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General Tabletop Discussion
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RPG Evolution: Boo! Pity the Ambush Monster
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<blockquote data-quote="jmartkdr2" data-source="post: 8814328" data-attributes="member: 7017304"><p>The problem here is in the first few words: it's a horror trope. DnD pc's, by and large, aren't really horror protagonists, they're action heroes. A scary monster needs to be scary not to a person, but to someone who's very, very good at using violence to make problems go away.</p><p></p><p>When I've seen horror + action movie done well, it's because the plot has made fighting the mmonster a non-starter. Sometimes, it's for one (or both) of two reasons: the monster is too strong to kill (though it can be driven off) and retreat is not an option - ie <em>Aliens</em>. The real threat wasn't the xenomorph in front of them, it was the horde that's coming after and the fact that they only had so many bullets. Which means the real threat was isolation. You could probably do something similar with a creature that can only be killed in a really specific way like a rakshasa, but then you have to find a way that's difficult but not impossible to pull off, all while making the monster strong enough to worry pc's without having insta-kill attacks. </p><p></p><p>The other example that comes to mind is the latest Doctor Strange movie. [spoiler]The threat there wasn't so much Wanda as the cost of fighting her - using dark powers is the real horrifying element. Which only works for certain kinds of characters - if the pc would simply never do that, especially if they already have a lot of holy power, the question isn't really dramatic.[/spoiler]</p><p></p><p>In other words - don't try to run horror tropes strait in DnD. DnD characters (at least since 3e, and as I recall AD&D) are action heroes - putting them in another genre requires genre blending.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jmartkdr2, post: 8814328, member: 7017304"] The problem here is in the first few words: it's a horror trope. DnD pc's, by and large, aren't really horror protagonists, they're action heroes. A scary monster needs to be scary not to a person, but to someone who's very, very good at using violence to make problems go away. When I've seen horror + action movie done well, it's because the plot has made fighting the mmonster a non-starter. Sometimes, it's for one (or both) of two reasons: the monster is too strong to kill (though it can be driven off) and retreat is not an option - ie [I]Aliens[/I]. The real threat wasn't the xenomorph in front of them, it was the horde that's coming after and the fact that they only had so many bullets. Which means the real threat was isolation. You could probably do something similar with a creature that can only be killed in a really specific way like a rakshasa, but then you have to find a way that's difficult but not impossible to pull off, all while making the monster strong enough to worry pc's without having insta-kill attacks. The other example that comes to mind is the latest Doctor Strange movie. [spoiler]The threat there wasn't so much Wanda as the cost of fighting her - using dark powers is the real horrifying element. Which only works for certain kinds of characters - if the pc would simply never do that, especially if they already have a lot of holy power, the question isn't really dramatic.[/spoiler] In other words - don't try to run horror tropes strait in DnD. DnD characters (at least since 3e, and as I recall AD&D) are action heroes - putting them in another genre requires genre blending. [/QUOTE]
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