Chapter 4: Castle Ravenloft - Curse of Strahd

Chapter 4: Castle Ravenloft. Castle Ravenloft was built atop the ruin of an older fortress by artisans, wizards, and workers loyal to Strahd's family. Strahd rewarded the castle's genius architect, Artimus, with a crypt in the castle's catacombs. The castle was named after Strahd's mother, Ravenovia, who also lies entombed below. The poster map that accompanies this book displays the castle in its entirety. Map 1 on the poster shows a diagram of the castle's face, and the other maps show the castle's interior and exterior areas. All those locations are described in this chapter, starting in the "Walls of Ravenloft" section. I called for my family, long unseated from their ancient thrones, and brought them here to settle in the castle Ravenloft. Random Encounters The first time the characters enter a castle area that isn't otherwise occupied, check for a random encounter. Also check for a random encounter every 10 minutes the characters spend resting in the castle. In most circumstances, a random encounter occurs on a roll of 18 or higher on a d20. To determine what the characters encounter, consult the table below. 2 Ezmerelda d'Avenir (see appendix D) 3 Rahadin (see appendix D) 4 1 black cat 5 1 broom of animated attack (see appendix D) 6 1d4 + 1 Flying Sword 7 Blinsky toy 8 Unseen servant 9 1d4 Barovian Commoner 10 2d6 Crawling Claw 11 1d6 Shadow 12 1d6 Swarm of Bats 13 1 crawling Strahd zombie (see appendix D) 14 1d4 + 1 Vistani Vistana Thug 15 1d4 Wight 16 Trinket 17 Giant spider cocoon 18 1 Barovian witch (see appendix D) 19 1d4 + 1 vampire spawn 20 Strahd von Zarovich (see appendix D) Random Encounters in Castle Ravenloft Use the descriptions that follow to run each encounter. Random Encounters Barovian Commoners A loud clamor fills the unhallowed halls of Ravenloft. Cries of "Kill the vampire!" are mixed with bold voices shouting, "Never again!" and "To the crypts!" Angry Barovian Commoner who have entered the castle brandish torches and pitchforks in a ri...