Every year at Paizocon (going on twice as of June) I run a session of my horror gaming playtest/workshop/focus group, Bastardhall. Flat out, in a convention environment, it's really hard to maintain the focus and control you need for an effective horror game - it's difficult to keep a group's attention on the ghost of the countess's sister when the table next to you is having a who can lisp loudest contest. That said, we had some great discussions last year, and even though most of the adventure's details were on the fly, the group I did a great job offering feedback, calling me on cliches I didn't even think of, and noting what worked particularly well.
Well, Paizocon's just around the bend again and I've started working on this year's adventure. So, rather than waiting till I'm at the game table with just a small group, I wanted to open the big question up to everybody in advance:
What have you done in games you run - anywhere; homes, conventions, elsewhere - to really inspire dread in your players.
Alternatively, what adventures have you run that do this best and why do you think that's so?
Really interested in your feedback, for Paizocon, and for a few other ideas brewing away...
For me as a player in Rpgs the setting always helped me and for our group
Dread and Horror equal Ravenloft
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One of the big things I use is seclusion. This isn't just being lone adventurers, but using tropes such as having the locals against you (or part of the horror even), making any crawl something narrow that forces the characters into a single row (and potential for getting lost if walls slide or floors open), and using odd monsters or NPCs that are panicked because, like the heroes, they have also felt secluded.
Taking a familiar locale and changing it into something unfamiliar also helps ;) I tend to run the occasional modern horror game and set it right here in my hometown. Everyone knows the landmarks here when we play, so it allows me a chance to work in someplace the players know. However, switch a few things here and there ... add story-color to a seemingly average place, give an odd explanation to a set of ruins or old building, etc. Stories are important when giving mood. It's always good when investigating an area that the players here of the local flavor of stories.
I know it's hard in a con atmosphere, but music always helps as well. Picking something subtle is always good, just barely loud enough to hear, but allowing the sub-conscious to pick up on it while the GM explains things (in story of course).
I actually suggest reading Hellboy and B.P.R.D. if you're not ... Mike Mignola chucks those books full of great, creepy references from mythology and literature that would really spark any horror-based campaign :)
What have you done in games you run - anywhere; homes, conventions, elsewhere - to really inspire dread in your players.
For home games I've found the easiest (and cheapest and laziest) way to inspire dread in the players is to kill a character. For my group it's just that simple. Even almost killing a character works. It may be cheap and lazy, but boy do they start sweating. This is not always practical, doubly so in a convention setting.
In general, fear of the unknown seems to work quite well. An unseen horror is often more effective. Once the characters actually see whatever it is, their fear of it can diminish. What they've imagined is often more personally horrifying for each player than what you can describe. Work with that unknown factor as long as possible.
Removing a groups perceived escape route is also fun. There are few things I enjoy doing to a Call of Cthulhu group more than getting them out to some remote, haunted site and silently destroying the vehicle they arrived in while they're scooby-ganging around the haunted house.
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Taking something universally harmless and making it creepy or menacing is always and effective horror tactic.
In my Age of Worms campaign, for example, I had the Faceless One kidnap some children from Diamond Lake, brainwashed them to stalk the PCs, and them sent them back.
The children would appear at the oddest times, just watching the characters, with either blank or malevolent expressions. They never DID anything to the party, but the threat was palpable.
It seriously wigged out the players. I loved it.
Abrupt shocking changes can cause fear/horror/terror, though you have to be careful to use them corectly. Nothing worse than those "scary" movies that rely on nothing more than repetitive uses of the BOOO! tactic. Things should begin plainly enough, possibly build a little tension, but less very very more here. Then hit the characters with a situation where they think they know what's going on, but not only are they wrong, but their shown to be wrong violently.
Here's an example...some minor Skinsaw spoilers...
My group had just gotten done with the Catecombs of Wrath and were looking for things to do in Sandpoint. Deciding to go after the Sandpoint Devil, they wind up in the farmlands south of the town...and eventualy make their way to the farm described in Skinsaw. While a few are inside the farm house investigating things, the barbarian is outside examining one of the scarecrows. I ask him how he goes about examining it, and his responce is "with my SWORD! ARRRGHHHH!" So I have him make an attack and roll damage. The look on his face when I tell him his character is showered in blood and gore while two halves of a young man fall off the post was utterly priceless. After this everyone in the room sat up a little, and you could see them all shifting gears in their heads.
I think when it comes to horror (which Pathfinder monsters can all have in a way) it comes down to the story telling. For the most part our table is about having fun and being with friends and the game content second, but all my players know and have anticipation of a dark and stormy night.
On those nights they know that I'll break out the 'horror' campaign. We then use the 'candle' rule where you arent allowed to break character and anything that you say out loud is reflected in your PC's voice.
I do alot more drama and voices during GMing and I describe in detail and use more flavor text than normal.
And even if it is not opened or used during gaming I will keep the Book of Vile Darkness next to me and watch my players eyeing it as the story thickens.
The most effective instance of fear I've ever had the joy of playing in was during a modern game, the company we worked for was attacked by its enemies, both mundane and supernatural.
The other players had been playing a while, so the players and their characters had a history. I was the new guy, but as the "transfer employee" I got to relate some of the horror my character had seen in the field.
During an employee-party, the corporate offices were attacked. The GM didn't pull any punches. At least one character perished (but ghosts were a part of the game, so the character was still around).
Imagine working for something like Haliburton, and having it be incinerated around you. We, as players, were shocked. The severity of the situation was obivious. When bad guys materialize out of walls and shred your coworkers in a single round, you know it's time to run.
On top of that, our characters were on the run from all sorts of law-enforcement people, since the bad guys knew who we were and planted evidence to frame us.
It was brutal, and there was no doubt that we were in way over our heads. I think that's what made it fear, instead of the usual "Oh, yeah, um, my character totally quakes now that he's failed his save . . ." situation.
1) We knew the GM wasn't going to pull punches.
2) We weren't as familiar with the game as we were with d20. We, as players, didn't know what ghosts were capable of, or how the demons that ate the ghosts materialized out of nothing. The GM knew those bits and pieces, and used it to his advantage.
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Every year at Paizocon (going on twice as of June) I run a session of my horror gaming playtest/workshop/focus group, Bastardhall. Flat out, in a convention environment, it's really hard to maintain the focus and control you need for an effective horror game - it's difficult to keep a group's attention on the ghost of the countess's sister when the table next to you is having a who can lisp loudest contest. That said, we had some great discussions last year, and even though most of the adventure's details were on the fly, the group I did a great job offering feedback, calling me on cliches I didn't even think of, and noting what worked particularly well.
Well, Paizocon's just around the bend again and I've started working on this year's adventure. So, rather than waiting till I'm at the game table with just a small group, I wanted to open the big question up to everybody in advance:
What have you done in games you run - anywhere; homes, conventions, elsewhere - to really inspire dread in your players.
Alternatively, what adventures have you run that do this best and why do you think that's so?
Really interested in your feedback, for Paizocon, and for a few other ideas brewing away...
The problem with Horror in RPGs such as Pathfinder, D&D or any High Fantasy genre is that seasoned players are so used to horrific creatures that they kind of begin thinking purely about them as stats their players need to overcome. Sadly its metagame thinking but unless you can somehow remove the memories from the players and return them to the excited noob its kind of difficult.
I'd begin this by referring to H.P. Lovecraft's statement that the greatest fear is that of the unknown. Once something is open and obvious, however threatening, the suspense is lost and so is the horror factor, at least to players. I'm sure I'd require fresh underwear if I was ever to be approached by a mere skeleton in real life ;)
Some games use mechanics like the character going mad, as in Chaosium's "Call of Cthulhu" but its a game mechanic and doesn't necessarily transfer from character to player.
Description is your best asset I think. Design stories that are not typical in RPGs. Begin with an unsolved mystery. Isolate the scenes and focus on the monomania of any NPCs. Read up on the masters of intrigue writers, not just from todays offerings but from classics of the past.
Good example stories; The Space Eaters by Frank Belknap Long, the Monk by Matthew Lewis or even the Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe.
Don't give too much away at the beginning, make the scenario feel like its just another mundane adventure, and over time drop little hints that when they begin to add up start to become disquieting to your players. Have evasive/scared NPCs.
E.g "An ogre approaches your party running like the the winds of a storm, he appears to notice you, but only momentarily, and then continues running past you. There is a madness of fear in his eyes and slick sweat is pouring down his skin..."
To a low level party an ogre would be a challenger hoping to make you his evening meal, but what managed to scare an ogre so much that he doesn't even care that you're there?
A higher level party may be able to stop and talk with hims and all he gives them is vague yet sincere warnings to stay away from such and such a place. He's not acting very ogreish either. If the party decide to kill him he might respond by saying fine, do it, I'd rather be dead than live with the knowledge of what I've just learned exists.
For me these little moments build up tension in the players and the ogre is simply an example and could be substituted with any sentient bad guy.
As the scenario progresses the characters find things that they think they can explain and begin to think they're on the verge of wrapping up the mystery, only until at the last minute the GM throws in the curveball, that sends the PCs reeling, when they begin to realize that the worst they thought it was is far worse than that...
Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness" uses a similar horror construction, and it is superb in its power to appall the reader.
Not sure if this helps but the formula kind of works well in my games.
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What have you done in games you run - anywhere; homes, conventions, elsewhere - to really inspire dread in your players.
Alternatively, what adventures have you run that do this best and why do you think that's so?
Quite a few of the problems with PFRPG (and D&D) with regard to running an effective (Re:Scary) horror game/module/campaign is the raw quantifiable power which your average player character in a game has access to.
Some examples: In a CoC or Chill horror scenario the PCs have at best a few spells or psychic powers which are unstable, unreliable and extremely risky/draining to use. Also dwindling resources - be it San, Willpower, etc. This lends towards the "powerless" theme which is common to horror movies, lit, etc. In fantasy gaming a PC has X power which = Y result, there is an expectation without breaking the rules that such an ability produces a very predicable and reliable result, and that makes it hard.
With that being said here I go:
Role-play: Emphasis on PC interaction with other PCs, NPCs and developing a "feel" or attachment to both.
Even a simple NPC who is either memorable or quirky draws the players in. They identify and if they like him may want to help the guy. And when he is killed, hopefully feel something for the loss.
I find that the more the players get attached/involved/identify with motives of their PCs, even a pre-made PC for a 1-shot scenario the greater they feel and get involved in whats going on. Pretty basic concept but very critical for a horror themed scenario.
Isolation: This can be achieved in many ways. From physically placing the scenario in a remote or out if the way place to something more familiar with a twist. The first can be done in a non-cliche way
Ex (remote): Party is chasing down some criminal(s) at the beginning of the mod thinking the group is fleeing from them and justice. When they come upon the remains of the group they find out that they were not fleeing from the party, but were in fact trying to find a way to circle back around them and get back to the city. Something has been stalking them (journal) and they are scared S%#@less. By the time party has come upon the remains of their camp they realize that they are many, many miles from town.
Ex (remote 2): Party is involved in a race with the local cities thieves guild to find a secret treasure under the city. After fighting the thieves and braving the vault from which they stole the relic (which is partially destroyed in the process) they find that they are being stalked in town. First encounter is with invisible/barely noticeable foes, then the PCs who stole the item can see the fiends chasing them, of course no one else in city can - just those who stole the item. The party is effectively cut off in the midst of normal night in a large bustling city. Put the item back or find a way to fight the monsters.
Mood/Setting the Theme: Limit the number of players, frequently pull aside players to talk to them in private (paranoia), use horror movie soundtracks or just ambient music (Lustmord).
It could be that the party is different or removed from all of the NPCs in the campaign. This could be because of membership in a restrictive secret society to which they belong to, privy to secret knowledge or a task/mission which separates them (and their fight) from everyone else. With 100% practical reasons why they cannot even divulge the info to their best friends and loved ones - risk of imprisonment, incarceration in asylums, death sentence. Once the rules are in the place the PCs will go out of their way to cover their asses.
Weirdness/Switch/Reversal: Very difficult to pull in a fantasy themed game, but not impossible. I don't think that the world needs to be turned on its head, just maybe a little sideways. Marcus mentioned a Ogre running past the party in fear, that is a great idea for many reasons. Ogres are hideous and yet mundane in a fantasy game. It is made even more mundane and "human" in it's irrational fear. To play on more Ogre weirdness would be to find one dying, its wounds weeping black blood and the senseless creature muttering a human prayer - in its native ogre tongue before it expires. That will generate a very WTH kind of moment in the party. Changing how things play out is great for scaring the crap out of players.
Ex (remote): Party is doing some kind of mundane mission (transporting an item/supplies) or recon on a temple, cult, enemy fort - but something with a perceived risk overly but in the end not too threatening. When they get back to town to rest they can mingle in the inn, get some follow up leads and prep for the next course of action from the focus. Go to bed only to have each wake up in a stone sarcophagus in some crypt(?) underground. Some may have to do some work to free the others, or question how it all happened - who did it, why - who cares, they will be too busy trying to figure out how to get the hell out of their current situation while running from shadows in an unknown environment. This is the switch/reversal, also plays into the remote location and with plenty of mystery thrown in.
Talking animals (about to be killed for food), children speaking in tongues or murdering their parents, inanimate objects crawling or reacting as if they were alive (item screams before it is smashed or thrown in the fire) will all provide the weirdness needed to scare the s%@* out of your players.
Unknown/Mystery: As others have mentioned keep the Nemesis hidden as long as possible. The Nemesis should be gleaned from his henchmen (Renfield) or by his power (SLAs, Spells, or just weird supernatural abilities -crawling on walls, or walking through them, turning paper thin) from a distance or by his path of terror (victims, and effects of its evil).
Let the party look for clues - and sometimes they can't be bothered with that...unless they think they will die if they don't - then they'll be turning over every book and loose stone to save their hides if they feel any attachment to their characters.
With regard to PC power and sense of power in fantasy gaming I would suggest a lower level group of PCs. If not that then the threat should be something that might be beyond the normal CR/APL rules if handled with care. Zombies are not too scary to a low level party if there are only a few of them, but hundreds upon hundreds is a different story. The party has no way to fight them all in a straight stand up fight so no need to worry about too much xp (lol), the zombies now move from mere creature encounter to a threatening environment and a situation which must be mitigated if the group is going to live. A couple of wraiths surrounded by a black pulsating magical nimbus (shield) are much more threatening then others of their kind, throw in some kind of energy protection (fire)- if the players figure it out even better.
Templates which offer little in stat power but improve resistance (turn resistance, resistance to piercing and slashing damage - DR or just immunity, etc) will go a great distance without adding much in actual hp and offensive power - just staying power - it does give the impression of something much tougher than it really is (turning things on their head).
Sorry for the long post
Edit to Add: Against the Cult of the Reptile God - Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets the Wicker Man (original, not the crap remake)
Also the
Lost City (expert mod),
Dwellers of The Forbidden City.
Master of the Desert Nomads/Temple of Death (had some horror elements, creatures - Bhut, Soul Eater, Nagpa, Juggernaut - Original Terminator, Dusanu, Mujina )
Castle Amber (CAS + Poe and just plain creepyness)
Ravenloft (orig mod)
Dread and Horror equal Ravenloft
I can't fully agree with this. I'm a HUGE Ravenloft fan, it was one of my first campaign settings, and I have literally everything ever printed for it - but I feel like the horror of Ravenloft was more in its inspirations, its advertising, and it's trade dress than in most of its adventures. It's novels had a few hits, like I, Strahd - though I'm relying on high school memories for that criticism - but also some MAJOR fails. Many of its adventures too, while keeping to (or at least reporting they kept to) tropes/cliches of gothic horror, relied far too much on hammy read aloud text, GM gimmicks, or out and out stage magic and half clever theatrics to actually be scary. Then another subsection just failed on the mission statement - Thoughts of Darkness, for example, where you fight vampires and mindflayers, deviates way too far from the core concept - while others that start creepy undermine themselves with what feel like 1st edition gimmicks - like The Created where the PCs get trapped in marionette bodies and have to fight toys or Feast of Goblins with it's FIGHT 100 SKELETONS encounter.
That actually brings up another major issue with the setting, The Mist and the Dark Powers. I don't think anyone who has ever written for Ravenloft has ever said what those are - and a 15-year-old me would have never expected I'd be the one giving this away - but here it is, the truth at last: The Mist and the Dark Powers of Ravenloft are lazy GMing. That's right. That's the only reason they exist. The PCs decide to leave town (and the adventure) when there's a murderer on the loose? The Mists take them back. The PCs decide they don't want to battle Lord Soth, Azalin, Adam, or Hazlik? Well, the Dark Powers gave them the power to put up impregnable magical barriers at their borders, now turn around and get back to the adventure! ('Cause you can't do anything else!) Want to have a Ravenloft adventure a thousand miles away but don't want to think of a reason for the PCs to get there? The Mists sweep the PCs there with spook magic for inconceivable reasons. Why would a realm like this exist geographically or politically? The magicy evil Dark Powers deem it so. Boo.
In general, these are ways to rob PCs of their control over the game and, in most cases, end up being a thinly veiled way, even an out and out excuse, to create railroad adventures. While the in-game back story for these elements are fine, even cool and mysterious - the Ravenloft designers did a fine job of never really, really giving away their secrets (though I suspect none of them ever had a full plan for what these secrets were) - and I agree with the concept that probably inspired these forces, that a horror game requires a greater amount of GM control over events than a more lighthearted game, the ultimate effects end in poor and unbelievable GMing habits.
This all sounds like I'm really down on the setting. That's totally not true. I love Ravenloft just like I love This Island Earth, Revenge of the Creature, The Final Sacrifice, The Screaming Skull, The Atomic Brain, and countless other B, C, and D grade movies, they're awesome, campy, filled with neat ideas, but often very very flawed. Ravenloft gets some things very right. There's some fantastic and very creepy characters in Ravenloft, and those 1 character per section Children of the Night books have some great personalities, and Carnivale is a fantastic character accessory. Ravenloft, the adventure, is a classic and does many things very very right, opening the door for dozens of fine, dread inducing adventures. A complete set of the Tarroka deck, my favorite RPG handout/GM tool ever, is framed and hangs in my office. And much of the GM advice in the Realms of Terror boxed set does a great job instructing GMs on how to set a mood and use handouts and basic theatrics in their games - though some goes way over the top (anyone remember the suggestion to keep your hand in ice behind the GM screen and then, when reading the disguised lich's tirade, touch one of the players so he can actually FEEL the monster's frigid hand? Ooofda.)
I refute the idea that Ravenloft is the go-to source for all good horror content, despite the fact that there are skulls and bats on 9 out of 10 of their covers. That being said, I'd love to hear what folks think some of the best Ravenloft adventures were, or some of the best horror themed adventures from Dungeon for that matter. I personally think John Mangrum's "The Heart's Final Beat" in TSR Jam 1999 is one of the best works for the setting, and the CD-included A Light in the Belfry is so bad it's good.
So, what do you fell Ravenloft fans think are some of the best entries into the line? I'd love to hear what I've forgotten or what you're run to great effect.
I actually suggest reading Hellboy and B.P.R.D. if you're not ... Mike Mignola chucks those books full of great, creepy references from mythology and literature that would really spark any horror-based campaign :)
This has actually been a long time coming. Looks like I'm headed to Amazon now...
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I actually suggest reading Hellboy and B.P.R.D. if you're not ... Mike Mignola chucks those books full of great, creepy references from mythology and literature that would really spark any horror-based campaign :)This has actually been a long time coming. Looks like I'm headed to Amazon now...
Hellboy is fantastic, Mignola does a thorough job with the research he does on old myths and monsters but it's his drawing style that does such a great job illustrating the story he tells. I recommend the TPBs of Wake the Devil, The Chained Coffin and the Troll witch. He has a great story arc across the many books brewing where the fey decide what lies in the future for them; a slow fade from reality or war with the humies.
I recommend the TPBs of Wake the Devil, The Chained Coffin and the Troll witch.
Perfect! Sold! Thanks man!
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Running effective horror scenarios doesn't just work with what's been mentioned; it takes talent. Either you have it or you don't. Either you can do it or you can't. If you have it then you feel which of the previously mentioned tropes will work and when to use them.
Description is fine but unless you have the talent to do it it's not going to come across well.
Isolation and inescapability are usable but only effective horror if you do it without Turtling your Players.
Etc.
From a purely Mechanical aspect, the way to achieve some level of horror is to present NPCs that are "metagame"-unknown to Players- or NPCs whose CR is grossly above the PC's APL.
A human NPC (with some tropes mentioned earlier -- disfigurement or a template, for example) would work because the PCs have no way of rolling a Knowledge check to figure out how many Class Levels he has.
A CR 13 monster the APL:6 PCs have to "meet with" for info when they know it has motive to kill them could work too.
A few things I've done recently.... The APL:10 PCs went to the "wrong" farm house for info and the peasant farmer began speaking in unintelligible Infernal then cast a Quickened Gate; I told the PCs not to worry, it was his only 13th level spell slot. They decided to run away, and were afraid....
The APL:8 PCs were in the Underdark having a rough, close-to-TPK encounter with a Beholder. A few "days" later they accidently turned a corner and saw a hive of Beholders, first two buzzing around, then a few more a bit further away, then scores -- hundreds of Beholders about 90 feet away around a honeycomb-looking cavern formation....
The "creepy children" thing someone else mentioned earlier....
After several gaming sessions of the party Bard copulating with every farmer's daughter in the game world, I had one "go missing" after she became pregnant. When the PCs "found" her, I showed them her picture (from the Complete Arcane, I think page 20 or so, the illustration of the Alienist.
Again, these things work if one has the talent, if one has no talent, it will not be horrific.
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And much of the GM advice in the Realms of Terror boxed set does a great job instructing GMs on how to set a mood and use handouts and basic theatrics in their games - though some goes way over the top (anyone remember the suggestion to keep your hand in ice behind the GM screen and then, when reading the disguised lich's tirade, touch one of the players so he can actually FEEL the monster's frigid hand? Ooofda.)
Okay, I laughed out loud. Seriously, have you ever tried to leave your hand in icewater for over a minute or two?
I refute the idea that Ravenloft is the go-to source for all good horror content, despite the fact that there are skulls and bats on 9 out of 10 of their covers. That being said, I'd love to hear what folks think some of the best Ravenloft adventures were, or some of the best horror themed adventures from Dungeon for that matter. I personally think John Mangrum's "The Heart's Final Beat" in TSR Jam 1999 is one of the best works for the setting, and the CD-included A Light in the Belfry is so bad it's good.
So, what do you fell Ravenloft fans think are some of the best entries into the line? I'd love to hear what I've forgotten or what you're run to great effect.
I understand I'm almost alone in enjoying I-10, "Ravenloft II". But a fellow DM and I followed the suggestion of combining it with I-6 "Ravenloft", so that the players didn't know which adventure was "real" and whether either was a dream. When the party first drifted off to sleep, and my friend set down the DM screen, and I began, "You wake up in an apple orchard, under the twilight of an autumn sky," it completely freaked out the players.
--+--
You hit close to one of my gripes about the Mists and such. Leaving Ravenloft seems like a viable solution, because the PCs have so little buy-in to any of the people or places on the Demiplane of Dread. It wouldn't take much to write a framing sequence, where the High Council of Waterdeep needs a particular Whoozits that was lost centuries ago, when the evil desert city of Whatever was swallowed into a mysterious demiplane, and the PCs need to get into Ravenloft, encounter the actual adventure, and get out with the Whoozits.
Better, I used the rules for the demiplane to present an incursion of Ravenloft into the territory the PCs had explored and come to protect. One of their known foes was likely to be invested as Highlord of the realm unles the PCs could stop the incursion. *That* was a fun season.
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I like I-10 also, Chris.
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When I did Ravenloft last, I didn't tell the Players They're gonna do a Ravenloft campaign. I just told them it's low magic, pretty rural -- that kinda shtick.
They made their PCs and treated it as the beginning of any other first adventure. When the zombies they had their first encounter with didn't take any damage from the Turn Undead, and just stumbled back, turned around and started calling in confusion, "Strahd?... Strahd?", they realized where they were and were very afraid.
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Well, yeah. One of the problems with most horror is the players go in thinking "this is a horror campaign". "Oh, look. Mi-go. Yep, it's about time."
I think the most effective horror stories are, like Skinsaw Murders, normal role-playing sessions that get macabre, and then get wrong.
I have used dream sequences. Start of the day as normal then go to town ripping the PCs up.
Then the cliched wake up screaming.
You don't even have to do the kill the PC bit. Just have everyone turn to dust when touched, bleed out whatever your twisted mind can come up with.
In my AoW I have the Faceless One taking other peoples faces and wearing them Silence of the Lambs style. Bit of magic and he can pose as anyone. Leaves the face behind as a calling card.
My favorite line from CoC Kingsport.
GM: You see something ropey and glistening on your abdomen. Looks like offal.
Player: Yuk! Push it off!
GM: They're yours. SAN check.
Player: Fail!
GM: Lose 4 SAN and you wake up with a scream.
Paranoia about who or what can be trusted is a good one.
I ran a modern zombie one shot loosely based on scooby-do, where any of the characters who drank the water at the restaurant went bad. (That drink order taken by the waitress had dire consequences.) That was great because when it took effect the next morning, no one had a clue who was sick, why they were sick or who could be trusted.
If you're using pre-gen characters, adding a note to the flavor text for each of them that someone in the party can't be trusted will do the same thing. (Don't say who or give everyone reasons to be suspiscious of a different specific person.)
Or taking it further, have the players in on it. My AoW DM had three out of four PC's replaced by doppelgangers during a prison break but none of them knew about the other replacements. (Sadly a session I missed, but it was talked about for ages, both by the people trying not to blow their cover and the guy who was still the PC suddenly realizing as he burst into a room with the other PC's tied up that something was horribly horribly wrong.)
ETA: Other elements that work well, dim lighting (if you can find a secluded room), a soundtrack (a buddy did this with a laptop and some looped water dripping.) limited time to figure out what to do (A timer for people describing their actions.) Passing out notes to PC's that may or may not have any information on them or asking them to join you in the hall for a quick discussion hidden from the other players.... which of course may not have anything to do with the game.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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KenderKin, the baseline for preparation for a horror genre is indeed a lot more work for the GM than the baseline for a typical hack-and-slash adventure. Pre-written adventures ameliorate that somewhat, but a GM who's tight for time is better off engaging the player characters in more straight-forward escapades.
Those Ravenloft adventures were poor examples of how to do Ravenloft right. They ignored the primary advice in the campaign guide that a scary adventure wasn't a bunch of monsters with some window dressing slapped on.
My favorite Ravenloft memories came primarily from Dungeon magazine. It's been too long to remember all the details, so bear with me:
The low level adventure where people kept turning up dead in the cabin, drained of blood. Not from a vampire, but from a clear ooze.
The pod-person adventure.
The module with the child vampire in the snow. Sugar-noodles!! Still creeps out my fungus-fearing friend to this day. >;)
(possibly a TSR adventure?) The adventure where the characters are on patrol and their captain turns out to be a werewolf.
From the Ravenloft book with all the short adventures: the one where the real villain was actually a wizard possessing one of the characters. They totally didn't buy it, and then he turned on them!
I also had a great one I ran based off of Lovecraft's Shadow over Innsmouth, well before the rest of the players had actually discovered HPL. Mysterious somethings in the attic are good for a scare.
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To the original post:: In general, I try to foster the horror atmosphere by playing by candlelight or in dim conditions, with a nice ambient horror soundtrack. I haven't actually run a horror adventure since the end of the 90's because we switched to playing in my friend's nice finished basement, and he doesn't have a dinmmer switch!
Another point: creating the right feel requires buy-in from the players; you can't scare them if they don't want to be scared.
Of course, all the otehr good advice that preceded me is also spot on, too.
Something else I forgot to mention: The red herring and playing on fears.
By the RH I mean something that appears to be related isn't. Maybe it's a bunny or other farm animal that's mysteriously always at the scene of the crime watching the characters. I remember in one old CofC module there was an escaped mental patient with an ax leaving bodies around that had no relationship to the main plot.... but the PC's didn't know that and thinking they had dealt with the threat robbed them of their relief when the problems started happening again.
Or just animals behaving oddly. (The house where you were to meet your guide into the forest is surrounded by a ring of jumpy cattle all staring at it from 50 yeards out.) Taking the normal and tilting it off course makes people jumpy. (Think about hearing a cat yowling down an alley and noticing as you walk by that it's being eaten alive by a giant rat.)
WRT fears, there are fears common to a lot of people. Claustrophobia, being eaten alive, bugs, the dark. Feel free to combine them. Have the PC's fight a massive carrion crawler or a bunch of ghouls and wake up in the wet dark smelling copper and rot, only to realize that they've been added to the monsters "pantry" and need to escape. (Or worse that they're being kept alive for a delayed gruesome fate. Think Jeeper's Creepers or The road and the starving people in the basement.)
People also get weirded out when you start mentioning their eyes and mouths. Having your PC wake up screaming missing an eye to a nearby raven or wee beastie works well (Monte Cook's AU had a creature like a cat with a tentacle claw that ate eyes). Or worse, having the PC paralyzed when they wake up and the previously mentioned carrion crawler starts feeding them water from the bottom of the rot pile by ramming a tentacle down their throat.
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From a purely Mechanical aspect, the way to achieve some level of horror is to present NPCs that are "metagame"-unknown to Players- or NPCs whose CR is grossly above the PC's APL.
A human NPC (with some tropes mentioned earlier -- disfigurement or a template, for example) would work because the PCs have no way of rolling a Knowledge check to figure out how many Class Levels he has.
That is why modern or classic (gaslight, 1920s) horror games are easier to run. They are by default human centric, so all you need is a foe (or minions) who can pass off as human - even if for just awhile. That includes your vampires, werewolves, other types of undead, alien possessed scientists, etc. Even a mod with Mi-Go will involve human minions - that kind of thinking can help out quite a bit in a fantasy game in creating a sense of trust, calm, familiarity.
Using human-type NPCs in a fantasy horror game is a great way to hide the foil/agents of the nemesis due to many meta reasons (hard to detect class, or if affected by a non-obvious template, etc). One of the main difficulties in fantasy horror is divination magic, since that can reveal more than the DM wants if he isn't prepared to cover with it - without bending or breaking the rules.
I don't know if I agree with the peasant/gate meta example. I would just describe the spell in a horrific fashion (red, clawing light bursting in mid-air - with tendrils and incorporeal liquids streaming out of the wound (gate)). Most players would be off packing when they feel waves of physical suffering emanating from the portal, let alone what is trying to get through.
The only time I would go meta and I don't think this is true meta is if things are presented in a fashion which shows a creatures obvious power as perceived by the players. Because it is "fantasy" horror and you are dealing with potentially powerful PCs sometimes it is important to speak to them in a language which they understand - mechanical, obvious power. Could be spells, raw power (dragon, vampire, lich) or just plain hard to fight (Demons, devils)
Ex - Mid level group encounters an undead armored skeleton, and as the fight progresses they realize that this isn't just a Skeleton, it's a Death Knight. They don't know how powerful it is per se but you now have gotten their attention. That is because of a number of things - the original FF picture, Demogorgon, fighter equivalent of lich, D&D classic, it conjures up thoughts of Lord Soth, Darth Vader, Michael Myers, unstoppable killing machine, et al.
Okay, I laughed out loud. Seriously, have you ever tried to leave your hand in icewater for over a minute or two?
DUDE! Yes! I was the one dumbass teenager who actually did this. And no surprise that when I touched my player's shoulder she not only jumped out of her chair but was some pissed! At no point did it convey to the party, "Huh, maybe the guy's a lich."
*CRUNCH*
What needs to be in a grimoire seems simple to me.
* Logic rules for spell crafting.
* New/collected spells.
* Optional alternate magic systems (a la the rune magic from Rise of the Runelords, the magic systems in Tome of Magic, the node magic stuff from Forgotten Realms, etc.)
Simple :)
I couldn't agree more ...+1
This has actually been a long time coming. Looks like I'm headed to Amazon now...
Hellboy is fantastic, Mignola does a thorough job with the research he does on old myths and monsters but it's his drawing style that does such a great job illustrating the story he tells. I recommend the TPBs of Wake the Devil, The Chained Coffin and the Troll witch. He has a great story arc across the many books brewing where the fey decide what lies in the future for them; a slow fade from reality or war with the humies.
Couldn't agree with Jack more :) In addition, I also recommend Hellboy: Darkness Calls, the first few B.P.R.D. trades and the "Book of ..." series by Dark Horse. All excellent choices for mood. I myself am a recent convert to the Hellboy universe and have been devouring anything in my path when possible ;)
You'll have to let us know what you think when you get a chance to read them.
Yes, please do :)
DUDE! Yes! I was the one dumbass teenager who actually did this. And no surprise that when I touched my player's shoulder she not only jumped out of her chair but was some pissed! At no point did it convey to the party, "Huh, maybe the guy's a lich."Okay, I laughed out loud. Seriously, have you ever tried to leave your hand in icewater for over a minute or two?
I would think "Man I have to use the bathroom" before I screamed Lich ;) I've been to cons, but never really played in much beyond a AFMBE one-shot that I ran. Is it in a quiet enough space to use music? Or maybe mood lighting? Keep it light enough to read, but dim enough where the light can play tricks ;) I also agree that keeping the horror is a good mystery ... don't let the players in on it until they have to know (which should be 3 seconds after you say "Okay, who was able to keep their swords in their hands and not go screaming off like a goblin baby?") ;)
Hellboy is fantastic, Mignola does a thorough job with the research he does on old myths and monsters but it's his drawing style that does such a great job illustrating the story he tells. I recommend the TPBs of Wake the Devil, The Chained Coffin and the Troll witch. He has a great story arc across the many books brewing where the fey decide what lies in the future for them; a slow fade from reality or war with the humies.I actually suggest reading Hellboy and B.P.R.D. if you're not ... Mike Mignola chucks those books full of great, creepy references from mythology and literature that would really spark any horror-based campaign :)This has actually been a long time coming. Looks like I'm headed to Amazon now...
He has a FB fan page for anyone interested.
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Isolation, being trapped. For example, I once had my group end up in a walled hamlet far from civilisation that was being attacked every night by (mostly unseen) monsters. Anytime anyone had gone for help they didn’t return. After the PCs learnt this, they returned to the inn, to find that someone had come and killed all their horses – so not only were they stuck, but someone in town was presumably in league with the monsters (or wanted them to stay and deal with them as it turned out).
Unusual, limiting environments. For example, the PCs are trekking chest deep through a swamp when something begins attacking them from under the water. Dense fog or driving rain hampers vision and combat. Someone has to stick their hand into a dark, narrow hole to retrieve something.
Being watched. Everywhere they go, the group notices they are being watched, maybe by the same person or thing, or different ones. A figure standing on a distant hill top or roof, small children, a veiled woman, cats or dogs or other animals.
Evocative and detailed monster descriptions that do not immediately give away what the creature is (so experienced players don’t know how to immediately defeat it), or paint a familiar creature in a more horrific fashion. Here is a description which seemed to rather unnerve my players:
This one is a more familiar creature to most experienced players, and I’m sure most of my group knew what it was – but they certainly roleplayed horrified well!
The blob begins to extend semi-formed tentacles and pseudopods out about itself, studded with eyes and mouths – one of the mouths suddenly opens wide and spits a stream of stinging, acrid spittle straight at you! Meanwhile, thin tendrils begin extending from the creature into the surrounding ground, finding cracks in the stone, breaking up the surface, and covering it in a thin layer of slime.
Children. Always creepy. Children as victims, or villains, or minions, any way can work. Cliched but true.
The unknown or unexpected. For example, my group was recently looking for a defensible spot to make a stand against some soldiers who were tracking them. They found a small hill topped by an old ruin, with a hidden tunnel leading down into the hillside. They made their stand, defeated the soldiers, killing most of them and letting a few escape. The next day, they returned to the hill to explore the tunnel, and discovered that the bodies of the soldiers they killed were all gone. Had they been retrieved by their fellows for burial, eaten or taken away by something else, or animated and walked away?
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That being said, I'd love to hear what folks think some of the best Ravenloft adventures were, or some of the best horror themed adventures from Dungeon for that matter.
Some of my favourite adventures with good horror elements from Dungeon Magazine over the years (that I can remember off the top of my head) include The House At The Edge of Midnight, The Unkindness of Ravens, The Automatic Hound, Escape From Meenlock Prison, The Styes, and Shut In (which leads me to believe you can write a decent horror scenario Wes). I think only the first one on my list is actually a Ravenloft adventure, and from memory its very railroady – but also uses a lot of great horror elements I think.
I like horror roleplaying and have run some very long horror-themed games. I wrote a semi-long article on the subject that I'll link here.
Working in a con environment, you have two major strikes against you. The deep personal involvement isn't there because it's a one shot, and the environment can be distracting.
If possible, try to get a private or semiprivate gaming space. The Cthulhu Masters Tournaments at Gen Con are usually totally bad ass, and they've managed to get private rooms to run it in. Then they really cut loose with the props and whatnot.
If you are providing pregens, make sure the characters have ulterior motives that will put them at odds with each other. There's a reason every group of horror movie protagonists is always hatin' on each other. Not being able to count 100% on your comrades adds additional uncertainty that can be leveraged by the horror GM.
How to scare players.
When playing any kind of game if you are white knuckled anticipating your next turn then you are experiencing terror. Whether you're dreading your turn or desperate to take it. Turn based games like PF (like most games really) allow for this. Players want to ay the game so yes the threat of death does create dread, but you as a DM have to deliver on the threat at least once and that takes some fun out o the game.
This is why I prefer kind control to death. If a player dreads their turn because they know that have to attack a party member then you're doing it right. If a player gets some twisted pleasure out of doing this then the rest of the party will experience dread, which is all the better.
The other way to scare players is too take away the one thing they might kill another player over, their magic items!
I'm shocked that rust monsters and disenchanters aren't more creepy looking, though describing a room full of rust monsters might make any player wet themselves. This is especially potent if they need their magical silver longswords to fight the vampires hunting them.
Just a couple of things to keep in mind.
EDIT: half black dragon rust monster, add HD as needed to suit party level.
...Shut In (which leads me to believe you can write a decent horror scenario Wes).
Awww gosh thanks, I live in the hope that my gravestone might one day read: "Decent." :P
Seriously, though, thank you, "Shut In" was a lot of fun (and with the exception of the dumbwaiter, the map is TOTALLY modeled off my grandmother's old plantation house in Maryland. That was a beautifully horrifying house, full of crawl spaces, stone passages, half-hidden stairs, fake windows, and relics from a life of eccentricities. Only really thinking about it now am I realizing how extraordinary it was. And it had a pool 11-year-old me was convinced Jaws lived in the deep in of. Sutter also added more than his fair share of creepiness, like the cage full of taxidermy canaries in the salon. Good times.
But yeah, I asking all this as the horror in roleplaying and the potential for fear from gaming has interested me for a long time. I have copious notes on my thoughts and philosophies on the matter, but am very interested in what other folks have found. This will all lead somewhere sometime, but for now, I'm happy to hear folks brag about scaring the socks off PCs and players alike.
On the Dungeon note, did anyone ever play... awwww, now I need to invade James's office to remember the name... "The Dying of the Light" in #84? The PCs had to head into this castle and wipe out the half dozen or so named vampires there, pretty much all before night. The adventure does a great job splitting the difference between gothic vampirism and D&D vampires. It had some great scenes, like fighting vampires in cathedral, yet at the same time there was a gorgon just hanging out in the courtyard. My players went in there guns-a-blazin' and wound their way through the first floor no problem, but by the second floor were down on hp and spells. That's when things got cool. They knew they couldn't really rest, lest the vampires wake up and murderize them, so they started playing very, very cannily. Gawd they went to lengths to avoid that courtyard. And it's always cool the a group gets to the point of not trying to fight the monsters, just trying to keep them away - they blocked off a whole part of the castle with a wall spell just to keep some animated suits of armor away. Good times.
Unfortunately, we never finished. At some point a player was - rightly - like, oh! I missed taking a spell. Um. Rope Trick!. And as soon as they had a safe place to rest and got all their powers back, the game changed fundamentally. We stopped soon after they annihilated the naga in the basement and actually never finished - them fireballing their way the last four or five encounters just didn't seem worth it.
This definitely speaks to the effectiveness of limited resources in horror gaming. Heck, even in other media - Resident Evil 1 for example, is far scarier for the fact that you only ever have a handful of green herbs and bullets, every missed shot or even direct hit leaving the player asking if that bullet just meant the difference between surviving a later zombie attack or having his face eaten off. While not every adventure can play the time limit card - and it's usually a total cliche and real hassle for developers when they do - when it comes off realistically, has a purpose and an actual consequence, doesn't make the game impossible to succeed at, and (trickiest of all) doesn't feel like its robing the PCs of their rightfully gained abilities, the sense of urgency it brings to a table can be really exciting.
Hummm... might be something here for...
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Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
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I know it's late in the game, but I thought I'd chime in with a few things that work well for me:
Tone of voice (as GM) - Providing descriptions in a deep atonal voice, then varying it as something unexpected occurs keeps my players paying attention. Just using a creepy tone can set the stage for anything else you may want to introduce.
Tone of voice (as NPCs) - Adding accents and putting on voices for NPCs works well for me (even in non-horror adventures). Just giving the old mansion's caretaker a creepy voice elevates the mood. A good tool is to vary the tone of voice of the NPCs based on where they're encountered. If the PCs are in town, use happy, upbeat tones. If they are out on the road, or in a strange locale and encounter an NPC, use deeper tones, with long pauses. Not only will it give the NPCs a personality, it helps set the tone for the adventure's various locations.
Music - Play some eerie music softly in the background. I find that Midnight Syndicate works extremely well to set the mood for a horror based game. As mentioned in the Tone of Voice suggestion, use more upbeat music when the PCs are in town (I find the Minstrels of Mayhem work well if the PCs are in a tavern).
Change How You Answer Player Questions - When a player asks a question, always ask for clarification. Just a quick "Why do you want to know?" or "Which part of the room are you specifically asking about?" can really put the players on edge and get them thinking that there's something they are missing. This helps build an sense of paranoia that works very well in horror-related settings.
Use New Monsters - Seasoned players tend to recognize the traditional tropes used in horror settings, so change them up. While you could create brand new monsters never before encountered, you could just as easily create variants of monsters your players are used to fighting. Nothing worries a player more than finding out the usual method they've used to kill a certain type of monster doesn't work on your creature. Werewolves who are not vulnerable to silver, Vampires who walk in the sunlight, Ghosts that wander the countryside instead of being tied to a specific location, etc. are all good ways to keep your players off balance.
I think what I'm getting at is that you have to do things players are not used to experiencing to help you set the mood for a horror-based game. The Unexpected is, of course, the root of all horror, so use this whenever possible during your prep, during the game, and when discussing the game afterward if you are running a campaign. Always have a card up your sleeve so that your players who think they've got it all figured out will still be surprised by something as they play the adventure.
I hope this information helps to some degree. These things have all worked for me in the past (and will probably work just as well in the future), so hopefully they'll be of use to you as well.
Good Luck!
Excellent work Mueller.
I've been running horror games/campaigns almost as long as I have been running D&D (decades). Mostly Chill, but some CoC and Delta Green.
Some good organized ideas in there, wish it was longer.Good work.
Thanks; maybe I'll flesh it out more one of these days, it's something like 10 years old.
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Refer to the game as 'The Enemy Within' or something equally paranoia inducing, and then hand each player a sheet of paper with information that only they know. Never say so out loud, but leave it 'obvious' that one of the player character is secretely a werewolf / vampire / doppleganger / hosting an alien xenomorph / has space-herpes.
At different points in the adventure, make sure to separate groups of characters, and always make sure that one group gets attacked during these times of separation. Use spells or effects like obscuring mist or pit-traps or sliding walls or whatever to get them apart.
If they haven't strung up and / or killed half of their number by the end of the scenario, let them have a big fight with the big bad evil guy, who isn't any of them, just some dude.
Or, at the risk of going all Monster Squad with the idea, *everyone* is 'the monster,' and they are putting on a big show of being a normal adventuring party, because none of them suspect that the others aren't just plain old humans. Behind each other's backs, the succubus cleric, half-vampire rogue and were-winter-wolf sorcerer are all licking their lips in anticipation of eating their allies, unaware that there isn't a human among them...
Instead of making the characters paranoid, make the *players* paranoid. It's so much sweeter when they aren't pretending.
I agree on all the points of isolation, familiar scenes altered, using simple children, low level monsters and pets as monstrous threats all work well.
One aspect of Ravenloft I did like, was that familiar monsters (meta familiar) were strikingly different. As in the "Strahd?" calling zombies. So when the players see a given monster - troll for example, they think "oh I need fire", but if it turns out that this troll could only be killed with electricity instead, the confusion for the PC's induce fear.
The last horror session, not a whole campaign, that I did in a recent game, was having an undead giant the party was fighting. He had lots of hit points, good AC and was a really tough fight. When the party finally killed him, the true threat was revealed. The monster "fell apart". The giant skeleton within stepped out of the gore of its body to attack. The brain and spinal column pulled itself out of the body and became a kind of ulistigator (sp?) with psionic powers and mind blast attacks. The beating heart pulsed negative energy in a full radius of all the other attacking parts of the undead. The actual moment the skeleton stepped out of the body, all my players jaws dropped, some questioned the meta-possibility of a killed creature being able to attack them all over.
The encounter went from a simple encounter, to OMG, this creature must die and everyone stood up straight and redoubled their efforts to kill it once again.
Out of all the Ravenloft fiction, there was a short story anthology, most of which weren't scary, except one. The House of One Hundred Windows was the only truly gothic horror story in the entire anthology.
GP