Most D&D players are just that—players. Campaign books are for DMs. So, how well can I review a book without spoiling it?
I don't know, so let's start with the one that has a spoiler on the cover.
Strahd von Zarovich is one of D&D's legendary villains, first appearing in the Ravenloft module published in 1983. He's by far the most famous vampire in D&D lore, and many players will be at least passingly familiar with the name if they see the title of the book. Even if they're not, the cover is kind of a giveaway that this is the villain and he is definitely a vampire. So, if you're planning to run the campaign, be aware that where everything is going to lead will be fairly obvious from the start, unless you go off-book. (For objectivity purposes, this review necessarily does not go off-book, aside from one small comment later on.)
D&D campaigns are frequently about solving a small mystery that leads to a bigger one, and a bigger one still, until major villains are uncovered and thwarted. Without that element of surprise, the tension in CoS needs another trigger, and this is the core of the DM's job—running Strahd von Zarovich in a way appropriate to the campaign. Different DMs will give Strahd different amounts of screen time, but it should be no secret that he's paying attention to what the party is doing. Or, perhaps more haunting, that he could be paying attention, if he so chose. (Spoiler? Mmm... not too much.)
Of course, as a levels 1-10 module, nobody's walking in and kicking Strahd in the teeth. As befits a vampire's realm, gloomy Barovia is full of undead threats and other monsters, like (REDACTED) and (REDACTED), and just wait until you meet (SUPER REDACTED). In addition, there's nothing, least of all the DM, stopping PCs from going and getting themselves in trouble. Some campaign books are printed with a rough flowchart of how the campaign should progress; CoS is about as much of a sandbox as you can get, allowing players to travel wherever they want, as long as they don't get eaten by whatever they find.
How often do things want to eat them, you ask?
Why, that would be a spoiler.
(Not-really-a-spoiler in the form of a rhetorical question: You think a vampire lord doesn't have vampire underlings?)
The campaign atmosphere is very dark. "Gloomy" is a word that will be used often in most games. People go a little batty under these conditions. As a result, the optional madness rules found in the DMG get put to work here. However—and this is more a fair warning to everyone—there's very little detail apart from the base rules in the DMG. That means that if the characters meet anyone with what's considered "indefinite madness", they won't be able to help until they are, at best, level 9, in a campaign that doesn't expect characters to pass level 10. That is to say, not until near the end of the campaign.
Is that a problem? Not in and of itself. To be blunt, CoS is not a campaign where everything is expected to go perfectly. However, if some players are not likely to appreciate over-the-top depictions of mental illness, having such characters be introduced with no real way to help them may not prove to be much fun. Although DMs are prone to changing any campaign to fit the party or what they want to throw at their players, this is an issue worth bringing up here so groups can discuss it and know where everyone stands with throwing "crazy" NPCs into the mix.
Overall, the campaign is well-made, including the clear intent of making things difficult for characters, NPCs that are incredibly memorable when used to their potential, and locations that thoroughly evoke the hopelessness that the land is supposed to create in people. Barovia is not the best locale for a classic heroic fantasy, so make sure you want to play something else or have a group that will enjoy something else. But if this sounds like the kind of campaign you want to be involved with, it probably is.
Score: Ten vampire bites and two chipped fangs.
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