This provides a clean reason for the party to find the basement, kill (or deny) the monster, and sets up a clear way to let them know they can escape later on. You are also setting the scene for a probably unwinnable fight. There's a disappointing truth to Death Housethe prologue to Curse of Strahdand it's that it's alternative ending "The Cult is Denied" is just a dull series of rolls.Each character rolls against poisonous smoke. This didnt come up, but if the party had tried to force one of the possessed PCs off of the property, I would have described a scene in which both PC and ghost were screaming in agony, with the spirit being violently torn from the body with every inch that the PC was pulled across the border. All the PCs can do is try to reach the first story and escape through the front door. Meanwhile, Thorn had huge puppy eyes, constantly cradled his floppy bunny doll, and instantly worshipped the players' characters as awesome adventurers who had arrived in the nick of time. register a sa forums account here! Posted by Joab | Sep 11, 2021 | For Dungeon Masters | 9. It is a very fun encounter against an enemy who cannot be beaten. ), The Themes of the Death House in Curse of Strahd. By the end of the Death House, there are three themes that should be firmly established in the players minds. When asked about the passage to the attic, she stepped aside, leaving the mirror blank save for his own reflection. Obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons and a close personal friend of Pocket (an interdimensional teleporting ferret). Covering the hottest movie and TV topics that fans want. Instead, when the party exited, they found a small gift basket in the street in front of Death House. The main Curse of Strahd module encompasses levels 3-10. As far as campaign openings go, the Death House does a lot to establish the themes that will be appearing throughout the Curse of Strahd adventure. Perhaps she legitimately loved Gustav and hoped to free him from the cults influence. Someone recommended that the ghasts of the Durst Parents be concealed behind their own portraits, rather than just dirt walls. Set in the realm of Barovia, a Domain Of Dread within Ravenloft, your players find themselves transported here and trapped. bastard child, Flesh Mound, etc) and I give it a whole-hearted thumbs up for anyone considering running the adventure. Its possible to have been a good person who now lives a life of fear and misery as a result of another persons evil actions. Make no mistake about it, Death House is still dangerous for a party of four 2nd-level adventurers, who at various points in the adventure might find themselves up against four ghouls or five shadows at once. What this means is that anyone can use them, share them or modify them. There are plenty of things that can break their bodies and minds, but the land itself will break their spirit. From the moment the party steps into the town, they'll get a great sense that nothing is right here. Death House is a house situated in the Village Of Barovia, so before everything else you need to figure out if you want to run it or not. Players destroyed the statue of Strahd at Death House. Let me clarify the party all died trying to flee the house in the end, but everyone still had a blast! I wanted to make it obvious that the encounter at the altar was the final step to fleeing Death House. Your email address will not be published. The adventure was unveiled in the February 2016 issue of Dragon+ as an example of the thrills that would come in the then-unreleased Curse of Strahd. Castle Ravenloft is the home of Strahd Von Zarovich and is quite a terrifying location. Based off of Mandy's Mod edits I used them touching the statue as . Moreover, despite the interesting design, quite a lot of the house can feel empty at first, and then overly lethal toward the middle and end. There are plenty of unsettling characters to socialize with here, including cultists and other mysterious inhabitants, to add to this pressure as well. In it, they found a note bearing the words Welcome to Barovia (signed with a cursive letter S), a bottle of Purple Dragon Crush, and a taunting letter addressed to Ismark Kolyanovich. We called it "The Curse of the Murderous Mansion.". Not only that, but the key ingredient in Morgantha's addictive pies is children! Those letters are supplements that came with u/MandyMod s guide (which is excellent). Death House isn't the first free adventure for 5th edition that has been shared . You can also have Rose and Thorn possess random party members. I didnt want to force my players to spend too much time rolling Investigate checks on every corner, so I dropped them a hint in the nursemaids suite. I will definitely incorporate these ideas next time! The party loved getting them, as it let them read the details of the letters and make connections with their content, versus having me read the content from the adventure. Follow this up with a description of a grinding noise coming from the study (the sound of the secret door opening). This subreddit serves as a helpful place for anyone running the Curse of Strahd module for D&D 5e. I never thought of that. This, combined with the crumbling floors and eerie silence, will certainly creep out your players. introduction to the bleak and despair-filled land of Barovia. As written, the nursemaid is not only a lethal character who could potentially destroy a 1st- or 2nd-level adventurer with fewhit points with her Life Drain ability, but shes also a horror trope the cast aside, wronged woman who returns as a vengeful ghost. Absolutely do not show the party the image of the children in the book. Give them your quest hook and get them into Barovia. In short, yes, the Death House is a great low-level adventure for your group. Copyright A little touch that freaked out my current Curse of Strahd group was when they met the spirits of Rose and Thorn in the attic. Suggestions to alleviate the deadliness. In other words, try to elevate the nursemaid into a character beyond that of a nameless victim. The best was when the team with Scooby, Velma, Shaggy and Fred ended up down stairs and came across a table covered in a Thanksgiving dinner and the turkey was a mimic. It can be quite a puzzle to navigate, with many deadly rooms and events to encounter throughout. Oooh this is actually really neat, love the little modifiers you added. Their ghosts are here. Upon escaping to the outside, the house appears as if nothing ever happened. The second encounter is with a broom of animated attack. SPOILERS - don't read below or click on the link if you don't want to know some of the secrets of the adventure! 20. What makes this location all the scarier is that the party is most likely to reach this location at level three or four. Supposedly, he abandoned love for madness [and] took solace in the bosom of another woman. What of the nursemaids point of view? 4. The goal is to lure the party into the house. For starters, that kind of monster is completely out of place here. Depending on your group, the Death House can be completed in one or two 4-hour game sessions. 2023 Elven Tower Cartography. The Count's Crypt. One only has to do a quick internet search for Death House TPK to see how manyparty wipes the house has inflicted. This is a list of important bits of information, important locations and specific advice to run the different locations in the Death House. Plus they do not have the Horrifying Visage ability. If the players take a long rest on the second or third floor, describe to them the sound of footsteps descending from the attic and stopping outside of their door before moving away to the study. You can really play on this unease to build up tension within the party, building it up until they are constantly on edge. I am actually in the process of setting this up as a one-shot for some of my experienced gamer friends. It is a decrepit old Grain Mill that is the home of Morgantha and her two daughters. At its core,Death House is about the awful deeds of Gustav and Elisabeth Durst and the damage they inflicted on the people around them in their worship of Strahd von Zarovich. This fight should prove to be much easier than the Animated Armor. ), but also gives her a bit of depth as this precocious yet protective older sister. Death House says the children know theyre dead, so run with that concept. The party did some little experiments to see if the dolls moved if they left the room, but nothing happened. The Death House is intended for a party of level 1 characters. Jeremy Blum (@PixelGrotto) is a journalist, gaming blogger, comic book aficionado, and fan of all forms of storytelling who rolled his first polyhedral dice while living in Hong Kong in 2017. Each of these is typically accompanied by Strahd finishing with the phrase Welcome to Barovia before flying away. I added some handwriting font, put them on a parchment background, and they all came . From creepy castles to sinister swamps, here are eight scary areas that show why Ravenloft is one of the best settings in D&D. If the party disturbs the orb, the shadows begin swooping across the walls and ceiling, but only join combat two at a time. 34. But, the ultimate horror comes from the complete lack of hope that this location implies. You can see the tendrils grip on the walls tighten with crushing force. If they try to turn back to explore Barovia, the mists surround them until theres no choice. Its implied that the babys parents are Gustav Durst and the nursemaid, fruit of an affair. Now that everyone is level 2, they can proceed downwards into the Durst Mansions dungeon level. The PCs have the hallways width to their favor, as its a natural funnel. Running the Death House The main Curse of Strahd module encompasses levels 3-10. Maybe as a specter, she now desires vengeance more than anything else and mourns for her son. These two made invaluable contributions to the session. We premade characters based on Scooby-Doo for our friends to choose from and we even co-DM'd the game so we could split the party (like they always do in Scooby-Doo). In particular, it makes the windmill known as the Old Bonegrinder a major point of interest for the party. Pretty spoopy. Throughout, the PC received a sense of quiet pride from Rose. However if you wish to start from level 1, the attached dungeon crawl Death House is a great tool to level the party up, set the tone of the campaign and introduce a few clues and facts about the realm. If you havent played Curse of Strahd and plan to, Id recommend you check out a different article. He's a postgraduate from Bournemouth University, having studied Scriptwriting. Once again, adjust the challenge of these encounters as you see fit for your party. Your party will slowly explore the creepy house, gradually delving deeper and deeper inside until they must make a difficult choice deep down in the ritual chamber hidden underground. A lot of good ideas to make the story flow. PCs will recognize the children. The go-to source for comic and superhero movie fans. Kind of disappointing that this is the kind of thing appearing now. When the party goes to escape, the house itself will be attacking them. You can let them know something is coming with smell and sounds. Super late comment is late, but I wanted to let you know that I printed these, placed them in aged envelopes with a wax seal and handed one to each one of my players and it went off BEAUTIFULLY! But something must be killed, smart players might try to find a rat and kill it. If you like what I do, consider getting involved and backing me. It's all important, because it also teaches the players to pay attention to the environment. This is better because you never say the monster name, avoiding metagame knowledge. According to the book that works, but you might rule otherwise. My players avoided them entirely, possibly because I described their hallway as having an overpowering stench of death and decay. This alerts the players that something dangerous is that way, and prepares them for battle. Death House is a meat grinder meant to kill low-level players. If you do this, have the party level up once theyve escaped. Careful investigation around the house reveals that Gustav Durst had an affair with the family nursemaid, who bore him a stillborn son named Walter. Not only does the party piece together clues of the Durst familys descent into madness, but they get a sample of the themes present within the story to come in the Curse of Strahd adventure! Another poster provided the idea that Rose was a budding young wizard, having pieced together some scraps of knowledge from her fathers study downstairs. Well look over those now. Since I've warned you already about spoilers, I'll state it up front: to avoid the house turning against the PCs, a creature has to die at the sanctum in the basement. Dress Up This October With This Month's Free Subscription Perks! They still wontgo willingly into the house and if they do, they will try to get out of it. The four ghouls in the basement can make for a pretty devastating encounter, even against a party of level-twos. Death House Encounters The Themes of the Death House in Curse of Strahd Everything Will Be Corrupted The Innocent Also Suffer Abandon All Hope Making the Death House Better Plot Hook Encounter Difficulty Levels Connections to Curse of Strahd Lore Add Extra Creepiness A Personal Favorite Touch Conclusion What is the Death House? Whether you decide to follow these tips to the letter or put your own alternate spin on Curse of Strahd'sintro adventure, theres no doubt that your gaming friends are in for a good evening of gothic fun as long as the dreaded throes of this house of horrors dont consume them first. The children that the party encounters on the road (Rose and Thorn) are asking for help dealing with whatever entity is inside the house. There is lots of foreshadowing for the story to come. This is a railroad, but an acceptable one if your players care enough about the children to want to help them. Doing so will help make it more believable when the characters take the bait leading into the Death House. The link to MandyMods guide is above or right here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/8sfpkn/fleshing_out_curse_of_strahd_part_2_entering/. This also introduces a wonderful modification to the final Shambling Mound encounter, making it both winnable and much more interesting. According to the source book they are illusions created by the house to lure people inside, it says they vanish if attacked or forced inside. Thorn thought the game was amusing and wanted to give his new Paladin friend one of his toys. The knights are now consumed by rage and hatred for Strahd and will attack all that enter the manor. Moreover, there are a lot of things that the party can miss (e.g., the secret door in the library), so Ive tossed in some ways to drop hints to the party. Keeping level 1 characters alive is no small task, and "Death House" monsters have high armor classes and hit hard. While frightening at first, it quickly loses its charm. Its not exactly an adventure for new D&D players, but it often ends up being experienced that way thanks to Curse of Strahdbeingone of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons' premiereadventures. One option you have is to just jump into it, with fresh characters, starting at Level 3. They were wearing the exact same gear but seemed to not have their faces painted on. Vallaki isn't necessarily filled with terrifying monsters (for now), but it has an incredibly unsettling tone that will creep out your players. This event also involves the arrival of Strahd Von Zarovich himself, who will always strike fear into the party. It's a horrific truth that will send a shiver down your party's spines. This chapter overhauls the Ruins of Berez chapter. 9 Personal Touches For GMs To Bring Your Game To Life, Deflect Missiles in D&D 5e | All You Need To Know, Arcane Archer Fighter in D&D 5e | Full Subclass Guide, Incubus and Succubus in D&D 5e | Friends Without the R, Storm Sorcerer in D&D 5e | Full Subclass Guide. Very useful against some Barovian creatures. This will ring true for several NPCs and locations as the party progresses into the Curse of Strahd adventure. RELATED: Dungeons & Dragons: Ideas For Running A One-Shot. 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