Rule over Barovia

[Saramoth]

So my group just finished Curse of Strahd and has been given the keys of the realm.

Any suggestions on how to improve Barovia and make it a prospering nation, since they were stuck in place and in a ****ty situation for a long time.

Every danger has been cleared, and the whole map was explored.

Tnx in advance

[War_lord]

Assuming your DM hasn't retconned anything, you can't improve Barovia. It's a pocket dimension set up by unfathomably powerful ancient evils to torture Strahd for all eternity. (theoretically they'd let him go if he became "boring", but Strahd is their favorite toy because he's incapable of accepting fault for his actions, and will fall for every false hope of victory they put before him.)

The Barovians will be given a short period of hope, before Strahd is revived to plunge them back into the state they were at in the beginning of the adventure. Why? Because it amuses the dark powers.

Most of the Barovians aren't even "real" people, they lost their souls long ago and only exist within the demiplane of dread as imitations of the originals to fill out numbers and keep the "game" going.

[hymer]

@ War_lord: Spoiler alert!

[War_lord]

@ War_lord: Spoiler alert!

OP said they're finished the module. Anyone else should have been able to figure out that a thread with this title may have a spoiler.

[Unoriginal]

Yeah, Strahd is going to show up again and everything will go back to square 1.

The best you can do is lead everyone out of the realm, never to come back. But others will come, later.

[ProsecutorGodot]

You can always make up a storyline where the party takes a trip to the shadowfell to end Strahd once and for all. The only way to free Barovia would be to free Strahd from his imprisonment by the Dark Powers.

This would be an Epic level task though.

[Spore]

They cannot open up the planar boundaries that keep the spirits from their afterlife unless the dark powers choose to do so. Everything else is just a result of that. Most Barovians linger in the hereafter because of that, and the realm is incredibly haunted.

If you chose to have Strahd permanently killed this means his soul cannot find peace. His task in this world has not been fulfilled so it is VERY likely that he is to form a powerful ghost - and that of a 9th level wizard. And ghosts are immortal with a consequence you define in its "Unfinished Business" ability. Which for Strahd would be to get Ireena back.

He doesn't rule the plane but their situation cannot improve from there. You have to remove the dark powers from play. If you play with the larger cosmology, one of the neighboring realms could invade now that the land is leaderless. Also Baba Lysaga will probably hate the group for ward, and she is a 16th level spellcaster. Madame Eva will be installed by the dark powers to rule. A dubious improvement at best.

If you wanted to continue I'd say the Vistani take over and after a while forces from Borca (the realm of political nightmares) attack the land. Use these happenings to further the group's goals and change the situation. If the group is high level enough to justify removing the dark powers themselves, go for that quest line.