Hi. I seek for any kind of help. I am running Curse of Strahd and I want to make an encounter deep into the Svalych woods. It needs to tell a story without notes and creatures in there. Just a home left years ago. It needs to set sad and depressing vibes with the feeling of no hope.
the story is: there was a family. It was doing ok but one day baba lysaga showed up. She wanted to make a small flash golem as a “baby strahd” in her house so she took their baby. Parents tried to sacrifice themselves to save the child but Lysaga putted a spell which fully locks the door trapping them inside and leaving there to starve. (If you have any improvements to this text — go on. I would be happy if you help.) So I need details through which I can tell the story/set horror ect.
Maybe when party gets into cabin, show some kind of struggle marks against the door. Also if it isn't to dark for your group the parents bodies can be found near the child's toys, clutched or displayed lovingly or maybe looked like some kind of prayer of protection using them as a focus.
Imagine the two trapped in the house with their child taken to be sacrificed. What would they do? What would they try? When would they finally give up? Evidence of their attempts to escape and the level of desperation to do so should be shown environmentally.
First, they tried ____.
So, there's ____ as evidence.
Then, they tried ____.
So, there's ____ as evidence.
And so on...
I like the idea that one of them tried to climb out the chimney and died in there, stuck, trapping the other parent who possibly did some disrespectful things to move the corpse. Any fire in the fireplace would result in suffocation, but without it, a cold night might kill just as easily if it was the wintery seasons. If vermin were trapped, too, they'd resort to desperate measures to survive... and possibly be used by the parents to survive for as long as they can. With a corpse in the chimney, cannibalism is an option. If either could write, a journal or simply a letter to someone (or to the other parent) could tell a tiny portion of the tale with an apology for having to do something - maybe something non-specific.
Be aware that players can miss stuff, and that's okay. Not all content will be explored. Be wary of trying too hard to point players into discovering things and don't overload with content just to make sure they see something. Many, many mysteries are never solved because nobody even discovered the mystery to start, and while sad, it's okay in D&D. If there's a body stuck in the chimney and they never learn about it (didn't try to build a fire or never thought to investigate or saw a clue and didn't pursue it further), it's disappointing but it's still okay.
Overlooked content can be imported into other adventures.
(EDIT: Be wary of including unavoidable bodily functions. The idea is to spin a tale and not just shock players with revulsion. It can be included with some creativity to avoid becoming simply gross, but it can also be excluded until a player specifically references something regarding it.)
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Broken windows, and all the glass is outside the house. Broken door, and the door can be seen as having been broken from the inside by the blunt force on the inside and the splinters poking outwards. Blunt force used against the walls in a couple places. All the food is gone. Evidence that things that are not food were torn apart and the pieces are not all there. One body is placed in a peaceful pose on the bed but now is only a skeleton. The other body is in a chair looking outside, slumped over to one side and only a skeleton. Jewelry marks each victim as a man or a woman. The house interior appears to have been well maintained until the elements came in and took over. Maybe the bones in one of the victim's hands are broken; or one of the victim's feet or a collarbone. A set of candles, carefully arranged for a ceremony are found burned nearly to the very bottom. Maybe the body in the chair is also found with a knife laying on the floor next to the chair.
That's about all I got.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Imagine the two trapped in the house with their child taken to be sacrificed. What would they do? What would they try? When would they finally give up? Evidence of their attempts to escape and the level of desperation to do so should be shown environmentally.
First, they tried ____.
So, there's ____ as evidence.
Then, they tried ____.
So, there's ____ as evidence.
And so on...
I like the idea that one of them tried to climb out the chimney and died in there, stuck, trapping the other parent who possibly did some disrespectful things to move the corpse. Any fire in the fireplace would result in suffocation, but without it, a cold night might kill just as easily if it was the wintery seasons. If vermin were trapped, too, they'd resort to desperate measures to survive... and possibly be used by the parents to survive for as long as they can. With a corpse in the chimney, cannibalism is an option. If either could write, a journal or simply a letter to someone (or to the other parent) could tell a tiny portion of the tale with an apology for having to do something - maybe something non-specific.
Be aware that players can miss stuff, and that's okay. Not all content will be explored. Be wary of trying too hard to point players into discovering things and don't overload with content just to make sure they see something. Many, many mysteries are never solved because nobody even discovered the mystery to start, and while sad, it's okay in D&D. If there's a body stuck in the chimney and they never learn about it (didn't try to build a fire or never thought to investigate or saw a clue and didn't pursue it further), it's disappointing but it's still okay.
Overlooked content can be imported into other adventures.
(EDIT: Be wary of including unavoidable bodily functions. The idea is to spin a tale and not just shock players with revulsion. It can be included with some creativity to avoid becoming simply gross, but it can also be excluded until a player specifically references something regarding it.)
daaaamn that is super dark. thank you for your post it is just.... wow. I am definetely stealing your idea with the chimney. And the method is usefull too
Broken windows, and all the glass is outside the house. Broken door, and the door can be seen as having been broken from the inside by the blunt force on the inside and the splinters poking outwards. Blunt force used against the walls in a couple places. All the food is gone. Evidence that things that are not food were torn apart and the pieces are not all there. One body is placed in a peaceful pose on the bed but now is only a skeleton. The other body is in a chair looking outside, slumped over to one side and only a skeleton. Jewelry marks each victim as a man or a woman. The house interior appears to have been well maintained until the elements came in and took over. Maybe the bones in one of the victim's hands are broken; or one of the victim's feet or a collarbone. A set of candles, carefully arranged for a ceremony are found burned nearly to the very bottom. Maybe the body in the chair is also found with a knife laying on the floor next to the chair.
That's about all I got.
hm good description. Good idea to mark them as man and woman by jewelry. Will take your ideas, thanks)
When it comes to hopelessness and desperation, I dig deep into the dark parts of people for things they'd never even think of doing. (It creeps me out.)
There was another option I considered involving a struggle between the two parents with one favoring trying to find solutions with extreme perversions of superstition with the other becoming more fearful and frustrated and, eventually, angry with the parent - the two, in spiraling insanity, kill each other. This one is a little more complicated to tell 100% environmentally and may leave a lot of contradicting assumptions in the players. This avenue is also less about hopelessness.
Yet, this option can leave behind an encounter for the players if they stumble across some incomplete ritual - peaceful or combat, maybe either depending on what players do with the incomplete ritual.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
When it comes to hopelessness and desperation, I dig deep into the dark parts of people for things they'd never even think of doing. (It creeps me out.)
And you are doing it like a professional. I am a thriller amateur writer myself and it is hard to frighten me with such a details but being stuck in a chimney is sick!
Hi. I seek for any kind of help. I am running Curse of Strahd and I want to make an encounter deep into the Svalych woods. It needs to tell a story without notes and creatures in there. Just a home left years ago. It needs to set sad and depressing vibes with the feeling of no hope.
the story is: there was a family. It was doing ok but one day baba lysaga showed up. She wanted to make a small flash golem as a “baby strahd” in her house so she took their baby. Parents tried to sacrifice themselves to save the child but Lysaga putted a spell which fully locks the door trapping them inside and leaving there to starve. (If you have any improvements to this text — go on. I would be happy if you help.)
So I need details through which I can tell the story/set horror ect.
Maybe when party gets into cabin, show some kind of struggle marks against the door. Also if it isn't to dark for your group the parents bodies can be found near the child's toys, clutched or displayed lovingly or maybe looked like some kind of prayer of protection using them as a focus.
Imagine the two trapped in the house with their child taken to be sacrificed. What would they do? What would they try? When would they finally give up? Evidence of their attempts to escape and the level of desperation to do so should be shown environmentally.
I like the idea that one of them tried to climb out the chimney and died in there, stuck, trapping the other parent who possibly did some disrespectful things to move the corpse. Any fire in the fireplace would result in suffocation, but without it, a cold night might kill just as easily if it was the wintery seasons. If vermin were trapped, too, they'd resort to desperate measures to survive... and possibly be used by the parents to survive for as long as they can. With a corpse in the chimney, cannibalism is an option. If either could write, a journal or simply a letter to someone (or to the other parent) could tell a tiny portion of the tale with an apology for having to do something - maybe something non-specific.
Be aware that players can miss stuff, and that's okay. Not all content will be explored. Be wary of trying too hard to point players into discovering things and don't overload with content just to make sure they see something. Many, many mysteries are never solved because nobody even discovered the mystery to start, and while sad, it's okay in D&D. If there's a body stuck in the chimney and they never learn about it (didn't try to build a fire or never thought to investigate or saw a clue and didn't pursue it further), it's disappointing but it's still okay.
Overlooked content can be imported into other adventures.
(EDIT: Be wary of including unavoidable bodily functions. The idea is to spin a tale and not just shock players with revulsion. It can be included with some creativity to avoid becoming simply gross, but it can also be excluded until a player specifically references something regarding it.)
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Broken windows, and all the glass is outside the house. Broken door, and the door can be seen as having been broken from the inside by the blunt force on the inside and the splinters poking outwards. Blunt force used against the walls in a couple places. All the food is gone. Evidence that things that are not food were torn apart and the pieces are not all there. One body is placed in a peaceful pose on the bed but now is only a skeleton. The other body is in a chair looking outside, slumped over to one side and only a skeleton. Jewelry marks each victim as a man or a woman. The house interior appears to have been well maintained until the elements came in and took over. Maybe the bones in one of the victim's hands are broken; or one of the victim's feet or a collarbone. A set of candles, carefully arranged for a ceremony are found burned nearly to the very bottom. Maybe the body in the chair is also found with a knife laying on the floor next to the chair.
That's about all I got.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
a vase with a detailed carving of a castle painted on it, slightly chipped and containing only a few wilting flowers
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
daaaamn that is super dark. thank you for your post it is just.... wow. I am definetely stealing your idea with the chimney. And the method is usefull too
hm good description. Good idea to mark them as man and woman by jewelry. Will take your ideas, thanks)
When it comes to hopelessness and desperation, I dig deep into the dark parts of people for things they'd never even think of doing. (It creeps me out.)
There was another option I considered involving a struggle between the two parents with one favoring trying to find solutions with extreme perversions of superstition with the other becoming more fearful and frustrated and, eventually, angry with the parent - the two, in spiraling insanity, kill each other. This one is a little more complicated to tell 100% environmentally and may leave a lot of contradicting assumptions in the players. This avenue is also less about hopelessness.
Yet, this option can leave behind an encounter for the players if they stumble across some incomplete ritual - peaceful or combat, maybe either depending on what players do with the incomplete ritual.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
And you are doing it like a professional. I am a thriller amateur writer myself and it is hard to frighten me with such a details but being stuck in a chimney is sick!