Source
r/Pathfinder2e•
coldermoss

How would you run a haunted house-style dungeon in PF2?

Game Master

I’m building a “haunted house” adventure, where the source of the paranormal activity is basically a poltergeist, unseen and attacking the players with telekinesis (It’s not a poltergeist, but it behaves like one). I want to harry the players until they find the source of the activity, following some common haunted house tropes (decorative armor taking a swing at a passerby; a saber mounted on the wall suddenly flies towards a character, a rug rears up and throws the characters standing on it), but I’m struggling with figuring out how to make it feel fair.

Ideally, I’d like a mix of combat/complex hazard encounters and simple hazards (the house was occupied until very recently so it wouldn’t make sense to have mechanical traps installed). The decorative armor example I just gave could be an animated armor combat, but the saber example presents a problem. I thought it would be easy to make it a simple hazard similar to the Spear Launcher:

Spear Launcher
[Mechanical] [Trap]
Complexity Simple
Stealth DC 20
Description A wall socket loaded with a spear connects to a floor tile in one 5-foot square

Disable thievery DC 18 (trained) on the floor tile or wall socket
AC 18, Fort +11, Ref +3
Hardness 8, HP 32 (BT 16); Immunities critical hits, object immunities, precision damage
Spear ® (Attack); Trigger pressure is applied to the floor tile. Effect the trap shoots a spear, making an attack against the creature or object on the floor tile
Ranged spear +14, Damage 2d6+6 piercing

The problem is that a Spear Launcher, and all other hazards, are written so that it’s possible to see them before they’re triggered. The system deems it necessary for a good trap, and I agree. I can figure out how you could disable telekinetic hazards (just take the sword off the wall before you stand in front of it, or roll up the rug), but I can’t figure out a way to make telekinesis fodder noticeable without any mechanisms or magic runes for the players to find, and if I ignore such a signal I’m pretty sure the players would become paralyzed from paranoia.

Another approach I thought about was having the haunter itself follow the party and occasionally attacking them directly, but that seems to me to present pacing issues and still doesn’t actually solve the problem of “How can the players avoid danger before it happens?” I’m really not a fan of this approach for this adventure.

The last approach I’ve thought of is a compromise on the first approach. It struck me that it wouldn’t be out of character for the haunter to jury rig traps around the house, Home-Alone style. It would certainly fulfill the objective, but I think it would compromise the atmosphere I’m aiming for (and I really want that rug hazard).

And that’s where I’m at. Please, do you have any advice on how to make telekinetic hazards work in PF2’s framework? Do you have experience in drawing out an unseen stalker encounter over a long timeframe? Can I take a Home Alone approach without sacrificing horror? Give me your thoughts.

Posted Nov 21, 2019, 2:23 PM UTC

412
OlliebirdGM•

I highly suggest reading through the Foxglove Manor section of The Skinsaw Murders; part 2 of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path.

It is an incredibly well-done horror adventure in a haunted house with lots of possession, hauntings, and spooky stuff. I've run it a few times and pair it with music from American Horror Story (opening theme is amazing for it) and haven't met a group that wasn't thoroughly impressed by it. There aren't any "traps" per se, but lots of chances to become possessed or haunted by the entities haunting the mansion. Reliving a murder from years before and in the mental replay, your physical form follows along and tries to throw yourself off the top of the stairs...stuff like that. All very cool.

4
rattercrash•

I warmly recommend the Angry GMs article about the Xenomorph dungeon. It's basically what you need, just with small harrying encounters instead of fights against a monster.

3
coldermossOPFighter•

He mentioned that in his newest article. I'll give it a look! Thanks.

1
rattercrash•

It's an Ask Angry article iirc....

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coldermossOPFighter•

I just finished it, and it gave me an idea! The 'poltergeist' in this adventure is a modified soulbound doll guarding the house. I was planning on leaving it in the attic while the party explores, but why don't I have it "sneaking" around the house? By which I mean that I use its footsteps to alert the players they're near a hazard, in the same way a mechanical hazard can be spotted, visually. They'll then have an opportunity to "disable" the hazard by hiding.

It doesn't follow the stealth rules at all, but I think the metaphor works for the hazard mechanics. What do you think about that?

1
DiestormlieSorcerer•

Whatever you do, don't use haunts.

2
coldermossOPFighter•

They don't fit what I'm going for, but why do you say that?

1
DiestormlieSorcerer•

Because they're really poorly designed and frustrating to interact with.

1
Strill•

Another approach I thought about was having the haunter itself follow the party and occasionally attacking them directly, but that seems to me to present pacing issues and still doesn’t actually solve the problem of “How can the players avoid danger before it happens?” I’m really not a fan of this approach for this adventure.

Use the Angry GM's "tension dice" approach. The basic idea is that periodically on some set interval, you add a d6 to a pool and roll it. If any of the dice in the pool roll a 1, something bad happens, and you reset the pool to 1 die. Also, whenever the players screw up in some way, you add another die to the pool.

2
tenuto40•

MonarchsFactory on YouTube had interesting ideas on how she handles haunted house (ghost as final boss).

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coldermossOPFighter•

Could you tell me which video she discusses this in?

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tenuto40•

Revamping Ghosts as Monsters for Halloween.

Her content is spaced out, but I found she has some really interesting GM ideas.

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