The Louisiana Nightmare
Tabletop RPG adventure Solo Project | April 2024 | Dungeons and Dragons First Edition
Roles: Level Designer, Gameplay Designer, Voice Actor & Director, Producer
Adventure designed as an assignment for a RPG Design class taught by Lisa Smedman at LaSalle College Vancouver
~1-2 hours of playtime
Game Description
In this adventure, players will explore a haunted mansion on the outskirts of town, and exorcize the evil spirits lurking in.
Story
Legends have always been told about the Louisiana Mansion, the gloomy house on the outskirts of town, and the neighbours have often reported strange lights and sounds coming from its windows, despite being abandoned for decades. However, an infamous necromancer has now made it his home, and has been abducting people. You have been hired to root him out.
Map Design
Main Floor & Courtyard
Floor 2
Basement
Adventure Design
The "Louisianne", the original house, as seen today on google maps.
The "Louisianne", the original house, as seen today on google maps.
General Inspiration
I've always loved haunted houses, and this one was inspired by my family's ancestral house on the coast of Normandy, in France, which always terrified me as a child.
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The idea was to take all the most interesting parts about the house (a painting in the living room, a dark food elevator, a hidden trapdoor to the ceiling) and make them into game features.
10 Room Constraints
The challenge of this assignment was to limit our adventure to one dungeon and ten rooms. In order to fit that limitation, I removed an entire floor of the original house, which would have been unnecessary as it was only made of bedrooms, and put its only interesting area, the bathroom, on the upper floor.
Bonus Areas
Because of the ten room constraint, I decided to include bonus areas for GMs to make their players play through at their convenience.
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These areas would give items that could help the players through the regular challenges of the house.
Multiple entrances
I used some of the space allowed to make two separate entry points into the house, to give the adventure some replayability, as well as give the players the option to explore.
