4e Horror

[Surrealistik]

Probably ill-advised, but I'm going to try my hand at this.

Here's the sketch I've got together thus far:

Essentially the PCs are going to be trapped in this decrepit, cursed mansion tainted by the Abyss due to cultist shenanigans. Inside, time and space within are distorted and malleable and its interior is suffuse with hellish elements; think the Tardis meets a Victorian mansion that's gone full Event Horizon. Various traps, undead and demonically infused elements populate the mansion, and most are recurring. Long rests are impossible in the majority of areas, and those few 'safe' areas that exist will not be secure for long. In addition, a malevolent abyssal force that 'inhabits' the house makes escape impossible, and attacks the Will of each PC every 4 hours unless they're somehow warded; hits will result in a disease like progression that's irreversible with few exceptions. When it reaches its final stage, an affected PC will end up possessed by the presence, becoming a murderous lunatic that's out to kill the others at all costs (I'll let the player control their actions as much as possible to keep them in the game). In otherwords, the PCs are on a clock to dispel, or at least weaken this presence enough that they can escape.

In the interim, they're being constantly pursued by one such demonically possessed psychopath; the last man standing when everyone lost their minds at the conclusion of the ritual responsible for the mansion's taint. This is the plot hook; the missing person that the party was sent to retrieve from the cultists inhabiting the estate, though he's unrecognizable as such because of the mutative effects of his possession. He will appear largely at random, with certain rooms having static modifiers that make him more or less likely to be present (he's more likely to be in areas with high Abyssal taint). Bloodied party members and loud noises have a chance to get his attention (also adjusted by static modifiers), whereupon he'll arrive in 1d4 rounds after the triggering event, emerging from some random place that the party cannot see (inside a closet or crate, around a corner, etc).

The psychopath will remain until a certain amount of damage is dealt to him, escaping with Stalking Mists, or he can't sense (i.e. that he doesn't know the position of; merely being out of sight is inadequate) any party member for a full round. His stat block as it stands (was considering giving him a second phase with a possessing demon leaping out of his corpse and attacking the party, or his corpse being animated by the house like a marionette, both happening after a short delay):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TukN1vFyGxGVlBDkbvouMcaYlLJsgeJs7QuCwjJztIY/edit#



Given the above wall of text, any recommendations or ideas for things to heighten the tension/atmosphere or for cool story elements/rooms/areas/encounters?

[Kimera757]

That is one well-designed monster! I especially like the interactive condition removal.

I don't like the giant Stealth bonus when it uses Stalking Mists. It already has total concealment from the mists; even if a PC sees him, the PC just sees a vague shape and takes -5 to hit. Not even the Invisibility spell (or its improved version) gives bonuses to Stealth.

The executioner's axe dealing double damage is confusing. As you wrote it for yourself, I doubt this impacts you.

[unwise]

I like the concept here and I think it sounds fun. I DM a lot of horror games and have made a lot of mistakes. I'll share some ideas about things that have worked and not worked for me in similar scenarios.

1) Horrors don't run, PCs run. I firmly believe that you should not play the psychopath as a fair fight. If PCs can do significant damage to him, then it takes away the feeling of helplessness that horror needs to thrive. Do not have him run away when he gets bloodied or something. It leaves the PCs feeling like they are the hunters, when they should be the hunted. The fight, if not done on special terms, needs to be unwinnable. It is actually more fun and fair to make this blatantly obvious with super overpowered abilities than using a little bit of fudge factor.
- The villain has abilities that tie into the room he is in and he uses the room to his advantage. It must become clear to the PCs that they have to flee the room to stand a chance. E.G. The organ in the music room starts playing a horrible tune that flays their sanity if they can hear it. The cutlery in the kitchen all animates and starts trying to stab them. It is the PCs that leave the encounter, not him.
- Rather than fleeing when he takes X damage. He further mutates, regenerating rapidly and gaining new and fearsome abilities. This allows the PCs time to flee.
- If the players misread the intention of this and think they should fight, someone is going to die. I would suggest having the madman drag away a defeated enemy, or consume them, taking time to allow others to get away.

2) It can be very hard to get 4e players to flee. They assume that encounters are balanced and see super tough guys as "oh, he is just a solo guy" rather than being an unassailable story element. If this is a one-shot, don't be afraid to kill somebody to make the point.

3) It is really creepy, and ties in really well to plot elements to have a madman looking for something. Have him searching around for "that intolerable noise" which might be a little music box that only he can hear. Or have him asking dolls or corpses, "where did you put it!? WHERE?!" as he pulls off a dolls limbs. This adds in tension, as the PCs need to abandon that area and come back later, or try to sneak past him. It also clues them into the fact that there is an important item somewhere, his ranting can give further clues about it.

4) Tying in to 3, there should be some special way of weakening him. It is clear that he gets powers from the room he is in, it might even become clear that he avoids certain rooms. The PCs need to work out why and how do they lure him into those ones. Finding out his name is a good start, then maybe some pictures of his wife and kids, in the house chapel, anything to help him fight the possession. In Nightmare of Elmstreet the kids never fight Freddy fair. He can only be defeated if you have taken all necessary precautions. This keeps the horror mystique and keeps him terrifying, while at the same time giving them a chance.

5) Maybe the butler was good man who followed the good gods, in the back of his quarters there is a little shrine to Pelor and notes saying that he fears for his masters sanity. It might even give the details of how he plans to unpossess his master. In another room, they find the very grisly remains of what happened when the master found out about his plans. Maybe there is a helpful holy symbol jammed somewhere very uncomfortable on the butlers corpse.

6) This one creeped the hell out of my players and it talked about to this day, 12 years later, it is tricky to pull off though. It runs like this:
- You are in a haunted house style scenario, especially one with infernal overtones (check!)
- The PCs come up with some great way of escaping the house, rather than just shoot it down with “it’s magic!” you let them succeed and get out, into the rolling mists that surround the house.
- They go to catch the ferry/taxi/coach away. For some reason, the driver goes mad and attacks them, trying to crash the vehicle.
- Things go on as normal for a bit, when they notice that people in town seem very subdued and muttering to themselves etc. This is the hardest bit to DM.
- Then stuff gets weird, as people that would never do so start attacking them in weird ways. In my game, a little girl bit onto one of their forearms, almost severing it. Then her mother starts just making tea, talking about how “little Margery always had a healthy appetite”. This quickly escalates, as the whole town, people they have known for a long time, are all just mad and psychotic. Hellish reflections of themselves.
- The moment my PCs realised “uh, guys, I don’t think we ever left that mansion…” combined with “um, maybe we did, but who’s saying that the mansion was still on earth at the time…” was just priceless and is remembered for a long time.
-The PCs then head back into the mansion, knowing that it is their only real link to get out of this hell. They must solves its riddles, undo the great evil done and revert it to being in the prime material plane again, rather than this hellish one.

<edit>
7) The other thing I find good to include is a lot of forboding regarding the enemies. The PCs go into one room, they back track and find the room is not as they left it, something creepy has happened. They were gone for no more than a minute and were never more than 10 paces away. This sort of harrassment can ramp up the horror. Also, having bad guys make a fair bit of noise, especially if looking for someone or something is cool. The other thing is including 'innocents' ghosts that are not fully evil, or insane but passive inmates. They can relay information and give warnings. The little kid who asks creepy questions, or mentions that the baddie is hunting you is pretty effective. The second they start trusting the innocent, the kid says something crazy, pulls out a knife and tries to stab them when their back it turned.

I forgot to mention that I really like the monster design, it is great. I just don't think that horror needs properly designed monsters
There is another type of monster in horror, the Weeping Angel sort. The sort the jump out of places the second you stop paying attention to them. They need not be super powerful, as they provide harrassment, stop people wanting to go off alone and generally terrorise people. If that is the sort of guy you are looking for the psychopath that is cool too. I tend to run one big bad guy that they have to flee and one Weeping Angel they need to keep an eye out for.
<end edit>

[Surrealistik]

Lots of great feedback, thanks guys.

@ Kimera757:

The double damage simply applies during the Psychopath's turns, and when he's not making the attack with an action point; this prevents his damage output from getting _too_ crazy.

As for the massive Stealth bonus from Stalking Mists, he's got that so that he's guaranteed to be hidden even from passive perception optimized low level builds (has to be in excess of 24; 10 + 5 wis mod + 5 training + 2 racial + 2 background).


@ Unwise:

#1,2: Some excellent ideas. In order to get the PCs running so he can be a recurring menace, I'll make him basically immortal until the PCs manage to find a way to weaken his connection with the malevolent force animating/possessing him. Until then, whenever he's killed (assuming the PCs even manage that), he'll just regenerate after 1d4 rounds and keep coming at them. Added this trait:


By Demons Be Driven
Until the psychopath’s connection to the malevolent force is weakened, whenever he’s slain, he revives 1d4 rounds later, regaining hit points equal to his bloodied value.


That aside, it's important to note that his attack is likely to one shot (drop from max hit points to 0 or less hp) most level 1-2 characters, particularly if he attacks them while hidden, so I definitely feel the intimidation component is there at least.

I really like the idea of him dragging off slain characters for further butchery, ignoring the PCs, to avoid TPKs in the event that they get the wrong idea and keep trying to assail him.


As for the room effects, awesome idea; I did intend for rooms with particularly high Abyssal taint levels to hinder or assault the PCs in some way, but perhaps his presence could further enhance those existing effects and add new ones.


3) I like it; I just have to determine how I want to handle this. I could also have ghosts/phantasms of the cultists and other damned victims of the house drop clues in this way.


4,5) Yeah, I intended on having some consecrated or otherwise 'warded' areas/rooms that are precious few (and eroding) islands of refuge amidst the Abyssal corruption, perhaps surrounded by spectres and phantasms that try to lure those occupying them back into the force's sphere of influence. I'd seen their origin as being attributable to a cultist with the foresight to anticipate something might go very wrong with the 'ground zero' ritual, but I also like the idea of repentant or good aligned inhabitants being responsible.


6) Haha, awesome. Not sure if I'd go with literal transportation to some kind of alternate hellish dimension, but the concept of illusory freedom ala the movie 1408 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1408_%28film%29) with subtle (and suitably demonic) flaws that become incrementally more blatant is a good one.


7) I like the idea of 'dynamic' rooms that continually shift and change, even in relatively minor ways. I also intend on some of the spectres being ostensibly helpful or benign but secretly treacherous; love it. Perception checks to detect threats, like the Psychopath lying in wait, before encountering them is definitely going to be a thing, though changing up with obvious noises is definitely a good thought.

Lastly, I might include some stalker/Weeping Angel types, though in all honesty, the Psychopath fulfills that role pretty well. Given that he can one shot most PCs of his levels with consistency, fear of being downed with no one to help should keep the PCs from splintering off from the group. He's both a reactionary and active threat that will keep them on their toes until they find a way to deal with him permanently. To this end I was thinking of some kind of ritual that one or more party members engage in, while the others desperately barricade the room and protect them; naturally the ritual would require certain requisite components found throughout the house, presumably items that have an acute personal connection to the psychopath (which requires them to find out who he is).

[Laserlight]

Redshirts to show how the monster works.

Perhaps a higher level NPC, respected and admired by the PCs. When the monster easily kills the NPC, that should drive home the point "you're in trouble now".

And of course mystery. Fear is a function of the unknown; once you know all about the Alien or the Predator, it's action movie, not a horror flick.

[unwise]

What are you arrangements for when a PC dies? It can be a bit hard to just add in another character without some reason for them being there. I have a few suggestions.

- The PCs hear loud banging on the front door, somebody is calling out "Hello, sir, I really need to speak to you, helloooooo...?" This just keeps going on and on. They can't get the door open and the person outside can't hear the PCs. After a PC dies, that banging starts up again. WHen they go to that area, there is a voice that says "There is always room for one more..." the door opens and the next PC steps in, grateful for somebody finally opening the door.
- For extra creepy, there is a guest wing of the house, a B&B of sorts, the cultists used it as a way of getting victims in. The banging is coming from the outside door to that area. When a PC dies, have are large bang, as the No Vacancy sign spins around to show Vacancy, as the door opens.

- Find the Dungeon article about running ghosts as PCs. Print out some of those ability cards and have a PC come back as a ghost.

- If a PC is dragged away by the madman, have them just come back. They are now at full HP, despite the fact their wounds have not healed up. They don't seem to mind having an axe wound in their chest. Pass the player some notes that say the madman simply smiled at them and let them go. Pass the player notes now and then. The other PCs will have to work out what to do about this, after all there is very little chance that this is really their friend.
- Alternatively, the madman eats the persons cheek and forearm. Then, when full, simply lets them go until he is bored or hungry again. The person comes staggering back to the group covered in tabasco sauce.

- A player one-shot by the madman is decapitated. His head is taken as a trophy. His head keeps calling out for help. His body re-animates itself too. His body wants to find his head, is it friendly? Or do the PCs now have to deal with a headless zombie while trying to find their friends head. Pass the headless player notes, describing what he sees. He could call out warnings to the other players, or try to give them info about where the madman is, or where his head has been placed. If they get the head back, they can staple it on and the PC can now control their body at least.
- For extra credit in creeping out that player, describe to them that they see their friends backs, as the madman creeps closer and closer, but the madman has put a sock in their mouth so they can't act on the note.
- The head knows where they are and can call for help, but did they make the perception roll to know that the madman is hiding in wait to ambush their friends when they come to help them?

- With any zombie, ghost related option, remember that although the guy is dead, they have a very vested interest in continuing the mission, or their soul is bound to this hellish place for ever.

- When a PC would drop from a single hit or crit, lower the damage, but sever a limb or hand. This turns into comedy horror gold later on when the hand starts throttling them and they cannot call out for help due to being strangled.

[Surrealistik]

@Laserlight:

Employing the Worf Effect to warn the PCs is an idea, though I'm not sure how I'd implement this. Maybe some sort of escort from the town who volunteers to come along as the house had a troubling reputation even before its demonic infestation?


@ Unwise:

Really like the idea of 'reinforcements' being sent in when characters in the party die; this allows them to be a little more disposable. PCs that are outright corrupted by the malevolent force however should not be replaceable, at least until they're killed (if only because it gives the controlling player something to do).

I have considered the idea of allowing PC ghosts to assist the party, albeit in a more limited way; I'm not sure how this would be implemented, but it would have to be done carefully lest I undermine the atmosphere and gravity of death.

Not sure about the decapitation/headless zombie/living limb ideas; knowing my group they would probably turn this into a hilarity fest, haha.

On the subject of one shots, what I've considered is simply give the madman atrocious speed (4 squares until bloodied), and prevent him from running or shifting; if you engage him, he will drop you, but if you run you should be safe.

[Laserlight]

@Laserlight: Employing the Worf Effect to warn the PCs is an idea, though I'm not sure how I'd implement this. Maybe some sort of escort from the town who volunteers to come along as the house had a troubling reputation even before its demonic infestation?


"The White Lady who hires you to clear the house is not just sending you in while she watches from afar; she is an accomplished paladin, very well known in the town and respected for both her wisdom and her fighting prowess. Nobody really expects you to have to do anything; most likely the White Lady will be able to take care of things herself. She's just bringing you along in case of unforeseen problems; perhaps she wants to see your mettle, to decide whether she wants to mentor you."

Then the BBEG one-shots the paladin.

[Surrealistik]

"The White Lady who hires you to clear the house is not just sending you in while she watches from afar; she is an accomplished paladin, very well known in the town and respected for both her wisdom and her fighting prowess. Nobody really expects you to have to do anything; most likely the White Lady will be able to take care of things herself. She's just bringing you along in case of unforeseen problems; perhaps she wants to see your mettle, to decide whether she wants to mentor you."

Then the BBEG one-shots the paladin.

Lol, love it!

[Actana]

Having an NPC tag along only to act as a sacrificial lamb to the BBEG seems, to me at least, a bit tacky and forced, at least if the killing happens quickly, in sight and "outside" the normal rules for combat (doing it with normal combat rules in 4e would be entirely dull to witness). Instead, I'd have the NPC go ahead of the party and out of sight, and then have the PCs find them dead or dying in an appropriately mood creating way with hints as to what the enemy is like and what they can do.

[unwise]

I do like the idea of the Redshirts pointing out how dangerous the BBEG is, but I just don't think that a one-shot has the level of engagement necessary for the death to be meaningful and not a little cheapened. Still doable, but just not the effect that this would have if the paladin had been with them for a previous adventure and had been shown to be a badass.

As an alternative, there is another way of getting them to realise that they should run. The PCs get into a ferocious and difficult battle against a particular monster, so it is established as being a badass. They come across either that same monster that they ran from, or another of its type, enough to make them think "oh crap, this is bad" then the madman comes in unexectedly and beheads the thing as it was in his way to get to them. It builds the tension, then releases it, then builds it again as they realise they are out of the fryingpan and into the fire. The danger here is that they try and talk to the guy, so his introduction has to be in such a way that it leaves no room for confusion that he is a psycho.

[neonchameleon]

The big thing with 4E Horror is to mess with the PCs rests. That really makes them feel under pressure and afraid.

[Laserlight]

I do like the idea of the Redshirts pointing out how dangerous the BBEG is, but I just don't think that a one-shot has the level of engagement necessary for the death to be meaningful and not a little cheapened. Still do-able, but just not the effect that this would have if the paladin had been with them for a previous adventure and had been shown to be a badass.

That would be ideal. Fight your way through the monsters around the house, or some such.

You don't want the redshirt to be a monster because you want to have the party a) emotionally attached to the victim, so the loss is more tragic, and b) counting on the victim as their heavy hitter.

Imagine in Lord of the Rings, if the balrog had thrown Gandalf off the bridge and then kept coming after the hobbits...

[Surrealistik]

Yeah, the idea is that the NPC in question would make light work of a couple of monsters the PCs might otherwise struggle with on the approach to the mansion, setting up his badassery and pathos, and building up the players' confidence so it gets promptly stricken down.


As for rests neon, I've had quite a few ideas from the beginning to **** with those; most places in the house will not be suitable for long resting (and several aren't even safe for short rests), and will feature serious consequences if the party attempts to get RnR in them.

Further, the number of safe zones will be diminishing over time, as the malevolent presence grows stronger and gradually corrupts the players; they're on a very definite timer in two different ways.

[unwise]

Yeah, the idea is that the NPC in question would make light work of a couple of monsters the PCs might otherwise struggle with on the approach to the mansion, setting up his badassery and pathos, and building up the players' confidence so it gets promptly stricken down.

My concern with this, is that this involves spending time running two or so encounters that are not really important to the plot. If this is a one-shot game, then you only have X amount of time to tell the story you want to tell. I don't think that 4e lends itself well to having any encounters that are not plot integral. It seems like a lot of set up for the pay off. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of the paladin getting taken out quickly, I just feel like maybe the time necessary for that might be better spent some other way. Quiet possibly you can run the couple of monster fights quicker than I am use to though, so it is win win to do so.

[Surrealistik]

Not hurting for time so far as playing out the module goes; I actually like the idea of it _starting out_ as a normal adventure, in that it builds up a false sense of confidence/security. As for the encounters not being relevant/pertinent, I could see them being roving bands of maddened, feral cultists, scourging the surrounding woods; this would hint at what's to come, without explicitly revealing it, while simultaneously making the PCs believe themselves capable of tackling what's in the actual mansion itself, particularly with their powerful ally. It's not just about the pathos and employing the Worf effect, it's about manipulating expectations, and the shock of their abrupt redefinition.

[busterswd]

Love the idea. Remember to establish that being able to run IS an option, and the better one. Consider giving the psychopath some sort of distinctive calling card when he manifests, once he's established that he's a threat (if the party has someone like a warlock, maybe they start crying blood). The reason for this is that you want to build their anticipation of avoiding this guy at all costs. Being confronted by a monster that's designed to be close to unkillable repeatedly and without rest can be stressful, but potentially frustrating as opposed to scary (the Doom 3 Nightmare dilemma). Being rewarded for acting like a coward and trying very hard to avoid encountering a dangerous threat you know is actively stalking you can be much more terrifying.

[Surrealistik]

Thanks busterswd.

There'll generally be some form of telegraphing when he draws near (footsteps, fixtures seeming to shudder, things appearing to move at the periphery of one's sight), with the exception of ambushes where the party's passive perception is overcome (if it isn't, they'll be given a vague clue about his presence; a faint rustling, a creak, etc).

Encounters with him won't happen in perpetuity; the way I have things currently planned out is that there will be some areas where he'll always be for the first time, including one ambush to demonstrate to the party that he can and will use stealth to get the drop on them. Beyond that, it's a combination of dice rolls skewed by the abyssal taint of rooms to varying degrees, the presence of bloodied party members, and the PCs drawing attention to themselves; a sort of 'alert level' mechanic. Making loud noises for example, whether through exploration or combat all increment the probability of an appearance, or can even provoke a check to determine whether he shows up depending on their severity. Once he does appear, and the party gets away, all existing increments to the alert level from PC actions are reset, and he is guaranteed not to appear until a short rest passes. So long as the party doesn't do anything to attract attention, the alert level will also go down over time.