Arc A: Escape From Death House

The players begin the campaign in the town of Daggerford on the night before Highharvesttide, an annual feast and holiday celebration. The local inns are full for the night, and the players—vagabonds with little coin or company to speak of—find shelter in the stable of the Nightmare’s Bridle, a ramshackle tavern on the outskirts of town.

When the relics they carry sense the presence of Death House, however, the players are led through Daggerford’s rainy streets and into the house’s waiting threshold.

Once inside, the players are trapped and told that a monster will hunt them down once it awakens. They have six hours to find it first and either appease it with a suitable sacrifice—or kill it. As they explore the house, they come to learn the house’s lurid history, as well as the true identity of the beast that lurks beneath.

If the players kill the monster, the house begins to collapse, forcing them to flee or be lost in the rubble. Upon emerging, they find that their surroundings have changed, transporting them to the darkened land of Barovia.