It’s that time of year again… time to plan your Halloween adventure!
Whether it’s a one-shot or a special session of your ongoing campaign, there are a few Holidays that are as tailor-made for D&D adventures as Halloween.
Over the years, we’ve shared some of the adventures that we’ve used to celebrate the Halloween season, both in our campaigns, as birthday games, and as one-shots, and we thought it’d be a good time, with only a month to go, for us to help get your creative juices flowing in time.
While it’s still in the Classified stage, I have FINALLY been working on a version of Ravenloft in what I hope will be an annual Halloween tradition. Something that I’ve wanted to do since running Curse of Strahd (and having some really cool Strahd minis that are just collecting dust in our minis cabinet.)
You’ll have to stay tuned for the wrap-up until after our game (which is scheduled for October 25th!) but, until then, here are some classic Halloween hijinks that 3WD has gotten into over the years to help you get ready for Spooky Season!
Weird NJ
One of my earlier adventures in another DMs “real-world after a cataclysm” campaign had me run a multi-night adventure through the wilds of the Pine Barrens. It’s an easy fit for D&D with all of the strange occurences in the woods leading to the Jersey Shore.
Check out Part 2 of the adventure featuring the Pain Witch (Mother Leeds herself, the Jersey Devil’s mom!). This is an easy adventure to drop in almost anywhere, with enough Weird NJ folklore and Saw references to fill any Halloween session.
The Monsters in Your Neighborhood
To flip the script this Halloween, maybe you want to have the players play as the Monsters?
DM Tony ran his girlfriend’s October birthday game with just this premise in mind. Check out how he set this up here.
Being able to be your favorite slasher, witch, or werewolf and get points for scaring kids is an excellent palate cleanser for even the most heroic players. Hell, Pathfinder knew this when they had an adventure that you play as the goblin tribe that invades Sandpoint to become the inciting incident of their famous Rise of the Runelords adventure path!
Dinner with the Devil
A classic. The invitation to dine with Count Strahd von Zarovich at Castle Ravenloft.
Thankfully, this worked out in our Curse of Strahd campaign, but it is easy to turn into a one-shot in time for Halloween. Even better, you can play up the immersion, like we did, and turn it into a costumed dinner party!
Final Thoughts
We talk a lot about the benefits of birthday games, holiday games, and one-shots. They can serve as brief respites from an ongoing campaign, allowing the characters to experience something new. They can let you try out something you’ve always wanted to without worrying about how it might fit into an ongoing campaign. And, best yet, they’re a hell of a lot of fun.
So, as I gear up to start what I hope will be an annual Ravenloft tradition, you can start thinking how you’d like to celebrate Halloween in your game group.
Let us know what you’re running!
Until next time, Heroes…LIVE THE ADVENTURE!
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