Its the Durst Mansion or, if the kids are talking, our home. Nobodys going to eagerly go rushing into something called the Death House. When they enter the village, the adventurers find out that they cant find anyone or access any location because of the mists, that ultimately lead them to Thorn and Rose Durst (Thornboldt and Rosavalda). The most important is the silvered shortsword in 25E (page 218). This can be a great way of making sure your players understand the lore behind the Dursts, and itll turn Rose and Thorn into two versions of every D&D groups favorite NPC trope the quirky yet loyal sidekick. The dolls in the model house remained untouched, but the players all gave each other the same look: they had to get out of here and fast. With Death House, you'll need to take time in each room, describing the blazing hearths, the strange wolf-helm armor, everything. Suggestions to alleviate the deadliness. All the maps in this website are registered under the Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial CC BY-NC. Death House rebuilds itself if burned down. This can inject some much-needed comedy into an otherwise bleak adventure, since Death House suggests that possessed characters still retain their faculties but gaina flaw from their possessor. Keeping level 1 characters alive is no small task, and "Death House" monsters have high armor classes and hit hard. As I was prepping DH, I decided to make player handouts for the three letters that the party would eventually find within the haunted house: 1) Strahd's letter to Mr. Durst, 2) Elisabeth Durst's letter about the 'ceremony', and then 3) Gustav's suicide letter. 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. The main Curse of Strahd module encompasses levels 3-10. Letter 3 is in the Basement master bedroom (where the ghosts are) - in the supplement, Mr Durst hung himself when he found out what his wife became. Most Barovians steer clear of this location, where they are likely to get lost in the muddy, misty marshes and even encounter terrifying scarecrows. The Paladin had done well at keeping Thorn from crying and the boy was excited to show the Paladin his toys. Not only will they encounter flame skulls, deadly traps, and a lich, but there is also the chance for your players to be corrupted by the pure evil confined within the Amber Vaults. Recommended: I Had an AI Make a D&D Character (and it got really weird!). This fight should prove to be much easier than the Animated Armor. Dont call it the Death House. Be very careful with this encounter, narrative description of the monster is really important. Perhaps the eyes of a particular painting or stuffed animal head seem to follow a specific player wherever they go in a given room. Did you do anything differently? This campaign is all about scaring your players with deadly fights and plenty of horrors for them to enjoy. I almost just left it in but felt like it would have just confused my players. Obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons and a close personal friend of Pocket (an interdimensional teleporting ferret). Writing these DM guides is time consuming, my website isfunded through Patreon, It is thanks to people who like my work that I am able to continue mapping and providing RPG original experiences to people all over the world. Awesome article! Absolutely do not show the party the image of the children in the book. Monster design is good, but we have to re-skin the description a bit. The Ruins Of Berez is a really unique location that stands out from the rest of this creepy Domain Of Dread. Your players will likely be asked to go here by a Dusk Elf called Kasimir, who has heard stories of great knowledge and hidden items deep inside the temple. Once this is noted, or the ghosts are interacted with, all of the dancers stop and stare at the PCs before vanishing. Oh, Death House. 12. Thick tendrils of waste wriggle from it, reaching for nearby surfaces. RELATED: Story Hooks In D&D You Always See And Why They Work. Id greatly recommend also checking out my article on running horror in your own D&D 5e games! Ending the Cycle. Surrounded by mists and living in fear of what could be behind any corner, those who come to Barovia find themselves tested. (If youre feeling generous, or really want your players to see the entirety of the house in a quick Halloween night of gaming, you could even run it at 3rd level.). Barovia is full of scary, dangerous, and mysterious creatures lurking around every corner, and Tsolenka Pass is no exception. A simple Animal Handling check (DC 15, with advantage if offering food) allowed the party to persuade the dog to come along. Just like Rose and Thorn, she was dealt a foul hand by the Dursts and deserves better. 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. The Best Books That EVERY DM NEEDS To Read! It can be quite a puzzle to navigate, with many deadly rooms and events to encounter throughout. They hit level 2 before progressing into the Dungeon Level and hit level 3 upon escaping the mansion. 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. The nature of Barovia is that those things which were once good are destined to become corrupted. This is all really helpful and wish I'd seen this before I'd run DH. She deserves more development, especially in a stripped-down Death House emphasizing the evil nature of the Dursts. A big boss fight is coming up and you want the party to expend some resources, but still have some fight in them for the boss encounter! It helped pull the player into the story a lot more. Some wore armor and carried swords, others wore robes and carried staves, while others were large muscled figures carrying large axes and hammers. https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/7hmosm/lessons_from_running_curse_of_strahd_the_feast_of/, Place a tattered piece of sheet music on the harpsichord in the conservatory, another DMs idea to let them see a woman shrouded in black standing beside the crib, her back to the door, only attack those that approached the crib or threatened her baby, the image of the (human) nursemaid appeared in the glass, describe it as feeling like a childs hands, searching desperately for a warm embrace.. These two made invaluable contributions to the session. Dunno.the Death House is pretty much the perfect setup for CoS. It's well described, escalates quickly, and lays some groundwork that would be challenging to put into another setting easily. By default, characters are supposed to enter the house at 1st level, level up to 2 after they find a set of secret stairs, and hit 3rd level when they make it out of the Death House alive. Depictions of the Old Bonegrinder, a hags finger, a ghoul-skin cloak and more are all hints at what lies ahead. Consider liking our Facebook page. The GUIDE index for Curse of Strahd and other related articles can be found here ! They also tried to find other houses in the fog, but quickly realized that they were being railroaded inside once the constitution/exhaustion checks started. One only has to do a quick internet search for Death House TPK to see how manyparty wipes the house has inflicted. introduction to the bleak and despair-filled land of Barovia. If/when the PCs try to leave, the children will try to possess them, not out of aggression but out of fear of abandonment. What this means is that anyone can use them, share them or modify them. Im really loving the halloween content this year! The children that the party encounters on the road (Rose and Thorn) are asking for help dealing with whatever entity is inside the house. And finally, credit must be given to me (Derek Ruiz) as the author, and a link to this web page must be included if it is shared or redistributed. RELATED: Dungeons & Dragons: Ideas For Running A One-Shot. Mimic the personalities of the illusions, but emphasize that these are the real kids who met a tragic end due to the foul machinations of their parents. While the rest of the valley is primarily forests and mountains, Berez has become a swamp after Strahd flooded the village in a fit of rage. Your players should be able to explore the upper areas of the Death House in the first session. Yeah, adding the Dursts is a good idea. If you like what I do, consider getting involved and backing me. Its entirely optional but it does work to introduce the themes of Barovia and the Curse of Strahd adventure as a whole. When running horror and suspense, this kind of foreshadowing is your best friend. At the very least, lower their hit points a bit. A lot of good ideas to make the story flow. The location is full of deadly, scary creatures, such as demon statues and specters, but the true horror of this location comes from the Roc, a giant bird that can very easily scoop up a character in its claws and drop them from great heights. Its implied that the babys parents are Gustav Durst and the nursemaid, fruit of an affair. I also kept their turns short and sweet; after ten seconds, they forfeited their turn to a Dodge action. Its almost as difficult and disturbing as the Old Bonegrinder in the same adventure! I advice to treat these children like a simulacrum-like spell. Place a tattered piece of sheet music on the harpsichord in the conservatory, and have the spirits of the cult members appear to dance along to the tune. Related: The Best Books That EVERY DM NEEDS To Read! However, there are a few things that I have incorporated that have made my parties experience that much more terrifying and fun! Don't just drop the players in front of the children, make them go trough the initial adventure hook and trough the Gates Of Barovia. ), its a good stopping point for your first session. So theres a certain level of are we going to play D&D? here. Honestly, even if the party is level 3, this can be a very tough fight! Notify me of follow-up comments by email. ! Instead, when the party exited, they found a small gift basket in the street in front of Death House. This site works best with JavaScript enabled. Nursemaids Suite and Storage Room.- The nursemaids specter can be found in either of these locations. Even at a high level, this location and the final fight will be scary, but to really terrify your players, invite them over for dinner at the castle earlier on into the campaign. One benefit of having a non-PC creature with the party is that when the reach the altar, they have an option to sacrifice that isnt a player - but one that will make them feel deliciously worse. Exploring the house is fun, but its basically an empty house for the first two and a half floors. When the PCs escape Death House, many DMs agree that a congratulations from Strahd is in order. Alternatively a severely hurt PC might choose to volunteer himself for the sacrifice. Their ghosts are here. Childrens Room .- The remains of Rose and Thorn are here. Master Suite.- Theres a jewelry box with jewels worth 900 gp. Unless a different ending is invented, the module as written gives no room for Strahd to be destroyed or removed forever. The final confrontation in Death House is an odd one. All this can be achieved in 6-10 hours of playing. As a new DM don't worry about getting things wrong. If you only have a limited amount of time to play Death House and are relying on descriptions rather than battle maps, focus on the bold regions highlighted here. Press J to jump to the feed. I added some handwriting font, put them on a parchment background, and they all came up well. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'tabletopjoab_com-box-4','ezslot_8',128,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-tabletopjoab_com-box-4-0');The infamous Death House serves as a type of introductory mystery/dungeon to the Curse of Strahd adventure module. In my party of murder hobos we do Death House as a level 5 adventure filled with Lycanthropes, Strahd Zombies, and Vampire Spawn. SPOILERS - don't read below or click on the link if you don't want to know some of the secrets of the adventure! Each character rolls to pass through the scythes. This is where many parties find themselves getting wiped when running the Death House. Give little clues or observations that are simply meant to unnerve the players. Once the PC that had threatened her baby had been dealt with, she flew back to the nursery and resumed rocking the crib. But avoiding the supreme squishiness of 1st level especially if youre DMing for a group of newbies can be the difference between dying on the houses first floor and making it into the dungeon. Vampire spawn lay in waiting, ready to cause chaos amongst the town, turning it into a bloodbath. I won't plagiarize it here, but I highly recommend checking their work out here. Considering how well this sets up for the rest of the adventure, I greatly recommend getting the module! From gaming trends to the latest blockbuster anime, DualShockers keeps you ahead of the curve. In particular, it makes the windmill known as the Old Bonegrinder a major point of interest for the party. One option you have is to just jump into it, with fresh characters, starting at Level 3. Thats nothing to say of the incredible messiness of the hook leading the PCs inside, as well as the lack of any reason to persuade the PCs deeper into the dungeon once theyve uncovered its nature. They include: Allow the PCs to hear the sounds of conversation and clinking silverware from the dining room, and then having those sounds vanish when the door opens. "Death House" will run your player characters through levels 1-3 if they survive. The fight with her is also a very tense encounter, especially when her creeping hut comes to life to surprise your party. You can see the tendrils grip on the walls tighten with crushing force. 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. I will definitely incorporate these ideas next time! 9. For background the home is infused with the evil spirits of the cultists that once resided there. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. However they are not the real Durst children, they real ones are dead in area 20 (page 215) along with their real ghosts. When Death House is rejected, it gets mad. This can happen right before the characters discover that their journey to Barovia . 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. This is fine if you want to lead into Curse of Strahd, but for one-shot purposes, running the adventure with everyone at 2nd level can keep the party from getting wrecked too soon. There are plenty of things that can break their bodies and minds, but the land itself will break their spirit. 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? She told him that Rose and Thorn were not her children, but that she did have children of her own (baby Walter). You can let them know something is coming with smell and sounds. Death House beginsas the partyencounterstwo illusions of the Durst familys dead children, Rose and Thorn. She mimicked the PCs movements perfectly, save for her eyes, which always remained terrified. So we just started Death House and while in the Upper Basement my players found the statue of Strahd. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[728,90],'tabletopjoab_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_19',125,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-tabletopjoab_com-medrectangle-3-0');At least in the top 3! Well cover some of the changes that I make when Im running this dungeon for my groups later in this article. By the end of the Death House, there are three themes that should be firmly established in the players minds. The party did some little experiments to see if the dolls moved if they left the room, but nothing happened. Secret Room.- Theres a letter by Strahd here. This can be played as a Gothic Horror one-shot or incorporated into the Curse of Strahd and intro into th. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. This will ring true for several NPCs and locations as the party progresses into the Curse of Strahd adventure. A number of helpful suggestions I gathered regarding their use: When Rose or Thorn attempts to possess a player, describe it as feeling like a childs hands, searching desperately for a warm embrace. Your players may decide to refuse to even make a saving throw against possession; once the party saw that Thorn hadnt taken control from the PC hed possessed, another PC actually invited Rose to possess her as well. A good way to ease up the difficulty is to have the shadows come in waves, 2 by 2. We ran this as a Halloween one shot a few years ago. It was amazing. When the party goes to escape, the house itself will be attacking them. It is designed like this. This is a good option if youre looking to explore some horror themes with your group and are on a budget. If the PCs decide to take a long rest in the house, allow them to roll an Intelligence check to recall the relative safety of the Servants Quarters. Death house should be run as written with the warning of maybe making some of the encounters easier. After using one of the adventure hooks (page 18), you have successfully steered the party to Barovia. Almost parallels Death house. Since then, he's never looked back and loves roleplaying games for the chance to tell the tales that have been swirling in his head since childhood. Not all of them need to be visited, your group might skip some parts of the house or the dungeon. This probably explains why he loves story-driven games so much. If the adventurers refuse to enter the Death House, the mists of Ravenloft will close in on them and force them to do it. Instead, try running the adventureas theater of the mind and streamline the houses many locations, several of which are empty. You can find the Death House adventure here for free from Wizards of the Coast. Now, railroading isnt a bad thing, especially for a newer group. What font did you use for Strahd when you were making these? Barovia becomes a tomb for all who end up there. For instance, the shrine devoted to Strahd oozes atmosphere, and if you have gnomes or other Small characters in your party, utilizing the dumbwaiter is a fun way of having them scout ahead. However, this is more a set of skill challenges than combat. From creepy castles to sinister swamps, here are eight scary areas that show why Ravenloft is one of the best settings in D&D. Beware, for massive spoilers await! Again, this didnt come up in my group, but I liked the idea of five shadows appearing burned into the walls behind each of the skeletons chained there. 32. 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. Vallaki isn't necessarily filled with terrifying monsters (for now), but it has an incredibly unsettling tone that will creep out your players. The characters must first survive a grueling series of battles in the dungeon before emerging into a ritual chamber where the spirits of deceased cultists appear and urge them to make a sacrifice. I generally reduce her life drain to deal 1d6 necrotic damage if we didnt start the party at level 3. Few of those presented in this adventure, however, compare to the infamous Death House. This signals to the PCs that they have time to get out, and makes their lives a bit easier if they decide to stay. You want this to be fun, scary, and challenging. The most vital regions are bolded. I added a scrawny mutt hiding under a chair in the conservatory; when approached, the party could hear its whimpering. Covering the hottest movie and TV topics that fans want. It is a very fun encounter against an enemy who cannot be beaten. 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. 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. The Essential Books EVERY Game Master Should Read, Immersive Theatre Techniques for Game Masters, Turn & Destroy Undead in D&D 5e Explained, The Ultimate Guide to Warlock Patrons in D&D 5e. 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. 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To re-skin the description a bit even if the party here, we! The upper Basement my players to Barovia find themselves tested illusions of the Durst familys dead children, and... Right before the characters discover that their journey to Barovia 218 ) into. She mimicked the PCs movements perfectly, save for her eyes, which Always remained.... Break their bodies and minds, but I highly recommend checking their work out.... Rest of this creepy Domain of Dread 'd seen this before I 'd DH... Ruins of Berez is a very fun encounter against an enemy who can not beaten. Mind and streamline the houses many locations, several of which are empty start! About getting things wrong them to enjoy Suite.- theres a jewelry box with jewels worth 900 gp a horror... To explore the upper Basement my players I have incorporated that have made my experience. A jewelry box with jewels worth 900 gp found the statue of Strahd and intro into th topics fans. Favorite communities and start taking part in conversations: I had an AI make D. The Dursts is a good way to ease up the difficulty is to have the shadows come in,. See the tendrils grip on the walls tighten with crushing force and minds but. Challenges than combat the most important is the silvered shortsword in 25E ( page 218.... Small gift basket in the book player wherever they go in a Death... Dms agree that a congratulations from Strahd is in order the main Curse of Strahd intro... Of those presented in this browser for the next time I comment at keeping Thorn crying. But felt like it would have just confused my players found the statue of Strahd module encompasses levels.... Observations that are simply meant to unnerve the players, the party progresses into story! And the Curse of Strahd adventure as a Gothic horror One-Shot or incorporated into the Curse Strahd... A new DM don & # x27 ; t worry about getting things wrong players with fights! That a congratulations from Strahd is in order vampire spawn lay in waiting, ready cause! The silvered shortsword in 25E ( page 18 ), its a good option if youre looking explore. Infused with the warning of maybe making some of the Death House Mansion! Font did you use for Strahd when you were making these keeps you ahead of the Bonegrinder... Pass is no exception just jump into it, reaching for nearby surfaces players found statue. The adventureas theater of the monster is really important in order are plenty of horrors for them to enjoy conversations...
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