Re Va m p e d

The Essential Curse of Strahd Companion

DREAMS AND DESTINY

Send your players through the mists with this
brand new adventure hook 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,
Ravnica and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in
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
Dreams and Destiny
T
here are several adventure hooks provided
with Curse of Strahd, each serving to draw
your players into the mists of Barovia through
various means.
This guide adds the Dreams and Destiny adventure
hook whereby Madam Eva will, by way of a dream, ex-
tend a mysterious and enticing invitation to each char-
acter. This invitation will lure the characters to an inn,
where they will be transported to the land of Barovia.
In order to use this hook to its fullest potential, you
will need to possess a Tarokka deck—a physical copy is
preferable, but a printed copy of the cards will suffice.
Video Companion
Watch the companion video for this chapter on YouTube.
Preparation
While you can use the hooks included in the module
with very little setup, the hook in this guide requires
careful preparation and forethought. It is recommended
that you get started preparing this hook as soon as each
player is done creating their character and choosing
their backstory.
For every player in your group, you will need to pre-
pare four things. This guide will cover each of these in
detail.
1. A personal quest inside of Barovia.
2. A Tarokka card that relates to the quest.
3. A dream sequence that entices their character to
meet up with others in the party.
4. A personal reading from Madam Eva.
The Personal Quest
Everyone has a past, and every character has a backsto-
ry. Whether they’re a born noble out seeking adventure,
a naive young cleric looking for their lost tutor, or an
ex-werewolf just trying to make their way in the world,
every character comes with some way to draw them
into the mists.
The goal of this step is to craft a personalized quest
that the player character can only achieve inside of
Barovia. They’ll be given a glimpse of this quest and its
potential through their dream sequence later on, which
should give them plenty of motivation to follow Madam
Eva’s instructions.
The type of quest that you give is entirely at your dis-
cretion. As stated above, however, it should be a quest
that is achievable only in Barovia. The following table
provides example quests by character class that might
serve as inspiration.
Class Quest
Retrieve the Blood Spear and unite the
Barbarian
barbarian clans under your leadership.
Retrieve the Doss Lute from Castle Raven-
Bard
loft.
Redeem The Abbot in the eyes of your
Cleric
shared god.
Quell the animosity that lies in the hearts
Druid/Monk
of the druids at Yester Hill.
Restore the Knights of the Silver Order at
Fighter/Paladin
Argynvostholt.
Bring peace to the forest around Krezk by
Ranger
defeating Kiril and his pack.
Discover the mythical treasure horde of
Rogue the Amber Enclave and claim it as your
own.
Perform a ritual at each of the standing
Sorcerer
stone sites, imbibing their latent power.
Perform a ritual at each of the standing
Warlock stone sites, paving the way for your pa-
tron’s entry into the realm of Barovia.
Uncover the history of the Amber Enclave
Wizard
and acquire their power as your own.
Destiny Awaits
Once you have determined what everyone’s personal
quest in Barovia will be, you may select Destiny Cards
for each player. Each Destiny Card is symbolic of their
character’s quest within Barovia. The card itself will be
given to the player in due time.
Your choice here is largely subjective, and may not
be perfect due to there being a finite number of cards
within the Tarokka deck. Try to match the image on the
card as closely as possible with the theme of the quest.
The Beast card is ideal for anything dealing with were-
wolves, for example, and The Avenger may be ideal for
the Paladin’s quest.
Take the cards that you choose and set them aside.
Note that they will not be available during Madam Eva’s
card reading during the game. As such, if there is a card
that you are hoping to draw during the reading, you may
want to reconsider its position among the Destiny Cards.
Sweet Dreams
With a quest in mind and a card in hand, craft a dream
sequence for your players. The dream should relate to
their character’s backstory, and perhaps foreshadow
parts of the adventure to come. Each dream should be
written down and given to the players before the first
session of play, perhaps in a sealed envelope.
While you are free to make your players’ dreams
whatever you wish them to be, nightmares are recom-
mended to properly set the tone of the gothic horror
Dreams and Destiny | Page 3
adventure that will soon follow. Themes and imagery of
death and despair, as well as hopelessness and corrup-
tion tend to work well. See the Appendix for examples of
dreams that were given to real players.
When each dream sequence reaches its climax, per-
haps before the character is mauled to death by a were-
wolf, describe the scene as ending abruptly in darkness.
Then, add some variation of the following:
Next, describe the player character waking up to find
a Tarokka card in their hand—the Destiny Card that you
selected earlier. On the back of the card is written the
name of an inn: The Nightmare’s Stable in Daggerford.
It’s at this point that you should present the players
with the physical copy of their Destiny Card. Bonus
points if you can hide it among their possessions or on
their person without them noticing.
A Personal Reading
Although she contacted them through their dreams and
summoned them to Barovia, Madam Eva did not tell the
characters what their quests would be. The final step
in preparation is determining what Madam Eva will tell
each of character when she meets them at the Tarokka
reading.
Madam Eva has the ability to glimpse forward in time
and tell the fortunes of others. Her vision is not crystal
clear, however, due to the vagaries of the future. As such,
she never tells a fortune in a straightforward manner.
The reading that she gives for each character’s personal
quest should be cryptic in nature
Let’s use the Barbarian’s example from the previous
quest table. Madam Eva would never tell the barbarian
“Go to Yester Hill and fetch the Blood Spear.” Instead, she
would say something along the lines of, “Seek out the
mist-clad hill where the tombs of the ancients hold the
blooded instrument of your glory.”
This method of telling a fortune not only keeps with
atmosphere of the module, but it sets the players about
another fun task: figuring out what Madam Eva is
talking about.
enough to convince your players to purchase lodging at
the inn.
Give them all a chance to describe their character’s
night time rituals. Take note of what they take off and
stow away, and what they wear to bed.
Once every character has fallen asleep, they are mag-
ically transported to Barovia. Describe the first charac-
ter to awake as finding themselves in a strange forest,
shrouded in a cold and wet mist. Other characters
awaken in turn.
The party is now in the woods just north of the Svalich
Road in area A. Their adventure begins.
Weaponless and Penniless
A part of the horror genre is the concept of resource
scarcity. Monsters are a lot scarier when you don’t
have a sword to fight them with. As such, you may find
it worthwhile to start your players off in Barovia both
weaponless and penniless.
If you choose to do this, any item that was not worn by
a character when they fell asleep was not transported
with them to Barovia. This can include purses, weapons,
and even armor. It’s entirely possible that a character
enters the land of Barovia entirely in the buff!
This lack of starting equipment drives home the
inhospitable nature of Barovia and its denizens, and
makes the players work for the equipment that they’ll
have later on. They’ll need to scavenge and scrounge,
and use whatever they can find to survive.

The First Session

With all of the preparation done, you’re ready to run
your first session of Curse of Strahd with this adventure
hook.
Start the session by describing a dark and stormy
night in the town of Daggerford. Rain pours down from
the sky, turning the streets to mud. Give each player a
chance to describe their entrance into the inn’s common
room. Once they’re all inside, allow them to interact
with one another and get comfortable.
After everyone has had their fill of introductory role-
play, describe each character as being very tired and
feeling ready to turn in for the night. This should be

Page 4 | Dreams and Destiny

Appendix: Sample Dreams
The following dream sequences were given to real-life
players, and can serve as an inspiration for dreams that
you can write for your own group.
A Cleric of Eldath
In your dream, you walk down the aisle of a cathedral
toward a gilded altar, bedecked with candles. You come
to a stop several paces away from the altar. Behind the
altar you see a beautiful being wrapped in white feathers.
Its body radiates a light of its own, and a feeling of calm
washes over you. For some time, you stand there admir-
ing the figure and its soft glow. Slowly, the feathers begin
to part, revealing the face of an angel. As the wings of the
angel unfold further, they revealing a dark void where the
angel’s heart should be. The flames of the candles falter
and die, and the light and warmth of the cathedral gives
way to a frigid darkness. As the angel begins to scream,
your dream fades to blackness and silence.
Before you now is the visage of an old woman, her face
covered by a shadowed hood. In front of her lay several
black cards, face down on a table covered in red cloth.
“Find the others,” she says to you. “You shall know them
by their symbols: The beast, the hooded one, and the
warrior. Seek me out then, and I will guide you to the
radiant soul that needs your help.”
A Scorned Barbarian
In your fitful slumber, your life as second best in your
tribe and the abandonment by your family replays again
and again. All the insults and the rebukes echo back and
forth through time. Your vision of the dream darkens,
overtaken by twisting vines and blighted foliage. They
grip at you, pulling and tearing. You fight through the
vines, twisting them and snapping them in a rage. As you
finally break through, you see a massive burial mound
loom before you. In the distance, a low, gravelly voice
calls your name again and again. The sound of the voice
penetrates you to your core, filling you with a sense of a
terrible glory and power.
Your dream goes dark, replaced shortly with the visage
of an old woman, her face covered by a shadowed hood.
In front of her lay several black cards, face down on a
table covered in red cloth. “Find the others,” she says to
you. “You shall know them by their symbols: The broken
one, the hooded one, and the beast. Seek me out then,
and I will lead you to the instrument of your glory.”

A Troubled Rogue
In your dream, you float weightless in an abyss, surround-
ed by a vast nothingness. Eons pass as you lay calmly,
staring with sightless eyes upon a universe unchanging.
Then suddenly, there is a shift in your surroundings.
Looming before you is something darker than the void
from whence it came. Something colder. You feel its
malevolence focus upon you. Your breath quickens and
your skin crawls. It draws near. The cold claws its way
into your lungs, stopping your breath. Whatever is out
there is coming toward you, and its hatred is palpable. It
draws closer, and closer to you. Just before you feel its icy
touch, your dream fades to black.
Before you now is the visage of an old woman, her face
covered by a shadowed hood. In front of her lay several
black cards, face down on a table covered in red cloth.
“Find the others,” she says to you. “You shall know them
by their symbols: The broken one, the beast, and the
warrior. Seek me out then, and I will show you to your
enemy.”

Appendix B, Dreams | Page 5