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<blockquote data-quote="ZSutherland" data-source="post: 3124148" data-attributes="member: 7638"><p>It can be in what you say, but it's most often in what you don't say.&nbsp; The one universal fear is fear of the unknown, so play it up.&nbsp; A paragraph detailing the appearance of a monstrous spider, if well written, will terrify my wife because she's terrified of all insects/arachnids, but it won't scare the rest of my players.&nbsp; Telling them that something strong and hairy (the spider's leg) is brushing the back of their necks will freak them all out.&nbsp; Also, don't forget to go for the delayed scare and the sucker punch.&nbsp; To keep with the spider example, the delayed scare happens before they encounter the spider or know that it's there.&nbsp; They enter a room criss-crossed with incredibly strong webbing.&nbsp; In the center of one of the webs is the dessicated corpse of an ogre, troll, carrion crawler (anything they've had an encounter with in the recent past that gave them a tough time).&nbsp; At some point, one of them will start to wonder what sort of hideous creature can string up a troll and drain its blood.&nbsp; That's a delayed scare.&nbsp; The sucker punch requires a flair for the dramatic on the part of the DM.&nbsp; Done poorly, it will cause laughter and break the mood.&nbsp; Basically, it involves standing up and yelling to scare the bejeezus out of your players at the exactly proper moment (generally when something vile and murderous jumps out at them).&nbsp; Build up to it by describing the room and focus on non-visual senses.&nbsp; Explain what it smells like to be in a room full of silk and bloodless corpses.&nbsp; Tell one of the players what it feels like to have an errant piece of webbing brush lightly across their cheek.&nbsp; Lower your voice slightly, phrase by phrase, to force the players to listen hard to hear you.&nbsp; When you've got them leaning in, suddenly announce the arrival of the spider in a dramatic way and simultaneously bring your voice back to normal volume.</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="ZSutherland, post: 3124148, member: 7638"] It can be in what you say, but it's most often in what you don't say. The one universal fear is fear of the unknown, so play it up. A paragraph detailing the appearance of a monstrous spider, if well written, will terrify my wife because she's terrified of all insects/arachnids, but it won't scare the rest of my players. Telling them that something strong and hairy (the spider's leg) is brushing the back of their necks will freak them all out. Also, don't forget to go for the delayed scare and the sucker punch. To keep with the spider example, the delayed scare happens before they encounter the spider or know that it's there. They enter a room criss-crossed with incredibly strong webbing. In the center of one of the webs is the dessicated corpse of an ogre, troll, carrion crawler (anything they've had an encounter with in the recent past that gave them a tough time). At some point, one of them will start to wonder what sort of hideous creature can string up a troll and drain its blood. That's a delayed scare. The sucker punch requires a flair for the dramatic on the part of the DM. Done poorly, it will cause laughter and break the mood. Basically, it involves standing up and yelling to scare the bejeezus out of your players at the exactly proper moment (generally when something vile and murderous jumps out at them). Build up to it by describing the room and focus on non-visual senses. Explain what it smells like to be in a room full of silk and bloodless corpses. Tell one of the players what it feels like to have an errant piece of webbing brush lightly across their cheek. Lower your voice slightly, phrase by phrase, to force the players to listen hard to hear you. When you've got them leaning in, suddenly announce the arrival of the spider in a dramatic way and simultaneously bring your voice back to normal volume. [/QUOTE]

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