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

[Minigiant]

D&D is too gradual in nature for horror.
The Survival meter (HP) plinks down as you run from danger.
Except for Save or Die/Petrify/Paralyze, D&D gives you too many chances to fail completely. And if you are too low level to survive threats, it is harder to encourage people to go where there will be risks.

 

[Reynard]

Aliens IS a horror movie. It’s also an action movie. But everything from Ripley’s nightmares, to Weyland-Yutani’s nefarious plan(s), to Newt’s capture and rescue are squarely horror.

Not really. Those are thriller elements. You wouldn't call Bourne Identity a horror movie but it's got equivalent beats.

 

[CleverNickName]

I wouldn't say it's "a terrible venue" for horror games; I've run several creepy D&D games over the years and it never disappoints. If you're going for zombies, vampires, and other classic tropes or monster-movie staples, D&D is our favorite. But there are different types of horror, and there are different types of games...some games might be a better fit for certain types of horror.

For psychological horror, suspense, and survival-themed horror, I recommend Dread. It does a much better job of building tension than any other RPG we've tried, and it can force a "last man standing" scenario really easily.

For silly horror, or comedy horror spoofs along the lines of "Shaun of the Dead," I recommend Fiasco. It's a good, fun mix of slapstick and seriousness that lets you tell a really funny story, broken up by occasional bouts of nail-biting tension.

And for eldritch horror, sci-fi, anime, or just plain weird horror, I suggest Call of Cthulhu. It's a pretty good umbrella game for just about any kind of horror in general, in just about any setting.

 

[Tonguez]

Most fay games are about heroes and heroes dont generally work in horror because fear and dread dont make for bravado and fantasic action.

of course it can be done - hence Ravenloft - but
horror also needs a good GM to inject those elements of dread, shock and dismay into players just through words and atmosphere.

 

[Hussar]

I'll second (third?) the notion that the DM is VERY important here. I've only played in one successful horror scenario - the opening haunted house in the Curse of Strahd adventure. The DM managed to make it REALLY visceral and real. Totally creepy.

But, it's hard to do and certainly something I've never succeeded at. I can do the gross out, but, actual horror? Yeah, that tends to fall flat with players cracking jokes, not focusing, and generally being players.

 

[Ovinomancer]

So according to you it is. Thanks for sharing.

You're welcome to check wikipedia, or any other sources if you'd like -- don't take my word for it.

 

[Bawylie]

Not really. Those are thriller elements. You wouldn't call Bourne Identity a horror movie but it's got equivalent beats.

Those are thriller elements. Yes. When combined with the revulsion and disgust of the H.R. Giger designs and the captured/farmed miners begging to be killed, etc., you get horror.

Nothing in Bourne is similarly disgusting or abhorrent.

 

[Kurotowa]

I'm reminded of the tale of the round robin writing circle attempted by a number of pulp writers back in the 1930s. These were collaborative writing exercises where an author would write one chapter in a story and then pass in on to the next person in sequence. Well, this particular circle attempt included both HP Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. So you had a story where the protagonist ended one chapter cowering as a terrible monster beat on the door and then began the next chapter by summoning his grit, grabbing a chair, and clobbering the heck out of the monster.

The implicit genre assumptions D&D is built on are a lot closer to Howard than Lovecraft. That while there are great and terrible monsters out there they all have a fatal allergy to being stabbed repeatedly with a sword, even if you sometimes need a magic sword if you want to be efficient in your stabbing. There's a good argument for the essence of horror being powerlessness, and modern D&D is all about becoming powerful heroes who can defeat monsters and work their will upon the world. That while setbacks or defeats are possible, the PCs are never powerless victims of forces entirely beyond them.

You can do scares in D&D. The Monster Manual is full of scary things, especially if the DM sets the scenario right. But they're the scares of campfire stories, of the things that go bump in the night, not really horror as the genre is generally understood. And that's fine. D&D is not a neutral clean slate for telling every sort of story. It's a game engine for telling D&D stories, and if you want a horror RPG there's other games that specialize in that.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

3. No lasting damage. Long rest instant restore.
4. Easy removal of conditions. You got the gold the FNC (Friendly neighborhood Cleric) has a spell for that.

Both things are not given.
You can easily drag the PCs into a realm where neither 3 nor 4 are true.

Let them have nighmares (there actually is a spell) that makes rests not work at all or just very limited. Or make it so that every time you rest, you lose a hit die until there is nothing left. That will have an effect on your players. Also just don´t have clerics around.

 

[Bawylie]

I'll second (third?) the notion that the DM is VERY important here. I've only played in one successful horror scenario - the opening haunted house in the Curse of Strahd adventure. The DM managed to make it REALLY visceral and real. Totally creepy.

But, it's hard to do and certainly something I've never succeeded at. I can do the gross out, but, actual horror? Yeah, that tends to fall flat with players cracking jokes, not focusing, and generally being players.

I’ll second you on the idea that you also need player buy-in to get there.