Main Story
The story in brief
- Arrival. Fog swallows the road behind you and the party comes out on the Old Svalich Road in Barovia, a valley the mists won't let anyone leave. Follow the road west past a watchful wolf pack to the gate of the village (Into the Mists).
- Death House. Two children in the road beg you to save their baby brother from the monster in their basement. The house is a dungeon that climbs to the attic and then down a hidden stair to a cult's altar under the foundations (Death House).
- The village. Ismark wants his father, the burgomaster, buried, and his sister Ireena, whom Strahd has fed on twice, taken west to the walls of Vallaki (The Burgomaster's Burial, Ireena's Escort).
- The reading. On the road west, at the Vistani camp by Tser Pool, Madam Eva reads the Tarokka. Her cards decide, differently in every playthrough, where the Tome of Strahd, the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind and the Sunsword are hidden, who your destined ally is, and where in his castle Strahd will wait at the end (The Seer at Tser Pool, The Tarokka Reading).
- Vallaki. Ireena needs sanctuary, but St. Andral's Church has lost the bones that made it holy. The Baron's Festival of the Blazing Sun will decide who rules the town: the Baron, Lady Wachter or its people (Sanctuary, The Festival of the Blazing Sun).
- The hunt. Find the three treasures and the ally across the valley, from the winery and Krezk to Argynvostholt, Berez and the Amber Temple. Strahd sends his carriage with a dinner invitation along the way (Dinner at Castle Ravenloft).
- The castle. With what you've gathered, go to Castle Ravenloft and face Strahd where the cards said he'd be. He doesn't stay dead until his coffin is dealt with (Where the Devil Waits, Endings).
Most of Barovia is open once you reach the crossroads, and the side quests are spread by the party level each region is built for (Side Quests). The journal's Hint button always says where to go next.
The story's spine, in the order it's usually played. Several run side by side: after Madam Eva's reading the four treasures and the ally can be found in any order.
- Into the Mists
The road you were on is gone. The mist has delivered you somewhere else: a dark valley, a wolf-haunted road and a village at the end of it.
- Death House
Two children begged us to save their baby brother from a monster in the basement of their house. The house had other plans.
- The Burgomaster's Burial
Kolyan Indirovich, burgomaster of the village of Barovia, died three nights ago. His children want him buried in the churchyard, and no villager will help carry the coffin.
- Ireena's Escort
Strahd has fed on Ireena Kolyana twice. Her brother Ismark believes she'll be safer behind the walls of Vallaki, to the west.
- The Seer at Tser Pool
The Vistani say an old seer at Tser Pool reads the Tarokka for strangers, and that she has been expecting us.
- The Tome of Strahd
A history of the devil, written in his own hand. Madam Eva says it holds the knowledge of his past.
- The Holy Symbol of Ravenkind
A holy symbol of great power against the undead, lost long ago in the valley.
- The Sunsword
A blade of sunlight that once belonged to the devil's brother, broken from its hilt and lost.
- The Destined Ally
Madam Eva's fourth card named the one who will stand with us against the devil.
- Where the Devil Waits
Madam Eva's last card showed where in his castle Strahd will be when the end comes.
- The Festival of the Blazing Sun
Baron Vallakovich holds a festival every week to prove Vallaki is happy. This one, with its great wicker sun, will decide who rules the town.
- Dinner at Castle Ravenloft
Strahd sent his carriage with an invitation to dine. He kept his word: the table was laid, and he was waiting.
