Strahd (Campaign 1)

The Learning Curve

This was my first time running a campaign from an official module. At the time, I was still relatively new to DMing, and hadn't yet learned some of the most important lessons. If I had to boil those learned lessons down to a number list, it would look like this:

1. Pick Your Players Wisely. There are lots of good players out there, but not all of them are a good fit for your campaign.
2. Play a Session Zero to establish the campaign tone, and to give players who aren't a good fit a chance to filter out.
3. Don't get so caught up in the "art" or the "story" that you forget the game and its players.
4. Solid-Gold Players are rare and special and you must hold onto them at any cost.
5. It's probably best not to bring the gods into your campaign in a direct way.
6. NPCs are fun, but don't let them overshadow the players.

The initial party completely melted away by the third session, but in the process I found two solid-gold players who were perfect fits for the campaign. They arrive on Page 50 of the PDF below, and you can safely skip ahead to their arrival without missing too much. Those two solid-gold players managed to find a third, and then a fourth. This campaign would not have happened without them.

The PDF