Dread: Cave of Spirits

The Cave of Spirits is one of the first Dread Modules I tried writing, when I was first introduced to the table top game. Though the players loved it, I felt it’s pacing was off. Use the following module as a guideline, and feel free to change things as needed. When I ran this game I only had 4 players but intended the game to start with 5. The NPC Scuba Diver is a nice to have whether or not you have the PC Scuba Diver in play. Having a specialist with the PCs makes them feel secure, until he/she dies leaving the players without a safety net. Continue below for the Module and enjoy!

Dread: Cave of Spirits

Characters:

• The money
• The money’s wife
• Anthropolgist
• Treasure Hunter
• Scuba Diver

NPC:(possible if no Scuba Diver in play) The Scubba diving master templo de más viejas bebidas espirituosas

NPCs: Roberto the local boater, The locals

Story Background: The cave. Off the coast of Guafo island, located southwest of Chiloe Island and northwest of Chonos Archipelago, Chile, the PCs are investigating an interesting cave that holds untold riches. It is rumored that the island was once much bigger and actually contained a fairly large city filled with old gold that the first primitive culture cultivated. In local folk lore the island had fallen into the sea along with it’s treasure. It was a curse from the sky Goddess, who demanded her brother, the sea God, pull the island into the sea, to rest for all time, due to the city’s greed. The city had been rumored as lost until recent stat lite data showed an odd plume coming from out of the sea near the Guafo Island. The PCs are all part of a crew, who have gotten the necessary means of exploring the disturbance, which they believe might be the remittance of the lost treasure. Though they have the money, and the means they are still trespassing in Chile’s waters, thus they decided to use stealth as much as possible. They are on the 3rd day staying in a small isolated village. As not to be noticed they have set out at night during a new moon. They have only managed to get 1 local in helping them venture out into the sea, a fisher man named Roberto. And they also have a hired scuba diver.

What’s going on

(Storyteller Plot): The village is a cursed village, that harbors an old sea God in a cave off of its coast. The villagers feed the sea God sacrifices by sending them down into the cave via an old closed off well outside of the village. (To most travelers it looks like just a broken down well, kept for its historical beauty.) For the most part the villagers keep travelers away from the well and cave. They sacrifice on nights of the new moon. Constant closeness to the Sea God has an odd effect on humans, they begin to become more fish like, and more susceptible to the God’s wishes. Those who fully change stay down in the cave to serve the sea God. Every one fears them. For now the Sea God is trapped in the cave by the Sky Goddess, there are those who wish to free it, that would be the fisherman. -In legend it is said that the Sky Goddess/God would take human form, and if the sea God were to devour that person he could raise again and claim the world. One of the PCs is that person. Though I wrote it for the Anthropologist to be it, it really could be any one of the PCs, all they have to do is escape the cave for the night. The cut of the Sea God has speculated that one of the PCs is it. They will trap them in the cave for the night. -Wearing the crown of the Sky Goddess will stop the fishy effects of the cave. Equipment: The PCs have a few items: (Money) has a gun with 5 bullets. Treasure hunter has a gun with 6 bullets. And a large knife. Anthropologist has a knife. Back packs that have a case of extra bullets, normal survival gear, rope, flash lights, digging tools. (they don’t expect to be down here for very long) ———————————————————————————————————-

Act One: Diving to the Cave PCs have enough air to go down and back and a little extra tanks of air. They had a crate of extra air brought down to the cave entrance. The Cave entrance is a cave that you need to swim a ways down and then it dips up into an open air chamber. Roberto the fisherman has his fishing boat waiting out in the sea. Before the PCs head down into the water a light mist has started to roll in around the ships location. Roberto states that there is no storm but they’ll have to wait the fog out before they can head to the main land.

Possible Pulls:

•  First pull is to get the extra air up and through the cave entrance, this will take at least two people to pull the crate up and through the cave.
•  On the way down to the cave there could be a possible jelly fish attack. You can have the area have a strange amount of jelly fish in the area. (don’t make it too hard or they won’t go to the cave)
•  The PCs (except the scuba diver) has to make pulls to successfully maneuver around in the water, through the narrow water way into the cave.
•  One of their back packs might fall during this, removing extra bullets and flash lights from the game.

Act Two: The doors to the temple. Once through the narrow passage way they will come to a large room with a huge door. It has strange carvings and an old language carved into it. It is a cave and very dark.

 Possible pulls-

•  Reading the language.
•  Depicting the carvings.
•  Locating the mechanism that opens the door.
•  Operating the mechanism.
•  Forcing the door open (more pulls/more people pulling than the mechanism)
•  Investigating the area.
•  Noticing odd leaf patterns in the sand.
•  Making a light source.

Act Three: The well Chamber. Beyond the door, is a large round room with a deep well in the middle of the room. The rim is only about 3 bricks high, but it extends down into a small dim light, something glitters at the bottom if shone with a flash light. The room smells like fish, mildew. The floor is slick under the PCs feet, The camber almost seems damp but is dry. There are carvings on the wall of humans with plates. The walls are lined with thick cylinders with ornate carvings on them. -One human statue has fallen over, it is life size, towards the well. There is also 3 sarcophagi in the room.

Possible Pulls:

• There are 3 other doors in this camber but they are blocked off from the inside room, have large statues have fallen in the way of those doors. (make there be a lot of pulls involved to get to those doors)(6 pulls)
•  A statue has also broken a ritual slab at the far end of the room. Looks like a dressing table. (pull to notice and investigate)
•  Pull to move the statue (2 people)
•  To suspend and lower down into the well.
•  Getting their stuff down the well.
•  Pull to notice that the cylinder slabs have been moved.
•  To investigate the sarcophagi – (mummified humanoid all female, wearing strange alluring jewelry)
•  Pull to notice odd deformities to the skeleton(were done on purpose through binding and other modification not occult), if they cut open the bandages.
•  Pull for each noticeable deformation. -in order: elongated skull wrapped, eyes removed, teeth chiseled to small points, throat is lacerated, toes are elongated,In each hand is a glass eyeball, hands are wedged together with a film sewn between each finger, lungs are removed and placed in a “claw” shaped bottle.

Act Four: Down the well. In the well another long passage way, there is water on the floor, only enough to cover their feet. The glittering was another strange necklace on the ground. The walls are covered in carvings again but with gold detail. There is a low gurgling sound coming in from around them. The light is from the next room. There is a small fire, surrounded by small artifacts, golden idles of fat mermaids, with elongated heads and appendages. The hall way is covered in small fish head skulls and husks. In the corner is a human skeleton, and around that corner is a another hallway. -There is a pile of treasures on a skeleton of a human in the corner. -around the corner is a long hall way with traps for poisonous darts.

Possible Pulls:

•  -To disarm the traps by a switch in the human skeleton.
•  -Finding the switch in the human skeleton.
•  -Not being hit by a dart.
•  -Dart misfire if disarmed
•  -poison effect if hit.-one pull every act.

Act Five: Dark hall way The PCs have to figure out a way across a pit, and into another pitch black hall way -In the pitch black hallway there is no light, light is snuffed out, the PCs with have strange itches on their skin as they begin to develop scales, sharped teeth, webbed fingers. They will walk into a pool of water. They will here something in the room with them. A pet of the sea God, a large shark covered in eyes, with jelly fish tentacles. Slimy and stings its prey, making them paralyzed, then chews them slowly.

Possible Pulls: Running out of the water will get you away, shooting it 3 times with 2 pulls each will kill it.

Act Six: Fork in the tunnels. left tunnel will take them to a large cavern with treasure gold, strange pictures on the wall of a sky woman banishing a great squid, great squid devours her and devours the world. There is a large mirror that makes the PCs feel that someone is looking at them. Anyone with strange familiarity with the cave will glow in the mirror. There is a crown of the Sky Goddess that a PC can wear and they will feel at easy, any flippers will go away. Straight tunnel will take them to the city of fish people, if the stealthy swim underneath the pillars of huts they can get out of the cave through another entrance, but have to deal with jelly fish and sharks. And will swim by the large sleeping Sea God. This should be the most dangerous way out of the caves. Right tunnel they will have to swim and then scuba under a dip, they can hold their breath too but it will be 2-3 pulls, as apposed to one. They will come to a large chamber with two fish people standing next to a pool of water and in front of 2 very large doors. There is also a hole in the top of the ceiling with light coming from it. A man will be lowered on a raft down into the pool of water and the fish men will take him screaming to the two doors, the room is full of darkness and large barbed tentacles will come out and tear the man apart. The PCs can use the raft to get up the well. Once up the well, they can go back to the village and try to escape from the crazies who want to kill them. Maybe bump into Roberto.

Characters: Money:

Why do you carry a gun with only 5 bullets instead of 6?

Have you ever killed a man?

Why do you keep funding the anthropologist?

Why did you also fund another anthropologist for this expedition?

Why are you not concerned with the natives tales of cursed treasure?

What did you first think about this trip when your wife suggested it?

What is your favorite past time?

What frightens you the most?

What is your wife’s best feature?

What would you rather be doing?

What is your name?

Money’s wife:

Do you love your husband?

Why are you having a secret affair with the treasure hunter?

When you were in college what did you want to be?

What keeps you up at night?

Though you’ve never been to South America why did the photos of Guafo Island seem so familiar?

If you could have one wish what would it be?

What is your defense mechanism?

What would you consider your best feature?

Why did you convince your husband to fund this expedition?

Are you spiritual?

What is your name?

Treasure Hunter:

Do you have any shame about sleeping with your employer’s wife?

Do you love her?

What do you think of her husband?

Why do you carry a gun? Are you spiritual?

What is your best feature?

How long can you hold your breath?

What do you think of the other anthropologist?

What do you think to gain from this discovery?

What is your lucky charm?

Have you been married?

If so what happened?

What is your name?

Anthropologist:

Why are you involved in this illegal “treasure hunt”?

What is it about the Natives that sends you on edge?

What about the cave seems familiar to you?

Why do you love what you do?

What do you think of the “treasure hunter” who claims he’s an anthropologist?

Could you kill if you had to?

Do you have a destiny or is it all science?

Are you concerned that your main source of funding has hired another anthropologist along?

What is your one distinguishing physical feature that sets you apart?

What frightened you as a kid and still does?

You have a secret “ability” you can’t explain, what is it?

Does it frighten you?

What is your name?

Professional Scuba diver:

How did you get into scuba diving?

What talent have you always been proud of?

What keeps you up at night?

What information have you been keeping secret from the others?

Why did you agree to come on this voyage?

How are you and the natives alike?

Why do you find the sea so comforting?

What was the worst thing to ever happen on the job?

Does it make you nervous that people have brought guns with them?

How long can you hold your breath?

What is your name?

Character Notes for Storyteller/Keeper: (M) has funded a trip to find a local wise tale of a treasure that is off the shore of an island in South America. The locals don’t go out there, they say its cursed, though (M) shouldn’t be superstitious. The PCs find a local that is willing to take them out there in his boat. It is illegal for the PCs to be out there. -A strange mist/fog starts to roll in around the island, but Roberto says there is no storm coming but they’ll have to wait it out to return to the island. -the cave is under water. -The PCs have a limited supply of air. The cave opens up into an open cavern. The Scubba diving master has been to the opening of the cave before but never in the rest of the cave he knows how much air is needed to go down and come back up. -(M) wife is having an affair with the treasure hunter.