Multiple horror genres in a DnD campaign

[seanadams]

Hey all,

Have been away for a while but am now looking to DM a horror campaign for my players.

I am looking to write a campaign, that will use multiple genres from horror, e.g. slasher, ghosts etc. But I want to do it so that the transition between genres makes sense. My main idea is that the PCs are a team of ghost/demon/monster hunters and go from place to place helping people, investigating strange occurrences.

For the slasher part, I was thinking of having them, stop at a small town for the night, but during the night a scream wakes them and they find all their belongings and weapons gone and all the townsfolk have been turned into undead/demons. The PCs have to use items around the houses of the townsfolk e.g. knives, axes, hammers, setup traps, etc. To have to think about what they are doing rather than just jumping into any fight. I want the campaign to be unnerving and creepy, I plan to use music as much as possible to create a good atmosphere to scare the players.

I have told my group that I will be aiming to run the game this time next year, so that gives me about a year to write the game and get it as good as I can get.

I would like some advice on ideas for the various horror genres, and any other advice would be gratefully appreciated. I am trying to get some sources for inspiration, I am a big horror movie fan so I am currently watching the Friday the 13th's and Halloween collections.

Thanks

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I think Ravenloft as written lends itself quite well to the multi-genre campaign. The different domains each have their own genre for the most part, and moving from one place to another gives a logical reason for the change in focus. But with that said, if you don't want to go domain-hopping, there's no reason you can't run a werebeast hunt in Dementlieu, a lovecraftian cult in Verbrek, or a ghost story in Lamordia. Frankly, I think DM's worry more about genre and theme than players do. I doubt anyone will cry foul when you run a slasher adventure one week and a political intrigue thriller the next.

Your slasher setup sounds creepy for sure, but I'd want to put some thought into what caused this change and how the PC's might stop or reverse it. (While fighting for their lives, of course)

[Dion of the Fraternity]

...a werebeast hunt in Dementlieu, a lovecraftian cult in Verbrek, a ghost story in Lamordia...

...Bollywood in Hazlan...

[Dark Angel]

I found keeping the players in one or two specific lands worked well in setting the environment of that (those) lands. When another domain is nearby (like Northern Mordent and Dementlieu) with open border crossings, there will be cultural blending that should give the feel of both domains (and creating another entirely). If the horror theme works with the domain (undead are differently handled in Mordent, than in Har'Akir, than in Rokushima Taiyoo, etc), the group will not care. If there is a reason why a spirit from Rokushima Taiyoo is plaguing a city (it was brought to the museum and became active when it was dropped that created a hairline crack that unleashed an evil spirit). Even if they are the same "type" of monster (especially ghosts), one adventure can have them working towards ridding an injustice committed against the ghost (that will lay it to rest) using investigation and connecting the dots. Then another ghost hunt where the ghost was a crazed Lamordian doctor who was exiled from there because of his demented practices turned ghost looking to continue his "practice". As long as it makes sense, you can really expand the monster template from the single page entries into individual monsters (there was a great Dungeon Magazine adventure about a skinny, singing troll who sought the love of a human woman). Honesty, I cannot wait to rely on the many Mordent ghost adventures that are available out there and teach the players the real ins and outs of ghostly investigation. Remember, Jason is really dangerous and unstoppable. But it they know to lure him into water or attempt to lay him to rest (even if only temporarily) using his backstory, they will be way more likely to succeed.

Oh, and Dion, I can already see the mass dancing scene in the streets of Toyalis now...

[Chaot]

Now I want to write up a pocket domain centered on Chainsaw Massacre!

For the slasher part, I was thinking of having them, stop at a small town for the night, but during the night a scream wakes them and they find all their belongings and weapons gone and all the townsfolk have been turned into undead/demons. The PCs have to use items around the houses of the townsfolk e.g. knives, axes, hammers, setup traps, etc. To have to think about what they are doing rather than just jumping into any fight. I want the campaign to be unnerving and creepy, I plan to use music as much as possible to create a good atmosphere to scare the players.

It sounds like you want to draw on splatter/survival films rather than than slasher films. I'll bet you can get a lot of traction by looking at Evil Dead, zombie/triffid stuff and 'small town with a secret' flicks. The first film that came to my mind while reading this was 'Dagon'. It does a great job on 'small group versus town of monsters'.

...Bollywood in Hazlan...

There's some nightmare fuel for ya. Actually though, I could totally see informing a game with some Bollywood story elements meshing very nicely with Ravenloft!

[Dark Angel]

Toben the Many would be a good opponent who keeps coming back, but could limit the number of the dead to adequate player challenge levels. The twisted sense of humor does remind me of Freddy Kruegar (when one of my players hit a Toben Deadite for max damage and the rest of the Deadites say in unison with huge smiles, "Ouch, that one hurt!", my players thought I was kidding) which can be a twist from the usual stalker killer type.

[seanadams]

Cheers for all the replies. I will look at getting Dagon (loved the story, haven't seen the film) and reading up on Toben the Many, sounds an interesting villain. A domain based on Chainsaw massacre sounds like it could be good fun. I really want to create a story that will really make my players feel uneasy, and maybe a bit creaped out.

Always looking for new ideas to

Thanks again.

[MichaelTumey]

My developed horror setting for Pathfinder, the Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (PFRPG) which consists of 13 products, so far, with a GM's and a Player's Guide that will be released soon following a successful Kickstarter to fund them last year - is dark fantasy and authentically Japan-based. While Kaidan is definitely multi-genre horror based, many of the varying products cater to different genres of horror. Frozen Wind are free one-shot PDF download is survivor horror, for example. Our intro trilogy of modules to the setting, The Curse of the Golden Spear has different horror genres in each of the 3 modules. The first module, The Gift, is ghost/haunting horror more than anything else. The second module, Dim Spirit, is both ghost and a curse, with elements of survivor horror. The third module, Dark Path, has more elements of phobia/horror with spider/spider swarms, closed-in spaces, the darkness and more. We did want this to be introductory, so all elements of Japanese horror is embedded into that trilogy.

[seanadams]

I have been reading on Toben the Many and I really like the potential that this could bring. I am having all sorts of ideas, I have decided to use Toben in a sort of feature length D&D session, rather than part sessions to really build the atmosphere of survival horror. I have come up with the following idea:

I thought about having the idea of giving Toben a tune to hum, whenever he posses someone. I know that the lips and gums recede and eyes bulge out, but my idea is that at the end of the story the PCs think they have stopped all the undead. They are with the remaining townsfolk being thanked etc and they go to leave but somebody then starts the hum the tune, then somebody else, then somebody else........ The End. Nothing like ending on a cliffhanger, this could open to further expansion to the story.

Michael good news on the kickstarter mate, ill have a look at Frozen Wind. I have seen other posts from you about Kaidan and was always interested in it. Good luck with it.

[Dark Angel]

I thought about having the idea of giving Toben a tune to hum, whenever he posses someone. I know that the lips and gums recede and eyes bulge out, but my idea is that at the end of the story the PCs think they have stopped all the undead. They are with the remaining townsfolk being thanked etc and they go to leave but somebody then starts the hum the tune, then somebody else, then somebody else........ The End. Nothing like ending on a cliffhanger, this could open to further expansion to the story.

Then a fun tactic is to lead the group under the assumption that the "leader" (head priest, tougher than normal fighter, etc) of the undead horde was killed (likely so) and then as the town seems to return to normal the tune starts up again. I did something similar when I ran Azenwrath (golem adventure from CoTN: Created) and had a scroll begin to shake when the group got back to their safehouse and ended the night. My group refused to leave for half an hour!

As far as a sinister sounding tune, below is the one from the movie Identity (John Cusack). You might want to add another stanza or two and rotate between them, but I recall the creepy tone it had. Hearing it whispered by a bitten Toben deadite or through a doorway/window may definitely send shivers.

"As I was going up the stairs,
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today.
I wish, I wish he'd go away. "

[Zilfer]

meaning they wouldn't leave your real life house? or that the characters wouldn't? Was the game over at that point? xD

[Dark Angel]

meaning they wouldn't leave your real life house? or that the characters wouldn't? Was the game over at that point? xD

It was a cliffhanger moment and late at night so I stopped there, the actual players wanted to know what was happening or going to happen. It was about 1:30-2 AM and I was done. Luckily, there was no need to call the cops. This also happened months earlier when my player used a wish to become a lich and a potion of lichdom appeared in from of him. So he drank it (which pretty much kills the pc) and fell over seemingly dead. The potion (if it works) still takes like a week to bring the user back to unlife. So I stopped the game there and the players wanted to know if it worked. I said we will worry about it next week. They wanted to know now. So I rolled on the chart and they asked what the result was. I said they would find out next week. They were there for AN HOUR trying to get me to talk. It's good to know they enjoy it, but we have to call it every now and then. Guess they don't enjoy the cliffhangers as much as I do...

[Epically]

Dagon was the worst movie I have ever seen in my life lol. Wouldn't call it B grade, more like D-. Even though i watched it almost 10 years ago now, my cousin and I still cry, "Daaagooooonnnn" to this day when we talk about bad movies.

VIEW CONTENT:

The chick who screams the name during the sacrifice at the end

Personally, I think the only way to successfully make the players feel scared is to get them pretty attached to their characters, then throw them in a situation which is out of their control. Not in a railroading sense, but just let them know they aren't the biggest baddest mofos in the land and that should do the trick.

[Chaot]

What!? That's crazy talk. Dagon is great. It's a solidly constructed B movie that is more effective story telling wise than many big budget films I can think of. The use of rain alone in Dagon's scene design was brilliantly handled and shaped to tone of the film. Most importantly though, the film does what what seanadams wants to do in his game. There is much in Dagon that seanadams can use for inspiration for a game in which the players are set against a hostile town.

I really dig the topic of this thread even though I haven't taken the time to sort it out in how it deals with deconstructing horror genres. I became sensitive to actively wrapping games up in tropes when I first read the Buffy rpg rules. Bits of genre always crept in, of course, but taking a deeper look at game structure as it relates to story arcs and how specific tropes color the resulting game play. And so it sits in the back of my mind, silently informing while lacking shape and form.

[seanadams]

Thanks to everyone who has given advice, I have had some brilliant ideas.

Dark Angel - that's a great idea using that poem I love the film Identity. Any film with Ray Liota is good. The idea was given to me by the film Fallen with Denzel, but the poem would work better than the song 'time is on my side'.

I'm working from the end, my idea is that to stop Toben the Many they have to find and destroy the one true body that he is in. But of course they can't really destroy him. If they destroy him, the townsfolk will celebrate with them, during the celebration the lights will go out and then somebody will start saying the poem then somebody else and so on. People with dark vision will be able to see the townsfolk and they will have their backs to the PCs when the poem starts again somebody will turn to the PCs with the wide eyed, wide grin face of Toben the Many, the end.