Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2013 8:22:21 GMT -8
I am going to be running a horror one shot for some friends, in October. The short story on the adventure is the PCs are drawn into a situation where a (for lack of a better term) Demon has been possessing people in, or around a family.
The Demons endgame is to mentally destroy the daughter through fear. Perhaps his current permanent host is getting old, and near death, and in order to inhabit another human on a permanent basis, the will of the target must be eliminated. The creature also feeds on fear, and delights in causing mayhem. He has been possessing people in and near the family, ruining their lives, getting them killed, frightening them, etc. It will have certain rules that it must follow:
Cannot leave a certain range of its permanent host Cannot directly kill Can only inhabit 1 person within a 24 hour period, after which it must rest in its permanent host. Cannot access the memories/skills of anyone it takes over. There may also be some sort of warding symbol that could be used to prevent possession (ala supernatural. Stop laughing)
The story begins with the death of the father, which is very suspicious. Perhaps suicide or a strange, unlikely death. As the PCs investigate the death, they start to catch threads that should lead them to discover the Demon and attempt to destroy it.
The first thing I need help with is getting the PCs hooked into the investigation. Who would they have to be, to make this investigation logical? I dont see this being as effective a storyline if the characters have experience in this type of scenario, but should probably be 'average joes'. If I make them CSI types, someone will pull a Horatio Cane, and any chance at mood is gone.
Any ideas would help.
|
|
|
Post by jazzisblues on Aug 21, 2013 9:03:42 GMT -8
I'm going to pull a leaf from Stu's book here. In the setup for the game say something along the lines of, "This is what's happening, several people (the number of player characters) get involved to find out what actually happened. Make one of those people." This tells them right out of the gate that they need a character who WOULD get drawn into the investigation. It also puts them in the right frame of mind to make characters that have a chance at doing something useful in the game.
JiB
|
|
addicted2aa
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 37
Preferred Game Systems: EP, ORE, and Savage Worlds.
|
Post by addicted2aa on Aug 22, 2013 7:23:09 GMT -8
Local Sherif, doing his job Dad's best friend Drinking buddy, unconvinced it was a natural death The dad's son, as above, or convinced it was and is trying to prove it The insurance adjuster sent to determine whether to pay life benefits. The executor of the will- the will has conditional elements on how pay outs work based on the nature of his death The college journalist who insists there's a story here. The daughter(unless she's an NPC, in which case, her best friend/SO) trying to come to terms and acceptance with it, after years of being tortured by the demon. Best friend acts in her interest. The mistress The neighbor kid whose seen this happen before
|
|
|
Post by Kainguru on Aug 23, 2013 0:44:03 GMT -8
Their names are Angela Lansbury and they write murder mystery books. No one invites them to parties or social functions anymore because someone always gets murdered when the turn up plus they are just general sticky beaks. Because of this social isolation Angela Lansbury's now tend to flock together and travel in groups for protection. Aaron
|
|
D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
|
Post by D.T. Pints on Aug 23, 2013 8:51:48 GMT -8
Their names are Angela Lansbury and they write murder mystery books. No one invites them to parties or social functions anymore because someone always gets murdered when the turn up plus they are just general sticky beaks. Because of this social isolation Angela Lansbury's now tend to flock together and travel in groups for protection. Aaron MURDER THEY WROUGHT! *drops mic runs away*
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2013 20:01:00 GMT -8
I think jazzisblues told you every thing you need to do. There's no better motivation to a PC than the one he creates himself. Also, PCs, love getting themselves in deep trouble.
|
|
|
Post by suboptimal on Oct 18, 2013 8:12:46 GMT -8
Since you want the PCs to be "average joes", you should make sure that they´re either family or really good freinds. Help your players to come up with the exact details regarding their connection. That way it would be partially their idea & they should be more invested.
|
|
|
Post by Grog on Oct 25, 2013 4:29:11 GMT -8
Did you already run this? If no: I think the problem with going JiB's route is: if the players know they are going to be dealing with the supernatural at all, they will make supernatural hunters. The OP specifically said that he doesn't want them to have experience with that kind of thing. Also, in my experience, when people have to make characters for a one shot they either a) get frustrated that they have to spend so much time making a chracter they are only going to use once, b) don't show up with a character and so the group spends the first half of its play time making characters, or rarely c)slip in things like "unseen sense" or have master levels of occult knowledge. How much do your players know about your scenario? Do they know they'll be dealing with the supernatural? Have you tricked them into thinking that it's something else. What system are you running this in? I think that addicted2aa 's list is a very good start. The trick is to write a one to two paragraph background that summarizes the traits, motivations and secrets of your characters (and maybe their relationship to the deceased and one or two other characters). Your first scene could put a twist on "you all meet in a tavern" by making it "you all meet at a wake", but since they already know one or two of the characters it's logical for them to all look into the original death together.
|
|
|
Post by jazzisblues on Oct 25, 2013 6:54:04 GMT -8
Did you already run this? If no: I think the problem with going JiB's route is: if the players know they are going to be dealing with the supernatural at all, they will make supernatural hunters. The OP specifically said that he doesn't want them to have experience with that kind of thing. Also, in my experience, when people have to make characters for a one shot they either a) get frustrated that they have to spend so much time making a chracter they are only going to use once, b) don't show up with a character and so the group spends the first half of its play time making characters, or rarely c)slip in things like "unseen sense" or have master levels of occult knowledge. How much do your players know about your scenario? Do they know they'll be dealing with the supernatural? Have you tricked them into thinking that it's something else. What system are you running this in? I think that addicted2aa 's list is a very good start. The trick is to write a one to two paragraph background that summarizes the traits, motivations and secrets of your characters (and maybe their relationship to the deceased and one or two other characters). Your first scene could put a twist on "you all meet in a tavern" by making it "you all meet at a wake", but since they already know one or two of the characters it's logical for them to all look into the original death together. I have to disagree here. There is no need to tell them that the game is a horror game or supernatural. Here is what I would tell the players: "Your father died yesterday under what appear to be suspicious circumstances though he seems to have died of natural causes. The police aren't doing anything about it and think there is nothing more to it. You and (n) of your family members decide to investigate. Create one of those people." Nothing said about horror or the supernatural. Those mysteries are kept for future reveals. Nothing hard about it. Give them what you want them to know, don't give them what you want mysterious. It just requires a bit of thought. As far as players not wanting to make characters for a one shot. That's a valid point. Mook has a great way to make characters for GURPS in just a few minutes. I can make Savage Worlds characters in similar fashion, and games like *World it literally takes 5 minutes to make a character. It is workable if you want to do it. Cheers, JiB
|
|