Halloween has always held a special place in my heart. As a child, it was a time of magic, when dressing up in costumes transformed me into anything I could imagine. Growing up in the 1970s, I can recall donning the guise of a pirate, a gorilla from The Plant of the Apes, and a Sleestak, all before the age of 7.

Those early years of pretend play laid the foundation for a lifelong love of storytelling. As I started reading books, my imagination grew, and when I was introduced to tabletop role-playing games everything truly blossomed.

With the leaves starting to change, my thoughts are turning to Halloween. I love to incorporate the spooky season into my game night, so I thought I share some things I have done in the past. I am going to share some links but only to provide examples. I am in no way affiliated with any of these sites.

Set the Stage

It doesn’t take much to make your gaming space take on a spooky appearance. Simply dimming the lights, lightning a few candles, and playing some ambient Halloween music can go a long way. To take things a step further, some basic decorations can usually be found without making too great of an investment. For overachievers, consider asking each of your players to bring a carved jack-o-lantern to the session.  

Perhaps Add Some Food

I have mentioned before that our game nights tend to be accompanied by a meal. Well, for our Halloween session we try to really turn things up a notch. Last year we paired these pizza skulls  with hot dog mummies and both were a big hit around the table.

We provided these cocktails, which we dubbed “Spooky Sunsets” for the occasion. For our friends who don’t drink, we whipped up a batch of this copycat Hi-C Ecto Cooler.

Too much bother? Simply buying a bag of Halloween candy and sprinkling it on your gaming table is sure to be a hit with your players.

Run A Spooky Game

Despite definitely getting together for a Halloween session, we often avoid our regular campaign for this night. Sometimes we’ll opt for a one-shot, while on other occasions we may roll with something other than an RPG. Here are a few examples that have fit the bill over the years.

• I must have run the classic I6 Ravenloft at least a dozen times for Halloween related sessions since the 1980s. Here’s a link to a great video about turning this old standby into something fit for a single evening’s play.

• You’d be hard pressed to get much creepier than Call of Cthulhu. Even if you’ve never dipped a toe into this legendary game of Lovecraftian horror, you have plenty of time to prepare (and the price is right). Chaosium is offering the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Quick-Start Rules for whopping price of $.04 over on DriveThruRPG. Not only does this include everything needed to get up and running but it also includes the classic adventure The Haunting.

I ran The Haunting a couple years ago for a group that had never touched CoC and everyone was on the edge of their seat. If you do decide to go this route, I strongly suggest watching a couple videos ahead of time, to get a feel for how to best run the adventure. Here is a great example.

• While not a traditional RPG, Alice is Missing might be a good fit. Alice Briarwood, a high school junior, has gone missing and it’s up to the players to get to the bottom of it. Alice Is Missing is a unique kind of roleplaying game in which players only communicate using their phones, sending text messages to each other as they unearth clues about what happened to Alice.

While I’m told this can be played online, we played in person and that seemed to really ratchet up the tension. This one can get a little heavy, so it may be best to play with folks you know well. We had a good time with it and it lead to a lot of good conversation after the session.

• Occasionally we’ll forego playing a RPG altogether and opt for enjoying a board game for the evening. There are a number that fit the bill but we’ve found that Betrayal at House on the Hill and Mysterium both work nicely.

Add Some Spooky Elements to Your Ongoing Campaign

It’s certainly possible that you want to roll right along with your ongoing game while still giving things a little touch of Halloween. If that’s the case, I’ll try to lend a hand. For the rest of the month, I will focus my posts on maps and little plot hooks that should be easy to fit into an existing campaign. I’ll do my best to help spread a little Halloween cheer that you can share with your players.

Closing

So, do You Incorporate Halloween Into Your Game Night? If so, please take a moment and leave a comment to let me know what you do with your group. I’m always curious to pick up some new suggestions.

While I’ve got you, do you recall any favorite Halloween costumes from your youth (or more recently)? I’m a stilt-walker in my spare time and have spent the past 35 years as a 9’ tall version of Frankenstein’s monster.

That’s all for now. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and have a great week.

For information about the Village of Cross Tree, go here.

For maps & plot hooks, go here.

For my Idea Chest posts, go here.

For some random tables, go here.

Finally, for a bit about me and some general stuff, this is the spot.