Adding the Horror Element [Archive] - Wizards Community

Adding the Horror Element [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sargon
05-10-05, 12:10 AM D&D to me is a very ... violent game.. I think in the imagination of my players they are seeing a PG-13 rated games where little blood gets spilled. No brains guts gore...
In my The DM's Mind D&D is horrific nothing is bloody and messier than catching a short sword in the guts.. or a flial to the head.. Bones break.. brains fly... its .. terrible.

alittle out of D&D who has played Doom 3 with the lights of and your all alone... Its Scary.. Imps jump out of places you didn't expect and attack you..

I want to add an element of Horror to my games.. esspecailly since i like running undead and scarry things... I would like my players to accually be afraid when they are at the gaming table..
Any advice on how to strike fear into the souls of my players and characters ?
MortalPlague
05-10-05, 12:13 AM Description is your strongest card for adding a horror element. Describing effects, maybe even omitting the actual numbers makes things much scarier for players. Remember to use things other than sight; describing the steady thump of foodsteps drawing near, maybe accompanied by the rattling of chains on the ground can be downright terrifying. My players have run from well-described sounds before.

Pacing is another good one; a well paced session makes for some great tension. Waiting a second before you ask for a saving throw or give the result can make all the difference in the world.

Music can also be used as background to achieve tension; the stuff from Diablo 2 is particularly good for this. Other good soundtracks are the Thirteenth Warrior and the stuff from the Mummy (and its sequel).
Ongorth
05-10-05, 12:46 AM Mortal Plague is dead on with pacing. While I am a mega-excellent DM in general, I am the hyper-master of pacing and let me tell you, it works. Pacing helps set the stage for whatever you got. Pacing isn't just about delays, but actually changing the speed you do things. When you need to build tension, talk slower. Give more details, especially details about useless things. Give the impression that the world is moving slower and the characters are seeing everything. When action is fast talk faster. Cut out details. Give the impression that the heart is going into overdrive and theirs no time for the gory details. And, of course, use well placed paused, both verbal and meta-game. Switch out of a tense scene to a side story for a cliffhanger effect and such.

Most importantly, horror needs to be set up with contrast. There needs to be good times to compare to the bad times. Events to contrast with, happiness to allude to. If you've never seen the light, why are you scared of the dark? If you want to have horror be effective, you need to have happiness, pleasure and hope. The game is in the contrasts. Anyone can roleplay one side of a character, but can they do both? Likewise, anyone can describe a morbid scene with some practice, but can they contrast it with the dying light of hope to make the scene truly haunting?

That's what you can do. Personally, I find conversation more than violence is the best set up to horror. Think Psycho. In fact, many times simply talking can be scarier than violence, but their needs to be some threat that induces the fear.
Guy Humual
05-10-05, 01:32 AM I agree with Ongorth and especially MortalPlague, the only thing I'd like to add to their helpful advice is this: true horror is not about the gore, it's about the building suspense. . .

Seeing a vampire attacking a victim isn’t as terrifying as finding a bloodless cadaver. Being attacked by brain eating zombies isn’t as terrifying as hiding in the abandoned temple waiting for the zombies to find them. Knowledge is a powerful weapon, it does wonders against fear, keep the character’s guessing and your halfway there to creating true horror.

The other thing I’d suggest is separate the PCs somehow. Players feel safer in groups. Get them apart and they begin to feel vulnerable.
PenderGrass
05-10-05, 02:12 AM The above advice is all good, but let me push you one step further....

If you can, have your home a little cooler than is 'comfortable' the added chill factor will keep them on edge.

:dragon:

****
Kaligrad
05-10-05, 02:41 AM What is more scary, Lovecraft or a slasher flick? Lovecraft, of course. It's all about the suspense, the unknown, and of course, the twist ending that no one even concieved of. Gore will gross them out, true, but it's the terrible, terrible truth that will really put that lovely expression of fear on your player's faces.
The Stray
05-10-05, 04:04 AM To add to what everyone else has said, the key to horror is mystery. Make everything surrounding the events of the adventure as mysterious as possible, and make sure that your NPCs aren't always as reliable or as dastardly as they seem at first glance. Sure, that paladin seems honorable and forthright, but why is he always going off into the creepy woods alone, and why does he always seem to have undetectable alignment active?

The people on the Ravenloft (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=293) boards can provide you with a wealth of tips and tricks for generating a sense of suspense and horror. Also, check out The new Creepy Events thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=166882) on the d20 Horror boards.
Solidcobra
05-10-05, 05:36 AM What is scarier? Lovecraft or a slasher fic?
Lovecraft. Fear of the unknown.
What is scarier? Silent hill or Lovecraft?
Silent hill. Not only fear of the unknown, but also fear of everything... Seriously.

To begin with, practice your poker face. Crack a smile at a joke, and the mood is dead. If you however keep a grave face all the time, the creepy mood will spread quickly. Speak in a calm, confident voice most of the time, aside combat of course.
Don't be afraid to tweak the rules a little...
Keeping it dark is good. Never break the darkness, never let them know just what is out there.
Never, ever, ever just go "yeah, vrock attack". Vrocks aren't "Vrocks" in horror games. vrocks are hellish vultures the size of small cars with a taste for blood. For example.

Now, after a while of this darkness, uncertainity and such, they'll get the point and feel insecure. Now add a completely normal object. Describe it vividly, but still make it...weird. Like a small box that smells slightly salty, and cannot be opened in any way. If they are freaked out by it: Congrats! Your job is done. They'll be creeped out by anything you do for the rest of the session.

Darkness, mind you, is good both out-of-game and in-game. If you can, get a smoke machine. Sit in a basement, stone basement. the cold sort, and only use living lights. Nothing like playing D&D in a barely lit, smoky and cold stone room. just make DAMNED sure your mom won't come down with cookies and milk for you guys. :P
Bloodtide_the_Red
05-10-05, 06:01 AM Descriptions are right at the top. Never use D&D monster names or even game words. Don't say 'An orc in leather armor', say 'a gray skinned humanoid in bloody cow hide'. Novles can greatly help here if you need some descriptions of things.(Look for movie adapations and stuff like X-files books).

Next, don't be afraid to 'bend' the rules a bit. Example-'your magic missle zip toward the demon...who just smiles and holds open his left hand. One by one he catches your magic missles in his left hand, then bites them in half and eats them'. Of course, all the demon realy did was make it's SR check...the rest is just flavor. Most players will be like 'woah....'
Even better is the 'the demon now glows with a red light. 'thanks for the magic power' it says in common'. Of course, there is no 'power' just a light type spell...but the players don't know that.
This works with DR too. Your Arrow sinks deep into his chest and he lets out an 'ooff'...then just smiles and grasps the arrow with his left hand and slides it out of his chest....no blood flows and you watch as the wound fades away'.

Adding in real tweeks work...just don't tell your players. Adding templates, for example, can give a monster some more abilites...but if they players don't know...they think it's 'just' the monster. This even works with magic items, again if the players don't know about it. Watch the bad guy walk right through the fire unhurt(with his ele fire resistance ring).
Also let your monsters and NPC do all the tricks...disarm, sunder, trip, ect. They will be much more fearful of monsters then....

Doing things that, to the players, 'break the rules' will freak them out in no time.
Arcen
05-10-05, 06:35 AM A little shameless self promotion ;)

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=327114[URL=Using Fear]
Cantankerous
05-10-05, 06:54 AM It's been said; but element numero uno for bringing terror to the gaming table: pacing. There is no way to stress this enough.

Another biggie is dramatic sound/voice. SUBTLY (and it HAS TO BE subtle) lower your voicebit by bit as you are getting ready to hit them with a horror scene and then when you get there, double (do NOT shout... this is why you've been subtly lowering your voice) the volume, or for REALLY horrific scenes triple (still withOUT shouting) it.

One I used as well, once when my former wife and I were still together... she wasn't a player, but she was a good sport about it, after I had pulled the old triple the volume bit... she slammed a door

...and shrieked.

Two of the guys at the table on that particular night were cops (well, one was a former Military Police officer) and one of THEM half shrieked, spun around and almost had a short coronary. The other also sprang away from the table glancing that direction and the other three players all FROZE in place like a trio of deer caught in the headlights.

Now sure, it helped that it was CoC and that I do a particularly good horror campaign, too the lights (electric candleabra above the table)were set low and I had (very softly, in the background) a gregorian chant on the CD player, but that kind of reaction, not only from a bunch of adults, but from a pair of tough SOB's particularly (although we never did let Steve live down that half shriek); THAT was the best applause I could have ever wished for.

I quickly got everybody focused back on the game, but after the session we all had a few good laughs about it (even Steve, who was kind of torced off) and I was told by all of them that they had never reacted half so violently to any movie or RP they'd ever been involved in.

This story also illustrates the other elements involved. Lighting, background music and above all SUBTLTY! If you beat your PC's over the head with the horror pipe, it looses half it's effect. Then, when you do break away from the subtlety (the slamming door and the shreik), the reaction is GOLDEN!

Isshia
Tiruvel
05-10-05, 06:56 AM Great thread and great advice, guys!

...just make DAMNED sure your mom won't come down with cookies and milk for you guys. :P
:D
This reminds me, some years ago I was watching the not so scary Friday the 13th at a friend's place. Although it was somewhat disappointing we all were in the horror-mood and got really scared 3-4 times. Of these 4 times, two didn't have anything to do with the movie itself.. ;) The first was when the door leading out to the veranda/porch suddenly slammed shut (this was in the summer), but the most scary was when my friend's mum suddenly opened the kitchen door and scared the heck out of us! Cool mum. :D
Carn Vandoril
05-10-05, 07:44 AM Oh yes! Great advice! I like the advice of 'cooling' the real temperature!

my two cents:
* sometimes its ok to be completely silent, nothing more than wind or rain outside....
* music: "the dead can dance", and environmental sounds "storms of nature" (thundercracks once in a while, rain all the time)
* horror/suspence in communication: npc's with sorrow faces, some not even willing to talk. disease, rotting, flies, scary pets crawling around. 'screams in the dark.
Kenohki
05-10-05, 12:08 PM 1) Eliminate conventions that make them feel safe. They fight a pack of zombies, they strike one down. It gets up. Force them to run. Even better force them to run into the unknown.

2) Create suspicion. Take one player aside and tell them they are a doppleganger. Tell them they will get a big XP bonus for screwing the PCs in some way. Do this a couple times with different players. It will create an atmosphere of distrust. They find a way to detect the dopplegangers, find a way to foul their detection. Or use this to make them kill the wrong person.

3) Disorient them. WHen they feel relazed take a swing at them. In town they split up to buy stuff. You walk into a store to buy arrows and suddenly the inn keeper explodes into a pile of toxic maggots that attack you. While staying at an inn you wake up deep in the earth surrounded by strange creatures.

4) Horrific stuff. Have them get implanted by insect eggs. They start getting slowly devoured from the inside by insect larva.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sargon 05-10-05, 12:10 AM	D&D to me is a very ... violent game.. I think in the imagination of my players they are seeing a PG-13 rated games where little blood gets spilled. No brains guts gore... In my The DM's Mind D&D is horrific nothing is bloody and messier than catching a short sword in the guts.. or a flial to the head.. Bones break.. brains fly... its .. terrible. alittle out of D&D who has played Doom 3 with the lights of and your all alone... Its Scary.. Imps jump out of places you didn't expect and attack you.. I want to add an element of Horror to my games.. esspecailly since i like running undead and scarry things... I would like my players to accually be afraid when they are at the gaming table.. Any advice on how to strike fear into the souls of my players and characters ?
MortalPlague 05-10-05, 12:13 AM	Description is your strongest card for adding a horror element. Describing effects, maybe even omitting the actual numbers makes things much scarier for players. Remember to use things other than sight; describing the steady thump of foodsteps drawing near, maybe accompanied by the rattling of chains on the ground can be downright terrifying. My players have run from well-described sounds before. Pacing is another good one; a well paced session makes for some great tension. Waiting a second before you ask for a saving throw or give the result can make all the difference in the world. Music can also be used as background to achieve tension; the stuff from Diablo 2 is particularly good for this. Other good soundtracks are the Thirteenth Warrior and the stuff from the Mummy (and its sequel).
Ongorth 05-10-05, 12:46 AM	Mortal Plague is dead on with pacing. While I am a mega-excellent DM in general, I am the hyper-master of pacing and let me tell you, it works. Pacing helps set the stage for whatever you got. Pacing isn't just about delays, but actually changing the speed you do things. When you need to build tension, talk slower. Give more details, especially details about useless things. Give the impression that the world is moving slower and the characters are seeing everything. When action is fast talk faster. Cut out details. Give the impression that the heart is going into overdrive and theirs no time for the gory details. And, of course, use well placed paused, both verbal and meta-game. Switch out of a tense scene to a side story for a cliffhanger effect and such. Most importantly, horror needs to be set up with contrast. There needs to be good times to compare to the bad times. Events to contrast with, happiness to allude to. If you've never seen the light, why are you scared of the dark? If you want to have horror be effective, you need to have happiness, pleasure and hope. The game is in the contrasts. Anyone can roleplay one side of a character, but can they do both? Likewise, anyone can describe a morbid scene with some practice, but can they contrast it with the dying light of hope to make the scene truly haunting? That's what you can do. Personally, I find conversation more than violence is the best set up to horror. Think Psycho. In fact, many times simply talking can be scarier than violence, but their needs to be some threat that induces the fear.
Guy Humual 05-10-05, 01:32 AM	I agree with Ongorth and especially MortalPlague, the only thing I'd like to add to their helpful advice is this: true horror is not about the gore, it's about the building suspense. . . Seeing a vampire attacking a victim isn’t as terrifying as finding a bloodless cadaver. Being attacked by brain eating zombies isn’t as terrifying as hiding in the abandoned temple waiting for the zombies to find them. Knowledge is a powerful weapon, it does wonders against fear, keep the character’s guessing and your halfway there to creating true horror. The other thing I’d suggest is separate the PCs somehow. Players feel safer in groups. Get them apart and they begin to feel vulnerable.
PenderGrass 05-10-05, 02:12 AM	The above advice is all good, but let me push you one step further.... If you can, have your home a little cooler than is 'comfortable' the added chill factor will keep them on edge. :dragon: ****
Kaligrad 05-10-05, 02:41 AM	What is more scary, Lovecraft or a slasher flick? Lovecraft, of course. It's all about the suspense, the unknown, and of course, the twist ending that no one even concieved of. Gore will gross them out, true, but it's the terrible, terrible truth that will really put that lovely expression of fear on your player's faces.
The Stray 05-10-05, 04:04 AM	To add to what everyone else has said, the key to horror is mystery. Make everything surrounding the events of the adventure as mysterious as possible, and make sure that your NPCs aren't always as reliable or as dastardly as they seem at first glance. Sure, that paladin seems honorable and forthright, but why is he always going off into the creepy woods alone, and why does he always seem to have undetectable alignment active? The people on the Ravenloft (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=293) boards can provide you with a wealth of tips and tricks for generating a sense of suspense and horror. Also, check out The new Creepy Events thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=166882) on the d20 Horror boards.
Solidcobra 05-10-05, 05:36 AM	What is scarier? Lovecraft or a slasher fic? Lovecraft. Fear of the unknown. What is scarier? Silent hill or Lovecraft? Silent hill. Not only fear of the unknown, but also fear of everything... Seriously. To begin with, practice your poker face. Crack a smile at a joke, and the mood is dead. If you however keep a grave face all the time, the creepy mood will spread quickly. Speak in a calm, confident voice most of the time, aside combat of course. Don't be afraid to tweak the rules a little... Keeping it dark is good. Never break the darkness, never let them know just what is out there. Never, ever, ever just go "yeah, vrock attack". Vrocks aren't "Vrocks" in horror games. vrocks are hellish vultures the size of small cars with a taste for blood. For example. Now, after a while of this darkness, uncertainity and such, they'll get the point and feel insecure. Now add a completely normal object. Describe it vividly, but still make it...weird. Like a small box that smells slightly salty, and cannot be opened in any way. If they are freaked out by it: Congrats! Your job is done. They'll be creeped out by anything you do for the rest of the session. Darkness, mind you, is good both out-of-game and in-game. If you can, get a smoke machine. Sit in a basement, stone basement. the cold sort, and only use living lights. Nothing like playing D&D in a barely lit, smoky and cold stone room. just make DAMNED sure your mom won't come down with cookies and milk for you guys. :P
Bloodtide_the_Red 05-10-05, 06:01 AM	Descriptions are right at the top. Never use D&D monster names or even game words. Don't say 'An orc in leather armor', say 'a gray skinned humanoid in bloody cow hide'. Novles can greatly help here if you need some descriptions of things.(Look for movie adapations and stuff like X-files books). Next, don't be afraid to 'bend' the rules a bit. Example-'your magic missle zip toward the demon...who just smiles and holds open his left hand. One by one he catches your magic missles in his left hand, then bites them in half and eats them'. Of course, all the demon realy did was make it's SR check...the rest is just flavor. Most players will be like 'woah....' Even better is the 'the demon now glows with a red light. 'thanks for the magic power' it says in common'. Of course, there is no 'power' just a light type spell...but the players don't know that. This works with DR too. Your Arrow sinks deep into his chest and he lets out an 'ooff'...then just smiles and grasps the arrow with his left hand and slides it out of his chest....no blood flows and you watch as the wound fades away'. Adding in real tweeks work...just don't tell your players. Adding templates, for example, can give a monster some more abilites...but if they players don't know...they think it's 'just' the monster. This even works with magic items, again if the players don't know about it. Watch the bad guy walk right through the fire unhurt(with his ele fire resistance ring). Also let your monsters and NPC do all the tricks...disarm, sunder, trip, ect. They will be much more fearful of monsters then.... Doing things that, to the players, 'break the rules' will freak them out in no time.
Arcen 05-10-05, 06:35 AM	A little shameless self promotion ;) http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=327114[URL=Using Fear]
Cantankerous 05-10-05, 06:54 AM	It's been said; but element numero uno for bringing terror to the gaming table: pacing. There is no way to stress this enough. Another biggie is dramatic sound/voice. SUBTLY (and it HAS TO BE subtle) lower your voicebit by bit as you are getting ready to hit them with a horror scene and then when you get there, double (do NOT shout... this is why you've been subtly lowering your voice) the volume, or for REALLY horrific scenes triple (still withOUT shouting) it. One I used as well, once when my former wife and I were still together... she wasn't a player, but she was a good sport about it, after I had pulled the old triple the volume bit... she slammed a door ...and shrieked. Two of the guys at the table on that particular night were cops (well, one was a former Military Police officer) and one of THEM half shrieked, spun around and almost had a short coronary. The other also sprang away from the table glancing that direction and the other three players all FROZE in place like a trio of deer caught in the headlights. Now sure, it helped that it was CoC and that I do a particularly good horror campaign, too the lights (electric candleabra above the table)were set low and I had (very softly, in the background) a gregorian chant on the CD player, but that kind of reaction, not only from a bunch of adults, but from a pair of tough SOB's particularly (although we never did let Steve live down that half shriek); THAT was the best applause I could have ever wished for. I quickly got everybody focused back on the game, but after the session we all had a few good laughs about it (even Steve, who was kind of torced off) and I was told by all of them that they had never reacted half so violently to any movie or RP they'd ever been involved in. This story also illustrates the other elements involved. Lighting, background music and above all SUBTLTY! If you beat your PC's over the head with the horror pipe, it looses half it's effect. Then, when you do break away from the subtlety (the slamming door and the shreik), the reaction is GOLDEN! Isshia
Tiruvel 05-10-05, 06:56 AM	Great thread and great advice, guys! ...just make DAMNED sure your mom won't come down with cookies and milk for you guys. :P :D This reminds me, some years ago I was watching the not so scary Friday the 13th at a friend's place. Although it was somewhat disappointing we all were in the horror-mood and got really scared 3-4 times. Of these 4 times, two didn't have anything to do with the movie itself.. ;) The first was when the door leading out to the veranda/porch suddenly slammed shut (this was in the summer), but the most scary was when my friend's mum suddenly opened the kitchen door and scared the heck out of us! Cool mum. :D
Carn Vandoril 05-10-05, 07:44 AM	Oh yes! Great advice! I like the advice of 'cooling' the real temperature! my two cents: * sometimes its ok to be completely silent, nothing more than wind or rain outside.... * music: "the dead can dance", and environmental sounds "storms of nature" (thundercracks once in a while, rain all the time) * horror/suspence in communication: npc's with sorrow faces, some not even willing to talk. disease, rotting, flies, scary pets crawling around. 'screams in the dark.
Kenohki 05-10-05, 12:08 PM	1) Eliminate conventions that make them feel safe. They fight a pack of zombies, they strike one down. It gets up. Force them to run. Even better force them to run into the unknown. 2) Create suspicion. Take one player aside and tell them they are a doppleganger. Tell them they will get a big XP bonus for screwing the PCs in some way. Do this a couple times with different players. It will create an atmosphere of distrust. They find a way to detect the dopplegangers, find a way to foul their detection. Or use this to make them kill the wrong person. 3) Disorient them. WHen they feel relazed take a swing at them. In town they split up to buy stuff. You walk into a store to buy arrows and suddenly the inn keeper explodes into a pile of toxic maggots that attack you. While staying at an inn you wake up deep in the earth surrounded by strange creatures. 4) Horrific stuff. Have them get implanted by insect eggs. They start getting slowly devoured from the inside by insect larva.