Zombie one-shot

[mormon_soldier]

I'm writing a module for levels 1-3 where the party encounters a village under siege by zombies. The zombies are being controlled by a hag who is feeding off of the villagers' fear. The hag is also impersonating one of the villagers. Would it increase the tension for her to change which villager she impersonates? (I'm thinking she moves on each day roughly at dawn) If so, would it be worse for the impersonated villager to show up after being impersonated with no memory of the last 24 hours or as a zombie?

Thanks for your input!

[Quoxis]

Pro:
- sounds awesome

Con:
- how do you plan to get the idea across to your players if nobody remembers? No NPC that randomly mentions it with that setup.
- if the hag manages to flee, the game is over, she’s gonna choose another village while the NPCs forget about everything, which might be an unsatisfactory ending

I‘m not saying „don’t do it“, i‘m pointing out flaws that you should think about and/or get rid of before you start it.

[lordarkness]

It could add tension but may also make it unnecessarily difficult to manage both for player and for the GM.

A simple whodunnit with a dwindling cast of dying suspects as the players fight against the clock in an atmosphere of terror doesn't appear to need more tension to me.

[mormon_soldier]

Pro:
- sounds awesome

Con:
- how do you plan to get the idea across to your players if nobody remembers? No NPC that randomly mentions it with that setup.
- if the hag manages to flee, the game is over, she’s gonna choose another village while the NPCs forget about everything, which might be an unsatisfactory ending

I‘m not saying „don’t do it“, i‘m pointing out flaws that you should think about and/or get rid of before you start it.

My thought behind the villager not remembering was that all of the sudden the person the PCs interacted with yesterday doesn't remember them. That's a good point, though; especially for a one-shot an overly complicated plot is going to make the game less fun. Would it be too on the nose to have the villagers accusing one another of being the hag?

[mormon_soldier]

It could add tension but may also make it unnecessarily difficult to manage both for player and for the GM.

A simple whodunnit with a dwindling cast of dying suspects as the players fight against the clock in an atmosphere of terror doesn't appear to need more tension to me.

Yeah, the introduction of too many variables could gum up the works. Thanks!