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

[WayOfTheFourElements]

Personally,I don't defined genre by tropes, but by effect. I define horror as, "someone that horrifies the reader, viewer, or player." If the reader is horrified*, it's a horror novel. If not, it wasn't. Certain films, stories, and games can be set inside different genres depending on the reader, viewer, or player. I'm OK with that.

*a sensation which can be chemically tested and identified in a neuroscience lab.

With that said, the answer becomes: can D&D horrify the DM/players? I think the answer to that question is, yes, though only several times have I seen the stars align in such a way that players had genuinely horrified, as opposed to making stupid (or brilliant) jokes.

 

[pogre]

This is certainly a rules matter debate. And, as always, you're going to find advocates on both sides. I agree with the OP, except I don't think it's a particularly unpopular position.

 

[jayoungr]

actual horror? Yeah, that tends to fall flat with players cracking jokes, not focusing, and generally being players.

And that can happen no matter what system you're playing.

 

[Moon_Goddess]

Im just thinking, the 3 most complimented, best enjoyed games I've ever ran have all been horror, and all need d20 modern. And they've all been psychological horror and the mechanics mattered little

 

[Wiseblood]

When I think of horror as a genre it is about trappings and tropes. D&D does this fine. When I think of horror as a feeling. That is created in the minds of the players. It is from the interplay between the people.
To me there is a difference between terror and horror. Terror being an external threat. Horror is a realization.

 

[dave2008]

This is certainly a rules matter debate. And, as always, you're going to find advocates on both sides. I agree with the OP, except I don't think it's a particularly unpopular position.

I was just going to say the same thing!

 

[Reynard]

I was just going to say the same thing!

Some people certainly seem to think D&D is a good horror game.

 

[dave2008]

Some people certainly seem to think D&D is a good horror game.

I think it can be, but I agree with most that any horror game takes a good DM (on better than me). I played Call of Cthulhu for a bit and never got the "horror" vibe. I just don't think it is something a TTRPG can do if you don't have a certain level of buy-in and a DM that can do horror well.

 

[Campbell]

My best experiences with horror scenarios come from games that share two traits :

1. They lack discrete mechanics. No turn order. No combat system. No NPC stats.
2. Immediacy of consequences. Players should understand the impact of their actions.
3. Pacing mechanics. Things should get more desperate as the game rolls on. It's immensely helpful if the game produces this naturally instead of depending on the GM to actively manage it all the time.

In my experience horror requires tight pacing to feel right. Games like Cthulhu Dark, Into The Dark, Quietus, and Tremulus really get this right. I have experience using horror elements in other games. My Beam Saber (Forged in the Dark Mecha) game has some strong horror elements as do most Blades in the Dark games I run, but they do not feel nearly as tight and desperate as something like Quietus or Tremulus.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I concur. The thing about horror is that it's all about the buy-in. The same horror movie that is terrifying when you watch it alone in the dark, you can watch with friends and drinks and be cheering at the gore and jump scares.

If I show up to play Call of Cthulhu, Chill, or some other dedicated-horror RPG with a character that's a boxer named Punchy MacPunchface, it's going to probably damage whatever mood that the group was trying to establish. Even if Punchy dies within ten minutes because he squared up and said "I'm going to uppercut Dracula," the damage is done and we're going to be laughing at his fate, not horrified.

If we're telling a horror story together with an RPG, the whole group has to tell it.

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.