Tweaking Dungeons & Dragons to make it more horrifying for the holiday

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Originally published at: Tweaking Dungeons & Dragons to make it more horrifying for the holiday | Boing Boing

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Of course, 5th Edition D&D really isn’t that great at facilitating the same sense of dread that we experience when watching [horror] films…

Anyway, here’s ways to hack at its square peg to force it into kind of fitting in a round hole.

Because ever trying another system is goddamn unthinkable.

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Rule 1:
Put away the D&D for a night and play Call of Chthulu.

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For goodness sake, TRY SOMETHING OTHER THAN D&D!!!

  • Dread
  • All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  • Call of Cthulhu
  • Delta Green
  • FATE Horror
  • Shadow of the Demon Lord
  • Alien
  • Ten Candles

And that’s just a quick list. Find the RPG that’s made to play the kind of game you want, don’t try and shoehorn something into D&D that won’t fit well.

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My current DM is good at injecting horror. Oh things start normal at first, but then inevitably something horrible happens. Him using roll20.net for sound effects doesn’t help!

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Came here for this.

Also… several properties have their own RPG now if you want a specific theme. The Alien universe is a good example.

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I use Foundry VTT and love throwing in sound effects. I get a lot of amusement when the players suddenly start asking “What the hell was that?!?” :laughing: I don’t really do horror, but even a “normal” game can have some good creepy moments.

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Watching that video made me so nerdy that, after watching it, my own mother beat me up.

(used to play D&D so I’m allowed to make fun)

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Hell, he called out Mothership right in the video. A million $ Kickstarter for a free game - they’re doing something right.

Or if sticking to D&D… Bring back level draining undead. Make the PCs cringe at the thought of instantaneously losing hard earned XP and benefits from a mere touch.

Or just do a good hidden enemy scenario with a doppelganger or lycanthrope where one of the PCs might be the shape shifter. Paranoia for fun and profit.

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The entire group is comprised of doppelgangers or other shapeshifters passing themselves off as humans, elves, what have you. Nobody in the party is aware of this and is trying to keep this concealed from everyone else. As a whole, the party finds evidence that there is an imposter in the party, but no solid clue as to their identity. Let the party begin!

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Yep. A blogger I follow ran an “all doppelganger” one shot where the party replaced the original heroes. Lots of, “hello fellow citizens, I too enjoy doing human things like breathing air and walking on feet…”

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