The Quieting
The Quieting is a creeping, metaphysical anomaly—the result of raw Dark bleeding into our world through a rift beneath the Albany Resonance Facility. Unlike traditional threats, it doesn’t kill directly—it unravels, erodes, and un-makes.
This is not a dungeon crawl in the classic sense. It's a descent into metaphysical corruption where isolation, memory loss, and a dissolving sense of self are the central dangers.
Sanity Checks
At the start of every round of exploration or combat, roll to see which PC draws a Sanity Effects Card (see side bar). These cards impose mental effects like:
- Memory Loss
- Identity Confusion
- Phantom Voices
- Compulsions
Cards include:
- DC for Sanity Save
- Duration or Trigger to End Effect
- Thematic Effect (that reflects the Quieting’s influence)
Failing the save enacts the effect. Effects do stack. However, it is generally a good idea to limit the number to 2-3 per each character. The GM can also have these effects intensify over time should the party need encouragement to progress through the facility.
Themes
- Silence as Horror: The Quieting consumes sound, creating eerie, unnatural silences that undermine communication and security.
- Memory Loss: Reality deteriorates slowly; things disappear from memory—doors, people, even the characters’ own identities.
- Ego Death: The final terror isn't death but forgetting who you are, alone in the dark.
Structure
Resolution
Option 1: Seal the Rift
- A PC gives up a memory: a contact, an ideal, or an important truth. This should have narrative impact.
- Rift closes. Facility begins to restabilize.
- They return changed—scarred but victorious.
- That memory is now only held by others.
Option 2: Refuse the Sacrifice
- Rift swells. Reality crumples. The team barely escapes—if they do.
- The Quiet spreads. The Church of Hope is wrongfooted.
- Leads to long-term consequences or campaigns.
Components
Goals
The primary goal of The Quieting is to investigate the eerie silence overtaking the Albany Resonance Facility and confront the metaphysical force—the Quiet—that threatens to erase memory, identity, and reality itself. Players must seal the fracture leaking raw Dark into the world by sacrificing something vital to contain its influence before they, too, are forgotten.
Hooks
The Church of Hope has received troubling reports from the Albany Resonance Facility—reports that ended in sudden, absolute silence. No distress call. No sign of struggle. Just nothing. The Church believes this is no mere anomaly but a rupture in the veil—a bleeding wound of the Dark. Declaring it an unholy disturbance, they assemble a team of expendable specialists and faithful observers. Their charge: enter the dead zone, uncover the source of the Quiet, and do whatever it takes to end it before the corruption spreads. Blessed or damned, the mission is now yours.
Relations
Adversaries
The Quieting doesn’t manifest as a traditional enemy but spawns twisted entities born of erasure and memory decay:
- Echoes: Fragmented spirits of those lost, flickering between reality and void. They may try to communicate or lure PCs to their doom.
- Silent Stalkers: Shadowy, barely perceptible forms that move just beyond sight, feeding on lingering sanity and whispering forgetfulness.
- Fractured Wraiths: Former researchers consumed by the Quieting, now mindless husks that erase sanity with their presence.
- Dark Tendrils: Semi-physical manifestations of the fracture, pulsating black veils that smother light and sound.
These are less about direct combat and more about inducing terror, confusion, and mental decay. Whenever a party member comes into contact or interacts with one of these, they will need to draw a Sanity Effect card.
Backdrops
Locations
Setting: Albany Resonance Facility
Built during the Fall, this underground research complex was designed to study metaphysical resonance and dimensional fractures. It sits beneath Albany’s historic district, partially collapsing into abandoned subway tunnels and forgotten sewer lines.
The facility consists of:
- Control Hub: Monitoring systems, communication arrays now dead.
- Living Quarters: Sparse and cold, echoes of vanished researchers linger.
- Resonance Labs: Machines for tuning and observing the Dark’s frequencies.
- Containment Vaults: Cryptic glyphs and wards have long since faded.
- Subterranean Rift Chamber: The epicenter of the fracture, raw Dark flows here unchecked.
Sanity Effects Deck
Clicking on the title will take you to a Google Drive folder where you can download the images of the cards. These cards are designed to be uploaded into Foundry Vtt as a deck of cards that players can draw from. However, this can also be used to compile a list. Each effect is numbered and there are 30 cards.
GM Notes
- Can be use with any party level, but the cards are designed for level 1.
- Estimated play time: 4-6 hours. However, this will vary greatly depending on the amount of roleplaying and exploring that they players engage in.
GM Tips
- Track the Sanity Effects carefully and make Madness feel tangible and threatening.
- Use Real Silence: Play without music at key points. Let real-world silence become unnerving.
- Distort Reality: Describe details inconsistently. Offer contradictory memories from players or NPCs.
- Memory Prompts: Occasionally ask players things they should know (“Who was your mentor again?”) and, when they hesitate, describe it fading from their mind.
- Reward Logging: Encourage physical note-taking as an in-world method of resisting the Quieting. Let it have mechanical benefit (advantage on a Sanity Save, etc.)
- Unreliable Narration: NPC logs or footage are inconsistent—some describe the rift as a song, others as light, or a pulsing void. Truth has unraveled.
Optional Additions
- The Memory Vault: A strange room full of flickering light where players may recover or exchange lost memories—for a price.
- Echoed Companions: Allow players to encounter versions of themselves from timelines that never were—ghosts of decisions not taken.
GM Checklist
✅ Print or prep the Sanity Deck
✅ Track which characters hold which cards
✅ Map key areas of the Facility (or improvise modularly)
✅ Establish atmosphere early—dim lights, environmental cues
✅ Offer memory cues and contradictions frequently
✅ Keep the pace slow and tense—don’t rush mystery
Tone Cues
- Think Annihilation, Silent Hill, SOMA, or The Magnus Archives.
- Keep it disorienting, immersive, and metaphysically off.
- Avoid gore or “gotcha” horror—lean into the emotional cost of forgetting.
Battle Map Note
The Quieting works exceptionally well as a theater-of-the-mind experience, emphasizing atmosphere and psychological tension. However, if your group prefers using battle maps, almost any facility or underground complex map will work. Choose one that’s large and varied enough to allow for meaningful exploration and to deliver strong environmental storytelling—dim hallways, broken labs, and eerie silence should be felt through the map’s design.
Comments
Author's Notes
Sinister June, Some Wicked Lies Ahead
Part of the June Challengathon, were we take a step into the darkness where something sinister is hiding and waiting to strike when people least expect it.