So.... I've been trying to make Rime spooky since it turned out to be just a pixar film in snow instead of "The Thing" or "The Grudge" they promised. However I've just rewatched the thing and have been looking at other movies for ambient horror from isolation and distrust. I'm having trouble coming up with how to instill this paranoia in my players without actually having one of them be a killer etc... (although I did get an idea for an Among Us encounter on the notiloid.)
I know you're going to say "have NPCs die or disappear etc..." but in the end, players aren't going to get that seed of distrust and anxiety from an NPC dying, they will group up together and roam in packs, they wont separate or distrust each other unless they know one of them could possibly be the spooky thing hunting them. The only thing that I can think of to get them to mistrust each other is one of them suffering misfortune seemingly at the hands of another. This would have to be done in a way where the one who suffers (dies, is petrified, flesh warped, whatever) is not able to point out who did it.
We're also all on discord playing together so it's not like they can't hear each other etc... The unintentional meta game is almost unavoidable.
How are you all handling making scary or paranoia / suspect encounters in your games without your players getting killed to make them feel there is a real threat?
There are some really good ways of doing this in game, if you want to take a shot.
1) Split the party! Even if you do this for a short period of time, it allows the characters to have the anxiety of being by themselves.
2) We use Roll20 which allows the DM to privately talk to a specific player. That always makes us curious what we aren't hearing. In a mystery type setting, even more so. If you must, have separate mini sessions for the characters so keep them isolated.
3) Set up one of the characters! Imagine the group is split and one character sees another killing an NPC. This can be easily done with Disguise Self, a doppelganger, or other means. Add in that when the body is investigated, it implicates that character based on evidence. At minimum, there will be some distrust.
4) Make one of the players think they actually are a killer! Imagine after a long rest the character wakes up with a blood-soaked dagger by their side, and mud on their boots. The group then finds a victim stabbed repeatedly by a small sharp object in a muddy field. All of this can be set up with simple cantrips, and the best RP discourse is when the player can't discount that they were possessed or mind controlled into being a murderer.
With a good group of players and some creative plot hooks, you can have characters questioning each other or even themselves.
A soothsayer (secretly working for the villain) tells them they have a betrayer in their midst. An NPC leaves/has a note implying someone in the party is actually working for the villain, or that they think someone could easily be brought over to the villian’s side.
Once you’ve got the idea in their head, leave the occasional cryptic clue that could implicate multiple party members. Or let them find instructions from the villain.
For their part, the villain knows that no one is actually betraying the party, they are just trying to sew discord.
So.... I've been trying to make Rime spooky since it turned out to be just a pixar film in snow instead of "The Thing" or "The Grudge" they promised. However I've just rewatched the thing and have been looking at other movies for ambient horror from isolation and distrust. I'm having trouble coming up with how to instill this paranoia in my players without actually having one of them be a killer etc... (although I did get an idea for an Among Us encounter on the notiloid.)
I know you're going to say "have NPCs die or disappear etc..." but in the end, players aren't going to get that seed of distrust and anxiety from an NPC dying, they will group up together and roam in packs, they wont separate or distrust each other unless they know one of them could possibly be the spooky thing hunting them. The only thing that I can think of to get them to mistrust each other is one of them suffering misfortune seemingly at the hands of another. This would have to be done in a way where the one who suffers (dies, is petrified, flesh warped, whatever) is not able to point out who did it.
We're also all on discord playing together so it's not like they can't hear each other etc... The unintentional meta game is almost unavoidable.
How are you all handling making scary or paranoia / suspect encounters in your games without your players getting killed to make them feel there is a real threat?
There are some really good ways of doing this in game, if you want to take a shot.
1) Split the party! Even if you do this for a short period of time, it allows the characters to have the anxiety of being by themselves.
2) We use Roll20 which allows the DM to privately talk to a specific player. That always makes us curious what we aren't hearing. In a mystery type setting, even more so. If you must, have separate mini sessions for the characters so keep them isolated.
3) Set up one of the characters! Imagine the group is split and one character sees another killing an NPC. This can be easily done with Disguise Self, a doppelganger, or other means. Add in that when the body is investigated, it implicates that character based on evidence. At minimum, there will be some distrust.
4) Make one of the players think they actually are a killer! Imagine after a long rest the character wakes up with a blood-soaked dagger by their side, and mud on their boots. The group then finds a victim stabbed repeatedly by a small sharp object in a muddy field. All of this can be set up with simple cantrips, and the best RP discourse is when the player can't discount that they were possessed or mind controlled into being a murderer.
With a good group of players and some creative plot hooks, you can have characters questioning each other or even themselves.
A soothsayer (secretly working for the villain) tells them they have a betrayer in their midst.
An NPC leaves/has a note implying someone in the party is actually working for the villain, or that they think someone could easily be brought over to the villian’s side.
Once you’ve got the idea in their head, leave the occasional cryptic clue that could implicate multiple party members. Or let them find instructions from the villain.
For their part, the villain knows that no one is actually betraying the party, they are just trying to sew discord.
Give them each a secret they are not allowed to share with the others.
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