Somewhere, lost in the shouded realms of death, lies a land of endless night where long-forgotten horrors are revealed to those who travel through the mist.
There, in a crooked house lives a Crooked Man with a crooked grin. He raises crooked arms to a Crooked Tree at the edge of midnight and hears the whispers of the Old Ones.
They Speak of a beast that stalks the darkest woods and darkest hearts, a crown of horns upon its head. If you lose your way and feel a warm breath that chills you to the bone, run.
Follow the songs of harvest time and, before long, you'll find revelry in the dancing shadows of blazing wicker. No matter your story, these lonesome, misty rails will deliver you to where the hallowed cannot save you.
Now is the time to brave the dark wood, beware the witching hour and weave your own dreadful folktale underneath the Crooked Moon.
The Realm of Druskenvald is the broader setting for
The Crooked Moon; while our adventuers will primarily take place in a small corner of this realm, it will impact the region as a whole!
What Do I Need to Know?
What Mechanics Can We Expect?
This adventure is built on the
D&D 2024 rules, with some homebrew elements to feed into the
folk horror themes (
more on that later). This adventure is
designed to start at level 1 and end at level 14. though our adventure will run from levels 3 to 14 (with some room for post-campaign adventures!); this campaign is also has an
emphasis on roleplay and uses milestone leveling.
Another thing I will be using is
Fateweaving (see more in the character creation article); but these are essentially individual story threads unique to each PC that will unfurl over the course of this campaign.
Themes and Tone
It goes without saying,
The Crooked Moon is a Folk Horror Adventure.
Content Warnings
As this is a horror campaign, you can expect frightening and disturbing moments; but I don't want them to be distressing for you. So in no particular order, some content warnings that are included but not limited to;
- Graphic and gory violence.
- Depictions of mental health issues.
- Cultural and religious conflict.
- Endangerment of children and animals.
- This may include the death of children and animals.
- Grotesque body horror.
- Family trauma and Domestic Horror/Violence.
- Allusions to suicide.
- This may include more visceral descriptions.
- General horrific and at times gory descriptions.
- And more that aren't mentioned in this list!
I will be sure to check in reguarly to ensure that no boundries are crossed and that everyone is safe while playing the campaign.
What is Folk Horror?
A work of Folk Horror might be one that utilizes folklore to instill a sense of uncanny dread (such as the 2015 film
The Witch), presents the clash between the archaic and the modern (such as the 1973 film
The Wicker Man), or creates its own folklore by weaving various elements of a culture's collective unconsciousness (such as the 2014 series
Over the Garden Wall).
If you want some variety, you're in luck! Elements of other horror sub-genres such as Gothic Horror, Body Horror, Cosmic Horror and more make an appearance in this adventure.
Great! Can I Play Now?
Hold on to your horses there! Just check out the character creation guide and then just keep an eye on the cheatsheet as I update it!
