Found in:
- [FREE pdf] Curse of Strahd Introductory Adventure
(01) Entrance
A wrought-iron gate with hinges on one side and a lock on the other fills the archway of a stone portico (area 1A). The gate is unlocked, and its rusty hinges shriek when the gate is opened. Oil lamps hang from the portico ceiling by chains, flanking a set of oaken doors that open into a grand foyer (area 1B).
Hanging on the south wall of the foyer is a shield emblazoned with a coat-of- arms (a stylized golden windmill on a red field), flanked by framed portraits of stony-faced aristocrats (long-dead members of the Durst family). Mahogany- framed double doors leading from the foyer to the main hall (area 2A) are set with panes of stained glass.
(02) Main Hall
(03) Den of Wolves
(04) Kitchen and Pantry
(05) Dining Room
(06) Upper Hall
(07) Servant's Room
(08) Library
(09) Secret Room (TREASURE)
(10) Conservatory
(11) Balcony (ENCOUNTER: ANIMATED ARMOR)
(12) Master Suite (TREASURE)
(13) Bathroom
(14) Storage Room
(15) Nursemaid's Suite
(16) Attic Hall
(17) Spare Bedroom
(18) Storage Room (ENCOUNTER: SPECTER)
(19) Spare Bedroom
(20) Children's Room (ENCOUNTER: ROSE AND THORN's GHOSTS)
(21) Secret Stairs
(22) Dungeon Level Access
(23) Family Crypts
(24) Cult Initiate's Quarters
(25) Well, And Cultist's Quarters (TREASURE)
(26) Hidden Spiked Pit (TRAP)
(27) Dining Hall
(28) Larder (ENCOUNTER: GRICK)
(29) Ghoulish Encounter (ENCOUNTER: FOUR GHOULS)
(30) Stairs Down
(31) Dark Lord's Shrine (TREASURE)
(32) Hidden Trap Door
(33) Cult Leader's Den
(34) Cult Leader's Quarters (ENCOUNTER: TWO GHASTS, TREASURE)
(35) Reliquary (TRINKETS)
(36) Prison (TREASURE)
(37) Portcullis
(38) Ritual Chamber (ENCOUNTER: SHAMBLING MOUND)
Ending: The Cult Is Appeased
Death House harbors no ill will toward a party willing to sacrifice a life to appease the cult. Once the sacrifice is made, the characters are free to go. Upon emerging from the house, the characters advance to 3rd level.
Ending: The Cult Is Denied
If the characters deny the cult its sacrifice and either destroy the shambling mound or escape from it, Death House attacks them as they try to leave. When they return upstairs, they must roll initiative as they discover several architectural changes:
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All the windows are bricked up; the bricked-up windows and the outer walls are impervious to the party’s weapon attacks and damage-dealing spells.
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All the doors are gone, replaced by slashing scythe-blades. A character must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to pass through a blade-trapped doorway unscathed. A character who spends 1 minute studying the blades in a particular doorway can try to take advantage of a momentary gap in their repeating movements and make a DC 15 Intelligence check instead. Failing either check, a character takes 2d10 slashing damage but manages to pass through the doorway. Any creature pushed through a doorway must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take the damage. The blades can’t be disarmed.
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Every room that contains a fireplace, an oven, or a stove is filled with poisonous black smoke. The room is heavily obscured, and any creature that starts its turn in the smoke must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or take 1d10 poison damage.
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The interior walls become rotted and brittle. Each 5-foot-section has AC 5 and 5 hit points, and can also be destroyed with a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check. Each 5-foot section of wall that’s destroyed causes a swarm of rats to pour out and attack. The swarm won’t leave the house.
Keep track of initiative as the characters make their way through the house. Once they escape, they advance to 3rd level, and the house does no more to harm them.
Death House’s Features Death House is aware of its surroundings and all creatures within it. Its goal is to continue the work of the cult by luring visitors to their doom. Various important features of the house are summarized here.
The house has four stories (including the attic), with two balconies on the third floor—one facing the front of the house, the other facing the back. The house has wooden floors throughout, and all windows have hinges that allow them to swing outward.
The rooms on the first and second floors are free of dust and signs of age. The floorboards and wall panels are well oiled, the drapes and wallpaper haven’t faded, and the furniture looks new. No effort has been made to preserve the contents of the third floor or the attic. These areas are dusty and drafty, everything within them is old and draped in cobwebs, and the floorboards groan underfoot.
Ceilings. Ceilings vary in height by floor. The first floor has 10-foot-high ceilings, the second floor has 12-foot-high ceilings, the third floor has 8-foot-high ceilings, and the attic has 13-foot-high ceilings.
Light. None of the rooms in the house are lit when the characters arrive, although most areas contain working oil lamps or fireplaces.
Characters can burn the house to the ground if they want, but any destruction to the house is temporary. After 1d10 days, the house begins to repair itself. Ashes sweep together to form blackened timbers, which then turn back into a sturdy wooden frame around which walls begin to materialize. Destroyed furnishings are likewise repaired. It takes 2d6 hours for the house to complete its resurrection. Items taken from the house aren’t replaced, nor are undead that are destroyed. The dungeon level isn’t considered part of the house and can’t repair itself in this fashion. |
Dungeon Features The dungeon level underneath Death House is carved out of earth, clay, and rock. The tunnels are 4 feet wide by 7 feet high with timber braces at 5-foot intervals. Rooms are 8 feet tall and supported by thick wooden posts with crossbeams. The only exception is area 38, which has a 16-foot-high ceiling supported by stone pillars. Characters without darkvision must provide their own light sources, as the dungeon is unlit.
As the characters explore the dungeon, they see centuries- old human footprints in the earthen floor leading every which way. |