Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Finder’s Archives.
Today we start a small mini-series for Halloween, where we take a look at some iconic horror villains, and introduce them to your games. We will be looking at them, one per week, for the 5 weeks leading up to Halloween. 😊
Some of these will involve stat blocks, while others will look at the horrors that they inflict upon others. To start it up, we start with someone who you should all be familiar with: FREDDY KRUEGER.
One, two, Freddy’s coming for you.
Three, four, better lock your door.
Five, six, grab your crucifix.
Seven, eight, gonna stay up late.
Nine, ten, never sleep again.
The Dreamscape
Well, as I mentioned in the intro, we’re not always going to have a stat block for these, and Freddy is an example of this. He really could have one, but his methods are far more interesting, and I will open a few – potentially even more horrific – options with this one.
So, the modus operandi of Freddy is that he invades the dreams of others, and kills them there – in fact, he’s considered to be a Dream Demon, even though he was once human. In the Dreamscape, Freddy has total control over what is going to happen, both living there (without knowledge of him, and fear of him, he can’t kill and will eventually die), and often leads people on a merry chase.
Within your game world, you could have your players fall asleep, and for them to wake up in a bizarre landscape, a demi-plane that is malleable (according to Freddy’s will), but which takes on their subconscious fears – molding itself into their worst nightmare, based on their deepest and darkest fears – as well as playing on their personalities. So, a character that views itself as above all others will be brought down – often slowly, to the point of a pauper, one who must depend on others to survive. At the same time, they would be assaulted by their fears – sometimes tangible things – like someone with arachnophobia, or intangibles, like a deep-seated fear of failure (anything they try will never succeed, or only succeeds through the help of another).
Even anyone they encounter and talk to is likely to be a manifestation of Freddy – he takes on all the NPC roles and in time, he has become an expert at impersonating these. In this manner, he drives his victims insane with fear, feasting upon it, before killing them.
But what if Freddy is not alone?
Well, Freddy manipulates dreams and fears, and I’ve nicknamed his little place the Dreamscape. But what if the ACTUAL name was The Dreamlands? Then we start tying in the Lovecraft style of horror.
Within the fantastic worlds of fantasy, Freddy does not have to be unique, and with him being in the Dreamlands – there could be many like him, and one of the obvious possibilities is the Denizens of Leng – the enigmatic creatures that inhabit the Plateau of Leng. Freddy in this manner would be an extremely powerful version of these, perhaps using them as his minions in his schemes. Most of their victims would then be taken as slaves, their souls ripped from their bodies as they sleep, and taken beyond to serve for eternity. Freddy would kill and consume the juiciest of the victims, and leave the rest to his minions.
What could be worse?
Well, Freddy manipulates dreams and fears, and I’ve already tied him in with H.P. Lovecraft – so what if this dream demon is actually a Great Old One? Well, the one known Great Old One in the Dreamlands is Bokrug, the Great Water Lizard, but that does not seem to tie in well with Freddy. But the one that DOES – albeit not a native of the Dreamlands, but a frequent visitor – is Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos. He has more aliases than can be counted, delights in working with humans (even speaking their language), and being able to pass off as one. Freddy could be an avatar of the Crawling Chaos – trapped in the Dreamlands, only able to escape once a certain number of victims have been killed. Or perhaps he even delights in it – and maybe he is looking for the right mind to infect – sowing the seeds for the rebirth of the Great Old Ones into the world. Perhaps one at a time, or perhaps through some insane ritual that will re-awaken them all at once…
See you back next time, when we look into the next one…
Kim Frandsen
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- Finder’s Archive – Crypt of the Eternals - June 2, 2023
