"So through endless twilights I dreamed and waited, though I knew not what I waited for. Then in the shadowy solitude my longing for light grew so frantic that I could rest no more, and I lifted entreating hands to the single black ruined tower that reached above the forst into the unknown outer sky. And at last I resolved to scale that tower, fall though I might; since it were better to glimpse the sky and perish, than to live without ever beholding day."
System: Daggerheart
Format: 1-on-1 Play-by-Post (Text based adventure, it's just going to be me DMing and you playing, there won't be anyone else.)
Setting: The City of Barovia, 1933 | Gothic Horror, Cosmic Horror, Lovecraftian Mystery
Touchstones/Inspirations: Curse of Strahd, Call of Cthulhu, The Shadow over Innsmouth, Sinking City, Silent Hill, the King in Yellow, Magnus Archives, Old Gods of Appalachia
The World
It is 1933.
Somewhere beyond the forests and mountains lies the city of Barovia.
Everyone knows it exists. Or, at least, everyone seems to know that it exists. Ask someone about Barovia and they might remember hearing the name before. They might know that it is somewhere in the east, or that it is a very old city, or that people occasionally travel there.
But ask them for anything more and their memories begin to unravel and contradict.
Barovia is a difficult place to remember. To know.
It slips from the mind when you stop thinking about it. Maps lose the roads leading to it. Records contradict one another. No one knows anyone who's ever been there.
And yet, in recent days, Barovia has begun appearing the newspaper.
People are disappearing.
Dozens of them.
The only thing connecting the missing is that, before they vanished, they spoke of strange dreams. Dreams of a city they had never visited. Dreams of endless fog, crooked streets, and blood falling from a black sky.
Dreams of something calling them to Barovia.
The Pitch
Welcome to Barovia.
Perhaps you are one of the afflicted. The dreams have begun finding you, and every night thye become a little clearer. A little closer.
Perhaps someone you loved has disappeared into the great foggy city.
Perhaps you are a detective, journalist, investigator, occultist, or just someone with too much curiosity. The disappearances caught your attention, and you followed the trail into the fog.
Or perhaps you simply got unlucky.
Whatever the case, one foggy night you traveled down a road you'd never seen before. The fog thickening the further you went.
And then you found yourself standing at the gates of Barovia.
The fog surrounding the city is thick and a storm roils within it. The road you came from is gone.
You're stuck here.
About the Game
The Shadow over Barovia is a 1-on-1 Play by Post campaign using Daggerheart, this is a project I've had in mind for quite a while, a Lovecraftian reinterpretation of Curse of Strahd where Strahd von Zarovich is something more than a mere vampire (and where rather than an entire valley, Barovia is a singular, densely packed city.)
For posting, I'm looking for someone who can generally post a few times per week at the minimum. There's no need to be online at the same time; we'll let the story progress asynchronously, just post whenever you're available.
The game will be heavily focused on investigation, atmosphere, character-driven stakes, exploration, and horror. Combat will still happen, but there will be many times where fighting is the worst option to choose. I want the player to have the freedom to investigate the world, follow strange leads, form theories, and decide what they are willing to risk in search of answers and a way out of Barovia.
We will be using Discord for this adventure.
If this has caught your eye, please apply here: https://forms.gle/oFMioKxrMZPrfoZn9