Re Va m p e d

The Essential Curse of Strahd Companion

The Village of Barovia

Civilization isn’t all it’s cracked up to be in this
module guide for
Curse of Strahd

A module guide from Lunch Break Heroes

Credits Patrons
Writer & Designer: Lunch Break Heroes This guide was made possible through the support of
the following patrons.
Special Thanks
The following community members have made sig- Gold Tier
nificant contributions to this guide, either directly or • Justin Mendoza
indirectly. • Keith Nicholson
• u/MandyMod
• u/DragnaCarta Platinum Tier
• u/Ziopliukas • Thomas van Iersel
• u/Attercops
• u/JadeRavens

Artwork
• Maps of Barovia and Krezk: u/Expert-Use
• Other images from Pixabay.com

Disclaimer: Lunch Break Heroes is not liable for any loss

of limbs, sanity, or soul that may arise as a result of using
this guide to traverse the lands of Barovia. We are addi-
tionally indemnified against the effects that any player
might experience after eating at Morgantha’s diner.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Curse of Strahd, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand,
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the USA and other countries.

This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors.

All other original material in this work is copyright 2020 by Lunch Break Heroes and/or other authors.

Page ii | Intro
The Village of Barovia later, screams of “Father, I’m starving!” started up again,

V
and another villager was lured back to the church’s
illage life is rough in the land of Barovia. undercroft. Both bodies were buried by Donavich in the
However, few (living) souls have it worse than graveyard behind the church.
those who call the valley’s namesake village After a period of several weeks, the villagers became
“home”. Nowhere else are the residents more frightened by the disappearances, and refused to go out
dour, downtrodden, and depressed than in the Village of after dark. This forced Donavich to be clever and use the
Barovia. trust the villagers had in him against them. Quick words,
In the published module, there isn’t much to do inside quicker thinking, and the occasional blow to the head
of the Village of Barovia, as far as sidequests and in- are what Donavich uses to keep his son fed these days.
trigue are concerned. This guide aims to expand the vil- The latest victim was Gregor Stanovich, a devout
lage’s role in the adventure by adding more quests, and follower of the Morninglord. Donavich entered his
the possibility of tying the village into the latter portion house under the guise of a private prayer session. When
of the module. Donavich tried to lure Gregor to the church, Gregor
refused. Eventually, a struggle ensued and Gregor hit
Donavich with a candlestick and ripped off the priest’s
Video Companion holy symbol. Donavich managed to knock the older man
Watch the companion video for this chapter on YouTube. unconscious and drag him to the church under the cover
of darkness.

The Missing Villagers A Mystery to Solve

Every week for the past year, a villager has gone missing In order to solve the village’s mystery, the party must
without an explanation. While he was alive, the disap- work to discover clues that point them in the direction
pearances plagued the village’s previous burgomaster, of the church. While talking to Ismark, Ireena, or other
Kolyan Indrovich. Now that Kolyan is dead, the problem villagers, the party may discover the following facts:
of the missing villagers falls squarely into the lap of his • No funerals have been held at the church for over
son and successor, Ismark “The Lesser” Kolyanovich. a year.
When Ismark first meets the adventurers, he will ask • The latest disappearance happened five days prior
them to look into the matter of the missing villagers. He to the party’s arrival.
tells them that the villagers believe the disappearances • The latest victim was Gregor Stanovich, an old
to be the work of The Devil Strahd, but he thinks that man who lived alone. He was a devout follower
the cause may be closer to home. of the Morninglord, and was reported missing by
Should the party succeed in finding the cause of the a friend who expected to see him the following
disappearances, Ismark will deem them worthy of morning.
escorting his sister to the safety of St. Andral’s church in • Mad Mary is up at all hours of the night, wailing.
the town of Vallaki. If the pary talks to Mad Mary, she will tell them of a
dark robed figured that she witnessed dragging a body
A Father’s Love north along the street two nights ago.
Ismark is correct to think that the cause of the disap- The Scene of the Crime
pearances is within the village. Once a week, the priest
Donavich lures a villager into the church on false pre- Should the party investigate Gregor’s house, they will
tenses, and feeds them to his son Doru. find the scene of a struggle. Furniture is overturned and
Doru’s arrival at the church a year ago broke some- there is a broken candlestick on the floor with blood on
thing inside of Donavich. He locked his monstrous son it. There is also a silver necklace with a broken clasp; its
away in the church’s undercroft and set about praying pendant is the symbol of the Morninglord. If shown to
for a miracle. After many fruitless prayer sessions, Ismark, he will recognize it as belonging to Donavich.
Donavich’s mind finally cracked under the pressure. Take Me to Church
Instead of listening to his son scream, “Father I’m starv-
ing!” over and over, Donavich decided that he would do If your party arrives at the church to bury Kolyan In-
what all good parents do: make sure that their child has drovich, or otherwise explores the graveyard, describe
enough to eat. the presence of fresh graves. This detail runs counter to
That decision drove Donavich to lure the first villag- the fact that there have been no funerals at the church
er into the church as a bloodmeal for his son. A week for over a year.
When Donavich meets the party, he walks with a slight

The Village of Barovia | Page 3

limp and still wears a bandage where Gregor hit him The Unquiet Dead
with the candlestick.
For the past several weeks, a sickness has been spread-
If questioned about the bandaged wound or the limp,
ing throughout the village. No one in the village knows
Donavich will claim to have hurt himself while tending
what causes the sickness, but only what the end result
the church gardens (which are quite unkempt). If con-
is. Anyone who begins to display symptoms eventually
fronted with the holy symbol from Gregor’s house, he
dies and rises up as an undead monster. The villagers
will claim to have lent it to Gregor many months ago.
have taken to boarding up the houses of those known to
harbor infection.
The Darkness Revealed
In truth, the infection stems from the local water sup-
Doru has been silent since he last fed, but the week is ply. Strahd has dumped several of his Strahd Zombies
nearly over. When your party suspects Donavich and down the well, and their putrescence has seeped into
begins to question him, have Doru begin yelling “Father, the water.
I’m starving!” from the undercroft. Until recently, the residents of the village have subsist-
If confronted about the voice from the undercroft, ed on wine and other brewed drinks, leaving the water
Donavich pleads with the party not to hurt his son. He for washing and cattle. However, shipments of wine
agrees to confess to everything, if only they would show have recently stopped coming to the village, and the
mercy toward Doru. villagers have had to rely more and more on well water.
When pressed, Donavich will unlock the trapdoor that If the party questions Ismark, Ireena, or any other
leads to the undercroft. Inside, Doru awaits his next villager, they may discover the following:
meal. Although Donavich doesn’t want his son harmed, • Those who die of the sickness rise up as flesh-eat-
he believes that the blood of the party will be able to ing monsters within minutes.
sustain his son for quite some time. Run the encounter • Those who are killed by the monsters become
with Doru as you see fit. monsters themselves.
Should Doru be killed by the party, Donavich will be • It is rumored that severed parts of the monsters
inconsolable. Roll on the table below to determine how have a mind of their own.
he reacts. • The latest person to fall ill is Dolan Neizekov (LG
d20 Donavich’s Reaction male human commoner).
• Wine shipments have recently stopped to the local
1-4 In a fit of rage, Donavich attacks the party.
tavern, much to the annoyance of everyone.
After the party leaves the church, Donavich commits
5-8
suicide by hanging. The Neizekov Family
When informed of his son’s death, Donavich enters a
9-12 If the party decides to talk to Dolan Neizekov and his
catatonic state and responds to nothing for 1d4 days.
family, any villager can point them in the direction of
At the first opportunity, Donavich runs away into the
13-16 the Neizekov family home on the southern side of the
Svalich Woods.
village. The Neizekov’s live in a small one room house,
Donavich has a moment of clarity and realizes that which is already surrounded by boards that will be used
his son’s soul is free of Strahd’s influence. He thanks
17-20 to seal up the house once Dolan has died.
the party and vows to face whatever justice Ismark
has in store for him. Inside the house are Dolan’s wife and two children.
They sit at Dolan’s bedside around the clock, waiting for
If Donavich is relieved of his position as village priest, the time of his passing.
Ismark will offer the party 5 gold pieces to deliver a • Anya Stovina (LG female human commoner)
letter to Fater Patrovich in Vallaki. In the letter, Ismark • Catarina Dolanya (LG female human commoner)
offers the position of village priest to Yeska, or any other • Vardin Dolanovich (NG male human commoner)
disciple of the Morninglord who wishes to take the post. All three are despondent, and require a DC 10 Charis-
ma (Persuasion or Intimidation) check in order to talk
A Spreading Infection to the party. If convinced to talk, they volunteer infor-
mation about Dolan’s activities and whereabouts over
According to the module, fifteen percent of houses in the
the last several days. They reveal that Dolan was recent-
Village of Barovia are filled with Strahd Zombies. This
ly at the local well getting water for the family’s mule.
is quite a few zombies to have in a village with absolute-
While the party talks with the family, Dolan finally
ly no explanation as to why they are there. This quest
perishes. Within two rounds, Dolan’s eyes open again
explains their presence, allows the party to deal with
and he rises up as a Strahd Zombie to attack anyone still
the problem, and provides a late-game consequence if
inside the house.
the zombie problem is left unchecked.

Page 4 | The Village of Barovia

The Local Watering Hole
If the party decides to investigate the local well, they
find that the area surrounding the well smells of old and
decaying flesh. A successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception)
check reveals that the smell is coming from the well
itself.
The well descends 50 feet straight down. A character
with darkvision will easily be able to see shapes moving
down in the well’s depths. Characters without darkvi-
sion can toss down a torch or make a successful DC 15
Wisdom (Perception) check to notice the same thing.
Characters can descent into the well by climbing down
its stone wall with climber’s tools or a DC 15 Athlet-
ics (Strength) check. Alternatively, the well’s rope and
bucket may be used, but the rope and pulley system is
only strong enough to hold 200 pounds, and takes four
rounds to ascend and descend.
At the bottom of the well is small chamber, measuring
roughly 20 feet on each side with a low 7 foot ceiling.
The floor is slippery and covered in 3 feet of water, and
counts as difficult terrain. Occupying the chamber are 5
Strahd Zombies.
Killing and removing the zombies from the well will
return the water to potability in 1d4 days. Casting Purify
Food and Drink will return it to potability immediately.

Water, Water Everywhere...

If the Strahd Zombies are not removed from the well
and regular shipments of wine are not restored, then
the Village of Barovia has a serious problem. In 1d4+2
weeks, the village’s wine reserves run dry and panic
sets in. A mass exodus ensues; the surviving villagers
pack up and begin to make their way toward Vallaki.
In addition to the perils associated with traveling on
the Svalich Road, the refugee villagers will find that
their arrival at Vallaki is not a warm one, no matter who
runs the town at the time. Residents and officials alike
begrudgingly scramble to make accommodations for the
refugees while tensions and tempers run high.

The Village of Barovia | Page 5