An addendum: I just discovered the SRD for Level Up: Advanced 5E by EN Publishing. And the document for NPCs does have simplified stat blocks which include spell descriptions for many NPCs!

I’m on ttrpg.network, which is a lemmy platform. Feel free to upgrade me to mod!

If I had the means to do folklore research on a full-term basis (and maybe a few research assistants as well), then this would be the kind of project I’d love to tackle for German folk tales.

However, until then I’ll only map the tales I actually translate.

It warms my heart to see the link list I created get around. 😉

My personal preference is to not write adventures with a highly specific script. I tend to put a lot of thought into the major NPCs (including villains) and their motivations and resources, locations, and just general worldbuilding. When I plot a game session, I think of interesting situations the PCs get into without bothering to come up with any specific outcome - as far as I am concerned, writing the ending to the story is the players’ job.

And if I manage to get into the proper frame of mind for the NPCs, then I can easily react to whatever it is the PCs end up doing. So I don’t have much of a script to begin with.

However, at the end of each session, I will ask the players: “What do you plan to do next?” This way, I can come up with some initial situations the PCs will have to face, and be able to improvise from there.

If the PCs come up with something completely out of context, and if I can truly find no way to improvise out of it, then it is legitimate to say: “Okay, I didn’t prep for this - let’s take a break and continue at the next session!” But that is rare.

A good model for fantasy horror is #WFRP. Adventures and campaigns tend to make sure that the PCs become well acquainted with the travails and worries of ordinary people, and this makes them invested in protecting others. Furthermore, the adventures also make clear that the adventurers aren’t at the top of the social pecking order. Thus, letting other people know that they destroyed a major Chaos cult cell is generally a bad idea - the relatives of the “respectable citizens” they killed in the cult hideout want them executed for murder, and witch hunters want to check what exactly they know about dark, forbidden truths…

It’s not a proper #WFRP adventure if the PCs don’t feel the need to skip town in a hurry by its end. 😉

I disagree. There are plenty of ways of presenting scenarios where the threat can be fought by the PCs and even be bested in a small, local sense - yet overall victory can be almost impossible.

Consider something as simple as a zombie apocalypse. Zombies aren’t much of a threat to any put the most low-level adventurers. But once the zombie outbreak becomes too large, the PCs will be unable to contain it - after all, they cannot be everywhere. Village after village, city after city, country after country will fall. They can still fight the zombies - and they should - but true “victory” may become impossible. Instead, the goal becomes: “How can we ensure the survival of as many people as possible?” And there is plenty of horror in that, as the PCs must make harsh choices on what to prioritize.