A 1666 Horror Crawl

I developed the Bridge of Death scenario because I wanted to roll dice one weekend but did not want to pull out my miniatures or run one of my RPG campaigns. Essentially, I wanted a light RPG-like experience without all the fuss. 

Given my latest craze for the 17th century, I decided to place the game in my 1666 setting

What Rules?

What rules should I use for my RPG-like game?

I looked into Silver Bayonet, but it is a straight up miniatures game. Nevertheless, it gave me the idea of a horror-based campaign.

I also thought of using my homebrew, D12 RPG rules, but those don't seem well suited for horror. In those rules, the PCs are a bit too heroic.

Age of Heroes, a free set on Lead Adventure Forum, seemed like a possibility but I wasn't sure how to make them horrifying.

Ultimately, I began to think of brewing up my own rules.

What's a Good Horror Game?

I don't really have a lot of experience with horror games, so I began to ponder what I needed in a homebrew set. I then started thinking about games that provided a feeling of horror.

That's when I thought of . . .

Yeah, I know. Weird to think of B-17 as a horror game. But I think it has some elements that make a good horror game. For example,

• A feeling of helplessness - there is very little that the player can do to prevent or mitigate German attacks. Basically, you just have to sit there and take it.
• Death is ever present - Crewmen die regularly, and most planes will end up as twisted heaps at some point. Every time you play, there is this sense of impending doom.
• Increasing tension - despite their bleak prospects, you get attached to your plane and crew. Combined with the previous two points, this makes missions very tense affairs. The tension increases as you get closer to the target and the opposition stiffens. It gets worse when you drop your bombs and try to nurse your damaged plane back home.
• Catharsis - if your plane and crew do manage to survive, you get this strong sense of relief.

The Horror Crawl Takes Shape

With the above points in mind, I began shaping the rules.

• Like B-17, the characters will proceed through zones as they approach their objective.
• To increase the tension, however, I won't know how many zones to get to the objective. Instead, after each zone I'll roll to see if it's the last.
• The party will include a couple of major characters, whom I will give upgrades a la Age of Heroes. I expect to get attached to them and their careers. Of course, Hans Neimand will be the primary character,
• The party will include some minions, who will be very fragile. I expect many to die.
• Like B-17, enemies will tend to pop out, seemingly from nowhere, attack, and then melt back into the darkness.

To adjudicate events, I am using the base MicroBattle system, applying advantages or more likely disadvantages as warranted. I am still tweaking things.

Irony

As I mentioned, I wanted a game without miniatures, but I ended up using miniatures (meeples actually) to track positions and casualties. 

It actually worked fairly well so I ordered some miniatures to use as markers.

A Haunted Halloween Adventure

Last Saturday, I hosted an online roleplaying adventure for my wife and two brothers. Naturally, it had a Halloween theme. Here are some of the high points.

Background
The setting was New York in 1877 and the characters were monster hunters. I borrowed the premise from the old RPG Chill.

As neophyte members of SAVE, the investigator Sheerluck Holmes, the explorer Fearing Pangborn, and Dr. Sleep (my wife's character) had to investigate several disappearances in and around the town of Kilmore. The disappearances seemed to center around Caede Manor, a house with a bloody past and a reputation for being haunted.

The Manor House

The Adventure

Arriving in Kilmore, the investigators first visit the mayor, Emil Plumpf. His 12 year-old daughter is the latest to go missing. Plumpf informs them that his daughter was last seen heading to the manor at midnight accompanied by a tall, cloaked figure. There were also other disappearances, primarily from local farms. The mayor does assign a deputy, George, to assist them.

The investigators head to the manor. Once they pass through the gates to the property, the gates shut behind them, the sky grows dark, and they hear a howling. The front door is open, but they decide to circle around the house and enter through a back door.

Guests for Dinner

The first room they enter is the kitchen. A short, rotund man wielding bloody butcher knives beckons them to enter. When they do, they see a carved up human body. 

Cue sanity check. The Doctor is momentarily struck motionless by the horror.

As they try to take in the grisly scene, the chef attacks. Poor George is wounded before the Doctor slices open the crazed chef's throat. Sheerluck is a tab miffed that they could not capture and interrogate their assailant. However, he fashions a stake from the leg of a chair. 

Getting Medieval

They continue to investigate the house. In the drawing room, they find an extensive collection of medieval weapons, once owned by Hector Caede, the original resident of the manor. According to local legend, he acquired a longsword owned by Vlad Tepes. He then went crazy and slaughtered his family before escaping into the night. Fearing finds the fabled sword hanging over the mantlepiece.

As they examine the weapon, a suit of armor animates and attacks. Fearing uses the sword, but he begins to hear voices to kill the party. He drops the sword and pulls out his revolver.

Fearing passes his sanity check and can act as he pleases.

By this time, the Doctor has broken her scalpel and the haunted knight hacked off George's head. Fearing then unloads his ammo into the knight's face. Three 6s - Critical hit! The helmet flies off and the armor crashes to the ground.

In the aftermath, the investigators bind their wounds and arm themselves with some of the weapons in the room. Dr. Sleep chooses a spear, Fearing a dagger, and Sheerluck picks up Vlad's sword.

"Don't," warns Fearing. "I think it is cursed." Sheerluck hears voices that urge him to hold onto the sword. He listens to the voices instead of Fearing.

A Bad Night's Sleep

Next, they head to the second floor. They find some bedrooms with bloodstains. They come to the master bedroom and see a cloaked figure leaning over the bed. He turns, displayed two bloody fangs. They prepare to attack, but the figure turns into a mist and escapes out a window. They check the bed and find a farm girl lying on it. She is dead, drained of blood.

Suddenly a swarm of bats attacks the investigators. Fearing flees the room, but Sheerluck takes a moment to lop of the farm girl's head. He and the Doctor then exit as well, escaping from the swarm.

Attic Antics

They find a staircase to the attic. Hearing muffled sobs, they rush up to investigate. Entering a storeroom, they are suddenly attacked by a man with rotting skin. Fearing blasts its head off, but he feels a breeze as a blade passes close by his head. He turns to see Sheerluck preparing to attack him again. 

Failed sanity check. I was actually going to give Sheerluck more time before he turned, but my brother decided to roleplay.

Fearing grapples the investigator and rips the sword from his hands.

Sheerluck is confused and mutters something about not knowing what he was doing. 

Another sanity check. This time he passes.

As he tries to recover his wits, another undead creature grabs him from behind. Fearing attacks with his dagger, wounding the creature. The Doctor finishes it off with her spear.

A Date with Death

Searching the room, they find a secret panel. It leads into a small room with a coffin. Fearing opens the coffin. A clawed hand lashes out and grabs him by the throat.

A vampire rises from the coffin.

"Who dares disturb my rest?!" he challenges as he continues to squeeze Fearing's throat. Fearing slashes at him with his dagger. Sheerluck attacks with his stake while Dr. Sleep uses her spear. Both manage to inflict severe wounds. But the vampire continues to choke Fearing until he breathes his last. Then the vampire chucks the corpse to the floor and leaps at the remaining investigators. The Doctor impales it and then Sheerluck stabs it in the heart. The vampire dissolves into ashes.

Rescue

Searching some more, the remaining investigators find the mayor's daughter and return her home. The mysterious disappearances cease, and life in Kilmore returns to normal.

But there has been a cost.

RIP Fearing Pangborn

(And don't forget George!)

Game Notes

I created the adventure myself, but I got some help. The picture and floor plan for the manor from This Old Haunted House, on Drivethrerpg.

For the rules, we used Tiny Cthulhu, part of the Tiny D6 series of RPGs.