Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 lancer_bloodlust Nov 09, 2008 16:49:50	This would be a one shot break from a main campaign and I'd expect the PC's to be level 1. The adversary would be something like Jason Voorhees. My questions are: How tough should the opponent be? Since this is a one-shot, should more than one character, if any, survive? How should I rate character performance? What are good ways to split up the party? What are good devices that you have found scare players?
#2 falstyr Nov 10, 2008 6:05:48	-How Tough is Jason Voorhees That really depends on how many encounters you estimate the PC's will have gone through before they encounter him. That way you can figure out how much xp the PC's will have gathered and what lvl they will be by then. Since it is a horror adventure it is important to throw everything at the players you've got. Push them against the ropes and make them fear for their lives. Don't go out of your way to kill them at the first encounter, but don't worry about killing them during the adventure. Horror's work best when there actually is a big chance of death around every corner. It doesn't really have to be there, but you should create an atmosphere that makes the players think that there is. Make the environment and everything be in the advantage to the enemies and disadvantage to the players. Keep them against the ropes, but as with all DnD games make sure that there is a slim chance for the PC's to get out otherwise players will get frustrated. So if the PC's die...so what. So that means you have to make the encounter with Voorhees +4 levels...a really tough final encounter. You can make him a tough Elite Leader with lower leveled "minions" that aid him. As long as the entire encounter is +4 the levels of the party. As for any other encounters building up to that final encounter... Those should be pretty tough too. Normally you'd have all battles even out with a few easy ones, few medium and several tough ones. Since you need to keep the players on their toes make sure that there will be lesser easy/medium battles and more tough ones. Or string a few medium encounters together into 1 really tough encounter. -Good devices to scare players Make use of ambiance. Use music in the background that sets a certain atmosphere, be very descriptive about the eerie sounds and smells and moving shadows. Play with their minds asking for perception checks so they "see" things that aren't really there upon further investigation. Then when the players think that those red lights and movement is just another play on their mind make a wraith or something jump out at them and then back into the shades. The same for sounds which are either created by illusion spells from the enemies or just the wind howling, scuffling of tiny rat feet. Once more all used to get the players unnerved and edgy. Let them find atmospheric locations with occult signs, blood writings, sacrifices, mutilated corpses that spring to life, webbings...there is so much you can use. -Splitting up groups... You could use athletic checks when going over cracked/unstable surfaces. If they fail the players fall through the surface ending up in another area. Or trap floors with enemies operating them from a distance so the trap opens only when the last few players walk over it. Like that Voorhees who is standing behind a window on a higher plateau. Which can be how he is introduced as the main villain who is behind the PC's torment. The use of large group of enemies with some using spells to make the PC's paralyze so they can be dragged away because Voorhees wants to play a sick "game" with the group splitted in more parts. As a House Rule for that 1 session/adventure... Make players get double XP. These type of adventures need to be run at higher levels to be able to throw more creepy and strong stuff at players then the regular stuff. Just a few quick first glance ideas.
#3 lancer_bloodlust Nov 10, 2008 16:38:58	thanks, there is a lot there that I can think about. This is 3.5 and I will probably use this to give the main DM a break. Thus the PC's should be expendable. I've talked to the DM and we both think that rewards to the main PC's can be made based on how well each player performs in the 1-shot. I have heroes of horror and a lot of those ambient effects I think I can use the haunting manifestation rules for. You've given me some great examples though. Would it be more boring if the only opponent was Voorhees? It would almost seem like it should be frustrating but I would like more of that frustration to bad choices made rather than me just being mean. And also where is the line between genuine frustration or fear? And do you think more skill checks would detract or add to the fear factor? Thanks again, I haven't much experience with D&D, let alone horror.
#4 falstyr Nov 11, 2008 3:51:52	Checks used properly can add to the game. But if you use it too often it might slow the game down. It is the same with any other kind of DnD adventure really. With Horror you need to keep the pace up, but checks used in moments such as balancing on a surface with a lava pit underneath you or a tank with acid is quite scary and is good use to keep the suspense going. So basically how many checks is good really comes down to your own judgement and experience with the group. The beauty with 4e in this case is the passive checks which you can use. PC's will be able to see shades moving if you set the DC low enough to meet that passive check. In 3.5 you could make it so that your players roll a bunch of checks which you note down. Then you will just move down that list of numbers each time a check is required. BUT if the PC's decide to investigate it further to see if the moving shade is a monster, illusion or just a play of lights...that would require an extra check. So the list you make is only used for the initial checks to notice something is there...not to know WHAT it is that is there. All you have to do is make a list of 6-8 situations that can occur. Different kind of illusions of sounds, smells, feeling sensations as well as 2-3 real attack variants. Then simply role a d8 every few minutes to see what the PC's will have to deal with. That would keep the game moving as well. The way you can use it is with illusionairy sounds at the back of the party which only the last PC hears it and not the others. That PC can get paranoid over time since he/she is the only one hearing it while the others don't. The other PC's won't take it seriously when the other PC hears a sound again...and that is the time you throw something real at them since they're now off guard. Same for the moving shadows or gleaming red eyes which you make different PC's notice each time. With Horror its all about playing with the player's minds and not the actual threats. In that light it should be possible to make Jason Voorhees the only real opponent. But then I'd make it into more of a investigative horror. One where the players chase Voorhees through a small town where he kills people in ritualistic awful ways. Then you get more of a Ctulhu setting too. Even then I'd throw in a few other opponents for the players to battle. Just running around and performing checks and being captive by illusions gets tedious after a while. So a change of pace is needed here and there. Create quiet moments...seemingly quiet restful moments for they will be attacked then when they don't expect it. I also remember a few pre-written adventures on the Wizards webside about an Asylum. Now that would give options for a creepy place. An old abondend Asylum which was burned down to the ground due to an indoor riot. Now haunted by insane butcher ghosts and other crazy folk. Yes that gives me a few nice ideas to play with...In your case. What if Jason was one of the mentally unstable murderers that survived it somehow. Now mamed and disfigured having made that asylum his base of operations. Would be quite an interesting final to the adventure after the PC's chased him around town a bit. Then in the asylum they have more eerie sounds and hauntings to deal with as well. Some cells locked shut due to the heat, but if the PC's look through the windows of the cells they will see scary stuff like one of the people burning in their cells as it happened, or a creepy face showing itself all of the sudden looking the PC straight into his/her eyes. During the investigation/chase of the killing you can have the PC's interact with various NPC's, find semi burned notes etc. http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1084320 http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1071769
#5 lancer_bloodlust Nov 11, 2008 10:00:32	Those links were great. A lot of those illusionary effects I think I can manage through the haunting rules but how would I tell the player? Should everyone know out of character or should I pass notes so that just the character's player knows? I definitely think I'll make use of your initial checks. The oblivious characters will always be oblivious lol. The way this took place in my mind was that the PC's would arrive at this old manor which is of course haunted. Some women's sons reportedly went to the manor and never returned; the PC's are to rescue them. The plot I was thinking of was that the wife of the Baron was brutally murdered by a jealous lover and the guy went totally berserk, killing everyone on the property. Such was his hatred that he continues killing everyone that comes onto the property to "protect" his lover to whom he has built a shrine to in the mausoleum with the corpses of his victims. After the PC's arrive to explore the manner he should shut the gate (which I'll make sure to describe has extremely heavy and that the PC's don't think they could lift it). The rest of the adventure should have the PC's running through the grounds trying to find a way out (which is through a passage in the mausoleum). I was thinking Voorhees could just be an undead fighter with some super strength, damage reduction, and fast healing who maintains the haunting manifestations. So since this guy has a reason for his actions, how much of the adventure should involve finding why he's become insane vs. the chase and need to escape? I was thinking one of the sons crawled into a crawlspace in the mausoleum so that Voorhees could not follow, giving some sort of a happy ending provided he does not get killed before escaping.
#6 falstyr Nov 11, 2008 10:33:16	Passing notes or not depends on how well your players are capable of blocking out information their characters don't know. So you can go for the safe route and pass notes if that seems more easier to manage for you. The way you describe your idea is not really clear to me. So let me state it and see if that makes sense to you... ---------------- The Voorhees Mansion carries an old secret. Once there lived a prominent and well respected family. Jason, Marilyn and their little boy Kyle. One day Jason caught his wife in an act of adultery and overcome by disappointment, jealousy and rage he cut down his wife and her lover. But they were just the first of many to follow for all servants on the vicinity endured the same fate including his own son Kyle. When Jason calmed down he fell at the side of his wife overcome by shame and regret. He started to build the Mausoleum as a tribute to his wife and son. After that he locked himself up in his mansion never to be heard or seen from again... But every year people disappear when they enter the grounds around the mansion. Young boys thinking it is just a myth or a spooky place from old fantasy stories. These boys talk each other into entering the Voorhees grounds to spend a night there as a test of courage, but never do any return. Some people think they see a little boy on the premise and enter the ground thinking it is one of the lost boys who needs to be saved until they realize they themselves need to be saved. ------------------ Now that is what the locals know and what the players can find out. DM knowledge would be something like... Jason Voorhees doesn't want anyone to find out what has transpired in the past and "haunts" the location. Killing everyone who dares set foot on his property. But Jason has become a vampire as well and still resides inside the mansion feeding of those who enter to test their bravery. His vampiric nature can attribute to fast regeneration and undead strenght as you request..a strength needed to move that oh so heavy gate.. He can turn into gaseous form and linger around in mists here and there to keep an eye on his "guests". His emotions have eaten at him for a long long time which makes him rather unstable and still living in the past so the speak. The corpses of his victums...how about turning some of those into vampire spawn. Or just dump all corpses in the cellar for Voorhees does not want to defile the shrine to his wife. The boy people sometimes see is Kyle haunting around. His death came so sudden that he hasn't fully realized yet that he's dead. So he can eventually aid the PC's in some way by giving hints or something because he wants the hurting to stop, but make Kyle appear scary at first even though that is not his intention. That he is trying to communicate by making objects move, or sounds or whatever to grab the attention of the PC's. Some nice happy ending at the end when Voorhees finds his final peace causing the mother to appear and carries Kyle away. Doing investigations isn't the main part I think. But the PC's can find dictionaries or some other clues that explain what has occurred. I mean what will be the possible hooks that get the players involved? Townfolk asking outsiders to go into the mansion to find their lost children/people? Just finding the corpses in the cellar and getting the hell out would suffice then while killing Voorhees to make sure it all stops. These are just quick ideas which need some polishing up.
#7 lancer_bloodlust Nov 11, 2008 15:36:35	Your hook is exactly the one I was planning to use. The boy I mentioned was the son of a villager who ran up to the mansion with some friends. I figured maybe one of the group could have holed up somewhere for the PC's to rescue. While the PC's are entering on a rescue mission, adventurers, looters, and people trying to either tear down or convert the mansion have all been victims. I am sorry if I did not make my self clear, but Voorhees did not kill his wife, a jealous rival/lover/suitor did. Voorhees rational for killing is to protect the wife whom he still loves. Hence the shrine. I was thinking maybe after having Voorhees chase the PC's around a long time, when they discover this they could possibly relate and thus while their adversary is unnatural, he has a human past. I don't know if I need to even type Voorhees. I think that by introducing him as a regular fighter with a few unnatural abilities like super strength and dr, I will embody the actual Jason better and it may catch the PC's by surprise ("You see what looks like a warrior with a falchion before you, his armor rusted and clothes tattered" PC: "oh this won't be too hard, let's just attack him.") I kind of want to reinforce the human element of him, and contrast it with his unnatural tenacity. And plus, if they ever manage to take him down, seeing their reaction when the "regular" fighter gets up for more would be pretty funny. I hope that clarifies a few things but your hook and what the townspeople know are on the mark.
#8 falstyr Nov 13, 2008 16:10:24	Sounds fair enough. Anything else that you want help with? :D
#9 lancer_bloodlust Nov 13, 2008 21:45:05	If you can point out any obvious flaws that would help immensely. I liked the way you were suggesting things before, if you went so far as to suggest terrain elements or encounters it would be a huge help. Since it is a mansion and its grounds, I should have some room for creativity but at the same time I want to pick off party members one at a time by splitting them up, not slaughtering them all in one go. I think the split up will be the most challenging part of this whole adventure. Thanks for all your help so far.
#10 falstyr Nov 14, 2008 3:40:47	Well let's begin by building the mansion and the grounds around it. Once you have sort of a map of the rooms, secret passages, what is in the rooms, what is outside the mansion... once you have all that you can plant traps and triggers. Doors that open into brick walls. But these doors trigger an illusion. A big hand, a big dragon's mouth or any other illusion pops out and "devours" the one that opened the door. At least that is how it looks to the others that are left behind. In fact the PC that opened the door is simply transported to another location inside the mansion. Voorhees knows how these illusions work so can use them to escape from the PC's as well. How about applying something similar to a big mirror. A big tall black mirror and when you get within 3 squares black tentacles come out dragging you in. But it only is capable of grabbing 1 living thing every 24hours or so which makes sure no other PC's will encounter the same thing and splits the group up. You can create a mirror world or once again transport that captured player to another location in the mansion. My favorite in houses is the use of animated objects. Nothing catches the players off guard when a table cloth, a wall rug, some candles suddenly start to hit them. Even funnier when they enter a room next and start thrashing the room like idiots while nothing in there is animated rofl :D Trap floors with spikes coming out, statues on mantles that shoot acid or a cloud of poison. If two statues stand on a mantle piece above a fireplace let them shoot fire at the players. The PC can stop it by destroying the statues, which regenerate and thus come to the conclusion they need to stop the fire inside the fireplace for it fuels the statues. Something similar for an outside small fountain. But if the PC's freeze that water to stop it from flowing the statues will use ice based attacks instead of water. So the only way to stop those is to make a hole in the stone base so the water leaks out or make the water vaporize somehow.
#11 lancer_bloodlust Nov 14, 2008 15:25:33	Wow, I hadn't even thought of the animated objects. That is completely within the haunting rules. That is funny what you said about the characters, this would be another opportunity to help instill paranoia. The mirror is definitely an interesting concept, even if it is not dangerous. I could use it in a variety of ways just to freak people out. As to the other two suggestions, even though this is D&D, where should I line between a semblance of reality and fantasy? The thing I'm realizing about horror just through my initial thinking is how much of a balance it is, between frustration and fear, between reality and fantasy, between creativity and cliche. Using one of the hostile puzzle objects would be a great idea, and I could connect it somehow to the plot. I don't know about the doors. Having bricked up doors could be scary as hell. Especially if I can get Voorhees to trap one of them in a corridor with a single door on their side. Imagine the reaction if they opened it only to find a brick wall. And why would Voorhees ever try to escape? He'll be able to take on any two PC's at least in a straight up fight. You're really helping me to flesh out this idea, thanks. I like the mirror idea and animated objects a lot. They will definitely see use.