Horror Adventure - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Horror Adventure

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
graxith
Jul 16, 2009 21:30:36 I don't know how many of you have ever pulled off a great Horror Adventure but a DM I had a while back did one that the whole party liked. He's been trying to put it up on the sites that he's on and I told him that I'd put it up here for him if he wanted me to. I don't know where else he put it up because the only time we actually looked on here before and I agreed to do it was during the campaign when we had an issues with game mechanics. [I don't remember the issue but I'll get to it.] This campaign was originally a 3.5 campaign and I'm just going over the story and describing the traps [with a general feeling of the difficulty we had in keeping out of harms way.]

---------

The prospective party should have arrived in a town with high walls surrounding the city. The city isn't very big but the area is very dangerous and thus the walls were a must. along the north wall their is an inn, a very old broken down mansion, and finally the graveyard. on the west walls a row of houses that serve as housing for the commoners fills up all space. The south wall is were the gates [placement of individual buildings isn't very important.] and the barracks for the town guard. On the east wall going from top to bottom is a bar that has sparring matches that people bet on as one of the only forms of entertainment in town, another in, and all of the necessities for the town to run smoothly. Finally in the center of the city is a church with an extensive library in it [one that contains a complete history of the town.].

Late at night after your party has found a place to rest a person should approach one of them [most likely the one who looks like the biggest fighter] and hand them an invitation to the pit fights. When they get there they should be offered the chance to participate and earn a hefty sum of gold [Enough for that sword they had their eye on.] Most of the matches should be fluff, something here, something there, just to mix things up. Last round though the 'ringmaster' steps into the ring with them. The ringmaster should be more then a match for the PC [none of the rounds end in death though so don't worry. This also means that unless you're nice they wont be getting that new sword after all.].

After the PCs return from the fights, no doubt sulking, give them a night to rest. In the morning have the guard call them back to the pits for an interview. When they get there they should see that the place is a mess. Bodies are strewn out all over, some of them seeming to rot, other looking like they were killed only a few hours earlier. Somebody should notice that the guy in the center of all of it was the ringmaster that handed their butt to them and that he has two pinpricks on his neck [Note, that this campaign is meant to be played while Vampires are a very daunting thing to fight]. Soon after the mayor of the town should come in and explain to them that they've been having trouble with people disappearing and that it's the reason that there were so little people in the streets.

Now, most parties think undead and assume graveyard. In this case they're right. When they get to the grave keepers cottage right outside the graveyard itself to get the key to the gates they should find him inside with the windows open burned all the way through by the sun that got in. Also in there they should find a small black journal that has Supernal or infernal writing on the cover. If anybody in the party can read it they find out that the grave keeper has a master somewhere in the city.

With a little research [the library provides most of the information with the mayor giving the rest] they find that about the time the disappearances started, the old mayor disappeared and that the mayors manor [the big mansion at the north wall] has been abandoned since. This research should have taken them until night. [make sure of this, setting is a big part in tension] The night has heavy cloud cover but the moon occasionally appears, shedding down its light for very brief moments before disappearing again. When they get to the mansion [rather they decide to wait until day or not] they have to break in. [not very hard for either strength or lock picks to do]

In the manor everything is coated in a fine layer of dust, throughout the lower level there is no vampires [although, you can plant some incriminating evidence down there]. The floorboard creak and groan at the slightest movement [making sneaking very hard]. The only thing of any importance down their is a harp in a room that is incredibly bare. As they find that there's nothing downstairs they should turn their focus upstairs.

The stairs are even worse then the floors downstairs, and up here all the windows are boarded out making it completely dark. As they walk through the corridors [most of them and the rooms are just for fluff] They should hear dripping water coming from a room that has a door that is opened just a crack. Then the water should stop and the sounds of footsteps should come from the room.

When our heroes decide to investigate they should find that the water was a leaky roof [this is an area where water had pooled into a hole in the roof and slowly dripped down, the water they heard was the last of the previous rain falling through] and the footsteps were a solid branch hitting against the side of the wall.

That being done with our heroes get to an area that heavily scented by candles. In the second to last door of the hallway is a large bedroom that shows signs of heavy and recent use. Everything in there is decorated to the latest court styles and the bed has heavy drapes around it. When the party fully gets into the room they should see a Lady laying in bed in a nightgown.

This as you probably know is a vampire. If the party tries to check for vitals [the current court style actually being very very pale women works well in this situation] will be to grapple the closest one and try to feed on him/her. [also trying to use them as a shield against any attacks by other players] If that works she will feed until she either dies or the heroes get their comrade off of her. After that she will continue to try to feed on the closest hero. After combat the players should find another journal that directs them down to the harp.

The journal states that the harp needs to be played in the correct sequence to open the door down to the masters room, and the horde of gold that he's stored in his personal library. You can come up with your own way to do that because I honestly don't remember all the DC and skill checks that we ended up using in that campaign.

If anybody liked that I can put up part 2: the crypt. In which the party finally meets the vampire master and the rest of his minions. There's more traps in that one and a few different powders of various uses, as well as that horde of gold [and if you want the book of vile darkness in the library as my DM did it].

Now, Questions, comments, input. I'd like to run his campaign again someday and any input you could give would be welcome. Also, did you like it? How would you improve it?
#2
gregt_314
Jul 16, 2009 22:56:59
Now, Questions, comments, input. I'd like to run his campaign again someday and any input you could give would be welcome. Also, did you like it? How would you improve it?

Okay, I get that it has a vampire in it, but how is it horror? Pointy teeth don't make a genre all by themselves.
#3
sockmonkey66
Jul 16, 2009 23:21:14 Creepy catacombs. Nuff' said.
#4
graxith
Jul 17, 2009 0:28:30 It's not really a true 'horror' part. None of the campaigns I've seen are. They are just thinks that if played right make your skin crawl [I personally can't do it, my DM was a little creepy himself and had a gift for telling it.]

This is not really what horror has evolved into over the years, it's more of the suspense type. A lot of people have move on from them becuase once the initial shock is past [which obviously I can't personally recreate in post] it's just another encounter to be dealt with. In this one the tense moments before finding the first vampire are what causes the shock when it's actually found. Described effectively it will make the more imaginative people in your groups [or maybe it's the more faint of heart] a little creeped out. More practical players will probably just rush through the mansion as quick as they can once they figure out that sneaking around is out of the option.

This is really just a guidline, the real emotions come from the skill of the DM to add all that fluff that I need to improve.
#5
descrii
Jul 17, 2009 0:57:04 I think D&D is a poor vehicle for true horror games because of the power and durability of the characters. Even against something too powerful for them to beat there's a sense of numbness that comes with the abstraction of hit points. It encourages heroism and discourages fear.

What you've posted above is a decent little adventure arc, but as mentioned, not really horror. Assuming you want to make it more horrifying, how about having it eventually emerge that the PCs themselves are behind the horrifying slayings at the pit?

For example, you could make the damage in the pit suggest werewolves rather than vampires. The guard questions the PCs as suspects, the PCs cry werewolf, the guard issues a proclamation rewarding citizens for turning in other citizens who turn out to be werewolves.

Someone turns in a man who turns out to be a werewolf. When questioned, the man identifies the werewolf who infected him. This gets the PCs on a werewolf trail where they try to find the werewolf that started the infection in the city.

Ultimately the last werewolf claims that one of the PCs infected him. If you remove the usual too-easy magical means of getting rid of the curse, this probably leads to a scene where the PC chains himself. You could exploit this for horror a number of ways. If he chains himself alone somewhere an innocent can wander in or be locked in with him. Play the innocent in a way that makes him or her appealing to the players so the chained one will become more and more frantic for her to leave.

Or if the whole party settles down to watch the chained guy it could turn out that one or all of the other PCs is actually the werewolf and chained guy is helpless breakfast.

If you don't like werewolves, you could use demonic possession instead. Anyway, the point is that the PCs can overcome pretty much anything but themselves and you need to somehow make them helpless if you want to horrify them.

I did a great scene in Call of Cthulu once where the PCs were trying to destroy this terrible statue. First they tried taking hammers to it, but when that didn't work they took it to a quarry and convinced the quarrymen to lay dynamite on the statue. They all took cover as the fuse burned down... and nothing happened.

They knew what would happen when someone approached the statue again, but there was nothing they could do. They delayed as long as they could and finally one of the quarrymen ignored them and approached the statue and of course the dynamite went off and killed him.

The helplessness of the players was what made the scene work!
#6
gregt_314
Jul 17, 2009 1:15:13
I think D&D is a poor vehicle for true horror games because of the power and durability of the characters. Even against something too powerful for them to beat there's a sense of numbness that comes with the abstraction of hit points. It encourages heroism and discourages fear.

Seconded. As someone who's best known as a DM for running horror games, D&D isn't up to snuff (so far as this genre, anyway). Yes, absolutely you can do a horror game in D&D, but the more successful it will be, the more you'll be achieving that by subverting or ignoring the core rules. And when you're actively fighting the rules to achieve an effect you have to wonder if you're using the right ruleset.
#7
drackthor
Jul 17, 2009 2:30:17 We played a creepy adventure, though the campaign itself wasn't horror. It was mainly just a few creepy events in a small chain mixed with the fact that we had played to 4 AM, and thus, everything's emotional effect was maximized and then doubled. :P
#8
graxith
Jul 17, 2009 3:24:56 That's an interesting, let's call it version, of what happens here. In this one wether the pc's actually play with the powders they find or not while they're fighting the main Vampire the powders get used [lost persay] and after they leave the powders come into play, unleashing a horde of demons. Thoose are dealt with later though becuase the tomb is sealed for a while by clerical magic [which is subverted later through the mansion]

I like the input, and I also agree that there's really not a good foothold for horror in D&D, this I felt was one of the adventures that I ejoyed the most though, as when it is desribed right it can get tense [then again, players who play to max everything out would just rush through the mansion and get to the killing].

Both ideas could be used at the same time, the pitmaster was the only one drained, so, werewolf maybe?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 graxith Jul 16, 2009 21:30:36	I don't know how many of you have ever pulled off a great Horror Adventure but a DM I had a while back did one that the whole party liked. He's been trying to put it up on the sites that he's on and I told him that I'd put it up here for him if he wanted me to. I don't know where else he put it up because the only time we actually looked on here before and I agreed to do it was during the campaign when we had an issues with game mechanics. [I don't remember the issue but I'll get to it.] This campaign was originally a 3.5 campaign and I'm just going over the story and describing the traps [with a general feeling of the difficulty we had in keeping out of harms way.] --------- The prospective party should have arrived in a town with high walls surrounding the city. The city isn't very big but the area is very dangerous and thus the walls were a must. along the north wall their is an inn, a very old broken down mansion, and finally the graveyard. on the west walls a row of houses that serve as housing for the commoners fills up all space. The south wall is were the gates [placement of individual buildings isn't very important.] and the barracks for the town guard. On the east wall going from top to bottom is a bar that has sparring matches that people bet on as one of the only forms of entertainment in town, another in, and all of the necessities for the town to run smoothly. Finally in the center of the city is a church with an extensive library in it [one that contains a complete history of the town.]. Late at night after your party has found a place to rest a person should approach one of them [most likely the one who looks like the biggest fighter] and hand them an invitation to the pit fights. When they get there they should be offered the chance to participate and earn a hefty sum of gold [Enough for that sword they had their eye on.] Most of the matches should be fluff, something here, something there, just to mix things up. Last round though the 'ringmaster' steps into the ring with them. The ringmaster should be more then a match for the PC [none of the rounds end in death though so don't worry. This also means that unless you're nice they wont be getting that new sword after all.]. After the PCs return from the fights, no doubt sulking, give them a night to rest. In the morning have the guard call them back to the pits for an interview. When they get there they should see that the place is a mess. Bodies are strewn out all over, some of them seeming to rot, other looking like they were killed only a few hours earlier. Somebody should notice that the guy in the center of all of it was the ringmaster that handed their butt to them and that he has two pinpricks on his neck [Note, that this campaign is meant to be played while Vampires are a very daunting thing to fight]. Soon after the mayor of the town should come in and explain to them that they've been having trouble with people disappearing and that it's the reason that there were so little people in the streets. Now, most parties think undead and assume graveyard. In this case they're right. When they get to the grave keepers cottage right outside the graveyard itself to get the key to the gates they should find him inside with the windows open burned all the way through by the sun that got in. Also in there they should find a small black journal that has Supernal or infernal writing on the cover. If anybody in the party can read it they find out that the grave keeper has a master somewhere in the city. With a little research [the library provides most of the information with the mayor giving the rest] they find that about the time the disappearances started, the old mayor disappeared and that the mayors manor [the big mansion at the north wall] has been abandoned since. This research should have taken them until night. [make sure of this, setting is a big part in tension] The night has heavy cloud cover but the moon occasionally appears, shedding down its light for very brief moments before disappearing again. When they get to the mansion [rather they decide to wait until day or not] they have to break in. [not very hard for either strength or lock picks to do] In the manor everything is coated in a fine layer of dust, throughout the lower level there is no vampires [although, you can plant some incriminating evidence down there]. The floorboard creak and groan at the slightest movement [making sneaking very hard]. The only thing of any importance down their is a harp in a room that is incredibly bare. As they find that there's nothing downstairs they should turn their focus upstairs. The stairs are even worse then the floors downstairs, and up here all the windows are boarded out making it completely dark. As they walk through the corridors [most of them and the rooms are just for fluff] They should hear dripping water coming from a room that has a door that is opened just a crack. Then the water should stop and the sounds of footsteps should come from the room. When our heroes decide to investigate they should find that the water was a leaky roof [this is an area where water had pooled into a hole in the roof and slowly dripped down, the water they heard was the last of the previous rain falling through] and the footsteps were a solid branch hitting against the side of the wall. That being done with our heroes get to an area that heavily scented by candles. In the second to last door of the hallway is a large bedroom that shows signs of heavy and recent use. Everything in there is decorated to the latest court styles and the bed has heavy drapes around it. When the party fully gets into the room they should see a Lady laying in bed in a nightgown. This as you probably know is a vampire. If the party tries to check for vitals [the current court style actually being very very pale women works well in this situation] will be to grapple the closest one and try to feed on him/her. [also trying to use them as a shield against any attacks by other players] If that works she will feed until she either dies or the heroes get their comrade off of her. After that she will continue to try to feed on the closest hero. After combat the players should find another journal that directs them down to the harp. The journal states that the harp needs to be played in the correct sequence to open the door down to the masters room, and the horde of gold that he's stored in his personal library. You can come up with your own way to do that because I honestly don't remember all the DC and skill checks that we ended up using in that campaign. If anybody liked that I can put up part 2: the crypt. In which the party finally meets the vampire master and the rest of his minions. There's more traps in that one and a few different powders of various uses, as well as that horde of gold [and if you want the book of vile darkness in the library as my DM did it]. Now, Questions, comments, input. I'd like to run his campaign again someday and any input you could give would be welcome. Also, did you like it? How would you improve it?
#2 gregt_314 Jul 16, 2009 22:56:59	Now, Questions, comments, input. I'd like to run his campaign again someday and any input you could give would be welcome. Also, did you like it? How would you improve it? Okay, I get that it has a vampire in it, but how is it horror? Pointy teeth don't make a genre all by themselves.
#3 sockmonkey66 Jul 16, 2009 23:21:14	Creepy catacombs. Nuff' said.
#4 graxith Jul 17, 2009 0:28:30	It's not really a true 'horror' part. None of the campaigns I've seen are. They are just thinks that if played right make your skin crawl [I personally can't do it, my DM was a little creepy himself and had a gift for telling it.] This is not really what horror has evolved into over the years, it's more of the suspense type. A lot of people have move on from them becuase once the initial shock is past [which obviously I can't personally recreate in post] it's just another encounter to be dealt with. In this one the tense moments before finding the first vampire are what causes the shock when it's actually found. Described effectively it will make the more imaginative people in your groups [or maybe it's the more faint of heart] a little creeped out. More practical players will probably just rush through the mansion as quick as they can once they figure out that sneaking around is out of the option. This is really just a guidline, the real emotions come from the skill of the DM to add all that fluff that I need to improve.
#5 descrii Jul 17, 2009 0:57:04	I think D&D is a poor vehicle for true horror games because of the power and durability of the characters. Even against something too powerful for them to beat there's a sense of numbness that comes with the abstraction of hit points. It encourages heroism and discourages fear. What you've posted above is a decent little adventure arc, but as mentioned, not really horror. Assuming you want to make it more horrifying, how about having it eventually emerge that the PCs themselves are behind the horrifying slayings at the pit? For example, you could make the damage in the pit suggest werewolves rather than vampires. The guard questions the PCs as suspects, the PCs cry werewolf, the guard issues a proclamation rewarding citizens for turning in other citizens who turn out to be werewolves. Someone turns in a man who turns out to be a werewolf. When questioned, the man identifies the werewolf who infected him. This gets the PCs on a werewolf trail where they try to find the werewolf that started the infection in the city. Ultimately the last werewolf claims that one of the PCs infected him. If you remove the usual too-easy magical means of getting rid of the curse, this probably leads to a scene where the PC chains himself. You could exploit this for horror a number of ways. If he chains himself alone somewhere an innocent can wander in or be locked in with him. Play the innocent in a way that makes him or her appealing to the players so the chained one will become more and more frantic for her to leave. Or if the whole party settles down to watch the chained guy it could turn out that one or all of the other PCs is actually the werewolf and chained guy is helpless breakfast. If you don't like werewolves, you could use demonic possession instead. Anyway, the point is that the PCs can overcome pretty much anything but themselves and you need to somehow make them helpless if you want to horrify them. I did a great scene in Call of Cthulu once where the PCs were trying to destroy this terrible statue. First they tried taking hammers to it, but when that didn't work they took it to a quarry and convinced the quarrymen to lay dynamite on the statue. They all took cover as the fuse burned down... and nothing happened. They knew what would happen when someone approached the statue again, but there was nothing they could do. They delayed as long as they could and finally one of the quarrymen ignored them and approached the statue and of course the dynamite went off and killed him. The helplessness of the players was what made the scene work!
#6 gregt_314 Jul 17, 2009 1:15:13	I think D&D is a poor vehicle for true horror games because of the power and durability of the characters. Even against something too powerful for them to beat there's a sense of numbness that comes with the abstraction of hit points. It encourages heroism and discourages fear. Seconded. As someone who's best known as a DM for running horror games, D&D isn't up to snuff (so far as this genre, anyway). Yes, absolutely you can do a horror game in D&D, but the more successful it will be, the more you'll be achieving that by subverting or ignoring the core rules. And when you're actively fighting the rules to achieve an effect you have to wonder if you're using the right ruleset.
#7 drackthor Jul 17, 2009 2:30:17	We played a creepy adventure, though the campaign itself wasn't horror. It was mainly just a few creepy events in a small chain mixed with the fact that we had played to 4 AM, and thus, everything's emotional effect was maximized and then doubled. :P
#8 graxith Jul 17, 2009 3:24:56	That's an interesting, let's call it version, of what happens here. In this one wether the pc's actually play with the powders they find or not while they're fighting the main Vampire the powders get used [lost persay] and after they leave the powders come into play, unleashing a horde of demons. Thoose are dealt with later though becuase the tomb is sealed for a while by clerical magic [which is subverted later through the mansion] I like the input, and I also agree that there's really not a good foothold for horror in D&D, this I felt was one of the adventures that I ejoyed the most though, as when it is desribed right it can get tense [then again, players who play to max everything out would just rush through the mansion and get to the killing]. Both ideas could be used at the same time, the pitmaster was the only one drained, so, werewolf maybe?