Evil saturated area

[Gilladian]

What sorts of minor rule effects would you impose on PCs venturing into an ancient evil area that is still so saturated and cursed that it HAS visual and physical side-effects? These are 1st level PCs, so I don't want to be too severe.

This is a place that was an evil temple, but is now just ruins. There are still evil traps/monsters lingering, and I want things to be really creepy. I've already decided on the following:

+1/-1 to all cause/cure spells cast
no recovery of spells if they sleep IN the ruins because of bad dreams and no connection to their god
+1/-1 to all command/turn undead rolls (but the cleric has the plant domain and her command plants will work fine)
any "good" spells will be penalized (DCs are all 1 worse, any beneficial roll reduced by 1, durations halved, etc...)

Any other effects you'd impose, rules-wise?

 

[delericho]

I would be inclined to use the existing planar "alignment" traits.

 

[Imaro]

Another good option might be to take a look at the taint rules from the SRD, here's the link...

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/campaigns/taint.htm

Even if you don't want to use them as is they can definitely foster some ideas.

 

[GMMichael]

What sorts of minor rule effects would you impose on PCs venturing into an ancient evil area that is still so saturated and cursed that it HAS visual and physical side-effects? These are 1st level PCs, so I don't want to be too severe.

1st level? You might want to stick to superficial effects only. Shadows meander. Whispers are heard. PCs "feel uncomfortable."

I think the no-spell recovery idea is too harsh. Maybe just lose one spell slot?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Unhallow + 1st-level spell. Perhaps Cause Fear. All the time the PCs are seeing (individual) frightening visions out of the corner of their eye, hearing strange moaning, etc... and that's if they make their save. If they fail, consult the spell.

 

[Gilladian]

1st level? You might want to stick to superficial effects only. Shadows meander. Whispers are heard. PCs "feel uncomfortable."

I think the no-spell recovery idea is too harsh. Maybe just lose one spell slot?

Well, you wouldn't know this from what I described, but there's a relatively safe "archaeology camp" a few hundred yards outside the ruins. So there's NO good reason for them to decide to camp IN the ruins unless they get really greedy... and then I think spell-non-recovery will be a minor problem for them!

 

[MarkB]

Unhallow + 1st-level spell. Perhaps Cause Fear. All the time the PCs are seeing (individual) frightening visions out of the corner of their eye, hearing strange moaning, etc... and that's if they make their save. If they fail, consult the spell.

I like that. If there are still walls standing in this ruin, then maybe whenever you're inside it, you keep hearing sounds from adjacent rooms of when the temple was still active - whether it's ritual chanting, or the torture of prisoners, or the terrified screams of a sacrificial victim on the altar. When you enter the next room, the sounds disappear - but then they start up in the room you just left.

 

[Ahnehnois]

BoVD has a section on that.

PF has haunts, which convert easily.

 

[Gilladian]

I like that. If there are still walls standing in this ruin, then maybe whenever you're inside it, you keep hearing sounds from adjacent rooms of when the temple was still active - whether it's ritual chanting, or the torture of prisoners, or the terrified screams of a sacrificial victim on the altar. When you enter the next room, the sounds disappear - but then they start up in the room you just left.

That's excellent. All that's left are a few traces of floors, a few low (tripping height) walls, etc... but there are many clearings in the thick growth of longleaf pine, poison ivy, ash and oak, dripping with spanish moss... so I am treating them as "rooms"...

There's the front entry hall (with hole leading to underground), an area with an old sacrificial pool and statue, there's a section where a pair of caryatid columns kill anyone who tries to dig there (hmmm... treasure!), a place where the old mosaic floor showing sacrifices being offered to the priests has recently been cleared and partly restored, and I am still writing up 4-5 other areas. I think there'll be a well with ghostly noises rising from it, but I'm not sure what else.

This doesn't count the WHOLE, complete dungeon UNDER the old temple. THAT is from a module and I don't need to modify it much except to sub in "my" deity. The surface area is for three purposes - get them the rest of the way to 2nd level before they go too far underground, set the mood of the underground area, and allow recurring encounters that the "diggers" can request aid from the PCs over.