"The legend has no origin. The book has no author. The library has no address. And those who find it... never truly leave."
Scenario Overview
Bookworms is a linear horror one-shot where players begin as ordinary Parisians researching an urban legend about 'Nulle Part' (Nowhere Land). Their separate investigations converge at a hidden library in a forgotten corner of Paris—a library that doesn't exist on Google Maps, that no one else seems to see, and that guards secrets written in ink that moves.
This scenario is designed as the perfect gateway into Nowhere Land. It builds slowly from investigation to paranoia to pursuit to siege, ending with the players' forced entry into the dimension itself. Perfect for first-time players who want to experience the horror of discovering that legends are real.
Recommended for: 3-5 players, 3-4 hour session
Tone: Urban legend investigation, escalating paranoia, siege horror, forced dimensional escape
Structure: Flashback investigations → Library convergence → Book acquisition → Reading & pursuit → Library siege → Escape to Nowhere Land
Key Mechanic: The Book-as-Portal. The borrowed book attracts Alptrauma at night, creating an ever-tightening noose of time pressure and escalating horror.
Content Warning
This scenario contains themes of: stalking, siege/home invasion, body horror (Alptrauma transformations), isolation, police ineffectiveness, consumption of human essence, and forced dimensional displacement. The scenario deliberately builds paranoia and helplessness. Discuss with players beforehand and establish safety tools.
Design Philosophy
Why This Scenario Works
Bookworms is built on three pillars of horror game design:
- The Slow Build: Players begin as researchers, not heroes. They WANT to find Nowhere Land. This investment makes the horror hit harder when they realize what they've invited.
- Escalating Pressure: Each act raises stakes. Observation → Approach → Pursuit → Siege. Players should feel the noose tightening with no way to cut the rope.
- Earned Escape: The portal at the end isn't salvation—it's a different kind of doom. But it's THEIR choice to jump. Agency in the face of horror is crucial.
Pre-Generated Characters
Each character has been researching Nowhere Land through different avenues. Their investigations lead them to the same impossible conclusion: a library that shouldn't exist.
Émile Duroc — The Conspiracy Theorist
Background: Administrator of a dark web forum tracking anomalous disappearances. Has been mapping patterns in missing persons cases across Europe for 5 years. Everyone calls him paranoid. He's about to be proven right.
Motivation: Vindication. Prove that "Nulle Part" is real and his theories aren't delusions.
Skills: Research +3, Technology +2, Paranoia (Perception) +2
Starting Clue: Encrypted dark web coordinates leading to a Parisian alley, plus a cryptic message: "The book that reads you."
Margaux Chen — The Private Detective
Background: Licensed PI specializing in missing persons. Three cases in the past year ended with witnesses mentioning "a place that doesn't exist." She couldn't let it go.
Motivation: Professional obsession. She needs to give those families closure—or at least answers.
Skills: Investigation +3, Streetwise +2, Combat (basic) +1
Starting Clue: Case file from a vanished woman whose last known location was "a bookshop that shouldn't exist" in the 4th arrondissement.
Thomas Vaillant — The Grieving Parent
Background: His daughter Céline disappeared 2 years ago. Police closed the case. He's been searching ever since, following increasingly impossible leads into the edges of reality.
Motivation: Find Céline—or at least learn the truth. Desperate hope that refuses to die.
Skills: Determination (Resolve) +3, Empathy +2, Research +1
Starting Clue: Céline's hidden journal. The last entry mentions "finally finding Nulle Part" and draws a symbol that matches the library's sign.
Sœur Bernadette — The Mystic
Background: A nun with visions. Since childhood, she's dreamed of "the place between"—a realm of doors and shadows. The Church dismissed her. Now she seeks proof that her visions are real.
Motivation: Understand whether Nowhere Land is divine or demonic—and whether her visions are a gift or a curse.
Skills: Mysticism +3, Composure +2, Latin/Ancient Languages +2
Starting Clue: A 16th-century Vatican manuscript describing "les portes de Nulle Part" and a library that "exists only for the worthy."
Karim Belkacem — The Liminal Influencer
Background: YouTube/TikTok creator with 500K followers. Documents backrooms, abandoned places, and urban legends. This is his white whale—proof of the impossible. His camera is always recording.
Motivation: The ultimate video. Proof that would make his career—and validate his obsession.
Skills: Social Media +3, Cameras/Technology +2, Urban Exploration +2
Starting Clue: A follower's DM with coordinates to a dead-end alley. The photos show a door that wasn't there when he first visited. Now it is.
Dr. Léa Fontaine — The Academic
Background: Folklore professor whose career was destroyed after publishing on "Nulle Part" as a genuine phenomenon. Laughed out of academia. Now she'll prove they were all wrong.
Motivation: Academic redemption. Prove the folklore is real and reclaim her ruined reputation.
Skills: Academic Research +3, Folklore Knowledge +3, Languages +2
Starting Clue: A bibliography reference to a book that exists in no catalog—with a margin note: "La bibliothèque du passage."
Act One: The Convergence
All paths lead to the same impossible place: a narrow alley in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, between a shuttered antique shop and a wall covered in faded political posters. There, visible only to those who've followed the clues, is a door that shouldn't exist.
Arrival at the Library
The door is old wood, paint peeling in spirals like it's trying to escape. No sign. No address. Your phone shows only a blank wall. Google Maps insists there's nothing here. Descartes shows empty space. But you see it. You ALL see it. And when you push... it opens into a space that smells of dust, binding glue, and something much older. Candles flicker. Books line every surface—floor to ceiling, precarious towers, volumes open on tables as if mid-conversation. The air is warm despite the January cold outside.
The library contains:
- Main Floor: Reading tables, towering shelves, a checkout desk with an ancient ledger. Books on esotericism, mysticism, philosophy, politics—but also survival guides, scouting manuals, science texts. Strangely practical alongside the occult. Many books lie open, as if waiting.
- Back Room: Boarded shut. "INTERDIT" painted on warped wood. Something behind it hums—a low frequency you feel in your teeth.
- Upper Floor: Accessed by a spiral staircase that groans. More specialized texts. A window overlooking an alley that doesn't match the one outside.
- Basement: A trapdoor buried under mountains of books. The librarian glances at it nervously when asked—then pretends he didn't.
The Librarian: Monsieur Corbeau
Type: NPC - Former Traveler | Tier: Ally (reluctant) | Domain: The Library (Personal Bastion)
Appearance: Gaunt and silver-haired, dressed in an outdated three-piece suit that was probably elegant in 1920. Reading glasses perched perpetually on his nose. Moves between the stacks like smoke—like he's been doing it for centuries. Probably has.
Manner: Initially dismissive. Claims the book they seek doesn't exist—never existed. When pressed, becomes protective: not of the book, but of the seekers. "You don't know what you're inviting into your lives."
Secret: Corbeau is a former Traveler who escaped Nowhere Land decades ago. He established this library as a waystation—collecting artifacts and books that serve as portals, protecting them from those who would misuse them. The library itself is his Domain, a bastion that weakens Alptrauma within its walls. He's been guardian here longer than anyone remembers.
He Knows:
- • The book the players seek is itself a portal—a door disguised as knowledge
- • It can only be borrowed, never owned. Return before midnight or face the consequences.
- • At night, when light fails, the book attracts Alptrauma from every nearby portal
- • If they take the book, they will be hunted. He's seen it happen before.
The Rules of Borrowing: To borrow any book, each seeker must sign Corbeau's ledger and create an "account." What they don't know: this binds them to the library's portal network. They become visible to Nowhere Land. Their names are written not just in ink, but in the fabric of the dimension itself.
The Book: Codex Nullis
The book is an artifact-portal—a door disguised as knowledge. It has no author. Its text shifts. And it has an appetite.
BEHAVIOR:
- • Opens normally in daylight. Contains fragmented lore about Nowhere Land written in multiple hands across centuries. Some entries are warnings. Some are love letters to the void.
- • At sunset, the pages begin shifting. Text rearranges. Illustrations move. Diagrams breathe.
- • In complete darkness, the book CLOSES and cannot be forced open. It becomes a beacon—a lighthouse for things that hunt in the dark.
- • Alptrauma within 1km can sense the closed book. They are drawn to it like sharks to blood.
CONTENTS (what players learn by reading):
- • References to "Le Comte" and "Le Registre"—the Count and His Ledger
- • Descriptions of Domains: The Passage, The Partisan Market, realms where time freezes and memories walk
- • Warnings about Alptrauma: "They wear faces. They hunger for doors. They cannot create, only consume."
- • A crude map of Paris showing dozens of marked locations—potential portals?
- • Handwritten notes from previous readers. Some entries end mid-sentence. Some just say "RUN."
Act Two: The Reading
Only one person can take the book—Corbeau is clear. But nothing stops them from reading it together. The players must decide: where do they go? Someone's apartment? A café? A park? Wherever they choose, the clock starts ticking the moment they leave with the book.
The Hunt: Escalating Horror
PHASE 1: Being Watched (Hours 1-2)
Subtle wrongness. The players should feel observed but unable to identify the source.
- • A figure across the street, standing perfectly still, watching. When they blink, it's moved closer.
- • The same face on two different people in the crowd—same expression, same angle of head
- • A café customer who orders nothing, touches nothing, stares without blinking
- • Photos on their phones show figures in the background that weren't visible in person
PHASE 2: Social Extraction (Hours 3-4)
The Alptrauma attempt to acquire the book through social manipulation. They look human. They sound human. Something is wrong with the edges.
- • "Fellow researcher" approaches, asks about their work. Knows things they shouldn't. Smile doesn't reach the eyes.
- • "Delivery person" insists they have a package—needs the book owner to sign. There is no package.
- • "Friend of a friend" claims to know someone who can help. The friend doesn't exist.
Each Alptrauma uses different tactics. After two refusals, they become aggressive.
PHASE 3: Open Pursuit (Hours 5-6)
They stop pretending. Multiple figures follow. The streets empty around them.
- • Crowds thin unnaturally. People flee without knowing why. Shops close early.
- • Temperature plummets. Breath mists. January becomes arctic nightmare.
- • Pursuers no longer hide. They walk in formation. They don't need to run—they know where the prey will go.
- • Phones lose signal. GPS fails. The city feels wrong, like reality is thinning.
PHASE 4: The Police Incident
If players seek police help—or are found by a patrol—the Alptrauma demonstrate their true nature. A pursuing figure corners an officer in an alley. The players witness it: a person being unmade, their essence absorbed into the creature's mass. The officer doesn't scream. They dissolve. The Alptrauma grows. Now the players know: no one can help them. No authority can save them. They are alone.
Act Three: The Siege
Their only refuge is the library. If they return before closing (22h), Corbeau reluctantly admits them. The library's status as his Domain weakens Alptrauma within its walls—but it won't stop them forever. Nothing stops them forever.
The Siege: Three Waves
The Alptrauma attack in coordinated waves, growing more numerous and desperate with each phase. Time each wave by dramatic beats, not strict minutes.
WAVE 1: Testing Defenses
Alptrauma probe windows and doors. They scratch at shutters, tap on glass, whisper in familiar voices—trying to lure individuals outside. "Émile, it's me. It's your mother. Let me in. I'm so cold."
Duration: 15-20 minutes real time
Counter: Stay inside. Don't respond to voices—even if they sound exactly like loved ones.
WAVE 2: Escalation
They climb the exterior. Test the upper floor windows. Some try the chimney (blocked by Corbeau's wards, but they try). One attacks the back room door from outside—there's a portal in that room and they can smell it.
Duration: 15-20 minutes real time
Counter: Players can reinforce defenses (Forma), distract Alptrauma (Umbra), or research countermeasures in the books (Anima).
WAVE 3: The Breach
They find weakness. Multiple Alptrauma force entry through a cracked window. Corbeau can't hold them all. And then—the Hohenmar arrives. The siege boss. The thing that hunts hunters.
Counter: There is no counter. They must flee.
BOSS: The Hohenmar
Type: Siege Boss | Tier: Lethal | Domain: Portal Nexus
A creature of absorbed forms—a mass of stolen identities. Multiple heads emerge from its shifting body: faces of those it has consumed, mouths speaking in overlapping voices. It is what Alptrauma become when they consume enough essence. It is hunger incarnate.
Stats: Forma 5, Anima 3, Umbra 4
Wounds: 25 (regenerates 2/round)
Armor: 3 (absorbed flesh)
Weakness: Bright light (2 Harm/round), fire
Resistance: Mental attacks (too many minds)
Abilities:
- • Chorus of the Consumed: Speaks in voices of those it has absorbed. Can perfectly mimic anyone whose essence it contains.
- • Multi-Headed: 3 actions per round (one per major head). Can attack multiple targets simultaneously.
- • Essence Drain: On hit, drains 1 Reverie. If target reaches 0 Reverie, absorption begins (rescue within 2 rounds or permanent loss).
- • Portal Sense: Detects portals within 1km. Drawn to open portals like predator to wounded prey.
The Hohenmar is not meant to be defeated. It is meant to be fled. If players try to fight it, describe escalating horror: more heads emerging, more voices screaming, more mass accumulating. They cannot win. They can only survive.
Act Four: The Escape
Into Nowhere Land
Corbeau makes a decision he's avoided for decades. He has portals in the library—in the back room, in the basement. He's been protecting them, keeping them closed, preventing exactly this. But there's no other choice now.
"Listen carefully. The portals will take you to Nowhere Land—to Nulle Part. I cannot control where you arrive. First-timers always go to The Passage, but you may be separated. You may never see each other again. You may never see THIS world again. But if you stay here... the Hohenmar will add your faces to its collection. Your voices to its choir. Choose."
Players have seconds to decide. Corbeau opens the basement portal—a swirling void of purple-gray light that smells of ozone and loss. The windows shatter behind them. The Hohenmar fills the doorway.
POSSIBLE ENDINGS:
- United Entry: They enter together. They arrive at The Passage, disoriented but together. Ideal for campaign continuation.
- Separated Entry: Some hesitate. They enter different portals, arrive in different parts of The Passage (or different domains). Finding each other becomes the first challenge.
- The Sacrifice: A player chooses to stay behind, buying others time. They are absorbed by the Hohenmar—their face becomes one of its heads. In future sessions, the Hohenmar speaks with their voice.
- Corbeau's Choice: Corbeau forces them through and seals the portal, facing the Hohenmar alone. The library—his Domain, his life's work, his penance—dies with him. Or does it?
The purple light swallows you. For an eternal moment, you feel everything and nothing—your body dissolving into concept, your memories stretching like taffy, your identity fragmenting into infinite possibility. You hear a voice, ancient and amused, patient as mountains: "Welcome to Nowhere Land. The Count will see you soon. The Ledger is ready for new names."
Aftermath & Campaign Hooks
Seeds for Continuation
If this launches a campaign, plant these seeds:
- The Librarian's Legacy: If Corbeau survived, he may appear in Nowhere Land as an ally—or the Hohenmar may have absorbed him and now knows everything he knew. If he died, who will guard the Earth-side portals?
- The Book's Secrets: Did they keep the book? It still contains unread secrets—including, perhaps, how to return to Earth. But the Alptrauma still want it. They will always want it.
- The Hohenmar's Memory: If the Hohenmar absorbed anyone—PC or NPC—their memories are part of it now. It knows what they knew. It can find what they found. It's coming.
- Family Reunions: Thomas's daughter Céline might be alive somewhere in Nowhere Land. Other characters' missing persons might also be here. Finding them could drive an entire arc.
- The Count Knows: New arrivals attract the Count's attention. He will find them. He always does. And he will have questions—and offers. The Ledger awaits new names.
Post-Session Debrief
After the session, debrief with your players:
Horror Elements:
- • When did you first feel genuinely unsettled?
- • Which Alptrauma approach was most disturbing?
- • Did the Hohenmar feel like a genuine threat?
Character Investment:
- • Did the flashback investigation connect you to your character?
- • What would you have done differently?
- • Are you invested in continuing this character's story?
DESIGN NOTE: This scenario is deliberately linear—a horror rollercoaster. Future sessions should offer more agency and sandbox exploration. This one-shot is about the FALL into Nowhere Land, not navigation of it.
Additional Resources
This complete scenario includes all acts as presented. Additional downloadable resources: