PFS scenario with "Ravenloft" feel?

[Matt Filla]

Hi all,

I run occasional one-shot adventures for friends of mine who don't have the time for/interest in playing in a campaign. Since they are not regular players, I do a lot of prep work to create characters, and provide all the relevant information for their PCs (e.g., feat and spell descriptions) to make it as easy as possible for them and to minimize lookups from the one set of rulebooks (mine) which we will have available. This means I don't want to spend additional time actually creating an adventure, and so I am looking for some suggestions which meet the following criteria:

a) can be run within a single six-hour session (I am willing to cut down a longer option if needed, but any PFS scenario should be meet this one),
b) has a "Ravenloft" feel (a request from one of the players - I try to vary the types of adventures I run for these one-offs and we haven't done one like that before)
c) is suitable for a group that includes a 15-year old and a 12-year old (this is less critical - I can always change things that are too "adult" and the kids can actually handle a pretty broad range of stuff).

Any thoughts? Pathfinder Society scenarios are always a good source but I am not sure if there is one that fits the type of session I am looking to run.

[Arnim Thayer]

I would suggest Darkest Vengeance, Haunting at Hinojai, or Day of the Demon. All of these offer a chance to really amp up the creepy factor. All of these have "adult themes" but those could be played down depending on how much you want to make them PG-13. I've ran Day of the Demon with a table of 12-15 year olds and they are more likely to go along with the general plot without too much suspicion ruining the meta-game.

[Matt Filla]

Michael VonHasseln wrote:

I would suggest Darkest Vengeance, Haunting at Hinojai, or Day of the Demon. All of these offer a chance to really amp up the creepy factor. All of these have "adult themes" but those could be played down depending on how much you want to make them PG-13. I've ran Day of the Demon with a table of 12-15 year olds and they are more likely to go along with the general plot without too much suspicion ruining the meta-game.

I'll take a look at those - thanks!

[EvilMinion]

You might want to look at the second chapter of Rise of the Runelords.
The Foxglove Manor portion.

Traitor's Lodge also can be ultra creepy if the GM really works it up... as a lot of the stuff happens when you're trying to get back out... so you can build up... then crash it down as they flee.

[Ron Lundeen]

Feast of Ravenmoor would be my top suggestion.

[TimD]

Ustalav is the closest approximation on Golarion to the themes common in Ravenloft.

I'd second Darkest Vengeance as it can also be melded with it's sequel Darkest Abduction for home game wrangling / editing, though have to agree that when run in a certain way, Feast of Ravenmoor is the creepiest - it just may be a bit too long for what you are looking for.

[roll4initiative]

The Silverhex Chronicles would be perfect. Six short (45 mins each) encounters in Ustalav. Perfect for short attention spans like most kids have.

[MisterSlanky]

I would not suggest Darkest Vengeance. Besides being a pretty terrible scenario I don't find it tremendously "Ravenloft". It's also tremendously deadly, lending more to frustration than to fun. Darkest Abduction is arguably worse (if you can believe that).

Suggestions for Feast of Ravenmoor is good, Silverhex is a great option for kids, and I'd add an Ustalav run through an Undead skinned Tome of Rigteous Repose (though be careful, because that can get fairly deadly too).

[Ascalaphus]

Haunting of Hinojai is quite dangerous, but it is probably the most (Asian) Ravenloft scenario out there.

[Woran]

Midnight mirror is a module, so you'd have to cut out some pieces, but would work I think.

[Cpt_kirstov]

#4–02: In Wrath’s Shadow can be creepy horror feel, but some of the rooms are hard PG-13 because of graphic-ness.

[Matt Filla]

Thanks! These are all great suggestions.

[Fromper]

Others beat me to it, but I was also going to suggest Feast of Ravenmoor and the second part of the Rise of the Runelords adventure path (just the Foxglove Manor portion). They could be a little long for a 6 hour session, but they're worth it.

[Hmm]

No one suggested Phantom Phenomena? It's a free level one quest series. The entire thing takes place in Ustalav and has a connected storyline. It's also very forgiving for first level players and very campy and fun.

I think it's a much better fit than Silverhex, whose storyline is a bit more disjointed.

Hmm

[John Lance]

Cultist's Kiss is (without getting into spoilers) very "Ravenloft" in terms of atmosphere, adversaries, plot, etc... It is higher level (7-11) and very challenging, but one of my favorites in the PFS library.

[roll4initiative]

Whoops! I totally meant Phantom Phenomenon in my earlier post. Very Ravenlofty feel like HMM said.

[bdk86]

Traitor's Lodge is another great horror one, but lacks any heavy undead/spirit/haunt themes for most of it.

[MisterSlanky]

Black Waters is easily one of my favorite creep-factor scenarios. Well run with all the window dressings and it can be a pretty fantastic "Ravenloftesque" scenario.

[Matt Filla]

More great suggestions. Thanks!

[Thursty]

bdk86 wrote:

Traitor's Lodge is another great horror one, but lacks any heavy undead/spirit/haunt themes for most of it.

To be thought of as in the league of Ravenloft... oh, bless you.

[pH unbalanced]

bdk86 wrote:

Traitor's Lodge is another great horror one, but lacks any heavy undead/spirit/haunt themes for most of it.

I'd put Cairn of Shadows here as well. Very Diablo-esque imagery, no real supernatural horror. Takes place in Nidal, which needs more love.

Midnight Mauler is another Ustalav adventure which you might want to look at, especially if you want an adventure where there are traditional horror trappings in the setting, but they aren't too heavy in the adventure. (And since you aren't playing PFS, there's a lot of seeds in this one that can be expanded.)

And then there's You Only Die Twice, where you get to go to Geb, the land where undead rule the living.

[roysier]

Part 1 of the Carrion Crown AP which is PFS legal fits very well into a Ravenloft theme. Part 2 and 3 do also but not as great as part 1.

[Gary Bush]

I have no suggestions but it appears to me that the OP is likely running a non PFS-legal adventure.

With that in mind, what suggests would these awesome GMs have that would make the adventure closer to Ravenloft with some minor changes?

[Matt Filla]

PFS legality doesn't matter to me. :) I think these suggestions have been fantastic - I can always modify what I need to, but I needed some possible starting points and you guys have given me a whole bunch of them, which I highly appreciate.

[TimD]

Thursty wrote:

bdk86 wrote:

Traitor's Lodge is another great horror one, but lacks any heavy undead/spirit/haunt themes for most of it.

To be thought of as in the league of Ravenloft... oh, bless you.

Hey, just think - you could end up at a con on a panel WITH Tracy H. talking about writing horror RPG scenarios. How cool would that be? :)

(or, if it's already happened, tell us how cool it was!)

[RealAlchemy]

Thursty wrote:

bdk86 wrote:

Traitor's Lodge is another great horror one, but lacks any heavy undead/spirit/haunt themes for most of it.

To be thought of as in the league of Ravenloft... oh, bless you.

This seems as good a place as any to bring up that Traitor's Lodge is on my short list of favorite scenarios ever to GM.

[Sir_Wulf]

The 3.5 adventure "Hangman's Noose" can me made to fit in the time you have (you'll want to abbreviate a couple of scenes) and is very atmospheric. It's a "trapped in a haunted house"-style adventure.