Themes of Isolation and Desperation: The Wendigo
Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:05 am
I'm looking to run a Ravenloft-like adventure for an Eberron campaign that includes a Wendigo. Such an adventure would focus on themes of isolation, desperation, and sanity slippage. If you're a fan of minimalist horror, I highly suggest you treat yourself and read The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood. The short story is based on Algonquian legends. You can read more about it here and here. That's a particularly difficult stage to set, admittedly.
(Some Eberron-specific details follow, but they're unimportant overall. This could take place in any setting.)
But I have an idea that it would take place in northern Karrnath, in the Icewood forest where the Madstone resides. The party, along with a number of NPCs, seek the Madstone to destroy it. Maybe once they get near the Madstone, they feel like they're teleported away somewhere in the woods. They can't teleport out or find their way. After days, they run out of food and begin to starve. Eventually, they start getting picked off. An NPC attacks another and the party discovers he has cannibalized the other one. He attacks the party, trying to bite them and will continue to do so until killed. This soon happens to another NPC and another. The party is all that's left. Then a party member starts to act like the NPCs had before they became violent. He grows more paranoid, catching brief glimpses of the Wendigo in the woods, though no one else sees it. Eventually, the PC becomes and NPC and attacks them. They're forced to kill the PC. Soon, another acts the same. The party dwindles. They seek the Madstone, to undo this, but they can't find it or a way out of the forest.
Here's the catch: this isn't really happening. When they approached the Madstone, it didn't teleport them. Instead, it put them in some dream-like state. In reality, they're freezing to death around the Madstone. This reminds me of an absolutely fanatic episode of The X-Files called "Field Trip". Of course, the party needs a way to escape the Madstone's dream world. Perhaps they realize somehow that they're hallucinating. Clues might be that they always feel cold, even sitting next to the fire. Maybe they hear sounds of animals in the woods, but can see none. But even if they know they're hallucinating, I feel like they should only be able to escape the dream by doing something thematic. I don't know. Something that's important characterization. Nothing mechanical. All roleplay.
Do you guys have any ideas of what I could do? Or perhaps you know of another Ravenloft adventure that did something similar or touched on the same themes.
Edit 1: I just started reading the Dark of the Moon adventure which takes place in Vorostokov. This has some really good ideas I can use.
(Some Eberron-specific details follow, but they're unimportant overall. This could take place in any setting.)
But I have an idea that it would take place in northern Karrnath, in the Icewood forest where the Madstone resides. The party, along with a number of NPCs, seek the Madstone to destroy it. Maybe once they get near the Madstone, they feel like they're teleported away somewhere in the woods. They can't teleport out or find their way. After days, they run out of food and begin to starve. Eventually, they start getting picked off. An NPC attacks another and the party discovers he has cannibalized the other one. He attacks the party, trying to bite them and will continue to do so until killed. This soon happens to another NPC and another. The party is all that's left. Then a party member starts to act like the NPCs had before they became violent. He grows more paranoid, catching brief glimpses of the Wendigo in the woods, though no one else sees it. Eventually, the PC becomes and NPC and attacks them. They're forced to kill the PC. Soon, another acts the same. The party dwindles. They seek the Madstone, to undo this, but they can't find it or a way out of the forest.
Here's the catch: this isn't really happening. When they approached the Madstone, it didn't teleport them. Instead, it put them in some dream-like state. In reality, they're freezing to death around the Madstone. This reminds me of an absolutely fanatic episode of The X-Files called "Field Trip". Of course, the party needs a way to escape the Madstone's dream world. Perhaps they realize somehow that they're hallucinating. Clues might be that they always feel cold, even sitting next to the fire. Maybe they hear sounds of animals in the woods, but can see none. But even if they know they're hallucinating, I feel like they should only be able to escape the dream by doing something thematic. I don't know. Something that's important characterization. Nothing mechanical. All roleplay.
Do you guys have any ideas of what I could do? Or perhaps you know of another Ravenloft adventure that did something similar or touched on the same themes.
Edit 1: I just started reading the Dark of the Moon adventure which takes place in Vorostokov. This has some really good ideas I can use.