Sometime in the future I want to run a game with the premise being night is deadly to the common folk. There's no evil necromancer or demon causing this, that's just the way it's always been. Night monsters (they need a proper name, ghasts maybe?) cannot pass boundaries defined by sentient beings - walls, fences etc. - but are free to pass through any portal such a door, gate or even window (if it opens) unless marked by a simple sigil drawn out in blessed chalk. Chalk is not expensive and even a low ranking priest can bless it, but if someone were to wipe off the mark or a window is left open the household may well be doomed.
This has been the way for generations now and people have learned to live with it, extra care is taken and some families have learned to grow small crops indoors. However, there are rumours that northern towns are suffering a fog descending during the day which allows the night monsters to roam free. No-one can work for fear of being attacked and escape is even more difficult. While vision is limited at night, the swift or lucky may evade the danger, particularly if they can find or make a place to hide. In the fog, you can't see the danger until it's right in front of you.
As you can see, there's a premise there but there is also a lot missing so I was wondering if anyone could help me with this, even asking questions about it would help as things you may ask might have slipped my mind.
It's a lot easier to secure a house with solid walls than a fenced field which is much more exposed to the elements so while outdoors crops are still maintained, because doing otherwise would be silly, it can be prudent to keep a small stockpile growing somewhere safer in case a field is compromised and ruined.
Obviously these are limited to things like mushrooms and small tubers but even a small amount of food can help when stocks are low. Communities with links to underground-dwelling folk can flourish in this regard, having access to higher quality crops and farming methods. They may even be able to trade for some section of underground space dedicated to such a purpose, but this comes with its own set of problems.
Kayden Clark
Nice imagery, very evocative. Your next challenge is to define what the players will do in your campaign. Is there any way to face the monsters outside of hiding? If not, then your game is going to stagnate really quickly. If so, define it. Is there a way to alter this seemingly immutable balance? A monster king to bargain with? A hive queen to slay? Define it. What is the player group supposed to look like? WFRP peasants? Nobles and novice priests? Technomancers? Space Marines?
Nathan Perez
How does travel work between settlements more than 12 hours apart? Can you seal a covered wagon with chalk, and if so, do you still find all your draft animals dead the next morning?
Adrian Jones
For things for the players to fight, this could be as simple as making it so the only things they have to worry about during the day are other dangerous humanoids like bandits and wild animals.
Night is when all the monstrosities and abominations that are much higher difficulty come out.
Try to draw inspiration from Halloween and other old timey superstitions that you can find.
>Imagine if every single superstition you knew of, actually did spawn some sort of demon or evil
Aaron Thomas
>What is the player group supposed to look like? The setting is a typical western fantasy style with the players either being mercenaries, hunters and the like called from other lands after the rumours of the fog or veterans of the realm who have some experience dealing with these creatures. In short, the player characters will be mildly experienced fantasy types.
>Is there any way to face the monsters outside of hiding? With that in mind, the players will be able to defend themselves against the creatures and will be called upon to do as certain things will require them to venture out at night. They are also free to wander outside if they wish, however the sheer volume of creatures makes staying outside all night extremely dangerous. I'll do a short write-up of vague monster categories after this post. Like I said in the OP though, night monsters are too much for common folk but the PCs are not common.
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Andrew Moore
Trying to make big posts and I'm getting connection error, hang on thread.
Kevin Diaz
Wouldn't towns and cities quickly set up perimeter walls and be relatively safe as long as they were well maintained?
Anthony Turner
Surprisingly simple, carry a temporary fence for when you pack up in the night. It's more of a symbolic thing than any proper fortification, so it can be made of posts and twine and you should be alright so long as there's no gaps in it.
That being said, you might want to put a brave soul on watch just in case of nocturnal predator animals. Or if some nutter wants to let them in...
