How do you scare your players?

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

I just put out a stack of blank character sheets and say they'll be needing them later that evening.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

I just put out a stack of blank character sheets and say they'll be needing them later that evening.

Ah! Minimalist horror!!
Psychological torture is your bag, eh?

 

[Shroomy]

Did you guys read Bill Slavicsek's newest Ampersand article? He gets a lot of mileage out of the innocuous pig farmer miniature.

 

[El Mahdi]

Both of your DM Fu is strong! You make worthy opponents for your PCs. You must make sure they are worthy of you!

 

[jdrakeh]

Did you guys read Bill Slavicsek's newest Ampersand article? He gets a lot of mileage out of the innocuous pig farmer miniature.

I haven't, but having grown up in a farm town and read unhealthy amounts of literature about rural serial killers, I'm going to guess that the Innocuous Pig Farmer is fattening up his hogs on something other than corn slop

 

[jdrakeh]

This is brilliant! I'm going to have to see if my players are willing to do this the next time I am asked to run a horror game for Halloween.

Thank you for the compliment. Incidentally, this works really well if you can get the list formalized a week or two prior to play, as it gives you some time to farm those fears for some brutal actual play experiences.

While I'm posting, another useful tool is taking something relatively innoculous and turning it into something overtly wrong/bad/evil (i.e., immediately place this twisted thing on center stage; don't try to reveal it during some startling endgame revelation). Envision Stephen King's It, as opposed to a Scooby Doo mystery with a surprise 'twist' ending.

For example, I played in a disturbing Justice Inc game years ago that still sticks with me. The main villian was the former host of a kid's television show. Modeled on Don Knotts, after losing his show to poor ratings, the show host decided that the children were to blame. I'll spare our readers the gory details but will mention that hydrochloric acid was involved.

Before that game? Don Knotts was a goof whose shows I really enjoyed watching. After that game? Don Knotts made my skin crawl.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

Ah! Minimalist horror!!
Psychological torture is your bag, eh?

Yep. Being a DM isn't as fun unless you can screw with the player's minds once in a while.

 

[Pour]

I find myself scaring my PCs in several different ways all dependent on what I play up as my strength, description. Description can build up mood and atmosphere, hint at things and betray or meet those expectations, and entail in a few choice details the worst of an encounter.

My latest kick is in introducing the PCs to sudden, grotesque and frightening scenes which break their normal expectations and throw them off as characters and players, in essence shock them. Shock can be a powerful tool, especially when coupled by a rapid entry into combat or a chance for the PCs to interact and deeply react to a scene.

I'm pretty good at obscene description, but used too much and it loses its effectiveness. That's where mood, atmosphere and build up come in, dotted with moments of genuine light or humor to sort of refresh and allow for new tension to build.

Still, if you're creative enough you can get a lot out of the shock tactic. This also hinges on the player maturity around the table and your own comfort in introducing said horrendous elements. And I can't stress enough that a little detail can go a long way if its the right detail. Luckily with a mature group willing to be exposed to "vile" content, this is a fun and effective method. It's almost become a thrill for my PCs to see what the next demon lord and his or her lair will look like, surges of excitement, fear and a bit of horror-movie-like anticipation. Of course, sometimes it's just down right nasty and depraved, and that works well too.

 

[benjamin]

Create and maintain mood - with music and sound effects at table...

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www.syrinscape.com

It plays music tracks randomly for you... it makes spooky sounds... it doesn't need too much help... and it helps the players to focus.

We have had great success at the table with this...

The best of all was with the 'spooky' set... a long awaited encounter with the Lich Lord (who they assumed would be old and male). Turned out she was a little (9 year old) girl... who had been spooking their tracks for several sessions so far...

Very very tense encounter... definately helped by the music... and sound effects...

Go to the web site... listen to the samples... download it free...

</self promotion>

 

[Lord Xtheth]

I basically traumatized my playing group.
They even fear teddybears and rose bushes.

I'm good with horrific descriptions and mood setting.