Need some help to create a haunted house

[CorvusCornix]

The next adventure will take my players into a house they believe to be haunted (and it is, but not how they think it is, but nevermind that...). Actually, a young couple uses the house to plan their flight from the village of Barovia. Both of them possess a few basic arcane skills (one of the reasons they need to flee), which they use to scare away anybody who enters the house.

Now, the players enter said house, and I want to give them a few good scares, before they eventually find out they are being tricked, and I'd really appreciate some help there! Basically both of the "villains" can have access to any first or second level spell, but they won't try to harm anyone, they only want to get the players to leave. So, does anybody have any good ideas beyond the basic "poltergeist" events like moving furniture or floating cutlery?

Thanks a lot in advance!
Felix

[alhoon]

mage hand or unseen servant to move items from a secret compartment (behind a large mirror, from a secret room under the floor or something like this).
Silent image, ventriloquism, ghost sound and minor image works wonders with players suspecting a ghost. Don't be too obvious (like pulling out a "ghost" to attack).

I would propose the following: An eerie sound coming from a vase in the corner of the room (not a scream, just a humming) when somebody approaches, the vase flies by it self and is thrown against the character, shattering on the floor.
Probably all characters at this point will have their attention on the vase. It is the best opportunity to cast a silent image of a shadowy, semi-trasparent humanoid with vague and hidden features behind them. When the first one to turn and see the image, it will go away, vanishing in the wall.
A few moments later, a door where nobody looking closes (or opens) abruptly making noise. As the PCs probably look in that room they find a scortched mark in the wall scribing "She has stayed behind" or something similar. The scribing goes away when they aren't looking.

To do these tricks, you need 1 unseen servant, 1 ventriloquism, 2 silent image spells and a ghost sound spell. Or just 2 silent image spells and 1 mage hand, an open/close cantrip and a ghost sound spell.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

If the ghost-fakers have the time and resources, consider seeding the house with suitable props, like an ouija board (controled by an Unseen Servant), creepy portraits (which illusory "spirits" can resemble), and branches strategically bent to scratch at windows when a Prestidigitation-born breeze disturbs them. Don't overlook 100% mundane things such as trick lamps (filled with chemically-tainted oil that creates oddly-colored flame), either. Players are used to the notion that spooky effects in a D&D game "must" be supernatural in origin; consider consulting a book or webpage about IRL magicians' tricks, and you'll find mundane ways to drive them nuts. ("But it HAS to be a ghost! I didn't Detect ANY magic when that door slammed by itself!")

[Jasper]

A mixture of dancing lights, ghostly music and a tin lantern makes a very scary scene.

The dancing lights and lantern create dancing shadows on the wall, mimicing a even that happened in the house but go out the second the Pcs touch it.

[CorvusCornix]

Thanks a lot for the excellent advice, guys! Yes, the fakers do have the time to prepare the house, so they could very well place a ouija board there. Good idea, with the magicians' tricks, but in this scenario I'd rather use "real" magic: the tricks the two imposters perform are directed to the normal inhabitants of the village of Barovia - and most of them share the attitude that magic is only used by demons and evil fey, which is exactly what the couple wants to achieve. The fact that the players know that there are normal people who can perform magic will be the ace up their sleeves, with which they can discover the truth...

The dancing lights and lantern create dancing shadows on the wall, mimicing a even that happened in the house but go out the second the Pcs touch it.

Hm, maybe the couple could mimick an event that has NOT happened in the house, but which they want the players to believe has happened, like the "ghost" killing another perpetrator... Is it possible to control exactly how the lights dance?

Thanks, alhoon, I really liked your vase-and-silent-image scene! I forgot to mention: since my players don't come from ravenloft, they can't actually read or understand Balok yet, this makes writings on the wall a bit tricky. Hm, on second thought, it might even be MORE fun to let something appear they can't read, let their fantasies work for me, who knows what dire warnings they can come up with *g*.
Warning, off topic: I just noticed you are from Chania and/or Athens? If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few questions somewhere in the near future? My girlfriend studies greek and is preparing to spend a semester abroad in greece, most likely in Thessaloniki, but maybe also with some time in Athens. Also, Chania is the town where she spent almost every holiday in her youth . Very nice town, I've been there last year with her for the first time...

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Come to think of it, perhaps the couple in question could use their magic to create images of *themselves* being gruesomely murdered! If they're really leaving Barovia, then faking their own deaths -- complete with false "phantoms" left behind as evidence -- would be an excellent way to prevent anyone from pursuing them. It wouldn't fool Strahd himself for an instant, but if the vampire's agents in town honestly believe the missing couple are both dead, they might waste time trying to catch the (non-existent) "murderer" on their own, in hopes they can drag the culprit to their master in chains and be rewarded for their diligence. In the meanwhile, the spellcasting couple will have bought themselves more time to run.

[CorvusCornix]

*lol* you are very good, having them fake their deaths was exactly my intention . Somehow I just hadn't thought so far as to apply the illusions to it as well! Brilliant! However, since both of them were forbidden by their parents to meet, I'll have them stage their deaths separately, in a way that will make it very difficult to discover that they even wanted to leave. I haven't quite worked out the fine details, but so far the plan is to have the players find the decapitated body of a young woman ("borrowed" from the graveyard, kept fresh in the ice of the balinoks, already giving the players a hint of the rumours about a certain Ms Montarri...), and later on hear the tale of some youths holding a seance who were attacked by a (her) ghost, one of them supposedly even got killed, while the others luckily managed to flee unharmed... Hm, but your plan of a "normal" murderer is good as well, I'll give that idea some thought...

[alhoon]

"borrowed" from the graveyard, kept fresh in the ice of the balinoks

Gentle repose works better. After all, if they use magic, they use magic.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Isn't there a female ghost in Barovia who freezes people to death? Don't recall her name off the top of my head, but perhaps this young couple had stumbled upon one of her victims days ago. The body (which they've hidden and preserved in a nearby cold spring) looks a bit like that of the female spellcaster, which gave them the idea of faking their own deaths in the first place.

Note that if you go with the "gruesome murder" option, it'll explain the lack of a male body (clues can be faked to suggest the "murderer" buried it somewhere, then couldn't go back for the female body) without a need for graverobbing (which would be a bit too complicated/obvious). If you want, you could even have the couple *frame* a specific enemy of theirs for the (nonexistent) killings: if they're good people, they might frame a thug who tried to hurt the female spellcaster or an agent of Strahd who was about to expose their magical talents; if they're not so nice, they can cast suspicion either on some villager they didn't get along with, or on an innocent outcast whom the town will rush to condemn.

[CorvusCornix]

Gentle repose works better. After all, if they use magic, they use magic.

Ooo, great spell! I have to admit I don't know every spell in the book, I've definitely missed this one! Hm, but as far as I see, it is a necromancer spell, isn't it? I can't see either of them as a necromancer... I don't suppose clerics of Ezra or the Morninglord have access to it, do they?

Isn't there a female ghost in Barovia who freezes people to death? Don't recall her name off the top of my head, but perhaps this young couple had stumbled upon one of her victims days ago. The body (which they've hidden and preserved in a nearby cold spring) looks a bit like that of the female spellcaster, which gave them the idea of faking their own deaths in the first place.

Yup, there is: Jezra Wagner. I've also given her some thought, but somehow I liked Jacquiline Montarri better, since all the interaction the players get with Jezra would be to be frozen to death, she normally doesn't interact with mortals more than for a few seconds... I love Jezras background story, but I don't want to introduce the players to her, yet (all of them are first level). I find it more interesting to first let them hear some rumours of Jacquiline, and then somewhere in the near future have them meet her, spending quite some time with her, and only in the end realizing WHAT she really is... Hm, but your idea of giving the couple a decent trigger for their escape plan is good, so far my plan was simply to let them build on some legends that have been circulating in Barovia for years...

Note that if you go with the "gruesome murder" option, it'll explain the lack of a male body (clues can be faked to suggest the "murderer" buried it somewhere, then couldn't go back for the female body) without a need for graverobbing (which would be a bit too complicated/obvious). If you want, you could even have the couple *frame* a specific enemy of theirs for the (nonexistent) killings: if they're good people, they might frame a thug who tried to hurt the female spellcaster or an agent of Strahd who was about to expose their magical talents; if they're not so nice, they can cast suspicion either on some villager they didn't get along with, or on an innocent outcast whom the town will rush to condemn.

Ooo, that's really wicked! I like it *g*. So far, I had planned that there wouldn't be a "real" body: if all else fails and the players aren't driven from the house by ANY scary events, the couple would show them the illusion of a pretty violent murder scene, making one last desperate attempt to make them flee. If the players still have the nerve to touch the massacre, well, so be it, after all they still need SOME way to solve the puzzle, can't have the two be TOO intelligent . But you have given me a lot of great ideas to think about, thanks a lot! I think I'll stay open for both options (real murderer vs ghost) and see what works better when I've worked out a few more details... Hm, your idea definitely has the better roleplaying possibilities...

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Hey, it's never too early to drop hints! The PCs won't have to meet Jerza (thanks for the name) now, just figure out who the dead woman really is and restore her remains to her family. Jerza might have passed near to Barovia months ago, encountering and freezing a stray villager along the way; once the PCs solve the haunted-house mystery, they can identify the body, and thus learn of how somebody's wife/sister/whatever got lost in the mountains "where the Ice Queen walks" last winter and was never heard from again.

Later in the campaign, when they're up to facing her, you can sic Jerza on the PCs knowing they'll have the memory of that frozen woman's grieving family to motivate them. Jerza's one of the more pitiable of Ravenloft's monstrous residents, but knowing about her past victim will help steel the PCs' resolve to lay her to rest.

[CorvusCornix]

You are right, it isn't that I don't want to introduce Jezra, it's just that I can only introduce either Jezra OR Jacquiline right now, and there still is a lot of time before I can even think of letting the players meet the real Jezra. Furthermore, it might be easier to convince the villagers that the body belongs to the fleeing girl (I have to think of a name soon, this is getting awkward ) if it is killed by Jacquiline: the head will be missing, but the rest of the body will definitely be recognizable as that of a young woman. Jezras victims tend to be either whole (the face would give her away) or completely shattered (it could be anybody)...

Furthermore, if the true victim was killed months ago, then the villagers will know he is missing and hasn't been found yet, so they might get the idea that the body they just found belongs to him... But I agree, I love dropping hints to some future encounters, it's always nice to give the players some time to think about what awaits them

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

Traumatised Spirits in one of the FoS netbooks might be of help with coming up with some adventure ideas with what I wrote in there. There should be some other articles that we and the Kargatane have published in netbooks over the years that may also be of service to you