|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I have been looking at all sorts of sources of information such as Heroes of Horror, Lords of Madness, Adventure Modules and Paths and I have been wondering how I can really add suspense to a party. I have within my group of friends:
A Comedian
A SCA Player
2 Long-time players of D&D
And my lil' brother (12 years old)
My problem is first, how to intrigue the two long-time D&D players (since 1st edition) to go with the story, how to keep the SCA player from saying that I've got it wrong (other than having a spine and saying that it is this way), having the comedian settle down and get into the story instead of making jokes about the other players. And how to make the lil' brother not want to kill everything he sees.
My mind was leaning toward either making a homemade campaign or going on an adventure path. If I were to do an adventure path, I was probably do the Carrion Crown. However, I really want to do something that is really a mystery and a sandbox type of game. I have been looking a mystery movies (Such as Batman Begins, The Prestige, ect...) and I just can't find anything that will intrigue me as a GM.
Does anybody have any ideas on how I can solve these problems? I am not GMing currently, being that I am a really young player myself and I want to know how to make a mystery horror that will not send the players straight to the answer.
My father (one of the long-time D&D Players) is a trivia junkie and as the GameMastery Guide so handsomely called it: A Deva, Power Gamer, and a Rules-Lawyer. So, he is going to be a problem, the only way I can see getting past these obstacles is either telling said players to leave the table, or, finding some sort of story immersing setting and mystery that will allow the players to get into the game and see what is going on within the said game.
I know that since I am really into the deserts and stuff I would be doing it in the Katapesh/Osirion area, the problem is, the two long-time players will continue to hound me on every turn I take, even if it is exotic (since I really don't know about Desert settings/campaigns I would be clueless) and new to the game.
I have 2 new races I am involving in the game as playable races:
1. Scorpionfolk/Girtablilu
2. Dreadnaught
The Scorpionfolk are these characters with their upper body being human and the lower part of their body being a scorpion body. I have made it to where they fit into the world as Gnoll raiding parties, but, they are allowed within the bounds of society for those who seperate from their Clan/Tribe.
The Dreadnaughts are black, dark machines from Nex that were made to fight Geb and most of them ended up going into the Mana Wastes as wasted metal and magic spent of a ridiculous war between two nations. Now, they have gained sentience (like the Warforged out of Eberron) and are now walking around by their own free will, however they are dumb.
Does anybody have any clever mysteries that would intrigue these players into a darker sort of campaign? And does anybody have anything that they could add if I were able to find a good mystery idea in Katapesh (as per races and gear and such)?
Thank you for your assistance :D
Some players area a lot easier to run horror for than others. There are some kinds of horror that just don't translate well to the tabletop; things jumping out at you or moving in the periphery of your vision are really scary in real life, but hard to convey in a truly menacing fashion verbally. The reason that some players are easier to run horror for than others is that, in my experience, a big part of horror is a feeling of helplessness or like there are no good options, but not all players are equally willing to submit to that kind of thing; some players are more interested in just plowing through everything, and not all players are willing to put up with what they see as you being unfair in the context of the game.
What that means is that job number one - more than finding any particular mystery to use or whatever - is ensuring that the potential players are actually interested in playing in a horror campaign. If they're not particularly interested in that, it's likely going to be pretty difficult to get them to play along with the style you're going for, especially if you're one of the younger members of the group. A sandboxy horror mystery is already a bit of a challenge for a new DM; players who are actually invested in the idea will help a ton.
|
|
Yes, that would help, I have a feeling that they would be for it, it's just getting them into that mindset of figuring it out. My SCA friend and lil' bro are always at each others throats and that doesn't boad too well for any campaign if the players just want to kill each other (Even though I haven't DMed except once, doesn't mean I don't know what I am talking about :) ).
If they won't go for the horror thing, that's fine (I PREFER it darker but that is okay if they don't want to go with it) all I want is to give them a good mystery, and I find that the good mysteries generally come with horror to play apart of it to make it very interesting.
One of the long-time players most of the time goes along with what I want to do (one of the reasons why I know what I am talking about is because of him) and will support me. It's just that the other players are more hesitant to do what I want to do with mysteries and such.
One of the reasons why I would want to do the Carrion Crown is because it has a horror element to it, you can add a certain horror factor to that adventure path and still have it be fun. That is what I am looking for when I run it.
|
Step 1- Channel Richard Pett and Nicolas Logue.
Step 2 - There is no step two, the Abyss is now staring back at you.
Seriously, check out any of their works among the Paizo offerings and you will find some great material and ideas of how to include horror successfully.
Reading some HP Lovecraft is also useful, if your players like that particular flavor of horror. Alfred Hitchcock films and movies like Halloween also suggest some storytelling techniques to torment your players with, like sounds, building suspense, etc.
If your players refuse to get in the mood, turn out the lights and play by candlelight. This will also encourage more storytelling/roleplaying and less mechanics and dicerolling.
I agree with the change to monsters/custom monsters it will take players off their game. Also I love mind control. Stuff like charm, confusion and dominate really puts players on edge because all of their strengths become yours and you have players biting their nails wondering if they are gonna cause their party to wipe.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
First rule of Horror:
The world should be powerful and weird, the characters should not. A fantastic race like scorpionfolk or dreadnaughts immediately undermine your goal. Encourage the PCs to stick to the core races, the more human (or better yet small sized) the better.
Second rule of Horror:
Set the tone. Play in a dark candle lit room, in a darkened, quiet house if possible. Speak softly, so the players must pay attention. Forbid cellphones or Internet connections. The players can't be distracted. Every time the comedian makes a joke ask him to make a save, no matter what he rolls just say: ... Interesting.
Third rule of Horror:
The unknown is powerful. Reskin monsters, change their behaviour, use unusual templates. Play with expectation. What if all goblins are naughty children that have been kidnapped and transformed?
|
|
I'm reminded of the most terrifying encounter I ever had the pleasure of throwing at my players.
We were playing in a big empty house (all the furniture had been moved out but we had a few weeks of rent left so I took advantage). We turned off all the lights and there was a powerful wind blowing outside quite ominously.
The party were first level characters exploring a dungeon on a small island in the middle of a lake. They were all playing teens from the town. The first room had a relatively simple puzzle. The next room had some smugglers. The PCs managed to use tables for cover and deal enough damage that the smugglers fell back deeper into the dungeon. The party decided to take some time to search the room for useful items before moving on. As they were searching I interrupted my players by letting loose an ear-splitting scream.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My Players were shocked.
Me (GM): "The sound came from the direction the smugglers fled."
Player: "Uh... we light some torches and follow?"
Me: *slow evil smile* "If you're sure..."
Players: *huddle* "Yeah... weapons drawn."
Me: "You follow the hall for 20 feet, and find a corpse, dessicated and drained of fluid."
Before the PCs have a chance to examine the body properly I let out a second scream.
Me: "It comes from the hall to the east."
Players: "We head East."
Me: "As you follow the hall east, you start finding yourself pushing through cobwebs. At the flickering edge of the torchlight you notice red eyes reflecting, first two, then four, then six, then 8.
Roll Initiative."
I turned an encounter with a medium spider and two tiny spiders into one of the most scary and ominous encounters I've ever run, through clever description and keeping things as unknown as possible.
It sounds like this is your first serious attempt at the GM hat.
I would suggest the first time you run an AP and only change things as needed. Son't add new races place it in the desert, change the monsters, etc... Because it is at least fairly decent, balanced, and well thought out by people that are experienced gamers and GM's.
The next time then you can try your own creation, setting, races, etc...
Carrion Crown is pretty good as is.
Also, the other thing you can do to make things new for a long time player is very simple.
Just change the fluff. An example I actually used a long time ago.
Goran are a rather tall bipedal race, but still medium sized. Tend to be a bit stronger than humans. Body is covered a thin coat by bristly gray hair. Their toothy jaw opens side-to-side not up and down like most humanoids.
After that I used the exact stats for a Gnoll and ran them like a Gnoll. Whenever they did a succesful knowledge check, I'd give them the correct information that was exactly the same as in the Gnoll entry.
But since they didn't know what it was, they were much more cautious. The were also always worried about getting bit by the sideways jaws. For some reason they also decided they might be poisonous even though they had no information to that effect.
If I had told them the tribe was Gnolls they would have said, "They're just Gnolls, try an intimidate. If that doesn't work we'll just kill them all."
What Dudemeister described, was the Building of Tension. It takes some practice, but if you can put the players on the edges of their seats, you can spring some fun things on them.
Consider also Foreshadowing; a person, an encounter, a wall tapestry, etc. that tells part of the story, foreshadowing something that's to come.
-An allip (for example) that babbles on and on about the madness that filled a house in the days and nights before the mass murder,
-or a mysterious bartender in a ballroom full of ghosts that makes an offer of total evil to the players, before revealing the entire dance hall is a Danse Macabre...
-or an innkeeper that tells them "You don't want to go down there by the lake, not since last Summer, and what happened to those kids."
It's giving your players a narrative that builds expectations and immerses them in the story.
|
|
I have run a few games with some of my "younger" friends (14 - 15 year olds) and I was able to wing an entire game session on my not too well developed world and have it run just fine. I am very creative when it comes to doing that stuff.
One thing I am also doing this for (if I get the gig) is for my descriptive skills. I have always had a problem of communicating to other people my thoughts and ideas. So, this I believe will help when when it comes up. I consider myself a Build-Master as my friends in my group call it which is where (since I am out of school) I look at the books and find the best combos there is.
So, I do know how do run one, it's just getting it out there and coming up with a really good mystery with some horror factor to it. Yes, reading the Heroes of Horror, I've read that if you explain too much it'll lead the PCs right to the source (suspect) or the investigation and the whole plan is ended. So, with that, I think my lack of Descriptive Skills might come in handy in this case.
The thing I don't know how to do it build the tension (since I am very shy and kind of a goof, I tend to laugh when I give scary descriptions) and since I want to run it seriously, I will probably hold my cool and continue with the description.
As well, I am also a pretty good judge on game mechanics, so I have a keen ability to determine what characters damage is and find the "sweet spot" to where they will be able to defeat it within 3 - 7 rounds (for a boss, not a minion which only last anywhere from 1 - 3).
My biggest problem however is finding a good mystery. I have already though of my homemade story being a Slave Con, I just need to find a way to stack the mysteries together and have it be more complicated.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
While you might not be looking to do an adventure in a dark fantasy Japan setting, Rite Publishing's Curse of the Golden Spear trilogy of adventures focus on ghost stories, insane serial killers, exotic monster encounters, and heavy flavor in dark story concepts. Many compare Kaidan to a cross between Ravenloft and Oriental Adventures. The adventures are designed for 4 players of 5th level (going up to 8th level by the end of the third adventure) - and the PCs are standard characters from a typical European style nation visiting the exotic far east.
All 3 adventures in this intro adventure arc covers different aspects of horror. The first adventure, The Gift, is more gothic horror in flavor with 2 very demented haunted locations, among many combat and roleplaying opportunities. The second and third adventure, Dim Spirit and Dark Path, are more survival horror scenarios - getting chased constantly, losing your guide, having a ghost attached to the party and much more. There are hints built into all the adventures at keeping the PCs in the terror mood.
Look at the adventures and read the reviews - these adventures are critically acclaimed.
Check out all available Kaidan products, here. Also look at #30 Haunts for Kaidan, which is in a different category, but still a part of Kaidan.
Also, before spending a dime on Kaidan material, consider we have FREE one-shot adventure (runs about 3.5 hours) called Frozen Wind - to give you an idea what to expect from Kaidan product line.
Plus we are currently running a Kickstarter project for the Kaidan Campaign Setting guides.
|
|
It looks like a good source to get ideas from, however, yes, I am not really into that whole Japanese Theme and such. It doesn't get my goat so to say, and I know that if I am not into it, my players aren't going to be into it.
So, yes, I beautiful source for getting nice horrifying ideas and such, not so much for me if I were a little bit more interested into it as per the whole Manga stuff and Inyuyasha and stuff, than I would probably do it. But, again, I'm just not into the Japanese Culture.
BTW Like the Ice Elemental. :D
I'm just into Japanese horror, I can't stand Manga :P
The author of #30 Haunts for Kaidan is T. H. Gulliver, who has also written other haunt books that aren't particular to any specific culture, but are also great sources for scary content, including #30 Haunts for Objects and #30 Haunts for Ships and Shore.
One thing I'll say, though, #30 Haunts for Kaidan can be easily tweaked to fit a non-Asian setting/adventure. Better yet, this guide shows you how to best use haunts in your game - as plot hooks and as a means for your clerics to do more than just be healbots. This guide book is divided into 9 creepy storylines with associated haunts, and bonus undead creatures and concepts. It is worth a look, even if you don't care for Asian horror.
Lore finder by Pelgrane Press may have some good tips as well. It adds some mechanics specifically for investigation style of play for Pathfinder and includes a short adventure and it isn't a particularly expensive book.
I also suggest a lot of perception checks. Nothing adds tension into a table top game like random rolls to notice things even if there isn't anything there to notice.
|
|
Some tips for evoking horror:
The Gamemastery Guide has rules for sanity. Definitely investigate that, as well as the rules for afflictions.
Indulge your sense of the weird and inexplicable. Dungeons and tombs should be haunted, and not necessarily by things which are comprehensible. Doors slam for no reason. Rooms are inexplicably cold or hot. The architecture makes no sense - stairs lead nowhere and multiple rooms seem to occupy the same space. Small objects go missing for no reason, then turn up in odd places. Time passes, but the PCs have no idea what happened during the "missing hours". One of the PCs hears music in the next room, but the others can't. The PCs pass through an empty room, and when they return later it is filled with tribal fetishes. Nonsense verse is scrawled on the walls in blood. Statues and paintings change positions when no one is looking. EXPLAIN NOTHING!!!
Realize that you can only go so far. The only certain way to put the entire table on edge is to start killing off PCs - and not in head-to head combat. We're talking "Original Tomb of Horrors" levels of lethality here. Unless you're playing a one-off where the players all get killed one by one, this could easily cause your party to mutiny. So know where your limit lies.
Mr_Nevada,
Running a mystery/horror game takes a lot of work and prep, start by reading this. Its an excellent essay on horror and applying it to RPGs.
There is a lot of great advice given by the posters here, one element I'd add to any good mystery is a red herring. This is a great way to sew seeds of doubt and dread into the players, nothing unnerves them more than what they think is a slam-dunk and they get nothing but air. Its also the perfect way to exploit your metagamers. As an example:
Your horror/mystery can be placed in any locale as long as the dungeon dressing and creatures suit your campaign theme. Best of luck.
BTW, what is a "SCA player"?
|
|
An SCA Player is a guy that does a bunch of renacting of old midievel battles and weapons. And what basically happens is I will say something like. "Yes, you see a spiked mace." and he'll ask why is it spiked, that sort of stuff and unless you give him a legitamate reason why it is spiked, he will go on about the history of the mace. Here is a link to what SCA is.
BTW Thanks for the link, I'll bookmark it.
I hope that the game went well! I hadn't noticed this thread when it was originally posted, but have a few pieces of advice (better late than never...)
To deal with historical know-it-alls of various stripes, you don't need to know everything, just enough to avoid the most egregious gaffes. Read a few books about life in the period, such as A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman.
Give him a bit more agency in describing how things look or are laid out ("A medieval caravansarai would have a large central courtyard." "OK: You see a courtyard..."), but explain that some details may be important to the plot, so his input isn't always going to be used. Hopefully you can make him more of a collaborator instead of an interruption.
To add horror (while keeping things PG), mystery is your strongest ally. In addition to using the advice given previously, withhold as much information as you reasonably can. Change and reskin monsters and items to keep the players guessing. The monster they encounter isn't a bugbear, it's "a hulking form" glimpsed for mere moments before it vanishes behind a turn in the corridor, suddenly encountered again "stalking toward you in absolute silence". Mysterious events and inexplicable manifestations will keep the players on edge.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Suitable backgrond music makes a huge difference.
Another one that's fun is to pass players notes that don't have much or even anything to do with the story.
Eg. DM - everyone make a perception check, let me know if you got more than "X"
Player 1's note - Crumple and discard this sheet. Don't make any comments.
Player 2's note - Something seems odd about player 3's backpack. Like you could have sworn something inside moved on it's own.
Player 3 didn't make the "perception" check.
Player 4's note - You could have sworn you heard a female voice mumbling from down the hall.
Another technique that's can be fun, especially for one shots, is to make one of the PC's a villain. (i.e. a doppelganger, or the murderer etc.) Even better if most of the party are villains and they don't know about each other. The paranoia they create thinking their secret is about to be discovered when they all have the same secret is pretty amusing.
Also in the same vein as "make a perception check... interesting" have people make random fort saves and regardless of their results ask them to "Put a mark on your sheet." even better if only the low roller gets asked to.
I did a horror game with a somewhat problematic group of people as well, that went kind of well. Things I did (some intentional, some not), and things I intended to do:
1) Play in the dark. It's kind of a pain in the ass to play by flashlight or candlelight (better), but it sets the mood better than anything else you could do, in my opinion.
2) Talk to people before the game, and insist that you want people in character as much as possible; very little out of character chatter, in order to maintain the mood.
3) Make sure everyone has backgrounds for their characters that they are fairly attached to--it's hard to get invested emotionally, if you haven't invested in the character.
4) It helps if you have a cat or dog that likes to annoy people by walking around under the table, or jumping up on them, especially if they can do it silently. My friend's cat came in the room and no one noticed during a couple of sessions, and was good for at least one person jumping up out of their seats with actual fright. It especially helps if you are watching out for this (maybe sit closest to the door, or facing the door into the room) so you can add some descriptions that lend themselves to feeling creepy things moving around your feet.
5) Take characters out of their comfort zones. I had people seeing gruesome hallucinations and worse while exploring a mostly abandoned city--they slowly discovered that the city had fallen into decay rather rapidly as leadership went inexplicably insane and began crucifying citizenry and transforming them into undead (Necropolitans from either Libris Mortis or Tome of Horrors), which spiraled out to more and more people dying.
6) Descriptions are key. Make sure to provide a lot of vivid detail for deathly quiet scenes and gruesome ones. I'd often talk lower when there wasn't much going on, and occasionally titter or speak low and quickly, or suddenly drum my hands on the table as something out in the darkness beyond the characters' vision ran by, or they would hear snippets of conversation or muttering about things the creatures will do the players, or just crazy rambling.
7) Use monsters they haven't seen before (templates for skeletons and zombies were kind of cool, as were living spells at the time), and use some things that appeal to their gamer nature--things that are VERY dangerous, and they know it, like wraiths and allips (big stat damage to typically weak stats on a creature that is hard to harm makes for some tense situations...and if they get their Wis drained enough, tell them that they're insane, or partially so), or a particularly nasty caster, or a tentacled horror of some kind.
Ultimately, my game didn't end up running very long. One friend was suitably agitated (scared enough to be uncomfortable) and doesn't really like frequent exposure to that feeling, another can't RP worth a damn if he isn't being very heroic and basically refused to accept some of the stuff going on (like inexplicably feeling fear as a paladin), while a couple of players were really enjoying the game, but were too unreliable to build the game around just them. In the end, I was upset that it ended abruptly, but pleased with the effect I'd had on my friends, especially when we heard a shriek from downstairs in the middle of one session from a friend who had been startled by a bathrobe hanging on the back of the bathroom door when he went to go take a leak.
When I was a kid I was immersed enough to care whether my character lived or died; that IMO is half the battle. But just having a dark world, playing in my buddy's basement...that wasn't enough after a while. "Great...the universe is out to get me AGAIN...another 'unknowable' monster, got it..." I became jaded to the process.
Then another buddy of mine ran us through a session I'll never forget. We had our characters on the edge of a river and we were attacked by "the blue guys." They were xvarts from 1e and not all that powerful, but it was the WAY they attacked that added suspense. Maybe not horror, but suspense.
They never came at us. We entered their lair through a narrow crevice after "something" tried to pull my character under water in a serene pool nearby. Once inside there were checks for movement out of the corner of our eye, a bunch of rocks from the ceiling, a horde of bats spooked in our direction. When we FINALLY got our hands on the things it was kind of anti-climactic: they had about 3HP each and popped like a blood-filled baloon.
But all their little traps and the GM's hints and vague descriptions...it was really unnerving.
I'm thinking back to the last time I really felt HORRIFIED. It was a Supernatural episode where one of the brothers realizes that all his efforts to STOP an apocalyptic event were precisely what brought it to be. Of course in a commercialized medium like TV a jaded guy like me didn't stay horrified for TOO long, but there was a moment where I put myself in his shoes and thought: EVERYTHING I did to stop this, everything I fought to protect, was doomed by my own actions.
I guess that's it when I think of a really good horror game. Its suspenseful, keeping me riveted on a roller-coaster of fear and release, until at the big reveal the HORROR aspect comes in for me: that moment when you realize that nothing you do could've stopped the terrible thing from coming to pass.
That's fear to me. The thought that I have no control and that no matter how hard I try, bad things will happen to good people. Having to sit impotently on the sidelines, screaming silently while someone dies, or 2 people I love are separated by nothing more than a misunderstanding, or even that an innocence is stolen.
Think about that. Think about all the terrible things you watch in tv and movies all the time, and then think of putting yourself in those situations. Something as funny and as simple as Happy Madison could be horror: no matter what you do, how hard you strive, you're forced to watch as your grandmother loses everything she and you're whole family has ever strived for, including her dignity, and you have nothing to do but bear witness.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
This thread inspired me to write something up.
1: Ignorance is Bliss (Or Terror)
This is the most important rule. Horror is ignorance. Keep your players in the dark (literally as much as possible) about everything. Who they are fighting, how things got so bad, why things are happening the way they are. Dungeons should be dark, with plenty of places for creatures to hide.
2: Take it Seriously
Some games are very casual, and that's fine. However, if you are running a horror game, you must keep things serious. You should not joke during the game, and you should not encourage your players to joke.
3: Use Descriptions, Not Mechanics
Avoid calling things as they are. Instead of saying "A Giant Spider steps into the cave." Explain it's a "a gigantic, many legged monstrosity" or "some hulking creature, its many black eyes gleaming..." If the PCs deal it damage, tell them that they have lopped off some piece, but it keeps coming. When it dies, perhaps it will squirm around a bit. Don't tell them that it's dead - say "the creature drops to the ground, squirting vile red juices across the ground. It's black eyes start to met across its face..." Don't take them out of initiative unless they ask to be taken out.
4: Slow Burn, Not Cheap Thrills
Don't try and scare your players by having things jump out at them. It won't work. Instead, give them long descriptions and slowly build tension. Horror takes a while to fully develop, so don't expect to give it to them all in one dose.
5: Use New Enemies or Mechanics
Meta-gamers or long time plays won't be scared by a zombie or skeleton. They have seen each of these hundreds of times, and know how to deal with them. Instead come up with a new enemy, or some brand new mechanic, and thrust it on your players. If you like, simply refluff old enemies, giving them a new look and feel. This will put even veteran players out of their comfort zones. These aren't zombies, they are writhing, human shaped piles of internal organs (with the same mechanics as zombies).
6: A Dash of Confusion
Things happen for no reason. Strange, but small, occurrences are just unexplained. Players are used to solving puzzles - give them puzzles they can't solve. Confusion is scary, but it can also be frustrating. Go easy on it. Players can only immerse themselves so much, and if the game becomes too confusing they will get annoyed and may take it out on you.
7: The World is Scary
When world building, make it inherently scary and try to avoid common tropes. Perhaps there is always the threat of strange invasions from the unknown, perhaps the dead linger, perhaps children transform into monsters in the dead of night. Give the players little to no control over some events, and make sure that they are weak in the face of many threats.
8: Fleeing is Better than Fighting
The objective should not be to take out the enemy, or to retrieve the lost artifact, or to save the king. The objective is to survive. If players are fighting for something besides their own skin, they may feel emboldened. Place them in some fights against obviously unbeatable foes, and kill their allies in front of them. Make the encounter about escaping from something, rather than overcoming it.
|
Not sure if you'll need more advice. judging by what you are saying your adding.
Start the game with a Sandstorm with heavy winds.(51-74 MPH) All ranged attacks are impossible, except with siege weapons that suffer a -4, add some environmental damage from the sand 1d3 nonlethal per round, if they fall unconscious they can suffer a choking hazard and can die. (CR4 Storm based Experience)
Survival and perception checks to find safety with the high winds and sand causing a -10 to perception. I recommend a low DC (around 5-7) for a total DC of 15-17 for seeing a Temple or Entry way into what your looking for. The storm can last several hours so they would have that long to survive said temple.
For a starting level Horror game I recommend Undead of the tangible kind. Zombies and Skeletons with a few haunts for good measure. If you want to make the Zombies more Dangerous add Self-Destruct & Energy Drain to the Zombies it's only a DC 11 to resist a level drain on a fort Save when a Zombie get's a successful Slam attack and when they die they explode with a negative energy 10ft Burst doing 1d4 per HD of the zombie (normally 2HD)
it will surprise and hurt your players and heal any other normal undead near the area as well.
Both abilities together give a +1 to the Zombie CR (a little something I converted to Pathfinder from Ravenloft) Also the DC of the energy drain would go up by +1 per 2HD
In the treasure room you'll need an item that comes close to what your dad would want and you add a curse to it. If he's a martial type. A weapon that has a curse that every day needs a will save or lose a point of wisdom.
if a caster, generally a ring of moderate power, with a curse that requires a daily fort save or lose a point of constitution.
remember the DC to identify an item is 10 + Caster level of the item, to tell it's cursed is 20 + Caster Level of the item, so high is good that way the group hopefully has a goal to work towards getting the item removed. If they knowingly sell the cursed item and they're good aligned that's a shift in alignments (since most merchants wont buy cursed items knowingly for resale)
you can also switch the curse out for something less deadly if you want say, a polymorph effect to a weak creature (halflings & Gnomes are the most amusing), should they fail the save they change into another creature. but generally speaking once they have an item that ends up deadly to them that they can't remove without casting themselves or hiring someone to cast remove curse they will put themselves on a time table pretty darn fast.
Little late buddy. Nice profile pic though
Why thank you