So you've decided you want to torture your players by throwing them into horror settings.
Tweaking the original horror paradigm, none of the "shades" features work. Everything is entirely real.
Cartagra has no such easy escape route. To find a way out requires a magic item, Solomon's Locket.
This locket, an amulet of many planes, act as an interdimensional compass of sorts. It points in the direction of the gate to the next world – which can be any solid surface. It should be noted that the Locket does not necessarily provide a way home, just a way out.
How does one get out of Cartagra?
Each scenario is separated in its own time and space. Each might be as small as a single room floating in an endless void. Typically, only enough of the landscape exists to play out the fantasy. The obvious defining barriers (such as walls) in each area are impenetrable, since they define the limits of what exists there. But in other cases the heroes may see a landscape that stretches to the horizon, but the further they move away from the fantasy's action, the more hazy the landscape becomes. Eventually they can proceed no further; the effect is of a person walking in a dream but not moving forward. At any time they can turn and head back to a more "solid" and realistic portion of the landscape. Ultimately, the extent of the landscape is up to the GM. Those familiar with the original stories may extend the landscape within a scenario to encompass whole cities, towns, continents or even worlds. However, limiting the landscape to that described in this adventure keeps the players focused on the task at hand.
The illusion (if it is an illusion) is so real that no amount of meditation, mind block, or denial can erase it (no saving throw either). Only greater supernatural beings, such as gods possess the power to resist the restrictions that these miniature realities impose. All others are subject to the altered rules of reality contained in each miniature world.
When they enter the scenarios, the heroes become actors in the miniature worlds—albeit actors who do not follow the script. The heroes have the free will to alter events inside the scenario. Characters retain their spells, abilities, weapons, and equipment. Their appearance and armor may alter to match whichever scenario is being played out inside the pocket, but statistics remain the same, because this is just an illusion. Because the illusion is so convincing, however, encourage the heroes to believe they are suffering penalties— either penalties for a lack of armor, or penalties imposed by armor (for example, to thieving skills and spell casting). After a few rounds, reveal that these penalties do not in fact exist. Also encourage cases of mistaken identity. Heroes may not recognize each other after stepping through a Gate and should be suspicious of one another.
Our heroes will feel, hear, see, smell, and taste everything as if it were real. They will also feel pain, pleasure, bleed and die as they would in the real world. While inside the scenes, the heroes appear to suffer damage and may even "die." These injuries are, in fact, illusory. Damage suffered while inside the mirror (including paralysis and magical effects) instantly vanishes. Keep track of the damage suffered while in the mirror so that it can be reversed. Damage is likewise reversed for any character exiting a mirror voluntarily.
Still, while this world seems real enough, there are definite differences. For one, time is distorted. For example, it may be eternally nightfall in many worlds. Daybreak will never come regardless of what the character’s timepieces may tell them. For the sake of game mechanics, the GM should treat one 24-hour period as a normal day (i.e., hit points are healed, spells are regained, etc.)
Geography will also be distorted. They may find themselves running in miles in a circle around the central area. Likewise time and events may repeat themselves, like a fragment of memory caught in a loop. It may have been midnight when the characters arrived, and they may spend hours on the run or fighting when suddenly, it is midnight again, and they are back where they arrived.
The laws of science exist in a fundamental way; consequently, starting a fire could set a building ablaze and could kill the group, as well as seemingly kill innocent bystanders. The other characters and creatures in the dimensions seem entirely real (no disbelieving is permitted) but are in fact illusions. They cannot follow the heroes back into the real world; only those who entered a portal from outside can leave. Equipment lost within the mirror remains inside it until carried out by a real-world character, and food consumed there likewise does not reappear. Similarly, a spellcaster does not automatically regain spells cast inside the pocket dimension upon leaving. These must be re-memorized.
The inhabitants of Cartagra fall into two distinct categories. The first and largest group is comprised of what are known as Bystanders. It is unknown if they are phantasmal shades, illusionary constructs invested with the personality needed to fulfill their major roles. brought into existence with each pocket dimension, or actual people who have drawn into the pocket dimension and their minds altered with the circumstances. They are more like walking cliches than real beings, though they can demonstrate a remarkable amount of emotion and seemingly free will. They will seem real, even to the point where they may react to the character’s strange mannerisms and accents, but their personalities will be limited to those seen in various cheap productions. If you need generic statistics for the human bystanders, consult the Human Adversaries section of Monsters, Minions, And Marauders.
The second group consists of the various villains and monsters.
Other people: Likewise, people in each scenario will react as they might in the real world. Shooting or stabbing somebody will him/her and likely cause repercussions (likely to cause a lynch mob to pursue the PCs). A fist fight with an individual who is not a monster will still cause lasting damage to the Player Character. However, whenever a monster engages the characters, there will be no outside interference not witnesses (depending on the exact world).
The Villains:
Escaping: The PCs can escape this room only by discovering hidden Gates which only remain open during certain times.
Persons in that area of the Vessel can find one of these gates using the locket. However, a gate should never take a person back where he was when his adventure began.
Scenario:
A set of winding, worn stone stairs leads down to a dripping cavern, columned by joined stalactites and stalagmites. Rats and other scuttling beasts, some unidentifiable, skitter into shadowed corners at your approach. As you round a corner in the curtained passage, you find yourself standing in an ancient crypt.
In the center of the chamber, on a raised stone platform, sits a majestic wooden coffin. Two men are hunched over the casket. One of them holds a wooden stake, and the other has a large mallet.
While you watch, one man holds the stake, while the other smacks it with the hammer. They fall back, shielding their eyes, and a beautiful woman sits up in the coffin. The stake is protruding from her chest.
With a hideous scream that rises above the music echoing throughout the House of Madness, the scantily dressed lady falls back into the coffin. With jerky motions, the two men move forward and the entire episode repeats.
After watching this a couple of times, you are shocked to see that the two vampire hunters are staring right at you. Speaking in unison, they say, "Beware the eyes! Beware the eyes!"
With a slow sense of determination, a slender, delicate hand grasps the edge of the casket and helps raise its owner into the royal chamber.
With her silk gown fluttering around her pale body, the vampire steps out of the coffin!
Scenario: