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I'm not sure about arbitrarily removing the characters' effectiveness as a tool. As a player if my GM told me that my fireball only produced blood vomit fish, then i wouldn't feel afraid. More frustrated. I'd probably start up on spellcraft or knowledge (arcana) checks to find a way to get around it. There is a bit of give in the contract between GM and PC, but nobody likes looking at a character sheet that has meaningless abilities. To give an example from metal gear solid: you fight psycho mantis who uses his weird powers to reverse your control scheme, while he teleports around taunting and blasting you. But as a player you can switch the controller port, negating the mind control. You still have a deadly floating teleporting psionic menace, but you as a player aren't negated from the process. So if the player suddenly casts vomit fish then allow him an opportunity to find a solution to cast spells in a more reliable fashion. (Spellcraft checks, extending the time taken to cast each spell 2 steps (standard
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That said, the most useful tool to run an effective horror game isn't one the GM can provide. It's a group of players that understand that accepting the premise presented will give them a better experience. Dribbly candles and darkened rooms mean nothing if the wizard insists on casting magic missile on... The Darkness! Although if a single red eye opens in the darkness, faintly annoyed at being missiled then those laughs will quickly turn to "oh $#¡7" particularly if an uneven number of eyes then open up in the darkness around.
In my experience, the most important ingredients for making a truly frightening game is:
1)Making PCs care.
2)As a corollary to #1, never taking hope from PCs.
I cannot overstate how important this is. No amount of contrived screw-you cirsumstances or custom GM penis extension monsters can possibly scare PCs who just don't give a s~@$ about the outcome and/or are determined to treat everything as a black comedy. And this is what probably happen, if it is clear that they are screwed whatever they do (as an example of a game who actually embraces this fact, see Paranoia). The goal #1 is unreacheable without players' cooperation, of course, but GM must make first steps towards it. Players must be strongly encouraged to not generate mercenary sociopaths. These will see any threat that does not violate point #2 as another dungeon to clear. The only times I remember myself genuinely anxious during the game was when the threat also loomed over NPCs that were dear to my characters and things they cared for, and they were seemingly poweless to affect the situation. "Seemingly" is the key part - see # 2 again. If players cannot protect what they care for, they'll learn the lesson and start playing mercenary sociopaths.
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When I DM there are a couple of tricks I use to create an eerie feel.
-extra rolls. Everyone roll a d20 and hand your character sheet to me. Ok, hmm, right. All right you all see a set of sinister doors in front of you... This creates some tension & jumpy PC's
-have them make skill checks that actually tell them things that are not important to the plot, but to atmosphere. The stains on the wall are not human blood, you see a flash of movement out of the corner of your eye. whatever was there is now gone. You find tracks you follow them a few yards and they simply vanish.
-"boxed text" use this rarely, because PC's have to listen & not have a chance to react. You see your breath freeze as you enter this room, you are lifted off the floor & start weeping blood as a woman's sobbing voice relates a story of death through your blue lips.
-FatR hit it right on the nose with PC's. Have some tag along & get to know your PC's. Then put them in danger, kill them (be careful with that one), or hurt them. The NPC's terror will rub off on your PC's.
-Encourage players help. As your DM this is the atmosphere I'm going for. Please take some time to think about what your characters personalities will have to contribute to this setting. Great role playing fun to be had.
Just some other ideas.
I'm not sure about arbitrarily removing the characters' effectiveness as a tool. As a player if my GM told me that my fireball only produced blood vomit fish, then i wouldn't feel afraid. More frustrated. I'd probably start up on spellcraft or knowledge (arcana) checks to find a way to get around it. There is a bit of give in the contract between GM and PC, but nobody likes looking at a character sheet that has meaningless abilities. To give an example from metal gear solid: you fight psycho mantis who uses his weird powers to reverse your control scheme, while he teleports around taunting and blasting you. But as a player you can switch the controller port, negating the mind control. You still have a deadly floating teleporting psionic menace, but you as a player aren't negated from the process. So if the player suddenly casts vomit fish then allow him an opportunity to find a solution to cast spells in a more reliable fashion. (Spellcraft checks, extending the time taken to cast each spell 2 steps (standard
If your players distance themselves from the game to that degree, you're wasting your time in trying to make a horror setting.
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Not really, I just think it's more rewarding to everyone involved to find tactics that don't negate the player's chosen abilities.
For example, if you want to send something after the PCs when their magic doesn't work, then just keep sending bad-guys after them long after the mages have cast their last spells for the day.
There's a difference between fear and frustration.
Not really, I just think it's more rewarding to everyone involved to find tactics that don't negate the player's chosen abilities.
For example, if you want to send something after the PCs when their magic doesn't work, then just keep sending bad-guys after them long after the mages have cast their last spells for the day.
There's a difference between fear and frustration.
It comes down to the difference between Resident Evil and Silent Hill, I suppose.
I prefer the latter.
There is a fine line between horror and comedy. When things get too tense, some people make bad jokes. While it relieves the tension, it also has the potential of ruining a good horror moment. We lovingly referred to this as the "Cthulhu comedy hour" when we would collapse at the mere mention of certain key phrases. Once it started with a player referring to a bayaki as a "big bird" and slid into an hour of bad Sesame Street jokes. Sometimes the DM could get us back on track, but often it would take a while for us to run out of bad puns and jokes. This was also a good time to take a break, bring out some munchies and just socialize as friends for a bit. We'd eventually get back to the game even if it took a bit to get us in the proper mood again.
Most horror has to have a certain level of tenseness to work but not too much. This requires a delicate balance. One of the things that worked for our gaming group was playing with the lights low and reading by candlelight. We had a terrific wooden candle holder which held 6 or 8 candles (it's been a while so I don't remember) and we'd just play until we couldn't read by its light. I even bought glow-in-the-dark dice for the game.
Also, if the game is too lethal, it stops being fun rather quickly. The game has to feel like peril but doesn't necessarily have to be actual peril. Secret saving throws are good for mundane things: A Reflex save to avoid the creaky step; a Climb check to reach a book on the top of the bookshelf. The players don't need to be told why they are rolling until after the fact. The "Uh-oh" followed by a big sigh of relief is the effect you want.
Good horror is also about special effects and clues. Messages written on the walls in blood are always good for effect. Ditto for doors and windows that slam shut for no apparent reason. Likewise, a chill in a spot when there is no breeze. In the old Chill game by Pacesetter, monsters had "evil way disciplines" but in D&D these could be mimicked simple cantrips. Unfortunately, few monsters have that ability so it is up the DM to find a way to incorporate these effects.
Spooky lights could be a will-o'wisp or a broken lantern. Not everything has to be a true threat. Sometimes, the best threats are really benign when seen in daylight. Creepy shadows could be nothing more than a bush with strangely shaped leaves. Squeaky floorboards and floors at night always sound much louder than during the day.
Storms are great because they have intermittent light and loud thunder which can mimic the sound of some creatures or hide the sounds of other creatures. There's risk of being hit by lighning, of flash floods, etc. Even a small flood can bring out the toads and other animals that seek higher ground. You could have a lawn/clearing of dead toads that drowned. It's nothing but setting effect but it's still creepy. These don't even have to be monstrous toads but just a lot of normal toads.
When birds go silent in the woods, it could be a portent of something evil or just that it's about to rain. Ditto for the sound of chirping crickets.
The great thing about all this is that it really doesn't require a lot of work on the DMs part. Odd shadows, raspy voices, strange smells--these aren't necessarily evil but can definitely be horror.
Debby
I remember reading once (it may have been an editorial) about a DM who had piles of the WoTC minature of the guy holding a pig. He decided to have a village where everyone had a pig and the PC's didn't know why. It was played in a manner that creeped them out.
I think the known or mundane becoming foreign is quite unnerving. Obviously, if something is mundane, it is very well known, to the point of being ignored. Meta-gaming can play a large part here. Take the cultural expectations and norms of the western gamer and put a spin on them, like the evil child, or better, something that has child-like attributes. Aliens are creepier when they can be partially understood. The raptors in [u] Jurassic Park [/u] are likened to wolves by most people and even the NPC game warden mentions it. Their human-like intelligence and the ability to use body parts like tools (or even use tools in your game) and their sheer speed and ferocity make them unnerving villians.
I've always enjoyed the fae and the Pathfinder goblins. The goblins are my favorite because the begin as something of a joke. They even look comical, with football-shaped heads. Pretty soon, it's not funny anymore. I think this is like being tickled to death--first it's kind of fun, but pretty soon it starts to hurt and you have to pee and can't breathe...
Of course, all horror is about the suspense. Gain their attention and slowly drag out the climax. Action has a quick, massive climax, like the world ending in a firey explosion. Horror draws it out. We know there are aliens in the house, but they don't kick down the door and eat the heroes. No, they whisper and scuttle and fish under the door. Gradually they up the ante until the climax, where they may attempt to get through the door, but they never just kick it down.