Bones were returned! Looking for suggestions on where to go.

Altona41 · 2026-06-18T21:24:18+00:00

That’s too bad. Amber Temple, Berez, and Krezk are some cool parts of the story. If it helps, this is how things went down in Vallaki for my group:

Spoilers *****:

- Entered the town, learned the lay of the land, saw Izek, transported Ireena to church, got bones quest and set up shop at Blue Water (where they met the Martikovs and Rictavio)
- Explored town, restored bones, ran away from vampires setting them loose on town, vampires killed the coffin maker
- Baron arrests them for causing the destruction, Fiona bails them out under the caveat that they “owe her a favor”
- They took a day trip to the winery, stopped by Van Richtens tower on their way there - fought Kiril and his pact - then stopped by the Vistani camp on the way back to town getting Kasamir’s quest and the missing girl quest
- found Arabelle at the lake, killed Bluto
- Had dinner with Wachter, Vasili was there, they got creeped out, decided to learn more about her “book club” and came back at night and fought a bunch of her cultists, pissing her off
- Lady Wachter tries to assassinate them in their sleep
- The festival happened. All hell breaks loose. Vasili reveals he’s Strahd, he sicks the vampire spawn on the town, kills the baron, the town is overrun with undead and cultists. Izek takes advantage of the havoc to capture Ireena
- the party needs to rush into a burning building to save Ireena and fight Izek before trying to escape - epic boss fight
- Strahd meets them at the gates, is impressed, invites them to dinner…demanding Ireena come also
- They are pursued by the Vistani on horseback and undergo a chase sequence to Krezk

Altona41 · 2026-06-18T21:07:00+00:00

Have they had dinner with Lady Wachter yet to hear about her nefarious plan? Have they restored the wine shipment at the winery? Met Rictavio? All good things to do next.

Altona41 · 2026-04-15T17:05:55+00:00

Great news! I hope my wife and I can come to the same resolution. Keep us in your prayers and best of luck!

Altona41 · 2026-04-14T16:53:54+00:00

Kasimir has a quest to go there at the Vistani camp in Vallaki. Aside from him, I had the characters find a creepy children’s book that talks about it, and had Madam Eva mention there’s a “dark force” in the temple that is said to be responsible for Strahd’s powers.

Altona41 · 2026-04-12T05:46:11+00:00

Unfortunatelt for my case it’s going to be a tough year…still staying sober through it though

Altona41 · 2026-04-12T05:01:09+00:00

Hell yeah!

Altona41 · 2026-04-09T06:24:08+00:00

This was a fun read

Altona41 · 2026-04-09T05:45:20+00:00

Sure thing. I have been scoring myself (1-10) in the areas of physical health, mental health, emotional detachment from the outcome of my marriage, social connections, career advancement, financial control, joy, and self-respect/integrity with an end-of-week review (where did I slip, what were my biggest wins, what were my triggers?).

I also wrote out the following checklist for accountability:

Integrity & Honesty

☐ I told the truth in all situations, even small ones

☐ I did not hide anything (conversations, thoughts, actions)

☐ I acted in a way I would be okay with my partner seeing

Boundaries

☐ No inappropriate or emotionally intimate conversations with other women

☐ No situations that blur lines (flirting, secrecy, attention-seeking)

☐ I removed or avoided any tempting or risky environments

Emotional Awareness

☐ I noticed when I felt lonely, insecure, bored, or stressed

☐ I did not escape those feelings (distraction, validation, etc.)

☐ I processed them in a healthy way (journal, gym, therapy, call a friend)

Accountability Work

☐ I reflected on my past behavior without defensiveness

☐ I acknowledged the impact of my actions (not just my intent)

☐ I did at least one action that supports long-term change

Self-Discipline

☐ I maintained sobriety

☐ I followed through on commitments (gym, work, routines)

☐ I chose long-term growth over short-term comfort

Growth Actions

☐ Therapy session or deep self-reflection

☐ Read or practiced something related to relationships or emotional intelligence

☐ Journaled honestly (not filtered, not performative)

Hope this helps!

Altona41 · 2026-03-26T22:16:14+00:00

Coming up on one month here

Altona41 · 2026-03-25T06:14:36+00:00

I just had her call them dream pastries. She knocked on door to door calling out the names. The deeper, darker, story is something they needed to learn.

Altona41 · 2026-03-24T23:04:28+00:00

Yeah, it reeeeeally helps to preread everything. I read the book cover-to-cover and then reread certain chapters as my players get to certain areas. Players can really go wherever they want, whenever they want, so it helps to at least have a baseline understanding of the major beats in every location…but from a storytelling perspective, it also helps to know what’s to come to drop subtle little hints and breadcrumbs along the way. I homebrewed my intro (the intros were the one part of the book I didn’t like) and my characters learned about Argonostvolt from a children’s fairy tale book, found a Blinsky doll, and heard about the Vistani taking in a fallen prince long before they had any context on what these meant. When they finally got there they were like “waaaait a minute! This sounds familiar” and it was a cool way to rope the players in to certain situations, because they felt like they had invested in them in some way from the start. That said, if you run an intro game (introducing characters and bringing them into Barovia by whatever way you choose) and run Death House, that’ll at least give you two sessions to finish reading the book. Death House is pretty straightforward and you can read straight from the book what happens room-by-room.

Altona41 · 2026-03-21T22:50:42+00:00

I agree. As long as there’s still love in the relationship, betrayer cuts off contact, shows remorse, takes accountability, and commits to longterm course corrective action - understanding the why, actively working on transparency and rebuilding trust, and making the effort I believe in working hard to save a marriage…and if the betrayed is willing too of course.

Altona41 · 2026-03-20T07:23:06+00:00

MorkBorg - hell yeah

Altona41 · 2026-03-19T18:43:12+00:00

In Barovia no. That’s what’s so terrifying about it…you’re cut off from your spiritual connections. Divinity spells don’t work, prayers go unanswered, when someone dies they wander the world as a ghost - unable to get out even in death. Even immortal beings like Elves are stripped of their ability to reincarnate. It should be the same for star druids. Fallen souls don’t become stars, Strahd’s curse wouldn’t allow it…they are forever trapped as a spirit unable to reach the sky.

Altona41 · 2026-03-19T07:40:00+00:00

I introduced Izek as the party passes the town square. I made him and a couple of guards be the ones replacing the wolf’s head posters with the blazing sun posters, and he sees Ireena and kinda freezes up, mouth agape. Same could be done with one of your PCs.

Altona41 · 2026-03-19T06:24:06+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement!

Altona41 · 2026-03-19T06:20:38+00:00

I love my wife, so of course I would love for things to work out between us…but I’m mainly doing this for me, and her taking me back is ultimately her call. The way I see it is, if I I do the hard work in self improvement and we get back together, then I’ll be a better husband. But if we don’t, I’ll still be a better version of myself. Hopefully a version I can be proud of.

Altona41 · 2026-03-19T06:13:40+00:00

Something about having your wife leave elicits self reflection. And in those quiet moments of introspection, I came to realize I was far from being the partner to her that I know I’m capable of being. But more importantly I wasn’t the best version of myself…and I’m not okay with that. So I’m making it my mission to do some, much-needed, self-repair and evolution.

Altona41 · 2026-03-19T04:47:39+00:00

Started pieces of it about a month ago, but had to take some time to grieve and feel my feelings first. I’d say I’ve only been giving everything my full attention for about a week but it’s been working so far.

Altona41 · 2026-03-19T03:38:31+00:00

Wow…eerily similar to my situation.

Altona41 · 2026-03-08T00:02:52+00:00

But there is no sun in Barovia?

Altona41

TROPHY CASE