I’m doing Strahd where this is actually the first town they go to. It’s the nicest town. And as they get closer to Ravenloft, they’ll see the living circumstances get worse and worse instead of them seeing the worst first.
I'm starting my group on the west side of the map, so I've decided to put Ireena there in disguise, hiding from Strahd. When I'm ready to push the players to Barovia, Ireena will then hear of her father's death and wish for an escort home. Thanks for the content; I put it on during downtime at work and it helps me prep
It would be cool if Krezk had a blacksmith of sorts that dealt with normal and silvered weapons and a shopkeep with more of the adventuring table at maybe just twice or triple the cost. Gives something else in this place.
@@NoFunAllowed I’ve been planning on getting into 5e and DMing for the first time and getting this module. So far I think Krezk is the least fleshed out area players could enter, on the one hand that allows DMs to flex creative juices, other times it could be a little disappointing. That being said, I think an order of silver knights, werewolf conflict, and the burgomasters being a family of secret werewolves would add just enough to keep things interesting without changing too much.
I remember watching this years ago when running my first 5e game, I’m back now brushing up on lore for my Shadowdark Barovia game! Thank you for the great content
I'm a fairly new GM. I've been doing it for almost a year now with my wife and kids. We just started Curse of Straud and these videos have been a big help. Keep up the great work.
I’m considering making Krezk the location that Ismark wants Ireena to be taken to. Maybe he heard about it’s stone walls and how secure it is. Haven’t quite decided yet, but it’s something I’m looking into. Loving these videos! Very helpful indeed!
So interestingly enough I'm running a very condensed version of the campaign and my players are going to Krezk and then to the winery. The druids at the winery are instead loading the wine with Strahd's blood (instead of poison) the wine will get delivered to Krezk and the next person to die in the village will turn to a vampire. My plan is to have this happen that same night while the party is sleeping. Then the town will be over run by vampires.
Hi There. I am 2 weeks off starting Strahd for a party of friends. Your videos have been really valuable in aiding my preparation, as well has filling in the train commute to work. Thanks very much. I know exactly how my party will get to Kresk. My party like to explore every inch of every encounter. I just finished keep on the borderlands with them, and they went into every room, found every door and killed every monster. Now, I found an unmarked players map of Barovia that will be gifted to them, likely by Madam Eva or some other Vistani. Once they know there is a village they haven’t been to, they will be compelled to check it out. Curiosity and completeness will get them there.
My party just finished off Wintersplinter at Yester Hill and are about to go back to the winery with one of the gem seeds. I want to have them help escort the wine shipment to Krezk. The party has reason to travel to the Abbey of St Markovia anyways (the Symbol of Ravenkind is there and it's the one "house of a saint" they haven't checked yet), so I'm hoping it all works out. Great videos!!! They've been incredibly helpful!!!
Lol. Almost EXACTLY what is going on at my table. I had the Symbol there in my original plan but changed it to Argynvostholt to give them a better reason to go there.
I am starting my campaign on the opposite side to the normal start point, so my players first point will be Krezk, Will be moving the card reading location also. Awesome informative vids!
I'm actually going to start my party in Krezk. There's a few things to tweak, but I think it'll really help to introduce the land of Barovia soo much better then just; -party exits the mist- "hey look!" - points at Castle Ravenloft- "I betcha a baddie lives there." Lmfao in all seriousness, after having perused the towns, and general quests/themes, it really feels like Krezk is the PERFECT starting point. Thanks for some good in depth videos. They may be a little dry, but I like going through everything bit by bit. After all, I should know this place as Strahd eh? Hehehehe.
@@NoFunAllowed it's so frickin true though! I'm considering downloading a Minecraft rendition of Castle Ravenloft just to get an idea of what that beast is like to traipse through... Thanks for doing all the info sifting for the rest of us. This channel and Heros on Lunchbreak are my guides through Barovia.
ive sent them on a quest after the dinner with strahd to kill the abbey. It is my way of trying to corrupt them and make them doubtful of their own motives and ambitions and eventually succumb to the darkness
Thanks for your great videos! I spiced up Krezk by implementing the story hooks of Richemulot (Van Richten's guide to Ravenloft) as i did with other locations (for example: The Carneval for Wallaki). My Players love it.
Haven't even begun to prep for this area yet, and haven't watched your video on the abbey, nor have I read the chapter yet. However I do have an idea already on how to introduce players to the people of Krezk, based off a few things you've said. Something is slaughtering the people of the town at night. Something that moves swift, and stealthily. Attacks without prejudice, and only kills to feed. One of the townsfolk has been afflicted by lycanthropy, but is unaware. Each night shifting into the werewolf form to find easy pray, and waking up in strange places in the morning. Newly afflicted often don't remember much until the first full moon, where they undergo some more changes. The group could be invited in to help solve the problem. Burgomasters kid was one of the largest victims, and whatever going on is more dangerous than the threat of Strahd at the moment. It will be a delicate situation for the party, and needs to be dealt with cautiously. When killed, werewolves revert back to their human form. To the townsfolk, it could seem they murdered some innocent person.
So my party (only 2 pcs) found a dwarf cleric npc (healbot basically lol) trapped in the death house who is investigating the missing children around the land (this cleric really enjoys dream pastries and the whole party is still unaware theyre made with kids). The priest at st andrals is going to tell them about the missing kids in krezk which will give them a reason to go. Was thinking maybe the hags and werewolves dont get along since theyre both after the same resource.
That concept art is a dud, doesn't match the topography of the land shown on the map at all (the map gives you elevation lines to follow and everything). Kresk is built on top of a steep hill (the road shown winding to it winds because it's supposed to be climbing that steep hill). The concept art at least got the steepness of the path to the abbey right, but the abbey is supposed to be built precariously on the side of a mountain that continues to rise sharply immediately behind it, not on the summit of a strange flat dome.
What if your players unknowingly used to teleporter under castle Ravenloft and thats how they go there, how do I run that!?!? This happed in my last session
@@NoFunAllowed Yh its going to be ridiculous, but this video and the follow up video about the abbey has really helped me prepare it for next week. Side note one of my other players got separated last session and also found the teleporter by him self and teleported to the amber temple 👍 so he charater is most likely to die next session.
I’m doing Strahd where this is actually the first town they go to. It’s the nicest town. And as they get closer to Ravenloft, they’ll see the living circumstances get worse and worse instead of them seeing the worst first.
A great way to show the contrast of the world!
Same, this is my first time DMing as well, so it's quite the challenge
I'm starting my group on the west side of the map, so I've decided to put Ireena there in disguise, hiding from Strahd. When I'm ready to push the players to Barovia, Ireena will then hear of her father's death and wish for an escort home.
Thanks for the content; I put it on during downtime at work and it helps me prep
It would be cool if Krezk had a blacksmith of sorts that dealt with normal and silvered weapons and a shopkeep with more of the adventuring table at maybe just twice or triple the cost. Gives something else in this place.
any little bit goes a long way!
@@NoFunAllowed I’ve been planning on getting into 5e and DMing for the first time and getting this module. So far I think Krezk is the least fleshed out area players could enter, on the one hand that allows DMs to flex creative juices, other times it could be a little disappointing.
That being said, I think an order of silver knights, werewolf conflict, and the burgomasters being a family of secret werewolves would add just enough to keep things interesting without changing too much.
I remember watching this years ago when running my first 5e game, I’m back now brushing up on lore for my Shadowdark Barovia game! Thank you for the great content
shadowdark + cos, a match made in heaven haha!
I'm a fairly new GM. I've been doing it for almost a year now with my wife and kids. We just started Curse of Straud and these videos have been a big help. Keep up the great work.
Thank you and will do!
I’m considering making Krezk the location that Ismark wants Ireena to be taken to. Maybe he heard about it’s stone walls and how secure it is. Haven’t quite decided yet, but it’s something I’m looking into. Loving these videos! Very helpful indeed!
Thank you! There's tons of great leads to guide your party there!
So interestingly enough I'm running a very condensed version of the campaign and my players are going to Krezk and then to the winery. The druids at the winery are instead loading the wine with Strahd's blood (instead of poison) the wine will get delivered to Krezk and the next person to die in the village will turn to a vampire.
My plan is to have this happen that same night while the party is sleeping. Then the town will be over run by vampires.
Hi There. I am 2 weeks off starting Strahd for a party of friends. Your videos have been really valuable in aiding my preparation, as well has filling in the train commute to work. Thanks very much. I know exactly how my party will get to Kresk. My party like to explore every inch of every encounter. I just finished keep on the borderlands with them, and they went into every room, found every door and killed every monster. Now, I found an unmarked players map of Barovia that will be gifted to them, likely by Madam Eva or some other Vistani. Once they know there is a village they haven’t been to, they will be compelled to check it out. Curiosity and completeness will get them there.
awesome stuff! people that love to adventure for adventures sake are great to have, theres tons of great locations to explore in this module!
My party just finished off Wintersplinter at Yester Hill and are about to go back to the winery with one of the gem seeds. I want to have them help escort the wine shipment to Krezk. The party has reason to travel to the Abbey of St Markovia anyways (the Symbol of Ravenkind is there and it's the one "house of a saint" they haven't checked yet), so I'm hoping it all works out. Great videos!!! They've been incredibly helpful!!!
Thank you so much!
Lol. Almost EXACTLY what is going on at my table. I had the Symbol there in my original plan but changed it to Argynvostholt to give them a better reason to go there.
Running Strahd in 2025 and these guides are invaluable. Thank you!
awesome to hear all these years later haha thank you!
I'd love to see that Rumour table, that's a really good shout to make the world feel more real.
rumors make the world go round haha
I am starting my campaign on the opposite side to the normal start point, so my players first point will be Krezk, Will be moving the card reading location also. Awesome informative vids!
thank you and awesome stuff! traversing from left to right certainly shapes up the world to being a scary place haha!
I'm actually going to start my party in Krezk. There's a few things to tweak, but I think it'll really help to introduce the land of Barovia soo much better then just; -party exits the mist- "hey look!" - points at Castle Ravenloft- "I betcha a baddie lives there."
Lmfao in all seriousness, after having perused the towns, and general quests/themes, it really feels like Krezk is the PERFECT starting point.
Thanks for some good in depth videos. They may be a little dry, but I like going through everything bit by bit.
After all, I should know this place as Strahd eh? Hehehehe.
haha theres just oo much info to go through!
@@NoFunAllowed it's so frickin true though!
I'm considering downloading a Minecraft rendition of Castle Ravenloft just to get an idea of what that beast is like to traipse through...
Thanks for doing all the info sifting for the rest of us.
This channel and Heros on Lunchbreak are my guides through Barovia.
ive sent them on a quest after the dinner with strahd to kill the abbey. It is my way of trying to corrupt them and make them doubtful of their own motives and ambitions and eventually succumb to the darkness
haha awesome stuff! time to see if they head down a road with no redemption!
Thanks for your great videos! I spiced up Krezk by implementing the story hooks of Richemulot (Van Richten's guide to Ravenloft) as i did with other locations (for example: The Carneval for Wallaki). My Players love it.
heck yeah, awesome stuff!
This is NIIIIIICE! Very well thought out! Thank you for taking your time and explaining cool shit!
Thank you and no problem!
Haven't even begun to prep for this area yet, and haven't watched your video on the abbey, nor have I read the chapter yet. However I do have an idea already on how to introduce players to the people of Krezk, based off a few things you've said.
Something is slaughtering the people of the town at night. Something that moves swift, and stealthily. Attacks without prejudice, and only kills to feed.
One of the townsfolk has been afflicted by lycanthropy, but is unaware. Each night shifting into the werewolf form to find easy pray, and waking up in strange places in the morning. Newly afflicted often don't remember much until the first full moon, where they undergo some more changes.
The group could be invited in to help solve the problem. Burgomasters kid was one of the largest victims, and whatever going on is more dangerous than the threat of Strahd at the moment.
It will be a delicate situation for the party, and needs to be dealt with cautiously. When killed, werewolves revert back to their human form. To the townsfolk, it could seem they murdered some innocent person.
These guides are amazing and really helps my prepping alot. Thanks No Fun!
thank you so much!
Great video as always. Thanks a lot again :D
haha thank you!
So my party (only 2 pcs) found a dwarf cleric npc (healbot basically lol) trapped in the death house who is investigating the missing children around the land (this cleric really enjoys dream pastries and the whole party is still unaware theyre made with kids). The priest at st andrals is going to tell them about the missing kids in krezk which will give them a reason to go.
Was thinking maybe the hags and werewolves dont get along since theyre both after the same resource.
awesome stuff!
This saved me last minute 🤣😭 thank you
Thank you and no problem!
I cant wait to see your Abbot voiced video!
It's already available!
That concept art is a dud, doesn't match the topography of the land shown on the map at all (the map gives you elevation lines to follow and everything). Kresk is built on top of a steep hill (the road shown winding to it winds because it's supposed to be climbing that steep hill). The concept art at least got the steepness of the path to the abbey right, but the abbey is supposed to be built precariously on the side of a mountain that continues to rise sharply immediately behind it, not on the summit of a strange flat dome.
there was definitely a difference in concept art vs actual product haha
Not me watching this after I gave one player a everflowing bottle....OF WINE. lmao
that will be in very high demand haha!
Where's that rumor table? I'm running Krezk tonight lol
I've been so busy haha! Hopefully I can get to it soon!
@@NoFunAllowed Its all good man, your channel came out of nowhere and blindsided me with all this great content, I just can't get enough!
@@cloak5857 thank you so much!
I let my players into the town by proving that they were not werewolves.
a good way to go haha!
Wow a few weeks for this module....my group is on year 3.
haha mama mia thats not a campaign, thats a saga!
What if your players unknowingly used to teleporter under castle Ravenloft and thats how they go there, how do I run that!?!? This happed in my last session
haha then your players are in for one heck of a time in a new place!
@@NoFunAllowed Yh its going to be ridiculous, but this video and the follow up video about the abbey has really helped me prepare it for next week. Side note one of my other players got separated last session and also found the teleporter by him self and teleported to the amber temple 👍 so he charater is most likely to die next session.
I like these videos, but in many ways they are just stating what is in the text. I am really looking for insights and discrepancies.
It does, in fact, suck
Haha