D&D 5E Gothic Horror In The Rain

[Nytmare]

I'm hoping to address that with the dwarf ruins that the water empties into. There will still be plenty of mud, however, and the river flows much higher than it used to.

That's what I'm saying though. I don't think a deciduous and pine forest is going to live long in mud and limited light, they'll drown and rot out.

The plan is that the rain stretches for about a week's travel in all directions. So it's not impossible, but the voracious forest makes travel difficult except in large convoys. I'll probably have a merchant who comes twice a year with an armed caravan to sell goods (at a huge profit, naturally).

After a decade long deluge, what kinds of goods, services, and wealth do these villages have to offer a merchant?

 

[MortalPlague]

That's what I'm saying though. I don't think a deciduous and pine forest is going to live long in mud and limited light, they'll drown and rot out.

That's probably true, but it's less fun. While I want to pay lip service to the realism, I think I'm going to go with 'fey magic keeps the trees alive'.

After a decade long deluge, what kinds of goods, services, and wealth do these villages have to offer a merchant?

The people have a quarry, so they can sell stone. They also sell the best, biggest mushrooms around. In addition, many of the families who stay are old families with old money, and lots of it.

 

[Nytmare]

That's probably true, but it's less fun. While I want to pay lip service to the realism, I think I'm going to go with 'fey magic keeps the trees alive'.

Of course it does. What the hell was I thinking?

Have you put any thought into exactly what's out there stalking around in the woods? My brain dredged up a bunch of fungus and vine wrapped undead.

What's keeping all of that old money there? I'm guessing that it has to be more than just the threat of danger in the woods. I mean if the merchant is able to do it, why would they stick around? What kind of money are we talking about? I was imagining that the villages were just a bunch of sagging, lashed together shacks behind a slimy wood and stone barricade, is it bigger and more established than that?

I'm kinda thinking that if I were going to run with a story like this, I'd lose the merchant, and have those few villages be the extent of the known world. The old roads washed out years ago, everyone is barely surviving on a limited diet of what little they can grow in that weather, and as far as anyone knows, this is what the entire world is like. I'd also lose the mage-made dried wood industry and revert to more mundane methods of drying wood and tinder, and making charcoal.

 

[MortalPlague]

Have you put any thought into exactly what's out there stalking around in the woods? My brain dredged up a bunch of fungus and vine wrapped undead.

I've put some loose thoughts into it. Undead will be there certainly, and covered in fungus and wrapped in vines is a great visual. I'm also going to use the carnivorous plants that Kamikaze Midget suggested. Shambling mounds seem appropriate too, though I might need to make up stats for those. I plan to have a proliferation of trolls, too. Beyond that, the monsters will come down to what I feel like adding on a session by session basis.

I do want to give the players some idea that the woods are a dangerous place. I'm going to do a 'campaign handout' today to get them thinking about characters, and I'm going to mention that dark things are moving in the woods, some of them big and scary.

What's keeping all of that old money there? I'm guessing that it has to be more than just the threat of danger in the woods. I mean if the merchant is able to do it, why would they stick around? What kind of money are we talking about? I was imagining that the villages were just a bunch of sagging, lashed together shacks behind a slimy wood and stone barricade, is it bigger and more established than that?

This one I'm stealing from Sleepy Hollow. I like the tone of old, distinguished families in the area, adding a touch of class to the town. I figured the danger would keep them there, but now I'm beginning to think it would be great if there was a secret reason they remained. Maybe there's some sort of hostage situation that nobody knows about? Perhaps the fey have some of their souls?

The town itself is home to two hundred people, but once was home to five hundred. The buildings are mostly made of stone, and many are multi-level buildings. There are signs of the village's old prosperity in the scrollwork and embellishment on some structures.

I'm kinda thinking that if I were going to run with a story like this, I'd lose the merchant, and have those few villages be the extent of the known world. The old roads washed out years ago, everyone is barely surviving on a limited diet of what little they can grow in that weather, and as far as anyone knows, this is what the entire world is like. I'd also lose the mage-made dried wood industry and revert to more mundane methods of drying wood and tinder, and making charcoal.

While that's an interesting idea, it's not quite the tone I want to set. While the campaign will be fairly focused on the villages, I want to have the idea that a bigger world exists outside, and that these people are just wretched and miserable. I want the option to 'go get help' to be viable, if the PCs choose to follow it.

I have a bad habit of pushing magic to the side when I go for a more provincial campaign. I'd like to instead put magic to work as a part of everyday life. That way the people of the town really accept arcane magic, while having a mistrust of divine magic. It seems like mistrust of arcane is very common in campaigns, so I'd really like to put a spin on that.

 

[Quickleaf]

This one I'm stealing from Sleepy Hollow. I like the tone of old, distinguished families in the area, adding a touch of class to the town. I figured the danger would keep them there, but now I'm beginning to think it would be great if there was a secret reason they remained. Maybe there's some sort of hostage situation that nobody knows about? Perhaps the fey have some of their souls?

Clearly, some of the old families have relatives in the woods! They've been cursed and wander as shambling monsters or perhaps simply as soulless "Others" (to steal from Lost). This creates a reason for the old families to stay (they're not leaving behind family) and a reason for them to interfere with PC investigations (especially if the PCs appear willing and able to kill the woods monsters).

Btw, does this village or campaign setting have a name?

 

[MortalPlague]

Btw, does this village or campaign setting have a name?

Trying to come up with a name for the campaign, but I've come up empty so far.

I just showed my players the document, which has this to say about the towns:

Croft is the largest town, with a population of two hundred. The buildings are made of stone, and many are two-level structures with sturdy tile roofs. The town used to be home to nearly five hundred, but that was before the rain. Over the years, many tried the road. Some succeeded. Some did not. But the woods have grown ever more sinister, and those miserable souls who call Croft home won't brave the woods any longer.

Beacon sits a day's travel north, atop a tall hill. The town is home to a hundred souls, and it takes its name from its tower. The flame at the top is well-fed by the coal dug from the earth. Over the years, it has become the sun for the people of the Vale, visible except in thick fog. Beacon is the site of an old quarry, where miners dig stone from the earth. Once a month, a caravan brings the stone to Croft for storage.

Ivy Manor is the home of Count Edward Von Stout. The Count keeps to himself, ever since his son was one of the first to leave after the rains began. The manor is stone and walled, more a keep than a house. The Count is rarely seen these days, and he keeps only a token staff; a butler, a couple of maids, and a handful of guards.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Undead will be there certainly, and covered in fungus and wrapped in vines is a great visual.

1) put that in a blender- undead sentient fungi. Why not have Wight Myconids, Zombie slime molds, Shambling Shadows, tc.?

2) try "chia constructs": a construct of any kind can remain immobile for years, months, decades, allowing for the growth of certain vegetation.* Someone deliberately trying to conceal constructs could give them a layer of nutritive soil and plant a few appropriate seeds. Or let them lay dormant in ponds so they get covered by duckweed, and so forth.








* my parents owned a Volvo that they parked in their back yard. If it didn't get moved for a while, it would change color from the pollen that landed on it, and there would even be some plants growing in the gaps between the hood or trunk lid and the man body of the car.

 

[MortalPlague]

-snip-

Danny, these are both great ideas. They will be used and abused. I cannot wait to see my players cut the moss off a shambling mound to discover the GOLEM underneath!

My players have come up with some character concepts, which means I can start building the town in full. I wanted to wait before coming up with NPCs before I knew where the players slotted in. Here are the concepts that have been pitched so far:

• A male druid werewolf. Initially, I was skeptical. But my player pitched him as kind of a hidden guardian of the town. We talked a bit more, and fleshed it out to include his whole family. He'll be from one of the old families, one of the founding families. They have always been lycanthropes, but it's a controlled lycanthropy. Up till now, they haven't had a need to use their talents, but with the rain, they've taken it upon themselves to quietly protect the town from the shadows.
  
• A female woodcutter (fighter?). She has taken on the duty after her older brother died six years ago, and has been a capable woodslady ever since. She's one of the toughest girls around; she's not pretty, and she's just as strong as any of the men. On top of that, she bears the scars of an encounter she barely survived with something she never quite saw.
  
• A male woodcutter (fighter?). He's the female woodcutter's good friend and guardian. Where she's short and stocky, he's tall and lanky. I haven't had a chance to talk with the player about his character beyond basic concepts, however.
  
• A female cleric of the Lifebringer. She's staying with her aunt, who rents a house from another family. Her aunt took ill around the time the rain began to fall, and she's been keeping her aunt alive ever since. At first she didn't know what she was doing, but over time, she realized that she was channeling holy power. Terrified, she kept it to herself, and used it to keep her aunt from slipping away. Her talents couldn't save her, though, and her aunt passed away just before the start of the campaign, leaving her without a home. She's been taken in by one of the other PCs (probably).
  
• A female maid (rogue). She's the pretty younger sister of the female woodcutter. The player plans for her to be the face of the party, even though she's going to be more than a little shy. I'm really excited about this character because the player wanted for her and the prince to have been sweethearts back in the day. Which is delightful, because to their knowledge, the prince left. Nobody knows he's dead... well, undead.

I can't wait to have the maid suddenly start receiving strange letters from the prince...

 

[urLordy]

I don't buy that the villagers haven't abandoned their sodden moldy villages. Sure, travel is dangerous, I get that. But in 10 (ten!) years, nobody could travel for a week to escape?? The villagers could have emigrated en masse, wielding pitchforks and clubs, and had the protection of numbers. If hundreds of desperate people can't travel for one week in a decade's time, then there's something very wrong with this world.

This story needs a reason for why the villagers haven't bothered to leave in a decade to seek greener pastures.

Perhaps the rain comes from clouds laced with dark fey or arcane magic, and the rainwater drains into the aquifers, and the villagers draw the tainted water from their wells. In the beginning, most villagers waited out the rain. After they realized it wouldn't stop raining, it was already too late -- they had thought about abandoning their villages but they had already been poisoned by the rain water's supernatural qualities. Perhaps it induces apathy or mind control. Every villager will come up with some excuse for why they haven't left in a decade, but the truth is that they've effectively been charmed into staying put.

 

[urLordy]

Oh, and daylight spells would be in high demand. After years of gloom, some people would (literally) kill for a bit of daylight.