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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Vartan" data-source="post: 2539966" data-attributes="member: 26155">The best tips have already been covered, but I have a couple from the 2E Ravenloft boxed set that can help set the mood if your players are willing to be scared and are open to the metagame tinkering involved:1. At the beginning of the session, collect all of the character sheets and don't allow the players to access them. This forces them to become more involved with their characters on a role-playing level, and enhances the sense of fear and the unknown. Remember that fear really comes from the lack of control: as always, they can attempt any action they want, but you should simply interpret their rolls for them instead of letting them know their exact scores in certain skills. Most players will remember all of their stats, but they'll still be on edge without that character sheet to lean on.This is probably the most severe RPG scare tactic, and everybody should be on board from the get-go, or else they'll be so pissed at you that they can't get into character and allow themselves to be scared. I personally think that a very good short horror campaign can be run in this way, with players only allowed to access their character sheets for level ups (of course, you might include a random note about the strange growth on their back or the voice in their head when you hand it over <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> )2. Make dice rolls mysterious: don't declare difficulties, and describe successes and failures in vague terms. Don't tell them to make a save vs. fear or wisdom check: just ask them to roll D20 and report the results. Be sure to prompt the players for random dice rolls at unusual times, just to keep them on their toes. This goes to the lack of control: while I'm normally opposed to control-freak DM-ing, this has an important place in a horror game. 3. Make use of secret notes between the DM and the players: once you've passed a note to one player, you can work off of the other players' fear that he's under evil influence. One example:Secret Note to Player 1: you think you see a wicked, distorted face moaning in Player 2's face when he speaksSecret Note to Player 2: Player 1 is looking at you strangely, as if his gaze goes through to your soulNot the best examples, textually speaking, but you can see how easy it is to sow fear amongst the troops.A typical D&D group thrives on the strength of their alter-egos (their ability to perceive, understand and confront any external obstacle) and on the implicit trust that every PC is pretty much on the same side. If you can disrupt these normal patterns then you'll find it easy to cultivate an atmosphere of fear.Also, I have to echo previous posts and say that proper lighting, music and even voices can be the deal-breaker in a horror game. This style isn't good for every gamer, and it's nearly impossible to run a long-term horror campaign in D&D, but if it's done right a short detour into horror gaming can really breath life into your game. Good luck, and have fun!</blockquote>

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