Horror is a common feature of RPGs with Call of Cthulhu consistently being amongst the most popular games, along with lesser known games like Chill and Kult and even Dark Conspiracy which is due a new edition soon.
Even D&D has long had a horror flavour, with Ravenloft and its most famous villain “Strahd von Zarovich” consistently being republished alongside new editions.
When running horror, you want probably want to establish a creepy tone…Silent Hill works because of many different things: music, visual representation and of course the environment.
But…Horror can also come at a cost, and you definitely want to talk to your players up-front and bring in some safety tools to ensure that everybody at your table enjoys the experience, this is especially important for convention games or game-shop games where you might be playing with strangers.
We game to have fun, and sometimes having fun involves being out of our comfort zone…
This is a list of grisly reminders for a dark-forest environment, perhaps the PCs come across an abandoned village, maybe it’s an overturned coach at the bottom of a ravine…the things on the list will serve to bring their former owners back to life for some brief period.
You can roll, pick one, or include it in a grim dark adventure you’re writing…
Grisly Reminders Table (d20)
| Roll | Grisly Reminder | Description | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Child’s Toy | A small, carved wooden horse with one missing leg, left in the mud. | |
| 2 | Bloodstained Journal | The last few pages detail a desperate flight into the wilderness before abruptly ending. | Reveals a rumour about an adjacent hex. |
| 3 | Wedding Ring | A simple silver band still attached to a blackened severed finger. | |
| 4 | A Holy Symbol | A broken amulet of a forgotten god, clutched tightly in a skeleton’s hand. | |
| 5 | Petrified Corpse | A body frozen in a silent scream, covered in a strange, hard grey substance. | |
| 6 | A Pack of Letters | Love letters from a spouse who clearly died waiting for the recipient to return. | They were due to be delivered to a settlement several hexes away and they have a return address. |
| 7 | Crude Grave Marker | A name carved poorly into a piece of wood, clearly a hasty burial by a desperate survivor. | |
| 8 | A Familiar Face | A set of remains belonging to an NPC you briefly met 3 hexes back; they didn’t make it. | |
| 9 | The ‘Last Meal’ | A perfect set table for a family of four, covered in dust, food rotting untouched. | |
| 10 | A Stuffed Bird | A taxidermied raven, perched inside a deserted house, its glass eyes staring at the door. | |
| 11 | A Pile of Teeth | Not human teeth, but something else, arranged carefully in a small, ominous pile. | |
| 12 | A Locket | Contains a faded cameo of a young woman; the frame is bent and cracked. | |
| 13 | Torn Banner | The insignia of a nearby Town, ripped in half and left in a puddle of mud. | |
| 14 | A Baby’s Rattle | A small, simple rattle that makes a sound when moved. | |
| 15 | A Single Boot | With a foot still in it, found neatly placed outside a destroyed building. | |
| 16 | A Note on the Door | A single word, “GONE,” written in blood above a crude arrow pointing deeper into the woods. | |
| 17 | A Missing Persons Flyer | A hand-drawn sketch of a young man, found tacked to a tree, weathered and faded. | |
| 18 | A Severed Hand | Holding tight to a handful of gold coins. | 1d6 coins |
| 19 | A String of Ears | Nailed above a door frame, preserved by salt and fear. | |
| 20 | The Collector’s Cache | A small box filled with 1d4 other “Grisly Reminders” collected by a disturbed survivor. |
Enjoy!