
Turn It Off
A downloadable adventure
"Who knows the end? What has risen may sink, and what has sunk may rise. Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep" - William Blake
...
Something stirs in the depths of the sea.
Drawn to the light of the St. Peter's Rock Lighthouse, a vast and ancient eldritch abomination has awoken.
One night, lightkeepers Alistair MacNeil and Dylan O’Connell witnessed the creature rising from the water. It only took a glimpse to drive the two men mad. With the last of their sanity, they destroyed the lantern and made a pact to keep the lighthouse dark, no matter the cost.
Four months have passed since then. A perpetual storm now lingers above the isle of St. Peter's Rock, and dozens of ships have been lost to its cliffs. Several people have gone to investigate and relight the lantern, but none have returned.
...
Turn It Off is a short horror-themed adventure for the Knave 2e RPG, featuring:
- A ready-to-run adventure location that can be played as a one-shot or dropped into an existing Knave 2e campaign.
- 6 evocative paintings and a full map of the lighthouse.
- 3 twisted NPCs.
Will you succeed in lighting the lantern and discovering the secret of the lightkeepers' madness? Play to find out.
...
License
Turn It Off is an independent production by Cloud Press Publishing and is not affiliated with Questing Beast LLC.
Updated | 28 days ago |
Status | Released |
Category | Physical game |
Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (8 total ratings) |
Author | Cloud Press. |
Genre | Role Playing |
Tags | Fantasy, Horror, knave, lighthouse, OSR, Tabletop role-playing game |
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Gamefound RPG Party Featured on Rascal!29 days ago
- Turn It Off Hardcover Crowfunding!33 days ago
Comments
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I just finished running this for an impromptu session in a community server, and we had so much fun! One player is also new to OSR. They took too long to decide on what to do with the lighthouse, and the bad ending happened! They all gasped as they realized they should've been more decisive on what they were doing, but it was an amazing experience. One of the best OSR one-shot adventures I've ever run!
Amazing, I'm so glad you liked it! We're working on a second edition at the moment (and a hardcover print run on Gamefound), let me know if you have feedback about anything you'd change!
I ran this adventure last night with a couple friends from my regular OSE campaign group, so we could try Knave. It was so much fun! They loved the suspense, creepiness, and the descriptions. As a GM, I loved the timing mechanics that both moved the game toward a big event (ship crashing) but also had some randomness to it. Brilliant! I hope to run this for more groups. Please create more Knave adventures! Thank you.
Amazing! I'm so glad you liked it, thanks for playing. I'm actually in the process of creating a revised version (likely system agnostic to reach more potential players), was there anything you would add or change, based on your playthrough?
Sure, I'm happy to offer some thoughts. I want to caveat that I didn't spend as much time preparing for the adventure as I would have liked, so I might have thoughts about the game that are actually covered in the booklet. Here are some questions and some comments on how I ran the adventure.
1. The hatch leading from the staircase to the Lantern Room. Which way does the hatch door open? Does it open into the Lantern Room or into the Stairwell? I ran the adventure with the hatch swinging down into the staircase.
2. Does the key (from the loft bed-side desk ) open the padlock that leads to the Lantern Room? I allowed the key to open the padlock. A player asked if the the padlock on the hatch meant that the person in the Lantern Room was trapped. I told the player "yes" and later in the adventure argued that Macneil ordered O'Connell to lock Macneil in the Lantern Room. Maybe add another sentence to explain the padlock on the hatch to the Lantern Room.
3. How big are the windows to the cottage and store room? Can a person climb through one? I did not allow the windows to be big enough to crawl through but could be seen through.
4. Is there an intent around the fog horn inoperable? Can it be repaired or can grease from the storeroom be used to "un-seize" it. A player thought to use the grease from the storage room to "un seize" the fog horn. I liked the idea and let them do it. But that player had to keep cranking the fog horn to keep the fog horn working. I allowed it to "warn" the approaching ship.
5. The signal flare (wrapped in oil cloth) could use some more mechanics and intent. Is it a torch or is it bright enough for the approaching ship to see? What level of technology is the signal flare so that it is consistent with the rest of the adventure? Is this a place for a magic item? My players did not explore the fishing vessel and I don't know what I would have done for signal flare mechanics.
6. Is the ochre paint flammable? If so, what might that do for game mechanics?
7. Alistair Macneil. What weapon(s) does he have? I recommend reconsidering Macneil's number of attacks (listed as 2). I think players familiar with Knave could cry "foul" at an NPC human getting two attacks. An updates to the "Knave style" for this adventure might benefit from including Armor Pieces to justify the Macneil's AC 14. That is three (3) Armor Points or pieces of armor. For example, maybe Macneil is wearing a gambeson, chain shirt, and helmet. But how did a lighthouse keeper get armor pieces? With my players, I dropped Macneil's attacks to one per round. I kept the AC but in retrospect, I wish I had lowered it to AC 11.
8. If I ran (hopefully WHEN I run) this adventure again, I would emphasize upfront to the players that after a general exploration of a new area or room, that they need to declare they are "searching" an area or room and that such a detailed search will take 10 minutes (1 turn). Given the brilliant mechanic of the ticking clock and tables for events each turn, this will create "important choices" for the players on how they want to spend their time. I would emphasize this search mechanic, because I didn't know how to give my players a better chance of finding the several secret doors that available in the adventure (all of which are excellent).
9. Adding some mechanics (like a DEX or STR check; or fall damage) about what happens with four-story staircase room. My players figured out the danger of the stairs (2 PCs climb the stairs at once, they break). The signposting of danger was good. But, another sentence around what happens to the players and what they might do to mitigate damage or impact from the stairs break - would be nice.
10. Another "when I run this again", I will explain to the players (during the adventure intro) how the lighthouse works and what it does. That is, there are three main components (wick, oil, lens) and that the light from the house provides a reference point for ships to steer clear of danger. This may seem obvious, but I think it might ensure clarity for the players who may not be nautically savvy.
11. Malcolm Fraiser. I recommend adding some more information about the iron shackles holding him in place. Is there a key for the shackles? If so, where is the key (likely with Dylan O'Connell, if I had to guess) ? I recommend
Hopefully some of that is useful.
I loved this adventure. Well done!
Wow, thank you for taking the time to put together such detailed feedback! I really appreciate it. There's tons here for me to dig into. I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can, and I have a few additional questions of my own.
I'm glad you think my comments are helpful. I certainly don't want to criticize or come across harsh. It is a wonderful adventure and my recommendations are all "nice-to-haves" to consider in any revision. Here are my thoughts to your follow up questions:
Happy to offer these thoughts. Hope it isn't too much.
It's not too much at all, and definitely not harsh! This kind of feedback is gold. I really appreciate you taking the time. :)
One torch remains lit,
one hope against the storm.
The vibes are exquisite, they lay out it is very clean and professional. The deep calls out... for me to run this for my players.
A+ comment 👌
This is little Adventure is Awesome. Its creepy, the writing is good, the Layout looks cool! 5/5
Thank you so much!
Really enjoyed the adventure, great and transparent format that's easy to use with minimal prep.
Thank you very much! I can't take all the credit - my editor is fantastic and I got some great feedback from the Knave 2e game jam Discord server. It was a team effort!
Great idea and execution!!!
Thank you!
Whoa! This is awesome! The design and story. Well done!
Thank you so much!