Night Fears 2: Road Trip - Help

[zcthu3]

Hi all

I ran Night Fears at our local club con last year, and I have decided to run a sequel at this years con. I am still several months out, but I started to have a few ideas today driving home from work so I decided to start getting them down.

The premise is the following:

Four years ago, about to start High School, you and a bunch of your ‘friends’ spent a night in the Cranston House. That night changed your lives; the Cranston House ghosts introduced you to the fact that the supernatural was real.
While that night in the Cranston House created bonds between you all, the High School experience is tough and four years later some of those friendships are stronger and others frayed. Still it’s your last hurrah before college and it’s time for that post High School tradition – the pre-college road trip! 

I am currently thinking a scenario crossing the traditional "Coming of Age" movie with a teen "Horror/Slasher" movie. Something along the lines of Hotel California (the song), Salem's Lot (The Stephen King short story where the car breaks down in Salem's Lot rather than the novel), or Jeeper's Creepers (the movie) crossed with Road Trip(but less ridiculous).

I want to keep the same characters, four years later. I have been throwing around some scene setting questions, but would love some more input and thoughts on how the characters would have developed over High School. Anyway, some starting generic questions - some of these are possibly too similar, so feel free to throw out as many as you can think of. Also any character specific questions:

Starting Questions: Generic
1.Two of you dated through most of High School but recently broke up. Which two of you was that, and why did you break up? What do the others think?
2. Two of you are in a serious relationship but the others don’t know it. Why haven’t you told them?
3. One of you has had a crush on one of the others for some time now and this road trip is likely to be your last chance to make your move. Who has the crush, and who is it on?
4. One of you has a dark secret. What is it, and why is it a secret?
5. Whose idea was the road trip? Why did you really suggest it?

Starting Questions: Character Specific
1.   Andy (Sports Star)
2.   Chris (Changeling)
3.   Dani (Spoiled Rich Girl)
4.   Jamie (Psychometry)
5.   Mike (Medium)
6.   Nicky (Best Friend)
7.   Terry (Religious Kid)

[SunlessNick]

I am currently thinking a scenario crossing the traditional "Coming of Age" movie with a teen "Horror/Slasher" movie.  -  zcthu3

So is the spate of murders the killer's "final exam" to qualify for something greater?

Are these questions you want to ask the players or ones you want to answer in a pregen sort of way?

[zcthu3]

Interesting. I'd actually been thinking more of a bunch of vampires (hence the reference to Salem's Lot) or something than a single killer. But, that has great potential!

Re the questions I mainly want them to concentrate on the relationships between the characters as that's what they'll build their aspects off rather than have that much input into the "horror" side of things with questions, but it may have merit. I'll give it some thought.

[admiralducksauce]

Possible questions:

1.  What illegal substance / item is going to make the road trip come to a screeching halt if the police come across it?  Who brought it with them and why?  I suppose I'm thinking drugs here, but it could be an unlicensed firearm, a body in the trunk, maybe even a bag full of money.  This question could tie into #4 (the dark secret) but it might be more chaotic and fun if the dark secret person cannot be the same person as the person tied to this question.

For the killer(s), it might be cool if it was something that could (and had a reason to) imitate its victims, for the intra-party intrigue and paranoia.

[zcthu3]

Oooh... I like that! Keep the ideas coming guys, this is fantastic for my thought processes.

[admiralducksauce]

A minor thing could simply be:

-Whose vehicle are you all traveling in?  "My dad totally owns a dealership, bra."  "I got this car for my birthday but it's not the one I really wanted!"  "Does this thing have airbags?" -"My side does, I don't know about yours..."

-Where are you going?  It might be about the journey, but at the end of that journey there's a destination.  It might not have anything to do with the plot, but having an idea of where you're eventually going to end up could help drive the story.  Zombieland, a KISS concert, your parents' beach house, DB Cooper's stash in the woods, White Castle... the destination often serves as a physical indicator that now the road trip is at an end and you'd better sort your shit out.

[Richard_Chilton]

Starting Questions: Generic
1) What kind of vehicle is carry the seven of you (plus luggage)? Or are you split between 2 vehicles?
2) Who's going on to college and who's about to start a job hunt?
3) Is anyone going to High School on the Five Year Plan (i.e. have to come back next year to graduate)?
4) Is anyone on the road trip secretly pregnant? Is there a secret abortion or miscarriage in someone's background? (Note that the second half could include "My girlfriend got pregnant and I was secretly relieved when she miscarriage" type answers.)

Starting Questions: Character Specific
1.   Andy (Sports Star)
1) Are you going on to college or is the end of High School the end of the Game?
2) Were you scouted / get a sports scholarship / blow your knee in the big game?

2.   Chris (Changeling)
1) Has Chris' Fae parent interfered in his life? Has he met his fairy family?
2) Has Chris thought about The Choice? Is he planning to turn this road trip into a last goodbye before leaving for fairyland OR a last chance to party with his powers before becoming mortal?

3.   Dani (Spoiled Rich Girl)
1) Does Daddy still have all that money? (I'm thinking about Cordelia being the rich girl on the first few seasons of Buffy - until her family lost its money).
2) Did someone buy you a spot to an Ivy League school - or are you actually studying?
3) Has she thought about trying to turn her money into supernatural powers? Buying something that will make her special in a supernatural sense?

4.   Jamie (Psychometry)
1) Does she still think she's a freak - or has she accepted that she is who she is?
2) Has she tried to develop any more powers?

5.   Mike (Medium)
1) How has High School helped you form links with living people?
2) Do you have any living friends outside of this circle?

6.   Nicky (Best Friend)
1) Do you have a new best friend? If so, what caused the break with the old one?

7.   Terry (Religious Kid)
1) How did you handle being friends with a half human freak, a psi freak, and a ghost talker? Did hanging with these people shift your worldview at all?
2) What (if any) are your church's plans for you?

That's all I can think of for now.

Richard

[zcthu3]

Thanks Richard, some really good ideas in there! Keep them coming folks, I am compiling the ideas and will post what I'll be using when I've finished - just in case anyone wants to do something similar.

[SunlessNick]

Generic:
1.  How's the driving divvied up?
2.  How much luggage are you taking?
3.  To which of the other characters do you feel the most resentment.  Why?  (Perhaps best answered in secret).

Andy:
1.  How much does your sports career mean to you as opposed to your parents?
2.  Does physical skill still seem as meaningful now you've seen the supernatural?  Or even more so?

Chris:
[Added to Richard's question 2] OR a way to escape having to make the choice at all by never returning to either of your families?

Dani:
1.  Are you looking forward to interacting with people who don't know your reputation, or do you view it with trepidation.
2.  Does material wealth still seem as meaningful now you've seen the supernatural?

Jamie:
1.  What vision of the vehicle's past have you seen?  (Even if it's new, it has a past).
2.  Which of the rest of the group do you really wish didn't (if they do) or did (if they don't) know about your ability?

Mike:
1.  Are you enthusiastic about this trip, or just going along with it?

Nicky:
1.  Has your previous adventure cemented or challenged your tendency to be a follower?
2.  In what way has your best friend used your feelings unfairly?

Terry:
1.  Has your previous adventure - and the growth of your own power - cemented or challenged your trust in the Sheperd?
2.  Are you half- (or completely-) hoping to run into more supernatural trouble to test your faith against?

It might not have anything to do with the plot, but having an idea of where you're eventually going to end up could help drive the story.  -  admiralducksauce

Or spark a third installment.

[zcthu3]

Thanks - and yes, a third installment is a possiblity; kind-of depends on how this one goes .

The local club does one larger con a year. Being such a small community (even nationally), we tend to get the same players at that con from year to year (some variation), so after the success of Night Fears last year (I ran it under the name of "Who's Afraid of the Dark" as it played up the "dare" aspect without giving too much away) I decided that running an episodic "campaign" would be interesting: basically, the same characters, different story each con. If we get repeat players, great, if not then Night Fears was simple enough that a brief on what happened last time can be given to the players quickly.

[zakmo86]

I was just wondering if you ran the follow up case file and bow it went.

[zcthu3]

Wow, this is a blast from the past 

The Road Trip went really well and I've now run a couple of other follow up installments focused on different stages of their lives and with the characters advancing (aspects changing, some new powers/stunts, skills etc.) depending on how the characters were played, and what the characters did in (generally) one of the sessions as 'canon' (whichever lead to the better future stories). The extra games were:

* Who's Afraid of the Dark 3: Spring Break - set in a Coastal Town at Spring Break with cultists looking for sacrifices to Dagon - to be fair the cultists actually ended up being almost a sideline in that adventure as (in both sessions) the players really got into the partying side of the event; lots of great character development.

* Who's Afraid of the Dark 4: Masquerade - set at a philanthropic mixer for the Arts, the PCs have now left college and are starting out in the world. After the events of the Spring Break game I actually wrote out a couple of the original PCs and replaced them (as they had pretty much gone their own way; Chris had gone full Fae, Dani had gone missing etc.). The idea was that (most of) the new PCs were prospective writers and poets at a 'mixer' looking for patrons, while the old PCs (who after the last game decided to become "professional" hunters) were investigating the weirdness of the mansion. They, and the other guests, then became trapped by the demon who had possessed the house and who was twisting reality to turn people into monsters for the night (with potentially longer lasting consequences when they left).

At the end of episode 4, in one of the sessions, two of the new characters had really hit it off romantically (after starting as rivals), so I am now thinking of a 5th installment being their wedding.

I may run another session