Running "Death House" for kids

[SuperDave]

My niece and nephew (ages 10 and 11 respectively) loved playing Betrayal at the House on the Hill (they call it "the Murder Game" XD), so I'm using the Curse of Strahd introductory scenario Death House to introduce them to D&D. This is their first experience with role-playing and I want it to go well for them, but I've never run this adventure before. How can I ensure that it's challenging and a little spooky without being frustrating?

I've been thinking I might start them off at level 2; is that enough, or would 3 be better since it's their first time? I'd like to get at least one other adult involved (maybe their mom or their dad, or my wife; the grandparents seem unlikely to join), but I doubt the party will be larger than three PCs. I've heard this adventure can be deadly for small parties if the DM doesn't fudge a few numbers, and I really don't want their first-ever adventure to end in a TPK.

Important note: my nephew is autistic, but very high-functioning. He's incredibly detail-oriented when he wants to be, but it can be difficult to hold his attention.

[SuperDave]

Here are a few ideas I had to hold their interest and make it less overwhelming:

• start the PCs at level 2 (or higher)
• get in a fight early: make the stuffed wolves in Area 3 come alive when the PCs try to leave the room.
• make the animated armor too stupid to go up or down stairs
• get rid of the broom of animated attack; it doesn't add anything to the overall plot
• allow the PCs to perform a short rest inside the Death House, but not a long one (b/c of nightmares)
• if one of the PCs are killed and can't be resurrected by the other PCs, I plan to give them a choice: either help me control the monsters for the rest of the encounter, or come back as a minor undead in 1d4 turns and attack the other PCs.

[El'the Ellie]

I've seen suggestions to give characters a bonus 10 hitpoints at the start of Death House. (Not temp HP, that is, but 10 more real hit points.)

First level games can always be tricky because you have such low hitpoint that one errant crit can take you out. I like the bonus HP because it doesn't necessarily make things easier, it just gives you more cushion against bad dice.

Keep in mind it's designed with 4 PC's in mind. Even at 3 characters it might be a bit rough, but I've heard the difficulty with Death House is more that it comes in spikes. The boss at the end is suddenly harder than the rest of the adventure, as is one of the fights in the crypts I believe.

If it were me, I'd give them some bonus HP, and put some kid gloves on for the harder encounters (maybe make the boss do 1-2 less damage per attack, and take out a mook or two from the larger groups), but keep everything else the same. I really like the broom fight because I think it is a way for the DM to inject some laughs to break up the spookiness, but ultimately it can certainly be omitted.

[Segev]

I don't know this module, but given what you said about your niece and nephew and liking Betrayal at the House on the Hill, the suggestion about letting them come back as undead to fight the other players may be fun for them. Though you probably do want at least 3, preferably 4 players, unless your neice and nephew just don't have any friends or relatives who'd enjoy playing.

Again, I don't know the module, but the advice about leaving out the Broom of Animated Attack bugs me because it sounds like the kind of silly thing 12-year-olds might find hillarious. You know your relatives better than anybody here, though, so you should evaluate that encounter as whether they'd find it fun or unfun. Maybe make it an NPC they can interact with if they approach it right; a bratty kid ghost who was a boy or girl captured by a witch and forced to be a servant until (s)he died, maybe? Not a reliable ally, even if won over, but perhaps an amusing sometimes-ally, sometimes-antagonist (remember, bratty and probably emotional).

[zinycor]

Here are a few ideas I had to hold their interest and make it less overwhelming:

• start the PCs at level 2 (or higher)
• get in a fight early: make the stuffed wolves in Area 3 come alive when the PCs try to leave the room.
• make the animated armor too stupid to go up or down stairs
• get rid of the broom of animated attack; it doesn't add anything to the overall plot
• allow the PCs to perform a short rest inside the Death House, but not a long one (b/c of nightmares)
• if one of the PCs are killed and can't be resurrected by the other PCs, I plan to give them a choice: either help me control the monsters for the rest of the encounter, or come back as a minor undead in 1d4 turns and attack the other PCs.

Don't get rid of the broom, on all the times I have ran death house the animated broom has been an amazing source of comic relief and a welcomed surprise.
Nerf the ghost damage, it can easily one shot a PC.

Keep an open mind, don't be afraid of adding things or removing things, after all this is their first time.
Reward them for playing their characters, role-playing, learning the rules, coming up with entertaining solutions.

In the end, you should focus your efforts in making sure they are playing the game, get to know how to do it, rather than setting up any challenge.

If they are not doing obviously suicidal things (like jumping of roofs or something like that) you should make sure they survive the game.

Another thing, make sure they understand this is a team game.

[DrKerosene]

One of the first google.docs links polishes Death House, https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStra...lation_thread/

It basically covers advice and common trouble other DMs have had, and occassionally adds a bit of extra content if you use it for the rest of Curse Of Strahd too.

[SuperDave]

Thanks for all the great advice, everyone! I'm sorry I didn't get back to you until now, but I really do appreciate all of your feedback. Here's how it went down:

Ultimately, my nephew wasn't interested in anything that isn't Roblox (big surprise), but his sister latched onto roleplaying and loved it, even going so far as to say that D&D is now her new favorite game! I let her keep her character sheet and a set of dice to take back home with her, so we'll see if she decides to pick up the hobby again in the future. I won't be devastated if she doesn't, I'm mainly just glad that the adventure was a success.

The party consisted of my niece (half-elf wizard), my wife (dwarven fighter), her brother/my niece's father (half-elf rogue), and his ex-wife/my niece's mother (human cleric) -- unusual, I know, but they get along pretty well for a divorced couple. I decided to use some Curse of Strahd pregens, which turned out to be a great idea because it took us three sessions (~6 hours) to get through the adventure, because we only played for a couple hours each night. They skipped a lot of material in the dungeon, so there were still a few questions that went unanswered, but overall I think everyone had fun. I think they were impressed with the amount of work I put into the printed maps, the soundtrack, etc. I did ultimately take the broom out to save time, but I had it slap the fighter's hand away when she tried to steal a bar of soap from the linen closet, and that got a nice laugh. I skipped the wolves because they never explored that room. None of the PCs were killed except my wife's character, who bravely sacrificed herself against the final boss to buy the others more time to escape. She was possessed by one of the ghosts, and knew she couldn't leave the Durst House anyway, so she decided to go down in a blaze of glory.

The next time I run this, I'm going to have a group of more experienced players, so they'll probably get through combat and exploration a lot quicker. I've drafted up some pre-scripted dialogue for Strahd and the other NPCs, because I though the dialogue I adlibbed could have been better. Next time, if the PCs encounter the ghasts of Gustav and Elisabeth Durst, I'm going to give them a chance to turn her against him by bringing up his affair with the nursemaid. I'm also going to have the ghouls allude to Strahd and their masters (the Dursts). When it's all over the PCs will meet Strahd outside and he'll reveal that it was all a test, to see if they were truly worthy of being used in his dark designs.