Barovia Village

Ambient Audio

Rainy Barovia Village with weeping lady by Sword Coast Audio

Navigating the Streets

When the PCs exit Death House (or first arrive in Barovia from the Svalich Road, if you skipped DH), have a raven perch atop one of the houses flanking the street. This is Muriel, the wereraven, in animal form. She attempts to lead them to the Blood of the Vine tavern. ([1])

Make sure that you mention Mad Mary's sobs as soon as the players pass the boundary of town. They'll be naturally intrigued by this, and will want to follow up. ([2])

I consider the Dream Pastry event absolutely essential to building the depression of native Barovians in the players' minds, and for introducing them to a villain that they're nowhere near ready to combat (yet). I'd recommend placing Morgantha and her pastry cart either on the way from Death House to Blood of the Vine tavern; on the way from the tavern to the burgomaster's mansion; or on the way from the mansion to the church (and vice-versa). ([3])

Don't rely on your players to go exploring around Barovia themselves in order to trigger the Dream Pastry event; once they find the sanctuary of the tavern or the mansion, they're unlikely to leave unless Ismark or Ireena prompts them to go elsewhere. I personally described Morgantha as "glancing over her shoulder, as if taking caution toward anyone potentially following her," and slipping away into an alley street if pursued or addressed. If you place her immediately after Death House, it's almost guaranteed that the PCs will take interest - she's the first living person they've seen in Barovia, after all. ([4])

Once a player gets close enough to talk in person, though, she turns on the Southern Grandma Charm to present herself as a defenseless peddler who only wishes to sell some delicious pies... ([5])

Make sure to read up on the Night Hag statblock and lore before running the event, by the way. As /u/paintraina points out, the hags can really drive a narrative, especially at this early point in the game. ([6])

Roadside Encounters

If your players do go roaming around Barovia, or take their sweet time getting to the Blood of the Vine tavern, feel free to throw in one of these two encounters along the way: ([7])

A child with a dead pet (cat or dog) runs up to them. Unlike many other Barovians they have a soul, and are dressed in bright red clothes. They ask the PCs to heal their pet, believing them to only be sleeping. Bonus points if you've got a cleric or paladin in the party. ([8])

Two men are fighting in the street over a small paper bag. The bag contains a pair of dream pastries that one of them, Braden, just purchased from Morgantha that morning. The other man, Javaris, is going through a horrific withdrawal from a lack of the pastries, and will kill Braden if it means getting his hands on another fix. Both men are heavily addicted to the pastries, and will only relent if forcibly separated. ([9])

Mad Mary's House

This townhouse isn't really described in the module, so I thought I'd expand upon it to provide more of a narrative environment for the players. ([10])

The first floor contains a small kitchen with a broken glass on the floor and a rotted meal for two set on a table covered with a dirty blue tablecloth. Mary had poured herself a glass of wine to steady her nerves after realizing Gertruda's disappearance, and dropped it on the floor in anguish. A small sitting area contains a fireplace, two comfortable armchairs, and a dirty rug. Stairs lead up from here to the second floor. ([11])

The second floor contains a bathroom with an unemptied chamber pot and a bowl of dirty washwater. Mary is in her own bedroom, which holds a writing desk and a bed. Gertruda’s door is slightly ajar, and a tray holding a broken tea kettle and cup has shattered on the floor before it. Mary was bringing Gertrada tea when she found her daughter missing, and dropped it in her horror. ([12])

Gertruda's room holds a clumsily handwoven dress, a shelf holding fairytales and a hairbrush, a rug with a chewed-up bone, and an open window. Strahd stole Gertruda through the window one week ago. ([13])

When the party enters Gertruda's room, the Death House dog (see my post on running Death House) jumps up onto the bed and curls up beside the pillow, whining. He was raised by Gertruda as a puppy, and fled through a hole in the walls after Mary neglected to feed him, eventually wandering into Death House when tempted by the scent of food. ([14])

Blood of the Vine Tavern

The barkeep is an excellent opportunity to introduce the idea of the Soulless to the PCs. I described his motions and voice as emotionless, even robotic, and my players were thoroughly creeped out by his manner and drab clothes. As they made their way through town, they very quickly drew a mental line between the life-infused characters of Ismark, Ireena, and the Vistani, and the Soulless Barovians. ([15])

They likely won't understand why many of the people in this land are so dour and depressed; while you can have Ismark or Ireena share the (correct) superstition about Barovian souls, I preferred to leave it a mystery. They'll eventually find out from the midwife in Krezk, or might never discover the truth at all. My players fixated on the dream pastries as a potential cause for this depression, but aren't quite sure that they're right. ([16])

The Burgomaster's Mansion

To draw immediate attention to Ireena, and to hint even more heavily at Strahd's vampiric nature, I gave Ireena a scarf that she wears to conceal the marks of Strahd's predations. I also added a trinket inside of the mansion to add a little atmosphere and history to a fairly low-detail area. Here, the PCs found a child's drawing of a "man with dark, shaggy hair and a demonic left arm coated with jagged scales" - Izek. Ireena drew pictures of the "monster man" as a child, but forgot this piece long ago, and doesn't recall what drew her to make it. ([17])

There's a high probability that your PCs will arrive at the mansion thoroughly exhausted from their trials in Death House. If that's the case, have Ismark offer them the opportunity for a long rest overnight, or through the afternoon and evening if you want them to have the chance to see the March of the Dead. ([18])

Doru and Donavich

I quite liked the idea of a previous poster that, if Doru is killed, Donavich becomes withdrawn and inconsolable; when the PCs leave, the belltower rings a single time. If the party returns, they find that Donavich has hung himself from the bell's rope. ([19])

My players pretty much instantly viewed Doru as a Monster To Be Defeated, which is pretty much the way he comes off if you run his introduction by the book. Still, a good amount of the text seems to imply that the PCs should have a fair chance to gain the information that Doru knows about Strahd and the Mad Mage. If that's the case, you can make him more sympathetic and less monstrous by playing up his desperation and having him pleading for "just a little blood." ([20])

Church Graveyard

The March of the Dead is a fascinating encounter that really sets up the Herculean/Sisyphean task that the PCs have ahead of them (i.e., defeating Strahd). My players loved it, so make sure they get to the graveyard in time for the event! I took the advice of another DM to have Ireena coyly suggest that something "interesting" happens in the graveyard at midnight to get them there. ([21])

Strahd Encounter

Unlike many other DMs, this is where I chose to place my party's first Strahd encounter. By now, his reputation has been buffed by Ismark, Ireena, and Donavich, and the players are reaching the point where their imaginations are running wild. What better time to have Strahd confront Ireena - and her new accomplices - than the burial of her late father? ([22])

(Note: This encounter is pretty much wholesale stolen from here.)

In the minutes just before dawn, fog rolls in. The sound of wings flapping fills the air. A massive swarm of bats bursts out of the fog and flies into, past, and through the party. The swam scatters. ([23])

The group hears growls from the darkness. Snarling wolves creep out from the mist and surround the adventurers. Ireena draws a dagger and Ismark draws his longsword and shortsword. ([24])

A figure appears on the roof of the mausoleum - Strahd. He gives Ireena ("Tatyana") his condolences on her father's passing, even complimenting him. If you want to make things a little more cinematic, you can have Ireena challenge him. Otherwise, you can have Strahd ask her to introduce the party to him. You may want to have Ismark tell the party before this that Strahd will hold power over them if he finds out their names (false). The PCs will likely refuse to hand that information over, allowing Strahd to charm it out of them in a future encounter. ([25])

Regardless of how the PCs respond, Strahd introduces himself and charms Ireena into approaching him. If you want to go full movie-style, you can use the following description text:

Strahd holds out a hand toward Ireena. "Tatyana, my love. You have paid your respects to your father. Let these kine put his flesh under the earth. Come to me, my darling."

Ireena hugs her dagger closer to her chest. "Never."

Strahd eyes her for a moment, then holds up a finger. He crooks it, lazily. The mists swirl around his feet, and you can see his red eyes flare in the darkness. "I do not recall asking. Come, Tatyana." ([26])

Ireena jerks, then begins to approach him, dropping her dagger, a mix of fear and yearning etched on her face.

If none of the PCs try to stop her, Ismark will hold her back. At this point, Strahd will direct his wolves to attack.

This should be a difficult encounter, especially because it's likely that the PCs are enjoying the results of a long rest now. I used 8 wolves for 4 PCs, but don't forget that Ismark is a CR 2 Veteran. Don't be afraid to use Ismark to his full potential (my players now love keeping him around), but do remember that his first priority is to Ireena, rather than his own safety. If he goes down, let the wolves drag his body away, unconscious/presumably dead, for use as a vampire spawn later. ([27])

If Ireena reaches Strahd's perch, he swoops down and flies off with her into the night. I had her move at a slow rate of 10 ft./turn, visibly jerking as her unconscious mind struggled to keep her back. This provides a nice time limit for the encounter, and tells the players that losing combats can have serious consequences. If Ireena is stopped, however, in the aftermath of the fight, she collapses to her knees, stabbing a dead wolf over and over in powerless frustration. ([28])