I am looking for any good advice for starting and running a successful horror game, it is something I have always wanted to try my hand at but I know my group is much more into horror then I am and so are very desensitized to anything I would fine scary in a setting, I have the rules for will saves, I have 3.5 hero’s of horror, Ravenloft, book of evil, book of the dead, and pathfinders rule of fear to pull from but just the general in running it and making my players care about their characters going insane and or dying.
thank you for any help.
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Well, first of all, shock horror translates horribly to tabletop. No things jumping out.
Go for psychology. Tension buildup should be your friend. Mess with their minds.
Everything should be darker, bleaker and more terrible.
And the most important thing don't overdo anything because if you do, it will just become hammy
You should also visit this TVTropes page about horror and read up on horror tropes. Its a lifesaver.
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I have run a few horror campaigns/games and I think the following are useful:
1. atmosphere: take more time with descriptions, especially what the PC's get from their senses. Sight is great but sound and taste and touch are important for horror. It is cold and clammy, there is water driping or wind screaming, etc.
2. Horror is about vulnerability. Fight hard to make the PC's feel vulnerable. Throw out the idea of appropriately leveled encounters. Make the PC's run early on in the campaign. The PC's need to feel like they could die at any minute. Without fear of death there can be no horror.
3. Play up the PC's limitations. Take away things they take for granted.
a. The PC's are used to healing frequently. Create profane areas where positive energy is greatly reduced. They cast cure critical and get ...1d8 healing...they chanel positive energy and get ...nothing...They try to turn undead and nada ..etc.
b. limit their senses ... darkness that can't be seen through plus creatures with life sense or tremor sense, etc. can be terrifying. The key is make the PC's feel vulnerable!
c. level draining, abilty draing etc. are great to make PC's afraid especially at low to mid levels.
d. Give them people to protect. This makes them feel heroic but also limits their options. I call these people dead weight.
4. Create effects that are creepy but don't necessarily affect mechanics. A PC's hair starts falling out. Don't expain why. Weird fungus begins to grow on a PC's skin. No real effect ... for now...etc. A PC just can't get enough raw meat, etc. Remove disease works or doesn't...your choice, or perhaps the weird stuff just comes back after a time.
Remember, horror is about fear and all powerfull PC's generally aren't afraid. Make them afraid...and then let them overcome it and be heros!
Oh and get rid of the 3 encounter and rest day concept. Make the PC's burn up their abilities, spells, etc... and then don't let them rest. Make finding a place of safety or a place to hide a big deal. Nothing is scarier to players than a dangerous encounter when they desperately need to rest, recover, or heal. The old "we better make it to the church before dark" idea really works when you are out of spells and channels and the vampires are about to wake up and get you.
I actually suggest against forcing a resource drain in combat. Taint might work to give them some panic. Use narrative to make it hard to rest or see peace. Use alternative resources such as food or survivor NPCs, but do not imbalance the game.
Well, first of all, shock horror translates horribly to tabletop. No things jumping out.
Go for psychology. Tension buildup should be your friend. Mess with their minds.
Everything should be darker, bleaker and more terrible.
And the most important thing don't overdo anything because if you do, it will just become hammy
You should also visit this TVTropes page about horror and read up on horror tropes. Its a lifesaver.
thank you for the link!
I fully agree the jumping out thing doesn't work, that is one reason I am asking for help had a friend dm a game and the whole time he tried to have things just jump out hoping we would be scared, because we were playing in modern after he did this the tenth time I got sensor upgrades so I could just tell him "oh enough I have radar
Resource drain does not imbalance the game, it is a part of the game, just one that does not come up as often in 3.0 and its progeny like pathfinder. In fact, allowing PC's to constantly be at full strength arguably imbalances the game because certain classes are designed to need to preserve their abilities. There is no "right or wrong" way to do it of course but in my opinion if you want your players to be afraid they need to be vulnerable.
Of course as a GM you need to be careful and allow opportunities for every character to shine. If you are going to limit class abilities, you can't do it all the time, in fact that is the point. IF the party is used to "turning" undead to save the day, it is much more surprising when that tactic suddenly does not save them! Then in the future the doubt is always there.
Draining spells and healing magics actually makes the game boring and harder to balance in my experience. If you want a game that handles resources for horror you have to find alternatives, or find another game. That's why I suggested you create npcs or use food, rather than suggest you force the game to feel like a drag. Taint makes it pretty hard to sleep.
There is a wrong way. Plenty of wrong ways.
I have run a few horror campaigns/games and I think the following are useful:
1. atmosphere: take more time with descriptions, especially what the PC's get from their senses. Sight is great but sound and taste and touch are important for horror. It is cold and clammy, there is water driping or wind screaming, etc.
2. Horror is about vulnerability. Fight hard to make the PC's feel vulnerable. Throw out the idea of appropriately leveled encounters. Make the PC's run early on in the campaign. The PC's need to feel like they could die at any minute. Without fear of death there can be no horror.
3. Play up the PC's limitations. Take away things they take for granted.
a. The PC's are used to healing frequently. Create profane areas where positive energy is greatly reduced. They cast cure critical and get ...1d8 healing...they chanel positive energy and get ...nothing...They try to turn undead and nada ..etc.
b. limit their senses ... darkness that can't be seen through plus creatures with life sense or tremor sense, etc. can be terrifying. The key is make the PC's feel vulnerable!
c. level draining, abilty draing etc. are great to make PC's afraid especially at low to mid levels.
d. Give them people to protect. This makes them feel heroic but also limits their options. I call these people dead weight.
4. Create effects that are creepy but don't necessarily affect mechanics. A PC's hair starts falling out. Don't expain why. Weird fungus begins to grow on a PC's skin. No real effect ... for now...etc. A PC just can't get enough raw meat, etc. Remove disease works or doesn't...your choice, or perhaps the weird stuff just comes back after a time.
Remember, horror is about fear and all powerfull PC's generally aren't afraid. Make them afraid...and then let them overcome it and be heros!
Thank you. I will work on my narative for the atmosphere and really sell it, I like the ideas for vulnerability in fights and cutting down healing to show just how scary the encounter can be, there are just two problems that really I can not figure out how to fix
1. I am currently running a game and gave the group a large group of people to take care of, they are doing it but in the sense of “dear gods get these people away from me” they don’t really care if they make it or not they just know I will frown on it if they outright let them die. So how do you really get the players to CARE about the people.
2. Running away almost never happens in the group I’m with, seriously I could have them lv 1 and fully describe thulium destroying a city and they would run INTO the battle.
I know they would enjoy the change of pace if I really could scare them and then give them a chance, even just a glimmer of hope to fight back, they would feel like hero's but its getting them there?
1. You can make the people family or friends, or church leaders, or nobles, etc. any connection you think your players might care about...or do it old school and let them know that they will be rewarded with treasure or xp for every person saved or even better penalized for every person not saved.
2. This is one of the great problems with Pathfinder. It is designed for heroic gaming not horror. The whole idea that encounters will be appropriately balanced is anathema to a good horror game. Try talking to your players and expalining to them that some encounters will not be balanced and that they will need to play smart. If that does not work you may need to beat it out of them aka let them die a few times. If this still does not work maybe horror is not for them.
Perhaps an opening TPK with the party saved by a traveling priest or some such. This NPC can then deliver your message for you. I know many people don't like this approach but your players need to understand that the world is dangerous. The concept of heros get dead around here is important for horror.
There is a wrong way. Plenty of wrong ways.
I was trying to be nice but apparently there was no need. We are talking about two different things. My whole point is that you need to get rid of the idea of balance. You obviously feel that without balance Pathfinder is not fun. You are perfectly entitled to your opinion, I just think you are wrong.
Balanced Pathfinder means an assumption that the characters will rarely if ever be presented with a challenge they can't overcome. There is a whole CR systmem designed for this purpose. Players expect to be able to triumph. They expect one easy encounter followed by one medium encounter followed by a hard encounter followed by an opportunity to rest and recover. That is normally fun and cool but not really great if you want a horror game. That of course is just my opinion.
Especially if you have players that are experienced in Pathfinder they will expect the above. If you want to shake them up, you need to change things up. Taint is fine, but it can feel kind of mechanical, just something else to be overcome. The same can be said with the various horror/insanity systems. They work...ok but without the idea that the characters are in danger, they are not enough by themselves.
1. You can make the people family or friends, or church leaders, or nobles, etc. any connection you think your players might care about...or do it old school and let them know that they will be rewarded with treasure or xp for every person saved or even better penalized for every person not saved.
2. This is one of the great problems with Pathfinder. It is designed for heroic gaming not horror. The whole idea that encounters will be appropriately balanced is anathema to a good horror game. Try talking to your players and expalining to them that some encounters will not be balanced and that they will need to play smart. If that does not work you may need to beat it out of them aka let them die a few times. If this still does not work maybe horror is not for them.
Perhaps an opening TPK with the party saved by a traveling priest or some such. This NPC can then deliver your message for you. I know many people don't like this approach but your players need to understand that the world is dangerous. The concept of heros get dead around here is important for horror.
hmmm.... something to think about, again thank you for the help, you have some very good ideas.
any suggestions on starting level, or class restrictions?
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I'd add that you never refer to or describe monsters by their name in the books...
For example, when describing an encounter with hobgoblins:
Each of these foul-looking creatures towers above even the tallest member of your band. Although humanoid, these brutes are clearly not men. Their skin is dark and mottled, and their cold eyes gleam with barely-restrained bloodlust. The taunt muscles of their hulking bodies ripple as they move toward you...
As for starting level, I usually just have characters start at 1st level, unless I am running a specific one-shot that requires a higher level...
Something that I have always wanted to try with a horror themed PF game is to have the players roll up characters using only the NPC classes (and letting them multi-class into the PC classes later on during the campaign)...
1. You can make the people family or friends, or church leaders, or nobles, etc. any connection you think your players might care about...or do it old school and let them know that they will be rewarded with treasure or xp for every person saved or even better penalized for every person not saved.
2. This is one of the great problems with Pathfinder. It is designed for heroic gaming not horror. The whole idea that encounters will be appropriately balanced is anathema to a good horror game. Try talking to your players and expalining to them that some encounters will not be balanced and that they will need to play smart. If that does not work you may need to beat it out of them aka let them die a few times. If this still does not work maybe horror is not for them.
Perhaps an opening TPK with the party saved by a traveling priest or some such. This NPC can then deliver your message for you. I know many people don't like this approach but your players need to understand that the world is dangerous. The concept of heros get dead around here is important for horror.
1. I agree with but wanna add onto. Have it to where they have the choice to save the character or not but have consequences for it. In a carrion crown session, I had a grp that didnt really care about the town but I went above and beyound on kendra being nice and her going or trying to go beyound her means to help the characters. When the whole party one night went scouting at a statue, I had some zombies invade the town and they broke in and ate her. It got the players a reason to go on but it also made them take a different light on npcs in the future weither they liked or not.
2. Again I agree and wanna add onto. Let the players know there is a good chance their characters will die. Tell them that a couple of times. I did with my grp and they said thats cool, but they woukd go headon into overwhelming danger. When the cleric went down after 2 hits the look of horror crept up on the players faces. Granted I fudged a couple of rolls so the party coukd continue but it stuck and dawned on them that their precious character coukd actually die and the dm was gonna let the dice gods rule. Give them a couple of clise encounters to where they barely surprise.
I'd add that you never refer to or describe monsters by their name in the books...
For example, when describing an encounter with hobgoblins:
Each of these foul-looking creatures towers above even the tallest member of your band. Although humanoid, these brutes are clearly not men. Their skin is dark and mottled, and their cold eyes gleam with barely-restrained bloodlust. The taunt muscles of their hulking bodies ripple as they move toward you...As for starting level, I usually just have characters start at 1st level, unless I am running a specific one-shot that requires a higher level...
Something that I have always wanted to try with a horror themed PF game is to have the players roll up characters using only the NPC classes (and letting them multi-class into the PC classes later on during the campaign)...
yes I love the NPC classes and would love doing a game with them but I know my group they were angry when I said no gunslinger lol
yes I love the NPC classes and would love doing a game with them but I know my group they were angry when I said no gunslinger lol
You may want to run another game. Considered it?
yes I love the NPC classes and would love doing a game with them but I know my group they were angry when I said no gunslinger lolYou may want to run another game. Considered it?
well I don't plan on npc classes for this game.
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Look at the Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (PFRPG), especially The Curse of the Golden Spear trilogy. Also look at Haiku of Horror: Autumn Moon Bath House for Kaidan (only $2.99) which is an adventure site more than a module, but has an investigative plot surrounding a ghost, haunting and curse. Not released yet, by the Gamemaster's Guide to Kaidan will feature articles on running horror in games.
No need to remove APL, CR, etc. Kaidan is all Pathfinder and scary as heck. YMMV.
Wow there are lots of good sugestions above here.
1. I agree that one shots and short campaigns are great for horror.
2. I like to start at 2nd level or play a normal first level adventure and then start the horror. Horror adventures should be deadly and at first level PC's are fragile.
3. Love the idea of the "stars are right". Thus the characters have something to fix, if some agency is forcing the stars to align or working with the alignment, an arcane machine etc. Or perhaps if they can just survive for a certain time the alignment will end and they can then mop up. Both could be fun.
4. Never played an all NPC game. It could be fun to play "underpowered".
5. Yes to never saying the name of monsters. Leave the players guesing!
6. Yes to consequences for actions such as saving or not saving bystanders. If you are using an insanity or taint system that sort of thing fits right in.
7. Yes to close calls if you think your players don't need the harsh example of character death, or in conjunction with character death.
8. There are other games great for horror. Oviously, Call of Cthulhu but I also like Savage Worlds if you know the systems and your players want to try. There are lots of options if you feel Pathfinder just doesn't quite work for this type of game.
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yes I love the NPC classes and would love doing a game with them but I know my group they were angry when I said no gunslinger lolThey got angry over that? Very mature people you game with there...
lol they are mostly teens and new to the game, you know how it is you hear a new game is starting you decide to show up and try it first time ever, you have spent the last two weeks looking up classes and decide "hey this one looks cool" learn all about it then get there and find out 4 others have decided to play the same thing, you talk it over, decide to be a team and then the DM shows up with the class restrictions and that class is on the list. Its disappointing
I have run a few horror campaigns/games and I think the following are useful:
1. atmosphere: take more time with descriptions, especially what the PC's get from their senses. Sight is great but sound and taste and touch are important for horror. It is cold and clammy, there is water driping or wind screaming, etc.
2. Horror is about vulnerability. Fight hard to make the PC's feel vulnerable. Throw out the idea of appropriately leveled encounters. Make the PC's run early on in the campaign. The PC's need to feel like they could die at any minute. Without fear of death there can be no horror.
3. Play up the PC's limitations. Take away things they take for granted.
a. The PC's are used to healing frequently. Create profane areas where positive energy is greatly reduced. They cast cure critical and get ...1d8 healing...they chanel positive energy and get ...nothing...They try to turn undead and nada ..etc.
b. limit their senses ... darkness that can't be seen through plus creatures with life sense or tremor sense, etc. can be terrifying. The key is make the PC's feel vulnerable!
c. level draining, abilty draing etc. are great to make PC's afraid especially at low to mid levels.
d. Give them people to protect. This makes them feel heroic but also limits their options. I call these people dead weight.
4. Create effects that are creepy but don't necessarily affect mechanics. A PC's hair starts falling out. Don't expain why. Weird fungus begins to grow on a PC's skin. No real effect ... for now...etc. A PC just can't get enough raw meat, etc. Remove disease works or doesn't...your choice, or perhaps the weird stuff just comes back after a time.
Remember, horror is about fear and all powerfull PC's generally aren't afraid. Make them afraid...and then let them overcome it and be heros!
Good advice, but I would suggest run a low or near no magic game (at least for the players). If they can blast it, it won't be horror. If they have to flee or think, less they be trapped and slowly devoured, this is horror. Give them a reason to go into real peril, give them limited resources, set up scenes of evil or alien threats closing in.
Avoid ghosts and vampires (for you avoid casper and glittering vampires that way), don't avoid all forms of spirit though, steal ideas from different cultures. Like the Qalupalik: http://blog.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/blog/posts/inuit-myths-and-legends/
yes I love the NPC classes and would love doing a game with them but I know my group they were angry when I said no gunslinger lolThey got angry over that? Very mature people you game with there...
Urgh gunslingers. So many players wanted to play them for a while there. Novelty wins, the setting suffers.
Good advice, but I would suggest run a low or near no magic game (at least for the players). If they can blast it, it won't be horror. If they have to flee...I have run a few horror campaigns/games and I think the following are useful:
1. atmosphere: take more time with descriptions, especially what the PC's get from their senses. Sight is great but sound and taste and touch are important for horror. It is cold and clammy, there is water driping or wind screaming, etc.
2. Horror is about vulnerability. Fight hard to make the PC's feel vulnerable. Throw out the idea of appropriately leveled encounters. Make the PC's run early on in the campaign. The PC's need to feel like they could die at any minute. Without fear of death there can be no horror.
3. Play up the PC's limitations. Take away things they take for granted.
a. The PC's are used to healing frequently. Create profane areas where positive energy is greatly reduced. They cast cure critical and get ...1d8 healing...they chanel positive energy and get ...nothing...They try to turn undead and nada ..etc.
b. limit their senses ... darkness that can't be seen through plus creatures with life sense or tremor sense, etc. can be terrifying. The key is make the PC's feel vulnerable!
c. level draining, abilty draing etc. are great to make PC's afraid especially at low to mid levels.
d. Give them people to protect. This makes them feel heroic but also limits their options. I call these people dead weight.
4. Create effects that are creepy but don't necessarily affect mechanics. A PC's hair starts falling out. Don't expain why. Weird fungus begins to grow on a PC's skin. No real effect ... for now...etc. A PC just can't get enough raw meat, etc. Remove disease works or doesn't...your choice, or perhaps the weird stuff just comes back after a time.
Remember, horror is about fear and all powerfull PC's generally aren't afraid. Make them afraid...and then let them overcome it and be heros!
so what would you suggest for classes?
One scenario that's been clawing at the inside of my skull for a while is this one:
Modern technology---set on an alternate Earth very very close to our own in arrangement, culture, etc, probably somewhere 1950-2000.
Players all start as 3rd level experts with a pretty generous stat array, probably 16, 16, 14, 12, 12, 10. They also get several tightly affiliated NPCs with somewhat less generous arrays, probably 14, 14, 12, 12, 10, 10--these NPCs are things like spouses, children, best friends, etc. They may be 2nd level experts, one may be a 2nd level warrior.The premise is that the alignment of the stars suppressing magic on this world has shifted (think Shadowrun--Earthdawn) to allow a lot more magic. However it has also shifted in a profoundly negative direction---negative as in the negative material plane, undead, and so forth. The undead won't be constrained by the usual gentleman's agreement, and the demon prince of the undead wants to turn the world into his private playground. PCs will be able to replace one npc class level with a pc class level any time they advance, in addition to gaining a level. Mortality is expected to be very high. Affiliated NPCs can be used to replace fallen PCs, and will have their stats upgraded with the PC template. Getting any sort of magic will be pretty tricky, probably mostly self-researched (Players may find that some really old magical tomes actually work if the mana level is high enough). Damage reduction values, AC, and defenses on a lot of monsters and undead are going to be increased while reducing their damage output somewhat to give a bit more of a horror feel. CR and such things are tossed out the window. The miniseries could end by the conjunction ending, by some sort of planar seal being effected, by total extermination, or a number of other ways.
very interesting sounds like something I wouldn't mind playing in, I like the twist of giving them pretty much a second character, and for the two above this I have all said books almost everything from 3.5 including THE book of evil.
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I thank you all for your help, I have devoted the day to rewriting my game idea, looking over everything presented here, and it is coming together very well, now the only thing I have to work on is class restrictions, time frame, and back story for races, I figure humans, elves, half elves, and half orcs, maybe add in halflings but for the races that are not human I want to give them some kind of stigma when it comes to dealing with the more prevalent race ie humans and halflings, such as orcs I have figured out, a full blooded orc will be almost baseline animal intelligence so breeding with one is looked upon by civilized society as just wrong, any suggestions for elves?
Faylon,
I'd probably actually give them 3 or 4, not just one extra character. So a character might be an engineer, with a wife, an old Army buddy, and two teenaged kids. They'd also have some less closely affiliated NPCs that they gave a damn about. I'd probably set it in an alternate America, so there'd be tons of guns and lots of vehicles. There'd be a military response obviously (The M1A2, for instance, has hardness 30 on the front with a 10d6 main armament---that's d20 modern if I recollect). Stuff like nuclear weapons, which will probably get used, would be treated like ritual sorcery over a broad area. There might even be nukes used not so much to kill the undead or demons but rather to preemptively kill potential carriers.
interesting idea
Yeah I'd probably make zombies something like this:
St 12 Dx 8 Damage d6+1 Mv 20 HP+12
Not staggered like the typical zombie but still slower than normal.
Can do a double move but can not run.
DR 10/holy or magic
Disease effect, as zombie rot in the beastiary, but with accelerated onset (checks are per hour rather than per day and no number of checks is sufficient to cure the disease--magical cures only), only checked if target reduced to half hit points or less.So pretty hard to deal with using guns, assuming that we rate a really good rifle at 2d6 (like a greatsword), most rifles at d10, and most pistols at d6 or d8. You can full attack with most modern firearms and reload with a move action. If you've got a rapid reload feat, you can do it as a free action.
you might want to check out amethyst it goes well with pathfinder and has some fun rules regarding magic and gun interaction
I won't go over the game tricks to make a scenario or encounter scary (since that has already been covered), but instead I'm going to focus on the actual rules and changes that may be needed.
I think horror is mechanically difficult under the d20/PF system and I personally would not try to run a campaign unless I radically re-worked the rules.
Mechanical changes that I would make if you were going to make a PF based horror game or campaign. You can use some, a few or even none of these changes, but adopt and adapt the focus of my intent with these 5 points.
Here they are:
- I would take the quality over quantity approach when it comes to encounter generation (unless using an encounter that is based off of high numbers - re:swarm). This means that you would have to consider re-stating encounters to be a little bit tougher/unique but much less frequent than the game is designed to handle. With that in mind, even tougher creatures (see following) may be vulnerable to character novas - since they know encounters are going to be less frequent.
Ex: Zombies have considerably more hp and flat DR (critical hit to avoid DR) that makes them very hard to fight. Add in some kind of limited regeneration when they reach 0 hp and you will see the PCs trying to brain or destroy the corpses while they are down - or run like hell if there are too many of them. So even if the party casters were to nova it really wouldn't much matter -since each encounter is built with the nova in mind. Insane - yes, it is insane. No chump encounters, no spell burning encounters. When they meet up with something - it should be overwhelming, deadly and scary.
- CR would have to be adjusted accordingly. Individual encounters are reduced in number and frequency, but encounters are tougher = worth more in XP to make up for the difference.
Creatures need new rules under a dedicated horror game.
- Creatures do not follow PC/NPC character standard build rules. Focus on encounter design/assigning powers/abilities more on desired need and effect vs. the standard "build" guidelines given for making encounters or creatures. Balance out CR after - but focus should be on effect or need of ability, not so much on "making it all add up".
- Creatures should have powers outside the realm of those controlled by the characters. Now, that doesn't mean make up stuff as you go along. Establish powers and abilities, and rules governing them and then follow those as structured rules for the creature.
Ex: You want Ghouls to be tougher/solo threat monsters vs. the fodder roll that they currently occupy in the game. New ghouls can now animate dead, take only 1/4 damage from all attacks and are X harder to turn. You have changed the way ghouls work in your game = up the CR.
- You can break certain rules as long as you follow the break consistently. Ex: For our up-powered Zombies we have increased their hp and DR,+ regeneration ability, but we keep their to-hits and damage within a level appropriate range (whatever that may be). So they can pound and attack the party (with low-to hit numbers) while taking tremendous amount of damage - slowly whittling down the party via attrition.
- Creatures of this nature should be used sparingly. Standard dungeon design sort of goes out the window in horror gaming.
- Partial XP rewards. Repeat threats that are not defeated (BBEG or main henchman/creature/minion) should yield some xp to progress both the story and characters when they are encounter but one side or the other flees. It builds both tension and a sense of accomplishment if you give the PCs something for surviving an "encounter", even if the monster isn't defeated at the time the encounter concludes.
- Players should have low stat arrays
- PC classes should be the exception and not the rule. In other words, in the small town the PCs Paladin may be the only Paladin. Eliminating PC classes in the NPC pool - in addition to reducing the number of higher level NPCs puts the weight on the player’s heads. I would prefer a Points of Light style campaign world over High Fantasy to get this accomplished. Hell, the PCs Paladin may not just be the only Paladin in town, but also in the surrounding area. When dealing with horror most NPCs will be ignorant, superstitious, fearful and powerless. Considering my variation on non-divine magic (see following), it wouldn’t be a surprise that people would turn to the church or faith as the only way to deal with the darkness and the things that reside inside.
- Limit resources: Now coupled with increased individual creature power/encounters this can be incredibly deadly. That’s the point. The lethality of a horror based campaign or game should be a tick higher than standard RPG fare. Limiting resources can include:
-Dumping WBL
-No magic mart
-limited magic weapons and items available
-No item creation, or if it exists it comes with great risks and at great price.
- Cap HPs. Hit points could start at x3 normal, and only go up 1 or 2 points per level thereafter (if Full BAB class). Everyone has a similar range of hp with exceptions for higher levels.
So PCs should have lower PB for stats, and maybe higher starting (but nearly fixed) hit points.
Keeping unaligned magic in check
As a variant - you could tie magic = corruption.
For each non-divine/non-good spell used the character will tally up corruption points. There could be a way to atone for some of these (reducing the bank) by doing good deeds/fighting horror, but the idea is that people who use magic are going to eventually be turned over to evil.
- Change the chase/fleeing rules. When I go over the Nemesis section this will also help.
Characters should be able to escape/flee encounters easier. No more AoO when fleeing and maybe even allow dice challenges and round-by-round initiative to conduct chases/PCs fleeing. So they can try to get away, get some bonus points to escape by putting objects or barriers between the "thing" that is chasing them. running from the encounter before they are prepared to fight it should be rewarded, not punished.
- Fear or sanity rules. These can be tough - telling a player that they are scared is one thing, having a mechanic that gives the players some drawbacks and simultaneous boons while being terrified can make for some interesting gaming. Sanity rules: similar to corruption - over a long enough timeline fighting horror should take its toll on PCs. Sanity and corruption rules can help track and manage that.
- BBEG should be handled as a nemesis that can make more interactions with the PCs than the standard "throne room battle". Under these rules the BBEG should be pretty damn hard to kill (considering that each encounter/minion is already beefed up) and using the chase/escape rules plus combined with unique powers allows the DM to make the main "horror" appear and even fight the party a few times before the final showdown.
- Having some horror themed base abilities/SLAs gives the main nemesis the fighting power to deal with multiple foes. High hp, DR and SLAs/inherent abilities that affect or disrupt spells all work to make a single foe battle very possible. Having a "special" way to kill the BBEG is even better – think of how difficult it is to kill a vampire, well each BBEG should be on that level of special need and attention to destroy. It should never be a case of "buff up and mash buttons" and hope for the best. That should lead to failure. The Players are going to need to gather intel to find the hidden threat, and then find the means to stop the threat (who won’t be so hidden at that point).
It should never be about the BBEG reaching 0 hit points or failing a SOD save.
These are radical departures for what is being put out there by everyone else, but I figure I would throw mine in.
Again, I would go with another system, but these are the changes I would propose to Faylon or any other DM who wants to run a horror game using the D20 system. Running a module under the current rules is one thing – a whole horror campaign is another –and imo, the current rules do not support the latter.
Some great advice already listed on this thread. Mike Franke in paticular seems to have a firm grasp of the genre.
My 2 cents is to make sure the players are all on the same page. They are playing a horror game and they need to embrace that genre. Ask that they turn off/put-away cell phones as they are distractions that will break the tension you are trying to build.
Back in the day I used to run a yearly horror game at my cabin. When the sun ebbed low my friends and I would grab beers & dice and had some of the best horror gaming I can recall.
I wish you much success, sounds like a lot of fun.
-MD
Regarding classes, I think any class can be fun, but I would avoid allowing classes that are immune to fear or allow others to be immune to fear. I know this seems counter-intuitive as the Paladin seems perfect for this genre, but in my experience nothing breaks the mood faster than one or two characters announcing that they can't be frightened because they are immune to fear.
In a modern setting I think gunslingers are great. Rather than wizards I would encourage spell slinger, magus, and summoner as these feel more modern to me. Rangers and Clerics can fit right in in the modern world as can rogues and monks.
Some great advice already listed on this thread. Mike Franke in paticular seems to have a firm grasp of the genre.
Thanks, I spent a long time working on a Freeport project and really came to love the genre. Hopefully, Dark Deeds in Freeport will appear sometime this year. (Shameless plug)
hmmm.... something to think about, again thank you for the help, you have some very good ideas.
any suggestions on starting level, or class restrictions?
I highly suggest starting your players as low a level as you're comfortable DM'ing for. Level 1 would be great. At low levels, the players have extremely limited resources, low HP, etc, which makes driving home fear and atmosphere very easy. Something like a small horde of zombies, becomes a real threat to party of 1st level adventurers.
As players gain levels, they get all kinds of new tools and powers for overcoming challenges. They gain the sort of confidence and raw firepower that obliterates basic monsters. It gets harder to scare them. The game takes a different turn; The characters are becoming seasoned veterans in the art of slaying things, so driving horror themes becomes a lot more difficult. Not impossible, but simply requires the ante to be much, much higher. For example, a shuffling corpse is no longer scary. Now, it has to be a flying, screeching creature of undeath with blazing red eyes, threatening the entire village, or something like that, just to get the player's attention. Everything just gets more complicated.
I've run several horror-themed campaigns, and I've found that atmosphere and tension are much easier to convey at lower levels. The fewer numbers you need to reference and worry about, the more immersive your scenes can be. If everyone in the party has 20 different items conveying bonuses to this or that, it gets harder and harder to maintain the atmosphere.
Overall(tl; dr), keep it simple. Focus more on details and stimuli as much as possible, and as little on hard numbers and variables as you can.
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It sounds stupidly simple and common-sense, but the chief, prime, big ol' #1 thing that drives horror, is the fear of the unknown. If the players "know" that they are just fighting some plain old zombies, there's nothing to fear. Even if those zombies have higher than normal HD, it's still a zombie. A zombie is a zombie is a zombie...
Change that. Have it move like a normal person, just choosing slower, stalking movements. Have it talk. Have it do any number of things that it's stats aren't expressly prohibiting. All of this, and you don't even need to change any game stats.
If you can find a copy, I highly recommend getting the Ravenloft 3e book "Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead." There is some seriously good stuff in there for redressing and customizing creatures to completely catch your players off guard; it even includes ways to make the Jason Voorhees/Michael Myers unkillable/unstoppable juggernaut in balanced game terms(always appears X feet behind the party, always rises to it's feet when it's thought to be dead unless Y condition is met, etc).
When you can dismantle the heroes overconfidence, you can really sew seeds of tension. Having no idea of what they are up against, is a quick way to put players into survival-mode. Even something as simple as reskinning(describing differently) a monster, can induce all sorts of panic.
Also, found this:
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/10/11/25-things-you-should-know-about- writing-horror/
Yeah, I remember I scared my players when one fine session, they were trying to bring a dead pc via dark rituals and sacrifices. They had to feed the hearts of the slain into a hell portal in the mouth of the deceased. They didn't know what would happen.
So unfortunately, they were a bit cheap and skimped on the hell deal. So their buddy animated as some sort of demon zombie, grappled the party archer and over a few rounds, tore out the heart, ate it, and finished the deal, the portal closed and it fell over.
Portal closed, dead player woke up with a strange taste in their mouth and blood dripping from their lips. Their pal lying stone dead (but fresh) with a giant hole in their chest.
It was just a possessed zombie with a great grapple and strength (and special attack), but it freaked those players right out, it was totally an unknown.
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Yeah, I remember I scared my players when one fine session, they were trying to bring a dead pc via dark rituals and sacrifices. They had to feed the hearts of the slain into a hell portal in the mouth of the deceased. They didn't know what would happen.
So unfortunately, they were a bit cheap and skimped on the hell deal. So their buddy animated as some sort of demon zombie, grappled the party archer and over a few rounds, tore out the heart, ate it, and finished the deal, the portal closed and it fell over.
Portal closed, dead player woke up with a strange taste in their mouth and blood dripping from their lips. Their pal lying stone dead (but fresh) with a giant hole in their chest.
It was just a possessed zombie with a great grapple and strength (and special attack), but it freaked those players right out, it was totally an unknown.
That is just awesome. Your players pulled an "Ash" (Army of Darkness).
Note to all players. Do NOT skimp on ritual!
Taking typical things like raise dead and turning it into something messed up makes for some good WTF gaming.
I tend to enjoy horror games in modern settings with players playing somewhat normal joe's. More like a HP lovecraft story or what you might see in a horror movie. Players could be paranormal investigaters, maybe even as corney as Ghost Hunters.
The element of fantasy with classes geared for battle makes players feel brave and confident that they can take on the things that go bump in the night. You strip it all away and you have players feeling vulnerable.
This is not to say Horror can't be done in a fantasy setting. It can be done quite well as Loyalist just proved.
Would love to hear more stories, tips and tricks from people.
-MD
I'll say hell yes to that.
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Check out the D&D 3.5 book Heroes of Horror. While I'm not a fan of some of the mechanical stuff they include (e.g. the "taint" rules), it does have a whole lot of excellent advice on running a horror-focused fantasy game.