Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

We carved pumpkins last week with my sister. My daughter carved a rabbit, and my son a cat.  Or, more accurately, I carved a rabbit, and my sister carved a cat while my children bossed us around. Both of my kids shrieked when they had to put their hands inside and scoop out the pumpkin’s innards. Mostly they poked at it with a spoon. In fact, my kids didn’t do much at all. But, we had fun! We drew on some more pumpkins at home yesterday. Again, my daughter made a rabbit. My son went with a classic jack-o-lantern face.

This morning I packed up my kids costumes, and sent them off to school. They’ll have a party this morning, change into their costumes after lunch, and spend the afternoon at a school dance and haunted house. They’re absolutely over the moon. My son’s going to be a red dragon for Halloween. And my daughter? One guess.

Yup. A rabbit.

She might be obsessed.

My kids can’t wait to head out trick or treating.

And me?

To celebrate I’m taking a look at my five favourite Horror Adventures!

Ooooooh!

*cue the ominous theme music*

Cries from the Drift, Joe Pasini, Starfinder 1-04,
Starfinder Society Scenario #1-04: Cries from the Drift by Joe Pasini.

We’re starting off small with Starfinder Society Scenario #1-04: Cries from the Drift by Joe Pasini! This delightful little adventure is intended for Tier 1-4, features one starship battle, and tasks the player’s characters with exploring a derelict ship, uncovering what became of it’s crew (Spoiler Alert: NOTHING GOOD), and collecting the valuable intel they were carrying. This scenario does a great job of setting an ominous atmosphere right from the moment you step foot on the ship, and, with a solid GM, can be quite suspenseful. It’s got some surprises, so I won’t go into too much detail, but I will say that this adventures features some body horror, so it’s not for the faint of heart!

Up Next? The Strange Aeons Adventure Path! Strange Aeons is a six part series of adventures that will have your characters questioning their past, their allies, and their sanity! Strongly inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft, it’s spooky, macabre, and downright strange. With alien, unknowable entities, crazed cultists, and a whole heck of a lot of weird! I LOVE this adventure path. Seriously. Love it.

Strange Aeons, Part One, In Search fo Sanity, F. Wesley Shneider
Pathfinder Adventure Path 109: In Search of Sanity (Strange Aeons Part 1 of 6) by F. Wesley Schneider.

Strange Aeons begins with your characters waking up in an insane asylum with no idea who they are or how they got there. Oh, also, there’s some strange monster performing invasive surgery on someone else right outside your cell. Not the way you want to wake up! After your daring breakout you’ll have to explore the asylum, battle strange, shape-changing creatures, and find a way to escape — without being devoured by the… things outside. From there? Well, let’s just keep that under wraps for now. This is one of those campaigns where being in the dark is half the fun!

Strange Aeons begins with Pathfinder Adventure Path 109: In Search of Sanity (Strange Aeons Part 1 of 6) by F. Wesley Schneider. Following that is #110: The Thrushmoor Terror (Part 2 of 6) by Tito Leati, #111: Dreams of the Yellow King (Part 3 of 6) by Ron Lundeen, #112: The Whisper Out of Time (Part 4 of 6) by Richard Pett, #113: What Grows Within (Part 5 of 6) by John Compton, and it finishes with #114: Black Stars Beckon (Part 6 of 6) by Jim Groves. I also highly recommend picking up Pathfinder Pawns: Strange Aeons Pawn Collection to go with it if you intend to play this wonderfully creepy campaign. The Player’s Guide is a free download!

Curse of Strahd, D&D.
Curse of Strahd: A Dungeons & Dragons Sourcebook

Next we leave behind the psychological terror, and head into some classic gothic horror! Curse of Strahd! This hardcover adventure path for Dungeons and Dragons takes place in the Ravenloft campaign setting’s  country of Borovia and will take characters from levels one through ten. It’s a spooky, atmospheric, delightful piece of horror that features the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich himself! Play it with a good DM and you’re guaranteed to get chills! This campaign has some tough fights, and was the winner of THREE Ennies in 2016: Winner (Gold): Best Adventure, Winner (Gold): Best Art/Cover, and Winner (Silver): Product of the Year. Special player options are available to download here, untagged maps are available here, and some special notes for DMs are available here.

Carrion Crown Haunting of Harrowstone
Pathfinder Adventure Path 43: The Haunting of Harrowstone (Carrion Crown 1 of 6) by Michael Kortes

From Dungeons and Dragons, we skip back over to Pathfinder, with the Carrion Crown Adventure Path! Carrion Crown is a six part gothic horror campaign that is like a tour de force of classic horror beasts! The first volume, Haunting of Harrowstone, tasks the players with investigating a haunted prison, while later volumes feature carrion golems, werewolves, foul cults, strange beings, vampires, undead, liches, and more! The best part? You don’t always have to kill these beasts. Some have the potential to be allies (if you’re brave enough)! The plot? Stop the Whispering Way from freeing the Lich King Tar-Baphon! I ADORE this campaign!

Carrion Crown begins with Pathfinder Adventure Path 43: The Haunting of Harrowstone (Carrion Crown 1 of 6)by Michael Kortes. It continues with volume #44: Trial of the Beast (Carrion Crown 2 of 6) by Richard Pett, #45: Broken Moon (Carrion Crown 3 of 6) by Tim Hitchcock, #46: Wake of the Watcher (Carrion Crown 4 of 6) by Greg A. Vaughan, #47: Ashes at Dawn (Carrion Crown 5 of 6) by F. Wesley Schneider, and concludes with #48: Shadows of Gallowspire (Carrion Crown 6 of 6) by Brandon Hodge. The Player’s Guide is a free download on Paizo’s website.

Carnival of Tears
GameMastery Module E1: Carnival of Tears by Tim Hitchcock and Nicolas Logue.

So what’s my very favourite horror adventure? Carnival of Tears by Tim Hitchcock and Nicolas Logue! First of, let me point out this is a dark, gory, violent, disturbing adventure. Second, I loved it. Carnival of Tears (more properly known as GameMastery Module E1: Carnival of Tears) is a 3.5 adventure from Paizo Publishing intended for fifth level characters that takes place in the desperate little town of Falcon’s Hollow. Man, that place has gone through a lot! So what better way to relax than with a winter carnival? Right? WRONG! When dark fey take over the carnival they twist it into a nightmare, and use powerful illusions to hide the truth from the citizens. The PCs need to stop the fey, save what townsfolk they can, and try their best to survive the night! I find this scenario is particularly effective when played in a town the player’s have grown fond of (even if that means you don’t play in Falcon’s Hollow), and when they’re forced to help deal with the aftermath of the so-called Carnival of Tears. Just awesome. The horror!

And that’s it!

Or is it..?

There’s one last thing I want to talk about: the future! The horror adventure I most want to play (and read), but haven’t.

Signal of Screams, Diaspora Strain
Starfinder Adventure Path 10: The Diaspora Strain (Signal of Screams Part 1 of 3) by Chris S. Sims.

Signal of Screams!

Signal of Screams is a three-part adventure path for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game that starts at level seven. It begins with your PCs on vacation at a luxury resort on an asteroid when suddenly the staff and guests begin to get violent! They’ll need to protect themselves and the uninfected guests. But, what if they’re not immune to the madness? I can’t wait to find out!

Signal of Screams begins with Starfinder Adventure Path 10: The Diaspora Strain (Signal of Screams Part 1 of 3) by Chris S. Sims, which releases in a few more weeks. It continues in December with #11: Penumbra Protocol (Signal of Screams Part 2 of 3)by Jenny Jarzabski, and culminates in January with #12: Heart of Night (Signal of Screams Part 3 of 3) by Saif Ansari.


Got a favourite horror adventure? Let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear about it.

Happy Halloween!

Jessica

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

%d bloggers like this: