The Skinsaw Murders (the second in the 6 part Rise of the Runelords AP) is a different feel. It takes place in a bigger city, and is more of a murder mystery with lots of frightening things. I find it tricky to GM horror as the fear factor often ends up as a dice roll. That, to me, is not frightening. I will need to work hard with this one to actually make it work.
I'm using the first half of Skinsaw Murders right now. I thought it wasn't going to work either, but I put in some time making handouts for the different hauntings so I could give them to the afflicted player each time -- and they really got into it! I also pre-assigned them except in cases where it simply affects the first person to take a certain action.
Here are my handouts (be aware that I changed some details of the timeline to make Aldern older).
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B2 (1st time through). You smell the scent of burning hair and flesh.
B2. That “stuffed” manticore is really alive – and it’s looking right at you! It doesn’t have a man’s face, but the face of a young woman with red hair and an impish look on her face! Its fur bursts into flame, the manticore lurches to life and its flaming tail strikes at you!
You can react with some roleplaying, and then we’ll see if the “manticore” can “hit” you…
B5. As you step into the path of the unseen pacing figure, another person’s memories flood your mind. You are Kasanda Foxglove and your husband has been laboring over secret rituals in the basement for a long, long time. He won’t tell you what he is doing. You are scared about what might be going on – scared for yourself, and for your daughter Lorey.
Suddenly, one of the members of your party (your choice) now looks like Lorey. You say (out loud) to “Lorey” – “Lorey, sweetheart, go pack a bag and keep it ready and hidden in your room. Go!” You have a deep dread that something awful is about to happen downstairs.
The feeling fades and you feel normal again, but you remember everything from the experience.
B9. As the scarf tightens around your neck, something strange happens… You are no longer Sindaris, but Iesha Foxglove, newly married to young, handsome Aldern Foxglove. You see a ghostly image of him, and he’s using the scarf to strangle you! His face is so full of rage! You weren’t doing anything wrong … you and the butler were just looking at a book on history together. Maybe the way you were huddled together in the candlelight gave him the wrong impression? But it’s too late now … you’re dying, and you can’t even tell him it was just a simple mistake!
React, then make a Will save and we’ll continue from there…
B11. You are a young girl. It is late at night. You are playing with your sister and brother here in your brother’s room when you hear shouting from your parents in the hall. You look out, and see your parents fighting – not just yelling, but pushing and grabbing! You are absolutely convinced that your mother and father are trying to kill each other out in the hall. Your mother has a torch and looks like she might burn the place down, while your father has a knife. Whoever wins is going to come in here and kill you and your sister and brother! You’d better hide!
React, then make a Will save and we’ll continue from there.
B13. You feel a sudden severe itching sensation all over your face. A child’s voice, quivering with fear, calls out, “What’s on your face, mommy?” You raise your hand and feel, to your horror, masses of blobby tumors emerging from the skin of your face!
React, then make a Will save and we’ll continue from there.
B15. When you see the picture, you are filled with loathing for the subject. For she betrayed you … or tried to stop you … or tried to leave you … you can’t really remember now, because she could be any woman and suddenly you hate all women.
Make a Will save, DC 16 – if you fail, you must immediately try to kill one of the female PCs. Each round after the first you’ll get a new save.
If you succeeded on the save, you are paralyzed with fear and horror for the first round of combat.
B15. When you see the picture, you are filled with loathing for the subject. For she betrayed you … or tried to stop you … or tried to leave you … you can’t really remember now, because she could be any woman and suddenly you hate all women.
Make a Will save, DC 16 – if you fail, you must immediately try to kill one of the female PCs. Each round after the first you’ll get a new save.
If you succeeded on the save, you are paralyzed with fear and horror for the first round of combat.
B18. No … no! You killed her! She loved you, she was only trying to help you … but you set her on fire and she leapt from the observatory window to her death on the jagged rocks below! [In your mind’s eye, it is Ameiko who you remember killing even though that makes no sense on some level, deep inside you.]
But now that she is gone, you have this one sweet moment of clarity. It’s time to end your miserable, wretched life before the insanity returns…
Make a Will save, DC 15 – if you fail, you walk over to the desk, pick up a letter opener lying there, and try to kill yourself. If anyone tries to stop you, you attack them once with the letter opener (treat as a dagger).
B22. You feel uncomfortably warm in this room.
A moment later, you discover to your horror that you have caught on fire! Make a Will save, DC 16 – if you fail, you feel compelled to smash through one of the windows where there will surely be some cool water below to put out the flames.
B23. Ah, you’ve spent so much time in this room, poring over old accounts of safaris, expeditions, and tales of adventure. But you never got to do any of it because of her … your shrill harpy of a wife. She kept you from your dreams! It’s all her fault!
Make a Will save and we’ll go from there…
B29. You feel the sudden urge to cross the room and examine the books.
When you do so, you are flooded with information about Vorel Foxglove, the man who originally built Foxglove Manor. He was a necromancer and was seeking the path to lichdom here in this house. You see glimpses of him poring over ancient texts to learn the rituals, gathering strange and disturbing components for the lich transformation potion, building his phylactery (using the harvested souls of four of the world’s longest-lived creatures: a sphinx, a treant, a kraken, and a roc), finally culminating in a vision of Vorel drinking the lich potion and doubling over in agony.
Suddenly, you realize you are Vorel’s wife, and it is too late – your husband has done some horrible thing and you need to get out of here! But first you need to get upstairs and make sure your daughter Lorey is safe! Hurry, hurry! If anyone tries to stop you, make a DC 16 Will save – if you fail, you attack whoever is trying to stop you. If you succeed, you snap out of it.
B30. Aldern Foxglove is here! He’s sweaty and wild-eyed, and he’s digging away with a pickaxe. He looks at you and smiles. “For you! All for you!” he says. You don’t know if he means you … or his dead wife … or his great-great uncle Vorel Foxglove, whose obsession with lichdom continues even now, beyond the grave.
Suddenly, Aldern breaks through. A horde of ghouls swarms out toward you!
Make a Will save, DC 16 – if you fail you start thrashing around as the “ghouls” tear into you. If you succeed, the vision fades away.
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