Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Karggen Sep 23, 2010 11:22:33	I'm running an Eberron Campaign set during the Last War (about 5 years before the end, but the PC's obviously don't know that).  It's supposed to be wartime and the PC's are working on getting the Breland Senate/Monarchy to secretly shift alliances to that of Cyre.  There approach is to go try to get the Senator's to vote on it, then bring the matter to the king.  Overall the campaign's going well, but I'm really looking to make the world more dark and horrible as it is set in wartime.  So, really I'm looking for suggestions on how to make the campaign darker.  What things, either large or small, can I add in to give it a darker feel, or make the PC's stare in shock.  I'm looking for ideas of surprises to throw in their way, or to make them question if there characters will survive this war.  Any input would be appriciated.
#2 squanderdalfast Sep 26, 2010 1:24:44	Vivid Npcs. Npcs that die in front of them and die while they are away. I think that would be a good start.  Also put them in positions where they have to make the choice, sacrifice themselves to save someone else.
#3 ordrus Sep 26, 2010 12:33:14	A major issue that I see is that your players are playing the political intrigue game, where as you want to give them a feeling that they may not survive the war. It might be a little hard to do if they're not viewing this war from the soldier's perspective. Besides that, reports from the field will be a good way to convey to them the situation. Maybe while in the capital city they witness one of their armies limping back in defeat. Also throwing especially tough encounters once in awhile that force them to use almost everything they have to win, will give them an idea of what the soldiers have to face everyday. And a really big thing you should try doing is using any npc soldiers that the party is familiar and maybe has a bond with, and show he's starting to loses his nerves due to prolonged exposure to combat. Hopefully these might help.
#4 gaiusbaltar Sep 27, 2010 10:35:08	In one game we were charged with protecting a Prophet.  The assassination was impossible to stop and we had to watch him die right in front of us.  One of the players died in the encounter as well. That seesion is burned into my memory.  It was a Ravenloft game.
#5 catskilleagle Oct 01, 2010 1:15:28	A few thoughts: 1. Find a copy of old Call of Cthulu. They have lots of ideas for making things creepy.   2. Trust and betrayal. Make it clear that trusting others a vital part of success, but make it equally clear that not everybody can be trusted. 3. Get creepy. Not jump-out-of-the-dark-creepy, but a dog who says "woof" instead of barking creepy. Little details go a long way to turn a session from a 4-hour string of Monty Python references to a geniunely dark experience. 4. Use dark themes, which it sounds like you're already doing. Your PCs are trying to avert a horrible disaster, not kill some orcs and take their stuff. 5. Use cut-scenes. Every so often, start the session with the PCs playing NPCs (occasionally people they know, or know of) fighting a losing battle against overwhelming odds...because the PCs haven't stopped the darkness. Just my 2.5 cents Canadian.
#6 gaiusbaltar Oct 01, 2010 8:46:58	Nightmares go a long way too, especially the hauntingly vivid kind that foreshadow future events.  You can start a game session with one characters disturbing vision in the night of some morbid future, heavily veiled of course with metaphor and symbolism.  Tell it to the whole group so they can all enjoy but remind them afterwards that there's no reason to assume the player in question would want to talk about it. Then find some way to tie the dream into some particularly nasty turn of events later in the game, like a twist at the end.  That might highten the sense of impending doom.
#7 theapokalypseshovel Oct 09, 2010 12:18:45	Are you hoping to add the horrors of war to the scenario or a darker more supernatural fog that pervades the setting? Utilize the weather and environment as much as possible. Describe the heavy rain of Sharn soaking the characters to the bone as they travel around the city. The nausea that one gets peering down the chasms between buildings. Thunder wakes the characters from their sleep. Mud and grime coat the streets and in the rainstorms murky sledge runs off rooftops and down the streets.  Also you can utilize the aspect of the strain that war is putting on the society as a whole. War rationing makes it hard to get quality food. No longer can the characters put their money down at any old tavern and expect the quality service. The gruel is thin and the bread is stale. Beggars, disabled veterans and homeless people are abundant. Ragged looking women offer their 'services' to the adventurers as they walk down the street. Describe their wretched condition and pleas. Prophets stand on the corners preaching the end times (for added fun, make some of them cultists of the dragon below or other nefarious organizations).  Like other people have said, kill off NPC characters but also add in the random destruction of materials and buildings. A kitchen fire destroys the favorite haunt of the party, with the town guards too over stretched to do anything about. In addition, saboteurs do their work on the city, destroying bridges and collapsing infrastructure. Water supplies are poisoned and hospitals are overcrowded.  Miserable bandits try to rob the party, many of them weak former soldiers and displaced refugees. Make it obvious that the players can easily destroy the bandits and give them the option of to avoid doing so. I'm not sure if there is a draft going on in Breland during the Last War, but it makes a chilling sight to see soldiers leaving their families. Maybe have the party be held up, as a regiment marches out, not to war crys and salutes, but grieving families and friends. NPCs the players know get called up and sent off, never to return. When shopping for magical arms and armor have the shop keeper tell a small tale of the previous owner's exploits... and untimely death in battle.
#8 603 Oct 10, 2010 8:23:41	Nearby telephones or communications devices' caller IDs show missed calls from Darkness. Who also doesn't answer his phone if you try to call him back. Oh, waitaminute, you wanted something serious. Anybody can die. Especially valuable NPCs that the PCs might have developed camaraderie with, or people who otherwise shouldn't. That which should be normal and wholesome becomes creepy. The father/daughter relationships of the Big Daddies and Little Sisters in Bioshock 1 and 2 is an excellent example of this, and that's without the girls using their extractor needle on a dead splicer. Evil lurks where it can't be seen. Anybody who is openly and obviously evil, is just a pawn. Or not evil at all, but a harmless crazy who gets ignored because everyone knows he's just deluded and plays along in good fun. That which is Lawful Good is so because it is both Lawful and Good. That which is not Lawful cannot be Good, and that which is not Good cannot be Lawful. Cue religious zealotry.