Phocaea
2019-07-10, 06:57 PM
I am new to the forums, so I don't know if this is the right place to post (I originally posted it in World Building)
I have been intermittently DM-ing a 5e game for my 17 year old daughter and (sometimes) her friends and have had a great time riffing off published adventures.
I ran the Midnight Revelry (town members all mysteriously getting blind drunk; adventurers find the source in a temple across a portal into Feywild) but the story immediately took a darker tone when three of the towns guards were killed in a dire wolf attack at the outset (hmmm....there are going to grieving families after this).
Eventually the party crossed the portal and met the satyr in charge of the temple, but I detoured. I'd been reading the "witch of the bog" and thought "this could be interesting"
So the satyr gave the team a mission, even before dealing with the cursed temple. The team had to rescue two children of the drunken townsfolk from the hag who had led them away by appearing to be their mother.
Both modules are terrific, and we got into the horror atmosphere of the witch scenario. Thanks Christopher Walz and thanks Nezugal
In the great tradition of "making it up as you go along," the hag was holding the children for an unknown third party. A grey jester appeared to collect them from her, telling the party "No! These are for Mr Smiles!" (who? Ill sort it out later)
Hag and the jester are defeated, kids rescued,team are back ready to talk to the satyr.
Thats where the session ended a couple of weeks back and I've been mulling over where to go.
On the weekend though, looking through Kobold Press's Devil Sects, it struck me that there were huge opportunities if the temple was being infiltrated by followers of Shub Niggurath struck me.
Drunkeness, fertility .,., sinister agendas ...all there.
So this is what im thinking, and all feedback welcome.
- the cult has taken over and is feeding the townsfolk with tainted alcohol before sending them back across the portal. The fight will be with a mythos satyr and a couple of the cult leaders (one who is signing an hypnotic song)
- The satyr has been driven out; this was done by a lady Fey who wanted revenge against him. However she doesn't know the true nature or name of the mythos cult that's taken over.
- there are very few clues on first glance that the temple is now dedicated to Shub Niggurath; The gold and tapestries may appear tainted and blackening, and there are figures of a dark goat among the decorations. No tentacles. I want the suspensions to grow slowly.
- Back in town, the people are back at their labor.... the farmlands are thriving, and the animals are mating like crazy. But there's something not right about it all
- There's a new sty in the centre of town with three out four large black pigs. There are blood stains on the fences though.
- where are all the kids?
My thinking
- the cult now dominates the town...and other villages around. But it's still secretive. No one acknowledges anything
- The cult leader will re-appear... but now shambling dead, and infested by a mythos creature (thanks Sandy Petersen for the Proto SB) -
- bloodstained pillars are being raised for a summoning ritual
- A dark young or a daughter of SB will be summoned then disappear into the forest, with reports of destruction following . The party isn't nearly strong enough to overcome it...
- The kids/teenagers have been given to the High Priests ("Mr Smiles") who is mutating them to become childlike ghasts with wide, carved grins. They will all be sent back to their homes and villages when he decides it's right....
Ideas
- How long should before the truth about the SB cult comes through?
- should the ritual be at the edge of town, or out deep in the woods to prolong the story?)
- where could i take this? I am fascinated by a Cthulhu mythos invasion of both the Prime Material world AND the Feywild.... but am i biting off too much?.
- any published adventures that could be retrofitted? Im wondering about some elements from "Out of the Abyss"
The party are low magic already (a bard, rogue and fighter) so I think i can maintain a horror/mythos vibe but how hard it played out for others? Can 5e work in a dread based scenario?
Thanks all
I have been intermittently DM-ing a 5e game for my 17 year old daughter and (sometimes) her friends and have had a great time riffing off published adventures.
I ran the Midnight Revelry (town members all mysteriously getting blind drunk; adventurers find the source in a temple across a portal into Feywild) but the story immediately took a darker tone when three of the towns guards were killed in a dire wolf attack at the outset (hmmm....there are going to grieving families after this).
Eventually the party crossed the portal and met the satyr in charge of the temple, but I detoured. I'd been reading the "witch of the bog" and thought "this could be interesting"
So the satyr gave the team a mission, even before dealing with the cursed temple. The team had to rescue two children of the drunken townsfolk from the hag who had led them away by appearing to be their mother.
Both modules are terrific, and we got into the horror atmosphere of the witch scenario. Thanks Christopher Walz and thanks Nezugal
In the great tradition of "making it up as you go along," the hag was holding the children for an unknown third party. A grey jester appeared to collect them from her, telling the party "No! These are for Mr Smiles!" (who? Ill sort it out later)
Hag and the jester are defeated, kids rescued,team are back ready to talk to the satyr.
Thats where the session ended a couple of weeks back and I've been mulling over where to go.
On the weekend though, looking through Kobold Press's Devil Sects, it struck me that there were huge opportunities if the temple was being infiltrated by followers of Shub Niggurath struck me.
Drunkeness, fertility .,., sinister agendas ...all there.
So this is what im thinking, and all feedback welcome.
- the cult has taken over and is feeding the townsfolk with tainted alcohol before sending them back across the portal. The fight will be with a mythos satyr and a couple of the cult leaders (one who is signing an hypnotic song)
- The satyr has been driven out; this was done by a lady Fey who wanted revenge against him. However she doesn't know the true nature or name of the mythos cult that's taken over.
- there are very few clues on first glance that the temple is now dedicated to Shub Niggurath; The gold and tapestries may appear tainted and blackening, and there are figures of a dark goat among the decorations. No tentacles. I want the suspensions to grow slowly.
- Back in town, the people are back at their labor.... the farmlands are thriving, and the animals are mating like crazy. But there's something not right about it all
- There's a new sty in the centre of town with three out four large black pigs. There are blood stains on the fences though.
- where are all the kids?
My thinking
- the cult now dominates the town...and other villages around. But it's still secretive. No one acknowledges anything
- The cult leader will re-appear... but now shambling dead, and infested by a mythos creature (thanks Sandy Petersen for the Proto SB) -
- bloodstained pillars are being raised for a summoning ritual
- A dark young or a daughter of SB will be summoned then disappear into the forest, with reports of destruction following . The party isn't nearly strong enough to overcome it...
- The kids/teenagers have been given to the High Priests ("Mr Smiles") who is mutating them to become childlike ghasts with wide, carved grins. They will all be sent back to their homes and villages when he decides it's right....
Ideas
- How long should before the truth about the SB cult comes through?
- should the ritual be at the edge of town, or out deep in the woods to prolong the story?)
- where could i take this? I am fascinated by a Cthulhu mythos invasion of both the Prime Material world AND the Feywild.... but am i biting off too much?.
- any published adventures that could be retrofitted? Im wondering about some elements from "Out of the Abyss"
The party are low magic already (a bard, rogue and fighter) so I think i can maintain a horror/mythos vibe but how hard it played out for others? Can 5e work in a dread based scenario?
Thanks all