Download it Right Over HERE This is a fifteen page free OSR pdf that originally appeared in the world of Khass. There is plenty of old school pirate adventure to be had here. You've got culture, locations, adventure seeds, and more all here for free. Here's the Drivethrurpg blurb:
Chorynth. Fourteen sea princes –squabbling and fighting to be the greatest, some aloof and cold, others hotblooded and brash. All of them dirty; pirates of each other and everyone around them, bearding the world with brass, steel in their hands and a sneer on their lips. Chorynth is called the island of cutthroats and pirates. A standard it bears proudly.
The country of Chorynth was originally found in the World Book of Khaas, Legendary Lands of Arduin. This expanded version has more grit and detail than the original, as well as associated material appropriate for the Arduin Eternal® game system, published by Emperors Choice Games & Miniatures®.
Chorynth makes an excellent pirate haven that can be dropped into any old school game that being said this makes a great sword and sorcery location of scum and pirates. The place has lots of blank spots on the map that can easily be filled in. Pirates always mean one thing when it comes to horror games. Manic pirate undead! The movie the Fog from 1980! Given the propensity of adventurers to end up as pirates especially in an S&S style setting. This free download might get a hell of a lot of play depending on the players. But every party of adventurers needs a place to unload booty, get into fights, and generally have place for the DM to add adventure to his games. This is where this location adds colour, variety, and a much needed injection of intrigue into the mix.
We get a bit of everything with this fifteen page pdf and a nice overview of all of the customs, history, landmarks and more of Chorynth. The level of technology is Renaissance. And the magic level is low as well but we've got a population of scalawags, cut throats, and revears that out matches the Bahamas! We clock in at about 950,000. Reading it over made me think of Captain Blood as well from 1935 with Errol Flynn.
Add a bit of pirate treasure and some friends after the holiday and your ready to go!
Decadent and ancient Wi Strui City the trade city and the abode of the first Hyperborea Emperor Lanamelaer. ~Lanamelaer The Twenty Seventh~ Slayer of Derro, Blessed of the Eastern Stars, and Savior of the Western Gate And The Provider Of The Sacrament of Trade Blessed of All Technology
This strange city seems to have once been a settlement from Hyperborea and now its royal courts trace their linage all the way back to the first ancestors. Now a society of trade and politeness during the day and secret societies of Tongs, assassins, and worse during the night. This is a city of contrasts where monks hold the salvation of the common man and the semi divine emperor holds the forces of darkness from the Inner World at bay using forbidden Hyperborean and Atlantian magic.
Wi Strui City's Trade Status
This city state has extensive foreign quarters and twisting alleyways where foreigners from across the vast Prime Materials come to trade wares, establish contracts, and deal in the decedent treasures of Wi Strui. The ancient Atlain Gate systems still function and bring in thousands each year to sample the wares of a million worlds.
From the strange spices of many worlds and weird Lotus from far off Leng to the Jade treasures of Fal Ru to artifacts from the Nightlands its all here in the Grand Bazaars and alchemist shops for your PC's to buy or blunder into. Giant Automatons and Guardians keep a tight reign on the Foreign Quarter ensuring that nothing escapes into city proper without t the secret police and the Crimson Monks clan knowing about it .
Ancient Tongs and secret societies trade arcane technology and relics with Derro spies in the shadow of the city walls while selling wares from the "Gothic Earth" and "The World Between" to clients from across the worlds. Many from the Royal Court come to the cabarets and shows within the Foreign Quarter to be seen, trade information, and establish contracts with the various 'business men'. There have been rumors of men from Interzone as well as other dangerous elements occasionally having truck here but of course these are only rumors and urban legend.
Wi Strui City And The Derro Wars
Wi Strui City sits on a major tunnel system of the Derro. The region has always been hotly contested between the forces of the emperor and the horrid tunnel dwellers. The city has been rebuilt countless times and much of the Atlain technology found in the tunnel system has formed the basis for the emporium's incredible advances in the forbidden sciences, medicine, and planar control. Still the Derro will not be denied and their forces continue to plague the twisting back alleys of Wi Strui.
The Derro occasionally kidnap citizens of Wi Strui for experimentation, dissection and much worse. Occasional Derro relics turn up in the Grand Bizaar as well. They are unreliable at best and dangerous in the extreme. Many alchemist priests will not work at all on these horrors as they are prone to explode into dangerous multi colored grenades doing 1d8 points of damage as well as spraying horrid radiations everywhere. It is said that the Derro are gearing up for yet another conflict with the city in the coming rainy season. Even now agents of the royal court are hiring adventurers to venture into the twisting tunnels of the Derro to spy and collect intelligence these ancient enemies of mankind. 1d10 Random Encounter Table For The Streets of Wi Strui City Crossroad Of The World
Barbarian warrior looking for trade and a few adventurers to help with a local clan problem. He is willing to pay in both favors and 1d4 gold ingots. He is not to be trifled with however.
An alchemist priest trading in the Black Meat and several types of lotus pedals. He is looking for a special type of energy cell for an relic for a client. He is willing to recruit adventurers for a raid on a Derro temple.
A group of priests looking for adventurers to help in the slaying of terrible dragon that is besieging their village.
Water seller in medicinal spring waters and minor potions looking for test subjects.
A relic repairmen with 1d10 minor treasures to sell.
A seller of rare fish from the inner world oceans and maker of alchemical cures looking for adventurers to go with him on an expedition to find a rare specimen.
A princess on the run from her arranged marriage looking for an escape. Actually a murderous were fox looking for victims in her latest scheme.
A seller of maps to the treasures of the inner world. Actually a spy for his Derro masters implanted with a horrid control chip that turns him into a murderous psychopath.
A group of secret police looking to 'arrest' a group of adventurers for a mission for the emperor.
Derro Raiding party looking to kidnap a group of adventurers for dissection or worse! Use Monster Manual II stats and add in energy weapons!
Beyond where the North Winds blow past the Black Gulf there is another world. The world of Ancient And Accursed Terra. This world was once seeded by "Those From Beyond". This was once a world of savagery, sorcery, and Atlantian super science.
But those days are long past and only now are men emerging from the darkness and the long silence that followed in the wake of the sinking of Atlantis,Mu, and more. But their survivals even now plot to retake this world from the darkness beyond the poles where the Elder Things and the Great race once seeded the interior world.
This is not our world but a world of powers at the world's core who wait plot and look at the world as nothing more then a resource to be exploited. Mankind sends representatives of all races into the dark places to plunder ancient ruins, learn the secrets of those beyond the illusion and take the relics, artifacts, and treasures left behind.
And while left behind they are still guarded by the monsters, survivors, and far more dangerous inhabitants of the civilizations of Atlantis, Mu, and many other legendary ancient horrors. Many scholars of Terra believe that the planet was once the home of the Atlans and it was they who seeded the races of planet from the stock of Hyperborea. Even though their machines have been found within the interior of some of the great volcanoes. The matter rages within the meeting halls and temples of the great clerics. The Derro degenerate races who lay claim to their treasures are far too real however as do the Morlocks with whom the Derro make war for the rights to hunt and kill the races of mankind.
Welcome to Terra The Accursed Terra The Ancient
There are many terrors above and below the ground. The Derro often use Peterson's Basklisk as guardians and servitors. These vat grown horrors are far from common but often encountered after a Derro raid or strike upon a surface village or town. Peterson's Basklisk Number Encountered : 1d4 Alignment : Chaotic Evil Size : L Movement: 30 Dexterity: 9 Armour Class: 4 Hit Dice : 6+4 Number of Attacks : 2 ( Kick, Bite) Damage : 2d6 bite, 2d8 kick Saving throw : 14 Morale : 10 Experience points : 1,050 Treasure : F Petersen's Basilisk is named after the alchemist priest who first encountered the beast upon Terra and wrote about it within his journal. These beasts were left behind by the Derro's attack upon the up world village of Krug as terror weapons and displayed an evil chaotic cunning of devilish cruelty. The beasts use the four feather like antenna to sense their prey and use both a gaze which can turn a being to stone and a highly septic blood venom for attack/defense. Anything meeting their gaze must make a transformation save or be turned to stone. Combatants who are bitten or attack with the a bite or kick must make a save vs poison or die a horrid death within three rounds. The monsters often take the bones, trinkets, and shiny treasures of their victims to decorate their lairs to lure mates. The things are blood thirty meat eaters and often hunt live stock or farmers as easy prey. The things have dense scale like armor and are powerful runners. They have been known to foul water sources in order force prey animals(humans) into the open. It is said that the things have a telepathic rapport with their Derro masters. Public Domain Source Material
What do we know … of the world and the universe about us? Our means of receiving impressions are absurdly few, and our notions of surrounding objects infinitely narrow. We see things only as we are constructed to see them, and can gain no idea of their absolute nature. With five feeble senses we pretend to comprehend the boundlessly complex cosmos, yet other beings with wider, stronger, or different range of senses might not only see very differently the things we see, but might see and study whole worlds of matter, energy, and life which lie close at hand yet can never be detected with the senses we have.
"From Beyond" Written November 16, 1920, published June 1934 in The Fantasy Fan, 1
Out among the ashes of the Boreas winds are worlds left by the gods as playthings. Things as a child might leave as they are done playing with them. The World of the Dark Stranger is one of these. Some madmen and mages believe the place belongs to Aster or one of the other Old Ones. Many scholars and parties of adventurers come for the Old Earth artifacts, artworks, and treasures simply lying in around to be taken.
They are wrong for the world belongs to the demon lord of the Undead Orcus and his avatar the 'Dark Stranger'. The Dark Stranger is part of the universe of Dune point which has folded itself away from normal time and space. The place is caught within a time loop and each night the Old Earth town of Dune Point is part of the so called Waiting. A time when a blood red full moon rises in the night sky. The true nature of the residents of Dune Point is revealed. All thirty thousand residents show themselves as true Ghoul blooded monsters.
Each night at the town strange things happen, shadows crawl about on the skylights, and the town crawls with monsters. Each has a body temperature is 85 degrees. Each is dead, but thinking and moving about, and suggests a connection to the legends of vampires as fully sentient and aware of what they do. there are some who feel remorse and actively fight the 'condition'. Meanwhile, each night, creatures gather on the beach in front of bonfires, staring straight up at the moon. The locals call it 'The Waiting'. These 'vampires' will eat anything: dead vampires, dead people, live people, live animals, etc.
Each day 'order' returns to Point Dune.
With the rising of the Blood Moon things quickly get completely crazy , every resident turns into a monster, and the titular Messiah of Evil - the dark stranger, a former minister, and a Donner Party survivor from the late 19th century turned vampire/cannibal, returns. He says he has come to lead his people up the coast and inland, to spread his 'religion'. Those still living get bitten on the neck only to spread the religion of evil and horror.
Standard saving throws from AS&SH must passed or the repercussions are dire.
Those bitten gain +2 on strength and dexterity but -4 to intelligence as well as wisdom when the Blood Moon rises. They are truly of the undead forever caught between life and as a play thing of the Dark Stranger. He will instantly know all they know and have access to their emotions, emotions, and become toys to the terrifying hungers of the Dark Stranger. They will not age but they must feed every 1d4 days on human flesh for nothing else will slate this abnormal hunger.
Reaching Dune Point
une Point is another world caught within the grasp of the Boreas Winds beyond Hyperborea. The world appears at the whims of the Dark Stranger and Orcus himself. Those wishing access must make the journey aware that they may or may not be aware of those who trespass upon one of their sacred worlds. Simply vibrational attunement or the correct magical artifact may in fact allow those to make the crossing to this parallell world. Many of the treasures found upon this world may be infected with the curse of the Dark Stranger and those who pilfer such things must have them vitally cleansed. Many necomancers make the pilgrimage to this world to learn the secrets of the Dark Stranger but few return to use their knowledge. Many simply become ghoul blooded themselves never to return.
Plot and Commentary of Dark Messiah
Messiah of Evil is one of those trippy weird nineteen seventies films that has drifted into the public domain but it seldom used. Not unlike Carnival of Souls this film has undead, many Lovecratian elements and a strange dreamlike atmosphere. I've used this one for a number of OSR games in the past and wanted to see if I could get away with it for AS&SH. Its a weird one shot that might actually work with the right group of players. This was an interesting Halloween thought experiment. There is lots to mine here but this was originally an 'R' rated film.
The full plot according to wiki :
A young woman named Arletty (Marianna Hill) drives to the beach town of Point Dune, California, to visit her estranged father, an artist. She finds his house, abandoned. He left a diary in which he addresses her specifically. In it he complains about darkness consuming the town, and horrible nightmares he is having, and implores Arletty to never, ever look for him. His letter tells her to talk to the owner of the art gallery, who sells his paintings. The gallery owner says he has none of her father's paintings, does not sell them, no one ever comes in looking to buy his works, and says he doesn't know where he went. He says Point Dune is 'an artist colony', and he only vaguely remembers her father (his paintings are eerie pop art portraits of groups of people in black, white, and gray, standing; the men are always dressed in black suits, white shirts, and black ties, like dead men at a funeral). It is never clear if these are townspeople, or figures from his visions, or both.
By chance, Arletty meets a Portuguese-American aristocrat Thom (Michael Greer) and his two extremely provocative, groupie-like female companions, Toni (Joy Bang) and Laura (Anitra Ford). They are drinking, smoking, and walking around in states of undress, except for the man. He always wears an ivory three piece suit, 24 hours a day. He is fascinated by the town, and the legend that a blood moon rises above it periodically, and darkness then consumes the town. Back at his motel, he is interviewing Charlie (Elisha Cook, Jr.) a village idiot/'wino'-type character. He tape records his bizarre rants. Charlie speaks at length about 'the blood moon' and 'the dark stranger' and how he has lived through both. He says very soon it will be the 100 year anniversary of the first appearance of the 'dark stranger', he will return, the moon will turn red, and the town will be overrun with evil. He says the stranger's followers do not kill him as they think he is a harmless hobo—they let him sleep on the sidewalk undisturbed every night. Charlie warns Arletty about her father, he says he is 'one of them' now, and must be killed, but with fire, as only fire will do the job. Moments later he is murdered off screen. Thom tells Arletty he also went to the gallery, and saw one of her father's paintings in the window.
The man and his women are kicked out of the motel, supposedly because the police questioned them about the wino, and it bothered the management (all the police in town are 'normal' and clueless about the vampires massing at night). They all move in together, at Arletty's father's house. Each night at the house, strange things happen, shadows crawl about on the skylights, and Arletty reads more of the diary. In it, her father reveals his body temperature is 85 degrees. This proves he is dead, but thinking and moving about, and suggests the local vampires are fully sentient and aware of what they do, and only Arletty's father feels remorse and is actively fighting his 'condition'. Meanwhile, each night, creatures gather on the beach in front of bonfires, staring straight up at the moon. The locals call it 'The Waiting'. These 'vampires' will eat anything: dead vampires, dead people, live people, live animals, etc. Each day 'order' returns to Point Dune.
These vampires are especially interested in eating Arletty, Thom, Toni, and Laura. First to die is Laura, devoured inside a Ralphssupermarket, in one of the film's two semi-famous scenes. Next to die is Toni, in the other semi-famous scene, she is literally devoured in a movie theater filled with blood red seats and greenish vampire-like creatures. These 'things' act like vampires, bite their victims' necks, but then eat them like George Romero's zombies. The night Toni is eaten alive, Thom races downtown, realizing she is in danger. But he's too late. Things quickly get completely crazy as the 'blood moon' rises, every resident turns into a monster, and the titular Messiah of Evil - the dark stranger, a former minister, and a Donner Party survivor from the late 19th century turned vampire/cannibal, returns. He says he has come to lead his people up the coast and inland, to spread his 'religion'. Thom gets bitten on the neck, and then suddenly two policemen in riot gear drive up, and fire their guns into a swarm of townspeople/vampire/zombies; however one of them suddenly begins to bleed, causing his now-former partner to shoot him and flee. Undaunted, the undead cop shoots his former ally and he and the other vampire/zombies go to feast on his flesh.
Thom drives to the beach house, but Arletty is half-crazed; she is cold, cannot feel pain, thinks she may be dead or un-dead...she even finds a bug crawling around in her mouth and immediately vomits up various beetles, mealworms and an anole. Startled by Thom, she stabs him with garden shears. Later bandaged up and ready to go, the two of them flee to the beach. It is swarming with the ersatz vampires. They swim out to the breakers. Thom drowns, but Arletty survives. Instead of being eaten, she is tied up, to be 'sacrificed to the Messiah'. Instead of killing her, he turns her loose, and tells her to spread word of his religious movement throughout California and the world. Of course, once she is freed Arletty tries to spread word of the menace and of his cult. This causes her to be locked up in an insane asylum. She is the woman seen dancing in the hallway at the beginning of the film. Each day, all day, she sits in the sun painting. But she says she is really waiting for, and dreading the day the Messiah and his followers come to her asylum, and she is taken away to live forever as his bride.
Dune Point is at this point simply another cosmic plaything to Orcus himself. From time to time the demon lord amuses himself by letting adventurers access to this world and its dread secrets.
" All has become a matter of survival against the other tribes my son. The hunt went well after we traded the 'Lightning weapons' which spit fire and fury at the ancient wyrms in the deep Northern snow belt region. The trade with the Mechanists was a good one. The wise ones needed the eggs of the horrid things to forecast the tribe's future. To see beyond sight and look into the murk beyond the Boreas Winds. But the price my son was far, far, too high.
We have lost three tribe members to the damnable ruins of the Cloud Giants fortresses and still the ancestors of our people do not rest easy in their graves now! It began and must end with the well of our people. They come for us now! We must put them to fire now and move on towards the South. We found the well and let loose that 'Old Hates' and they track us now! The other tribes will kill us for letting loose this curse. Even now I can hear them in my dreams and my mind. They're stumbling, horrid low cries and they're coming for us. We needed the special metals of our ancestors and the white coloured blades for arrows that do not melt in the heat of the snow wyrms. Take the eggs of the snow wyrms and leave me for our ancestors to feast on. At least the rest of the tribe will now will have a chance. If you should survive and remain free of contagion meet up with the tribe in the South where the game is plentiful. Remember the wise men must open the keys and the gates to Hyperborea for our saviors to come through. Go now ans I will use the last remaining magic of the stick of destruction to take as many of them and give you a fighting chance. May the blessings of 'Old Earth' be upon you. Tell your mother I love her. May you have many strong sons! Go"
And so It begins.
Rumble upon Venseclav.
Venseclav, is a small exo world planetoid that sits within the Boreas Winds of Hyperborea. This world sits within the path of the Boreas that blows beyond Black Gulf. Venseclav is a world warmed by ancient Atlantian technology but is forever caught within an ice age. Wandering tribes of proto human Atlantian survivor degenerate tribes make war with the primitive remains of Kelts, Amazons, and Vikings as well as many others.But it wasn't always so. This was once a holiday world where generations of hunters came to stalk and kill the great beasts of Hyperborea. Many monsters were imported from across the cosmos. Is this past or the future? No man can say anymore. This is a world on the knife's edge. The children of Ymir stalk this world and eat the souls of anyone they come across. They feed and feed well upon this little exo- planet of Old Hyperborea. They are however tainted beings passing their own horrid brand of undeath. Those who exit the Aurora gates will be confronted by zombies but these aren't ordinary zombies. They're ghoul blooded undead from Old Earth. Monsters caught between undeath and the curses of gods of old. They've been suspended in time by their horrid curse. And now with the return of Ymir's children they're in a near state of frenzy. There will be 1d20 of these things to confront adventurers coming through the gates. Some will escape any melee only to mark the PC's for later tracking and eating. Three perhaps four of the horrors still retain a diabolical intelligence enough to use any old technology left upon the world that they come across. Many are Hyperborean or Atlantian survivors cursed by Ymir for siding with the cloud giants. The cloud giants are extinct but their servants the ice dwarves are not. They operate behind the scenes through a series of agents and trading blinds. There are only a handful left now. These are the only beings able to repair any magic items or relic technology of giants or of the Atlantian survivors. Now the keys and the gates to Hyperborea have been thrown open. Not only will saviors come but who knows what vile beings will as well. The tribe of the Iruitro has released both their undead ancestors and gates. They are a doomed people unless their honor is restored to them. Even now both undead and other tribes hunt for them. The gate is open and the trap is set! What fool hardy adventurers will step through? What fools will brave the keys and gates of Venseclav?
" My son you are so to be a man and you are already one of the best hunters for the tribe but you sense that all is not as it once was. I've taken you here in the mountains where the Auroras play and para monsters have court. Do not seek game here for it is foul tasting and tainted with the energies from above. Things were not always as you see them now my son. Let me tell you of my father's time, and of our ancestors time from long, long, ago. Back, back, in the mists of time when this world was a paradise of the old folk.
Once this world was a paradise of sun and the game ran red across the land. Mighty hunters came from another world to hunt here. Then At Lan Tus fell my son and the people to the South came and settled. But with the sinking of their homelands the suns fell in the sky and the game grew scarce.
The people prayed and turned to the worship of ancient gods,spirits, and those who would listen. But the favors of gods are fickle and their wrath great! Do not call upon the gods unless it is to observe the seasons my boy.
The Cloud Giants came and brought with them their machines and mighty medicine. For awhile all was good and plentiful. The world settled back into its way and the mighty Auroras sustained all. The fortress cities of the giants were seen by all and they crowded the skies. They brought many gifts and all was good for a time. But old hates draw old enemies and Ymir is a jealous old thing. And this world became their battleground. Ymir loosened his children and with them came the tribes of the North. The Kelts,the Amazons, and even your ancestors fought the peoples of this land.
The Cloud Giants died by the score after one hundred years of a stalemate war my son. Their fortresses can still be seen out in the ash fields and nothing grows well there. The game is lame and twisted. But occasionally a gift from the giants is found. No good comes of those who wield their power. For a time a tribe's champion might become unto the gods but such things never last and do not become a play thing of the gods. Beware the ruins my son for the dead will never rest easy around such places.
Remember my son that you always crack the skull of such beings and burn the body away from your long houses after battle. It matters not if they were wife, sister, brother, or fellow warrior. You do them a service when they are destroyed. Even now the old hates return as Ymir's children feast on worshiper and friend alike. All grows cold under their gaze. Game becomes scare and we will soon move to the south as the stars become more terrifying in their travels. There will be more war and more bloodshed as well. The god kings like that. But we go where the game takes us.
I will tell you one more secret my son. The auroras flow with the power of the Boreas winds and many travelers from many worlds come here when the snows are deep and weird . Seek not the quick path of the wise men and the wizards who enslave men. Theirs is not the way of the warrior my son. For they are unto gods one day and weak as children the next. Seek your steel and trust your spear arm my boy. These will naught fail you. Watch for those things of hell between where the wind and snows of many colours come. We must get back to the tribe now for long tooth is seeking us. I will tell you more tomorrow when the suns set in the West and shadows grow long around us as is the way of men of our tribe."
Caught beyond edge of the world of Hyperborea is an the ancient world of Venseclav. This world sits within the path of the Boreas that blows beyond Black Gulf. Venseclav is a world warmed by ancient Atlantian technology but forever caught within an ice age. Wandering tribes of proto human Atlantian survivor degenerate tribes make war with the primitive remains of Kelts, Amazons, and Vikings as well as many others. This is a world of snow, blood, and a hundred thousand shattered ruins that sit as impassive witness to the generations of warfare around them. Yet a curious hand has begun a chain of events that may forever alter this delicate jewel of snow and ice. A party of adventurers is caught within the crossfire of ancient god kings. The hand of history extends across the ages to shake the snow from the branches of horrors long thought dead. Things spoken of in the oral histories of various tribes have come from across the gulf to chill the back bones of the sane!
The children of Ymir now stalk the land. Warriors and hunters now cleave closer to their fires as tales are told of corpses of friends and relatives found flash frozen in horror and ice. Ymir has loosened his children upon this delicate world Friends and family are found with limbs missing, eyes gone from sockets, and many flash frozen.
Ymir's child take the form of spirits of air are beyond cruel but they take the form of innocence as a perverse mockery of the world.
Blood Frost - Ommogguru "The Hand Taker" has come across the Black Gulf Blood Snow known as Thruru The Blinder has been seen in the South Cruel Ice Called Thusru brother of Blood Snow stalks the land and is called Eye Taker Finally Frozen Reigns The Child Killer is loosened The worse part is that the corruption of power of some of encounters with these monsters makes the dead walk once again. Heroes are needed to quest for magic to banish these spirits back to the brink. Back to the black gulf once again! End of part one
The story concerns a family who moves into an old house that rejuvenates itself by means of its occupants.
Its a theme that runs through both the Legend of Hell House And The Amityville Horror as well. This film has a sort of 'Twilight Zone' or dream quality to it.
The plot According To Wiki:
The Rolf family takes a vacation from an unnamed city at a large, shabby neo-classical1890s mansion in the California countryside. The family consists of Marian (Karen Black), her husband Ben (Oliver Reed), their young son David (Lee Montgomery), and their elderly aunt Elizabeth (Bette Davis). The owners of the house are the Allardyce siblings, brother Arnold and sister Roz (Burgess Meredith and Eileen Heckart respectively). The Allardyces inform their new tenants of a particularly odd requirement for their rental: the Allardyces' elderly mother continues to live in her upstairs room and the Rolfs provide her with meals during their stay. The siblings explain that the old woman is obsessed with privacy and will probably not interact with them, so meals are to be left outside her door.
As it turns out, this task falls to the mother, who gradually succumbs to the allure of the ornate house and its period decor. She becomes obsessed with caring for the home, begins to dress as if she is from the Victorian age, and of particular concern to her is the room outside Mrs. Allardyce's room with its huge collections of framed pictures and a music box. Various "accidents" occur during the summer. While playing in the pool the father almost drowns the child, a gas heater in the child's bedroom is mysteriously turned on and the windows closed. Ben is haunted by a dream and a waking vision of an eerie, grinning, malevolent looking chauffeur whom he saw at his mother's funeral decades prior. With each "accident," the house begins to regenerate itself. It gradually becomes clear that Marian is somehow being possessed or controlled by the house and that a malevolent force is slowly consuming the family.
Then Aunt Elizabeth suddenly takes ill and dies, and the mother does not attend the funeral. She steps into a room that had previously contained barren and half dead flowers only to discover a beautiful, ornate garden. Upon arriving home from the funeral, Ben confronts Marian, who retreats to the room outside the old woman's bedroom. He angrily confronts her about her obsession with the home and what the home is doing to their family. She denies it. He reveals to her his intentions of leaving the next day, "with or without you."
The father sleeps in an armchair in the son's room, then awakens to the sound of old shingles falling off the home. He attempts to escape with the son but, a tree blocks the road. The mother drives them back to the house; the father accuses her of being part of it. He then sees the mother as the chauffeur, and becomes catatonic. The next day, while David is swimming and Ben is watching him, the placid pool turns into angry, vicious waves, pulling the boy under as Ben is unable to move. Marian frantically saves him, and agrees it is time to leave.
As Ben readies his family to leave the house, Marian decides to go back inside to tell Mrs. Allardyce that they are leaving. After she fails to return to the car Ben goes inside to get her, but cannot find her. Ben decides to confront the elderly Mrs. Allardyce, whom he has not seen face to face. Ben is horrified when he finds that his wife has somehow become the old woman in the attic, or perhaps always has been. Ben is thrown from an attic window, landing on the windshield of his car. In shock, David runs toward the house and is killed when one of the chimneys falls on him.
When the house is now fully rejuvenated and glistening like new, the voices of the Allardyce siblings are heard marveling at the house's beauty and rejoicing over the return of their mother. The house is seen to be filled with pictures of various people, many from years past, some more recent - including those of Ben, David and Aunt Elizabeth.
Using Burnt Offerings For Your Old School Horror Games
Not unlike the the Legend of Hell House, Burnt Offerings mansion is far more subtle then the usual horror rpg adventure. This is a location that offers subtle demonic possession and the promise of eternal repose within its walls.
The 37-room mansion is 16,224 square feet and features 10 fireplaces, a Tiffany-style dome, wood paneled public rooms and inlaid parquet floors. The servant quarters in the house are designed to accommodate 12 live-in staff.
The Allardyces family seem to have a very dark history with the place. There's an almost 'Shining' feel to the place. Adventurers will find the place a probably a bit too methodical in its pacing for killing. Those accustomed to slam-bang approach of post-'70s horror fare may be in for a surprise. But seasoned Call of Cthulhu fans will find plenty to enjoy in this film's location for its subtle charm and a bit of insanity in the house's approach.
The house seems to be a malevolent force is slowly consuming the family and others who have visited it and become a part of its walls. I've always felt that the place might touch other times and places throughout history. The place lures its victims in and then begins to consume both sanity and body until the place claims them as its own.
The house can be more then just a simple trap. Those spirits that reside within its walls may have knowledge of the past that no other being possesses. The rare insights that may come in handy to adventurers. Getting past the entity which controls and regenerates the house will not be easy.
Even those who escape the houses phantoms may be cursed and may find themselves returning to the house as its obsession takes over.
There are a couple of reasons to use Burnt Offerings. 1. The film is relatively unknown to many horror fans and rpg players today. 2. The film makes a quick set up for a one shot adventure. 3. There's plenty to use here if the 'time travel from hell' bit is used to allow the house's phantoms to work their magic over the adventurers.
The film's location of the Dunsmuir House and its grounds have appeared in numerous movies and television shows. There's plenty of info about the place right over on wiki!
1d20 Random Where Does That Secret Door Lead Table
Down, down into the depths of the Earth to the secret catacombs of the Derro and the horrors never seen by the eye of normal folks.
The door is actually the mouth of something very vile and nasty roll initiative right now!
The passage is actually the intestines of some god awful beast from the lowest depths of a horror writers imagination. There are 1d4 smaller 3 hit point monstrous devourers waiting to feed on the party. 1d3 points of damage from their vile teeth. There may also be puddles of stomach acid here and there.
The door leads into a 1d4 random planar location: 1. Carcosa 2.The backyard of the current location.3. Advenus The First plane of Hell 4. The First layer of the Abyss
The door leads into a wizard's lab complete with bubbling alchemy equipment as if the wizard just left moments ago.
The passage leads to a location miles, and miles away. Random monster encounter here
The passage leads to a grave yard at night and as you emerge there are 1d4 Lovecraftian Ghouls who are very suprised to see your party does anyone know the language? 70% chance of these creatures attacking
The passage is an ice filled slide that snakes its way deep underground to a larder of some monster or demon
The passage winds its way through to a carnal house of horror. The lair of a serial killer of the country side who has remained undiscovered so far. Until now!
The passage lead down,down into the bowels of the Earth and miles of tunnels to the center of the Earth and the horrors that await there
The passage leads to the resting place of an ancient Lovecraftian god who sleeps the sleep of ages. And must never be disturbed until now!
The passage is lined with hundreds of bones some of them dating back centuries. The passage leads to the lair of 1d8 zombie/ghouls who are waiting for the party.
The passage leads through walls lined with thousands of holy texts. At the end of the passage which seems to go on for miles there is a giant brass door which is hot to the touch.
The passage seems almost like the puzzle box from the movie Hellraiser. The floor is covered over in a fine mesh work of odd ornament looking glyph. The passage leads to a wall covered in different symbols
The passage leads no where at all. Turn around or so the illusion seems to tell you but then it beings to lose power and that's when the horror begins
The passage leads into a 20th century closet of some woman in Brighton England and she screams, picks up a knife and attacks
The passage leads right to the lair of a Grendal style monster who awakens to have a lovely conversation and dinner. Your party is dinner
The passage leads to the workings of a party of Morlocks and their giant stream works. There are 1d6 morlocks waiting for a new round of slaves to join their ranks
The passage is part of a net work of tunnels to hidden brothels throughout the countryside. The party will become newest additions to the hideous menu of horrors that these places serve to their most jaded customers.
The passage leads into the mind of one of the world's most demented writers and the nightmares it contains
