Two questions - how well do you know your players and is this physical or online setting?
If you know them well its a bit easier to start bringing in elements that your players feel are unsettling - you might start sprinkling in minor details you know are going to creep them out like a child's giggle drifting down a dark hallway, or thick spiderwebs blanketing a crawlspace. Just be careful that you're not leaning into one player's fears too much. If you're physically together and its not a major hassle you could try adding in ambient music / sound effects and have candles provide most of light in the room. (I played in a Curse of Strahd campaign doing that and it definitely helped set the mood) Obviously you can do all of that in an online setting too but I think the shared group atmosphere helps.
Spookiness is 90% atmosphere. Swap out the lights in your game room for candles or red bulbs, play some creepy music, and talk in a low monotone like the guys who narrate creepypasta stories, so the players have to hush to listen. That changes everything. If you want, you can even invest in some autumn-smelling incense or scented candles, buy some caramel apples, and decorate the room for Halloween: though that’s not spooky, it’s definitely in the spirit of the season!
Also, let the players know ahead of time that this will be a spooky adventure. If you don’t, they might feel awkward and break the tension with jokes, resulting in way more funny than spooky! And if you plan on going full horror, don’t start the session right away, so your players have time to get the silly out of their system before the game.
Give the killer a distinctive trait. Something like the bodies are found unmarked except for a missing pink or other small wound, out of the corner of the characters eye the bodies appear to move, whenever someone dies a wine glass shatters, blood dripping from the bodies wounds always flow in the same direction (Could be toward the killer or a haunted room in the keep), or other creepy trait about the killings.
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
D&D isn't really targeted towards spookiness, as the normal focus of any spooky adventure is normal people dealing with creepy horrific things, not adventurers whose normal response to creepy horrific things is to whack them with a sword or spell.
D&D isn't really targeted towards spookiness, as the normal focus of any spooky adventure is normal people dealing with creepy horrific things, not adventurers whose normal response to creepy horrific things is to whack them with a sword or spell.
True! Let me recommend Dread for a potentially horrifying RPG. My friends really bought in, and we were all legitimately creeped out by the end of the night. (However: it’s easily the hardest and most prep intensive game I’ve ever played, and it takes an experienced group and friends who trust each other. Worth it though.)
D&D isn't really targeted towards spookiness, as the normal focus of any spooky adventure is normal people dealing with creepy horrific things, not adventurers whose normal response to creepy horrific things is to whack them with a sword or spell.
Make the characters first level, or a homebrew zero level. It won't be perfect, but you won't have to learn a whole new system.
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
D&D isn't really targeted towards spookiness, as the normal focus of any spooky adventure is normal people dealing with creepy horrific things, not adventurers whose normal response to creepy horrific things is to whack them with a sword or spell.
True! Let me recommend Dread for a potentially horrifying RPG. My friends really bought in, and we were all legitimately creeped out by the end of the night. (However: it’s easily the hardest and most prep intensive game I’ve ever played, and it takes an experienced group and friends who trust each other. Worth it though.)
Is that the one that uses a Jenga tower?
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
D&D isn't really targeted towards spookiness, as the normal focus of any spooky adventure is normal people dealing with creepy horrific things, not adventurers whose normal response to creepy horrific things is to whack them with a sword or spell.
True! Let me recommend Dread for a potentially horrifying RPG. My friends really bought in, and we were all legitimately creeped out by the end of the night. (However: it’s easily the hardest and most prep intensive game I’ve ever played, and it takes an experienced group and friends who trust each other. Worth it though.)
Different mediums benefit from different treatments, but two good elements for horror are tension and self-doubt.
Tension can be achieved by using an hourglass for a timed encounter, or having combat in a room where part of the floor randomly crumbles away every round, leaving a gaping void beneath.
Self-doubt could be achieve by toying with madness. As the session progresses, increase the probability that reality doesn't align with their perceptions. Maybe they go to attack a creature, but as soon as the strike lands, their vision clears and they realize that they've just dumped their wine on another guest. There was no attack, and they hadn't drawn their sword. They are still at the ball surrounded by undisturbed guests who are now scowling at them, but quickly return to their revelry. When/if hostiles do show up, they'll be afraid to defend themselves. (Maybe one of the players are the killer and don't realize it.)
One of my favorite references for creep/spooky is the Silent Hill video game. The most memorable scene for me was one where you get locked into a room of an abandoned asylum with a bathtub, and one wall is a single giant mirror. If you linger in the room, the bathtub in the mirror begins to fill with crawling fingers of blood until it starts to overflow.
Fog, static, "blink and it's gone", dulling the senses, the feeling of someone's breath on your cheek, or fingers running through your hair, but when you turn around, no one is there...
And occasionally roll dice behind the screen and subtly react to them for no reason. Players love it when the DMs giggle to themselves.
thanks, I really like the toying with madness idea. I might have the partys drinks get drugged with a hallucinate and make them roll con saves at the beginning of the one-shot
One thing you have to keep in mind is how easy it is to solve a murder mystery in D&D
when you can speak with the dead, scry with dna, locate secret doors, get divine intervention, read minds, charm people into doing your bidding & just straight up revive the victim most of the tools of a traditional murder mystery vanish.
if that doesn’t matter then fine but if you want it to have any weight you need to find ways around these potential trappings.
maybe don’t let your party know it’s a whodunnit ahead of time. So they don’t prepare to solve one.
Ill have to take character level into consideration to make sure that the party isn't to OP for the mystery. Good point with not letting them know its a whodunnit before the time, I defiantly have some players who will spend the next two weeks researching how to speed solve the mystery lol
Building atmosphere would be a great way to build spookiness; ask them to investigate large areas of shadow, only for them to see a strange figure drifting away from them. Turn off the lights in the Keep without warning them. Say they hear footsteps coming from an empty corridor (whoooo~) All those good cliche horror tropes!
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(This is my first time DMing anything homebrew)
I need help making my Halloween one shot spookier
The plot is going to be a Whodunit with the party attempting to find and stop the killer
-the party is invited to attend a costume party/ball at a noble lord's keep ( the keep is on an island and the only way to access it is by boat)
- During the course of the evening/night the noble family is murdered (or an attempt to murder them is made) one by one by a killer
- The keep is also filled with lots of secret passageways
Any suggestions on how to amp up the spookyness?
make the player have no knowledge of each others background so they might suspect each other
Two questions - how well do you know your players and is this physical or online setting?
If you know them well its a bit easier to start bringing in elements that your players feel are unsettling - you might start sprinkling in minor details you know are going to creep them out like a child's giggle drifting down a dark hallway, or thick spiderwebs blanketing a crawlspace. Just be careful that you're not leaning into one player's fears too much. If you're physically together and its not a major hassle you could try adding in ambient music / sound effects and have candles provide most of light in the room. (I played in a Curse of Strahd campaign doing that and it definitely helped set the mood) Obviously you can do all of that in an online setting too but I think the shared group atmosphere helps.
Make a decent amount of hangings of suspects to inspire ominous things.
Beholders like to eat people who don't pay attention
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NEVER CROSS OUT THINGS
Spookiness is 90% atmosphere. Swap out the lights in your game room for candles or red bulbs, play some creepy music, and talk in a low monotone like the guys who narrate creepypasta stories, so the players have to hush to listen. That changes everything. If you want, you can even invest in some autumn-smelling incense or scented candles, buy some caramel apples, and decorate the room for Halloween: though that’s not spooky, it’s definitely in the spirit of the season!
Also, let the players know ahead of time that this will be a spooky adventure. If you don’t, they might feel awkward and break the tension with jokes, resulting in way more funny than spooky! And if you plan on going full horror, don’t start the session right away, so your players have time to get the silly out of their system before the game.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Give the killer a distinctive trait. Something like the bodies are found unmarked except for a missing pink or other small wound, out of the corner of the characters eye the bodies appear to move, whenever someone dies a wine glass shatters, blood dripping from the bodies wounds always flow in the same direction (Could be toward the killer or a haunted room in the keep), or other creepy trait about the killings.
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
D&D isn't really targeted towards spookiness, as the normal focus of any spooky adventure is normal people dealing with creepy horrific things, not adventurers whose normal response to creepy horrific things is to whack them with a sword or spell.
True! Let me recommend Dread for a potentially horrifying RPG. My friends really bought in, and we were all legitimately creeped out by the end of the night. (However: it’s easily the hardest and most prep intensive game I’ve ever played, and it takes an experienced group and friends who trust each other. Worth it though.)
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Make the characters first level, or a homebrew zero level. It won't be perfect, but you won't have to learn a whole new system.
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
Is that the one that uses a Jenga tower?
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
Yep!
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Different mediums benefit from different treatments, but two good elements for horror are tension and self-doubt.
Tension can be achieved by using an hourglass for a timed encounter, or having combat in a room where part of the floor randomly crumbles away every round, leaving a gaping void beneath.
Self-doubt could be achieve by toying with madness. As the session progresses, increase the probability that reality doesn't align with their perceptions. Maybe they go to attack a creature, but as soon as the strike lands, their vision clears and they realize that they've just dumped their wine on another guest. There was no attack, and they hadn't drawn their sword. They are still at the ball surrounded by undisturbed guests who are now scowling at them, but quickly return to their revelry. When/if hostiles do show up, they'll be afraid to defend themselves. (Maybe one of the players are the killer and don't realize it.)
One of my favorite references for creep/spooky is the Silent Hill video game. The most memorable scene for me was one where you get locked into a room of an abandoned asylum with a bathtub, and one wall is a single giant mirror. If you linger in the room, the bathtub in the mirror begins to fill with crawling fingers of blood until it starts to overflow.
Fog, static, "blink and it's gone", dulling the senses, the feeling of someone's breath on your cheek, or fingers running through your hair, but when you turn around, no one is there...
And occasionally roll dice behind the screen and subtly react to them for no reason. Players love it when the DMs giggle to themselves.
thanks, I really like the toying with madness idea. I might have the partys drinks get drugged with a hallucinate and make them roll con saves at the beginning of the one-shot
I know them all IRL, but we are going to play online (we don't live close together), using things that creep them out IRL should work nicely, thanks
One thing you have to keep in mind is how easy it is to solve a murder mystery in D&D
when you can speak with the dead, scry with dna, locate secret doors, get divine intervention, read minds, charm people into doing your bidding & just straight up revive the victim most of the tools of a traditional murder mystery vanish.
if that doesn’t matter then fine but if you want it to have any weight you need to find ways around these potential trappings.
maybe don’t let your party know it’s a whodunnit ahead of time. So they don’t prepare to solve one.
Ill have to take character level into consideration to make sure that the party isn't to OP for the mystery. Good point with not letting them know its a whodunnit before the time, I defiantly have some players who will spend the next two weeks researching how to speed solve the mystery lol
It's a great idea to make Halloween interesting.
Halloween Coupons
Building atmosphere would be a great way to build spookiness; ask them to investigate large areas of shadow, only for them to see a strange figure drifting away from them. Turn off the lights in the Keep without warning them. Say they hear footsteps coming from an empty corridor (whoooo~) All those good cliche horror tropes!