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<blockquote data-quote="Paul Farquhar" data-source="post: 9003066" data-attributes="member: 6906155">In reading up on horror movies I came across an old trope referred to as &quot;The Idiot in the Attic&quot;. The idiot being the protagonist, who investigates the spooky attic alone, after dark, unprepared.I.e. horror often depends of the protagonists acting stupidly. Thus causing the audience to anticipate all the bad things that could happen to them. Spoiler alert: [ISPOILER]It was the cat.[/ISPOILER]Now, in an RPG, you can't assume the players will make stupid characters (although that is certainly an option). But they do need to be genre blind and have a reason to investigate. Consider At the Mountains of Madness. The protagonists for the most part know nothing about the mythos, but they are explorers and scientists, they are driven by curiosity and boldness.Now I suspect it's a bit late for the OP's specific situation, but one thing ghosts do is haunt people. If the party ignore the ghost kids they could haunt the party members' dreams (perhaps affecting their ability to take a long rest) until eventually they have to go back and investigate.As alternative to the Death House, a better introduction for new players might be the adventure in VGR. Here the PCs are being paid to bust ghosts, and have experienced NPCs to show them the ropes.I seem to recall the OP's players being younger. You might suggest they watch Lockwood &amp; Co. or Mister Midnight on Netflix to give them ideas.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Paul Farquhar, post: 9003066, member: 6906155"] In reading up on horror movies I came across an old trope referred to as "The Idiot in the Attic". The idiot being the protagonist, who investigates the spooky attic alone, after dark, unprepared. I.e. horror often depends of the protagonists acting stupidly. Thus causing the audience to anticipate all the bad things that could happen to them. Spoiler alert: [ISPOILER]It was the cat.[/ISPOILER] Now, in an RPG, you can't assume the players will make stupid characters (although that is certainly an option). But they do need to be genre blind and have a reason to investigate. Consider [I]At the Mountains of Madness[/I]. The protagonists for the most part know nothing about the mythos, but they are explorers and scientists, they are driven by curiosity and boldness. Now I suspect it's a bit late for the OP's specific situation, but one thing ghosts do is haunt people. If the party ignore the ghost kids they could haunt the party members' dreams (perhaps affecting their ability to take a long rest) until eventually they have to go back and investigate. As alternative to the Death House, a better introduction for new players might be the adventure in VGR. Here the PCs are being [I]paid[/I] to bust ghosts, and have experienced NPCs to show them the ropes. I seem to recall the OP's players being younger. You might suggest they watch [I]Lockwood & Co.[/I] or [I]Mister Midnight[/I] on Netflix to give them ideas. [/QUOTE]

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