Playability Guide on Vaults of the ODD

Ravenloft I6 Playability Guide, Part III

Tue, 12 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Editorial note. This guide works from I6 itself. Where it reaches beyond the module, it says so. The itinerant clan the module calls "gypsies" is named Rhenari throughout, following the convention set out in Part I Section 2. Direct quotations from the module retain the original wording.

1. Arrival in the village

Part II ended with the party walking into the village of Barovia on the east road, tired and short on certainty. The church and the castle were the two sightlines visible above the rooftops. Part III opens at the first cobblestone.

Ravenloft I6 Playability Guide, Part II

Sun, 03 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Editorial note. This guide works from I6 itself. Where it reaches beyond the module, it says so. The itinerant clan the module calls "gypsies" is named Rhenari throughout, following the convention set out in Part I Section 2. Direct quotations from the module retain the original wording.

1. The opening act, and a camouflage for it

The module's opening on p.7 is probably the most recognisable opening in the hobby. The party begins in an unnamed tavern in a nameless province, a gypsy messenger arrives with a sealed letter from the Burgomaster of Barovia pleading for help for his dying daughter, the party marches five hours through the Svalich woods, and halfway through the forest they find a dead villager holding a second letter that reveals the first as a forgery. The first letter drew the party in under false pretences. The real letter, arriving too late to act on, asks them not to come. By the time they have the information to decide, the gates have closed behind them.

Ravenloft I6 Playability Guide, Part I

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:21:30 +0000

Editorial note. This guide works from I6 itself. Where it reaches beyond the module, it says so. The itinerant clan the module calls "gypsies" is named Rhenari throughout, following the convention set out in Section 2. Direct quotations from the module retain the original wording. The printed "First Counsellor to Baron von Zarovich" on Crypt 25 is treated throughout as a typesetting error for "First Counsellor to King Barov"; Barov is Strahd's father, and the printed "Baron" is not a rank but a corruption of the name.