A Structured Milestone System

for Curse of Strahd

Milestones Made Easy

Introduction: Worried that there is not enough combat XP in Curse of

Strahd? Unsure how to make the milestone system work? What if you
have a large party and want to slow their leveling a bit? Want to
reward exploration? See inside!

A milestone experience system for Curse of Strahd

for both Small and Large parties

(Version 1.0)

by R. Padron

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Milestone Experience
Curse of Strahd suggests DMs adopt a milestone system for leveling and gives some
general suggestions for how to do that. Unfortunately, the suggestions are a bit
vague and may not be granular enough to support enough player agency.

The Basics
Curse of Strahd presents a very basic milestone system whereby once the players
accomplish a major goal, they level. This short-changes players when they do many
good small things or do things that may not be terribly tied to the “major tasks.”

The system outlined in this document assigns points (from .25 to 8) for a variety
of tasks and details what point totals are needed to reach each level. Points are
earned by the group, not individuals.

Points are given out for realizing an event foretold in the Card Reading,
defeating certain Major Enemies, countering Strahd’s Goals, Moving the Plot
Forward, Exploring New Areas and finding certain Magic Items.

Leveling Up
Before getting in to the specific events that yield “Milestone Points,” I want to
outline where the level up points are.
Level Chart
Level Total Points Needed
Start at 3rd Level Small Party Big Party (5+)
4 3 4
5 7 9
6 12 15
7 18 22
8 25 30
9 33 39
10 42 49*
11 52* -
*Not a reachable number without defeating Strahd

So, looking at the chart above, a few things are apparent. Unlike the standard
milestone system, this one allows smaller groups to level faster and has a higher
soft cap for them. Another thing that should be obvious is that you level faster
earlier and slower later. Both of these are very important. If you don’t get low
level parties some levels early on, a sandbox like this will chew them apart.
Similarly, if you level a large party too quickly, they will make short work of
all challenges.

Point Totals

The system presented here works on a tightly controlled point economy. This is to balance
the amount of points yielded by more combat centered tasks vs other tasks. You may wish to
be mindful of this when making modifications for your use.

Please note that if you do not use the Amber Temple or, to a lesser extent, the Werewolf
Den, then you will want to modify other point awards so that the overall point pool remains
the same.

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The Points
Below are a series of tables that outline how milestone points may be awarded.
The Card Reading
Events Points
Acquiring the Tome of Strahd 2
Acquiring the Sunsword 2
Acquiring the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind 2
Getting the special NPC to join 2

Notes:

If no NPC will join the party, you might want to just give them the two points.

The Major Enemies

Events Points
Destroy the Heart of Sorrow, Ch 4 1
Defeat the Hags at the Old Bonegrinder, Ch 6 1
Defeat the Abbot, Ch 8 1
Defeat the Roc at Tsolenka Pass, Ch 9 1
Defeat Baba Lysaga, Ch 10 1
Defeat Kiril the Werewolf, Ch 15 (may be in Ch 11) 1
Destroy the Gulthias Tree or Defeat the Tree Blight, Ch 14 1
Defeat Strahd 8

Notes:

There are many other enemies you could include but these felt the most appropriate to me.
Some may add NPCs like Izek Strazni or Doru but they felt too easy to be added to this
list. Remember, your PCs may opt not to kill all these NPCs. The term used above is
“defeat.” If you convince the Abbot of the evil of his ways or you get Kiril demoted or
something, then, they have been defeated.

Strahd’s Goals
Events Points
Making sure Ireena is not taken by Strahd (any solution) 2
- Extra point award (total 3) if reunited with Sergie’s Ghost 1
Making sure Van Richten is out of Strahd’s reach (any solution) 1
- Extra point award (total 2) if reunited with Ezmerelda 1

Notes:

The above is pretty self-explanatory. The key here is for the party to find solutions make
attaining his goals impossible. This could include things like convincing Van Richten
and/or Ireena to hide out in Van Ricten’s or the Mad Mage’s towers, to convince the Abbot
of his evil ways and get him to protect them, etc.

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Moving the Plot Forward
Events Points
Burying Kolyan or other means of getting Ireena to leave, Ch 3 1
Resolving the Doru issue, Ch 3 1
Get the reading by Madam Eva, Ch 2, pg 37 1
Save Arabelle on Lake Zarovich, Ch 2, pg 38 .25
Restore the sanity of the Mad Mage of Mount Baratok, Ch 2, pg 39 1
Find Gertruda, Ch 4 .25
Rescue Gertruda, Ch 4 .25
Get Pidlwick II’s aid, Ch 4 .25
Bring Pidlwick II to Blinsky, Ch 5 .25
Deal with Lady Wachter, Ch 5 1
Deal with the corrupt Burgomaster, Ch 5 1
Save the Vallaki Church, Ch 5 1
Light the beacon at Argynvostholt, Ch 7 (and 4) 1
Raise Krezk Burgomaster's son or get Abbot’s wedding dress, Ch 8 (and 5) 1
Put Ulrich’s soul to rest, Ch 10 .25
Enter Van Richten's Tower or defeat the Blue Dragon, Ch 11 1
Read Van Richten’s journal (or find out of his backstory), Ch 11 .25
Clearing the Wizard of Wines, Ch 12 1
Return the least Wizard of Wines gem (Yester Hill), Ch 14 (and 12) .5
Return the average Wizard of Wines gem (Baba Lysaga), Ch 10 (and 12) .5
Return the best Wizard of Wines gem, Ch 12 (and ?) .5
Help the Lich or Vilnius at the Amber Temple, Ch 13 1
Ensure the Werewolves oppose Strahd, Ch 15 (and 4) 1
Strahd Encounter 1 Bonus .5
Strahd Encounter 2 Bonus .5
Strahd Encounter 3 Bonus .5

Notes:

Events could be added to the ones listed above, however, I would reduce the point value of
other events if more are added. Basically, try to keep the overall point pool the same.
For example, I added in the third Wizard of Wines gem. I plan to place it near the overlook
of Castle Ravenloft.
The Strahd Encounter bonus is if you take any of the existing plot points and insert Strahd
into it. The book suggests meeting Strahd a few times before the final encounter.

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Exploring New Areas
Areas Points
Barovia Village .25
Vallaki .25
Castle Ravenloft .25
Old Bonegrinder .25
Argynvostholt .25
Krezk .25
Tsolenka Pass .25
Berez .25
Van Richten’s Tower .25
Wizard of Wines .25
Amber Temple .25
Yester Hill .25
Werewolf Den .25

Notes:

This is an easy way to allow the group to get a few Milestone points and promote some
exploration. Since leveling requirements ramp up, giving these fractional points matter
quite a bit early on since the group can get a full point pretty quickly.

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Magic Items
Items Points
Acquire the Icon of Ravenloft, Ch 4, pg 57 .25
Acquire the Mace of Terror, Ch 4, pg 57 .25
Acquire the Manual of Bodily Health, Ch 4, pg 63 .25
Acquire the Instrument of the Bards (Doss Lute), Ch 4, pg 66 .25
Acquire the +2 Shield (Order of the Dragon), Ch 4, pg 68 .25
Acquire the Rod of the Pactkeeper +1, Ch 4, pg 68 .25
Acquire the Helm of Brilliance, Ch 4, pg 68 .25
Acquire the Lost Sword, Ch 4, pg 81 .25
Acquire Saint Markovia'a Thighbone, Ch 4, pg 86 .25
Acquire the Deck of Illusions, Ch 4, pg 87 .25
Acquire the Staff of Power, Ch 4, pg 89 .25
Acquire the Luck Blade, Ch 4, pg 91 .25
Acquire Sergei's +2 Plate, Ch 4, pg 93 .25
Acquire the +2 Greatsword, Ch 7, pg 138 .25
Acquire the Ring of Regeneration, Ch 8, pg 148 .25
Acquire the Stone of Good Luck, Ch 10, pg 163 .25
Acquire the Pipes of Haunting, Ch 10, pg 163 .25
Acquire or Destroy the Gulthias Staff, Ch 12, p174 .25
Acquire the Wand of Secrets, Ch 13, pg 183 .25
Acquire the Robe of Useful Items, Ch 13, pg 184 .25
Acquire the Shield Guardian Amulet, Ch 13, pg 186 .25
Acquire the Staff of Frost, Ch 13, pg 187 .25
Acquire the Tome of Understanding, Ch 13, pg 187 .25
Acquire the Magical Ewer, Ch 13, pg 188 .25
Acquire the Magic Battle Axe, Ch 14, pg 198 .25
Acquire the Blood Spear of Kavan, Ch 14, pg 200 .25

Notes:

Unlike the standard milestone system, I advocate awarding fractional points for finding
magic items (.25). This promotes exploration of combat heavy places like the Amber Temple
and for the Ravenloft Crypts. I do not give points for magic items found on plot NPCs
unless they could be obtained peacefully.

I do not list points for finding certain items (such as spellbooks). If you wish to add
more items in, I would make sure to take those points from somewhere else to keep the
overall point pool the same.

One thing to note is that the adventure does not have a single magical ranged weapon. You
may consider adding one in. I will be changing the Luck Blade to a “Luck Shortbow” with the
same properties.

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