Ravenloft is a place where your nightmares can run wild, where anything you can imagine in moments of dread or despair can come to frightful life among the Mists. The setting as a whole is made up of countless isolated domains, each one a perfect expression of a particular flavor of the macabre. Creating your own domain allows you to blend legendary evils, unexpected monstrosities, and grim settings into a tailor-made whole, bound together by mysterious mists and buried alive inside your favorite horror genres.
This chapter explores how to create such domains, a process that starts by defining a Darklord—the villain at the heart of each sinister realm. Descriptions of various genres of horror also provide details to guide and inspire your creations.
Creating a Darklord
Domains are mocking reflections of the evils they confine. Each has a purpose, being a prison designed to torture a deliberately chosen villain. To devise a Domain of Dread, you must first conceive its central antagonist and prisoner: its Darklord. The following sections detail how to develop a Darklord that contrasts your characters and can serve as a central rival in your horror adventures.
Sinister Reflections
A Darklord's memories, desires, mistakes, and evil deeds shape the domain's twisted lands, inhabitants, and features. You need not create these in a vacuum, though. When creating your own Darklord, consider the relationship that will define their evil in your adventures: their conflict with your players' characters. Just as a Darklord is the inspiration for a domain, players' characters can be a source of inspiration for a Darklord. Consider a Darklord a sinister reflections of those characters. If you explore this connection, have your players create characters then involve them in the process of creating a Darklord in the following ways:
Use these exaggerated and opposite reflections as inspirations for creating your Darklord. By basing your Darklord on intimate details drawn from the players' characters, you create a feeling that the characters are trapped inside a collective nightmare. Through their interactions with a Darklord who mirrors them, characters discover how easily they could become the villains they face.
Past Life
Darklords aren't mindless killing machines; they are full but monstrous individuals. In a few sentences, describe who the Darklord was before they chose to become irredeemable. For inspiration, consider how the Darklord is a reflection of the players' characters. You might also look ahead to the "2" section to see if any of these types of horror seem right for your Darklord. Then consider the following questions.
- Where was the Darklord before the Mists took them?
- Who was the Darklord's family?
- How was the Darklord's family oppressed, oppressive, or both?
- What was the Darklord's childhood like?
- Whom did the Darklord care about?
- Who cared about the Darklord?
- Who hurt the Darklord?
- Whose respect or love did the Darklord crave?
- What did the Darklord value?
Consult the Dungeon Master's Guide or the "1" section of Xanathar's Guide to Everything for additional inspirations for your Darklord's motivations.
Wicked Personality
Detailing the Darklord's personality gives them a unique identity that will help motivate them in your adventures. To do this, give them ideals, bonds, and flaws similar to those you might give any NPC, as detailed in the section on 4 in the Dungeon Master's Guide:
| d10 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | Once someone questions me, I won't stop until I befriend them and then betray them. |
| 2 | Others' concerns bore me, and I would rather have my lessers handle everything possible. |
| 3 | I am always right, and anyone who doesn't agree with me is cut out of my life. |
| 4 | When someone loves me, I will do anything for them, no matter whom they hurt. |
| 5 | I've given up resisting my habits and indulge myself whenever possible. |
| 6 | I would rather be righteously angry at problems than solve them. |
| 7 | I assume everyone is lying to me, even my most trusted allies, and constantly test their loyalty. |
| 8 | I don't know love, only domineering obsession, and I chain objects of my affection to pedestals. |
| 9 | When I see something priceless or rare, I sacrifice all of my beliefs and loyalties to possess it. |
| 10 | I'm distrustful of anyone who seems pure of heart and will prove to all their admirers how secretly ugly they are. |
Corrupt Beyond Redemption
Darklords aren't misunderstood souls condemned through no fault of their own. If a person's potential for evil is particularly great, the Dark Powers might indirectly nurture further transgression, but they don't force individuals to undertake actions against their will. When an evildoer's wickedness ripens, the Dark Powers engulf them forever.
When creating your Darklord, consider the depth of their greatest evil and what made it more significant, abominable, or poetic than more common forms of villainy. The following elements all might be aspects of this corruption:
Developing a Darklord
Darklords are villains because of what they choose to do, not because of who they were. As you refine your idea for a Darklord, determine what deeds a Darklord committed, who was harmed, how the Dark Powers encouraged them, and the price the Darklord paid. Describe why they chose to commit these evil acts, including their ideals, flaws, and bonds.
Consider these questions when creating your Darklord's backstory:
- What was the first depraved act the Darklord chose to commit, and how did their ideal encourage them down this path?
- Was the Darklord rewarded or celebrated for their evil? Did that reaction encourage greater crimes? Were these rewards earned or justified?
- Did the Darklord repeat or escalate their wickedness to obtain something they selfishly desired?
- Did the future Darklord realize that they were losing any hope of redemption, yet choose to commit other heinous acts in keeping with their flaw?
- What evil act was so atrocious that the future Darklord's friends and family rejected them? Did the Darklord think this was warranted or an unreasonable judgment? How did they react?
- When and how did these acts attract the attention of the Dark Powers?
- How did the Dark Powers use these acts to craft the perfect prison domain for the Darklord?
Monstrous Transformation
Some Darklords have features that make them similar to familiar monsters. The Darklord might have been a supernatural creature to begin with, or perhaps they gained their form and related powers through their deeds or a curse. Maybe they even gained supernatural abilities via a pact with the Dark Powers or upon arriving in their domain.
Consider whether or not your Darklord has a monstrous form. If so, in a few sentences, describe how the Darklord gained this form. You might also roll or choose an option from the Monstrous Transformations table to provide a twist on a Darklord's monstrousness. The Dark Gifts in 1 serve as examples of the sorts of forms and powers a Darklord might possess. In any case, consider how this transformation embodies the Darklord's evil.
| d10 | Transformation |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Darklord loses their voice; their words now carve themselves on their skin as lingering scars. |
| 2 | Something the Darklord stole or used in a terrible crime becomes part of their body—perhaps a sizable jewel, emblem of rulership, or suit of armor. |
| 3 | The Darklord's eyes distend from their sockets like a slug's tentacles, in the mouths of serpents, or on metallic cables. |
| 4 | The Darklord's most painful memories visually repeat in reflections around them or amid illusory projections. |
| 5 | The Darklord gains an idealized form, though it's made of an inorganic material or others react as if it were terrifying. |
| 6 | The Darklord's body disintegrates, leaving only an animate heart, hand, gory ooze, or nervous system that must attach to new, temporary bodies. |
| 7 | Clouds of incense, insects, poison gas, or smoke leak from the Darklord's mouth, fingers, or pores. |
| 8 | The Darklord appears as someone they wronged, and their true appearance is revealed at particular hours, in reflections, or under certain lights. |
| 9 | The Darklord splits into multiple creatures, each representing them at a different time in their life. |
| 10 | The Darklord retains their memories and intellect but is otherwise any monster from 5 or the Monster Manual. |
Birth of a Darklord
Upon the completion of the Darklord's greatest irredeemable act, the Mists drag them—and perhaps the lands around them—into the Domains of Dread. At this point, you should have an idea of who your Darklord is, what they did, what form their evil takes, and how they came to the attention of the Dark Powers. Flesh out these details, referring back to how the Darklord reflects your players' characters and the section on 4 in the Dungeon Master's Guide as you desire.
Now, everything the Darklord knew changes and they find themself a prisoner within a domain of their own.
Creating a Domain
The guidelines in this section help you create your own unique Domain of Dread. This setting's details should reflect the Darklord of the domain, being a reflection of that villain's evil and torment. Use the "2" section later in this chapter or your own grim imaginings to inspire the details of your nightmare domain.
Darklord's Shadows
A Darklord lurks at the heart of every Domain of Dread. Everything in their realm is inspired by or personalized to them in some way. Some domains might be dismal ruins reflective of past glories, others might be cheery realms where the Darklord is forever an outsider, and still others might embody everything a Darklord once strove for and be awful nonetheless.
A Darklord's domain often includes sights, sounds, and smells that serve as constant painful reminders of the Darklord's wicked past. To start creating your domain, choose three of the evil acts your Darklord committed. Consider selecting those that best complement the players' characters and that don't conflict with any boundaries discussed in your group's session zero (see "4" in 4). For each evil act, imagine the scene where it took place, and then answer the following questions:
- What does the act sound like from a distance or to someone in the next room?
- How does the act, or its consequences, smell?
- What colors demand attention from the surroundings, decor, or aftermath?
- What shapes, symbols, or decorations stand out?
- What does the light or darkness hide or reveal?
- Are there any sudden or subtle movements one's eyes are drawn to?
- Who is there?
- How are they breathing?
- What are they feeling or thinking? Is it about this scene or something else entirely?
- Are words spoken? Are they relevant to the scene or unrelated?
- Where does this take place?
- When the scene is over, what evidence remains?
- Before this unfortunate scene happens, what warnings were missed or foreshadowed?
Once you've considered these questions, write down your answers and review them. Mark or highlight the words that resonate or feel creepily evocative. As you proceed through domain creation, refer back to these details for inspiration.
Endless Torment
In every domain, instruments of suffering from the Darklord's past ensure their greatest desire remains in view but ever out of reach. Even though a Darklord is effectively immortal, their psychology never changes and their wounds never heal. Consider the following reasons why a Darklord's torment remains unignorable and central to a domain's story:
Domain Overview
The domain's buildings, natural elements, and landmarks all represent the Darklord's vile past. When developing these features, follow these steps:
Cultural Specifics
As you develop your domain, consider the culture and how it emerges from this tragic setting. What might be most unsettling for the Darklord: if the culture is one with familiar strictures, one they opposed or were an outsider in, or something completely unknown or alien to them? While a domain's culture might take inspirations from fantastical or historical examples, remember that a domain isn't a functional or even logical construction. Domains are glimpses into the Darklord's static and often exaggerated or flawed perception of a time, place, or situation. A domain's inhabitants never develop, and they never reach their goals. A domain's oppressive inquisition is no closer to rooting out evil today than it was a thousand years ago. This isn't remarkable; it merely is as it has always been, and forces within a domain contort to maintain this status quo.
For inspiration into your domain's culture, consider the following questions:
- What does the culture fear?
- What does the culture consider taboo?
- What is scarce, and how do inhabitants compensate for this scarcity?
- Who or what does the culture inflict harm upon?
- How does the culture treat outsiders?
- What values does the culture hold that not everyone abides by?
- How is the culture exaggerated, a parody, or otherwise unrealistic?
- How does the culture prevent change?
- What is the general attitude toward the Darklord?
Don't get bogged down with the particulars of a working society. It doesn't matter how a village in a domain of endless night grows crops, but it does matter that the supplies are about to run out. These details can fade into the background as your adventures focus on more exciting threats, or you can highlight the cosmic dread that declares, yes, this place doesn't make sense at all, yet it persists.
For a specific example, consider the domain of Barovia in 3. Not one villager in Barovia thinks it's wise to live in the shadow of Castle Ravenloft, and yet the villagers don't relocate, nor can they imagine living anywhere else. Life is as it's always been and could never be better, but it's constantly threatened with becoming worse.
Monsters
Ghosts, mind flayers, werewolves—every monster is a story. Consider which monsters complement or contrast a Darklord's story. In a few sentences, describe which monsters best represent the Darklord's evil and which might work against the Darklord's schemes. For example, a wicked scientist Darklord might be aided by flesh golems and crawling claws, but they are opposed by dryads and ghosts who suffer from the Darklord's experiments. For inspiration, refer to the "2" section and your answers to the questions there, as well as the Monsters tables in the "2" section later in this chapter.
Misty Borders
In a few sentences, describe how the Mists of Ravenloft operate in your domain. This might largely be the same as detailed at the beginning of 3, or they too might reflect the Darklord's nature. Consider the following questions:
- What shapes, sounds, and smells appear within the Mists?
- Do the Mists behave in some predictable way?
- What stories do the domain's people ascribe to the Mists? Do they ascribe a personality to them?
- Where do the Mists appear besides the domain's borders?
- How does a Darklord use the Mists to close their domain's borders (detailed in 3)?
Adventures
The story of a Darklord and their domain is one and the same. Once you know your Darklord and the general shape of their domain, consider the types of encounters and adventures that play out in this land. For inspiration, refer to the Plots tables in the "2" section later in this chapter, and consider the following story elements.
| d8 | Connection |
|---|---|
| 1 | An adventurer reminds the Darklord of their bond, desire, or loved one. |
| 2 | An adventurer shares a Darklord's flaw. |
| 3 | The Darklord and an adventurer share camaraderie over a mutual ideal. |
| 4 | The Darklord believes they can teach an adventurer, making them their apprentice or inheritor. |
| 5 | An adventurer is a reincarnated version of the Darklord's beloved or their murderer. |
| 6 | The Darklord is convinced that an adventurer is the key to finally attaining their desire. |
| 7 | The Darklord immediately looks up to an adventurer and seeks to emulate them to grim extremes. |
| 8 | An adventurer is a reincarnated younger version of the Darklord before they became irredeemable. |
| d8 | Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Darklord promises to give the adventurers what they want if they join the Darklord for dinner. |
| 2 | The Darklord contacts the adventurers via letters or dreams. |
| 3 | The Darklord meets the adventurers disguised as a nonthreatening inhabitant or animal. |
| 4 | The Darklord meets the adventurers at a ceremony, funeral, or wedding where violence is discouraged. |
| 5 | The Darklord meets the adventurers at a public market, festival, temple, or library, surrounded by a crowd of innocents. |
| 6 | The Darklord possesses the body of someone the adventurers care about. |
| 7 | The Darklord possesses the body of one of the adventurers. |
| 8 | The Darklord invites the adventurers to a negotiation, promising nonviolent solutions to a conflict. |
The Domain's Downfall
Once you know what your domain and Darklord are, think ahead to the climax of your adventures.
A Darklord likely can't be defeated by combat alone, so what is their weakness? In one or two sentences, describe this weakness, where it is in the domain, how the Darklord attempts to conceal this Achilles' heel, and how adventures might exploit it to bring the Darklord down.
Then, assuming the Darklord is defeated, consider what happens next and how that's relevant to the player characters, addressing the following questions:
- Can the Darklord die permanently?
- Under what circumstances might they return?
- What happens to their domain?
- Does a new Darklord rise?
- Does the domain permanently dissolve?
- Can the adventurers escape the domain?
- Do the adventurers return home or travel to another domain?
Unleash Your Horror
At this point, you should have a wealth of information about your Darklord, domain, the types of adventures you might run involving both, and a general idea of how the Darklord might be defeated. As you review your notes, consider where you can make connections between elements, establish recurring themes, and potentially foreshadow circumstances your adventures will focus on. Don't feel like you need to have answers for every question your Darklord or domain raises; many of these details can be defined as your adventures play out or by focusing on elements your players gravitate toward.
Now that you have a framework for your Darklord and domain, review the following "2" section. The details in that section can help you add exciting and shocking specifics to your creations as you prepare to unleash them on unsuspecting characters.
Genres of Horror
This section describes several horror subgenres, elements common to certain types of horror stories you can use to inspire your own Darklords and Domains of Dread. These sections provide suggestions for creating monsters; villains; torments for Darklords; settings; adventure sites; and plots evocative of horror stories, films, and games rooted in these genres, along with tables of inspiration for each. Don't hesitate to mix and match pieces from different genres to create your own uniquely terrifying adventures.
The monster lists presented throughout this section reference creatures found in 5 of this book (VGR) and the Monster Manual (MM). Also, for examples of fully detailed Darklords and domains employing these genres, look ahead to 3.
Body Horror
Body horror as a genre examines a universal fear: our own failing anatomies. We rarely think about what goes on beneath our skin. We understand that the organs operate in harmony: the heart beats, the lungs pump air, and the gastrointestinal system labors to supply us with nutrients. But we don't ponder the minutiae. Like whether embryonic parasites encyst in our brains, or what stage of cirrhosis we might be facing, or if tumors bloom deep in parts of ourselves we hope never to see.
When creating adventures involving body horror, use this lack of awareness. Focus on the unpredictability of flesh. Pull from the knowledge that even seeming robust health might be an illusion, that we're not sacred beasts, that we might be incubating fecund, hungry, or malicious parasites right now.
In addition, consider the following genre tropes when creating your body horror domain:
- Physical transformations are common and might affect more than bodies. Objects, architecture, and the natural world might be anthropomorphized in terrifying ways.
- Characters suffer aberrant or excessive growth, whether of organs, discordant appendages, or unnatural materials.
- Though gore often takes center stage in body horror stories, it's often a side effect of stories about fear of change, difference, mortality, physical harm, disease, or other fears.
- Body horror doesn't need to be messy. Swapping bodies, turning to stone, or even gaining one's ideal form might all feature in this genre.
- The genre has a history of portraying disability as monstrous. Be aware of those tropes and avoid them.
Body Horror Monsters
Any monster might be the focus of body horror plots. Know what your players are anticipating so you can distort those expectations. A poised elf revealed to be a husk puppeted by sapient worms can be as frightening as any eldritch horror.
A variety of monsters can be used without modification. This includes all manner of parasitic Beasts, Aberrations, Undead, and other creatures with unusual digestive systems or weird reproductive cycles.
| Challenge | Creature | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carrionette | VGR |
| 2 | Gibbering mouther | MM |
| 3 | Carrion stalker | VGR |
| 3 | Doppelganger | MM |
| 4 | Black pudding | MM |
| 4 | Strigoi | VGR |
| 5 | Flesh golem | MM |
| 5 | Red slaad | MM |
| 6 | Medusa | MM |
| 6 | Zombie clot | VGR |
| 8 | Chain devil | MM |
| 10 | Aboleth | MM |
Body Horror Villains
Villains of this genre present as tragic figures, whether they're hereditary cannibals, captives enduring some forced metamorphosis, scientists looking to reverse death, or academics who went too far in the pursuit of knowledge.
| d10 | Villain |
|---|---|
| 1 | An abandoned homunculus made in the image of its creator's child, now left to fester alone |
| 2 | A scientist who, hoping to keep their spouse alive, grafted the spouse onto their body |
| 3 | A seething mass of fungi that grows more intelligent with every sapient life it engulfs |
| 4 | A guardian angel possessed by the vile blood of the demons it has slain |
| 5 | An aging king obsessed with creating a new body so he can continue his reign indefinitely |
| 6 | A cancer possessed by the mind of a dead necromancer that seeks to regrow his body |
| 7 | A monarch who feeds their cannibal children, no matter the cost |
| 8 | The priests of a forgotten god who attempt to raise their deity from the flesh of the faithful |
| 9 | A house that remembers having tenants and will do anything to regain them |
| 10 | A grieving mortician who sculpts every face she encounters into the countenance of her lost love |
Body Horror Torments
Darklords in this genre draw their power from their biological changes or gain abilities that assist them in fulfilling their appetites. Their torment is rooted in the physiological and, frequently, in fecund and uncontrollable growth.
| d8 | Torment |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Darklord is pockmarked with eyes that never close and never allow for sleep. |
| 2 | The Darklord suffers ever-growing, tumorous organs, the mass expanding beyond them to choke their dwelling. |
| 3 | The Darklord possesses a second starving mouth in their torso, one that howls unless fed. |
| 4 | The Darklord can't control their transformation into a beast and back. |
| 5 | The voices of those the Darklord have wronged scream endlessly from inside them. |
| 6 | The Darklord aches daily with a monstrous, unceasing hunger. |
| 7 | The Darklord is perpetually gravid with monstrous egg sacs that hatch waves of insects. |
| 8 | The Darklord has extraneous limbs that tear the Darklord apart then re-stitch the pieces. |
Body Horror Settings
Body horror can occur anywhere, from mundane backdrops to garishly unsettling locations.
| d8 | Setting |
|---|---|
| 1 | A country of red muscle, with bleeding eyes embedded in the hair-strangled trees |
| 2 | A world of monuments and houses, all made of flesh |
| 3 | A domain ordinary save for the abundance of black hair, the strands always moving even when there is no breeze |
| 4 | A neighborhood of derelict houses, each one composed of numerous mimics |
| 5 | An ocean of undead leviathans, still moving despite the entrails bubbling from their burst torsos |
| 6 | A forest of black pines draped in bodies |
| 7 | A slaughterhouse larger than it appears on the outside, full of victims mutely awaiting slaughter |
| 8 | A system of subterranean tunnels, their walls spackled with fossils or mummified organs |
Body Horror Adventure Sites
Body horror is exceptionally unnerving in juxtaposition with mundane settings, particularly in places where the characters are isolated from help, treatment, or confirmation that their torment is real.
| d8 | Adventure Site |
|---|---|
| 1 | A derelict ship, buried for mysterious reasons |
| 2 | A vine-covered, ostensibly abandoned prison |
| 3 | The cavernous gut of a dead, multi-eyed behemoth |
| 4 | An inn in the valley, its insides dark and smoke-drowned |
| 5 | An asylum, abandoned save for vermin |
| 6 | A cave system, slick and comprised of gleaming black rock |
| 7 | An old church sitting astride a warren of ancient tunnels |
| 8 | A sprawling university, older than the town surrounding it, and older still than the memories of its inhabitants |
Body Horror Plots
Adventures in body horror realms are often tests of endurance, whether players are attempting to hold out until rescue arrives, endeavoring to mount a rescue themselves, or trying to escape somewhere on their own. Alternatively, they may be investigative in nature, requiring the heroes to uncover what dark secret lies behind the mundane.
| d8 | Plot |
|---|---|
| 1 | Learn who's organizing the local dinner parties before more epicureans die of autophagia. |
| 2 | Stop whatever is stealing the livers from the town's guard. |
| 3 | Find out what is causing the children of the city to transform into misshapen statues. |
| 4 | Stop whatever is killing the sea life and transforming them into monsters. |
| 5 | End the curse that is leaving the beasts of forests dead, mutated, and halfway human. |
| 6 | Stop the infestation before it can use more townsfolk as incubators for giant insects. |
| 7 | Solve the mystery of whatever is causing a town's inhabitants to melt into giant blobs. |
| 8 | Cast out the fiends that have infiltrated a community by wearing the corpses of the recently dead. |
Cosmic Horror
Cosmic horror revolves around the fear of personal insignificance. The genre is predicated on the idea of entities so vast and so genuinely beyond our comprehension that we cannot fathom their simplest motivations. To see them is to become lost in their magnitude and the evidence that we have never, will never, and could never matter to the cosmos at large.
The genre deals with how alien forces might alter us, perverting our expectations and understanding of autonomy, debasing our minds, and separating us from what makes us human. Sometimes it is the result of a process we invite. Other times it simply happens, an accident of circumstance we can only hope to survive.
However you spin it, this genre involves a loss of control, an absence of autonomy, and the sense of insignificance within an indifferent universe.
In addition, consider the following genre tropes when creating your cosmic horror domain:
- There is no good or evil, no law or chaos.
- Be vague. Cosmic horror emerges through imagination and the indescribable, not details.
- At its best, cosmic horror makes characters feel gradually unmoored from their familiar reality.
- Cosmic horror is about ineffable forces driven by motivations humans can't understand.
- Cults, forbidden books, and strange symbols form the cornerstones of cosmic horror.
- The genre has a history of framing marginalized demographics as monstrous and stigmatizing mental illness. Be aware and avoid those tropes.
Cosmic Horror Monsters
Monsters that work well in cosmic horror adventures enact change on their unwilling victims. Cosmic horror focuses on unknowable entities and creatures that see into the minds of their enemies and use what they find against them. Any monster can easily be modified to suit adventures in this genre, perhaps being controlled by a hidden intelligence or vast cosmic force.
| Challenge | Creature | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 | Kuo-toa | MM |
| 2 | Intellect devourer | MM |
| 2 | Pentadrone | MM |
| 3 | Brain in a jar | VGR |
| 3 | Githyanki warrior | MM |
| 3 | Grell | MM |
| 5 | Vampiric mind flayer | VGR |
| 7 | Bodytaker plant | VGR |
| 7 | Mind flayer | MM |
| 7 | Yuan-ti abomination | MM |
| 8 | Unspeakable horror | VGR |
| 10 | Aboleth | MM |
| 13 | Beholder | MM |
| 19 | Lesser star spawn emissary | VGR |
| 21 | Greater star spawn emissary | VGR |
| 23 | Kraken | MM |
Cosmic Horror Villains
When the cosmic horror villains are mortal, they're wretched creatures, perpetrating unimaginable horrors in the hope of an outcome they can't properly articulate. Beyond them are monstrous beings, the spawn of horrors or those who've come to think of themselves as such. Past these harbingers are true cosmic horrors, inscrutable beings, godlike terrors, and the embodiments of forces unlikely to be interacted with and whose very beings are likely anathema to characters.
| d8 | Villain |
|---|---|
| 1 | A smiling minstrel with yellow eyes and music that drives listeners to murder |
| 2 | A priest obsessed with creating a shelter that will preserve her through the coming apocalypse |
| 3 | The mayor of a town who will do anything to make sure the citizens finish their sacred transformation |
| 4 | An astronomer broken and enraptured by what they saw in the stars |
| 5 | An old scientist convinced he must make his body the perfect host for an ageless being's emissary |
| 6 | A coroner who believes a message is being relayed to him through the bodies he autopsies |
| 7 | The head librarian of an ancient sect, who seeks secrets hidden within her peers |
| 8 | A spoiled noble who intends to raise a cult to feed to the realm they want access to |
Cosmic Horror Torments
Darklords in this genre are endowed with powers stemming from their studies or ancestry, or granted by ancient numinosities. Darklords in cosmic horror realms commonly suffer psychological torments.
| d8 | Torment |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Darklord is obsessed with music, their body warping to embody whatever song they hear. |
| 2 | The Darklord is transforming into a long-extinct being or something from the far-flung future. |
| 3 | The Darklord sees multiple dimensions at once and is going blind from their incandescence. |
| 4 | The Darklord is haunted by otherworldly masters that whisper from reflective surfaces. |
| 5 | The Darklord incubates something within them, an entity that slowly eats through their skin. |
| 6 | The Darklord is emptying of their own thoughts and filling with the voices of their scrolls. |
| 7 | The Darklord randomly screams their masters' words, messages that etch upon stone and flesh. |
| 8 | Any object the Darklord sees is drained of all but one portentous color. |
Cosmic Horror Settings
Cosmic horror frequently takes place in academic or maritime settings, both of which imply access to hidden knowledge, whether literal or metaphorical. When not in mortal realms, cosmic horror dimensions trend toward being unnatural, logic-defying places.
| d8 | Setting |
|---|---|
| 1 | A wind-blasted dimension of indigo sand and eyeless statues |
| 2 | A world with slowly vanishing land masses being consumed by an obsidian sea |
| 3 | A kingdom of rusting spires ruled by oblivious academics |
| 4 | A land possessed by fear of the colossi that move only during dawn and dusk |
| 5 | A red ocean that manifested without warning |
| 6 | An ambulatory forest riddled with glowing eyes |
| 7 | A kingdom of undying monarchs who outnumber their frightened subjects |
| 8 | A dimension of featureless white, broken up only by the eyes that blink across the landscape |
Cosmic Horror Adventure Sites
Cosmic horror is rarely overt save at critical moments, relying on creating subtle but growing unease and leaving details to the imagination.
| d8 | Adventure Site |
|---|---|
| 1 | A hidden floor of the royal library |
| 2 | The ninth basement beneath a family home that seems normal from the outside |
| 3 | A decrepit manor, empty save for staff who swear the lord is merely preoccupied |
| 4 | A small inn in the mountains that smells perpetually of brine |
| 5 | The place in the forest where all the animals come to die |
| 6 | A fortress manned by paladins, all of whom removed their own tongues |
| 7 | A sewage system that predates the city above |
| 8 | A thin chapel in the woods, whose bells rings without ceasing |
Cosmic Horror Plots
Adventures in cosmic horror realms are bleak, desperate affairs where the best one can hope for is to survive relatively intact. There is no stopping the ultimate evil, but players may aspire to temporarily seal it away.
| d8 | Plot |
|---|---|
| 1 | Help a parent recover a child who's gone missing in the impossibly vast space underneath their bed. |
| 2 | Stop a sapient, unholy tome from reaching a group of cultists. |
| 3 | Save the inheritors of an ancient sect before they transform into horrors. |
| 4 | Stop the sacrifice of a young noble by those who believe the noble's grandchild will end the world. |
| 5 | Find and stop the musician whose music has robbed entire cities of sleep. |
| 6 | Survive an evening in the sinking, ancestral home of a hydrophobic family. |
| 7 | Discover what is dragging the people of a hamlet out of their homes, garbing them in silver, and leading them into the surf to drown. |
| 8 | Learn why the bakers of a small town have started making pastries filled with a popular, delicious, and faintly glowing blue goo. |
Dark Fantasy
Dark fantasy is as much a genre of fantasy as it is a genre of horror. Generally, any tale featuring both supernatural elements and horror themes might be considered dark fantasy, whether it's a fantasy story steeped in horror elements or an otherwise realistic world that features a supernatural terror. Dark fantasy refers to fantasy worlds where grim themes, nihilistic plots, or horrifying elements inform a fantasy tale. Evil dominates a dark fantasy setting, with depravity being commonplace and life holding little value.
How dark you want to make your fantasy is up to you, but keep in mind the role of heroes and ensure places for light in your dark fantasy domain. If a domain holds no place for hope, there's also little call for resistance and meaningful plots.
In addition, consider the following genre tropes when creating your dark fantasy domain:
- Good does not always win. Evil individuals with great power and unopposed schemes might be the norm.
- The lines between good and evil are blurred. Choices involve deciding which outcome is least bad.
- Corruption and suspicion flourish among organizations and individuals.
- Magic and magic items might be rarer or require a bargain or sacrifice to use.
- Antiheroes are common—characters tainted by the world's evil or those who refuse to be considered heroes.
Dark Fantasy Monsters
Any monster can find a place in a dark fantasy plot. D&D's most iconic threats—such as dragons and beholders—are well suited to horror-tinged tales, as are any other supernatural foes. 5 details how to make even the most familiar monsters into fear-worthy threats.
| Challenge | Creature | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1/8 | Gremishka | VGR |
| 1/4 | Goblin | MM |
| 1/4 | Sprite | MM |
| 3 | Displacer beast | MM |
| 4 | Shadow demon | MM |
| 5 | Umber hulk | MM |
| 6 | Drider | MM |
| 7 | Necrichor | VGR |
| 8 | Fomorian | MM |
| 8 | Inquisitor of the Mind Fire | VGR |
| 10 | Yochlol | MM |
| 13 | Beholder | MM |
| 15 | Purple worm | MM |
| 17 | Death knight | MM |
| 17 | Adult blue dracolich | MM |
| 21 | Lich | MM |
Dark Fantasy Villains
Villains occupy places of prominence or control in dark fantasy domains. This manifests as political control, military authority, or physical or magical might that allows them to directly dominate others.
| d10 | Villain |
|---|---|
| 1 | A machine that believes it's a resurrected tyrant and seeks to rebuild its empire in iron |
| 2 | The leader of a subterranean people who plots to manipulate the moon to blot out the sun's searing light |
| 3 | A high priest intent on shifting an entire nation into their god's otherworldly realm |
| 4 | A desperate general who unleashes otherworldly armies or war machines that they can't control |
| 5 | A massive treant who has allied with exploitative raiders and seeks to fell every forest |
| 6 | A sage who, heedless of the consequences, solves an endless war by preventing anyone from dying |
| 7 | A member of a cabal of eternal royals who support a war against Mount Celestia, as their immortality relies on the blood of angels |
| 8 | The commander of a legion of soul-addicted templars who punish crimes by burning criminals into psychoactive spirit dust |
| 9 | An ancient dragon whose godlike magic drains the domain of life |
| 10 | A god who killed all their peers and now rules the mortal realm |
Dark Fantasy Torments
For Darklords in dark fantasy settings, power is at the root of their suffering. Perhaps their rise to dominance led them to sacrifice what mattered to them most, or they secretly seek to be rid of their might but fear being without it.
| d8 | Torment |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Darklord's regime is fraught with spies and saboteurs, increasing the Darklord's paranoia. |
| 2 | Worthless sycophants surround the Darklord, their incessant praise making every success hollow. |
| 3 | The Darklord's incredible power uncontrollably damages everything the Darklord cares for. |
| 4 | Others excessively revere or fear the Darklord, leaving the Darklord isolated. |
| 5 | Imagined or remembered rivals endlessly critique the Darklord, causing them doubt. |
| 6 | Society preemptively celebrates an achievement the Darklord will never be able to provide. |
| 7 | The Darklord seeks the pleasure of lost glories, engaging in hollow contests against unworthy foes. |
| 8 | The Darklord manufactures catastrophes to distract from their inability to fulfill their role. |
Dark Fantasy Settings
Sinister individuals leave their marks upon dark fantasy domains, whether as oppressive architecture, unavoidable propaganda, or scars upon an exploited environment. Alternatively, the setting might exhibit the effects of a disaster—perhaps an event that gave rise to brutal powers. Such scars appear both upon the setting and upon its inhabitants.
| d8 | Setting |
|---|---|
| 1 | A land where towering stents pierce magical leylines, allowing their power to be drained |
| 2 | A country devastated by magical pollution or the fallout of weapons used in an age-old war |
| 3 | An empire covered in the watchful symbols of an all-seeing religion |
| 4 | A city adrift on a sea full of primeval predators |
| 5 | A land dotted with the floating and fallen ruins of magical megastructures |
| 6 | A world where an unstoppable ooze, infection, or hive encroaches on civilization |
| 7 | A demiplane created by unknowable beings and populated with their test subjects |
| 8 | A place of punishment or endless boredom that a Darklord believes is part of the afterlife |
Dark Fantasy Adventure Sites
Evil is entrenched and effective in dark fantasy domains, truths reflected by grandiose adventure locations. Their size and grandeur seem out of proportion with the common structures of the domain and the magic that helped create them is clearly beyond the reach of mere mortals to create or destroy.
| d8 | Adventure Site |
|---|---|
| 1 | An expanding labyrinth that grows to protect the evil imprisoned at its heart |
| 2 | A forest where every tree grows from the body of a mummified hero |
| 3 | A magical factory that distills living beings into the reagents of a wish-granting elixir |
| 4 | A criminal consortium's lavish sewer-academy, where recruits are transformed to be perfectly suited to enacting one near-impossible heist |
| 5 | The fractured mind-scape of a powerful but dormant sentient weapon |
| 6 | A massive construct-cathedral built to exact the ultimate expression of faith and sacrifice |
| 7 | A palace where the nonhumanoid inhabitants purposefully petrified themselves |
| 8 | A fortress with seven locked gates that seal off the underworld |
Dark Fantasy Plots
Adventures in dark fantasy domains involve unlikely or reluctant heroes (or rival villains) striking back against the evil at work in the land. This might involve taking on a world-ruining conspiracy or the street-level depravity affecting a single slum.
| d8 | Plot |
|---|---|
| 1 | Track down a beholder-shaped flesh golem and learn why it's targeting specific individuals. |
| 2 | Seal a portal to a demonic realm that opens within the mouth of an innocent acolyte. |
| 3 | Cure a virus turning people into shadows. |
| 4 | Mount a defense against the swarm of giant spiders that's declared war on bipeds. |
| 5 | Prevent a mighty spell that a coven of witches is casting using a volcanic caldera as a cauldron. |
| 6 | Keep a nation from tearing itself apart when it's revealed the beloved ruler is a lich. |
| 7 | Banish a spirit haunting the moon. |
| 8 | Uncover the identity of an otherworldly coward who's hiding among mortals, avoiding the destructive search of the immortals they fled. |
Folk Horror
Folk horror adventures involve traditions, beliefs, and perceptions that are passed down through generations and take terrifying twists. For those who ascribe to hidden traditions, sacrifices to strange gods or placations to lurking monsters are everyday events. For outsiders, though, these practices reveal the subjectivity of normalcy, societal truth, and taboos.
Folk horror explores fears of isolation, superstition, paranoia, and lost truths. Seemingly idyllic communities, rural reclusiveness, forgotten traditions, and naturalistic cults all frequently feature in folk horror adventures, particularly as they contrast with what majorities consider the status quo.
In folk horror tales, characters often discover that their beliefs aren't as universally held as they assumed, and those beliefs provide no defense against those who reject them. In such stories, characters discover their perception of the way the world works is in the minority as those around them practice traditions beyond their understanding. Alternatively, characters might realize their own beliefs are lies as others reveal unsettling truths.
Communities that ascribe to the traditions of folk horror stories are rarely tolerant of nonbelievers. Outsiders might be given a chance to adopt the community's ways, but otherwise are considered heretics or corrupting elements. Assuredly, their ancient traditions have ways of excising blasphemers.
Consider the following genre tropes when creating your folk horror domain:
- Strange and potentially dangerous traditions flourish in isolated or otherwise private communities. This might mean a rural village, a lost civilization, or cabal within a larger community.
- A community's surroundings often influence its beliefs. Their traditions might be naturalistic or relate to some sort of ancient lore.
- Art, symbols, tools, celebrations, and other trappings of belief help make a community's traditions more specific and eerie.
- Community members typically hide their beliefs, whether physically obscuring them or by manipulating others in power.
- Communities in folk horror stories often serve as a grim mirror of some aspect of accepted society.
- Beliefs highlighted in folk horror stories might or might not be true.
- Folk horror communities often have dramatic ways of using outsiders or purging nonbelievers.
Folk Horror Monsters
Eerie traditions and unnatural alliances with monsters fill folk horror tales. When something's been normalized over generations, even the strangest practices and most dangerous beings might be accepted as part of society. Does the community in your folk horror domain live alongside deadly monsters? Does a regional faith consider an obvious abomination their god? Does a group make offerings to placate imaginary spirits of the fields?
Any monster might feature in your folk horror domains. It's acceptance of such creatures and the trappings of willing servitude that provide sources of dread. The Folk Horror Monsters table suggests just a few creatures suited to this genre.
| Challenge | Creature | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 | Myconid adult | MM |
| 2 | Awakened tree | MM |
| 2 | Cult fanatic | MM |
| 2 | Will-o'-wisp | MM |
| 3 | Green hag | MM |
| 3 | Werewolf | MM |
| 5 | Shambling mound | MM |
| 7 | Bodytaker plant | VGR |
| 9 | Jiangshi | VGR |
Folk Horror Villains
Folk horror villains are manipulative, leading others to follow traditions they might not even entirely understand. They zealously defend their faith and community, and might eagerly seek new initiates or dangerous blasphemers.
| d8 | Villain |
|---|---|
| 1 | A secluded temple's high priest who needs to find the perfect sacrifice before the annual festival |
| 2 | An erinyes that appears when youngsters speak a rhyme into a darkened mirror |
| 3 | A night hag that dwells in the dreams of those who drink a special lavender and ergot tea |
| 4 | A shape-shifter that takes on the appearance of the last person it fed upon |
| 5 | A wicker giant that animates during the new moon, collecting sacrifices and punishing the unwary |
| 6 | A village of people who behave in archaic ways so they don't enrage an ancient, lingering ghost |
| 7 | A treant who demands living limbs to replace the branches of trees cleared by a town's construction |
| 8 | A protective giant made from the corpses of deceased villagers |
Folk Horror Torments
A folk horror domain's Darklord has been consumed by the traditions, land, or rituals they embody. They might not fully understand their own beliefs, though, causing them to fail in their duties or cause rites to spin out of control. Such Darklords remain devoted, though, desperately trying to prove themselves or satisfy the object of their belief.
| d6 | Torment |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Darklord can't commune with the spirit they worship. They offer ever greater sacrifices in hopes of proving their worthiness. |
| 2 | The Darklord constantly, uncontrollably speaks prophecies. |
| 3 | The Darklord is haunted by the judgmental spirits of their predecessors. |
| 4 | The Darklord is the only one who adheres to an ancient faith and desperately works to convert nonbelievers. |
| 5 | The Darklord seeks to transform their body into a vessel or gate for the subject of their belief. |
| 6 | The Darklord knows the community's beliefs are false but keeps up the facade to maintain power. |
Folk Horror Settings
Folk horror stories often take place in isolated or rural areas, but they could be set anywhere insular communities thrive or traditions stagnate.
| d6 | Setting |
|---|---|
| 1 | A countryside with stretches of hayfields, colorful barns, and perpetually smiling residents |
| 2 | An island floating in the air where ground-worshipers dream of the lands below |
| 3 | A telepathic collective that townsfolk join by ingesting a rare fungus |
| 4 | Tunnels where sewer dwellers assure that the "blood of the city" ever flows |
| 5 | A glacier that residents never leave, lest the icy spirits haunting their community escape |
| 6 | Rival villages engaged in a private, age-old war |
Folk Horror Adventure Sites
The sites of folk horror adventures embody a community's traditions or what shelters it from society at large.
| d6 | Adventure Site |
|---|---|
| 1 | A seemingly deserted chapel that has been burnt down and rebuilt a thousand times |
| 2 | A hag's hut that stands atop a growing hill of rotten sweets |
| 3 | A whispering pit once plugged by a monolith covered in prayer scrolls |
| 4 | A field where paths grow in corridor-like patterns leading to a ruin at the center |
| 5 | A mansion built incorporating a stone circle |
| 6 | A cavern where the glowing bones of an otherworldly being jut from the walls |
Folk Horror Plots
Folk horror stories often involve outsiders or an unwitting new member of the community discovering a unsettling practices.
| d8 | Plot |
|---|---|
| 1 | Recover a missing villager who ran away to escape the local cult. |
| 2 | Hunt down the monster blamed for causing a blight: a unicorn meant to serve as a sacrifice. |
| 3 | Discover why anyone entering the city on horseback is imprisoned and sentenced to death. |
| 4 | Help a cult summon a fiend to combat an impending greater evil. |
| 5 | Defeat a violent hag who's protected by everyone in town and called "grandmother." |
| 6 | Escape an estate after the residents adopt the party and refuse to let them leave. |
| 7 | Learn why the characters bear uncanny resemblances to the founders of an underground village. |
| 8 | Slay a dragon and, in so doing, prove a character is the prophesied chosen one. |
Ghost Stories
Ghost stories number among the more psychologically elaborate genres of horror. Only through revealing tales of tragedy and past wrongs can heroes truly bring peace to forces that share their suffering with the living.
Ghost stories touch on fundamental issues of human existence: the nature of the soul, the weighty fact of mortality, and the burden of ancestry and history. Spirits represent heavy-handed instruments of supernatural justice, plunging those responsible for their deaths into a living hell where they suffer for their sins. They also represent grief and the need for closure, lingering in a place until they bring about the completion of the work they hoped to accomplish in life.
In addition, consider the following genre tropes when creating your haunted domain:
- All hauntings have a deep story, and the smallest details tell it. A simple locket or portrait might contain clues that explain a haunting.
- Personal ties give ghost stories weight. Consider tying the heroes to spirits in ways they won't predict, such as revealing that a phantasmal villain was a hero's ancestor.
- Heroes are pure-hearted or unsuspecting individuals whose resolve is shaken by the story's events. Look for ways to test heroes' psychology with your hauntings.
- Heroes need agency—a way to put spirits to rest. Once the story is revealed, ensure the way to combat the haunting is clear.
- Spirits are often evil, but they need not be. A spirit might appear to warn heroes of impending doom.
Ghost Story Monsters
Any creature that embodies or serves as a response to past injustices or tragedies makes a strong addition to a ghost story. Don't limit yourself to incorporeal undead when creating your own hauntings. The "Haunted Traps" section of 4 also explores options for creating threatening hauntings.
| Challenge | Creature | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 | Death's head | VGR |
| 1 | Animated armor | MM |
| 1 | Death dog | MM |
| 1 | Scarecrow | MM |
| 2 | Specter (poltergeist) | MM |
| 4 | Banshee | MM |
| 4 | Ghost | MM |
| 5 | Revenant | MM |
| 6 | Gallow speaker | VGR |
| 9 | Treant | MM |
| 10 | Dullahan | VGR |
Ghost Story Villains
While the villains in ghost stories are often spirits or haunted places, they might also be the individuals who provoked a haunting to begin with.
| d10 | Villain |
|---|---|
| 1 | A medium who feeds victims to spirits in exchange for power over them |
| 2 | The spirit of a long-dead murderer who stalks the same types of victims in death as in life |
| 3 | The haunted home of a cruel patriarch, who refuses to relinquish control of his descendants |
| 4 | A priest who marks the unworthy for death at the hands of the cathedral's hungry spirits |
| 5 | A phantom rider who sweeps through the village, stealing victims who disbelieve her legend |
| 6 | An unbound spirit that repeatedly manifests in victims' nightmares |
| 7 | The capricious phantasm of an amoral accident victim who torments victims for fun |
| 8 | The spirit of a former tyrant who demands sacrifices from the village she once ruled |
| 9 | A ghost hunter who inflicts hauntings on unwitting clients—and then charges to remove the undead |
| 10 | The spirit of an evil captain who lurks near their shipwreck, harassing vessels and crews that pass |
Ghost Story Torments
Whether they're living monsters or ghosts, Darklords in ghost story settings are the architects of their own tragedies.
| d8 | Torment |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Darklord tames the spirits in his haunted mansion, but only when he sacrifices a memory. |
| 2 | The Darklord's skin is haunted, but she can temporarily release spirits from her elaborate scars. |
| 3 | A dozen phantoms cater to the Darklord; each spirit is an emotion he can no longer feel. |
| 4 | Vampiric spirits keep the Darklord forever young, but physical sensation fled them long ago. |
| 5 | Despite being alive, the Darklord is cursed with the inability to convince anyone they're not a spirit. |
| 6 | All spirits obey a Darklord who can't touch anyone without stealing their soul. |
| 7 | The Darklord fully controls the veil between this world and the spirit world, but if he steps outside his mansion, he'll be permanently destroyed. |
| 8 | Any animal the Darklord sees dies and comes to haunt the morbid zoo her home has become. |
Ghost Story Settings
Suffering, tragic death, or a villain's monstrous evil manifest subtly in the places ghost stories are set. Typically, a setting's hauntings are revealed slowly, until the full nature of the horror is on display.
| d8 | Setting |
|---|---|
| 1 | A realm where speaking to spirits is just like speaking with the living |
| 2 | A graveyard city-state where all living residents are grave keepers |
| 3 | A nation where the residents observe grueling rituals to keep the angry dead appeased |
| 4 | A city where the victims of violence can't cross into the afterlife until their murders are solved |
| 5 | A ship with the same name and lines as a vessel lost at sea a hundred years earlier |
| 6 | A realm in which a common ritual allows a living individual to trade places with a dead one |
| 7 | An expansive forest in which a cruel noble once hunted the poor for sport |
| 8 | A land in which mediums are revered because they maintain the veil between the living and dead |
Ghost Story Adventure Sites
Ghost stories are intensely personal, and adventures within the genre take place in a setting dripping with tragic history.
| d8 | Adventure Site |
|---|---|
| 1 | A decrepit conservatory whose inhabitants are prone to terrible accidents |
| 2 | A village graveyard that holds the victims of a terrible mass crime |
| 3 | A decrepit barn where dozens of remarkable animals lost their lives in a fire |
| 4 | An attic in which a hateful spirit has been sealed for decades |
| 5 | A theater in which, decades ago, an actor systematically poisoned their rivals |
| 6 | A swanky inn where, for years, nobles killed the staff to prevent word of their affairs getting out |
| 7 | A picturesque cliff that's a popular destination for lovers, despite the fact that couples frequently fall to their deaths |
| 8 | A lighthouse where a lone guard is the only living individual keeping an army of spirits at bay |
Ghost Story Plots
Ghost story adventures deal with learning the story behind a haunting and ultimately resolving it. They benefit from preserving the mystery behind a spirit's motivations until the heroes discover a hidden truth.
| d8 | Plot |
|---|---|
| 1 | Investigate the bloody graffiti being left on the village's ancient walls and stop the vandal. |
| 2 | A dying hero is convinced they're going to return as a spirit. Prevent this from happening. |
| 3 | Discover why members of a prominent family never allow anyone to enter their guest house. |
| 4 | Solve the murder of a phantom who can say only the words "blood," "onions," and "wine." |
| 5 | Solve the murder of the countess, who drowned in the same well as her mother and grandmother. |
| 6 | Convince a stubborn miser to visit his haunted family home and put his deathless family to rest. |
| 7 | Discreetly follow a phantom vagabond to find out where she disappears to and with whom. |
| 8 | Learn why a mob of spirits besieges the local temple on the winter solstice each year. |
Gothic Horror
Gothic horror is about the terror within, not without. It shatters the illusion of humanity in a poignant way by holding a mirror up to us and saying: look at what we truly are, and look at what we pretend to be. Under that mask of civility, there is depravity. Under that thin veneer of society, there is wickedness. Under all the trappings of sophistication, are we not all predators or prey? Gothic horror shatters the lies we trick ourselves into believing and shows that we, not some distant entity, are and ever shall be the architects of our doom. The quest for perfection leads us to discover our own imperfection. Our quest for the divine leads us to believe we, ourselves, are gods. These are the themes that haunt stories of Gothic horror.
Consider the following genre tropes when creating your gothic horror domain:
- Gothic stories include intense, even exaggerated, emotions. Romances, rivalries, and life-changing events are common in these adventures.
- Atmosphere and a sense of dread are key to achieving a gothic feel. Set your story in an decrepit mansion, ruined cathedral, or other foreboding location.
- Gothic heroes are often virtuous, deeply passionate, or courageous. Find ways for adventures to test characters' beliefs and morality.
- Gothic villains are unrepentantly evil, but this shouldn't be immediately obvious. Drop hints about your villain's awful secrets before revealing them fully.
- Sacrifices feature prominently in gothic stories. Give characters heart-wrenching choices to make.
Gothic Horror Monsters
Creatures imbued with tragedy or abominable origins work well in gothic horror adventures. Often, lower-level monsters embody aspects of a more powerful villain's evil, powers, or background. For example, swarms of bats suggest a vampire's connection to the creatures of the night, while werewolves speak toward a vampire's bloodthirsty nature.
Gothic Horror Villains
Villains in gothic horror tales are subtle or unassuming until they reveal their true nature. Any intriguing figure with a dark secret can serve as a gothic horror villain, and gothic villains are most effective when they are slowly revealed as shockingly cruel, immoral, or the antithesis of goodness.
| d10 | Villain |
|---|---|
| 1 | A reclusive noble who isn't a vampire, but uses his reputation as one to terrorize his vassals |
| 2 | An indulgent socialite who made a terrible bargain with a fell power to retain her youth |
| 3 | A scientist obsessed with creating the perfect poison, machine, or lifeform |
| 4 | A beloved magnate who abducts commoners to steal their blood for his beauty rituals |
| 5 | A celebrity who openly murders innocents but uses their charm to avoid repercussions |
| 6 | Someone who loves a monstrous creature and does anything to keep it fed and safe |
| 7 | A wealthy heir who manipulates the ambitious into committing terrible deeds |
| 8 | A poisoner who seeks to manipulate history through targeted killings |
| 9 | An artist who manufactures terrible accidents to provide inspiration and reference for her art |
| 10 | A monster hunter who accuses those they consider sinful of being monsters |
Gothic Horror Torments
Self-debasement and self-loathing lurk at the heart of gothic villains' evil, whether they indulge in vices or are consumed with misanthropy. This results in villains who torment themselves viciously.
| d8 | Torment |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Darklord's soul is so consumed by shadows that it extinguishes all light that shines on them. |
| 2 | The Darklord inherited unlimited wealth, but finery she wears turns to rags and food tastes like ash. |
| 3 | The Darklord is incomparably beautiful, but locals perceive him as a terrible beast. |
| 4 | Tattoos detailing the Darklord's sins cover their body. |
| 5 | Every night, the Darklord is the focus of a lavish ball, but during the day he turns into a lead statue. |
| 6 | A choir of spirits follows the Darklord, endlessly singing her sins. |
| 7 | The Darklord endlessly cries tears of blood, ink, poison, or molten iron. |
| 8 | The Darklord knows how he's going to die and sees evidence of impending doom everywhere. |
Gothic Horror Settings
Ominous history, supernatural forces, and an underlying sinister air are staples of gothic horror settings.
| d8 | Setting |
|---|---|
| 1 | A city-state where the rulers are secretly warring lycanthropes, hags, and vampires |
| 2 | A countryside littered with gigantic pieces of armor |
| 3 | A nation where fog hides packs of deadly beasts |
| 4 | An island where the inhabitants make sacrifices to avoid eerie transformations |
| 5 | A mountain-sized cathedral devoted to transforming a prophesied being into a deity |
| 6 | A forest of eternal night where bloodthirsty creatures live in monstrous peace |
| 7 | A city where all who die are cast in plaster and used to adorn tableau-covered avenues |
| 8 | An artist's paradise where cruelties are elevated to terrible and beautiful art forms |
Gothic Horror Adventure Sites
Gothic horror stories often center on a forlorn structure in which depravity finds a welcome home.
| d8 | Adventure Site |
|---|---|
| 1 | A mansion's forbidden east wing, where terrible noises sound from every night |
| 2 | A castle where all visitors are transformed into rats, bats, spiders, and other beasts |
| 3 | A science lab where preserved body parts carry the consciousnesses of their former owners |
| 4 | A hidden fighting arena where rivals and lovers battle to prove the strength of their emotions |
| 5 | A beautiful garden where the past keepers find immortality as statues and in ancient trees |
| 6 | A tower where honorable heroes are sworn to protect a monstrous ruler |
| 7 | A lavish inn where a random guest chokes on their own blood each night |
| 8 | A rectory where the stained glass windows hold the trapped souls of the pious |
Gothic Horror Plots
Poetic tragedy, the dichotomy between goodness and wickedness, and reckonings for wicked deeds are strong fodder for gothic horror plots.
| d8 | Plot |
|---|---|
| 1 | Discover why anyone who utters the prince's true name immediately turns to dust. |
| 2 | Investigate the disappearance of a scientist known only through their correspondence. |
| 3 | Help a repentant immortal lose centuries of painful memories. |
| 4 | Track down a serial killer who impales her victims on the same monument. |
| 5 | End an affliction that turns a noble into a living doll every night. |
| 6 | Settle a dispute between mortals and devils who both claim the same child is their next ruler. |
| 7 | Put to rest a pair of spirits that bring tragedy to any couple who tries to get married. |
| 8 | Find a way to end a land's generational curse that doesn't involve a group of innocents willingly sacrificing themselves. |
Other Horror Genres
In addition to the aforementioned terrors, consider exploring any of the following horror genres when creating adventures in the Domains of Dread. Beyond these, there are dozens of other types of horror tales you can explore. Consider investigating the hallmarks of any of those frightful categories, or look into the genres of your own favorite scary films and stories. Understanding what makes a type of horror story frightening and how you can mimic or subvert genre tropes in your storytelling can provide endless inspiration for your terrifying adventures.
Disaster Horror
In disaster horror adventures, the world has fallen to ruin—or it's getting there fast. The unthinkable has happened and, as a result, society is collapsing. In these tales, a monster or villain might be replaced by cascading catastrophes like those brought about by a meteor strike or volcanic eruption. Regardless of a hero's power, the best-timed critical hit or the most powerful spell might not fix a city ruined by an earthquake or a world ravaged by plagues.
The disasters in your horror adventures need not be natural. Magical disruptions, temporal shifts, and violent interplanar rifts might sow all manner of supernatural chaos. Wars and relentless monster hordes—like legions of zombies or fiends—can also cause region- or world-changing ruin.
In all these cases, society breaks down. There are no inns to sleep in, healers are few or overtaxed, and anarchy rises as governments crumble. Environmental hazards, such as those in the Dungeon Master's Guide, might be extreme and lead to scarcity of food or other resources. Scared innocents, opportunistic scavengers, and leaderless military forces all seek to survive. The hopeless acts of others might even prove more horrifying than the provoking disaster.
When creating adventures inspired by disaster horror, ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the disaster? Is it natural, a supernatural event, or the effect of a terrifying weapon? Is it war or endless throngs of monsters?
- Was the disaster somehow manufactured? Is there a cause behind it?
- Is there a place that was somehow spared from the disaster?
- What parts of society have collapsed? Are most common people trying to ride out the disaster, or are they fleeing in search of safety?
- Who is taking advantage of the disaster? Are they normal people, monsters, or another threat?
- Does everyone believe in the danger of the disaster?
- Has the disaster given rise to extreme behaviors, such as paranoia, cultic beliefs, or cannibalism?
- Will the world ever be the same again?
Occult Detective Stories
Adventures rooted in the occult detective genre straddle the line between fantasy, mystery, and horror. For the occult detective, solving paranormal mysteries is all part of the job. In these adventures, villains employ supernatural powers toward nefarious ends while characters act as detectives, interpreting events, learning patterns, deducing goals, and ultimately putting an end to the threat. investigation and cleverness take center stage in these adventures, though as in the noir stories that inspire the genre, there's plenty of room for action.
Occult detective adventures can be just as terrifying as any other horror adventures, but also might be lighter in tone. Adventurers might experience terrors only after they've happened and face a foe only once they're prepared to end its threat. Of course, there are ways to create threats distinct to this genre, such as when villains view detectives as rivals or targets.
When creating an occult detective adventure, consider what monster, magic, or other supernatural force might lend a thrilling twist to some criminal enterprise. How will the characters catch an invisible assassin or a thief that pilfers extradimensional spaces? Once you know the villain's mode of operation, consider how it might give itself away. Even if you're not sure, listen to the characters' plans and give them opportunities to feel brilliant in the course of running your adventures.
When creating adventures inspired by occult detective stories, ask yourself the following questions:
- What criminal or supernatural force is at large? What crime is it committing, or how is it a problem?
- Who wants the villain stopped? Do they have a personal reason for this?
- What evidence has the villain left behind? How is the evidence initially misleading?
- What clarifying evidence will the characters discover in the course of their investigation?
- How are the villain's deeds terrifying or suggestive of a larger plot? Are the characters threatened?
- How might the characters trap the villain, draw them out, or predict their next move?
Psychological Horror
Psychological horror stories create suspense by heightening or calling into question characters' states of mind, emotions, and perceptions. They often highlight the difference between what characters think and how they behave.
When creating adventures rooted in psychological horror, consider common fears and anxieties. These readily become metaphors for villains and monsters. Fear of being judged by one's peers might manifest as a jury of nothics, while fear of change could be represented by a medusa that petrifies those who threaten her community's status quo.
Uncertainty, paranoia, and blurred lines between reality and fiction also shape psychological horror stories. In your adventures, this might take the form of unreliable information. Characters might experience a deadly encounter only to wake up at the end, not having previously realized they were asleep. Before undermining characters' senses, though, make sure you know what's driving these skewed perceptions and how characters might overcome them. The "Fear and Stress" section of 4 provides options for dealing with the stress of adventuring. If some force is actively trying to cause stress for characters, this might lead to its own psychological horror adventure.
Be aware that some classic psychological horror tales stigmatize mental illness. Work to avoid such tropes in your adventures as you consider the following questions:
- What are characters afraid of? Is a wizard afraid of losing their memory? Is a fighter afraid of growing old? Does a cleric fear their god is a lie?
- If every monster is a stand-in for something people fear, what do your favorite monsters embody? Can your adventures accentuate that?
- Why might a character think everyone around them is lying to them? Might this be paranoia, an actual conspiracy, or both? Who or what could pull the strings of such a plot?
- How can the environment change to undermine characters' sense of reality? The Mists already play into this, as could structures with no doors or stairs with no end, but what else might?
Slasher Horror
Every monster is a story, and many of those stories are horror stories. This brand of horror contends with relentless killers, which might be people or monsters. These adventures revel in grisly details, the suspense of an impending showdown with a powerful foe, and the fear that death waits right around the corner.
Adventures of this genre typically include one major antagonist that threatens a group. This might be a particularly large or cunning beast, a murderer who terrorizes a neighborhood, a monster stalking a town, or a supernatural menace who spreads a signature sort of death. When creating your own monster or slasher horror adventures, choose a creature with a challenge rating high enough that your party won't defeat it with a few lucky hits. Also consider foes with details you're eager to explore in various terrifying scenes. A medusa, for example, becomes all the more terrifying when it murders with petrified body parts or forces victims into unsettling poses before petrifying them. Also, consider who the villain's targets are and why the villain has chosen to prey upon that group. Is it out of hunger or for revenge, or does the creature have a more deep seated need to kill?
The relentless killers presented in 5 provide perfect foes for adventures embracing this type of horror. Also, when creating adventures inspired by monster or slasher horror, ask yourself the following questions:
- Who is the monster or slasher? How do they kill? What has made them infamous?
- Why is a community defenseless against the killer?
- In what shocking ways does the killer use its powers?
- How does the killer avoid capture? Where does it hide from its pursuers?
- Does the killer think it's justified? Has the community wronged it in some way?
- What characters in your story exist only to be victims?
- What climactic event is sure to tempt the killer into the open?