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Darkness & Dread vs. Heroes of Horror
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<blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 2737872" data-attributes="member: 172"><p>Creature types like abberations, undead, and demons, are right out of horror. Necromancy is right out of horror. The classic "save the maiden from the dastardly sacrifice" plot (and a dozen other common D&D plots) are right out of horror.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's not that vulnerable characters aren't convenient in creating an adventure with horror feel. They are.</p><p></p><p>It's the persistence thereof. Character creation is a choice that persists throughout the campaign. The feeling of weakness can follow you throughout the campaign, and after a while, the "charm" of feeling vulnerable, and the benefit that is has in feeding into the horror feel, is gone. You totally lack the capability to make the players feel as if they lost power, because they never had it. And it's more difficult to get the same response from players if they know it is coming... and if you design your characters specifically for horror, they will.</p><p></p><p>So yeah, making characters more tepid can assist the feel of horror. But I consider this a short term solution that ultimately robs you of the exhiliration of more punctuated horror experiences in a campaign that does not otherwise focus on it.</p><p></p><p>AFAIAC, the little EL guidelines in Lords of Madness are a much more productive way to create horror feel than forcing players into alternate, tepid character generation, because you can use it selectively.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Psion, post: 2737872, member: 172"] Creature types like abberations, undead, and demons, are right out of horror. Necromancy is right out of horror. The classic "save the maiden from the dastardly sacrifice" plot (and a dozen other common D&D plots) are right out of horror. It's not that vulnerable characters aren't convenient in creating an adventure with horror feel. They are. It's the persistence thereof. Character creation is a choice that persists throughout the campaign. The feeling of weakness can follow you throughout the campaign, and after a while, the "charm" of feeling vulnerable, and the benefit that is has in feeding into the horror feel, is gone. You totally lack the capability to make the players feel as if they lost power, because they never had it. And it's more difficult to get the same response from players if they know it is coming... and if you design your characters specifically for horror, they will. So yeah, making characters more tepid can assist the feel of horror. But I consider this a short term solution that ultimately robs you of the exhiliration of more punctuated horror experiences in a campaign that does not otherwise focus on it. AFAIAC, the little EL guidelines in Lords of Madness are a much more productive way to create horror feel than forcing players into alternate, tepid character generation, because you can use it selectively. [/QUOTE]
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