So I'm going to be running a horror themed adventure for my girlfriend and her nephews around Halloween, and I came up with an idea I want some feedback for.
I definitely want their to be an evil cult in it (man, I love me some evil cults; I can't get enough of them). I was thinking a cool idea would be to have them use weapons and spells that are modified in some way to not cause pain. They still do damage and cause wounds just like any other weapon/spell, but the PCs can't feel the pain *at all.* Think of fighting an enemy, getting slashed at, not feeling a thing and looking down to see a festering gash on your chest. Or having flames flare toward you, and seeing your legs seared and burnt without a feeling of pain at all. Obviously, pain is a scary thing on its own, but seeing the damage without the feeling seems pretty unsettling to me.
To represent this in game, I would roll attacks and damage in secret, not telling them how much damage they took. Of course, I would describe it to them visually, but they wouldn't have access to the actual numbers. That should make them overuse their healing which might lead to some interesting situations.
So, does this sound scary/cool/unsettling? Any other comments?
Also, describing the sounds of wounds and damage would be pretty unsettling as well...maybe I'll have to get some good sound effects for the session.
Sounds like a cool mechanic. I love horror in my games, usually the traditional scary situation kind but with experienced players, nothing beats 'mechanical horror'. By that I mean using the game's mechanics to hit the players where it hurts most- their characters.
Not sure how you'd explain the mechanic in fluff terms though. Perhaps a crazy mad illusionist who has the entire area under their spell?
Sounds like a good start. Removing or obscuring the familiar is one of the trademark horror techniques. Setting the players on edge by messing with the way they're used to the game working will help them RP their characters' reactions better.
Thanks for the feedback, guys. Good to know I'm on the right track.
Not sure how you'd explain the mechanic in fluff terms though. Perhaps a crazy mad illusionist who has the entire area under their spell?
I was thinking of just making a weapon enchantment and metamagic feat that allowed for this. I'll probably give it to the NPCs free since its a home game and the actual effectiveness of the weapons/spells doesn't increase.