Build a haunted campaign with these elements in mind:
Eerie castles, ghost stories, creepy cabins and gothic settings make for a strong, thematic haunted house adventures in Dungeons and Dragons 5e. As a GM, I can choose a premade haunted adventure like Curse of Strahd or pull from classic ghost stories, motifs and worlds to build my own haunted adventure.
So, what do I need to build a compelling haunted house campaign or one-off?
Every haunting has a story behind it. Sometimes, spirits are trapped in the house as a sort of purgatory—stuck until somehow released to the afterlife. Other spirits cling to the mortal world out of vengeance and spite, terrorizing those who dare cross the wrong boundary. Most of the time, a tremendous wrong or traumatic event is tied to the spirits’ presence.
This sets us up for an adventure goal. When we know the context of the haunting, we have footing for the characters to investigate. Plus, the backstory adds flavor and atmosphere to the story and gives players other options to resolve the haunting besides typical combat.
A few background prompts to consider are:
As empty as a building may seem, it could be crawling with ghosts who just need a little nudge to bring themselves forward. Perhaps an entire family or community of ghosts inhabit a particular building—especially in castles or mansions. Sure, we should include combat encounters with the many spirit monsters of the 5e Monster Manuel.
However, social interactions with ghost NPCs can create opportunities for puzzles, answers and even relationships that push the adventure forward. Therefore, be sure the party knows this before playing. If they attack a friendly ghost on impulse, we could always have the ghost disappear and reappear somewhere else. Maybe crying now because your player is mean.
If you’d like a premade example of this set up, try out my Dead Man’s Tale pirate adventure by clicking here or below.
A few examples of friendly spirits are:
Hauntings are mysterious by nature. If we knew everything there was about the haunting, it wouldn’t be scary. Ghosts carry an inherent sense of mystery. Why are they lingering behind? What do they want with me?
Because of this natural theme, setting up the campaign with mystery elements can bring this sense of wonder alive.
Naturally, the mystery revolves around the backstory of the house. This is the reason the house is haunted in the first place, so solving the problem may release the spirits within. Now, we can include the pieces of this puzzle in the various rooms and settings within the house.
Investigation, History, Religion, Nature and Arcana (Intelligence) checks will help the players piece the mystery together and gain further clues. This means that players can lean on their characters’ Intelligence stat to do some of the heavy lifting. Therefore, we can use these rolls for hints to riddles, puzzles or simply figuring out the next step in the adventure.
Perception, Insight and Survival (Wisdom) checks can be used to pick up hints of danger. Each ability revolves around instinctual senses, which we can play with in a scary setting. Witnessing an eerie occurrence when the other party members are distracted can be used to spooky effect. Plus, Insight is a flexible ability that can be used to sense dishonesty or bad vibes.
Finally, Persuasion, Deception and Intimidation (Charisma) checks can be used to convince spirits to give information. Sometimes, players can even convince an NPC spirit to join the party and help the cause. These checks can come in handy during puzzles inside the house, convincing spirit hosts to give clues to the answer.
Each clue in the mystery should be like a checkpoint in the dungeon crawl. Each one should be earned in some way. Perhaps the first clue could be found with a successful Investigation check. However, the following clues should be more challenging to receive as the adventure progresses.
When deciding how to piece clues into the mystery, consider the following options:
Also, we should consider the size of the haunted house the party explores. This makes a big difference in how the game is played and what options are logically available. Therefore, I’ll take a look at adventures in 3 types of haunted houses—cabins, mansions and castles—and make suggestions for each.
Using a cabin in the woods often brings the wild into the haunting phenomenon. Spooky cabins are often the setting of a supernatural force being awakened (Evil Dead, Cabin in the Woods) or just murderous shenanigans (Friday the 13th).
People retreat to cabins to escape society, whether for leisure or nefarious deeds. Here, the players will find secrets. Maybe a strange family moved to the small cabin to escape the evils of the world—only to find an evil within who traps their souls. Or maybe a scholar escaped to the cabin to perform a frowned-upon ritual above his paygrade and accidentally summons something horrible.
Use clues like old journals, haunted dolls and puzzles to jumpstart the action. Maybe solving a particular puzzle in the room unlocks the trapped spirit, causing the party to deal with the evil they’ve unleashed. On the other hand, finding a doll on the floor could summon a ghost child who asks for help. It’s hard to say “no” to kids—even ghost kids.
Plus, we can settings outside the small structure, including eerie cellars and dark forests.
When I think of a mansion haunting, my mind turns to gothic romance, wealth and plenty of space for hidden chambers, clues, traps and puzzles. This kind of haunted house is one of the most popular—able to house a spooky exploration and/or a personal story full of mystery.
Maybe the old mansion is empty and abandoned, or maybe a member of the party has been summoned to a special dinner. We can even lean all the way into the trope and reward the party if they spend the entire night.
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The haunted castle makes for a grand, spooky adventure—full of all kinds of puzzles, traps, rooms and unique supernatural monsters. When exploring a haunted castle, we can find settings like dungeons, gardens, open throne rooms, living quarters, armories and spiraling tower staircases.
Though we always have room for a great backstory, haunted castles can be used as a funhouse dungeon adventure. With so much space to explore, and so much variety in setting, we have plenty of opportunity for puzzles, traps and monster encounters.
Consider building out settings for:
Firstly, the haunted should be considered important to the adventure–just as much as the the spirits within. In some ways, the house, mansion or castle is character itself, full of unique environments within a relatively small amount of space. Therefore, adding in elements like traps and puzzles give these haunted environments more obstacles and mystique.
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Finally, resolving this adventure should bring elements of the backstory together in a satisfying way. We don’t just want an adventure based on seek and destroy tactics. Sure, we’ll need a few of those encounters to keep it spicy, but make the story based around something bigger.
Mystery campaigns can be broken down into chapters, where each clue is earned and pieces the puzzle together. Consider ideas such as:
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