30 Unsettling Moments, Asides for the Worrisome

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Sometimes, having unsettling things happen that have nothing to do with the
adventure can surprise and alarm your players, throwing a spanner in the works
and blurring their appreciation of true clues. Here are 30 such moments to use as
you see fit during adventures. As ever, dont use such moments too often or your
players will get bored with them
If you like, you could base whole adventures around such events. An example:
2. The children start to sing a song about beheading whenever a certain PC
enters the vicinity.
The children are singing the song about beheading because the PC has blonde
hair (or hair of whatever color). The man the children saw beheaded in the old
river by the troll also had blonde (or similarly colored) hair.
Of course, the troll was careful to point out that if the children tell any grownups
about his actions, their heads are going to be the next ones he collects for the
talking Decapitating Tree that he has grown in his lair. Whenever the PC tries to
talk to the children they scatter, and it soon becomes obvious that whenever they
flee, they head towards the Old River.
The tree in this adventure could easily be some sort of treant, or an animated
object. The troll could simply be a standard one, or one with levels in fighter if
youd like to make it tougher.
And now, the list:
Although Benjy the grey cat likes everyone else in the tavern, it hisses whenever a
certain PC passes by.
The children start to sing a song about beheading whenever a certain PC enters
the vicinity.
The spider seems drawn to one PCs leg and constantly crawls up it.
A strange smell follows one PC throughout the month, a pervasive graveyard
stink that is commented upon behind his or her back by others.
All the birds fly away as the characters enter town, screeching and calling in
terror.
Downstairs in the inn, one particular character is unsettled by the way the man in
the portraits eyes seem to follow him. Upstairs in his room is an identical
portrait that has an identical effect.

7. The insect legs the character finds in his stew wriggle about despite the absence
of a body.
8. Throughout their stay in the village, the cockerel keeps appearing by a characters
side and crowing, even at night and no matter where he or she hides.
9. Troubled Jik warns one character that the devil rides in the hump upon the
characters back. As the rumor spreads throughout the village, all the locals begin
to notice the imaginary hump with its devil passenger on the PC.
10. People keep approaching the character and offering their condolences about his
or her cousin Maud and the terrible and bizarre gardening accident that caused
Mauds sudden death.
11. Throughout the week, the same scarecrow seems to turn up in fields the PCs walk
past.
12. How come the childrens nursery rhyme keeps referring to one of the PCs by
name? And worse, why is the rhyme about eating slugs, bugs, and thugs?
13. Every bad person the PCs meet during the next three adventures is rumored to
have a henchman called Grust the Merciless. Grust regrettably never actually
makes an appearance.
14. The same face keeps appearing in crowds everywherea rotund, somewhat ruddy
complexioned fellow with a huge, flat, red nose. Chug Hoppwell is actually the
PCs biggest fan, and takes great joy in following their exploitshes merely
admiring them and has given up his job and home to see them in action as much
as possible.
15. Everyone in the village seems afraid of one of the PCs. As the PC crosses the
street, people cross to the other side; as the PC enters a tavern, a drink is poured
and no charge made; when the PC approaches a shop, it closes. The PC actually
resembles an infamous murderer and pirate called Thrashnan who terrorized the
village a summer ago. The locals cornered Thrashnan, who had kidnapped a trio
of innocent villagers, in a barn. Terrified that he would escape the local barred
the barn doors and set fire to the place. As he and his prisoners were burning,
Thrashnan swore he would come back from the dead. The villagers, of course, will
never willingly reveal what happened but begin to discuss what to do about the
return from the dead of the infamous killer.
16. Throughout the adventure, a wolf pack is heard howling.

17. The same magpie follows the PCs throughout the weeka sure sign of ill-fortune:
one for sorrow as the old rhyme goes.
18. In the graveyard, the PCs each find a grave with their name upon it, most dating
from the same year a century ago.
19. As the PCs enter the tavern, the town clock strikes noon, and at that exact
moment, Chape, the tavern owners dog, expires at their feet.
20.
The chicken fight abruptly stops as the PCs walk by, and inexplicably, all
the chickens rush into the coop, fighting to get into its safety first.
21. A seventh daughter of a seventh daughter claims she has seen one of the PCs in
two distinct dreams shes had. In the first dream, three things happen: he meets
her, avoids her, and is then eaten by a huge six-headed crocodile at midnight. In
the second dream, he meets her, marries her, and they live happily ever after.
After telling her tale, she smiles toothlessly up at him.
22.
As they are playing cards, the PCs suddenly discover that there are twenty
aces of spades in the pack.
23.As the PCs enter the market, a bard is singing a song about a man who was a
werewolf but didnt know ithe came to a town on market day with a bard who
sang a song about a man who was a werewolf and didnt know it. In the chorus, it
transpires that the werewolfs name is the same as one of the PCs.
24.
Rumor has it round these parts that when a group of strangers enters town
on the Festival of Saint Garuday, the dreaded Vampire Lamprey of the Great Lake
shall rise and eat all the local unmarried women. As the PCs ask what day it is,
the townsfolk fall silent
25. The wicker men, whose numbers match those of the heroes, are merely
ornamentation the locals claim
26.
As the PCs enter town, it begins to rain black rain.
27. The man in the ancient portrait in the Lords House does indeed look exactly like
the character. His name? Deathly Lord Rache the Slayer of Innocents, the devil
who swore to return
28.
Sixteen men shall rise, rise up from their graves, this very night theyll rise
and take the strangers there. Old sailors song sung when strangers or groups of
heroes enter taverns

29.
Although they can never prove it, all the characters have the uncanny
feeling that they are being watched whilst in town. As they finally leave town a
huge-eyed dog appears from a barn and tries to follow them.
30.
Adventurers are yeh? says the guard on the town gate. They never last
long in these parts on account of the terrible night thingsthings that are both
terrible and which appear nightly Swizz concocted by town guards to ensure
that traveling heroes stay in town longer than they intended to. Tavern owners
are, of course, grateful for such help and reward it generously.