tennyson
First Post
I'm DM'ing a group a five level-6 PCs through a homebrew campaign and next session will be throwing in a little twist to spice things up. I'd really love to get some comments/suggestions as to how to run this as effectively as possible. Here is the abbreviated version:
The group is currently stopping in a seaside community (for a few days) which has experienced a rash of grisly murders over the past few months, unbeknowst to them. The reason for the adventurers staying in the village are unrelated, but they soon begin to hear the strange stories and notice the hesitant demeanors of the people. Over the next day or two, they will be in a position to investigate first hand some of these atrocities, with very potential suspects coming to light.
After staying in the town for sometime, one of the nights they will experience something different. I would like to hand out NPC profiles that the PCs will have to assume the roles of. The sheets will have a brief description of the NPCs' personality etc. Most likely, the PCs will be familair with these NPCs, having met them during their time in the village.
Anyway, my group (playing the parts of the NPCs) will be split up, one of them in the local tavern, the others at the docks for some midnight fishing (or something to that effect). The players will then be seperately attacked by the mysterious killer(s), and have a chance to defend themselves. Chances are, they will die, and the deaths and manner of killing will be described in great detail. If some of the characters escape, so be it, that NPC will live. Essentially, the players will get to see the world from the eyes of the victim.
The next morning, the guards will have found the remnants of the killings, and the PCs will now be able to investigate the murders from the other side of the camera. The twist is: the charcaters are the killers. I'll need to drop a subtle hint so they recognize it during their investigation (perhaps a splotch of blood, or a piece of ripped clothing). Something that will make the PCs realize the truth of it.
This will eventually lead them on to the BBEG who is controlling various aspects of the village's minds. Perhaps he is located in the village itself, or maybe he does it from afar, haven't figured it out yet. I just think it will be great to know that the PCs were actually running from themselves at one point!
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Has this been done before - is there anything I can use as a reference or guide? Any help/ideas would be appreciated! Thanks!
The group is currently stopping in a seaside community (for a few days) which has experienced a rash of grisly murders over the past few months, unbeknowst to them. The reason for the adventurers staying in the village are unrelated, but they soon begin to hear the strange stories and notice the hesitant demeanors of the people. Over the next day or two, they will be in a position to investigate first hand some of these atrocities, with very potential suspects coming to light.
After staying in the town for sometime, one of the nights they will experience something different. I would like to hand out NPC profiles that the PCs will have to assume the roles of. The sheets will have a brief description of the NPCs' personality etc. Most likely, the PCs will be familair with these NPCs, having met them during their time in the village.
Anyway, my group (playing the parts of the NPCs) will be split up, one of them in the local tavern, the others at the docks for some midnight fishing (or something to that effect). The players will then be seperately attacked by the mysterious killer(s), and have a chance to defend themselves. Chances are, they will die, and the deaths and manner of killing will be described in great detail. If some of the characters escape, so be it, that NPC will live. Essentially, the players will get to see the world from the eyes of the victim.
The next morning, the guards will have found the remnants of the killings, and the PCs will now be able to investigate the murders from the other side of the camera. The twist is: the charcaters are the killers. I'll need to drop a subtle hint so they recognize it during their investigation (perhaps a splotch of blood, or a piece of ripped clothing). Something that will make the PCs realize the truth of it.
This will eventually lead them on to the BBEG who is controlling various aspects of the village's minds. Perhaps he is located in the village itself, or maybe he does it from afar, haven't figured it out yet. I just think it will be great to know that the PCs were actually running from themselves at one point!
---------------
Has this been done before - is there anything I can use as a reference or guide? Any help/ideas would be appreciated! Thanks!