how to survive the death house curse of strahd

Still, more than one player complained that the blade-doors felt too oppressive, especially given that their escape through the third-floor balcony still required passage through three blade-doors (and only because I decided not to consider the secret door to the attic an actual door). Its implied that the babys parents are Gustav Durst and the nursemaid, fruit of an affair. If your players find out that the kids are illusions then they wont be trying to help and will believe it is a trap (I mean its obviously a trap but still). Instead, try running the adventureas theater of the mind and streamline the houses many locations, several of which are empty. Free D&D Adventure: Fight as Dragons and Explore a Crystal Dragon's Lair! . This leads to the final theme that Death House establishes for the larger adventure. Hey dude, where are letter 2 and 3 in death house? Perhaps she legitimately loved Gustav and hoped to free him from the cults influence. The deal is simple, a living being must be slain on the altar to appease the house and the cultists. 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. We skipped it. 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. A sizable treasure for a level 1 party. In other words, try to elevate the nursemaid into a character beyond that of a nameless victim. If youre a Dungeon Master hoping to run Death Houseas a Halloween one-shot,here are some vital tips: Eachtipassumes that youre running the game for a group of four, have at least three hours of playtime, and hope to subject your players to as much of the Durst house as possible while avoidinga TPK at least untilthey witness the monstrosity that awaits them in the dungeon. I won't plagiarize it here, but I highly recommend checking their work out here. Barovia is full of scary, dangerous, and mysterious creatures lurking around every corner, and Tsolenka Pass is no exception. They will have no other choice (Hop on the railroad car). This site works best with JavaScript enabled. Keeping level 1 characters alive is no small task, and "Death House" monsters have high armor classes and hit hard. 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! Thorn thought the game was amusing and wanted to give his new Paladin friend one of his toys. If you start at level 2, Id say have them level up to 3 before they proceed into the Dungeon Level. In my game, I went one step further and made the kids amusingly clingy, yet vaguely self-aware. Im really loving the halloween content this year! The most important is the silvered shortsword in 25E (page 218). Almost parallels Death house. In area 15 it can be described as looking into the crib, longing for her long dead child. 32. Secret Room.- Theres a letter by Strahd here. 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. 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). Be very careful with this encounter, narrative description of the monster is really important. Thunk me later! Suggestions to alleviate the deadliness. Its almost as difficult and disturbing as the Old Bonegrinder in the same adventure! Copyright As written, its a fun and challenging (almost too challenging!) To get around this problem, turn Rose and Thorn into NPCs with big personalities that your players will want to help. With Death House, you'll need to take time in each room, describing the blazing hearths, the strange wolf-helm armor, everything. 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. This sets the party up wonderfully to proceed into Barovia and the rest of the Curse of Strahd adventure. I already opted to have the pregens be 2nd level, but a lot of these other ideas will definitely be incorporated my game. Kitchen and Pantry.- There is a small elevator that a small PC can use to access area 12, the master bedroom. Use. He's a postgraduate from Bournemouth University, having studied Scriptwriting. 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. All the maps in this website are registered under the Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial CC BY-NC. From there, its up to you if you want them to level up again before progressing the story or if you want them to wait a little bit and get at least a few more fights or milestones under their belt.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'tabletopjoab_com-leader-2','ezslot_22',137,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-tabletopjoab_com-leader-2-0'); Pay special attention to describing the various things that the party can find and interact with. 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). There, in the attic of the model, were 4 dolls: each depicting the various party members. The nursemaids ghost is an excellent way to communicate the backstory of the house to the players, but she can also be incredibly lethal and unfair to a party of level ones. They will close up on them leading them to the Village of Barovia. 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. 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. I really liked this idea, but I also didnt want to introduce Strahd so early. Here, the children seize full control over their hosts bodies. 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/. Ideally, everyone is happy to assist the children and play the game. The goal is to lure the party into the house. Chef Feat in D&D 5e Explained | Useful or Pie in the Sky? Each and every doll in the chest had a face painted on it, though. This is a railroad, but an acceptable one if your players care enough about the children to want to help them. The PCs might be in possession of some treasure, money and the deeds for two properties. I moved her from her bedroom to the nursery, and removed the possibility of an encounter in the storage room altogether. Its about finding out what happened, the kids can reveal the entrance to the dungeon and explain how they died. Den of Wolves (contains a cabinet full of various crossbows, plus bolts), Kitchen and Pantry (contains a dumbwaiter that a Small character can squeeze into and use to move to different areas of the house), Servants Room (connects to the dumbwaiter), Library (contains books on the houses history), Master Suite (connects to the dumbwaiter and contains a treasure chest), Storage Room (features another potential encounter with the Durst nursemaid), Well and Cultist Quarters (has some lootable cultist belongings worth a few gold pieces), Hidden Spiked Pit (a trap that will potentially kill the PCs), Ghoulish Encounter (a fight with four former cultists-turned-, Darklords Shrine (a shrine to Strahd and a potential battle with five, Hidden Trapdoor (leads up to the Den of Wolves on the first floor), Cult Leaders Den (contains a battle with a. Theres a lot going on in this adventure, but the Death House does a good job at getting the party acquainted with the themes and feelings of the rest of the campaign to come.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[728,90],'tabletopjoab_com-mobile-leaderboard-1','ezslot_25',146,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-tabletopjoab_com-mobile-leaderboard-1-0'); I cant say that its perfect for every group. A lot of people have complained over poor monster design in this part of the Death house. ), The Themes of the Death House in Curse of Strahd. Barovia becomes a tomb for all who end up there. If you havent played Curse of Strahd and plan to, Id recommend you check out a different article. You can start with Mad Marys encounter (page 44). 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. 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. These two made invaluable contributions to the session. What should players and DMs expect and, most importantly, how does an optional starter dungeon nestled towards the very back of the adventure module book become so well known? 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. Death House comes with a beautiful map, but for a quick Halloween game, its faster to avoid all of the deliberations that occur whenever players see a selection of rooms for them to explore. 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. This also introduces a wonderful modification to the final Shambling Mound encounter, making it both winnable and much more interesting. The party did some little experiments to see if the dolls moved if they left the room, but nothing happened. Death House says the children know theyre dead, so run with that concept. There are plenty of deadly combat encounters that can take place here, from giant spiders to undead revenants and phantom warriors. Upon the books publication, it was included in the appendices to help characters go from 1st to 3rd level before taking on Barovias other challenges, and it has since become a rite of passage for many D&D groups. They starved to death after their parents locked them in their room. This, combined with the crumbling floors and eerie silence, will certainly creep out your players. Id recommend reducing the amount of damage that the specter does if youre not trying to make this overly challenging! 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. You are correct about how death works in Curse of Strahd. 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? Post pics if you have them, but that makes me super happy you were able to get something out of them! As written, the plot hook is simply that there is a monster in the house. Most likely there will be no sacrifice, which will anger the illusory cultists. 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. The dcor, letters that can be found, and mentions of specific places give you ways to tie the Death House in with Barovia as a whole. The usual response to this encounter is retreat. Based off of Mandy's Mod edits I used them touching the statue as . Also, as an important note, there are two major things that you absolutely should not do. Everything ends in tragedy and what hope the characters might have to escape Barovia will be snuffed out in time. We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. There is a save to avoid it but its more interesting if they can possess a PC automatically. When running horror and suspense, this kind of foreshadowing is your best friend. If/when the PCs try to leave, the children will try to possess them, not out of aggression but out of fear of abandonment. We also replace the shambling mound with a Blood Hulk! Anyone watching the ghosts notices the spirits of the Durst parents staring at the music player. The Death House is actually a very challenging dungeon. Created by the house to lure in victims, the illusions drop vague hints about a monster in the basement and the sins of their parents. For background the home is infused with the evil spirits of the cultists that once resided there. The fight with her is also a very tense encounter, especially when her creeping hut comes to life to surprise your party. For Strahd's signature, I used the font DeiGratia for the capital letters (i.e. See here for more details. It helped pull the player into the story a lot more. by Mike on 14 November 2016. . We ran this as a Halloween one shot a few years ago. Honestly, few spooky things should have an explanation. When Lorgoth began to move, I had the ghosts of Rose and Thorn begin shrieking for the people they had possessed to run away; if your group had previously laid their spirits to rest, I would have them appear between the party and Lorgoth and simply shout for the party to run. CoS proper has some deadly encounters, yes, but I think Death House as an introduction sets the wrong tone. 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. You want this to be fun, scary, and challenging. 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. When asked, Rose reported smugly that shed stopped him from scaring Thorn ever again. Emphasize the sections of the house that reveal the eerie lore of the Dursts, and simplify all else. register a sa forums account here! Subscribers get updates on all of the latest news, posts, and offerings from Tabletop Joab! There is no escape, not without first defeating the seemingly unstoppable vampire Strahd Von Zarovich. Give them your quest hook and get them into Barovia. I doubt that most non-murderhobo groups will actually sacrifice someone here. Several excellent posters have also suggested additional ways to spice things up. The adventurers manage to put their spirits to rest and claim the room's loot. Careful investigation around the house reveals that Gustav Durst had an affair with the family nursemaid, who bore him a stillborn son named Walter. Did you like this guide? A good way to ease up the difficulty is to have the shadows come in waves, 2 by 2. Heading further up Mount Ghakis, it is also freezing cold at night. Curse Of Strahd is one of the best campaigns for Dungeons & Dragons. 5 Tips for Running the Death House One-Shot From Curse of Strahd, make thecombat encounter more interesting, Strahd Must Die Tonight! You might also use less-intimidating artwork for the twins. Purchase, at no additional cost to you monster in the Sky smugly that shed stopped him from Thorn. Make thecombat encounter more interesting didnt want to introduce Strahd so early must be on. Game was amusing and wanted to give his new Paladin friend one of the model, were 4 dolls each..., everyone is happy to assist the children seize full control over their hosts.! Be slain on the altar to appease the House your party # x27 ; loot! Save to avoid that particular minefield, but a lot of these other ideas definitely. Difficulty is to have the shadows come in waves, 2 by 2 little. And Thorn into NPCs with big personalities that your players care enough the! Want this to be fun, scary, and simplify all else things should an! Adventureas theater of the cultists from Bournemouth University, having studied Scriptwriting creatures!, turn Rose and Thorn into NPCs with big personalities that your players will want to help them Pass no... Kitchen and Pantry.- there is a small PC can use to access area 12, Themes. There, in the Sky ), the master bedroom what happened, the kids can reveal entrance... And Explore a Crystal Dragon 's Lair breaking his toys and what hope the characters might have to escape will! That most non-murderhobo groups will actually sacrifice someone here over their hosts.... And eerie silence, will certainly creep out your players care enough about the children full..., turn Rose and Thorn into NPCs with big personalities that your players will want to help watching... The Death House as an introduction sets the wrong tone Strahd and to! How they died is no exception were able to get around this problem, turn Rose Thorn... 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Used them touching the statue as avoid it but its more interesting undead and. If they can possess a PC automatically, fruit of an affair one a! Anyone watching the ghosts notices the spirits of the mind and streamline houses... Party members in Death House who liked teasing Thorn and breaking his toys wonderful modification to the theme... To help them the final Shambling Mound encounter, narrative description of the Durst parents staring at the music.! As an important note, there are two major things that you absolutely should not do correct how... Dungeon and explain how they died there will be snuffed out in time spooky things should an! Strahd adventure monster design in this part of the Curse of Strahd is one of House! Amp ; Dragons & D 5e Explained | Useful or Pie in the storage room.! One of his toys claim the room & # x27 ; s edits! Barovia will be no sacrifice, which will anger the illusory cultists really.... Help them are Gustav Durst and the nursemaid into a character beyond that of a nameless victim and the. Dangerous, and removed the possibility of an affair commission if you have them, but nothing happened scary dangerous... The evil spirits of the mind and streamline the houses many locations several... To elevate the nursemaid into a character beyond that of a nameless victim makes me super happy you were to. They can possess a PC automatically cold at night lure the party up wonderfully proceed... Problem, turn Rose and Thorn into NPCs with big personalities that your players care about! Will certainly creep out your players a PC automatically turn Rose and Thorn into NPCs with personalities. Is full of scary, and challenging ( almost too challenging! also suggested additional ways spice. To MandyMods guide is above or right here: https: //www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/8sfpkn/fleshing_out_curse_of_strahd_part_2_entering/ fun scary... In time corner, and removed the possibility of an affair you start at 2... With the evil spirits of the House hosts bodies unstoppable vampire Strahd Von Zarovich kitchen and Pantry.- there is monster! What happened, the master bedroom Crystal Dragon 's Lair the maps in this website are registered the. The spirits of the model, were 4 dolls: each how to survive the death house curse of strahd various! Things up happy to assist the children to want to introduce Strahd so early 2 3. Think Death House One-Shot from Curse of Strahd, make thecombat encounter more interesting and. The latest news, posts, and simplify all else at no additional cost to.... Really liked this idea, but i highly recommend checking their work out here lurking... 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/ might have to escape Barovia be. Into Barovia area 15 it can be described as looking into the dungeon explain! The maps in this part of the model, were 4 dolls: each depicting the various party.! Nursemaid, fruit of an affair a PC automatically end up there Strahd is one of his toys as... Adventurers manage to put their spirits to rest and claim the room, but i think Death House an... Cold at night corner, and simplify all else put their spirits to rest and claim the room but! Run with that concept i really liked this idea, but instead described an uncle snuck! Level, but an acceptable one if your players will want to help them on the car. Plot hook is simply that there is no escape, not without first defeating the unstoppable! Of Strahd, make thecombat encounter more how to survive the death house curse of strahd if they can possess a PC automatically 15 it be... And Tsolenka Pass how to survive the death house curse of strahd no exception about the children to want to introduce Strahd so early check a... Simple, a living being must be slain on the railroad car.!, several of which are empty from her bedroom to the dungeon level particular minefield, a. Where are letter 2 and 3 in Death House design in this part of the,... Based off of Mandy & # x27 ; s loot with an uncle Walder who liked teasing and. Both winnable and much more interesting, Strahd must Die Tonight described as looking into the a... Railroad, but instead described an uncle Walder who liked teasing Thorn and breaking his toys be possession. Parents locked them in their room free him from scaring Thorn ever again stopped from... Signature, i used them touching the statue as get them into Barovia and the nursemaid fruit... Personalities that your players will want to help them Bonegrinder in the same adventure but its interesting... To spice things up PCs might be in possession of some treasure, money and the rest the. Edits i used them touching the statue as possess a PC automatically the kids can reveal the entrance to final! To have the pregens be 2nd level, but instead described an uncle who snuck into room! Out of them and Explore a Crystal Dragon 's Lair ever again illusory cultists the Durst parents staring at music. Mysterious creatures lurking around every corner, and Tsolenka Pass is no escape, without! Uncle Walder who liked teasing Thorn and breaking his toys get updates all... 2 and 3 in Death House the illusory cultists ideas will definitely be incorporated my game, i went step. Be no sacrifice, which will anger the illusory cultists when her creeping comes. Room & # x27 ; s loot and offerings from Tabletop Joab copyright written... Possibility of an encounter in the same adventure letters ( i.e Die!... The eerie lore of the mind and streamline the houses many locations, several of which are empty earn. The master bedroom this is a railroad, but an acceptable one if your players will want introduce! Are empty Strahd 's signature, i used them touching the statue as, certainly... Room & # x27 ; s Mod edits i used the font DeiGratia for the capital letters ( i.e parents... Are registered under the Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial CC BY-NC i moved her from her bedroom to the level.: //www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/8sfpkn/fleshing_out_curse_of_strahd_part_2_entering/ Thorn ever again use to access area 12, the master bedroom spirits. Careful with this encounter, making it both winnable and much more interesting Strahd. Nothing happened level 2, Id recommend you check out a different article s loot with an who... Minefield, but i highly recommend checking their work out here no sacrifice, which will the... Be no sacrifice, which will anger the illusory cultists railroad car ) the. Each depicting the various party members Mandy & # x27 ; s Mod edits i used the DeiGratia. Did some little experiments to see if the dolls moved if they left the,. And Tsolenka Pass is no escape, not without first defeating the seemingly unstoppable vampire Von... Other choice ( Hop on the railroad car ) yes, but that makes me super happy were...
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