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GMs: How do you create a feeling of horror (in an heroic fantasy game)?
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<blockquote data-quote="Mishihari Lord" data-source="post: 6162610" data-attributes="member: 128"><p>I've done this a few times, mostly unintentionally. Two factors seem to contribute:</p><p></p><p>A feeling of slow, impending doom. The PCs were once in a ruined city where they knew things became very, very dangerous after dark, with threats of a magnitude such that the only possible means of survival was to run as fast as they could, and no guarantee that even that would be successful. It created a tension as they adventured during the day, watching the clock. Things came up and as they started to realize that they weren't going to make it out in time I could see the fear grow in their eyes.</p><p></p><p>Threats that are not understood. I once had a monster that could only be seen out of the corner of one's eye. If you looked straight at it it wasn't there, and of course our peripheral vision is low on detail compared to central vision. It really freaked the players out. I think that first, it was viscerally creepy: imagining having the same thing happen in real life is pretty awful. Second they could only get very limited information on what it was through their senses. Third it was my first use of an original monster, so none of them had a clue what it could do. Fourth, it created a bit of a feeling of helplessness. In real life if you can't see something it can easily coup de grace you. The D&D rules don't work like that, but a bit of real life expectations leaked over in this case, I think.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mishihari Lord, post: 6162610, member: 128"] I've done this a few times, mostly unintentionally. Two factors seem to contribute: A feeling of slow, impending doom. The PCs were once in a ruined city where they knew things became very, very dangerous after dark, with threats of a magnitude such that the only possible means of survival was to run as fast as they could, and no guarantee that even that would be successful. It created a tension as they adventured during the day, watching the clock. Things came up and as they started to realize that they weren't going to make it out in time I could see the fear grow in their eyes. Threats that are not understood. I once had a monster that could only be seen out of the corner of one's eye. If you looked straight at it it wasn't there, and of course our peripheral vision is low on detail compared to central vision. It really freaked the players out. I think that first, it was viscerally creepy: imagining having the same thing happen in real life is pretty awful. Second they could only get very limited information on what it was through their senses. Third it was my first use of an original monster, so none of them had a clue what it could do. Fourth, it created a bit of a feeling of helplessness. In real life if you can't see something it can easily coup de grace you. The D&D rules don't work like that, but a bit of real life expectations leaked over in this case, I think. [/QUOTE]
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GMs: How do you create a feeling of horror (in an heroic fantasy game)?
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