Some tales are meant to scare and frighten an audience, providing them with a night of enjoyable fear and skin tingling scares. Stories of ghosts, monsters, and crazed killers who relentlessly murdered those that crossed their path. The last part of these stories involves a single character, the final one who survives the night’s terror. And when the story ends, everyone shares their favorite part and the moments that made them jump. The bard takes joy in the excitement he helped create, telling a tale he read from a book or was passed to him by another story teller.
Most would believe the stories were complete fiction, but you know better. The first telling is from the survivor; the one that got away. Think about the story that left you alive. The Horror Origin table provides examples.
Horror Origin
| d6 | Origin |
|---|---|
| 1 | A werewolf attacked your small farming village. The folks in town tried to run and hide, but each one was hunted and torn to shreds. When the full moon ended, you were the only one remaining. |
| 2 | While exploring the depths of an old mine with your companions, you encountered a hungry choker. Over the course of several hours, the choker picked off each of your companions before you finally escaped. |
| 3 | You and your friends were challenged to spend the night in a decrepit old mansion. You became separated from your group, only to find each one dead throughout the night before you left in terror. |
| 4 | Your family started to experience strange hallucinations not too long after first moving into your new farm. Each experiencing horrifying images before disappearing. You fled when you were the last one. |
| 5 | A necromancer raised zombies from a nearby cemetery. They swarmed your town. You barricaded yourself in your home and relied on your food stores. When the food ran out, you left only to discover the zombies were dead along with the rest of your town. |
| 6 | When your father returned from his travels, he presented you with a doll he recovered from an excavation. That evening, a spirit within the doll possessed you. Once you were freed from the spirit, you awoke to find your family dead and your hands covered in their blood. |
Final One
You’ve survived a horrific event that your family, friends, or companions did not. This ordeal has hardened you, granting you the following benefits:
Ability Score Increase. Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Stand Alone. While no ally is within 30 feet of you, you gain a +1 bonus to your AC and you have advantage on Constitution saving throws.
Overcome. When an ally within 60 feet of you is reduced to 0 hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to 1d8 plus your proficiency bonus.
Image generated by Dall-E
Damn, this is good. Perfect for some grim dark settings.