Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8804560" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/MIGVvzr.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/product/357594/Van-Richten-Dies-in-Ravenloft" target="_blank">Product Link</a>Product Type: AdventureCoS-Required? No, but can tie into it.Curse of Strahd is one of the most well-known modules for 5th Edition, and the Death House introductory adventure is almost as well known among hapless newcomers. It is also a highly lethal adventure even by the standards of the campaign, which has led to a number of alterations and revisions over the years.Van Richten Dies in Ravenloft is an alteration to that module, albeit it removes the subterranean level in favor of remaining purely aboveground. The major change to the plot is that the hook for Death House is finding Rudolf Van Richten dead on the front steps, and the party ends up in telepathic contact with him once they pick up his Ring of Mind Shielding. Once they do that, Van Richten serves as a comedic narrator to help guide them through the dungeon with some helpful advice. In this version of Death House, the house is a sentient malicious being who happened to gain the journal of Rudolf Van Richten as a rare prize after causing his death. The PCs can obtain that journal, either by stealing it themselves and risking the House’s wrath or by making a deal to return to the House with Strahd’s journal as a fair trade.Already I’m spotting a potential problem. While it’s standard procedure for adventurers to grab valuable jewelry, there are some groups who may mistake the pulse for a trap and avoid the major change to the module entirely. They could also make the realization that a man just died, and being seen rifling through his belongings would be perceived by potential bystanders as evidence of guilt.A good portion of Van Richten Dies in Ravenloft is the same as Death House, but with several changes. The ghostly children of Rose and Thorn aren’t present, and the House’s monsters and traps are altered. The hunter’s den (room 3) conceals a bear trap, the kitchen (4) is home to an animated flying knife,* there’s a spear trap in the servants’ room (7), the secret room contains Van Richten’s journal instead of the letter from Strahd (9) and there’s no spell scroll treasure, a ghostly harp in the conservatory (10) can trigger ghostly applause on a successful Performance check or a collapsing bench dealing damage on a failed result, a suit of animated armor attacks the PCs in the balcony (11), the nursemaid’s suite (15) has been converted to a guest suite, the attic hall (16) has a tripwire trap linked to position crossbows, there’s no specter in the storage room (18), there’s a replica dollhouse in the playroom (20) which if examined via Investigation can reveal replicas of all the traps in the house and PCs advance to 2nd level when they find the key to the secret room (9), and the secret stairs (21) lead to other areas in the Death House rather than to the subterranean level.*The flying knife has stats similar to an animated knife, but has more hit points (17 as opposed to 12) and its basic attack deals more damage (1d8+1 vs 1d4+1).Upon gaining Van Richten’s journal, a loud scream echoes through the house, causing a nearby book to fall over and spelling out a warning by Death House.At this point the PCs can try to make a deal. If they agree to find Strahd’s journal, they will be allowed to leave the house as the bricked-up windows become open again and all of the remaining traps are disabled. But if not, they will need to escape like in the original module, with the doors being replaced by slashing scythe-blades and rooms with heating systems (oven, stove, or fireplace) are filled with poisonous black smoke. Additionally, unlike in the original module, destroying a 5 foot section of wall (which are now brittle) summons a specter to attack the PCs. PCs that manage to escape the house reach 3rd level.Strahd’s journal is in fact the Tome of Strahd. If returned, the Death House will be as good as its Lawful Evil word, and provide the PCs the original deed to the house. This effectively gives the party a place to stay, and the House will also give them free food for more tales of Ravenloft not yet archived in its library. The House can use its internal magic to perform all kinds of various domestic chores to make it a suitable living space. But if PCs make a deal and don’t or can’t uphold their end of the bargain, they’re plagued by restless sleep which imposes a permanent 3 levels of exhaustion until they uphold the oath.However the PCs solve the mystery, Van Richten will be willing to act as a mentor from then on out, and grants his leave for the PCs to keep the magical items found on his corpse (not that he had any means of enforcing this). He can also suggest they journey to find his protege Ez d’Avenir or otherwise find a means of resurrecting him.That is, if this module is being played as part of Curse of Strahd. At which point you may also wonder how Van Richten’s death affects the Artifact result from the Tarokka High Deck. In such a case, the PC’s ally against Strahd is Blinsky the toymaker, who is very obviously a huge downgrade from Van Richten for he has Commoner stats.Overall Thoughts: Van Richten Dies in Ravenloft is still a lethal dungeon crawl, particularly if the PCs don’t have reliable means of detecting or disabling traps. But it is shorter and less monster-filled than the original module and there’s quite a bit less treasure as a result, particularly for the more potent items such as the silvered shortsword, Cloak of Protection, and spellbook in the cultist quarters. It’s meant to be more light-hearted than the default module, including Van Richten’s surprisingly nonchalant response to his own death setting the mood, which may be a subjective taste.It can be run as a one-shot, although for a Curse of Strahd campaign I’m not too excited about the longer-term changes it would make. It gives the party’s Van Richten’s Journal far earlier than they would ordinarily get it, as opposed to finding it in his tower when they likely had more of a chance to interact with Rictavio in Vallaki and possibly Ez as a natural buildup. Secondly the great importance Madam Eva places on the Tome of Strahd means that a lot of groups may not wish to trade for it once they find out about it, at which point the 3 level exhaustion is far more of a debilitating drawback than the default Death House’s dangers. Additionally, the swapping of Van Richten as an ally for Blinsky is a letdown, and even if the PCs desired to have the legendary monster hunter alive and kicking the rarity of NPCs and treasure with access to resurrection in the module means it likely won’t happen any time soon.Join us next time as we learn useful tips and tricks for running a better Curse of Strahd in the Barovia Gazetteer: Collected Edition!</blockquote>

Verification