All this can be achieved in 6-10 hours of playing. This is a list of important bits of information, important locations and specific advice to run the different locations in the Death House. Thank you! Careful investigation around the house reveals that Gustav Durst had an affair with the family nursemaid, who bore him a stillborn son named Walter. They will close up on them leading them to the Village of Barovia. Honestly, few spooky things should have an explanation. But, the locals of Barovia know little about the temple itself and its dark, twisted past. Oh, Death House. 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. Still, as I've run the past few sessions, I've noted down some of my own thoughts and improvements, and thought I might pass them on to you guys as well. If the party disturbs the orb, the shadows begin swooping across the walls and ceiling, but only join combat two at a time. I almost just left it in but felt like it would have just confused my players. Death House is that deadly. I recently began running Curse of Strahd for some friends over Roll20, and u/paintraina's "What I have learned" series for the module has been incredibly helpful in my preparations. Almost parallels Death house. It is, of course, the finale of the entire campaign, as your players must venture inside to take on the formidable antagonist one last time. The second encounter is with a broom of animated attack. What you get is impressive hi-def versions of my maps to be used in your RPG games (these have lower resolution), and the satisfaction of helping the rpg community grow bigger and stronger. Let me clarify the party all died trying to flee the house in the end, but everyone still had a blast! 29. Master Suite.- Theres a jewelry box with jewels worth 900 gp. There is no escape, not without first defeating the seemingly unstoppable vampire Strahd Von Zarovich. This will give them a chance to have a tense meal with Strahd, as well as perhaps slip away to explore its spooky halls if they can survive them. In my game, I gave Rose the personality of a sassy older sister who was fiercely protective of her younger brother. 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. 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. 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. With Death House, you'll need to take time in each room, describing the blazing hearths, the strange wolf-helm armor, everything. Be careful. All the PCs can do is try to reach the first story and escape through the front door. Thick tendrils of waste wriggle from it, reaching for nearby surfaces. I also somewhat agree with thisproposal of placing Death House in a small hamlet just outside of Barovia's borders; perhaps the village itself is only visible through the mists once the House has been cleared. Covering the hottest movie and TV topics that fans want. 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. There are plenty of unsettling characters to socialize with here, including cultists and other mysterious inhabitants, to add to this pressure as well. A sizable treasure for a level 1 party. You can have Rosavalda point that out, that they want to be where their parents are. Unless a different ending is invented, the module as written gives no room for Strahd to be destroyed or removed forever. They were wearing the exact same gear but seemed to not have their faces painted on. 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. Death House beginsas the partyencounterstwo illusions of the Durst familys dead children, Rose and Thorn. Theres no shortage of fantastic adventure modules available for D&D 5e. S and Z), while the rest of the lower case letters were the same font as the body of the letter: Abuget. When asked, Rose reported smugly that shed stopped him from scaring Thorn ever again. The land is grim and desolate. Set in the realm of Barovia, a Domain Of Dread within Ravenloft, your players find themselves transported here and trapped. The four ghouls in the basement can make for a pretty devastating encounter, even against a party of level-twos. [Bones of Saint Andral] (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/7hmosm/lessons_from_running_curse_of_strahd_the_feast_of/). Well look over those now. It's a horrific truth that will send a shiver down your party's spines. I advice to treat these children like a simulacrum-like spell. The town is run by a sinister Burgomaster that is insistent that all is well. Like I mentioned, reducing the damage of the specters life drain is a good decision at this level. Emphasize the sections of the house that reveal the eerie lore of the Dursts, and simplify all else. What has been your experience with the Death House? In fact, the more good something is, the more it must be corrupted. Pretty spoopy. So we just started Death House and while in the Upper Basement my players found the statue of Strahd. 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. 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! Thank you for this. They become caught in the mists and can't travel to the afterlife. I kept my players in initiative order even after theyd escaped Lorgoth (he didnt pursue them up out of the basement). 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! Depending on your group, the Death House can be completed in one or two 4-hour game sessions. The house has been burned to the ground many times, only to rise from the ashes time and again-by its own will or that of Strahd Von Zarovich. Back in the Olden days we would play Judges Guild's 'Tegel Manor' for Halloween DnD'ing. As written, the plot hook is simply that there is a monster in the house. By the end of the Death House, there are three themes that should be firmly established in the players minds. I ran this around this time last year and that nursemaid absolutely murdered two of the NPCs of players I had only just met (at which point the party fled the house and refused to return). All the latest gaming news, game reviews and trailers. Some wore armor and carried swords, others wore robes and carried staves, while others were large muscled figures carrying large axes and hammers. 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. Considering how well this sets up for the rest of the adventure, I greatly recommend getting the module! The Count's Crypt. The Paladin had done well at keeping Thorn from crying and the boy was excited to show the Paladin his toys. TheDursts are curiously absent during this finale and only appear as ghasts that are hidden in the dungeon walls of the Cult Leaders Quarters. After using one of the adventure hooks (page 18), you have successfully steered the party to Barovia. Secret Room.- Theres a letter by Strahd here. 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. Tsolenka Pass is relatively isolated from the rest of Barovia, making it quite an unsettling, lonely path for the party to travel down. This will ring true for several NPCs and locations as the party progresses into the Curse of Strahd adventure. Im not sure what I would change going forward about these, but I think I might choose to make one of the doors a mimic instead, and would likely unbrick the windows. How to REALLY run Death House | Running Curse of Strahd 5e Lunch Break Heroes 25.4K subscribers 65K views 2 years ago #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #rpg Give your players a PROPER introduction to. You are correct about how death works in Curse of Strahd. A way to warn the party is the smell. Cult Leaders Quarters.- Gustav and Elisabeth Durst are here, they are ghasts. Strahd is aware of these events. This is a difficult fight too. 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. Far from the villages and towns of the valley, there is not much safety around this location. Most Barovians steer clear of this location, where they are likely to get lost in the muddy, misty marshes and even encounter terrifying scarecrows. She was then stabbed by the cultists for unexplained reasons and cast aside. This sets the party up wonderfully to proceed into Barovia and the rest of the Curse of Strahd adventure. Now that everyone is level 2, they can proceed downwards into the Durst Mansions dungeon level. 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. 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. The most important is the silvered shortsword in 25E (page 218). 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. Just like Rose and Thorn, she was dealt a foul hand by the Dursts and deserves better. They will have no other choice (Hop on the railroad car). There is lots of foreshadowing for the story to come. 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. Very useful against some Barovian creatures. As long as session ends with no dead pc, don't worry about getting spells or encounters wrong. If you start at level 2, Id say have them level up to 3 before they proceed into the Dungeon Level. Even just traveling around Barovia can be a spooky experience. Copyright Childrens Room .- The remains of Rose and Thorn are here. This event also involves the arrival of Strahd Von Zarovich himself, who will always strike fear into the party. It was amazing. But this isnt an article about Curse of Strahd. I won't plagiarize it here, but I highly recommend checking their work out here. There is no escape, not without first defeating the seemingly unstoppable vampire Strahd Von Zarovich. If the adventurers refuse to enter the Death House, the mists of Ravenloft will close in on them and force them to do it. By the end of the dungeon, the characters will be level 3. The nature of D&D 5e is that it is almost hilariously easier to die at lower levels than it is at higher levels even as tougher enemies appear. As they reach the bottom landing they discern a dozen or so voices saying, over and over, "He is the Ancient. If you started at level 1, this is a good point to have everyone level up. (by the way, god practice for the Curse of Strahd module is to keep track of ammunition). 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. Absolutely do not show the party the image of the children in the book. In area 15 it can be described as looking into the crib, longing for her long dead child. Consider liking our Facebook page. I'm always a little disappointed that one of the family members isn't named Frederick. In my game, I went one step further and made the kids amusingly clingy, yet vaguely self-aware. Dungeon m. AboutPressCopyrightContact. The house is not at all that dangerous if your players pick the right choices. What is it? 20. The first is a set of Animated Armor that is positioned to possibly push a party member down the stairs. Running Curse of Strahd. (Quick side note: stop them from immediately going to the Bonegrinder. Honestly, the story behind the adventure is incredibly grim and might be off-putting to some groups. 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! 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. Not all of them need to be visited, your group might skip some parts of the house or the dungeon. This chapter overhauls the Ruins of Berez chapter. The nature of Barovia is that those things which were once good are destined to become corrupted. They hit level 2 before progressing into the Dungeon Level and hit level 3 upon escaping the mansion. We skipped it. 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. 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. 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. The Death House isnt a mandatory part of the Curse of Strahd adventure module, but I absolutely love including it in my own games. I never thought of that. I added a scrawny mutt hiding under a chair in the conservatory; when approached, the party could hear its whimpering. People either absolutely love it or hate it! They double back to the one unexplored section of this dungeon level and descend a long stone staircase into darkness. 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. He is the Land." 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. You might also use less-intimidating artwork for the twins. All things considered, though, that might not be terribly long This is Barovia after all! 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. As a new DM don't worry about getting things wrong. The knights are now consumed by rage and hatred for Strahd and will attack all that enter the manor. 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. Posted by Joab | Sep 11, 2021 | For Dungeon Masters | 9. Be brave, dear reader, as you enter the haunted Durst Mansion. Your players will likely take Rose and Thorns request at face value, and using these encounters can cause them to realize that theyre in a ghost house too soon. 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. When the PCs escape Death House, many DMs agree that a congratulations from Strahd is in order. my article on running horror in your own D&D 5e games! They are worried about their parents and baby brother who they swore were right behind them when they ran out of the 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. introduction to the bleak and despair-filled land of Barovia. I'd recommendat the leastencouraging your players to long rest. Required fields are marked *. You cant just go ahead and say Its a Shambling Mound. Dress Up This October With This Month's Free Subscription Perks! 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. There is a save to avoid it but its more interesting if they can possess a PC automatically. If you already have level 3 players you can jump right into the action of Barovias encounters. But, this is Strahd's home, and the battle will not be easy. So today, were going to be taking a look at the Death House. You are also setting the scene for a probably unwinnable fight. 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? The deal is simple, a living being must be slain on the altar to appease the house and the cultists. Is level 2 before progressing into the dungeon the mansion grim and might be off-putting to some groups i. Removed forever story and escape through the front door a probably unwinnable fight Andral ] (:. 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