We've turned an old map of a lighthouse into an adventure location. This is strictly first-draft material, going from the brain, to the fingers, through the keyboard, and onto the screen. Feel free to leave comments and suggestions.
Generally speaking, the content in this article is usable with any roleplaying game system, although there are some specific references that are for the d20 System, or other systems that resemble or are based on D&D.
DEVASTATION POINT AND THE LIGHTHOUSEFor centuries, ships crashed upon the jagged coastline near Port Defiance, and no approach was more dangerous than that near Devastation Point. After the lighthouse was built, the number of ship wrecks subsided, but then that structure and the windy promontory upon which it stood became the center of strange deaths and disappearances.
Lighthouse keepers committed suicide, killed their families, or were themselves killed by their wives. Entire families disappeared without a trace, sometimes with signs of violence having been done, other times it looked as if they were in the middle of a normal day and just walked out, leaving all their belongings behind. Further, as time passed, more and more tales of hauntings and mysterious happenings in and around the lighthouse.
Many attempts have been made to identify and eliminate or put to rest the evil spirits or ghosts that haunt the lighthouse and the promontory--and a growing number of paranormal investigators have died or vanished during these attempts. Other psychics and ghost hunters have seen their reputations destroyed or careers ended when they've declared the lighthouse free of ghosts, only to have the hauntings resume and more lives be lost.
THE HAUNTING OF DEVASTATION POINT
Devastation Point Lighthouse is a focal point of necromantic energy that is drawn here through two sources--a dark artifact that was incorporated into the housing of the lighthouse's refractor; and the restless spirits of a coven of sirines who were murdered as construction began on the lighthouse.
The eddy of magical energy is so strong that not only is there a very good chance that anyone who dies within the walls of the lighthouse, the residence attached to it, or within 10 meters of the structure in any direction, will join the many ghosts that haunt the place. Similarly, until the ghostly sirines are destroyed and the artifact removed from the lighthouse, the hauntings will never cease.
THE HAUNTINGS IN GENERAL
The following apply to all the hauntings in the lighthouse and attached structure, as well as the immediate surroundings:
* The hauntings occur between sunset and sunrise, or when the fog is so thick that visibility is less than 5 feet.
*. Each room in the structure has 2-3 hauntings. The haunting, or lack there-of, in any given room on any given night, is random. Sometimes, multiple hauntings may overlap in the same room. Entities may pursue the living from the rooms they are first encountered in, resulting in a battle against an increasing number of hostile spirits. The GM can roll a check for a haunting each time a new investigator enters a room, or he can just roll when the first or last one enters. A roll should be made whenever an investigator comes or go from any given room.
* If spirits and ghosts in the lighthouse and its immediate surroundings are destroyed or otherwise exorcised, they may return on the night of the next full moon.
* The only hauntings in the lighthouse proper are on the ground floor and on the upper and lower galleries at the tower's upper levels. Climbing the tower, however, presents dangers as well.
* The restless spirits of three regular sirines and the sirine priestess who led them haunt a cave deep below the promontory. It is only visible from the ocean's surface when the tide is at its lowest.
SPECIFIC HAUNTINGS
Roll 1d4 to see what hauntings paranormal investigators or ghost hunters encounter while exploring the Devastation Point Lighthouse and immediate surroundings between sunset and sunrise, or during heavy fog. Creatures always vanish after being defeated, no matter how solid they seemed. They same is true of any damage they did to their environment--although damage done by investigators to the house remains. If a spirit is exorcised or destroyed, and rolled again, it is treated as a "Nothing" result. Creatures always vanish after being defeated, no matter how solid they seem
THE RESIDENCE
This two-story structure is attached to the Lighthouse. It can be accessed through the Front Door (see Front Door and Vestibule) and through the door on the side of the Oil House (see Oil House). Both doors are locked, and they keep relocking on their own volition, unless the investigators break them outright.
The Immediate Surroundings (Ground Level)
1-2: Nothing.
3: The faint sounds of several female voices, harmonizing a haunting tune.
4. Characters must roll Will saves (DC8). If failed, they feel as if something is watching them. They also think they catch a flicker of light from the top of the lighthouse tower.
The Front of the Residence (Ground Level)
1. Nothing.
2. Spot skill check (DC5). They see movement in the widow above the main entrance.
3. The faint sound of children's laughter is heard from somewhere inside the house.
4. The sound of a concertina is heard from within the residence, and lights glow faintly in all visible windows. The music and glows stop as soon as the front door is opened.
The Front Door and Vestibule (Ground Level)
1. Nothing.
2. The Front Door must be forced (Strength check DC11) or broken down.
3. The Front Door locks itself, as soon as investigators leave or enter.
4. There is a bright yellow oilskin hat and coat hanging on a hook. They are sprayed with blood. They vanish when touched.
The Hall (Ground Level)
1. Nothing
2. One of the investigator's thinks he sees someone darting up the stairs. Another thinks he heard the sound of the person's footsteps.
3. The sound of a man and a woman happily chatting, intermingled with the sound of knives and forks on dinnerware heard from the left (the "Dining Room").
4. The sound of a woman sobbing is heard from the right (the "Parlor").
The Dining Room (Ground Level)
1. Nothing.
2. A ghostly man and woman in their 20s, dressed in 19th century garb are having dinner. If approached, they attack the investigators. They are ghosts. If left be, the scene fades after 1d4 minutes.
3. A ghostly family of a father, mother, and two young boys, dressed in early 20th century garb, are having dinner. If approached, they solidify into ghouls and attack. If left be, the scene fades after 1d4 minutes.
4. The faint sounds of a man and woman arguing, while a young child cries, are heard. If an investigator uses magic or technology to examine the room, two poltergeists attack.
The Parlor (Ground Level)
1. Nothing.
2. A strong smell of pipe smoke and faint sounds of men chatting is in the air. This persists for 1d4 minutes, the fades away.
3. The sounds of rhythmic creaking can be heard from the room above. After 1d4 minutes, a woman is heard crying out, then all sound stops.
4. A woman in 19th century garb is sitting in an easy chair, sobbing with her face in her hands. If approached or otherwise disturbed, she turns into a banshee and attacks.
The Kitchen (Ground Level)
1. Nothing.
2. A mouthwatering smell of delightful food is strongly in the air. After 1d2 minutes, investigators must roll successful Fortitude saves (DC11) as the odor suddenly turns foul and rotten, or be sickened for 1d4 minutes.
3. 1d4+2 knives appear spinning through the air. They deal 1d4 points of damage each and have a +2 bonus to attack rolls. Each knife goes inert after two successful hits on investigators.
4. A ghastly scene of a battered, blood-soaked woman in a torn slip, who is shrieking as she chops with a meat cleaver at a prone man in dark clothes. Both are in their mid-30s. She is a ghost and attacks any investigator who approaches her. She has a +4 attack bonus against male investigators. The scene fades after 1d4 minutes.
The Sitting Room (Ground Level)
1. Nothing.
2. A creaking sound is heard from the ceiling, as if someone is pacing around in the room above.
3. Investigators must make Will saves (DC8). Those who succeed feel like there's a presence in the room. watching them. Those who fail are filled with blind rage toward the male character standing nearest to them. They attack that character with murderous intent for 1d4 rounds, after which they fall unconscious. When they revive, they don't remember what they did.
4. A bearded man sits in an easy chair, reading a fairy tale to three young girls who are seated in a halfmoon shape on the floor in front of him. If approached, they solidify into ghouls and attack. If left be, the scene fades after 1d4 minutes.
Oil House (Ground Level, structure that connects the residence to the lighthouse)
1-2. Nothing.
3. The room feels strangely hot. There's a faint smell of something burning that grows stronger over a couple of rounds. Then the door to the outside bursts open and a man on fire, screaming and flailing, bursts in, promising to take the investigators to Hell with him. He is a small fire elemental.
4. There's a sudden crash overhead and a muscular man in a lighthouse keepers uniform comes crashing through the ceiling. Investigators near the center of the Oil Room must roll Dexterity attribute checks (DC13) or take 2d4 points of damage from the impact of the falling body and debris. The body, the wreckage, and the damage to the roof and ceiling vanish after 1d4 rounds, but not the injuries to any investigators. Characters gain a cumulative +4 bonus to the Dexterity skill check each time they experience this haunting.
Hall (Upper Level)
1. Nothing
2-3. A body plummets past the window facing the lighthouse tower, crashing onto and through the Oil House roof with a terrible sound of breaking wood and tearing flesh and bone. If the investigators look out the window or run downstairs to check the damage, it's as if nothing happened.
4. The sound of clapping and someone playing a hurdy-gurdy while a woman sings "What Shall We Do With a Druken Sailor" drifts up the stairs from below.
Bed Room (Upper Level)
1. A damp and musty smell grows strong in the room. Investigators in the room must roll successful Will saves (DC12) or suddenly be underwater and feel like they are being dragged deeper into the depths. They must immediately roll successful Fort saves (DC14). The investigators who failed the Will saves find themselves in the room, just as suddenly as they felt like they were in the water. They are soaked to the skin with salt water, any electronic equipment carried is damaged beyond repair, but otherwise they are fine. Those who failed Fort saves suffer 1d4+2 points of damage and are sickened for 1d4 rounds while they cough up sea water. The whole process barely takes a round. The room and everyone else in it remain dry. (Characters may avoid the affect of this if it is rolled additional times by leaving the room as soon as the air stars to grow musty and damp. Cruel DMs can roll initiative for the effect and the players, to see if they manage to escape.)
2. A bare-chested young man stands with his back to the room, gazing out the window. He is a ghost, and if approached he attacks the investigators. He fades away after 1d4 rounds otherwise.
3. A young woman in a gauzy nightgown stands with her back to the room, gazing out the window. She is a ghost, and if approached she attacks the investigators.
4. A couple is having sex in the bed, causing it and the floor to creak. They get increasingly loud in their excitement. After 1d4+2 rounds, they start to melt into brackish water, soaking the bed and the floor. If approached or otherwise disturbed, they turn into small water elementals and attack the investigators, soaking the room. One round after the couple melts or are slain, the room is perfectly dry again.
Room (Upper Level)
1-2. Nothing.
3. The mutilated bodies of two young boys lay in a bloody, tangled mess on the floor. If disturbed, they animate and attack as half-strength Ghouls. If left alone, they fade away after 1d4 rounds.
4. Three girls in their late teens, wearing old fashioned nightgowns sit around a small statue of some strange creature. They are holding hands and chanting. If the scene is viewed for more than 1d4+1 rounds, witnessing investigators must roll successful Will saves (DC12) or become filled with such intense and overwhelming fear that they must flee the building. They must roll successful Dexterity checks (DC18) or tumble down the stairs and suffer 2d4+2 points of damage. If the chanting girls are approached, they turn into succubae and attack. If left alone, they fade away within 1d4+2 rounds.
THE LIGHTHOUSE
As previously mentioned, the Lighthouse has few hauntings, but is possessed by a different sort of supernatural danger.
It is accessed through a doorway in the Oil House, and a circular staircase allows investigators and ghost hunters to climb to the Lower Gallery and Upper Gallery at the top of the tower.
As the stairs are climbed into the tower, characters pass five landings. They must roll Will saves at each one. At the first landing, the Will save is DC8. Each time a Will save is failed, the DC increases by 2, so if all five Will saves are failed, the final roll is at DC18.
With each failed saving throw, climbers feel an increasingly level of self-doubt and a feeling that whatever they want to try to achieve in life will always fail. At the same time, they have a feeling that if they make it to the top of the lighthouse, maybe there can be hope yet. (If players wonder, GMs shouldn't hesitate to let them know that thoughts like these are not typical for their character--well, unless the character has been an emo with self-defeatish tendencies up to this point.)
If the character fails the fifth Will save, they are consumed with the idea that there is no point in living anymore and that they must end it all by leaping off the top of the tower. The character climbs all the way to the Upper Gallery where he or she may roll one final Will check (DC14) before leaping to their near-certain doom of 10d6 points of damage.
If another player character tries to stop the despairing investigator at any time on the way up the tower, he or she immediately snaps out of the spell and realizes that something was affecting his or her mind and emotions. Additional Will saves must still be made as described above (with the base reset to DC8), but even awareness of the influence the lighthouse has on those who climb it does not negate it.
The saving throws only have to be made during an ascent. Characters may safely descend from the top of the lighthouse via the stairs... assuming the gallery ghosts don't get them...
Lower Gallery (Lighthouse)
1. Nothing.
2. A grizzled old man in a lighthouse keeper's uniform stands and looks out over the sea. If left alone, he fades away after 1d4 rounds. If approached, he turns into a Gargoyle and attacks.
3. Three girls in their late teens, dressed in 19th century clothing, stand side-by-side at the railing, looking out. If left alone, they fade after 1d4 rounds. If approached, they turn into Harpies and attack.
4. A young man and woman, dressed in early 20th century garb, are arguing and fighting. The man declares that if he will kill her before he will let her leave. If the characters watch the scene unfold, the struggle results in the man and woman falling over the railing and disappearing. If anyone tries to intervene, the couple attacks the would-be mediator. They are Ghosts.
Upper Gallery (Lighthouse)
1. Nothing
2. The upper gallery shudders and creaks and shakes and bends beneath the investigators feet. They must roll Reflex saves (DC11) or tumble from the Upper Gallery to the Lower Galler, suffering 1d6 points of damage. If this occurs more than once, additional Reflex saves are DC8.
3. The lamp suddenly blazes to life, turns and sweeps a powerful beam of light across the investigators. Each person on the Upper Gallery must roll a Fortitude save (DC15) or be blinded. The blindness lasts for 2d4 days, during which the impacted characters' eyesight gradually returns to normal. Blind characters who attempt to climb down the steep stairs of the lighthouse must descend at 1/3 their normal movement rate and roll five different successful Dexterity checks (DC8), one for each landing. A failed save means the character has tripped and fallen down a stretch of stairs, and suffers 2d6 points of damage. If the character tries to descend at his or her normal movement rate, the Dexterity check is at DC14.
4. As the result of 3, but the light is also searing hot. Characters who fail their Fortitude saves suffer 1d6+2 points of heat damage.
THE SIRINE CAVE
At some point, we'll reveal something about these placce and the creatures that haunt it, too, as well as how to break the curse on the Devastation Point Lighthouse.
WHAT ABOUT THAT "DARK ARTIFACT"?
Oh, we'll almost certainly get to this one soon. Perhaps it'll even be
Bessie Love who recovers it...
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