Wicht
Hero
Here is a question I am both personally and professionally interested in: How do different GMs go about (successfully) creating a feeling of horror in what would otherwise be an heroic fantasy RPG? Certainly some game systems are geared towards horror (Call of Cthulhu, Dread, etc.), but heroic fantasy games such as Pathfinder - not so much. Yet at the same time, the pulp genres of horror (as mastered by Lovecraft) and sword & sorcery (Howard, et. al) were brethren in arms and there was much cross-over. And the monsters are there for horror style games. But too often such monsters are presented and they become mere adversaries in a dice rolling battle, not true creatures of fear and horror.
I am not really interested in people explaining why horror cannot be done in Pathfinder or DnD. I've heard such arguments before and don't buy it. For one thing, I have done it successfully myself and know it can be done. What I want to know are some of the tricks or techniques you may have successfully employed to create a sense of horror, foreboding or dread in your players (and by extension their PCs). Or perhaps, alternately, tricks or techniques you have had used against you that made you feel horrified.
Relatedly, if you desire, you might share how you define horror: it is a topic that can be different things to different people. I have some answers of my own, but I was hoping to hear what others had to say first.
I am not really interested in people explaining why horror cannot be done in Pathfinder or DnD. I've heard such arguments before and don't buy it. For one thing, I have done it successfully myself and know it can be done. What I want to know are some of the tricks or techniques you may have successfully employed to create a sense of horror, foreboding or dread in your players (and by extension their PCs). Or perhaps, alternately, tricks or techniques you have had used against you that made you feel horrified.
Relatedly, if you desire, you might share how you define horror: it is a topic that can be different things to different people. I have some answers of my own, but I was hoping to hear what others had to say first.
