D&D General How do you do horror when running D&D?

[hawkeyefan]

yeah I just grabbed the 5 torches, it sounds intriguing. That might be something the OP would like, as it is more dangerous than 5e. Frankly, the superhero curve of D&D is a turn off for me as well, I just as soon end any game by 9th.

Yeah, depending on the setting he wanted, I think it may be a way to go. It's all on the 5E chassis, with some tweaks and a little shift in focus. But the characters are definitely more at risk, and they have fewer super powers at their disposal.

Combat's meant to be a last resort in that game, it seems. But it does still invovle combat, so I don't know how suitable it would be for the OP, specifically. But for anyone else who wants toned down PCs and a grittier feel to their D&D, this game should do that well.

 

[wicked cool]

atmosphere-set the tension
add blockers such as fog/murkey water
separate the pcs-maybe the have to protect the town at different spots
Make it important for NPCS to survive
a disease is good

Plan a 1 shot with prerolled characters but say only 1 or 2 are good characters in the horror setting and the rest are not and only the good one don't know

 

[jayoungr]

Oh yeah, speaking of the "superhero curve," OP, I'm betting you'll want to use the slow healing rules from the DMG.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

Oh yeah, speaking of the "superhero curve," OP, I'm betting you'll want to use the slow healing rules from the DMG.

Slow healing rules? (Still new to 5e)

Tell me where to find those in the dmg senpai :3

 

[jayoungr]

Tell me where to find those in the dmg senpai :3

There are several variant healing rules on pages 266-267. I was specifically thinking of the "slow natural healing" rules on page 267. The "gritty realism" rest rules (page 267) would also likely be of interest to the OP.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

There are several variant healing rules on pages 266-267. I was specifically thinking of the "slow natural healing" rules on page 267. The "gritty realism" rest rules (page 267) would also likely be of interest to the OP.

Thankyou. I like me some harsh healing and resting rules.

 

[Celebrim]

Horror is a really challenging genre rarely pulled off well in any medium.

Fundamentally, horror seems to be the genre where the protagonists are relatively much weaker than the antagonists and thus the antagonist is greatly favored in the struggle and many or most of the protagonists can be expected to die.

In this sense, horror is pretty easy to pull off - just increase the encounter difficulty beyond what you'd normally do, and spend most of your time foreshadowing the few hard encounters you plan to run. All D&D characters are strong only with respect to what they are expect to be able to overcome. A party of 6th level PC's may have a ton of options, but they are probably going down to a CR 16 monster. Granted, 5e has made this gap between party capabilities and anything you could throw at them relatively smaller, but you can always give foes old fashioned abilities that are rather outside the 5e norms if you need them.

Throw a party of 1st level characters against a CR9 monster. A drowned master, clay golem, or a coven of hags should do fine. They'll not feel so powerful. The rest is just telegraphing the threat, adjusting the situation to not be overwhelming, and providing some foozle that makes the situation winnable.

 

[Rechan]

While I appreciate the book recs, I don’t intend to spend any money on D&D. After investing heavily on two editions and using so little of it, no thank you. The SRD exists if I absolutely need something. But I don’t see myself needing much once I figure out the range of target numbers the players can hit with rolls.

To answer specific questions, I don’t want to use prefens, players should have a degree of choice in who their character is, but I really want to avoid classes. I’ve not looked at the rules in a long time, but I can kit bash a thing. Basically “classes” that are little more than emphasize certain skills and saving throws. Your 3e NPC classes are more or less what I mean.

I figure I’m going to have to go with fantasy, as there’s no d20 modern equivalent, and I think getting too far away from even the very Idea of D&D is pushing it. Besides, I need all manner of supernatural/magical things, and it is easier for that to fit in a fantasy world.

So I wouldn’t have an issue with characters having access to a few cantrips or misc magical effects. I don’t know what spells are in 5e but some of your non combat spells are neat and would be nice to see them used.

 

[Tony Vargas]

There can be a lot more dimensions to horror, but...

But I feel that D&D is a poor system for horror because characters are so powerful. Even 1st level PCs .... Part of horror is feeling like you are at incredible risk, that you don’t have much of a chance of survival,

In most eds you could dial up the level of the horrors, and achieve that.
In 5e, the most dangerous thing is being outnumbered, so go for hordes.
Zombie apocalypse, plenty horrible.

To make it worse, don't let up. No rest, no slots, no magic, not so powerful anymore.

 

[ad_hoc]

... Therefore I am trying to force D&D into a form that I want to play:

...This is not the experience most D&D players want or expect therefore I will specify before they show up the type of game they are getting onto.

...The SRD exists if I absolutely need something. But I don’t see myself needing much once I figure out the range of target numbers the players can hit with rolls.

To answer specific questions, I don’t want to use prefens, players should have a degree of choice in who their character is, but I really want to avoid classes. I’ve not looked at the rules in a long time, but I can kit bash a thing. Basically “classes” that are little more than emphasize certain skills and saving throws. Your 3e NPC classes are more or less what I mean.

In order to not be tricking people you're going to need to 'specify' that the "D&D" game that you're wanting to run isn't actually D&D at all.

Anything short of that is just lying. You seem to have no problem doing it but are getting upset when people call you on it.

People on the internet advising you not to do something is much less drama than what is going to happen when you trick people into playing "D&D" only to find that isn't what is going to be happening at all.

That's a bad time for everyone.