Designing a Horror Story - Hell Rides To Hallt
- Chris Handley
- Apr 8, 2021
- 3 min read
Hell Rides to Hallt is a scenario for Warhammer Fantasy RPG 4e by Cubicle 7, which I designed, and then co-wrote with my friend and fellow podcaster David Whitworth.
Hell Rides to Hallt was designed for a Halloween RPG event in Manchester at Fan Boy 3 (which is an excellent store if you have the chance to visit). The idea was to have a scenario that was a perfect introductory game for new players, while also encapsulating a traditional Halloween type horror story, and of course, fit the Warhammer Old World setting.
Part of writing scenarios for WHFRPG is the inclusion of some whimsy and dark humour, while also having a sense of not everything you see is as it seems. There is always something more than what is on the surface. That sense of mystery, tension, and paranoia is part of the WHFRPG experience given that the Empire is rife with cults, spies, and duplicitous nobles.
For a Halloween story I needed something iconic to drive home the sense of that season but within the Warhammer Old World. Fortunately, the Empire has a holy day that fits the bill. Hexennacht, or Witches Night, when the skull-like green moon, Morrsleib, hangs large and bright in the sky. It is a night of superstition when cults enact rituals, ghosts and wraiths stir in their tombs, and the people of the Empire race home, leaving out pumpkins and offerings to scare off or keep the restless spirits at bay.
Now I would be lying if I had not drawn inspiration from the Tim Burton film, Sleepy Hollow, which has all the imagery and mood I was looking for, but set in a time period that is slightly later period compared to the Empire. But it is a good fit. And of course, this provided my antagonist - the Headless Horseman. Sleepy Hollow is a great example of a mystery story where the enemy and allies are not always obvious and that was something I wanted to capture in my own scenario for Warhammer, but of course with enough changes to make it distinct and so share only the one common element - the legend of the Dullahan.
A Dullahan is an Irish myth, of a headless horseman, though sometimes a coachman, who carries their head with them. The head bears a rictus grin, and is mouldy, while the body sometimes carries a vicious whip made from a human spine. If riding a coach, the coach is covered in bones and funeral garb. The legend has it that if you see the Dullahan then you are soon to die.
Within the Warhammer Old World this is a perfect legend to utilise, as it plays into the fears of the people of the Empire, given their history with the undead, the vampires of Sylvania, and the legends of Nagash and his conflict with the god of the Empire, Sigmar.
Laying the groundwork required developing a sense of history with this antagonist, and so the player characters would hear from various sources a number of conflicting tales regarding the Headless Horseman. This immediately means the players have doubt placed in their mind. It also helps that this is done in character at the very start of the scenario from a source who soon is killed by the Horseman. Furthermore, the Horseman is presented in armour and with a fighting ability almost on a par with a Chaos Warrior, which presents further questions to the players.
As the story progresses, there are further encounters with the Headless Horseman - who also speaks in rhymes - and more deaths and clues revealed, leading the characters to important decisions with regards to who can be trusted, and the nature of the Headless Horseman. What information and actions the players make can lead to quite different final scenes for the players, for better or worse.
Hell Rides to Hallt benefited from the playtesting that was done before it became a published scenario, which is where David's writing came in, having run the game and obtained some different insight into how players might cope with the encounters.
Ultimately the design of the scenario is built to immerse the players in the local folklore, politics and superstitions of a small village while dealing with the murderous rampage of the Headless Horseman. Each local is a character who players could spend plenty of time getting to know, and the village itself could go on to be a reoccurring location in a campaign.
- Chris
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