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Want even more ways to plumb the stygian depths of D&D horror? Here are five adventures that can curdle your blood.
Horror and D&D are two great flavors that pair well together. So much so that often, one of the first places people go when designing adventures is right into “and this campaign will have dark fantasy and horror elements” territory. It’s well-populated. But for good reason.
People love horror. And the right adventures can make D&D downright creepy. It’s just a question of finding the right ones. While Ravenloft: The Horrors Within has a lot to offer, it doesn’t have the market cornered on D&D horror, not by a long shot. Here are five other adventures that do D&D horror well.
Dungeons of Drakkenheim
Not just an adventure, but a whole campaign and bespoke campaign setting. Dungeons of Drakkenheim from Ghostfire Gaming and the Dungeon Dudes takes place in the titular city of Drakkenheim, which was devastated by a magical meteor that crashed into it some years back. Now, populated with aberrations mutated by the eldritch energies contained within the meteorite fragments scattered around the city, it’s a big horror show.
The Crooked Moon
The Crooked Moon is one of the most successful D&D Kickstarter campaigns and it’s brought to you by Legends of Avantris (who are responsible for the current most successful D&D Kickstarter campaign, Neon Odyssey). It embraces folk horror and is a long, long adventure. While it could definitely be better organized, it tackles the horror it sets out to.
Grim Hollow: Adventures in Etharis
Grim Hollow’s world, Etharis, is its own blend of horror that is uniquely fantasy. It’s an especially D&D style horror world, where the gods are dead (at least seemingly so) and the world feels like it’s dying. Like the color is draining out. It’s not apocalyptic horror, as your heroes bring the light. But it’s an interesting mix that you can explore in this adventure anthology.
Cyre 1313: The Mourning Rail
You might recognize Cyre 1313 as one of the new Dread Domains in Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, but it’s also an expansion that you can find on the DM’s Guild. This book, originally released not long after Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, expands and explores the metallic corners of Cyre 1313, better known as the Mourning Rail. If you want more adventures and to know what to do with the train in your games of D&D, I highly recommend this one.
Down Came A Blackbird
Down Came a Blackbird is an adventure that’s based on the classic horror movie, The Birds. It’s a four-ish hour one shot for low level adventures, and it follows what happens when a flock of birds that prove to be surprisingly hostile descends upon a sleepy little town.
What are your favorite D&D horror adventures?
Bell of Lost Souls Staff Writer and DM, J.R. covers RPGs of all stripes and on occasion eats sandwiches. You can ask him about either at [email protected]
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