establish a sense of place, recreate the feeling
P R E PA R AT I O N S of approaching the castle and the sense of rising
doom, and it needs to do it in two hours instead
The following points are the minimum concepts and of two hundred. As a result, this is an encounter
prep that a GM needs to run this encounter. While that is fundamentally about narrowing options and
we recommend a detailed reading of the entire collapsing expectations. Players spend almost the
encounter, if you’ve got to rush or you plan to wing entire encounter alone, except for brief contact
it, here’s what we think you need to do: with NPCs and the aggressions of the werewolves.
Importantly, this offers players more than one
1. Ensure that you have selected your boss arc. way to be a hero, so it’s quite possible to help the
a. This encounter must match the chosen arc werewolves instead of killing them.

as it is on the critical path for recovery
modes later.

b. Ensure both GMs agree if running in two This is a hunt where the cat and the mouse are
party mode. loosely interchangeable, more so than the SUNLIT
SHRINE or STRAHD’S HATE. This leads to a
2. Print the Wolves and review their abilities. fidgety, tense, and brutal stalk through the World
Tree where players are repeatedly asked to decide if
3. Review the suggested encounter flow, and skim it’s time to give up on a peaceful solution. If players
the Intro scene. dally, they will face the wolves before they are ready.

4. Review the HUNT RULES, found just after SCALING
the Rites.

5. Print at least one copy of each map.

6. Print and review the COMBAT FLOW. This encounter helps calibrate the level of scaling
future encounters will require. As a result, it has
7. Review the rest of the encounter. built-in “pressure gates” that can be used by players
to exit the threatening phase of the encounter.
8. Print a selection of premade characters from Based on the flow through this encounter, you can
the Accessible set. You may need them for speed comfortably assess the power and versatility of the
of play. party’s initial character balance. While this isn’t a

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DOG DAYS

perfect tool due to the reincarnation system, it’s still indicate that players are simply less interested in the
a powerful first-pass measure of power. particulars of combat. Either way, we recommend
down-scaling encounters going forward unless they
RSPUELCEISAL rally measurably. Generally, each encounter has
some scaling options included.
THIS ENCOUNTER USES HUNT RULES, a
light layer of mechanics intended to keep WHEN A CHARACTER DIES:
combat short and break up the cadence. During this As your friend dies,
encounter, we strongly recommend that skill test
DCs be announced rather than hidden information. 1ST One wolf leaps away, carrying the
DEATH broken body of your ally. Fattened
HUNT GOAL as much on violence as meat, the
2ND wolves are starting to change—
Players win if they reach the Niflheim Road or, DEATH to bloat.
potentially, the Bent Bough. Alternatively, players
may win if they kill seven wolves. What falls upon you, what lurches
out of the night? These are wolves
HUNT ALTERNATIVES in name only, the arms of their
feast struggling and stretching
The HUNT RULES do add additional complexity. through them. They walk on stolen
Unfortunately, the Yggdrasil Run cannot be legs as they bear down on the
converted to a traditional encounter, unlike the broken body.
SUNLIT SHRINE encounter.
3RD They walk erect, their hybrid
CANIDS KNOW SATISFACTION DEATH wretchedness a clotted mass of
shapes. Each werewolf is a sea of
mouths. Their work is fast and
awful. Your friend is gone
in seconds.

4TH It would be wrong to call them
DEATH unnatural: hungry cambrian
shapes, simian limbs and teeth
formed in the suggestion of wolves.
They gallop away; four was enough.

The encounter automatically ends if four characters
die, as an insurance mechanism against problematic
outcomes or massive slowdown. In either encounter,
when a character dies, reference the block below.
The normal respawn rules apply here.

It’s a good idea to note the number of deaths.
In general, this encounter should cause no more
than one character death; more than two character
deaths indicates that the party is meaningfully
unprepared for combat, and four is a bad sign.
This may be a character build issue, but may also

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RTHEAE CDHEAEDS FEYPACT

WEREWOLVES
Doomed To Hunger

DREAD DOMAIN OF HUNGER HISTORY

C ONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, Ravenloft T HE FEYPACT ONCE SERVED the druidic
is the Dread Domain of Despair, not Hunger. nobility of old Barovia. Servants of law, if not
It’s an easy mistake to make, given that it’s best always good, these mighty lycanthropes draw their
known as the home of Strahd Von Zarovich, who power not from a curse but from a pact made with
is all about tasty player characters. Ultimately, the ancient land itself. As Strahd’s power became
Ravenloft is a gothic passion play about predation, absolute, he corrupted first the nobility, then the
pride, and despair. The Dead Reaches are a place archdruids, before finally coming to utterly master
of hunger, desolation, and quiet. The Reaches exist the land itself. Though they resisted, the feypact
now as a transitory place, an ill-trafficked highway werewolves were bound by their nature to obey. For
of sorts between the various Domains of Dread. their resistance, they were branded with the arcane
It is important to note that they are, themselves, mark of Ravenloft’s Crest and cast into servitude.
a Domain of Dread. This means players are still
trapped, which they’ll likely begin to intuit in When the Dark Powers anointed Irena as a true
the ROOTS. challenger, the wolves were forced to serve two
opposite and absolute masters. This drove them to
The Dread Lord of Hunger is Níðhöggr—which madness, and they slaughtered each other in the
is rendered here as Nidhogg for the sake of thousands. Entire villages vanished in an ocean
searchability. The serpent is used here as a cipher of carnage. Those who survived were despised by
for loss, desolation, and the emptiness of endings. both Irena and Strahd. Too useful to destroy, they
It’s a lot of work to ask a single big snake to do, were banished. Irena cursed them to an endless vigil
and as a result, it’s best to lean on environmental along the few planar routes that led to Barovia, now
storytelling and SESAME if players find her. Some the Domain of Despair. Covered in the blood of
groups may not encounter the serpent except in their loved ones, these survivors were driven into
passing, and that’s okay. If they’re interested and go the mists by the archdruids. They have eked out a
looking, they’ll find it. If not, they may not. living among the forgotten joints of the universe for
hundreds of years.
This is actually fine, as the heart of the encounter is
two-fold: The Curse, Verbatim

• The Dead Reaches are not your problem. The Wolves of Despair are bound to serve the land.

• The werewolves absolutely are your problem. The land is bound to serve its Lord.

While the strength of the land holds,

you will hold its borders. I cast you out.

By the sin of my hands, you will hunger.

This is my truth.

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NOW • The young woman leans on a huge branch, fur
braided with amber beads. She’s staring into the
The curse doesn’t care who the Lord currently mists at that distant castle. She turns and says
is, but it does wax and wane with their unholy simply, “Call me Thistle.”
strength and the strength of the land. This pack
in the Dead Reaches is generations removed from As Hybrids
those first damned souls. Their ancient home almost • The elf whispers “Runrunrunrrrrrrrrrrrr—” as
forgotten, they are still cursed to serve. As the
Lord of Despair begins to awaken, the curse grows the curse devours him. His mouth is soon unfit
stronger and has begun to devour them. Driven for speech.
by fear and starvation, they will attack the players
when able, but a peaceful solution is possible right • The giant’s muzzle is garlanded with braided
now. If players complete three acts of kindness, the vines, and he weeps as he pounces.
curse abates enough for the wolves to permit them
through. If this seems like the logic of a gothic fairy • The brand glows bright and evil magic drips from
tale, that’s because it is. See SPECIAL RULES for huge claws as the wolf rises onto its back legs.
more details. Otherwise, players will end up killing
most of the pack as they progress through the • The starving man twists and changes in
Dead Reaches. wrenching stop-motion. The royal crest of
Barovia burns brightly on the wolf-headed
As a small aside, the brand is not hereditary, but brow. It has no words left to offer you as it
the pack is driven by evil magic to kill any wolf who lunges pitifully.
reaches adulthood without being branded. In this
way, it is ontopathogenic. • Huge muscles tense and strain under loose fur as
this hybrid nightmare leaps and howls.
DESCRIPTION
As Wolves
Scenes that rely on descriptions have them. If you • The giant crest burnt into this huge wolf’s
need additional descriptions or players haven’t
noticed the brand, those that follow below are head is that of Barovia, of Ravenloft—a
useful. The wolves aren’t aggressive unless they are servant of Strahd!
in hybrid or wolf form.
• The crest-brand has taken one of this wolf’s eyes,
As Humanoids and its huge teeth barely fit in its clacking maw.
Used for non-combat or diplomatic opportunities,
generally those that can lead to a step towards peace. • Starvation has made a patchy ruin of this
werewolf’s sleek black coat, hanging rumpled
• The lean elven hunter trails you at a distance. on his frame as he falls to all fours. His eyes do
He carries no weapons except claws. On his not track you as he leaps.
forehead, there is a brand of the Barovian Crest.
• The wolf has begun to gnaw at itself in its
• Famine-lithe, the man watches you in desolate hunger. There is no blood.
silence, listening to your heartbeats. Like the
other werewolves, he has the mark of Ravenloft • Too long of limb, this werewolf drags its back legs
burned into his forehead. as it spiders towards you with careening speed.

ADDITIONAL TACTICS

The wolves rarely focus fire, spreading their
considerable damage around. Narratively, this is
because they are tearing hunks of flesh off the
player characters to eat. It’s not great. Mechanically,

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feypact werewolves always open with hex, and fallen in love with Gertruda, and we see them at the
after their first turn, always respond to damage beginning of their romance.
with hellish rebuke rather than wait for attacks
of opportunity. They rely on their leaping attack WHAT SHE WANTS
to enter and exit combat, and have tremendous
mobility as a result. They use Pact Tactics to Like almost everyone else, she detests the Vampire
aggressively manipulate enemy positions, but Lords of Barovia. Due to the centrality of the Dead
almost never stack hexes on one target. Reaches and the presence of the cursed feypack,
she's at more direct risk than most. As a result,
Finally, they tend to flee after one death, she's willing to be directly helpful to players and will
whimpering and shouting in animal sorrow. go out of her way to prepare them. This manifests
as fielding questions, providing services, and
SESAME, suggesting the Skyway as a possible exit. In general,
she will try to steer players to defeat the Lord of
JDARDYEASDTONE Ravenloft. Despite this, if an adventurer opts to stay
in Last Landing, she will help them get settled.
Nidhogg’s Daughter
She's become romantically interested in Gertruda,
WHAT SHE IS the Lady of Summer, and may give the players a
MITHRIL LILY as a token of this. The Dark Powers
T HE JADESTONE DRYAD is the strange are neutral on this, and will allow players to deliver
outcome of the inseparable relationship of it. Delivering it would upset both the narrative and
the Serpent and the Tree. Her power is rooted in the balance of power, stirring up new drama and
both, and she serves as the mouthpiece for mindless conflicts. Keeping it would create melodrama and
Nidhogg and silent Yggdrasil. Narratively, she might finally drive Sesame from her comfy roost,
unpacks a little of what's happening in the Dead which would be equally delicious.
Reaches and how it relates to Ravenloft. She also
serves as Gertruda’s love interest and you find
references to her smithwork throughout Gertruda’s
living space. Mechanically, she holds access to a
magic bow, one of only a few ranged weapons
available in the module.

She's compassionate, competent, and roughly
the size of a house. Technically, she is a jötunn of
sorts, but that hasn't been relevant in a very long
time. In the timeline of the Dead Reaches, she has
lived through Ragnarök and now aims to spend the
twilight of her universe in her forge among friends.
Over the centuries, she has gradually and quietly

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WHAT SHE KNOWS • Trapped souls get reborn in a cycle.

Sesame knows the history of Yggdrasil intimately, • If players tell her about the greenhouse dream,
but is reluctant to discuss it in detail. She's glad of she'll recognize it as Summer, the Domain
the company, but doesn't exactly relish explaining of Desolation.
that she's basically a manifestation of the World
Tree as lensed through the inchoate dreams of • She may also recognize that their souls are
Nidhogg. That tends to end budding friendships. bound to Summer if a character describes the
If players guess at it, she'll confirm it but try to reincarnation, depending on how they explain.
change topics.
• This may prompt her to give them the Mithril
Like most other creatures, she is bound by arcane Lily even if she doesn't give them the Tinker's
magics that prevent her from naming the Vampire Kit or Opener.
Lord of Ravenloft, and will refer to them only as
Zarovich. • The Lord of Ravenloft is about to awaken.

Beyond that, she knows the following useful • She is extremely worried about this.
information:
• Even if the only consequence is the feypack
• Beware the mists. They obey the Lord. becoming feral monsters, that'd still be terrible.

• This is a Domain of Dread, called the Domain • She reads, rightly, that the Lord might begin to
of Hunger. indulge their expansionist tendencies at last.

• Ravenloft and Barovia are the Domain • The feypack serves the Lord of Barovia.
of Despair.
• They are bound by a dreadful curse.
• The Lord here is Nidhogg.
• It might be possible to reason with them if you
• You can't plane shift out of a Domain of Dread. win their trust with an offering.

• While there are roads in and out of the Dead • Without an offering, they won't be able to
Reaches, this is unique to the Reaches. restrain their hunger, even though they might
wish to.
• The roads always lead to a Domain of Dread.
• The means to break the feypack curse do not
• The roads are not necessarily accessible from exist here.
the other side.
• The Dead Reaches are doomed. This is not the
• Souls get trapped if they die in a domain. players' problem.

• For her, Ragnarök has already happened.

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DOG DAYS

CORE ENCOUNTER FLOW

Read:

INTRO:
BRANCHING QUEST

Hunt Rules

DOG DAYS

HUNT MAP
At any time, if...

Niflheim Road 7 Werewolves 4 or more Players
Reached? Defeated? Players Spoiling for
Downed?
YES a Fight?
YES YES
Read: YES
Read: Read:
OUTRO: Run
HOUNDED OUTRO: OUTRO: GOT
TO HELL! DOGGED MUNCHED COMBAT
FEROCITY FLOW early if
at least 3 players

are hexed.

ACT I: FIGHo nTe Mn iEg h,tI'sMt r aRhIdGHT HERE
DOG DAYS

CORE ENCOUNTER FLOW

Location All connections are bidirectional Location
Name OR Name

Library Will be described only in the text Vault
Dashed connections are hidden

AND
Accessible using the skill checks

Object Entrance Room
Route Character
Locations may include:
• Places or whole routes

• Details of a place
• Key Objects
• Characters

GOAL

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Initial Player Map

The View Crown
Stave Church Ruins

Goal:
Niflheim Road
134

ACT I: FIGHo nTe Mn iEg h,tI'sMt r aRhIdGHT HERE

KEY

All connections are bidirectional
OR

Will be described only in the text

Dashed connections are hidden
AND

Accessible using the skill checks

Runnable GM Map

START

Crown

The View

Last Landing Nidhogg’s Rest Stave Church Ruins
The Roots
SHATTERED BRANCH
THE SKYWAY
GREAT BURL

The Bent Bough
Amber Stairs
Goal:
Niflheim Road

135

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ACT I: FIGHo nTe Mn iEg h,tI'sMt r aRhIdGHT HERE
DOG DAYS

COMBAT FLOW

PRE The following is an example of a combat flow, with each part explained.

NAME
Titles

Precombat preparations can be found here, under PRE, along with the relevant lair actions
if they are not varied.

1 M: This holds a movement plan.
M: Move.
A: This covers the suggested action for the first
turn, denoted by the 1 to the left.

B: This lists the bonus action to be used, if any.

R: This holds a suggested reaction.

Legendary actions will be described in red at the
bottom, generally in order of use with causes.

2

As above, for the second turn. Markers may be
used in the timeline to the left as a way to show
other events.

This feature is not used in this encounter.

R: Reaction.

3

As above, for the third turn, and as a suggestion for turns beyond that.

This is denoted by the dotted arrow leading off page.

This arrow will be solid if a second page is provided.

137

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DOG DAYS

PRE Barovian Feypack

The Cursed Werewolves of Yggdrasil

Active Spells: Players may still be hexed.
Special Passive: Replace any defeated werewolves, up to a maximum of four active
werewolves used for rest of the encounter. This occurs at initiative 20.

1 M: Pull back to lure players out
A: Attack with Howling Leap, moving between of position.
the two highest HP characters. The wolves
prefer martial characters.

B: Hex, no more than 1 per player character.

2 M: Switch to Large form,
A: Focus martial character using Pack Tactics & trap martial character using
repeated bite attacks. body blocking.

B: Pact Tactics, to split martial characters out.

R: Prefer Hellish Rebuke.

3 M: Avoid clumping, switch to
following hexed targets.
B: Rehex if needed, or Pact Tactics.

A, 2 werewolves:
Attack with Howling Leap, targeting lowest HP.

A, 2 werewolves:
Attack with chained bite, targeting hexed target.

R: Prefer Hellish Rebuke.

At Initiative 20, reinforce with one additional werewolf if there are any remaining wolves
from the pool of six that are available.

4 M: Shift to Medium to avoid
area of effect attacks.
B: Pact Tactics to pull a mage.

A: Prefer target of hex, use howling leap to close.

R: Opportunity attack if possible.

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DOG DAYS

SCENES A voice whispers to you, sleek and predatory
and feminine:
Below are the narrative components used by the “Welcome to the Shadow of Ragnarök.
encounter flow. Where possible, each notes down Your destination is the Niflheim Road far below,
the probable next vignettes. LOOT, MONSTERS, and which can be persuaded to lead you into
CONDITIONS are bolded in this section. Content Ravenloft proper.”
intended to be read aloud verbatim is italicized.
Set a 5-minute timer, as there’s time for a character
Q U E STBINRTARNOC:HING beat or two here. At the end of that time, read:
The dim sun never moves, the harsh cold never
Y OU STEP FROM THE GATE into deep gloam, lets up, and the only real light is whatever you’ve
barely given texture by the dull red light of brought with you. The temperature’s not quite
a distant sun passing through endless foliage. You freezing, maybe 5 degrees above.The wind is
stand on a branch of the World Tree, somewhere picking up, whipping hard against the branch. It
near the trunk—maybe halfway up. You’re in the keeps rising and rising to a terrible biting gale. You
Dead Reaches, a part of Yggdrasil that’s wound its have to head inward, where the great trunk of the
branches into the Plane of Shadow. tree can offer you shelter.

In the voice of Gertruda, as though she is The rising storm will drive players inexorably
narrating as the DM: towards the CROWN. At the end of the timer,
players start taking damage as they’re hammered by
broken branches and flying leaves the size of cars.

For each round that the players do not actively
move towards safety, each player must succeed
on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 2d4
bludgeoning damage.

PROCEED TO:

CROWN in LOCATIONS

139

ACT I: FIGHo nTe Mn iEg h,

Hand out the player map. The hunt has begun.

140

,tI'sMt r aRhIdGHT HERE

ACT I: FIGHo nTe Mn iEg h,tI'sMt r aRhIdGHT HERE
DOG DAYS

FCOLMOBWAT distribute this as they prefer. Otherwise, they take
18 bludgeoning damage distributed as preferred.
This is reduced by 5 more per player if players have
an immovable rod.

If they pop the bolt, read:

“May the road rise up to meet you,” you hear in

THE COMBAT FLOW DIAGRAMS in Omu’s voice. There’s perhaps a tinge of surprise,
the beginning of the document serve as the hint of a question, and then the road obliges.
suggestions. You should be able to use them for
most of the combat with relatively little adjustment PROCEED TO:
if you prefer, and it will help keep the game moving End & Loot

at a fast clip. The tactics used are balanced to create

a compelling running combat instead of a party-

killing smash and grab. SSHURE PLROIVSEESS

END OF COMBAT:
Combat ends if 4 player characters are defeated,
as per Canids Know Satisfaction.
Combat ends when the pool of werewolves

is depleted. T HE WEREWOLVES PACE around you.
There’s a clear sense that this all has defied
REMINDER: their expectations. They inspect your offer with the
The default number of werewolves in the pool is gentle thoughtfulness of large dogs. One snuffles
seven, but players may have killed one or more at it optimistically. A wolf who introduces themself
of the werewolves earlier in the hunt. If so, the as Thistle tells you that this is more than enough.
number of werewolves available in the pool is More than there should be, really. As you help them
reduced accordingly.

unpack the goods, you notice a little lily design
stamped here and there on some of the labels.

TPHLEUNGE The wolves will escort you where you need to go.

Y OU COULD LOOSEN THIS bolt and send the Players gain access to LAST LANDING, and can
car down this sloped cable, towards the castle. travel through Yggdrasil safely. The wolves can’t
If players do so, unless a player has a vehicle help them into the BENT BOUGH; however, they can
proficiency, tinker’s tools, or the mending spell, all get them to the ravens. For the sake of brevity, we
players take 40 bludgeoning damage. Players may recommend that wolves tell them there’s nothing else
of use except what’s in the BENT BOUGH. When
players are done, continue to the END & LOOT.

PROCEED TO:
End & Loot

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DOG DAYS

TOHUTOOROU: HNEDLEDL Next, read:
The tree is massive beyond reckoning, maybe
A S YOU COME POUNDING DOWN the great literally. Each turn you take seems to reveal new
amber stairs, through the shadowed boreholes branches, and only by carefully focusing on where
of ruined Yggdrasil, you hear the pursuit fall away. you’ve been can you get back. Eventually, you make
You’ve made it! your way down the trunk to Last Landing. There’s a
way down from here to the Niflheim Road. You have
a moment to rustle around.

Run the LAST LANDING location, giving players
another chance to find their way to the BENT
BOUGH. After this sequence is fully resolved,
proceed to the END & LOOT.

PROCEED TO: PROCEED TO:
End & Loot End & Loot

DOUTORO:GGED OMUTURON: GCOHTED

FEROCITY T HE WOLVES ARE SATED, wrenched into
terrible new shapes by their feasts. They crawl
Y OU HAVE WATERED the world tree with and lumber away. You make your way slowly down
the blood of its servants. Already, little buds to the Niflheim Road. Any divergence from the path
of green growth are starting to burst up here and sees you menaced by the dreadful things that
there, through the stained bark into the dark. Do were wolves.
you take any trophies?
PROCEED TO:
Any trophy that a player takes decays into a fang End & Loot
over time, folding onto itself as the geometry
itself rots. Players can take three FANGS' worth of
trophies.

FANGS

Grants one point of inspiration, once each.

When a player uses one, read:
You are a savage cruelty in your wonderful beauty.
This is our truth.

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DOG DAYS

LENODO&T For single-group play,

PROCEED TO:
The Woods Below

I F PLAYERS COME FROM the Skyway, read: For two-group play,
The carriage slams into the station here,
crashing into the machinery that once drove this PROCEED TO:
end of the Skyway. As you stumble out, you find Entering the Shrine
that the receiving stop was built into the wayside
embankment of the Niflheim Road. You’ve made it BWTHEEOLOODWS
to the gates.
T HE ROAD CURVES SLOWLY, strangely.
For all players, read: Other trees grow here, in among the roots of
The Niflheim Road leads under a great arching root the world tree. It takes perhaps a day and a half of
and then out into the mist. Above you, the looming travel, during which you can barely steal a catnap—
storm opens up. In the center of the road, there is a there’s something out there that keeps waking you
bronze statue of Mother Night with her head held up. Once, you find a little albino figure in green furs
high. In one hand, she holds a shield emblazoned watching you from a treetop. She grins, vampire
with the Morninglord’s symbol; in her other, she fangs glinting in firelight, and dives away.
cradles an offering plate. Behind her, there is a gate
of stone carved with wolf heads and on each side of Eventually you make your way out of the shadow of
it, towering elven figures flicker in the downpour. Yggdrasil and find yourselves before a great cairn in
an endless foggy pine forest.
The TREASURE assigned during GLASS &
DIAMONDS is resting on the offering plate. WINTER tails the players, obeying the compulsion
Throughout the encounter, players may also of her blood, preventing them from taking short or
have acquired the MITHRIL LILY, MASTERWORK long rests.
TINKER’S TOOLS, OPENER, and HUGINN.
PROCEED TO:
After players head through the gate, read: The Sunlit Shrine Encounter
Just through the gates, a skeleton in an exquisitely
tailored 3-piece suit leans in their lee to dodge
the dogged rain. When you approach, the Dapper
Skeleton offers you an invitation and proffers
his spare pipe. The letter is freshly made: white
envelope, sky blue paper, dusky red ink.

The Lord of Ravenloft asks you to dinner.

If the players attack, SERGEI, the skeleton, reaches
down and is yanked into the earth by another
helpful skeletal hand.

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DOG DAYS
ENTERING
THE SHRINE

T HE ROAD RUNS ARROW-STRAIGHT, slicing
through a sun-dappled pine forest. There’s
little warmth, but it's a welcome change from the
shadowed ruins of the world-ash. It takes perhaps a
day and a half of travel, during which you can’t steal
more than a catnap: it’s never night, and there’s
someone tormenting you.

A little druid trails you among the trees, her skin
burnt in strange whorled patterns. Albino, antlered,
eyes fever bright, bright as her fangs; she never
stays close enough to catch, but her bow sends you
her affectionate regards if you rest.

If players try killing Winter:
Killing her doesn’t help, as she just shows back up
and seems quizzical. You’ll have to keep moving.
If players talk to her after killing her a couple times,
she’ll answer a couple of questions about superficial
matters, especially regarding the rogues gallery.

Eventually, read:
The road ends with a little shrine carved from a
chunk of Yggdrasil’s amber and augmented with rose
quartz. It seems to almost grab the light from the
sky. The symbol of the Morninglord glints with hot
sunlight, and this is the warmest you’ve been since
your journey started. The door opens at a touch.

The vampire tailing you lounges outside,
grinning lopsidedly.

PROCEED TO:
The Sunlit Shrine Encounter

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DOG DAYS
L O C AT I O N S

CROWN

Encounter: Yes 1 Turn Only None

Y ou’ve found your way to a central crown of branches. Shadow clings like oil to every surface, and the
light of your torches is slow to spread, trailing behind you like dye in some unknowable sea. Nearby,
there’s a good place to get a view of the way down. You are being watched: a terribly thin wood elf hangs
by his claws and tail nearby. He drops hard, changing as he falls into an enormous wolfish hybrid.
The werewolf is all bone and muscle, barely maintaining his fighting strength in the face of starvation.
On his brow there is a great raw brand, the Royal Seal of Barovia. Two more starving wolves slip up from
behind him.

Three FEYPACT WEREWOLVES attack the players. They flee after a single turn and never finish off a
player character, preferring to damage as many as possible. The wolves favor their Howling Leap, and will
hex then hold concentration for later, up to 8 hours. They will tear a chunk out of someone if they can, as
they are starving.

A werewolf kill here does not affect the viability of a non-combat solution. It does count as one of the
seven wolves.

After the wolves leave, read:
They leap away as suddenly as they came. They seemed more hungry than murderous. The strange bowl-
shaped depression is empty now. You can explore a little or pitch camp here, maybe grab a short rest if you
need it.

Players can take a short rest here safely, but only once. After that, they’ll be woken by werewolves.

Players gain access to THE VIEW and STAVE CHURCH RUINS.

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DOG DAYS

STAVE CHURCH RUINS

Encounter: No Intimidation, Perception, Persuasion, Stealth [DC16]

I n the nook of the branch as it reaches the trunk, there is a ruined stave church made of ashwood. It’s
large enough that you’d have to pass through it if you took this route. Ominous, isn’t it?
Where do you go?

Players can turn back before the skill tests.

If they opt to continue…
You make your way into the apocalyptic tumble of great wooden beams and ash. You’re about halfway
across the nave when there is a glinting bolt of lambent force from above. As you dive for cover, you catch
a glimpse of a starving elven child with wolfish eyes.

Savvy players may realize that the werewolf children are scared and starving. Any sincere offer of food or
even water reduces the DC for this location by 3. If players then choose a non-violent resolution, mark
down that players have taken a step toward peace.

If no food is offered, read:
A salvo hails down on you as you see more emaciated elven children among the burned-out rafters.

Make four sequential ranged spell attacks with a +7 bonus to hit, each targeting the highest HP or
sturdiest-looking PCs. On a hit, these eldritch blasts deal 1d10 force damage each and never go for
lethal damage.

Finally, run skill checks. If a violent solution is pursued, disregard all future peaceful options.
The werewolves won’t bargain with child-killers.

0 SUCCESSES:

For some reason, the terrified starving children don’t trust the heavily armed strangers, and you get pelted
with another round of eldritch bolts. The children vanish.

Make four sequential ranged spell attacks with a +7 bonus to hit, each targeting the highest HP or
sturdiest-looking PCs. On a hit, these eldritch blasts deal 1d10 force damage each and never go for lethal
damage. Players gain access to NIDHOGG’S REST.

1 SUCCESS:

The children—that’s all they are, you realize—watch you thoughtfully as they draw away into the
shadowed places. They’re just scared and starving. You make your way through safely, and have a moment
to linger before you keep moving. Is there anything you’d like to do?

Players gain access to NIDHOGG’S REST. Players can double back and feed the kids if it crosses their minds.

2 SUCCESSES:

You talk, run, sneak, and guess your way through without further combat. You could fall upon them, you
know. Is that a thing you would do, heroes? Would you be our truth?

Players gain access to NIDHOGG’S REST, and can optionally engage and kill one of the werewolf children.
This counts as an evil act. This counts as one of the seven wolves.

146

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DOG DAYS
THE VIEW

Encounter: No Athletics, Investigation, Acrobatics [DC 16]

There’s a sort of harbor here, where the wind’s not so strong. It’s enough that you can step to the edge
and take in the scale of the Dead Reaches. You aren’t alone: a conspiracy of ravens eye you grumpily
from their makeshift shelters for a while before they return to their curious vigil, watching the fog and
storm roll in.

It’s a long way down into mist and darkness. You can see what might be a town, twinkling fires giving
the vertiginous illusion of stars below. Here and there, great red rays of light punch through the foliage,
enough to let you see a ruined church below, and all around you, snarled branches swaying in the
cruel storm.

After players linger for more than a moment, run the skill checks. Before resolving, read the following:
One raven gives a polite caw, and another makes a sound almost like clearing a throat. When you follow
their gaze, through the snarl of branches and the mists, you catch a brief glimpse of a massive tower in a
flash of lightning. Sprawling battlements are visible as thunder rolls over you. This dread and distant castle
is visible for just a moment before it is lost in darkness.

0 SUCCESSES:

There’s no way down from here that doesn’t look hilariously fatal. The ravens watch you with interest.

1 SUCCESS:

You… might be able to make it down from here, to the town below. It’d be a harrowing experience, though.
The ravens chuckle optimistically. They’re scavengers, aren’t they?
Players gain access to LAST LANDING… if they jump. In that case, read:
You clatter and slam through branches, scraping by half-holds, sometimes landing safely, sometimes not.

This deals a total of 20 points of bludgeoning damage per player, distributed as players choose among
them, as some people break falls or find routes at great personal injury.

2 SUCCESSES:

There’s a way down here. A very neatly hidden set of ladders will get you about halfway there. They’re
crafted for hands with claws and well-worn by passage, but made from ancient and sturdy ashwood. Past
that, you’ll have to make a few jumps.
Players gain access to LAST LANDING. If they take this route, read:

The leaps aren’t quite safe. They’re always a little too wide or a little too far. It seems likely these were
routed by the werewolves, who seem surprisingly at home leaping among the branches.

This deals a total of 8 points of bludgeoning damage per player, distributed as players choose among them,
as some people break falls or find routes at great personal injury.

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DOG DAYS

NIDHOGG’S REST

Encounter: No Bruin the Giantess Athletics, Persuasion, Intimidation,
& Ker the Dwar Brewer’s Supplies [DC 16]

The path leads into the hollowed core, winding through acid-etched creeks. The way widens as other
little roads and trails join it, until you’re walking down a road bound in cold iron and laid into the flesh
of Yggdrasil.

Without much warning, you crest a rise. You stand at the edge of a vast chamfered drop into a grand
chamber. At the bottom, there is Nidhogg. The drifting coils of the Godserpent stretch as far as you can
see. His great, jade bulk is very slowly grinding the world tree apart. Countless phosphorescent snake-
tendrils peek from behind each scale to lap at the blood of Yggdrasil. He has fed here a long time, long
enough that every surface is covered in a thick sheet of fossilized sap, flecked with jade. You tear your eyes
away. You certainly won’t be going that way.

Players have a chance to look around, then read:
A knot here in the tree has been carved to hold a bonfire and a still—shelters against the cold. A small
fire giant sits inside, drinking morosely with a huge dwarf. “Welcome to Nidhogg’s Rest,” says the dwarf,
raising a towering cup before lapsing back into depressed silence. “Last Landing’s... that way,” the giantess
rumbles, gesturing with the slow thoughtfulness of the drunk.

Run the skill checks and read the results. The duo is willing to talk afterwards. If characters are particularly
charming, they may be able to retry the skill checks after conversing for a while.

CONVERSING WITH BRUIN & KER

Generally, Bruin and Ker are helpful but extremely drunk and somewhat depressed. They only really know
about the Dead Reaches.

If players ask who they are, read:
“I’m Bruin, right? And this is Ker. I’m Vistani, stayed here a long time ago with my near-kin. Waiting for my
sister, see? Esmerelda? She’s dead, aye, sure, 400 years. But forever’s long. Ker’s kept me company.” She
reaches out, gives the dwarf’s hand a squeeze.

If pressed on what they’re doing, read:
The dwarf answers affably, “Drinking. Contemplatin’.” The giantess nods warmly. She pushes a tankard
towards you. It looks like lava. If players try to drink it, Ker will try to clumsily stop them. If they persist,
that player’s character takes 25 fire damage. If their character survives, this incarnation gains the ability to
cast fireball (save DC 15) once, and can use their reaction to cast absorb elements a number of times equal
to their Constitution modifier. This spell can only be cast in response to taking fire damage.

If pressed further, read:
The giantess sighs and gestures below, “Time was, thems wolves were not so dangerous. Time was, they
were my friends. It’s gotten riskier and riskier to take food to thems, though.” She gestures widely. If
players offer to help convincingly, go to 2 successes.

If players ask for help, read:
Bruin scratches her fingers thoughtfully along the ash-wood table. “Ohhh, well, are you headed, you
know, headed to Ravenloft?” If players say yes, Ker responds: “Well, yer dead brave. Figure we could help
a bit.” They offer up two potions of greater healing, and if Strahd is the villain, ask players to look out
for Esmerelda.

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DOG DAYS

If players ask about the Vistani, read:
Bruin’s eyes flare bright with pride. “We are the Vistani. Noble giants and mighty wanderers! We tread
the mists between realms in our fortresses, some that are titanic walking beasts, others great planar
ships. A few, a few,” and she pauses conspiratorially, “A few fly! Every now and then, we harbor in Last
Landing to see Sesame. I chose to stay a while.” She smiles at Ker.
If players ask about Sesame, read:
Ker answers this one, thoughtfully. “Sesame is the Voice of Yggdrasil, godkin and jötunn.” He eyes you
thoughtfully. If players linger on the subject or press for details, read: Ker sits up a little straighter. He
really is massive. His voice takes on a deeper gentler tone, as he declaims, “She is daughter of the world
tree and the great serpent. Mother and child of Ragnarök. She is my… our very dear friend. You’ll find
her in Last Landing if the Norns intend it.”

0 SUCCESSES:

You’ll need to explore the Roots yourself if you want to find a way down, but at least you could find your
way to Last Landing.
Players gain access to THE ROOTS and LAST LANDING.

1 SUCCESS:

The giantess eyes you, stretching her obsidian fingers thoughtfully. She sighs and shakes her head.
Players gain access to THE ROOTS and LAST LANDING. Two players gain inspiration.

2 SUCCESSES:

With a long performative sigh, she glances conspiratorially at the dwarf.
“They could take it, down and with.”
“Oh, Bruin, I don’t know, I don’t know. They’re such small fellows.”
“S...says the …." She pauses here for a long time, collecting thoughts. Then she stands.
The obsidian giant’s flesh chimes and rings with soft bell tones as she lifts a huge keg down.
“Ah, Bruin,” the dwarf grumbles, steadying her as her balance shifts.
“I’m not risking you, Ker. The furs won’t get it ‘less these smalls take it to them.”
She hands the players the keg but refuses to explain much further. If pressed, she’ll tell the players they
need to take it to the werewolf den. Players have now gained AN OFFERING.

149