The Death House Sucks (and how to fix it)

Here's the VOD for our run of the Death House: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0OgWLhqgA&feature=youtu.be Make sure to check out Grim Hollow!: bit.ly/3buCLHi

Me to my players, announcing our Halloween one-shot: "We're playing the Death House. Edgy characters are encouraged but not required." My players: "Let's play as the Scooby Doo gang!"

We thought "He is ancient. He is the land." was like a key phrase we could use to ingratiate ourselves with folks around the area. We went around chanting this at NPCs for the most of the game to the point where our DM decided that we successfully sparked a revival of this cult.

Jacob: “make the edgiest characters you want” Spencer: Are you challenging me?

"Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way." Nice try, Spencer, I get that reference.

"I'm playing Ebony Darkness Dimentia Ravenway" my SIDES

Oh, I have an idea! Turn it into Tomb of Horrors instead!... What do you mean "not fun?"

my death house experience was incredibly fun and produced one of my favourite D&D stories. basically, the enchanted broom tried to attack us from the other side of a doorway. It rolled a nat 1 and snapped itself on the doorframe, instantly killing it, thus granting us the legendary tale of the suicidal broomstick

7:56 So in this area, the ghosts want you to sacrifice a thing, and then they chill out. If you kill the shambling mound, the house comes to life and tries to kill you on the way out. The first time I played this, we lured the shambling mound onto the pedestal and killed it there. It took the DM a solid two minutes of dead silence to figure out what the hell was supposed to happen next.

Imagine being born with the name "ebony darkness dimentia"

Tell Spencer her makeup looks badass in the playthrough clips

I remember playing this adventure with a small group of friends, and one of the players (who played a Tiefling Paladin) allowed the boy, Thorn I think his name was, to possess him on the condition that, once the dungeon was complete, the ghost would remain with the Paladin and would kind of "swap" with him on occasion. The boy agreed and after the Death House was completed, even though the kids were laid to rest, the Paladin kept the kid in his soul, teaching the boy how to fight and would let the DM control his character as Thorn, letting the boy kill low level creatures. He gained the flaw after being possessed, but also an additional separate personality background our DM made for him. I think Rose was laid to rest and was just thankful that the party was helping her brother become less scared of the world, and thanked the Paladin in-particular for "rescuing" her brother from the terrible fate that befell their spirits.

When I played we were trying to vandalize or deface the Strahd statue and I had the "brilliant idea" to pee on the statue instead of touching it. Now knowing that saved us from having to fight a bunch of shadows is hilarious to me.

For the shambling mound, I found this really cool homebrew for it. I can't remember exactly who made it but it really helped tie the shambling mound into the main story when I ran it. Basically, the shambling mound is made of the remains of cult sacrifices and if you listen closely you can hear what sounds like the faint cries of a baby coming from it. The center of the shambling mound contains the body of Rose and Thorn's baby brother who was turned into this fucked up creature during a cult ritual. I think the baby was alive for longer in this version but was murdered by Mrs Durst because it wasn't hers or something. The mound still dealt a massive amount of damage but if a player was engulfed they would be able to spot a small glowing heart inside of the flesh. If the heart is destroyed, the baby's soul is freed and the shambler dies. It gave death house a nice conclusion where my players ended up fighting the child they thought they were trying to save

An excerpt from my friend’s experience. “There’s a HORSE! LOOSE in the DEATH HOUSE!”

I would tie the house to Strahd by making it Tatyana's old house where they find her Diary & can attain more information the more secret chambers they reveal.

I always felt that the shambling mound wasn't supposed to be beaten. You're supposed to run as soon as you do the thing.

"what's in that windmil- OH GOD I DON'T WANT THAT MYSTERY SOLVED"

Death House: Tries to kill players always Jacob: I like that but not so much

This is actually my favorite ever D&D story. We were in the cultist room, and I decided to put myself up for sacrifice. The barbarian punched my back and I used dancing lights to make a spectral heart appear and dissipate. Then, since they were worshiping a shambling mound the barbarian said “we will use this body to fertilize the land” we ran out of the house. However, we were at the mercy of our deception rolls. If we failed at any time we were goners (we were 3rd level and a shambling mound is like 5th I think). We consistently kept rolling high, and it was WAY more intense than any combat encounter we’ve ever had before or since