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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ValhallaGH" data-source="post: 3555215" data-attributes="member: 41187">Describe it differently.  D&D heroes don't run because they aren't facing unknowable horrors from beyond nightmare.  They're facing a big, red dragon.  Powerful as it is, it's known and categorized.Orcs?  Big, strong, green warriors.  Nothing unnatural or scary about them.Goblins?  Little, sneaky, cowardly murderers.  Nothing unnatural or terror inducing about them.Hydra?  Where's the Improved Sunder / Cleave monkey?  Or the guy that hits things insanely hard?Mind Flayers?  Nasty but squishy.  Hit them hard and you'll be fine.The secret to horror is secrets.  You can make rules to scare characters, that's not a problem, but even then the players are still going to have their characters charge in if they can.  With secrets and descriptions that confuse more than they explain, you can put fright into the players so that their characters will run away, even though they could easily win.You want horror?  Describe things with just enough detail to let the players' imaginations fill in the rest with their worst nightmares.  Ensure that the familiar is not familiar, by giving monsters templates, abilities and deformities that the players don't know and don't understand (yet).  The unknown puts the terror of the boogey man into people; use that and you can easily make super heroes run away, wetting themselves, without ever bringing in a single fear/terror/insanity game mechanic, because you scared the player that controls the hero.</blockquote>

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