Halloween Horror

[ZenBear]

‘Tis the season to be spooky! What sort of Halloween themed dungeons, encounters or story arcs have you run or participated in in the past, or have planned for this Halloween? I expect my players to clear Wave Echo Cave next session, and afterwards they will be traveling through the Underdark to find the next dungeon. I’m thinking of doing some kind of Alien: Isolation style escape scenario where the evil NPC I expect them to take captive will get picked off first. Has anyone ever run an escape scenario in D&D and have any suggestions of how to make it interesting?

I’m also a big fan of Creepypastas and SCP, so I’ll be digging through those stories for ideas.

Possible option for the monster: the Chain Devil. (http://chisaipete.github.io/bestiary/creatures/chain-devil) It lurks in the Underdark and imprisons any humanoid it comes across. The players are corralled by the clinking of chains in the tunnels behind them toward the devil’s dungeon, where they come across its past victims. All of them are dead and decayed, but their spirits still linger and whisper a warning in the form of a creepy song. (https://youtu.be/LQHRajcOjCM)

[Maelynn]

I'm planning a one-shot session, as I described bits of in this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?570778-D-amp-D-Night-Halloween-Edition). I made a list of possible creepy things that would work well in this particular story, which will mostly serve to make the players distrust their senses... and fellow players. Think illusions and disappearing items/people and Dominate Person.

Never done an escape room, so I'm afraid I can't help you there. What I do think could work well, is to adjust existing monsters you plan on using. Players will think they know a monster's abilities, thus making it less scary and more a 'statblock they need to get to 0 hp'... until they realise it doesn't follow the abilities it's supposed to have. Not knowing fuels fear.