Ahoy hoy,
Halloween has always been hands down my favorite holiday, there isn't even a close second.
this year a rare combination of a friday Halloween and the foresight to take off thursday-sunday from work.
so first of all the reason i'm posting in these forums is i pretty much only have adventure path adventures, the plan is to run it as a one and done as we already have other campaigns going but none are in a very scary place, so on to the choices (tho feel free to suggest others) the wild card to the equation? i have enough funds to get one AP module before Halloween and i'm not picky about outlandishness:) the ones i currently have and am considering:
Haunting of Harrowstone- the 30th ghostbusters anniversary and all
Carrion Hill- one of two non AP adventures i have
The Skinsaw Murders- same as top choice
Empty Graves- not as stand alone-ish but f$$$ing awesome!
Wake of the Watcher
Beyond the Doomsday Door
Into the Nightmare Rift
The Worldwound Incursion- seems like it might be a scary adventure
The Varnhold Vanishing
thats all i can think of for now i have Kingmaker, Carrion Crown, Jade Regent, Skull & Shackles, RotRL, Shattered Star, Reign of Winter, and Wrath of the Righteous in their entirety and the first five books of both Council of Theives and Mummy's Mask:)
any suggestions welcomed:)
Carrion Hill I think is always a nice one to run....if you want an opinion.
Opinions Are always welcome:)
Not getting Carnival of Tears or Hangman's Noose is doing a disservice to your players. They are modules not AP issues, but it doesn't get more halloween than them.
these sound intriguing, are there many NPCs to convert to PFRPG?
also does anyone know how Iron Gods is turning out? would starting that maybe be appropriate for Halloween?
I have Iron Gods (the parts they've released) but haven't actually read through it yet, so can't tell you.
In Carnival of Tears there are about 25 NPCs overall, but a majority of them are the same type, so take one conversion. There are a few others listed as Monster Manual creatures, which you could probably look up in the Bestiary instead.
There are a little over 45 NPC's and enemies (combined).
I always run a heavily thematic game for Halloween. The question I have to ask you is this: are you trying to run:
A) a fair/normal Pathfinder game that has horror/creepy elements, or
B) a game session that resembles a horror movies, fairness be damned, that happens to run in the Pathfinder rules?
Personally, for Halloween, I'm all about option B. But I also realize that's not everyone's cup of tea. Make sure your players are on-board with it.
Anyway, for option B, I'd heartily recommend Hangman's Noose, or Tale of the Seabear. Those are first-class horror-movie-emulating adventures perfect for Halloween-oneshots. As a second-tier, a streamlined Skinsaw Murders focusing only on the manor, or Carrion Hill, deliberately rigged to fail, would be nice fits. (Yes, rigged to fail: if you run Carrion Hill, the Shoggoth must come, otherwise this isn't a Halloween oneshot.)
If you're more of an option A sort of group, then Haunting of Harrowstone can be nice, but you'll have to streamline it a ton if you want to get to the good parts before the evening is up. Also a non-rigged Carrion Hill, or a (heavily streamlined) Wake of the Watcher.
If you're more into internal-squick-horror, consider From Shore to Sea, playing up the degeneration side of things (and making sure the PCs start to suffer as well).
Another recommendation (for either category) is Midnight Mirror. Less overt horror, but if you keep the pacing right, it gets really dark and interesting in the 2nd half.
Your biggest issue with any of the above is going to be finishing any of them as a one-shot. AP issues are designed for 4 sessions with a well-oiled group, and modules for 2-3 sessions with a well-oiled group. And a Halloween oneshot is pretty far from that. You have to pick roughly 3 or 4 encounters to highlight, focus on them, and throw out the rest. It's hard: take it from a guy who does this every single year. Keep a clock behind your GM screen and focus hard on pacing.
(And calling out once again Seabear: ran that last year to candlelight: amazing!)
Thanks erik all good stuff, its a weekend or two game so wont need to streamline too much, as far as choice between A or B I prefer to strike a balance between the two, and since its not a regular campaign it wont hurt if no one makes it out alive:)
Also my daughter has been getting into her irish-swedish-german folktale roots so anything along those lines are welcome, it might be that getting book 1 of iron gods would fit does anyone know how horror-y it is
and thanks everyone, great stuff!
Also my daughter has been getting into her irish-swedish-german folktale roots so anything along those lines are welcome, it might be that getting book 1 of iron gods would fit does anyone know how horror-y it is
and thanks everyone, great stuff!
There are some dark bits and some scary bits as every Paizo AP tends to have. But nothing struck me as "horror" about it.
The second book (Lords of Rust) was a little spookier (more in the 2nd half), if you absolutely must go with Iron Gods.
If you want folktale roots, I had a lot of fun running Challenge of the Fang in Kobold Press's [/I]Tales of the Old Margreve[/I]. If you play up the PC's metagame expectations the right way, things can get real exciting. :-)
any other ideas and opinions?
Having read through the first AP volume of Iron Gods, I wouldn't really consider it horror, at least compared to any other AP.
Feast of Ravenmoor also would work well. it's a module and is for Pathfinder, so no updating. Also pretty creepy. We finished it in two sessions, so probably could be filed down to one session worth of play.
Oh good one! I was just looking at that one:)
also its my wife and kids and we have the whole weekend off with no plans besides our trick & treating so it doesnt matter if it takes a few:) Also i'm quite bored right now so keep 'em coming if you got 'em:)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
This thread is in the Pathfinder AP forum, so I know 3PP really doesn't belong, but because you're looking for more ideas to fill your horror needs, I felt it is worth mentioning some of the horror one-shots available for the Rite Publishing Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (PFRPG)
Frozen Wind is a FREE horror/survival one-shot module.
Up from Darkness is a very dark one-shot.
Haiku of Horror: Autumn Moon Bath House is a ghostly extended encounter (not quite a one-shot) inspired by The Grudge movie.
#30 Haunts for Kaidan contain nine stories with related haunts that could easily create one-shot/side quests or entire short campaign.
Read the reviews to get a good idea on what each product offers you.
I'm personally a huge fan of the Haunting of Harrowstone. That's the one I'd choose if I were going with PF. Otherwise I'd just play Call of Cthulhu.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I never have issues converting stuff on the fly to PF so not really sure how much those 3.5 modules require on that, but they are both such good adventures the effort is well worth it.
I will also recommend Good Little Children Never Grow Up. Third party but I ran it about a year ago and it was great. The second book of the Road to Revolution adventure path from 0one is a good "haunted house" adventure too.
I'm personally a huge fan of the Haunting of Harrowstone. That's the one I'd choose if I were going with PF. Otherwise I'd just play Call of Cthulhu.
i don't have CoC so strictly pathfinder or 3.5 ed.
right now i'm on the fence on whether to do:
going X-Files with either Iron Gods or Feast of Ravenmoor
Ghosts with Haunting of Harrowstone or Skinsaw Murders
going Cthulhu with Carrion Hill
or going 3.5 with the ones Coridan mentioned (the prices is right with the golem sale:)
or 3PP from those mentioned, especially that children one looks crazy creepy, thanks!
should have it figured out which one in a few days:)
man, i love Halloween!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Again, I would argue that unless you are going to severely modify the first Iron Gods adventure, it's not really a horror adventure. Certainly a GM could easily turn it into one, but then at that point you could just as easily run any book 1 of an AP for Halloween.
yeah i just got it yesterday, to me it definitely struck an X-Files vein, but i've literally had 10 minutes to look the book over,i totally get your point and it is well received, i will definitely keep it in mind:)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Since you mention you might have more time than just one-shots, you should also consider running either the first module or all 3 modules of the Curse of the Golden Spear trilogy for the Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (PFRPG): The Gift, Dim Spirit, Dark Path. And not to deprive Paizo from their cut, all Kaidan products are currently 20% off in the DTRPG Halloween sale.
If you do run the trilogy, consider some of the one-shot material in my previous post which seamlessly fits well into the storyline. Haiku of Horror: Autumn Moon Bath House fits well at the end of the first module, and Up from Darkness fits well between adventures 2 and 3, but is the opposition NPCs that are run through that dungeon, not the PCs playing in the trilogy.
Although without the add-ons, the first module of the Curse (The Gift) alone is very creepy, especially the Cursed Ryokan (country inn) and the Haunted Well encounters.
Again read the reviews, they reveal a lot, and can let you know of the very high quality with all Kaidan products. Note some of the reviewers consider Kaidan, the best Pathfinder setting out there.
Edit: also note, Paizo recognizes my Japanese and horror expertise, I created the original hand-drawn map of the City of Kasai for the Empty Throne module of the Jade Regent AP, and I wrote large sections of the City of Kasai gazetteer - and am credited as one of the contributing authors of that module (see Michael K. Tumey in the credits).
Also if you have a computer with online access and speakers in your gaming area, there's a great site for scary mood music I sometimes use for games. I will be using it myself for my own Halloween Game - it really adds to the atmosphere. Tabletop Audio features 57 music and/or ambience audio tracks, each 10 minutes long, with a built-in audio player on the site, created for a variety of RPG genres, especially horror. I think its worth checking out to add some audio creepiness to your weekend game.
The creator will take suggestions too. You'll notice the Samurai HQ track that was my request for something that might fit Kaidan or other oriental setting - he made it 2 weeks after I suggested it!
That. Is. Awesome!!
thank you!