Gothic romance horror adventure..?

So for something really off the wall, in some ways Ravenloftian in others Elizabethan England, I'm designing an adventure module for a homebrew game. We have a new girl in our gaming group, that has some history with a more heavy 'roleplaying' environment than what the majority of our players are used to, since they have always been more or less 'hack/slash' in their preferred gaming style - something I've learned to live with, but never my own preference. Her girlfriend, one of our regulars suggested I create a role-playing heavy module as an experiment to play with a limited membership of our group - the three newest players and for the time being not including our older gaming members (except me as GM.)

While I've never read a romance novel (not my thing), I've watched enough classic romance novel based movies like Wuthering Heights to get a feel of what an adventure module based on that style should look like.

The Mist on the Moors involves a party of aristocrats going on holiday to the provincial west country, a land consisting of forest and moors and largely uninhabited, compared to the Earldom of Fenster (whose lord and daughter are among the adventure party), a part of the Kingdom of Dernallion (an England analog).

The Earl is a reluctant lord, having been an officer in the King's army and a member of the Provost Marshalls office (military attorneys) now retired, as well as a provincial magistrate, until his brother the former Lord of Fenster's recent passing, which has forced the title and duties to the present Earl who had to retire from his judgeship position and take on the reigns as a peer of the realm. To keep his mind off his duties and the from an impending depression from leaving his preferred life as a magistrate, he has taken an interest in his family genealogy - especially the lesser known line preceeding his grandmother, who is from the west country of Dernallion.

His daughter, Margery, is the wife of an illustrious naval sea captain who is currently escorting an ambassador to a foreign land and will be gone for most of the year. Lord Flannery, her father, has discovered an extensive private library with genealogy records at a manor in the Moors and has received an invitation to visit and peruse the collection. So he invites his lonely daughter to accompany him and she can bring two of her closest friends to join them for some provincial leisure time in the west country.

There will be opportunities for romance with the local gentry, as well as a handsome common born hunter-ranger as a guide for their planned Fox Hunt. However, behind the romance and roughing it the aristocrats face in this wilder regioin of the kingdom, a gang of smugglers is bringing intrigue to the area. The local 'fire and brimstone' preacher is having a religious inquisition with the local worshippers of the Old Cult (druidism) and a coven of Witches. Of course there is also a legendary ghost story and haunts that will be featured in the adventure. Finally, a local outlaw, has taken the reputation of a local werewolf legend and is harassing the countryside with his murders. (He is not a werewolf in actuality, as D&D/Pathfinder werewolves are weak monsters. This guy is a barbarian with beastial rage powers, a cloak that allows him to turn into a dire wolf, and a cursed ring that emphasizes the beast that he has become.)

This will be a limited setting consisting of humans as the only known sentient race, muskets and single shot guns are common place, the church has an overwhelming influence, set in an analog, circa 1600, English countryside atmosphere. Most arcane spellcasters are considered practitioners of witchcraft, who are sought for trial and executions.

So far, I've created the entire cast of four pregenerated player characters, a dozen statted NPCs with complete backstories, a nefarious smuggling organization of rogues, buccaneers and illicit merchants, factions for a conflict between various ecclesiastic sects - a circle of druids and a witch's coven. And a host of local monsters, ghosts, and haunts - though I am working on this latter part at this time.

It's got a 'Harlequin Romance' feel that I am a bit uncomfortable with, but as an experiment toward a more modern game, I am intrigued by the prospect of this adventure. Since I've been doing professional publications in recent years, I'll do a complete page layout of the module along with 8 or so maps - as if this were going to publication (which it may, eventually.)

Thoughts?

It seems interesting, but I'm curious as to exactly how much "horror" and how much "romance" you're wanting to feature in this game? I have some thoughts depending on the answer.

tylermalan said:

It seems interesting, but I'm curious as to exactly how much "horror" and how much "romance" you're wanting to feature in this game? I have some thoughts depending on the answer.

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For the time being it's not intended to be a Cthulhu type adventure, probably an equal mix of romance and horror. The moors are said to be haunted, and there will be a haunted location with several haunts and a ghost rider. Something like the Hounds of the Moors, a fey or hellish pack of spiritual hounds haunt the moors as well. Perhaps some additional fey encounters will be included.

Several villains including a coniving witch, a local crime boss, a vindictive witch-hunting deacon is on the loose suspicious of any kind of arcane spellcaster, and a rampaging murderer posing as a 'werewolf' make up the cast of darker NPCs of the adventure. The party will uncover an extensive smuggling operation occurring in the moors, revealing the perpetrators and putting themselves at risk with retaliation by the outlaws.

I'm hoping for some kind of dark revelation to be discovered in the Widow's library regarding the Lord's grandmother's ancestral line. Something that will disturb him, even drive the Lord mad, perhaps a realized family curse, or connections to an unsavory past. Perhaps a hint of something Cthulhu like.

These are the various plots I want to explore.

Much of the adventure will be social interactions with the locals, so a good chance for romantic interludes. That is the goal anyway...

So far:

1. I've statted up a lone roadhouse with an adjusted city stat block, since it exists independant of any local village and has a crime element there.

2. I've built a highwaymen ambush on the road to the destination village.

3. Village of Demure is statted up, led by a village council with the 'fire and brimstone' deacon of the church in charge, for an insuler and pious village of impoverished moor men.

4. Eight major NPCs statted up, each with backstory and agenda. Some are potential romantic partners, 2 male and one female.

5. Created 3 pregen PCs - 2 females (sorceress and paladin) and 1 male (gunslinger), and the Earl as an NPC (although could be used as a PC, although he is 62 years old, with a missing leg - still he is Cavalier 5/aristocrat 2). This is set up for a party of 3, 7th level characters.

6. The criminal smuggling operation is statted up (using Rite Publishing's Way of the Yakuza, stat block designer)

7. Six different factions each with their own agendas, some with conflicts between another.

I've yet to do the haunts, ghosts, monster hounds and fey.

I'll be creating a half dozen maps, and some illustrations to dress up the module - with some props as well.

Well... I'm not sure if that answered my question, but, uhh...

It sounds pretty cool, man. It sounds almost too detailed, though. Meaning, there seem to be a lot of details that the players will never know.

To be honest, I think all of the details that you've listed are not really the sticking points. You definitely have some great ideas, and it sounds like an adventure that I would want to make a character for. But the main sticking points, in my opinion, are:

1) How exactly do you intend to roleplay the romance parts? I don't need to mention that this is failure waiting to happen. Has there ever, in the history of time, been a group that could actually roleplay romance?

2) Do you actually intend to make the game experience unsettling/scary, or are you just using "horror" elements like ghosts and werewolves and the like? If you're actually trying to make it scary, I think you have a good story for it, but this, by itself, won't do the job.

The setting sounds flavorful.

In principle, I think the concept of "opportunities" for romance is tough sell. Many players don't even think about that sort of thing when they come to a D&D game. To get them into it, I think you'd need to telegraph or railroad, and even then there will be a lot of different reactions on the subject. I see the opportunities for general roleplaying; mysteries, politics, and relationships more easily.

I'm not saying you shouldn't try; I'm all for pushing the envelope (which oddly enough, this is in D&D). I would suggest soliciting opinions from the opposite sex on the romantic aspects, as you may need both perspectives.

The title says "horror", but I'm also wondering how horrific the concept is; I don't see a lot of nasty things in the post above (depends on how one construes the witch hunt or haunts or werewolves, etc.), although the stage is set that the DM could just as easily do horror as anything else.

tylermalan said:

Well... I'm not sure if that answered my question, but, uhh...

It sounds pretty cool, man. It sounds almost too detailed, though. Meaning, there seem to be a lot of details that the players will never know.

To be honest, I think all of the details that you've listed are not really the sticking points. You definitely have some great ideas, and it sounds like an adventure that I would want to make a character for. But the main sticking points, in my opinion, are:

1) How exactly do you intend to roleplay the romance parts? I don't need to mention that this is failure waiting to happen. Has there ever, in the history of time, been a group that could actually roleplay romance?

2) Do you actually intend to make the game experience unsettling/scary, or are you just using "horror" elements like ghosts and werewolves and the like? If you're actually trying to make it scary, I think you have a good story for it, but this, by itself, won't do the job.

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Well I did develop and help design 3 published adventures for the Kaidan, Curse of the Golden Spear mini adventure arc - so I've got some experience with complicated plots.

Regarding the romance. I don't think I want to use a 'romance mechanic', as included in the Jade Regent AP. The intent is for a roleplaying romantic experience and not by roll of the dice. This adventure is not a scripted romance play, so there is no guarantee of a romantic experience, there will be opportunities made available and potential romantic individual NPCs presented. However, some will become complications that lead to possible dangers on what information the romantic PCs give to their 'partners'. The PCs may not be interested nor 'fall in love' with the elements provided.

Because the party consists of aristocrats, things might turn into aristocratic parlour flirtations or romantic horse rides on the moors - I don't intend to portray sexual encounters - if things go that way, the parties involved can 'go behind closed doors' and be left implied, not actual.

Regarding the horror - yes, I intend to make the horror elements a major part of the story. This isn't supposed to be Gothic Romance only, that is just something unique in color and fluff for the adventure experience. I want the noble father to have a nervous breakdown after learning some dark truth about his family line. I want the main female PC's secret sorcery talent to be revealed and become a threat due to the witch inquisition that is currently going on in the community. I want encounters with haunts, ghosts, moor monsters, fey beings to be real, and possibly lead to combat opportunities. I want conflicts between witches, druids and the almight church to heaten the environment. And I want a smuggling operation that needs to be stopped and combated by the lawful party of aristocrats.

I looking to create at least a single level of encounters, not just a one shot.

Ahnehnois said:

The setting sounds flavorful.

In principle, I think the concept of "opportunities" for romance is tough sell. Many players don't even think about that sort of thing when they come to a D&D game. To get them into it, I think you'd need to telegraph or railroad, and even then there will be a lot of different reactions on the subject. I see the opportunities for general roleplaying; mysteries, politics, and relationships more easily.

I'm not saying you shouldn't try; I'm all for pushing the envelope (which oddly enough, this is in D&D). I would suggest soliciting opinions from the opposite sex on the romantic aspects, as you may need both perspectives.

The title says "horror", but I'm also wondering how horrific the concept is; I don't see a lot of nasty things in the post above (depends on how one construes the witch hunt or haunts or werewolves, etc.), although the stage is set that the DM could just as easily do horror as anything else.

Click to expand...

I don't think I need to sell the 'romance' aspect, as it has already been implied to at least one of the female players, having gotten her 2 cents. As I said in my previous post, there is no guarantee of romance, only the idea of it implied and opportunities presented - it will be completely up to role play, the intentions of the players involved. I don't want to impose romantic encounters - that is up to the players involved.

Many of the great gothic horror fiction of the past included romance as part of the story - I don't see going romantic as necessarily lessening the horror as it becomes evident in the story.

But I agree that selling both a romantic experience and a truly horror experience are both hard to do in an RPG. This is just an experiment, that I think could work. If the scenario runs well, I might look at publishing this.

It's really up to the players to play up the romance and feel the horror for it to work - we'll see what happens...

Love it!

This looks outstanding. I've been trying to put something like this together for a long time myself. My wife is a HUGE fan of the Gothic Horror/Romance/Madness on the Moors story genre, and I've never really be able to get it to work.

This setting looks outstanding, and is a game I'd love to play in. I like all the factions you've put in. The best part of this genre really is all the scheming and conniving that goes on as people try to marry off daughters to advantageous gentlemen, while hiding the skeletons in the closet.

I hope you get this published, but if not, I hope you'll consider sharing it here. This is some really great stuff!

Just thinking about what I need to do in order to weaken the level of magic, to better fit a 'more modern' setting, without unduly altering the system - I still want to use base Pathfinder for the setting.

I'm looking at two possibilities:

1. Either no magic items, no scrolls, no potions - actions are limited to use of existing spells on daily lists, feats, skills, class features. There is almost enough magic within each spell casting class itself, without the need for outside arcane tools to enhance it. Plus it limits the amount of spellcasting to daily spells.

2. Or limit magic items to +2 modifier (lesser items only), and the allowance of certain potions and such, especially of the healing variety.

I sort of want to do the Conan-thing, where magic items exist, but they are actually very powerful, and always come with some kind of curse. If you have a magic item, it might almost be a lesser artifact and it probably best fits in the hands of the most powerful villains - because they are the one's living with the curse. Only the most wealthy, and the most willing to be corrupted possess them.

Since the party of characters are aristocrats, the possibility exist that their families could possess such items.

I don't want to go E6 (not a fan of that), especially since I've already chosen to build this adventure for 7th level characters - that's already defeated.

Thoughts?