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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6097671" data-attributes="member: 4937">I think we have to distinguish carefully several things:1) A character can be afraid.2) A player can be afraid for their character (they are afraid that they might lose thier character).3) The player can actually be afriad.It's a lot easier to achieve #2 than to achieve #3.&nbsp; I've achieved #2 all the time.&nbsp; As you say, giving the players limited information about the nature of the threat they are facing is a great way to do that.&nbsp; Or, sometimes giving them an evocative description of the truly great danger that there characters are in will do it.&nbsp;&nbsp; For example, my current campaign began with a tsunami in the first session of play.&nbsp; When the players realized that the clues all pointed to a tsunami and it was really going to happen, they became afraid for their characters.&nbsp; The scale and scope of the danger was beyond anything they had imagined they would have to face as first level characters.&nbsp;&nbsp; But I don't think I actually scared the players.&nbsp; None of them became afraid for their own personal safety.&nbsp;&nbsp; They were afraid for the safety of their characters which, already, they were emotionally invested in (because of the character creation process I use).&nbsp; But none was now afraid to go to the beach or temporarily terrified IRL.&nbsp; That I've almost never achieved.&nbsp;&nbsp; Maybe once.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 6097671, member: 4937"] I think we have to distinguish carefully several things: 1) A character can be afraid. 2) A player can be afraid for their character (they are afraid that they might lose thier character). 3) The player can actually be afriad. It's a lot easier to achieve #2 than to achieve #3. I've achieved #2 all the time. As you say, giving the players limited information about the nature of the threat they are facing is a great way to do that. Or, sometimes giving them an evocative description of the truly great danger that there characters are in will do it. For example, my current campaign began with a tsunami in the first session of play. When the players realized that the clues all pointed to a tsunami and it was really going to happen, they became afraid for their characters. The scale and scope of the danger was beyond anything they had imagined they would have to face as first level characters. But I don't think I actually scared the players. None of them became afraid for their own personal safety. They were afraid for the safety of their characters which, already, they were emotionally invested in (because of the character creation process I use). But none was now afraid to go to the beach or temporarily terrified IRL. That I've almost never achieved. Maybe once. [/QUOTE]

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