| Kristofer Dubuque |
I just got my copy and thought I'd give a brief review. This review is based on a familiarity with the original Ravenloft and the revised version "House of Strahd". This is also a first impression without extensive reading. There are NO SPOILERS within this glimpse, but the websites below might.
It is slick, and it is polished. The cover illo is very nice, but makes Strahd look weathered and older than in the previous editions. The inside illo of Strahd looks like a young elf; he's got huge ears. See here for a look at Strahd...
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20061006a&page=2
I'm a graphics sort of guy, so I went straight for the main map. I really enjoyed the original map as well as the newer one found in Dragon Magazine a few years back. Guess what, no such map exists. The castle has numerous maps placed thru-out the book. The maps are done by two cartographers, not just one. If you want to show your player a map, you'll constantly be flipping thru the book and walking up close to give them a glimpse. Aside from the revised, and slightly altered, map of Barovia no map fills up the entire page. At first I thot my book was missing the big fold out map, but it didn't come with one. A minor map quibble is that some of the stairs have changed direction going from clock-wise to counter clock-wise. One room has been shifted and the neighboring staircase relocated. Some of the stairwell drawings are nowhere as well drawn as the original. Cartographers that redraw by hand should learn some drafting or at least tracing.
Here's a link to some maps. The city of Barovia map is skewed at this site. The compass points north but is really oriented to the east.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mw/20061004x
The book has numerouis added encounters outside and inside the castle... More than you'll need. However, this does allow for replaying many times before they are all exhausted. Some of the encounters within the castle are really just expansions of the area developing...
I didn't notice it in your review and maybe I'm the only one but I recently ran the campaign and found that there was no printed conclusion. The tactical encounter for Strahd's tomb referred me to the conclusion once Strahd was defeated but I didn't find any printed material outlining the conclusion. I made up my own for my group but was still curious as to what ideas the writers may have had for the end of Strahd.