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I've found that spontaneous signs of violence keep the players on edge. Players walk through a room and then hear a loud thrashing. They come back and the room is trashed. Sounds simple, but can be very unnerving.

Check out the ''Dozen ways to screw with your PCs'' thread on KULT- rpg http://www.kult-rpg.com/forum/

1. Players see a person in a crowd they know to be dead. By the time they get to the person they are gone.

2. The same black car seems to be following them all hours of the day. If they set a trap for it, the car is empty.

3. Mutilated corpses turn up now and then at the worst times in PCs closets, car trunk/booth and or hotel rooms. PCs not wanting attention need to dispose of them.

4. A newspaper article about a vandalized cemetery has a photo of a grave with PC surname and same birth date and death date. PC finds out they had a twin that didn't make it of the opposite sex only the grave is empty. Maybe the PC spends a day as that sibling and they are the deceased one but no-one else notices they aren't who they were, originally

5. A PC has an odd dream that seems to partially come true but the other part involves a trusted ally betraying them. No basis in reality, it is just a dream but PCs may become suspicious of their friend.

6. A clock on the wall seems to be broken. Missing time and decor changes also occur around this area.

7. A crazed street prophet yells at PCs incoherently. Only the information he gives will be crucial at a later time.

8. An unfamilar street keeps popping up near a PCs home. It comes and goes but the PC seems to be the only one to notice it. When the PC tries to show someone it is gone.

9. People in the neighborhood seem to switch jobs. The mail carrier is the garbage collector, the neighborhood cop is a bartender and no one seems to notice except PCs.

10. A PC going to meet friends or with an appointment arrives only to be told he just left. A waiter in a restaurant presents a PC with a bill for food he hasn't eaten. A female slaps PC for offensive behavior he is seemingly innocent of...

>>17845054

>The same black car seems to be following them all hours of the day. If they set a trap for it, the car is empty.

That depends. How far are you willing to go to scare your players?

>>17845054
>5. A PC has an odd dream that seems to partially come true but the other part involves a trusted ally betraying them. No basis in reality, it is just a dream but PCs may become suspicious of their friend.

This is a very good one. Paranoia is a powerful weapon; you want to make them watch their backs all the time.

>"husband kills his whole family"
Small time.
>kids kill the parents
Now we're talking.

I have GM'd enough CoC to know some sure fire ways to fuck with peoples heads.

>PCs are in boiler room of abandoned building. Let them know that they hear a slight tapping from the pipes. They ask what it sounds like. Sounds like pipes clanging. Pipes do that.
>They start looking around for clues tell them to roll listen checks, the clicking is rhythmic. Survival/knowledge military lets them realize it's morse code for HELP ME.
>Tell them it's getting luoder, they start looking for the sound.
>Find Furnace that is running and shouldn't be.
>WAIL ON THE TABLE
>Everyone jumps
>Keep wailing on table and ask them whjat they are doing quite calmly.
>Open door of Furnace without gloves take light burn (1 point of damage)
>Furnace is full of flame and a dude burning in tendrils of fire
>Flame belches from the Furnace everyone roll reflex saves
>Everybody takes a shit ton of damage.
>PCs are furious.
>trollface.jpg
>The furnace is empty. and cold looking. No heat in room, no clanging pipes.
>You all look down and are fine, no burns nothing.
>Roll sanity.

>7. A crazed street prophet yells at PCs incoherently. Only the information he gives will be crucial at a later time.

a fantastic supplement to this would be when the PC's are in a dire situation. For example, the crazy hobo could yell something that has to do with an escape from a trap or something, and it was a small clue that is apparent to them in their moment of panic.

I can't think of a clever example, but I think you get what I mean. Kind of like the answer to a riddle.

>>17846111

that's fucking hilarious

Dead animals in the road that have been there for a long time, that are gone with no trace. I mean not like cleaned up, I mean no blood traces on the road, no skid marks nothing. Just dead things there one day, gone the next, back in a few days in the same spot.

Make them roll passive spots for them.

Have them roll spot and listen checks for nothing. Do this infrequently.

Edited for extra scaryness.

1. Players see a person in a crowd they know to be dead. By the time they get to the person they find he's made of spiders.

2. The same black car seems to be following them all hours of the day. If they set a trap for it, the car is full of spiders.

3. Mutilated corpses of spiders turn up now and then at the worst times in PCs closets, car trunk/booth and or hotel rooms. PCs not wanting attention need to dispose of them.

4. A newspaper article about a vandalized cemetery has a photo of a grave with PC surname and same birth date and death date. PC finds out they had a spider twin that didn't make it of the opposite sex only the grave is empty. Maybe the PC spends a day as that sibling and they are the deceased one but no-one else notices they aren't who they were, originally

5. A PC has an odd dream that seems to partially come true but the other part involves a trusted ally revealing they're a spider. No basis in reality, it is just a dream but PCs may become suspicious of their friend.

6. A clock on the wall seems to be broken. Missing time and decor changes also occur around this area. When examined, the clock is full of spiders.

7. A crazed street prophet yells at PCs incoherently about spiders. Only the information he gives will be crucial at a later time.

8. An unfamilar street keeps popping up near a PCs home. It comes and goes but the PC seems to be the only one to notice it. When the PC tries to show someone it is spiders.

9. People in the neighborhood seem to switch jobs. The mail carrier is the garbage collector, the neighborhood cop is a spider and no one seems to notice except PCs.

10. A PC going to meet friends or with an appointment arrives only to be told he just left. A spider in a restaurant presents a PC with a bill for food he hasn't eaten. A female slaps PC for offensive behavior he is seemingly innocent of...

these are fucking incredible guys, really, /tg/ is a fucking awesome board. thank you so much!

>>17846268
>Spiders
Oh, god, here we go.

Lifted from some other thread, didn't save it. Works in combination with other mindfuckery.
>be in a creepy place
>a pc is murdered during the night
>pass a note to each survivor saying, "you are NOT the murderer, do not show this to anyone"

>>17846257

would it be creepier if they had no wounds? Like should they be disembowled, gunshots, animal wounds? becuause if you say animal wounds then they will think it's some creature.

Sorry I'm thinking of my campaign. Because I LOVE the idea of them not being there when they go back down the road. That will make the PC's think they are undead or something, but I won't have that happen. At the most it will be "reflective yellow circles of eyes in the woods" or something, like when you spot deer in the woods. But that'll be the extent, if I go there at all.

I just wanted to know what you think the extent of their wounds should be, and if they should have any at all, would that be creepier?

>>17846178
One of my finest moments.

Also fuck with direction. Like have them look out a window and suddenly find themselves not looking out but looking straight down. Make them roll reflex saves not to fall down and when the fall they just bang their head against the glass because they weren't actually ever falling.

Know your music well, minor keys are good for creepy. But a well used happy-song in a major key can be intensely scary.

If something bites them, let them think they are getting really sick. (only you know they are not)

Remember, you can control what the PC's subconcious does sometimes. So dreams, imagined illnesses, all things you can do. I mean give them a chance to realize it's not really happening (spot checks, will saves) but they won't forget what they thought they saw.

>>17846335

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh mannnnnnnnnnnnnnn

If your PCs have a back-story, take a seemingly small or insignificant detail from said back-story and either corrupt it or present it in a distorted way. Anything uncanny is first familiar (and subjective) and that's what makes it so strange and out of place.

Have them dream lucid dreams without them knowing.

Have them wake up from a nightmare, only to have it continue. Wake them up again...then one more time. They will be unsure wheather or not it is reality.

Scar them in a dream, then let them be scarred in the same way when they wake up.

Minor suggestions, but things moving that shouldn't move/change is good for atmosphere.

Like a painting changing from a tranquil scene or an empty room to having something horrific or monsterous in it the next moment.

Or a statue moving every time you look at it.

Hell, some good scare moments from some games I can think of is from SH3 where you pass a mannequin, hear a scream and when you look back its beheaded and bleeding.

Or that one room from.. Uh. Crap, forgot the game. Anyways, you enter a room full of mannequins.And you hear something behind you.. And when you turn around, all the mannequins are lined up directly behind you.

>>17846416
>it was all a dream!
>...or was it?
WHAT A TWEEST

>>17846342

I'm >>17846111
>>17846111
>>17846257

Yes, that's totally rad. But if you're going to give it the "undead spin" then you might want to make it that there are drag marks that look like someone dragged them off the road but a survival/spot/knowledge something to realize that there are subtle paw marks.

But make sure that the dead things are really old and dead, like bloated gas filled stomach, maggots, rotting flesh. But NOBODY looks at it. If the investigators examine it then have people look at them but like they PCs are just looking at the road, not a dead animal. Again, they don't need to know why folks are looking at them funny, but you should.

>>17846431
>dontblink.jpg

>>17846355

noted. good stuff, thank you.

>>17846364

I was thinking about this, and because the last game we ran I came up with their characters, but this time around they want some control over the creation of their characters and stats.

Should I let them? I know some aren't good at coming up with backstories of their characters, should I just ONLY make those up for them, or let them try and fill in the blanks?

Because in the Silent Hill supplement it says I should use each character's Vice as a sort of "obstacle" that they are meant to overcome, and I'm planning on each Vice to the "theme" for each adventure to complete; the characters have to overcome a part of themselves and that's the different "quests" that they are meant to complete.

Is this a good idea for the backstory, and how would I implement that for what you suggested?

>>17846436

Yeah I'm not going with the undead appeal. But I should make it bloated and gas filled stomach maggots?

>>17846431
Nightmare House 2, a HL2 mod.

It also had a good scene where an NPC was calling you over from behind a bulletproof glass window, saying shit like "Come on" and whatnot, banging on it. When you went through the door that was beside the window, on the other side was a mannequin torso+head looking out the window.

>>17846431
stuff like this is only good in video games and movies. hard to make that scary in a table top game.

>>17846431

>dem mannequin's

>>17846467

You do the animals however you want. But if you don't want them to seem undead, make sure that they look dead not undead. Like maybe a crow is picking at the corpse when your PCs notice it.

Maggots are always a nice touch. Nobody likes maggots, they are gross. Also some nice touches that happen naturally are eyes and tongues being eaten out first. Dried blood thickly clotted in the fur. Torn ears, backs and legs broken in unatural directions.

>>17846486
You can make it work, just cut out the blood. Make them hear a scream behind them and the mannequin is just knocked on the ground. Cut the blood out as that shit is too over the top.

Remember, you want them to jump, not laugh. Subtle guys, subtle.

There are signs of people entering or walking around a place that should be safe.

also strange footprints or calling cards, so bloody footprints, a single line of red casino dice, A trail of playing cards upon the wall.

>>17846432
Sure it is not a big twist, but when working in a "normal" modern setting taking place in the players hometown and played down as a pretty much "normal" game, suddenly having freakish dreams and have entire days suddenly becoming a dream that you've just awoken from only to wake again.

It is unsettling.

>>17846530

>eyes and tongues being eaten out first

done. dead deer and other small animals on a road with their eyes and tongues eaten out, dried up pink and blood from it upon the road.

way later they come back down the same path, all gone. no blood. nothing.

but now, instead of a deathly quiet woods on both sides, there are now sounds of faint tramping and rustling in the fog (like the beginning of SH2, shit was so creepy)...like the animals are alive. But none are seen.

I don't know why but I feel like they ALL shouldn't have their tongues/eyes out. Some have tongues gone, others have eyes, but not both.

Damn. This shit almost makes me want to have them come back to life later and attack them. This shit would make me piss my pants.

>>17846561
>Cut the blood out as that shit is too over the top.

It depends on how supernatural you're going. The reason it works in Silent Hill is because reality is completely warped; if the mannequins bleed, what does that imply... ?

Of course, it doesn't work if it's firmly rooted in the real world.

>>17846563
Good start but I would change it. I would cut it down to a pair of red dice that are rolled to snake-eyes belonging where they don't.

Blood is not inherently scary. I feel like this is an overlooked fact, but foot prints in dust? Or muddy footprints? Definitely.

>>17846563

>bloody footprints

you know mud is just as spooky...

Separate players in different rooms and make them play turn after turn.
Each player see a monster, something hideous and unrecognizable, with a scarried look on his face. Each time a player wants to avoid it, it flees. When confronting it, it begins furious and attack too.
>First player strikes.
>Second players takes damages.
>Realizing they were playing in the same time in the same place.
Best played when nobody's mapping the place.

>>17846620
>>17846623

>mud
>hivemind

>>17846638

oh that's great! I was just trying to figure out how I could work shit like that into the game with "perspective." Like, should I always have the PC's seperated because then they feel the most vulnerable? I expect to seperate-scare them early on, but then I know they will have that sense of safety when they regroup (maybe not fully regroup, maybe just two or three PC's together) and I'd like to exploit that safety later on.

>>17846611
I agree it works for silent hill, but a lot of horror table tops are not that super natural, and if they are the PCs are generally prepped for it. That works better for a visual scare than a mental one.

What works on screen is sometimes a little too over the top in tabletop.

Isolation and description are sometimes the best way to scary your players because they suddenly all focus on every little detail you will describe in the room, from the candle to the patterns of the rug.

Nobody believes them : they KNOW something but either can't prove it, or nobody think it will happen. Think something big, like a volcano eruption or a tornado of zombies. Or both.

They can't flee : they have to go further in the darkness / raising water / zombie cave. Realtimes scenarii are good but need to be well mastered and dice rolls have to be cut to the strict minimum. Already made a "Die Hard 3 style", and it was considered as the greatest and scariest game of all times by my players.

Just something wrong: a detail isn't correct in everyday life. You are waking up aside of your wife. But instead of your wife, it's a decomposed body of somebody you don't know.

Shyamalan twist : something makes noise outside. Players open the door to take a peek but see nothing. When they close the door, the noise repeats, but is inside the house.

Unstoppable: an ordinary enemy keeps spawning. Players kill it, and the day after he comes back, as if nothing. Repeat until they undestand they became mad the first time they killed it, or they understand they kill each time a different person, but keep seeing the same face on everybody, including themselves.

>>17846705
Subtlety works. Try having the kitchen have a gas leak.

>>17846704
When they are together, players seems to believe they are undefeatable.
If they don't want to separate for any reason, there's a good hint: isolate one player, even if it only lasts a blink. When possible, tell him apart other players that he has been abducted and replaced by a doppelganger and his goal is now to kill the others without being suspected or spotted.
Let him play is role of doppleganger all the way.
>Twist for other players : OMG HE IS A DOPPLEGANGER
>Double Twist : OMG IT WASN'T A DOPPLEGANGER AT ALL, WE KILLED JIMMY
>Triple Twist : OMG JIMMY IS NOT A DOPPLEGANGER, IT IS BOB
>M-M-M-Monster Twist : OMG THERE ARE MORE THAN 1 DOPPLEGANGER !

>>17846431
OH my god.
Condemned: Criminal Origins.
You're in a MANNEQUIN FACTORY and you face the wall to move through a vent, and you turn around and TEN MANNEQUINS SURROUND YOU NOW, FUCK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbhIIicW2MI

>>17846877
John Carpenter's "The Doppleganger"

>>17846563
That would be especially creepy to wake up to. You wake up and find muddy/bloody footprints leading up to and away from your bed. They lead from your bed to somewhere else in the house.

From there they could either end mysteriously, or the players find something off.

Like a painting of a hallway that the other day was empty, and yet today contains a shadowy figure walking away.

Or a dead body propped up against a wall.

Or just a pair of old muddy boots with the owner nowhere in sight.

If anyone wants corpse-material to make adequate descriptions I can post a link to this site I just found after I investigated this /x/ post from another /tg/ thread.
It's pretty nasty though, Ganges river in India where people dump their dead. Rotting corpses, bloated, all that.

creepypasta.com

>>17846879
This is exactly THAT doctor Who episode that made me shit my pants. And my coed pants.

>>17846879
Fuck yes! Thank you Anon for knowing what game it was. I couldn't remember which one beyond it being 'That Hobo killing game.'

Have the players walk into the room and meet D6 flayed, bleeding bodies, of which D3 are still alive and screaming for -mercy-, not help. Entrails, gore, all that. If they shut the door, upon re-entry there's nothing--no blood, ANYTHING. If they don't leave, it's when they blink that everything goes away.

>>17844400
>ways to scare our players

Pull out a copy of FATAL.

Don't let your players know they are going to play a horror game. They may create characters who are just ordinary or slightly extraordinary people and then you drop them in Silent Hill.

There was a really sick 3.5 supplement for this. Heroes of Horror was one of my favorite things to just sit down and read. One of my favorites involves a pc eating a piece of fruit only to find themselves spitting out human teeth instead of seeds.

Huh. Just had an interesting little idea based on something that just happened. Heres a little set up:

My dogs are tied up outside. One of them happens to be barking. To go outside, first I need to exit into a screen room, which is pretty dark and has no locked door from the outside.

The Dog was barking towards me, indicating he saw something towards where I was. Thought that'd have been terrifying if someone were in the room with me, hiding behind all of the crap and just waiting for me to come out.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/12180900/
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/12189134/
THIS.
FUCKING THIS.

>>17846957
I think something like the painting would be hard to do in tabletop. It's an effect that relies on the player noticing something subtly, and any descriptions you provide that indicate the area is off "you see a painting you know wasn't there before" will make it too cold and detached.

>>17847049
On that note, I think blink-triggered horrors are hard to do subtly. Nonsubtly, yes - you could have a monster that you describe as moving when you blink and model it mechanically as some sort of bonus to its tohit or something. That's pretty creepy and it would lead to things like players fashioning rigs to hold their eyes open (because players have a lot of ingenuity) - then you could describe effects that come from dry eyes like hallucinations, pain, blurriness, they become tired quicker, etc..

But blink and a thing is gone - that's relying on a subtle automatic player action, blinking, for a subtle effect. It's something the PCs are assumed to do automatically, so describing "you blink and it's gone" will make it seem like "just a dream" instead of something possibly more sinister - the effect you'd get from a blink in a movie, for instance.
Instead what I think you should do to simulate "blinking" is wait until the players begin making decisions to act or discuss (leave the room, or get distracted by talking about something) and then roll nonsecret perception checks to notice the entire thing is gone. Make it seem like only the highest roll made the roll - FAKE nonsecret perception checks. Why nonsecret? So the players can see how close they came to not noticing it. What would have happened had they not noticed the entire room of corpses disappearing from under them?

Sometimes a good way to scare your players is out-of-the-box.
Make them reroll new characters before the mission begins.
"Just in case of".
>mfw my GM told us that

>>17846879
Something in the same vein.
"Still Life", this is very well done short film.
http://vimeo.com/32198276

>>17847142
Could have them roll spot both times they get to the area maybe?

>>17847246
Not a bad idea. My favorite way to freak out players is ask them to roll a spot check and then describe something mundane or uninteresting - obviously you shouldn't say "you don't see anything," that's DMing 101, but pointless, apparently-failed spot checks are my favorite scare tactic.

pic related

also some threads:
masterful space horror DMing: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/12130366/
Czarnosc: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15681622/

>>17847290
Or howabout they roll a spot once, see the corpses there. They obviously think either they succeeded the spot check or that the spot check was pointless (how could we have missed those corpses anyway?). Second spot check, describe the same thing. Almost as if they are seeing it all over again. Now it's mundane. Mundane, to look at a room full of bloody corpses, all because you had them look again and didn't give them new information.

OP, you could come up with the scariest shit since "The Thing", but unless your players are unwilling to be scared, you have no hope. Your players have to be open to the experience, willing to be put in the same environment as that when watching a horror film.

The next most important thing would be the atmosphere. All cellphones turned off, lights dimmed down. House is dead silent, save for the roll of the dice and the voices of the players.

After that, they are putty. Mold them into the most soul crushing, despairing, and fearing shapes you can.

One of the best things is dread. They fear what they know is real, but think of any possible excuse to say that it isn't. It gnaws at them, it's a slow, slow fear, and, if done properly, can be stretched out over sessions.

For example I am about to do something most cruel to my players, but one in particular. My players are stellar RPers, and get into their roles very well. I'll introduce to them a small half elf child that has been following them. She's idolized the groups rogue, saying that she wants to be "A pretty adventurer just like you!"

She'll be with them for awhile, the party pet if things go well. Hell, she may even help them solve a few mysteries around town. Things will be great, until she goes missing.

I have realized that many of my players hate to play in water. I mean : they hate boats, submarines, secret james bond vilain bases, small volcanic islands... At least 3 of them don't even want to play a water-related mission. I think they fear losing their character in a place they can't be resurrected or something (inb4 yes, i play a game with magic ressucitation stuff).
Suggestion : add water.

>>17847426
THAT IS NOT THE REASON FOR THE HATE OF WATER

THIS IS

AND THEY CAN BE LITERALLY AS BIG AS THE OCEAN IS DEEP

>>17847389
So true. Atmosphere makes it all. The best ghost-house or scary missions were made at night, no music or just ambient music (not even scary, just something that goes unnoticed).
Best scary memory : while examining an unknown room, a frame behind me drop on the floor. It wasn't even planned. Scared the shit out of us.

If you want an evil town, Stephen King's Derry might provide some ideas.

>>17847389

It doesn't help that the mysteries around town will suddenly shift from theft to kidnappings and murder.

They'll look everywhere for her, but hopefully the rogue will especially so. The child is basically a little version of her. They'll redouble their efforts, search every crime scene, follow every lead.

The players will certainly know what's happened. But here's the fun part: they will keep telling themselves that, for some reason, it'll be DIFFERENT for this one girl. Maybe this one time, he WON'T kill her. Or maybe, she just took off on an adventure on her own without telling them. They will make up any number of excuses to fool themselves into thinking that she's the exception.

I wonder if it would be better to have them think they could've saved her. Possibly have them roll a few checks when they're in the butcher shop asking around, after all, it'd have to be a pretty high DC to hear her screaming behind her gag in the basement.

I wonder how they'll feel, knowing that she could hear her friends, her rescue, so close, separated by a few inches of timber. Poor girl, the clerics had nothing left to resurrect after the Chopper got to her.

There is nothing more scary than water. Underwater facilities.
I'm afraid of waterdepths. As much as I want to go to space I would never, ever try to go underwater below the point where I can't swim.

>Part of your comment isn't allowed to be posted :(
WAT.jpg?

>>17847142
Either that or after their first action, describe a black flash of pain behind their eyes coupled with blurred vision, and the room is as normal as could be, aside from an average layer of dust on the furniture/ground. If they do another spot check afterwards, only one or two of them sees the clawed footprints of an invisible entity walking to the door, technically through a player. They'll all see/hear claw marks rake the doorframe, though.

>>17847552
No, she was the monster.

>>17847588

oooh, that's also a good one.

choices, choices

For Horror to properly settle in you need to take away anything that your players could use to step out of the fantasy and calm themselves while playing. The best way to do this I found is to use anything they do at the table in game to their disadvantage.

A player is joking around, his character is amused and noisy, alerting something bad to the party's presence.

A player wants to go to the bathroom? Sure, but while he is gone his character is a bumbling idiot barely capable of walking a straight line and sure to fail any checks or saving throws.

No food at the table. Food in your belly does the opposite of flight-or-fight. Just sugary drinks that make you jittery and jumpy.

Music can work wonders. Just keep it simple. And use silence as well.

Your players will be aching for some comic relief after an hour at the most. But if they initiate it themselves turn it into a catastrophe for the characters. Instead offer it yourself, a bit later. But make it pitiful and just use it as a contrast to underline the grimdark. Like a little puppy that is very cute and totally lost. They know it's gonna die, or turn into the BBEG in disguise. Just kill it quickly and dramatically with a whelp a few scenes later and the Horror effect will be doubled.

Ive had one good scare on my players, but its the only one i have tried yet.

The group hears a cry for help from a whole in the ground next to the road they are on, a man fell in a sinkhole. with a bit of rope they get him out, he gives a small tip and tells them that the cave he fell in was connected to a room with "something so amazing they have to see it for themselves." at this point i have never tried to scare them so they go in looking for traps as the norm.

They find an OLD library and a large mechanical model of a city, with small people moving on trails from building to building, little gears making a woman sweep in 1 building, a man hammering a nail in another. It was of such quality that it would be priceless. On top of the whole thing is a small glowing glass orb for the sun.

continued...

http://youtu.be/80Ngl2RY8sA

Play this in the background.

>yfw the entire universe is one eternal radioactive scream

>>17847552
You are not being a good DM, you are a jackass.
>The cute little girl you all love has died horribly >no there is nothing you can do to stop this
>Excuse me while I confuse your anger at my assholery for appreciation of my brilliant storytelling

>>17847766
.....on the table their is also a dead body, long dead, just a skeleton at this point. The rogue stabs it to make sure its dead, it is. In its hand is a pair of blue tinted goggles, so the barbarian immediately tries them on, nothing happens or looks different.

They look at the underside of the table and see a huge amount of gears moving this way and that, but nothing powering it all. The barbarian looks and has to make a will save because what he was through the lenses was beyond words, beyond 3 dimensional space. Everyone takes a look with the glasses, all rolling to see if anyone can understand what it is. No one can.

They think they have seen and done everything down here now, the whole room is just a bunch of destroyed book cases so nothing else to look at. The last thing the barbarian does is pluck the sun from the model. The whole machine falls to peaces, a once perfect model of unmatched wonder and skill is now gone forever. They were pissed at him, until they hear the sound of wood fall behind them.....

Pretty much everything said so far is good advice. Adding on to that, I might recommend playing a game that's built to increase the players' tension. Like Dread.

Basically, all the conflict resolution is based on pulling blocks from a Jenga tower. So not only does it give you that horror movie build up of tension, it actually means that instead of just rolling dice you're doing something that's a bit more involved.

Someone did upload a copy of it, but you can get a free quickstart thing from their website which has pretty much everything you need.

http://www.tiltingatwindmills.net/dread/index.html

>>17847552

This is such a stupid idea, sorry.

Always, always assume players are genre savvy. The minute you introduce some little girl into a horror game they will think either a) she is some kind of horrible monster or b) she is going to die horribly to make us all sads. Once you do your 'big reveal' and she dies your players will feel nothing but hate for you and your transparent attempt at tugging their heart strings.

>>17847860
Everyone was looking at the machine, no one was watching the dark room around them.

.....They hear a piece of wood hit the stone floor and they all spin around and have their weapons out. they see a wooden mask and a piece of cloth on the floor that was not there before.

The cloth is a trenchcoat, but it is made for someone VERY large, and have at least 14 arm holes all over it. The front of the mask is a normal face of a man, but the shape on the back, made to sit on the face of the wearer, was most defiantly not shaped for a human to wear. And why would a man wear the mask of the face of a normal man?

They concluded that if the barbarian had not pulled the glass orb from the machine they would have been attacked by something that would have raped there lvl 2 asses. They still ask me what the hell it was, but i still don't say.

They where very confused and worried when they left that cave, and a little glad they did not see what was down there with them.

>>17847907
Gernre savyy players will enjoy the trope if done well. Just make sure you don't rely on them not finding out until it is too late, but rather make it inevitable. Then when they give up emotionally and just wait for the bad to happen, give them hope, play some unexpected good and heartwarming thing, allow them to relax a bit.

And then smash it all quickly and unavoidably with dreadful cruelty and leave them alone where they were, still facing the old problems but with a new urgency.

The classics are classics for a reason. You just have to get the pacing right. Watch for your player's reactions and use their cues to control your timing.

whew shit...this needs archived

if not I'm saving it as a pdf right now, thanks you guys!

>Mars Horror
>BOTH We Don't Need Eyes threads
>didn't have to link them myself

>>17847907
>>17847841

Well shit, alirghty

Good thing I posted this on /tg/ before I did anything with it.

It's just on some archived horror thread, some anon did the exact same gist and was praised for the idea.

Guess it didn't age well.

>>17848890
Anonymous is a very large and highly opinionated group.

What I'll say is that even old tropes can be fun and exciting if masterfully and sensitively crafted.

>>17848890
"gist" is a hard thing to do.

See, what you think is the core of the story might not be the thing that makes it good.

For one, don't introduce NPCs and expect the party to like them. ESPECIALLY children. You know why everyone hated Wesley Crusher? Because he was a kid, hanging out with the Space RPG party. And he actually did things to help. Imagine if he had been a total load who was a burden.

IF you introduce an NPC AND you get the party to like them, THEN you can start with your idea.

Also, I'd skip the "serial killer has the little girl gagged in the basement" thing. That reeks of creepster pedo and serial killers are about the laziest boogeyman in modern writing.

have her disappear for a non-innocuous, completely innocuous reason. let them think you're that lazy hack who had her kidnapped by the thief/killer. they pursue that to its end, and don't find her.
She turns up, a day later. She ran off because she took something from the first scene when she tagged along on the investigation, and was afraid you would be mad.

"no, of course not sweetheart. What did you take?"

"just this."

http://chanarchive.org/requests

Archive this thread.

Do some classic, subtle horror stuff. Some suggestions...

-PC's wake up without shadows one day. 24 hours later, they return, with no explanation.
-Animals begin acting overly friendly towards a certain player, like small spiders who nestle into their clothing, and bring them small presents (wrapped flies and the like)
-Players find a small portion of the last thing/person/monster they killed mixed into their rations
-A character eating a piece of fruit discovers that the pits they are spitting out are, in fact, human teeth.
-A familiar childhood item keeps reappearing in a character's pocket, an item they know to be destroyed or haven't seen since childhood.
-Awakening in the morning, the players find an extra horse with theirs, saddled and ready to go. It travels with them if unobstructed, but the next morning is gone.
-A fine house is set before them, and nothing is out of the ordinary except that one, and only one, window is boarded up on the outside.

Oddly creepy written stuff does it for me

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away...

Not sure if it has come up yet but the Don't Rest Your Head stuff by Awake in the suptg archive is a goldmine

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14309619/
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14394648/

>>17846471

Condemned 2 did it too.

Hardly anything in Nightmare House 2 was original

Notes can be a good way to scare players. Have a ton I saved from an earlier thread. If memory serves these were meant to be handed to CoC players who's characters are already a little bit insane.

>You suddenly have a craving for steak. Rare as possible.

>Everything will be OK. This is not your fault.

>When was the last time the others ate or went to the bathroom? Investigate further.

>The others of your party are weak. Only you have the will to do what is necessary.

>You notice that no one else in the party casts a shadow but you

>When the time comes be ready. They Won't Be.

>You've never once gotten seriously hurt. Perhaps you're invincible.

>Regrettable, but necessary. Life feeds on life.

>Until you cut it out, we will always be able to track you

>It's weAring his skin. iT's watChing you frOm behind hiS eYes

>Please wake up. None of this is real. You're just having a nightmare. Please wake up.

>She was just a baby.

>Are you absolutely sure your mother is OK?

>Have you noticed if the others have blinked recently?

>I'm very sorry for what's about to happen.

>OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK

>Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

>>17852549

>Did you know that if you plan your nutrition accordingly, you never need to close your eyes? I haven't slept in a long time.

>Die.

>No matter where you turn, he'll always be right at the nape of your neck. Don't try to avoid him, you'll only inconvenience him.

>How sick do you have to be to bite another human being? I mean just imagine your teeth slowly sinking into their dully warm flesh and the slippery copper taste of blood as your jaw is squeezing just so FUCKING HARD ON THEIR BONES. Disgusting.

>You've been putting on a bit of weight lately, that's good, continue with that.

>If you screamed, would anyone but [other person] hear it?

>You could kill them right now. Just a thought.

>They don't sleep when you do...

>It would be easy, just pick up that pipe. Quick, he's not looking.

>She's missing you.

>They don't really care, do they?

>Don't feel bad, you could have done something but we all make mistakes

>Feeling sick?

>That's not sweat on their hands

>Why is the water so dirty?

>>17852566

>Even Jesus died. For a short while

>Hand me that slice of pizza

>Ever wonder what it would feel like to have no mouth?

>You suddenly feel very, very sick at the sight of X. Then it passes.

>You stat to doze off, then snap to awareness again as everybody else's eyes disappear. Then they're back.

>What does X's insides look like?

>They watch you while you sleep.

>The walls have body parts inside them. Don't look. They might be your own.

>You are pretty sure you've seen X die already. Ask them about it.

>The others are made of metal. Try tasting their blood.

>Your eyes are pretty vulnerable, now that you think about it.

>I can't breathe. Oh god help me I can't breathe.

>When you're buried alive, you can feel your own breath hitting the lid just inches away.

>The others want to eat you.

>There are millions of ants just dying to run through your body hair.

>You DID swallow that fly, your trachea makes a lovely home.

>Everyone has a twin in the world, and that twin's already plotting.

>>17852594

>Ever notice that weird twitch in your eyelid? Like something in there?

>You realise that the others seem a bit more pale than usual and sometimes they have a few seconds where they dont breathe - almost as if they forget it for a moment.

>As you blink, all the others dissappear. Blinking again in disbelief, they all return and as they do you see skeletal features quickly dissappear from their face.

>You have a feeling that its not your fault - it never was. One of the others was out to get you and must have framed you. Who could it be?

>You hear a quiet clearing of the throat behind you. As you turn around you see no one there.

>You feel a lurching in your stomach, like you've just been dropped from the top of a rollercoaster. Small objects start rattling and look like they're about to fall, but not down or in any earthly direction

>Do you really trust them

>Do they trust you?

>It's here. You can feel it.

>You're the only one of these people I trust.

>I'd be so happy if your heart just stopped.

>No matter where you turn, it'll always be right at the nape of your neck. Don't try to avoid it, you'll only inconvenience it.

>There is no such thing as a happy ending, because even the loving couple will die some day.

>When was the last time you saw anyone eat?

>The ceiling conceals eyes.

>Stay in the light, maybe they can't get you there.

>Are you certain there's nothing in the room you just left?

>They don't want you, just your soul.

>Why are they wearing masks?

>Your teeth feel hollow, like there's something hidden inside them.

>>17850262
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

THIS MAN IS FUCKING GOD

GOD I TELL YOU

GOD

NO, GOD DOESN'T EVEN CUT IT, THIS IS FAR TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR GOD OR THE DEVIL OR ANY OF THAT

AND HE IS ABSOLUTELY, TOTALLY, BATSHIT INSANE, AND I WISH I KNEW HIM, AND WAS HIM, AND WAS ONE OF HIS PLAYERS.

>>17850262
Holy shit, that pic!
Opening artwork of Marathon 2: Durandal. Never thought I'd see that here of all places. M2's decent run and gun fun with a great 'Uncover the mysteries of the ancient S'pht race' story. Marathon: Infinity's more like CoC where a space demon released from the sun of the planet M2's on goes supernova and starts playing with time.

rolled 1 = 1

helo

>>17852922
You missed your thread.

>>17852730

Brilliance and madness tend to be housemates like that

[spoilersdon'tworkon/tg/]I wish I was one of his friends so then he'd GM DRYH for me[/spoilersdon'tworkon/tg/]

>>17852770
Also I don't know how I didn't fucking mention this, but you spend the entire game series being pulled around by a insane AI who's primary job was to open doors and activate lifts. He starts out being incredibly unstable and juvenile, and then progressively becomes more stable and calculating, Then, W'rkcancter/HE COMES
The engine wasn't made for mind fuckery, so it completely relies on text (almost no visuals) to relay this to you.

>>17853144
Your anuses ready /tg/?

"Well, there was this knife, more aptly described as a broadsword, and I see, well, I was swinging down the street on my way to a movie and this guy, yeah. He was about six foot eight and huge. He was holding this knife, only to me, I would describe it as a broadsword, something from the Knights of the Round. Before he can even open his mouth, he collapses. Meanwhile, I can barely lift a finger to put the toupee back on his glossy head because I'm shaking so much.

He was vomiting and I knew that he was alive because he kept saying something like 'durability' between convulsions. What happened next was really bizarre. Both ends of the street flood with black-suited men, just like in a movie."

These men look tough and pissed off, the eyes behind their sunglasses are probably cold as my hands are getting. I feel like my heart has stopped, I'm so damn scared. As they start to inundate the street in black, they move with one will.

"I figure that I'm dead anyway, so I reach down for the blade. The blade is being covered by his vomit, but the hilt is clean. I can hear the men getting excited, but I can't stop. My fingers slide around the leather hilt which is oddly cold..."

>>17853257

"Seven hundred and sixty one armless and legless corpses float inconspicuously around the inside of hangar ninety six. I say that they are inconspicuous because it is their arms and legs which demand my attention. I did this, or I could have stopped it. Which is it? It doesn't matter now. I did this and could have stopped it, but nothing in nature ever follows a gaussian curve. Sure, they'll tell you that it does. They say that every five minutes someone dies in a car accident, but how often are there seven hundred and sixty one armless and legless corpses in one hangar?"

>>17853272

"I'm in the same street, and as I reach into my pocket for my keys, my eyes follow the blackened streaks of gum that pock-mark the sidewalk. The man is gone, and someone in sanitation cleaned up the aparitions and vomit in a real hurry. I hurry down the stairs heading for the subway, but my keys aren't in my pocket anymore. I'll have to get in through the side window.

The subway station is very bright and shining from the sanitation team that has been sweeping a swath in front of me. The concrete floor is losing years of tarnish, keeping only the protective layer of the gum streaks which make up constellations in an otherwise vacant sky."

>>17853282

"The train arrives right on time, and just ahead of a mass of dark suited men who have been following me for what seems like years now. Between the sanitation and the suits, I must be going colorblind, but the train is here now, and those men, no, they won't catch me..."

OP, don't overdo the "there and then not there" gag.

Sometimes, just sometimes, there's nothing. They step into the room and everything is as it should.
When they leave, they hear screaming and pounding and splattering from the room.

When they go to investigate, there is blood.

Blood everywhere. No bodies, just blood and broken furniture.

Not knowing what is going on is sometimes worse than just missing what is going on.

>>17850262
great.. now i can't sleep. FUCK.

>>17850262
Did this guy ever say where his blog was? I'd LOVE to read more of his nightmares. Sadly none of it scares me, but it makes for such good reads.

I really hope this inspires some nightmares. I'd kill for these kinds of dreams.

I don't know how, but use this.

Make a curse that would make one of your PC grow skin on his face or something.
Imagine the joy of having to rip your skin everytime you want to talk.

Here's a good line you can use.

"That thing used to be human."

Thing being as far from humanoid or monstrous humanoid as you can get.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrA-QzjkEPs
Pair this with uncanny valley neighbourhood. Everything seems happy sunshine, but there's something... off.

>Best way to scare Players

Hand a index card to each player face down. Say nothing besides "Read this card and keep it to yourself"

Various things to write on it:
>What was the last time PC X slept? On second though, have you ever seen PC X with his eyes closed?
>It's coming
>You know that girl you passed on the way into this building? Yeah, she could have prevented what's coming up
>wHat dO yOu tHink iS oFf lImits?
>Don't look behind you
>DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE

I generally start at anosognosia ("No, I can move my arm no problem" "Sir... You're quadriplegic." "No, I'm not, my wife just stole my arm.") then just proceed on from there. Thank you Mr. Oliver Sacks, thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhXXeEzwYRQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EFk8wiDCZ8

It's a movie about some doors.
It has a few good ideas.

>>17854919
For the best effect, write it in blood.

Hmm, since we're sort of on the subject of creepy notes, I've got a few I remember posting for the CoC creepy notes thread a while back...

Ah! Better yet, found the thread on Sup/tg/
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/17382585/

Here's the few I posted, for example.

>"The lightbulb doesn't have a shadow."
>"It's splitting you away from the group..."
>"The thing in the lightbulb wants your shadow."
>"Don't look away from your shadow."
>"Don't look away..."
>"Don't look away."

>"Did you hear that? I could've sworn I heard something..."
>"Whatever you do... don't turn around right now."
>"Do you know where they are when you sleep?"
>"I do."
>"Heh."
>"Oh my. That isn't good."
>"Where's [Insert Name]? I haven't seen them in a while."
>"Shhhhh."
>"They're here..."

>>17850262
And there I was, thinking that my dreams are weird.

>ctrl+f 'spiders'
>only a handful of posts
Huh.

You guys have to remember contrast. During your horror campaigns you -need- to set up points of comedic relief, detached from the dark and scary corridors and nightmare rooms. When they get back to the bar or the base of operations, have some likeable NPCs that they can share a beer with in some downtime, tell some stories or jokes, something to relieve the stress. ALL HORROR ALL GRIMDARK ALL THE TIME gets tiring and strung out.

Because this way they get to stand up from their cosy chairs and good friends and happy atmosphere and take another look at that darkened doorway back out to where all the horrors lie...

>>17854797

You really could've answered this yourself just by ctrl fing "blog," but if for some reason you haven't already, here it is:

http://owlmandius.livejournal.com/1242.html

I want this man's mind. I *never* have good recurring nightmares. Hell, I never have a fucking *nightmare!* It sucks. Nightmares are fun and interesting and cool and neat to think about

I never want this thread to die. Ever.

>>17844400
I feel retarded.
>Mfw your picture is the cover photo for the youtube video I'm listening to. (Silent hill soundtrack)

>>17856016
I wonder what would happen if I subjected my group to my own nightmares. Of course, they would all have to be siblings for it to work...

>You're all at work at the tourist attraction
>The kids' tickets are all messed up, so you have to write "1 kid" on each of them before you can sell them
>The customers start lining up, becoming impatient
>At regular intervals your mother walks in and tell you to hurry up, before running off

>You wake up one morning to a lot of ruckus in the hallway
>Your dad has been up all night, hammering poles into the floor and making tripwires, making it hell to walk in without tripping
>"Ha, this will make it hell for any robbers!"
>You have to get up in the night to pee
>A shitload of spiders have nested among the tripwire, making it full of cobwebs

There's probably some deep-seated psychological trauma here, but I just can't fucking figure out what.

>epxloring caves

>I keep mentionin how they feel watched

>they sometimes see shadowy human figures from the corner of their eye peeking from corners, holes and from the ceiling

>they they go sleep they sometimes wake up to the rattle of their bags moving

>nothing else happens

>players get crazy paranoid

Check out creepypasta for a few cool ideas.

Also, you want a tense situation to scare your players? Actually enforce rules for sleep deprivation, hunger, thirst, fatigue, fear, cold, heat, etc. That way, just coping with your mindfuck of a creation is a challenge before they even run into any of your vomiting abortion-creatures.

bump

>>17856016
>>17855601
>>17854797
>>17853061
>>17852730
You know, I wouldn't believe all the hype on this guy's ability to do creepy shit, but then I read through the thread again and realized something.

>>17845872
Fuck it, man. He planned this.

I am thoroughly inspired by the archived threads linked herein. Thank you, kind sirs!

Unfortunately, the only friends I have who'd play along for this kind of shit are either A) my girlfriend, a huge coward or B) a crazy bipolar nutjob who we're not friends with anymore.

I just finished an adventure last night that went incredibly well. It's Victorian monster hunting. The group was banishing a brownie to a sort of magical disposal site, a cave. Someone dropped the cage and it broke. The little creature spilled out and everything went black. Each one of the players got to relive some nightmare version of the worst memory they remember (backstory). As they are all unable to stop reliving the nightmare, the nightmares take elements from the other nightmares. They would attack someone and it would bear their own or a loved ones face. Finally, the three of them stood off to fight one another, each seeing each other as some element of their nightmare. Even after they passed their check to regain sanity, they still hit each other a few times, not trusting their minds.

Strangely enough, it was an excellent bonding opportunity as everyone felt like airing their dirty laundry.Another consequence is that they now hate Scotland and anything fey in nature.

buuump

bump

>>17847084

this was EXACTLY what I was planning on doing.

>>17859286
It's a touchy thing though. If you suprise horror fans with horror, then its cool. Otherwise, it could blow up in your face. If someone was expecting unicorns and they get grisley murder, they may be some discontent.

>>17859522
This is nothing to take kids into who just downloaded D&D. This is serious fun for GURPS veterans on their Xth tour who have just grown tired of slaying dragons and blowing up orbital habitats.

>>17860235
carry on then.

>>17856016
Well, I read both of the archive posts and he only mentioned the blog once in passing as far as I know. But thanks anyways.

is this archived on sup/tg/ yet?

This song
i love it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws-T6oeTq6c

>>17862140

should be

humping bump

>>17865795
Bump again. Just because.

creepy bump

>>17846431

How do you, as a DM, let them know these things are moving without just making it super obvious, "oh there is shit going on here"

>>17870063
It WILL be obvious. But you can still give them a double take by describing it nonchalant.

> The study is dark and silent. A thick rug with a red pattern muffles your steps. There's shelves along the walls with dusty books, heavy leather folders and tubes with maps in them. In front of the bay window there's a comfortable seat next to a small table with a glass flask and an ink jar and feather, a few handwritten pages litter the floor. On the opposing wall there is a large painting in an ornate oak frame. It shows the same study with a beautiful fall sunset out the window. The furniture is different and everything is tidy. A hint of simpler times, and a sense of serenity.

later...

>You escape inti the study. Your candles cast eerie shadows that jump from book to book like imps. Everything is as it was. The chair, the table, the bloody body parts littering the picture at the wall, the red rug, the dusty shelves.

anyone gonna archive this?

bump and archive this shit

>>17870063
Describe something mundane on a shelf. Later, they need it, when they go into the room to get it...

"You take the small egg-shaped decoration from the fireplace"

>>17855731
This. I haven't tried a horror campaign, but when I play Stalker, whenever I'm close to a safehouse, I get tenser, and whenever I leave, the moment the doors close behind me and I'm alone again...

Can someone save this thread in an image? Thanks.

Me (GM, speaking as demon-thing, concluding a monologue. I've been using a very distinctive raspy voice.): You think you're safe, don't you? You think that you'll survive this, and go home to your bed, and be free from all the terrible things that go bump in the night. Well, guess what?

*Player's phone rings, it's my bro, using his cousin's phone for an unfamiliar number.*

Player: "Hello?"

Bro, speaking in the same raspy voice, just as we planned in advance: "You'd be wrong."

Player literally dropped his phone and backed away from it like it was radioactive. I think I pulled a muscle trying to keep a straight face.

ARCHIVE THIS THREAD PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

FOR THE THREAD PLEASE LOVE ARCHIVE OF THIS GOD

>Running Dead space RPG, Lite rules.
>Wondering how I can scare my players.
>Suddenly, this thread.

Continue, gentlemen!

has this thread been archived yet?

>>17873894
>>17874224
>>17875930
doing it wrong. You need to type ARCHIVE THIS in all caps.

Don't forget to describe smells. How a cellar is must, the aroma of coffee, fresh cut grass.

Start off with mundane things and early on in the story. Don't wait till the 'scary parts'. It's more effective when your players are used to it, rather than them focusing on it too much cause "you just brought it up now".