One Thousand Ways to Freak Out Your Players

[Helspar]

571) "Dress up" your players. To be fair, allow them "casual days" or "hawaiian shirt days."

 

[Zigmutt]

572) eat raw meat at the table...

 

[Avatar_V]

DLXXIII) Anything new about themselves to discover is good. I had a character once, who was descended from one of the deities in my homebrew who shot fire from his hands. Well, as she matured, she suddenly developed this ability. Scared the heck out of her and since I kept most of the stats about it secret from her and just described it, the players were pretty worked up. Every time they saw some sort of enemy they would have the conversation: "Quick, fry it!" "No, I don't know how often I can do it..." "If you don't know how it works, I wouldn't do it" "But it's so cool!" I guess you could say it freaked them out.

 

[Eccles]

574. Evil Clones.

That's it. Just evil clones.

 

[Vurt]

575. Walk in disheveled and without pants. Mutter something about how you were too busy working on this new dungeon level and the big baddie to shower this morning as you pull out your notes. I said: your notes!

 

[Eccles]

576. Drop hints over ICQ to one of the players in your brand new campaign that it's a real shame they haven't got a cleric for... But I may already have said too much!

(Just did this, and it was immensely satisfying...)

 

[Moe Ronalds]

577) after a TPK, put on a party hat, hand out party favors, and toss confette... made out of their character sheets.

 

[Fenes 2]

578) After over a year of playing the same campaign, lead the PCs through number of increasingly strange quests, culmilating with reality altering events. Then announce that the PCs just woke up in a cell and that the whole last years was just a Matrix-Style VR world used by aliens. Continue the campaign in the "real" world of that campaign - complete with Spaceships and Space Marines.
(Happened to me.)

Edit : Added number

 

[Darklone]

Some things that happened in a group I left:

579) Never give a character a chance to shine with an action except if it's the big boss char who has a few levels more than the rest of the group.

580) Use no DC lower than 35 for things such as climbing stairs or hopping over a chair on the floor.

 

[HalfElfSorcerer]

581. Have the same mundane object show up all over the place. For example:
Session 1: "...You walk through the door and find yourself in a 30 by 30 foot room. There is a door to the north, and a small pile of junk in the corner. A small, red clay jar is on top of the pile."
Session 2: "...The tavern is well-furnished, bright, and warm. There is a lot of hubbub coming from the customers. As you approach the counter, you notice a small red clay jar on the counter just before the barkeep picks it up and puts it away."
Session 3: "...The town, though small, is bustling with activity. There are children playing, women haning laundry on the line, and a man carrying a small red clay jar into his house.
Keep it up forever.