First time posting here on D&D Beyond. Was wondering if anyone had ever though of converting the game Werewolves into a one shot (Might be better as a mini adventure thinking about it but One Shot if possible).
I already have a basic idea as to why the players would be at the village which is one of them would be visiting family. This at least gives them a place they can stay, a connection with the place rather than a completely random instance of turning up and potentially being accused by the villagers and also gives me one or two NPC's nailed in if they need it.
I know Werewolves are in 5e but do you think any specific rules should come into play such as how to manage the night phase or how to mix an investigation heavy idea with a little but of combat/suspense?
First off, neither the players nor the villagers are going to sleep soundly during the night and wait for the wolves to kill someone.
They will arrange guards, lock doors, nail windows shut etc.
Second, werewolves can be easily identified with silver. Call every villager to the church and press a silver crucifix against their forehead. Does it sizzle and burn? It's a wolf.
So, for the game to work you need to address these two points. And you need to incorporate some iconic roles of the original game to make it feel like "Werewolf".
My suggestion would be this: one of the most iconic roles is the "Seer" who can tell whether someone is a werewolf or not. But in every game I have played so far, multiple people claimed at different points in time to be the Seer. Some of them wolves, some who wanted to get more weight to their word if they accused someone.
Now... let's work that together.
"After a long journey you arrive in the small village of Wolfstein. Muddy roads and a spring rainshower delayed your journey and the sun is already setting. As you reach the wooden gates, you notice two giant wolf heads on pikes, guarding the town in a silent warning to all who might trespass. As you walk through the gate, a grim looking guard peels out of the shadow of the walls. "Hold there. Before you enter Wolfstein, the Seer has to vouch for you." He leads you to a small, wooden cottage. Smoke is rising from the chimney and an old, wrinkled woman opens the door, as he knocks against it. Three times fast, two times slow, you notice. She looks you over and you can see the white of her eyes as she seems to fall in a short trance. She then looks at the guard and quickly nods. "They are fine.""
Now, the Seer is established. That is enough to explain, why the town is not under total lockdown. And ample reason to really put heat on your players when someone gets killed the first night they are in the village.
The old woman of course is not the real Seer. She is a hag and the leader of the werewolves. Her magic is strong enough to protect the wolves from silver and she established her role a few weeks ago, when the first killing spree started and she showed the village two of her werewolves that were competing for her position as pack leader.
From here on, your job will be to help the players figure this out and introduce more roles of the original game.
The hunter comes to mind, since he could kill one of the wolves when they attack him. If that wolf was previously declared "harmless" by the hag, the players and villagers might get suspicious. Or maybe the victims always are a bit to convenient for the hag? Someone who doubted her dies? Someone who owed her money? Maybe the wolves leave some pieces of cloth behind, that match that of the hags best friend who always hangs out with her at her hut? Maybe the real Seer trusts the players enough to reveal himself. Or the players find the Seer, because he seems awfully nervous around certain people while desperately trying to pretend everything's fine.
Maybe the players are even lucky or clever and manage to trap and interrogate one of the wolves.
If that is not enough, try to watch some crime shows on TV for inspiration and more tropes. :-)
Hi Naresea, that is an amazing way of looking at it. I'm going to look over this a bit more when I get more time and see, using what you've written, what else could be used from a gameplay perspective but I love the idea of the of Seer being the the reason the town isn't fully in lockdown.
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Hey everyone,
First time posting here on D&D Beyond. Was wondering if anyone had ever though of converting the game Werewolves into a one shot (Might be better as a mini adventure thinking about it but One Shot if possible).
I already have a basic idea as to why the players would be at the village which is one of them would be visiting family. This at least gives them a place they can stay, a connection with the place rather than a completely random instance of turning up and potentially being accused by the villagers and also gives me one or two NPC's nailed in if they need it.
I know Werewolves are in 5e but do you think any specific rules should come into play such as how to manage the night phase or how to mix an investigation heavy idea with a little but of combat/suspense?
Many thanks
Werewolf is a bit tricky.
First off, neither the players nor the villagers are going to sleep soundly during the night and wait for the wolves to kill someone.
They will arrange guards, lock doors, nail windows shut etc.
Second, werewolves can be easily identified with silver. Call every villager to the church and press a silver crucifix against their forehead. Does it sizzle and burn? It's a wolf.
So, for the game to work you need to address these two points. And you need to incorporate some iconic roles of the original game to make it feel like "Werewolf".
My suggestion would be this: one of the most iconic roles is the "Seer" who can tell whether someone is a werewolf or not. But in every game I have played so far, multiple people claimed at different points in time to be the Seer. Some of them wolves, some who wanted to get more weight to their word if they accused someone.
Now... let's work that together.
"After a long journey you arrive in the small village of Wolfstein. Muddy roads and a spring rainshower delayed your journey and the sun is already setting. As you reach the wooden gates, you notice two giant wolf heads on pikes, guarding the town in a silent warning to all who might trespass. As you walk through the gate, a grim looking guard peels out of the shadow of the walls. "Hold there. Before you enter Wolfstein, the Seer has to vouch for you." He leads you to a small, wooden cottage. Smoke is rising from the chimney and an old, wrinkled woman opens the door, as he knocks against it. Three times fast, two times slow, you notice. She looks you over and you can see the white of her eyes as she seems to fall in a short trance. She then looks at the guard and quickly nods. "They are fine.""
Now, the Seer is established. That is enough to explain, why the town is not under total lockdown. And ample reason to really put heat on your players when someone gets killed the first night they are in the village.
The old woman of course is not the real Seer. She is a hag and the leader of the werewolves. Her magic is strong enough to protect the wolves from silver and she established her role a few weeks ago, when the first killing spree started and she showed the village two of her werewolves that were competing for her position as pack leader.
From here on, your job will be to help the players figure this out and introduce more roles of the original game.
The hunter comes to mind, since he could kill one of the wolves when they attack him. If that wolf was previously declared "harmless" by the hag, the players and villagers might get suspicious. Or maybe the victims always are a bit to convenient for the hag? Someone who doubted her dies? Someone who owed her money? Maybe the wolves leave some pieces of cloth behind, that match that of the hags best friend who always hangs out with her at her hut? Maybe the real Seer trusts the players enough to reveal himself. Or the players find the Seer, because he seems awfully nervous around certain people while desperately trying to pretend everything's fine.
Maybe the players are even lucky or clever and manage to trap and interrogate one of the wolves.
If that is not enough, try to watch some crime shows on TV for inspiration and more tropes. :-)
Hi Naresea, that is an amazing way of looking at it. I'm going to look over this a bit more when I get more time and see, using what you've written, what else could be used from a gameplay perspective but I love the idea of the of Seer being the the reason the town isn't fully in lockdown.