Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
GMs: How do you create a feeling of horror (in an heroic fantasy game)?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 6162734" data-attributes="member: 8835"><p>From the Dread rulebook, they spend a lot of time talking about how to create the horror feeling.</p><p></p><p>Isolation.</p><p>the players should feel as though they can't go for help. the most obvious is the Cabin in the Woods with the bridge being washed out and it's raining. You are stuck in the horror zone. But you can also pull that off in New York City. You can't go for help when you have no proof and it'll make you look crazy and get you committed.</p><p></p><p>Uncertainty.</p><p>Not knowing if your PC will survive is scary</p><p>Not knowing what the enemy actually is, is scary</p><p>Not knowing who you can trust is scary</p><p>Not knowing what is going on is scary</p><p></p><p>Climax.</p><p>In Dread, the point is to whittle the PCs down to the last few survivors. There's no hit points, so you are either alive or dead. In D&D that can be damaging to player fun. I'd recommend adapting it to whittling the party down to few hit points and resources.</p><p></p><p></p><p>So before they get to the final show down, they suffer sabotage, theft, accidents, all staged by the enemy (not accidents). When the party is down to their the last, that's when the big bad shows up, in the dark, smoke, etc. Never let them get a full look at it. Each player is weak, in doubt, and still worried as heck because they don't know what this thing is.</p><p></p><p>But you'll have your whole party experiencing it. For longer term campaigns, it may not be good practice to wipe out the PCs, but you can still keep them on the ropes every time.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Janx, post: 6162734, member: 8835"] From the Dread rulebook, they spend a lot of time talking about how to create the horror feeling. Isolation. the players should feel as though they can't go for help. the most obvious is the Cabin in the Woods with the bridge being washed out and it's raining. You are stuck in the horror zone. But you can also pull that off in New York City. You can't go for help when you have no proof and it'll make you look crazy and get you committed. Uncertainty. Not knowing if your PC will survive is scary Not knowing what the enemy actually is, is scary Not knowing who you can trust is scary Not knowing what is going on is scary Climax. In Dread, the point is to whittle the PCs down to the last few survivors. There's no hit points, so you are either alive or dead. In D&D that can be damaging to player fun. I'd recommend adapting it to whittling the party down to few hit points and resources. So before they get to the final show down, they suffer sabotage, theft, accidents, all staged by the enemy (not accidents). When the party is down to their the last, that's when the big bad shows up, in the dark, smoke, etc. Never let them get a full look at it. Each player is weak, in doubt, and still worried as heck because they don't know what this thing is. But you'll have your whole party experiencing it. For longer term campaigns, it may not be good practice to wipe out the PCs, but you can still keep them on the ropes every time. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
GMs: How do you create a feeling of horror (in an heroic fantasy game)?
Top