1001 Mournland Horrors

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by zombiegleemax:

Note: This is a guide for GM's who want to make a scary story out of a mere traveling trip through Mournwood, but it's fun to read anyway...

355.) There is a mysterious area in a dark, cold part of Mournwood where a small, wooden log lies. If your party enters this area for some reason, they will HAVE to stop by this house for some reason. As the party enters through the door, the PC's see a random humanoid of small or less size, crouched in a corner of the first floor of the house, holding either a crossbow or spear. In front of this humanoid is an icy-white girl about 10 years old. She is wearing a black robe, and is floating in the air, staring at the small creature curled up in the corner, who is paralyzed with fear.

Suddenly, the girl lifts up her hand, pointing it at the poor little thing in the corner of the cabin. Immediately, the creature squints it's eyes, then opens them. The creatures' eyes are instantly turned black, it's as if the creature's whole eye has become a pupil. The creature jumps up onto a table, either shooting itself in the face, or stabbing itself with a spear (depends which weapon you gave the thing.) A greenish-blue specter rises from the now-dead being and floats, disappearing into the floating ghost girl. She suddenly turns around.

The PC's can see her eyes, red, with a white pupil. She instantly screams and flies toward the party. List of possible actions and results...

Run: Nearest to ghost will be victim
Stab the ghost: The sword will instantly turn back on the owner, stabbing the PC's head, killing it instantly, regardless of HP.
Shoot the ghost: Arrow will stop, turn back, and kill the PC who shot it.
Cast magic on the ghost: Magic will be negated
Attempting negotiation: Oh, you know...
Trying to be a hero, and jumping towards the ghost: The "hero" will fly towards a pillar and is stabbed , instantly dying
Trying to distract the ghost: LOL : The "distractor" will meet me "hero" shown above
Holding up a lantern or torch (lit): The ghost will scream and disappear
Holding up a lantern of torch (unlit): Eek:

The victim of the ghost will have to make a will save (DC 35) or instantly kill itself. The idiot who tried to distract the ghost and the people who died will instantly remove the sword or arrow from their head and be recovered to full health after their bodies are dragged at least 100 ft. away from the house, or after the ghost disappears. The idiot who killed itself will have temp. Constitution penalty until the PC rests for at least 10 hours. If you checked carefully, where the ghost disappeared will be a memo stating...

She's dying, our precious Kirsty is dying. She is dying because of a disease in some meat, because of those chefs! Why? Why did it have to be our precious baby!? I hope, in death, this memo will explain to her why she died. So that she may not haunt this place, killing everything! Oh, why? I wish I could stop this from happening, but I can't. Oh, I pray that in death, she will live a peaceful afterlife. And I hope, IF she does haunt this place, someone can bring light to this place and send her to a happy afterlife. Please, someone help us. Help...

I'm going to have nightmares for weeks now!

Originally posted by zombiegleemax:

Right. That's such a good way to get a nice, scary game. "DO ANYTHING BUT HOLD UP A LIT TORCH AND IT'S A TPK!".
No. Just..no.

Ok, you've got a point, but I'll change it into...

The PC's can see her eyes, red, with a white pupil. She instantly screams and flies toward the party. List of possible actions and results...

Run: Nearest to ghost will be victim
Stab the ghost: The sword will instantly turn back on the owner, stabbing the PC's head, killing it instantly, regardless of HP.
Shoot the ghost: Arrow will stop, turn back, and kill the PC who shot it.
Cast magic on the ghost: Ghost disappears
Attempting negotiation : Oh, you know...
Trying to be a hero, and jumping towards the ghost: The "hero" will fly towards a pillar and is stabbed , instantly dying
Trying to distract the ghost: LOL : The "distractor" will meet me "hero" shown above
Holding up a lantern or torch (lit): The ghost will scream and disappear
Holding up a lantern of torch (unlit): The ghost will ponder a bit, then disappear.
Make a will/fort. save (DC 25): Ghost will disappear

The victim of the ghost will have to make a will save (DC 35) or instantly kill itself. The idiot who tried to distract the ghost and the people who died will instantly remove the sword or arrow from their head and be recovered to full health after their bodies are dragged at least 100 ft. away from the house, or after the ghost disappears. The idiot who killed itself will have temp. Constitution penalty until the PC rests for at least 10 hours.

Don't worry, those who died resurrect with full HP after the ghost disappears or the bodies are dragged at least 100. ft way from the house. By the way, the ghost has 50 ft. speed, okay??? NOW, is it better?

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by zombiegleemax:

Ok, you've got a point, but I'll change it into...

NOW, is it better?

Honestly, I think it was fine before. You just have to give clues as to how to defeat the enemy. If they find the note before they enter the house, and perhaps see someone else try to attack the ghose and see the result, that might be enough for the wary PC. For the less puzzle inclined, a prophecy given to the cleric or paladin with daylight as one of their granted spells: no option.

You could do this days in advance. They could have a week of travel and encounters before this spell becomes useful. But the gods refuse to let them take another until the menace is defeated.

On that note:

368) The cleric prays for spells, but seems to only be granted Inflict spells. Puzzled, and slightly alarmed, the party proceeds to find a band of Silver Flame missionaries. The clerics are undead, but still believe they are living. They turn towards the characters and declare that the PC's are near death, but not to fear, for the clerics will cure them. The spells they cast are indeed Cure spells, but instead of not working, they are changed into Inflict spells. When the PC cleric casts an Inflict spell, it casts as a Cure spell and can heal party members and damage the undead clerics. Experimentation reveals that this zone is less than 100ft across, and though sinister, they can heal here.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by jelmore:

More creepy environment/minor effect stuff...
369) The hungry party stops to rest and break opens their rations to the horrific smell of spoilage and decay. The food is actually fine, and is perfectly edible; but meat smells rancid, fruit smells rotten, and bread reeks of mold.
370) Along similar lines, the party finds any dried or cooked meat they brought with them has reverted to a raw state. Meat cannot be cooked -- even sitting directly in a fire, any meat stays wet and raw.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by jelmore:

While I think most of the ideas here are pretty good, I'm not a fan of the ones that break certain basic assumptions about the Mournlands or Eberron in general.

For me, the "you cannot heal in the Mournland" rule is a pretty fundamental one to me. I'd be worried about a lazy DM throwing in zones that allow for natural or magical healing to give beleagured players a break, even if they are counterbalanced by risk. (As a reality check: unless entering such a region meant near-certain death, regions in the Mournland that allowed for natural or magical healing would have quickly become the site of encampments and outposts, as people searched for survivors of the Day of Mourning.)

Another thing to remember is that as we enter the campaign setting, Eberron is in a state of pretty serious change. The destruction of Cyre, the end of the war, the freedom of the warforged -- those are all recent events in Eberron's history, about as far back in the past as 9/11 is in the real world. Things in Eberron today are not the same as they were during the Last War, especially where warforged are concerned.

Just my two cents, and YCINMC (Your Campaign Is Not My Campaign)

Jay (=

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by zombiegleemax:

371) your party continually finds Riedra Monoliths in the Mournland.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by jelmore:

Four ideas for living spells (because I don't have time to work up the stats ):
372) An amalgam of spectral hand and shocking grasp; a bluish-grey ooze, being pulled along by scores of hands with jolts of electricity arcing to the ground, nearby metal objects, etc.
373) Arrowpudding: a spiky ooze, bubbling and hissing, with tiny jets of flame issuing out as it crawls. It can fire flaming arrows and Melf's acid arrows at nearby creatures
374) Holdooze: A dark grey ooze that hits creatures it touches with hold monster, knocks them prone, and smothers them.
375) Sphereblobs: Bouncing, rolling balls about 8 feet in diameter start bounding across a plain towards the party. If they hit a creature, they envelop him or her in an Otiluke's resilient sphere and won't let go...

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by zombiegleemax:

Here's one that'll get the PCs killed:

376) A small house, seemingly unaffected by the Mournland. When they looks in the windows, all they see is their own reflection. (One-way Mirrors)
There is no door. If a wall is broken in, an orb of nothingness slowly floats towards them.

OR

377) The house has a door. If the PCs enter, they see that they're in a small laboratory. Beakers and test tubes, and several machine parts lie around, as well as a flight of stairs going down. If they go down, they see several operation tables, each holding down a corpse with warforged parts grafted onto vital parts of their body. (Head, Stomach, etc.) An old man sits in front of one of the tables, scribbling over paper. If the PCs try to disturb him, he turns around just before they do, exclaiming in a raspy, psychotic voice. "Done. This time it'll work for sure... Just come here and let me test it." The stairs collapse, and the man produces a rusty knife. (Make his ECL 5 levels higher than the Pc's Party Level.)

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by sereno:

378) The PCs come upon a small brook that seems to appear out of nowhere and flows for a few hundred yards along a rocky, mossy bed, and then disappears into thin air, again. From a distance, the water looks clean, wholesome, and drinkable; but, when the PCs draw closer, they see that the deeper parts of the stream are filled with schools of animated fish skeletons. Anyone drinking the water will be affected as by an Inflict Light Wounds. Anyone bathing in the stream will be attacked by a swarm of piranha-like skeleton fish.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by londhiel:

379) Dead warforged raise from the dead and start hailing PCs something like yes sir, Slash (name of warforged) reporting to duty, enemy broke through our last defense line... If PCs tries to make a verbal contact with him he ignores them and he continues with his battle reports.

380) Wind which whispers the names of soldiers who fought and fell for Cyre

381) Huge rocks from black and blood red stone so sharp that everyone just touching it gets 1d6 slashing damage and if a spell is cast at least 30 feet away from rock 1d4 ghosts are summoned from one rock and attack the Spellcaster

 

[RealAlHazred]

Originally posted by gunbunny:

382. A monster that is feeding off of souls of those who died fighting in the battle creating the Mournland, producing a horde bent on leaving for the outside world and feeding on new souls because they are running out.
383. A gateway that defies the laws of Eberron that allows them you to move from plane to plane by go through it.