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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 6841952" data-attributes="member: 996">I ran the Death House launch for the event this Sunday at Isle of Gamers in Santa Clara, CA.   Mine was a late-addition overflow table for those who didn't get into one of the two official tables on Warhorn.  All three tables, and a fourth table that was a regular Sunday group (but who ]I think, were also playing Death House) were full (AL max # of players).  Our organizers did a great job, going above & beyond by providing both laminated regular-sized and blown-up 1" grid vinyl play mats of the Death House/Dungeon map, as well as the usual sheets, pre-gens and, of course, the magic-item swag unique to the event. I had committed to a 4 hr slot, and, unlike the other DMs, couldn't go long, but we did manage to get through all 4 floors of the House, itself, and find the stair, bumping the party to 2nd, and handing out all three special items (I placed the ring in the jewelry box, the cloak in the cloak room, and the orb in the secret room's chest), before I had to call it.  I adlibbed a set up that the PCs were a group of enthusiastic young would-be adventurers getting out of a boring home-town where nothing ever happened, they'd spent a whole day putting as many miles between them and 'home' as they could, passing the usual stops to make the most progress, and finally camping in a clearing just off the road.  In the morning, the trees had changed from the familiar, straight-trunked young trees, to ancient gnarled ones.  A few amateurish arcana & religion checks, and some tree-climbing later they'd figured out they weren't in Kansas anymore.  They made their way back towards the road, found it in the 'wrong' place, and followed it to Borovia.  As soon as they met Rose & Thorn, one player immediately asked if they were ghosts - and failed her religion check to make the determination.  There was a little perplexity over the kids not even knowing where the entrance to the 'basement' was, and they were surprised to find no cellar entrance outside or in the kitchen.  Once they found an obviously quite old portrait of the kids in the upper floor, they were convinced of their ghostliness.  The few combats in the house were vs single enemies, so went fairly well.  The suit of armor was a little hard to hit, and the ghostly nursemaid dropped two PCs and killed one outright before the wizard got serious and let it have some magic missiles.  Aside from that, it was all about exploring the house and piecing together the Dursts' story.  The  creepy way unsettling things were subtely woven into the décor, along with the pristine 1st floor vs neglected upper floors worked to convey the tone of the place.  The swaddled bundle in the crib particularly creeped them out.  The more-or-less final (we didn't get to the dungeon) final scene with the ghosts of the two children in the playroom where they died was a nice payoff, wrapping up the mystery to the player's satisfaction.   The remains of the nursemaid (who obviously died violently and wasn't properly buried, thus setting her up for undeath) was a nice touch, elevating the deadly encounter with her beyond just 'Ravenloft is supposed to be scary' to a supporting part of the storyline.All-in-all successful, even if we couldn't finish the whole scenario.Our Encounter tables on Wed are still working through PotA, though so I'm not sure how that's going to go...</blockquote>

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