u/Single_Pipe7800

I have been working on re-making at least a majority of Wickermoor Villagers into some of the Druskenvald species. Jeremiah though is the exception - I'm using Guillermo Del Toro's version of Frankenstein and Mordenheim's Monster from the Ravenloft book as his inspiration for his appearance and backstory. One of my player characters (a Path of the Experiment Threadborn) has already decided she wants to romance him so she went and picked up a Farmer's Almanac from the bookstore - LOL.

Back at it again. I'm a baby DM, so I found the Wickermoor Village section pretty intimidating as like a open sandbox. I wanted to create some side quests based on the suggestions in the book to help fill in the gaps between the main quests and give players hints that this cult business might be much bigger than they realize. I put a spoiler warning just in case!

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The first one, of course, was for the Gory Gus plot, but I actually took a lot of inspiration from the "Curtain Call" adventure found in One-Shot Wonders: 10 Forest One-Shot Adventures. (I actually ran this one for my husband so he could test out his crooked moon character haha).

So, the overarching plot in my version is that a traveling troupe native to Wickermoor Village returns home for its annual performance. The rest of the year, they travel throughout Druskenvald, but they always come back once a year. They're famous for their satirical play, Gory Gus Returns!, but one of the members (let's call him Callum) is murdered before opening night.

As the players investigate, they discover that another troupe member's sibling (we'll call the performer Anna and her sister Elle) vanished in Wickermoor a year ago following a previous performance. Both sisters were actors in the troupe and, being Changelings, could portray multiple characters, allowing the cast to remain relatively small. Everyone in town is on edge, especially since Callum's murder bears a striking resemblance to the original Gory Gus killings.

The townspeople immediately blame the party because they've already disrupted the lamb sacrifice upon arriving in town, but Philip demands that the mayor give them 24 hours to investigate and prove their innocence.

From there, it's basically the Curtain Call adventure, but I've reflavored it with my own version of the troupe characters. Eventually, the party investigates each performer's caravan and discovers that Callum was secretly a Crooked Queen cultist who sacrificed Elle beneath the Oak of Many Faces to prove his allegiance to the cult. Anna somehow uncovered the truth, killed Callum, and framed the party for the crime.

There's also a little hint hidden in a letter to Callum about one of the player's sisters, who was also taken and sacrificed. (The player's sister that was taken is Rowan, as in "Rowan's Rise" that is mentioned in the book). I think it'll be really fun if that player picks up on it. There's also a reference to the Six Fallen to help lay the breadcrumbs of the overall plot.

From there, it's up to the party to determine the true culprit. They can either allow the town to execute Anna or plead for her to be spared, and that decision will influence how certain townsfolk interact with them going forward.

I also have a side quest planned for the Pyethymer House involving the town's children, and the next one I'm working on is based on the book's recommended subplot, "A Bad Seed" which will focus on Jeremiah Stover. For "Bad Seed" I'm actually planning on using this adventure, "Horror at Devil's Run" that I picked up a DMs Guild adventure that I'm planning to adjust as needed to fit the town.

Hope this gives someone a few ideas or some inspiration!