1996 - Halloween in Oak Falls Valley
A nostalgic yet suspenseful and chilling game of survival horror with 5e mechanics and sheets but no classes and no races. Can you survive in 1996...?
TYPE
SYSTEM
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$25.00
/ Session
Details
Custom / Tuesday - 5:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 8–10 hours
Campaign Length / 1–6 Sessions
0 / 5 Seats Filled
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Schedule
About the adventure
Northern Ohio, during Halloween of 1996. Radio hosts are still talking about that flood last January, everyone's talking about the corn maze and other festivities happening over at Abner Farms, some teenagers are whispering about drinking together down at the quarry while others have less illegal plans such as trick r treating or telling ghost stories in the cemeteries. Inspired greatly by Trick r Treat (2007, Warner Bros.), this game is meant to give players a spooky survival horror aspect complete with preset characters—each with intersecting histories and relationships. Young Laurie Kennedy is a star athlete at OFVHS, has hopes of getting a full ride to LSU after graduation in June, but tonight, she's being paid to babysit little Charlie Ellis. Charlie, however, has other plans. Vengeful plans. Together, he and his friends intend to scare their bully—Doug Epps—into peeing his pants tonight for all the years he's taken their trick r treat candy when they were younger. This year, Doug intended on doing something different by working in the haunted forest attraction, but due to his failing grades, his mother kept him from participating. What's Doug to do this Halloween night? Sitting up on the roof while watching the setup at Abner farms and smoking cigarettes with Sherry Bradford, Piper witnesses one of the scarecrows in the corn maze move, disappearing from its hitching post. Was it just some actor in a costume? Or could it be why people seem to go missing every few years in the Valley? They won't know for sure unless they go together... 20 preset characters, more than a handful of stories waiting to be told—all on this. One. Night. Who will survive? Who will be the next victim? Only one way of finding out if you dare...!
Game style
Theater of the Mind
Play By Post
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(4)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
5 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, World Builder, Storytelling
Average response time: Under 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
The worlds I offer for you to explore together with others range from a parallel universe where the United States had FIVE Great lakes and for some reason Florida never existed (no offense to those who love that state) to a world where classic horror movie monsters such as werewolves and ghouls are as numerous and deadly as the number of crimson-armored Inquisitors hunting mages and nonhumans alike. Not a fan of post colonialism, the Victorian Era or post US Civil War fantasy? How about a more lighthearted world with higher fantasy volumes, where every thirty years, pilgrims who arrive at the peak of Mt Byron draw upon the magic of the Blood Star Comet to make their wishes come true? Or if you're a fan of a certain Galaxy far, far away, I can run a couple one-shot stories for you and your band of scruffy-looking nerf-herders. Whether you're absolutely new or a well-seasoned player, I intend to give you stories and adventures that not only help you escape our reality but even possibly allow you to change the history in the world around your character.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
The characters are already made, preset and readily playable for each of you to choose from. Now, certain characters are less likely to cross paths while others are DEAD SET to unite together. Just remember, no matter who you each pick, no matter what plot you come across, while this is set as a "campaign", in-game you only have the day starting at 3:30pm (in game not IRL) all the way to the end of the night... usually. Some instances might could possibly carry over a day or two in the game, but it's not a certain thing.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Just have discord, a working cam, a decent mic, your favorite snacks and drinks, and anybody who plays the sessions after session 0 with a Halloween costume (especially those accurate for 1996 or further back) will get a secret bonus that they can use only once in-game.
What Major_Lit_ brings to the table
If you've come this far, then like me and my wife IRL, you're likely a fanatic about that orange and spooky time of the year, when it feels as if the ghosts could come out and grab you at any point. Maybe you just want to see if you could survive a scary movie in the form of a tabletop game via discord. Maybe you just miss how good the 1990s felt with plaid shirts, jeans with ripped up knees, long hair, Nirvana and smoking or non-smoking sections in every restaurant. Let me take you there. Let me do my best to paint this brief escape from reality into your mind as you close your eyes. Light your favorite autumn scented candle, have your favorite horror movies play in the background, put on a costume even, and don't forget to pop some popcorn or to bust out the candy! I'm an avid fan of Rule of Cool, but in this game, I cannot guarantee that it'll spare your favorite characters from death. Combat is going to feel one-sided aga8nst you. Remember that running is sometimes a far better option than picking up a kitchen knife and facing some masked slasher or zombie or... worse. Given certain characters' occupations, each character is designed to bring something at least a little different to the table. A police officer for example may have a handgun, but even a handgun can be at a disadvantage in close quarters. That said, even as the DM, I want to see at least SOME of these characters survive, and above all, I just want each of you to have fun! If you're not having fun, let me know so I can accommodate for you.
Equipment needed to play
Webcam
Mobile Phone
Microphone
Internet
Computer
Platforms used
Safety
How Major_Lit_ creates a safe table
Session 0—absolutely free, no charge for this session—will be used to let players get to know one another, to read up on each of the 20 playable characters in the game, and to decide which playable characters will be the first to try and survive the night. To quote Ash from Alien (1979): "I can't lie to you about [their] chances, but... you have my sympathies."
Content warnings
Safety tools used