I found a statblock online for "Actual Cannibal Shia Lebouf" (based on a song that you can find on Youtube).
So I made it a Domain of Dread for a one-shot. The actual cannibal is living in the forest, preying on the people of a village, to the point where they only move in groups, and only leave their homes for the brightest part of the day, because anyone caught alone, or out late at night will be attacked, and never seen again. Only the party can free this village from their plight.
I found a statblock online for "Actual Cannibal Shia Lebouf" (based on a song that you can find on Youtube).
So I made it a Domain of Dread for a one-shot. The actual cannibal is living in the forest, preying on the people of a village, to the point where they only move in groups, and only leave their homes for the brightest part of the day, because anyone caught alone, or out late at night will be attacked, and never seen again. Only the party can free this village from their plight.
Cool! That sounds like a pretty good one shot. I love D&D games that try to express fear. That's why I made this post.
Any character whose story you're invested in would make an interesting darklord... That's really the trick. It's hard to get invested in a character who cannot be redeemed...
Personally, I'm creating a Dread Domain with a Planetar as it's dread lord. Basically he killed his siblings in an attempt to keep a mortal out of harms way because he had a overbearing "fatherly" love for the mortal. He then lost his ability to truly heal creatures and when he couldn't keep the mortal alive, he sacrificed townsfolk I'm Orcus's name to keep the mortal alive. Soon after he was hunted, died, brought back to life by Orcus, then he and the surrounding area was transported into a dread domain I call the Heavenfell where the light of the heavens once shown it is now just shades of gray. Idk it's my first time making a Dread Lord.
On a given morning long, long ago, the rest of the world disappeared and Lorhere County was left all alone. Its inhabitants were never sure whether the world was destroyed with only Lorhere left untouched or whether the county had somehow been taken away. They were, on the other hand, sure of one thing: the cause. A monster had arrived in the village. Just by using his mind, he took away the things that displeased him. And you'll note that the people in Lorhere County have to smile. They have to think happy thoughts and say happy things because, once displeased, the monster can wish them into a cornfield or change them into a grotesque, walking horror. This particular monster can read minds, you see. He knows every thought, he can feel every emotion.
Oh yes, I did forget something, didn't I? I forgot to introduce you to the monster. The monster is Fremont Mumy. He's six years old, with a cute little-boy face and blue, guileless eyes. But when those eyes look at you, you'd better start thinking happy thoughts, because the mind behind them is absolutely in charge. These are the Domains of Dread.
I'd originally planned for my party to just one shot my Dread Domain as a (horrific) respite from my political intrigue campaign. It's obviously based on the Twilight Zone episode, 'It's a Good Life". I had only created a few farms and the village of Peake where Fremont lived with his parents. I even just tweaked a map of Maycomb from 'To Kill a Mockingbird' to use as Peake (big thanks to America's tenth graders).
The party originally thought they were in some kind of rural idyll and just met farmers and villagers around the county always smiling and commenting on what a really good day it was. Then they picked up on that's what everyone said and saw dread in their eyes. I used a roll mechanic that would get more frequent the closer they go to the main village to see if Fremont detected the party's 'bad' thoughts. They would also have to roll if at least one party member didn't say something 'appropriate' after Fremont said/did/created something ("I think it's good. It's a good thing the villager was brutally attacked by that 3-headed gopher.') Fremont's bizarre thought-creations would also occasionally attack (this was fun as the DM because I could create anything I thought a 6 year old would think up)
The party liked the area so I added some more places of interest sort of based around horrors set in rural/small town US (Lorhere is a sort of phonetic spelling for Midwest in Irish Gaelic).
Gate's Lynn (based on Children of the Corn) - a group of kids had killed the adults and taken up worshipping Fremont as a god.
Middle Wick (based on Midwich Cukoos) - a group of kids who had displeased Fremont had now become extensions of his own mind.
the Allegheny Mountains (based on movies like Deliverance and Wrong Turn) - some adults had hidden themselves in the forests and mountains believing Fremont couldn't 'read' them there. The emphasis here was on the tracking of the party rather than the brutal capture.
Fremont's 'original sin' was obviously his selfishness and the disappearing of many, many people. He longs for everyone to be happy and to like/love him very much - but the more he tries to make that happen the further this goal actually becomes. Fremont himself does have vast psychic/magical powers but he's physically weak and limited by his age as far as creativity goes (i.e. He'd create something big but oafish instead of something with powerful attacks). I made the cornfields he sends people to a physical place so rescue attempts could be made. He could be overcome physically as long as surprise was an element, he could be bargained with or he could be shamed into letting the party go if they got enough of the other villagers (esp. Mom and Pop) to confront him.
It was a good few sessions - the emphasis was on psychological horror punctuated with the occasional bit of body horror and violence from Fremont's thought creatures.
Pretty straightforward question, what interesting Dread Lords have you created or encountered.(,posted this before in the wrong section)
I found a statblock online for "Actual Cannibal Shia Lebouf" (based on a song that you can find on Youtube).
So I made it a Domain of Dread for a one-shot. The actual cannibal is living in the forest, preying on the people of a village, to the point where they only move in groups, and only leave their homes for the brightest part of the day, because anyone caught alone, or out late at night will be attacked, and never seen again. Only the party can free this village from their plight.
Cool! That sounds like a pretty good one shot. I love D&D games that try to express fear. That's why I made this post.
Any character whose story you're invested in would make an interesting darklord... That's really the trick. It's hard to get invested in a character who cannot be redeemed...
Personally, I'm creating a Dread Domain with a Planetar as it's dread lord. Basically he killed his siblings in an attempt to keep a mortal out of harms way because he had a overbearing "fatherly" love for the mortal. He then lost his ability to truly heal creatures and when he couldn't keep the mortal alive, he sacrificed townsfolk I'm Orcus's name to keep the mortal alive. Soon after he was hunted, died, brought back to life by Orcus, then he and the surrounding area was transported into a dread domain I call the Heavenfell where the light of the heavens once shown it is now just shades of gray. Idk it's my first time making a Dread Lord.
On a given morning long, long ago, the rest of the world disappeared and Lorhere County was left all alone. Its inhabitants were never sure whether the world was destroyed with only Lorhere left untouched or whether the county had somehow been taken away. They were, on the other hand, sure of one thing: the cause. A monster had arrived in the village. Just by using his mind, he took away the things that displeased him. And you'll note that the people in Lorhere County have to smile. They have to think happy thoughts and say happy things because, once displeased, the monster can wish them into a cornfield or change them into a grotesque, walking horror. This particular monster can read minds, you see. He knows every thought, he can feel every emotion.
Oh yes, I did forget something, didn't I? I forgot to introduce you to the monster. The monster is Fremont Mumy. He's six years old, with a cute little-boy face and blue, guileless eyes. But when those eyes look at you, you'd better start thinking happy thoughts, because the mind behind them is absolutely in charge. These are the Domains of Dread.
I'd originally planned for my party to just one shot my Dread Domain as a (horrific) respite from my political intrigue campaign. It's obviously based on the Twilight Zone episode, 'It's a Good Life". I had only created a few farms and the village of Peake where Fremont lived with his parents. I even just tweaked a map of Maycomb from 'To Kill a Mockingbird' to use as Peake (big thanks to America's tenth graders).
The party originally thought they were in some kind of rural idyll and just met farmers and villagers around the county always smiling and commenting on what a really good day it was. Then they picked up on that's what everyone said and saw dread in their eyes. I used a roll mechanic that would get more frequent the closer they go to the main village to see if Fremont detected the party's 'bad' thoughts. They would also have to roll if at least one party member didn't say something 'appropriate' after Fremont said/did/created something ("I think it's good. It's a good thing the villager was brutally attacked by that 3-headed gopher.') Fremont's bizarre thought-creations would also occasionally attack (this was fun as the DM because I could create anything I thought a 6 year old would think up)
The party liked the area so I added some more places of interest sort of based around horrors set in rural/small town US (Lorhere is a sort of phonetic spelling for Midwest in Irish Gaelic).
Fremont's 'original sin' was obviously his selfishness and the disappearing of many, many people. He longs for everyone to be happy and to like/love him very much - but the more he tries to make that happen the further this goal actually becomes. Fremont himself does have vast psychic/magical powers but he's physically weak and limited by his age as far as creativity goes (i.e. He'd create something big but oafish instead of something with powerful attacks). I made the cornfields he sends people to a physical place so rescue attempts could be made. He could be overcome physically as long as surprise was an element, he could be bargained with or he could be shamed into letting the party go if they got enough of the other villagers (esp. Mom and Pop) to confront him.
It was a good few sessions - the emphasis was on psychological horror punctuated with the occasional bit of body horror and violence from Fremont's thought creatures.
Sorry, I've written another wall of text.