Curse of Strahd: Death House Survival Horror Part 3

Spoilers for Curse of Strahd ahead!




Turn up the night, it feels so right

In this post, I want to break down the second "half" of Death House, areas 22-38 and the ending. If you didn't read the previous post, I want to create a feeling of horror and fear by starting off my players with little equipment and having them slowly move through the house, finding items and searching everything, with tension rising as they move from area to area. Because of this approach, I've also included modifications for certain monsters in this area, because I would actually like the party to make it to the final scene alive.

I believe that if the players started off really feeling powerless, they might buy in to the fear a bit more. They might actually be willing to complete the twist ending of the adventure and sacrifice a companion. Also, they might actually flee from the final encounter.

I've read many reviews of this adventure that dislike the final monster, a Shambling Mound. And their concern is well-founded: a party of four 2nd-level PCs would be horribly outmatched by a CR 5 monster. But I think the mound was very carefully chosen. First off, it's speed is only 20ft. Second, the entire adventure clearly calls out that this is a monster the cult has worshipped for decades, something ancient and evil. And finally, the mound in particular has powerful slam attacks and the ability to engulf enemies.

All of this leads me to believe the mound was meant to be a zombie or Frankenstein monster, slow, relentless, and driving the players to turn and flee from the house. If they try to fight it, a nature check should reveal that they are meant to run from this encounter. If all else fails, simply tell your players: they risk character death by staying. If they still want to fight, don't stop them after that.
Alright, let's finish this up! Note that the PCs leveled up to 2nd level when they found the door in area 18. I would probably allow them to keep all the HP they gain from leveling, because they might have an encounter nearly immediately after descending, and some groups will still have lowered max HP from the specter fight.

Areas of Death House


I Durst not enter here...

22. Dungeon Level Access
Mark of Horror: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased. At this point it should be very muffled and unintelligible, more just a pulsing rhythm of voices in the deep.
Note: Even though the players could head straight to area 27 from here, I would definitely want them to find area 25 and area 34, to get their magic items and find the massive amount of loot hidden there. So, when the characters enter, I would have some of them feel drawn to certain areas, some to the North (Area 25) and some to the West (area 34).

23. Family Crypts
Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased
Note: This area contains the coffins that can be used to lay the children to rest
Encounter: If the coffin in 23D is disturbed, the swarm of centipedes (MM pg. 338) rains down on the PC who touched it. Normally, the players wouldn't have a reason to disturb the coffin, but dropping insects on my player's heads is too good to pass up. So...
Added Item: an uncommon magic item, draws a particular character to it from inside Elisabeth's Coffin
Also, tell your players that the crypts, while small, make for a decent place to take a short rest, so the characters can administer to a paralyzed friend while they rest.

24. Cult Initiate's Quarters
Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased
Added Item: a scimitar with a runic hilt, lying next to a straw pallet. The translated runes read: "Priest of Osybus"

25. Well and Cultist Quarters
Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased
Mark of Horror: pulling up the bucket from the well reveals a rotted human head sitting in the bucket under the surface of the water. If dumped out or reached into, it vanishes.
Items: silver shortsword
Added Item: an uncommon magic item, which draws a particular character to it from inside chest 25E. This should also lead them to the incredibly useful silvered shortsword

26. Hidden Spiked Pit
Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased. Here, it is clear that it comes from area 30.
Mark of Horror: a skeleton lies in the pit trap, impaled. If touched it crumbles into dust.
Encounter: if you run the pit trap, I wouldn't run the ghouls in area 29.

Trap: Spiked Pit
Detect: Active Perception 15 / Passive Perception 20 (no footprints)
Disable: impossible
Effect: 3 bludgeon + 11 pierce dmg 

Also, make sure to have the jumping rules handy (PHB pg. 182) or allow the players to lower themselves into the pit and cross safely after they have found it.

27. Dining Hall


Seems like a nice place to hang around...

Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased
Mark of Horror: a chef's knife is plunged into the table, with a human skeleton hand lying next to it. It is apparent that the knife was used to sever the hand.
Added Item: Chef's knife (dagger)

28. Larder
Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased
Encounter: This area is dark, those with a light source or darkvision can make a perception check vs the grick's stealth (rolled with advantage against the stone walls)
A Nature check 10 reveals that the creature will not likely leave its "lair" unless disturbed.
Added Item: Net, folded, holding some rotted venison. Can be used like the weapon, but will always smell like a rotting carcass

29. Ghoulish Encounter
Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased. Here, it is clear that it comes from area 30.
Encounter: If the players activate the ghouls, I wouldn't run the pit trap in area 26.
These ghouls (MM pg. 148) rise up two at a time, the closest ghouls rise up first, then one round later the other ghouls rise up.
If the ghouls succeed in paralyzing a character, the ghoul uses its actions to grapple and pull the character towards area 30, then 35, then 38. If possible, they sacrifice the character on the altar, causing the house to be appeased.
As the ghouls fight, they scream about their unending hunger and their need to serve "the Darklord"

30. Stairs Down
Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased. Here, it is clear that it comes from below.

31. Darklord's Shrine
Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased.
Encounter: The door to the south is a mimic in disguise. See area 33 for details.
Note: This room contains a secret door (Active Perception 10 / Passive Perception 15)
Encounter: If the orb or statue is touched, Shadows (MM pg. 269) begin attacking the characters. They all appear at once, hidden in the dim light in the corners of the room, but they engage in the fight one at a time. A character who uses an action to make a Perception check of 16 (or has a passive perception of 16) can see their forms moving in the dark corners of the room. The shadow can attempt to hide again on the next round. There are a total of 5 shadows.
Items: arcane focus

32. Hidden Trapdoor
Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased.

33. Cult Leader's Den




It's a dump, but every Friday is movie night, which is nice

Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased.
Encounter: This door is a mimic (MM pg. 220) in disguise. If the characters are fighting the shadows in area 31 and someone tries to escape via this door, I would take an action to have the mimic reveal itself after the character got stuck, to allow the others to deal with the shadows and then the mimic. Either way, this can definitely augment an already deadly encounter.
When the mimic is dead, it reverts to its true form, an amorphous purple blob. The doorway is then clear.
Added Item: Two large candlesticks (clubs)

34. Cult Leader's Headquarters
Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased.
Encounter: Two Ghasts (MM pg. 148), who are the parents of Rose and Thorn. Because this is another deadly encounter, these ghasts enter one at a time, the second entering after one round.
If the ghasts succeed in paralyzing a character, the ghast uses its actions to grapple and pull the character towards area 30, then 35, then 38. If possible, they sacrifice the character on the altar, causing the house to be appeased.
As the ghasts fight, they scream about their unending hunger and their need to "keep the children safe". Otherwise, it might be difficult to tell who these people were in life. You can also have a player make a DC 12 Investigation check to realize they are the same people from the painting in area 12. They will not fight the ghosts of Rose and Thorn.
Items: cloak of protection, potions of healing, chain shirt, mess kit, alchemist's fire, bullseye lantern, thieves tools, spellbook
Added Item: an uncommon magic item, which draws a particular character to it from inside the footlocker.

35. Reliquary
Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased. From here, it is intelligible: "He is the ancient. He is the Land"
Items: Daggers, several trinkets
The book says that these trinkets are useless, but I think they could be used for plot, for character development, or as a minor magical item. Here are my suggestions:

• Goblin's Hand: grants wishes like a monkey's paw, belongs to one of the Witches in Strahd's tower (CoS pg. 72), or when it touches something it grasps onto it, DC 20 Strength check to remove
• Human Bone Knife: a vistani-made trinket belonging to Arrigal (CoS pg. 122), can replace up to 50GP worth of valuable components in any divination spell, or contains a secret message within a compartment in the handle
• Rat's Skull Dagger: A ritual knife used by Rudolph Van Richten that he would recognize on sight, once used cannot be unequipped until you commit a murder with it. or can cast dominate monster on a rat or giant rat (not a swarm) once per day.
• Nothic's Eye: an old hag's eye made by Morgantha (CoS pg. 127), can be attuned to and allows the user to see out of it as if it was their own eye, or reveals the dark secrets of those within 10ft when cracked upon the ground
• Aspergillum: belongs to The Abbot (CoS pg. 151), contains a small amount of ashes that act as Dust of Disappearance (DMG pg. 166), or contains dust that causes vivid dreams when inhaled
• Ghoul cloak: Grants its wearer resistance to poison damage, allows a single character to pass undetected within the Amber Temple (CoS pg. 181), or fills the wearer with an unquenchable hunger when worn or used as a blanket
• Frog-on-a-stick: actually a Wand of Polymorph (DMG pg. 211) that crumbles to ashes after one use, an incredibly tasty snack preserved by dark magic (gives good characters a stomach ache), or a sacred relic of the Druids of Yester Hill (CoS pg. 198)
• Bat Guano: can be used to scare of a Swarm of Insects once, can reveal fortunes like tea leaves when scattered, or bag once belonged to Patrina Velikov (CoS pg. 121) as a component pouch
• Hag's finger: belongs to Offalia Wormwriggle (CoS pg. 127) and she wants it back, acts as a one-use skeleton key, or curls unnaturally when a false promise is made to its holder
• Wooden mummy figurine: when cracked open, tiny wooden organs tumble out, tag says "Is No Blinsky, Is No Fun!", or gives unsettling dreams when slept near
• Devil pendant: can be used to disperse the wall of green flame (CoS pg. 158), can't pass into hollowed ground, or contains a bound fiend that is released when it is opened
• Halfling Head: recites delicious recipes when brought into a kitchen, belongs to a former adventurer in Barovia (note a headless halfing in The March of the Dead, CoS pg. 48), or causes others to think the holder is overreacting to everything
• Dire Wolf Tongue: wolves and werewolves are drawn to the scent of this item, when removed from the house it begins to regenerate into a full dire wolf, or can be attuned to as a good luck charm (like a luck stone, DMG pg. 205)

36. Prison


In the distance, Blue Suede's Hooked on a Feeling plays

Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased. From here, it is intelligible: "He is the ancient. He is the Land"
Note: This room contains a secret door (Active Perception 15 / Passive Perception 20)
Added Items: Flail, Dagger, Handaxe, Sickle, mace, all bloody and left in various alcoves. Each time a character searches an alcove (other than the one with a gold ring) they have a cumulative 10% chance to find one of these items.

37. Portcullis
Note: Chanting can be heard in this area until the house is appeased. From here, it is intelligible: "He is the ancient. He is the Land"
This is a check that characters who have high athletics will roll over and over until they succeed. I would either say that the portcullis is stuck beyond movement, or that a failed check means the portcullis lifts slightly, then collapses, breaking and becoming stuck beyond movement. Either way, the characters shouldn't be able to break through the iron.

38. Ritual Chamber
Note: The chanting stops when the characters enter this room.



A face only a shambling mound could love

Encounter: in the back of the room is a Shambling mound (MM pg. 270). I love the ending with the cultists (One Must Die, CoS pg. 220), so I wouldn't have the mound react to being attacked. If they strike it, I would just tell them they strike a pile of refuse. Most players would give up after that. If they search the pile, maybe they can find a skeleton of the last sacrifice victim.

When the cult isn't appeased, we need a way for the group to realize that this creature is meant to be too strong for them. I'd have a player make a nature check:

• Nature check 10 reveals this creature is slow-moving, but deadly strong. It is a shambling mound!
• Nature check 15 reveals this creature absorbs lightning and can engulf creatures, dealing massive damage.
• Nature check 20 reveals this creature can deal over 30 damage a round and resists cold and fire damage

Ending



Everything just went to hell

If the characters sacrifice a creature (it doesn't have to be a PC if they have animal companions or pets), the book says that Strahd becomes aware of them. Awesome. Also, if the players didn't find it themselves,  I'd reveal the secret door in area 31, and have a draft of clean-smelling air coming from that direction.

If the characters don't sacrifice a creature, then we get to run the escape!

• Make sure you have the Swarm of Rats (MM pg. 339) statblock available in case they break down the walls.
• Follow the map. If the characters see a door, it's now swinging scythe blades. Note that a character has to spend a minute watching the scythe patterns to make the intelligence check. For 2d10 damage, I think I'd let the players make either check immediately. Also, I wouldn't make the trapdoor in area 32 a scythe trap.
• Double check which areas have stoves, ovens, or fireplaces in them. Area 2 has one, meaning the characters will have to make at least one Constitution saving throw.

This escape scene is dangerous, but at this point the characters have made their choice, the shambling mound is crawling after them, and if one of them goes down, you should allow the others to pick them up and drag them. This is the big finale!

When they exit the house, you can choose where they end up. I think it would be nice and creepy if they flee out into the Village of Barovia, with the fog around the house gone. However, if you want to place them back on the hill and have them follow Svalich Road into Barovia, that is fine as well. Either way, I would make the house completely ramshackle and tattered afterward. Also, make sure they can take the items they found in the house with them. In the book it says they should crumble into dust or rust away, but that seems unfair with the direction we're taking this adventure.




Coming to select tabletops near you

And that's how I would run Death House! I plan on putting this campaign together in the coming months, so as soon as I run this session I will let you know how it goes. Hopefully my players will feel nice and terrified about the strange new land they have unwittingly entered.

Thanks for reading!

Curse of Strahd: Death House Survival Horror Part 2

Spoilers for Curse of Strahd ahead!




Death House is calling to you...

In this post, I want to break down the first "half" of Death House, areas 1-21. If you didn't read the previous post, I want to create a feeling of horror and fear by starting off my players with little equipment and having them slowly move through the house, finding items and searching everything, with tension rising as they move from area to area. Because of this approach, I've also included modifications for certain monsters in this area, because I would actually like the party to make it to the final scene alive.

I also want to note what may be the finest single page in Curse of Strahd: Marks of Horror, page 7. Tone is very important in a horror campaign (or any campaign, but horror moreso than many others), and this page breaks down how to create that tone. Most of the advice given is best used for creating scene descriptions or NPCs, but the ideas of Foreshadowing, The Unknown, and Humor can guide how you set up encounters and make them truly scary. If you haven't purchased Curse of Strahd, and you plan to run a horror campaign, I would highly recommend buying the book just for this page. And that's not even mentioning the plethora of good ideas squeezed into this adventure.

One last note. In this first part of the adventure, the players may not enter every room or find every item. That is alright. This isn't a dungeon crawl, this is tense exploration. Make sure to allow them to wander, and take advantage of characters with high perception scores to point out the grisly details of the house.

Anyway, on to the actual adventure.

Areas of Death House


Organ on loan from the Ravenloft historical Society

1. Entrance
Mark of Horror: the front door closing behind them, the illusory children disappearing (see last post)
Items: Shield
Added Item: Shortsword with windmill pattern on blade, behind shield on wall

2. Main Hall
Note: This room contains a fireplace and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Mark of Horror: Serpents and Skulls in the wall panelling. I would call out a Perception check to look at the walls here, we want players to be searching the walls later in the adventure.
Items: Longsword, black cloaks, top hat
Added Item: Black Leather Armor that incorporates skeletal designs, in cloakroom

3. Den of Wolves
Note: This room contains a fireplace and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Note: The windows of this room are covered in bricks at the end of this adventure
Mark of Horror: none. This room should be relatively nice (at least for now)
Items: Crossbows and bolts (requires thieves' tools), playing cards
Added Item: Wolf's Hide Armor, draped over a chair. The arrow holes are still apparent.

4. Kitchen and Pantry
Note: This room contains an Oven and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Mark of Horror: if players look into the dumbwaiter, describe the rope and pulley system. If they pull on it, have a shower of dust fall out and choke those standing near the area. This can foreshadow that the house is actually rotten, despite its appearance.
Items: Rolling Pin (club), pantry full of food
Added Item: Butcher's knife (dagger), on counter

5. Dining Room
Note: This room contains a fireplace and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Note: The windows of this room are covered in bricks at the end of this adventure
Mark of Horror: Twisted Faces and Wolves in the wall panelling. I would call out a Perception check to look at the walls here, we want players to be searching the walls later in the adventure.
Items: Iron Rod (club)
Added Item: A particularly gruesome-looking steak knife (dagger) on the table

6. Upper Hall
Note: This room contains a fireplace and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Mark of Horror: Youths fighting off bats in the wall panelling. I would call out a Perception check to look at the walls here, we want players to be searching the walls later in the adventure.
Items: two suits of wolf-headed armor (chain mail), two spears

7. Servant's Room
Mark of Horror: a small copper brooch (worth 1 SP) lying on one of the beds. Inside is a small painting of a young plain-looking boy. An etched description reads "Love that transcends time" (an insight check of 12 can discern that this may have belonged to a servant of the house). This might lighten the mood, make the players search for the owner (she would be long dead), and of course, introduces a major theme of the overall adventure.
Added Item: Thieves tools, in one of the footlockers
Note: if the players don't go back and unlock the crossbow bolts at this point, that is alright. They will have opportunity to buy gear in Barovia and ranged weapons aren't vital to this adventure.

8. Library
Note: This room contains a fireplace and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Note: The windows of this room are covered in bricks at the end of this adventure
Note: This room contains a secret door (Active Perception 13 / Passive Perception 18)
Note: This room contains the key to area 20
Mark of Horror: When the players open the double doors to this area, tell them they hear the whistling of a blade singing through the air towards them. Have them roll a DC 15 dexterity saving throw, but pass or fail nothing happens except they do/don't duck down quickly. This should foreshadow the end of the adventure.
Items: writing supplies
Added item: A rapier with a windmill hilt, in a glass case on a shelf

9. Secret Room


All the charm and glamour of a 16-year-old My Chemical Romance fan

Mark of Horror: Books full of dark magic. Remember that a character needs to spend 1 hour reading the books before they make their arcana check to determine they are false. That means while they are in the room, you should describe the fiend-summoning and necromantic rituals as legitimate. They can read the book more closely on a short or long rest. If they fail their check, I would give them a spell: Summon Dretch. Tell the player it is exactly the same as "Conjure Elemental" (PHB pg. 225) except that it summons one Dretch (MM pg. 57), it is a 1st-level spell that doesn't require material components, and it counts as a conjuration spell that can be copied into a spellbook. Of course, the spell completely fails when attempted.
Items: leather armor, 3 darts (no longer poisoned), 3 spell scrolls, letter of Strahd.
Added Item: an uncommon magic item, which draws a particular character to it from inside the wooden chest
Here, the adventure says the characters can continue to the secret door if they find the letter to Strahd. However, that invalidates the conclusion of the children's story. I'm not sure I would allow the house to reveal its secret unless the children are on the side of the characters.

10. Conservatory
Note: This room contains a fireplace and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Note: The windows of this room are covered in bricks at the end of this adventure
Mark of Horror: Fancy skeletons in the wall panelling. I would call out a Perception check to look at the walls here, we want players to be searching the walls later in the adventure.
Added Items: a flute and a lute of shoddy make, in a small chest on the north wall. They are difficult to play in tune, granting disadvantage to performance checks that use them

11. Balcony
Note: This room contains a secret door (Active Perception 15 / Passive Perception 20)
Mark of Horror: Hanging corpses and worms in the wall panelling. If the players aren't searching the walls on their own at this point, I'd keep calling them out.
Encounter: The animated armor (MM pg. 19) is a dented and rusted suit of black plate armor. It gives the feeling that it is watching one of the PCs. It attacks if touched or attacked. When it moves, a deep voice emanates from within. "He is the ancient. He is the land."
The house is not magically maintaining the third and fourth floor of the house, so the armor should be weakened. I reduced the monster's AC to 17 and lowered it's slam attack damage to 4 per attack.
Items: scraps of plate armor (useless)
Added item: A shield on the wall, with a tree pattern inlaid into the front

12. Master Suite
Note: This room contains a fireplace and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Note: The windows of this room are covered in bricks at the end of this adventure
Mark of Horror: The rotted tiger-skin rug. Also, emphasize that this room is unkempt, dusty, and tattered, compared to the first two floors of the house.
Added Item: a bloodied battleaxe with a jagged obsidian handle, in a cavity under the tiger rug. Discolored planks cover it. (Active Perception 15 / Passive Perception 20)

13. Bathroom
Note: This room contains a stove and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Mark of Horror: the spigot doesn't work. If players bust open the pipes, dust should come pouring out.

14. Storage Room
Mark of Horror: The Broom of Animated Attack. Specifically, use its reaction ability listed in the statblock (CoS pg. 226). I would describe the broom as sturdy, to give a PC the idea that it could be a weapon.
Items: splintered broom (useless)
Added item: a folded set of leather armor with clasps made of a metal that is always cold, on a shelf. Easily noticeable, should draw the players into the room.

15. Nursemaid's Suite
Note: This room contains a fireplace and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Note: The windows of this room are covered in bricks at the end of this adventure
Note: This room contains a secret door (Active Perception 15 / Passive Perception 20)
Mark of Horror: Eyeballs in the mirror frame. If the players aren't searching the walls on their own at this point, I'd keep calling them out. This secret door (or the one in area 11) is required to continue on. If players search the mirror, tell them about the secret door. Also, this should introduce the idea of secret doors to them, which will be helpful throughout this adventure.
Encounter: The specter (MM pg. 279) is here, unless it is defeated in area 18. When a character opens the door, they see the ghostly lady hovering over the crib. She turns and says: "Shh..." (the specter can't speak, so this noise is not speech, just wind)
Since this is an encounter that can quite literally kill a player within one round, I decided to lower the specter's Life Drain damage to 7. Hopefully the players will be able to survive a round or two of that.
Added item: Healer's Kit, on an end table. It contains some questionable items, such as black powders and too-long needles, that you aren't sure what they would be used for.

16. Attic Hall


If you look closely you can see Strahd's fingernail clippings

Note: Characters who enter via the stairs can see the children's room door open just a sliver, but immediately shut when they actually turn to look at it.
Mark of Horror: if players search the room, pick a player who isn't and have a spider (MM pg. 337) fall down onto their face. It shouldn't attack them, just give them reason to react.

17. Spare Bedroom
Note: This room contains a stove and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Note: The windows of this room are covered in bricks at the end of this adventure
Added Item: Longsword with no crossguard, under the bed. The hilt alone is stained with blood.

18. Storage Room
Note: This room contains a stove and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Note: The windows of this room are covered in bricks at the end of this adventure
Note: This room contains a secret door (plot reveal, can't be found until area 20 is explored)
Encounter: The specter (MM pg. 279) is here, unless it is defeated in area 15. When a character inspects the remains in the trunk, the specter appears with a horrified look, and flies into a rage, screeching.
Since this is an encounter that can quite literally kill a player within one round, I decided to lower the specter's Life Drain damage to 7. Hopefully the players will be able to survive a round or two of that.
Added Item: a chain shirt that is rusted but functional, on a mannequin

19. Spare Bedroom
Note: This room contains a stove and is filled with smoke at the end of the adventure
Note: The windows of this room are covered in bricks at the end of this adventure
Added item: bloody knife, stashed in a nightstand. An insight check of 12 or a medicine check of 10 reveals that this was the murder weapon that killed the nursemaid.

20. Children's Room



Mom! Am I un-grounded yet?

This room contains skeletons that can be laid to rest in area 23
Note: The windows of this room are covered in bricks at the end of this adventure
Note: This room contains a secret door in a dollhouse (Active Perception 15, roll with advantage if child helps)
Encounter: The ghosts of Rose and Thorn are here. They can accompany the PCs.
If they possess a PC, the character gains a flaw and the child's voice in their head. The player should continue to play their character, but the child causes emotions in them and urges them to get rid of the monster in the basement.
Make sure to modify the ghost stat block (MM pg. 147) with the stats listed on CoS pg. 217 to make them childlike. I don't like the idea of the players finding the children's crypts in the basement, then having to come all the way back up to the attic to get the bones, so I would have Rose tell the PCs that she's very tired, and her family has a resting place in the basement. A religion check of 12 should suffice to realize what she means: her bones need to be laid to rest.
Added Item: an uncommon magic item, which draws a particular character to it from inside the toy chest

21. Secret Stairs
Mark of Horror: The creaking stairs can be heard throughout the entire house, and the thick cobwebs reduce the visibility to 5 ft. This is a 50ft descent, so that's a long way to go only seeing 5ft ahead. Those with darkvision should be nervous now.
When they reach 25ft (halfway), the character in the back hears footsteps behind them, descending along with the party. When they stop, so do the footsteps. Going back up reveals nothing. They get louder, until the characters reach the door at the bottom, at which point they stop completely.


A skeletal hand under every stair, or your money back

Phew! That was a lot to go over! Hopefully you've gotten some good ideas out of this writeup. Feel free to comment if you think of any other ways to make this exploration tense and frightening. We'll continue with the underground sections of the house next time.

Thanks for reading!

Curse of Strahd: Death House Survival Horror

Spoilers for Curse of Strahd ahead!



If a player starts making Knock Knock jokes, play along

In the coming months, I am planning to end a couple of my current campaigns. The epic-level campaign is about to kill their final boss/creator, and the 14-person game is closing in on the secret cult that has been plaguing the city. So, I am going to need some new campaigns to make sure everyone can keep playing! And hopefully some help from my players. A couple of them are interested in running a campaign, and I am doing my best to encourage that so I can take a breather!

After watching the fantastic series Dice, Camera, Action, (which ends today!), I am extremely excited to run Curse of Strahd. I think it is the best module put out by Wizards of the Coast for 5th Edition so far, and the location-based formula will work well with the semi-monthly schedule I'm currently on with my groups.


It's not a wine glass, it's a scaaaary wine glass

I also plan to run the mini-adventure Death House. However, I've read that many groups have trouble with the first half of the adventure, partially because they think of it as a standard Hack-and-Slash adventure rather than buying in to the horror aspect of the game. The pacing is combat-light and is meant to emphasize tension rather than combat.

While thinking of a solution to this, and reading through the adventure, I realized that the house includes a lot of adventure gear, even things 1st-level characters should already have. Things like shields, an arcane focus, thieves' tools. What if the PCs didn't have that equipment when they entered the house?

Obviously, they can't go in completely empty-handed. But I want to evoke the feeling that even the barbarian, with 15 HP and resistance to physical damage, should be afraid. This entire campaign is about the unknowable, the darkness, the fear. If they walk in with their battle-axes and adventuring gear, I think it could kill the tone of the entire campaign. However, if they creep fearfully through a haunted house, stealing and using a dagger with a demonic hilt out of desperation, they might be more prepared for what Barovia has to offer them.

So, here is what I plan to run for the intro to Death House:

Death House




The Village of Barovia: not featured in this adventure

The Players start out around a campfire. The mists of Barovia bring them into the demiplane.

The players start out at level one. They have no equipment, weapons, or armor, except for what is listed below, an explorer's kit, a trinket, and what they received from their background:
Barbarian: Handaxe
Bard: Instrument
Cleric: Holy Symbol
Druid: Druidic Focus
Fighter: Spear
Monk: Quarterstaff
Paladin: Mace
Ranger: Shortbow and 10 arrows
Rogue: Dagger
Sorcerer: Arcane Focus
Warlock: Component Pouch (enough components to cast known spells)
Wizard: Spellbook

Before the adventure, select one uncommon magic item for each character. Try to avoid giving them consumable items (scrolls, potions, etc). These items will be placed throughout the house, and "call" to the players. Make sure to give them minor effects and traits (DMG pg. 142). A Ring of Warmth is good, but a ring that makes your finger appear undead, whispers to its wearer, and has a gemstone with a skull inside it is much better.

The items will be placed in areas 9, 20, 23, 25, and 34. If you have more than 5 players, areas 9, 25, and 34 are a good place to put more than one item. If you have less than 5, areas 25 and 34 already contain treasure and can be easily removed.

Introduction

After allowing the characters to introduce themselves and interact around the campfire, read the following:

You hear a soft whimpering, accompanied by two sets of small footfalls. At the edge of your camp, a pair of small children appear. The younger one, a seven-year-old boy, is weeping and clutching a stuffed doll. His sister, a ten-year-old, is leading him by his other hand. They are pale-skinned, and their finely made clothing looks ragged and beaten by travel.

Rose introduces them, Thorn stays quiet, and sniffly. She says they ran away from home because they were scared, and now they are lost. Rose can provide the information listed in the book (CoS pg. 211). She asks if the PCs can lead them home, not so much if they can help with the monster. If the characters agree to take the children home, a character can easily track their trail back to the house.

The children have traits, which are important later when characters could be possessed by the ghosts of the children. Make sure to play them up, but garner sympathy. Make these kids cute and precocious, not annoying.

• Rose: "I like being in charge and get angry when other people tell me what to do."
• Thorn: I'm scared of everything, even my own shadow, and I weep with despair when things don't go my way."

This being Barovia, the sky is dark and overcast even if they wait until daylight. When they decide to follow the trail, read the following:



If the players say there's no such thing as Victorian architecture, just call it Zarovichian instead

You follow the trail back to a path. Rose tells you her house is to the west. Black pools of water stand like dark mirrors in and around the muddy roadway. Giant trees loom on both sides of the road, their branches clawing at the mist. The path leads to a tall brick house standing alone on a small hill. Its windows are dark, and the house has seen better days. It has a gated portico on the ground floor, and the rusty gate is slightly ajar.

As you get closer to the house, you notice a foggy mist creeping into the woods behind you. It becomes thicker and thicker, seeming to choke off all escape, pressing you towards the house.

Remember, the characters don't know this is called "Death House". However, you could certainly call it "Durst House" (the children's surname). At this point, if players approach or ask for more detail, you can provide it from the description of area 1 (CoS pg. 212).

Thorn begins to cry, and Rose hushes him. She turns to you. "Can you please go in and make sure everything is okay before we do? I'm sure that will make him calm down."

When the players enter, continue the description of area 1. For some reason area 1 covers both the outside porch of the house and the entrance hall.

As you turn to tell the children everything is alright, the door slams shut behind you, cutting off all light. 

You open the door, and a wall of fog greets you. The children are gone, and all that is left outside is thick, menacing fog.

 If the PCs inspect the fog, they can see ghostly shapes moving around in it.

Here are the rules for the fog from Chapter 2 of Curse of Strahd:

• If you start your turn in the fog, ST C 20 or gain one level of exhaustion. You can't heal this exhaustion while in the fog.
• No matter what direction you go, you end up going back up the hill and finding the house within 1d4 rounds.
• The fog is heavy obscurement - you are effectively blind when trying to see something.

A level of exhaustion per round?! I think I would ignore that rule for my playthrough. I've already hamstringed the players enough, and my group would definitely get the picture when they end up back at the house.

Resting in Death House



At the end of all this mess

One last thing before we get into the actual areas of the house. I want to foreshadow the end of the adventure, where rats come pouring out of the interior walls if they are broken down. So, if the players find a place to take a long or short rest, the following should happen:

As you lock the door and take your rest, you hear a scratching sound coming from the walls. As if something... lots of something was crawling around inside them.

If they break down the walls at this point,  at least one character will have to forego their rest to hack at the walls. The walls are not yet brittle and rotted, as they are at the end of the adventure. However, the character only finds cobwebs and timbers.




Shiny happy people holding hands

This ended up being a much longer introduction than I expected. I will begin breaking down the actual rooms in another post, but here's the outline of the plan:

1. Place more weapons, items, and gear in the rooms to make up for lack of equipment
2. Weaken some of the monsters a bit. We still want them to be scary, but facing a specter or suit of animated armor would be suicide without proper gear.
3. Make sure to emphasize the Marks of Horror (CoS pg. 7) in each room and add some to areas that seem too normal.

It's going to be a bit of extra work, but I think the end result will be worth it!

Thanks for reading!