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<blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 9372984" data-attributes="member: 7635">It's the issue when you design a module to be a scary story first and a game tool second. One of my favorite scary modules is a DCC module called Cage of Delirium. The PCs are exploring the haunted ruins of an insane asylum that burned down years ago. As you explore the ruins, you encounter all manner of spirits. Some are hostile and want to attack you (it IS a Goodman dungeon after all) but many are willing to talk to you and inform you about the backstory as you help them find peace. Sometimes it's recovering their remains, finding a beloved item from their lives, or laying another inmate's spirit to rest. What is brilliant about it is each ghost you help earns you points and when you have earned enough, the door to the finale opens and you confront the final boss. And there are enough points you don't have to do everything. That way, the players control what they want to investigate and what leads they want to follow, and eventually they earn the right to finish the adventure. The module doesn't assume you will complete any specific story or talk to any specific ghost, except for the final boss.It's a brilliant module, and I think it's the gold standard for running horror and investigation in D&amp;D. You are allowed to discover the plot at your own pace and encouraged to help lots of different souls do a variety of things to find peace. It could easily have been a strongly narrative railroad, but it's brilliant in using nonlinear narrative.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Remathilis, post: 9372984, member: 7635"] It's the issue when you design a module to be a scary story first and a game tool second. One of my favorite scary modules is a DCC module called Cage of Delirium. The PCs are exploring the haunted ruins of an insane asylum that burned down years ago. As you explore the ruins, you encounter all manner of spirits. Some are hostile and want to attack you (it IS a Goodman dungeon after all) but many are willing to talk to you and inform you about the backstory as you help them find peace. Sometimes it's recovering their remains, finding a beloved item from their lives, or laying another inmate's spirit to rest. What is brilliant about it is each ghost you help earns you points and when you have earned enough, the door to the finale opens and you confront the final boss. And there are enough points you don't have to do everything. That way, the players control what they want to investigate and what leads they want to follow, and eventually they earn the right to finish the adventure. The module doesn't assume you will complete any specific story or talk to any specific ghost, except for the final boss. It's a brilliant module, and I think it's the gold standard for running horror and investigation in D&D. You are allowed to discover the plot at your own pace and encouraged to help lots of different souls do a variety of things to find peace. It could easily have been a strongly narrative railroad, but it's brilliant in using nonlinear narrative. [/QUOTE]

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