Song of the Beast: Curse of Strahd 5e Total Conversion

by Isada

The idea is simple (though I imagine this process will be less so, ahaha): use the mechanics and set-up of Curse of Strahd to tell an Over the Garden Wall type story. Creatures and encounters and all will basically just have different flavor and maybe ability alterations-that kind of thing. The biggest changes will be to the overlying story.

4. Chapter 4

Chap 4: The Village of Adelaide, Part I

Adelaide is one of the most severely oppressed settlements in the land. The village lies in the shadow of the Elder Edelwood, buried under fog and every night, any caught outside must contend with swarms of Business Bats.
Until recently, the Beast had been paying nightly visits to Irene Kole, the adopted daughter of the village burgomaster. Irene carries a piece of the soul of the witch Tabitha, the only one to have ever escaped from the Beast. He intends to sing her final hopes away so that she may fall into Edelwood Slumber and become a tree for him to consume by fire.

Approaching the village
When the characters first approach: 'Tall shapes loom out of the dense fog that surrounds all. Multicolored threads drape many of these quiet, empty-windowed buildings like webs of a yarn-spinning spider. No sound breaches the silent and smoky air except for a mournful sobbing that echoes through the streets from a distance.'
The sobbing comes from the townhouse of Adelaide, the defected clone of the witch Tabitha (area E3). With the exception of areas E1 and E2, all shops in the village are among the permanently closed and yarn-draped buildings-Adelaide secretly being the one responsible. Unoccupied shops have been looted of anything valuable, but many are home to Feathered Friends, rebels whom Adelaide has transformed into birds. Feathered Friends are sentient but cannot speak or use any stats but those of tiny, ordinary birds.

House occupants
If the PCs explore a residence other than Adelaide's townhouse (area E3) or the burgomaster's mansion (area E4), roll a d20 and consult the following table:

d20 Occupants
1-2 None
3-4 2d4 swarms of birds (non-hostile Feathered Friends)
5-14 Villagers
15-16 2d4 swarms of rats
17-18 1d4 scarecrows
19-20 2d4 the Beast's fog-touched fey (see appendix D)

The unoccupied
Any house without villagers is one of the abandoned buildings draped in multicolored yarn. These threads also hang from the rafters of the interior. While having no properties other than ordinary thread, if a PC grabs hold of many threads looped around the same rafter, they can yank the single beam free with a Str DC 20.
A house infested with rats or home to Feathered Friends appears thusly abandoned.
Visual reference: . /8a5e395f...e18o2_

Villagers
A house of villagers is home to 1d4 adults (any race, commoners) and 1d6-1 children (any race, noncombatants). PCs who listen at the door hear low, muffled speech from within. They can see humanoid shapes move in the windows, typically lighted at night. Villagers never attack first and flee from danger if possible. Many of them carry the holy symbols of the Queen of the Cloud, which can be any object but shaped as though formed by a cloud.

Scarecrows
When the PCs open a door or shuttered window of an abandoned home hosting scarecrows, they see blood and the mutilated bodies of birds. If the PCs search the house, they will find the scarecrows in the process of bird-killing. The scarecrows will attack the PCs once they've dispatched the birds (1 round). Feathered Friends killed as birds do not revert to their original forms.

The Beast's fog-touched fey
When the PCs open a door or shuttered window of an abandoned home infested by
the Beast's fog-touched fey, a breath of mist smelling of burning wood and oil blows by them. Mist rolls and curls across the floor of the building and the scent becomes stronger as the fey converge upon the PCs.

Areas of the Village
The following correspond to labels on the ORIGINAL CoS map of Barovia on page 42.

E1. Old Bill's Mercantile
Text: 'The sparse light from this building spills out from behind drawn, heavy curtains depicting birds flying through clouds in colorful brocade. A sign over the door, creaking on its hinges, reads "Old Bill's Mercantile."'
The establishment is 70 feet long by 40 feet wide. The owner, Old Bill (any race, commoner), sells items from the Adventuring Gear table in the Player's Handbook, but only buys items with a price lower than 25 (object of currency is the DM's choice), and sells them for 10 tens the price.
He trades with Fungais when they pass through. He's happy to make a profit from any strangers unlucky enough to find themselves here. He serves his own interests and offers no sanctuary. He never bargains unless he has an idiosyncracy revolving around a particular object since, as he says, "If you want it badly enough, you'll pay for it." He has no competition in the village.
If the PCs give him a hard time, he calls Perry Wimple (any race, gladiaotr but with Int 6 and no shield). Perry is his nephew and stockboy under a severely gouging contract. His muscles ripple under his leather tunic, giving ample notice of his strength. But in his simple-minded devotion, he won't leave Old Bill to join the PCs while his uncle has something to say about it.

E2. Last Tavern Left
Text: 'A single shaft of light thrusts into the main square, its brightness a solid pillar in the heavy fog. Above the open doorway, a sign hangs precariously askew, proclaiming this to be the Last Tavern Left.'
The building is about 60 feet square. A blazing fire in the unbarred hearth warms almost as much as it threatens to spill out over the hard wooden floorboards. The PCs can see a barkeep, three Fungais drinking and reveling together, and a human male, Isaiah Kole, son of the burgomaster Andrew Kole.

Roleplaying Isaiah
Isaiah (LG male human veteran) is a young man who sits by himself at a corner table, sipping the house moonshine. The villagers call him "Isaiah the Lesser" or "Lessie" for short because he's lived in the shadow of his father for most of his life.
Isaiah invites the PCs to join him, offers to pay for their homebrewed drinks, and asks for their aid in protecting his adopted sister, Irene Kole. If they agree to help, he takes them to the burgomaster's residence (area E4). He wants them to help escort Irene to Tavern Town, a settlement in the heart of the valley, and out of the shadow of the Elder Edelwood. He hopes the Beast will be unable to reach Irene there, as he's heard it is well-defended. Like most villagers of Adelaide, however, he hasn't left to see for himself because of the night terror of the Business Bats.
Isaiah has spent all of his spare time training after learning about the wizard's assault on the Beast about a year ago. If the PCs suggest that he accompany them, he agrees provided that Irene is first brought to a place of safety. As long as Isaiah accompanies the characters, he acts as a party member for the purpose of determining each character's share of XP, though he gains no points himself.

Roleplaying other NPCS
Barkeep-is a pudgy little man (any race, CN commoner) who mimicks the voices of his patrons when they take orders for drinks. Indeed, he even attempts to act like them when he brings them their order. He's a man of little knowledge but if asked for information, he'll make something up in the hopes that it helps.
The three Fungais-(nobles) sit at a table near the front door. They are, in fact, the owners of the tavern, having given up mulch-gathering after their giant turkeys fell to dire dogs. Their names are Alan, Mirabel, and Sara, and the make sure the customers pay their tabs. If the PCs question them about their past or the tavern, all three exchange joviality for solemnity and relate the tale of the death of their turkeys, growing increasingly emotional until they're all wailing and sobbing at the end. As the PCs leave them, they suggest visiting Ms. Evangeline for their fortunes (Chap 2, area G).

E3. Adelaide's Townhouse
Text: 'A moaning sob floats through the still, gray streets, coloring your thoughts with sadness. The sounds flow from a two-story townhouse with yarn cords for curtains.'
The house, about 40 ft square, belongs to the one that the villagers call "Snow White" because the white-haired woman has never told them a name. She was never given a name by the rebels who created her to be a clone of the witch Tabitha, but the influence of the Beast has led her to believe that she is Adelaide, caretaker spirit of the village-why else would she have such power? She will not, however, attack the players unless they attack her or threaten the Beast in her presence. See stats below.
Upon entering the house, the PCs feel the unnatural wintry chill that pervades the entire house (those who can may detect its magical nature). Multicolored threads drape over every frost-crystalled surface, the long ends of their strands clutched by the white-haired Adelaide sitting at the center of the floor in the upstairs bedroom. She wears only a simple patchwork shift and her bare feet leave no print in the frost which she creates.
Few have noticed her resemblance to Irene Kole because the cloning process left her without pigmentation and Adelaide only leaves her home at night, but the PCs may perceive the similarities with a DC 11 Wis (Perception) check. Adelaide says nothing in the presence of anger but will speak, albeit haltingly, to someone who talks with her gently. Gertruda, whom she adopted as a servant but has come to care for as a daughter, is missing and Adelaide fears the worst. See Chap 4, area K42 for Gertruda's fate. Adelaide will only speak of her past if the PCs report back on Gertruda's fate.
If the PCs search the house, they can find Gertruda's doll, a miniature stuffed scarecrow with an unsettling leer on its sackcloth face.
Her idiosyncracies are decorating abandoned buildings with her yarn and knitting clothes for her scarecrows with needles of ice, though the DM may add more.
Adelaide's song on YouTube.

E4. Burgomaster's Mansion
Text: 'A weary mansion squats behind a rusting iron fence. The iron gates are twisted and torn. The right gate lies cast aside, while the left swings lazily in the wind, squealing and clanging with cyclic precision. Weeds choke the grounds and crawl up the sides of the house. Yet, many feet have tramped down a path to and around the domain.
As you approach, you note where heavy claws have stripped the walls of their painted finish. Great, soot-black smears tell of many fires having been set upon the mansion. Not a pane nor shard of glass remains in any of the windows, all of which are boarded up. Someone has carved cloud sigils into the planks.'
Characters who survey the grounds can, with a DC 11 Wis (Perception) check, discern the prints of dogs and humanoids. The footprints were made both by mobs and the Beast's fog-touched fey while the pawprints were made by dogs and dire dogs.
Irene Kole (LG female human noble, 14 hit points), the adopted daughter of the burgomaster, is inside the mansion and won't open the heavily barred door unless she's convinced that they have no allegiance to the Beast. If convinced with good roleplay or a DC 15 Cha (Deception or Persuasion) check or by accompanying Isaiah, she opens the door and bids them enter.
Once inside: 'The interior is well furnished, yet the fixtures and furniture show signs of great wear. Noticeable oddities are the boarded-up windows and holy cloud symbols in every room. The burgomaster is in a side drawing room on the floor, wrapped in a simple knit shroud. Flowers were placed on his body, but they've wilted, adding to the scent of decay.'
Isaiah and Irene knit the shroud themselves.

Roleplaying Irene
Irene, a striking human with auburn hair, has had much of her will and hopes stripped by the Song of the Beast. The villagers can sense her impending doom and avoid her on sight. The PCs are her best hope for protection, so she is willing to accompany them under certain conditions.
She doesn't remember her early past, how she came to the Unknown, or where she came from.
She does say that father was fortunate enough to die of heart failure than to fall into Edelwood Slumber. But no one wants to help her or Isaiah take their father to the cemetery for a proper burial. No one has even helped them carve a headstone, so they've simply collected stones to pile upon the grave. She asks the PCs to help deliver the body safely to Dona, the local priest (area E5). If the PCs convince her to go with them without moving the body, she will sneak away at any moment to do it herself, risks be damned.

STAT ALTERATIONS/ADDITIONS

Adelaide now a Glacier Witch (original online at giantitp)

Village of Adelaide, Part II

E5. Church of the Queen of the Cloud
Text: 'Atop a slight rise, against the thick, root-stitched foot of the precipice supporting the Elder Edelwood, stands a gray, sagging edifice of stone and wood. A bell tower looms toward the back, and flickering light shines through holes in the shingled roof. The rafters strain with feeble creaks against their load. Though weather beaten and worn, the church miraculous has preserved the majority of its now pockmarked stained glass windows. They depict a jovial procession of all manner of beings within a city of white cloud, watched over by a regal woman in blue, her wings like clouds themselves.'
If the PCs approach the doors: 'The heavy wooden doors are covered with claw marks and the black soot of fire.'
The village priest, Dona, lives here. Other villagers, even if worshippers of the Queen of the Cloud, shun the church. The following areas correspond to labels on the ORIGINAL CoS map of the church on page 46.

E5A. Hall
Text: 'The doors open to reveal a ten-foot-wide, twenty-foot-long hall leading to a brightly lit chapel. Flickering torches reveal the garish and unnatural colors of the disproportionate processionals in the stained glass.'

'Four doors, two on each side of the hall, lead to adjacent chambers. The chapel floor is strewn with debris. A soft voice from within recites a prayer. The floorboards rattle with an inhuman scream from beneath, drowning out all supplication.'
The scream comes from the undercroft (area E5g). The soft voice belongs to Dona, the priest (area E5f).

E5B. Anna's bedroom
Text: 'This dirty, lightless room contains a wooden bed with a straw-filled mattress. Mounted above the headboard is a wooden holy symbol of a shaped cloud.'

E5C. Dona's bedroom
Text: 'This debris-strewn room contains a wooden bed with a straw-filled mattress. An oil lamp burns brightly from a small table beside the bed. Mounted above the headboard is a wooden holy symbol of a shaped cloud.'
This is Dona's room and contains nothing of value.

E5D. Trapdoor
Text: 'Time and neglect have punched holes in the ceiling of this moldy room, which contains a few broken roof shingles in puddles of stagnant water. In one corner, set into the floor, is a heavy wooden trapdoor held shut with a chain and padlock. High, ear-piercing screams lance through the door.'
Dona has lost the key to the iron padlock, though a thorough search of the church can reveal its location with a DC 20 Wis (Perception) check. If the chain is removed and the door opened, the screaming stops. The trapdoor is swollen and stuck in its frame, so that a successful DC 12 Str check is required to pull it open. Below is a wooden staircase that descends 15 ft in the undercroft (E5g).

E5E. Office
Text: 'An old desk and chair stand against the south wall, a wooden holy symbol mounted above them-the smiling head of the church's goddess. A ten-foot-long iron rod attached to the north wall stands bare, suggesting a tapestry once hung there. Against the far wall stands a wooden cabinet with four tall doors.'
An empty wooden donation box rests on the chair. The desk contains blank parchment, quills, and dried-up inkwells. Though large, the cabinet contains little: a tinderbox, blue candles, and two books: Hymns to the Queen of the Cloud, a volume of chants, and The Blade of Truth: How to Fight a Cult, a strange book mixing logic exercises with lurid descriptions of violent cult worship.
Song reference on YouTube.

E5F. Chapel
Text: 'The chapel is in shambles with overturned and broken pews littering the dusty floor. Dozens of blue candles mounted in candlesticks and candelabras light even the shadiest corner. At the far end of the church sits a claw-scarred altar, behind which kneels a priest in soiled vestments of white and blue. Beside her, a long, thick rope stretches up into the bell tower.'
If the PCs haven't entered the undercroft: 'From beneath the chapel floorboards, you hear a young woman cry out, "Mother! I'm starving!"'
Dona (LG any race acolyte) has been praying throughout the night. Her voice is hoarse and weak. A little more than a year ago, she and her 20-year-old daughter, Anna, joined the mob against the Beast and stormed the Elder Edelwood, having been lured into following the "all-mighty" wizard Mordenkainen (Chap 2, area M). By all accounts, the wizard died by the Beast's hand. The rebels fell to mist and song. Anna, in her weakened state, became one of the mist-possessed.
Dona was able to trap her daughter in the undercroft, where she has remained, unfed, to this day. She cries out to her mother at all hours. Meanwhile, Dona spends every moment in prayer and supplication to the Queen of the Cloud.
Dona is not aware that attacking a mist-possessed only harms the mist that shrouds the host. If the PCs seem intent on "slaying" Anna, Dona does her best to stop them without outright murdering them.
In addition to the lore known to all denizens (see Chap 2), Dona knows the following:
-Irene Kole is adopted, found at the edge of the forest near the Thronestone. She had no memory of her past.
-Every night at midnight, a silent procession of scarecrows makes a beeline through the church graveyard to the townhouse of "Snow White" (see Special Events below).

Funeral for the Burgomaster
If the PCs bring Andrew Kole's body to the church, Dona presses them into helping her bury the body in the cemetery (area E6) at dawn. During the burial, Dona prays to the Queen of the Cloud in exchange for the escape of Andrew Kole's soul to the afterlife.
Once he's interred, Dona suggests taking Irene as far from the Elder Edelwood as possible, either Pottsfield (Chap 8) or Tavern Town (Chap 5). Dona is unaware of the dangers in Pottsfield.

E5G. Undercroft
The church's undercroft has rough-hewn walls and a floor of damp clay and pungent earth. Rotting wooden pillars strain under the weight of the wooden ceiling. Candlelight from the chapel above slips through the cracks, allowing you to glimpse a silhouette exhaling fog in the far corner.'

The silhouette is Anna, a mist-possessed (see Chap 2). She's not in her right mind and will approach the group in steps, observing, before suddenly lunging to attack. If they flee, she will attempt to escape. Dona will try to stop her even if she dies in the process. If Anna is allowed to escape, she is the mist-possessed who will appear in random travel encounters until she is freed. Once restored, she will tell the PCs the events that led to her possession (see area E5f), but will have no memory of what transpired afterward.

If your card reading reveals a treasure in the undercroft, it's in a moldy old donation box in the southwest corner of the room. The chest has a simple lock but is not trapped.

E6. Cemetery
Text: 'A fence of wrought iron with a rusty gate encloses a rectangular plot of land behind the dilapidated church. Tightly packed gravestones shrouded by fog have had their inscriptions blackened and scratched away. Shallow, coin-shaped depressions cut across from one corner to the other.'
During daytime, the cemetery is still and peaceful. But every night at midnight comes a procession of scarecrows reporting back to Adelaide (see Special Events below).

E7. Black Turtle House
This house of cultists is described in appendix B.

Special Events
If the PCs are out at night in Adelaide, there is a 50% chance they will encounter 1d4 swarms of Business Bats and a 25% chance that one swarm of Feathered Friends will come to their aid if any such hostile encounter occurs. The hostile swarms will not pursue the PCs into any building, but the Feathered Friends may follow at the DM's discretion.

March of Scarecrows
Every night at midnight, 1d8+2 scarecrows march from the forest across the cemetery and into the village to Adelaide's house where they make a silent report to her using knife-fingered sign language about the Feathered Friends and others they've killed.
Text: 'A scarecrow hops out of the fog and over the iron fence into the cemetery. Another and another follow, marching on stilted legs to the opposing corner.'
If the PCs are without a light source and hidden: 'The scarecrows hop the fence again and continue toward the village.'
If the PCs are detected, the scarecrows will attack. They will not follow the PCs into any buildings if the PCs hold the door against them, DC 10 Str check. Instead, they return to their march.

The Woodcutter
This event only occurs at night if the PCs are making their way through the village.
Text: 'You hear the sound of mud squelching under small, wooden wheels. A being as hairless as a gnome but large as a human pulls a rickety cart laden with logs through the fog.'
The lone woodcutter has been charged by the Beast to spy on the town while en route to the Old Grist Mill. If the characters are without a light source and move quietly, they can follow the woodcutter all the way back to the Old Grist Mill. But if the woodcutter detects them, it will recognize the PCs as strangers and follow them until they enter a building or attack. If they retreat into a building, the woodcutter goes instead to the Elder Edelwood to make their report. If they attack, the woodcutter fights to the death unless the Beast encounters and stops the woodcutter.

STAT ALTERATIONS/ADDITIONS

The Woodcutter is racially a medium-sized Fungai and shares their racial stats except for spell-casting that requires verbal components and has the following monster stats:
Woodcutter
Size Medium
Type Humanoid
Alignment unaligned
AC 9
HP 93 (11d8+44)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 19
DEX 9
CON 18
INT 6
WIS 10
CHA 5
Senses Darkvision 60 Ft.
Passive Perception 10
Languages Understands The Languages Of Its Creator But Can't Speak
Immunities Poison; Bludgeoning, Piercing, And Slashing From Nonmagical Weapons That Aren't Iron
Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned
Challenge Rating 5
Traits
Siege Monster: The woodcutter deals double damage to Objects and structures.
Berserk: Whenever the woodcutter starts its turn with 40 hit points or fewer, roll a d6. On a 6, the woodcutter goes berserk. On each of its turns while berserk, the woodcutter attacks the nearest creature it can see. If no creature is near enough to move to and Attack, the woodcutter attacks an object, with preference for an object smaller than itself. Once the woodcutter goes berserk, it continues to do so until it is destroyed or regains all its hit points.
The woodcutter's creator, if within 60 feet of the berserk woodcutter, can try to calm it by speaking firmly and persuasively. The woodcutter must be able to hear its creator, who must take an action to make a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check. If the check succeeds, the woodcutter ceases being berserk. If it takes damage while still at 40 hit points or fewer, the woodcutter might go berserk again.
Aversion of Fire: If the woodcutter takes fire damage, it has disadvantage on Attack rolls and Ability Checks until the end of its next turn.
Immutable Form: The woodcutter is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance: The woodcutter has advantage on saving throws against Spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons: The woodcutter's axe attacks are magical.
Actions
Multiattack: The woodcutter makes two magical axe attacks.
Slam: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slash damage.