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Unpopular Opinion?: D&D is a terrible venue for horror
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<blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 8100378" data-attributes="member: 6779196"><p>There are ways to get the player’s emotional state more in sync with the characters’ emotional states. The earlier jenga example is a good one, but you can get a similar rising and falling tension effect with certain dice tricks. Building dice pools is a good example (and that’s probably part of why the core mechanic of WoD is dice pools). Also, fearing for your character’s life is far from the only way to facilitate a cathartic horror experience.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Another trick from the WoD book.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Nothing is sustainable in the long term if the player isn’t willing.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The thing is, horror <em>isn't</em> an enjoyable experience, at least not in the traditional sense of being fun or rewarding. It can sometimes be exhilarating, but generally in a way that you’re relieved when it’s over rather than a way that makes you want to do it again. You don’t generally walk out of a horror moving feeling uplifted. It’s supposed to be cathartic. It’s supposed to be an exploration of negative emotions. And yes, that can be draining. There’s a reason horror games are often run as one-shots. Even games that are meant to be horror games end up swinging more towards drama, pulp, or schlocky hammer-horror type fare when it comes to long-term campaigns.</p><p></p><p></p><p>It’s so gross, I love it!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Charlaquin, post: 8100378, member: 6779196"] There are ways to get the player’s emotional state more in sync with the characters’ emotional states. The earlier jenga example is a good one, but you can get a similar rising and falling tension effect with certain dice tricks. Building dice pools is a good example (and that’s probably part of why the core mechanic of WoD is dice pools). Also, fearing for your character’s life is far from the only way to facilitate a cathartic horror experience. Another trick from the WoD book. Nothing is sustainable in the long term if the player isn’t willing. The thing is, horror [I]isn't[/I] an enjoyable experience, at least not in the traditional sense of being fun or rewarding. It can sometimes be exhilarating, but generally in a way that you’re relieved when it’s over rather than a way that makes you want to do it again. You don’t generally walk out of a horror moving feeling uplifted. It’s supposed to be cathartic. It’s supposed to be an exploration of negative emotions. And yes, that can be draining. There’s a reason horror games are often run as one-shots. Even games that are meant to be horror games end up swinging more towards drama, pulp, or schlocky hammer-horror type fare when it comes to long-term campaigns. It’s so gross, I love it! [/QUOTE]
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Unpopular Opinion?: D&D is a terrible venue for horror
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