Announcing: The Elkheart’s Curse!
Want to know more about The Elkheart’s Curse (and/or other stuff I’m working on?), join the Mac Makes Things Discord (formerly the Discord of the Midden Vale)!
A few weeks ago my friend and oft collaborator T. Thomas Giant told me about “A Town, A Forest, A Dungeon,” a Cairn jam being hosted by Yochai Gal, who is by all accounts a pretty rad dude. Normally I don’t do much in the way of adventure writing (I don’t think I’m very good at it), but I had most of an adventuring lying around in my Google Drive, spread out across three different documents and involving at least two different systems. With a deadline and a goal in mind I figured I’d actually go ahead and try to finish writing it, so that’s what I did!
You can grab this adventure, entitled “The Elkheart’s Curse,” on my itch page. It’s PWYW, but I recommend grabbing it for free as it’s still in its rough draft form. I’ve got some playtests lined up over the next few weeks, but gosh darn it I was excited to share it with the world and so I did!
What’s the adventure about? I’m glad you asked, hypothetical person standing menacingly behind me in my home office. The Elkheart’s Curse is inspired in part by the Murder by Death song “The Curse of Elkhart” and a 5e campaign my old D&D group ran a few years back. And angry spirit who may or may not be a hero of old from said campaign was wronged by the people of Bridge-Over-Kells, a village the aforementioned hero once risked their lives to save. As punishment for their actions, the villagers have been cursed with the worst winter in living memory - colder, darker, and longer than any winter before. The adventure takes place in early April (or an April-equivalent fantasy month) and there are no signs of the snows and ice letting up.
Four days ago a stranger with frostbitten skin and glowing blue eyes entered the village. When all the citizens gathered around him, he spoke: “You have eight days to right what is wrong, or my master will bury you all in tombs of ice.”
It took some time, but the Town Council finally rounded up a group of adventurers - possibly drawing from their own ranks, or perhaps finding folks seeking shelter from the storm - to figure out how to stop the vengeful spirit of the Elkheart. The adventure involves exploration of a frigid woodland, delving into the ruins of an old keep, and either facing down the Elkheart in mortal combat or figuring out a way to appease the angry spirit and save the people of Bridge-Over-Kells.
Or the PCs could try to escape the Wikkenwood before they freeze to death, although I imagine that’s less fun. Anyway, check it out on itch and feel free to download a free copy. If there’s enough interest I’ll get a print run going once I’ve refined everything. And as always, thanks for reading!
It is beneath the frozen boughs of the Wikkenwood that our adventure takes place.
(Also quick plug for Murder by Death - they rule and when I reached out about using their lyrics in the adventure booklet they gave me the go ahead and that rips so hard! Definitely check them out!)
