Death House | Curse of Strahd | DMs Guide

[@helgaratbone1691]

Just ran it over the weekend! Pretty much as written. My players didn’t encounter the ghouls, ghasts, shadows nor the mimic… and they still just barely survived! Two 20’s in a row on the shambling mound and the guidance cantrip through the doorways saved their rear ends! Two were rolling death saves on the doorstep as they exited the house! Spare the dying saved one most likely. This adventure is brutal. I love it!

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha awesome stuff!

[@ludviglethmller3259]

You know that the adventure says that characters who gain access to the secret stairs in the attic (area 21) advance to 2nd level right? So no PCs should be level 1 in the basement. I don't know if this is a house rule but in my games this means they instantly get the benefits of a long rest and get additional abilities and Hit dice since they are now level 2. At no point RAW should they be going up against any of the basement encounters at only lv 1.

[@ToastedWafer]

There is a second way into the basement that doesn't trigger the level up

[@danielroberts8049]

@@ToastedWaferno there isn’t, you can only access the trapdoor from below

[@Entropy114]

So glad to finally hear your take on this! Sure, Death House has been to covered to hell and back by the community, but you have consistently stellar videos and takes on these things, and these are wonderful considerations for those of us about to spin up a campaign. Thanks a bunch!

[@NoFunAllowed]

Thank you and no problem!

[@shielddrake42]

I personally don’t mind long rests in Death House, as long as the PCs have prepped for it. Did they barricade any entrances? Are they taking turns keeping watch? That sort of thing. I don’t let them do long rests too often, but it is still an option. Except once the cults’ chanting starts. I consider that the point of no return. No long rests (or short rests for that matter) during the chanting, up until the PCs escape from the house.

[@zenovkayos5811]

Man I actually jumped off my seat once I saw the title Was looking forward to it :D Unfortunately now it is leaving me with more questions than answers But that is the magic of dnd modules, some things are meant to be left for DM judgment and how they decide to flavor their game

[@NoFunAllowed]

to each game their own ruling haha!

[@craigjones7343]

I have been waiting for this video for a while now. Thank you.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Thank you and no problem!

[@dmwiggy7661]

Have a common girl in the prison. if they sacrifice her then later reveal she was Mad Mary's daughter Gertruda. Placed there as a test by Strahd.

[@NoFunAllowed]

Now that's dark haha

[@dmwiggy7661]

@@NoFunAllowed welcome to Barovia 😂

[@Fuzzywumple]

Was anticipating this. Love your guides

[@NoFunAllowed]

thank you! more Curse of Strahd videos coming soon!

[@HBookbinderGM]

My players walked into Barovia. They saw the creepy kids. The kids told them there is a monster in the basement. They went in. Ha!

[@andrewprice8820]

Planning on doing Death House, but as a precursor/foreshadowing to the main adventure of COS, as a one shot/mini campaign affair, with totally different one-time characters. That way if people die (and I know they will) it's nbd for the main campaign, but is also canon to the main campaign.

[@konailyich9556]

Got the Beadle and Grimm set so I gotta run death house to use that map lol this series has been great

[@navarrjenkinz]

Great vids. I’m running CoS and my players are loving it. Edit: I know this isn’t how everyone usually runs dnd, but my friends and I run it completely through texting. I describe their situation in vivid detail and they text me how they wish to act. There are many group chats made for when characters want to have one on one conversations. I have found many benefits to playing like this. For one, it helps me, the dm, plan things ahead of time; there have been many times where I’ve regretted making a decision because I felt rushed. Two, the players don’t have to worry about the awkwardness of voicing a character and instead can get very in depth to their lines if they wish to. Third, people don’t have to physically be there for sessions and I don’t have to pay for a membership for roll20 or dndbeyond. Lastly, it helps with characters having their own individual moments; it helps when telling a player the result of an insight check or a conversation one of the other characters has with their character.

[@badgerchillsky535]

I ran this as a standalone adventure for my daughter and a friend. I added a top hat to the coat closet that works like a bag of holding, just with a smaller weight limit. The description made it clear it was meant to be used for magic tricks, i.e. you pull a rabbit from it. Of course there was a dead decayed rabbit inside when she found it 😅 she lived it. Oh, and I let her keep it for her character if she decided to play it in other campaigns.

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha awesome stuff!

[@AaronthePedantic]

I like how one of the patrons is "iTakBigDumps." Mad respect.

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha hes loud and proud on that one!

[@badgerchillsky535]

Heres an idea I think could be cool: They have their characters made, ready to go, maybe 3rd level. But first thing, they’re given 1st level characters to play and they start out with them already about to enter. They’ve already talked to the ghost kids and have decided to enter. They’re confused about where they are, or what’s going on. The players may be confused, maybe feel annoyed they’re being forced to play these characters. But they’re not actually meant to survive. They get TPK’d and that’s when the scene transitions to their actual characters as they have just become lost in strange mists… It feels like the opening scene to a horror movie. The audience gets a glimpse of what they’re in for, but the characters of course have no idea.

[@Halomanx540]

My player's ran into Death house after fleeing from Strahd Zombies. Three lvl.3 PCs, 1 spider climbed up to the roof leaving the other two to bump into the animated armor. So now with two of them at death's door they're about to find out that they've got the whole basement to deal with still. We might get our groups first death and TPK in the same session lol

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha a truly terryfying time!

[@jamesbrashars4228]

Love this channel!

[@hunterwallace9551]

I'm running this now and we are currently in the dungeon part. We have had a lot of close calls but it is so far 2 experienced players who have never played strahd and 1 noob so I think they have just gotten lucky

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha awesome stuff!

[@MeemBeen]

I never felt Death House didnt fit with the rest of the adventure. To me it fits right in and also mentally is prepping the players to confront Strahds Castle.

[@swordsman111982]

I ran Death House, and I changed a little bit and it ran pretty smooth. I gave the players lvl 3 after defeating the Ghasts, and removed the resistances from the Shambling Mound.

[@NoFunAllowed]

a fair way to give your players a chance!

[@danielroberts8049]

Ran the first session of this at the weekend, 3 brand new players (Druid,rogue, monk) and and experienced player as paladin to show them how it goes and help me manage as first time DM. Surprised they got into the basement in 3.5h including character intros, setup etc. I couldn’t imagine anything near 10 sessions just in the top floors 😂 Paladin got jumped by the spectre for disturbing the crib and almost had his max Hp reduced by 10 but that’s the closest we’ve come so far. Gave them a long rest as they level up and go down the stairs, can’t wait to see what happens on Sunday. Undecided on whether I want to do the dog or mad Mary’s daughter as the sacrifice, I have a feeling the Druid and paladin will object regardless

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha awesome stuff!

[@robertmcginty4146]

Just started this with my family. 2 sessions already and they just got to the third floor. Only 2 PCs and a wolf sidekick. Druid hit level 2 though and chose Wildfire z so she's also getting a familiar. They barely survived the fight with animated armor. I just bought and painted a Shambling mound. I hope they run. I don't think they'll give up the wolf. I am looking forward to describing it T-1000ing through the portcullis as they run.

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha awesome stuff!

[@perrin26]

We are just finishing up on a 3 year campaign (Dragon Heist, the extended edition (which is to say the party likes to wander)) And are heading into this with a new party. They group hasn't really experienced a campaign that threatened death the way I think this one will. They managed to do a 3 year campaign without anyone dying. This video made me think that I will probably be asking the group themselves what difficulty level they are mentally prepared for. They can give me their video game setting they would choose, I will hint at the fact that they will likely experience death and or possibly come out the other end either mentally or physically scarred to such a degree they will be unrecognizable to who they were going in. I will likely play deathhouse in the campaign, but I have been considering replacing it with "Willow Mansion" From Lairs and Legends, which I was thinking of possibly working into Barovia. It has an appropriate feel for Ravenloft without the likelihood of death around every corner.

[@eamsamaraka486]

I'm planning to have my party start on the western side of Barovia. They are a level 4 group who arrived via a train ride that went disastrously wrong. I want them to experience the Death House, but I decided to move it out of the village. Instead, I thought: what if the house comes to them? Since the house is a malevolent entity, it could prey on newcomers to Barovia. The players might be directed to a specific location, but before they arrive, the house appears in its place. Its deceptive nature makes it look slightly more inviting than expected. The party might think, "This must be the Wizard of Wines farmhouse," and enter without hesitation. Once inside, they find themselves trapped, ensnared by the house's sinister will, i also added a cadaver right infront of the mainhall door once they are inside that tells them they tried to get to a shack near Vallaki and Merlin ran of so he has no option to leave and the house feeds one way or another. I only wrote "merlin" so they get to wonder who that might be.

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha immersive story telling like that is awesome!

[@hopeforescape884]

The shambaling mound is a pushover IMO, its a meelee with no ranged attacks and 20ft of movement, not to mention the choke point in the top of the room.

[@mi.Dalton]

I’m probably going to run death house dropped into my TOA campaign as a Halloween one shot for my level 3 party+ guest and guides.

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha awesome stuff!

[@illegalseagulls]

How did it go? I am thinking of running it as a Halloween one shot as well!

[@mi.Dalton]

@@illegalseagulls It went great! A few things! 1. when they were ported in (used strahd fog) after they were all there, I used the prompt "describe your characters, but instead of their normal appearance they are wearing the most goth, scene, emo, metal , horror attire you can thing of" (they had a TON OF laughs and fun with that.) 2. downgraded the number of combat encounters and made it more about mystery and clue finding with horror elements tailored to each player. 3.READ "trajectory of fear" pdf beforehand. 4. Tied it with the three Hags and set it as a nightmare scene with limited game impact ( they couldn't actually die more of just a nightmare death with potential Madness consequences) one player had 8 days of madness after re-entering the land of chult this almost completely changed the trajectory of Camp vengeance.

[@mi.Dalton]

@@illegalseagulls Also depends on your age range, just tailor it to your group!

[@illegalseagulls]

@@mi.Dalton Ahh I see thank you! I am glad to hear that your group had a great time!!

[@LucasRibeiro-zn6qi]

I ran death house at level 1 and that lucky bastards split up and didn’t encounter a single monster, the party’s Druid explored half of the basement alone and went around every monster

[@badmojo0777]

ive ogt 1 hard and fast rule, this goes for moveis, books and D&D, and that rule is this. if the Dog dies, IM OUT! :D

[@NoFunAllowed]

Old Yeller really did a number on us haha

[@casolock]

Went through this tonight. We started at level 3 due to some miss communication so that definitely helped over all but we made it to the big bad at the end. (We were planning on starting with new characters anyway) and decided to fight until we were killed. There where 5 PC 2 ran away as soon as they could and three of us stayed to fight. With moon beam wildling his hp down little by little. Rolles to give him disadvantage each round and a really good tank we got him most of the way down before we lost our first PC. The second one went down soon after but rolling death saves. My character starts running and shot her cross bow at each chance and with a nat 20 a 7+2 damage and the enemy with 9 hp left I killed it. Only had 19 hp left and some how grabbed the stable comrade and made it through the saves to exit the house with 1 hp left. In our party we only lost 1 pc

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha awesome stuff

[@TheRekabNivek]

Went through this as a PC (I assume slightly augmented) and it was a struggle but nobody died. I think you need a really solid group to clear. We had our fighter with protection from good and evil cast on them clogging up hallways so they had to be targeted with disadvantage, but if you don't actively do something cheesy like that I don't see how you make it through

[@NoFunAllowed]

The dm rolls 1s and 2s the whole time haha

[@oneartsygal]

Just finished session 2 of Death House with my party, the Animated Armor schooled them and the Animated Broom nearly killed them and took them 5 or 6 rounds to kill.

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha its a pretty tough fight!

[@bahamutkaiser]

I had 3 level 1 players characters survive Death House. There was a 4th that was absent for most of it.

[@eleanordawes8634]

My players got through the whole death house run as written without any of them falling unconscious even it was very annoying

[@theduckound]

Great video🙂 question: I'm new DM to dungeons&dragons, never played. How do you resurrect players that die? Practical recommendations appreciated 😊

[@unluckysoul5494]

Man I want to run death house

[@NoFunAllowed]

it makes for a great little adventure!

[@drfunkburger3895]

Recently ran this for lvl 1s and this is one of my PCs 1st campaign. She died... twice lol BUT her current PC is awesome and they are on their way to vellaki

[@NoFunAllowed]

Haha the show must go on after all!

[@drfunkburger3895]

@@NoFunAllowed it ended up making her way more attached to her current PC. Edit great content keep it up!

[@NoFunAllowed]

@@drfunkburger3895 thank you and will do!

[@Shelf_Help_ca]

I'm going to run a character funnel using DCC. And then go from there. Each player will have 3 to 4 lvl 0 characters that level up through the house. Let's see who makes it out!

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha I dig it!

[@dragondrew]

I let them become level 2 after they get to 2nd floor and I have an encounter on this floor. They are new and wanted them to have combat sooner they haven't done combat before.

[@cmdmd]

How do you maneuver a party in such small spaces inside that house? If each square is 5‘ x 5‘, and the characters cannot stack, how do we do it? I guess I need to review the rules of movement.

[@shylotifah2300]

What program are you using to view the maps and details? Thanks for. The great video!

[@chaosthegod]

I just found your channel and it's amazing for DMs! Do you intend to make guides for Descent Into Avernus, Dungeon of the Mad Mage and Out of The Abyss?

[@NoFunAllowed]

I was certainly planning on it, but these things take time haha!

[@brad2rad503]

As a faiely new DM, how do you deal with a player dying and having to make a new character? Does that player sit in the tavern until the party is finished at DH? and is that player juat sitting around the table waiting for the rest of the session?

[@avengingblowfish9653]

Hot take: Death House is not that difficult if done the "correct" way. 1. Against the animated armor, just have a high AC character take the dodge action. AC18 is very reasonable at level 1 and with only +4 to hit, the armor should have a very difficult time hitting. 2. The specter should only be able to get one hit off before the players kill it. As long as the player who gets hit makes their DC10 Con save, they should survive. Players should then long rest before heading downstairs. 3. The Grick and Mimic are only CR2 which is completely appropriate for a level 2 party. 4. The ghouls, shadows, and ghasts seem tough, but become much more manageable if the players retreat to a chokepoint so that only one can attack at a time. Players can have the high AC player in the front taking the dodge action and then rotate someone else to relieve them if necessary. The shadows are completely avoidable. 5. The shambling mound seems impossible, but it's actually the easiest fight in the whole place since it only has a movement speed of 20 ft. Players can easily kite it if they open the portcullis which only takes an action. A rogue could easily open it and then use cunning action to dash away without taking any damage at all from the mound. 6. Escaping the Death House only requires passing through 3 doorways if the players use the trap door in room 3. At least one player should be able to make it through alive and they can drag the bodies of their party members behind them... I'm not saying it's easy, but it's far from impossible without any nerfs necessary.

[@asherscottL]

That's what I was thinking. Also, printing clear maps makes this campaign SO EASY for my players to strategize in. They were able to find choke points, the trap door, and everything. Plus, I had a session 0 where they were warned that this campaign would have a lot of undead, so my players were able to pick up spells like protection from good or evil.

[@danielroberts8049]

The cleric just walks through that ghoul or shadow encounter with a channel div.

[@tanelve9]

Hey, a quick question, what’s the tool you’re using to navigate the map of the house?

[@NoFunAllowed]

this is on Roll.20 !

[@tanelve9]

@ thank you!

[@galacticspacebabe6968]

I'm taking a lot of the mechanics of DragonArcana, but really retooling the story both Reloaded and Mandy Mod uses. It feels super weird they make Gustav Durst and his affair with the Maid sympathetic when Curse of Strahd background is essentially an older, powerful lord trying to take advantage of a younger less powerful woman. On top of this, Reloaded and MM don't make Death House any more organic to the CoS setting with this plot change. The body horror at the end is top notch, and would work well with RAW.

[@Someguyonline7732]

Channel name relevant

[@NoFunAllowed]

haha

[@badmojo0777]

anyone who suggests killing hte dog is going to be the one gettingt sacrificed :d, NO! REAALLY :D

[@sg3485]

GET THIS MAN MORE VIEWS *RIOTS*

[@NoFunAllowed]

Haha thank you!

[@sephiroth1821]

If it reaches a 3rd session lol im tpking the party

[@NoFunAllowed]

ive heard it take up to 11 haha!

[@dmwiggy7661]

I dropped the broom

[@johnhaddenham3189]

The shambling mound just seems totally out of place in this house to me.

[@NoFunAllowed]

its not supposed to be a plant mound, but instead a corpse mound! they were just too lazy to make a new stat block haha

[@johnhaddenham3189]

@@NoFunAllowed that makes sense. I've never read through the adventure because I've always wanted to play it. I only watched this because we just got out of the Death House in the game I'm playing.

[@HBookbinderGM]

My party is 3rd level.

[@badmojo0777]

are they DEAHTLYafraid??? THEY SHOULD BE!! :P

[@Raginmunnd]

fuck is your problem with dogs?

[@damioncastellano5299]

I'm convinced death house is literally impossible as written.

[@NoFunAllowed]

the DM could roll natural 1s every single time and never hurt anyone haha!