Nightmare loom

Meet the Mistress of Rot, the nefarious heron that inhabits the Emerald Marsh, and the foul-smelling frogs that worship her!

We present here a set of tools to stimulate creativity. Use them to create your own adventure zones or to surprise yourself if you like solo role-playing. It doesn’t matter if you generate it by rolling dice or if you choose directly. The important thing is that you like the result and that you find it appealing enough to make you want to give it body and shape.

We have created this document having in thought the three elements that we consider the essence of folk horror, or rural horror, in which the cozy feeling is broken by the legends of each culture, dragging you to the threshold of the unknown. Prepare yourself to delve into the myth, to be lost in the mists of time and atavistic fears!

First we offer you some tables of folk elements, which will help you create a peaceful environment full of culture and customs. Then we’ll help you create the lurking horror, which will be the shocking note that shakes the tranquility, whether it’s in the form of a dangerous object or an unearthly beast. Finally, we give you a tool to build an adventure seed with which to weave the nightmare the mice will be immersed in.

The interesting thing about these tools are the threads that the loom makes. After all, these tables and lists are just the pieces of cloth that we propose. Take them and sew them together like a patchwork blanket to weave your own horror adventure. Feel free to grow the tables and lists by adding your own entries. Surely you can think of many more festivities, adjectives, tonalities, emotions and creatures than we have written. We recommend that you deliberately include some of the antagonists and factions in them. Surely the Owl Sorcerer has something to do with the abject pale. Could it be some failed creation result of his search for the mystical vortex?

Using our tools as an inspiration, twiking a couple of results and reinforcing the warp with a couple of factions, a few rumours, and an encounter table, we’ve woven a nightmare as an example that can be found at the end of the document. Meet the Mistress of Rot, the nefarious heron that inhabits the Emerald Marsh, and the foul-smelling frogs that worship her!

“Nightmare Loom” is an independent production by Luis Gimeno, Jesús “Capitán Mordigan del Arco”, Marcos López “Bellotón” and Daniel Fernández; and is not affiliated with Losing Games. It is published under the Mausritter Third Party Licence. Mausritter is copyright Losing Games. This creation was written for FolcloreRolJam 2021 «Ratones aventureros» by El Refugio de Ryhope. Original text by Los Pergaminos del Fénix and this translation has been made with permission from its authors. The illustrations are under Public Domain and can be found at archive.org and www.oldbookillustrations.com