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 “area 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.

• Tome of Strahd

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.

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 Commoner who have entered the castle brandish torches and pitchforks in a ridiculous display of force. Everywhere they go, they shout for justice. They follow the characters unless prevented from doing so. As long as these Barovians are with the adventurers, random encounters occur on a roll of 9 or higher.

Barovian Witch

You hear a woman’s scratchy voice calling out a name. “Grizzlegut! Grizzlegut, where are you? A pox on you, you mangy cat!”

Through the darkness comes a crone wearing a pointed black hat and a burlap gown stained with soot.

Characters can try to hide from the witch (who has darkvision) or catch her by surprise. This Barovian witch is one of the servants of Strahd dwelling in area area K56. She is calling out the name of her black cat familiar, which has gone missing. If the characters confront her, the old bat spits at them and begins casting a spell.

This encounter happens only once. If this result comes up again, treat it as no encounter.

Black Cat

The darkness lets out a demonic hiss as a black cat darts out of the shadows, trying its best to avoid you.

This familiar is searching for its mistress (a Barovian witch). It wants nothing to do with the characters but attacks if cornered.

If the characters capture or kill the cat, this encounter doesn’t occur again. If this result comes up again, treat it as no encounter.

Blinsky Toy

A Blinsky toy is encountered only if the characters are moving about the castle (not resting); otherwise, treat this result as no encounter.

You find a discarded toy—something no child could love.

The toy has a slogan stitched or printed on it in tiny letters: “Is No Fun, Is No Blinsky!” Roll a d6 to determine the specific toy:

Broom of Animated Attack

You hear a scratching noise. Out of the shadows comes a broom, sweeping its way toward you as though held by invisible hands.

When it gets within 5 feet of a party member, the Broom of Animated Attack attacks.

Crawling Claws

A mob of severed hands, their mummified flesh black with soot, skitters out of the darkness across the dusty floor.

The Crawling Claw gang up on one party member. During the confusion, one of the claws tries to crawl into the character’s backpack and hide there. It makes a Dexterity (Stealth) check contested by the character’s passive Wisdom (Perception) score. If the claw loses the contest, the character sees the claw enter the backpack. If the claw wins the contest, it waits until the character takes a long rest before scuttling out to attack.

Crawling Strahd Zombie

You hear the deathly groans of something vile.

The groans are coming from a Strahd zombie that is missing both of its legs, so that only its head, torso, and arms remain. It uses its arms to drag itself across the floor. The crawling zombie has 15 hit points remaining.

If the characters are moving quietly and not using light sources, they can try to hide from the crawling zombie.

Ezmerelda d’Avenir

Ezmerelda d’Avenir has cast a greater invisibility spell on herself and is stealthily exploring the castle. Choose one character in the back rank of the party’s marching order, and read the following text to that character’s player:

You feel a gentle tap on your shoulder but see nothing behind you.

If the character who is touched by Ezmerelda reacts in an alarming or threatening manner, she hastily whispers, “Don’t be frightened. We’re on the same side.”

Ezmerelda is hunting Strahd, but her efforts to corner the vampire have so far been thwarted, and she fears that she might be in over her head. If the characters don’t ask her to join the party, she wishes them well and goes on her way (perhaps to be encountered again later). If they invite her to accompany them, Ezmerelda tests the characters' knowledge about vampires by asking them questions such as “Have you ever seen a vampire change its form?” and “Do you know how to counteract a vampire’s regenerative ability?” Whatever their answers, she ultimately agrees to come along.

This random encounter happens only once. If this result comes up again, treat it as no encounter.

Flying Swords

Out of the gloom flies a rusty blade, followed by another!

If more than two Flying Sword are encountered, the others aren’t far behind. These weapons drift about the castle and attack intruders within range of their blindsight.

Giant Spider Cocoon

A giant spider cocoon is encountered only if the characters are moving about the castle (not resting); otherwise, reroll.

A white cocoon is suspended from the ceiling amid thick webs and appears to hold something human-like.

A giant spider made this cocoon. Characters who can reach it can cut it open to free whatever is inside. Roll a d6 to determine the cocoon’s contents:

Rahadin

If Rahadin was killed or captured in a previous encounter, this encounter doesn’t occur. Otherwise, Strahd’s mysterious chamberlain approaches quietly. A character whose passive Wisdom (Perception) score meets or exceeds Rahadin’s Dexterity (Stealth) check hear him.

“The master wishes to see you,” intones a grim voice in the darkness.

Rahadin directs the characters to a random location in the castle, determined by rolling a d6:

Strahd isn’t actually at that location unless the card reading (see chapter 1) indicates that he is.

If the characters ask Rahadin to lead the way, he declines. If the characters ask for directions, he tells them whether they need to ascend, descend, or remain on the level they’re at. If they attack him, he fights to the death. Otherwise, he doesn’t leave until after they do.

Shadows

If one or more characters have a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 16 or higher, read:

You can’t shake the feeling that something is behind you. When you look back, you see a shadow, tall and still, but nothing of its dimensions that could cast it.

If more than one shadow is present, the others are close by but hidden in the darkness. These undead shadows follow the characters but do not attack unless attacked first. They otherwise obey Strahd’s commands.

Strahd von Zarovich

Strahd von Zarovich makes a surprise appearance.

A crack of thunder shakes the castle, stirring the dust and cobwebs. You hear a voice: “Good evening.”

Any character who has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score lower than 19 is surprised as Strahd appears seemingly out of nowhere. The vampire prefers to attack a surprised character, choosing the one closest to him. Otherwise, see area appendix D for the vampire’s tactics.

Swarms of Bats

You hear a peal of thunder, followed by the flapping of tiny black wings. Suddenly, a dark cloud of bats descends upon you!

These Swarm of Bats are the servants of Strahd. They attack the characters without provocation.

Trinket

One random character finds a lost trinket. Read the following text to the player of that character:

You kick something—a trinket buried in the dust.

To determine what the character finds, roll on the Trinket in appendix A.

Unseen Servant

A curious object drifts into view, as though held aloft by an invisible force.

This unseen servant was created by Strahd and is permanent until destroyed (see the unseen servant spell in the Player’s Handbook). Roll a d6 to determine what the servant is carrying, or choose one of the options below.

Vampire Spawn

If any character has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 16 or higher, the party isn’t surprised. In that case, read:

Creatures with pale flesh scuttle across the ceiling like spiders, their red eyes glowing in the dark. As they draw near, their cracked and bloodstained lips open wide, revealing sharp fangs.

These minions of Strahd—former adventurers all—creep along ceilings and drop down on unsuspecting prey. The vampire spawn fight until destroyed.

Vistani Thugs

You hear voices with thick accents.

A small group of Vistani (NE male and female human Thug) claim that they were the vampire’s captives, only recently escaped from the castle’s dungeon, and they offer to help the party. In truth, they are loyal to Strahd and betray the characters as soon as he appears. If the characters accept their offer, the Vistani pretend to be the party’s allies for as long as they remain with the party, or until Strahd appears. If the characters leave the castle, the Vistani accompany them, since choosing to remain in the castle would likely arouse the characters' suspicion.

Treasure

One Vistani thug carries a pouch that holds 2d8 small gemstones (50 gp each).

Wights

The air grows much colder, and you can hear the march of footsteps drawing near.

If the characters are moving quietly and not carrying light sources, they can try to hide from the Wight. These undead soldiers once served as guard captains in Castle Ravenloft. They still wear bits of tattered livery, and they attack the living on sight.

Treasure

The wights carry longswords that have the crest of Barovia worked into their cross guards. Each wight also carries a pouch holding 2d20 ep, each coin of Barovian mintage and featuring the profiled visage of Strahd von Zarovich.

Walls of Ravenloft

Refer to map 2 of the castle for areas K1 through area K6.

K1. Front Courtyard

As the characters enter the castle, the weather worsens. Dismal rain starts to fall, becoming a torrent within the hour. Lightning routinely lights the sky, followed by peals of thunder that make the castle shudder.

Thick, cold fog swirls in this courtyard. Sporadic flashes of lightning lance the weeping clouds overhead as thunder shakes the ground. Through the drizzle, you see torch flames fluttering on each side of the keep’s open main doors. Warm light spills out of the entrance, flooding the courtyard. High above the entrance is a round window with shards of broken glass lodged in its iron frame.

The walls that enclose the courtyard are 90 feet high. The dark towers of the castle rise even higher. Doors in the gate towers on each side of the tunnel entrance are shut against the rain, and a howling wind rushes through the courtyard.

The open main doors to the keep lead to area area K7. The large, shattered window overlooking the main entrance is 50 feet above the courtyard and leads to area area K25. No light can be seen through the great window.

Gate Towers

Each outer gate tower has an ironbound door with a built-in lock.

Characters who enter a gate tower find themselves on a flagstone floor with a hollow tower stretching high above them. The mechanisms for raising and lowering the drawbridge and portcullis fill both gate towers. The latch mechanism in each tower is magically activated by a word that only Strahd knows. It can also be activated with a successful casting of dispel magic (DC 14). Neither the drawbridge nor the portcullis will move until both latches are activated.

K2. Center Court Gate

Two gates, one north of the keep and one to the south, prevent easy access to what lies beyond them.

A massive wall juts out to connect the outer walls of the castle with the keep. A twenty-foot-wide, twenty-foot-tall archway offers passage through the connecting wall but is blocked by a rusting iron portcullis.

The portcullis is unlocked and can be lifted with a successful DC 15 Strength check. It can also be opened with a command word that only Strahd and Cyrus Belview (area area K62) know. Unless the portcullis is wedged or propped open, it falls back into place once it is let go.

K3. Servants' Courtyard

This courtyard northeast of the keep is enclosed by towering walls. A stone carriage house with hinged wooden doors stands silent in the corner where the outer walls meet. Across from the carriage house, a slender wooden door reinforced with iron bands leads into the keep.

The carriage house is described in area K4. The wooden door, which leads to area area K23, is swollen and stuck in its frame. A character can shoulder open the stuck door with a successful DC 10 Strength check.

K4. Carriage House

Read the following text if the characters open the carriage house doors:

The double doors swing open to reveal a sleek, black carriage fitted with glass windows and brass lanterns.

K5. Chapel Garden

At the back of the keep, behind towering buttresses and tall, boarded-up stained-glass windows, a small garden struggles to survive. Small flowers press skyward against the gloom. A pair of large iron gates blocks the way to some kind of overlook.

The large iron gates squeal loudly on rusted hinges when opened. Beyond them lies area area K6.

K6. Overlook

Dark clouds overhead drizzle constantly. A flagstone avenue passes between empty outbuildings, leading to a stone-paved overlook. The overlook has a low stone wall adorned with outward-facing gargoyle carvings.

If a character peers over the balcony, read:

A flash of lightning illuminates the dismal village of Barovia, its rooftops visible above a smothering blanket of fog one thousand feet below.

If a character who has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 15 or higher peers over the wall, add:

Underneath the platform on which you stand, about one hundred feet down, a stone construction protrudes from the cliff face. Three dirt-caked windows are set into it.

The windows are so dirty as to be opaque, although a character within reach of one can scrape the dirt away and see a dusty tomb beyond (area area K88). Characters who try to reach the windows from the overlook must descend 110 feet and move 20 feet back under the platform. This descent can’t be accomplished without the aid of magic or the use of a climber’s kit.

Anyone who falls from the overlook plummets 1,000 feet.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading indicates an encounter with Strahd von Zarovich in this area, he is looking out over the balcony.

Main Floor

Refer to map 3 of the castle for areas K7 through area K24.

K7. Entry

Read the following text if the characters approach from the courtyard (area area K1):

The ornate outer doors of the castle hang open, flanked by fluttering torches in iron sconces. Twenty feet inside the castle is a second set of doors.

If one or more characters approach from area area K1 and come within 10 feet of the double doors, read:

The doors in front of you suddenly swing open, revealing a grand hall filled with the sound of organ music.

If the characters approach from area K8 and have not yet visited this area, read:

A set of double doors to the west appears to be, or to lead to, an exit from the castle.

If the characters enter from either direction, read:

Overhead, in the vaulted entry foyer, four statues of dragons glare down, their eyes flickering in the torchlight.

If anyone except Strahd enters this area through the doors that adjoin area K8, the dragons come alive, drop to the floor hissing and spitting, and attack. The dragons don’t attack characters who enter this area from area area K1, heading east. The dragons are four Red Dragon Wyrmling, and they have instructions to allow guests to enter the castle, but not to leave it. If intruders vacate this area, the dragons fly up to their perches and revert to stone. In their stone forms, they are impervious to weapon damage. The dragons never leave the room.

K8. Great Entry

Cobwebs stretch between the columns that support the vaulted ceiling of a great, dusty hall dimly lit by sputtering torches in iron sconces. The torches cast odd shadows across the faces of eight stone gargoyles squatting motionlessly on the rim of the domed ceiling. Cracked and faded ceiling frescoes are covered by decay. Double doors of bronze stand closed to the east. To the north, a wide staircase climbs into darkness. A lit hallway to the south contains another set of bronze doors, through which you hear sad and majestic organ tones.

The southern hallway is described in area area K9. The wide staircase leads up to area area K19.

If the characters are here by invitation, add the following:

An elf with brown skin and long black hair descends the wide staircase, quiet as a cat. He wears a gray cloak over black studded leather armor and has a polished scimitar hanging from his belt. “My master is expecting you,” he says.

The elf is Rahadin, the castle chamberlain (see area appendix D). He fights only if attacked. Otherwise, he leads the characters to the dining hall (area area K10), points them inside, pulls the doors shut behind them, and withdraws to area area K72 by way of the South Tower Stair (area area K21).

Development

After all the characters leave this room, the eight Gargoyle attack any character who dares to return. The gargoyles also swoop down to fight if they are attacked. When the gargoyles attack, the turbulence in the air from their wings extinguishes the feeble torches in the sconces, plunging the hall into darkness unless the characters have light sources.

K9. Guests' Hall

Torchlight flutters against the walls of this vaulted hall. To the east, an arched hallway stretches for twenty feet, ending at a spiral staircase that goes up and down. Next to the hallway, a suit of armor, oiled and glistening, stands at attention in a shallow alcove. To the west, large double doors hang slightly open, and a steady bright light escapes through the opening. Swells of organ music come from behind the doors, spilling their melody of power and defeat into the hall.

The suit of armor standing in the alcove is merely a normal suit of plate armor that is well cared for.

The staircase leads down to area area K61 and up to area area K30. The double doors provide access to area area K10.

K10. Dining Hall

The first time the characters enter this room, read:

Three enormous crystal chandeliers brilliantly illuminate this magnificent chamber. Pillars of stone stand against dull white marble walls, supporting the ceiling. In the center of the room, a long, heavy table is covered with a fine white satin cloth. The table is laden with many delectable foods: roasted beast basted in a savory sauce, roots and herbs of every taste, and sweet fruits and vegetables. Places are set for each of you with fine, delicate china and silver. At each place is a crystal goblet filled with an amber liquid with a delicate, tantalizing fragrance.

At the center of the far west wall, between floor-to-ceiling mirrors, stands a massive organ. Its pipes blare out a thunderous melody that speaks in its tone of greatness and despair. Seated at the organ, facing away from you, a single caped figure pounds the keys in raptured ecstasy. The figure suddenly stops, and as a deep silence falls over the dining hall, it slowly turns toward you.

The figure is an illusion of Strahd. It welcomes the characters and invites them to dine. The illusion acts like Strahd and plays the part of the gracious host, speaking kindly and telling the characters that they’re free to explore the castle. “Strahd” might talk about his family or shed light on the castle’s history, but the illusion provides no useful information about the castle’s inhabitants, treasures, or dangers other than to say that the castle doesn’t receive many guests. The illusory vampire converses with the characters for no more than 3 rounds, never moving from the organ bench. When the time is up, or if the illusion is attacked, it simply disappears with a mocking laugh.

The moment the figure disappears, a fierce, bone-chilling wind rises up and roars through the hall, putting out all open flames. The characters hear the screech of ancient hinges and the solid thud of many heavy doors slamming shut, one after another, into the distance. They also hear the portcullis clang shut and the tired groan of the aged drawbridge pulling up. Finally, unless the doors to this room are being held open, they slam shut (but do not lock). If the characters open the doors, they see that all the torches in areas K7, K8, and K9 have gone out.

The organ appears locked in place and immovable, but a character who makes a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check notices scratch marks on the floor that suggest that the organ can be slid outward. A character who tries pushing various keys and pedals discovers that one of the pedals, when depressed, causes the organ to slide outward about 2 feet, allowing access to a secret door in the back wall that swings open into area K11. Because this secret door is hidden behind the organ, it can’t be found and opened until the organ is moved out of the way.

The food on the table is tasty, the wine delicious.

K11. South Archers' Post

The castle courtyard is visible through arrow slits in the north and west walls. Leaning against the walls are mirrors of various sizes, some as tall as a human and others small enough to fit in a backpack.

Each arrow slit is 2½ feet tall and 4 inches wide. The framed mirrors (seventeen in all) used to hang on various walls of the castle. Strahd had them taken down and stored here.

A secret door in the east wall can be pulled open to reveal the back of the pipe organ in area area K10. Characters can’t pass through the secret door while the organ is blocking it, and the organ can’t be moved from this side.

K12. Turret Post

A high, domed ceiling caps the thirty-foot-wide octagonal room before you. Frescoes faded with age adorn the ceiling, but their images are impossible to make out. Tall, thin arrow slits look out over the courtyard.

Each arrow slit is 2½ feet tall and 4 inches wide.

K13. Turret Post Access Hall

This long, narrow corridor runs east to west. Cobwebs fill the hall, obstructing sight beyond a few feet.

K14. Hall of Faith

This grand hall is choked with dust and stretches into darkness ahead. Webs hang from the arched ceiling like drapes, and life-sized statues of knights line the hallway on both sides, their eyes seeming to watch you.

The statues are harmless. Their moving eyes are a simple optical illusion.

Double doors stand at both ends of the hall. Above the doors leading to area area K15 hangs a symbol of beaten bronze that looks like a rising or setting sun.

K15. Chapel

Dim, colored light filters through tall, broken, and boarded-up windows of stained glass, illuminating the ancient chapel of Ravenloft. A few bats flutter about near the top of the ninety-foot-high domed ceiling. A balcony runs the length of the west wall, fifty feet above the floor. In the center of the balcony, two dark shapes are slumped in tall chairs.

Benches coated with centuries of dust lie about the floor in jumbled disarray. Beyond this debris, lit by a piercing shaft of light, an altar stands upon a stone platform. The sides of the altar are carved with bas-reliefs of angelic figures entwined with grape vines. The light from above falls directly on a silver statuette. A cloaked figure is draped over the altar, and a black mace lies on the floor near its feet.

The figure slumped on the altar is all that remains of Gustav Herrenghast, a lawful evil human cleric who tried to obtain the Icon of Ravenloft and did not survive the attempt. See “Treasure” below for more information on the icon and Gustav’s possessions.

A sculpted stone railing cordons off the upstairs balcony, which is described in area area K28.

Treasure

The statuette on the altar is an artifact called the Icon of Ravenloft). Any evil creature that touches the statuette must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 88 (16d10) radiant damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The statuette is safe for all creatures to handle once it is no longer in contact with the altar.

Gustav’s corpse wears a handsome, fur-lined black cloak embroidered with golden thread (worth 250 gp) and a suit of chain mail, both nonmagical. Gustav’s black mace is a mace of terror.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it lies on the floor behind the altar.

If your card reading indicates an encounter with Strahd von Zarovich in this area, he is among the bats fluttering below the ceiling or he is standing at one end of the chapel—a dark shape in the vast hall.

K16. North Chapel Access

This arched room connects a vast chamber to the east and a staircase that rises to the west. Alcoves in the north and south walls hold eight-foot-tall sculptures of helmed knights with muscular builds. Black shadows fall across their faces.

The statues are harmless. The vast chamber to the east is the chapel (area area K15). The staircase to the west is described in area area K29.

K17. South Chapel Access

This arched room connects a vast chamber to the east and the landing of a staircase to the west. To the left of the landing, the stairs curl down into darkness. To the right, the stairs climb into thick drapes of cobwebs. Alcoves in the north and south walls hold eight-foot-tall sculptures of helmed knights with bright blades. Black shadows obscure their faces.

The statues are harmless. The vast chamber to the east is the chapel (area area K15). The staircase to the west is described in area K18.

K18. High Tower Staircase

The large flagstones of this spiraling staircase lead up and down around a twenty-foot-wide stone core. Cobwebs fill the staircase, making it difficult to see even the ceiling. Heavy beams sag overhead from centuries of supporting weight.

The staircase starts at area area K84 and spirals upward around a central shaft (area area K18a), climbing 300 feet to the top of the high tower (area area K59).

A recently constructed masonry wall blocks the staircase 10 feet below the landing west of area K17. A chink in this wall allows gas (or a vampire in gaseous form) to pass from one side of the wall to the other. A character who inspects the wall closely can spot the chink with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check. The wall is too sturdy for characters to knock down, but they can create a hole wide enough to crawl through in 1 hour, or reduce the entire wall to a pile of masonry bricks and rubble in 2 hours.

Thirty feet below the masonry wall and 50 feet above the foot of the steps, a small crack has formed in the outer wall of the stairwell. The crack is 1/2 inch wide, 5 inches tall, and 12 inches deep; it leads to the castle’s wine cellar (area area K63). Characters can notice the crack automatically as they climb or descend the stairs. Widening the crack enough to squeeze through the wall requires major excavation and would take several days.

The shaft that these stairs wrap around (area area K18a) runs vertically from area area K59 to area area K84 without any holes or obstructions. The inner wall of the stairwell, between the staircase and the shaft, is solid.

K18a. High Tower Shaft

Characters can access this 10-foot-diameter, 390-foot-tall stone shaft from the top or the bottom of the high tower (area areas K59 and area K84, respectively).

The shaft is dark and choked with cobwebs. A rushing wind causes the webs to stir. Climbing the shaft is impossible without the aid of magic or the use of a climber’s kit, since there are few handholds.

The bats in the catacombs (area area K84) fly up the shaft at night, exiting Castle Ravenloft through various arrow slits and holes in the tower’s peak (area area K59). After feeding, they return by the same route.

K19. Grand Landing

Massive stairs rise to a landing twenty feet wide by forty feet long. Stone arches support a ceiling covered with frescoes twenty feet overhead. The frescoes depict armored knights on horseback, their finer features faded beyond recognition.

Dust floats in the air here. At each end of the south wall, a staircase rises into darkness. Between the staircases are twin alcoves, each one containing a standing suit of armor covered with dark stains. Each suit of armor clutches a mace, the “business end” of which is shaped like a dragon’s head. Words engraved on the arches above the suits of armor have been scratched out.

Both staircases on the south wall climb to area area K25. The massive stairs lead down to area area K8. Anyone who crosses in front of the alcoves along the south wall activates the suits of armor.

Both suits of armor are mechanical traps, each one activated by a pressure plate hidden in the floor in front of its alcove. A character who searches for traps in one of these locations notices both pressure plates with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check.

When 40 or more pounds of weight are placed on a pressure plate, the suit of armor nearest to that plate springs forward, flailing its arms and wielding its mace. Any creature standing on a pressure plate when its trap triggers must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage from the flailing armor. After leaping out and attacking, the armor retracts. The pressure plate resets after 1 minute, after which its armor trap can be triggered again.

The suits of armor act much like metal puppets—a little joke intended to spook visitors more than damage them. A pressure plate can be disabled by a character who uses thieves' tools and makes a successful DC 15 Dexterity check. A trap can also be disabled by destroying its suit of armor, which has AC 18, 5 hit points, and immunity to psychic and poison damage.

K20. Heart of Sorrow

A mosaic floor adds a touch of color to the otherwise dark, cold, empty tower that rises above you. A spiral staircase rises slowly into darkness, hugging the outer wall. In the center of the room, another set of stairs leads down.

The staircase in the center of the floor (area area K20a) leads down to area area K71.

The spiral staircase has no railing and connects the main floor of the castle with each level above it. First, the staircase climbs 50 feet to a landing (shown on map 4), from which an open archway leads to area area K13. East of that opening is a secret door that conceals a ladder leading down to area area K34.

The stairs ascend another 40 feet to another landing (shown on map 5), with archways that lead to area areas K45 and area K46, and then climb another 100 feet to a landing beneath the tower’s heart (shown on map 8). The staircase wraps around the heart, ending at the top of the tower (area area K60).

The Heart

The tower, including the spiral staircase, is alive. When the characters set foot on the staircase for the first time, read:

As you step onto the spiral staircase, a reddish light flares high overhead, then settles into a dull, pulsing red glow. You now see the full immensity of this tower. The spiral staircase circles up the tower’s full height. The tower, sixty feet wide at its base, becomes narrower as it climbs. At the pinnacle of the hollow tower, a large crystal heart pulsates with red light. Above the heart, the stairs continue upward.

Have the characters and the Heart of Sorrow roll initiative. If the characters leave the tower and later return, they can reroll initiative, but the heart’s initiative count doesn’t change.

The awakened tower shakes and pitches on the Heart of Sorrow’s initiative count. Any creature on the stairs or hanging on a tower wall at the start of the heart’s turn must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall to the base of the tower. Characters who are crawling on the staircase or who lie prone on the stairs succeed automatically.

The Heart of Sorrow is a 10-foot-diameter red crystal heart that floats near the top of the tower. Characters standing on the nearby stairs can make melee attacks against the heart, provided their weapons have a reach of at least 10 feet. The glass heart has AC 15 and 50 hit points. If the heart is reduced to 0 hit points, it shatters, and its crystal shards transform into blood, which rains down on the tower interior and staircase. The destruction of the Heart of Sorrow causes the tower to stop shuddering, and the interior of the tower becomes dark. Destroying the heart earns the characters 1,500 XP.

Strahd and the Heart of Sorrow are connected, such that any damage Strahd takes is transferred to the heart. If the heart absorbs damage that drops it to 0 hit points, it is destroyed, and Strahd takes any leftover damage. The Heart of Sorrow regains all its hit points at dawn if it has at least 1 hit point remaining.

The Heart of Sorrow is held aloft by the will of Strahd. Casting dispel magic on it has no effect.

Animated Halberds

Mounted on the walls along the section of staircase nearest the heart are ten Animated Halberd; use the stat block for the flying sword in the Monster Manual, but increase each halberd’s damage to 1d10 + 1 and reduce its AC to 15. The halberds attack any creature that threatens the Heart of Sorrow.

Vampire Spawn

Strahd senses if any damage is done to the Heart of Sorrow and sends four vampire spawn to destroy those responsible. These vampire spawn are former adventurers whom Strahd defeated long ago. They use their Spider Climb feature to scuttle along the tower walls and arrive in 3 rounds.

K20a. Tower Hall Stair

This stairway connects areas K20 and area K71.

K21. South Tower Stair

Fluttering torches in iron sconces illuminate this spiral staircase. A chill wind rushes down the circling stairway, seeming to kill the very heat of the torches.

These stairs start at area area K73 and go up through area areas K61, area K9, area K30, and area K35 before ending at area area K47.

K22. North Archers' Post

The castle courtyard is visible through arrow slits in the walls.

Each arrow slit is 2½ feet tall and 4 inches wide.

K23. Servants' Entrance

Dim light filters in through a dust-caked window in the east wall. A door next to the window leads to the castle’s northeast courtyard.Everything in this room is coated with dust, including a large, heavy table in the center of the floor. A thick book lies open on a desk, with an inkwell and a quill next to it. There is a broken door in the north wall, and a staircase in the south wall plunges into darkness. On each side of the staircase, a skeletal figure draped in gleaming chain mail stands sagging at attention, holding a rusty halberd.

The skeletons, which were assembled by Cyrus Belview (see area area K62), are held together with wire frames and hung on pegs. They pose no threat.

The staircase descends to area area K62. The east door leading to the courtyard is swollen in its frame and requires a successful DC 10 Strength check to force open. The north door is cracked and hangs loose on its hinges; beyond it lies another dust-filled chamber (area area K24).

The ancient book is weathered and brittle, but the ink in the well is fresh. At the top of each page is scribed the message “Please register for your own convenience and that of your next of kin.” The book is more than half-filled with names, all of them illegible.

K24. Servants' Quarters

Broken furniture and torn cloth are strewn about this twenty-by-forty-foot room. Dim light comes from a pair of dirt-caked windows in the northeast corner. A narrow staircase with no railing ascends along the north wall.

The stairs lead to area area K34.

Court of the Count

Refer to map 4 of the castle for areas K25 through K34.

K25. Audience Hall

Dim light from the courtyard falls into this great hall through the broken glass and iron latticework of a large window in the west wall. This immense room is a place of chilly, brooding darkness. Empty iron sconces dot the walls. Hundreds of dust-laden cobwebs drape the hall, hiding the ceiling from view. Directly across from the window stand a set of double doors in the east wall. Farther south, a single door also leads from the east wall. Staircases at both ends of the north wall lead down.

At the far southern end of the hall, a large wooden throne stands atop a marble dais. The high-backed throne faces south, away from most of the room.

A secret door in the south wall leads to area area K13. It is hidden by dust and cobwebs, and requires a successful DC 16 Wisdom (Perception) check to find.

Both staircases in the north wall lead down to area area K19. The eastern double doors can be pulled open to reveal area K26 beyond. The single door in the east wall opens into area area K30.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it lies on the marble dais, just behind the throne.

If your card reading indicates an encounter with Strahd von Zarovich in this area, he is sitting on the wooden throne.

K26. Guards' Post

If the characters enter this hall through either set of double doors, read:

The doors open to reveal another set of double doors ten feet ahead. Between these doors, a ten-foot-wide corridor stretches north to south. At each end of the hall, floating in the darkness, is a human skeleton clad in the rusted armor and tattered livery of a castle guard.

The “floating” skeletons hang from pegs on the north and south walls. The skeletons, which were assembled by Cyrus Belview (see area area K62), are held together with wire and are harmless. Behind the skeleton on the north wall is a secret door that can be pushed open into area area K33.

If the characters enter this hall by way of the secret door that adjoins area area K33, they see the skeleton hanging on the inside of the secret door as soon as they pull it open, and, with a light source or darkvision, can see the skeleton at the south end of the hall as well.

K27. King’s Hall

This twenty-foot-high hall has a dark, vaulted ceiling draped with cobwebs. A low moan seems to travel the length of the corridor as it rises and falls, intoning sadness and despair.

The moaning is only the wind.

Characters who examine the ceiling can, with a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check, spot pulleys and a rope that run the full length of the corridor along the ceiling, well hidden by the cobwebs. These items are explained in “Flight of the Vampire” below.

Halfway down the hall on the south side is a narrow secret door that can be pulled open to reveal area area K31.

Flight of the Vampire

Hidden in a compartment above the western set of double doors is a dressed wooden mannequin that looks exactly like Strahd. It wears a black cloak, its fangs are bared, and its arms and clawed fingers are outstretched in a threatening manner. The mannequin is attached to a rope that runs through pulleys fastened along the length of the hallway ceiling.

When one or more characters reach the midpoint of the hall from either direction, read:

You hear a scraping sound of stone against stone, followed by the squeaking of a bat. In the direction of the noise, you see the fanged visage, outstretched claws, and flapping black cape of a vampire bearing down on you from above! A deep, throaty chuckle fills the hall.

The scraping noise is the sound of the hidden compartment opening, and the squeaking is the sound of the pulleys supporting the weight of the mannequin as it glides through the air. The chuckling is a harmless magical effect similar to that created by a prestidigitation cantrip.

Have the players roll initiative, and run this as a combat encounter with the “vampire” acting on initiative count 5. On its turn, the mannequin flies over the characters, 10 feet above the floor, and doesn’t stop until it reaches the east end of the hall. On its next turn, it reverses direction and flies back to its compartment. The trap resets after 1 minute.

A character who attacks the mannequin from the floor needs a range of at least 10 feet. The mannequin has AC 15 and 10 hit points, and it is immune to poison and psychic damage. If the mannequin is reduced to 0 hit points while in the air, it falls to the floor.

K28. King’s Balcony

A sculpted stone railing encloses this long balcony, which overlooks Ravenloft’s chapel. Two ornate thrones stand side by side in the center of the balcony, covered with dust and strung with cobwebs. The thrones face away from the double doors that give access to the balcony.

Two Strahd Zombie (see area appendix D) are slouched on the thrones. They remain motionless until one of them is disturbed or another creature comes within a zombie’s reach, whereupon they attack.

The balcony is 50 feet above the floor of the chapel (area area K15). A staircase north of the double doors leads down to area area K29.

K29. Creaky Landing

This staircase is made of old wood that strains underfoot, creaking and groaning.

The staircase climbs from area area K16 to area area K28. It seems unstable but is sturdy. The creatures in area K28 can’t be surprised by anyone climbing the creaky steps.

K30. King’s Accountant

Dusty scrolls and tomes line the walls of this room. More scrolls and books lie scattered on the floor, around four heavy wooden chests fitted with study iron locks. The only unobstructed floor space is directly in front of the doors on the east and west walls.

In the center of this clutter stands a great black desk. A figure crouches atop a tall stool, scratching on a seemingly endless scroll of paper with a dry quill pen. Nearby a tasseled rope hangs from a hole in the ceiling.

The figure is Lief Lipsiege (CE male human commoner), an accountant. He is chained to the heavy wooden desk and has no interest in the characters or their concerns. Under no circumstances does he voluntarily leave the room. Lief pulls the rope the instant he feels threatened.

Pulling the rope requires an action. When the rope is pulled, a tremendously loud gong sounds. One or more creatures arrive 1d6 rounds later, attacking any characters still in the room. Determine the creatures randomly by rolling a d4:

Lief was pressed into service by Strahd many years ago. He keeps all the books for Strahd, recording the vampire’s riches and conquests. Lief has been here longer than he can remember. He is grumpy because Strahd doesn’t allow him to know about all his treasures. Even so, Lief has found out where one of Strahd’s secret treasures lies. If he is treated with kindness, Lief will divulge the hiding place of the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, as indicated by your card reading. Lief can draw a crude map showing a route to that location. His map is geographically accurate, but he admits that it doesn’t acknowledge or avoid any dangers that might lie along the way. Lief doesn’t necessarily know the most direct path to the symbol’s location.

Lief knows that there’s a key that unlocks all four chests, but he can’t remember where he hid it. See “Treasure” below for more information.

The western door leads to area area K25. The eastern door provides access to a staircase (area area K21) that leads down to area area K9 and up to a landing outside area area K35, continuing upward from there to area area K47.

Treasure

The room contains hundreds of worthless books and scrolls describing accounting procedures. The first character who spends at least 10 minutes searching the room and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds a book with a bloodstained leather cover. The pages of this book have been hollowed out, creating a hole in which Lief has hidden the iron key that unlocks the four wooden chests in this room.

Two of the locked chests contain 10,000 cp each. A third chest contains 1,000 gp. The fourth chest holds 500 pp, hidden under which is a manual of bodily health.

K31. Trapworks

The aromas of grease and well-oiled wood hit your nostrils as you pull open the door. This ten-by-twenty-foot room is filled with intricate machinery, except for small spaces between the stone gears and the iron chains and pulleys. On the other side of the machinery, to the south, is a rectangular shaft that rises up from the darkness and continues past this room. Attached to the west wall is a steel plate that has an iron lever protruding downward.

See the diagram below. The shaft (area area K31a) descends 90 feet from here to area area K61, and ascends 40 feet to area area K31b. Another 40 feet above that is a stone trapdoor in the ceiling that opens into area area K47.

Operating the machinery in this room raises a stone elevator compartment from the bottom of the shaft, lifting it past this room to the top of the shaft. See area area K61 for more information on the elevator trap.

A character can spend 1 minute disabling the machinery in this room. The elevator trap won’t function until the machinery is repaired.

The iron lever set into the western wall is normally in the “down” position. Moving it to the “up” position activates the trap and raises the elevator. Sliding it back down lowers the elevator and resets the trap.

When the elevator trap in area area K61 is activated, all the chains, pulleys, and gears in this room move at once. It takes 10 seconds (1 round) for the elevator to reach the top of the shaft, and the machinery doesn’t stop until the elevator completes its journey.

A secret door in the north wall is easy to spot from this side (no ability check required) and opens into area area K27.

K31a. Elevator Shaft

Cold air fills this rectangular shaft, the walls of which are coated with mildew and worn smooth. Taut iron chains extend up and down the shaft. The links of the chains are thick and covered with grease.

The shaft is 170 feet tall. It starts at area area K61, climbs 90 feet to area area K31, another 40 feet to area area K31b, and another 40 feet to area area K47. When the elevator trap is activated (see area area K61 for details), a stone elevator compartment measuring 10 feet on a side rises up the western half of the shaft. At the same time, a solid block of stone, also 10 feet on a side, descends in the eastern half of the shaft, acting as a counterweight. Both stone blocks have thick iron chains bolted to them, by which they are hoisted and lowered them as needed.

Scaling the shaft is impossible without the aid of magic or the use of a climber’s kit, because the walls are smooth and slick with mildew, and the greasy iron chains are too thick and slippery to grasp.

Set into the roof of the shaft is a 5-foot-square stone trapdoor that can be pushed open to reveal area area K47.

K31b. Shaft Access

This ten-foot-square room overlooks a vertical shaft to the south that plunges into darkness and continues upward.

This vantage point is 130 feet from the bottom of the shaft (area area K31a). Forty feet down is area area K31, and 40 feet up is a stone trapdoor in the ceiling that opens into area area K47.

A door in the north wall is easy to spot from this side (no ability check required) and opens into area area K39.

K32. Maid in Hell

Oil lamps illuminate this long, rectangular chamber with oak-paneled walls. Stained, yellowed lace hangs neatly from eight canopied beds. The figure of a woman moves lithely about the room, dusting furniture and humming quietly. Around her pale, slender neck is a gold necklace with a ruby pendant.

The maid, Helga Ruvak, is a vampire spawn who claims to be the daughter of the village bootmaker, kidnapped and forced into service by Strahd. She pleads, on her hands and knees if necessary, to be saved from this awful place.

Helga will join the party if the characters ask her along. She intends to attack the characters but does so only if she senses an opportunity that doesn’t involve having to fight the entire party. She also attacks if commanded to do so by Strahd.

Helga plays the part of the innocent damsel in distress to the last, revealing her ferocity only when she attacks. She is, in fact, the bootmaker’s daughter she claims to be, but she chose a life of evil with Strahd.

Treasure

Helga’s gold necklace with its ruby pendant is a gift from Strahd. The necklace is almost five centuries old and is worth 750 gp.

K33. King’s Apartment Stair

This dark hall is concealed behind two secret doors.

This arched corridor has been swept clean. Oak paneling decorates the walls to a height of four feet. Mounted on the east wall above the wood paneling are three unlit oil lamps spaced ten feet apart. A plain wooden door is set into the west wall, and light seeps through its cracks. A staircase at the north end of the west wall ascends into darkness.

The staircase climbs 40 feet to area area K45. The door in the west wall opens into area area K32.

K34. Servants' Upper Floor

Dirt-caked windows allow little light to enter this upstairs room. Broken bed frames and torn bits of mattress litter the floors. A tall, dusty wardrobe roughly shaped like a coffin, its black doors painted with fey creatures, stands between two cracked, full-length mirrors hanging on the south wall. A staircase descends along the north wall.

If someone opens the wardrobe, read:

A plain white dress yellowed with age flies out of the wardrobe and begins to dance in the middle of the room. The dress flaps around to the music of the storm.

If anyone touches the dancing dress, it collapses in a lifeless heap on the floor. Otherwise, it dances forever. Hanging in the wardrobe are a few rotted servant’s uniforms, none of which are animate or valuable.

Set into the south wall, behind the hanging mirror west of the wardrobe, is a secret door. It can be pulled open to reveal a closet choked with dust and cobwebs and that contains a wooden ladder that leads up 20 feet to another secret door in the tower stairway (area area K20).

The staircase leads down to area area K24.

Rooms of Weeping

Refer to map 5 of the castle for area areas K35 through area K46.

K35. Guardian Vermin

A door of delicately engraved steel stands at the west end of this short, dark hallway. Intricate details stand out clearly on the door’s surface. The door seems to shine with a light of its own, untouched by time. Flanking the door are two alcoves in shadow. A dark, vaguely man-shaped figure stands in each alcove.

The dark figures are four Swarm of Rats piled atop one another to form manlike shapes (two swarms per alcove). These rats are under Strahd’s control and attack anyone that tries to move through this area.

The steel door is engraved with images of a human king in armor astride a horse, a majestic range of mountains and shooting stars in the background. Tiny figures of people and wolves frame the image.

K36. Dining Hall of the Count

Dust assaults your lungs. A sweet yet pungent smell of decay fills this room, in the center of which stands a long oak table. A blanket of dust covers the tabletop and its fine china and silverware. In the center of the table, a large, tiered cake leans heavily to one side. The once white frosting has turned green with age. Cobwebs hang like dusty lace down every side of the cake. A single doll figure of a well-dressed woman adorns the crest of the cake. Suspended above is a web-shrouded chandelier of forged iron. An arched window in the south wall is draped with heavy curtains. Resting in a wooden stand by the window is a dusty lute, and standing quietly in the southwest corner is a tall harp shrouded in cobwebs.

The wedding cake is over four centuries old, kept in its current rotten state by the will of Strahd. The toy figure of the groom from the top of the cake was cast on the floor long ago. A character who searches the dusty floor finds the figurine with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check.

If the characters take the groom figurine out of the room, read the following if they return to the room at a later time:

Billowing drapes draw your eye to the window, which has been broken outward. Scattered about the floor are chunks of the moldy cake, as if something had burst out of it.

There are two explanations for the burst cake and broken window. Choose the one you think is creepier:

• Strahd smashes the cake and breaks the window to make the characters think something terrible has escaped and is now stalking them.
• Strahd’s hate assumes a corporeal form, bursts out of the cake (the symbol of Sergei and Tatyana’s love), and escapes through the window. “Strahd’s hate” has the statistics of an invisible stalker and tries to kill whichever character is carrying the groom figurine.

The room has wooden doors in the north and west walls, and an ornate steel door in the east wall (see area area K35 for details).

The harp stands 6½ feet tall, weighs close to 300 pounds, and is fashioned of dark, stained wood carved with images of harts and roses. Its taut strings are made of gut.

A character who plays the harp and succeeds on a DC 15 Charisma (Performance) check does well enough to summon the ghost of Pidlwick, a short little man dressed as a fool, with a tiny jingling bell at the end of his pointy dunce cap. He asks, “Why have you summoned me from beyond the grave?” Regardless of the answer, he commends the character for playing well and says, “In my crypt below the castle, thou shalt find a treasure worthy of one so talented as thee! May it help thee set this troubled place to rest.” If the characters think to ask him who he is, the fool replies, “Pidlwick.” If asked how he died, he replies humorlessly, “I fell down the stairs.” If Pidlwick II (see area area K59) is with the party, the ghost points at the clockwork effigy and says, “He pushed me down the stairs.”

With nothing more to add, the ghost of Pidlwick fades away and doesn’t appear again. If the characters attack the ghost, it attacks them in turn.

Treasure

The lute, though old and covered in dust, has survived the passage of time. It is a magic instrument of the bards called a Instrument of the Bards, Doss Lute.

K37. Study

A blazing hearth fire fills this room with rolling waves of red and amber light. The walls are lined with ancient books and tomes, their leather covers well oiled and preserved through careful use. All is in order here. The stone floor is concealed beneath a thick, luxurious rug. In the center of the room is a large, low table, waxed and polished to a mirrored finish. Even the poker in its stand next to the blazing fireplace is polished. Large, overstuffed divans and couches are arranged about the room. Two chairs of burgundy-colored wood with padded leather seats and back cushions face the hearth. A huge painting hangs over the mantelpiece in a heavy, gilded frame. The rolling firelight illuminates the carefully rendered portrait. It is an exact likeness of Ireena Kolyana.

This chamber has several exits, including a large set of double doors in the west wall, a door at each end of the north wall, and a door to the south.

The painting above the fireplace depicts Tatyana, a beautiful young woman with auburn hair. Strahd commissioned the painting over four centuries ago to impress his beloved. The fact that Ireena Kolyana looks exactly like Tatyana is proof to Strahd that both women were born with the same soul.

The back wall of the fireplace contains a secret door, which is opened by lifting the poker from its stand. The fire must be extinguished in order for anyone to reach the secret door safely. Otherwise, a creature that enters the fireplace for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there takes 5 (1d10) fire damage and catches fire. Until someone takes an action to douse the flames on the creature, it takes 5 (1d10) fire damage at the start of each of its turns. (This fire damage is cumulative with the damage from standing in the fireplace.)

The secret door provides access to area area K38.

Treasure

The real treasure here is Strahd’s collection of books—over one thousand unique tomes in all. The collection is worth 80,000 gp. Transporting it would be a challenge.

Roll a d12 and consult the following table to determine the subject matter of a randomly chosen book.

Teleport Destination

Characters who teleport to this location from area area K78 arrive in front of the painting of Tatyana.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it is resting on the mantelpiece under the portrait of Tatyana.

If your card reading indicates an encounter with Strahd von Zarovich in this area, he is sitting back in one of the overstuffed chairs, staring into the fire.

K38. False Treasury

Resting on the floor of this smoke-filled room is a closed chest surrounded by piles of gold, silver, and copper coins. The fittings and clawed feet on the chest are evidence of great workmanship.

Attached to the east wall are two torch sconces. The southernmost one holds a torch with an intricate metal base. The other is empty. A skeleton in broken plate armor lies against the wall. The skeleton’s right hand is on its throat, and its left hand holds the matching torch from the empty sconce.

The coins scattered around the trapped chest total 50 gp, 100 sp, and 2,000 cp. The chest weighs 40 pounds and is unlocked. When opened, it releases a cloud of sleeping gas that fills the room. Any creature in the room must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 4 hours. If all the characters succumb to the gas, they are found by the witches who lair in area area K56 and dragged to area area K50, then left there unharmed. If even one character resists the effect of the gas, the witches do not appear.

The armored skeleton on the floor is all that remains of an adventurer. His corpse has nothing of value.

Secret Doors

This room is concealed behind two secret doors.

The secret door to the west is set into the back wall of the fireplace (area area K37) and can be pulled open from within this room by lifting a simple locking mechanism (which is connected to the poker in the study). It’s possible that a character might open this secret door inadvertently by lifting the poker in area area K37. Characters can otherwise locate the secret door normally, but a successful check doesn’t reveal the mechanism to open it. That can be found only through trial and error, or the characters can bypass the mechanism with a knock spell or similar magic.

The secret door at the northern end of the east wall is sealed shut. If the torch is taken from the skeleton’s hand and placed back in the empty sconce, the secret door swings inward, revealing area K39 beyond. Removing the torch from its sconce at any time causes the secret door to close and lock shut, becoming sealed as before. Characters can locate this secret door normally, but a successful check doesn’t reveal the mechanism to open it. That can be found only through trial and error, or the characters can bypass the mechanism with a knock spell or similar magic.

K39. Hall of Webs

This ancient hall is choked with spider webs broken by a single clear path down its center.

The hall has an arched ceiling 20 feet overhead, hidden behind thick webbing. At the eastern end are a pair of arched bronze doors of ornate design. These doors can be pulled open to reveal area K40 beyond.

Most of the hall is full of giant spider webs (see “Dungeon Hazards” in chapter 5, “Adventure Environments,” of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). Characters who stray from the unobstructed path through the webs risk becoming stuck.

Secret Doors

At the west end of the hall are two secret doors.

The secret door on the west wall can’t be opened from this side, except by magic (such as a knock spell). See area area K38 for more information on this secret door. If the characters pass through this door coming from area area K38, it closes and locks behind them if they don’t take measures to prop it open.

A narrow secret door at the western end of the south wall is hidden behind a mass of webs. If these webs are cleared away, characters can search for the secret door, finding it with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. The door can be pulled open to reveal area area K31b.

K40. Belfry

You can hear the rain and thunder outside, and the air here is cold and damp. Veils and curtains of webbing fill the room, making it hard to gauge its width and depth. A single, narrow path leads to the dark center of the room, where a rope dangles from high above.

The rope is attached to a great bell mounted in a wooden framework 50 feet overhead. Pulling the rope or attempting to climb it brings forth a loud, long “GONG.” That sound causes five Giant Spider to drop from their webs and attack. The spiders attack only if they are attacked or if the bell is sounded.

Most of the belfry is filled with giant spider webs (see “Dungeon Hazards” in chapter 5, “Adventure Environments,” of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). Characters who blunder into them risk becoming stuck.

At the west end of the north wall, behind thick webs, is a secret door that opens into area K41.

K41. Treasury

This octagonal vault is free of dust and cobwebs. The domed ceiling forty feet above is painted black and sparkles with a display of stars in unfamiliar constellations. Barely contained within this vault is a square tower, twenty feet on a side and thirty feet high, with arrow slits on all sides and a battlemented roof.

The domed ceiling is coated with dry pitch. The “stars” are shards of glowing crystal embedded in the pitch, each one as bright as a candle flame. Thanks to the starry “night sky,” the vault is dimly lit.

The plundered riches of Strahd’s secret hoard lie within this adamantine tower, which is actually a Daern’s instant fortress (see chapter 7, “Treasure,” of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). Only Strahd knows the command word to alter its shape and size, which can’t be done until every bit of treasure inside it is removed. Only Strahd can open the two means of entry: a sealed adamantine door set into the base of the tower on the north side, and an adamantine trapdoor on the roof.

The arrow slits of the tower are 4 inches wide and 2 feet tall, and the walls of the fortress are 3 inches thick. Characters who are able to reduce their size or assume gaseous form can enter the tower through these slits.

Treasure

The ground floor of the Daern’s instant fortress contains 50,000 cp, 10,000 sp, 10,000 gp, 1,000 pp, 15 assorted gems (100 gp each), and a +2 shield emblazoned with a stylized silver dragon that is the emblem of the Order of the Silver Dragon (see chapter 7). The shield whispers warnings to its bearer, granting a +2 bonus to initiative if the bearer isn’t incapacitated.

The upper floor of the tower contains 10 pieces of jewelry (250 gp each) in a red velvet sack, an alchemy jug, a helm of brilliance, a +1 Rod of the Pact Keeper, and an unlocked wooden coffer with four compartments, each one containing a potion of greater healing.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it is lying atop the coins on the ground floor inside the tower.

If your card reading indicates an encounter with Strahd von Zarovich in this area, he is perched atop the tower.

K42. King’s Bedchamber

Sweet smells waft from this delicately lit room. A great arched window along the west wall is covered by heavy red draperies, their golden tassels glinting in the light of three candelabras sitting atop small tables about the room. Tall white candles burn with bright, steady light.

A large bed, canopied by silk curtains, sits with its headboard against the north wall. Carved into the headboard with great skill is a large “Z.” Lying amid the velvet and satin sheets and bedclothes is a young woman in a nightgown. One of her dainty slippers has fallen to the floor at the bed’s foot.

Arched double doors lead from this room to the south and east.

The window is divided into four tall panes of glass, each enclosed by a lead framework. The two outermost sections have small iron hinges built into them so that they can be opened, as well as iron latches to lock them in place when they’re closed. The window looks out onto the parapet (area area K46).

The figure on the bed is Gertruda (NG female human commoner), the daughter of Mad Mary (see chapter 3, area area E3). Gertruda is oblivious to any danger to herself—especially from Strahd, who has charmed her. Sheltered by her mother, she was never allowed to leave home as a child. She finally slipped away and made her way to the castle, drawn by its majesty.

Gertruda is innocent, and years spent as a shut-in have twisted her sense of reality. Consequently, she maintains a fairy-tale view of life. When faced with a decision, she almost always makes the most simplistic choice. She is naive to the point of being a danger to herself and others. Fortunately for her, Strahd has not yet bitten her, though he intends to. (If he can do so while the characters look on helplessly, so much the better.)

Next to the bed, set into the north wall, is a secret door. It can be pushed open to reveal a dusty hall that ends at a similar secret door in the back of an alcove (see area area K45 for details). Gertruda doesn’t know that this secret door exists.

K43. Bath Chamber

Red satin curtains hang in archways at both ends of the south wall in this dark room. Between them, in the center of the chamber, stands a large, ornate iron tub with clawed feet. The tub is full of blood.

Both curtained archways lead to area area K44.

Tormented Spirit

The spirit of Varushka, a maid, haunts this chamber. She took her own life when Strahd began feeding on her, denying him the chance to turn her into a vampire spawn.

The blood in the tub isn’t real, but rather a manifestation of Varushka’s tormented spirit. If the blood is disturbed in any way, read:

A blood-drenched creature explodes out of the tub and attaches to the ceiling, cackling maniacally. Blood pours off its pale flesh, bony limbs, and stringy hair as it scuttles away.

The creature that erupts from the tub is no more real than the blood. It can’t be harmed and doesn’t attack. It scuttles across the ceiling, disappearing into area K44 through one of the archways. Once there, it disappears.

K44. Closet

The walls here are lined with iron hooks, upon which hang black capes and formal wear. Two arched windows in the south wall are covered by heavy curtains.

Twenty-eight capes and sixteen sets of fine clothes are stored here. Red satin drapes hang in the archways that connect this closet to the adjoining bath chamber (area area K43).

K45. Hall of Heroes

Dark alcoves line the walls of this long hall. The ceiling has fallen here, leaving rubble strewn across the floor. Overhead, the beams of Ravenloft’s roof are exposed. Lightning from the dark clouds above sporadically illuminates the hall, lighting the faces of life-sized human statues in the alcoves. Each visage is frozen in terror.

The ten statues that line this corridor depict ancient heroes. In actuality, the faces of the statues are stoic and expressionless, but whenever the lightning flashes, their expressions change to utter horror until the hall goes dark again.

The statues are imbued with the spirits of Strahd’s ancestors, all of which grieve over the termination of their bloodline. Each spirit will answer one question if addressed directly. The spirits' answers are always short and vague, and there is a 20 percent chance that a spirit’s answer is wrong.

The stairs at the west end of the hall descend 40 feet to area area K33. An open archway to the east reveals a tower landing beyond (part of area area K20).

K46. Parapets

You stand on a ten-foot-wide walkway that encircles most of the keep. The drizzle of rain continues, punctuated by the occasional clap of thunder or stroke of lightning. Far below these parapets are the shining wet cobblestones of the courtyard.

The walkway runs around the front of the upper portion of the keep. Battlemented walkways extend from the keep north, south, and east to the outer walls of the castle as well. (See map 2 for the length and location of the castle walls.) All the windows leading from this area into the keep are shut and locked, but can easily be broken.

If the characters loiter on the parapets or atop the castle walls for more than 5 minutes, they encounter Strahd’s animated armor (see appendix D) making the rounds. It patrols the parapets and the outer walls of Ravenloft day and night. Under a darkened sky, characters without darkvision are more likely to hear the clatter of the armor approaching before they can see it.

The armor can’t be salvaged if it is reduced to 0 hit points.

Spires of Ravenloft

Refer to maps 6 through 10 of Castle Ravenloft for area areas K47 through area K60.

K47. Portrait of Strahd

You come to a dark landing ten feet wide and twenty feet long. A cold draft of wind rushes down the spiral staircase at the north end of the east wall and whistles mournfully through the room before streaming down the stairs to the south.

An ornate, square rug covers the floor to the south. Set into the west wall is an ironbound wooden door with a wooden trapdoor set into the floor in front of it. Hanging on the north wall above the trapdoor is a framed portrait of a handsome, well-dressed man with a serene yet penetrating gaze.

The ornate rug is actually a rug of smothering. It attacks creatures, other than undead, that move across it or anyone who tries to move it or otherwise disturb it. Underneath the rug is a bare stone floor.

The wooden, square trapdoor is 4 feet on a side and as thick as the floor, with recessed iron hinges and an iron ring built into the side opposite the hinges. Pulling up on the ring opens the door. Below the trapdoor, characters see one of two things: either a 170-foot-deep shaft (area area K31a) or, if the elevator trap has been activated (see area area K61), a stone elevator compartment with a secret hatch in its top.

The portrait on the wall depicts Strahd von Zarovich before he became a vampire. Even in life, he was pale. The eyes of the portrait seem to watch and follow the characters as they explore the area. The picture frame is bolted to the wall and can’t be removed without destroying it.

If the characters attack the rug or the picture, or if they attempt to remove either item, the guardian portrait (see appendix D) attacks.

K48. Offstair

This spiraling staircase is dark and dusty.

This stairway rises from area area K47, past area area K54, to area area K57.

K49. Lounge

As thunder shakes the tower, heavy beams groan under the weight of the ceiling. Three ornate lanterns hang by chains from these beams, each casting a dim glow. The curved west wall is fitted with three windows of leaded glass in steel latticework. A bookcase sits on the east wall between two doors. Plush, overstuffed chairs and couches are placed about the room. The fabric has faded with age, and the patterns it depicts are nearly gone. Lounging on one couch is a handsome young man whose attire, while elegant, is worn and faded.

The youthful man on the couch is Escher, a dashing vampire spawn to whom Strahd has shown favor in the past. Escher is feeling somewhat neglected of late and has retreated here until Strahd’s mood improves. If attacked, he hurls himself out the window and lands like a cat on the roof of the keep (area area K53). He leads pursuers right to Strahd, wherever the lord of the castle happens to be (and regardless of whether the characters are ready to face Strahd).

In conversation, Escher displays wit with a hint of melancholy. Beneath his arch mood is a dread that Strahd is growing bored of him and will lock him in the catacombs (area area K84) with Strahd’s other castoff consorts.

The leaded windows are fitted with iron hinges and can be opened. They can be locked from the inside, though they are currently unlocked. The leaded glass doesn’t allow for much of a view. If a character opens a window and leaves it open, there’s a 50 percent chance that a vampire spawn crawling around the outside wall of the tower notices the open window and investigates.

The books in the bookcase have no value and aren’t much help to the characters. Some of the titles found on the bookshelf include Embalming: The Lost Art, Life Among the Undead: Learning to Cope, Castle Building 101, and Goats of the Balinok Mountains.

Treasure

On the third finger of his left hand, Escher wears a platinum ring engraved with tiny roses and thorns (worth 150 gp). Around his neck, he wears a gold and ruby pendant (worth 750 gp).

K50. Guest Room

A large bed sits in the center of this room, its four corner posts supporting a black canopy trimmed with gold tassels. Several comfortable divans are placed about the room. There is a banded door in the west wall and a smaller unbanded door in the east wall.

There is no danger in this area during the day. But if the characters try to take a short rest here during the night, the rest is interrupted by the arrival of 1d4 Barovian Witch from area area K56. They try to subdue the party with sleep spells. A witch retreats to area area K56 if wounded.

K51. Closet

This small, wood-paneled room reeks of mildew and has a ten-foot-high ceiling. Iron hooks line the walls, and a dusty black cloak hangs from one hook in the center of the south wall.

The cloak is ordinary. The witches in area area K56 placed it here to help them remember which hook opens the secret trapdoor in the ceiling.

The trapdoor can be found after a search of the room and a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check. Locating the trapdoor doesn’t enable someone to discover its opening mechanism. The door has a hidden lock and can be opened by pulling down on the hook from which the black cloak hangs. Once it has been found, the trapdoor can be opened by pulling on the hook, or it can be unlocked by someone using thieves' tools, a knock spell, or similar magic. It swings down when unlocked.

K52. Smokestack

Jutting from the steeply sloping rooftop of the castle, a spindly smokestack, five feet in diameter at the top, rises thirty feet above the roof’s peak. Smoke belches from its iron-pronged capstone.

The chimney leads down 60 feet to the blazing fireplace in area area K37. A creature that starts its turn in the chimney takes 3 (1d6) fire damage.

K53. Rooftop

Rain splashes against the sagging, sloping rooftop. Flashes of lightning illuminate gargoyles perched on the roof’s end peaks, their hideous stares forever fixed on the courtyard some one hundred thirty feet below.

If a character tries to traverse the rooftop, read:

Some of the ancient roof tiles slide easily underfoot, easily dropping into the fog-shrouded darkness. Each falling tile resounds with a hollow click as it hits the flagstones of the parapet or courtyard below.

A character must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to traverse the roof. The check succeeds automatically if the character crawls. If the check fails by 5 or more, the character slides off the edge of the roof ans falls 40 feet to the castle parapet (area area K46).

K54. Familiar Room

The low ceiling of this twenty-foot-square room presses down on you. Torn and broken couches lie in heaps, haphazardly strewn about. Deep claw marks cover the hardwood furniture, and the once lush upholstery has been sliced to shreds. From the dark shadows amid the rubble, three pairs of green eyes stare back at you.

The three Cat are familiars of the witches in area area K56. If the familiars see the characters here, the witches are alerted to their presence.

K55. Element Room

Heavy beams support the ceiling of this large room, the outer wall of which curves to follow the shape of the tower. Dim light filters into the room through the steel lattice squares of two leaded glass windows. Several tables stand throughout the room, weighed down by stacks of glass jars and bottles, all of them bearing labels.

The labeled glass containers hold various elements that the witches use in their fell concoctions and rituals. The labels identify such items as “Eye of Newt,” “Hair of Bat,” “Snail Hearts,” and “Frog’s Breath.” There are no magic potions among the bottles and jars.

The leaded windows are fitted with iron hinges and can be opened. They are currently locked from the inside. If a character opens a window and leaves it open, there’s a 50 percent chance that a vampire spawn crawling around the outside wall of the tower notices the open window and investigates.

Characters who search the room spot numerous boot prints in the dust, as well as a short trail in the dust on the floor, leading from the northeast corner of the room to the easternmost door. It looks like something heavy was dragged across the floor toward the doorway.

There is a secret trapdoor in the northeast corner of the floor. Because of the trail through the dust, the trapdoor can be found without an ability check. Tapping or knocking on the trapdoor three times releases a hidden latch, causing the trapdoor to swing down. area Area K51 lies below. (There’s no ability check that will let the characters figure out the trick to opening the door. They can get that information from the witches, or perhaps by using a divination spell or similar magic.)

K56. Cauldron

Characters who stand outside the door to this room can smell a pungent odor coming from within.

If the witches in this room have not been warned that the characters are coming, the characters can hear their horrid cackling. If the characters open the door slightly, they witness the scene described below:

Green-glowing wisps of steam bubble up from a fat, black cauldron in the center of this dark, oppressive room. Surrounding the cauldron are several gaunt women in soiled black robes. These witches sit hunched on tall wooden stools, their tangled hair tucked under black, pointed hats. They take turns tossing ingredients into the cauldron, uttering fell incantations, and cackling maniacally.

If the witches know the characters are coming, read the following text instead:

Green-glowing wisps of steam bubble up from a fat, black cauldron in the center of this dark, oppressive room. Surrounding the cauldron are seven tall wooden stools.

The Barovian Witch (see area appendix D) that dwell in this area have sworn themselves to Strahd’s service in exchange for arcane power. Seven witches are present when the characters arrive, minus any that might have been encountered and defeated in area area K50. If the witches are expecting the characters, they cast invisibility spells and stand quietly in the corners of the room, hoping that the cauldron draws their prey inside. Although they prefer to attack at range with their spells, they can grow magic claws using alter self.

When the cauldron is touched by someone who also speaks the proper command word (“Gorah!"), it magically heats any liquid placed inside it and remains hot for 3 hours, or until the command word is spoken again by someone within 5 feet of the cauldron. Once the cauldron’s property has been used, the cauldron can’t be activated again until the next dawn.

Captured witches will trade information in exchange for their lives and freedom, and can be forced to divulge the command word for activating and deactivating the cauldron. They also know how to open the trapdoor in area area K55.

Treasure

Each witch carries a potion of healing that she made herself. There is a 30 percent chance that a potion has “gone bad,” in which case it’s actually a potion of poison.

Not visible from the entrance is a small table behind the cauldron on which sits an opened spellbook, seemingly on the verge of falling apart. The book is evil. Any non-evil creature that touches it or starts its turn with the book in its possession takes 5 (1d10) psychic damage. The book contains the following spells:

1st level: burning hands, charm person, detect magic, find familiar, fog cloud, mage armor, protection from evil and good, ray of sickness, sleep, Tasha’s hideous laughter, unseen servant, witch bolt

2nd level: alter self, arcane lock, cloud of daggers, darkness, enlarge/reduce, invisibility, knock, misty step

K57. Tower Roof

The sixty-foot-diameter tower roof is rimmed with battlements. A slender stone bridge with no railing spans the gap between this tower and the slightly taller tower to the north. To the east, the high tower of Ravenloft thrusts skyward with no apparent opening at this level. Black, boiling clouds hurl rain down from above.

The courtyard is 190 feet below, the roof of the keep 80 feet below. A stone railing encloses a stone spiral staircase that descends into the tower.

K58. Bridge

A strong wind blows across this slender bridge of stone and masonry. The bridge’s old iron railings have rusted away years ago, leaving the bridge without handholds.

The bridge connects area areas K20 and area K57. The wind isn’t strong enough to knock creatures off the bridge, but a creature that takes damage while standing on the bridge must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall 60 feet onto the roof of the keep.

K59. High Tower Peak

If the characters climb the stairs to reach the tower peak, read:

The spiral staircase finally ends at a five-foot-wide stone walkway that circles the shaft. In the center of the tower’s highest floor, a fifteen-foot-diameter hole drops into the cold heart of Ravenloft itself. Cold air rushes up out of the shaft, sending a chill through you. Arrow slits line the walls, and aging beams support a steep, cone-shaped roof. One beam and part of the roof have fallen away, leaving a gaping hole open to the stormy sky.

The hole in the floor forms the mouth of an enclosed shaft (area area K18a) that descends 450 feet to the castle catacombs (area area K84).

Pidlwick II

Hiding in the rafters is Pidlwick II (see area appendix D). A character spots Pidlwick II with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score that meets or exceeds its Dexterity (Stealth) check. If Pidlwick II is spotted, read:

Something lurks among the rafters—a small, spindly man not much larger than a child. A flash of lightning illuminates his face, which is painted like a grinning jack-o'-lantern.

Although he appears to be a petite man wearing face paint and a fool’s costume, Pidlwick II is actually a clockwork effigy of the real-life Pidlwick, who lies entombed in the catacombs. The dark paint on his face is soot.

If the characters see Pidlwick II in bright light, read:

It’s obvious that you’re looking not at a small man, but a mockery of one. This thing is not a creature of flesh and bone, but a construct made of dyed leather stitched and tightly wrapped over an articulated frame. You hear the soft tumbling and clicking of gears.

Pidlwick II can’t speak and doesn’t have an expressive face, so he relies mostly on hand gestures and simple diagrams to communicate. He understands Common but can’t read or write.

If the characters show kindness to the clockwork effigy, it accompanies them and tries its best to be helpful and entertaining. It knows its way around the castle and can serve as a silent guide.

If one or more characters are mean toward Pidlwick II, its quiet resentment of them grows, and at some point when the group is at the top of a staircase, it pushes one of the offending party members down the stairs. The target must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or tumble to the bottom of the staircase, taking 1d6 bludgeoning damage per 10 feet fallen.

K60. North Tower Peak

If the characters climb the stairs to this area, read:

The stairs end at a dark and dreary room with manacles attached to the walls. In the middle of the room is a wood-framed bed fitted with leather restraints. At the foot of the bed rests a closed iron chest, is lid sculpted with an emblem.

A wooden ladder leads up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Thin streams of water drip through the trapdoor’s rotting wood, forming a puddle around the base of the ladder.

The ceiling here is 9 feet high. The manacles are rusted and can be easily torn from the walls. The trapdoor in the ceiling leads to the tower rooftop (area area K60a).

Treasure

The iron chest is locked, and its key is with Cyrus Belview in area area K62.

The chest contains a bejeweled gold crown (worth 2,500 gp) resting on a silk pillow.

Teleport Destination

Characters who teleport to this location from area area K78 arrive in the middle of the room.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it is inside the iron chest.

If your card reading indicates an encounter with Strahd von Zarovich in this area, he is standing next to the iron chest.

K60a. North Tower Rooftop

A cold wind greets you atop the tower roof, its rain-slicked flagstones surrounded by a twenty-foot-diameter ring of stone battlements. The thunderclouds above suddenly coalesce into the terrible visage of Strahd. The face utters a ghastly moan as thousands of bats fly out of its gaping maw and descend upon the tower.

Characters who remain on the roof are accosted by ten Swarm of Bats, which arrive in 3 rounds. If the characters descend into the tower, the bats don’t follow and instead fly into the high tower (area area K59), descend its central shaft (area area K18a), and roost in the catacombs (area area K84).

The courtyard lies 260 feet below, and the roof of the keep is 130 feet below.

Larders of Ill Omen

Refer to map 11 of the castle for areas K61 through area K72.

K61. Elevator Trap

See area area K31 and the accompanying Elevator Trap diagram before running this encounter.

This dusty, ten-foot-wide, thirty-foot-long corridor has a flat ceiling ten feet overhead. To the south, a web-filled stairway spirals down into darkness. The north end of the hall ends at a wooden door.

This hallway contains an elevator trap, triggered when at least 400 pounds of pressure is applied to the 10-foot-square section of floor in the center of the hall (marked T on the map), or when the lever in area area K31 is raised. A party of adventurers moving in close formation down the hall is certainly heavy enough to trigger the trap.

A character who searches for traps while crossing the hall and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check detects seams in the floor, walls, and ceiling that suggest that the middle section isn’t attached to the rest of the hall. A character who makes a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check discerns that the trap can’t be disarmed from this location.

The middle 10-foot section of the hall is a cleverly hidden elevator compartment, open to the north and south so that it appears to be part of the passageway. When the trap is sprung, two steel portcullises drop from the ceiling at lightning speed to seal off the compartment, trapping within those creatures that triggered the trap. An instant later, the closed-off elevator is propelled up the western half of a 20-foot-wide, 170-foot-tall shaft (area area K31a) to the sounds of turning gears and rattling chains. Magic sleep gas fills the compartment as it rises, and a creature trapped inside must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or fall unconscious as though affected by a sleep spell.

At the same time the elevator rises, a 10-foot cube of granite suspended from heavy chains descends in the eastern half of the shaft, acting as a counterweight. The massive block lands gently at the bottom of the shaft, filling the previously open 10-foot-by-10-foot space adjacent to where the elevator stood. The block weighs thousands of tons and pulverizes anything in the space where it comes to rest.

Once the elevator starts rising, its portcullises are locked in place and can’t be lifted. The walls of the shaft are nearly flush with the elevator compartment; only a few inches of space exist between the portcullises and the shaft walls.

All creatures trapped inside the elevator (including unconscious ones) must roll initiative. The compartment takes 1 round to reach the top of the shaft, stopping just beneath area area K47. Each creature inside has one turn to act before the compartment comes to a dead stop. Their initiative rolls determine the order in which the occupants act. Conscious party members can take whatever actions they like. They might search for a way out, wake sleeping party members, cast spells, or take other actions. Unconscious ones can do nothing.

A character who uses an action to search the ceiling of the elevator finds a secret trapdoor with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check. The trapdoor opens downward.

Any creature on top of the elevator when it reaches the top of the shaft must make a successful DC 15 Dexterity saving throw to avoid being crushed against the ceiling of the shaft. The character takes 44 (8d10) bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. When the elevator comes to a stop, its portcullises retract.

The elevator remains at the top of the shaft until the lever in area area K31 is moved to the “down” position. When that happens, the trap resets in 1 round: the portcullises come down, and the elevator compartment descends to its place in the hallway at the bottom of the shaft as the stone block rises to the top of the shaft. When the elevator reaches the bottom, its portcullises rise again.

Development

The sound of the elevator moving can be heard throughout the castle. Characters who are trapped or asleep in the elevator compartment are easy prey for Strahd, who can reach them by way of the trapdoor in area area K47.

K62. Servants' Hall

This hall stands in deadly silence. Heavy beams support a sagging, ten-foot-high ceiling. Fog clings to the floor, obscuring everything that lies less than three feet above it. A giant shadow lurches across the ceiling as a dark figure shuffles purposefully down the corridor toward you.

The figure approaching is Cyrus Belview, a mongrelfolk (see area appendix D) and Strahd’s faithful servant. He stands 4 feet, 9 inches tall but appears shorter because of his hunched posture. He has the Keen Hearing and Smell feature. The left side his face is covered with lizard scales, and he has the ears of a panther. His left foot looks like a duck’s webbed foot, and his arms have patches of black dog fur.

The light in the hall comes from a lantern on the floor behind Cyrus. If the characters have their own light sources, Cyrus sees them, but he will not attack first. He wears a loop of twine around his neck, hanging from which is an iron key and a decorative wooden pendant fitted with a varnished human eyeball. The key unlocks the iron chest in area area K60. The wooden pendant is a hag eye given to Cyrus by the night hag Morgantha (see chapter 6), so that she could spy on Strahd. Cyrus doesn’t know that the necklace is magical. See the “Hag Covens” sidebar in the hags entry in the Monster Manual for information about the hag eye.

Poor old Cyrus is obviously crazy. He has served the master for uncounted years and is devoted to him. Cyrus tries to get the characters to retire to their “room in the tower” (area area K49). If the characters aren’t sure what room he is talking about, he offers to lead them there.

If the characters follow Cyrus, he tells them to stay close to him as he leads them through the south door to area area K61 and deliberately sets off the elevator trap there. Cyrus tries his best not to succumb to the sleeping gas as the elevator compartment climbs the shaft (area area K31), and he has advantage on the saving throw. Assuming he’s still conscious when the elevator compartment reaches the top of the shaft, Cyrus opens the trapdoor to area area K47 and either leads the characters to area area K49 or, if they’re unconscious, drags them there. After assuring characters who are conscious that “the master will be along shortly,” Cyrus then makes his way back downstairs to the kitchen (area area K65).

If the characters don’t go to their room, Cyrus shakes his head and returns to the work of preparing his dinner in area area K65. If the characters take his key, he screams, “The master will not be pleased!” and begins to moan and slap his head, obviously upset. A successful DC 10 Charisma (Intimidation) check is enough to make him divulge the key’s purpose, the location of the iron chest, and the chest’s contents.

When he isn’t being threatened, Cyrus giggles to himself from time to time for no clear reason. He also likes to tell poor jokes at the most inopportune moments.

Stairs at the east end of the north wall lead up to area area K23.

Along the east wall is a rusted but sturdy iron portcullis that bars the way to area area K63. (If the characters peer through the portcullis, read the boxed text for area area K63.) The portcullis bars are 1 inch thick and spaced 4 inches apart. The portcullis can be lifted with a successful DC 20 Strength check.

The double doors at the west end of the hall are made of heavy planks banded with steel. They open into area area K67.

K63. Wine Cellar

Arched frames of stone form a low, wet ceiling over this wine cellar. Great casks line the walls, their bands rusting and their contents long since spilled onto the floor. A few hungry rats make their home here, but upon your sudden arrival, they retreat to the shadows.

The rats are harmless. Cyrus Belview (see area area K62) treats them like pets.

Characters who search the room find a crack at the southern end of the west wall. The crack is half an inch wide, 5 inches tall, and 12 inches deep; it leads to area area K18.

Wine Casks

Each of the twelve large casks here rests on its side in a heavy wooden brace. Three casks stand against the north wall, six against the east wall, and three against the south wall. Decorative lettering is burned into the top of each cask, showing the winery name—the Wizard of Wines—and the name of the wine in the cask.

Northern Casks

All three of these casks are rotted and empty. The wine’s name is Champagne du le Stomp.

Eastern Casks

Five of these casks are rotted and empty. The wine name burned on each is Red Dragon Crush. Lining the interior of the sixth one is a patch of yellow mold (see “Dungeon Hazards” in chapter 5, “Adventure Environments,” of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). A character who inspects the cask closely and succeeds on a DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check sees yellow mold in the cracks between the planks of the cask. If this cask is smashed open, the yellow mold releases a cloud of spores.

Southern Casks

Two of these casks are rotted and empty. The wine name burned on each is Purple Grapemash No. 3. The middle one is home to a purplish black pudding that bursts forth if the cask is broken open.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it is inside one of the empty casks along the north wall, hidden there by Cyrus Belview.

K64. Guards' Stair

The long, hollow sigh of the wind breathes a semblance of life into this otherwise featureless staircase.

The stairway starts at area area K68 and goes up past area area K13 to area area K46.

K65. Kitchen

A horrible odor of decay fills this steaming hot room. A huge pot bubbles over a blazing fire pit in the center of the room, its green, muddy contents churning. The far wall is lined with pegs, hanging from which are numerous large cooking implements—some of which could easily double as implements of torture.

If a character looks into the pot, three human Zombie rise up from the bubbling depths and attack. The zombies are slowly being boiled to death, and each has only 13 hit points remaining. If Cyrus Belview (see area area K62) is present when the zombies attack, he grabs a heavy club and tries to beat them back into the pot. Cyrus explains that he just isn’t the cook he used to be, and his meals tend to get out of hand these days.

K66. Butler’s Quarters

This twenty-foot-square room is filled wall to wall with clutter. A long, sagging bed sits to one side under a huge faded tapestry that depicts Castle Ravenloft. Dusty lanterns sit in various places, and bright curtains are draped haphazardly about the room. Thousands of pieces of junk cover the floor. Broken swords, crumpled shields, and helmets lie in piles all about.

Cyrus Belview (see area area K62) uses this room as his lair. There is nothing of value here.

If Cyrus is with the party, the characters notice that he is caressing their equipment and chuckling to himself. Cyrus has been salvaging equipment from dead adventurers for years. He looks forward to adding to his collection after Strahd gets through with the characters.

K67. Hall of Bones

Once a mess hall for the castle guards, this room is now desecrated ground (see “Wilderness Hazards” in chapter 5, “Adventure Environments,” of the Dungeon Master’s Guide).

Dark stains cover the floor of this area. Large oak tables, scarred and beaten, lay scattered like toys about the room, their wood crushed and splintered. Replacing them are furnishings made entirely of human bones.

The walls and the twenty-foot-high vaulted ceiling are a sickly yellow color, not because of faded or timeworn plaster but because they are adorned with bones and skulls arranged in a morbidly decorative fashion, giving the room a cathedral-like quality. Four enormous mounds of bones occupy the corners of this ossuary, and garlands of skulls extend from these mounds to a chandelier of bones that hangs from the ceiling above a long table constructed of bones in the center of the room. Ten chairs made of bones and festooned with decorative skulls surround the table, resting atop which is an ornate, bowl-shaped vessel made of yet more bones.

The doors to the north and south are sheathed in bone, but the steel-banded double doors in the center of the east wall are not. Above these eastern doors is mounted the skull of a dragon.

Cyrus Belview (see area area K62) created this enormous work of art out of the bones of dead servants and slain adventurers. It has taken him many years to complete it. The bones and skulls are held together with gray mortar and white paste. The dark stains on the floor are old bloodstains, caused here when Strahd hunted down and killed the remainder of his castle guards.

The dragon skull mounted above the eastern doors belonged to Argynvost (see chapter 7), a silver dragon that was killed in the valley by Strahd and his army before the founding of Castle Ravenloft. The skull weighs 250 pounds.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it is lying on the bone table.

If your card reading indicates an encounter with Strahd von Zarovich in this area, he is sitting comfortably at one end of the table, holding the skull of a long-dead foe.

K68. Guards' Run

This ten-foot-wide arched corridor is cold and moist. The cold seems to emanate from an open archway in the west wall.

The archway leads to area K69. A door at the north end of the hall opens into area area K67. To the south, the hallway ends at the foot of a staircase (area area K64) that spirals upward.

K69. Guards' Quarters

Sickly, yellow lichen covers the ceiling of this cold, damp, ten-foot-wide passage running east and west. Opening off both sides of this passage are ten-foot-square alcoves that contain rotting cots, rags, and the skeletal remains of castle guards. A deathly silence fills the hall.

The yellow lichen is harmless. When one or more characters reach the midpoint of the hall, ten human Skeleton leap from the alcoves and attack.

K70. Kingsmen Hall

This thirty-foot-square room is a shambles. Scattered furniture lies in heaps near the walls. Broken bones lie scattered amid crumpled and crushed plate armor. Shields and swords jut from the walls as if driven into them by some tremendous force.

Two doors stand opposite one another in the center of the north wall and the south wall. A dark archway leads out through the east wall.

After Strahd was transformed into a vampire, several of the castle guards retreated to this room, but Strahd caught them and slaughtered them in a brutal show of violence. Removing one of the shields or swords from the wall requires a successful DC 10 Strength check. None of the items found here are valuable.

K71. Kingsmen Quarters

This dark passage runs for twenty feet, connecting an archway to the west with an ascending stone staircase to the east. To the north and south are four ten-foot-square alcoves cluttered with rotting cots and dirty rags. The ceilings here are covered with yellow lichen.

The yellow lichen is harmless. Beyond the archway to the west is area K70. The staircase (area area K20a) that goes up along the east wall leads to area area K20.

Treasure

Three of the alcoves contain nothing of value. A loose flagstone in the southeast alcove covers a hidden cubbyhole in the floor, in which is hidden a moldy sack containing 150 ep. The coins have the profiled visage of Strahd von Zarovich stamped on them. A character who searches the alcove can find the loose flagstone with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check.

K72. Chamberlain’s Office

This shadowy room is in perfect order. A great table stands here with its chair, inkwell, and quill set carefully in place. Lances, swords, and shields that bear the Barovian crest are hung neatly on the dark, oak-paneled walls.

If he has not been defeated elsewhere, Rahadin (see area appendix D) is here, waiting for the characters to arrive so he can kill them.

A shadow demon also haunts this room. In the round after the characters engage Rahadin, the demon leaps out and attacks the nearest character from behind. The character doesn’t notice the demon, unless the character’s passive Wisdom (Perception) score meets or exceeds the demon’s Dexterity (Stealth) check. Both Rahadin and the shadow demon fight until slain.

A secret door is set into the north end of the west wall. It can be pulled open to reveal a dusty, web-choked staircase of ancient, worn stone (area K79) that descends into darkness.

Dungeon and Catacombs

Refer to map 12 of the castle for areas K73 through area K88.

K73. Dungeon Hall

The following boxed text assumes that the characters arrive by way of the staircase to the east (area area K21). Adjust as needed if the characters enter this hall from another direction.

The stairs descend into black, still water that fills an arched hallway before you. The water’s surface is like dark, mirrored glass, disturbed only occasionally by the “thwick” of a drop falling from the ceiling. Twenty feet ahead, arched doorways lead downward from each side of the hallway. In each arched doorway, an iron door stands closed and partially submerged. You hear a weak cry for help from beyond the south door.

The water is 3 feet deep in the hallway and opaque. The steps on both sides of the hallway descend another 2 feet before ending at the iron doors to the north and south.

The floor beneath the water isn’t as solid as one might expect. There is a safe path around several weight-sensitive trapdoors (see the Traps in Area K73 diagram), but the water makes it impossible to see where the trapdoors are. For every 10 pounds of weight on a trapdoor, there is a 5 percent chance that the trapdoor will open. The 10-foot-deep pit under each trapdoor contains a magic teleport trap that activates as soon as the trapdoor opens. Any Medium or smaller creature on a trapdoor when it opens plunges into the pit and is teleported to a cell in either area area K74 or area K75, as the diagram indicates.

When a character sets off a trap, other characters in the hall see an explosion of air and water fly up around the triggering character (air that was trapped in the pit is released suddenly when the trapdoor opens). The triggering character suddenly falls from sight. An instant later, the trapdoor closes, leaving only a slowly dissipating swirl in the water. It doesn’t open again until 24 hours have passed, at which point its teleport trap is recharged.

Characters who fall victim to the teleport traps are transported to dungeon cells closed with iron bars and under 5 feet of brackish water (area areas K74 and area K75).

K74. North Dungeon

The rusty iron door connecting this hall to area K73 is submerged in 5 feet of water and requires a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check to open.

A mold-covered ceiling hangs three feet above the still, black water that fills this dungeon corridor. The water is five feet deep. Ten-foot-square cells, their entrances blocked by iron bars, line both sides of the hall. One of the cells is dimly lit.

The corridor is 40 feet long. Branching off it are eight cells, four along each wall. Light spills out of area cell K74h.

A hinged door made up of 1-inch-thick rusted iron bars spaced 4 inches apart, with horizontal crossbars spaced 6 inches apart, closes off each cell. Each door is fitted with an iron lock. A character using thieves' tools can try to pick a lock, which requires 1 minute and a successful DC 20 Dexterity check. The check is made with disadvantage if the character is trying to pick the lock from inside the cell. If the check fails, the character can try again.

A character can force open a barred door by using an action and succeeding on a DC 25 Strength check.

Strahd visits the dungeon occasionally to see whether any characters have become trapped here. He can enter a cell by assuming mist form.

K74a. Forgotten Treasure

This cell is linked to a teleport trap in area area K73. Characters who enter the cell can feel coins shifting beneath their feet.

Treasure

Scattered across the floor of this cell are 3,000 ep. The coins have the profiled visage of Strahd von Zarovich stamped on them. A character can scoop up one hundred coins every minute.

K74b. Forgotten Treasure

The rusted door to this cell hangs open slightly.

Characters who enter the cell can feel coins shifting beneath their feet.

Treasure

Scattered across the floor of this cell are 300 pp. The coins have the profiled visage of Strahd von Zarovich stamped on them. A character can scoop up one hundred coins every minute.

K74c. Rotting Corpse

Clinging to the bars of this otherwise empty cell is the rotting corpse of a male half-elf dressed in leather armor.

This cell is linked to a teleport trap in area area K73.

Treasure

A search of the corpse yields a sheathed longsword and two belt pouches, one containing five gemstones (50 gp each) and the other containing a potion of heroism.

K74d. Empty Cell

This cell contains nothing of interest.

K74e. End of the Ride

This cell is linked to a teleport trap in area area K73.

Secret Door

A secret door is 5 feet up from the floor on the north wall of this cell. The secret door can’t be opened from this side without the use of a knock spell or similar magic. Behind the secret door is a chute of polished black marble that slants upward (area area K82).

K74f. Empty Cell

This cell contains nothing of interest.

K74g. Gray Ooze

Clinging to the floor of this cell is a gray ooze that attacks anything that enters. While underwater, the ooze is effectively invisible.

K74h. Lost Sword

A glowing blade can be seen beneath the water near the back of the cell.

This cell is linked to a teleport trap in area area K73.

Treasure

The source of the underwater glow is a sentient lawful good +1 shortsword (Intelligence 11, Wisdom 13, Charisma 13). It has hearing and normal vision out to a range of 120 feet. It communicates by transmitting emotion to the creature carrying or wielding it.

The sword’s purpose is to fight evil. The sword has the following additional properties:

• The sword continually sheds bright light in a 15-foot radius and dim light for an additional 15 feet. Only by destroying the sword can this light be extinguished.
• A lawful good creature can attune itself to the sword in 1 minute.
• While attuned to the weapon, the sword’s wielder can use the sword to cast the crusader’s mantle spell. Once used, this property of the sword can’t be used again until the next dawn.

K75. South Dungeon

The rusty iron door connecting this hall to area area K73 is submerged in 5 feet of water and requires a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check to open.

A mold-covered ceiling hangs three feet above the still, black water that fills this dungeon corridor. The water is five feet deep. Ten-foot-square cells, their entrances blocked by iron bars, line both sides of the hall. From one of the cells, you hear a gruff voice ask, “Who’s there?”

The corridor is 40 feet long. Branching off it are eight cells, four along each wall. The voice comes from one of the southernmost cells (area K75a).

K75a. Prisoner

A strong young man clutches the bars of his cell while struggling to keep his teeth from chattering. His clothes are shredded, and he is soaked from head to toe.

The man is Emil Toranescu, a werewolf with 72 hit points. He claims to be a resident of Vallaki who was chased by dire wolves to the castle. He begs the characters to rescue him, offering to help them in exchange.

In truth, Strahd locked Emil here as punishment for causing a schism in his werewolf pack (see chapter 15). Anxious to prove his worth to Strahd, Emil rewards the characters for freeing him by attacking them when a good opportunity arises. Emil doesn’t turn against the characters if they claim to be allies of his wife, Zuleika (see chapter 15, area area Z7). In that case, he tries to leave the castle and reunite with her, staying with the characters only until an opportunity to leave presents itself.

K75b. Forgotten Treasure

Characters who enter the cell can feel coins shifting beneath their feet.

Treasure

Scattered across the floor of this cell are 2,100 ep. The coins have the profiled visage of Strahd von Zarovich stamped on them. A character can scoop up one hundred coins every minute.

K75c. Empty Cell

This cell contains nothing of interest.

K75d. Dead Dwarf

This cell is linked to a teleport trap in area area K73. The skeletal remains of a dwarf fighter lie at the bottom of the cell, enclosed in rusted plate armor. The dwarf’s nonmagical but usable battleaxe lies nearby.

K75e. Empty Cell

This cell contains nothing of interest.

K75f. Dead Wizard

Shackled to the back wall of this cell is an emaciated figure in a blue robe, its spindly arms spread wide and its head tilted forward. Long, gray hair hangs down in front of the dead man’s face.

The skeletal figure is all that remains of a human wizard whom Strahd captured and slowly bled to death. Flesh still clings to the wizard’s bones, and puncture marks from the vampire’s fangs are visible on the wizard’s neck.

K75g. Hanging Bard

Pounded into the roof of this cell is a rusted iron pulley, strung through which is a rope that is tied to one of the crossbeams of the barred door. Dangling upside down from the pulley is a man, flabby and stout of build, in tight-fitting leather armor. His boots are bound with rope just below the pulley, his fleshy hands are tied behind his back, and his head is underwater. He isn’t moving.

Strahd had this human bard suspended from the ceiling as a test to see how long he could keep his head above water. The man weakened and drowned. On the floor of the cell, below the hanging corpse, is a smashed lyre.

K75h. Empty Cell

This cell contains nothing of interest.

K76. Torture Chamber

Dark, low shapes thrust up out of the still, brackish water that fills this fifty-foot-square room, the ceiling of which is festooned with hanging chains that look like thick, black web strands. A balcony set into the north wall overlooks the room and has two large thrones atop it, with a red velvet curtain behind them.

The ceiling is 17 feet above the surface of the water, which is 3 feet deep. The balcony to the north stands 7 feet above the water’s surface, 10 feet above the floor.

If the characters approach the “dark, low shapes” in the water, read:

The dark shapes in the water are racks, iron maidens, stocks, and other instruments of torture. The skeletons of their last victims lie within them, their jaws seemingly frozen open in silent screams.

As soon as one or more characters move more than 10 feet into the room, six Strahd Zombie rise slowly out of the water, their slime-gray arms clawing upward through the water as they attack.

K77. Observation Balcony

Two large, wooden thrones rest on this balcony. Behind the thrones hangs a red velvet curtain thirty feet long. The ceiling here is ten feet high.

The room continues behind the curtain an additional 10 feet to a wall that has a door in its center.

K78. Brazier Room

This room is thirty feet square, rising to a twenty-foot-tall flat ceiling. A stone brazier burns fiercely in the center of the room, but its tall white flame produces no heat. The rim of the brazier is carved with seven cup-shaped indentations spaced evenly around the circumference. Within each indentation is a spherical stone, twice the diameter of a human eyeball and made of a colored crystal. No two stones are the same color.

Overhead, a wood-framed hourglass as tall and wide as a dwarf hangs ten feet above the brazier, suspended from the ceiling by thick iron chains. All the sand is stuck in the upper portion of the hourglass, seemingly unable to run down into the bottom. Written in glowing script on the base of the hourglass is a verse in Common.

Two nine-foot-tall iron statues of knights on horseback, poised to charge with swords drawn, stand in deep alcoves facing each other. The brazier sits between them.

The two statues are Iron Golem. Each horse and rider is considered one creature, and they are inseparable. The golems will not leave the room under any circumstances, and they attack only under specific conditions (see the “Development” section that follows).

The hourglass has AC 12, 20 hit points, immunity to poison and psychic damage, and vulnerability to thunder damage. If the hourglass is reduced to 0 hit points, its glass shatters, causing the sand within it to fall to the floor. The magic writing on the base of the hourglass reads as follows:

Cast a stone into the fire:

Violet leads to the mountain spire

Orange to the castle’s peak

Red if lore is what you seek

Green to where the coffins hide

Indigo to the master’s bride

Blue to ancient magic’s womb

Yellow to the master’s tomb

The brazier’s flame is magical and sheds no warmth. A successful casting of dispel magic (DC 16) extinguishes the flame for 1 hour. The fire is permanently extinguished if the brazier is destroyed. The brazier has AC 17, 25 hit points, immunity to poison and psychic damage, and resistance to all other damage.

The stones set into the brazier’s rim are colored red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, respectively. Tossing one into the brazier causes its flame to change from white to the color of the stone, and the sand begins falling through the hourglass. Any creature that touches the colored flame is teleported to a location within Strahd’s domain, as determined by the color:

After 5 rounds, the sand runs out, and the color of the flame returns to white. When the flame does so, the sand instantly reappears in the top part of the hourglass (provided the hourglass is intact), and the stone that was cast into the fire reappears in the brazier’s rim.

Development

If the brazier, the hourglass, or either Iron Golem is attacked, the doors of the room magically slam shut and lock (unless they are being held or wedged open), and the golems animate and attack. On the first round, the golems fill the room with their poison breath, which issues from the horses' mouths. (Each creature in the room must make two saving throws, one for each breath weapon.) On subsequent rounds, each golem makes one attack with its sword and one slam attack with its hoof. When there are no creatures left to fight in the room, the golems return to their alcoves, and the doors unlock. Forcing open a locked door requires a successful DC 25 Strength (Athletics) check. Each door has AC 15, 25 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.

K79. Western Stair

This staircase of ancient stone is worn smooth. Thick dust covers its steps, and cobwebs choke the passage.

The stairs rise at a 45-degree angle for a distance of 40 feet horizontally, leading to a 10-foot-square landing (see below). A second set of stairs continues upward to the east at a similar angle for a distance of 30 feet horizontally, ending at a secret door that opens into area area K72.

Landing

Inscribed on the landing, hidden under years of dust, is a glyph of warding. If the characters brush away the dust, someone can spot the glyph with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check.

The glyph triggers the first time a living creature passes over it. Triggering it activates a major image spell, conjuring an illusion of Strahd von Zarovich that appears either halfway up the stairs leading to area area K72 or halfway down the stairs leading to area area K78, so that the vampire appears in front of the triggering character. When “Strahd” appears, read:

A sickly mist fills the stairway ahead, then coalesces into the form of the vampire Strahd, his eyes burning red with anger. “You have worn out your welcome,” he says. “Whatever gods you believe in cannot save you now!”

Have the characters roll initiative. Any attack or spell that hits “Strahd” passes through, revealing that he is an illusion. On initiative count 0, the illusory vampire chuckles and melts away like a wax doll in a bonfire, leaving no trace behind, and the glyph disappears.

K80. Center Stair

If the characters enter this area through the door at the bottom of the stairs, read:

The door creaks open to reveal a stone staircase between rough masonry walls. There is little dust on the steps, but light fog tumbles down the steps from above.

If the characters enter this area at the top of the staircase, read:

The rough-hewn corridor ends at a stone staircase that descends to the south. Flanked by walls of rough masonry and relatively free of dust, these stairs descend before ending at a lonely door.

The stairs slope at a 45-degree angle for a distance of 20 feet horizontally, connecting area areas K78 and K81.

K81. Tunnel

This tunnel is cut into the Pillarstone of Ravenloft itself. Its surface is slick, and its ceiling is barely 6 feet high. A lingering fog limits visibility to a few feet.

Characters who have knowledge of stonecutting can tell that this passage is a relatively new construction compared to other areas of Ravenloft. The tunnel is 120 feet long, with a stone door at its eastern end.

Near the midpoint of the tunnel is a trapdoor hidden under a layer of fog. Characters can’t spot the trapdoor passively, but an active search accompanied by a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check locates it. Unless the trapdoor is fastened shut with an iron spike or by some other means, it opens when 100 pounds of weight or more is placed on it. When the trapdoor opens, everyone who is standing on it slides into the marble chute below (area area K82). The trapdoor then resets.

K82. Marble Slide

If one or more characters fall through the trapdoor in area area K81, read:

You fall into a chute of polished black marble and slide into the darkness.

The chute plunges from the trapdoor in area area K81 through a one-way secret door into a flooded cell (area area K74e). Characters who slide all the way to the bottom are deposited in the cell, but take no damage. The slide contains no handholds and is too slippery to ascend without the aid of magic.

K83. Spiral Stair

Behind the door lies a dark spiral staircase.

The staircase starts at area area K78, climbs to a landing at area K83a, and continues upward to area area K37.

K83a. Spiral Stair Landing

An extension of area K83, this landing is shown on map 11.

This forty-foot-long corridor connects two spiral stairways, one leading up and the other descending into the depths of Castle Ravenloft. Hanging from an iron rod bolted to the eastern wall is a dusty, ten-foot-square tapestry depicting knights on horseback charging across a battlefield under a bloodred sky. The lead knight rides a black horse and wears a fur-lined black cloak, dark gray armor, and a visored helm shaped like a wolf’s head. His sword glows with the light of the sun.

The stairs at the north end of the west wall descends to a door leading to area area K78. The stairs at the south end of the west wall lead up, ending at door that opens into area area K37.

Treasure

The tapestry depicts Strahd’s father, King Barov, leading his fearsome knights into glorious battle. The tapestry weighs 10 pounds and is worth 750 gp intact. If it becomes damaged while in the party’s possession, it is worthless unless mended.

K84. Catacombs

Buried deep beneath the keep of Ravenloft lie ancient catacombs, with arched ceilings supported by wide, hollow columns that double as crypts. Cobwebs hang limp in the musty air. A thick fog clings to the floor, which is covered in putrid waste. The black ceiling is moving.

The catacombs fill an area roughly 110 feet east to west by 180 feet north to south, and the floor is covered in several inches of bat guano. The catacombs are made up of 10-foot-wide arched walkways running between 10-foot-square crypts, which serve as pillars that support the 20-foot-high ceiling. The area has five means of entry and exit:

• The door adjacent to area crypt 1 (connecting with area area K81)
• A barred archway to the north (connecting with area area K85)
• A barred archway to the south (connecting with area area K86 but warded by teleport traps)
• A barred archway to the east (connecting with area area K87)
• The high tower stair (area area K18) or the shaft (area area K18a) to the west

Each crypt is sealed with a chiseled stone “door”—actually a tight-fitting stone slab measuring 3 feet wide, 5 feet tall, and 3 inches thick. Removing or resetting a stone slab requires an action and a successful DC 15 Strength check.

Each crypt houses the remains of the person or persons whose epitaph is inscribed on the front of the slab. The crypts are described in the following sections, their epitaphs noted under the crypt’s number in italics.

Unless noted otherwise, each crypt contains a 3-foot-by-6-foot rectangular bier of marble, 3 feet high, with a skeleton draped in rags lying atop it.

The catacombs are home to tens of thousands of bats. The bats hang here during daytime hours and fly out in the evening through the high tower’s central shaft (area area K18a) to hunt at night. They will not attack intruders unless they are provoked or are specifically commanded to do so by Strahd. If one or more bats within a 10-foot square on the map are attacked or caught in the area of a harmful spell, 2d4 Swarm of Bats form in that area and attack. No more swarms can be formed in that square until the next dawn, when more bats arrive to replenish those that were killed.

Teleport Traps

Invisible teleport traps are located between area crypts 37 and area 38, between area crypt 37 and the wall south of it, and between area crypt 38 and the wall south of it. The traps can’t be perceived except with a detect magic spell, which reveals an aura of conjuration magic in the trapped areas. Although the traps can’t be disarmed, a successful casting of dispel magic (DC 16) on a trap suppresses its magic for 1 minute, allowing characters to move safely through its area. A trap is also suppressed while wholly or partly in the area of an antimagic field.

These teleport traps form a protective ring around the entrance to Strahd’s tomb (area area K86). Any creature that enters one of these 10-foot-square spaces is instantly teleported away, switching places with one of the Wight in area crypt 14. The wight materializes in the creature’s previous location and attacks any living creature it sees.

Crypt 1

Herein lie the ones who walk the path of pain and torment

The stone door connects not with a crypt, but with a hewn tunnel of stone (area area K81).

Crypt 2

Artista DeSlop—Court Ceiling Painter

The domed ceiling of this crypt is painted with an image of imps holding bouquets of colorful flowers. A skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. A wooden box is tucked under one bony hand.

The box is unlocked. It contains seven wood-handled paintbrushes and seven small gourds of dried-up paint.

Crypt 3

Lady Isolde Yunk (Isolde the Incredible): Purveyor of antiques and imports

A skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. Piled all around it, covering the floor, are heaps of old baskets, braziers, bundled tapestries, candlesticks, chairs, chests, cooking utensils, cressets, curtain rods, decanters, dishes, jugs, lamps, scroll cases, tankards, and tinderboxes. None of the junk looks valuable. An old chandelier hangs from the domed ceiling.

Characters could spend hours searching the crypt. Though the antiques here might fetch a fair amount of coin, they are hardly worth the trouble to transport.

Crypt 4

Prince Ariel du Plumette (Ariel the Heavy)

If the characters open the door to this crypt, read:

The apparition of a large, rotund man forms within the dark crypt, its eyes wild with insanity. Large, artificial wings unfold from its back.

Prince Ariel was a terrible man who longed to fly. He attached artificial wings to a harness and empowered the device with magic, but the apparatus still couldn’t bear his weight, and he plunged from the Pillarstone of Ravenloft to his death. His evil ghost attacks the characters on sight. If Ariel succeeds in possessing a character, his host climbs the high tower (area area K18) until it reaches the peak (area area K59), then hurls itself down the tower’s central shaft (area area K18a), screaming, “I can fly!” the whole way down.

Crypt 5

Artank Swilovich: Friend and member of the Barovian Wine Distillers Guild

You are greeted by the faint smell of wine. A skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. Heaped around it, covering the entire floor, are thousands of empty wine bottles.

Each bottle’s label shows that it is from the Wizard of Wines winery, and the label names the wine inside: Champagne du le Stomp, Red Dragon Crush, or Purple Grapemash No. 3.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it is buried under the wine bottles. A character who searches under the bottles finds the treasure automatically.

Crypt 6

Saint Markovia: Dead for all time

The 10-foot-square section of floor in front of this crypt is a pressure plate that releases four poison darts hidden in tiny holes in the north wall. (See “Sample Traps” in chapter 5, “Adventure Environments,” of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for the rules on how this trap functions.) The trap resets when the weight is lifted and can be triggered a total of four times before its supply of darts is depleted.

If the door to the crypt is opened, read:

This crypt smells of roses. The remains atop its marble slab have disintegrated, except for one thighbone.

If the characters disturb Saint Markovia’s remains, add:

A ghostly form appears above the dust, so faint that you can barely discern more than part of a face. From this apparition comes the faintest of whispers: “The vampire must be destroyed. Use me as your weapon.” With that, it fades away.

Treasure

A detect magic} spell reveals that the thighbone radiates an aura of evocation magic. See appendix C for more information on Saint Markovia’s thighbone.

Crypt 7

The stone door of this crypt lies on the floor, its inscription obscured by fog. The crypt gapes open. A skull, some bones, and a few bits of rusted armor lie atop a marble slab with a leering stone gargoyle squatting at each end.

The epitaph on the door reads “Endorovich (Endorovich the Terrible): What the blood of a hundred wars did not do, the spurn of a woman accomplished.”

Endorovich was a ruthless soldier and self-aggrandizing noble who loved a woman named Marya, but she loved another man. As Marya and her lover were dining, Endorovich put poison into the man’s wineglass. The glasses were mixed up, and Marya drank the poison instead. The lover was hanged for murdering Marya and buried at the Ivlis River crossroads (chapter 2, area area F). Endorovich never got over his guilt and, out of madness, killed many in his lifetime.

Endorovich’s spirit is trapped inside one of the gargoyles. If anyone disturbs the bones on the slab, one of the Gargoyle awakens and attacks. If the gargoyle is reduced to 0 hit points, Endorovich’s spirit moves to the second gargoyle, which then awakens and attacks. Both gargoyles have maximum hit points (77). Once the second gargoyle is destroyed, Endorovich’s spirit is laid to rest.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it is contained in a secret compartment under Endorovich’s remains. Once his bones and dust are swept away, the compartment can be found and opened without an ability check.

Crypt 8

Duchess Dorfniya Dilisnya

A skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. Hanging on the back wall is a handsome quilt that depicts a royal feast.

The quilt is magically preserved but not valuable.

Crypt 9

Pidlwick—Fool of Dorfniya

A small skeleton wearing the remains of a fool’s costume lies atop a stumpy marble slab in the center of the crypt.

If Pidlwick II (see area area K59) is with the party, it refuses to enter the crypt. The slab in this crypt is 4 feet long (instead of the usual 6 feet long). The bones atop the slab belong to the fool servant of Duchess Dorfniya Dilisnya (see area crypt 8).

Treasure

If the characters explore this crypt after summoning the ghost of Pidlwick in area area K36, they find a small, flat wooden box on the marble slab next to Pidlwick’s bones. The box contains a full deck of illusions.

Crypt 10

Sir Leonid Krushkin (Sir Lee the Crusher): Bigger than life, he loved his jewelry

An oversized skeleton draped in jewelry and rags lies atop an elongated marble slab in the center of the crypt. Leaning against the slab is a bloodstained maul strung with cobwebs.

Sir Lee stood well over seven feet tall. His maul might give the characters pause, but it is harmless and nonmagical.

Treasure

Three jeweled necklaces (worth 750 gp each) are lying across Sir Lee’s skeleton.

Crypt 11

Tasha Petrovna—Healer of Kings, Light unto the West, Servant, Companion

A skeleton wearing tattered priestly vestments lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. The domed ceiling overhead is painted with a glorious sun mural.

Creatures that would take damage from exposure to sunlight (such as vampires) have disadvantage on all ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws while inside this crypt.

Treasure

Draped around the neck of the skeleton is a sun-shaped holy symbol (worth 25 gp). A good-aligned character who picks up the holy symbol hears a ghostly female voice. It whispers the following message:

“There is a grave to the west, with roses that never die, in a place built by healers, in a village called Krezk. When all turns to darkness, touch this holy symbol to the grave to summon the light and find a treasure long lost.”

The message refers to a gravestone in the Abbey of Saint Markovia (chapter 8, area area S7).

Crypt 12

King Troisky—The Three-Faced King

There are no bones atop the marble slab in this crypt, only a steel helm with a visor shaped like an angry face.

The helm has three evenly spaced visors crafted to look like human faces—one sad, one happy, and one angry. Only the angry visage is visible from the crypt’s doorway. King Troisky wore this three-faced helm in battle, earning him the moniker of Three-Faced King. The helm is nonmagical and weighs 10 pounds.

The slab upon which the helm rests is weight-sensitive. If the helm is removed from the slab without 10 pounds of weight immediately being added, poisonous gas pours out of the slab’s hollow interior and fills the crypt. A character who searches the slab for traps and succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check spots tiny holes bored into the slab’s marble base. It’s from these holes that the gas spews forth.

A creature in the crypt when the gas is released must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Crypt 13

King Katsky (Katsky the Bright): Ruler, inventor, and self-proclaimed time traveler

A skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. Lying amid the bones is a stoppered drinking horn, a fat pouch, and a weird-looking scepter made of metal and wood. Above the bones, hanging from the domed ceiling by wires, is a wooden flying contraption that looks like a set of folding dragon wings fitted with leather straps, metal buckles, and taut leather wing flaps.

The stoppered drinking horn is a water-resistant Gunpowder Horn loaded with gunpowder, and the “weird-looking scepter” is a musket. The fat pouch contains 20 silver marbles (silvered bullets for the musket). For more information on firearms and explosives, see chapter 9, “Dungeon Master’s Workshop,” of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

Glider

Any Small or Medium humanoid can wear the dragon-wing glider. (It takes 1 minute to don or doff the glider.) It can’t support more than 80 pounds, although the amount of weight it can carry is not evident. A character who inspects the glider in an attempt to discern its maximum weight allowance can do so accurately with a successful DC 15 Intelligence check.

If its wearer is light enough (accounting for gear), the apparatus can be used to glide, but only in wide-open spaces where there is room to maneuver. The wearer can become airborne by stepping or jumping off a high place, or by performing a high jump to take off from level ground. While aloft, the wearer gains a flying speed equal to its walking speed, with the following limitations: except in a significant updraft, the wearer can’t use the glider to gain altitude, and the glider descends 1 foot for every 10 feet of horizontal distance covered. At the end of the flight, the wearer lands on its feet and the glider is intact. If the wearer tries to accelerate the rate of descent, the glider breaks, and the wearer falls.

The glider has AC 12, 1 hit point, and a 15-foot wingspan. Any damage causes it to break and become inoperable. A mending cantrip can repair the damage, provided all the broken pieces are present.

Crypt 14

Stahbal Indi-Bhak: A truer friend no ruler ever had. Here lies his family in honor.

If the characters open the door to this crypt, read:

A ten-foot-square shaft plunges into darkness. The sound of slowly dripping water echoes up the shaft.

Characters who have darkvision or a sufficient light source can see that the shaft descends 40 feet to some kind of vault deep in the Pillarstone of Ravenloft. Stones protrude from the shaft at regular intervals, offering handholds and footholds. The stones are slippery, however, so a character who tries to scale the wall without the aid of magic or the use of a climber’s kit must make a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check.

Vault

When the characters reach the bottom of the shaft, read:

At the bottom of the shaft is a dank vault with a ten-foot-high ceiling. The room is awkwardly shaped and smells of rotten meat. Fifteen stone coffins are scattered throughout the vault, all oriented with their heads pointed north. The floor is covered with human bones and rusty swords.

If a character teleports into a coffin from one of the area teleport traps that protect Strahd’s tomb (area area K86), read the following to that character’s player:

A flash of light explodes around you, and then you are plunged into absolute darkness, suddenly lying in a confined space choked with dust.

This vault contains fifteen Wight (one per coffin), minus any that have been teleported away (see “Teleport Traps” at the start of this section). Lifting a coffin’s lid requires an action and a successful DC 15 Strength check.

Each wight remains inactive until it is teleported away or until its coffin is opened, whereupon it attacks.

The bones and rusty swords cover the floor to a depth of 6 inches, and are the remains of servants who swore to avenge Stahbal Indi-Bhak’s family. Whenever a wight is killed in this vault, some of the bones knit together, forming 2d6 animated human Skeleton. These skeletons attack intruders on sight but have no ranged attacks. There are enough bones and swords in the room for one hundred skeletons to form in this manner.

Crypt 15

Khazan: His word was power

A skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. The skull has black opals set in its eye sockets and shards of amber where its teeth should be.

Khazan was a powerful archmage who unlocked the secrets of lichdom, then later tried to become a demilich and failed. Neither his skull nor his bones pose any threat, but the gems embedded in the skull are valuable.

Treasure

The skull’s Black Opal are worth 1,000 gp apiece. The skull also has eight amber teeth worth 100 gp each.

Any creature that stands inside the crypt and boldly speaks the name “Khazan” causes the Pillarstone of Ravenloft to tremble as a staff of power materializes above the marble slab and hovers in place. The first creature to grab hold of the staff must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 44 (8d10) lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Afterward, the staff of power can be held and used normally. If no one grabs the staff within 1 round of its appearance, it vanishes, never to return.

Crypt 16

Elsa Fallona von Twitterberg (Beloved Actor): She had many followers

A skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. Nine shallow alcoves are carved into the surrounding walls. The back wall of each alcove is painted with a full-body image of a handsome man. Some of the men wear fine clothes; others wear armor. At the feet of each painting rests a skull atop a pile of bones.

The bones in the niches belong to Elsa’s nine consorts. There is nothing of value here.

Crypt 17

Sir Sedrik Spinwitovich (Admiral Spinwitovich): Confused though he was, he built the greatest naval force ever assembled in a landlocked country

An eleven-foot-long funeral barge dominates this crypt, wedged diagonally into the available space. Lying in the boat is a skeleton draped in rags, with hundreds of gold coins piled around it.

The coins are made of clay painted gold and are worthless. The funeral barge, which was assembled inside the crypt, is too big to fit through the door.

Crypt 18

The stone door of this crypt has been carefully laid to one side. Through the swirly mists of the perpetual fog, freshly engraved letters spell out the words “Ireena Kolyana: Wife.”

The crypt is empty and has been swept clean. This is where Strahd intends to keep Ireena once he turns her into a vampire spawn.

Crypt 19

Artimus (Builder of the Keep): Thou standest amidst the monument to his life

A skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt.

This crypt contains nothing of interest.

Crypt 20

Sasha Ivliskova—Wife

Webs as thick and pale as linen cover a shapely female form lying atop a marble slab in the center of this dusty, web-filled crypt. You hear a voice issue from the darkness.

“My love, have you come to set me free?”

The woman rises, the shroud of webs clinging to her in a ghastly fashion.

This vampire spawn is an old wife of Strahd’s. Once she realizes that the characters aren’t her husband, Sasha tears away her web shroud like an unloved wedding dress and attacks.

Crypt 21

Patrina Velikovna—Bride

The creature inside this crypt attacks as soon as the door is opened.

From the darkness comes a horrifying visage, a spectral elf maiden twisted by the horror of her undead existence. She wails, and the very sound claws at your soul.

The spectral elf is a banshee that attacks the characters on sight, using her wail immediately. Once awakened, the banshee is free to roam Castle Ravenloft, but she can’t travel more than 5 miles from this crypt.

In life, Patrina Velikovna was a dusk elf who, having learned a great deal about the black arts, was nearly a match for Strahd’s powers. She felt a great bond with him and asked to solemnize that bond in a dark marriage. Drawn to her knowledge and power, Strahd consented, but before he could drain all life from Patrina, her own people stoned her to death in an act of mercy to thwart Strahd’s plans. Strahd demanded, and got, Patrina’s body. She then became the banshee trapped here.

Reducing the banshee to 0 hit points causes it to discorporate. Patrina’s spirit can’t rest, however, until she is formally wed to Strahd; the banshee re-forms in her crypt 24 hours later. Casting a hallow spell on the crypt prevents the banshee from returning for as long as the spell lasts.

Treasure

Read the following text when the characters investigate Patrina’s crypt:

In the center of the crypt, a skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab, surrounded by thousands of coins.

Patrina’s crypt contains 250 pp, 1,100 gp, 2,300 ep, 5,200 sp, and 8,000 cp. The coins are of a mixed origin. The platinum and electrum coins have Strahd’s profiled visage stamped on them. Buried under the coins is Patrina’s spellbook, which has carved wooden covers. It contains all the spells listed for the archmage in the Monster Manual.

Development

If she is restored to life by her brother (see “area Kasimir’s Dark Gift” in the “Special Events” section in chapter 13), Patrina (NE female dusk elf) returns as an archmage with no spells prepared. If the characters have her spellbook, she kindly asks them to give it back to her so that she can prepare her long-forgotten spells and help destroy Strahd (a lie). If the characters oblige, she repays their kindness by learning as much about them as possible before pursuing her own goals.

Crypt 22

Sir Erik Vonderbucks

A gilded man lies atop a marble slab in the center of this otherwise barren crypt.

Sir Erik Vonderbucks was a wealthy noble whose dying wish was to have his corpse dipped in molten gold.

Treasure

The thin layer of gold, if peeled from Sir Erik’s desiccated corpse, is worth 500 gp.

Crypt 23

The first time the characters happen upon this crypt, they see one of their names (determined randomly) etched into the door. Opening the crypt releases a horrid stench of decay and reveals a corpse lying on the marble slab within. The corpse looks like the character named on the door. Touching the corpse causes it to melt away, whereupon the inscription fades. On later visits to this crypt, the door is unmarked and the crypt is empty.

Crypt 24

Ivan Ivliskovich, Champion of Winter Dog Racing: The race may go to the swift, but vengeance is for the loser’s relatives

A skeleton draped in bits of fur lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. The walls and ceiling are covered with plaster painted to make the crypt seem as if it stands in an evergreen forest, surrounded by snow. The plaster has peeled and fallen away in many places, shattering the illusion.

This crypt contains nothing of interest.

Crypt 25

Stefan Gregorovich: First Counselor to King Barov von Zarovich

A skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. Most of the bones appear dusty and neglected, but the skull is well polished.

A detect magic spell cast here reveals that Stefan’s skull radiates a faint aura of necromancy magic. As long as the skull remains in the crypt, it will answer up to five questions put to it, as though a speak with dead spell had been cast on it. This property recharges each day at dawn. In life, Stefan was neither observant nor well informed. If the skull is questioned about Strahd or Castle Ravenloft, all the information it provides is untrue.

Crypt 26

Intree Sik-Valoo: He spurned wealth for the knowledge he could take to heaven

A skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. Most of the bones appear dusty and neglected, but the skull is well polished.

A detect magic spell cast here reveals that Intree’s skull radiates a faint aura of necromancy magic. As long as the skull remains in the crypt, it will answer up to five questions put to it, as though a speak with dead spell had been cast on it. This property recharges each day at dawn. Unlike Stefan Gregorovich in area crypt 25, Intree was well educated and astute. If the skull is questioned about Strahd or the castle, the information it provides is true.

Crypt 27

This crypt is missing its door.

Three Giant Wolf Spider infest this otherwise empty crypt. The spiders make no noise and leap out to attack anyone who moves in front of the crypt’s gaping doorway.

Crypt 28

Bascal Ofenheiss—Chef Deluxe

A skeleton draped in white linen lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt, clutching a bell to its sunken chest. Fitted over its skull is a tall chef’s hat.

If the bell is rung inside the crypt, magic fire sweeps through the crypt to scorch Chef Ofenheiss’s bones. A creature in the crypt must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) fire damage on a failed save, or half damage on a successful one. Any creature that fails its save catches fire, taking 5 (1d10) fire damage at the end of each of its turns until it or another creature uses an action to douse the flames.

Treasure

Tucked under the chef’s hat is an electrum spork with a bejeweled handle (worth 250 gp).

Crypt 29

Baron Eisglaze Drüf

Opening the door causes the air around you to turn as cold as the coldest hell you can imagine. Every surface inside the crypt is covered with thick, brownish mold.

A patch of brown mold (see “Dungeon Hazards” in chapter 5, “Adventure Environments,” of the Dungeon Master’s Guide) fills the crypt. Characters within 5 feet of the crypt’s open doorway are affected.

If the brown mold is killed off, characters can dig through the moldy crust to find the bones of Baron Drüf lying atop a marble slab.

Treasure

Hidden under the brown mold next to the baron’s bones is a luck blade with one wish remaining. If a creature uses the wish to try to escape from Barovia, the spell fails. If a creature uses the sword to wish for Strahd’s destruction, the wish doesn’t destroy Strahd but rather teleports him to within 5 feet of the sword.

Crypt 30

Prefect Ciril Romulich (Beloved of King Barov and Queen Ravenovia): High Priest of the Most Holy Order

A marble slab in the center of the crypt displays a skeleton draped in red vestments, a golden holy symbol clutched in one bony hand. The domed ceiling fifteen feet above is painted to look like a canopy of trees with bright autumn leaves. A narrow stone ledge encircles the crypt ten feet above the floor. Perched on it are dozens of stone ravens, their eyes fixed on the marble slab.

The carved ravens are ominous yet harmless.

Treasure

The prefect’s gold holy symbol is festooned with tiny gemstones and is worth 750 gp. If touched by an evil creature, the holy symbol is consumed in a blast of intense light that deals 11 (2d10) radiant damage to all creatures within 5 feet of it. Characters familiar with Barovian religion recognize the symbol as that of the Morninglord.

Crypt 31

We knew him only by his wealth

This crypt is empty. Its walls are painted to depict mountains of gold coins.

The floor of the crypt is actually the cover of a 30-foot-deep spiked pit. The cover opens if 100 pounds of weight or more are placed on it. It splits down the middle, east to west, and its doors are spring-loaded. After a victim or victims fall into the pit, its doors snap shut. (See “Sample Traps” in chapter 5, “Adventure Environments,” of the Dungeon Master’s Guide the rules on locking pits and spiked pits.) The spikes at the bottom of the pit are made of iron but aren’t poisoned.

Treasure

A human skeleton (the remains of a dead adventurer) wrapped in bits of studded leather armor lies amid the spikes at the bottom of the pit. A shattered lantern and a rusty crowbar lie nearby. Tied to the corpse’s leather belt is a Hempen Rope (50 feet), a dagger in a worn scabbard, a pouch containing 25 pp, and a stoppered wooden tube containing a spell scroll of magic circle.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it is lying next to the skeleton at the bottom of the pit.

Crypt 32

The door to this crypt has no name or epitaph on it.

This crypt is empty except for two alcoves in the back wall. Above the alcoves are carved the following words: Pass Not These Portals Ye Foolish Mortals

A detect magic spell reveals that both alcoves radiate strong auras of conjuration magic.

Creatures that enter the eastern alcove of this crypt are teleported to the eastern alcove of Strahd’s tomb (area area K86). Stepping into the western alcove of this crypt has no effect, but any creature that teleports from the western alcove of area area K86 appears here.

Crypt 33

Sir Klutz Tripalotsky: He fell on his own sword

In the center of this crypt, atop a marble slab, human bones lie amid the empty shell of a suit of rusty plate armor. Plunged through the armor’s breastplate is a longsword.

Neither Sir Klutz’s armor nor his longsword are magical or valuable.

If the sword is pulled from the armor, Sir Klutz appears as a phantom warrior (see area appendix D), thanks whoever pulled his weapon free, and agrees to fight alongside that character for the next seven days. Sir Klutz perished years before Strahd became a vampire, so the phantom warrior knows nothing of Strahd’s downfall or the curse afflicting Barovia.

Crypt 34

King Dostron the Hellborn

Resting in the center of this crypt is a seven-foot-long gilded sarcophagus, its lid painted with the likeness of a screaming king wearing a crown of horns. Looming behind the sarcophagus is a stuffed owlbear frozen in a roar, with claws outstretched.

King Dostron was an ancient ruler of this land, long before the arrival of Strahd. He claimed descent from a duke of the Nine Hells, and his deeds did justice to this ancestry. His sarcophagus is made of beaten lead and encased in gold (see “Treasure” below). Its lid can be pried open with a crowbar or similar tool, revealing nothing but dust within. The stuffed owlbear is a late addition to the crypt’s decor—a gift given to Strahd that wound up here. It looks almost alive but is harmless.

An invisible imp is perched atop the owlbear. If someone tries to open the sarcophagus, the imp says in Common, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you!” The imp is magically bound to King Dostron’s remains and must watch over them for several more centuries before its contract are fulfilled. It isn’t obligated to protect the contents of the crypt (so it will not attack), and it delights in telling lies and engaging in mischief. For instance, it warns the characters that the sarcophagus is trapped, and that opening the lid will free a pit fiend bound within.

Treasure

Characters who take the time to pry the gold from the sarcophagus can amass 500 gp worth of the precious metal, weighing 10 pounds.

Crypt 35

Sir Jarnwald the Trickster: The joke was on him

A charnel stench fills this empty crypt.

The floor here is an illusion that hides a 20-foot-deep pit. The sides of the pit are polished smooth; a creature without a climbing speed can’t move along them without the aid of magic or a climber’s kit. At the bottom of the pit are six starving Ghoul. A permanent silence spell suppresses sound in the pit. The silence can be dispelled, as can the illusory floor (DC 14 for both).

Treasure

Sir Jarnwald was “entombed” here, so far as he was pushed into the crypt and devoured by the ghouls. What remains of him lies scattered on the pit floor: a few scraps of clothing, a handful of teeth, and a signet ring that bears a stylized “J” (worth 25 gp).

Crypt 36

Claw marks obliterate the name on this crypt’s door.

A skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt.

This crypt contains nothing of interest.

Crypt 37

Gralmore Nimblenobs—Wizard Ordinaire

Lying on a marble slab in the center of this crypt is the corpse of a man with a long white beard. His skin clings tightly to his skull and bones, and he wears dusty red robes. Clutched to his chest is a wooden staff that has a brass knob on one end and a marble knob on the other.

The staff is a nonmagical quarterstaff.

Inspection of the marble slab reveals a shallow, concave recess at one end. If the marble-knobbed end of Gralmore’s staff is placed in the recess, the slab levitates 5 feet upward, revealing a compartment underneath (see “Treasure” below). The slab slowly sinks back into place after 1 minute. If the brass-knobbed end of the staff is placed in the recess, the holder of the staff takes 22 (4d10) lightning damage.

Treasure

The compartment under the slab holds a small, black leather case containing three Spell Scroll (cone of cold, fireball, and lightning bolt).

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it is in the compartment with the other treasure.

Crypt 38

General Kroval “Mad Dog” Grislek (Master of the Hunt): A leader of hounds and men

When the characters open the door to this crypt, read:

The stench of brimstone and burnt fur spills from this crypt. In its darkness are three pairs of glowing red eyes.

Three Hell Hound lunge forth and attack, fighting to the death. In the round after they attack, General Grislek’s wraith emerges from the crypt, uttering commands to the hounds in Infernal. Once these evil creatures are slain, the characters can inspect the crypt more closely.

Bits of incinerated bone lie strewn atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. Lying amid the bones are fragments of a shattered spear with a silvered head. The walls and domed ceiling of the crypt are covered with scorched murals that depict legions of infantry and cavalry clashing on battlefields.

A mending cantrip can repair the spear, which is broken into three pieces of roughly equal length. If repaired, it can be wielded as a silvered, nonmagical spear.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it is in a secret compartment under Grislek’s remains. Once his charred bones are cleared away, the compartment can be found and opened without an ability check.

Crypt 39

Beucephalus, the Wonder Horse: May the flowers grow ever brighter where he trods

The door to this crypt is larger than all the others, 6 feet wide by 8 feet tall. Removing or resetting the slab requires a successful DC 20 Strength check. When the door is opened, read:

Dry, hot air and smoke billow from the crypt as a black horse with a flaming mane and fiery hooves emerges. Smoke billows from its nostrils as it rears up to attack.

The nightmare, Beucephalus, is Strahd’s steed. It has 104 hit points. If the characters slay it, Strahd hunts them down mercilessly. When the steed wants to leave the castle, it flies up the central shaft of the high tower (area area K18a), exiting through the gash in the tower roof (area area K59).

Crypt 40

Tatsaul Eris—Last of the Line

A skeleton draped in rags lies atop a marble slab in the center of the crypt. Mounted on the north, east, and south walls are three unlit torches in iron brackets.

When a creature enters this tomb for the first time, the torches burst into flame and continue to burn until they are spent or extinguished.

Examination of the skull and bones reveals that they are plaster facsimiles.

K85. Sergei’s Tomb

A portcullis is closed in the archway into this tomb. Lifting it requires a successful DC 25 Strength check.

White marble steps descend to a tomb that has a vaulted ceiling thirty feet overhead. A stillness—a calm amid the storm—is felt here. In the center of the tomb, a white marble slab supports an intricately inlaid coffin. Chiseled into the slab is a name: Sergei von Zarovich. To the north, behind the coffin, are three alcoves. A beautifully carved statue stands in each alcove—a stunning young man flanked by two angels—looking as polished and new as the day each was placed there. An iron lever protrudes from the south wall, west of the tomb’s entrance.

Raising the lever lifts the portcullis at the top of the stairs. Pulling it down lowers the portcullis.

The coffin opens easily to the touch of a lawful good creature. Otherwise, opening it requires a successful DC 15 Strength check. Sergei’s flesh has been magically preserved, and at first glance it looks like he is sleeping in his casket.

Treasure

Sergei’s embalmed body is clothed in shining +2 Armor.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it is inside the coffin next to Sergei’s body.

If your card reading indicates an encounter with Strahd von Zarovich in this area, he is lying across Sergei’s coffin, weeping.

K86. Strahd’s Tomb

A heavy portcullis stands closed in the archway leading to this tomb. Lifting it requires a successful DC 25 Strength check.

Black marble steps descend to a dark tomb that has a vaulted ceiling thirty feet overhead. The essence of evil permeates the very air. The smell of freshly turned earth is here. Settled into the dirt on the floor is a shining black coffin of finely waxed wood. The coffin’s fittings are of brilliant brass, and the lid is closed. South of the coffin are three gloomy alcoves. An iron lever protrudes from the north wall, east of the tomb’s entrance.

Raising the lever lifts the portcullis at the top of the stairs. Pulling it down lowers the portcullis.

Lying under the earth near the east wall of the tomb are three vampire spawn brides dressed in soiled gowns and wearing dirt-encrusted jewelry (see “Treasure” below). They rise to attack anyone who approaches Strahd’s coffin.

A detect magic spell reveals that the western and eastern alcoves radiate strong auras of conjuration magic. The central alcove is nonmagical.

Creatures that enter the western alcove are instantly teleported to the western alcove of area crypt 32 in area area K84. Stepping into the eastern alcove has no effect, but any creature that teleports from the eastern alcove of crypt 32 appears here.

Treasure

Strahd lavished many fine gifts on his three brides.

Ludmilla Vilisevic wears a soiled white wedding gown, a gold tiara (worth 750 gp), and ten gold bracelets (worth 100 gp each).

Anastrasya Karelova wears a stained and tattered red wedding gown, a black and crimson silk head scarf sewn with precious jewels (worth 750 gp), and a platinum necklace with a black opal pendant (worth 1,500 gp).

Volenta Popofsky wears a faded gold wedding gown, a platinum mask shaped vaguely like a skull (750 gp), and ten platinum rings set with gemstones (worth 250 gp each).

Teleport Destination

Characters who teleport to this location from area area K78 arrive at the bottom of the stairs, just inside the tomb.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it lies in the center alcove.

If your card reading indicates an encounter with Strahd von Zarovich in this area, he is in his coffin, ready to attack anyone who opens the lid.

K87. Guardians

The following text assumes that the characters are approaching from area area K84. If they approach this area from area area K88, references to descending stairs should be changed to ascending stairs.

Wide steps descend to a landing flanked by two alcoves. Within each alcove, taking up the full thirty-foot height of the ceiling, is a bronze statue of a warrior holding a spear. A soft blue curtain of light flows between the two alcoves. Dimly visible on the other side of the curtain are more descending stairs.

The curtain has no effect on creatures that move east to west (from area area K88 to area area K84).

A creature of lawful good alignment that moves west to east through the curtain can do so without difficulty, but creatures of other alignments that do so are teleported back to the top of the stairs behind them. A Small creature can squeeze behind and around one of the bronze statues to circumvent the light curtain.

K88. Tomb of King Barov and Queen Ravenovia

This tomb rests in hushed silence. Tall, stained glass windows dominate the eastern walls, allowing dim light to fall on two coffins resting atop white marble slabs. The one against the north wall is marked King Barov von Zarovich, and the one against the south wall is marked Queen Ravenovia van Roeyen. The vaulted ceiling thirty feet overhead is inlaid with a beautiful gold mosaic.

The stained glass windows are so dirty on the outside as to be nearly opaque. The windows don’t open, but they can be smashed easily. Anyone who looks upward through a window can see, 110 feet above, the castle’s stone overlook (area area K6). Anyone who falls out a window here plummets almost 900 feet to the base of the Pillarstone of Ravenloft.

Prying the gold from the ceiling of this tomb would be a long and tedious effort for little reward.

The north coffin holds a beautifully sculpted, life-sized wax effigy of Strahd’s father, King Barov. The old king’s bones lie in a compartment beneath his effigy.

The south coffin holds the skeleton of Strahd’s mother, Queen Ravenovia. (The magic that was meant to preserve her earthly remains failed years ago.) A tattered white shroud covers her bones.

Fortunes of Ravenloft

If your card reading reveals that a treasure is here, it lies atop Queen Ravenovia’s coffin.

If your card reading indicates an encounter with Strahd von Zarovich in this area, he is in a frenzy of rage and despair.