Feast of St. Andral

It may be only me, but I found the Feast of St. Andral questline to be flat and uninteresting at best, and plain-out lame at worst. If you were to follow the book by-the-letter, you'd expect the average party to: (reddit)

(1) Bring Ireena to the Church.

(2) Discover that the bones are missing, and that the Hallow spell is broken.

(3) Take Father Lucian's advice and interrogate/bribe/intimidate Millivoj.

(4) Follow the trail to Henrik's coffin shop.

(5) Break in,

(6) Roll >10 on literally any social check to get the info out of the old man.

(7) Walk up a single flight of stairs, turn right, and nab some sweet bonemeal.

(8) Skedaddle back to the church.

From my research and my own experience, that is exactly what the average party (including mine) does/did. (reddit)

That's it, pretty much. There's no real mystery; no indication of any deeper plot. Why are the vampires here? What's the endgame of this plot? The DM knows, but unless the PCs ignore/fail this quest, or Strahd spells it out for them, this whole conflict is pretty much a non-sequitur. Furthermore, the plot amounts to basically a point-and-click adventure; the PCs walk through the single-lane dialogue tree, follow the cookie crumbs, and get the McGuffin. Yay? (reddit)

No yay. 100% lame. Let's spice this up.

The Mystery of the Missing Bones

In my opinion, the key issue with this subplot is that there's no conflict for the PCs to develop. Father Lucian already has the hint. Millivoj is a freebie (what's he going to do? Not tell them?), and van der Voort is basically a blow-up doll. But this questline already has all of the elements to make a great mystery - and, moreover, so does Vallaki. (reddit)

As I'll mention in one of my later posts, many aspects of Vallaki's environment and politics go unused. Given the short amount of time your party will likely spend in and around the town before something explodes, you want to try and tie as much together as possible. Therefore, I propose the following: Remove Father Lucian's hunch, and leave the poor priest clueless as to the identity of the true bone-thief. (reddit)

Theft on the Vallaki Express

Now there's something for our players to do - a mystery for some intrepid sleuths to solve! But every good mystery needs some clues - and some suspects. What shall they be? (reddit)

(1) Short black animal hairs - perhaps left by someone who spends a significant amount of time around a pet. If the PCs ask around, they might discover that the Baron owns two black mastiffs, and that Lady Fiona has a bit of a reputation as a crazy cat lady. Of course, the Baron's robes are always immaculate, and the Wachter cats are all as white as fresh snow... (reddit)

(2) A bent piece of metal - a fishhook, used to pick the crypt's lock! Old Bluto hasn't been seen since the bones disappeared, after all, and he was always muttering to himself. He could be hiding the bones in his old fishing shack by Lake Zarovich. Then again, everyone knows that the Wachter brothers used to go fishing with their father before the old man died. Of course, the Wachter's fishhook collection is far more ornate than this little thing, and Bluto has his own problems... (reddit)

(3) A piece of old parchment with the words "BEFORE THE FEAST" scrawled on it. Did Lady Wachter write it? Did the Baron mean to leave an advertisement for his upcoming event? But the handwriting doesn't match the Baron's imposing, blocky letters or Fiona's spidery script... (reddit)

(4) Bits of burlap twine caught on the floorboards' edges. The sacks used by hunters and fishermen often leave this scratchy residue behind. But one of Bluto's crayfish sacks has been missing since the last Festival... (reddit)

The real culprit, of course, is Millivoj. Millivoj, who is chasing after the parish's bad-tempered black cat, Mister, when the PCs arrive at the church's doorstep. Millivoj, who used to spend mornings helping Bluto fish before his parish duties, taking part of the catch home to feed his siblings. Millivoj, who shy, studious Yeska has been teaching to write using the church's small store of old parchment. (reddit)

Intrigue and Red Herrings

However, Father Lucian would never suspect him in a thousand years. Instead, he fears that Izek, jealous of Lydia's closeness with the Baron, seeks to hurt or embarrass his flock before the next Festival. That demonic arm must whisper dark musings into his mind. Or perhaps it was Lady Wachter, who would adore an opportunity to injure the Baron's beloved wife, even if only by proxy. Before he disappeared, Bluto was a regular congregant, but he never seemed amenable to the Father's kindly ministering, and seemed an empty husk when Lucian saw him last (though the Father would never suspect him on his own). (reddit)

What do the PCs do next? Do they sneak into the burgomaster's mansion? Take tea at Wachterhaus and probe for guilt? Go after Bluto - and find Arabelle instead? This adds an additional layer of intrigue and exploration to the invitable Dinner at Wachterhaus and probable Tea With the Baron events. And I can't be the only one who's been dying to give their PCs a reason to explore those wonderfully underexplored mansions, right? (reddit)

And don't forget the real clues you can drop, either. Yeska is the only person who Lucian told about the bones (though Vallakovich and Wachter almost certainly know as well). But he won't rat Millivoj out. Instead, maybe he saw Izek glowering at the church a week ago, or hates the Wachter brothers for bullying him and Father Lucian. Maybe the PCs overhear the two boys arguing after escaping a dinner with Lady Fiona, or learn from Lydia Petrovich that Millivoj always hung around Bluto before the fishing industry dried up. Always remember that for every red herring the PCs purse, you ought to have a pair of follow-up clues available once they realize they've been holding bait. (reddit)

Additional relevant "clues" from Vallaki Lore:

A stranger with pointed ears is staying at the Blue Water Inn. He came to Vallaki a months ago with a carnival wagon. (reddit)

Purple flashes of light have been seen emanating from the attic of the burgomaster's mansion. (reddit)

There's a Vistani camp in the woods. The Vistani there aren't very friendly, and are believed by the burgomaster to be in league with Strahd. (reddit)

Race to the Finish

The mystery shouldn't end after Millivoj's confession, of course. All good pulp novels need a good climax. When the PCs find and corner van der Voort, he confesses that it's already too late: the vampire spawn are resting upstairs, and plan to take the church that evening - the night of the Feast of Saint Andral. Without the bones there to protect it, the church is defenseless. Even if the PCs do restore the bones, the spawn are restless and blood-starved, and may rampage through the town unless sated or vanquished. (reddit)

Hours remain until the Feast of Saint Andral becomes Count Strahd's Blood-Feast. Can the PCs solve the mystery and stop the slaughter in time? (reddit)