CHARACTERCHARACTERCHARACTER SECRETSSECRETSSECRETS CurseCurseCurse ofofof StrahdStrahdStrahd

Sample file Credits Table of Contents Designer & Writer. Taylor Seely-Wright Graphic Designer. Taylor Seely-Wright 3...Character Secrets Editor. Taylor Seely-Wright (website) Interior Art. Lady Frieda Harris for tarot cards. 13-18th 3...List of Secrets century masters in the public domain. 3...... Agent of the Madame 3...... Child of the Traveling Folk Foreword 4...... Corvothrope Curse of Strahd is probably one of the best modules released for 5e and will always hold a special place in my heart. The 4...... Coven Spawned imagery, the villain, the characters are all compelling. The 4...... Clone plotlines are taunt - every scene has potential energy to be resolved, all connecting back to the devil Strahd. 5...... Criminal Mark

When my friends and I played the module, I tried to naturally 5...... Contracted weave their backstories into the domain of dread to make the 5...... Escaped Asylum Patient struggle personal. 5...... Eloped Years later, Wizards released Rime of the Frostmaiden and codified that same idea. Secrets let us marry the characters 5...... Hunter and the adventure, and finally close the gap between who the 5...... Hunted characters are and what's going on around them. Use the secrets presented in this module to weave your friends 6...... Hemophobia characters into the action and make the struggles more real. I 6...... Haiku Poet promise you, you won't regret it. 6...... Jewel of the Valley Taylor Seely-Wright, 2020 6...... Knight of the Silver Dragon 6...... Lycanthrope 7...... Lost to the Mist 7...... O Brother, Where Art Thou?

7...... Old Flame 7...... Possessed by the Son 8...... Poltergeist 8...... Revenant 8...... Stolen Shadow 8...... Lawyer 8...... Scared of Spiders 8...... Shell 8...... Touched by the Morninglord 8...... Toy Lover

9...... Thinner 9...... Wine Connoisseur

Sample file Character Secrets List of Secrets Enclosed are secrets focusing on the tragic, the gothic, the Agent of the Madame macabre or the goofy. During character creation, print out the Long ago, I was taken in by Madame Eva the seer. cards at the back of this module or roll on the following table She trained me for one purpose: find a party of heroes that to assign a secret to each player. The player may choose to could defeat the vampire that lords over the valley of Barovia, discard a secret once and draw a new one. a place I’ve never been. d30 Secret d30 Secret The Madame has instructed me to bring the heroes to Tser 1 Agent of the Madame 16 Lycanthrope Pool to speak with her. I’m not to reveal anything until we’ve spoken to Madam Eva at risk of scaring away saviors. Child of the Traveling 17 Lost to Mist 2 Folk 18 Brother Child of the Traveling Folk 3 Corvothrope Prerequisite: you must be human, half-orc, half-elf, tiefling or 19 Old Flame aasimar to have this secret 4 Coven Spawned 20 Possessed 5 Clone My parents were Vistani travelers and lived a nomadic life 21 Poltergeist outside Barovia. One night a man named Rudolph Van 6 Criminal Mark 22 Revenant Richten arrived in my camp and unleashed a horde of undead 7 Contracted upon us. My tribe were eaten to the last man with only I 23 Stolen Shadow surviving. With her dying breath, my mother cursed Van 8 Asylum Patient 24 Lawyer Richten. 9 Eloped 25 Scared of Spiders As an action, I can target a creature within 10 feet that the I 10 Hunter 26 Shell can see. This magical ability, which the Vistani call the Evil 11 Hunted Eye, duplicates the duration and effect of the animal 27 Touched friendship, charm person, or hold person spell (your choice), 12 Hemophobia 28 Toy Lover but requires neither somatic nor material components. The 13 Haiku Poet spell save DC is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma 29 Thinner modifier. If the target succeeds on the save, you are blinded 14 Jewel of the Valley 30 Wine Connoisseur until the end of your next turn. You can’t use Evil Eye again 15 Silver Dragon before finishing a short or long rest. Once a target succeeds on a saving throw against a Vistana's Evil Eye, it is immune to DM'ing With Secrets the Evil Eye of all Vistani for 24 hours. Record the secret received by each character. Review the module to see where this secret could become relevant. DM Notes: Otherwise, have fun! Use the secrets to add spice, personal This is a juicy secret. Rudolph Van Richten killed interest and drama to the tale. the character’s parents. The act of killing the Vistani and the curse that resulted has weighed heavily on Van Richten’s soul, no matter how justified he felt at the time. If this secret is revealed the vampire hunter willingly offers his life to the character as recompense for past wrongs. Strahd, in turn, can tell by the smell of the characters blood they are Vistana. Strahd feels indebted to the Vistani people and would at least spare the character once with a warning to not cross him again. If the character pledges loyalty, Strahd would allow the character to leave Barovia as long as they demonstrated their devotion by stranding their companions in Castle or delivering one of the following to Strahd: sunsword, Strahd’s diary, holy symbol of ravenkind or Rudolph Van Richten. Strahd above all thinks himself generous to his friends but his patience is short for further demands. He surely would never let the character’s companions leave Barovia. SampleThe Vistani of Barovia care lfileittle if a character is Vistani. Only through proving themself trustworthy would the Vistani offer any aid, and stay careful to not anger Strahd.

3 This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of . ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. List of Secrets Cont. Two Secrets If you think you're players can handle it, split the secrets into Corvothrope two piles - major and minor secrets. Have a player draw one I’m a wereraven. I was born this way, and my parents never card from each pile. The player may choose to discard a revealed the origin of the curse that afflicts us. I only have a secret once and draw a new one. raven feather memento which hangs around my neck and strict instructions from my parents: never reveal my true d10 Major Secrets d20 Minor Secrets nature to common folk. I've also learned to never pass along 1 Vistani 1 Agent of the Madame the curse. Its power can be used for good or great evil. 2 Corvothrope 2 Criminal Mark I have none of the traits of my base race but I retain my class features, background, and alignment. I gain Dexterity of 15 if 3 Coven Spawned 3 Asylum Patient my score isn't already higher. My natural attack and damage 4 Clone 4 Eloped rolls are based on my Strength or Dexterity, whichever is 5 Contracted 5 Hunted higher. 6 Hunter 6 Hemophobia As an action, I can transform into hybrid form, becoming a cross between man and raven. I gain 50ft flight speed, 7 Jewel of the Valley 7 Haiku Poet resistance to non-magical and non-silvered weapons, and a 8 Lycanthrope 8 Silver Dragon natural beak attack that deals 1d4 damage and causes the target to make a DC10 Constitution saving throw or become 9 Possessed 9 Lost to Mist infected with Corvothropy. 10 Revenant 10 Brother

As an action, I can transform into raven form. I gain 50ft 11 Old Flame flight speed, resistance to non-magical and non-silvered 12 Poltergeist weapons, and a natural beak attack that deals 1 damage and causes the target to make DC10 Constitution saving throw or 13 Stolen Shadow become infected with Corvothropy 14 Lawyer Coven Spawned 15 Scared of Spiders My mother was a hag named Morgantha. I was raised by her 16 Shell coven and taught strange magic. When I reached puberty and no true powers emerged, Morgantha locked me in a cage with 17 Touched the intent to eat me. I escaped the coven and have since 18 Toy Lover learned more about living among civilized people. But I still retain the strangeness and wicked impulses of my 19 Thinner upbringing. 20 Wine Connoisseur

I can cast identify, ray of sickness or bestow curse. After casting any of these spells, you must make a short or long rest before casting any of the three again. When you cast these spells, you utter the words in a different voice than your usual. Children fear you instinctively and animals' default at hostile attitude towards you. Clone I am a clone created by a powerful hag named Baba Lysaga, DM Note: who calls herself my mother. I was raised in a ruined city with The NPC distrusts and fears the double by default. no other living souls. One black night, a vampire appeared The most likely target to double is Strahd. Most and threaten to kill me. Baba Lysaga intervened and inhabitants of the valley only know Strahd by name transported me away. I’ve never found my way back to mother and trying to impersonate Strahd when speaking to since then. those that know him personally would be a very difficult feat. If the character pretends to be Strahd At any time outside of combat, I can decide who I am a clone in Vallaki or Krezk, Strahd will quickly send his of by choosing an NPC that I can see. Once I make this forces to prove that the character is an imposter. choiceSample, I can't change it. file

4 This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.