Looking for that halloween one shot

[tim01300]

So trying to plan ahead a Halloween one shot adventure for my gaming group. Since I'm running two games already and don't feel I have the free time to create a good one shot I'm hoping to find a premade module or something.

We play 3.5 and will have around 5 hours to play, I'll most likely premake characters they can pick from to save on time. Anything between levels 2-8 would be preferable.

I did find a pdf for Carnival of Tears that looks interesting and but I don't think it's doable for my group in our time frame. I do have Return to Castle Ravenloft but I think I want to save it for another time when we can do the entire thing.

Do you guys have any suggestions or adventures you've enjoyed?

[Crux Argentum]

While I can't say I have run this game myself, I think it definitely fits the Halloween theme.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #20 Shadows in Freeport is essentially a dungeon crawl in a haunted house. To quote a passage in the first few pages:



Rated PG-13
This adventure is more gory than most Dungeon Crawl Classics modules. This isn't just a haunted house; it's Cresh Manor in the haunted city of Freeport! This is a true horror-themed adventure with a variety of gross, gory, and terrifying scenes.

The adventure begins with the PCs standing in front of the house already having been hired to investigate the disappearances of children around the city. Expect them to encounter ghosts and other undead, devils, demons and other evil outsiders, aberrations, and room descriptions that start out pretty reasonably creepy (basically describing an old decrepit mansion) evolving into gorier and messier scenes (doors with facades of demons feasting on organs, a closet full of disembodied wriggling hands, an altar holding an idol of stitched together flesh, no shortage of blood stains, bones, bodies, etc.). In the introduction and all that for the DM, the authors suggest using the rules for sanity in Unearthed Arcana.

I can't say a whole lot else about it without giving away spoilers and simply because I've never ran it before. It's meant for level 6 characters and comes with eight pregenerated characters in the appendixes. Also included in the appendixes are 15 handouts meant to be photocopied and handed out to the players at the appropriate time (something I really like about DCCs) as well as six new monsters, 3 new spells (for the baddies), and a new (evil) cleric domain.

The only negative thing I'll say is that it probably doesn't fit the bill for a 5 hour adventure. Minus the DM intro, the appendixes, handouts, and maps - it's a good 35 pages of adventure. 64 pages if you include all the other stuff.

I think it would be really fun to whip up on MapTool and make it look really gross and bloody. I might even do it just for fun and send it to you, but I can't make any promises, lol.

[tim01300]

Oooh a haunted house sure would fit the bill. I'll take a look, maybe I can trim it down for time a bit somewhere

[ksbsnowowl]

IIRC, Expedition to Castle Ravenloft has a recommendation from running it as a 6-hour one-shot. The discussion of this short one-shot begins on page 18.

[Arutema]

Let's see, spooky adventures you can finish in 4-5 hours. Paizo's got a couple Pathfinder Society scenarios which fit the bill. They're set in the Pathfinder setting and assume the PCs are members of the Pathfinder Society organization, but that can be changed.

Black Waters (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8531?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-6-Black-Waters) is a romp through the ghosts of a school destroyed in natural disaster. Has the advantage of being written for the 3.5 rules set so you don't have to backport from PF.

The Haunting of Hinojai (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8qpu?Pathfinder-Society-Scenario-315-The-Haunting-of-Hinojai) is a slightly higher-level crawl through an Asian-themed haunted manor house. This one is written for PF and would require some work to get it to 3.5 rules.

Hope one of these works for you.

[Falcon X]

Ravenloft was made for this kind of thing. Especially the 3.5 version that allows for a single session.

Also, check out Bogleech: http://bogleech.com/articles.html
He has write-ups of rarer and forgotten monsters, often ones that were either scarier in previous editions or are just beautifully unique and scary. Find a nasty one and plan an adventure around it.
A few examples:
Meenlock - An incredibly stealthy creature that picks one of your party members to psychologically torment before eventually kidnapping him and turning him into one of their own. Lots of horror here.
Aboleth - Cause they are some of the baddest, most malevolent dudes around.
13 Undead - Cause strange undead are a classic of halloween. The Moilian Heart, The Gravecrawler, The Crawling Head, The Vitreous Drinker, etc.

Heck, do all of those together. A dungeon controlled by an Aboleth and infested by Meenlocks, Moilian Hearts, Crawling Heads, and Vitreous Drinkers. I'd be scared.