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

[Snarf Zagyg]

I am saying that the baseline assumptions of D&D make it a bad fit for horror because those baseline assumptions counter almost every aspect of horror. Not just the character abilities. The fact that there are concrete rules at all is anti-horror. Horror emerges from uncertainty and a lack of control. D&D's rules provide both to the players by design and intent.

You can certainly create tension but that isn't the same thing. You can even create certain kinds of fear -- of failure, of PC death, of potential consequences -- but these aren't horror either.

Hmmm.... maybe you need to dwell down on what you mean by "horror."

Horror is a large genre, and most people would think that everything from the cosmic horror of a short story like "The Colour Out of Space" to the jump scares you find in a slahser fic are all within the "horror" umbrella.

 

[MGibster]

I feel like you're way too focused on the idea of player fear for the safety of the character as necessary for horror.

It's not just about the safety of the character though. D&D is built around the idea of the PCs kicking down doors, killing monsters, and taking their stuff as a core element of game play. It's not really built with horror sensibilities in mind.

 

[Oofta]

It's not just about the safety of the character though. D&D is built around the idea of the PCs kicking down doors, killing monsters, and taking their stuff as a core element of game play. It's not really built with horror sensibilities in mind.

So? D&D is incredibly flexible, I don't do standard dungeon crawls, treasure is of minimal importance. The game works just fine and is still plenty of fun.

 

[billd91]

It's not just about the safety of the character though. D&D is built around the idea of the PCs kicking down doors, killing monsters, and taking their stuff as a core element of game play. It's not really built with horror sensibilities in mind.

D&D has developed far beyond simply being in murder hobo mode. In fact, I'd say it has always had conceits beyond that.

 

[MGibster]

So? D&D is incredibly flexible, I don't do standard dungeon crawls, treasure is of minimal importance. The game works just fine and is still plenty of fun.

Okay, if you think D&D is perfectly fine for horror that's okay. I disagree, but hey, if you're having a good time you're doing it right.

 

[Dragonsbane]

I find 5e can do horror really well. I changed around Curse of Strhrad to be about devils instead of undead, make the domain the inside of a Hellraiser-type cube that when opened spills the Shadow Plane into the real world for a few square miles as the evil ancient devil worshiper who wished-he-could-live-forever-ruling-a-domain lol Davos slowly devours the souls of those that were in the area as they think they are living in a dream (mightmare). It had crazy graphic descriptions, the chance that death meant no resurrection, chain devils, more devils, child kidnapping, flocks of birds that ate the skin of things in seconds, and the creepy Strhad house. A hag NPC joined the party to escape the Devil Cube and made out with the handsome bard (bard wants to leave, he gotta doooo), and in the end it claimed one of the PCs as its new owner and resident (for good) to replace Davos, and the player was RPing the influence of the devil the whole campaign.

It was AWESOME horror.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Horror when PCs are too powerful? Doom Eternal or Diablo IV, for example.

I guess the key would be not about the PCs worried about their own survival but how to save loved beings, for example sidekicks or animal companions.

 

[Reynard]

Hmmm.... maybe you need to dwell down on what you mean by "horror."

Horror is a large genre, and most people would think that everything from the cosmic horror of a short story like "The Colour Out of Space" to the jump scares you find in a slahser fic are all within the "horror" umbrella.

I think horror is more than trappings. As stated upthread I don't classify either Aliens or Predator as horror because although those movies have lots of the trappings of horror, they are about bad ass protagonists killing monsters. There's tension and revulsion but horror is deeper than that. Doom isn't horror either, but something like Silent Hill is.

 

[Charlaquin]

Bloodborne is such a good game, and gorgeous. During the pandemic, I've been replaying the Soulsborne series. Just beat DS3, so Bloodborne is likely next, after The Last of Us 2. I do need to get to Sekiro again, but I had a very hard time with that game. Parrying has always been my weak spot in the Soulsborne games, and Sekiro pretty much requires it.

Pardon the aside, but I have this pet theory that definitely isn’t true, that Bloodborne and Sekiro were in part responses to the way Dark Souls was played. Players got really cautious and passive, keeping their shields up while they waited for an opportunity to attack. So, Fromsoft made Bloodborne, where aggressive play is rewarded and the shield is replaced with a gun so you can still parry but you can’t sit there and block constantly. Then players played that by using the gun as a gun instead of a parrying tool and avoiding damage almost exclusively by dodging. So Fromsoft made Sekiro, where dodging will only get you so far and you really just have to learn to parry if you want to win.

I haven’t gotten good at Sekiro yet, but considering how much better getting good at Bloodborne made me at Dark Souls, I’d be excited to try it again after I’ve gotten the hang of Sekiro.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I think horror is more than trappings. As stated upthread I don't classify either Aliens or Predator as horror because although those movies have lots of the trappings of horror, they are about bad ass protagonists killing monsters. There's tension and revulsion but horror is deeper than that. Doom isn't horror either, but something like Silent Hill is.

Well, here's the thing (from my P.O.V.). I love horror, a lot. Everything from the modern Blumhouse/A24 movies, to E.A.P. stories.

And there's not just one horror. Just off the top of my head here's a few-
1. Body horror. Think of classic Cronenberg.

2. Slasher fics (also teen horror). Any of the Jason/Freddie/MM films.

3. Cosmic horror. Lovecraft, Annihilation, Event Horizon.

4. Found footage (Blair Witch and its progeny).

5. Gothic horror (Fall of the House of Usher, for example).

There are so many genres and sub-genres ("haunted house" or "zombie" etc.) that it quickly becomes hard to classify, especially given the overlap between genres (Alien is a haunted house in space with some gore, for example).

As such, it is often easiest to think of most horror in terms of visceral reactions (jump cuts, blood, gore, disturbing/extreme/torture, etc.) on one side, and psychological reactions on the other (tension, fear, madness, etc.) ... and then maybe think of the source of the horror as a different axis (aliens, zombies, cannibals, etc.).

But there's so much different horror out there that excluding a lot of it doesn't make sense. At least, to me. Maybe if you articulate better what type of horror you think is excluded?