Valentine’s Day is a perfect time to run table top RPGs. Horror and fantasy adventures fit the season perfectly; games can run the gamut from a GM and player duo to body horror and mutants. Here are some adventures to run and celebrate the season this Valentine’s Day.
For someone who wants to spend the holiday in solitary relaxation experiencing existential horror, a great option is Alone Against the Static also for CoC. It explores themes of grief, isolation, relationships, and heartbreak. This solo adventure features a married couple, Alex and Charlie, who believe that a secluded weekend getaway in the Black Hills of South Dakota is what they need to reinvigorate their marriage but older and darker things than broken hearts lie in wait for them. Play either character or run the adventure twice playing through with each one.
Lover in the Ice for Delta Green is a body horror adventure and the most anti-Valentine’s Day option on the list. This R-rated adventure is gruesome and disturbing and well suited for a well-established group used to body horror, terror, and disturbing elements in a game. Many players will be both terrified and grossed out, which can be an interesting twist to the holiday. I recommend against running this adventure in a public setting.
In Cupid Must Die! - Kobolds Ate My Valentine the PC Kobolds are on a quest for a special holiday meal for King Torg (ALL LOVE KING TORG!) The King wants "Baby Wings", and the only baby with wings the Kobolds have ever heard of is Cupid. The Kobolds face a rowdy time at the town's annual spring faire, try to bring back a kewpie, and maybe ride the catapult. For Kobolds Ate My Baby!.
Whether you spend the holiday in solitary splendor or with someone you love, I hope these RPG adventures remind you of the power of love. And of body horror. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Charlie Dunwoody participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program and the Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG and Noble Knight Games respectively. If you like the articles at EN World please consider supporting the EN World Patreon.
Love-Craftian
The perfect RPG to run may be Does Love Forgive?. It not only explores platonic love and mysterious love through the lens of horror, but is also is designed for one GM and one player. The adventure could serve as date night or as a platonic alternative to a romantic night. The Call of Cthulhu RPG is an easy system to introduce someone new to RPGs and using the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set would provide not only the rules but also dice and pre-generated characters.For someone who wants to spend the holiday in solitary relaxation experiencing existential horror, a great option is Alone Against the Static also for CoC. It explores themes of grief, isolation, relationships, and heartbreak. This solo adventure features a married couple, Alex and Charlie, who believe that a secluded weekend getaway in the Black Hills of South Dakota is what they need to reinvigorate their marriage but older and darker things than broken hearts lie in wait for them. Play either character or run the adventure twice playing through with each one.
Lover in the Ice for Delta Green is a body horror adventure and the most anti-Valentine’s Day option on the list. This R-rated adventure is gruesome and disturbing and well suited for a well-established group used to body horror, terror, and disturbing elements in a game. Many players will be both terrified and grossed out, which can be an interesting twist to the holiday. I recommend against running this adventure in a public setting.
Just the Two of Us
Just as Valentine’s Day focuses on two people in love, so too does Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG with a Valentine double feature for second and third level characters. In Love in the Age of Gongfarmers, the PCs face the wrath of an offended deity who has substituted the heart of a young cleric with that of a mechanical bear. To save the cleric, the PCs must face candy heart puzzles, feral fluffy beings, and more to keep hope alive and once again know love in the age of gongfarmers. In Love Mutants of Castle Heartache, Olathvee, Mad Un-God of mortal passion, lies heartsick after his romantic advances went ignored by the otherworldly object of his affection. Now his cosmic desolation grips the entire world, separating every lover from the one they love and threatening to end civilization within a generation. The PCs’ quest sees them confronting Olathvee’s own castle guardians which are mutated by metaphysical anguish into horrifying creatures. The PCs strive to overcome the darkest, loneliest corners of Castle Heartache and save Valentine’s Day. Inspired by true events according to the author.Valentine's Day-Themed Games
Inspired by the tales of St. Valentine and the ancient legends of the Roman festival Lupercalia, For the Love of Valentine (Swords & Wizardry), (for D&D Fifth Edition), and for (for Pathfinder First Edition) connects the PCs with a charismatic prophet on the lam, and the woman who loves him. To deliver him to safety means winding through a crowded city celebrating a raucous festival of fertility, and racing through the countryside while being hunted by the law and perhaps something darker. The adventure connects D&D and Valentine’s Day together.In Cupid Must Die! - Kobolds Ate My Valentine the PC Kobolds are on a quest for a special holiday meal for King Torg (ALL LOVE KING TORG!) The King wants "Baby Wings", and the only baby with wings the Kobolds have ever heard of is Cupid. The Kobolds face a rowdy time at the town's annual spring faire, try to bring back a kewpie, and maybe ride the catapult. For Kobolds Ate My Baby!.
Whether you spend the holiday in solitary splendor or with someone you love, I hope these RPG adventures remind you of the power of love. And of body horror. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Charlie Dunwoody participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program and the Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG and Noble Knight Games respectively. If you like the articles at EN World please consider supporting the EN World Patreon.
