I'm not sure if it would be better to put this in the Community Created Stuff thread or here in a separate post, but figured it might be good to have its own thread title.
To add some atmosphere and set the the stage for Misgivings, I wrote up some visions or reactions the players have when the mansion first comes into view, and gave one to each player when the party got to the right spot. It made for some interesting interaction when they figured out that everyone experienced something different and they described it to the others in their own words, so I thought I'd share:
1. Upon first seeing the house, you experience an overwhelming wave of revulsion and dread; you DO NOT want to go in that place or even approach it. It’s all you can do to suppress the urge to break and run in the opposite direction. This sensation fades away over the next few seconds but it was so strong that it leaves you shaken, unsettled, and on edge.
2. You see a structure that was obviously once a fabulous mansion, but is now old and decrepit. Roof lines sag and the whole house is a little crooked, but there is something more. Something beyond the simple disrepair. It just looks wrong, but you can’t quite put your finger on why. You take a close look at the individual details, and then once again at the house as a whole, and you still can’t place just what it is, but something – something is wrong.
3. You see a magnificent house on the top of a hill, overlooking the surrounding countryside. Even from this distance you can tell that every detail is crisp and the place is meticulously maintained. It obviously belongs to rich nobles who take a great deal of pride in it, maybe a little too much, even. Then suddenly this vision dissipates, and before your eyes the paint fades, the roof sags, and the house morphs into a decrepit, disrepaired, outright creepy version of the fabulous mansion you first glimpsed. You catch your breath as you realize that this shambling structure is the true form of the house.
4. You see a strange, blackish fog surrounding the old mansion, partially obscuring it from view. It strikes you as odd that any such vapors would cling to the top of the hill with the house instead of settling down into the lower lying areas. As you watch, it almost looks as if the dark mist is being slowly sucked into the house. But certainly that can’t be. You shake your head and look again, more closely this time, and catch the last wisps receding into the structure. Did that really happen? You get the vague impression that you can’t trust your eyes, and now see only an old, broken down mansion that must have been quite a lively spectacle in its day.
5. As you look at the battered mansion up on the hill, it strikes you that the two front windows together with the front door and broken approaching steps almost form a semblance of the eyes, nose and jagged teeth of some phantom face, and the vision makes you gasp and look away. When you turn your head to look again the image of a face doesn’t seem nearly as strong. You can still see it if you push your imagination a bit, but now you feel almost surprised that you even noticed it.
6. As you approach the old mansion, you notice a faint rotting smell seeming to come from that direction. As you get closer, it gets stronger until it’s overbearing, the stench of hundreds of rotting corpses. Then suddenly it starts to fade away. You can still just detect it. Or are you just imagining that you can? You aren’t sure.
I hope these prove fun for others.
Ben
