Haunts Review

A quick look at and miniature review of the free product Haunts from the Dungeon Masters Guild.

Pros

• Some nice and creepy hauntings to add to your games
• Simple application that uses already existing rules
• Just plain free!

Could Go Either Way

• Not much in the way of artwork
• Method for scaling haunts for higher levels could provide uneven results
• 6 pages including leading cover, advertisement and FAQ

Cons

• A few grammar and spelling errors despite its small size, though they don't detract from understanding

Introduction

As someone who includes undead and horror elements often in their games, I couldn't resist grabbing Haunts when I was browsing through the Dungeon Masters Guild. It's a nice small collection of haunts with clear and simple guidelines to make your own. Having read it over quickly, I decided I'd talk about it a little bit since despite having some typos, it has good ideas for adding that paranormal element to your undead campaigns. It's quite short, simple, and provides pre-made options to drop into your games. I'd also be lying if I said it didn't give me some ideas. 

The Overview

The rules that are used are simple and rely on the already published rules. What it really does is provide an easy framework that you can use to decide what triggers the activity, what result is created, as well as what can be used to dispel it. The thing I really like is that it doesn't really add new rules. It uses the existing rules to model the situation. Since it's the spell section of the rules, many effects are at our disposal. It's really quite nice. Each section is short and it makes it a quick read. I'd say treat it as a starting point. If you've never run a game before but want an undead and paranormal themed adventure, this is a great place to start.

There are 10 hauntings contained inside and the guidelines are really simple. They fit into half a page (it takes up exactly one column in the document). It really is perfect for new Dungeon Masters wanting to add some creepy to their adventures in an organized way. In general I also like the system used. The hauntings presented are a mixture of beneficial, no effect beyond being creepy, and malicious. I'd have liked a little more that are just plain creepy, but I've got no problem thinking of those on my own.

What To Add?

The document does a good job of outlining the mechanical elements of a haunting. However, you will still need to think carefully about what kind of character who want your haunting to be, if any, as well as the exact circumstances of the trigger. These guidelines make for good starting points. However, as the adventure or exploration of the area commences, you may want to evolve the haunting and make it a bit more complicated.

Variability

I will say, though, that using spells like this can make it a bit hard to estimate damage and produces quite a bit of variability compared to the rules for traps in the Dungeon Master's Guide. A table is provided to help scale the haunts based on level. However, due to the inherent nature of spells, I think this can result in uneven results. A haunt based around magic missile will be far more of a threat for a lower level party, even when scaled using the advice provided. Of course, the level of the spell also has a large effect on its effect. Even with a lower DC, this can result in uneven results. The scaling advice also isn't the clearest I've ever read. For this reason I'd recommend a sanity check before running them and to only treat what's provided as guidelines. What's provided may require fine-tuning.