(insert generic warning to PCs here)

Just want to share my story running Berez and look for some community feedback. Could I have done anything better? What to expect going forward? I definitely botched a few things on my end but I think the encounter went very well and the PCs are feeling the pressure rising.

Party consists of a (level 7) Paladin, Cleric, Barbarian, Divination Wizard, and a Warlock. Arrigal is their fated ally and they've recently acquired the two offensive relics (Sunsword and Symbol). In the previous session, they stopped the Yester Hill druids and finally found the courage to take a swing at Strahd after a particularly humiliating session (the Cleric was poised to flog the Paladin at Strahd's direction for his rudenss). So, they're riding high on the road to Berez.

I'm a little late in the game to expand on the source material but I still borrow from MandyMod and DragnaCarta. Too late to really work in Dark Powers stuff but enough to add Argynvost's skull to Baba Lysaga and add in a little bit of lore from the ravens. I decide to soft-play the initial encounter with programmed illusion to rope the party in with a sweet old lady. They were also already convinced this is Baby Yaga from folklore so I wanted to attempt to circumvent those preconceptions. Ultimately, I want this area to focus on the battle...it will be their most difficult challenge yet after all.

So, they arrive in town. I make a point to bring Arrigal along because I had forgotten him in Argynvostholdt and wanted the party to have a little extra muscle. There's a brief scene where he expresses fear about entering this "cursed land" and tells the party the tragic fate of the original village. Wizard decides to send his familiar (an owl) to scout the area so I describe the general lay of the land including the scarecrows and the nice tidy hut. I think this will pique their interest but they take Unexpected Move Number One: Detect Magic through the familiar on the hut and its contents. I play a little hard and fast with the rules and have Baba drop the illusion in time to blast the familiar out of the sky with a Fire Bolt. They lost their eye in the sky but they know that area is now dangerous. In my mind, Baba's a strong enough wizard to know when she's being spied on magically. I also drop the hint about the skull in the mud so the party is now frothing at the mouth for this fight.

They reach the hut and obligingly split the party into "hut check squad" and "wait outside squad". Apparently the fact that the skull was now gone didn't bother them much. They see the cradle labeled Strahd and (scared of weird cradles thanks to Death House) kick it over which, ironically, kicks off the main fight.

The hut starts trying to dump out its contents while cloudkill pops off in the center. The wizard gets dumped out and attempts to retreat slightly to Arrigal and the cleric's position while paladin/barbarian attempt the skill challenge to get the gem. Baba stays floating in the mist while maintaining the poison cloud. I think this is DM Mistake One: not shooting off some cantrips or non-con spells while attempting to stay hidden. Being 50 feet off the ground is enough of a damage deterrent but for some reason I had too much faith in the hut's ability to defend itself. It only got off one round of attacks before having its gemm-y heart torn out.

A note: I wasn't using a DM screen this time. One of my players remarked on this and I said "I don't mind you all seeing". This is DM Mistake Two which will become clear shortly.

At this point, scarecrows are starting to get close. I take this opportunity to ominously descend from the mists in the dragon skull. Wizard asks for parley which Baba pretends to grant, but instead of parley the wizard gets Fingered (of Death). Unfortunately I rolled pretty low damage but was able to crank up the stakes a bit and fly back out of range. "Now is the time to set up the Evard's Tentacles/Fireball combo I've been waiting for. The party busies themselves with the scarecrows since Baba is proving difficult to hit at that height. Three of the party ends up ensnared in the tentacles and I'm rubbing my hands waiting for Baba's next turn to drop the hammer.

Arrigal's turn comes up.

Natural 20.

I play with a critical hit house rule: roll double dice and max the bottom half. This is a variant of the "max plus roll" variant but gets more dice rolled which everyone at my table loves. If you aren't familiar with Arrigal's stat block, this is going to be a doozy. Here I make DM Mistake Three and apply Sneak Attack when it probably should not have applied but I was caught up in the sheer unusual-ness of killing myself in combat.

22d6 2d8 is a hell of a shot and Baba doesn't have that much HP. His panicked shot flies true, strikes her in the face, and the poison spreads through her quickly and she falls from the sky. Scarecrows get mopped up quickly and the party rejoices a very close call. Most of them were knocking on death's door so are now singing Arrigal's praises which I think will ultimately serve me well.

Overall, I was satisfied with the tenor of the battle and the group really worked to survive. I like the idea that a lucky shot saved their ass and that ultimately, the one who saved them will ultimately betray them. They've long forgotten the fortune telling that warns of the treachery...or at least they aren't talking about it at the table. My next plans are to convince them to fall on their swords at the Amber Temple or lose their minds to the Dark Powers. Now that they've aroused Strahd's wrath, I think it's time to introduce a dashing rebel to guide to "Strahd's hidden treasure"...one Vasili von Holtz. Either way, the traps are being laid. The Paladin proudly wears a gift: Strahd's armor. The betrayer has now proved himself to the party and earned their trust. And Rahadin? The mincing, comical chamberlain might be more than he seems. (Side note: the best defense against party suspicion is a silly voice)

So tell me what you think. What would you have done differently? Any tips going forward? We're entering the endgame and I'm excited to see this through to the end. Win or lose, the module has been a blast.