I need something scary

[Sion_Barzahd]

Yeah i am DMing a D&D 3.5 campaign with a bunch of lads i go to uni with, and its a horror campaign. I've had some pretty decent stuff down but i am starting to come short of ways of screwing with their heads and creeping them out.

So i ask you dear escapists, what do you think would creep the hell out of you most in a medieval setting?

For an idea of what has already happened, one of them has a mark on his arm that slowly shifts every now and then, they've seen demonic children skipping through the abandoned city of undead they're stuck in, they've eaten fruit that has bled like raw flesh instead of like a fruit would leak juices.

They're hearing voices and hallucinating quite a bit, and at one point they even lost the ability to say the name of their god.

 

[Hazy992]

There is only one true horror... Rosie O'Donnell!

What, too scary?

 

[Jonluw]

They could find a Where's Waldo book where all the drawings of Waldo have been removed without their knowing.

To be honest, I can't think of scary things in that kind of context. I'm more into the subtle kind of scary. Stuff where you go into someone's house and find a small child chained in the basement or something.
When it's all like "You're in a city of undead where there are also demons and fruit that bleeds when you eat it", I just get kind of desensitized and I sort of just accept that as being normal in the world I'm in and continue to go about my day.

It's the difference between seeing a single Argonian sneaking around town and living in a town of Argonians.

So basically, when you've brought out the big guns like that and have the "huge spectacle" kind of horror going on, my creativity just sort of stagnates and I can't think of anything creepy.

Hm, how about this:

In the abandoned city of undead, your party somehow comes across a normal living woman that has gone insane from trying to survive in the city (The meeting needs to happen in a creepy context). The woman could maybe have some sort of uncanny valley quality about her. Maybe a clumsily amputated arm as a result of an earlier attack by undead.
Have her desperately ask them for help.
Try to get them to bring her with them in the party and then do not allow them to find food anywhere in the city, until they're forced to eat her.

It's important that you make them bond with her and see her as a real human character.

You could for example do this by - just as they've gone long enough to die without food - have her go hysterical. Have some reason for her to be in acute pain and let her panic and shout "Help me!" and lots of stuff that highlights her humanity, lamenting her pain over and over, until some player makes a snap judgement and cuts her head off.

Then try to make them realize that her body is their only source of food.

 

[Thaluikhain]

As a rule, you can't, people are desensitised, and the idea of being scared by a RPG is silly.

Now, you can chuck lots of OtT monsters and stuff in, but that ends up silly.

You can go into detail about how nasty things are, but that ends up silly and you look disturbed.

Basically, if it can be done, it'd be all in the delivery. Roll dice every so often, "just because", even when there's nothing going on...also would help to stop dice rolling alerting teh players that something is going to happen.

But yeah, breaking the conventions you've set up is generally a good idea.

 

[DoPo]

Throw some cult of an lovecraftian horror at them. Kidnappings, gruesome murders (don't skimp on the details), mysterious sightings. Perhaps somebody else tried to investigate and never returned or was found badly dead (in five parts of the city or something) or maybe they've come back insane and broken. For bonus points, you can have the cult conduct the violence and gruesome sacrifices in order to prevent the eldritch abomination from rising and devouring the city. You can even hook the tattoo to that - it a tattoo of the cult (the player is a lost descendant?) or maybe it's of the big bad thing the cult tends to (is he its champion? its destined destroyer? ...its slave?).

Depends on what horror you're looking for. I'm not sure if you're after more of a graphic horror or subtler thing.

If you want something subtler and more mysterious, what if people started...changing. Not obvious but a fanatic paladin who has been very passionate against evil suddenly loses his interest. Just like that. Something happened to him but what? And then other people start changing - some not a lot, others more. Perhaps the bartender who loved his business and always welcomed the players as his own family, sold his inn and started living as a recluse - that sort of thing. Are these people brainwashed? Or maybe they have been switched with copies? Or have their memories been cut away like with a scalpel - has everything they once were is not stolen and stored somewhere for somebody's or something's nefarious purpouse?

Alternatively, somebody disappears, say, the mayor (another attractive option - the king's son). And a day or two later the find him dead. The problem is that there are two bodies. Both of them are of the mayor. Obviously one is fake...right? But which one? And why the other one there? And what would happen if the mayor suddenly returns now but has no memory of what happened while he was missing? Is he the real one or is the real one dead?

This can be as subtle or not as you wish - somebody is stealing the souls of people. I'd assume it would be an evil wizard. He is stealing the souls leaving the still leaving shell behind but that is not a person any more - its not more than a life sized doll that would die of not fed and tended to. The wizard could use the souls for whatever bad thing he wishes but what if he managed to shaft something into the now empty bodies? Something from the lower planes, or maybe not - what if he managed to imprison a celestial in the empty bodies?

To be fair, I don't know exactly how good these will fit in D&D or your group but they can be used for inspiration.

 

[Spoonius]

Two ideas:

1) An enemy that can materialise at any time, anywhere.
2) One of the players is a "mole", or possessed, and the other players need to find out who.

Or a combination of both.
One of the players is in disguise, and the other players need to root him out before he kills them or takes their stuff or something.

 

[upgray3dd]

One of my old favorite's from my old campaign: a flesh monster. A slithering, sneaking, nasty animated human skin. It attacks by grappling people, forcing itself over their bodies, covering their mouths so they can't scream. When the PC's see it for the first time, it looks like an ordinary undead. If they hack away at it wantonly, it slink's away, revealing that it had taken over an important or beloved NPC, who was now dead. Have it follow them around for a while from then on. Make them do a bunch of extra perception checks, and if one of them ever gets seperated from the pack let it attack them.

I'm sure the monster's stat block and basic combat is in one of the dozen bestiaries I comb for ideas, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you which book.


Edit: one of the key's to horror is that it is somehow beyond the protagonist. The most typical horror movies give supernatural powers to the bad guy, but keeps the rest of the world mundane. That makes the bad guy feel wrong, like it is violating the rules of the world. It is almost impossible to do that in an already fantasy setting, but you can still find ways to break the rules of the world. Rust creatures, stat drainers, flesh monsters that punish people for attacking it, figure out all of the things that the players know are safe and murder them with it.

 

[Jonluw]

How about this:
Let the players fight a random mob. During the entire encounter, one enemy (a very recently-dead-looking undead. It's just a naked body with no specific recognizable features. Pale and dead.) stands at the back, doing nothing.
When the players have killed the rest of the enemies, they will naturally attack the one at the back.
However, when they attack it it does not react, and the damage isn't dealt to it; a specific member of the party takes the damage. Wounds are still inflicted on the monsters body though.
Every time they try to hit it, the same chosen player takes damage.

Then, when they've realized they can't kill it, they will probably walk away and go on with their campaign. Have the monster follow them everywhere they go. It keeps a distance, but while they sleep, it stands by the chosen character, looking at him or her.

The monster, as I imagine it, is basically a time-apparition. Almost like a ghost. It is an image of the one character in the party as they will look when they die. (Of course, you don't tell the players that.)

It's important to make the monster an inconvenience to the players, because you want them to try to kill it. Let it make a single attack at the party out of nowhere at unfortunate moments, for example during combat.
The moster still can't be harmed, as all damage is dealt to the chosen player.

The only way to get rid of it is to attack it until the player taking the damage reaches negative hp.
When this happens, the monster will merge with their body, and their body will take on the appearance of the monster. That is to say, the player lying there with negative hp will have all the wounds and missing limbs that were inflicted on the monster.
If the players manage to stabilize the chosen player, the chosen player survives. However, the chosen player will forever lack any limbs they may have cut off from the monster, and have any other permanent damage they've inflicted on it.

Basically, it's a way to have your players permanently hurt one of their friends.
I really recommend you have them cut of one of the monster's arms. As DM you can just say one of the players' attacks does that, since the monster doesn't try to defend at all.

 

[bobmus]

So basically, when you've brought out the big guns like that and have the "huge spectacle" kind of horror going on, my creativity just sort of stagnates and I can't think of anything creepy.

Nope, nope, you succeeded in giving some genuinely interesting and creepy ideas!

Never done any Table-top Role-playing myself, so can't really help you OP.

 

[Jonluw]

So basically, when you've brought out the big guns like that and have the "huge spectacle" kind of horror going on, my creativity just sort of stagnates and I can't think of anything creepy.

Nope, nope, you succeeded in giving some genuinely interesting and creepy ideas!

Thanks.
But I still think the scenarios would be far more unsettling in a mundane setting.

Never done any Table-top Role-playing myself, so can't really help you OP.

Do eet. It is fan.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Um...change the definition of winning?

How about the party is dying of a plague, and they have to kill as many other plague carriers as they can before they die, to slow the spread of the plague? But make sure their death turns out to be inevitable, and some palgue carriers get away.

You could use this as the backstroy for a new campaign with less expendable characters.

 

[the abyss gazes also]

For an idea of what has already happened, one of them has a mark on his arm that slowly shifts every now and then, they've seen demonic children skipping through the abandoned city of undead they're stuck in, they've eaten fruit that has bled like raw flesh instead of like a fruit would leak juices.

The mark on his arm: as it moves make move towards his head. And as it is moving it is growing and taking on the shape of his face but very wrathful. What happens when it gets to his head?

 

[onewheeled]

How about this:
Let the players fight a random mob. During the entire encounter, one enemy (a very recently-dead-looking undead. It's just a naked body with no specific recognizable features. Pale and dead.) stands at the back, doing nothing.
When the players have killed the rest of the enemies, they will naturally attack the one at the back.
However, when they attack it it does not react, and the damage isn't dealt to it; a specific member of the party takes the damage. Wounds are still inflicted on the monsters body though.
Every time they try to hit it, the same chosen player takes damage.

Then, when they've realized they can't kill it, they will probably walk away and go on with their campaign. Have the monster follow them everywhere they go. It keeps a distance, but while they sleep, it stands by the chosen character, looking at him or her.

The monster, as I imagine it, is basically a time-apparition. Almost like a ghost. It is an image of the one character in the party as they will look when they die. (Of course, you don't tell the players that.)

It's important to make the monster an inconvenience to the players, because you want them to try to kill it. Let it make a single attack at the party out of nowhere at unfortunate moments, for example during combat.
The moster still can't be harmed, as all damage is dealt to the chosen player.

The only way to get rid of it is to attack it until the player taking the damage reaches negative hp.
When this happens, the monster will merge with their body, and their body will take on the appearance of the monster. That is to say, the player lying there with negative hp will have all the wounds and missing limbs that were inflicted on the monster.
If the players manage to stabilize the chosen player, the chosen player survives. However, the chosen player will forever lack any limbs they may have cut off from the monster, and have any other permanent damage they've inflicted on it.

Basically, it's a way to have your players permanently hurt one of their friends.
I really recommend you have them cut of one of the monster's arms. As DM you can just say one of the players' attacks does that, since the monster doesn't try to defend at all.

Jesus Christ, this.

I've only played a Tabletop RPG once (D&D 3.5 Starter Box with a single friend, he DM'd and played a character, so I don't know how viable my experience is), but this sort of thing happening would be scary as hell. Be sure to make every description of the monster as vivid and gruesome as you can, just to add to the tension.

 

[Sion_Barzahd]

How about this:

Spoiler: snip

Let the players fight a random mob. During the entire encounter, one enemy (a very recently-dead-looking undead. It's just a naked body with no specific recognizable features. Pale and dead.) stands at the back, doing nothing.
When the players have killed the rest of the enemies, they will naturally attack the one at the back.
However, when they attack it it does not react, and the damage isn't dealt to it; a specific member of the party takes the damage. Wounds are still inflicted on the monsters body though.
Every time they try to hit it, the same chosen player takes damage.

Then, when they've realized they can't kill it, they will probably walk away and go on with their campaign. Have the monster follow them everywhere they go. It keeps a distance, but while they sleep, it stands by the chosen character, looking at him or her.

The monster, as I imagine it, is basically a time-apparition. Almost like a ghost. It is an image of the one character in the party as they will look when they die. (Of course, you don't tell the players that.)

It's important to make the monster an inconvenience to the players, because you want them to try to kill it. Let it make a single attack at the party out of nowhere at unfortunate moments, for example during combat.
The moster still can't be harmed, as all damage is dealt to the chosen player.

The only way to get rid of it is to attack it until the player taking the damage reaches negative hp.
When this happens, the monster will merge with their body, and their body will take on the appearance of the monster. That is to say, the player lying there with negative hp will have all the wounds and missing limbs that were inflicted on the monster.
If the players manage to stabilize the chosen player, the chosen player survives. However, the chosen player will forever lack any limbs they may have cut off from the monster, and have any other permanent damage they've inflicted on it.

Basically, it's a way to have your players permanently hurt one of their friends.
I really recommend you have them cut of one of the monster's arms. As DM you can just say one of the players' attacks does that, since the monster doesn't try to defend at all.

That is inspired, i love it. Thanks a lot.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Shove some stuff from this thread in there:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.376528-Mortasheen-Like-Pokemon-But-Better-In-Every-Way

 

[launchpadmcqwak]

have mastodon playing in the background...SHUT UP IT STILL COUNTS!

 

[Battleaxx90]

Yeah i am DMing a D&D 3.5 campaign with a bunch of lads i go to uni with, and its a horror campaign. I've had some pretty decent stuff down but i am starting to come short of ways of screwing with their heads and creeping them out.

So i ask you dear escapists, what do you think would creep the hell out of you most in a medieval setting?

Have one of the characters stumble upon a book, one that is simply titled Cupcakes. Assuming they're Bronies, they'll do the rest.

I kid, I kid. Probaly too scary for your purpouses, anyway.

What you should REALLY do is have them come across a single low-level Kobold, but when your guys damage it, don't record the monster's hit points anywhere. Act like they're doing damage, despite the fact that they're not. Watch 'em squirm around as they get ground into mush by the world's most resillient Kobold!

Their hit-points slowly draining, they'll throw their most powerful abilities at it... but it JUST. WON'T. DIE. Even better, cut off all forms of escape for them, so they'll be trapped in that room forever with the Kobold that Never Kroaks! OOH! OOH! Make it succeed in every saving throw, and all its attacks are critical hits... for single-digit damage! They'll be BEGGING for death by the time the session's over! MUAHAHAHAHA!

And yes, I'm 100% serious.

 

[Artemis923]

Go watch the news. Plenty of terrifying shit goin' on there.

 

[Jonluw]

How about this:

Spoiler: snip

Let the players fight a random mob. During the entire encounter, one enemy (a very recently-dead-looking undead. It's just a naked body with no specific recognizable features. Pale and dead.) stands at the back, doing nothing.
When the players have killed the rest of the enemies, they will naturally attack the one at the back.
However, when they attack it it does not react, and the damage isn't dealt to it; a specific member of the party takes the damage. Wounds are still inflicted on the monsters body though.
Every time they try to hit it, the same chosen player takes damage.

Then, when they've realized they can't kill it, they will probably walk away and go on with their campaign. Have the monster follow them everywhere they go. It keeps a distance, but while they sleep, it stands by the chosen character, looking at him or her.

The monster, as I imagine it, is basically a time-apparition. Almost like a ghost. It is an image of the one character in the party as they will look when they die. (Of course, you don't tell the players that.)

It's important to make the monster an inconvenience to the players, because you want them to try to kill it. Let it make a single attack at the party out of nowhere at unfortunate moments, for example during combat.
The moster still can't be harmed, as all damage is dealt to the chosen player.

The only way to get rid of it is to attack it until the player taking the damage reaches negative hp.
When this happens, the monster will merge with their body, and their body will take on the appearance of the monster. That is to say, the player lying there with negative hp will have all the wounds and missing limbs that were inflicted on the monster.
If the players manage to stabilize the chosen player, the chosen player survives. However, the chosen player will forever lack any limbs they may have cut off from the monster, and have any other permanent damage they've inflicted on it.

Basically, it's a way to have your players permanently hurt one of their friends.
I really recommend you have them cut of one of the monster's arms. As DM you can just say one of the players' attacks does that, since the monster doesn't try to defend at all.

That is inspired, i love it. Thanks a lot.

Thanks. My pleasure.
Just remember to make sure to make it's annoying enough for the players to try killing it. I haven't tried dm'ing myself, but I imagine it'd be easy, and really disappointing, to have the players just ignore the monster despite its annoying random attacks.

I think having the monster suddenly one night start choking the chosen player while he's sleeping could work as a good incentive if you're having trouble making the players try to kill it.
You know, startle them a bit. Give them a feeling of urgency. Making them go to the last resort.

As an absolute last resort for convincing them to kill it, I figure you could have the monster just keep attacking the chosen player, rather than just the single inconvenient attack, until the party tries to kill it.
That's a bit overt though, so you would probably want to avoid doing that unless the players are really avoiding killing it.

Oh, and by the way. I got an urge to draw something like that. If you want I can send you an illustration/concept drawing, if I'm happy with it, that you can use as a basis if you feel like it.

 

[Angry_squirrel]

snip

That's brilliant!
You've made me want to go play D&D now...