The Spores of Siltover – A Solo 5e D&D Folk Horror Adventure

Can you solve the mystery?

You have received a letter from an old friend begging for help. But when you arrive in the isolated village of Siltover you find only fear and danger. And who are the mysterious figures lurking in the in the woods? Can you solve the mystery of Siltover, using only your own resources, before it’s too late?

Spores of Siltover is a folk horror solo adventure for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. Overall, it has a dark tone, but there are elements of lightness along the way with occasional moments of humour. It is a self-contained story driven one-shot, designed to be played by one person with no Dungeon Master or other players required. The adventure can be played using any low-level character class and will have a variety of different challenges including combat, puzzle solving and interaction with NPCs, to suit different styles of play. Completing the story will be a tough challenge but not impossible.

The 150+ page book will be packed with original art, new monsters and new magic items with, hopefully, stretch goals adding even more!  

Please back the project now to ensure it is created and receive the adventure in digital, softcover or hardcover format (or as a special limited edition) at a reduced price, plus the option to have your name credited inside. 

The Adventure's Story

When you arrive at the village of Siltover your friend is nowhere to be found. As you explore the once prosperous, but now run-down, village and the surrounding area with its dark woods and fields, a dilapidated farm, old mine entrance and The Rattling Bones - an inn full of eccentric and dangerous customers - it slowly dawns on you that all is not as it seems. Why do the villagers, with a few exceptions, seem so hostile? And where is your friend? Is he even still alive? And what is the big ominous secret that multiple clues seem to point at? You will need all your ingenuity and courage to find out!

Folk Horror

One of the things I clearly remember from when I first started playing Dungeons and Dragons is just how really dangerous and scary it was. Skeletons (RIP my first character) and giant spiders were not just easy kills and experience points, but actually frightening when you first encountered them! Potentially deadly terrors could be lurking behind every door or just behind every corner of every corridor or blind spot on a woodland trail. Obviously there have been horror based adventures for D&D before, but with Spores of SiltoverI wanted to bring that feeling back by moving away from the gothic of Ravenloft into folk horror.

I’ve always thought folk horror as a genre was particularly suited to Dungeons and Dragons with its remote rural locations, unhelpful and unfriendly locals, hidden pagan religions with hints of sacrifice and dark folklaw, and creepy supernatural encounters and that’s what I’ve mainly built The Spores of Siltover upon. Without directly referencing them, I’ve been influenced by movies such as The Wicker Man and Night of Demon and the films of Ben Wheatly, plus classic old television like the M. R. James Christmas Ghost Stories, along with writers like Stephen King.

But it’s not all doom and gloom – there’s almost moments of lightness, fun adventure and even the odd joke!

How The Book Works

If you have read or played any solo role-playing game books in the past like Fighting Fantasy or Choose Your Own Adventure, or just about any other solo role-playing game adventure, then The Spores of Siltover will be very familiar and easy to follow, but if not you’ll soon quickly catch up as a full explanation of the rules will be included in the book. 

The Spores of Siltover uses the mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition to resolve combat and other character challenges like skill rolls and saving throws (If you don’t have a copy of the D&D core books, the rules available for free online and linked from the book.) Any standard low level Dungeons and Dragons character can be used, either an established character or a new one rolled up for this adventure. All you need are dice or a dice rolling app!

Each stage of the adventure is described in numbered paragraphs, like the one above, capturing what your character sees, hears or feels (and even smells and tastes!) Beneath will be several numbered choices you can make at that point, or the results from a skill check, saving throw etc you have been asked to make, leading on to different paragraphs. You go through the book from paragraph to paragraph, dealing with encounters, fighting enemies, finding treasure and magic items, solving puzzles and gathering clues until you eventually reach final victory (or sadly, suffer ultimate defeat along the way).

Pledge Rewards

Follow along with the campaign and all its updates, with the option to add a digital, soft cover or hard cover version of The Spores of Siltover later, plus a digital mushroom illustration.

For those on a limited income, get a digital PDF version of The Spores of Siltover at a lower price, with 150+ pages of full colour original art and adventure, an option to have your name credited and all non-physical stretch-goals, plus a digital mushroom illustration.

Get a digital PDF version of The Spores of Siltover at a pre-retail price with 150+ pages of full colour original art and adventure, an option to have your name credited and all non-physical stretch-goals, plus a digital mushroom illustration.

Get a soft cover version of The Spores of Siltover at a pre-retail price with 150+ pages of full colour original art and adventure, plus a copy of the digital PDF, all non-physical stretch-goals, an option to have your name credited and all non-physical stretch-goals, plus a digital mushroom illustration.

(Shipping is not included and will be added at the end of the campaign. Please see the table in the Fulfilment section for the estimated shipping costs.)

Get a hard cover version of The Spores of Siltover at a pre-retail price with 150+ pages of full colour original art and adventure, plus a copy of the digital PDF, all non-physical stretch-goals, an option to have your name credited and all non-physical stretch-goals, plus a digital mushroom illustration.

(Shipping is not included and will be added at the end of the campaign. Please see the table in the Fulfilment section for the estimated shipping costs.

Get seven copies of the soft cover version of The Spores of Siltover at a pre-retail price with 150+ pages of full colour original art and adventure, plus an option to have your name or your store name specially credited.

(Shipping is not included and will be added at the end of the campaign. Please see the table in the Fulfilment section for the estimated shipping costs.

Get seven copies of the hard cover version of The Spores of Siltover at a pre-retail price with 150+ pages of full colour original art and adventure, plus an option to have your name or your store name specially credited.

(Shipping is not included and will be added at the end of the campaign. Please see the table in the Fulfilment section for the estimated shipping costs.)

Get a limited, signed special edition premium quality hard back version of The Spores of Siltover with 150+ pages of full colour original art and adventure, plus a copy of the digital PDF, all non-physical stretch-goals, an option to have your name credited as a limited edition supporter, a custom leather bookmark, dice with a custom dice bag and a set of art prints, plus a digital mushroom illustration.

(Shipping is included.)

Add an extra copy of the PDF, Soft Back or Hardback version of The Spores of Siltover at a pre-retail price. 

(Shipping is not included and will be added at the end of the campaign. Please see the table in the Fulfilment section for the estimated shipping costs.) 

Stretch Goals

Thanks!

Even more original art will be added to the book.

An album of themed music will be created and made available to stream for free and also available as a CD Add-on.

Maps of all the main locations will be included

A specially themed version of the D&D character sheet will be included in the book and as a PDF.

An extra prologue and epilogue will be added to the story, along with sample player characters to use if you don’t want to roll your own

An extra book, in pdf, soft back or hard back versions, will be written to be included as an Add-on that will allow a DM to run the adventure for a full party of player characters.

A VTT pack with tokens, maps and handouts will be included with every digital PDF version of the adventure

Fulfilment

For all digital products the shipping is free. For the Limited Special Edition shipping is included in the pledge amount.

Shipping for the physical books will be charged separately via BackerKit.

To keep the costs of shipping physical books down they will be printed and shipped via DriveThruRPG.

Estimated shipping costs are as follows (In US dollars):

Please note you will be responsible for any additional taxes, VAT, and import fees that may apply in certain countries.