Reddit Funeral Addition strahd attends

SIDE NOTE: If the PCs still have Lancelot the dog with them, Ismark will recognize the pooch. This might give him further incentive to invite the players to side with him. He might ask where they found Lancelot and tell them the dog used to belong to Mad Mary's daughter. If the PCs relate the events of Death House, they will obviously impress Ismark and inadvertently convince him that they're worthy enough to protect Ireena.

stop here

Please help us! our baby brother is still in there!! we got scared of the monster and ran out.

Please help baby Walter

Come, demon! We awaken thee

the dirty water that fills the chamber seems to ripple as something moves beneath the surface. A gathering of bones, flesh, and body parts come together and rise out of the water as a giant, moving heap of gore.

At the center of the Flesh Mound is a small cavity containing the body of baby Walter, a crying corpse attached to the rest of the mound by sinuous ligaments. A swallowed player will have the chance to see this infant form. Severing the ligaments or killing the baby (this should feel more like putting Walter out of his misery), will cause the whole Flesh Mound to fall apart. When the mound dies, all that’s left is the corpse of the baby, which the players can put to rest in his crypt if they please.

After a moment, Mrs. Durst in her ghast form will burst from one of the earthen walls. Unlike the other ghouls who outright attacked the party, Mrs. Durst can actually speak. She’s retained her memory but has also completely succumbed to her dark whims. Her lips and gums have gone black with rot and she smiles madly at the characters. When she introduces herself, tell the players that after closer inspection they can see the vague resemblance to the portrait of her in the main house.

Mrs. Durst has gone completely mad. She’s arrogant and believes herself better than everyone, looking down on the players. She shuns her dead husband and calls him a lecherous traitor who deserved to die. She has even less kind words for Walter and the nursemaid. She even writes off her own children as bothersome nuisances. Don’t be afraid to be vulgar when voicing Mrs. Durst. Try to give her a hissing, gargling voice and use some language you wouldn’t use in front of your mother. It’ll make the party hate her all the more.

Should the players ask what she did to Walter, she grins and tells them, “Why don’t you go down even further and find out for yourself.”

Mrs. Durst eventually tells the players to get out. But most likely, your players will feel inclined to end her. Good. She’s meant to be utterly repulsive and killing her will make them all feel really great.

and a decade body hanging from the roof -suicide note-

You feel a pulse shoot out from within the statue. . you feel A chill goes down the party’s spine.

message to Strahd letting him know that the party is in Barovia

chanting

chanting

The Nursemaid Make her a character, not a monster!!!!

I can’t stress this enough. You’re party is level 1 when they meet her. They don’t need to be fighting a specter, especially with everything else they have to face.

I personally named her Margaret and had her actually converse with the party. I played her as tragic and shy, pressing her beautiful, ghostly form into the corner of her room in order to hide from the party. Margaret is a very confused ghost. She knows that something bad happened to her, but she doesn’t actually remember dying. In fact, she frequently jumps between knowing and not knowing she’s dead, between past and present.

Margaret speaks fondly of Mr. Durst, saying that he’s a very kind man, but doesn’t mention their affair out of propriety. If the players ask her outright about Walter being her child or of her relationship with Mr. Durst, she tells them, “It’s not my place to speak of such things. I’m very sorry...” She also smiles beautifully if asked about Rose, Thorne, or Walter, claiming them all to be wonderful children. It should be obvious that she loves them very much.

If the characters ask Margaret about Mrs. Durst, her smile fades. She doesn’t say anything outright bad about her mistress, but players should be able to sense from her mannerisms and answers that Margaret is actually afraid of Mrs. Durst.

Approaching the crib

As written, Margaret should get violent if players try to go to the crib. I took this out. Instead, she simply asks them to be quiet since the baby is sleeping. When the players approach the bundle in the crib, it unfurls revealing nothing but the cloth and Margaret is gone.

you hear a whimpering coming from the harp

Its a Dog

They’ll have to lure him out, but once he approaches, he’s very friendly. And can join the party

Named Lancelot

An Unsent Letter from Mrs. Durst to a fellow Cult Member

Blahh