L
lowkey13
Guest
*Deleted by user*
What makes a monster terrifying?
With regards to number two, I would not say unfair, but rather a more natural response. If your party is attacked by a monster and one of the party falls, why would the monster stay around to continue fighting instead of dragging the fallen off to a secluded place to eat in peace?
Also using critical hit charts, if a character can get a decapitation result, so too can a monster.
Also using critical hit charts, if a character can get a decapitation result, so too can a monster.
Doc_Klueless
Doors and Corners
For me? When I'm playing, it usually revolves around Non-HP consequences:
1) Petrification, Poisoning, Paralyzation, etc.
2) Exhaustion
3) Loss of equipment (Disenchanter, Rust Monster, etc.)
That sort of thing.
1) Petrification, Poisoning, Paralyzation, etc.
2) Exhaustion
3) Loss of equipment (Disenchanter, Rust Monster, etc.)
That sort of thing.
In an effort to make monsters more terrifying in my games, I do the following:
- Homebrew new monsters with abilities unseen in standard monsters.
- Make monsters more intelligent in terms of strategy (a la Tucker's Kobolds).
- Try to make monsters behave realistically. So, for example, and enemy might take down the healer first, and then finish off the meat shields.
- I don't avoid 'unfair' tactics, such as monsters flanking players, making them fall prone, killing the Cleric or healer before other PCs, targeting a single PC with massive damage, fleeing sporadically to take rests before attacking the PCs, utilizing the environment, and attacking PCs once they're down to 0 hit points.
- I play monsters as living (or un-living) beings whose sole purpose is not to be 'mobs' to kill. Deranged cultists are sometimes the exception, as they may be suicidal.
MonkeezOnFire
Adventurer
What makes a monster terrifying is the possibility that it can alter your character permanently for the worst in some way. In most cases that is PC death. The reason that most 5e monsters are not terrifying is because the default assumption of 5e is that the PCs win. Looking at the encounter guidelines a deadly encounter is defined as there is a chance a character could die. Everything below that is supposed to have negligible risk of PC death.
I don't have lot of experience with the earlier editions but is my understanding that they essentially held the opposite opinion, where you were more likely to die adventuring than succeed. I've heard stories where groups didn't even name their characters until they reached a certain level for fear of getting too attached. I don't think either play style is objectively superior to the other, they're just different with everyone having different opinions.
I don't have lot of experience with the earlier editions but is my understanding that they essentially held the opposite opinion, where you were more likely to die adventuring than succeed. I've heard stories where groups didn't even name their characters until they reached a certain level for fear of getting too attached. I don't think either play style is objectively superior to the other, they're just different with everyone having different opinions.
Oofta
Legend
I'm not sure you can make all monsters inherently scary, nor should that necessarily be a goal. I'm playing D&D, not Cthullu. In addition, one person's terrifying is another person's annoying. Level drain? Annoying. Aging? If I'm not playing a human ho-hum. Petrified? Yipee I get to go do something else or I'll just start writing up a new PC.
So what does terrify players?
I also modify or create custom monsters on a fairly regular basis. Whether that's just adding class levels to existing monsters or building a monster with a grab bag of abilities from other monsters.
But ultimately? I think D&D has always been about hitting things with something pointy/blunt/magical until it dies.
So what does terrify players?
- Monsters that drag PCs off into the darkness.
- Seemingly insurmountable odds.
- Wizard of Oz monsters that control minions from behind the curtain. Especially if there's no end to the minions.
- Not knowing who you can trust.
- Creatures that use hit an run tactics.
- Enemy spell casters that aren't stupid.
- Throw in monsters or environments that synergize. Have low level mooks running around helping the big bad for example.
- Beholders. Taking away magic can be terrifying for a higher level group.
- Change the goals from just "kill it" to "protect the McGuffin" or similar.
I also modify or create custom monsters on a fairly regular basis. Whether that's just adding class levels to existing monsters or building a monster with a grab bag of abilities from other monsters.
But ultimately? I think D&D has always been about hitting things with something pointy/blunt/magical until it dies.
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
In the right hands, I think #1 and #2 on your list can make any monster terrifying. ANY monster.
I also like to use a heavy amount of narration to foreshadow the incoming monster and build suspense...you know, get everyone's imaginations going. Stuff like strange sounds in the distance getting closer, recently-slain bodies with mysterious wounds, enormous or weird-looking tracks...
I also like to use a heavy amount of narration to foreshadow the incoming monster and build suspense...you know, get everyone's imaginations going. Stuff like strange sounds in the distance getting closer, recently-slain bodies with mysterious wounds, enormous or weird-looking tracks...
MarkB
Legend
Yeah, anything which bypasses the 'meat' of hit points and starts debilitating characters directly can be pretty scary. However, things which actually take a character out of play completely can have the reverse effect - nobody looks back fondly upon the awesome fight they watched happening between the other players and the DM while their character spent the whole battle paralysed.
I come from a balanced position on the extreme.
1) I do think 5e's monster have a "handicap" in being terrifying because of the loss of those crippling abilities.
2) Good DM play can overcome those handicaps and still create memorable and fun fights.
A few suggestions on how to do it:
1) Surprise is huge. Surprise is a huge swing factor in a fight. I have said many times I will take a fight with surprise than adding 4 CR to my fight, its that strong. When my party gets hit with surprise, I always see them sliding to the edge of their seats.
2) Catch the party out of the norm: If you have monsters running at the party with the meatshields in front, everyone rested and refreshed....than yeah they are going to get pulped in short order. However, attack them in the tavern when they are in the bath, have someone sneak up on the spellcasters while the fight is ongoing...and the fear factor rises quickly.
3) Make a single party member the target, no matter what. Have a hoard of monsters go right for party member X....taking AOOs and whatever else is needed. This is both scary as that player knows flat out that they will attack him until he is paste, no mercy. But on the flip side it can be a rewarding challenge if the party members find a way to protect that person, or buff him up so that attacks against him are weaker than if they had gone after someone else.
4) Terrain is the key. Terrain is as much a monster as anything else in the fight, maybe more so. An ooze is just a blob of hitpoints. An ooze that attacks the party when they are squeezing through a tight cavernous passage becomes a terrifying threat.
5) Alternate Loss Conditions: Death is not the only consequence. Use timed encounters, the party only has 3 rounds to get to the artifact before the ritual goes off. The party is protecting a 1st level character, so while they can take the pain, their ward cannot, etc.
6) Use an overwhelming threat...in the background. Have a purple worm erupt 200 feet from the party, but not engage them. Have a Nightwalker be seen on the horizon on a dark foggy night. For some people, just the image of what's out there can be scary.
7) Reflavor abilities. If players are used to certain monsters, change up their abilities to make them strange and creepy. My best example. I took hobgoblin stats and gave it Magic Missile at will (just the 1st level ability, nothing too extreme).
I reflavored it to this horrific black monster with a huge mouth and teeth, that was dead silent. All it would do was point its "claws" at the party and swipe....and then immediately the party would take damage (aka magic missile). They freaked out! "What do you mean there was no roll....it just hit me? No save no nothing!!!" And then....I gave them 6 of them to contend with. One use of magic missile isn't so bad, 6 copies of it flying at once is devastating. The party ran scared, and came up with all sorts of ambush tactics to take them out. All from a creature with low hitpoints and the use of a 1st level spell.
1) I do think 5e's monster have a "handicap" in being terrifying because of the loss of those crippling abilities.
2) Good DM play can overcome those handicaps and still create memorable and fun fights.
A few suggestions on how to do it:
1) Surprise is huge. Surprise is a huge swing factor in a fight. I have said many times I will take a fight with surprise than adding 4 CR to my fight, its that strong. When my party gets hit with surprise, I always see them sliding to the edge of their seats.
2) Catch the party out of the norm: If you have monsters running at the party with the meatshields in front, everyone rested and refreshed....than yeah they are going to get pulped in short order. However, attack them in the tavern when they are in the bath, have someone sneak up on the spellcasters while the fight is ongoing...and the fear factor rises quickly.
3) Make a single party member the target, no matter what. Have a hoard of monsters go right for party member X....taking AOOs and whatever else is needed. This is both scary as that player knows flat out that they will attack him until he is paste, no mercy. But on the flip side it can be a rewarding challenge if the party members find a way to protect that person, or buff him up so that attacks against him are weaker than if they had gone after someone else.
4) Terrain is the key. Terrain is as much a monster as anything else in the fight, maybe more so. An ooze is just a blob of hitpoints. An ooze that attacks the party when they are squeezing through a tight cavernous passage becomes a terrifying threat.
5) Alternate Loss Conditions: Death is not the only consequence. Use timed encounters, the party only has 3 rounds to get to the artifact before the ritual goes off. The party is protecting a 1st level character, so while they can take the pain, their ward cannot, etc.
6) Use an overwhelming threat...in the background. Have a purple worm erupt 200 feet from the party, but not engage them. Have a Nightwalker be seen on the horizon on a dark foggy night. For some people, just the image of what's out there can be scary.
7) Reflavor abilities. If players are used to certain monsters, change up their abilities to make them strange and creepy. My best example. I took hobgoblin stats and gave it Magic Missile at will (just the 1st level ability, nothing too extreme).
I reflavored it to this horrific black monster with a huge mouth and teeth, that was dead silent. All it would do was point its "claws" at the party and swipe....and then immediately the party would take damage (aka magic missile). They freaked out! "What do you mean there was no roll....it just hit me? No save no nothing!!!" And then....I gave them 6 of them to contend with. One use of magic missile isn't so bad, 6 copies of it flying at once is devastating. The party ran scared, and came up with all sorts of ambush tactics to take them out. All from a creature with low hitpoints and the use of a 1st level spell.
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