Don’t Walk in Winter Wood
By Clint Krause
Don’t Walk in Winter Wood Revised Print Edition Copyright Clint Krause 2006 www.clintkrause.com Written and Designed By Clint Krause Cover Art By Travis Smith Interior Illustrations By Andrea Sfiligoi Village Map By Clint Krause
Special Thanks to: Everyone who helped to test the game, Dan Bayn for his suggestions, Sean Argo and everyone at Magniforge, Cassie for being endlessly supportive, and you for you for picking this up!
Table of Contents
Introduction
1
What is a Role-Playing Game?
3
Setting
3
Legends of Winter Wood
6
Getting Started
18
Creating a Character
18
Narrative Style
19
Conflict Resolution
19
The Cold
20
Examples of Play
21
Into the Woods . . .
22
Weaving the Tale
24
The Witch’s Curse
28
Introduction Don’t Walk in Winter Wood is a role-playing game that’s intended to instill the same eerie feeling that you get when telling ghost stories around a campfire. Think back to the times you’ve sat around spinning creepy yarns with your friends. Remember how after you finished, maybe in the wee hours of the morning, you suddenly found yourself afraid of the dark again and everything seemed just a little more frightening? This game is intended to evoke that same feeling.
Winter Wood is a very vague setting. This is intentional. Winter Wood represents that place that almost everyone knew when they were growing up: the strange old man’s house up the street, dead man’s curve, the old haunted cemetery, all of the otherwise mundane locations that grow to be very spooky through whispered folk-lore. As a setting, Winter Wood is intended to capture the essence of these places. This game’s lite mechanics exist to provide an extra bit of tension (through the use of random die rolls) to your narrative experience. The rules are also designed so that you never have to mention them during play. I find this aspect of the game very important to maintaining the illusion that you and your friends are simply retelling a story that happened long ago, rather than playing a game. I feel that it is extremely important in a game like this one that the mood not be disrupted by rules. The more the players can remain in the realm of pure imagination, the better. This book is broken into two parts. The first details Winter Wood, the Village, and the folk-legends surrounding them. This section is intended to show you the tone of the setting and to give you some material to work with in your own stories. The second part of the book explains the rules of play with several descriptive examples and provides plenty of ideas for designing your own journeys into Winter Wood. Of course, you could also adapt the setting to other game systems with relative ease. 1
Likewise, the simple, narrative-driven mechanics work great for games in almost any horror setting. This game makes for a great one-shot session when you’re in the mood for something spooky. It also serves as the perfect RPG to tote along on your next camping trip. So what are you waiting for? Gather up your friends, get cozy around the fire, and get lost in the woods for an evening. Thanks for checking this out, Clint
Inspiration The following material had some influence on the style and tone of Don’t Walk in Winter Wood. Movies The Blair Witch Project The Village Brotherhood of the Wolf Sleepy Hollow Fiction and Poetry The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Man--Sized in Marble By Edith Nesbit The Horla By Guy de Maupassant The Raven By Edgar Allen Poe Young Goodman Brown By Nathaniel Hawthorn Music Opeth (particularly Blackwater Park , Damnation, and Ghost Reveries)
2
What is a Role-Playing Game? If this is your first time taking a look at a game like this, let me take a second to explain what it’s all about. A role-playing game (RPG for short) is a game in which the players work together to create an entertaining, interactive story. Unlike some other games, the goal of a role-playing game is not usually to “win,” but instead, to cooperate with the other players and have fun telling a story together. One of the players, usually called the “gamemaster,” acts as a referee for the rules of the game and determines the general setting and story elements that will be used. Each of the other players control one character within the gamemaster’s setting. During play, each player takes on the role of their character, supplying the character’s dialogue, and declaring the actions that the character takes. The results of a character's actions are usually determined by rolling dice. The gamemaster responds to the actions of the characters and tries to set-up interesting scenes for the characters to explore. That’s role-playing in a nutshell; it’s sitting around a table with your friends, enjoying each-others company, and being creative. If you’re intrigued but need more information, check out the forums at www.rpg.net.
Setting Don’t Walk in Winter Wood is set in a vague period of the 17th-18th century in a vague region of the colonial United States in a vague village near some vague woods. The ambiguous nature of the setting is intended to increase the mystery of the game. Remember, campfire stories aren’t about hard facts; they’re about something that happened some place a long time ago. The setting is left open for you and your group to develop to your liking. Have a specific place in mind for the Village? Great! Want to name the Village? Fine! Anything that you can do to individualize the setting to your group’s preferences will enhance your enjoyment of the game. You were gracious enough to throw down your hard-earned cash; this is your game now. 3
The Village The Village was founded shortly before the American Revolution. It is a small and isolated town; several days travel from the nearest city. The Village is completely self-sufficient and the villagers rarely have any reason to leave. The villagers have farms, a general store, a schoolhouse, a town hall, a midwife, and pretty much anything else that a small town of this sort would need to survive. The Village is quite small in terms of population. Everyone knows everyone else and outsiders are easily recognized. The place is pleasant enough, but the villagers have a hard, work-filled life and they are very practical people. Winter Wood Winter Wood borders the east side of the Village. This overbearing forest got its name from the colonists who founded the village because of the strange, unseasonal cold that always seems prevalent inside its borders. By night, the woods are steeped in a seemingly perpetual fog and by day, the dense foliage blocks out most of the available light. In the autumn, the woods become a sea of fallen leaves as the trees bare their pale skeletons. Winter Wood is quite large; in fact it has never been fully explored by those who live in the Village. Most of the villagers have no desire to enter the woods at all. Aside from the strange chill within its borders Winter Wood has a long history of strange happenings and untimely deaths. This history can be traced all the way back to the Indian tribes who have dwelt in the region for centuries. All manner of supernatural occurrences have been linked to Winter Wood. Seemingly every tale of ghosts, goblins, faeries, and demons in the region has its roots in these woods (perhaps rightfully so).
4
An 18th century sketch of the Village
5
Legends of Winter Wood “Don’t walk in Winter Wood . . .” Children growing up in the Village hear this warning from their parents from the time they are very young. Indeed, it seems that the wood is a dangerous place. Over the years many people have gone missing within its borders, never to be seen again. Of course, because of its dreadful reputation, Winter Wood is the subject of many legends. Some of these tales have been told in the Winter Wood region for centuries. Listen carefully, you may be the next to find yourself lost in the woods . . . The Indian Legends Long ago, when the first settlers built the Village, they came upon Indians who had dwelt in the nearby hills for centuries. The Indians were not hostile by any means but when they saw that the settlers had built their village on the edge of the wood they sent medicine men to persuade the settlers to move.
The Indians of this region had many legends about the woods. They believed that many of their great ancestors were buried in the woods and that powerful spirits protected them. Of course, the villagers thought that the Indians simply wanted their land back and they were not going to fall for some fool Indian trick. They ignored the Indians’ stories of ancient spirits in the woods and continued to build the Village. As the medicine men conversed with the settlers, they sang a strange song of the forest, which, when translated, reads:
6
“There was a woman long, long ago: She came out of a hole. In it dead people were buried. She made her house in a tree; She was dressed in leaves, All long ago. When she walked among the dry leaves Her feet were so covered The feet were invisible. She walked through the woods, Singing all the time, ‘I want company; I’m lonesome!’ A wild man heard her. She saw him; she was afraid; From afar over the lakes and mountains He came to her. She saw him; she was afraid; She tried to flee away, For he was covered with the rainbow; Color and light were his garments. She ran, and he pursued rapidly; he chased her to the foot of a mountain. He spoke in a strange language; She could not understand him at first. He would make her tell where she dwelt. They married; they had two children. One of them was a boy; He was blind from birth, But he frightened his mother by his sight. He could tell her what was coming, What was coming from afar. What was near he could not see. He could see the bear and the moose Far away beyond the mountains; He could see through everything.” From “The Algonquin Legends of New England” by Charles Leland, 1884. 7
This song seems to be related to another Indian legend in which a young girl, whose face was horribly scarred, was the only person able to see an invisible being who lived deep in the forest. As the legend goes, a woman who could see the “Invisible One” would become the being’s bride and dwell with it in the spirit world forever. This young girl, horribly abused by her sister and parents, sought out the Invisible One and saw it with her own eyes. According to oral tradition the girl’s face was healed and made beautiful as soon as she laid eyes on the Invisible One and it took her into the woods to dwell in the spirit world. The Indians also believe that one of their ancestors, a terrible and savage war chief, is buried in a mound in the woods. The story goes that this war chief (whose name has long been forgotten) was so murderous and brutal to his enemies that he would chop up their bodies and eat them in his stew. One winter night, when the war chief was sleeping, he was betrayed by his own warriors. They bound him with rope and dragged him into the forest. There was a great struggle as the war chief tried to escape his binds. He claimed the heads of three warriors before he finally threw himself on one of the fallen warrior’s spears. The chief was hastily buried in a low mound and the people of his tribe swore to forget his name and never speak of his brutality again. There is a legend, told amongst the Indians, that the war chief has become husband to the malignant spirit of the forest. Together they are a murderous couple. They are said to enjoy inflicting pain and misery on humans and do so at every chance they get. Perhaps the war chief still waits in the woods, sharpening his tomahawk, waiting to seek his vengeance on those who betrayed him. The Tale of the First Winter The Village was founded in late summer and by autumn it was quite well established. The villagers had built houses and barns; 8
they had plenty of food to eat, and not a soul among them had any fear. then the winter came . . . The worst winter that the region had ever seen set upon the villagers, trapping them in their newly constructed houses. The temperatures were frigid and the thick layers of snow on the ground made travel impossible. Soon, the villagers began to run out of food. It was not clear how or why the food had vanished so quickly. Many villagers suspected that someone had selfishly stolen it for themselves. It became obvious that if they were to survive the winter they would need to find more provisions. For a while, no one was willing to step forward. Finally, a brave man named Anson Miller volunteered to go into the cold forest and hunt for food. Anson Miller was a woodsman who had lived in the Village since its conception. Anson’s wife, Kate, was a talented seamstress and the town’s music teacher. One frigid December day Anson set off into Winter Wood carrying only what he needed for the day’s hunt. Eventually, night fell and Anson had still not returned from the forest. The villagers grew worried both for Anson’s life and for the food that they so desperately needed. Two days passed without any sign of Anson and the villagers began to give up hope. Anson’s wife, Kate, was distraught and blamed the other villagers for her husband’s disappearance. “Cowards!” she shouted at them. “All of you cowards! Now you die here!” The villagers assumed that Anson Miller had fallen victim to the relentless winter and they began to hole up in their wooden homes. One by one, whole families began to die, first of starvation, and then of the influenza that had swept across the Village. Beside themselves with fear and hopelessness, the villagers began to speculate that Kate Miller had put them all under a curse for sending Anson into the woods alone. Yes, 9
surely she was a witch. The villagers began harassing Kate and she quickly became the village outcast. By the time the weather broke, nearly half of the villagers were dead. And so it was that when spring came there were nearly a hundred funerals and the village cemetery swelled. Those who could afford it left the Village that spring. The remaining settlement was quite small, but it grew in size the following year as new settlers moved into the area. After Anson’s disappearance, Kate Miller rarely left her cottage. Many villagers claimed to hear the poor woman talking to herself in the dead of night, when all else was quiet. The village children would dare each other to knock on the Widow Miller’s door and run away. They would dig up her plants and throw rocks at her cottage. They treated her terribly, and the Widow’s spite for the community grew. Almost a year after that terrible winter, a young boy walking home from the Village’s school house claimed to see a man who looked like Anson Miller staring at him from the edge of the woods. He said that the man beckoned for him to come closer to the forest. As the boy got closer he noticed that the man had no legs. The boy claimed that the upper torso of the man was floating in mid-air. The boy screamed and ran home. When he told his parents what had happened they told the town constable who searched the area where the boy had seen the strange, floating man. The constable found nothing of any interest and the incident was attributed to the boy’s imagination. This occurrence planted seeds of fear in the minds of the villagers and rumors of the woods being haunted began to circulate throughout the Village. Despite their fears, there were no further incidents involving Winter Wood for several months. Then, one winter night, Kate Miller suddenly ran into Winter Wood, screaming. No one knows exactly what happened. Some 10
say she went mad because of the mischief of the town’s children. Others say that she saw the ghost of her husband. The villagers considered Kate’s disappearance to be good riddance and no one attempted to search for her. Kate Miller was never seen again. Before long, her name was all but forgotten, save in wives tales. Many years after Kate’s disappearance, a friend of the Miller family came upon Kate’s journal when sorting through her property for an auction. In it, she found a strange entry written the night before Kate disappeared:
A page recovered from Kate Miller’s journal
Legend says that on cold winter nights, if you listen closely, you can still hear Kate Miller’s screams echoing through Winter Wood. 11
The Indian Hill Ghost Light Since the conception of the Village, many of its inhabitants have reported seeing a strange orb of light bobbing in the air up on Indian Hill. Witnesses claim that the orb is a “small flicker of pale light,” which seems to hover slowly up and down the sides of the hill.
Legend has it that this light is the spirit of an Indian who died on the hill long ago. Though the story varies depending on the teller, the most common version of the legend says that long ago there was an Indian man who was exiled from his tribe. The man lived alone on the hilltop for many years. One night, during a terrible thunderstorm the Indian had begun to make his way down the hill to find shelter when he was struck by lightning and killed. Those who believe in the legend say that the ghost light is the remains of the poor Indian’s lonely soul still roaming the hill looking for friends and shelter. The Meadow There is a place, deep in Winter Wood, known only as “the meadow.” Village lore says that the meadow was used as a gathering place by the Indians. Strange totems can still be found there, emblazoned in the bark of the trees. More recent legends claim that strangers from far-away lands gather in the meadow during the harvest season and conduct bizarre, pagan rites. Village children maintain that the best way to find the meadow is to walk into Winter Wood blindfolded. When the blindfold is removed, the stories say, the traveler will find themself on the edge of the meadow. The Sad Tale of Nelly Anderson After the disappearance of Kate Miller, superstition about the nature of Winter Wood spread throughout the Village. Most of the villagers accepted that the woods were haunted and began to 12
warn their children not to play there. Of course, children do not often do what they are told . . . The story goes that three young children: Nelly Anderson, Noah Wilson, and David Hutchinson went into the woods one day, playing and daring each other to go further and further. They ran and played for several hours and they were having a great time. When it started to get dark, the children began to head for home but soon realized that they were lost. Nelly began to cry and Noah and David became very worried. The boys later claimed that they saw a woman come out of an old oak tree and float toward Nelly. They claimed that her skin seemed to be made of clouds and that her eyes seemed to change color rapidly. Tremendously frightened, the boys ran as fast as they could back to the Village, leaving Nelly with the ghostly woman. Soon, it was fully dark and Nelly hadn’t returned from the woods. Nelly’s parents were heart-broken. The villagers frantically searched the woods for several weeks and found no trace of the little girl. It was as if she had vanished into thin air. As if the disappearance of the young girl wasn’t enough, one of the men who was searching for her was tragically killed when he tripped and fell into a shallow ravine. The Village was devastated by the disappearance of the girl. Her parents left town soon after and never set foot in the Village again. Some villagers believe that the girl’s disappearance was a continuation of the curse placed on the village by the widow Miller. Many believe that the curse hangs over the Village, even to this day. A new set of laws regarding Winter Wood was put into place following Nelly Anderson’s disappearance. The laws mandated that no one was to enter Winter Wood after dark without permission from the village council. The villagers even went so far as to post guards to patrol the border of the woods at night. Though some villagers still dared to venture into the woods 13
during the day to gather kindling and herbs, most scorned the place and stayed as far away as possible. For nearly twenty years there were no more incidents in Winter Wood. The horrific events that had taken place in the woods became the subject matter for legends and ghost stories, which were told to the village children on dark, cold nights to keep them in line. The Legend of the Roe Witches One autumn, a widow by the name of Agitha Roe came to live in the Village with her three teenage daughters: Rose, Catherine, and Elizabeth. Agitha was a peculiar and eccentric woman and she did not blend well with the more practically minded villagers. Agitha and her daughters lived a quiet, reclusive life and rarely interacted with the other villagers. At first, the villagers simply regarded Agitha as being a bit odd, but rumors soon spread that she was completely mad.
One night, the village preacher saw Agitha near the cemetery talking to herself. The preacher began to suspect that Agitha might be practicing witchcraft. Rumor quickly spread throughout the Village that Agitha and her daughters were witches and were sneaking off into Winter Wood at night to consort with the dark spirits there. The women were confronted and they denied the accusations. With no proof, the villagers could do little to the women except to shun them from local businesses and activities. The Roe women continued to live at odds with the other villagers for nearly a year. Then, one night, the town constable, Mr. Arthur Fuller, came across the four women gutting a goat in what he believed to be a satanic ritual. Fuller later wrote of the event:
14
“I come up around the creek and it was real late. I thought I heard some unruly noise up on Miller’s Hill so I loaded my musket and headed up there with my hound Gerald. When I got up there I could smell something strange, a real fleshy smell. I got up to the very top of the hill and I could hear these women out there on the knob hootin’ and hollerin’. I snuck up there real quiet and watched them from some bushes. It was the widow Roe and her kin. They was mad says I. They were, all four, sitting there naked as babies rubbing that goats guts all on themselves. When I saw that I knew that they was witches and I ran back to the village to get some of the other boys. When we went back up there they were gone. The next day we found them and put them under arrest one by one. ” The Roe women had a swift trial and were sentenced to hang. Although the women furiously denied having done any evil, the townsfolk were in no mood to argue the point. One cold and dreary October day the villagers led the four women out into Winter Wood and hung them from an oak tree that stood on the bank of East Creek. The widow and her three daughters were not given a proper burial. Instead, they were left dangling by their necks from the tree on East creek. Weeks later, the town constable and several volunteers returned to the woods to check on the witches' bodies. When they arrived, they found the bodies missing and strange, wooden effigies hanging in their places. Many villagers believe that the Roe witches remain in Winter Wood to this day. Some claim that the apparition of the four women dangling from the tree will appear if you walk around the hanging tree three times at midnight. Others claim that they have been the victims of ghostly activity for merely uttering the name “Roe.” Because of these superstitions, the legend of the Roe witches rarely spoken of by the villagers.
15
Village Wisdom Over time, the villagers have developed an array of charms, wards, and superstitions concerning the protection of oneself from evil. Common superstitions include:
Red Thread The women of the Village commonly tie thin pieces of red thread around their necks. The origin of this practice is unknown, but it is said that evil spirits cannot see a woman whose neck is adorned with red thread. As a result of this superstition, nearly every woman in the Village includes a necklace of red thread in her daily wardrobe. Door Wards It is believed throughout the Village that a bent iron nail or crucifix hung above the threshold of a house protects the house from all manner of supernatural creatures. This practice is thought to be particularly effective against the fair folk. The Secret Sign Some villagers believe that the dark entities that dwell in Winter Wood can be held at bay by certain protective symbols. The sacred sign is one such symbol. Though most of the villagers refuse to make the secret sign in public because of its pagan origins, most everyone in the Village knows how the sigil is made and many practice it in the privacy of their homes. The secret sign is often drawn onto a floor with chalk; though some believe that tracing the pattern in the air with one hand is also effective. Those who practice the secret sign claim that it serves as an effective ward against all manner of supernatural entities. Burial Traditions The village cemetery is located along the southern border of the Village, near the chapel and the edge of Winter Wood. The villagers believe that some special precautions must be taken to protect the dead from the spirits of Winter Wood. Upon the death of a villager, the body is immediately taken to the village 16
chapel where a priest blesses the body. After the blessing, a silver coin is placed under the tongue of the deceased. This is believed to protect the body from demonic possession. Finally, when the body is put into the ground, those who attended the funeral depart from the cemetery taking different paths. This is believed to confuse spirits who might otherwise follow the mourners to their homes. Children’s Games The village children are brought up learning to fear Winter Wood. It is quite common, however, for the children to entertain themselves with the legends of the wood and a variety of mischievous games have developed regarding the woods.
One such game, popular for the children to play on autumn nights, is called “Miller’s Moan”. In this game the children dare each other to stand at the edge of the woods after dark and say the name “Anson Miller” three times. The belief is that after the name is said three times the speaker will hear a dreadful moan from the woods. In practice, however, it is much more common for the child being dared to lose his or her nerve and run away. The women of Roe were talking to me, The women of Roe, so lovely to see, The women of Roe came walking with me, The women of Roe got hung in a tree. -Children’s Rhyme
17
Getting Started This game is best played someplace dark and a little bit cold. Playing around a campfire is ideal. If you don’t have access to a campfire, a table in a dimly lit room will do nicely. The game works best with a small group of players (3-4), but can accommodate any number that the Watcher (Gamemaster) is comfortable with. Each player will need one six-sided die. You will also need some way of keeping track of cold points. Glass beads or other atmospheric trinkets are ideal for this. If no counters are available, players can count their cold points on their fingers. Now that you’ve gathered your things, let’s go for a walk in the woods . . .
Creating a Character Creating a character for this game is extremely easy as there are no statistics or attributes to calculate. Simply describe your character in narrative terms. What is his or her name? What does he or she do? Why is he or she entering Winter Wood? You may develop your character in more depth if you’d like but not much more is needed just to play the game. Think back to the stories you’ve told around the campfire. Characters in such stories are often little more than a name or “this guy I knew.” Remember, this game is set in a hazy period of history sometime in the 18th century: Tri-corn hats, black-powder firearms, and horse-drawn carriages are commonplace. At night, the dark is held at bay by moonlight and lanterns. Christianity is the only socially acceptable religion (though many practice other faiths in secret). Your character should fit into this setting as much as possible. If you need help conceptualizing a character make sure to check out the inspirational sources listed in the introduction.
18
Narrative Style In most role-playing games the players describe their characters’ actions in the present tense and the first person. In Don’t Walk in Winter Wood all actions and narrations are described by the players and the Watcher in the past tense and the third person. For example, rather than a player saying “I walk into the fog and listen closely for any sound” he or she would say “Aldous walked into the fog and listened closely for any sound.” This method of narration is what gives the game the ambiance of a campfire story.
Conflict Resolution Whenever a character comes across something that frightens them or does them harm, the Watcher gives them one “cold point.” Characters automatically receive one cold point upon entering Winter Wood. Cold points can represent anything from fear to insanity to physical wounds. Whenever the Watcher wants the outcome of a character’s action to be left to chance, he or she asks a yes or no question of the player. For instance, if the player says “Aldous walked into the fog and listened closely for any sound” the Watcher might say: “Did he hear anything?” At this point the player would roll a six-sided die. If the player’s roll is higher than the number of cold points he or she has accumulated, he or she may answer “yes” to the Watcher’s question. If the player’s roll is equal to or lower than his or her accumulated cold points the answer to the Watcher’s question must be “no.” This mechanic allows the narrative of the game to proceed without anyone having to actually mention the rules. It is important, however, that the Watcher is careful to phrase his or her questions so that a “yes” answer is always beneficial to the character and a “no” answer is detrimental.
19
Example Player: “Aldous walked into the fog and listened closely for any sound.” Watcher: “Did he hear anything?” (Player rolls a die and gets a 3, which is higher than the 2 cold points he currently has) Player: “Yes.” Watcher: “He heard the sound of footsteps in the dry leaves ahead of him.” Or alternately: Player: “Aldous walked into the fog and listened closely for any sound.” Watcher: “Did he hear anything?” (Player rolls a die and gets a 1, which is lower than the 2 cold points he currently has) Player: “No.” Watcher: “Aldous didn’t hear anything. The woods seemed completely silent.”
The Cold When a character has accumulated six or more cold points he or she is somehow taken out of the scenario. If the character received his or her sixth cold point from a physical wound he or she probably dies. If the character received the sixth cold point from a frightening event he or she probably faints or goes insane. The effects of a sixth cold point are totally left to the discretion of the Watcher, but should make sense given the context of events. 20
Of course, it is possible for characters to get rid of their cold points through various actions in the game. A character that receives medical treatment or some other form of stress relief may discard one or two cold points depending on the situation. However, while in Winter Wood, a character may never have less than one cold point.
Examples of Play Example One Player: “Aldous walked in to the abandoned shanty.” Watcher: “As he entered he saw that though the place was in utter disarray, there was some evidence of recent inhabitation. Breadcrumbs were scattered all about the floor and a child’s doll sat in a small chair in the center of the room. He also noticed a mirror on the back wall of the room that seemed to be obscured by fog.” Player: “Aldous approached the mirror and carefully wiped the fog away.” Watcher: “As Aldous looked into the mirror he saw his face in the mirror suddenly change into the ghastly face of a dead woman.” (Hands Aldous’ player a cold point) Player: “Aldous shrieked and ran out of the shanty as fast as he could.” Example Two Watcher: “The murderous specter rose directly out of the grave that Aldous was standing on. Was he able to escape the creature’s grasp?” (Aldous has already accumulated five cold points. Aldous’ player rolls a die and gets a four!) Player: “No!” 21
Watcher: “As the rest of the group watched in horror (he hands each player cold point) the specter’s ghostly hands pulled Aldous directly into the unopened grave as if his body was simply swallowed by the earth.”
Into the Woods . . . This section discusses the role of the Watcher in the game. What follows is intended to help Watchers achieve the proper mood for the game and design their own adventures in Winter Wood. Adventures in Don’t Walk in Winter Wood are quite formulaic. A typical session goes something like this: 1. The characters enter the woods in pursuit some goal. 2. Frightening events occur while the characters try to accomplish their goal. 3. The characters either accomplish their goal or fail. Some characters die or go mad. Follow these simple steps to construct a scenario for the game: Step One: The Premise Your first task is to determine why the characters need to go into Winter Wood. What will their goal for the session be? Once you’ve decided on the goal for the characters’ journey into the woods, let the players know so that they can create characters with ample reason to pursue that goal. If you need some inspiration check out the books and films listed in the introduction or take a trip to your local library and check out some books on legends and folklore. Below are some examples of good reasons for the characters to enter Winter Wood: - A child had disappeared into the woods. - A coven of witches had been kidnapping 22
people and taking them into the woods. - Livestock in the Village were being mutilated during the night. A hunt was organized to find the creature responsible. - The characters had strange visions that told them to go into the woods. - The characters were travelers who found themselves lost or stranded in the woods. - The crops were failing. The characters were sent to make an offering to the spirit of the woods. - A villager had contracted a deadly illness. The only cure was a rare herb that grew in the woods. - The Village was running out of food. The characters were sent to hunt in the woods. - The characters were paranormal detectives, sent to investigate the legends of the woods. - A vampire began to stalk the Village by night. - Rumors of a werewolf began to spread throughout the Village. - An angry spirit could be heard wailing in the woods at night. The characters went into the woods to put the spirit to rest. Step Two: The Woods Obviously, the meat of a Don’t Walk in Winter Wood session takes place in the forest itself. It’s best if the characters have some sort of mystery to solve as they progress through the story (otherwise the scenario might feel like a string of unrelated spooky encounters). Use the Legends of Winter Wood section of this book for ideas on entities and events that the characters may 23
encounter. When designing your adventure it’s best to first decide what entities and phenomena that the characters are going to encounter and build the scenario around them. Step Three: The Resolution Eventually, the characters will probably die, go mad, or (if they’re lucky) manage to escape the woods. Remember, the game is not about winning or losing. Some of the most memorable stories will involve the deaths or disappearances of the characters. Use events from the sessions you play to inspire new lore about Winter Wood. For instance, if a character dies the players might run into his or her restless spirit during a future session.
Weaving the Tale The following advice is intended to help Watchers create the right mood for a game of Don’t Walk in Winter Wood . Creating a feeling of fear and dread can be very difficult but, when it works, it is extremely satisfying. A Watcher can improve the mood and ambiance of the game ten-fold by making a few minor considerations. Where to Play One thing that will help to make your game a more unique experience is to get your group outside its normal, comfortable environment. This game was designed so that it could easily be played around a campfire. Obviously, you might not be able to build a fire every time you play. Luckily, there are some easy ways to overcome this problem. If it’s a nice night, try playing outside, perhaps at a picnic table in the park. If you’d rather stay inside but still feel like creating the “campfire” mood, try having everyone sit in a circle on the floor with a candle or oil lamp in the center. Any of these environmental nuances can greatly enhance the ambiance of your game.
24
Telling the Story Before you get ready to run a session, take a moment and think back to the times you’ve been sitting around with friends and family telling ghost stories. Remember the tone of the storyteller’s voice as he or she embellished a ghastly detail. Remember the hushed tones that he or she spoke in when the aftermath of the tale was described. As a Watcher, you should use these techniques when you are running a game. Describe a small detail in a whisper. When there is a loud noise clap your hands loudly and jump to startle the players. Use any tricks that a good storyteller would use to give your players a more pulsepounding experience. Making it Spooky The goal of a session of Don’t Walk in Winter Wood is to entertain the players and Watcher by providing them with some spooky thrills. Humans like to be scared. It’s an adrenaline rush and a break from the normal emotional cycle. You want to do your best to create a feeling of dread and fear amongst your players. Of course, you want to create good fear, not bad fear. Good fear is fun. Good fear is pretty much why people play games like this in the first place. You get that same creepy feeling that you remember getting when you were young and thought that there was a monster under your bed. Good fear is harmless. Bad fear, on the other hand, you want to avoid. You don’t want to make your players uncomfortable or make them wish they hadn’t played the game. To avoid this, talk to your players before the game. Some people can handle higher levels of spookiness than others. You need to determine the level of fear that you’re trying to create before the game and be sensitive to each player’s feelings on the matter. Folkloric Fear Subtlety is the key to producing folklore-style horror. A hundred flesh eating zombies attacking the characters may be fun, but it’s far from subtle, and won’t evoke any kind of fear in the players. In the early stages of the scenario, the characters 25
should encounter nothing more than subtle hints that something sinister is going on. You’d be surprised how long you can keep your players in paranoid suspense just by having their characters hear some leaves rustle nearby or find a single bloody hand print on a tree. There are two things to keep in mind for making your encounters more frightening: 1. Implied Horror: A closed door with strange sounds coming from behind it is far more frightening than a million ghosts and demons. When setting up your spooky encounters try to engineer them in such a way that the horror is only implied. This gives the players a hint that something scary is going on but doesn’t give them enough details to figure it out completely. The horrors spawned by a player’s imagination are often much more terrifying than anything that the Watcher could create. A good example of this is the film The Blair Witch Project ; notice how, throughout the whole movie, you never actually see the antagonist, just evidence of its presence. It’s very effective stuff. 2. The Unknown: The unknown is the root of all human fears. As soon as a situation becomes easily explainable it is no longer scary. Take advantage of this and fill your adventures with mysteries and events that have no logical explanation. Supernatural events in your game should defy the laws of reality in such a way that the players can never figure out what is going to happen next. Narrating Events Remember, Don’t Walk in Winter Wood is different than most role-playing games because it is played in the past tense. This gives the illusion that the story that you and your friends are creating together already happened a long time ago. When you are narrating the events of the story, feel free to jump in and narrate a player character’s action for them. For instance, I often start a session by saying “They went in Winter Woods because . . 26
. “ This sort of leading narration establishes certain things about the story. Because the players already know that their characters went into the woods they already know what to expect. This gets rid of the need to go through pointless scenes of exposition to determine why the characters are together or why they are doing what they are doing. Remember, however, that you must use this technique wisely. If you overuse your narrative power the players will begin to feel that they aren’t really in control of their characters, and if that happens, no one is going to have fun. Try to use narrative pushes only when they are helpful to make the story more interesting, or to speed up the pace of a stalled game.
27
The Witch’s Curse The Witch’s Curse is an introductory scenario that should give you some ideas about how a game of Don’t Walk in Winter Wood might progress. Notice that, in order to be consistent with gameplay, the adventure is written in the past tense. Background Late one October night Laura Ellis was getting water at East Creek near the edge of the Village. As she bent over to fill her pitcher, she suddenly had the feeling that she was being watched. As Laura looked up she saw a strange woman standing on the opposite bank of the creek. The woman asked for a drink of water but Laura, who was quite startled, screamed and ran home as fast as she could. The next day Laura fell deathly ill. When she told her mother about the woman she had seen, suspicions arose that Laura had been cursed by a witch from Winter Wood. Laura’s condition continued to worsen and as word spread of the witch a group of villagers was elected to go into Winter Wood to find the witch and put an end to the curse. Characters Almost anyone from the Village would make a suitable character for this story. Characters that have some relation to Laura (a suitor, brother, or sister, etc . . .) would be particularly fitting. Characters who are zealous witch-hunter types (Village natives or not) also work well. Of course, a character who is a witch could add some interesting conflict to the story. The Story Begins The characters should be encouraged to begin their investigation in and around the Village itself. There are a few locations of note within the Village:
- The Ellis House If the characters visited the Ellis house they found the family to be very upset. Laura’s mother was very protective and Laura 28
was confined to her bed. Laura’s mother was reluctant to allow the characters to speak with Laura due to her condition. If she was pushed, however, Laura’s mother allowed the characters to speak to Laura briefly but asked them not to upset her. Though Laura was obviously in a great deal of pain she managed to tell her story to the characters. She told them of the old woman by the creek and of the wounds that she had suffered since. There was a visible, bleeding wound on Laura’s chest and although her mother had bandaged it, she continued to be in great pain. - East Creek If the characters investigated East Creek, they found Laura’s pitcher lying on its side on the bank of the creek. There were some obvious footprints where Laura was kneeling but no sign of anyone having been on the other side of the creek. - The Village Chapel If the characters visited the village chapel, they met with the town’s priest who gave them as much aid as he could. He gave the whole group a blessing and gave someone in the group a bottle of holy water to assail the witch with should they find her. If pressed further, the priest told the characters that he believed that the girl was under a satanic spell and that it would only be lifted if the witch was killed. He also warned them about the dangers of Winter Wood, which he claimed was “planted by the devil himself.” Into the woods As soon as the characters left the Village, they began to feel the cold of the woods (remember to give each player a cold point). Use the following events as landmark points in the game.
The characters searched the woods for a few hours before night fell and they needed to make camp.
29
- The Dream One of the characters dreamed of meeting a strange woman in the forest. In this dream, the woman led the character to a tree where the woman gave the character a knife, a nail, and a hammer. The strange woman then told the character to carve the image of one of the other characters on the tree with the knife and hammer the nail into the figure’s heart. The player may be able to make a roll to see if his or her character was able to wake up in time. If not, the character hammered the nail into the tree and the character who the dreaming character had chosen was suddenly stricken with great, stabbing pain (and receives three cold points) from a terrible, bleeding wound. - The Bridge The characters came across a small “wooden” bridge that spanned a deep creek bed. The bridge was painted red and it was obviously quite old. Upon closer inspection, the characters noticed that various pieces of the bridge seem to have almost finger-like protrusions. Even closer inspection showed that the bridge was not made out of wood at all; it was made from the petrified body parts of young children (each character who investigated the bridge to this extent gains a cold point). If the characters tried to cut the bridge or tear it down they found that the “wood” bled slightly when damaged. - The Witch’s Cottage The characters eventually came upon what appeared to be a very old, abandoned cottage. As soon as they approached, they noticed that the trees surrounding the cottage were filled with large, black birds that stared at them intently. Inside the cottage they found a most disturbing sight: a menagerie of small, petrified limbs dangled from the ceiling (any characters who noticed this receive a cold point). The cottage also contained a large wooden trunk that had two dead, petrified children in it. Evidence of witchcraft was easy to find in this unhallowed place. The floor of the cottage was littered with melted candles and strange herbs. From the back door of the witch’s cottage the 30
characters saw a dirt path that led to a cave near the banks of East Creek. - The Cave and the Murder Tree The characters came across a smallish cave set in a bluff near the creek. Outside the cave was an old and withered oak tree. Upon closer inspection, the characters found that the tree had a carving in it that appeared to be a vague outline of a female figure. A nail had been driven into the center of this strange carving. If the characters removed the nail, Laura Ellis was suddenly healed. As long as the nail remained in the tree, Laura Ellis remained sick and wounded and would eventually die. Any other sort of damage inflicted on the tree was reflected on Laura Ellis’ body (if the tree was burned, for instance, Laura Ellis’ body was burned as well). After a short time the characters saw a strange, humanoid shadow emerge from the cave. The shadow then shifted into the form of a ghostly woman holding a foul hatchet. In a hushed tone, the apparition asked the characters for a drink of water. If the characters quenched her thirst by offering a drink, the apparition faded away and stopped haunting the village. If the characters didn’t give the apparition a drink of water, the spirit became angry at their lack of hospitality and attacked them with a spectral hatchet. If the characters managed to escape or defeat the witch’s ghost, they may have made it back to the Village alive.
31
