Curse of Strahd Tarokka (Dungeons & Dragons)

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Artifact (Joker 1) Chapel - there’s something haunting about facing Strahd in the desecrated chapel of his castle, and it’s a good battleground. If you want to consider the PCs as a group, a good card to represent them is the Five of Coins (Guild Member), which represents like-minded individuals joined together in a common goal. Cards 9, 10, and 11 are each treated separately. These three cards represent 3 possible divergent futures. Unlike card 4, these tend to speak of Outcomes rather than Future Events. (Note: When doing a reading on a PC...feel free to always include The Horseman (the 'Death' and 'Horrible Defeat' card) in the possible futures :D ) Strahd's a vampire -- he can peer into other realms. He sees that there is some kind of seance or party sitting around a table thinking about him in Ravenloft (your D&D group ; The Vistani don't tell people all that much about themselves. It's entirely possible that they have card arrangements above and beyond the ones listed here, so piece cards together in any way you please, making up what their arrangement means.

I'm going to be running Curse of Strahd for my regular group. I'm usually a player and have only DM'd once to give our usual DM a break. This is my first time with a published adventure. Either something else that needs to happen further in the future (a sequence of events) after Card 4, or a clarification.of Stars (Illusionist) - Rictavio, otherwise known as Rudolph Van Richten, is a key NPC in Curse of Strahd, and his wagon could easily be confused with Ezmerelda d’Avenir’s. I have accidentally incinerated player characters using this artifact clue, but the reward was worth it in the end. Finally, keep this in mind...there is something special about the initial card reading done to place the artifacts and such. Tarokka readings are seldom that clear (in fact, if someone other than Eva does the opening reading, it would be interesting to have that person also be surprised at the clarity of the reading). So, you should feel free to let the Vistana doing a Tarokka reading for the party explain what the cards mean, and perhaps make a guess at what the entire reading means (they are good at this, so their guess should be relatively accurate...of course, assuming they aren't just giving them the reading with no explanation). But what you shouldn't do is read the cards, then plainly explain what you're trying to tell them...if you're going to be that clear, don't bother with the reading and just DM-voice your instructions. Detailed Interpretation: Stella is Broken...pretty obviously. Card 2 tells us that, in the past, she was a peaceful little thing not given to violence. Cards 3 and 5 tell us that she is opposed by one who pursues knowledge without wisdom (Victor), and has an Ally in 'The Raven' (The Martikovs are fond of her in my game). Card 4 tells us that there is a coming chance that she could be healed. Refers to something that is an ally, friend, or boon towards the subject. As with card 3, this can represent anything 'good' that is related to the subject The Focus card is always the first card laid down and, regardless of the layout used, generally sits at the heart of the layout. If they do not choose a Focus, the reading is generally less clear, but may provide insight into something the Vistana didn't know to look into.

Nine of Swords (Torturer): Handy if your players are waffling around about an NPC and you want to tell them "This is an irredeemable monster, let's move on please."The imminent death of one rightly or wrongly convicted of a crime; false accusations and unjust prosecution Artifact (Joker 1), Rictavio or Rudolph Van Richten - What I like about this clue is that it seems at first to be Gadof Blinsky, but ultimately leads the characters to Rictavio. It’s a twist, but one solved within a session as they’re likely both in Vallaki or nearby.