I am currently working on a small one-shot for my new campaign (I like to start campaigns off with a one-shot for all the players to get a feel for their characters and the rest of the party, and decide if they like what they've built, before we start the long-term commitment of a campaign). For this one I was hoping to create the origin story of how the party met each other. The general storyline is that the pc's, in groups/pairs or on their own, are traveling through a dangerous forest for their own reasons (which I'll discuss with each player) when they find an inn nestled deep in the forest. They feel a pull towards the inn and suddenly feel the urge to go stay there. Obviously, something is amiss with this inn and it's up to them to figure out what before it's too late.
I'm a little shakey on what's wrong with the inn, so far my idea is that a mage has created the inn as a secret hideout to lure powerful heroes in and leech their power/magic, also using the victims for her unsanctioned magical experimentation. The PC's are slated to be her next victims if they don't figure out her plot in time (there's not really a timer for this, they're all meant to live through this origin story).
I'm struggling A) with the mystery behind the inn, I feel like it might be a little weak? If you see any weak spots or have anything to add, that would be great. And B) with what clues I can scatter about the inn that aren't too obvious but also not too difficult. I have a lot of trouble with this. If you have any thoughts on that it would be very appreciated!
I'd recommend making it obvious that something's up, and maybe throw in somethings to guide the characters to that idea, such as strange noises coming from behind a locked door and the like.
Make the inn very (overly) welcoming for the players, fill it with patrons from different places and times so that they're a bunch of misfits. Have it that the patrons have all been there for years, if not decades or more. The inn should not just eat people, it should trap them there.
You could:
Tie the way it works in to the food - the more you eat, the more hungry you become until you can never leave and only sit eating/drinking.
Make the inn too pleasurable to leave
When you try to leave, the doors just open onto more corridors, leading back to the main room
Give the PCs (false) answers to questions/backstory they want. Make them ridiculous. The inn has a small library, and you can learn how to craft artifacts! The fighter finds a little armoury with +3 magical weapons and armour (all of it is illusionary, but don't tell them). Long lost relatives appear, but you can't quite remember what happened when you spoke to them...
The PCs need to then figure out a number of things in the inn that they can do that will free them. I suggest that instead of a mage, you make the entire inn a sentient inter-planar nightmare creature (by entering, you're basically in its inescapable stomach) and have the staff there be bits of its consciousness - so they perhaps only know 3 phrases each, cannot answer questions, e.g. Jane the barwoman can say "Welcome friends, what can I get you?" "Coming right up!" and "It's on the house." When they hear these over and over they'll figure out something is up.
Actually this sounds so much fun I might run it myself.
I always look at interesting films and novels for inspiration. I like Sanvael's idea.
Maybe the characters were just caught out in a mysterious storm and forced to take shelter in the tavern. Or something similar to the Oblivion quest (dark brotherhood) "Whodunit"- the quest is meant to be very similar to Agatha Christie's book And Then There Were None.
The patrons in the tavern are vampires, and their leader draws people in by controlling the weather - by a storm. The vampire give the guests plenty of alcohol and food, and provide rooms. Maybe the characters have to roll a constitution saving throw from being intoxicated. Then they are jumped in the night by the vampire - but they don't want to kill them. The vampire want the PC's as cattle. If they manage to capture them, they are locked in the basement and have to escape.
Or the patrons are ghosts, but don't realise it (or refuse to mention it - choosing to be ignorant) and continue on with their lives. But there is one dark spirit that won't let them leave the tavern and draws travelers in by casting a mysterious fog around them - leading them to the inn. While there he feeds off their misery, he dislikes the group meddling and asking questions and decides to eventually reveal himself and intervenes.
Non of these ideas are original, and I most likely unconsciously regurgitated them from all the books I've read and films I've watched.
I would have gone for haunted inn, taking inspiration from The Shinning and similar works. Something like:
A- The characters end up at the inn because of a snowstorm. It gives them a reason to stop there without them growing suspiscious. The storm then grows worse to the point that they can't leave and makes things progressively colder as a time limit.
B- The inn is haunted because long ago, a similar storm trapped the guests inside. The food and fuel started running out and guests eventually began to kill each other and resort to cannibalism. Eventually, either the last one left couldn't live with what was done and killed themselves or the went mad and ate themselves. The curse is that it traps new guests in a storm and recreates the tragedy. To break the curse you either kill the boss (the last one to die, who went mad and constantly hungers) or in the case of them feeling guilty they either have to forgive or sacrifice themselves. Alternatively, it turns out that the original tragedy was on purpose by one of the guests or staff that sabotaged stuff and learning about that and proving it turns all ghosts against it and ends the curse. Maybe combine it with the original idea and them being trapped was the original guy's trap getting out of hand? It could have been a magic storm from the very begining or caused by a cursed object one of the original guests had.
C- The clues that something fishy is going on would be stuff like the guests' stories not matching up (since they are victims from different time periods), hands being stained with soot after touching some furniture since it was originally used as kindling, parts of the inn usually closed to the public being in disrepair, spiderwebs in the food cabinets, chilly winds that are not covered in the illusion... And all the aparitions and horror movie shit you can cram in. Guests and bodies that vanish, staff tempting people to go mad, waves of blood... As I said, go ham and steal from horror movies like The Shinning. Alternatively, journal pages, scratches in the walls, pieces of people in the food served before it "runs out". Or play it as people really being trapped there and see how long it takes before the PC realize 90% of the people at the inn are dead people.
D- Maybe include some helpful NPC for clues? They will instantly assume they are ghosts, so probably more than one, some real guests and some ghosts. Make the real one sus.
Had it been me I would have made it so that the mage who created the inn was something more than just an average mage, maybe something like a devil in disguise, could also work with a hag or other fey creatures that would be into the whole of using people either for their own amusement or for some more nefarious purpose. Maybe do as said earlier and have it be a really nice place at first glance, a pretty innkeeper, delicious food and nice music, or treat it at the start like you would any roadside inn they might visit. This only go weird when they make an attempt to leave and find whenever they walk out... they end up back inside of the place again and again. Even going out a window or up the chimney would not work.
I do like to mess with my players perception, and it could be that the more they explore the weirder the place becomes. It could be anything, bigger on the inside? People who seem to have been there for hundreds of years, not knowing how long time have passed, or make them worried on how long time they have actually spent there before starting to ask the right questions.
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Hi all!
I am currently working on a small one-shot for my new campaign (I like to start campaigns off with a one-shot for all the players to get a feel for their characters and the rest of the party, and decide if they like what they've built, before we start the long-term commitment of a campaign). For this one I was hoping to create the origin story of how the party met each other. The general storyline is that the pc's, in groups/pairs or on their own, are traveling through a dangerous forest for their own reasons (which I'll discuss with each player) when they find an inn nestled deep in the forest. They feel a pull towards the inn and suddenly feel the urge to go stay there. Obviously, something is amiss with this inn and it's up to them to figure out what before it's too late.
I'm a little shakey on what's wrong with the inn, so far my idea is that a mage has created the inn as a secret hideout to lure powerful heroes in and leech their power/magic, also using the victims for her unsanctioned magical experimentation. The PC's are slated to be her next victims if they don't figure out her plot in time (there's not really a timer for this, they're all meant to live through this origin story).
I'm struggling A) with the mystery behind the inn, I feel like it might be a little weak? If you see any weak spots or have anything to add, that would be great. And B) with what clues I can scatter about the inn that aren't too obvious but also not too difficult. I have a lot of trouble with this. If you have any thoughts on that it would be very appreciated!
I'd recommend making it obvious that something's up, and maybe throw in somethings to guide the characters to that idea, such as strange noises coming from behind a locked door and the like.
Orange Juice!
Make the inn very (overly) welcoming for the players, fill it with patrons from different places and times so that they're a bunch of misfits. Have it that the patrons have all been there for years, if not decades or more. The inn should not just eat people, it should trap them there.
You could:
Tie the way it works in to the food - the more you eat, the more hungry you become until you can never leave and only sit eating/drinking.
Make the inn too pleasurable to leave
When you try to leave, the doors just open onto more corridors, leading back to the main room
Give the PCs (false) answers to questions/backstory they want. Make them ridiculous. The inn has a small library, and you can learn how to craft artifacts! The fighter finds a little armoury with +3 magical weapons and armour (all of it is illusionary, but don't tell them). Long lost relatives appear, but you can't quite remember what happened when you spoke to them...
The PCs need to then figure out a number of things in the inn that they can do that will free them. I suggest that instead of a mage, you make the entire inn a sentient inter-planar nightmare creature (by entering, you're basically in its inescapable stomach) and have the staff there be bits of its consciousness - so they perhaps only know 3 phrases each, cannot answer questions, e.g. Jane the barwoman can say "Welcome friends, what can I get you?" "Coming right up!" and "It's on the house." When they hear these over and over they'll figure out something is up.
Actually this sounds so much fun I might run it myself.
I always look at interesting films and novels for inspiration. I like Sanvael's idea.
Maybe the characters were just caught out in a mysterious storm and forced to take shelter in the tavern. Or something similar to the Oblivion quest (dark brotherhood) "Whodunit"- the quest is meant to be very similar to Agatha Christie's book And Then There Were None.
The patrons in the tavern are vampires, and their leader draws people in by controlling the weather - by a storm. The vampire give the guests plenty of alcohol and food, and provide rooms. Maybe the characters have to roll a constitution saving throw from being intoxicated. Then they are jumped in the night by the vampire - but they don't want to kill them. The vampire want the PC's as cattle. If they manage to capture them, they are locked in the basement and have to escape.
Or the patrons are ghosts, but don't realise it (or refuse to mention it - choosing to be ignorant) and continue on with their lives. But there is one dark spirit that won't let them leave the tavern and draws travelers in by casting a mysterious fog around them - leading them to the inn. While there he feeds off their misery, he dislikes the group meddling and asking questions and decides to eventually reveal himself and intervenes.
Non of these ideas are original, and I most likely unconsciously regurgitated them from all the books I've read and films I've watched.
I would have gone for haunted inn, taking inspiration from The Shinning and similar works. Something like:
A- The characters end up at the inn because of a snowstorm. It gives them a reason to stop there without them growing suspiscious. The storm then grows worse to the point that they can't leave and makes things progressively colder as a time limit.
B- The inn is haunted because long ago, a similar storm trapped the guests inside. The food and fuel started running out and guests eventually began to kill each other and resort to cannibalism. Eventually, either the last one left couldn't live with what was done and killed themselves or the went mad and ate themselves. The curse is that it traps new guests in a storm and recreates the tragedy. To break the curse you either kill the boss (the last one to die, who went mad and constantly hungers) or in the case of them feeling guilty they either have to forgive or sacrifice themselves. Alternatively, it turns out that the original tragedy was on purpose by one of the guests or staff that sabotaged stuff and learning about that and proving it turns all ghosts against it and ends the curse. Maybe combine it with the original idea and them being trapped was the original guy's trap getting out of hand? It could have been a magic storm from the very begining or caused by a cursed object one of the original guests had.
C- The clues that something fishy is going on would be stuff like the guests' stories not matching up (since they are victims from different time periods), hands being stained with soot after touching some furniture since it was originally used as kindling, parts of the inn usually closed to the public being in disrepair, spiderwebs in the food cabinets, chilly winds that are not covered in the illusion... And all the aparitions and horror movie shit you can cram in. Guests and bodies that vanish, staff tempting people to go mad, waves of blood... As I said, go ham and steal from horror movies like The Shinning. Alternatively, journal pages, scratches in the walls, pieces of people in the food served before it "runs out". Or play it as people really being trapped there and see how long it takes before the PC realize 90% of the people at the inn are dead people.
D- Maybe include some helpful NPC for clues? They will instantly assume they are ghosts, so probably more than one, some real guests and some ghosts. Make the real one sus.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Had it been me I would have made it so that the mage who created the inn was something more than just an average mage, maybe something like a devil in disguise, could also work with a hag or other fey creatures that would be into the whole of using people either for their own amusement or for some more nefarious purpose. Maybe do as said earlier and have it be a really nice place at first glance, a pretty innkeeper, delicious food and nice music, or treat it at the start like you would any roadside inn they might visit. This only go weird when they make an attempt to leave and find whenever they walk out... they end up back inside of the place again and again. Even going out a window or up the chimney would not work.
I do like to mess with my players perception, and it could be that the more they explore the weirder the place becomes. It could be anything, bigger on the inside? People who seem to have been there for hundreds of years, not knowing how long time have passed, or make them worried on how long time they have actually spent there before starting to ask the right questions.