Campaign Crafting: Adventures in Mordent

[stormwell]

So my upcoming Savage Worlds based Ravenloft game (*linkage*) looks to be set in Mordent and so my campaign is being crafted based around this realm.

I'm starting with all the characters being Outlanders, though it's up to the characters whether they're from the same place or not, and Mordent is where they arrive after being taken by the Mists. Thinking of an encounter with Lady Margaret Scottmatter's ghost to setup an adventure resolving round the Sinister Gallery. Though this is intended to be a series of encounters before the characters get the hint to check out the family manor.

Looking to adapt Howls in the Night, but with a different take; Ann was having an affair with Michael, which Burton found out about. Was then going to have it that Burton accidentally killed Michael in a fit of rage before chasing Ann out into the bog, then run with an adapted version of History #4 in that Burton tries saving Ann but she drowns cursing him. I then could potentially have the Moor Hound being the spirit of Michael seeking its own revenge.

An idea regarding Gryphon Manor which me and the wife conceived was that the grounds of the House was host to some ancient and dark entity that took an exception to being disturbed. The idea being is that Lord Godefroy is aware of tis entity and part of him drawing spirits into the House is to create a spiritual meat-shield to try and keep the entity contained. So potentially defeat Lord Godefry for good could result in something much much worse being released.

[The Lesser Evil]

Initial thoughts are kind of the usual with outlanders, about thinking about how to motivate them to stay around instead of seeking a means of escape. The Sinister Gallery also has the potential of motivating them to go chasing after the Shadow Fey and eventually lead them out of Mordent to Tepest and the Shadow Rift. You might keep them on task by seeding the various locations you want them to visit with clues on how to get home or alternatively why they might have been drawn into the Demiplane. A longer mystery arc to bind together the various haunting of the week plots.

As far as Godefroy and the thing in the basement goes, the question comes to its origins (unless you deliberately want to leave its origins vague.) According to S' history of Mordent in Gazetteer II (p. 45), the Renier family (whom would much later come to dominate Richemulot) were the house's first inhabitants. According to Legacy of the Blood
(p. 106), 5 of 6 of Jacques Renier's children turned out to be natural wererats, possibly due to the influence of the House' spirit. So whatever foul creature you have Godefroy appeasing might have something to do with that. A possible sidequest into Richemulot could involve finding out more about the House from Renier family records. A possible candidate of what might lurk inside the basement might be the entity venerated by the Gauldamon family as Lou'gal the Smiling One (though their territory didn't hold the Manor.)

Is there anything specific about your campaign you wanted help with?

[stormwell]

I was basically going to have Lady Margaret's ghost show up in various locations, each time having her point at something before vanishing. My thought was to have her point at the Scottmatter manor and then have the characters figure out where they're meant to go from there.

As for the Howl in the Night adventure I'm torn between my take, have both Ann and Burton be evil or both good (I like the irony). I may end up rolling a die for it.

Could have something along the same lines as the Smiling One, though I may do something with ancient evils in barrows.

[Skyrock]

I was basically going to have Lady Margaret's ghost show up in various locations, each time having her point at something before vanishing. My thought was to have her point at the Scottmatter manor and then have the characters figure out where they're meant to go from there.

One thing to keep in mind here for investigative scenarios and campaign structures is the "Rule of Three". Every important insight/conclusion/scene etc. should have at least three clues leading to them, as players are prone to misunderestimating, misunderstanding or outright missing and overlooking them - especially if they are so enigmatic as ghostly gestures, which makes them easily single points of failure in campaign design.

Not to forget that player groups are generally prone to Pratchett's Law of Mob IQ

[The Lesser Evil]

I was basically going to have Lady Margaret's ghost show up in various locations, each time having her point at something before vanishing. My thought was to have her point at the Scottmatter manor and then have the characters figure out where they're meant to go from there.

As for the Howl in the Night adventure I'm torn between my take, have both Ann and Burton be evil or both good (I like the irony). I may end up rolling a die for it.

Could have something along the same lines as the Smiling One, though I may do something with ancient evils in barrows.

My question would be what the in-character justification of Lady Margaret only popping up at certain points and telling shreds of the story? Has she gone mad and is roping the characters along? Is she constantly being chased by Lord Sithington Gray or some other party?

As for Ann and Burton, would it be possible to make them both good and evil at the same time? By this I mean, both capable of very good actions but also very tragically flawed and insidiously twisted in their own ways?

[stormwell]

I was basically going to have Lady Margaret's ghost show up in various locations, each time having her point at something before vanishing. My thought was to have her point at the Scottmatter manor and then have the characters figure out where they're meant to go from there.

As for the Howl in the Night adventure I'm torn between my take, have both Ann and Burton be evil or both good (I like the irony). I may end up rolling a die for it.

Could have something along the same lines as the Smiling One, though I may do something with ancient evils in barrows.

My question would be what the in-character justification of Lady Margaret only popping up at certain points and telling shreds of the story? Has she gone mad and is roping the characters along? Is she constantly being chased by Lord Sithington Gray or some other party?

In Gazetteer III it is stated that Lady M is able to materialize in the actual locations that her paintings show, that is what I was going on.

[The Lesser Evil]

Sorry, I meant to say, why didn't she just pop out and tell the PCs about everything all at once. I went back and read the entry. Her ghost can't speak, so she may not be able to communicate everything without showing people things. Gray also left behid some of his minions guards and tormentors, which might keep her from wanting to stay in one place for too long anyway.

[stormwell]

So got quite a few people signed up and looking to start in the New Year.

Going to be running them through Howls in the Night (though adapted for Savage Worlds), decided to assign a card suit (Heart, Club, etc) to each history option in order to determine which one to run with. Lady Margaret's appearances I may just do as random encounters, so theres no fixed pattern as to when and where she appears.