Does any one have any good ideas for a Halloween adventure? Or know of any good pre-made ones? I need something short, that will only take one session, since I want to run it on Halloween night.
I'd appreciate any input. Thanks!
Ok, it took some digging but I knew I remembered one:
Issue 67 "Wicthes Brew" by Steve Johnson...cover of issue has peasant attacked by scarecrow with pumpkin head.
Other one you might like:
Issue 38 "Horror's Harvest" by Christopher Perkins...ravenloft type take on invasion of the body snatchers..
Not sure what level of play you need one for, but if you have Libris Mortis, "Nuchar's Tomb" is a 4th-level adventure that takes place in a secret basement beneath what could be viewed as a haunted mansion. It's a short adventure.
There others in it as well, each one for progressively higher level parties.
"Deep Freeze" from issue #83 is kind of freaky in a In the Mouth of Madness (the movie) kind of way. Part takes place in an insane asylum. The rest takes place beneath a frozen glacier where a strange alien city with a very Lovecraftian feel is being thawed out so a horrible looking race of aberration can be freed to once again rule the world type of thing.
Definately check out the last issue of Dragon with its article on hauntings. Each one of those types of hauntings just screams an adventure.
I love Dungeon #67! Witch's Brew is easy to run and straight forward. Simple but fun. Isn't that the same issue that has the "whistling skeleton" in it? The adventures are a little campy but memorable.
Last year I ran a short one night "Halloween Special" for a pair of first level characters. They had but the clothes on their back and what they could find in the cabin they encountered during travels.
As might be imagined, it was dark, the cabin is near a place called Crystal Lake, and its pretty spooky. I occasionaly painted a picture from the eyes of a forbidding watcher, Jason style. Yes, Jason showed up and the chase was on.
The characters were attacked as Jason lept from the lake into their boat, and they finally gained consciousness when the local deputies say they found them on the shore, soaking wet. It was an adventure I'll always enjoy talking about.
Cool, I need more horror adventures, did one and my players loved it. Try grave yard style with crypts that open without the wind and gnomish vampire spawn that animate crawling claws!
Sorry. Just checked and "Whistling Skeleton" was way back in issue #20. Oops! Got confused there, but they're both good adventures.
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Try a classic murder mystery type game. Like this...
The PCs are invited to a noble villa or estate, one that is "out in the boonies" (i.e. far away from any other location of safety), for a dinner party. As part of the invitation (or simply as good manners) they would be expected to show up in formal attire (i.e. no armor), and either to leave their weapons at home or have them locked up (kinda like a coat room) when they get there. After all, this is a dinner party, not a dungeon raid.
As the party starts the weather outside turns nasty (I would suggest snow if possible). This way, the party is trapped when the murder occurs. As the PCs look for the killer, maybe more people start dying. If the PCs weapons were locked up in a room, it can be discovered that the weapons have all been stolen. For an added bit of Halloween flavor you could even have the murderer be a ghost (possessing others) or maybe a vampire or such.
Just a thought.
Try a classic murder mystery type game. Like this...
I've done this one. The players now absolutely refuse to go to formal parties. "Somebody always ends up dead!"
Does any one have any good ideas for a Halloween adventure? Or know of any good pre-made ones? I need something short, that will only take one session, since I want to run it on Halloween night.
I'd appreciate any input. Thanks!
"Palace of the Twisted King," (Dragon 116). It's short, but you could draw it out easily enough. Characters have their Wisdom drained if they sit around and wait, but if they dive into the fight, they have to fight in tiny little tunnels with little ugly aberrations that are trying to turn them into one of their own... it was creepy.
Totentanz, Dungeon #90.
http://paizo.com/dungeon/products/issues/2002/90
Very Dia de los Muertos feeling. Though I have not ran the adventure, the subject was intriguing enough to stick in my head.
I finished the "haunted house" sytle adventure I ran with my group last week and posted it on the Campaign Seed: The Cellar Door thread on the Age of Worms board.
It was a lot of fun. I often run encounters with a holiday theme (a snowman golem here, cranberry ooze there), but this was my first one for Halloween.
You could have the group end up in a Nightmare on Elm Street style adventure. The session starts as they wake up in a filthy dungeon room (or outside in a creepy forest), with no weapons, no spells, nothing. Have the group run around maze-like corridors (or in the night forest) while being chased by a blob or grotesque creature (or even a black knight). As the adventure progresses, they could find clues on how to escape the nightmare or defeat the enemy that's chasing them. The adventure ends as the characters wake up where they left off the session before (in an inn or capmsite). There' the players find a grave nearby (or in the inn cellar). The grave could belong to a killer (or black knight) that terrorized the innocent years ago, who's spirit is still doing the same. Blessing the grave puts the spirit to rest... until next year.
The ideas are virtually limitless (as everything happens in a dream), so you can use this idea again next holloween if you like. "The spirit wants revenge and this time, he's not releasing the PCs so easily."
The spirit could even be one of a small child (think Silent Hill) who's been gruesomely murdered.
Ultradan
i run an adventure every halloween that involves a coven of witches led by a night hag, who rides on the back of a nightmare and haunts peoples dreams. it starts with the mist (ala ravenloft) and the party has to destroy the night hag in order to escape back to thier own realm. there is a scarecrow in a wheatfield with the flaming pumpkin head, ogres masquerading as farmers, a ghost cleric who helps people but is imprisoned within the confines of the ruined church, a village of dream tortured people, and a foul swamp with spriggans and boggarts cavorting in the haunted woods surrounding it (these are evil fey creatures in my world). i am thinking of submitting it, as i have run it for about 10 years now and every party that goes through this adventure says it is the best one i have ever run. sure, a lot of it is based on other stuff, but people don't realize it.
also, just playing in the old castle ravenloft is great if you want a spooky castle, vampires, and undead.