This is part of my campaign report for Horror on the Orient Express.

As recommended on Reddit, you should run this chapter despite its huge tonal shift. One of my goals for the campaign was to squeeze every bit of fun out of it that I can, so I wanted to lean into the whimsical tone as much as possible since it’s the main feature of this chapter. To do that without ruining the vibes of the rest of the campaign, I decided to run the entire scenario in one (in-game) night.

This is mostly accomplished by modifying Dreamlands Handout #1 to explain how time flows strangely in the dream: they can do the whole four-day trip in one dream, but if they wake up and dream again, they are not guaranteed to be on the same trip of the Dreamdlands Express. This encourages them to get as much done as possible in the one dream, and also introduces stakes once the murder and the sorcerer get involved. If they wake up, they lose the opportunity to help resolve these mysteries!

NPCs

Prepare to spend a lot of time dreaming. I easily filled around ten two hour sessions with this chapter. First, treat each NPC as a quest. Play up their longings and insecurities, drop some heavy hints early, and have them clearly act them out by the end.

  • Mac both overestimates his chance of being a poet and fears changing his career. Have him express deep misgivings about discarding his dream artifact in the Gulf of Nodens; he wants to get off in Sona-Nyl to avoid confronting this choice.
  • Karakov is subconsciously plagued with guilt. Make him charming and arrogant, but also twitchy and paranoid. Have him often randomly jump as if a loud noise happened, and make him explicitly mention the sound of cannon fire.
  • Zsusza is a deeply tragic character, so frustrated by her lack of success in the real world despite her success in the dream that she has turned to substance abuse
  • Mironim-Mer has been living a lie, disguising himself as a Sarrubian out of fear that those closest to him will reject him
  • Madame Bruja is essentially on a mission to commit suicide as a final spite to the sorcerer

The theme for these other dreamers is “giving up on one’s dreams”. This lets you introduce some wonderful bittersweet notes later on as the train approaches its terminus. This is another train chapter, meaning you need to give your players character portraits to keep track of everyone, as well as a timeline for your own planning.

Flavor

Second, lean into the flavor of each location. The train only stops for a couple hours at each place, but that’s enough time for some mini adventures.

  • Dylath-Leen: getting cornered by ruffians in a bad part of town, being saved by the Eyes
  • Zar: a character finds some useful half-forgotten dream artifact (at the cost of some sanity)
  • Aphorat: bartering in the port for some useful supplies
  • Thalarion, Xura, Aira: as described in the book
  • Sona-Nyl: having a wonderful time exploring and then sanity tests to leave
  • Serannian: perhaps a final audience with the king

A playlist that includes at least a couple songs for each location helps with the flavor, but note that around Aphorat a murder investigation will begin, and diplomacy after Sona-Nyl. I generally use movie and video game soundtracks:

  • On the train, investigating: Professor Layton, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away
  • Dylath-Leen: Myst
  • Zar: Chants of Senaar, Elden Ring
  • Aphorat: Porco Rosso
  • Thalarion: Alien, Shadow of the Erdtree
  • Xura: Annihilation
  • Aira: Scavenger’s Reign
  • Sona-Nyl, Serranian: Dark Souls, Elden Ring (pretty tracks)
  • Gulf of Nodens: Dark Souls, Elden Ring (boss fights)

The plot

Early on, you want to drop tons of hooks to keep players invested until the murder happens. This is pretty easy to do, especially with characters like Blackjack and the Sarnathians, who will be attracted to the investigators whether they like it or not.

I highly recommend not suggesting the padded compartment as the place for all odd passengers, as the book suggets. If your players come up with this on their own, fine, but I had a lot of fun with my players not doing this. Guillaume and the madman ended up getting (and trashing) the ladies’ parlor as their private room, much to Henri’s chagrin. Adding the captured Mironim-Mer and possibly the dismembered Madame Bruja to the list of special accommodations only adds to the fun.

Even with all of the plot threads, there is still a lot of potential down time in this chapter. Encourage your players to make the most of it by practicing skills (learn to speak Cat!), trying to make a dream artifact (they Dreaming skill is likely low), or just saying which NPCs they are hanging out with.

Next: Ch 3: Nocturne