Silent Hill style horror in a Ravenloft game?

[High Priest Mikhal]

I've never played Silent Hill, although I've been told the original story is about the Cherry Mine disaster, a multi-year burning coal mine near Cherry, Illinois

That's the movie adaptation. The producers likely got that impression from the fog and falling snow from the first two games. In fact the games never say where the town is located. Given the timeline and geography described, however, it's a safe bet it's in New England (I go with Vermont for my fan fiction, but I remember someone saying it was in Maine).

As to the OP, all of the Silent Hill games draw on the idea presented in the first game that what we play is based on the nightmares-made-real of Alessa Gillespie. I found using a dreamscape (one of the PC's or an NPC's) in the Nightmare Lands works. Rules for the surrealism of dreams in D&D are out there. I use The Nightmare Lands Boxed Set from 2e adapted to 3.5 and ideas from the 3.5 book Heroes of Horror. There's even a free set of dream rules by Jester here that's based on the original Boxed Set. Overcoming past (and present) fears and enemies is actually a core theme in dream-based adventures so the idea is covered as well.

Here is the wiki site for anyone interested in more about the series.

[MichaelTumey]

Well I did state, "I heard this was true", but I've neither played the video game (I don't play video games) nor seen the movie, so I'm not making any real claims.

I can be honest in saying the only video game I ever played was for a map commission job, playing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare for 12 hours a day, 6 days straight (while recording my play to video) at Activision Games Studio, last August. I created all 13 multi-player maps for the Brady Games CoD:AW strategy guide. So I did this for work reasons, not play - I've never owned, nor played a console game before this instance.

I'm supposed to be doing five more video game title map commissions this year.

[Zilfer]

Well I did state, "I heard this was true", but I've neither played the video game (I don't play video games) nor seen the movie, so I'm not making any real claims.

I can be honest in saying the only video game I ever played was for a map commission job, playing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare for 12 hours a day, 6 days straight (while recording my play to video) at Activision Games Studio, last August. I created all 13 multi-player maps for the Brady Games CoD:AW strategy guide. So I did this for work reasons, not play - I've never owned, nor played a console game before this instance.

I'm supposed to be doing five more video game title map commissions this year.

I know it's not awesome as it sounds and probably boring..... but.....

That's awesome!!!

[Zilfer]

I've never played Silent Hill, although I've been told the original story is about the Cherry Mine disaster, a multi-year burning coal mine near Cherry, Illinois

That's the movie adaptation. The producers likely got that impression from the fog and falling snow from the first two games. In fact the games never say where the town is located. Given the timeline and geography described, however, it's a safe bet it's in New England (I go with Vermont for my fan fiction, but I remember someone saying it was in Maine).

As to the OP, all of the Silent Hill games draw on the idea presented in the first game that what we play is based on the nightmares-made-real of Alessa Gillespie. I found using a dreamscape (one of the PC's or an NPC's) in the Nightmare Lands works. Rules for the surrealism of dreams in D&D are out there. I use The Nightmare Lands Boxed Set from 2e adapted to 3.5 and ideas from the 3.5 book Heroes of Horror. There's even a free set of dream rules by Jester here that's based on the original Boxed Set. Overcoming past (and present) fears and enemies is actually a core theme in dream-based adventures so the idea is covered as well.

Here is the wiki site for anyone interested in more about the series.

They definitely tried to tailor it towards it being her nightmare but it doesn't match quiet up with the second game where silent hill's history is hinted to have an even older worship dating back to like colonial times. Id say each incarnation of silent hill is based off the main character's version of purgatory. It faces you with tramatic situations and other lost souls some times wander into each other through other silent hill scapes. I think the Nightmare lands actually wouldn't be a bad idea for a Silent Hill game since it's probably the most flexible, or inside a townsize large Phanatamogarim or however that's spelt. Though I dont know the full rules on those kinds of places and one that big would indeed be crazy. xD

If your going for the ash fall/foggy town it might be good to put it near a mine fire or unending ash mount from a volcano or something. Just ideas

[High Priest Mikhal]

They definitely tried to tailor it towards it being her nightmare but it doesn't match quiet up with the second game where silent hill's history is hinted to have an even older worship dating back to like colonial times. Id say each incarnation of silent hill is based off the main character's version of purgatory. It faces you with tramatic situations and other lost souls some times wander into each other through other silent hill scapes. I think the Nightmare lands actually wouldn't be a bad idea for a Silent Hill game since it's probably the most flexible, or inside a townsize large Phanatamogarim or however that's spelt. Though I dont know the full rules on those kinds of places and one that big would indeed be crazy. xD

If your going for the ash fall/foggy town it might be good to put it near a mine fire or unending ash mount from a volcano or something. Just ideas

That's a rather astute observation. Yes, each game does incorporate elements from the current hero's ideas of what is terrifying and their own pasts. In fact, every one of them has some sort of tie to Silent Hill--even if it just means they visited it once. And yes, others who become trapped as well do lend their own slants. Too many to go into.

As for history, it does go back quite a ways and is truly bizarre at times. Before European colonists arrived the Amerind tribe that lived there just disappeared without a trace, for example. The prison was a brutal Civil War POW camp, a tour boat on Toluca Lake vanished in the early 1900s, the place is just saturated with tragedy and darkness. Alessa's being burned alive was more like the tipping point. This isn't even going into the Order. The "town as phantasmagorum" idea would work rather well.