Death House

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MAPS can be found here: http://mikeschley.zenfolio.com/p678546160

ADVENTURE - Dragon+ Download: http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/Curse%20of%20Strahd%20Introductory%20Adventure.pdf

AL Adventure Download http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/Curse%20of%20Strahd%20Introductory%20Adventure.pdf

Milestones per http://dndadventurersleague.org/death-house-and-the-dd-adventurers-league

Ambient Audio

3 hour video/audio by Sword Coast

Death House Dungeon audio by Sword Coast

Location of the Death House

This is the first problem I had with the module. Having Death House actually within the Village of Barovia didn’t make sense to me. I know the village is pretty devoid already, but people still live there. I can’t imagine that such a wicked house could be anywhere civilized. Also, what if your level 1 characters decide to skip the house entirely and go straight for the church with Doru in the basement? They’ll all die for sure. (reddit)

I moved the Death House out of the village, placing it on a little hamlet along the roadside, long before the massive gates pictured in the book. I put two other structures on either side of the house, so it wouldn’t look out of place. One was a dilapidated servant’s house and the other a ruined stable. My characters could go check out these two buildings if they really wanted to, but the buildings are definitely on the condemned side of structural code and there wouldn’t be anything to find really. Besides, they should be more concerned about Rose and Thorne than the side structures. (reddit)

Map

reddit

Room by room notes

Room 3- Den of Wolves

Room	Mob	Trigger for mob	HP	AC	Exp
	Wolf x3 341	Remove Crossbow from Locked Cabinet	13	11	150

Room 11 - Balcony Animated Armor (page 190 damage or 5 feet of it 18 33 200 Room 14 Storage Room Broom of animated attack approaching w/in 5 feet 15 17 50 Room 15 Nursemaid’s Suite Specter (nursemaid) 279 opens door to nursery 12 22 200 Room 18 Storage Room ^^Specter (nursemaid) 279 situational attack - disturb remains ^^ ^^ ^^ Room 20 - Children’s Room Ghosts x 2 (Rose & Thorn) 147 not likely to fight - will try to possess 11 35 1400

Room 23d - Elisabeth’s Crypt Swarm of Centipedes 338 coffin disturbed 12 22 100 Room 28 Larder Grick 173 attacks 1st PC it sees 14 27 450 Room 29 Ghoulish Encounter Ghouls x 4 148 attack when PCs midpoint of 4way 12 22 800 Room 31 Darklord’s Shrine Shadows x 5 269 touch statue, take crystal orb 12 16 500 Room 33 Cult Leader's’ Den Mimic (door) 220 touches door 12 58 450 Room 34 Cult Leaders’ Quarters Ghasts x 2 (Gustav and Elisabeth Durst) 148 attack if remove items from footlocker 13 36 900 Room 38 Ritual Chamber Shambling mound (Lorghoth the Decayer)270 if attacked or summoned by cultist 15 136 1800 Various Walls Swarm of Rats 339 break down a wall to escape 10 24 50

Room Treasures Room 3 East Cabinet locked heavy crossbow, a light crossbow, a hand crossbow, and 20 bolts for each weapon North cabinet is unlocked small box containing a deck of playing cards and an assortment of wine glasses.

Room 8 On top of Desk oil lamp, a jar of ink, a quill pen, a tinderbox, and a letter kit containing a red wax candle, four blank sheets of parchment, and a wooden seal bearing the Durst family’s insignia (a windmill). In the desk drawer an iron key, which unlocks the door to area 20.

Room 9 Chest containing 3 blank book w/ black leather covers (75 gp) three spell scrolls (bless, protection from poison, spiritual weapon) the deed to the house, the deed to a windmill, and a signed will.

Room 12 The jewelry box on the vanity is made of silver with gold filigree (worth 75 gp). It contains three gold rings (worth 25 gp each)

thin platinum necklace with a topaz pendant (worth 750 gp).

Room 25 25A. This room’s chest contains 11 gp and 60 sp in a pouch made of human skin. (11.6 gp) 25B. This room’s chest contains three moss agates (worth 10 gp each) in a folded piece of black cloth. (30 gp) 25C. This room’s chest contains a black leather eyepatch with a carnelian (worth 50 gp) sewn into it. (50 gp) 25D. This room’s chest contains an ivory hairbrush with silver bristles (worth 25 gp). 25E. This room’s chest contains a silvered shortsword (worth 110 gp). Room 31 The crystal orb worth 25 gp that can be used as an arcane focus. [or for Launch event: a+1 Orb of the Warmage*] Room 34 open crate containing thirty torches and a leather sack with fifteen candles inside it. Footlocker containing cloak of protection a small wooden coffer (unlocked) containing four potions of healing chain shirt mess kit flask of alchemist’s fire bullseye lantern thieves’ tools spellbook with a yellow leather cover containing the following wizard spells: 1st level: disguise self, identify, mage armor, magic missile, protection from evil and good 2nd level: darkvision, hold person, invisibility, magic weapon

Room 36 Skeleton find a gold ring (25gp) [or for Launch event: a Ring of Mind Shielding*] on one of its bony fingers.

The New Story

This honestly isn’t too radically changed from the written material, but I feel it does fill in some gaps and streamlines some otherwise confusing details. (reddit)

In essence, the Durst family was an upper class family in Barovia around the time Strahd came to town. However, Mr. Durst had a bit of a fling with the nanny that accidentally produced a bastard baby. Mrs. Durst became insanely jealous and vindictive, convinced that her growing age was the reason for her husband’s adultery. She began her own little cult to try and find the secret to immorality and youth, dragging her husband along with her. They would lure travelers off the street and newly hired servants to sacrifice them on the altar in the basement. However, nothing ever worked. (reddit)

Each time Mr. and Mrs. Durst would perform these sacrifices, they would lock their children in their room to protect them. This was an honest attempt to spare Rose and Thorne’s innocence. (reddit)

Only a few months after Walter was born, Mrs. Durst completely lost her patience. She murdered the nanny and took Walter to the basement and sacrificed him without Mr. Durst’s knowledge. Because of the atrocity of this act, she attracted the notice of a Dark Power that cursed the entire house. Mrs. Durst and some of the other cultists present at the time were finally granted their immortality... by being turned into ghouls and ghasts. Mr. Durst, upon seeing what his wife had done, was overcome with guilt and grief and hanged himself in the basement. With no adults left to remember them, Rose and Thorne starved to death in their room. (reddit)

However, this last sacrifice created more than just some undead in the basement. It also turned Walter into a horrible monster that the players will have to face in order to free the house of its curse. (reddit)

=== Big things that change in this version of Death House === (reddit)

Baby Walter is a bastard, but not a stillborn

Walter is one of the reasons Rose and Thorne want characters to help them in the first place. They actually ask the players to check on their baby brother, who they left upstairs when they got scared by the screaming monster in the basement.

Walter appears in the family portrait on the second floor of the house. If he were stillborn, why would this be here?

Remember to change the letter from Strahd found in the secret room. Simply change the word from “stillborn” to “bastard” and you should be good to go.

Mrs. Durst is the bad guy, not Mr. Durst

Even though Mr. Durst technically is part of the cult and helped with the sacrifices, all the horrors are actually the result of Mrs. Durst’s wickedness. Even if the characters recognize that Mr. Durst is still a bad person, they should still feel a level of pity and sympathy for him.

This also takes away one Ghast in the basement, to help your party survive this house.

Nix the cannibalism thing

Without having some out of character explanations, there’s no real way for your characters to learn and confirm this fact anyway. It’s an extra level of grotesque, sure, but it’s ultimately hard to figure out and confuses the plot. It’s also easy to blame the chewed bones in the basement on the ghouls, anyway. The story and cult are horrific enough, so you really don’t need the cannibalism. (reddit)

New Letters and Supplements

Here are a couple letters and details I added for my party to find to help tell the story. (reddit)

Strahd’s Letter

As previously stated, I changed the word “stillborn” to “bastard” in Strahd’s letter to the Dursts. (reddit)

An Unsent Letter from Mrs. Durst to a fellow Cult Member

I put this letter in Mrs. Durst’s jewelry box in the master bedroom. (reddit)

My Dear Mrs. Petrovna,

Your advice on dealing with the unwanted fiend in my home is very good advice indeed. Tonight's ceremony will proceed as planned when the moon is at its highest peak - without, of course, the attendance of Mr. Durst. I must agree with you that, yes, with such an innocent sacrifice our proceedings may have better results. Although, "innocent" is not quite the term I would use.

My Thanks,

Mrs. Elisabeth Durst

Cultist Logbook

I put this item in one of the locked foot lockers in the basement in the cult barrack’s section.

I didn’t write anything down to show my players for this one, but simply described it as a list of names, descriptions of people, and details of somesort of ceremony.

In other words, this is a logbook of the cult’s victims kept by one of the head cultists. There’s a column for names of their victims. A second column with the victim’s physical description. And a third column telling gruesome details like, “Struggled profusely” and “No tranquilizers given this time.” (reddit)

Mr. Durst’s Suicide Note

Mr. Durst hanged himself in the master bedroom in the basement. The party will also meet the ghast version of Mrs. Durst in this room. After whatever confrontation takes place, the party will be able to find the suicide note on Mr. Durst’s corpse. (reddit)

Most of this note is borrowed from the game, Layers of Fear. I felt it fit almost too well.

My Beloved Children,

I wish I could do what all fathers do and tell you that monsters aren’t real. But it wouldn’t be true.

Life can create things of exquisite beauty. But it can also twist them into hideous beings. Selfish. Violent. Grotesque. Monstrous. It hurts me to say that your mother has turned into one such monster, inside and out. And I’m afraid the disease that afflicted her mind has taken hold of me as well.

It sickens me to think what we’ve put you through. There is no excuse. I only ask of you, though I know I do not have the right to do so, to try and forgive us. I despise what your mother has become, but I love and pity her all the same.

Rose, I wish I could see you blossom into a strong, beautiful woman. Thorne, Walter, I wish I could be there for you. But I can’t. This is the only way.

Goodbye.

Far Fewer Fights and Monsters

I took out the following battles in order to stop the TPK syndrome associated with this module. You’re party is level 1-2 through this whole thing anyway, so they shouldn’t have so much hurt this early on. Also, if you’re sticking to a smaller party like I previously recommended, the fights will already be harder on them. (reddit)

The Nursemaid Specter. She’s still present as a character, but I didn’t have my players fight her. (reddit)

The Animated Broom. This just seemed frivolous. It also lightened the mood too much just when the characters are entering the eerie part of the house. I kept the animated armor instead. (reddit)

The Grick. Honestly, four level 2 characters should NOT be fighting a grick and multiple ghouls at the same time. (reddit)

The Shadows. Shadows can drain strength and easily kill a weak party member. After 4-6 ghouls, these have no business being here. Especially with Mrs. Durst the ghast and the big boss that’s coming up. (reddit)

Taking out these fights made Death House more about the story and overall more enjoyable for my players. (reddit)

Gertruda’s Dog

This is something that I find a wonderful addition to Death House and comes directly from another reddit post. Thank you so much for this idea! (reddit)

In the conservatory/music room on the second floor, the players will come across an old dog hiding under the harpsichord. They’ll have to lure him out, but once he approaches, he’s very friendly. This is actually Gertruda’s childhood dog. You know, the missing teenager that the party will eventually find in Castle Ravenloft? The daughter of Mad Mary? That Gertruda. (reddit)

Since Gertruda is an airheaded youth who believes heartily in fairy tales, I named the dog, Lancelot. The characters can find the name on the dog’s collar. (reddit)

Having Lancelot join the party is not only a welcome bit of sweetness in this horror house, but also gives the party a non-player character to sacrifice in the basement. It’s a terrible thing to for them to deal with morally and that makes it all the better for this campaign. (reddit)

Rose and Thorne

Firstly, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT SHOW YOUR PLAYERS THE PICTURE OF THESE CHILDREN. Don’t get me wrong, the artwork throughout this campaign is beautiful. I love the stylized illustrations and the creepy imagery. But the blue tinted character portraits don’t exactly inspire trust. Your players are supposed to feel sorry for these kids and want to help them. Showing them the illustration is only going to make them distrustful. (reddit)

In fact, on a similar note, don’t show your players any of the creepy character portraits that are in this style. As you flip through the book, you should be able to tell the safe head shots from the not so safe blue tinted work. Keep those to yourself until long after the party has moved on. If you’re certain your party is never going to deal with that npc again, share the art as much as you want. (reddit)

Projections or Ghosts?

The book tells you that this version of Rose and Thorne are just projections from the house. But no matter how much I think about it, there’s no real way for characters to figure this out. Also, if Rose and Thorne are actively trying to lure the characters into Death House, you’ll have to be rolling deception for them if your players want to insight check them. This could lead to trouble. (reddit)

Instead, I made this version of Rose and Thorne the actual ghosts of the children. They don’t know they’re dead yet because their bodies are still locked in their room in the attic. Everything they say here is therefore sincere. They also appear entirely corporeal outside the home, looking alive and well. (reddit)

Once the characters discover the children’s remains, Rose and Thorne will reappear with memories far more intact. They’ll also actually look like ghosts this time, spectral and see-through. At this point, they’ll recall that they were often locked away when their parents went to “deal with the monster” and that the last time, no one came back for them. They were “so very hungry, but no one came when we cried. And then the hunger went away and we grew very cold and went to sleep.” (reddit)

Asking the Players for Help

When the players first meet the siblings in front of the house, they tell the players that their parents are currently dealing with a monster in the basement. Rose and Thorne were supposed to stay upstairs and care for their baby brother, but Thorne got scared by the monster’s cries and ran outside. Now little Walter is all alone in the house. Have Rose ask the players to go make sure Walter is okay. You should imply that it looks like they both are too frightened to back into the house themselves, though. If your players have a heart at all, this should be more than enough to get them into the house. (reddit)

The final conversation with Rose and Thorne’s ghosts in the attic should have the children implore the players for help yet again. They remember much more this time around, but they’re still ignorant to the true nature of their parents. However, Rose thinks that their mother might have taken Walter to the basement last. She asks the players to save their baby brother and their parents and defeat the monster once and for all. If asked how to get into the basement, Rose points at the dollhouse revealing the secret entry. (reddit)

The Nursemaid

Make her a character, not a monster!!!!

I can’t stress this enough. You’re party is level 1 when they meet her. They don’t need to be fighting a specter, especially with everything else they have to face. (reddit)

I personally named her Margaret and had her actually converse with the party. I played her as tragic and shy, pressing her beautiful, ghostly form into the corner of her room in order to hide from the party. Margaret is a very confused ghost. She knows that something bad happened to her, but she doesn’t actually remember dying. In fact, she frequently jumps between knowing and not knowing she’s dead, between past and present. (reddit)

Margaret speaks fondly of Mr. Durst, saying that he’s a very kind man, but doesn’t mention their affair out of propriety. If the players ask her outright about Walter being her child or of her relationship with Mr. Durst, she tells them, “It’s not my place to speak of such things. I’m very sorry...” She also smiles beautifully if asked about Rose, Thorne, or Walter, claiming them all to be wonderful children. It should be obvious that she loves them very much. (reddit)

If the characters ask Margaret about Mrs. Durst, her smile fades. She doesn’t say anything outright bad about her mistress, but players should be able to sense from her mannerisms and answers that Margaret is actually afraid of Mrs. Durst. (reddit)

Approaching the crib

As written, Margaret should get violent if players try to go to the crib. I took this out. Instead, she simply asks them to be quiet since the baby is sleeping. When the players approach the bundle in the crib, it unfurls revealing nothing but the cloth and Margaret is gone. (reddit)

Her Body in the Attic

If the players find Margaret’s body, I didn’t have her ghost reappear. She should have given them all the clues they needed by now anyway. (reddit)

The corpse appears curled up in the trunk. If the players investigate, they’ll see the front of Margaret’s dress has multiple stab holes, indicating her murder. (reddit)

The Basement

By the time your players get into the basement, they should have a pretty good idea of what’s going on. They should know that there were some creepy sacrifices going on and that Mr. and Mrs. Durst were probably pretty twisted. They probably also suspect that baby Walter is as dead as his siblings. Nonetheless, they’re officially level 2 and they’re here for answers! (reddit)

A Few Things

Don’t forget to mention the distant chanting that players can hear throughout the basement level. (reddit)

Up until this point, the party has only fought the animated armor. Now, they might encounter the swarm of insects in Mrs. Durst’s coffin and they WILL encounter 4-6 ghouls depending on their party size. (reddit)

I made the Strahd statue just an eerie object they can observe. If they touch it in any way, it secretly sends a message to Strahd letting him know that the party is in Barovia. A chill goes down the party’s spine. (reddit)

The Underground Master Bedroom

This is where the party will find the hanging corpse of Mr. Durst. Don’t forget the suicide note in his pocket after the following confrontation is over. (reddit)

After a moment, Mrs. Durst in her ghast form will burst from one of the earthen walls. Unlike the other ghouls who outright attacked the party, Mrs. Durst can actually speak. She’s retained her memory but has also completely succumbed to her dark whims. Her lips and gums have gone black with rot and she smiles madly at the characters. When she introduces herself, tell the players that after closer inspection they can see the vague resemblance to the portrait of her in the main house. (reddit)

Mrs. Durst has gone completely mad. She’s arrogant and believes herself better than everyone, looking down on the players. She shuns her dead husband and calls him a lecherous traitor who deserved to die. She has even less kind words for Walter and the nursemaid. She even writes off her own children as bothersome nuisances. Don’t be afraid to be vulgar when voicing Mrs. Durst. Try to give her a hissing, gargling voice and use some language you wouldn’t use in front of your mother. It’ll make the party hate her all the more. (reddit)

Should the players ask what she did to Walter, she grins and tells them, “Why don’t you go down even further and find out for yourself.” (reddit)

Mrs. Durst eventually tells the players to get out. But most likely, your players will feel inclined to end her. Good. She’s meant to be utterly repulsive and killing her will make them all feel really great. (reddit)

The Altar Room and the Final Confrontation

Here’s where things get really gruesome, folks. First of all, I’ll admit that I rigged this final encounter to happen whether or not something is sacrificed in the “One Must Die” bit. Don’t tell your players it’s rigged of course. But believe me, having this final encounter will give a better sense of fulfillment. Not having it may leave them feeling like there are loose threads or something missing. (reddit)

Summoning Walter

If the players refuse to kill anybody during “One Must Die”, Lancelot the dog included, the cult spirits are angered and summon Walter. (reddit)

If the players do sacrifice something/someone, the cult spirits chant victoriously and summon Walter. (reddit)

Either way, your players should feel like they’ve just made a grave error. (reddit)

Also, go ahead and change the final summoning chant. Lorgoth the Destroyer is very wordy and eye-roll worthy. I changed the chant to, “Come, demon! We awaken thee!” Simple and to the point. (reddit)

What’s happened to Walter

Through the Dark Power that came to the final sacrifice and changed the cultists into ghouls, Walter has been turned into a horrible monster. He’s essentially a modified shambling mound that I call, The Flesh Mound. (reddit)

When summoned, the dirty water that fills the chamber seems to ripple as something moves beneath the surface. A gathering of bones, flesh, and body parts come together and rise out of the water as a giant, moving heap of gore. (reddit)

The Flesh Mound is far too powerful for a group of level 2 players to take down. In fact, they probably all sense that this thing is going to flat out kill them. Luckily, I put in a loophole. Throughout the battle, the Flesh Mound will try to grapple and swallow players, absorbing them in the gore. This can definitely do them damage, but at the same time give them the answer. At the center of the Flesh Mound is a small cavity containing the body of baby Walter, a crying corpse attached to the rest of the mound by sinuous ligaments. A swallowed player will have the chance to see this infant form. Severing the ligaments or killing the baby (this should feel more like putting Walter out of his misery), will cause the whole Flesh Mound to fall apart. When the mound dies, all that’s left is the corpse of the baby, which the players can put to rest in his crypt if they please. (reddit)

Trapping your Players in the Altar Room

Like I said, I really wanted this encounter to happen. It’s a final boss after all and it puts a nice cap on the story, telling the players what happened to Walter as well as getting rid of "the monster". Missing it is like not reading the final chapter in a book. (reddit)

I made the chanting spirits responsible for keeping players in the room so that they couldn’t miss this encounter. I gave the spirits the Shadow stat block and made it so that they only attack players who have left the altar room. I also gave them the ability to pass through solid objects like it was difficult terrain so that they could cut off fleeing characters by passing through walls. (reddit)

Flesh Mound Stat Block

Here are the stats and traits that I gave to the Flesh Mound. I used the shambling mound as a base and modified it from there. (reddit)

And that’s that! Once Walter is defeated, the curse is lifted from the house. The players can safely move throughout the house, though the first two floors are no longer preserved, appearing as dusty and old as the third floor and the attic. They can put the rest of the Durst family to rest if they like, and the character that does so may deserve some inspiration. Otherwise, your party should be effectively horrified and ready to move on to the Village of Barovia. Well done! (reddit)

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DEATH HOUSE

Oh, Death House. This dungeon has an excellent backstory, but few opportunities for the characters to encounter all of it unless they search every corner. 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. That’s 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 they’ve uncovered its nature.

The Durst Family

Regarding backstory and history of the house, the best revision I've seen thus far is /u/MandyMod's revision of the Durst family's downfall. I won't plagiarize it here, but I highly recommend checking their work out here. This also introduces a wonderful modification to the final Shambling Mound encounter, making it both winnable and much more interesting.

Hooking the Party

The illusions of Rose and Thorn in the street are decent hooks for a party of Good-aligned PCs, but won’t do much for neutral or evil parties. Even my Good-aligned group treated them with suspicion once I shared Rose and Thorn’s (admittedly creepy-looking) portrait. 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.

Now, railroading isn’t a bad thing, especially for a newer group. Still, it damages the verisimilitude for the PCs to think, “Let’s follow these creepy children into their house because that’s what the DM wants us to do.” Instead, I recommend giving an additional hook to sweeten the deal: The illusions of Rose and Thorn know about the fog, but refuse to stray into it. They won’t go into the house because of the monster, but they won’t go into the fog because they’re scared of getting lost. Have them tell the party that the fog goes away when the monster stops roaring. 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.

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.

Inside the House

Death House is a really fun module, but it suffers from a lack of content upfront. Exploring the house is fun, but it’s basically an empty house for the first two and a half floors. Moreover, there are a lot of things that the party can miss (e.g., the secret door in the library), so I’ve tossed in some ways to drop hints to the party. Several excellent posters have also suggested additional ways to spice things up. 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.

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. Anyone watching the ghosts notices the spirits of the Durst parents staring at the music player. Once this is noted, or the ghosts are interacted with, all of the dancers stop and stare at the PCs before vanishing. Immediately afterward, a grinding noise (the sound of the secret passage) can be heard from the attic.

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. Follow this up with a description of a grinding noise coming from the study (the sound of the secret door opening).

Be careful when you use these, though. Your players will likely take Rose and Thorn’s request at face value, and using these encounters can cause them to realize that they’re in a ghost house too soon.

Resting in the House

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. If the PCs damage anything (the chairs, the wallpaper, etc.) 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.

A Sacrifice for the Cult

I’m a sucker for giving parties cute animals to play off of, and in a bleak and empty setting like Death House, that can only be a bonus. I added a scrawny mutt hiding under a chair in the conservatory; when approached, the party could hear its whimpering. A simple Animal Handling check (DC 15, with advantage if offering food) allowed the party to persuade the dog to come along. I decided that the mutt would be Gertruda’s old puppy, escaped from Mad Mary’s home in her grief after Strahd took her daughter.

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 isn’t a player - but one that will make them feel deliciously worse.

The Nursemaid

The nursemaid’s 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. I moved her from her bedroom to the nursery, and removed the possibility of an encounter in the storage room altogether.

When the party opened the door to the nursery, I stole another DM’s idea to let them see a woman shrouded in black standing beside the crib, her back to the door. The PCs could hear her making gentle cooing sounds, and see her rocking the crib gently. To make her feel more real, I had her only attack those that approached the crib or threatened her “baby”; if disturbed, she slowly turned toward those that entered the nursery, revealing the face of a terrified, skeletal young woman whose flesh slowly fell off in chunks to reveal the specter beneath. Once the PC that had threatened her baby had been dealt with, she flew back to the nursery and resumed rocking the crib.

Passage to the Attic

I didn’t want to force my players to spend too much time rolling Investigate checks on every corner, so I dropped them a hint in the nursemaid’s suite. Three of my players were able to get boosts up to the attic from the balcony outside of the master bedroom, but the fourth, a firbolg, was too big to make it up.

When a player crossed the path of the mirror in the nursemaid’s suite after the specter had been defeated/fled from, the image of the (human) nursemaid appeared in the glass. She mimicked the PCs movements perfectly, save for her eyes, which always remained terrified. 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. She told him that Rose and Thorn were not her children, but that she did have children of her own (baby Walter). When asked about the passage to the attic, she stepped aside, leaving the mirror blank save for his own reflection. This prompted him to investigate the mirror, revealing the passage up.

The Ghosts of Rose & Thorn

These two made invaluable contributions to the session. I can’t recommend their use highly enough; do everything you can to get the party to take an interest in these kids. Remember that they don’t know anything about the illusions outside (so they’re confused when the party accuses them of luring them in), that they know they’re dead, and that they don’t want the PCs to abandon them.

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 child’s 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 hadn’t taken control from the PC he’d possessed, another PC actually invited Rose to possess her as well. I provided their flaws through PM, and both had a blast roleplaying it.

Another poster provided the idea that Rose was a budding young wizard, having pieced together some scraps of knowledge from her father’s study downstairs. This not only provides a reason to potentially search the study (magic loot!), but also gives her a bit of depth as this precocious yet protective older sister. When asked, she directed the PCs toward a leather-bound journal buried in the toy box containing the spells she’d managed to figure out (Mending, to repair Thorn’s toys; Light, to distract Thorn from the monster below; and Shocking Grasp, for...reasons explained below). Throughout, the PC received a sense of quiet pride from Rose.

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. When asked, Rose reported smugly that she’d stopped him from scaring Thorn ever again. One of my PCs assumed that she’d accidentally killed him with Shocking Grasp, but thankfully didn’t bring it up. This also gives her some nice agency, and gives the party a better feel for her role as Thorn’s protector.

When the party tries to leave the house, Rose and Thorn do not let them. Here, the children seize full control over their hosts’ bodies. Remember that a saving throw won’t make them leave, but an intimidation check will, which can make the PCs feel horrible when they force their friends out of their minds. This didn’t 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.

The Ghouls in the Ground

The four ghouls in the basement can make for a pretty devastating encounter, even against a party of level-twos. 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.

Shadows of the Shadowlord

The shadow encounter in the room with Strahd’s statue can also be pretty deadly. Again, this didn’t 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. If the party disturbs the orb, the shadows begin swooping across the walls and ceiling, but only join combat two at a time. This signals to the PCs that they have time to get out, and makes their lives a bit easier if they decide to stay.

Cult Leaders’ Suite

Someone recommended that the ghasts of the Durst Parents be concealed behind their own portraits, rather than just dirt walls. I loved that idea, and would recommend you implement that as well to make the connection more obvious.

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Strahd's letter to the Dursts

Google Doc

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The Nursemaid on the 3rd floor outright killed a character with one hit. This isn't uncommon. If played intelligently she could possibly wipe a party. Play her unintelligently and just go after the closest character. One level 1 character dead is fine, a TPK on the second fight is not. (reddit)

The Ghosts on the 4th floor: I had them possess a PC without a save, because I really thought it was a great way to give the players opportunity to role play. It worked well in both groups. (reddit)

Ghouls in the basement at the cross road: These guys are nasty against a party at level 2. Try to warn them that something is coming. A smell coming from those locations, something to let them know that this is a dangerous spot. It's easy to manage with a smart group since there are choke points, but make sure they have the information before hand to prepare. (reddit)

Shadows by the Strahd statue: Five of these appearing at once will wipe the group, especially if they didn't find the silvered shortsword earlier. I had to fudge a lot of die rolls to keep the players alive here. The second time I ran it, I didn't have all 5 appear at the same time. This worked far better. (reddit)

The Shambling Mound: There are a few issues with this guy. The first problem is that the PCs need to activate him before they can escape from the house, but there is no way to tell the PCs that the mists have receded after the Mound attacks. This is an issue because they tend to think "Oh, we probably can't leave until we clear the dungeon" and if they try that, they probably all die. The second time I ran the Death House I made sure that they all had a telegraph that it was time to run. I used the classic "Load Supporting Boss" and told them that the earth below them started to shake, and some of the earth and dust from the ceiling started to fall down. That made them realize it was time to bug out for the dug out. (reddit)

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One Must Die

I wanted to make it obvious that the encounter at the altar was the final step to fleeing 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. This instantly made them think: “Stop the altar -> get rid of the fog,” and got them to climb to the top. This also triggered the wonderful “One Must Die” encounter.

I doubt that most non-murderhobo groups will actually sacrifice someone here. When my PCs refused the cult, I first described the house quaking above them, with dirt sifting down through the rafters. 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. This signals quite clearly: This is not a fight you can win.

Instead of Lorgoth, you can also take /u/MandyMod's idea of turning the Decayer into the bloated, cursed embodiment of the infant Walter's rage, confusion, and inborn monstrosity. See here for more details.

The Rage of Death House

When Death House is rejected, it gets mad. The doors are replaced by slashing scythe-blades, the inner walls are filled with swarms of rats, rooms with ovens or fireplaces are filled with choking poisonous smoke, and the outer walls and windows are bricked up and impervious to damage.

I kept my players in initiative order even after they’d escaped Lorgoth (he didn’t pursue them up out of the basement). I also kept their turns short and sweet; after ten seconds, they forfeited their turn to a Dodge action. This kept them panicked, tense, and on their toes.

The smoke worked great as a way to keep them moving. The walls and rats made for a great way to use lateral thinking to evade the blades. 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).

I’m 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. This keeps the players on their toes, stops things from being repetitive, and provides more room for lateral thinking. Unbricking the windows also allows you to let the PCs know immediately that the fog has gone away, letting them know from the start that they can finally escape for real.

Strahd’s Greeting

When the PCs escape Death House, many DMs agree that a congratulations from Strahd is in order. These include:

The discovery that one of the PCs was actually impersonated by Strahd the entire time, immediately after discovering that PC’s corpse in a coffin outside of the house.

Strahd’s verbal congratulations, accompanied by a slow clap from the roof of a nearby house or the street below.

Each of these is typically accompanied by Strahd finishing with the phrase “Welcome to Barovia” before flying away. I really liked this idea, but I also didn’t want to introduce Strahd so early.

Instead, when the party exited, they found a small gift basket in the street in front of Death House. 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. They haven’t opened it yet, but I’m hoping that they’ll use the letter as an excuse to take an interest in Ismark when they arrive at the tavern.

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Notes from running Death House

Keep your players moving. Scan descriptions before they enter the room and rattle it off quick. Don't let them linger unless it actually does something interesting, like build tension and player-player interactions or the like. Before they enter describe a walkabout of the house, the two neighboring buildings, to seed the idea that they can bypass stuff by grappling to the balconies. Suggest to them, at the beginning of the session, that they plan turns before their round of combat, have their dice in hand and modifiers in mind, and roll both attack and damage dice simultaneously. This can easily cut combat time down to a third. (reddit)

Some specific variations on our run:

Allude to Strahd whenever possible. Not necessarily by name. They may feel a presence - a sense of amusement, or scorn - particularly when in the mists, or when they find Strahd's letter, or the shrine to him, etc. (reddit)

Drawers, cupboards, etc aren't empty, there are receipts, raunchy romance novels, children's stories, a rock collection, etc. (reddit)

When the walls were inspected and snakes were seen (as described in the module), they could swear the snakes are moving. When they look closer, a swarm of poisonous snakes pops out of the wall and attacks. (Note this is CR 2.) (reddit)

They could also swear those bats in the upstairs panels are moving. But not so inclined to look close this time. (reddit)

The nursemaid's specter did not manifest until they opened up the baby-shaped bundle only to find it was empty. This is a great time to do it, because there's a lot of tension about what's inside. (reddit)

When the nursemaid manifests, she first has the form of a woman, but I described her screeching "My baby!" and transforming into the specter depicted in the Monster Manual. The players thought it was interesting, as they remembered Mrs. Gustav's scorn in the portrait downstairs. The specter understands common, but talking her down out of combat should be extremely difficult (I'd guess DC 22 or a natural 20), if she goes unmolested a full round, she goes to the crib and picks up the blanket -- once again shaped into a baby -- and coos at it. (reddit)

In the kids' room, I noted that the dollhouse was affixed to the table with a delicate line of caulk, and the tabletop is almost half a foot thick. Knowing that there was a basement (make sure the children mention that's where the monster is!), they ran a dagger along the caulk and pried loose the dollhouse. Looking underneath, they got the complete layout of the basement. Very clever, team! (reddit)

The grick in the basement is coiled on the ceiling, and drops onto someone's head when they start searching for items of interest in the larder. The passive perception is, btw, only to avoid surprise, to spot it above you in a tiny and dark room requires much much higher perception. For a larger or stronger party consider swapping the grick for an "I can't believe it's only CR 2" Carrion Crawler. (reddit)

Try to rig it so that your best, most experienced roleplayer gets possessed by Rose and/or Thorn. Let her or him know that it's happened, and the effects, via index card, or even pass them that page of the module. The more they know about what the ghosts know and want, the better they can roleplay it. In our case, we had a pretty hilarious bit where the cleric crawled into Thorn's coffin and didn't want to come out. 5-10 minutes later the party gets the idea to put the lid on the coffin... at which point the possession ended and the cleric panicked. (reddit)

The two ghasts in the basement shouldn't just pop out of the walls. Instead, the room should have two large oil paintings, one of each of the Dursts, and they actually come out of those paintings. (reddit)

When refusing the "One Must Die" ritual, they should be notified that the house reacts with a description of a slight earthquake, and dirt sifting out of the ceiling above. (reddit)

In the entry hall: Make sure that as the players go up the spiral stairs you tell them that they can see down the center all the way to the bottom floor, and if someone gets the idea to grapple and throw the armor down, keep in mind that the armor has basically no INT and is too stupid to realize that it uses stairs to get back up. (reddit)

If players decide to take a short rest in the Death House, you might give it to them, but let them know that it's not a very restful rest. If they try for a long rest, it doesn't work, unease builds in them and prevents sleep. (reddit)

The "One Must Die" apparitions don't have a stat block, but if attacked before they awake the shambler, and if it's a high-powered group, 13 Shadows is deadly but manageable for a very capable team. (reddit)

When someone looks into the nursemaid's mirror, the image of the nursemaid is looking back at them. The reflection perfectly follows their own movements, as though it really is a reflection of themselves. (reddit)

If they break the nursemaid's mirror, tell them that they've cursed themselves, but don't tell them the nature of the curse. You can do whatever, but I narrated throughout the game the nursemaid's voice scolding the character about their various misbehaviors. This was a kids' table, and it was 100% awesome lol (reddit)

If you've got cocky veteran powergamers in your group, you can seriously scare the crap out of them with the Shadows fight triggered in the room with the Strahd statue. Shadows can use their amorphism and natural stealth bonuses to escape into cracks in the walls, through closed doors, set up ambushes, etc. When a player gets strength drained, the shadows can grapple them and drag them off while the players are engaged in a battle with the ghouls, ghasts, or shambling mound. This is your chance to make even the most capable team think, "omg we could die in here." (reddit)

Consider using an Otyugh instead of a Shambling Mound. (reddit)

When Rose and Thorn try to possess a player, try to narrate it in such a way that the players decide to just let them in. We had it narrated so that the possession attempt was like the kid wanted the warm embrace of another soul, and both players actually declined to even roll a saving throw! I'm like, you guys.... all the feels... (;﹏;) (reddit)

Highly recommended: Something I did in a recent run was make Rose a child prodigy who is all too aware of the dynamics in her house (albeit not exactly everything that was going on), and a budding wizard. Players found out about this when Thorn (whom I depicted as almost having Down's syndrome) broke one of his toys and started crying, until Rose used Mending on it. When the players remarked on it, she smiled shyly and showed them her diary with quiet pride. Leafing through, they find a lot of little-girl stuff, talking about her studies, friends she made, a very protective stance towards her younger brother, and elementary (yet insightful) observations on the nature of magic. Cantrips she had figured out were Mending, Light, and Shocking Grasp, although she could only manage that last one once per day. As a ghost, if she possesses a willing host, she is able to cast these cantrips through the host. She became the group mascot, and one player remarked that if he could True Resurrect... (reddit)

Consider extremely carefully before using: This one's really dark. When the players found the secret alcove in the library with the deed, there was a note in there addressed to the father's brother, named Dimov, telling him of suspicions regarding the ambitions of "the others" (fellow cultists) and saying that if anything happens, he is to be steward of the house and caretaker of the children. The key to their room is folded inside this letter. So why did he never come? In Rose's notes on Shocking Grasp, it's scribbled, "It worked! Uncle Dimov sneaked into our room again, but I was ready. I hope he never comes back!" Any attempt to bring up this incident with Rose, or anything regarding her Uncle Dimov, causes her to clam up and go still. A reasonable insight check would just reveal that mention of the uncle has put her into fight-or-flight mode. If asked about his uncle, Thorn shrinks in on himself silently, and Rose shelters him with her body, staring daggers at whoever asked. In case you haven't picked up on it, the implication is that Dimov was an abusive uncle, and Rose, a young wizard, fought him off using magic. (reddit)

The mechanic of opening the secret passage to the basement can be kind of gimmicky. Simply having it open if they've read Strahd's note is kind of lame, because there's no connection between the two events and therefore no accomplishment on the player's part. And surprisingly, while many players comb the house for secret doors, few check the dollhouse. Here are a couple added suggestions on how they may open the way: (reddit)

My favorite: In the library's hidden room with the note is a tattered piece of sheet music. If the players start playing it on the harpsichord, then the conservatory fills with ghosts that mill around the room socializing and dancing to the music with one another. If the players go around trying to interact with the ghosts, nothing happens, and the ghosts don't seem to notice they're there. But then they notice that two ghosts are staring right at them. When the players recognize them as Gustav and Elizabeth Durst, every ghost in the room stops and turns towards the players. Then they vanish -- and the harpsichord no longer makes any sound. But they hear a grinding sound from above. When they find the secret passage to the basement, point out to the highest perception player that there are scrapes in the floor from the wall moving aside, and that this must have been the grinding they heard earlier when that stuff happened. (reddit)

Rose knows the way down, but she "isn't supposed to go down there" and doesn't "want to get in trouble." If the players convince her to show the way, she simply uses her poltergeist powers to open the passage directly. Likely this means hers and Thorn's bones getting taking along, or a player being possessed. (reddit)

If the players don't think to interact with the dollhouse to open the way and start examining rooms more closely, a perceptive player can notice finger-sized holes on the wall of the secret passage. If you're doing your job right, they won't want to put their finger in... but it won't do anything. But tell them that it feels thin and papery, like a toy. This should remind them of the dollhouse, and when they look more closely there are finger-sized holes on the dollhouse. When they stick their finger in, it flips the dollhouse back, revealing the basement -- and they hear the grinding, sliding sound from the next room over. (reddit)