How to haunt them

[Electric]

So... I guess this counts as my entrance to EN World. Well, top o' the mornin' to you all. I can't believe this username wasn't taken already.

Now on to business. I've recently been running a game with some friends and they've arrived at an old cave that was once an old pirate lair. Now rather than just throw the usual batch of monsters or pirates or anything else at them, I'd like to try a series of haunts.

Now... I remember a few years ago playing a video game called Eternal Darkness. In it you had a sanity meter, and when your sanity got too low it would sometimes begin to mess with your mind. Your character would die suddenly and then it would revert to you being fine once again, enemies that weren't actually there would appear, sometimes it even messed with the game itself in ways like reversing the controls or sending you messages saying that your saved files were being deleted.

And the point of that example is that that's what I want to go for in this case. Various haunts that will freak them out and make them seem like they're in danger, but for the most part won't actually kill them. I've got a few ideas in mind ranging from mysterious noises, to ancient dragons that aren't really there, to obvious exits that just lead them back to where they started.

As for the party themselves, they're all 1st level, and it's a classic team of Fighter, Wizard, Rogue, Cleric. In other words I think they'll just have to survive a fair few of these haunts, as they likely won't have ways to permanently deal with them. Their goal at the moment happens to be to find a way out of this place (a way other than the way they came in, which isn't really an option any more).

So are there any ideas of some types of haunts I could give them? Additionally are there any tips on how to handle haunts well, especially when the primary challenge being given to the players is a large series of haunts rather than combat?

 

[gamerprinter]

Welcome to ENWorld.

Hmmm, haunts that can't kill you? That doesn't sound very fun or scary.

Haunts are a great mechanic - one of my most favorite mechanics from the Gamemastery Guide, as described there "kind of cross between undead and a trap." Since when are undead and traps not a possible lethal result? They don't have kill you of course, but the threat has to be there.

Don't know if you have the GMG or not, but you can always look at d20pfsrd.com where all of Pathfinder Core and some 3pp stuff are posted, including the Haunt mechanic - look there, read and learn...

Rite Publishing has a couple PDF book on Haunts that aren't too expensive - #30 Haunted Houses and one on ghostly ships.

In my first commercial adventure (of a 3 part series) that was released June 1st, (the second adventure has already been released as well) I have 2 complex multiple (linked) haunts as major encounters, and another one in my second adventure. I have ghosts, variant ghouls, evil spirits, dream sequences, illusions intermixed with a variaty of haunts in all 3 encounters. Sorry, but I don't want to expose those encounters as a SPOILER, as it is a commercial product...

However, you can find both adventures in the Paizo Store, and they will be available in printed form from Cubicle 7 in August. The adventures in question are: The Gift, Curse of the Golden Spear - Part 1 and Dim Spirit, Curse of the Golden Spear - Part 2. (The third adventure has no haunts). It is a cross between Oriental Adventures and Ravenloft in feel, but with new horrors not found in other games - it might not be your cup of tea.

The setting is called Kaidan: a Japanese Ghost Story - it's Asian horror primarily.

Basically, I'd pick some kind of theme, include a Ghost to make it a bit more dangerous, include items and locations to place haunts and have them trigger the appearance of the ghost. If its a large haunted site, and there is a means to keep your PCs stuck inside, more powerful ghosts can 'respawn' each hour. So if your PCs kill the ghost, unless they lay it to rest, it will be back in one hour. Use illusions manifested by the ghost or bound to the location tied to the apparition to accomplish some of what you have in mind.

The easiest way to conceive a Haunt, is as a combat spell that is disguised as a creepy location. You don't describe the spell as is but disguised and flavored as some other visual manifestation. Like a ghostly mist seeping through the floor at the PCs feet, which is actually a Freezing Sphere combined with a Slow spell. Now that your PCs are affected by cold damage and are slowed, that is when the ghost first shows up. This is how I'd develop a complex haunt.

Does that help?

GP

 

[Pandemonic]

Does that help?

It helped me out with ideas for sure. Thanks.

 

[Electric]

Hmmm, haunts that can't kill you? That doesn't sound very fun or scary.

Not "can't" kill really. Just "less likely" to kill, or at least less likely to kill directly than something like actually pitting 1st level adventurers against a ghost that the majority of them won't be able to hit.

It is, as you and the GMG say, like a trap. It's not the poison dart that kills you, it's the ability damage from that poison dart causing you to fail a crucial roll later that kills you. (Or any number of similar things...)

And the players don't have to know they aren't in that much danger. Knock 'em to low health, mix an occasional real combat encounter with an occasional fake one so they're always worried that anything that pops up might be real... In my Eternal Darkness example, low sanity would rarely (if ever) kill you. Low sanity messing with the game while something else was trying to kill you on the other hand was a very real danger.

Does that help?

It does help a bit yes. And I have access to a copy of the GMG by the way, but I don't own any of the books myself (a housemate of mine owns it and doesn't mind lending it).

Curse of the Golden Spear sounds like useful reading on the subject. Makes me wish I had more time to go out and find it. Also makes me wish I had money to spend, but alas such is life.

 

[SnowleopardVK]

Hm, sounds a lot like a game I'm currently playing. XD

Well if it's a pirate's lair you can't go wrong with pirate ghosts I suppose. I can't find anything specifically about pirate ghosts in any of my books, so I suppose if there is something it's in a side book I don't own.

I suppose if you want to lessen the danger you could make the haunts more mischievous than anything, or give them the goal of trying to scare away the PCs rather than kill them.

Poltergeists also work fairly well. They can do some damage, and for low-level PCs I imagine they'd be hard to kill, but they seem to be more attuned to upping the tension that actually causing death.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

The real issue, IME, is not going to be the set-up you use.

It'll be the players.

An area filled with an aura of fear and loathing and mystery and horror works well only so long as your players keep the right attitude. As soon as one of them starts cracking jokes, the atmosphere's going to break and will be pretty hard to get back.

So, part of the question you'll need to answer before running this is whether or not your players are going to be up for it.

 

[Electric]

Hm, sounds a lot like a game I'm currently playing. XD

Ah... That'd be because it IS the game you're currently playing. Hi Mel.

 

[SnowleopardVK]

Ah... That'd be because it IS the game you're currently playing. Hi Mel.

Eek, you should've told me you were joining EN World! (Great to see you here by the way )

Oookies. I should probably stay away from this topic now since I'm a player in this. *promises not to metagame*