"Nothing says 'gothic horror' like having a 2-level handicap for the next year of your life." I damn near fell off my couch. You're a mean, bad, evil genius.
To be fair these two are the extremes of GM's. XPLvl3 had his lvl 2 party kill all three in bone grinder. He doesn't like making combat hard, that should have been a TPK even if they the witches revived them for purposes.
Thanks for all the help, Billy! I think Bullet with butterfly wings is my favorite song of yours, but 1979 might be too. I didn't even know you played dnd!
This is my first time DMing CoS and your videos have been so, so helpful! I was hella overwhelmed until I started watching your videos, thank you so much!!
Made Elizabeth's maiden name Wachter. A small detail probably overlooked by my party but who knows. Maybe they will recognize the name again I'm Valliki
CoS is gunna be my first campaign I've ever ran. This video was very helpful! Especially about the name change of the house. Also I never realized hos much room there is for changing stuff up or adding your own lore.
im coming back to all these videos while reading raising the stakes. running curse of stradh a second time and my first time was made amazing thanks to the guide! thank you for making it
At first, I wondered, how a few changes to Death House could mount up to 45 pages. Now that the link was changed, I am grateful for the full compendium. I'll consider it a gift for watching your content so fast :D
I ran your version of Durst Manor twice (based on your other video), with minor changes to the story to adapt to how my players were reacting to the whole mystery and both parties loved it, to the point that it's still a highlight for many of them - they loved the "mystery solving" feel. I seriously recommend this to anyone who is going to run CoS, Durst's Tiny Hut of Horrors makes for a very nice introduction to the horror and most of the time gruesome setting of the campaign and gives the players a taste of how TOUGH the encounters in the module can be , especially through the shadows and the "shambling mound" encounter at the end.
Great video, as always.. Here’s a quick outline of how I started Curse of Strahd with 'Death House'.... In order to give the PCs a home, and a place to come back to (presuming they survived Curse of Strahd) I decided to start in Waterdeep. All four PCs had a personal link to a recent spate of murders and disappearances, whether they knew or were related to one of the victims. The four PCs then received a mysterious invitation to a performance at a theatre in the Sea Ward, of a play called “Blood Wedding”. (This idea is stolen from Dragon Heist, which describes a play that tells the story of Strahd, Tatyana and Sergei.) The night of the play was a dark and stormy one (of course), and the PCs arrived to find the theatre to be old and abandoned, and empty but for themselves. They met each other, and shared some back story. They were then attacked by several zombies shambling into the theatre. After the battle, they followed a ghostly female voice from behind the curtain, which led them into the cellars of the theatre, and eventually into the city sewers, now flooding because of the heavy rains. They fought a few more zombies, and some rat swarms disturbed by the floods. The ghostly female voice kept leading them on through the tunnels, until they ascended from the sewers to find the rain had abated. They now stood in an alley, facing a mist-cloaked house that was boarded up, and watched as a ghostly woman passed through the mists and entered the house. That was session 01. In session 02 the PCs entered Death House (renamed “Mordant Manor”). The ghostly woman was indeed the Mordant family's abused Nursemaid. She did not attack the PC’s, but lured them further and further into the house. The characters found clues that indicated that the master of the house (renamed Magnus Mordant), in trying to forge a pact with unknown evil entities, had become some kind of undead spirit (actually a vampiric mist). The PCs found Strahd's letter, which mocked Magnus' attempts to gain the blessings of the dark powers with his cult of pathetic followers. Strahd had punished Magnus for his audacity, making him a vampiric mist, and as part of the curse, Magnus' wife Margaret became an undead creature as well (in her case a deathlock wight). The murder victims found in Waterdeep were slain by the vampiric mist (Magnus), while the zombies encountered were victims of the deathlock wight (Margaret). Rose and Thorn become the ghostly Mordant twins, Melissa and Madeline, whose remains were found upstairs. Baby Walter became Baby Max, child of the Nursemaid and Magnus, whose body couldn't be found. The Nursemaid's ghost eventually revealed to the PCs the rest of the back story… In the finale in the basement (after slaying Margaret in her bedroom), the PCs faced Magnus (the vampiric mist), instead of the Shambling Mound. The voices of the Mordant’s death cult ‘followers’ could be heard chanting “One must die!” At that stage, the ghost of baby Max arrived, but it possessed a PC, and helped them slay the vampiric mist. As they were victorious, Max’s spirit was released (and the Nursemaid’s). The PCs then fled the house, which tried to stop them (as per the original adventure). They just managed to get out alive, but as they ran outside... They found themselves not on a street in Waterdeep, but instead on the edges of a dark and gloomy forest. Mordant Manor had brought them to its true location, in Barovia, in the Svalich Woods, close to the eastern gates! When they looked back, the PCs saw that the mist-shrouded house was now a broken ruin, surrounded by dark trees. They then headed for the road, where they found the body and letter, and proceeded with Curse of Strahd... They are now at Session 8, at the Old Bonegrinder....
Oh man, I'm literally running the 2nd half of Death House TONIGHT! I don't know if this timing was perfect or awful. Going to be one hell of a cram session. Thank you for all the cool ideas!
I started my own Curse of Strahd campaign last week, and will literally be kicking off the next session on Wednesday with them reading Gustav's journal - excellent timing, love all of the development and changes you've made, will be updating my notes this evening for sure!
Keep up the amazing work! I love that you guys flesh out modules and make the world become more real giving a real interesting backstory! This is my favorite D&D channel!
I just had the first session and it was a blast! Starting off without starting equipment definitely put everyone on edge. The wizard was pissed, since his spellbook is gone. This spellbook and another few unique character items will be inside the basket with wine and welcome note after Durst Manor.
Running Strahd for the third time now and ofc I'm back to this channel always guiding me with wonderful content ideas to make it fresh and new for myself thank you!
My players have just reach the 2nd floor upper hall (we play in play-by-post style btw), I think I still have a chance to convert the house to this instead. Although it's a shame that I missed most of the 1st floor alteration. Still, thanks!
I ran Death House 2 weeks ago using various inspiration from around the web and a little homebrewing of my own and my players are loving this module! I'm definitely going to be using some of your ideas about other areas too. I think it's safe to say this channel is one of the most under-viewed D&D channels on UA-cam.
Just to let you know here where I live if someone is killed in a house then it is being sold by law they must tell the buyer that someone died in it and there might be spirits there to.
Thanks so much for this version of the death house, I was the DM, and my two younger brothers (13 & 15) and one of my good friends were players, I wanted to run this as a one shot and maybe if it turned out good run curse of strahd campaign. I think it was my best session as a DM yet. My two younger brothers were scared out of their minds. Lets just say they slept in the parents room that night because I got them that scared. And I think my friend really enjoyed it. I really like these additions to the death house. I think it makes it more scary. I might have to find two more players though.
I read somewhere about switching the creature in the basement to an Ooblek. I ran some players throigh this and it was an infinitely more fun encounter since the murky water hid the tendrils well and the charred house helped to disguise the sulfur smell of the ooblek.
2:05, I feel that. I've just began to run Curse of Strahd, and one of my players who came back from the bathroom saw my book, with the creepy picture of the Durst children and the name Death House, sadly not experienced enough to not let it colour his roleplaying... :'(
It’s so wild you guys chose to update this now. I just watched the first version of this last week and am running your modified version for my friends. Thanks so much for spicing you this otherwise boring encounter
Thanks, man, I already ran the Death House as in your first video, and it was 100 times more amazing than the time I ran it as written, taking a look into the document this one makes even more sense, love your guides, keep up! and thanks!
That's pretty close to what I had decided to do also. I changed it to a lighthouse. The ghost that lures them in is Mr. Durst, the light house keeper. Why a lighthouse? Well, in the book I, Strahd the War with Azalin, other regions are mysteriously pulled onto Barovia, one of which is a coastal area. Having Barovia as an island adds something besides the mists to keep them from trying to escape. Dangerous storms and jagged rocks that can be seen about a mile off shore and has kept the thought of a sea journey out of Barovian minds. The only boats are small row boats generally utilized for lake fishing.
This is such a good idea, it changes almost nothing significant because the island could easily be large enough to fit the existing map inside and have plenty of room to spare so a DM has to make basically no alterations to the landscape but it deepens the lore, opens new options, increases the feel of isolationism and provides yet another reason the PCs and Barovians can’t easily escape. Hats off to you Matthew this is brilliant. This channel is excellent and the people commenting here are just great.
My favourite way to make the players feel trapped in Barovia is this: "The mists creep closer and closer, obscuring all sense of time and distance. After what must be several hours of walking through the twisting passages of the mountains in almost uniform whiteness, the mist begins to thin. You walk out to an overlook and see unfolding before you... the valley of Barovia. You think you hear mocking laughter on the wind and get a sudden, overwhelming feeling of someone watching you."
Session 1 went great. I really leaned into the hunger theme. Before they players even got to Durst Manor, I had them find an old abandoned farm, weathered to the point the door came off when they opened it. Inside they found a single room cabin with empty burlap sacks lining the shelves. A large bed and a small bed. A small skeleton on the small bed. The remains of two other skeletons piled together, as though huddled for warmth. Around that time I also took advantage of the fact that most of my players only had 1 wine skin to warn them that their water supply was running low. Simply solved by a survival roll into finding the river to the south, but continued the feel of need and desperation. When they finally got to Durst Manor, they came THIS close to leaving when they found the empty pantry (after one of the players had eaten from the feast). But after talking to the children again, back in they went. Session ended on a cliffhanger in the attic after they'd found the secret passage in the dollhouse, with Thorn's ghost entering one of the players. Can't wait for session 2!
The answer is to add a little more mystery and riddling to the encounters, making the death house feel more like the rest of Barovia with tricky nuances that tickle the imagination. Also love your sleazy realtor bit.
@@LunchBreakHeroes The One shot turn into a mini campaign and everyone had a fun time in Durst Manor. However when the Paladin found Gustav he immediately smashed the skull because he thought it would be a combat encounter. So he doomed Gustav to a eternity of torment. Also the party played hot potato with a deck of cards for 40 minutes because they thought they found the deck of many things... 10 out of 10 would recommend
I love all of your Curse Of Strahd content! I have been reading the book and working on the adventure for the past month and your videos have been a great help! I've used all the little changes to death house for my adventure and will hopefully be running it sometime this week! Ill let you know how it goes!
Thank you for all the good work you've done to expand upon the CoS module. It's a lot to integrate, but well worth it in the long run. Here's a big question in regards to Barovian history and events that shape the campaign -- Do you have any advice on practical applications for Show Don't Tell ? So far, all I've got is even more letters in Durst Manor describing the famine and despair after Strahd's curse fell on the land. Advice on Show Don't Tell is good for every writing situation, so I thank folks here in advance.
I'm sure I've mentioned this before,but these are super helpful to me. I'm currently running a higher level/homebrew 3.5 version of this module, and the changes and additions are really helpful in adding more 'meat to the meal' as it were. You've got a new subscriber here, bud, keep up the great content!
@@LunchBreakHeroesAfter this video, I thought of maybe giving Elizabeth Durst a few levels in Warlock, just to make her a little more scary than just a Ghast to a party of mid level adventurers, what with the powers of the Dark Ones, it made sense to me. I like the altered Gustav and Elizabeth plot. Very horror movie move. It fits nicely with the undertone, and paints a more 'humanized' vision of the Dursts.
I spent like 20 hours writing up my amendments to D Manor from you last vid. Last Monday, my group had to cancel. One for work and one due to extreme hay fever allergies. Now you drop a fully written version on me!? 😆. Good thing I’m not precious about my poorly scribed notes! Thanks for all the work!
Lunch Break Heroes me too, though I think I’ll keep Lancelot from the previous vid though. As my players are all dog lovers, it gives them something to attach to, but I guarantee my wife won’t want to sacrifice him and if she kept him, it would be great to see what happens when she meets Mad Mary! I think having the option of something to sacrifice that isn’t a PC was a great addition. I’d also have Sophaxis go for Lancelot. Could make a fun encounter trying to protect him.
damn, i just started this module for the third time and this is my first time watching your videos (the last two times I ran it, only 1 survived)... Don´t worry, tho, At the end of the house (if they made it to the exit) they will be back in the woods.
I like the story of the Dursts you did in the 1st death house video. I think it’s creepier. Having the motivations born of vanity and jealousy rather than necessity is much more the way I like to run Ravenloft. Neither is right or wrong. Just a matter of preference. I like what you did with Death house either way. A big improvement over the mod. Thanks!
I'm running the basement section on Thursday, time to make the final preparations! If Mr. Durst was sure his childen were already gone, why did he wrote that letter to them?
The way I got around to that was that Mr. Durst also had a lot of blood on his hands, and that was weighing on him for quite a while, becoming ever more distant and divided about what they were doing, and eventually showing signs of depression due to what was happening (this was demonstrated through a Journal the players found at the secret chamber at 2F). When he found out what happened with Elizabeth and Walter, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Wracked with guilt, he wrote the letter as a way of trying to apologize for what had transpired... and hung himself. The letter was more of a "last gasp" for his (in his mind) deceased, beloved children than a proper letter, per se.
@@victorratier19 That makes sense! Reading in my non-native language sometimes makes me miss some details and I wanted to make sure I wasn't getting it wrong.
I think Durst Mansion is an excellent scenario with many possibilities for roleplay and mystery, but unfortunately it is not for all groups. I was eager to narrate this introduction (I read and studied all of your guides and all the material on reddit) but it is not working very well for my group, they are bored looking for traps and secret passages in each room, waiting for an encounter that never happens ... They certainly don't match the subtle style of this magnificent setting, they don't care about the story and just want to find that monster in the basement to slaughter it and move on. I should have started them at level 3 and skipped the whole thing, for groups that prefer exploration and fighting, it's a sad waste of good storytelling unfortunately ...
It's also not for every DM. I was a player in one Curse of Strahd campaign, where the DM wanted to focus on combat. Well, most of the campaign wasn't for his "playstyle" except for a few choice locations.
And here I thought u include death house *for* those players, so they don't get bored, when the first encounter is against Doru in the church and that is not your run of the mill "just kill the monster" encounter either.
Currently preparing to run CoS, your videos have been super Helpful! A personal change i will make is rename the Durst family into Drust. Im running the campaign in german and Durst means Thirst, its a bit on the nose and silly haha
I used this storyline last night for my team and had them find it out when they discovered the secret room in the study. They found Elizabeth’s diary with Strahd’s letter. I had them realise her handwriting was becoming less legible and more frantic. I’ve had 2 party members play Death House before and they hated it. However, they are loving it this time round and said they liked the new flavour this gave the game. Thank you!
So here’s an outline of how I started Curse of Strahd in Waterdeep with 'Death House'... In order to give the PCs a home, and a place to come back to (presuming they survive Curse of Strahd) I decided to start in Waterdeep. All four PCs had a personal link to a recent spate of murders and disappearances, whether they knew or were related to one of the victims. The four PCs then received an invitation to a performance at a theatre in the Sea Ward, of a play called “Blood Wedding”. (This idea is stolen from Dragon Heist, which describes a play that tells the story of Strahd, Tatyana and Sergei.) The night of the play was a dark and stormy night, and the PCs arrived to find the theatre to be old and abandoned, and empty but for themselves. They met each other, and shared some back story. They were then attacked by several zombies shambling into the theatre. After the battle, they followed a ghostly female voice from behind the curtain, which led them into the cellars of the theatre, and eventually into the city sewers, now flooding because of the heavy rains. They fought a few more zombies, and some rat swarms disturbed by the floods. The ghostly female voice kept leading them on through the tunnels, until they ascended from the sewers to find the rain had abated. They now stood in an alley, facing a mist-cloaked house that was boarded up, outside which stood two children, who watched as a ghostly woman passed through the mists and entered the house. That was our first session… In the next, the PCs entered Death House (renamed “Mordant Manor”). The Nursemaid was indeed the ghostly woman, but she did not attack the PC’s. Instead, they found clues in the house that indicated that the master of the house (renamed Magnus Mordant), in trying to forge a pact with unknown evil entities, became some kind of undead spirit (actually a vampiric mist). Strahd's letter mocked Magnus' attempts to gain the blessings of the dark powers, and he pronounced a curse on Mordant House. As part of the curse, Magnus' wife Margaret became an undead creature as well (in her case a deathlock wight). The murder victims found in Waterdeep were slain by the vampiric mist, while the zombies encountered were victims of the deathlock wight. Rose and Thorn became the ghostly Mordant twins, more or less as written. Baby Walter became Baby Max, whose body could not be found. The Nursemaid was a ghost who revealed to the PCs the rest of the back story… In the finale in the basement (after slaying Margaret in the bedroom), the PCs faced Magnus (the vampiric mist), instead of the Shambling Mound. The voices of the Mordant’s death cult ‘followers’ could be heard chanting “One must die!”. At that stage, the ghost of baby Max arrived, but it helped them slay the vampiric mist. Max’s spirit was released (and the Nursemaid’s). The PCs then fled the house, which tried to stop them (as per the original adventure). They just managed to get out, but as they ran outside... They found themselves not on a street in Waterdeep, but instead on the edges of a dark and gloomy forest. Mordant Manor had brought them to its true location, in Barovia, in the Svalich Woods, close to the eastern gates! When they looked back, the PCs saw that the mist-shrouded house was now a broken ruin, surrounded by dark trees. They then headed for the road, where they found the body and letter, and proceeded with Curse of Strahd as written. We are now at the Old Bonegrinder...
Thanks! Can you outline a bit more how the Skill Challenge at the end works or would be mechanically and narratively presented? Specifically, a group check vs an individual check for something like swimming, or acrobatics to avoid falling debris? Does everyone individually roll the check, or does the party nominate one person to represent them?
While you can run it however you'd like, typically a single PC makes the check for the group. Their chosen skill or spell is then "used up" for the rest of the skill challenge, and can't be called upon again, unless that skill is used by a different PC.
Great stuff! Do you have the link to your write up for this new addition? I've used your previous guide for Durst Manor and my group plowed right through the house almost straight to the mound ("Kids said it was upstairs let's go!" .. no crypts, no exploring ... "Let's follow the chants to the lowest level possible!" "Hey what's all this junk in the water, 'I poke at it'."). They are now (tonight!) going to try and escape the house. I was planning on running a skill challenge (so far using /u/DragnaCarta guide.. all of you DMs are a HUGE help) but was interested to see how you would run this part. Thanks again!
Your fun realtor voice made me think "what if instead of Rose and thorn I just have a guy using your selling points trying to sell death house to the party" I mean what party doesn't want a house in a cursed demiplane?
Skill Challenge question: I understand rolling initiative to know who gets left behind if there are 3 or more failures but I’m a little confused on how the skill rolls are done. Are challenges in initiative order and only the player who’s turn it is can roll? I.e….the Wizard rolled high Initiative and the 1st challenge is breaking down a door. Is it up to the Wizard to break down the door only? Or does it work so that as challenges are encountered the party chooses who does the rolling for the party?
I added a copy of the "Grimoire of Four Quarters" and had Lady Wacter and Rose know each other when they were children. Of course, in my game the players decided to bring Rose and Thorn with them on their adventures to see the world become a better place before passing on to the afterlife.
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It has been a while since I ran the Durst Mansion, but I love your changes - Might take them if i run the module again Also: 45 Page Guide!!! Nice
Barovia should be overflowing with food. Several days ago, I posted a short bit about Strahd's motivation in my game, as I wasn't happy with my lack of ability when it came to portraying him. So I modeled him after a British "Gentleman Gardener", talking about planting, and reaping, with a Barovian accent, of course. And I was thinking today on the bus ride to work -- He is THE LAND. His power over the very elements is absolute. Witness what he did to Berez. If he wanted a bountiful harvest every year, it would happen. Vegetables and grains for sure, and maybe even wild game, turkeys, deer, ducks, that kind of thing. But it doesn't. Because Strahd is an asshole. He is so petty, that because a teenaged girl didn't fall in love with him, he doomed an entire country. I'm can't decide if he is an Emo or a Neckbeard. He's definitely an Edgelord, though. If Strahd could change, maybe Barovia could become a great place to spend the rest of your life. Maybe Madame Eva and Baba Lysaga could team up, and try to fix the most powerful man in their lives. Wow, that sounded a lot more sexist on paper than it did in my head. I could try to rework that line. I should get back to writing new Dark Gifts that my homebrewed Vestiges will offer my hapless players.
@@LunchBreakHeroes I would have to be a far better DM in order to make "Curse Of Strahd: The Musical", but I'm sure someone, someday, eventually will. Probably along the lines of the "Buffy" musical episode.
The moon shines cold on the mountain tonight Not a living soul to be seen A kingdom in isolation And it looks like I'm the king The mists are rising like this bloodlust deep inside Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I've tried Don't let them out, don't let them leave Be the monster I always have to be Just kneel my meal, oh don't you know You just can't go! Let blood flow, Let blood flow Can't hold it back anymore Let blood flow, Let blood flow Close the lock and slam the door I don't care that you're going to scream Let the storm rage on I can't leave Barovia anyway
@@LunchBreakHeroes I refuse to believe you did that improv style. I sense you have more musical talent than you are letting us know about on your channel.
Hey there, thanks for the great content! I have a few questions after running my first session with your changes : * Strahd is supposed to be in power for 400 years as per the letter next to the gates. How would the Dursts have known riches before Strahd took over Barovia? * the PCs remarked on Gustav's hung body being only dessicated versus the kids being skeletons. Is that an inconsistency that I should retcon somehow? How long have they been dead in your version? * You mention Gustav finding Anya dead in her bed, yet no mention of her body is made in the writeup. Was that an oversight or was the body (and the blood) magically concealed? Thank you for taking the time to help out!
I just watched your first Death House video and took two pages of notes before seeing this one, lol. I can't imagine you making it any better! Why did you change the end monster from the flesh mound with Walter to the mother as a gibbering mouther? Now I'm also confused as to where baby Walter is in this new iteration.
Question, if Gustav found Liz and baby Walter upon returning from the errand, and the nursemaid Anya but the only way to the basement was through the attic where Rose and Thorn are, wouldn’t he have found them and found purpose instead of killing himself in the master bedroom?
No mention of the Strahd Statue, or the Shadows? leaving these as is seems a little risky for a low level group however taking them out leaves a bit of a hole.
This seems really cool. I am a new DM and about to start running my group (also new) through Death House. I swore I would run the entire campaign RAW but after reading all of the warnings and TPKs of Death House I decided to modify it, and this guide is great. When running this do you figure out a way to tell the players the story? There are little hints in your guide here and there but if you don't know the full story I am not sure they will figure it out. My second question, and this one goes for this scenario and is also a general question when playing in person (which is what we will do), how do you handle the house exploration? Do you print the player map and reveal the rooms as they explore, using some sort of fog-of-war effect, or do you just use theatre of the mind the whole time? And if you do that, do you use battle boards when battling or do you use all theatre of the mind for that as well?
Very nice video! Much better than the original idea. Congratulations for the effort you've put on this. One question, how do you explain all this rich information to the characters. How they will realize what happened in the manor? The famine, the mother killing the baby, the cannibal cult, etc
It's very possible that they'll never get that background information, and that's okay. The information laid out here informs your presentation of the set piece, and possibly other areas within the game. Inquisitive parties can get a sense of the history through "information dumps"--areas and NPCs that provide background information and exposition. Durst Manor's library is a good place for this, and you can scatter journal entries and additional letters throughout the house as you see fit. Rose and Thorne can provide exposition, if only just from a child's perspective.
Thank you so much for your content. I have a question if I could? Having the entrance to the Durst family crypt in the attic just drives me crazy it just makes no sense. I am thinking of moving it to the first floor, maybe in the main hall to the left of the dining room door. Having the door on the first floor make sense and on top of that they are hunted by the wolves from the den and run into the four animated armors on the second floor. This also allow my to show that the whole house as changed when they hit the 3rd floor. Your thoughts?
@@LunchBreakHeroes after discovering the hidden entrance on the first floor in the doll house the characters must make their way back down fighting their way through four armors and the 3 wolves are hunting them. I should have said that the group will be 5 lvl 3 characters.
I should have stated this earlier but my idea is that the house is hiding to entry to the crypt. The players will not be able to find the door until they have discovered it within the doll house.
@@LunchBreakHeroes I was just looking over the of the sub levels of Durst Manor and started thinking, I understand the crypt and possibly a chamber or to would have been part of the houses original design, but how many years did they spend on the expansions. I would guess that maybe this all started when Thorn was a newborn and their activities had been going on for 8 or 9 years before Elizabeth killed Walter.
One question, if I may: Your PDF doesn't mention any changes as to where the corpse of the nursemaid can be found. However, if I understand your modified story correctly, the only place it would make sense to find her is in her room, i.e. the Nursemaid's Suite (#15A). Would you agree? I ask because I feel it would be a lot more fun to leave her in the wooden trunk in the Storage Room (#18), as in the original adventure. However, I can't think of a good reason why she would be there, if we are using your modified version of the story. What would you suggest? Anyway, thank you so much for your great ideas! Your PDF is amazingly useful, and I intend to make good use of it when I run the adventure in two days' time!
Unless your players are particularly analytical, I doubt anyone will ask why the bones are in the trunk. 😄 But there’s also nothing lost by having a skeleton underneath a bloody bedsheet in the nursemaid’s room either. So I can go either way.
Realtor here. Local laws notwithstanding, you only have to disclose a death on the property if you're asked. Other than that, I would pitch that the seller rebrand the home as a spooky themed attraction! There would be a waiver, of course, but that just adds to the air of danger! The trick would be advertising, but the Vistani should be able to help with that, and they apparently work for booze! We can do a sweepstakes: Survive a weekend and get 200gp.
@@LunchBreakHeroes Situated just outside of Historic Uptown Barovia, this isolated fortress of solitude is _perfect_ for a band of heroic adventurers or despotic conquerors! With its breath-taking panoramic views, you'll be able to watch over the people of Barovia as their silent guardians... Or absolute monarchs. Are you a reclusive wizard? This property features extensive magical libraries and _more_ than enough laboratory space--and the books and equipment are *staying with the castle*. Pesky adventuring parties beating down your door to identify your equipment? Ravenloft is seclusion at its finest; thr previous occupant was able to dabble in the eldritch arts uninterrupted for centuries! Whether you're a questing party of noble adventurers, a despotic warlord looking to make your name, or a recluse wizard devoted to the study of lost lore, let me tell you, Barovia is _the place_ to be in the coming days. Because Strahd von Zaravich is coming back. You know what that means? Employment opportunities are gonna skyrocket for both adventuring parties _and_ tyrannical conquerors. Strahd himself is a vast repository of arcane knowledge just waiting to be tapped! Whether you're looking to oppose Strahd or to join him, Castle Ravenloft is an _indispensible_ asset for the innevitable return of our dark lord! House sold where-is as-is. Owner financing available.
Beginning CoS this Sunday using your modifications and I’m pumped!! I was curious if you had any recommendations for music/ambiance for “Durst House”??
I was thinking stillborn as in born to die. Not as in died at birth. Works if you look at the script where it is Said as a riddle. Will also make more sense for the party after they Escape or learn the truth about walter.
This is an amazing revision to an already good revision for Death House (that being the original video), but I have to ask. I read through the file provided by the link in the description and I noticed some discrepancies between this one and the last revision of Death House. Would you suggest running this new version instead of the first revision? Or perhaps, with some DM discretion (that being me) merging some elements between the two?
DM discretion all the way, Chef. The original was based entirely on the works of DragnaCarta and MandyMod. I started creating original content shortly after I did that video. So this revision is my own original content.
Related question: I'm modifying Curse of Strahd quite a bit for when I'm running it, but one of the more important changes I'm making is that some of the player characters will be native Barovians, some even native to the area around Barovia Village. Would The Durst Manor and its nature be known about by the common Barovian Villager? Is there any good way to keep its nature secret?
A native Barovian would know that the house is a "no go" zone. There'd be rumors and stories passed down that likely end up as cautionary folk tales. The kind that start out like, "Have I ever told you the story about the Razmakov kid that poked around the old Durst place? No one ever heard from him again. So keep your little butt inside the village!"
To expand a little on the various big changes I'm making: -I'm running two 'campaigns' in a sense that are connected and opposed. A typical 'good'-leaning one that's out to beat Strahd, and an 'evil' one where the players become Strahd's secret police of sorts. They're both pitted against each other. -I'm making Barovia or the Demiplanes of Dread a planet in a sci-fantasy/magitek setting I made. The impetus for the plot is that a spacefaring civilization from my setting (called Zion) has found a way to enter (but not exit) Barovia and intends to invade it. Their first step in doing so will be astroturfing local insurgents (and arming them with advanced technology), before eventually reinforcing them with their own troops. These guys are the primary antagonists to the evil party. -Good party members are assumed to be either agents of these invaders, locals who are anti-Strahd (and likely joining one of their insurgent movements), or just people who got stuck in Barovia for some other reason.
one thing that bothered me was the portrayal of mr durst. I believe he is apathetic to the cult and is thus complicit, allowing it to go on in his own home. When he discovers what his wife did, instead of immediately killing himself, he writes a suicide not and sends a letter to his brother to get the children. He lets the children out of the attic, but locks the door to the basement. He says his final goodbyes, then locks himself in his study to kill himself. the brother comes, but falls victim to the house, also becoming a ghast as he partook of human flesh during the famine, unknowingly or knowingly. The children try to leave, but the mists won't let them, the dark power keeping them trapped. they THEN die of starvation in the same place the players find them. I think this makes more sense, as why would the father who seems to have some care for his children not care about where they are?
I love this take on the Durst Manor. The only changes i made to this take in my game, is making Elisabeth Durst even less sympathetic. I like the idea that the Dursts were upstart nobles. Arrogant in their new position they fired all the "incompetent" farmworkers that "disapproved" of their new agricultural products. (Fundamentally because the idea was moronic). After the rise of Strahd, Elisabeth is haunted by horrible visions from three horrible creatures living in a windmill (little foreshadowing of the Old Bonegrinder Hags). In her sleepless and stressed state she consults other means of raising life in the form of necromancy as a Ditch effort to save the fields. Realizing that, by making Sacrifices she can save the families fortune. Gustav first joins into the Cult made up by other lesser nobles and the loyal farm workers in that endeavor. Realizing later down the line, that Elisabeth slowly turns crazier. In his own loneliness he woe´s Margaret the Nursemaid. Becoming the father of Walter. Elisabeth is once more absolutely maddened by this situation and after Walter wakes her up screaming one night first walks into the Kitchen for a Kitchen Knife, after which she kills Margaret in her room. Followed by Gustav in the Bedroom. She then looks the kids in their room, taking Walter down into the basement. After the ritual years pass, the death house claiming more and more victims on the road. Meanwhile in the house Elisabeth becomes desolate even further having skinned Gustav and made him into a Boneless, she now wears as a macabre self-made Human-Furcoat. (imagine Undead Cruella de VIl). For the sake of the Manor exploration i gave Elisabeth Durst the Ghast Statblock, added a Bonus-Action Kitchen-Knife attack, Spider-Climb and a sort of Etherialness where she teleports every time she´s it. TO be said, i run this for a full lvl 3 group and added lvl 2 side-character children inspired by my players old characters. So they´re currently 3x lvl 3s + 3x lvl 2s in the house. Therefore i also added multiple zombie Victims of Elisabeth Durst, who are with skinned human skin stripes "tailored" against the walls of the Cultist Den. Having even their face skinned off and then stretched over their skinned skulls by metal spikes rammed into their shoulders. (Imagine fear and hunger skin granny, but just the face after it skinned a PC). I just like the idea that this whole situation was avoidable, if the Dursts hadn´t soiled themself in their own arrogance. It´s imo a better tragedy and even more cruel if the entire situation could´ve actually been avoided instead of just happening because Strahd´s the Evil Guy.
She and I share a lot of common views, but the content in this guide is 100% original to us. The earlier Death House video I created was a summation of Mandy and Dragna's content.
My party took the Orb in the hand of Strahd's Statue and is carrying it around while escorting Ireena. They are giving the bad guy a very good pay per view, how should I punish them (Is session 3, they are almost on the Ol' Bonegrinder)
It's bundled into our free Raising the Stakes guide, which you can find for free on lunchbreakheroes.com. Just sign up and go to the Member Content area.
Only thing I'd add here is that you don't have anyway of conveying this back story or cannibalism to the characters. I ran it with ghostly visions and flashbacks into key snippets. The argument between Gustav and Elisabeth, the murder of the nurse maid with only a small glance at a token piece of clothing that identifies Elisabeth, a diary written by the maid detailing her affair and birth of child, and finally, the gnawed, smashed and split bones of the victims thrown into the well. It's great to have this background but without a way to communicate it to the players it's a bit wasted.
Why a Gibbering Mouther at the end? That is about out of place as the Mimic. The first version of this was better. Adding it to the new story , the canablism was so abundant they did not eat the arms and legs etc. They got discarded and turned into the slimey rotten stinking crawling mess the meet at the end.
Why not both?! The first one was based on other creators’ content before we started making our own original stuff. So we circled back around a year later and redid Death House our way. You can watch them both and use whatever elements you like!
I will argue that it's pretty likely the players will figure out well in advance that The Durst Manor is haunted even if you don't use the term 'Death House'. Basically, it can be inferred from two or three pieces of information: #1: They probably know what genre the campaign is, as you probably at one point asked "Want me to run Curse of Strahd? It's a Gothic Horror campaign" #2: It's a mansion. #3: It's being framed an awful lot like a dungeon. They'll probably go for it anyways, mind you. Going into Haunted Houses is both obviously unavoidable in a campaign like Curse of Strahd, and almost certainly what they signed on for. For the record, I'd still advise against actually using the term 'Death House' for the sake of immersion and such.
Immersion is basically it. You aren't going to pull the wool over your players' eyes unless you run Death House in isolation and then spring Curse of Strahd on them. If you've gotten buy-in from your players in regards to the module, they know what they're getting into, and will hopefully fulfill their end of your social contract (you run the game, we play it).
How to run Curse of Strahd; DON'T. That thing attracts assholes like flies to shit. Something about that module brings out That Guys like...well, a curse.
"Nothing says 'gothic horror' like having a 2-level handicap for the next year of your life."
I damn near fell off my couch. You're a mean, bad, evil genius.
XP to Level 3 needs to see this....Since he hates it
To be fair these two are the extremes of GM's. XPLvl3 had his lvl 2 party kill all three in bone grinder. He doesn't like making combat hard, that should have been a TPK even if they the witches revived them for purposes.
Gonna put on some Limp Bizkit for my players when they enter Durst Manor
I changed the patriarch’s name to Fredrick for this exact reason
The ghost of Mr. Durst greets them like "Now I know y'all be lovin' this sh right here!" (I know this is super late, but I had to)
Thanks for all the help, Billy! I think Bullet with butterfly wings is my favorite song of yours, but 1979 might be too. I didn't even know you played dnd!
Despite all my rage I’ve still got dice in the cage.
This is my first time DMing CoS and your videos have been so, so helpful! I was hella overwhelmed until I started watching your videos, thank you so much!!
Glad I could help!
Made Elizabeth's maiden name Wachter. A small detail probably overlooked by my party but who knows. Maybe they will recognize the name again I'm Valliki
Same
"All about player agency"
(a few seconds earlier...)
"Especially if you take all their gear"
CoS is gunna be my first campaign I've ever ran. This video was very helpful! Especially about the name change of the house. Also I never realized hos much room there is for changing stuff up or adding your own lore.
Your guide is a lifesaver. I'm starting CoS as the dm in less than 2 weeks and your ideas are a godsend 😭💖
Good luck!!
im coming back to all these videos while reading raising the stakes. running curse of stradh a second time and my first time was made amazing thanks to the guide! thank you for making it
You’re very welcome!
At first, I wondered, how a few changes to Death House could mount up to 45 pages. Now that the link was changed, I am grateful for the full compendium. I'll consider it a gift for watching your content so fast :D
Sounds good!
I ran your version of Durst Manor twice (based on your other video), with minor changes to the story to adapt to how my players were reacting to the whole mystery and both parties loved it, to the point that it's still a highlight for many of them - they loved the "mystery solving" feel.
I seriously recommend this to anyone who is going to run CoS, Durst's Tiny Hut of Horrors makes for a very nice introduction to the horror and most of the time gruesome setting of the campaign and gives the players a taste of how TOUGH the encounters in the module can be , especially through the shadows and the "shambling mound" encounter at the end.
Great video, as always..
Here’s a quick outline of how I started Curse of Strahd with 'Death House'....
In order to give the PCs a home, and a place to come back to (presuming they survived Curse of Strahd) I decided to start in Waterdeep.
All four PCs had a personal link to a recent spate of murders and disappearances, whether they knew or were related to one of the victims.
The four PCs then received a mysterious invitation to a performance at a theatre in the Sea Ward, of a play called “Blood Wedding”. (This idea is stolen from Dragon Heist, which describes a play that tells the story of Strahd, Tatyana and Sergei.)
The night of the play was a dark and stormy one (of course), and the PCs arrived to find the theatre to be old and abandoned, and empty but for themselves. They met each other, and shared some back story. They were then attacked by several zombies shambling into the theatre.
After the battle, they followed a ghostly female voice from behind the curtain, which led them into the cellars of the theatre, and eventually into the city sewers, now flooding because of the heavy rains. They fought a few more zombies, and some rat swarms disturbed by the floods.
The ghostly female voice kept leading them on through the tunnels, until they ascended from the sewers to find the rain had abated. They now stood in an alley, facing a mist-cloaked house that was boarded up, and watched as a ghostly woman passed through the mists and entered the house. That was session 01.
In session 02 the PCs entered Death House (renamed “Mordant Manor”). The ghostly woman was indeed the Mordant family's abused Nursemaid. She did not attack the PC’s, but lured them further and further into the house. The characters found clues that indicated that the master of the house (renamed Magnus Mordant), in trying to forge a pact with unknown evil entities, had become some kind of undead spirit (actually a vampiric mist). The PCs found Strahd's letter, which mocked Magnus' attempts to gain the blessings of the dark powers with his cult of pathetic followers.
Strahd had punished Magnus for his audacity, making him a vampiric mist, and as part of the curse, Magnus' wife Margaret became an undead creature as well (in her case a deathlock wight).
The murder victims found in Waterdeep were slain by the vampiric mist (Magnus), while the zombies encountered were victims of the deathlock wight (Margaret).
Rose and Thorn become the ghostly Mordant twins, Melissa and Madeline, whose remains were found upstairs. Baby Walter became Baby Max, child of the Nursemaid and Magnus, whose body couldn't be found. The Nursemaid's ghost eventually revealed to the PCs the rest of the back story…
In the finale in the basement (after slaying Margaret in her bedroom), the PCs faced Magnus (the vampiric mist), instead of the Shambling Mound. The voices of the Mordant’s death cult ‘followers’ could be heard chanting “One must die!”
At that stage, the ghost of baby Max arrived, but it possessed a PC, and helped them slay the vampiric mist.
As they were victorious, Max’s spirit was released (and the Nursemaid’s). The PCs then fled the house, which tried to stop them (as per the original adventure). They just managed to get out alive, but as they ran outside...
They found themselves not on a street in Waterdeep, but instead on the edges of a dark and gloomy forest. Mordant Manor had brought them to its true location, in Barovia, in the Svalich Woods, close to the eastern gates!
When they looked back, the PCs saw that the mist-shrouded house was now a broken ruin, surrounded by dark trees. They then headed for the road, where they found the body and letter, and proceeded with Curse of Strahd...
They are now at Session 8, at the Old Bonegrinder....
Oh man, I'm literally running the 2nd half of Death House TONIGHT! I don't know if this timing was perfect or awful. Going to be one hell of a cram session. Thank you for all the cool ideas!
I started my own Curse of Strahd campaign last week, and will literally be kicking off the next session on Wednesday with them reading Gustav's journal - excellent timing, love all of the development and changes you've made, will be updating my notes this evening for sure!
Keep up the amazing work! I love that you guys flesh out modules and make the world become more real giving a real interesting backstory!
This is my favorite D&D channel!
Thank you so much!
I just had the first session and it was a blast! Starting off without starting equipment definitely put everyone on edge. The wizard was pissed, since his spellbook is gone. This spellbook and another few unique character items will be inside the basket with wine and welcome note after Durst Manor.
Running Strahd for the third time now and ofc I'm back to this channel always guiding me with wonderful content ideas to make it fresh and new for myself thank you!
Welcome back!
My players have just reach the 2nd floor upper hall (we play in play-by-post style btw), I think I still have a chance to convert the house to this instead. Although it's a shame that I missed most of the 1st floor alteration. Still, thanks!
I ran Death House 2 weeks ago using various inspiration from around the web and a little homebrewing of my own and my players are loving this module! I'm definitely going to be using some of your ideas about other areas too. I think it's safe to say this channel is one of the most under-viewed D&D channels on UA-cam.
It definitely is, isn't it?
Moar views!!!1
Thank you so much, I’m totally going to use this, I’m starting CoS is two days
That’s odd, so am I...
Just to let you know here where I live if someone is killed in a house then it is being sold by law they must tell the buyer that someone died in it and there might be spirits there to.
Preparing to run this for a Halloween one-shot. Thank you for this excellent guide and handout!
Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks so much for this version of the death house, I was the DM, and my two younger brothers (13 & 15) and one of my good friends were players, I wanted to run this as a one shot and maybe if it turned out good run curse of strahd campaign. I think it was my best session as a DM yet. My two younger brothers were scared out of their minds. Lets just say they slept in the parents room that night because I got them that scared. And I think my friend really enjoyed it. I really like these additions to the death house. I think it makes it more scary. I might have to find two more players though.
I read somewhere about switching the creature in the basement to an Ooblek. I ran some players throigh this and it was an infinitely more fun encounter since the murky water hid the tendrils well and the charred house helped to disguise the sulfur smell of the ooblek.
2:05, I feel that. I've just began to run Curse of Strahd, and one of my players who came back from the bathroom saw my book, with the creepy picture of the Durst children and the name Death House, sadly not experienced enough to not let it colour his roleplaying... :'(
It’s so wild you guys chose to update this now. I just watched the first version of this last week and am running your modified version for my friends. Thanks so much for spicing you this otherwise boring encounter
Thanks, man, I already ran the Death House as in your first video, and it was 100 times more amazing than the time I ran it as written, taking a look into the document this one makes even more sense, love your guides, keep up! and thanks!
That's pretty close to what I had decided to do also. I changed it to a lighthouse. The ghost that lures them in is Mr. Durst, the light house keeper. Why a lighthouse? Well, in the book I, Strahd the War with Azalin, other regions are mysteriously pulled onto Barovia, one of which is a coastal area. Having Barovia as an island adds something besides the mists to keep them from trying to escape. Dangerous storms and jagged rocks that can be seen about a mile off shore and has kept the thought of a sea journey out of Barovian minds. The only boats are small row boats generally utilized for lake fishing.
That's fantastic! I love it.
This is such a good idea, it changes almost nothing significant because the island could easily be large enough to fit the existing map inside and have plenty of room to spare so a DM has to make basically no alterations to the landscape but it deepens the lore, opens new options, increases the feel of isolationism and provides yet another reason the PCs and Barovians can’t easily escape. Hats off to you Matthew this is brilliant.
This channel is excellent and the people commenting here are just great.
My favourite way to make the players feel trapped in Barovia is this: "The mists creep closer and closer, obscuring all sense of time and distance. After what must be several hours of walking through the twisting passages of the mountains in almost uniform whiteness, the mist begins to thin. You walk out to an overlook and see unfolding before you... the valley of Barovia. You think you hear mocking laughter on the wind and get a sudden, overwhelming feeling of someone watching you."
@@TripleBarrel06 this is amazing. I intend to use this lol
Session 1 went great. I really leaned into the hunger theme. Before they players even got to Durst Manor, I had them find an old abandoned farm, weathered to the point the door came off when they opened it. Inside they found a single room cabin with empty burlap sacks lining the shelves. A large bed and a small bed. A small skeleton on the small bed. The remains of two other skeletons piled together, as though huddled for warmth. Around that time I also took advantage of the fact that most of my players only had 1 wine skin to warn them that their water supply was running low. Simply solved by a survival roll into finding the river to the south, but continued the feel of need and desperation.
When they finally got to Durst Manor, they came THIS close to leaving when they found the empty pantry (after one of the players had eaten from the feast). But after talking to the children again, back in they went. Session ended on a cliffhanger in the attic after they'd found the secret passage in the dollhouse, with Thorn's ghost entering one of the players. Can't wait for session 2!
That sounds fantastic! Great job!
Man i love this channel, this guy has the voice of scout:D
Please make a guide on how to run the Castle Ravenloft
Definitely would love to see this!
The answer is to add a little more mystery and riddling to the encounters, making the death house feel more like the rest of Barovia with tricky nuances that tickle the imagination.
Also love your sleazy realtor bit.
I’m going to be running using this for a Halloween one shot for some friends. Thanks for all that you do !
You're welcome--best of luck to you!
@@LunchBreakHeroes The One shot turn into a mini campaign and everyone had a fun time in Durst Manor. However when the Paladin found Gustav he immediately smashed the skull because he thought it would be a combat encounter. So he doomed Gustav to a eternity of torment. Also the party played hot potato with a deck of cards for 40 minutes because they thought they found the deck of many things... 10 out of 10 would recommend
Sounds like fun! Too bad for Gustav though...
@@LunchBreakHeroesIt was a great time but not for Gustav...
I love all of your Curse Of Strahd content! I have been reading the book and working on the adventure for the past month and your videos have been a great help! I've used all the little changes to death house for my adventure and will hopefully be running it sometime this week! Ill let you know how it goes!
I’d love to hear about it!
Thank you for all the good work you've done to expand upon the CoS module. It's a lot to integrate, but well worth it in the long run. Here's a big question in regards to Barovian history and events that shape the campaign -- Do you have any advice on practical applications for Show Don't Tell ? So far, all I've got is even more letters in Durst Manor describing the famine and despair after Strahd's curse fell on the land. Advice on Show Don't Tell is good for every writing situation, so I thank folks here in advance.
I'm sure I've mentioned this before,but these are super helpful to me. I'm currently running a higher level/homebrew 3.5 version of this module, and the changes and additions are really helpful in adding more 'meat to the meal' as it were. You've got a new subscriber here, bud, keep up the great content!
Glad I could help!
@@LunchBreakHeroesAfter this video, I thought of maybe giving Elizabeth Durst a few levels in Warlock, just to make her a little more scary than just a Ghast to a party of mid level adventurers, what with the powers of the Dark Ones, it made sense to me. I like the altered Gustav and Elizabeth plot. Very horror movie move. It fits nicely with the undertone, and paints a more 'humanized' vision of the Dursts.
Its great to watch this after your first video. Awesome job sir!
Thank you!
Super helpful explanation and guide. Thanks a bunch!
Thank you for watching!
I spent like 20 hours writing up my amendments to D Manor from you last vid. Last Monday, my group had to cancel. One for work and one due to extreme hay fever allergies. Now you drop a fully written version on me!? 😆. Good thing I’m not precious about my poorly scribed notes! Thanks for all the work!
Glad I could help!
Lunch Break Heroes me too, though I think I’ll keep Lancelot from the previous vid though. As my players are all dog lovers, it gives them something to attach to, but I guarantee my wife won’t want to sacrifice him and if she kept him, it would be great to see what happens when she meets Mad Mary! I think having the option of something to sacrifice that isn’t a PC was a great addition. I’d also have Sophaxis go for Lancelot. Could make a fun encounter trying to protect him.
Awesome video once more! Fun to see your creative process :)
damn, i just started this module for the third time and this is my first time watching your videos (the last two times I ran it, only 1 survived)...
Don´t worry, tho, At the end of the house (if they made it to the exit) they will be back in the woods.
I like the story of the Dursts you did in the 1st death house video. I think it’s creepier. Having the motivations born of vanity and jealousy rather than necessity is much more the way I like to run Ravenloft. Neither is right or wrong. Just a matter of preference. I like what you did with Death house either way. A big improvement over the mod. Thanks!
My players could couldn’t get into The Death House fast enough after they heard me call it that, eh, different tables
You make a convincing realtor. I'll take it.
Make him roll Peruasion first? ;-)
I'm running the basement section on Thursday, time to make the final preparations!
If Mr. Durst was sure his childen were already gone, why did he wrote that letter to them?
The way I got around to that was that Mr. Durst also had a lot of blood on his hands, and that was weighing on him for quite a while, becoming ever more distant and divided about what they were doing, and eventually showing signs of depression due to what was happening (this was demonstrated through a Journal the players found at the secret chamber at 2F). When he found out what happened with Elizabeth and Walter, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Wracked with guilt, he wrote the letter as a way of trying to apologize for what had transpired... and hung himself.
The letter was more of a "last gasp" for his (in his mind) deceased, beloved children than a proper letter, per se.
Same here actually just ran through the first section. I just take it as a normal suicide note, repenting for not being a good father and whatnot
@@victorratier19 That makes sense! Reading in my non-native language sometimes makes me miss some details and I wanted to make sure I wasn't getting it wrong.
I think Durst Mansion is an excellent scenario with many possibilities for roleplay and mystery, but unfortunately it is not for all groups. I was eager to narrate this introduction (I read and studied all of your guides and all the material on reddit) but it is not working very well for my group, they are bored looking for traps and secret passages in each room, waiting for an encounter that never happens ... They certainly don't match the subtle style of this magnificent setting, they don't care about the story and just want to find that monster in the basement to slaughter it and move on. I should have started them at level 3 and skipped the whole thing, for groups that prefer exploration and fighting, it's a sad waste of good storytelling unfortunately ...
Well that's unfortunate. But nothing appeals to all audiences, and Death House is no exception. Some folks just aren't into this type of gameplay.
It's also not for every DM. I was a player in one Curse of Strahd campaign, where the DM wanted to focus on combat. Well, most of the campaign wasn't for his "playstyle" except for a few choice locations.
And here I thought u include death house *for* those players, so they don't get bored, when the first encounter is against Doru in the church and that is not your run of the mill "just kill the monster" encounter either.
I don't know how much will they enjoy the rest of Curse of Strahd then
I hope you get to run this one day for a group that enjoys the role-play, the mood, and the vibe.
Currently preparing to run CoS, your videos have been super Helpful! A personal change i will make is rename the Durst family into Drust. Im running the campaign in german and Durst means Thirst, its a bit on the nose and silly haha
I used this storyline last night for my team and had them find it out when they discovered the secret room in the study. They found Elizabeth’s diary with Strahd’s letter. I had them realise her handwriting was becoming less legible and more frantic.
I’ve had 2 party members play Death House before and they hated it. However, they are loving it this time round and said they liked the new flavour this gave the game.
Thank you!
So here’s an outline of how I started Curse of Strahd in Waterdeep with 'Death House'...
In order to give the PCs a home, and a place to come back to (presuming they survive Curse of Strahd) I decided to start in Waterdeep.
All four PCs had a personal link to a recent spate of murders and disappearances, whether they knew or were related to one of the victims.
The four PCs then received an invitation to a performance at a theatre in the Sea Ward, of a play called “Blood Wedding”. (This idea is stolen from Dragon Heist, which describes a play that tells the story of Strahd, Tatyana and Sergei.)
The night of the play was a dark and stormy night, and the PCs arrived to find the theatre to be old and abandoned, and empty but for themselves. They met each other, and shared some back story. They were then attacked by several zombies shambling into the theatre.
After the battle, they followed a ghostly female voice from behind the curtain, which led them into the cellars of the theatre, and eventually into the city sewers, now flooding because of the heavy rains. They fought a few more zombies, and some rat swarms disturbed by the floods.
The ghostly female voice kept leading them on through the tunnels, until they ascended from the sewers to find the rain had abated. They now stood in an alley, facing a mist-cloaked house that was boarded up, outside which stood two children, who watched as a ghostly woman passed through the mists and entered the house.
That was our first session…
In the next, the PCs entered Death House (renamed “Mordant Manor”). The Nursemaid was indeed the ghostly woman, but she did not attack the PC’s. Instead, they found clues in the house that indicated that the master of the house (renamed Magnus Mordant), in trying to forge a pact with unknown evil entities, became some kind of undead spirit (actually a vampiric mist). Strahd's letter mocked Magnus' attempts to gain the blessings of the dark powers, and he pronounced a curse on Mordant House.
As part of the curse, Magnus' wife Margaret became an undead creature as well (in her case a deathlock wight). The murder victims found in Waterdeep were slain by the vampiric mist, while the zombies encountered were victims of the deathlock wight.
Rose and Thorn became the ghostly Mordant twins, more or less as written. Baby Walter became Baby Max, whose body could not be found. The Nursemaid was a ghost who revealed to the PCs the rest of the back story…
In the finale in the basement (after slaying Margaret in the bedroom), the PCs faced Magnus (the vampiric mist), instead of the Shambling Mound. The voices of the Mordant’s death cult ‘followers’ could be heard chanting “One must die!”. At that stage, the ghost of baby Max arrived, but it helped them slay the vampiric mist.
Max’s spirit was released (and the Nursemaid’s). The PCs then fled the house, which tried to stop them (as per the original adventure). They just managed to get out, but as they ran outside...
They found themselves not on a street in Waterdeep, but instead on the edges of a dark and gloomy forest.
Mordant Manor had brought them to its true location, in Barovia, in the Svalich Woods, close to the eastern gates!
When they looked back, the PCs saw that the mist-shrouded house was now a broken ruin, surrounded by dark trees. They then headed for the road, where they found the body and letter, and proceeded with Curse of Strahd as written.
We are now at the Old Bonegrinder...
Thanks! Can you outline a bit more how the Skill Challenge at the end works or would be mechanically and narratively presented? Specifically, a group check vs an individual check for something like swimming, or acrobatics to avoid falling debris? Does everyone individually roll the check, or does the party nominate one person to represent them?
While you can run it however you'd like, typically a single PC makes the check for the group. Their chosen skill or spell is then "used up" for the rest of the skill challenge, and can't be called upon again, unless that skill is used by a different PC.
Thanks - so I'm guessing the narrative implementation of the mechanic involves the "swimming expert" tell the party swimmable path then?
@@paulrobinson1130 it certainly could. Or they carry the non swimmers. Or any other way you choose to narrate the scene.
@@LunchBreakHeroes That 20 DC Strength check on the 8th obstacle is gonna kill someone....
It’s not called “Life House,” you know. 😋
Great stuff! Do you have the link to your write up for this new addition?
I've used your previous guide for Durst Manor and my group plowed right through the house almost straight to the mound ("Kids said it was upstairs let's go!" .. no crypts, no exploring ... "Let's follow the chants to the lowest level possible!" "Hey what's all this junk in the water, 'I poke at it'.").
They are now (tonight!) going to try and escape the house. I was planning on running a skill challenge (so far using /u/DragnaCarta guide.. all of you DMs are a HUGE help) but was interested to see how you would run this part.
Thanks again!
The writeup is in the description of the video
Bizarre, I could only see the first paragraph. Had to open a new browser window (refresh didn't work). Got it!
Thanks so much for all your work!
Your fun realtor voice made me think "what if instead of Rose and thorn I just have a guy using your selling points trying to sell death house to the party" I mean what party doesn't want a house in a cursed demiplane?
Skill Challenge question: I understand rolling initiative to know who gets left behind if there are 3 or more failures but I’m a little confused on how the skill rolls are done. Are challenges in initiative order and only the player who’s turn it is can roll? I.e….the Wizard rolled high Initiative and the 1st challenge is breaking down a door. Is it up to the Wizard to break down the door only? Or does it work so that as challenges are encountered the party chooses who does the rolling for the party?
this Dirst family had a guy named fred, in a band, that sucked lol
Like the patriarch, he did it all for the nookie.
@@LunchBreakHeroes I actually have a 4' tall Strahd's castle I am playing this year, I would love to earn your subscription.
I added a copy of the "Grimoire of Four Quarters" and had Lady Wacter and Rose know each other when they were children. Of course, in my game the players decided to bring Rose and Thorn with them on their adventures to see the world become a better place before passing on to the afterlife.
It has been a while since I ran the Durst Mansion, but I love your changes - Might take them if i run the module again
Also: 45 Page Guide!!! Nice
I can't believe I did that.
Actually, I can.
Please enjoy the bulk of ReVamped. :-P
That realtor impression was wonderful.
Barovia should be overflowing with food.
Several days ago, I posted a short bit about Strahd's motivation in my game, as I wasn't happy with my lack of ability when it came to portraying him. So I modeled him after a British "Gentleman Gardener", talking about planting, and reaping, with a Barovian accent, of course. And I was thinking today on the bus ride to work -- He is THE LAND. His power over the very elements is absolute. Witness what he did to Berez. If he wanted a bountiful harvest every year, it would happen. Vegetables and grains for sure, and maybe even wild game, turkeys, deer, ducks, that kind of thing. But it doesn't. Because Strahd is an asshole. He is so petty, that because a teenaged girl didn't fall in love with him, he doomed an entire country. I'm can't decide if he is an Emo or a Neckbeard. He's definitely an Edgelord, though. If Strahd could change, maybe Barovia could become a great place to spend the rest of your life. Maybe Madame Eva and Baba Lysaga could team up, and try to fix the most powerful man in their lives.
Wow, that sounded a lot more sexist on paper than it did in my head. I could try to rework that line.
I should get back to writing new Dark Gifts that my homebrewed Vestiges will offer my hapless players.
Curse of Strahd: My Big Fat Barovian Wedding
@@LunchBreakHeroes I would have to be a far better DM in order to make "Curse Of Strahd: The Musical", but I'm sure someone, someday, eventually will. Probably along the lines of the "Buffy" musical episode.
The moon shines cold on the mountain tonight
Not a living soul to be seen
A kingdom in isolation
And it looks like I'm the king
The mists are rising like this bloodlust deep inside
Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I've tried
Don't let them out, don't let them leave
Be the monster I always have to be
Just kneel my meal, oh don't you know
You just can't go!
Let blood flow, Let blood flow
Can't hold it back anymore
Let blood flow, Let blood flow
Close the lock and slam the door
I don't care that you're going to scream
Let the storm rage on
I can't leave Barovia anyway
@@LunchBreakHeroes I refuse to believe you did that improv style. I sense you have more musical talent than you are letting us know about on your channel.
Hey there, thanks for the great content! I have a few questions after running my first session with your changes :
* Strahd is supposed to be in power for 400 years as per the letter next to the gates. How would the Dursts have known riches before Strahd took over Barovia?
* the PCs remarked on Gustav's hung body being only dessicated versus the kids being skeletons. Is that an inconsistency that I should retcon somehow? How long have they been dead in your version?
* You mention Gustav finding Anya dead in her bed, yet no mention of her body is made in the writeup. Was that an oversight or was the body (and the blood) magically concealed?
Thank you for taking the time to help out!
You know the kids say there’s a monster in there. Death House is no big deal
I just watched your first Death House video and took two pages of notes before seeing this one, lol. I can't imagine you making it any better! Why did you change the end monster from the flesh mound with Walter to the mother as a gibbering mouther? Now I'm also confused as to where baby Walter is in this new iteration.
Walter’s dead in this one. This version is entirely LBH, whereas the previous version was a recap of MandyMod and DragnaCarta.
Question, if Gustav found Liz and baby Walter upon returning from the errand, and the nursemaid Anya but the only way to the basement was through the attic where Rose and Thorn are, wouldn’t he have found them and found purpose instead of killing himself in the master bedroom?
No mention of the Strahd Statue, or the Shadows? leaving these as is seems a little risky for a low level group however taking them out leaves a bit of a hole.
This seems really cool. I am a new DM and about to start running my group (also new) through Death House. I swore I would run the entire campaign RAW but after reading all of the warnings and TPKs of Death House I decided to modify it, and this guide is great. When running this do you figure out a way to tell the players the story? There are little hints in your guide here and there but if you don't know the full story I am not sure they will figure it out. My second question, and this one goes for this scenario and is also a general question when playing in person (which is what we will do), how do you handle the house exploration? Do you print the player map and reveal the rooms as they explore, using some sort of fog-of-war effect, or do you just use theatre of the mind the whole time? And if you do that, do you use battle boards when battling or do you use all theatre of the mind for that as well?
*opens link and cackles in Domme* Well that's one way to get people's attention. 😏
I changed the Durst House to be outside of Krezk as part of a ruined quarter of the old settlement
I love this so much better than the original, but how do I give my PCs this lore?
You could turn the nursemaid into a friendly encounter and lore dump.
@@LunchBreakHeroes I like that. It also goes with the idea that she's an innocent in the entire thing.
Very nice video! Much better than the original idea. Congratulations for the effort you've put on this. One question, how do you explain all this rich information to the characters. How they will realize what happened in the manor? The famine, the mother killing the baby, the cannibal cult, etc
It's very possible that they'll never get that background information, and that's okay. The information laid out here informs your presentation of the set piece, and possibly other areas within the game.
Inquisitive parties can get a sense of the history through "information dumps"--areas and NPCs that provide background information and exposition. Durst Manor's library is a good place for this, and you can scatter journal entries and additional letters throughout the house as you see fit. Rose and Thorne can provide exposition, if only just from a child's perspective.
Thank you so much for your content. I have a question if I could? Having the entrance to the Durst family crypt in the attic just drives me crazy it just makes no sense. I am thinking of moving it to the first floor, maybe in the main hall to the left of the dining room door. Having the door on the first floor make sense and on top of that they are hunted by the wolves from the den and run into the four animated armors on the second floor. This also allow my to show that the whole house as changed when they hit the 3rd floor. Your thoughts?
I’d have the door on the first floor, but the mechanism of opening in the attic.
@@LunchBreakHeroes after discovering the hidden entrance on the first floor in the doll house the characters must make their way back down fighting their way through four armors and the 3 wolves are hunting them. I should have said that the group will be 5 lvl 3 characters.
I should have stated this earlier but my idea is that the house is hiding to entry to the crypt. The players will not be able to find the door until they have discovered it within the doll house.
@@LunchBreakHeroes I was just looking over the of the sub levels of Durst Manor and started thinking, I understand the crypt and possibly a chamber or to would have been part of the houses original design, but how many years did they spend on the expansions. I would guess that maybe this all started when Thorn was a newborn and their activities had been going on for 8 or 9 years before Elizabeth killed Walter.
One question, if I may: Your PDF doesn't mention any changes as to where the corpse of the nursemaid can be found. However, if I understand your modified story correctly, the only place it would make sense to find her is in her room, i.e. the Nursemaid's Suite (#15A). Would you agree? I ask because I feel it would be a lot more fun to leave her in the wooden trunk in the Storage Room (#18), as in the original adventure. However, I can't think of a good reason why she would be there, if we are using your modified version of the story. What would you suggest?
Anyway, thank you so much for your great ideas! Your PDF is amazingly useful, and I intend to make good use of it when I run the adventure in two days' time!
Unless your players are particularly analytical, I doubt anyone will ask why the bones are in the trunk. 😄
But there’s also nothing lost by having a skeleton underneath a bloody bedsheet in the nursemaid’s room either.
So I can go either way.
Realtor here. Local laws notwithstanding, you only have to disclose a death on the property if you're asked. Other than that, I would pitch that the seller rebrand the home as a spooky themed attraction! There would be a waiver, of course, but that just adds to the air of danger! The trick would be advertising, but the Vistani should be able to help with that, and they apparently work for booze! We can do a sweepstakes: Survive a weekend and get 200gp.
I like the way you think! Now help me sell Castle Ravenloft after Strahd’s death!
@@LunchBreakHeroes Situated just outside of Historic Uptown Barovia, this isolated fortress of solitude is _perfect_ for a band of heroic adventurers or despotic conquerors! With its breath-taking panoramic views, you'll be able to watch over the people of Barovia as their silent guardians... Or absolute monarchs.
Are you a reclusive wizard? This property features extensive magical libraries and _more_ than enough laboratory space--and the books and equipment are *staying with the castle*. Pesky adventuring parties beating down your door to identify your equipment? Ravenloft is seclusion at its finest; thr previous occupant was able to dabble in the eldritch arts uninterrupted for centuries!
Whether you're a questing party of noble adventurers, a despotic warlord looking to make your name, or a recluse wizard devoted to the study of lost lore, let me tell you, Barovia is _the place_ to be in the coming days. Because Strahd von Zaravich is coming back. You know what that means? Employment opportunities are gonna skyrocket for both adventuring parties _and_ tyrannical conquerors. Strahd himself is a vast repository of arcane knowledge just waiting to be tapped!
Whether you're looking to oppose Strahd or to join him, Castle Ravenloft is an _indispensible_ asset for the innevitable return of our dark lord!
House sold where-is as-is. Owner financing available.
Oh I love it
@@LunchBreakHeroes ;-) XD
Beginning CoS this Sunday using your modifications and I’m pumped!!
I was curious if you had any recommendations for music/ambiance for “Durst House”??
I wanna join the patreon to get the written but once I do how do I find the paper copy of this ?
There’s no paper copy, but you can get the PDF of this chapter and all of the others in Raising the Stakes. It’s available on Patreon and our website!
I was thinking stillborn as in born to die. Not as in died at birth. Works if you look at the script where it is Said as a riddle. Will also make more sense for the party after they Escape or learn the truth about walter.
Running this in 5 minutes. I got this.
I believe in you!
This is an amazing revision to an already good revision for Death House (that being the original video), but I have to ask. I read through the file provided by the link in the description and I noticed some discrepancies between this one and the last revision of Death House. Would you suggest running this new version instead of the first revision? Or perhaps, with some DM discretion (that being me) merging some elements between the two?
DM discretion all the way, Chef. The original was based entirely on the works of DragnaCarta and MandyMod. I started creating original content shortly after I did that video. So this revision is my own original content.
About to start this, any ideas for a big group? It's about 6 players. Are there any other free downloads for this area? I'm poor lol.
Related question: I'm modifying Curse of Strahd quite a bit for when I'm running it, but one of the more important changes I'm making is that some of the player characters will be native Barovians, some even native to the area around Barovia Village. Would The Durst Manor and its nature be known about by the common Barovian Villager? Is there any good way to keep its nature secret?
A native Barovian would know that the house is a "no go" zone. There'd be rumors and stories passed down that likely end up as cautionary folk tales. The kind that start out like, "Have I ever told you the story about the Razmakov kid that poked around the old Durst place? No one ever heard from him again. So keep your little butt inside the village!"
To expand a little on the various big changes I'm making:
-I'm running two 'campaigns' in a sense that are connected and opposed. A typical 'good'-leaning one that's out to beat Strahd, and an 'evil' one where the players become Strahd's secret police of sorts. They're both pitted against each other.
-I'm making Barovia or the Demiplanes of Dread a planet in a sci-fantasy/magitek setting I made. The impetus for the plot is that a spacefaring civilization from my setting (called Zion) has found a way to enter (but not exit) Barovia and intends to invade it. Their first step in doing so will be astroturfing local insurgents (and arming them with advanced technology), before eventually reinforcing them with their own troops. These guys are the primary antagonists to the evil party.
-Good party members are assumed to be either agents of these invaders, locals who are anti-Strahd (and likely joining one of their insurgent movements), or just people who got stuck in Barovia for some other reason.
one thing that bothered me was the portrayal of mr durst. I believe he is apathetic to the cult and is thus complicit, allowing it to go on in his own home. When he discovers what his wife did, instead of immediately killing himself, he writes a suicide not and sends a letter to his brother to get the children. He lets the children out of the attic, but locks the door to the basement. He says his final goodbyes, then locks himself in his study to kill himself. the brother comes, but falls victim to the house, also becoming a ghast as he partook of human flesh during the famine, unknowingly or knowingly. The children try to leave, but the mists won't let them, the dark power keeping them trapped. they THEN die of starvation in the same place the players find them. I think this makes more sense, as why would the father who seems to have some care for his children not care about where they are?
I cant find the publicly available Durst Manor Guide in your description, am i dumb?
I don’t think so, but sign up on lunchbreakheroes.com to get a free copy of this and the rest of Raising the Stakes!
There is no free anything in the description. where do i get it ?
I love this take on the Durst Manor.
The only changes i made to this take in my game, is making Elisabeth Durst even less sympathetic. I like the idea that the Dursts were upstart nobles. Arrogant in their new position they fired all the "incompetent" farmworkers that "disapproved" of their new agricultural products. (Fundamentally because the idea was moronic). After the rise of Strahd, Elisabeth is haunted by horrible visions from three horrible creatures living in a windmill (little foreshadowing of the Old Bonegrinder Hags). In her sleepless and stressed state she consults other means of raising life in the form of necromancy as a Ditch effort to save the fields. Realizing that, by making Sacrifices she can save the families fortune. Gustav first joins into the Cult made up by other lesser nobles and the loyal farm workers in that endeavor. Realizing later down the line, that Elisabeth slowly turns crazier. In his own loneliness he woe´s Margaret the Nursemaid. Becoming the father of Walter. Elisabeth is once more absolutely maddened by this situation and after Walter wakes her up screaming one night first walks into the Kitchen for a Kitchen Knife, after which she kills Margaret in her room. Followed by Gustav in the Bedroom. She then looks the kids in their room, taking Walter down into the basement. After the ritual years pass, the death house claiming more and more victims on the road. Meanwhile in the house Elisabeth becomes desolate even further having skinned Gustav and made him into a Boneless, she now wears as a macabre self-made Human-Furcoat. (imagine Undead Cruella de VIl).
For the sake of the Manor exploration i gave Elisabeth Durst the Ghast Statblock, added a Bonus-Action Kitchen-Knife attack, Spider-Climb and a sort of Etherialness where she teleports every time she´s it.
TO be said, i run this for a full lvl 3 group and added lvl 2 side-character children inspired by my players old characters. So they´re currently 3x lvl 3s + 3x lvl 2s in the house. Therefore i also added multiple zombie Victims of Elisabeth Durst, who are with skinned human skin stripes "tailored" against the walls of the Cultist Den. Having even their face skinned off and then stretched over their skinned skulls by metal spikes rammed into their shoulders. (Imagine fear and hunger skin granny, but just the face after it skinned a PC).
I just like the idea that this whole situation was avoidable, if the Dursts hadn´t soiled themself in their own arrogance. It´s imo a better tragedy and even more cruel if the entire situation could´ve actually been avoided instead of just happening because Strahd´s the Evil Guy.
Since once the players reach the 3rd floor, all of the windows become bricked shut, does this mean that we should restrict balcony access?
MANNNN WISH I HAD FOUND THIS BEFORE AAAAA WE ARE ABOUT TO BE IN THE LAST ROOM!!😭
OMG AAAAAAA!!!11
This sounds a lot like the MandyMod changes on the Curse of Strahd subreddit. Definitely better than the written version of Death house.
She and I share a lot of common views, but the content in this guide is 100% original to us. The earlier Death House video I created was a summation of Mandy and Dragna's content.
I wasn't trying to doubt the originality. Was just mentioning another resource. I really like your videos and hope to implement some of them someday.
Poor Andy, I mean Walter....
My party took the Orb in the hand of Strahd's Statue and is carrying it around while escorting Ireena. They are giving the bad guy a very good pay per view, how should I punish them (Is session 3, they are almost on the Ol' Bonegrinder)
Where is the written guide? Was it put behind Patreon? Is it no longer free?
It's bundled into our free Raising the Stakes guide, which you can find for free on lunchbreakheroes.com. Just sign up and go to the Member Content area.
Oh wow you met my realtor!?
Only thing I'd add here is that you don't have anyway of conveying this back story or cannibalism to the characters. I ran it with ghostly visions and flashbacks into key snippets. The argument between Gustav and Elisabeth, the murder of the nurse maid with only a small glance at a token piece of clothing that identifies Elisabeth, a diary written by the maid detailing her affair and birth of child, and finally, the gnawed, smashed and split bones of the victims thrown into the well. It's great to have this background but without a way to communicate it to the players it's a bit wasted.
Why a Gibbering Mouther at the end? That is about out of place as the Mimic. The first version of this was better. Adding it to the new story , the canablism was so abundant they did not eat the arms and legs etc. They got discarded and turned into the slimey rotten stinking crawling mess the meet at the end.
Nah, a place called "Death House" would be an EASY sell. Just find the right people. Goths would LOVE it lol.
Okay, but am I supposed to watch this video or your previous one? Why is this one so much shorter? So confused :(
Why not both?!
The first one was based on other creators’ content before we started making our own original stuff. So we circled back around a year later and redid Death House our way. You can watch them both and use whatever elements you like!
2:21 marge simpson could do it
Yeah, the realtor exists for "Murder House" in American Horror Story. It is literally Death House 😂
I will argue that it's pretty likely the players will figure out well in advance that The Durst Manor is haunted even if you don't use the term 'Death House'. Basically, it can be inferred from two or three pieces of information:
#1: They probably know what genre the campaign is, as you probably at one point asked "Want me to run Curse of Strahd? It's a Gothic Horror campaign"
#2: It's a mansion.
#3: It's being framed an awful lot like a dungeon.
They'll probably go for it anyways, mind you. Going into Haunted Houses is both obviously unavoidable in a campaign like Curse of Strahd, and almost certainly what they signed on for. For the record, I'd still advise against actually using the term 'Death House' for the sake of immersion and such.
Immersion is basically it. You aren't going to pull the wool over your players' eyes unless you run Death House in isolation and then spring Curse of Strahd on them.
If you've gotten buy-in from your players in regards to the module, they know what they're getting into, and will hopefully fulfill their end of your social contract (you run the game, we play it).
Link needs a map.
Sawney Bean Cult...
huh, I learned something new today.
how instead of erasing the name make it that the village knows it as the death house as a legend nickname and give ot to the playes as a hub
How to run Curse of Strahd; DON'T. That thing attracts assholes like flies to shit. Something about that module brings out That Guys like...well, a curse.