tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post2215576931465493469..comments2024-03-25T22:48:31.750-04:00Comments on Dreams in the Lich House: Fear with a Handful of DiceJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-43991215193273274332012-03-11T11:22:27.349-04:002012-03-11T11:22:27.349-04:00Sapient, that's a great list of atmosphere bui...Sapient, that's a great list of atmosphere building suggestions, and I like how your ideas shift into the truly bizarre. It reminds me of one of my favorite off-beat horror movies, <i>Uzumaki</i>, based on a horror manga.<br /><br />It may seem like I emphasized the value of direct fear through investment, but I'm in agreement that the end goal is to shift into atmosphere building for running a great horror game.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-62647230604702690722012-03-09T16:57:57.453-05:002012-03-09T16:57:57.453-05:00I don't quite agree. Investment in a character...I don't quite agree. Investment in a character creates tension because of a certain level of risk. But that's not fear. <br /><br />It may be as close to fear as we are going to get in a tabletop rpg - but never the less it has nothing to do with the specific kind of monsters, the setting or the theme, that we associate with horror. The same tension can, by the same means, be created in any rpg. <br /><br />This tension may be part of the answer, a necessary but not sufficient in it self. <br /><br />I think we also need to play on some those themes that are part of truly good horror, that will also work in an rpg. (Not all will.) Feelings of alieness, of utter incomprehensibility, hopelessness and so on. The fear of the unknown, rather than the known. (You only mention this at the end - I think it should be front and center of the discussion...) <br /><br />My experience is, that a few new monsters won't do it. Yeah, they'll have unknown powers. For a while. But once the players have fought them, they aren't unknown anymore. <br /><br />So I'd suggest the opposite - have new monsters, but don't let the players fight them. Let the players see that they can do really horrendous things. But let them do it to others. Especially innocent creatures - animals for example. We identify more readily with them, and that's a great way to build up fear of the unknown. <br /><br />Have the otherwise normal environment warped by them. Maybe they dive into the solid rock floor when the players approach, and the stone sends out ripples and behave like water even after they disappeared. <br /><br />Maybe a dog walks up to the part of the rock that behaves like water and sniff it. And when it touches it, the dog also is turned into a water-like state. And it seeps down and disappear in the cracks of the floor...<br /><br />Stuff like this, in my experience, is far more fearsome, and brings out some of that feeling that you have watching a great horror-movie. You something bad is about to happen, but you really don't know what.sapienthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06580115662189882667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-21939296563255623682012-03-09T15:22:43.349-05:002012-03-09T15:22:43.349-05:00Such a useful post. Thank you.Such a useful post. Thank you.Amanda Heitlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05970963185827361806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-12976714095274381452012-03-09T11:01:54.788-05:002012-03-09T11:01:54.788-05:00Thanks for the shout out!Thanks for the shout out!Jack Guignolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05226738666709754348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-55098818316818148872012-03-09T08:43:28.115-05:002012-03-09T08:43:28.115-05:00The thinking on investment especially works for me...The thinking on investment especially works for me - keeping the mind on the back stories of the characters or great moments, and the longer-term hopes the characters might have, and bringing them up occasionally.<br /><br />Re the published bestiary list, I'd add that if you don't want the familiarity, but want the fear, you can mention environmental effects or sensations - with level drain for example, you can tell the players as they move in that the area seems to darken, the stone grow achingly cold, and the party feel more isolated and distant from each other, less certain of who the others are, and maybe have muscles weaken when really close, even a test for a weapon slipping from the grasp, for the foreboding of a fuller loss and the panic of having to pick it up again.Porkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00604351052444947490noreply@blogger.com