Blackwood Asylum: The Hollow Sanatorium RPG

Hidden deep in the misty woods of New England, Blackwood Asylum is a decaying institution rumored to house more than just the mentally ill. Strange disappearances, whispered secrets, and unsettling experiments fuel local legends about what truly lurks behind its locked doors.

A blend of psychological horror and cosmic dread, with a focus on paranoia, madness, and the unknown. The tone is oppressive, dripping with an eerie sense of isolation, where even reality seems unstable.

The year is 1927, a time of rapid medical advancement but also of unethical experimentation and institutional cruelty. Outside the asylum, the Jazz Age roars on, but within its walls, time seems frozen in a purgatory of suffering and secrets.

• The Orderlies & Doctors – Some are genuinely trying to help, others are conducting sinister experiments, and a few have lost their grip on reality.
• The Forgotten Patients – Long-term residents, many of whom have become twisted by their time in the asylum, whispering of "the Hollow" in the basement.
• The Hollow Cult – A secretive group within the asylum who believe in opening minds… by breaking them.
• The Townsfolk – Superstitious and fearful, they avoid the asylum but harbor their own secrets about its origins.

• The asylum is crumbling under its own corruption—patients and staff alike are going missing, and the administration is covering it up.
• Strange, inhuman entities are said to lurk beneath the asylum, feeding off the insanity within.
• A rebellion is brewing among the patients, desperate to escape, though some whisper that the outside world is even worse.
• A new doctor has arrived, determined to uncover the truth, but they may not be prepared for what they’ll find.

• The Wards – From the “quiet” recovery rooms to the violent, padded cells, every corridor carries its own horrors.
• The Experimental Wing – Officially shut down, but strange noises still echo from behind its rusted doors.
• The Basement – A labyrinth of tunnels and forgotten rooms, where something ancient and hungry waits.
• The Director’s Office – A place of polished wood and false security, hiding decades of dark secrets.
• The Courtyard – The only open space, but the twisted trees and suffocating fog ensure there’s no real escape.

• The asylum is largely self-contained, with its own twisted hierarchy and unwritten rules.
• Many of the patients whisper about "The Hollow"—a place, an entity, or perhaps an idea—that consumes the mind.
• Psychological treatments range from the cutting-edge to the barbaric, including electroshock therapy, lobotomies, and experimental drugs.
• Superstition runs rampant, with patients and even some staff carrying charms or performing odd rituals to ward off unseen horrors.

Patients are at the mercy of a cruel and indifferent system, where speaking out against authority often leads to punishment or worse. Alliances are fragile, as no one knows who to trust—madness, corruption, and something far worse are always lurking just beneath the surface.