A DnD Tale: Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft - The House The Gods Forgot

Cornwall and the harbor
Where witches went mad more than once and
Until this day
In dreams at least
The lighthouse at Lost Christabel
Squat and hugely tilts
Upon the strand where Grandad's house was built

A continuation of the dnd side-story two of my sisters are having. After taking care of the ordeal of Hope waking up in the cellar being rescued by van Richten and Immeral they decide to investigate the cellar portion a bit more, they find a storage room behind the wine cellar, but its isolated and the roof seems to have caved in. They at least find some treasure and a key. They do notice that one wall sticks out and looks like the tower portion of the house. They go back to the tower, but find nothing that looks to lead to the bottom. Immerals wall of secrets seem to indicate something in the wall, but no way to get there. They decide to climb the tower instead, but halfway there a mighty wind blows down on them while they hear the scream of someone falling over and over. Van Richten is the only one strong enough to get past the wind and reach the top, from there he throws down a rope to help the others climb up and pass the wind. Doesn't help Immeral as van Richten rolls a 1 and Immeral fails the strength check so he rolls down to the bottom of the tower. They tie a rope and pulls him up together. At the top they find a chalk circle with the mark of the Raven and a crimson red armour belonging to one of the previous owner, Mara Silvra. The armour has no magical properties or so, but they get that they can use the armour as an exhibit back in Ravenloft so they pick it up to bring it with them after the adventure. Every way a capitalist.

They climb down... or fall down since none of them could withstand the strong wind. And afterwards goes up to the second floor going from room to room. Nothing much happens really beside some strange sightings, the best being when Hope enters the morning room and see a big eye looking at her through the window. And then while looking in a tea cup see the dried leaves forming a screaming face with a missing eye. They also finds an office where they look find the will of Loren Halvhrest and the deed of the house. Van Richten is able to pocket a pistol with 49 bullets (since it's anachronistic to the playstyle of my sisters and it makes a rather weird continuation error if my sisters use it in the main campaign) and another key he hands over to the pair. They also finds the balcony and then goes up to the third floor. As they enter the third floor they hear a clock chimes 13 times. Van Richten ask them to return to the parlor for another seance as the spirits seems restless. The spirit of Theodora tells them again to "SEEK THE WHITCH STONE" and then showing a candle. As the seance ends they hear the sound of thunder and rain outside. They go to bed and this time Immeral awakens in the study as a phantom accountant places sins and good deeds on scale weighing his soul. The ghost asks him to repent before vanishing before his eyes.

The storm is still raging outside, but they have deciphered Theodoras words as they learn that a witch stone is an ornamental stone that lets witches rest on the roof during their nightly travels. So they got to get to the roof. They enter the balcony and the rain pours down. They uses a grappling hook and is able to climb toward the widows peak and locate the chimney. Unfortunately the roof isn't stable and the bricks tends to careen down if one steps on them. They tie a rope to the ladder to the third floor (which they realised they could have used instead of climbing on the outside) and at its end tie a rope for each that attach to themselves as they try to get to the chimney. All fails so they end up hanging from the roof. Hope is able to get up to the chimney and tries to help Immeral while using her tail to secure herself. Which fails and she gains one level of exhaustion. 

Been watching a bit of Thunderbirds so now I can only hear this action music during potential disasters, that we used as that scene played out.

After a couple of more attempts with the rain pouring down they all get to the chimney and find the witches stone. They place a candle and lights it while using a brick from the chimney to protect it from the rain. They use the ladder down to the third floor and back to the parlor. They light the fire and tries to dry their clothes. As night approaches they use the spirit board again and are given another instruction from Theodora, to "RESTORE HER SHIELD" and then showing them a vine with flowers. They go to bed again and Immeral wakes up in the master bathroom in the tub and sees the words "Bloody Mara" written in blood in the mirror. And the session ends. 

Not much happened really this session, but the action scene on the roof was rather fun. A problem so far seems to be that the adventure enjoy a lot of strength checks like acrobatics to succeed, both passing the wind in the tower and climbing over the roof to the chimney and none of the characters in play are strength based (Hope getting out of the wine casket was another one from last session). Hope has the highest strength modifier with a 0, Immeral and van Richten both have -1. Maybe should have allowed acrobatics skill checks instead of the suggested Athletics since it was kinda one-sided. Then on the other hand, they at times rolled so bad it wouldn't have mattered anyway.