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D&D 4th Edition & Dead Space (or survival horror in 4E) is it possible?
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<blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 4876554" data-attributes="member: 710"><p>Don't give them any time to rest. Or rather, let them work hard for it.</p><p></p><p>1) Waves of Monsters. "So, you thought these 5 zombies you just fought where it? Well, there are another 20 monsters coming towards you. Know, you didn't have a short rest yet." Of course, you stay "fair" in that they can beat this type of encounter - but it will be a hard one. Note that if the enemies attack in waves and they don't have to deal with them all at once, that puts them at a small advantage - they can probably surive encounters a little harder than usual. </p><p>Play with expectations. Put them against a really tough encounter where they believe everything is finished - and then afte a short rest, they encounter the next monster. They will be low on healing surges, out of dailies, most potions used up. </p><p>Mechanically, such a fight might just be the kind of fight that just requires some encounter powers and non-terrible tactics. Probably an encounter of their party level instead of their party level +5. </p><p>Use Minons, Elites or Solos wisely. Maybe also play with your own expectations of what a "boss fight" is - it could be tons of Minions with a single regular monster that arrives in one of the waves. </p><p></p><p>2) Fight for a moment of rest. </p><p>They need to find a safe spot, where the monsters don't just follow them or accidentally stumble upon them. Pack some clues where this might be (it can be obvious.) The PCs have to fight their way through there. The spot is not safe forever (which they might know before, or maybe they don't and they get awoken early in the "morning" from a group of monsters bashing in the wall to their safe spot.</p><p></p><p>3) Any retreat is temporary.</p><p>There is no single safe haven. The first retreat might be a room in the dungeon that has a very effective seal. But the seal is broken eventually. They need to find the next. ANd they might not know where it is.</p><p></p><p>4) Their only way to survive is to get away.</p><p>Their are just too many monsters. They "respawn" in some way undeads and dimension holes to hell can do that. Their only way to really and finally find peace is to get away from wherever the monsters are. </p><p>Unfortunately, leaving ain't easy. On a space ship, that's "easy" - you need a starship/lifeboat kind of vessel. In a D&D world, you need to find an equialent. Maybe they need a boat to leave the Isle of Terrors. Maybe they need to get to the heavily guarded gate that leads back to the real world. Perhaps they just need to find the ritual components for a Linked Portal ritual. </p><p></p><p>If you want to go very far in horror and dread - all of them or at least one of them need to stay back to have the other escape - activate the portal, destroy the portal, burn all the other boats, distract them. Think of some "compensation" for the player in question. Maybe his character actually survives the unsurvivable, thanks to a greater power. Or he just gets some extra XP for his replcement character or a neat special feature. But it might be that finding an heroic end can be all the reward needed.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>In the end, whatever you do - some players just won't fall into the horror mood. It might be wise to be upfront about the general goal to make it easier for them to get into it. But if they still don't act "horrofied", don't let that disappoint you. If they still show to have fun, it's fine. Hey, and maybe they don't play the despaired innocent caught in the middle of horror, but maybe they play the cynical, wisecracking guy with black humor. That's fine too.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mustrum_Ridcully, post: 4876554, member: 710"] Don't give them any time to rest. Or rather, let them work hard for it. 1) Waves of Monsters. "So, you thought these 5 zombies you just fought where it? Well, there are another 20 monsters coming towards you. Know, you didn't have a short rest yet." Of course, you stay "fair" in that they can beat this type of encounter - but it will be a hard one. Note that if the enemies attack in waves and they don't have to deal with them all at once, that puts them at a small advantage - they can probably surive encounters a little harder than usual. Play with expectations. Put them against a really tough encounter where they believe everything is finished - and then afte a short rest, they encounter the next monster. They will be low on healing surges, out of dailies, most potions used up. Mechanically, such a fight might just be the kind of fight that just requires some encounter powers and non-terrible tactics. Probably an encounter of their party level instead of their party level +5. Use Minons, Elites or Solos wisely. Maybe also play with your own expectations of what a "boss fight" is - it could be tons of Minions with a single regular monster that arrives in one of the waves. 2) Fight for a moment of rest. They need to find a safe spot, where the monsters don't just follow them or accidentally stumble upon them. Pack some clues where this might be (it can be obvious.) The PCs have to fight their way through there. The spot is not safe forever (which they might know before, or maybe they don't and they get awoken early in the "morning" from a group of monsters bashing in the wall to their safe spot. 3) Any retreat is temporary. There is no single safe haven. The first retreat might be a room in the dungeon that has a very effective seal. But the seal is broken eventually. They need to find the next. ANd they might not know where it is. 4) Their only way to survive is to get away. Their are just too many monsters. They "respawn" in some way undeads and dimension holes to hell can do that. Their only way to really and finally find peace is to get away from wherever the monsters are. Unfortunately, leaving ain't easy. On a space ship, that's "easy" - you need a starship/lifeboat kind of vessel. In a D&D world, you need to find an equialent. Maybe they need a boat to leave the Isle of Terrors. Maybe they need to get to the heavily guarded gate that leads back to the real world. Perhaps they just need to find the ritual components for a Linked Portal ritual. If you want to go very far in horror and dread - all of them or at least one of them need to stay back to have the other escape - activate the portal, destroy the portal, burn all the other boats, distract them. Think of some "compensation" for the player in question. Maybe his character actually survives the unsurvivable, thanks to a greater power. Or he just gets some extra XP for his replcement character or a neat special feature. But it might be that finding an heroic end can be all the reward needed. --- In the end, whatever you do - some players just won't fall into the horror mood. It might be wise to be upfront about the general goal to make it easier for them to get into it. But if they still don't act "horrofied", don't let that disappoint you. If they still show to have fun, it's fine. Hey, and maybe they don't play the despaired innocent caught in the middle of horror, but maybe they play the cynical, wisecracking guy with black humor. That's fine too. [/QUOTE]
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