It’s that time of year again!
With DM Tony gearing up to run a high-level Halloween-inspired one-shot for our group, I felt that it was a great time to revisit two of our former articles that are perfect for any Halloween Horror games that you have always hoped to run.
So, just in time for Halloween, here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing, call up your friends, plan a night, and enter into a bone-chilling, creepy, and horrific game session.
Weird NJ
My initial foray into creating a D&D, horror themed game was when I took an early mid-level group of mine through a fantastical and horrific version of the area in The infamous Pine Barrens of New Jersey.
Originally, I broke this into two parts, as it was a multi-night adventure written specifically with my group in mind, You can always read the first part here.
But for our purposes here, and to give you something that you can easily drop into any Halloween-themed D&D session, click here for A Halloween Adventure in Weird NJ Part 2: The Pain Witch.
What I loved most about preparing this particular part of the adventure is how much work had already been done for me in the guise of urban myths, strange tales, rumors and gossip that surrounds the State of New Jersey, and more specifically, the million+ acres of coastal forest known as the Pine Barrens.
Since our campaign was set in a post-apocalyptic modern version of the east coast, this made complete sense. However, even in a fantasy-setting, the amount of folklore and urban myths that surround this modern region gives a Masters Class in developing folklore, secrets, and clues about your own campaign setting, whether published or homebrewed.
Just imagine, if you will, how many stories currently exist and are chronicled twice a year, every year, in the print and online magazine Weird NJ.
Now, think about the level of myth and folklore that is still talked about in our modern society and then translate that to your fantasy world. How much more would the citizens of that world react to these types of stories and tales?
Dinner with the Devil
Following this early adventure that I wrote, with all of its tropes and rails (hey, we all start somewhere!), my favorite Halloween game I ever ran would have to be when our Curse of Strahd campaign just happened to have our Dinner with the Devil visit to Castle Ravenloft in October!
When the God of Gaming Schedules blesses you with this level of synchronicity, you would be a fool to not capitalize on it.
So… I threw a Halloween costume dinner party! What better way to celebrate All Hallows’ Eve than sitting down to dine, in character, with the most eponymous vampire count since Bela Lugosi first uttered the line, “I am Dracula.”
As we’ve stated before, there are certain points in a campaign where you want to go all in to completely immerse yourself in the session and the world. You can’t have a costume party for every session, but you can use it to create incredibly vivid, and lasting, memories of the campaign.
The fun of our Dinner with the Devil session, as well as the enjoyment we had playing through the entire Curse of Strahd adventure has led me to plan for an annual Halloween game set in Castle Ravenloft. Maybe we’ll run through the original I6 : Ravenloft using the OSR, or maybe I’ll run Mike Shea’s “Running Ravenloft in a Single Session“, or even James Haeck’s “Strahd Must Die Tonight!” However I decide to run it, there is nothing but creative fodder in the dread Lord of Barovia.
Final Thoughts
We’ve discussed on many occasions how much fun it is to run Holiday-inspired, including birthday, games – any time when you can really cut loose and try out an idea you’ve always wanted to or break out a new system. Additionally, these types of games can be incredibly memorable, as they tap into the same level of nostalgia and tradition as watching old slasher movies around Halloween and Holiday movies during winter time.
And if you happen to play through our Weird NJ adventure, please let us know what your experience was… what you liked, what you didn’t, what you’d change, and what you’d add.
When you’re rolling to Crit with your swarm of zombies, Vampire Counts, Frankensteins, Mummies, Wolfman’s, and Pain Witches, make sure to visit our affiliate link at FanRoll Dice to receive 10% off your entire order!
Until next time, Heroes… LIVE THE ADVENTURE!