Ghost town

[Cilvyn]

Hello everyone,

I have group of new players and I am looking for something nice to cook up for them. I drew some inspiration from this (https://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/Curse%20of%20Strahd%20Introductory%20Adventure.pdf ) free short story. I'd like to do something with 2 children who are ghosts and ask the players for help when they decide to camp in the ruin of a mansion. I like to do something with the mansion being restored during the night and having the last night of the lives of the children unfold there with spirits and everything, like an echo in time. This can be something that repeats itself multiple nights in which the players discover more and more why the children died and how their souls can be put to rest (some majora's mask vibe, i know). Multiple characters in the house who each have a little piece of the puzzle that they can discover over several nights, maybe? mabe it should just be one night and just have time go relativly slowly in game so they have enouh time to figure everything out before the dawn.

I had the same idea with a ghost town where people relive that last night and the next they do the sme thing and seem not to remember the PCs anymore since their night has been reset. this way there are more NPCs involved. Maybe it is better to have it be during the day and just make it very dark nd cloudy, but that just seems a bit silly. What woul you think is best?

Just how do I keep the characters involved during the day. Also a little help with the plot hook is always helpful! They probably will not sleep all the time during he day, also since this is pretty counter intuitive. Maybe I am pushing it too far for their first campaign and we should just do some kobold hunting... They are pretty experienced roleplayers though, so I want something with a little more dept.

Thank you!

Selene

[DMThac0]

As time is technically an arbitrary measurement in a D&D game (easy enough to just jump from day to night, make 15 mintues or 15 years vanish in a sentance) putting you setting as a night time mystery wouldn't be difficult. Having them sleep through the day can be waved off for the most part.

How to keep them active when the castle/city is not present? Give them a reason to explore and return/stay, tie in the real time location using clues. At the site of the adventure have artifacts, books, writings on the wall, bones, etc that reflect the imagery of the night time location. Have a nearby town contain residents who are descendants of the ghosts, have rumors and stories about the location be abundant, create some lore that is somewhat cryptic about what happened in the past.

You could do the reset idea, however, I would suggest having the two ghost children remember, the rest of the NPCs can be wiped. This will allow you to create a sense of continuity between the nights. It will also allow you to have the children be your in game tool to give them hints, reminders, and prompts when the players get stumped.

As to a plot hook, you could do something as simple as helping them resolve a curse or a blood oath.

[YohaiHorosha]

Thoughts about night:
1) time dilation...no matter how long they spend there, the time doesn't move.
2) when daylight comes, everything abruptly ends...like, dead in the middle of an important scene. That alone should get players excited about coming back
3) when players rest next day, no matter what happens, they get transported back to the ruins. #magic #curse
4) the ghosts visit the players and ask them to go back

Insofar as continuing plot during the daytime, find a thing that someone alluded to during the night. For example, "i left my monocle at home" and it leads to a clue about the evening.

It depends on your system how it would all work out mechanically. It's a super cool idea.

[Brookshw]

If you've never read it, consider getting a copy of Castle Forlorn, it's an old ravenloft module/ghost story that takes place across three different time periods. Good take aways from it
1) story takes part at different points in time years apart, certain things are only discoverable at certain times
2) different scenery, explore how the location changes and possibly affect future by doing things in the past
3) different npc availability, people at different times know different things, have different objectives

Its worth a read and might offer some inspiration.