There are a number of reasons any Dungeon Master (or DM for short) may want to set up and run a Haunted House inDungeons & Dragons. Maybe it’s near Halloween, or maybe you and your players love the horror genre.
Whatever the reason may be, there’s never a wrong time to decide to explore old souls trapped in old homes. But what is the best way to set yourself up for success when taking on this tried and true storytelling trope? This list will lay out a number of tips sure to make your story frightening and your planning anything but.
1Something Borrowed, Something Boo
Spirits That Are Old, Corpses That Are New
An easy way to ensure that your Haunted House is going to stand up to the test of unleashing a chaotic party loose inside of it is to allow yourself to be inspired by the scary stories you know and love. Maybe it helps you visualize and describe the setting to look up other doomed dwellings online. Or you might want to set up a harrowing murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie.
Art inspires other forms of art, which is very true for Dunegons & Dragons. So, while not the most unique of the tips on this list, and can certainly get some ideas swirling around your skull and help you decide what direction you wish to (under) take.
2One-Shot? Or Part Of A Bigger Campaign?
Size Does, Sometimes, Matter
One of the first things you’ll want to decide as the DM is if you want to have a Haunted One-Shot or if your players are going to be exploring this scary space you set up as part of a larger campaign. The reason being, the scoop and size of your Haunted House will change drastically depending on which you want to do.
For a one-shot, you naturally want a space that can be fully explored in a short amount of time and can have your players create characters that match the theme. If it’s part of a campaign instead, they can leave and return, uncover items that help or fit the theme, or realize the house rests on what turns into a large, horror-based dungeon.
3Check In With Players
Can Never Be Too Careful
This has less to do with running the actual Haunted House, but more to do with making sure your players come out on the otherside of the adventure enjoying themselves. After all, horror isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and some people have a very low tolerance for scary things. And while your players might like horror, there may be aspects of the genre they hate or want to avoid.
Without going down a whole list of potential triggers, let’s use spiders as an example. Arachnophobia is a fear shared by many people. So, asking your players ahead of time if they have any fears or topics that need to be avoided, gives you a chance from a planning perspective to find other monsters to use while making your players feel safe.
This is an important part of any campaign, even if it’s only a one-shot. Some DMs use green, yellow, and red cards that players can lift to show how everyone is feeling. Though all DMs should establish what is and isn’t okay with players duringa session zero.
4Decide What Type Of Scary You Want
More Grimms' Fairytales or Disney Scary?
Horror has a lot of sub-genres. Slashers, psychological, possessions, the list can go on. You may even have a party that would love to take a more comedic approach to a Haunted House, like ultimately finding out it was all smoke and mirrors or have it end like a Scooby-Doo adventure.
Just like with knowing the length of the campaign, knowing what kind of horror you want to achieve is going to inform your decisions about what kind of monsters, any items or traps there are inside, even what the players stock up on, like Holy Water or Ouija Boards.
5More Than Ghosts
Oh, The Hook Horrors Of It All!
Just because it’s a Haunted House, doesn’t mean every single one of your monsters needs to be a ghost of some kind. They don’t even need to be undead, though your clerics and paladins will thank you if they are. It can be just about anything that goes bump in the night.
Vampiresandlycanthropesare some other popular options, as are hags and liches. The most important thing to keep in mind when selecting what monsters you have at your mash is that it is challenging, but beatable for your players. And, if your players will be getting into multiple combat sessions, variety will keep the whole of your Haunted House feeling fresh.
6Lair Actions
In Dungeons & Dragons, The House Attacks You
You know what a good Haunted House should have? Some lair actions! It’s not always about the monsters that are living inside of the house. In fact, you can make it that the building itself is the entity that is causing so much pain and fright. And lair actions are one way to achieve that.
One of the cool things about lair actions as opposed to something like setting up traps is that your players will have no idea these lair actions exist until you announce the first one. Which will probably be met by screams of both excitement and fear. Like any good thing, you can have too many lair actions, but setting up the final room with some of these will add some good flavor to the Haunted House you cook up.
7Create A Fitting Ambiance
Imagine, If You Will…
Depending on the type of horror you’re going for, you’ll want to make sure that the space feels real to your players.Immersion is an important part of any Dungeons & Dragonssession. This can be achieved both in person or in a digital space, all without breaking the bank.
In person, thinking lighting and sound, think about what minis you want to use. Even simple plastic spider rings can be turned into a monster on your board. Maybe even work in some jump scares around the room, like having a soundboard. For digital spaces, map design and background music can often get you the effects you want, not to mention scary tokens that capture the essence of the creatures you’re bringing to life.
If you have little to no money to work with (or that you want to spend, it’s cool, everyone gets it), instead focus on your verbal descriptions. Appeal to all five senses and you can create an exciting ambiance without spending a single cent.
8A Dash Of Homebrewing
For A Vegan Option, Substitute Eye Of Newt For Frog’s Breath
Are none of the monsters you’re looking at checking all of your boxes? Or maybe you’ve thought up a special item your players could use if things get a little too spooky for their characters. A small amount of homebrewing can add that extra life to your lifeless undead or monsters.
Sometimes, this is as simple as finding a stat block you like but describing an entirely different monster. Or you’re able to instead write down what a magical item will do so, when your players find it, they feel like they’ve found this incredible treasure they’ve never heard of before. Little additions and changes like this can take your Haunted House from drab to fab.
