I’ve talked in previous posts about trying D&D for free. But what if like me you want to run something more spooky/horror related to “celebrate” Halloween at the end of the month?
Well keeping with the free criteria that’s totally possible. Yes you can try D&D for free and have a fantasy horror theme to the adventure.
WotC back when they released the Curse of Strahd campaign book for fifth edition also put up on their website a free pdf of the adventure from Appendix B of the book called Death House.
Naturally it’s set in the fantasy horror setting of fan favourite Castle Ravenloft/Barovia and it’s vampire master Strahd von Zarovich. Sadly this free adventure doesn’t see us in the castle or going up against Strahd. But still it ticks the boxes we are looking for free, and fantasy horror.
Below are the main links you need to run the Death House adventure, including some advice from a way more experienced DM than the noob that I am.
Additional Curse of Strahd Character Options
Sly Flourish – Advice on running Death House
Naturally you can use the pregenerated characters that WotC have created or create your own. You can get the character sheets whichever way you decide to go here. The advantage of creating your own is you can use the additional setting character options linked above.
Death House suggests using the Creeping Fog scenario from the first chapter in the campaign book. ‘This scenario assumes that the characters are camping in a forest when the fog engulfs them. They are quietly borne to the edge of Barovia.”
I like this idea. We are running this adventure as a one shot basically (although nothing to stop you turning it into a campaign). It’s simple, gives a bit of mystery, and gets the players to Ravenloft and the village Barovia.
You may have to find a monster stat or two on the web, for instance the shambling mound.
I hope people have found this useful. Let me know in the comments below if you have run this adventure and any tips you may have. Or maybe if you do run it for Halloween how you got on.
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