1/10 Let’s finish the week with some real nightmare fuel, shall we? The Scum (from #dnd ‘s Ghosts of the Salt Marsh). Yes, it is one of my prettier children, but it is really all about the setup. Here is how I used them ‘out of canon’ in a ‘pod people’ type setup: 2/10 Right now, in a basement- maybe yours, maybe grandma's- there is an inch of water over the old stone floor. It's flooded (again). This probably wouldn't have happened, but you were gone too long, and… wasn't someone supposed to have been watching the place? Was the door
— Shawn G. Wood (@thesgw) April 30, 2021
3/10 locked when you came in? It is so dark, and it smells so bad. Wet mildew and salt. Salt? Why is the basement covered in brine? 4/10 DM's Note (que a sound upstairs- time to split the party- they always swear they won't do it, but you know they will.)
— Shawn G. Wood (@thesgw) April 30, 2021
5/10 Someone takes out a light. It bounces oddly off the water and the walls making the once familiar basement feel twisted and foreign. 6/10 Your first brave step into the briny water sounds too loud, but no grey oozes are dropping from the ceiling or anything (this time). You work your way deeper into the basement; instinctively, you know where to go. That one corner that always gives you the creeps. No matter
— Shawn G. Wood (@thesgw) April 30, 2021
7/10 what kind of light you shine down here, it always seems to have a shadow across it. Except this time. An oily rainbow sheen flares across your vision as the light reflects off a pale jelly-like sack stretched from ceiling to floor. It’s such an odd sight, it takes you a 8/10 moment to realize there isn't just one but four sacks all along the back wall. You watch as the ripples from your boot slowly travel outward, crossing the distance between you and it, then slowly lap against the pale membrane.
— Shawn G. Wood (@thesgw) April 30, 2021
9/10 The gelatinous sack convulses, and pale fingers tear through the membrane and pull it open wide…. 10/10 I used a similar setup in a game with one of our writers, @AriLevitch, and my wife @tinyfatbird. We played in our basement during the session, and I used the space as a visual reference. I don't she has ever forgiven me for that one. This also makes a great #Dread setup.
— Shawn G. Wood (@thesgw) April 30, 2021