On How One Scares Combat-Stacked Characters-

[Cole Deschain]

From the introduction to the Legend of the Five Rings adventure Mirror, Mirror

"[C]reating horror in Rokugan is a different dance than trying it in GURPS Horror or Call of Cthulhu. If everyone is in character (which we are assuming in an otherwise functional game) you aren't trying to scare reporters and debutantes. That's easy. In L5R horror, you have to scare six hard-core, heavily armed
martial artists, some of whom come from an entire clan of professional demon hunters who do not fear death because they know for a fact they will reincarnate."

Much of the same holds true in D&D- even Ravenloft. You have to terrify people who, for example, believe in deities who at least APPEAR to be real enough to answer a priest's call for fire from the sky. Wizards who know how to turn a ball of bat droppings into a room-clearing pyrotechnic display.

And the thing is, you can- Just look at George Weathermay or Rudolph van Richten.

Both of these guys have faced down monsters that would have sent most rational people screaming into the hills, never to return. Physical threats mean nothing to them, in terms of actually getting them rattled.

But because of who they are, it doesn't matter how ready they are to hack and mutilate things they have become. If your players are willing to create people, not just mathematical exercises in rolling dice, you can get 'em. I once had the privilege of playing alongside a guy who had created what was, on first blush, a very two-dimensional character. The guy was a ranger whose entire family was already dead and who had no close friends or associations. Two swords and a bad attitude, that was about it.

But because he had REASONS his family were dead and he refused to get close to anyone, this ranger, the most terrifying combat beast in our party, a man who was totally blase about a werewolf lunging through his bedroom window or the eerie unison voice of Toben the Many, dropped his swords in nerveless dread when he saw a little girl walking along a riverbank, singing to herself... because he knew he would never reach her in time before the ghoul under the water rose up to carry her off.


Much is made of the DM's duties in a horror campaign- and they are pretty steep, no lie.
But never forget, nobody can scare a character who refuses to play along, Fear and Horror checks be damned.

[Joël of the FoS]

Interesting text, because that is an art for RL DM to master.

I also play with dark and murky situation, where the players are never sure if they should go on or flee.

Joël

[riMkrad]

I have found that taking away one or more of a power gamer's super powers gives them some serious pause, especially when they know that they are about to face a significant foe. Although taking away too many and too quickly without a reasonable cause/reason/excuse just generates frustration in them. The experienced DM can neuter the all powerful PCs. Most of my gamers learned quickly that it's how you play it, not necessarily what the number on the paper is.

[BedrockBrendan]

I think the key is to not be afraid to kill player characters. At some point this idea emerged in D&D (I think I remember seeing it take off sometime in the 90s), that you only let player characters die for doing stupid things. Essentially the argument is, don't let the dice fall where they may, protect the characters, because it propels the story forward and it keeps players happy. I've found that doing this really wrecks any attempt to make them scarred. Eventually they catch on. Eventually they notice no one has died. Without the real threat of death, I don't think horror can be achieved. This is why I think Cthulu works so well. It isn't watered down like a lot of fantasy horror games have been.

Also, I don't think the aim should be to scare the character. The aim should be to frighten the player. If the player is frightened, that will cause him to run his character that way.

In my opinion, if a player is wading into a situation that would terrify others, that means he A) underestimated the threat, or B) The game master didn't present a challenging enough threat to that character.

To your original point, keep in mind that the danger is scaled upward in a place like ravenloft because the PCs are potentially so powerful and hardened. There are always things that can get to them, things they are vulnerable to.

[sPtJanly]

You definitely cant be afraid to kill off your players. If they love the game they will always come back for the next session and be on their toes.

My players got a little over their heads once and I decided to knock the cock out of their strut by setting up a total party wipe on session. The long and short of the encounter was that they were really taken back when the event started and I had their full attention when everything started to go bad for them. I knocked off 2 of the 5 players and the survivors barely limped away. Got a load of complements of how dirty and fun it was.

[alhoon]

The guy was a ranger whose entire family was already dead and who had no close friends or associations. Two swords and a bad attitude, that was about it.

But because he had REASONS his family were dead and he refused to get close to anyone, this ranger, the most terrifying combat beast in our party...

The Ranger was the combat beast in your party?
You're still playing 2nd edition, don't you?

[Tadelin]

The Ranger was the combat beast in your party?
You're still playing 2nd edition, don't you?

I can do so with the 3.5 rules, if I truly feel the need.