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Message: <blockquote data-quote="evilbob" data-source="post: 6890904" data-attributes="member: 9789">I'm going to start with a big tweak, and throw smaller ones in as well.Anything used to tie the campaign together has to encompass every disparate area.  So far, the best idea that I can find (which isn't mine and I'm sorry to whoever suggested it because I haven't looked you up to cite you) is what I'll call the "Points of Light" campaign idea:  in short, the reason Strahd can't be beaten is because the entire land is completely miserable; the party needs to bring hope, courage, and "light" back to the land - specifically the towns, but doing so will involve nearly everywhere else.  Each point of light they can create weakens Strahd and it weakens his hold on the land (similar to the 3.5 Ravenloft campaign idea).  Once he's weak enough, the land itself will help you fight back - and you'll know the time to take down the tyrant is nigh.BaroviaI'd suggest starting with throwing a lot of narrative weight onto Ismark, who is sadly already overloaded - but also one of the first NPCs you are nearly certain to meet who is both friendly and eventually indebted to you.  Perhaps after the party has helped take his father to the church (but ideally before the funeral), he can start to open up about a theory he's had:  Strahd and various other agents of evil have kept the land in darkness and misery and maybe the secret to stopping him is to make people happy again.  He can mention the three different towns of Barovia, their burgomasters, and ask the party to seek each one to find out what can make that town happy again.  This:- gives even more reason to find the burgomaster in Vallaki and get inundated into that plot line, as well as making the "festivals" even more ironic- gives a reason to get into KrezkOnce the characters get the priest to bury the dead burgomaster, that morning a ray of pure sunlight falls on the grave site.  If the characters have killed Doru and he is getting buried as well (whatever is left of him), a second ray of sunlight falls on his grave as well.  It only lasts a few seconds, but Ismark and the priest both remark on it.  The priest in particular wonders if it's a sign from the Morning Lord.  These each count as a Point of Light.Defeating Death House was another (maybe it was barely noticeable).When the characters permanently stop the hags from selling dream cakes (however this happens), they see a large amount of sunlight break through the clouds and cover the town for a few moments.  This is another.  Each one might get a little longer for that location.When Mad Mary's daughter is returned, sunlight falls on her house for a few moments, and Mad Mary regains her sanity when she looks into the light.  This is another.When the children kidnapped by werewolves are returned to their homes, maybe some come back to Barovia and that causes another.When the winery is restored and wine is shipped back to the Blood on the Vine, maybe that's another.After some number of Points of Light are achieved in this area - maybe 4, maybe more or less depending on what you see fit - the town of Barovia changes.  People are a little friendlier and brighter.  Not that you would ever use the rats or zombies but you could say the houses no longer have a chance to be filled with rats or zombies.  It also means that for a few minutes a day, maybe at noon, true sunlight shines down on the town.  There's definitely a visual effect.  Maybe the church has started to be repaired and more people talk about the Morning Lord.For a smaller tweak, I'd have Ismark also comment on recent kidnappings.  Be sure to mention "over a dozen" and "children."  The former is important to make sure the party understand that it's not just the hags, and the latter is just factual (for the Fewer Dead Children variant:  don't mention children).- This is the first hook into the Werewolf Den and if the characters already have the adventure hook, it should blend nicely.WindmillThe hags should be keen to negotiate, and their favorite bargaining chip is information.  They can be bribed to let the children free (this is more of a party-saving tactic) with any sort of arcane magical item or trinket; if the party has a cool trinket - many of the ones in Death House fit the bill nicely, and they might find one in a random encounter - they can get Morgantha to spill secrets in trade for it.  She'll also trade for unwanted spellbooks or arcane items from the castle (or other witch items).  This area will need to be "cleansed" eventually, but in the short term hopefully the party can use it as a great source of info.  Specifically, they'll trade for these secrets:- Strahd has undead enemies in Barovia, namely the fallen knights of the Order of the Silver Dragon. These revenants cart be found in a ruined mansion west of Vallaki (low value)- there are seven witches who live in the castle and serve Strahd; they probably know some of the castle's secrets (high value)- Morgantha actually made a gift to the ruling witch when she came to this land; a terrible and ancient creature named Baba Lysaga, who still lives near the ruins of Berez (medium value) (the gift was of information about the castle and Strahd; Baba Lysaga wanted it badly and Morgantha used her hag eye to get it - that's why it's still in the castle; this is also medium value information)- Baba Lysaga is extremely interested in the Winery for some reason (medium value)- Baba Lysaga wants to destroy the Winery and uses enchanted scarecrows to do it (high value)- druids also live near standing stones at Yester Hill and perform rituals in the service of Baba Lysaga (medium value)- Baba Lysaga must bathe in the blood of animals at the new moon or she will crumble to dust (extremely high value)VallakiHere you can expand the roles of the Blue Water Inn family.  If Ismark is with the party he can introduce the idea, but Urwin should mention or otherwise reinforce the Points of Light theme.  He should specifically tell the party about how wine is important and brings joy to the people of Barovia, and give more urgency and reason for them to pursue the Winery quest (it's worth several points of light).  He can also specifically bring up Argynvostholt and just straight-up give them a big chunk of the background for that place, including that an ancient enemy of Strahd still roams the area and might be of some assistance somehow.  You can also hang Berez on Urwin:  he can give a lot of the background about the former burgomaster and Strahd destroying the town, and he can mention that the ghost of the former burgomaster still haunts the area and that perhaps they could put him to rest.  He should also warn them about a powerful witch that also roams the area.If you keep the Amber Temple, Urwin can mention an ancient place of great evil in the mountains as well, beyond Tsolenka Pass.  He suspects the dark elves who live just outside of town know much more about that place.  This gets one name into their vocabulary and pushes them to talk to the one person in the game that can tell them more.Rictavio should out and out mention a nearby tower (Van Richten's Tower - which obviously he won't use that name) as one of the places he's visited recently, and hint that there might be treasure there.  This place needs all the hooks it can get.For another easy tweak regarding the Werewolf Den, Urwin can also talk about recent kidnappings of children from Vallaki on the road, but that he's not heard if anyone from Krezk has been kidnapped.  You can also have Luvash mention drunkenly that his daughter "better not have been kidnapped by those werewolves, or there will be hell to pay."  And once the party discovers werewolves are behind the kidnappings, the two wolf hunters (whose names are hard to spell) in the Blue Water Inn can be contacted; they know the way to the werewolves' den, and will show the party - for 20 gold.  (They won't help them fight, though.)  Another option is to have a werewolf encounter outside of any town, and have several attack and the last one surrenders instead of fleeing.  This last werewolf gives up his den and all sorts of other information about the pack in exchange for his life.Overall, there's an argument to be made to drop the Watcher storyline altogether.  It's cool in a "you can't trust anyone!" sort of way, but it's bulky and most importantly redundant.  It's also a second dungeon in a small area that already has one dungeon (the burgomaster's house).  It's easy to cut and you lose nothing related to any other quests or story lines.If you choose to keep it, I'd suggest wrapping it up quickly:  make it obvious after her initial play that she's evil but that she will absolutely take over if the current burgomaster is taken out or weakened (she'll have him killed if Izek is dead) and make sure the party wraps up both ends if they start to go down the "maybe someone else should be in charge" path.  Try to avoid anything that destroys the current burgomaster's house completely because that wedding dress is ridiculously important; if they go through that area make sure they find it if at all possible.I'd also deus ex machina Urwin to be the new burgomaster in the likely event that both the current burgomaster and the Watchers are taken out.  He's the only obvious choice and I think making him step into the role (even reluctantly) would make more sense than leave the town without a leader.There are many Points of Light possible in Vallaki, but a huge one would be to get Urwin in charge of the town, and to save the church.  Those two (especially since they are both multi-step quests that are complex) along with restoring the wine should be enough to "brighten" Vallaki:  once this happens, there is no more cult, Izek leaves if he isn't already dead, and the people are more trusting of the party.  Even the Vistani just outside of town get a little brighter if Arabelle is rescued and the town is "brightened."  There may be other ways to get the town saved without some of these; add or subtract as you see fit.KrezkThe important thing here is to get the party to notice and ask about Dmitri's sadness before they leave.  Make the success automatic to notice it (instead of DC 12); get him talking and have him give obvious hints that this is a Point of Light.  They're also very interested in the wine and can give specific directions to get to the Winery, although they'll also offer that they worry something might be wrong.Once admitted to the town, Dmitri and Anna become the new major information NPCs.  They can mention that their walls are high "to keep the werewolves from stealing our children."  (This should be plenty of hints by now to go to the Werewolf Den.)  They can also give all the info you need to hand out about the Abbey and the Abbot to get the party interested in going there to help stop the madness.  It should be the main quest they get in Krezk:  the town is safe from the outside, but it's still so dangerous inside that people are still scared.  Please help us get rid of the madness that has overtaken this once holy place!Purging the Abbot of his madness should be another obvious Point of Light.  Personally I'd favor "cleansing" the whole area as a solution worth pushing but your group might be more creative.  He's worth keeping around for a while because 1) the party can't hope to kill him until they're a higher level and 2) his quest to get the dress so he can Raise Dead on Dmitri's son is one way to get this Point of Light (probably the only way they can get it before the 10 days pass until Raise Dead can no longer be used, since they won't be hitting level 9 anytime soon).  Be sure they can quickly put together the wedding dress hints from Vallaki - have someone mention going to the Vallakovich wedding all those years ago and remembering the dress if necessary.The Abbot is also another great source of information.  He should directly mention Argynvostholt as a place of evil, and if you're using the Amber Temple he can talk more about that as well, filling in a few gaps that were left by Kasimir.  He actually knows a lot about both places since he investigated them to find the source of the evil in this land - before coming to the false conclusion it was just Strahd, and that Strahd is the single source of evil and stopping him is all that matters.  (You can do a lot more with this character as well and another thread has some great suggestions.)  However, he will ask the party to cleanse both of those places of evil, and give them details about how to get there.  Getting more quests to go to these places can't hurt.  He can also mention that he's seen strange lights coming from an abandoned Tower just southeast of here, and the party should probably check it out.If you can get the party to the Abbey, go ahead and introduce Ezmerelda as well if they haven't found her yet.  This is one of the few places it has made sense for them to go that she can be found.Getting Ireena back with Sergei can be a Point of Light, but I wouldn't make it required.  Dmitri and Anna can remark on how a soul has escaped the land, however, and how they have hope because of it.  Don't punish the characters because Strahd destroys the gazebo if this happens as well.Purging the Abbot of madness (probably with violence), restoring the wine, and raising the son should be enough to "brighten" Krezk.  Add/subtract other goals as necessary.  Once this is done, the pond regains more power and works on each person 1/week instead of once ever, the people are hardier and Dmitri discusses opening up trade with the other two towns (they have lots of food here but little in the way of horses and plows; also they could use more cloth and other sundries).TowerHave the werewolves attack anyway once Ezmerelda is found (or if they already have her) and the tower is explored; it's a pretty defensible position and the best chance the party has of taking the leader out.  Try to have one of the werewolves go unconscious or get captured or otherwise surrender - he'll give up the den's location and other secrets about the werewolves' internal politics in exchange for his life.  If they kill the leader this should be particularly easy to do; the others just give up as the new alpha has emerged (whoever landed the final blow on the leader!).If you're using it, put information in the tower about the Amber Temple.  The lich that lived here is now living there, so provide some links.  Maybe he kept a diary (soooo overused in this campaign but anyway) of his experiments and plans up there.WineryDon't be afraid to have one of the druids surrender.  He or she can then give up information about the other druids, their planned ritual at Yester Hill, their deal with Baba Lysaga, and more in exchange for their life.As suggested in the outline above, just give the party the info on who has stolen the gems.  Don't make it hard.  And make it important that they get them back:  they need them for the wine which will bring happiness to many people.Baba LysagaShe should know information about the hags at the Windmill, the witches in the castle, the Amber Temple, Argynvostholt, the druids, the Winery, and the Tower.  They likely won't get her to just talk about all that, though (but if they can - awesome!  She's super hard so have her spill her guts if they manage to capture her).  But maybe she has a diary in her hut that at least mentions all these things, or if they spy on her maybe she mutters to herself about these places in relation to Strahd.  She's technically the second-most informed creature in the valley next to Strahd - don't let her knowledge die too quickly.Werewolf DenIf they manage to rescue the children and still haven't gotten to the Tower, some of the kids who are from Vallaki mention getting kidnapped while playing near the tower near their town.  The werewolves don't really have a "happy" ending other than killing all of them; getting them to stop kidnappings is ok but it's not really a point of light for them (it is for Vallaki and Barovia though).Points of Light Wrap-upOnce the party has restored light to all three towns, the land is with them again.  Every evil creature in the castle gains a -1 penalty to AC and saves while this is true, and vampires and vampire spawn all throughout the land take a -2 to each.  Additionally, true sunlight now comes through the clouds for most of the day; any vampires would be extremely restricted and all undead moving outside during the day are all slower and take disadvantage on most rolls.  Once the characters restore Argynvostholt, they get the boon it grants.  Further boons can be granted at your discretion but just restoring the three towns is pretty huge and covers nearly every area.  You could grant something else for cleansing the Amber Temple - maybe destroying all the vestiges is required?  It's certainly worth something!  Plus, voluntarily giving up all the potential (evil) boons should reward the party with some sort of good boon.Once the 3 Points of Light are restored, Strahd should send them the invitation to the castle and have the carriage waiting:  don't use it anywhere else; save it for now.  Make it official and obvious:  NOW is the time to go back to the castle.Hopefully some of these story ties will be useful.  Even if you don't use the Points of Light, hopefully some of these hooks will still help tie places together, especially to get to the werewolves, the tower, the temple, and others.</blockquote>

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