The Waking of Willowby Hall (Shadowdark)
I finally got around to run Ben Milton’s Waking of Willowby Hall for my local group using Shadowdark and it became an instant favourite. The fairy tale inspired vibe paired with the haunted theme was an excellent fit for the group and Mildred the goose became instantly the parties mascot upon her rescue. I particularly enjoyed the “density” of the adventure while still being concise and effective in its presentation. Every room had some sort of potential energy stored away that was waiting to be released, while the giant destabilized the situation further and further with every blow of his bell. The game ended in a climactic escape being chased by all the mansions antagonists. The players were screaming and running around the room after their dice rolls. With all of this going on, the mansion still provided meaningful role-play opportunities, leading to a happy gaming group in which not always all interests converge. This adventure just like Winter’s Daughter checked all the boxes for me and I highly recommended running it! It could be run in a single session if starting in the mansion, but more realistically it will take two if you want to properly embed it into your campaigns world. Great stuff! 9/10