This isn’t how to run a spooky game but how to do so with the D20 system itself.
Edit: I do not need tips on how to run a horror game, I am struggling with the rules getting in the way.
I want to run a horror campaign, and I feel like D&D is my only Real option because finding players for any other system is Tough. And horror is a small genre so I need all the chances I can.
But I feel that D&D is a poor system for horror because characters are so powerful. Even 1st level PCs have a lot of strength on their side, with spells and damage that can put a hurt on what they’re dealing with. Part of horror is feeling like you are at incredible risk, that you don’t have much of a chance of survival, but characters are hard to kill, and I think I’d be. To kill someone to demonstrate that fighting is risky as hell. It is the difference between dropping Joe Schmo into a horror movie vs trained soldiers. And then there s magic. Undead are just no as scary if you have a cleric, etc.
Also some mechanics feel clunky. The grapple rules for instance.
Edit: I do not need tips on how to run a horror game, I am struggling with the rules getting in the way.
I want to run a horror campaign, and I feel like D&D is my only Real option because finding players for any other system is Tough. And horror is a small genre so I need all the chances I can.
But I feel that D&D is a poor system for horror because characters are so powerful. Even 1st level PCs have a lot of strength on their side, with spells and damage that can put a hurt on what they’re dealing with. Part of horror is feeling like you are at incredible risk, that you don’t have much of a chance of survival, but characters are hard to kill, and I think I’d be. To kill someone to demonstrate that fighting is risky as hell. It is the difference between dropping Joe Schmo into a horror movie vs trained soldiers. And then there s magic. Undead are just no as scary if you have a cleric, etc.
Also some mechanics feel clunky. The grapple rules for instance.
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