D&D 5E We Finally Have a 1st Level Adventure with a Vampire

The threat of a vampire is enough to inspire fear in all but the most foolhardy novice adventurers—which is exactly what the decidedly unvampiric Bloodsucker Gang is counting on. For weeks these murderous scoundrels have left the corpses of their victims with the telltale signs of vampire attacks, fooling authorities and the populace at large into thinking a far greater danger stalks the night than criminals eager to fleece the pockets of frightened townsfolk. Despicably designed by Anthony Pryor, illustrated by Yeysson Vellaiza, and featuring the cartography of Dyson Logos.

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[sevenbastard]

1st level charachters with skilled players who take a cautious approach and get lucky can be used in the original Ravenloft 1e version.

They get TPKed but they can be used.

You can't win D&D so why not lose quickly?

 

[Erekose]

The old 1E adventures had rumour tables, I can‘t remember which adventure it was but one rumour suggested vampires were around (it was a relatively low level adventure and the rumour was completely false) but the players were terrified the whole time! Makes me wonder if that was an inspiration for this adventure?

 

[RangerWickett]

1st level charachters with skilled players who take a cautious approach and get lucky can be used in the original Ravenloft 1e version.

They get TPKed but they can be used.

You can't win D&D so why not lose quickly?

I knew a woman getting her PhD in public health (I'll call her N) - very high achiever, very focused on success.

N happened to be present when a group of us were starting a game, and she was curious enough to want to get involved. Everyone had already made characters, so I quickly explained the basics of 'say what you want to do, roll dice, and I'll tell you what happens,' then jotted down some stats of an NPC who had given the party their mission, who could now accompany the party with N running her.

The group does some roleplaying, some wilderness exploration, stuff like that. Then they get to a flooded cave where there's supposed to be a dungeon entrance, and they spot a section with no dry land for a few hundred feet, but torchlight faintly glints off something metal at the far end of the cave. All the experienced players are being cautious, wondering if they can build a raft outside and bring it into the cave or something. They graciously ask N if she has any ideas.

N asks what happens if they try something and lose. I explained that they can't really lose. Like, characters can die, but the story keeps going, and you can always bring in another character.

Intrigued, N tells everyone they are worrying too much, and then she just hops into the water to swim, holding a torch with one hand above the water.

I have her roll Perception, and she spots something slithering in the water toward her.

"Almost there," she calls back to the rest of the party, big grin on her face. "I think I see something."

I clarify that she's about to get attacked by a monster, and it's really hard to fight in the water. She nods excitedly.

So I tell her something bites her leg, and she starts screaming and flailing around, saying she drops her torch in the water and then her screams turn to gurgles. It turns out N had to go work on her dissertation anyway, and was excited to lean into the tropes of adventure movies.

As she gets torn to bits by the cave drake, she's giggling. She never played again, but afterward she expressed joy that she could lose so horrifingly and not have any consequences, because the game keeps going.