One Thousand Ways to Freak Out Your Players

[The Sigil]

Thanks.

#1000 deserves a special place all of its own. That is an incredible idea. I wonder if he'd ever agree to do it? (Someone else ask him, I'm too scared!)

Why do you think I saved it for #1,000?

*thinks South Park - does best Cartman voice (which is not good at all)*
"Omigod! We killed Gary!"

--The Sigil

 

[Darkness]

Hmm... Should we close and archive this thread now that it's finished?

 

[s/LaSH]

Hmm... Should we close and archive this thread now that it's finished?

It's not 'finished'... the only reason I'm not posting things from my campaign is that I'm doing a webcomic based on it and don't want to leak major plot spoilers. Unfortunately, at this rate I won't have any of the really good ones until late 2004. Oh well. Um, I have some really nasty ideas there, though.

Please don't take away this wonderful thread... I'll try to contribute as often as possible. Everybody else should, too. Because there are a few lame ones in here. We owe it to the world to come up with EVEN MORE evil plans and soul-scarring plots!

Beg beg beg.

1002: The Festival

Find The Festival by H. P. Lovecraft at http://gizmology.net/lovecraft/index.html (don't worry, it's a short read). Plunge the players into it without warning. This works even better when they're in a village that they know is friendly - or their home base where they all grew up.

It works even better when you trick the PCs into thinking it's a non-combat occasion and convince them to leave their sword at the tavern, so they're unable to attack anything when things get freaky.

And it's a no-win situation. Whatever the PCs do, they're outnumbered or outgunned until they are either beaten unconscious by concerned relatives or run screaming into the night. They're found drifting in the harbour the next morning. The ending of The Festival is a good way to finish the adventure.

Sure, there's a little work required... but if you turn all the lights off while playing and use enough of Lovecraft's original dialogue, you'll have some seriously spooked players.

And sure, there's already a Cthulhu RPG, but suddenly throwing madness and strangeness of that calibre into a high fantasy campaign and making the players helpless is the stuff nightmares are made of.

Bonus points if you pretend the whole adventure never happened.

Extra bonus points if you can get the players to follow the exact course of action the protagonist in the story did.

 

[Darkness]

s/LASH:

The thread's title is "1,000 ways to freak out your players" - and it has just reached 1,000.
That's my sole reason for asking.

edit for clarity: That is, if the thread's originator thinks that's enough, I'll archive it; otherwise, the thread continues until Piratecat closes it because of an excessive number of replies (probably at 800-900, judging from past experience).

 

[Creamsteak]

Keep it up, but set a due date or something. Give everyone two weeks... if they still want to contribute they will.

 

[Lela]

Keep it up, but set a due date or something. Give everyone two weeks... if they still want to contribute they will.

I agree

After that, how about a thread titled, "Another 1000 ways to freak out your players" ?

That way we take it easy on the boards by way of bandwidth and still get to continue the fun.

 

[Noldor Elf]

That 1000 was great!

So this is 1003 (or replacement #2):

Let the PCs find a prophecy which clearly describes one of the players as the hero (not by name, but outfit, style, companions). The prophecy is about completing a task that group is trying to finish at that time.
In the prophecy is describet that the hero should look out the biting tip (arrow). The hero can avoid two of them, but the third will run throught his hearth.

I did this to my group: after a bow trap (barely missed) and orc ambush (only one without taking hit) our hero (the main fighter) was so nervous he hided behind a fountain in final battle against a BBEG (how was armed with a crossbow)

 

[The Sigil]

#1000 deserves a special place all of its own. That is an incredible idea. I wonder if he'd ever agree to do it? (Someone else ask him, I'm too scared!)

The answer is, yes he would. Scroll up the following thread a couple of posts to find him saying "yes..."

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?postid=390499#post390499

Way to go, Gary!

--The Sigil

 

[HalfElfSorcerer]

We did it!!!

Hooray!!! We did it!!! I hope this gets in the news tomorrow. Archiving the thread is fine with me, as long as it gets a permenant, irrevocable link to it on the front page. Maybe not for volumes 2 through 7 but as far as I know, this community-wide success at such a large goal is unprecedented. I think that deserves a piece of the pie on the main page. A second thread would be fine, but I would feel guilty starting it. Someone else can go ahead and start it with 1005.

1004. Go to a custom cap place and get a hat that says "No." Call it your DM hat. Point to it in response to all questions during your game session. "Do I make the save?" [Point to hat.] "Did I beat the trap?" [Point to hat.] "Can I go to the bathroom?" [Point to hat.]

 

[Lela]

So, has anybody started the next thread?