If you’re a player and not a GM then this article may spoil some fun for you. How about playing through our free solo adventure, Sentinels Watching. If you’re a GM then let the awesome begin…
The mist is thick and swirling, lit ominously from above by the full moon and from your own torches. The mist seems both to glow and envelop you. It’s a warm mist, but the marsh water is cold and the mud sucking, making your passage forward difficult. You’ve come in search of the menace that’s been making off with sheep from the local farms, but you didn’t think the marsh would hold you up for nearly a day. You had hoped to be on your way home already. Now, in the darkness, all you can do is keep heading towards where you last saw the hills, but honestly you’re no longer sure you’re headed in the right direction.
Suddenly a light appears from up ahead. A lantern signalling, but it’s hard to tell, and you can hear no voice. The mist is so dense, after all.
This little adventure hook should fit into any fantasy role-playing campaign nicely, whether your party is heading into a dungeon, travelling through wilderness or just wondering outside the city gates for the first time.
The Scene
The adventurers find themselves travelling though a marsh, possibly trying to get to the entrance of a dungeon or other important location on the far side of the marsh. The mist begins to close in and surround the PCs. Hit them with a couple of increasingly difficult navigation checks and soon they’ll probably be going in circles, if not wondering if they’re completely lost. At this point they see what looks like a lantern signalling to them from somewhere up ahead. As they get closer the lantern disappears, without a trace, but has coincidently brought them to the entrance to the dungeon. It’s all a little too convenient. The players will either feel someone helped them out or sense a bigger trap, which is all part of the fun.
The Rigours of Adventure
The adventurers enter the dungeon, followed by the invisible marsh light that brought them there. It feeds off their fear throughout the adventure, growing in power and cunning until it is eventually detected, possibly much later down the line. Perhaps the marsh light even comes to the rescue of the players at times, since they’re a great source of food anyway. If you’re a hungry marsh light why not keep your food close at hand?
Leaving Danger Behind
At some point the PCs may head back to town leaving the will-o’-whisp to haunt the surrounds of the town. Peasants begin to go missing and rumour runs rife of a ghost outside the walls. The will-o’-the-whisp is simply hoping to lure the PCs back to the dungeon.
The point is to have a recurring NPC that’s not a straight up fight and should be relatively easy for you to keep around until the time is right. Furthermore, it’s a great role-playing hook and it’s what this monster is built for.
Let us know if you try this out in your own campaign and share your adventures with us by leaving a comment below.