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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MGibster" data-source="post: 8101446" data-attributes="member: 4534">D&D was not designed to be a horror game.  I can use my screwdriver to drive a nail into a piece of wood, to pry something open, or to poke a hole in something but that doesn't mean it does the job just as well as a hammer, a pry bar, or a hole punch tool.  It's not a question of whether or not you can use D&D to run a horror game.  You can.  But the OP's opinion is that D&D is a terrible game if your intent is create an atmosphere of horror on the grounds that the rules as written don't support it, the PCs are too competent, and that D&D characters don't have a lot to lose emotionally for horror to mean much.  And I agree with my esteemed colleague Professor Reynard on all accounts.  Horror is about creating an atmosphere of dread, revulsion, and fear in the audience and D&D wasn't designed to provide that kind of experience for its players.  Games like Call of Cthulhu, Chill, Esoterrorist, and Alien were created with mechanics specifically designed for a horror setting.  Call of Cthulhu has it's infamous Sanity mechanic, Alien has it's stress die, and in Esoterrorist the players are forced to decide how many of their resources they want to spend to achieve success not knowing what they might need in the future.  D&D just doesn't have anything like that to support a horror game.  And when players are routinely accustomed to fighting Ilithids, wights, ghosts, and all manner of creatures it's just routine and it's tough setting up an atmosphere appropriate to horror.  So, yes, you can do it.  You're just using a screwdriver when you might be better off with a pry bar.</blockquote>

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