Oooh this is actually really neat, love the little modifiers you added. Running the Death House The main Curse of Strahd module encompasses levels 3-10. Perhaps she legitimately loved Gustav and hoped to free him from the cults influence. Ritual Chambers.- Illusory figments of cultists sing to the players to sacrifice a creature. In my game, I gave Rose the personality of a sassy older sister who was fiercely protective of her younger brother. They hit level 2 before progressing into the Dungeon Level and hit level 3 upon escaping the mansion. Death House is that deadly. 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. Thats awesome!! Keeping level 1 characters alive is no small task, and "Death House" monsters have high armor classes and hit hard. Part-time Druid, Full-time Hobo. 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. Add some emotion to the childrens request. Maybe as a specter, she now desires vengeance more than anything else and mourns for her son. 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. In reality it doesnt matter what or who dies on the altar. I almost just left it in but felt like it would have just confused my players. 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. Depending on your group, and how roleplay heavy they are. Emphasize the sections of the house that reveal the eerie lore of the Dursts, and simplify all else. However, that feels a little ham-fisted. 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. 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). If you already have level 3 players you can jump right into the action of Barovias encounters. We ran this as a Halloween one shot a few years ago. Death House is a modern Dungeons & Dragons horror classic. You are correct about how death works in Curse of Strahd. 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 they wont find something quite like that anytime soon. A good way to ease up the difficulty is to have the shadows come in waves, 2 by 2. Avoid making it an outright execution if you can! Chef Feat in D&D 5e Explained | Useful or Pie in the Sky? From gaming trends to the latest blockbuster anime, DualShockers keeps you ahead of the curve. A level 2party which has had no long rests and several tough fights will not win this fight without losing some PCs. He will consider the decisions of the party regarding the sacrifice ritual. The Death House has become something of a modern classic for 5e players. Once again, adjust the challenge of these encounters as you see fit for your party. RELATED: Story Hooks In D&D You Always See And Why They Work. You can find the Death House adventure here for free from Wizards of the Coast. The mists will dictate the places the party can visit. 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. 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. Posted by Joab | Sep 11, 2021 | For Dungeon Masters | 9. Not every spooky thing needs to have an explanation. All this can be achieved in 6-10 hours of playing. The party is expected to take them at face value and enter the house as soon as possible. The go-to source for comic and superhero movie fans. 2023 Elven Tower Cartography. There, in the attic of the model, were 4 dolls: each depicting the various party members. I added some handwriting font, put them on a parchment background, and they all came up well. Death House is a modern Dungeons & Dragons horror classic. Be careful when you use these, though. Consider liking our Facebook page. You cant just go ahead and say Its a Shambling Mound. ), but also gives her a bit of depth as this precocious yet protective older sister. Letter two is in the 3rd Floor master suite, in MrsDursts jewelry box. If you already have level 3 players you can jump right into the action of Barovia's encounters. 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. 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. After exiting the house, the mists of Ravenloft recede and will let them explore the Village of Barovia. Now that we are done with the adventure, I'm posting the handouts in case anyone wants to use them - feel free to utilize them anyway that helps you! 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. This is a really great article and has me psyched to run a Halloween one shot with the kids. Where the Death House really stands out is its use of theme. Absolutely do not show the party the image of the children in the book. Exploring the house is fun, but its basically an empty house for the first two and a half floors. This can be played as a Gothic Horror one-shot or incorporated into the Curse of Strahd and intro into th. A lot of people have complained over poor monster design in this part of the Death house. Curse Of Strahd is one of the best campaigns for Dungeons & Dragons. Balcony.- The animated armor can be challenging if PCs dont react properly. 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! Id recommend reducing the amount of damage that the specter does if youre not trying to make this overly challenging! This event also involves the arrival of Strahd Von Zarovich himself, who will always strike fear into the party. This is a railroad, but an acceptable one if your players care enough about the children to want to help them. This signals quite clearly: This is not a fight you can win. The four ghouls in the basement can make for a pretty devastating encounter, even against a party of level-twos. Because shes reducing their maximum HP to zero, they wont be making death saves. The house is not at all that dangerous if your players pick the right choices. Its important to note that after exiting this place, its unlikely that the adventurers will visit it ever again. There are 38 locations in the Death House. By the end of the Death House, there are three themes that should be firmly established in the players minds. We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. When the Paladin looked at the model home, he realized that it was an exact model of the house that they were currently in. Death House is a classic haunted house tale, starting with two ghostly children pleading for help outside. 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. Almost parallels Death house. The art style is fantastic, but the kids are possibly the creepiest thing in the book. Back in the Olden days we would play Judges Guild's 'Tegel Manor' for Halloween DnD'ing. Yes they are still illusions but appear too be real children and wont vanish. Secret Room.- Theres a letter by Strahd here. Luke also has a board game obsession, plays a bunch of D&D, and makes silly videos on YouTube. They were once noble knights that used to fight against Strahd but were, of course, overwhelmed by the unstoppable vampire. Now that everyone is level 2, they can proceed downwards into the Durst Mansions dungeon level. Oh, Death House. 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. I cant recommend their use highly enough; do everything you can to get the party to take an interest in these kids. This is a difficult fight too. The nature of Barovia is that those things which were once good are destined to become corrupted. Oh, Death House. 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. Monster design is good, but we have to re-skin the description a bit. Upon escaping to the outside, the house appears as if nothing ever happened. joining the sa forums will remove this big ad, the annoying underlined ads, and stupid interstitial ads!! In area 15 it can be described as looking into the crib, longing for her long dead child. [Bones of Saint Andral] (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/7hmosm/lessons_from_running_curse_of_strahd_the_feast_of/). I'm hosting my second ever session tonight and my party will be heading into the dungeonhave I missed something? Far from the villages and towns of the valley, there is not much safety around this location. Dont call it the Death House. 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