curse of strahd death house sacrifice
Thorn and Walter, I wish I could be there for you. Beware: turn back now if you dont wish to see a ton of spoilers! I think its a great backstory, and the story is told in bits and pieces to the party as they explore the house. While frightening at first, it quickly loses its charm. Death House is the introductory adventure for the new Curse of Strahd campaign. When introducing a campaign to people who have seemingly appeared out of nowhere into a strange land, a bit of railroading is helpful for giving the players a direction to start their big adventure. Yet, as an introduction to a long-term campaign, I think it was too heavy-handed. Wizards of the Coast has given us the free adventure Death House to play at home last week as a preview of the Curse of Strahd book coming out this month. The dumbwaiters rope-and-pulley mechanism can support 200 pounds of weight before breaking. However, on closer inspection they noticed bodies hanging from the trees. The Death House is actually a very challenging dungeon. You abandoned love for madness, took solace in the bosom of another woman, and sired a bastard son. The children dont know that theyre illusions but vanish if attacked or forced into the house. Munson, a senior at-" Eddie drops the remote, sheet white, and turns to look at Steve. These areas are dusty and drafty, everything within them is old and draped in cobwebs, and the floorboards groan underfoot. If the PCs attempt to discuss this incident or an Uncle Dimov with Rose, she instantly clams up. Strahd slaughtered the cultists and left their spirits to haunt what is now the Death House. Privacy Policy. The rooms of the house are modified in the following ways: Players never know the number of successes necessary to win the challenge, but it is always weighed against three failures. All the adventure provides is a path through the front gates and some nudges toward a few areas. Adding my voice to the choir here. If the party does not make an ability check for this obstacle, they accrue a failure, and each creature that passes through the doorway must. Plus, the fact that the attic cant be accessed otherwise. My players are approaching the sacrificial room, and beyond one of their characters, they have nothing to potentially sacrifice. Still, it was a tough, but fair fight. However, things were a bittoo dangerous. They can be convinced to wait in the portico (area 1A) while the characters search the house. Oer the past several congregations, I have become suspicious of the ambitions of the others. Upon emerging from the house, the characters advance to 3rd level. The oak table in the middle contains: cask of wine, two carved wooden goblets, a pipe rack, and a candelabrum. Eleint 27, 1489DR - The Fading (September) After barely surviving the horrors of Death House, the adventurers seek food, rest, and refuge. It takes 2d6 hours for the house to complete its resurrection. Our ever-adventurous eight (the original "Fab-5", Ireena, Ismark and "Flaps") have found themselves in the lower dungeon of what the locals call "Death House", where our party has just splashed under the portcullis and entered the Ritual . Cantrips can be used, but an issue arises in that they're infinite. Death House Adventure The formatting separates different aspects of the houses dangerous transformation into bullet points. If a PC plays the Song of Elizabeth found on the desk in the library on the harpsichord in this chamber, the conservatory fills with ghosts that dance about the room to the tune of the melody. It fights until destroyed. If so, it counts as a success or failure for the skill challenge; otherwise, treat this area as a non-obstacle. These traits remain until the character receives a remove curse spell. Elves have carried the Mark of Shadow for thousands of years. Selfish. Those poor lads heart rates have been sky-high ever since they squared-off against theanimated armor. D&D is a combat game first and foremost. Due to the nature of his death, authorities are treating the crimes as linked, and are currently looking for 21 year old Edward Munson in connection to these brutal killings. The Cult Is Appeased Death House harbors no ill will toward a party willing to sacrifice a life to appease the cult. Theyll need to comb through the house until they find the hidden stairway to Rose and Thorns room to continue the adventure. The area above that is missing. If one of the ghosts possesses a character, allow the player to retain control of the character, but assign the character one of the following flaws: One must die! they chant, over and over. Eventually he died from a shambling mound in the Death House. The books rot and fall apart if taken from the house. Its tough, its scary, its theDeath House! The cult was ecstatic thinking that their rituals worked. As the characters explore the dungeon, they see centuries-old human footprints in the earthen floor leading every which way. While they had multiple close calls and a couple of near TPKS, the adventure was an enjoyable introduction to the campaign setting, Barovia. Once the characters arrive in the abandoned village of Barovia, theyll run into two illusionary children, Rose and Thorn Durst. Theway the story is told is so awesome. Destroyed furnishings are likewise repaired. The water is 2 feet deep. The unwary DM who runs this adventure as written will have a TPK on her hands at least once, if not multiple times, in the adventure. Road. Chanting can be heard coming from the west. The wolves have the statistics of a wolf but with vulnerability to slashing, piercing, and fire damage; their Bite attack deals 1 piercing damage; and they do not need to breathe. Their rituals failed, but that only made the cultists more desperate. She askes the players to save their baby brother and their parents and defeat the monster once and for all. Grotesque. The childrens room contains a dollhouse that is a to-scale version of the house. Soon after, a grinding noise can be heard coming from the library (the sound of the secret door). I have recently started DMing CoS and have been thinking a lot about how to ensure that my players understand just how detestable and abhorrent our beloved villain is. When printing, should these be printed as they are or should we do anything like fit to paper, or something like that? If the party fights Lorghoth, aka decides not to sacrifice a living creature on the altar in the basement, theyll also need to escape from a transformed version of theDeath House. 170. Available in hi-res format for print It's rusted frame encloses a large 4 story house and a few other dilapidated sheds beside it. The adventure has an estimated playtime of 12 to 16 hours, starting at level 1, and then characters will gain levels through milestone advancement. Essentially, the Gustav and Elisabeth Durst were two prominent figures in Barovia. I cannot stress enough how great of an introduction it is toCurse of Strahds story, locations, and themes. Subscribe to get the free product of the week! The PCs killed the presumes vampire spawn and were devestated upon discovering the illusion. Death House A pdf of the level one adventure from Curse of Strahd New Character Options Revenant race, Monster Hunter and Inquisitive Haunted One Background and Trinkets Table of Contents Barovian Souls Blinsky Toys These are great. (Spoilers for Curse of Strahd ahead!) You've got to get from location 38 to location 32 in the basement (assuming you even know location 32 exists). Since I have a lot of older players in my group who have been playing from the AD&D days, they demanded that we not use any virtual tablet. Once the party approaches the house, the mist quickly surrounds them, trapping them inside the Death House until they confront the monster in the basement. 3 spell scrolls (bless, protection from poison, and spiritual weapon). They speak Common and have a challenge rating of 3 (700 XP). Stairs Down Its obvious to any character standing at the top of this 20-foot-long staircase that the ghostly chants originate from somewhere below. I also cut them out so that it was like "putting a puzzle together" when they explored the house. Durst Manor, AKA "Death House" Text found: Gustav Durst's suicide note "My Beloved Children, I wish I could do what all fathers do and tell you that monsters aren't real. avoid detection. Error: No match for email address or password. Contents Inhabitants Appendix It took me a while to have time to circle back around to this, but it's up now. All rights reserved. Curse of Strahd: Reliquary Relics Warning: Death House Spoilers Ahead! Curse of Strahd. I much prefer you as you are. One must die! . He or she has disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks, but gains blindsight out to a range of 60 feet. Tweak the final encounter The final confrontation in Death House is an odd one. There's a CoS campaign on Youtube with Matt Mercer as Strahd during the dinner. He was getting miffed that his smites and healing weren't working saying that he might go into a magic class. A character who ends his or her turn inside an object takes 5 (1d10) force damage. Its so wordy! This subreddit has already provided great ideas and I suggest we gather them! Several assistants crowd the room while the baby is crowningbut he's coming out ankles-first. In fact, Strahd hated this obsessive cult. As a great benefit, Mike Schley has released the High Resolution (5454 x 7500 pixels) maps for Death House on his website and are free for download: Mike Schley Death House Maps. The Family: Gustav and Elisabeth Durst with their two smiling children, Rose and Thorn. To count as a sacrifice, a living creature must die on the altar. 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. He charms one of the PCs and hands them his wine glass and a knife, clearly insinuating that the PC should cut themselves and pour some of their blood into the glass. Selfish. If the mimic is attacked at range by a wary or alerted PC, it flees, vanishing around the corner and reappearing as a door, chest, or longsword elsewhere in the dungeon. Not a big deal, but it wouldve been a nice addition. "Well," Steve says blandly, "fuck." It does not have the upper section of the dungeon (rooms 22-34). They built a dungeon underneath it to have evil cult gatherings. 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. Print and mount to foamcore or similar backing material for that extra cool . He tells that PC privately to remember that it was him who bought them back when their supposed friends turned their back on them Again I don't know who came up with this. Life can create things of exquisite beauty. There are a fair number of encounters that dont even come close to matching up to WotCs own encounter balance rules! The childs wails these past several evenings have kept me awake , haunting these halls like a ghost. Black and White Free Maps (untagged) If asked how one gets to the basement, Rose points to the dollhouse and says, Theres a secret door in the attic. Characters who then search the dollhouse for secret doors gain advantage on their Wisdom (Perception) checks to find them. My Curse of Strahd campaign is chugging along. The party has just finishedDeath House. Not quite ghosts, yet not quite illusions, the Dursts are representative of the emotional carnage of the manor. They regarded Strahd von Zarovich as a god, but he dismissed them and later destroyed them when they killed a party of adventurers, but the house lived on, luring people toward it. A Horror Adventure for Levels 1-10 Under raging storm clouds, the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of Castle Ravenloft. Its key is kept in the library (area 8), but the lock can also be picked, 26. The children died of starvation centuries ago after their insane parents locked them in the attic and forgot about them. View only Complete list of every named creature with an accociated statblock as written in the Curse of Strahd module. Hidden Spiked Pit The ghostly chanting heard throughout the dungeon gets discernibly louder as one heads west along this tunnel. We're so beautiful"; "Nothing can hurt us"; "We are perfect. Kinda lost at what to do next. If the PCs refuse to make the requested sacrifice, the cult is angered, and summons Walter. The 1.25" grid is, I have found, a better scale with modern miniatures and tends to make the map feel more believable and less crowded. And to escape, the party must make it through those scythes. There is no excuse. They will sing to wake up Lorghoth the Decayer, a Shambling Mound hiding in the southernmost alcove. The children fear abandonment. Most older books are in scanned image format because original digital layout files never existed or were no longer available from the publisher. The dungeon level underneath Death House is carved out of earth, clay, and rock. http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/Curse%20of%20Strahd%20Introductory%20Adventure.pdf, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s5GIEc5qa9OoDeGQKr7mzOxoXyqlbe9rZ8z6jAv3vGA/edit?usp=sharing, http://mikeschley.zenfolio.com/p678546160/h61fadc4d#h61fadc4d, http://dndadventurersleague.org/death-house-and-the-dd-adventurers-league, http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/CharacterBackground_HauntedOne.pdf, Too Much of a Good Thing: Success and Magic Items, Elemental Evil: Princes of the Apocalypse, UA 2023: Players Handbook Druid and Paladin Breakdown. If Rendar the barbarian uses his +8 Athletics to leap a chasm, he cannot use Athletics again to lift a boulder later in the challenge; he must find a different solution with a different skill. This also made a nice impact. Both ghosts can be intimidated into leaving their hosts with a successful DC 11 Charisma (Intimidation) check made as an action. A successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals an absence of. Curse of Strahd is an adventure module for the 5 th -edition of Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast in 2016. Any tips? A PC hears rats scrabbling up and down the spaces between the walls. I'm thinking running it in six sessions of three hours each. 3 Knives, a rolling pin, cast iron pan (12in). A Small character can squeeze into the elevator box with a successful DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. Thanks to Roll 20s map pack I circumvented the need to prep the maps and creatures for this adventure (and the rest of the campaign). It made this whole part much easier, but it was still a unique challenge. The final page reads: [He/She] pulled the book down off the shelf and began to read, unaware of the creature that watched [him/her] from the shadows. The will is signed by Gustav and Elisabeth Durst and bequeathes the house, the windmill, and all other family property to Rosavalda and Thornboldt Durst in the event of their parents deaths. I'm sure there are more amazing ideas floating around in the community and I'd love to read about them! Theres an opportunity for a long rest in the basement if the party decides to take their time. [http://dndadventurersleague.org/death-house-and-the-dd-adventurers-league], Haunted One Background Characters searching the footlocker find a folded cloak of protection, a small wooden coffer (unlocked) containing four potions of healing, a chain shirt, a mess kit, a flask of alchemists fire, a bullseye lantern, a set of thieves tools, and a 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, A small, mummified, yellow hand with sharp claws (a goblins hand) on a loop of rope, A dagger with a rats skull set into the pommel, An 8-inch-diameter varnished orb made from a nothics eye, A folded cloak made from stitched ghoul skin, A cracked egg containing the remains of a skeletal infant dragon, A wooden figurine of a black knight bearing the emblem of a rose, A 6-inch-tall wooden figurine of a mummy, its arms crossed over its chest, An iron pendant adorned with a devils face, A small chunk of amber resin that exudes an evil aura. Privacy Policy. A PC hears maniacal laughter echoing from far below the House. Characters can burn the house to the ground if they want, but any destruction to the house is temporary. This also includes the initial plot hook information. https://prints.mikeschley.com/p678546160/h61fadc4d#h61fadc4d. The scythes on the doorway are connected to the two's temperament. The Count's Crypt. But I wanted to do things a little different. We are immortal"; and "Help us live forever.". The house has wooden floors throughout, and all windows have hinges that allow them to swing outward. MyCurse of Strahdcampaign is chugging along. If no skills or spells are applied, the characters accrue a. PCs that have been resurrected this way gain the. Also, their file size tends to be smaller than scanned image books. First-edition works of poetry and fiction. " Bound by Fate The windmill referred to in the second deed is situated in the mountains east of Vallaki (see chapter 6, Old Bonegrinder). I initially gave the group the option of either starting at level 3 or running Death House at level 1. A PC experiences a false awakening, wherein they wake to see that one of their friends has been replaced by a ghast, which is slowly creeping toward another PC. She wears a tattered, once-beautiful red dress, and she wears gold earrings and a golden necklace around her neck. In it, Strahd used an illusion to make an NPC important to the PCs look like a vampire spawn and had them attack people. There are times I'd like to do this. However, I think it should only be used if Strahd has not promised the party that they won't be harmed while under his roof. Sorry, I don't come by here all that often anymore. . Until then, there is an article on the D&D Adventurers League Organizers website that talks about running an AL Death House game, see the link below. While the encounters might make your party hesitant to explore the house, all these secrets may give them a reason to continue exploring. Long ago, it was revealed that the elven line of Vol a, child born of dragon and elf could become a godlike avatar of, ancient enemies: dragons. If reduced to half hit-points, Mrs. Durst commands the PCs to leave, and defensively backs herself into the corner. There are grid and non-grid maps for the players, and a map for the Dungeon Master. Il party decide di scendere nei sotterranei per trovare il luogo adatto dove far riposare le anime dei piccoli Rose e Thorn. Duke Zalto has set his minions to the task of finding and unearthing fragments of a dragon-slaying colossus called the Vonindod (titan of, storm the dwarven fortress, Zalto has met with drow representatives of. This Map is made in Dungeondraft with 2-minute tabletop and forgotten adventures assets. And Im afraid the disease that afflicted her mind has taken hold of me as well. The party has just finished Death House. Here are are the maps for Death House from Curse of Strahd, edited to be scaled to a 1.25" grid, and printable on normal 8.5x11 paper. The pit is 10-feet deep. This is with experienced players mind you. The dungeon level isnt considered part of the house and cant repair itself in this fashion. Red silk drapes cover the windows, and a tapestry depicting hunting dogs and horse-mounted aristocrats chasing after a wolf hangs from an iron rod bolted to the south wall. Came out of the printer very nicely (A4) and came together like a charm. A bunch of stuff doesn't load. Characters can make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw to hurl themselves into the Main Hall before the doors swing shut. Cookie Notice The fights were dangerous for a party of level 1 characters, but nothing was unfair or unbalanced. So close, that when we went over it after that session a few players questioned if a party of four wouldve been successful if I didnt pull (theoretical) punches against them. My only critique is that I wish there were some lamp tokens in the GM Layer that could be brought into the token/map layer when theyre lit by the players. Having the familiar return under the influence of the dark power in the death house, but still beneficial seems like a good avenue. Hell,Death Houses story and exploration are both top-notch even as a standalone adventure. The balcony has grown into a cliff that drops to a thousand feet below (an eerily accurate representation of the. Attic Hall This bare hall is choked with dust and cobwebs. The Houses of Shadow 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. an 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 familys insignia (a windmill). The marks bearers left Aerenal after the conflict that wiped out the Mark of, his playthings. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The last of their four children, Ilya, recently died of an illness. I do not own any . First post! I'd like to credit the creative mind behind it. At the start of the shambling mounds first turn, the chant changes again: When the Dark Power accepted Mrs. Dursts final sacrifice, Walter was transformed into a terrible monster: a vessel for the cults hatred, arrogance, and depravity bound within an innocent babe. Unfortunately, you would have to do printable scaling yourself. Spare Bedroom This web-filled room contains a slender bed, a nightstand, a rocking chair, an empty wardrobe, and a small iron stove, 23. To count as a sacrifice, a creature must die on the altar. Violent. Curse of Strahd - Death House w/ Fog of War. So I'm not sure how this idea could work mechanically. Movement doesn't matter; don't bother tracking it. The character counts as an undead creature for the purpose of spells and effects such as turn undead. while we played. Unfortunatly I don't remember who came up with this idea. Hope yours went well, too! I combined the campaign introduction my party decided on and weaved it into The Creeping Fog plot hook from the first chapter. But it wouldn't be true. Death House is aware of its surroundings and all creatures within it. The scythe-blades spin so long as the nursemaid is in labor, spinning faster and faster during her contractions. If freed, he stumbles down the darkened corridors, babbling madly before fading from being. The fights were cool, flavorful, and dangerous. As they begin to make their way to the building the Vistani entered earlier that day they see a single shaft of light thrusting illumination into the main square, its . The creature put up a fair fight, but herLife Drain almost straight-up murdered the partys fighter if he didnt make the DC 10 Constitution save. If the characters make the sacrifice, the cultists fade away, but their tireless chant of He is the Ancient. Theres more to it than that, but thats a decent summary of the background info. Dungeon master guide and advice with the level. It sickens me to think what weve put you through. In fact, it was with two additional experienced players! Should the players ask her what she did to Walter, she invites them to descend further into the basement and see for themselves.. Ashes sweep together to form blackened timbers, which then turn back into a sturdy wooden frame around which walls begin to materialize. Theyre colorful, but use a pallet that emphasizes the dreary, abandoned building that was once the Durst familys home. All of this is valuable info for those of us running CoS, but the general theme of cultists being killed by a greater entity is easily modified for those running this as a standalone adventure. I also intentionally left it as-is to help gauge the difficulty of the campaign for my party as it includes two extra characters than the intended party size of four. Grotesque. Tool checks can be in lieu of skills if a character is proficient in them. Maybe something they found online that I could use to patch this together? Once you're there it's clear from the text that the trapdoor is intended to allow movement from the basement into the house proper. It should be there now. The paladin will investigate and find nothing mystical beyond it being a little scared and hungry, and I know my players well enough to know theyll want to keep it. I only scaled it up with his permission. But it can also twist them into hideous beings. Mrs. Durst has gone completely insane. Spells of 1st level or higher are automatic successes, so long as they can logically be used to surpass an obstacle is an instant success. Death House Creeping Fog. Then I wouldn't change a thing. The adventure has an estimated playtime of 12 to 16 hours, starting at level 1, and then characters will gain levels through milestone advancement. It hurts me to say that your mother has turned into one such monster, inside and out. This suit of animated armor attacks as soon as it takes damage or a character approaches within 5 feet of it. Once the sacrifice is made, the characters are free to go. On a failure, the creature takes 7 (2d6);{"diceNotation":"2d6","rollType":"damage","rollAction":", succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or take 3 (1d6);{"diceNotation":"1d6","rollType":"damage","rollAction":", guardians that ride flying creatures called gloamwings. Mike Schley (the map maker) has them as pdfs for free on his website. The room has exits in the west and north walls. The mindlessly repeat any or all of the following phrases as they attack the PC's: "Beautifu. Hey folks, first time DM here, had a question about an idea I had for death house. DUNGEON FEATURES D&D: Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos Releases Today! Its dangerous, but it does reward the party for exploring the mansion since finding secret entrances and having a full understanding of the blueprint of the house leads to a quicker and more efficient escape. 3. fIf you would like to encourage the PCs to view Death House more favorably upon their initial. Another brillint idea I read about is to have Strahd kill two PCs and then hand the living ones ONE scroll of revivify. The chains dangling from the ceiling are 8 feet long; the cultists would shackle prisoners to the chains, dangle them above the altar, cut them open with knives, and allow the altar to be bathed in blood. As the PCs approach the iron gate, the ghosts struggle with the PCs for control of their bodies, and beg and plead for the PCs to stay behind. The tunnels are 4 feet wide by 7 feet high with timber braces at 5-foot intervals. Each crypt is sealed with a stone slab unless noted otherwise. If you enjoyed what you read be sure to check out my ongoing review for all of the official D&D 5e books! This seems fine. . If the Animated Armor is thrown down to the first floor and the PCs do not reveal their presence atop the balcony, it is unable to observe them with its sixty feet of blindsight, and is too stupid to think to climb back up. Hopefully this will continue and allow for milestones to be used in Adventurers League games. You say that you are cursed, your fortunes spent. I also appreciated the way u/dragnacarta introduced Strahd to the PCs in Twice Bitten. Since I'm only an amateur cartographer, I'm afraid that I probably won't be making more. There arent many fights in this portion and everything is well-balanced. introduction to relational databases milestone 3. They are being presented here with his permission. The hole in the west wall leads to a naturally formed alcove. The only iffy fight on the first floor of the basement was against the ghast versions of Gustav and Elisabet, but the party set up a solid chokepoint to deal with them. :( EDIT: As u/Apprehensive-Neat-68 has pointed out, Strahd shouldn't have access to a revivify spell. There are three ways to run the encounter with the nursemaid, each varying with her emotional and spiritual state: Hostile, Alien, and Friendly. Half embedded in the east wall is a wooden wheel connected to hidden chains and mechanisms. Lorghoth the Decayer, a shambling mound, was both the final boss of the adventure (depending on the ending the party chose) and the most ridiculous fight in the adventure. But how do we DMs do that? All in all, we had a fun time withDeath House. In this set, you will find six battlemaps to play the Death House of Curse of Strahd: - The ground floor ; - The first and second floors; - The attic ; - The dungeon under the house; - The lowest part where is. I believe this works especially well when the PCs not targeted by Strahd don't understand why their companions don't resist the vampire. very good quality. Upper Hall Unlit oil lamps are mounted on the walls of this elegant hall. Some links to stores and online shopping websites include an affiliate code. Most likely there will be no sacrifice, which will anger the illusory cultists. You can now speak to your respected passenger in your own head. Some skill checks suggested by the players might include: The room has become heavily obscured by an unnatural black fog. Drawing out the section after having such nice card stock I printed the others on seems a little deflating. It can move through tunnels without squeezing and completely fills its space. REQUEST AN ARTICLE Their parents told them stories about a monster in the basement to keep the children from going down to the dungeon level. If the party refuses to make the requested sacrifice, the cult is angered and begin to chant, "Come, demon!