Alone in the Dungeon

[shaka gl]

Hey, I was thinking to make a one-shot adventure with a Survival Horror kinda theme going on (think games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill or Alone in the Dark). I wanted to hear suggestions on how would you do it, besides the obvious zombies/vampires/mummies. Which Monsters/Classes would you think could make cool enemies?

I was thinking putting the whole dungeon on a Wild/Dead Magic zone, just to make them more vulnerable and scared :smallbiggrin:

Pitch your ideas!

Oh, and sorry if because of the title you were expecting a philosophical debate about the solitude of underground way of life...

[Ascension]

Aww, unless you're literally alone (or survive a cave in while in there) you still won't qualify for the Dungeon Delver prestige class...

...but seriously... Dead magic would render your casters useless, but I like the idea of messing with the magic. Maybe a 10% failure rate on all spells (arcane and divine), with a 5% chance of something unexpected happening.

You'll need to run this as a short, low-level adventure because if your players get too powerful they won't have any reason to be scared of anything.

Dungeonscape is a must. I especially recommend the alternate materials for dungeon construction. Some living (or undead) walls would be fun.

[SilverClawShift]

If you're really trying to emulate survival horror, I think one of the best ways to do it via D&D would be to plan out a very small number of 'safe' locations, and make any other location potentially fatal for one reason or another.

A big theme in survival horror is that you simply aren't going to be able to brute force the enemy. There aren't enough bullets (arrows, whatever), there aren't enough healing sources, there are too many of them and too few of you. You can find pockets of security by shuttering steel doors shut and curling up in the corner, but otherwise you are scrambling and outgunned in the worst ways. Even if you clear out a place and barricade it, it's only a matter of time before the barricades give way and the horror returns.

Deadly Dancers from tome of magic are always fun. They're vampiric (in the sense that they need blood to survive, and nothing else), they're agile, and mysterious, and definately not human.
Spellweavers from Monster Manual 2 are along the same vein. Six armed creatures that cast spells and don't speak to anything that isn't a spell weaver.
Monster Manual IV sucks, but Vitreous Drinkers are good in the 'feeding on humans' thing.

Probably a good idea to start with shamblers, zombies of various makes and models. Kobold and human zombies for the most part, then toss out a few big and burly zombies with extra hit die (ogres) as 'bosses' that keep everyone on their toes.
As they move through the campaign, and start becoming powerful enough that slow weak enemies are something to breeze through, start peppering the omnipresent undead hoardes with advanced enemies. Vampires and vitreous drinkers, undead things with class levels, deadly dancers, and a spellweaver (advancing) that continues to plague them throughout the proceedings.

As for story, I dunno. Watcha looking for?

*EDIT*

Also, a quote from the spellweaver monster, that makes for good flavor in a horror campaign.
Spell weavers do not communicate with anyone except their own kind. This means, of course, that no one has ever had a meaningful conversation with a spell weaver, so nothing is known about the background, motivations, or society of these creatures other than what their actions reveal. Occasionally, for reasons that no one else understands, a spell weaver leaves a written note where a humanoid can find it.
Such messages are invariably rambling and often completely incoherent, so they usually raise more questions than they answer.

A spellweaver trying to steal magic items that the PCs need to continue, and who is clearly utterly insane (not even supporting an understandable mindset) would be a good recurring monster.

[shaka gl]

Actually, they`re lvl 12. But as they are a Druid, a Duskblade and a Favored Soul (classes that cast but can defend themselves martially); without magic they`ll be like very-pumped-up-lvl 6 or so.... dont ya think?

[shaka gl]

If you're really trying to emulate survival horror, I think one of the best ways to do it via D&D would be to plan out a very small number of 'safe' locations, and make any other location potentially fatal for one reason or another.

A big theme in survival horror is that you simply aren't going to be able to brute force the enemy. There aren't enough bullets (arrows, whatever), there aren't enough healing sources, there are too many of them and too few of you. You can find pockets of security by shuttering steel doors shut and curling up in the corner, but otherwise you are scrambling and outgunned in the worst ways. Even if you clear out a place and barricade it, it's only a matter of time before the barricades give way and the horror returns.

Deadly Dancers from tome of magic are always fun. They're vampiric (in the sense that they need blood to survive, and nothing else), they're agile, and mysterious, and definately not human.
Spellweavers from Monster Manual 2 are along the same vein. Six armed creatures that cast spells and don't speak to anything that isn't a spell weaver.
Monster Manual IV sucks, but Vitreous Drinkers are good in the 'feeding on humans' thing.

Probably a good idea to start with shamblers, zombies of various makes and models. Kobold and human zombies for the most part, then toss out a few big and burly zombies with extra hit die (ogres) as 'bosses' that keep everyone on their toes.
As they move through the campaign, and start becoming powerful enough that slow weak enemies are something to breeze through, start peppering the omnipresent undead hoardes with advanced enemies. Vampires and vitreous drinkers, undead things with class levels, deadly dancers, and a spellweaver (advancing) that continues to plague them throughout the proceedings.

As for story, I dunno. Watcha looking for?

I like your ideas (a lot) but as I said, its only for a one-shot adventure. They`re hunting down a High lvl vampire sorcerer and they ended up in his castle/dungeon/scary place.

[SilverClawShift]

Even a one-shot could follow the (You're not safe out here) formula, I think.

[shaka gl]

Even a one-shot could follow the (You're not safe out here) formula, I think.

Yeah, totally. I was just clearing that out. Thanks for the ideas, keep `em coming!

[Hadrian_Emrys]

Dead magic zones are great. The two primary causes of fear in players, beyond impending death, are being handicapped by a loss of ability and/or facing an unbeatable/unknown enemy. My favorite tool, is playing with the minds and emotions of the players in such a way that the game itself is themed in such a way as to cause a fight or flight reaction. This should be done in spurts of various lengths of time. Even when players are safe, they should feel the manace waiting for them just outside of their sanctuary. The final scene of the game would have a powerful impact if it is instigated, not my the PCs, but by the BBEG stripping them of their last refuge:

"The holy relic shatters without warning. The concussive force of the blast from the alter slams into you (Fort DC15 or be pushed 1d4 feet away and dazed or something). With the ward it provided gone, the legion of shambling undead begin battering at the barricades in earnest. The door splinters a moment before the whole entry is blown wide open and the lights go out. <vamp's> soft voice drifts into the room as he he/she gently calls out: "Come out, come out, wherever you are." Roll initiative."

[Prometheus]

Definitely a haunted house is the way to go. Have it be dominated by the corporeal dead, but a couple of lethal incorporeal dead that can find them anywhere will keep them moving. Besides, it makes for an unraveling mystery.

It's hard for me to say what would gimp your spellcasters, what I would recommend is instead focus on monsters that gimp your spellcasters is specialized ways by having more immunities than normal. Freedom of Movement, Immune to Fire, Reflects ray spells, Cannot be cursed, dispels magical buffs etc. If your monsters have just a couple of extra immunities, than they really do strike fear in the hearts of casters when they are scrambling to figure out what works.

[holywhippet]

Throw in an army of crawling claws. If that doesn't freak them out, nothing will.