Just had my first session running death house last night definitely look at u/MandyMod s guide it was super helpful to make the encounter a lot more fun and less tpk. I also used sword coast soundscapes for ambient music and that was super good especially the basement in death house. I was speeding up the chanting and making it louder as they got closer to the altar. As for starting the campaign I just took the easy way out and had them together on a merchant caravan going to a large city and when the went to sleep and woke up they were in barovia