Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Alyss 07-25-07, 08:18 AM	Need help getting the basics of a horror campaign going. I've got Heroes of Horror, and intend to use the variant rules. I'm shooting for the PCs being trapped somewhere, a la Resident Evil/Silent Hill, and I also intend to incorporate dremascapes in as well. However, I need more than this. Basically, can any of you nice folks think of broad themes or specific ideas that would help. I want something that can be unique to this campaign, so the PCs won't know what's coming. The campaign needs to have its own thing. Suggestions?
GoriceXII 07-25-07, 10:12 AM	I would strongly suggest this then. Start off with some OTHER kind of adventure or situation. Fool them completely. Make it a rescue mission or an investigation of something that sounds important enough but in fact becomes totally other. Remember that in Silent Hill and in Resident Evil they have no idea what they will be up against. Especially in the first the main character's aim is to get her daughter, the cop's aim is to arrest her, both find themselves trapped in Silent Hill. (in the movie I mean)
queenfange 07-25-07, 10:19 AM	I like changing around the races and classes a bit in different campaigns, so that's always an option, albeit simplistic. Are you envisioning a single area overrun by horrific monsters, a world that has had such monsters prevalent (sp?) since its creation, or a recent influx of said monsters into the world?
Alyss 07-25-07, 07:00 PM	I'm shooting for a single area ovverun with monsters. And cheers, Gorice XIII, I'll try that, I've got a hook in mind that'll feed into it nicely. I also wanted to ask: is it possible to run an entire campaign in one cut-off place, like a dungeon/wizard's tower etc? In Heroes of Horror, one of the suggested campaign ideas is just that: players trapped in a wizard's tower. Is it possible to run a whole campaign in such a small space, and, if so, how would one go about making the same rooms, over and over, seem interesting?
DungeonMastering 07-26-07, 03:25 AM	Here's my 2 cents: I guess the point of running a horror campaign is to scare the players. The atmosphere - where you play in RL, and the descriptions of the scene in the game - and the kind of creatures they face will have an efffect on the success of the campaign. But what are the players scared of? Nothing - at least when you start the game they fear nothing. So what do you want them to be afraid of? You want them to fear for their characters well-being. But for them to feel and fear for their characters, they need to love them first. So the first part of the plan is to make them love their characters. To do that, I'd introduce the setting and the mood and throw in encounters that are tailor-made to make the PCs feel powerful. Plan the encounter so they get to see the full potential of their new characters. Maybe you can have one or 2 more of these perfect for the PCs encounters so they really see how great they are and they might even start planning long-term for the character. And then you hit them. You hit them with something more than the possibility of just seeing their PC die. You introduce an X factor in the game - a undead sickness that would maul a character's body and crush his soul, flesh-eating monsters that could maim a character with one bite. Make sure they understand that they are not safe, that they understimated the opposition, that they are stuck in hell, and that the price for any mistake or letdown will be to see their character wither slowly before dying painfully. Easier said than done. Anyhow. That would be my plan. Hope that helps.
GoriceXII 07-26-07, 04:53 AM	It's possible certainly to run an adventure path in a single area. Picture your standard zombie movie after all--usually it ends up taking place in a shopping mall or a town or something. As for a wizard's tower, think of the film "Cube" which takes place in a series of identical rooms...
Alyss 07-26-07, 08:16 AM	Ok, cool. How big would I need to map the place? Say, if I had a village around a castle, something like that? Would a couple of square miles do, for example, plus the village around it?
GoriceXII 07-26-07, 09:00 AM	That would do. Think of the size of say a mega-mall; that would give you lots of adventures. A few other ideas: 1. Hostile environment. Think of "Silent Hill"--the nature of the place is dangerous. 2. Enclosed environment: in "Resident Evil" it is very difficult to get out of. This is similar to say both versions of "Dawn of the Dead" with people being besieged. There could also be nowhere to go as in "The Thing". 3. Puzzles and riddles. It is not easy to move from point a to point b. Traps or puzzles or obstacles need to be overcome. It may be a mini adventure in itself just doing one of these.
bloodtalon 07-26-07, 09:13 AM	if you can get "Fiddler's Green" the video game that goes with "land of the dead" it might help. have the group start out far away from safety. then as they head in closer to the castle away from the "zombies" or what ever they have to find supplies, places to stay the night and stuff like that. in the old farm house will the doors and the windows keep out the bad guys so they can get some shut eye before they leave. can they find food and wepons in the town while advoiding trouble.
Alyss 07-26-07, 11:14 AM	Cool, I think I've got everything I need now. Thanks everyone :)
Forfeit 07-26-07, 01:33 PM	The Cthulhu games have some mental condition systems that should be used. Meaning characters have a sanity score, and if they see or do things that could make someone crazy, they lose their score. As their score becomes smaler, they start to become crazy, and may even completely lose the control over their characters if the character loses his sanity. Its pretty awesome, because they characters may even decide they "dont want to know what is behind the door" because that may make they completely crazy from seeing something out of their mind. Also, if you want ideas, check out Stephen King´s work, and specially Lovecraft´s work. He wrote some pretty ****ed up stuff.
queenfange 07-26-07, 03:21 PM	A simple version of the sanity scores based on the Lovecraft games can be found in the DnD supplement Unearthed Arcana. It's worth looking at, if you're willing to buy a new book.
Dog_O_War 07-26-07, 03:55 PM	Oddly enough, the first campaign I have ever run (and am currently running) is a horror campaign. Stahd zombies is what I suggest; they make a formerly not-so-scary but really more of an annoyance monster into something the players weren't expecting. There is a barbarian in the party who was thinking that he could just wade in and cleave through the zombies (he had encountered only normal zombies up until that point) and soon became overwhelmed (once I began the expedition to castle ravenloft adventure). Also, the taint rules are (I am finding) a really effective tool in hitting home the horror aspect, as most players only think tactical. It is especially effective since they won't know they're tainted until the symptoms manifest - which is then too late for lower level characters. If your players are more RP (thankfully I have two and two halves) then description is paramount; nothing brings about more emotion than a good (that is detailed but not to the point of boring) description of something. "a candle stick made of bone" and "a candle stick - wax dripping, appears to be made of fingerbones. Apon closer inspection, you notice teeth marks and bits of rotting flesh" goes a long way to instill the sense of fear.
MagicMouth 07-26-07, 06:24 PM	A simple version of the sanity scores based on the Lovecraft games can be found in the DnD supplement Unearthed Arcana. It's worth looking at, if you're willing to buy a new book. Or one could simply find the appropriate section (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/campaigns/sanity.htm) of the d20 SRD. :shifty:
FloppyLlama 07-27-07, 03:49 PM	Ok, cool. How big would I need to map the place? Say, if I had a village around a castle, something like that? Would a couple of square miles do, for example, plus the village around it? Ravenloft pulls it off. Its gimmick is to use mysterious and magical mist to abduct and then trap characters. Trying to walk out of the area and through the mists can have you wandering for any period of time -- days to months -- utterly disoriented only to be spit out where one began, or possible somewhere entirely new and unexpected. You could also borrow inspiration from The Mist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mist) by Stephen King. I also wanted to ask: is it possible to run an entire campaign in one cut-off place, like a dungeon/wizard's tower etc? In Heroes of Horror, one of the suggested campaign ideas is just that: players trapped in a wizard's tower. Is it possible to run a whole campaign in such a small space, and, if so, how would one go about making the same rooms, over and over, seem interesting? Make it bigger on the inside than on the outside. Make it constantly shifting. This can help add to the horror by disorienting the players and, further, trapping them without giving any sort of an exit to focus or fixate on, unlike being trapped by a cave-in or a magically locked door (or even a monster infestation outside). Of course, there should ultimately be a way to escape, but creating the initial claustrophobic (or agoraphobic) effect will help set the mood and build tension. Make it grow more and more alien and bizarre as things progress too. Destroying all sense of familiarity will mix well with the sense of being lost.
tstone0 07-31-07, 12:31 PM	One thing I could add would be how you plan out your encounters. For instance, varying the approaches of the monsters can definitely add feelings of suspense and dread in your players. For instance, rather than just shambling horde after shambling horde, come at the characters from interesting angles. Ala resident evil, even zombies can assault characters feeling safe by bursting suddenly through windows or doors previously written off by the characters. One of the scariest moments for my players in a recent campaign actually had no horror element to it, a green dragon had flown through the forest canopy, leaving the characters to wonder when and where it would come crashing down. Also, giving the monsters different movement than expected can have a good effect. For instance, using basic zombies (or better, the Strahd Zombies) describe them as being lithe, and bent backward, their dead eyes staring coldly at them upside down. Which seems like a little detail, until they start climbing toward them along the ceiling or wall and assaulting from all directions. Good Luck with your campaign
Elessar 07-31-07, 04:03 PM	Here's a pretty cool link about instilling that essence of horror in your campaign. Presumably the OP has already started to DM the game, but in case he/she is still reading this, I found the advice herein to be helpful: http://www.treasuretables.org/2006/09/make-the-bugs-scary-little-touches-for-horror-rpgs