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PLAYERS, AVERT THINE EYES OR RISK THE GAZE OF THE UNDYING LORDS OF THE OUTER DARK UPON YE!!!
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Here are a few cool ideas that I plan to implement in my game of Strange Aeons. I will probably add more as I think of them.
1.I didn't see anything like this in the PG or the actual AP book, so here's a suggestion: have your PCs list up to three 'pillars' of their former life. These were people, places, or events that they had a strong attachment to. They remember these things, although they are hazy and sometimes lacking in context.
Someone with a spouse as a pillar might for example have flashbacks of them sometimes and remember the way that person looked, the way they smiled, the sound of their voice, and the way that they felt about them, but not remember what their name is, how they met, ect.
This could help give rise to some excellent impromptu character building as they unearth more about the people they used to be.
2. Maybe give your characters the choice to begin with an insanity that they will have to deal with most the campaign and, in exchange, they get a feat for it.
Very little beats playing such a character... unless you happen to be on the DM side of the screen and you get to play as the monsters.
3. This is going to sound crazy but hear me out: this AP is perfect for antiheroes!
I know some of you are tearing at your clothes and wailing in terror at that one, but consider: The PCs are in a situation where banding together is not a matter of convenience, it is a matter of survival.
After the initial need for survival, they all will be following the same path to find the answers to who they were and how they lost all their memories. Evil characters would realize that banding together would be the best way to find their answers.
Then comes what happens after they find out everything? They all stay banded together as they pursue their former benefactor, whether it be for revenge or to stop the coming doom. Even evil people should fear an apocalypse brought on by a Great Old One.
Now obviously this means that an evil PC should likely be lawful evil or neutral evil and should not be a devotee of something like a Great Old One, Rovagug, Groetus, one of the Four Horsemen, or other entities seeking an apocalypse. That's a given in most campaigns or, at least, I would hope so!
4. Dreamlands corruption!
That's right, maybe part of the Dreamlands wormed its way into the tabula rasas that are the PCs and is in them to stay. My thoughts on the matter are this.
Maybe if a PC needs to make a save or else risk dying/TPKing the group, you could whisper to them that if they push a little harder, dig a little deeper inside, they can succeed.
Well if choose to do so, they tap into that Dreamlands corruption. They succeed automatically but they begin to change and adopt one of the stage one corruptions listed in Horror Adventures. Further pushing of their limits would result in deeper corruption.
Refluff certain corruptions as thematically appropriate. Maybe the werewolf corruption does not turn them into a werewolf insomuch as it starts mutating them into a squamous predatory beast with thin, fleshy tendrils in place of fur and a face that is primarily a gaping, toothy maw.
Few things could be more terrifying than slowly losing oneself and turning into a monster. It would also make for poignant tales of self-sacrifice.
And yeah, it could be a secret 'get out of jail' card, although one with a heck of a caveat. This could be especially worth it in PBP where no PC wants to lose a character they spent years playing.