D&D General Unpopular Opinion?: D&D is a terrible venue for horror

[Reynard]

Spinning off one of the Rime of the Frostmaiden threads, I feel like it is worth discussing: I think that D&D is an absolutely terrible game for trying to create a sense of horror in play. The only time it is even remotely possible is at low levels where PC competence and survivability are very low (the cutoff depends on the edition), and even then it is a specific "I'm going to get killed" sort of tension rather than actual horror. Mechanically, the only way to induce horror in D&D is to break the standard rules (instant death instead of HP loss, for example, or something like domination that represents a loss of control). Ultimately, PCs are too competent and the mechanics too codified for real fear to creep in. And, on a different horror scale, D&D characters generally don't have enough to lose, emotionally, for personal horror to mean much.

Now, I think D&D makes great use of horrific elements -- gross monsters with scary abilities and frightening imagery. But those things don't make D&D horror any more than they made Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies horror.

 

[commandercrud]

Superman isn't scary either. It's hard to be afraid when you have incredible power.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Horror in D&D is best at tier 1 and even 2, but I agree that due to the power PCs obtain in tiers 3 and 4 it is much harder to pull off. There are things in the later part of the game that can really mess with PCs, but that being said, it's possible, but really the bigger part IME is DM narrative.

FWIW, I am going to run Frostmaiden for our group at one of the player's request (he bought the book and loaned it to me to run). Honestly, I found very little in the adventure that is really horror of any sort. So, it looks like a lot of added stuff to bring the adventure up to par.

 

[Laurefindel]

I agree, or at least I agree with your premice that D&D players are too much in control of their character to cause a genuine feeling of dread.

Obviously, good DMs can make any genre work by their own gaming and narrative style but naturally, horror isn’t what D&D does best.

a few house rules and variant rules go a long way toward making a better horror for D&D. But then again, a few house rules and variant rules can enhance any type of game.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Spinning off one of the Rime of the Frostmaiden threads, I feel like it is worth discussing: I think that D&D is an absolutely terrible game for trying to create a sense of horror in play. The only time it is even remotely possible is at low levels where PC competence and survivability are very low (the cutoff depends on the edition), and even then it is a specific "I'm going to get killed" sort of tension rather than actual horror. Mechanically, the only way to induce horror in D&D is to break the standard rules (instant death instead of HP loss, for example, or something like domination that represents a loss of control). Ultimately, PCs are too competent and the mechanics too codified for real fear to creep in. And, on a different horror scale, D&D characters generally don't have enough to lose, emotionally, for personal horror to mean much.

Now, I think D&D makes great use of horrific elements -- gross monsters with scary abilities and frightening imagery. But those things don't make D&D horror any more than they made Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies horror.

I think "D&D" generally is incorrect, but 5e is certainly correct (and in that manner, I agree with your post).

Generally, I've been able to run "horror scenarios" in D&D. There are two primary ways to do this:

1. Narration. Just like telling a good ghost story, the ability to narrate and place certain emphasis and pacing while describing things can heighten dread and tension. This can help you create that "horror" feeling you are looking for. But while the atmospherics can be wonderful, the issue that you run into is that mechanics don't support it. If everything is just a bag of hit point, then who cares how spoooooooky that bag of hit points might be? The divide between mechanics and atmosphere is difficult to overcome.

2. Mechanics. If you use older editions, there are mechanics (such as aging, level drain, insta-death, and so on) that are legitimately terrifying; these mechanics, or even the thread of these mechanics, can make the game much scarier.

In other words, I agree with you on modern D&D, but it is possible to have a spooky game with older editions if you're looking for it. Put another way, there's a difference between old-school undead and their neutered modern forms.

 

[billd91]

I'm not at all convinced that the presence or enhancement of horror derives very much from mechanics - certainly not in a general sense. Sanity rules and character fragility in Call of Cthulhu don't necessarily enhance horror as experienced by a player. They make the character more fragile in a number of ways compared to D&D, but that wouldn't necessarily translate to horror, per se. You need the horror tropes, settings, and other descriptive and narrative elements to be horror - and I'm pretty sure D&D's mechanics wouldn't immunize a player from horror if used well by a DM armed with the right setting, creatures with which to populate it, and other elements that put a horrific spin on D&D's mechanics.

 

[Stalker0]

Horror is a part of Dnd... low level dnd. I could easily create horror for 1-2 level characters, and if I was running a horror campaign, I would definitely start at 1st level.

You could also throw in some custom rest rules like "you cannot rest until you find a place that is extremely safe". That means no resting until you have gotten away from the horror....and of course in real horror they will never let you leave

 

[Charlaquin]

I agree. The core conceit of D&D is that the PCs are heroes (there are certain modes of play that break away from this conceit, but in general that’s the baseline assumption). Heroes don’t really fit well into the horror genre. You can have heroic games with horror trappings. You can even have games where the heroes must endure horrific things, and these can be made pretty scary, with a skilled narrator. But at the end of the day, D&D’s core assumptions put it at odds with the underlying themes of the horror genre. You can probably force that square peg through the round hole if you mash it hard enough, but at a certain point you would probably be better off just using a different system.

 

[Oofta]

There are many aspects to horror so I'm going to be contrarian and say it works fine. At higher levels it takes more work and attrition, but I've been reasonably successful at it in my sort-of-annual Halloween sessions.

Good story, set up paranoia between players not knowing who they can trust, throw more at them than they can possibly handle, up the ante to something other than just dying. High level PCs are not fragile, nor are they invulnerable.

EDIT: but like I said, there are many genres of horror so it depends on what you're trying to achieve.

 

[Charlaquin]

There are many aspects to horror so I'm going to be contrarian and say it works fine. At higher levels it takes more work and attrition, but I've been reasonably successful at it in my sort-of-annual Halloween sessions.

Good story, set up paranoia between players not knowing who they can trust, throw more at them than they can possibly handle, up the ante to something other than just dying. High level PCs are not fragile, nor are they invulnerable.

This still sounds more like adventure than horror to me. Harrowing adventure, sure, but the best adventures are. There’s more to horror than disempowerment and survival.