Halloweenie d12 Dangerous "Ghost Towns"

Phantom towns are heard of and popular subjects of songs and stories. They might be adventure hooks.and maybe your players will learn to hunt them or shun them. 

Warning spooky bad stuff 

d12  Dangerous "Ghost Towns"

1 Blanchrannokdon - a phantom village of spirits of people all murdered by a party of murder hobos. Strangers will find this near their camps and wander in to a backwards village none have heard of. The spirits will act hospitably and even offer a night stay for a barn dance tonight. The spirits test especially adventurers with moral dilemmas and temptation so they know if they should assume horrific forms and eat murder hobos. When they kill enough they rest in peace. Good people will awake in the morning in a field with some old foundation stones of old farmhouses and some who perform the test well will find a magical gift or treasure map where murder hobos corpses and loot are buried in a ditch. Communities a few hours away only know the name from stories as the spirits leave local folk alone.

2 Mankracknor - a withered half empty spooky village with many elderly people and cats. The stern locals give Dour looks at strangers. This village isnt on any maps but near a crossroad some have looked at the remains of chimney stacks a hundred paces from the road and see some stray cats. Some call it a witch town. During a past war, all the people of age went to fight leaving the old and children. A local mayor brought in a cheap witch hunter to help him kill and rob the property of the elderly. Unfortunately while gloating after selling the children to an orphanage workhouse spirits came and killed the Mayor and his servants all. When strangers come at night some instead of a crossroads find the half-empty village of elderly witch spirits. They angry spirits want revenge and torment any who have "much blood on their hands" which includes adventurers. If communed with the spirits will be satisfied if their surviving long lost children come here to resettle. They in fact turned out to be witches after all

3 Balendown - an abandoned wilderness frontier village abandoned. Sometimes at night people her music from the tavern and will find villages, barkeep, dancers, gambling and revalry. Any who join in have a great time until midnight until wights on skeleton horses come to kill everyone. If visitors flee quickly they will be unharmed. The undead killers will massacre the locals they reenact again and again but will attack any interlopers who aid the locals. If adventurers take a local with them and flee they will be chased across the country by the undead. If contacted the hapless victims bemoan a relic someone brought to the village that some dark lord wanted and a gambler spirit admits he got it in a bet. If the wights can be destroyed and their purpose thwarted the villagers are released and and spirit will reward the heroes

4 Morgnannar - A village where orcs lived peacefully camped here for several years before one night fire-wielding masked raiders attacked and killed all the orcs. Only some outlines of their hide yurts remain and plenty of orc bones. Sometimes strangers will find the village intact and friendly orcs will invite humans to a drinking contest. Eventually, after being kind hosts they all wither into skeletons and vanish leaving strangers in a field. A orc shaman spirit  will explain the tribe was massacred and wants the human killers punished. Preferably killed and tortured and eaten by monsters but they will accept the humans are arrested by their own justice or make amends (which would be hard but admitting in public would help). Local villagers are embarrassed and would rather not know but their is a risk the same masked men will attack some other non-humans like halflings next. They have made robbing and massacres part of the local economy

5 Bogstop Camp - A new bog side settlement where locals cook and eat hot buttered eel stew and beer.  They are celebrating their new land and bumper eel harvest in the prehistoric fish traps close by. They welcome strangers as long as at least one seems a nice human. Before they were here a village of small newtling folk were massacred by older settlers who killed and ate newtlings. The settlers mysteriously all vanished one night but more came later. By night their croaking ghosts are heard chanting and calling their amphibian god for vengeance. At some point, ghostly newtling folk will arise and point accusingly chanting dooom dooom dooom. Those who flee are safe otherwise the spirits attack and demolish the settlement. If attacked the spirits warn interlopers that the spirits demand vengeance. They will stop appearing if newtlings are allowed to resettle (but the spirits will aid them). They breed prolifically if you can get a few pairs. New newtlings will still give haunted resentful looks at humans for a few centuries

6 Widowswood Village - Mist and bad weather starts and you see shacka with a fire and the smell of food coming from inside. Inside is a close family of mostly women and some male and female children.  small shack. They pretend to be frightened of strangers but can be talked into letting strangers in and sharing their humble sorrel and onion soup. The food is drugged and the ladies will try and seduce visitors. They are all spider changelings and use illusions and webs to ensnare victims to mate with and eat. They do this once a month and have a treasure of past victims. One has a magical fan to make illusionary terrain

7 Fishgut Place - Mysterious fishing village lights seen in fog by night. It smells of dead fish guts. The village tavern the Gutted Mermaid (with sign of a mermaid vivisection) is busy but locals all silently stare at strangers until they have a drink or announce themselves. One offers to sell a stuffed "feegee mermaid mummy in case" 30gp. Another offers a lucky mermaid foot 15gp or some gold coins of the undersea folk that rich civilised collectors want. Eventually, they ring a bell and line up for fish chowder and fish pies only 1sp for outsiders. Any who take these things are drawn into the curse and fishfolk everywhere know you are a thieving murderous human fish eating bastard. If you die in the village your spirit is trapped in the phantom village appearing occasionally when the stars are right. The fishfolk to be appeased who maintain this ghost town would like all their surface kingdoms returned but will be satisfied with vast amounts of gold or deal to kill fish folk enemies. The village of fish folk hunters here for years was wiped out and the souls bound into this place as part of a great net to entrap fish folk enemies

8 Sloptown - An old mining camp or murder hobo shanty town of abandoned dugouts and tents and garbage from a past gold rush. If explored start to see a few glimpses of muddy old folk in rags with tools and goods and suddenly you are back in the goldrush days. Locals are surly, jealous drunks and fights and scuffles are common. These are spirits of all the horrible old men and women who worked and died here and can't accept it. By sunrise, the town vanishes to just some dirty flooded ditches and rubbish. While here you risk being stabbed, poisoned, punched, robbed or catching a disease. While in the dream past you see people drop coins in the mud. There is plenty of gold nuggets and dust buried here and dropped and smothered. . but each will attract a spirit who owns that and will be angry. Poltergeists and spectral dead will harass people who search here.   

9 Pure Point - Village of palid gloomy pious religious grumps with a creaking old church. Shy of strangers and fearful strangers will attack them. They gather pitchforks and torches confront strangers and question if strangers are witches or blessed folk. They will offer turnips and beer and a stay in their barn. If you take the offer they lock you in and set fire to it. The phantom villagers if convinced visitors are witches the angry mob will chase and attack. At some point, the villagers and illusion vanish and a kindly greater spirit intervenes telling how the villagers cannot be released until they repent and show hospitality to strangers without killing them. The spirit offers a chance to battle the spirits with some magical gifts to help to end the curse as they obviously will not learn after hundreds of years of failing

10 Mandador - village appears just off the road. Streets are empty but someone in a house calls "inside quickly!". Frightened villagers call you in and lock the doors afraid. As the sun sets light goes red and the moon yellow and all hear bestial snarls. Devil swine come to terrorise the village each nite and cause property damage and crap everywhere. They have no idea why. Each night in an abandoned house a ghostly wizard opens a portal to a demiplane of Set where the devil swine comes from. When the ghost is slain the survivors awake in the ruins on the the village

11 Buttrock Gully - ancient standing stones loomed over this village and newcomers came here to raise sheep and cattle and grow leeks and parsnips in peace. When the stars turn right some of the stones that were bound demons killed the villagers. Sometimes the village reappears healthy and hearty with merry-making in the tavern just as it was the night the demons came. Strangers joining the rivalry might see signs or whispers or even see spirits of the wild folk who lived here long ago. Any who go below ground into a basement, especially at night meet these older spirits who will try to warn the strangers of the demons. Eventually when all the victims they can muster are drawn to the village the village and guests are taken to a dimensional demi-plane and the demons are living here and ready to kill the village over again and nobody can escape. Except you can kill the demons and once all are killed the ruins of the village appear in the gully and the stones will have shattered

12 Black Stump Village - a new trail goes off the road and storms could are coming. Up a spiral path of village cottages to the Inn of Lost Souls at the top. Adventurers and criminals and mercenaries are inside drinking, laughing, a jester leading a band of idiots plays. The bartender offers free drinks on the house. Then explain you cant leave the village, It is a pocket dimension connected to Hell. The only way out is through the basement portal and get through all the gates of hell and out the other side. He warns if you die you might be trapped in hell or awake here again. Every time this happens the village is more diabolic and hell tainted. Good luck