Hooks of Horror
October 26th, 2010
Hello everyone, and welcome to anther exciting edition of Grave Plots, where we seek to bring you new plot hooks and adventure ideas each and every week. As you all are well aware, Halloween is coming up, and so this week is Horror Week. It may come as no surprise, but personally I love horror stories, particularly the classics, and Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. In celebration of this wonderful time, I have assembled a great number of plot hooks centering on some of the most well-known and iconic fiends and monsters from all scary stories.
Werewolves
A horror story classic we are all familiar with, the werewolf has once again become the center of attention in modern-day media. The classic battle of man vs. the beast inside is played out with life-or-death consequences, as even the monster himself lives in fear of what lies within. Werewolf stories might play out in a number of ways, and there are plenty of great opportunities to role play unusual characters. Why don’t you consider one of the following hooks for a night of mystery and terror?
1. Three days until the full moon, and all evidence points to the serial murders in the city of Lampwatch being committed by a savage werewolf with at least some knowledge of his dark ability. Now the city’s only hope rests with the PCs identifying the killer before it’s too late; their list of suspects is large and the beast could be anyone, perhaps even one of their own.
2. Francis Mortimer, a minor baron ruling over the township of Dravis, is tormented by the fact that he is a werewolf; the very thought that every full moon he loses control sickens him to the core. He sees himself as a victim of the gods, horribly cursed to suffer alone and in a way that no other mortal could hope to understand. While he indulges in his own personal morose melancholy, Francis fails to give consideration to the suffering of the people he kills every month and the people of Dravis have reached out to the PCs to help stop the killings and free their people from this continual nightmare.
3. Werewolves were once feared throughout the known world, and respected for their supernatural power, but now times have changed. Advances in science and technology have changed the paradigm dramatically, and a new group of fanatics touting themselves as natural scientists have captured a werewolf, whom they treat as a subhuman research subject, and even put on humiliating display to show the superiority of modern science over old world superstitions. The PCs, having borne witness to this despicable treatment firsthand, have decided to put a stop to it.
4. Jean Claude, an eccentric villager, has been accused of being a werewolf by the people of Amorville, and had been forced out of town following an incident involving dead cattle. Now, following more strange happenings in town, the villagers have decided to take things a step further and slay Jean Claude, in a frankly irrational attempt to end their village’s suffering. The PCs spot the torches and pitchforks marching steadily towards a weather-beaten old shack on a hill and, should they get involved, they might just find the roots of a darker plot.
5. In modern media, werewolves are often portrayed as being lucid, in control, and sometimes even downright nice. In this final werewolf plot hook, Duke Ivan III has personally called upon the PCs to give service to their lord. The Duke’s daughter Catherine has been kidnapped in the night by a werewolf, who managed to escape the castle only by killing two of the guardsmen. The king’s law is very clear: while the penalty for kidnapping might only be life imprisonment, the penalty for killing a guardsman is death, and as citizens/agents of the king (or soldiers/killers for hire), it is the PCs’ duty to carry out the sentence. When the PCs manage to track the werewolf down, they find him and Catherine happily discussing plans for the future, and it soon becomes clear that the lady and the werewolf ran off together because her father would never have approved of their entirely consensual union; the PCs must now choose between love and law.
Vampires
The vampire is a monster iconic to horror stories of all kinds, as well as even less-than-horrific fantasy games. Our own premiere product, Liber Vampyr, focuses on the different aspects of these dark and tragic figures. A vampire game might focus on dark tragedy, extreme vanity, and/or unadulterated evil; consider trying one of these frightful plot hooks for a night of dread suspense.
1. Nero Manor has long towered over the town of Grevis, abandoned and darkly foreboding. No one has been inside for years, and local superstition dictates that if you even spend so much as a minute looking at the ruin, you are doomed to live a cursed existence. The PCs, as young villagers without fear, have agreed to a wager with a group of other village youths to spend the night in the manor and let superstition be damned! As the PCs cross the yard just after nightfall, a smile creeps upon the forever youthful lips of Selena Nero, and she rises from the comfort of her velvet-lined coffin; it has been so long since she had visitors.
2. Eleven girls have gone missing from the small town of Morningrose, and the only suspect for the kidnappings is a rumor of a vampire dwelling in the ruined fortress outside of town. Unsure of whether or not they could handle the alleged vampire, the villagers have decided to err on the side of caution and hire a group of specialists to deal with the issue, namely, the PCs. Unknown to all, events in Morningrose are proceeding according to the dark plans of a “family” of vampires known as the Sharn, who are hoping to manipulate the village into destroying or converting one of their major rivals, a vampire named Allen Vale who has lived in isolation in the ruined fort outside of Morningrose for centuries, actively opposing the Sharn’s plans for dark power.
3. Derik Carn is a has-been, fighting vampires his whole life. However, he has never seen anything like the monster of Atebellum Keep. His previous expedition ended in ruin, as members of his party would go missing each morning, only to be discovered later with throat cut and body positioned in some highly improbable fashion. Derik only saw the beast once, on last day, after all but him and his brother Keits had died. In the keep’s highest tower, there it was, like some gruesome twisted hybrid of bat and wolf, perverted with just a touch of humanity. Keits lost his life, but Derik got away and rounded up a new expedition (the PCs), and is returning to achieve vengeance.
4. While adventuring through a remarkably well-preserved dark castle in a deserted moor, the PCs begin to notice subtle changes in themselves. Strange hunger begins to build in them and physical changes are soon on the way; by the second day they begin to notice that they’re changing into vampires and there’s nothing they can do to stop the process. As they further explore the ruin, the PCs must struggle with newfound dark impulses while seeking to uncover the source of their mysterious transformation.
5. Davian Theldore has lived his whole life in the spotlight. As a wealthy noble, renowned for his good looks and grace, Davian has had no shortage of prospects and has had to maneuver very carefully to avoid becoming tied to any one woman, a fact he has, quite frankly, greatly enjoyed. Now Davian is getting a little older and his prospects are starting to thin. Believing that this has to do with his waning good looks, he has begun looking for solutions to his problem. He found a woman named Gelena, a vampire willing to grant Davian the gift of immortal youth and beauty in exchange for a supply of young healthy men taken from his lands. Davian happily agreed and entered the world of the vampire. Now, blessed with immortal youth and vampiric grace, Davian expected the young ladies to once again be lining up for him; however, tales of his womanizing and cruel treatment of those under his protection has led the young noblewomen away. Feeling cursed and betrayed, Davian stalks the night killing young noblewomen. Count of Hravaskel fears his daughter, the lovely and charming Beatricia, may be next, and has hired the PCs to protect her.
Well, that’s it for this week’s Grave Plots. I hope you enjoyed these tantalizing little plot hooks, and I hope you join me next week for another exciting installment of Grave Plots. Until that time, please allow me to wish you all the best in your gaming endeavors.