I want Scary Monsters!

Hussar

Legend
While I've only seen trailers, I look at something like Twilight and I realize that I really miss monstrous monsters. Vampires are a particularly egregious example. They've gone from these hideous, twisted creatures, to angsty teen pretty boys. And I hate it.

I want my monsters to be monstrous. I want the monsters to have bite, to be dirty and nasty and outright hideous.

What can I do to put the monster back into monsters?
 

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Vampires are a particularly egregious example. They've gone from these hideous, twisted creatures, to angsty teen pretty boys. And I hate it.

While the vampires of Eastern European folklore are nasty, Dracula, by Bram Stoker's pen, is the most notable vampire of all time. Not in the least bit hideous, horrid, or twisted. Not angsty either, mind you.

I want my monsters to be monstrous. I want the monsters to have bite, to be dirty and nasty and outright hideous.

What can I do to put the monster back into monsters?

Considering that the physical description of monsters is largely in the GM's control - you simply describe them as being as hideous as you want.

If you want a mechanic for it... try introducing fear auras to simulate the effects of looking upon such fell beasts.
 

Actually, Stoker's Dracula isn't Bela Lugosi either though. If you go back and read the novel, he's thin to the point of emaciated, dusty and pretty much the way he's depicted in the first half of that Keanu Reeves version of Dracula. But, he never gets pretty.

The whole suave cape and suit thing is a Hollywood invention. Stoker's Dracula is actually pretty nasty looking.
 



As mentioned, you can describe them as you wish - as scary etc, and you could use fear-like aura's etc.

But, if this is all you do, it can feel too much like telling the players how they should react, or what they are feeling. I think it's one of those things (sometimes) where less is more. There is a fear of the unknown for example - so if you go into these kinds of details like explaining it is "scary" or "horrifying" etc, you are shining a big light on it, when it was more scary in the dark.

One way to approach it would be to use the environment to help. I made a post a while back about a monster I was making - the purpose of which was to build tension/suspense. Rather than type it out again, I found it and will quote it here to give you an idea of what I am talking about...

.....I wanted to create a sense of urgency in the dungeon (actually deep in a lost fortress). I wanted them to feel an anticipation that something was coming that they should be running from.

I thought of the usual... an echoing sound... booming footsteps, etc, but I wasn't really into that.

So, I got this idea and created a new monster (he's still being fleshed out though he must be done by this Saturday).

The way it works is this... there are a few indicators that the creature is getting close... these indicators increase in intensity as it gets closer.

Indicator 1 - The first thing they will notice is that water begins flowing into the room they are in. It's very shallow - just an inch or two. At this point, they will need to consider leaving soon.

Indicator 2 - After a few rounds of water running into a room, they will begin to hear the padding of many footsteps and scratching of claws. At this point, they should be ready to go soon!

Indicator 3 - The room then fills with low level minion creatures... lots of them... they are easy to cut down, but there are a lot of them... those that hit PC's latch on to hinder movement. They are relatively slow because they are a bit heavy, but each one that latches on reduces movement by 1. Getting them off is as simple as killing them but again, there's many. Their purpose is to latch onto prey for their master (who is coming soon!)

Finally, the creature arrives... It is a large creature with a giant gaping mouth. It's long (30') and pulls itself through the halls with it's 6 small arms near it's mouth. It's wide enough (and flabby enough) that it's body blocks the passages it travels down (at a slow 3 speed). As it goes, it spews water (saliva) from it's mouth which it's body tends to push in front of it as it moves (hence the 'water' moving into rooms before it gets there).

Building tension is one way of putting players in that mindset.

To go even more with the fear of the unknown aspect and building tension, imagine you have a monster with long tentacles and you want to put fear into the hearts of the players. You could...

1) Have him burst into the room, and describe his every detail - large creature with very long tentacles from the face, sharp teeth, etc "He's really scary" you could say.

or

2) Put the players into a chamber with many holes, exits, etc. Fill the room with monsters, or even minions attacking the PC's... while they are occupied, have a (very long) tentacle lunge from a whole, grab one such creature and pull it in, followed by screams coming from the hole.

Then another, and another.

Maybe the creatures are "small" in size, and when it tries pulling PC's they get pulled to the wall and held as they don't fit in the whole - when held there, the next round tentacles with teeth chomp at their backside. So the players are being attacked, but can not see what it is. Maybe eventually it withdraws its tentacles and makes its way to them, finally confronting them face to face - only now you will have built up this tension.


Anyway, this is just one idea for approaching the fear thing. Using the environment around your monster to build tension.
 

If you go back and read the novel...

Dracula's first appearance is described thusly:

Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white
moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck
of colour about him anywhere. He held in his hand an antique silver
lamp, in which the flame burned without a chimney or globe of any
kind, throwing long quivering shadows as it flickered in the draught
of the open door. The old man motioned me in with his right hand with
a courtly gesture, saying in excellent English, but with a strange
intonation.


Not a hint of monstrosity. Just an old man.

Shortly thereafter, a closer look at him...

...I had now an opportunity of observing him, and found him of a very
marked physiognomy.

His face was a strong, a very strong, aquiline, with high bridge of
the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils, with lofty domed
forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples but profusely
elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the
nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion.
The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was
fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth.
These protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed
astonishing vitality in a man of his years. For the rest, his ears
were pale, and at the tops extremely pointed. The chin was broad and
strong, and the cheeks firm though thin. The general effect was one
of extraordinary pallor.

Hitherto I had noticed the backs of his hands as they lay on his knees
in the firelight, and they had seemed rather white and fine. But
seeing them now close to me, I could not but notice that they were
rather coarse, broad, with squat fingers. Strange to say, there were
hairs in the centre of the palm. The nails were long and fine, and
cut to a sharp point. As the Count leaned over me and his hands
touched me, I could not repress a shudder. It may have been that his
breath was rank, but a horrible feeling of nausea came over me, which,
do what I would, I could not conceal.


While he's not pretty by any means, he's not Nosferatu-ugly either. Creepy, yes. Monstrous? No. "Nasty", as you put it? To look at he's homely, but you don't even get a shudder until you catch his need for a belt of mouthwash.
 
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I recently ran a hunter-styled game where the whole thing was really just a stab at the Twilight. The vampires lurking in a village were all described as pretty, suave, and enticing (Sparkling, was used shamefully). The vampires however, never really acted like anything beyond hunting animals (hiding, stalking the villagers) and eventually got revealed as being rotting vampiric monstrosities. I like playing with the stereotypes. In my case they had an illusionary Aura that if they were approached or viewed without their knowledge only then was their true nature revealed. That and when they became bloodied their truth nature would visibly appear and it would end all Charm effects they'd brought into play, being replaced with appropriate fear effects.

As for physically representing this, I described the true form of the vampire as a rotting corpse riddled with a bloated parasite...puckered tooth orifices salivating all over the creatures body, ready to bite more like a Glibbering Mouther than a Twilight heart throb. This was partially because I like the idea of a more "physical" representation of the undead condition and partially because if I didn't differentiate this creature from the "Monster Manual" Vampire, some of my players would have called foul. You'd think they'd learn that I'm weird but, well, I like to expand rather than just say "no, it's not like that in my game." It'll also make them think twice if/when they meet a more "traditional" vampir in-game.
I liked how it worked out....a couple players shuddered when they realized how some of the villagers had been fawning over the unnatural thing earlier in the adventure.

:ends goofy rant that now I realize isn't really that helpful:
-Jared
 

Actually, Stoker's Dracula isn't Bela Lugosi either though. If you go back and read the novel, he's thin to the point of emaciated, dusty and pretty much the way he's depicted in the first half of that Keanu Reeves version of Dracula. But, he never gets pretty.

The whole suave cape and suit thing is a Hollywood invention. Stoker's Dracula is actually pretty nasty looking.
Stoker's Dracula looks like, brace yourself, an eastern European aristocrat -- with a prominent mustache, if I recall correctly -- and the usual vampire features:
Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of colour about him anywhere.
[...]
I had now an opportunity of observing him, and found him of a very marked physiognomy.

His face was a strong, a very strong, aquiline, with high bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils, with lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth. These protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years. For the rest, his ears were pale, and at the tops extremely pointed. The chin was broad and strong, and the cheeks firm though thin. The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor.

Hitherto I had noticed the backs of his hands as they lay on his knees in the firelight, and they had seemed rather white and fine. But seeing them now close to me, I could not but notice that they were rather coarse, broad, with squat fingers. Strange to say, there were hairs in the centre of the palm. The nails were long and fine, and cut to a sharp point. As the Count leaned over me and his hands touched me, I could not repress a shudder. It may have been that his breath was rank, but a horrible feeling of nausea came over me, which, do what I would, I could not conceal.​
Addendum: It looks like Umbran ninjaed me. Anyway, here's the description of Dracula "asleep":
There lay the Count, but looking as if his youth had been half restored. For the white hair and moustache were changed to dark iron-grey. The cheeks were fuller, and the white skin seemed ruby-red underneath. The mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood, which trickled from the corners of the mouth and ran down over the chin and neck. Even the deep, burning eyes seemed set amongst swollen flesh, for the lids and pouches underneath were bloated. It seemed as if the whole awful creature were simply gorged with blood. He lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion.​
Later, in London, Harker stares at Dracula; Mina describes the scene:
He was very pale, and his eyes seemed bulging out as, half in terror and half in amazement, he gazed at a tall, thin man, with a beaky nose and black moustache and pointed beard, who was also observing the pretty girl. He was looking at her so hard that he did not see either of us, and so I had a good view of him. His face was not a good face. It was hard, and cruel, and sensual, and big white teeth, that looked all the whiter because his lips were so red, were pointed like an animal's. Jonathan kept staring at him, till I was afraid he would notice. I feared he might take it ill, he looked so fierce and nasty. I asked Jonathan why he was disturbed, and he answered, evidently thinking that I knew as much about it as he did, "Do you see who it is?"​
 
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