Image by Chris Gorgio
The Brave and the Bully (Halloween themed)
Halloween 1980, you're in Junior High. The school bully dares you and some other kids to spend the night in a haunted house. 'What's wrong, chicken?!'
$12.00
/ Session
Details
Once / Friday - 4:00 PM UTC
Dec 5
Session Duration / 4–5 hours
1 / 6 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
It's Friday, Oct. 31 1980 and then meanest kid in school has challenged the junior high kids he picks on most to spend the night in a haunted house on the edge of town. If you do, you'll prove you're brave enough and he'll leave you alone for the rest of the school year. So once you've gathered your candy and told your folks your staying and a friends for the night, you and the other costumed kids head for the Barnaker House where Roger Simmonds waits in his jean jacket, Black Sabbath t-shirt and kodiak boots. It's creepy, but your mom and dad say ghosts aren't real. But the poundings Roger deals out certainly are. Can you survive the night and earn his respect, or will you "run home screaming to your mommy like the baby you are?"
Game style
Dungeon Crawl
Puzzle / Mystery Focused
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Theater of the Mind
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(10)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Creativity, Teacher, Inclusive
About me
Greetings fellow gamers, I'm new to StartPlaying, but have been running games for more than 25 years, mostly d20 fantasy. For the last 15 years, I’ve mainly run Pathfinder 1e Adventure Paths for a stable of 20 regular players. I run a mix of monthly and weekly games, as well as limited-run games. Through the support of a kind and dedicated community, I was able to make this a small business during COVID, when I left my career in journalism. I currently run a variety of ongoing games including Pathfinder (1e and 2e), Delta Green, and Call of Cthulhu, and have just kicked off a World of Darkness game (Werewolf). I have run Blades in the Dark, Runequest and Traveller before and would like to play more of these games if interest exists. For the past four years I've supplemented my business with a 5e kids program (Summer camps and afterschool), but no longer have a venue for this. I'm currently looking for adult players for shorter games (1-5 sessions) to work toward forming groups for weekly, bi-weekly or monthly games starting in the New Year (2026) if not sooner. I'm a flexible and responsive GM, adapting to different styles and tones of play as needed. I love when story is king and lean toward narrative over mechanics. I try to be a benevolent GM and say yes to players whenever possible. I want to challenge my players, without punishing them.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
There are so many great pre-gens (10 in all!) for this scenario. If you are a fan of 80s teen movies, you can probably guess the archetypes already. They are: The Athlete The Book Worm The Know It All The Poor Kid The Prankster The Scout The Sidekick The Snob The Tough The Weirdo
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You'll need a free Roll20 account an access to Zoom. Otherwise, watch The Goonies or The Lost Boys or even It if you want to get into the mood.
What Dave B brings to the table
I'll have a link at game time for my Syrinescape for those who want an optional additional audio experience. I'll have maps in Roll20 and a variety of character portraits to choose from.
Homebrew rules
ROW
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Dave B creates a safe table
The players take the roles of kids, and then put themselves in danger so be warned if kids in danger makes you nervous, because it's unlikely everyone will survive. Descriptions of gore will be used throughout, but I'm more interested in suspense than a straight up splatter fest. The bully in question will use Nelson Munce from The Simpsons type insults, such as 'wuss,' 'baby,' and 'chicken' but I plan to avoid the worst of the slurs and insults that me and my peers were subjected to by our bullies when I was a kid in the 80s.
Content warnings
Safety tools used