Four strangers, one flower, and a night that does not end the way any of them was promised.
DUNWICH, MASSACHUSETTS · 1921
Claim a Seat at the Table Run it yourself: get the bookWhat you are walking into
A rotting town that goes quiet when you ask directions, and will not walk you up the hill.
A house at the end of the road that somehow already knows your name.
And a rare and beautiful bloom, opening for one night only, that is not a flower at all, but a countdown.
You came a long way to see something wondrous. You will. That is the problem.
Why you’ll want to be there
An investigation, not a dungeon crawl. Search the rooms, read what you shouldn’t, follow the details that feel wrong. Every clue is real, and it all fits together. The answer is there for those brave enough to keep looking.
This is horror the way it is meant to feel: you are outmatched. No power fantasy and no easy wins, only mounting unease, a house that grows stranger the deeper you go, and a night that keeps taking things from you.
A single, self-contained evening with everything on the line. It’s a true one-shot: choices matter, nerve matters, and not everyone walks back down the hill. How your story ends is up to you.
The particulars
Never rolled a die in your life? Perfect. Ordinary people make the best investigators, and the best victims.
Recovered from the scene
Guests arrived by carriage after dusk. Purpose of visit: to observe the ████████ ████████ in bloom. None reported prior acquaintance.
Host of the household: ████████████. Manner described as courteous. Witnesses further noted the staff seemed to be ██████ ████ ██████████.
Lower levels of the estate contained ████████████████ ████. Recommend no further inquiry. What was found ██████ below is not recorded here.
Of the party that ascended the hill, the number who returned is ████████.
Everything blacked out above is waiting for you at the table. Some things you have to earn the right to read.
A number of tales of the Old Sentinel Hill house have circulated in these parts for years. No one knows exactly what goes on up there, but we occasionally see people come from across the land to visit. The last time was the last night of September 1921, when four lovers of nature came into town hoping to view the blooming of a rare type of flower. Rumor has it that it only blooms once every fifteen years. I haven’t seen it myself, nor would I bother. Something is different about that house, as if it’s waiting. But waiting for what?
Come alone. Speak of it to no one.
What the site holds
The whole one-shot, a page to each part, with the read-aloud boxes, GM notes and clue ladders in place.
Ready-made investigators for every seat at the table, printable.
Every handout on a page of its own, to show or print as the night asks.
The survey maps of the estate, with their numbered keys.
Every plate, portrait and spot illustration at full size, for showing at the table.
Files to keep and take to your own table.
Your copy of the book carries the code that opens it.
A carriage waits at dusk on the thirtieth of September. Come alone. Speak of it to no one. You are expected.
R.S.V.P. Claim your seatOpen the seal above to join the investigation.