Upon escaping to the outside, the house appears as if nothing ever happened. 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. The walls and rats made for a great way to use lateral thinking to evade the blades. The book says that players retain control but have to take a temporal flaw and role play accordingly (page 217). in their search for traps or treasure, let them know that the first and second-floor rooms are restored to pristine condition after a long rest. This also triggered the wonderful One Must Die encounter. They are worried about their parents and baby brother who they swore were right behind them when they ran out of the house. We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. Wizards of the Coast has given us the free adventure Death House to play at home last week as a preview of the Curse of Strahd book coming out this month. Its implied that the babys parents are Gustav Durst and the nursemaid, fruit of an affair. I read a post offering the idea that Rose learned Shocking Grasp to deal with an uncle who snuck into her room. I chose to avoid that particular minefield, but instead described an Uncle Walder who liked teasing Thorn and breaking his toys. Its the Durst Mansion or, if the kids are talking, our home. Nobodys going to eagerly go rushing into something called the Death House. It is described in this subheading under "Alterations to Magic" on p. 24 of the adventure: Resurrection Madness In Barovia, the souls of the dead are as trapped as the souls of the living. Castle Ravenloft is the home of Strahd Von Zarovich and is quite a terrifying location. 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. He's a postgraduate from Bournemouth University, having studied Scriptwriting. You might also use less-intimidating artwork for the twins. Ritual Chambers.- Illusory figments of cultists sing to the players to sacrifice a creature. You can have Rosavalda point that out, that they want to be where their parents are. The most vital regions are bolded. Honestly, even if the party is level 3, this can be a very tough fight! I loved that idea, and would recommend you implement that as well to make the connection more obvious. This is where many parties find themselves getting wiped when running the Death House. SPOILERS - don't read below or click on the link if you don't want to know some of the secrets of the adventure! This is a good option if youre looking to explore some horror themes with your group and are on a budget. Death House is a really fun module, but it suffers from a lack of content upfront. Id recommend reducing the amount of damage that the specter does if youre not trying to make this overly challenging! Once theyve explored the first, second, and third floors (plus the attic if they find how to get there! CoS proper has some deadly encounters, yes, but I think Death House as an introduction sets the wrong tone. This is better because you never say the monster name, avoiding metagame knowledge. 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. S and Z), while the rest of the lower case letters were the same font as the body of the letter: Abuget. 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, youd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesnt put the gothic horror adventure, Curse of Strahd, at the top of their list. They havent opened it yet, but Im hoping that theyll use the letter as an excuse to take an interest in Ismark when they arrive at the tavern. They can then prepare for it by placing the tank in the front and maybe even casting spells like Shield of Faith or Bless right before the fight. Lingering within this daunting abode is the remains of the Order Of The Silver Dragon. Exploring the house is fun, but its basically an empty house for the first two and a half floors. Shadowrun: Astral Ways (Sixth World Setting Book), Star Trek Adventures MISSION PDF 022 Eight Layers Deep, BattleTech: Recognition Guide: ilClan Vol. They may come to Barovia expecting to be heroes, but the things that they will do and sacrifice for the sake of their own survival throughout the adventure will haunt them for the rest of their lives. As written, the plot hook is simply that there is a monster in the house. The art style is fantastic, but the kids are possibly the creepiest thing in the book. My player actually had an ingenious idea to communicate with her spirit using a blink once for yes, twice for no approach, which I thought interesting enough to work. Alternative to Death House Pt 2. So theres a certain level of are we going to play D&D? here. by Mike on 14 November 2016. . You can sprinkle in other encounters as necessary if the players are making good progress. I advice to treat these children like a simulacrum-like spell. I find this last bit of information a potential let down for the settings tone. Yeah, adding the Dursts is a good idea. So, give them vivacious temperaments or accents evocative of your favorite child protagonists in popular media (the Stranger Things kids, anyone?). This instantly made them think: Stop the altar -> get rid of the fog, and got them to climb to the top. Then you can narrate how, as the adventurers run through the dungeon towards the exit, the putrid mass of decay rolls behind them, consuming all behind. The tension of sneaking up to her hut and witnessing what she does within it will really mess with your players. If you already have level 3 players you can jump right into the action of Barovia's encounters. Balcony.- The animated armor can be challenging if PCs dont react properly. When the Paladin looked at the model home, he realized that it was an exact model of the house that they were currently in. 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. 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. Emphasize the sections of the house that reveal the eerie lore of the Dursts, and simplify all else. 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. In my game, I gave Rose the personality of a sassy older sister who was fiercely protective of her younger brother. Stress the wrongdoings of Gustav and Elisabeth Durst, and plant the seed of putting the souls of these poor children to rest by placing their remains in the family crypts. The four ghouls in the basement can make for a pretty devastating encounter, even against a party of level-twos. Also PCs will find the houses deed and a deed to the mill near Vallaki. Each and every doll in the chest had a face painted on it, though. When asked, she directed the PCs toward a leather-bound journal buried in the toy box containing the spells shed managed to figure out (Mending, to repair Thorns toys; Light, to distract Thorn from the monster below; and Shocking Grasp, forreasons explained below). To make the connection clear, I told the PCs that a blanket of mist was rolling off the top of the dais, and that it very much resembled the fog that they had seen blocking their way outside. It is a very fun encounter against an enemy who cannot be beaten. 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. Its almost as difficult and disturbing as the Old Bonegrinder in the same adventure! Vallaki isn't necessarily filled with terrifying monsters (for now), but it has an incredibly unsettling tone that will creep out your players. 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. If an entire army of Knights could not defeat Strahd, what hope does your party have? You will be sure to terrify your party with this location, especially when they hear that horrible shriek of that feathered fiend and have nowhere to run. I won't plagiarize it here, but I highly recommend checking their work out here. Im really loving the halloween content this year! introduction to the bleak and despair-filled land of Barovia. Required fields are marked *. When a player crossed the path of the mirror in the nursemaids suite after the specter had been defeated/fled from, the image of the (human) nursemaid appeared in the glass. Thank you for this. The way this adventure works. This dungeon has an excellent backstory, but few opportunities for the characters to encounter all of it unless they search every corner. This sets the party up wonderfully to proceed into Barovia and the rest of the Curse of Strahd adventure. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I will definitely incorporate these ideas next time! But, this is Strahd's home, and the battle will not be easy. 12. 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. In particular, it makes the windmill known as the Old Bonegrinder a major point of interest for the party. Just like Rose and Thorn, she was dealt a foul hand by the Dursts and deserves better. 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). Copyright She was then stabbed by the cultists for unexplained reasons and cast aside. (Quick side note: stop them from immediately going to the Bonegrinder. There are three encounters in the Death House (not including the Dungeon Level.) 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. Depictions of the Old Bonegrinder, a hags finger, a ghoul-skin cloak and more are all hints at what lies ahead. Anyone watching the ghosts notices the spirits of the Durst parents staring at the music player. New Movie News, Movie Trailers & upcoming Movie Reviews. You want this to be fun, scary, and challenging. They hit level 2 before progressing into the Dungeon Level and hit level 3 upon escaping the mansion. From the moment the party steps into the town, they'll get a great sense that nothing is right here. Im a big fan of running it in my Curse of Strahd games. 29. The final confrontation in Death House is an odd one. This subreddit serves as a helpful place for anyone running the Curse of Strahd module for D&D 5e. joining the sa forums will remove this big ad, the annoying underlined ads, and stupid interstitial ads!! The Death House has become something of a modern classic for 5e players. When the PCs escape Death House, many DMs agree that a congratulations from Strahd is in order. 2023 Elven Tower Cartography. 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