D&D 5E CoS: DMing an aspect of the Death House [spoilers]

John Brebeuf · Nov 20, 2017

My group ended their first session of the Death House with the encounter with the ghosts of Rose and Thorn and the discovery of the secret stairway down to the basement. However, both the paladin and fighter failed their saves and ended up possessed when they tried to leave the room, and the rest of the party was unable to intimidate the ghosts to depart from them.

I'm wondering how other DMs played out the effects of the respective possessions mechanically. The ghost of Thorn (who's possessing the fighter) seems to be overcome with fear, so should I have the fighter roll Charisma saving throws before each "scary" event (entering the basement, combat encounters, etc.) to avoid fleeing back to the doll house room? Any ideas are appreciated.

Ganymede81 · Nov 20, 2017

Nah, I didn't do anything mechanically. It was fun enough insisting that the doughty cleric of St. Cuthbert act like a little girl for the duration of the session.

Greenstone.Walker · Nov 20, 2017

When I ran it, two players volunteered to host the ghosts. Rose and Thorn, having been invited in, were extremely good hosts. On the other hand, they were little kids, so threw a tantrum on one occasion and controlled the character. All the players were really symatheitc to the ghosts, so there were no bad feelings at all.

It was an awesome group of players, especially as it was a pickup group at a weekend con.

MostlyHarmless42 · Nov 25, 2017

If you feel a mechanical thing must be done, a Charisma save would be warrented, otherwise, as said giving the player a "flaw" listed and having them roleplay as the children is a lot of fun.